The wife and I purchased one of these guys, the "little" 52" one on black Friday for our early Christmas present to each other. It was a steal at $999, and we've been very happy with it since.

I don't see any talk about this TV here on the forums, makes me kind of scared maybe this TV isn't so great. All that's talked about on here, it seems, is Samsung and Sony!

Has anyone calibrated this bad boy yet either? I've tried using the THX Optimizer from a Disney DVD, and came out with these settings:

Picture: +17
Brightness: -6
Color: -4
Tint: -8
Sharpness: Was at zero for a long time, but decided +11 looked a bit better

Color Temp: Normal

Black Level: Dark

Now these are the settings for DVD viewing and Xbox 360 playing. Wife and I don't watch much TV other than that.

There are a ton of other adjustments this set offers, but I am too scared to touch 'em. Has anyone had their TV's calibrated or have any input?

Post your thoughts on this TV!

I guess everyone is watching their TV's? Or I'm the only one on these forums with this TV.

I tried also to start a thread with little response.. so don't be disapponted.....
I also bought the TV on Black Friday and for that price I love the picture.....

I am looking to keep tabs on bulb life span and also looking for anyone who can tell
me hpw to het into the service menu to fing out hours of bulb usage....

Well, the TV normally is priced pretty high compared to other TV's normally...

Man it would be nice to find out bulb usage! I turn on and off my TV so much through-out the day, it makes me wonder if that's bad for the lamp life. 18 month warranty is pretty nice though.

Have you tried hooking up your computer to the VGA slot? 1280x720 doesn't display correctly. I've used ATI's control center thing (I've got an x700 pro, PCI-X) and can't get it to display a FULL screen. Using components I can get an over-scanned full screen...bah, such a pain in the but!!! DVD's through my computer had the same visual quality as my JVC "home theater in a box". Kinda surprised me on that one!!!

What are your video settings by chance?

These TV's are similar to the 2003 and 2004 models. They may have the same requirements for checking bulbs. Try this:



With the TV powered off (make sure it's off for a few minutes before trying this, or you'll wait for the customary cooldown period before anything happens if you turn the set off and try this stuff immediately), press and hold both the "VOLUME Down" button on the TV itself and the TV/VIDEO key on the remote control simultaneously for about 7 seconds. The TV will be turned on and it will have a screen of status data atop an active TV channel. To get out of this mode TURN OFF your TV.

This tv was a steal under a grand this weekend Iam going to get some time to set it up with DVE, through a panasonic upconversion dvd player using HDMI. would like to know what others settings are? are all you happy with the tv

This TV has been great, Xbox 360 looks awesome on it (using component, would be interested to know how VGA looks). SD Television is as good as any HDTV I've seen in SD...

The only complaints I have are there are too many settings to mess with for getting the best picture. It'd be great to get this set ISF calibrated, and just be done with it.

Please post your results when you do your DVE calibration!

What are your impressions of this TV?

Ugh, every other topic is either about samsung or sony! Let's go Panasonic!!! ;)

Well,
Word on the street is Panasonic's plans are to concentrate on a profitable product....Plasma. It's said Panny is selling their use of 3LCD to someone else.

This TV has been great, Xbox 360 looks awesome on it (using component, would be interested to know how VGA looks). SD Television is as good as any HDTV I've seen in SD...

The only complaints I have are there are too many settings to mess with for getting the best picture. It'd be great to get this set ISF calibrated, and just be done with it.

Please post your results when you do your DVE calibration!

What are your impressions of this TV?


I like the tv compared to my plasma it hold its own. 3000:1 contrast ratio beats samsungs dlp 2500:1 ratio which was my second choice. This set to my eyes looks the same as the sonys and sammys etc. I will try and post my settings this weekend waiting to record hd tune up on hdnet to set up my cable box.
What do you guys think of this tv? under 1000 you can beat it

This TV has been great, Xbox 360 looks awesome on it (using component, would be interested to know how VGA looks). SD Television is as good as any HDTV I've seen in SD...

