A little insight for Insignia NS-PDP42 Owners

[herr_howard]

Just to bear out even more that this set is EXACTLY the same as the LG 42PC3D, I found some info on the LG plasma thread that I had to try. If you press and hold the 'Menu' button on the right side of the set, and then press and hold the 'Menu' button on the remote, you'll enter the magical land of the service menu. Up at the top, it shows the model number of the set (on mine it says 42PC3DD-UE) as well as some other 'versions' of things. SW (I'm assuming software) is 03.02, MK (unknown) is 3.02, PQ (assuming again, picture quality) is 2.20.00. There are a whole host of other things to peek at there, but since I'm deathly afraid of screwing anything up, I'm only looking for the running time of the set. Any help there?

[akaVegas]

Just holding the menu button on the remote and punching in 8741 gets you into SM with cuts and gains, not anything really to worry about screwing up.

[ousooner2]

Yeh, Insignia is just last years LG. Thats why their actually not bad of a deal if your looking for a bargain.

[nunayabiznis]

so these are decent TV's? $800 plasma is real tempting.

[VinceD]

Originally Posted by nunayabiznis

so these are decent TV's? $800 plasma is real tempting.

If your not expecting miracles, you can't go wrong with a $800. plasma TV. For about 100+- more you might be able to do something with a panny, sammy, lg or hitachi. Shop around real good!!

[Zook_b]

The supplier for the 42" and 50" Insignia Plasma's are indeed LG. It even says on the computers at work. lol

The other Insignia models, however, are not made by LG.

[Kampfer]

Insignia plasma aka LG plasma is amazing for the price. It may due to the fact that it is a plasma, but it looks hell of a lot better than majority of the mid to low end LCD at BB. Some of which cost more...

[herr_howard]

I know CNet just slammed this particular little TV, but I'm well into month 2 now with the set and (for me) I don't have any major issues with image retention like they seemed to have. It might just be that I have the Low Power option set to 'on' for my set and it cuts the image brightness by 30%. Some may think the screen would be too dark, but if you play with the contrast, brightness, color and sharpness enough you can get a really good picture. Plus, the screen doesn't get nearly as warm and I have absolutely NO IR in this mode.

In any case, not everyone can afford to purchase the top-of-the-line equipment or even spend that extra $100 bucks to move 'up' to a Panasonic (funny, I see a lot of threads about broken or poor quality Panasonic sets in this forum...hmmm...), so let your eyes do the work for you. Buy the Insignia and a second choice set, bring them home for the 30 days BB will let you keep em, then you decide. I decided I didn't need to spend $2-300 extra for a Panasonic.

[griz_fan]

I just picked up a Insignia NS-PDP42 over the weekend for our master bedroom. For the price, its a great deal. Right now, I have an antenna hooked up for OTA HD, a standard-def Dish Network DVR (522) hooked up by s-video, and a 480p Pioneer DVD player hooked up by component. I was trying to track down a 42" Panasonic 75 series for $100 more, but it looks like it is sold out locally. Only time will tell, but so far, few complaints. Picture quality with DVD or HD is excellent, SD from the Dish DVR is watchable. There is some image retention, especially after using the menus, but that fades quickly and can only be seen close up against a black screen. One thing I like is that if I have a problem during the 1st year, I can simply take it in to a local Best Buy for service, instead of having to ship it somewhere. Oh... the remote is actually pretty nice, and this TV plays well with my Dish remote.

One complaint, though. There doesn't seem to be a practical way to remove the base stand. I wall mounted mine last night (using a mount from monoprice.com), but couldn't remove the stand, luckily it sort of folds away behind/below the screen, but it still takes up space. If someone knows how to remove the stand, I'd appreciate some tips.

[klavender]

The stand does come off pretty easy. You just need a screwdriver I believe. It's been a little while since I helped a friend wall mount his, so my memory isn't the greatest. But, if we can figure it out, it can't be too hard.

[MDEnce]

Originally Posted by griz_fan

I just picked up a Insignia NS-PDP42 over the weekend for our master bedroom. . . .
One complaint, though. There doesn't seem to be a practical way to remove the base stand. I wall mounted mine last night (using a mount from monoprice.com), but couldn't remove the stand, luckily it sort of folds away behind/below the screen, but it still takes up space. If someone knows how to remove the stand, I'd appreciate some tips.