The only complaints I have are there are too many settings to mess with for getting the best picture. It'd be great to get this set ISF calibrated, and just be done with it.

Please post your results when you do your DVE calibration!

What are your impressions of this TV?


Oh yeah forgot vga on the 360 there is a minor picture improvment, the vga is used for my monitor more than my tv.

I also picked up this TV for that discount...

I do not have digital service at my house but I rather have the analog cable and have about 6-8 digital OTA channels that I can receive....

My issue is this, without 2 cable jacks behind the TV, I have to reprogram the channels everytime I want to switch between my cable and my antenna. I was going to try and run my cable through the VCR and get the antenna to be the coax jack in the back of the TV, but this doesn't work all that great either.

So, I guess there really isn't a good alternative to this unless you have 2 coax jacks - since the TV will only decode HD channel signals through the "TV" mode.... at least from what I have found....

other then that.... I like the TV, good picture, good sound... great price....

I also picked up this TV for that discount...

I do not have digital service at my house but I rather have the analog cable and have about 6-8 digital OTA channels that I can receive....

My issue is this, without 2 cable jacks behind the TV, I have to reprogram the channels everytime I want to switch between my cable and my antenna. I was going to try and run my cable through the VCR and get the antenna to be the coax jack in the back of the TV, but this doesn't work all that great either.

So, I guess there really isn't a good alternative to this unless you have 2 coax jacks - since the TV will only decode HD channel signals through the "TV" mode.... at least from what I have found....

other then that.... I like the TV, good picture, good sound... great price....

Yeah you should really go digital. Dependimg on what cable service you have you should give them a call, let them know you recentlly purchased an hdtv and was looking for an hd package. My cable provider gave me 3 months free hd programing just for asking about there hd packages.

I also picked up this TV for that discount...

I do not have digital service at my house but I rather have the analog cable and have about 6-8 digital OTA channels that I can receive....

My issue is this, without 2 cable jacks behind the TV, I have to reprogram the channels everytime I want to switch between my cable and my antenna. I was going to try and run my cable through the VCR and get the antenna to be the coax jack in the back of the TV, but this doesn't work all that great either.

So, I guess there really isn't a good alternative to this unless you have 2 coax jacks - since the TV will only decode HD channel signals through the "TV" mode.... at least from what I have found....

other then that.... I like the TV, good picture, good sound... great price....

Have you tried a splitter for your cable and antenna? You can use a splitter to actually join your cable signal and antenna signal...unless you have different channels on normal OTA channels.

yea... I just can't justify the extra $50 a month for a handful of channels right now....

plus, I just bought an HD DVD player and with that, I have my HDMI cable going from it to the TV, the digital cable / satillite service I believe also runs off of HDMI.... and I only have one HDMI jack....

Maybe I am incorrect here but HD signals can only be "truely" broadcast on two media types - HMDI / COax - correct? Isn't that the whole reason they went to the HDMI? or can HD also be run through the RGB cables?

It sure would be nice to have two HDMI jacks and two coax jacks..... oh well....

yea... I just can't justify the extra $50 a month for a handful of channels right now....

plus, I just bought an HD DVD player and with that, I have my HDMI cable going from it to the TV, the digital cable / satillite service I believe also runs off of HDMI.... and I only have one HDMI jack....

Maybe I am incorrect here but HD signals can only be "truely" broadcast on two media types - HMDI / COax - correct? Isn't that the whole reason they went to the HDMI? or can HD also be run through the RGB cables?

It sure would be nice to have two HDMI jacks and two coax jacks..... oh well....

use the HDMI out of your HD DVD player.
Run component out of your cable box to your TV since the cable box can do 1080i without HDCP.

Also depending on where you live there are far more than a handful of channels.
we have 19 HD chans not including the multi-cast OTA stuff.

right now I don't have a cable box, just a line in from ouside that I ran through a splitter to get to my individual rooms. So, I have the need for 2 coax jacks... 1 for my cable in and one for my antenna in....

Currently mysetup is this.... cable into splitter on antenna - antenna to TV.... DVD player HDMI to HDMI in tv and vcr component into tv.... I could use the TV tuner in the VCR but that just adds another remote that I want to get rid of....

Interesting regarding the HD Channels... most of the stuff I have read online state that there are only a handful beyond the OTA stuff....

Have you tried a splitter for your cable and antenna? You can use a splitter to actually join your cable signal and antenna signal...unless you have different channels on normal OTA channels.

Thats something I didn't know about. Right now I have an antenna that has a spliiter in it and some of the OTA stuff is broadcast through my basic cable in HD. So, you are saying that if I run my antenna and my cable into a splitter I could then run the output of that splitter to the TV and receive both at once? I think I have a spare 3 way at home I will have to try this....

Thanks!

Well I certainly hope it works out for ya. If you have a set top box for your cable, then it will work no problem. Keep us updated with what ya find out. It is kind of amazing how this TV doesn't have dual rf inputs, even my 2 year old 30" Sammy CRT TXP TV had two RF inputs...but it cost as much as this TV does now (when it's on sale for $999)

I just thought of another thing, you could get a video selector too. An RF one. When I worked at radio shack (Uhg, what a bad place) we had a ton of 'em. Not too sure if they still sell them, but this could be another option for you.

As time goes on, and if another new type of input doesn't come out, HDMI video selectors are a possibility too...

well... I tried using a splitter and also tried using a combiner / splittter to have the cable and the antenna going into it then out to the TV and neither worked.... I guess the only solution is to use the tuner in the VCR for the cable and the "TV" tuner / HD decoder from the antenna input... kinda frustrating but looks to be the only solution.... that is unless I get a box...

I noticed in the manual the upgraded model has two HDMI inputs... that would be nice.... 2 HDMI and 2 Coax jacks would be ideal.... but oh well... guess thats what you get for the price... beggers cant be choosers right?

Scott

Did a quick basic color adjustment using HD tune up on HDNET.

picture +26
brightness -16
color -10
sharp -0
tint -0
color temp -normal
black -light
this is what Iam now using with my cable box throught regular 720p set up
I will run DVE with my DVD player using HDMI later.

Hey, those settings look great!!! On SD cable that is, I don't have enough cash monies for HD cable...

Thanks for posting your settings, can't wait to see what you get when you do you DVE! I wonder if those settings will be good for component too, since you're using HDMI

Thanks again!

Did a quick basic color adjustment using HD tune up on HDNET.

picture +26
brightness -16
color -10
sharp -0
tint -0
color temp -normal
black -light
this is what Iam now using with my cable box throught regular 720p set up
I will run DVE with my DVD player using HDMI later.

Thanks for posting that, looks pretty good so far.

Just curious how the gaming is on it...how much lag is there on current and older systems and is there a lot of ghosting?

I have a 2003 model of this set with no ghosting via Xbox 360 on VGA. I am sure these current models are fantastic!!

I am thinking of getting this today. I am returning my 32 Westinghouse LCD to BB today that I bought on black friday. Motion blur is very annoying on dvd's/hd-dvd's

I also got this on BF. It is definitely worth it.
Today would be a good time to get one as it is $999 at CircuitCity, but go on ebay first to get a 10% coupon for about $2 and save another $100 ... same as I did on BF :D
...and thanks for the settings, looks even better now

thinking og getting this tv but curious to know if it will work on my living room that is relatively 'well lit'. Any opinions/experiences to share? tia

Bump - Same question about well lit rooms. My family room has south facing windows and the TV would be on the north side. Worried about the picture being washed out. MY CRT set is OK.
RabidBunny

This TV is just fine in "well lit" rooms. The picture does not look washed out to me, but then again I'm just viewing regular cable, not digital cable or HD cable. The wife and I usually watch movies at night, but the few times we've watched movies during the day the picture has still been just great!

Hope this helps

This TV is just fine in "well lit" rooms. The picture does not look washed out to me, but then again I'm just viewing regular cable, not digital cable or HD cable. The wife and I usually watch movies at night, but the few times we've watched movies during the day the picture has still been just great!

Hope this helps

thnx for the feedback.

Thank you for the reply. Decided to wait a little more before the new TV.
RabidBunny

Well, the TV normally is priced pretty high compared to other TV's normally...

Man it would be nice to find out bulb usage! I turn on and off my TV so much through-out the day, it makes me wonder if that's bad for the lamp life. 18 month warranty is pretty nice though.
Have you tried hooking up your computer to the VGA slot? 1280x720 doesn't display correctly. I've used ATI's control center thing (I've got an x700 pro, PCI-X) and can't get it to display a FULL screen. Using components I can get an over-scanned full screen...bah, such a pain in the but!!! DVD's through my computer had the same visual quality as my JVC "home theater in a box". Kinda surprised me on that one!!!

What are your video settings by chance?

Frequent on and off cycles for the TV is generally accepted as shortening bulb life. Interestingly, Panasonic is releasing a new line of LCD RPT's in May which will use a bulb which does not burn out. Its called LiFi and will also be 1080p.

I have the PT-52LCX35. It's the version with two HDMI ports. I love it.

It's bright as heck! :)

Has anyone successfully used the VGA input with this TV and the Xbox 360? The damned thing won't even accept its native resolution (1280x720). When I try for a 1360×768 resolution, I can kinda fill the screen by manipulating the H and V controls, but I get about a 5% barrier around all sides of the screen that I cannot overlap, resulting in underscan (yeah, never had to use that word before ether).

Any information on the VGA input for the XB360 and PC would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and yes I know that the manual states the VGA input only accepts up to 1024x768, but seriously, that has to be a typo. What idiot would only allow 4:3 resolutions on a 16:9 set?

That is extremely interesting. My manual states 1024x768 as well, but its wrong.

My TV works great on VGA at 1280x720. It even shows 720p when I plug the Xbox 360 on VGA...though I had to enter the service menu to get it to fit centered.

The is weird. I have test this on the 2003 and 2004 models of this set. I can't see why they would remove it from the 2006 model. Maybe something is wrong with your VGA Cable.

My Overscan is currently 2%

I'm guessing it has to be some sort of glitch on the 2006 model. I've tried VGA from my videocard and XB360 and it still doesn't work like it should. I suppose I could just use my PC via DVI->HDMI, but the overscan makes it not worth it for me.

Here's hoping Panasonic issues a fw update for this. Here's a link to Panasonic HDTV firmware downloads in case anyone didn't know: http://www.pasctraining.panasonic.com/SpecialApplications/ProductFirmwareDownloads/downloads1.asp

I also picked up this TV for that discount...

I do not have digital service at my house but I rather have the analog cable and have about 6-8 digital OTA channels that I can receive....

My issue is this, without 2 cable jacks behind the TV, I have to reprogram the channels everytime I want to switch between my cable and my antenna. I was going to try and run my cable through the VCR and get the antenna to be the coax jack in the back of the TV, but this doesn't work all that great either.

So, I guess there really isn't a good alternative to this unless you have 2 coax jacks - since the TV will only decode HD channel signals through the "TV" mode.... at least from what I have found....

other then that.... I like the TV, good picture, good sound... great price....


Isn't there a QAM tuner on this set to be able to process HD content for the OTA channels with the analog cable feed ? ie you wouldn't need an antenna.

I tried also to start a thread with little response.. so don't be disapponted.....
I also bought the TV on Black Friday and for that price I love the picture.....

I am looking to keep tabs on bulb life span and also looking for anyone who can tell
me hpw to het into the service menu to fing out hours of bulb usage....

i like google
(http://www.google.com)

It took awhile, but I found it:

With the TV powered off (make sure it's off for a few minutes before trying this, or you'll wait for the customary cooldown period before anything happens if you turn the set off and try this stuff immediately), press and hold both the "VOLUME Down" button on the TV itself and the TV/VIDEO key on the remote control simultaneously for about 7 seconds.

If anyone else could comment on the VGA on this series and how it works for them, I'd be greatly appreciated.

Can some of you guys please post your settings about to get the 52".



TIA

Isn't there a QAM tuner on this set to be able to process HD content for the OTA channels with the analog cable feed ? ie you wouldn't need an antenna.



I cannot figure out how to get the OTA channels to work.

It is supposed to have a QAM tuner. Anybody know how to get this to work?

Well I figured it out on my own.I wasn't letting the auto programming finish cycling through completely. :p I thought once it did all of the analog channels I would stop it.Had to let it cycle through the digital channels. My dumbass mistake. :D

How is the over all picture including contrast, briightness ect... on this set thanks for the comments in advance.

How is the over all picture including contrast, briightness ect... on this set thanks for the comments in advance.


The picture looks pretty good after adjusting it with V.E. Hd looks really nice.I'm using the QAM tuner to view my HD programming.720p and 1080i both look good.


I wish a few more of the posters in this thread would give us updates on how these tvs are working out for them.The thread started in Dec 2006 and there hasnt been many post.

Yea I know I went on and purchased it I have a outstanding picture on mine after hours of tweaking both 1080i and 720p are outstanding. Now I have to return it because I have a half moon shaped thin black line at the bottom of the screen I just going to get another one this is a pretty good TV for the price

The picture looks pretty good after adjusting it with V.E. Hd looks really nice.I'm using the QAM tuner to view my HD programming.720p and 1080i both look good.


I wish a few more of the posters in this thread would give us updates on how these tvs are working out for them.The thread started in Dec 2006 and there hasnt been many post.

TV is still working great. Even some HD content that I've been able to pick up through my cable company (I don't think I'm supposed to get it), looks outstanding. I never thought a picture could look so CLEAR through a standard coax cable. Granted, it's just one channel that I don't get all the time, but man.

I ONE complaint I have with this TV is the VGA support. I bought the VGA cable for our 360 and it looks like garbage compared to component. It would be interesting to try the HDMI too.

Other than those few complaints, this TV has been just wonderful!

OH YES, one more problem...when I "auto-program" my TV channels, the digital channels that I DO pick up aren't always there to tune into. They just don't pick up, with a message of "channel not available" It's almost as if they only work when people are ordering movies through comcast. The only reason I say this, is because sometimes the movies will pause, rewind a bit, etc. They are free though...

Great TV for the price!!!!!

How is the over all picture including contrast, briightness ect... on this set thanks for the comments in advance.

Out of the box, the set was horribly uncalibrated. Faces looked almost beat red. After DVE calibration, it looks pretty nice, but I still feel it needs a professional look at it.




I ONE complaint I have with this TV is the VGA support. I bought the VGA cable for our 360 and it looks like garbage compared to component. It would be interesting to try the HDMI too.


At least your VGA works right. Read a few posts back to see what I've been experiencing. Also, HDMI to DVI for PC use isn't that great. I noticed more distortion/pixlation in my HD videos than I did watching them from my XB360 via component.


OH YES, one more problem...when I "auto-program" my TV channels, the digital channels that I DO pick up aren't always there to tune into. They just don't pick up, with a message of "channel not available" It's almost as if they only work when people are ordering movies through comcast. The only reason I say this, is because sometimes the movies will pause, rewind a bit, etc. They are free though...



Did you upgrade your firmware? I think that problem was in the list of fixes: http://www.pasctraining.panasonic.com/SpecialApplications/ProductFirmwareDownloads/downloads1.asp

Out of the box, the set was horribly uncalibrated. Faces looked almost beat red. After DVE calibration, it looks pretty nice, but I still feel it needs a professional look at it.


Strange, my TV was calibrated pretty well for SDTV. Faces weren't red, everything was just REALLY BRIGHT. Had to turn down the brightness quite a bit. Which isn't a problem to have!

At least your VGA works right. Read a few posts back to see what I've been experiencing. Also, HDMI to DVI for PC use isn't that great. I noticed more distortion/pixlation in my HD videos than I did watching them from my XB360 via component.

Oh no, I'll have to check back and see. This TV isn't sounding that promising...hopefully it's just your TV!!! I doubt it though. At any rate, now I'm wishing I would've waited. $999 was just too hard to pass up at the time.

I have to ask about your VGA, i'll edit this post if you answer my question from a previous post, were you able to get it fixed? AND, isn't that a manufacturer defect? It's ridiculous that Panasonic wouldn't fix something that's defective out of the box.

Did you upgrade your firmware? I think that problem was in the list of fixes: http://www.pasctraining.panasonic.com/SpecialApplications/ProductFirmwareDownloads/downloads1.asp

Yes I have actually. I'll try and redo it. I did have pictures still on the memory stick, even though the update sempt to have went all the way through....I'll do it again!!!

Has anyone successfully used the VGA input with this TV and the Xbox 360? The damned thing won't even accept its native resolution (1280x720). When I try for a 1360×768 resolution, I can kinda fill the screen by manipulating the H and V controls, but I get about a 5% barrier around all sides of the screen that I cannot overlap, resulting in underscan (yeah, never had to use that word before ether).

Any information on the VGA input for the XB360 and PC would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and yes I know that the manual states the VGA input only accepts up to 1024x768, but seriously, that has to be a typo. What idiot would only allow 4:3 resolutions on a 16:9 set?

Double post in my own thread, QUICK SOMEONE KILL ME!!!!

Actually studtrooper, you're having the EXACT SAME problem as me with your VGA and your 360. 1360x768 is the best resolution, but there is still a boarder around the screen. It pisses me off so much, I've spent sooooo much time calibrating to try and get things looking properly.

I've read, though, that there is supposed to be an update this May (for the 360) to fix some VGA issues. Something about fixing the color issues, and more resolutions. It really does seem pretty dumb that this TV would only support a 4:3 resolution.

Glad to see I'm not the only person having problems with that. The only fix I can see is if Panasonic issues us a fw revision to allow us perfect 720p utilization of the VGA port. Seeing how much they nerfed the VGA port in the manual though (4:3 resolutions ONLY officially supported), I'm not holding my breath.

All in all, $900 for this TV brand new I can live with it. Component is pretty damn fine... I just wish XB360 would allow for DVD upconversion over it. Stupid MPAA and their secret rules to hurt the consumer :(

Oh yeah forgot vga on the 360 there is a minor picture improvment, the vga is used for my monitor more than my tv.

I'm curious, what resolution are you running with the VGA cable on the 360? I am running at 1360x768 even though the TV manual says that isn't supported. The problem is, the resolutions it says it does support, none of those are wide screen. 1360x768 is an unofficial WXGA resolution. I could have sworn that I read somewhere that the TV supported that res, but officially not in the manual.

Also in the manual it said that certain resolutions would look better than others. I can only assume it is talking about that the pixels aren't perfectly square. at 1360x765 the pixels are perfectly square.

I started running the 360 with the component cables and I was getting a ghosting around the text. That completely went away with the VGA cables.

When I play Chromehounds the text is really hard to read. I dunno if this is just a ****** game (UNO looks GREAT) or if the VGA resolution I'm using is screwed up. I certainly dont want to damage the TV, but jeez louise support something better than 1024x768.

When I play Chromehounds the text is really hard to read. I dunno if this is just a ****** game (UNO looks GREAT) or if the VGA resolution I'm using is screwed up. I certainly dont want to damage the TV, but jeez louise support something better than 1024x768.

I've emailed Panasonic, just now, about their VGA support for this TV. Hopefully they'll reply by Monday or something. It'd be great to have WXGA support, hopefully a firmware update can allow for this!

For now, as usual, I'm sitting on my thumb....waiting

Does it matter when your tv was manufactured as far as the firmware update is concerned?


If you have one manufactured in the last couple of months do you still need the update?

Does it matter when your tv was manufactured as far as the firmware update is concerned?


If you have one manufactured in the last couple of months do you still need the update?

I'm not sure. Updating your firmware, to the newest version, really is a simple process. You just need a SD card. Other than that, everything is done within 5 minutes.

I haven't noticed any difference to anything since updating. I still have the "Channel not Available" problem that's supposedly fixed...

I did the upgrade to and still getting the same message.

well, I reviewed the VGA settings some more. It appears that you can run any resolution except the 1920x1080. Makes perfect sense since the LCDs dont address 1080 lines, only 768. i've noticed that any res other than 1360x768 looks like crap,...even the 1280x864 or whatever.

Do you get the 5% black border underscan using VGA @ 1360x768?

Well, I finally got a reply from Panasonic about this VGA issue...and they said I needed to call them, since they needed more information. It's pretty tempting to NOT call, I have a feeling I'd be talking to someone who only knows the basics...

Kind of like when people call computer companies, and you get this foreign person who really only knows to ask if you have it plugged in and turned on.

Do you get the 5% black border underscan using VGA @ 1360x768?


upon closer inspection, yeah, but that's whooptedoo to me. I think it is more like 3% underscan....it is just barely within the edge of the screen.

underscan is acceptable to me, overscan is not because I don't want to miss details at the edge of the screen. the underscan is so minor I don't even consider it an issue.

If it was like less than 2% I'd probably agree, but no way in hell am I going to sacrifice that much screen real estate for something that looks just the same as component (my main drive for using VGA was for DVD upconversion).

it doesn't look like that much to me. I guess if I felt like it I could take the measurements and calculate it, but really in game I don't notice.

Has anyone noticed if the new reference levels helped any? I can't tell a difference. I didn't know if this was because my TV had already been calibrated or the Panasonic didn't have this problem on VGA like other brands.

Anyone have any updates on performance?

Ours is not giving us any problems execpt the QAM tuner is not as good as the one in the Sony that my brother has.

Did you update your firmware for the tv? Mine still is kicking fine, with the exception of the banding and odd color issues I've mentioned before. For the price ($900) I'm still happy with it!

I also hooked it up to a HTPC via HDMI. With the exception of the overscan (which makes me use a less-than-720p resolution to get the picture to fit), it works fantastically.

Does anyone know how to get into the Service Menu, just wondering if it'll fix my overscan problem with the PS2.

Nevermind, seemed to have found it. "VOLUME DOWN" on TV, and "TV/VIDEO" on remote for 5 seconds does it. But it only displays lamp life, etc. No actual settings can be changed.

Speaking of which. My bulb life is at 4050h, what was the approximate life of the bulbs this TV used?

I remember it being around 6000h, if anyone can confirm that would be great.

That's actually a relief to me. I thought the average span on these bulbs were at around 2000 hours (I'm almost to that point and I've had this TV close to 1 year). And yeah, there are absolutely no overscan/underscan controls, which sucks pretty bad.

I have had my 52" for a year now, and i have done the firmware update. however my OTA HD channels i used to get stopped coming in. my cable company says that i should be able to pick them up, and i used to but not now.

Any ideas on how to solve this issue?

Thanks

There is a new firmware update that apparently is buggy. Use the next to last update.

I did the firmware update didn't notice anything different.

It personally messed up my PC (via HDMI) connection. I just flashed back to the 2nd to last one and it thankfully fixed it.

I have been using my laptop via VGA for over a year (with the small border). I tried connecting two different desktop PCs via HDMI, but playing videos have the wrong A/R. TV shows look like movies with large black bars instead of filling up the screen like they do with the laptop.:confused: My new PC has a nVidia GeForce 8500 GT card.

Sad, after all this time, no feedback from Panasonic about connecting this TV to a PC via VGA or HDMI.