I also got the NS-PDP42 over the weekend for my master bedroom. Ordered the low profile mount from Monoprice.com Sunday night. It was delivered yesterday and last night I mounted it fine. The mount has 4 screws 2 on each side. 1 is through the brace on the stand at the bottom, the other is right above it, and goes through the bottom of the case, and then the brace. remove the screws from both sides and the stand just slides out the bottom.
Hope it helps.
BTW - anyone know if I can use the Insignia remote to control my Toshiba HD-A3 HD-DVD player? I tried the 2 codes listed in the manual for a Toshiba DVD, and no go, and when I googled it, all I get is codes for controlling the TV with other remotes.

[rumonkey2]

At the current price, I'm really tempted to give this set a try.
Anybody w/ this set over 100 hours? Is the retention still a drawback??
I don't game - usually for me it's movies or sports. But when the GF has the remote, the cable guide/menu is often "on screen" - she can't seem to settle on a show/movie. And the DVR is paused often.
How long does an image have to be up for retention to be noticed?
Is it more prominent on "tickers"? ESPN/CNN & such...or do the network logos even get retained? This time of year, if on local networks, lots of "stormwatch" maps constantly displayed - I'm guessing this will be a problem too.
If the retention does in fact fade & not truly burn in, this may not bother me - as when I'm sitting still & watching, there's usually alot of action going on. Will it bother my gf?? Only she can answer that....
And yeah - $200 or so more is a big deal to me...

I guess I need to go out & "see" some of this retention to know for sure...

[herr_howard]

Originally Posted by rumonkey2

At the current price, I'm really tempted to give this set a try.
Anybody w/ this set over 100 hours? Is the retention still a drawback??
I don't game - usually for me it's movies or sports. But when the GF has the remote, the cable guide/menu is often "on screen" - she can't seem to settle on a show/movie. And the DVR is paused often.
How long does an image have to be up for retention to be noticed?
Is it more prominent on "tickers"? ESPN/CNN & such...or do the network logos even get retained? This time of year, if on local networks, lots of "stormwatch" maps constantly displayed - I'm guessing this will be a problem too.
If the retention does in fact fade & not truly burn in, this may not bother me - as when I'm sitting still & watching, there's usually alot of action going on. Will it bother my gf?? Only she can answer that....
And yeah - $200 or so more is a big deal to me...

I guess I need to go out & "see" some of this retention to know for sure...

I've had my set for a couple of months now (Since Feb 3). There are times when I go 'grr' over some temporary IR, but I can honestly say that I only see it...

a) If the screen is totally black
b) If I've watched anything less than full screen (which kills me since some of my local networks won't show their HD content in full 16 X 9...what gives?)
c) If I leave the settings in 'torch' mode (i.e. high contrast, high brightness, etc.)

I've got a PS2 hooked up to it and some games leave IR, some don't. I have an Insignia upscaling DVD player hooked up to it. Splash screen leaves some SERIOUS IR (come on, Insignia...bright white logo with bright white stripes underneath????) Bottom line....NONE OF THE IR HAS STAYED MORE THAN 2 MINUTES PAST WATCHING REGULAR, FULL-SCREEN TV!!!

Just for a contrast, I have a 27" Sony Wega flat screen TV in my family room. I get more IR from IT than I get on my Insignia...and that's just watching normal TV.

What I've found on this TV is you have to strike a balance between bright and crisp with slightly muted and soft (image-wise). There is a setting called 'Low Power' on the menu. When off, the screen is mega bright and that's when I see most of my IR. If you turn that setting on, it automatically reduces the screen brightness by 30%. There, I've found that I can ratchet up the contrast to around 95 and bump the brightness up to about 60-65 and I get a picture that's acceptable to me. YMMV, of course. Also, turn on the orbiter, it'll help mitigate some of your IR woes. In a pinch, you can also white-wash, but watching full-screen TV works just as well.

So, yes, I have seen IR. No, it has not frightened me and nothing has even come close to permanent burn-in. Just tell the GF to exercise some restraint in the program guides, crank down the brightness and whatnot if you leave 'Low Power' in the 'off' mode and I think you'll be fine. If you get it, BB gives you 30 days to decide. I suggest watching as many things as you can during the 30 days. I kept mine (snobs and purists can walk away...I got it as a gift and I didn't feel like spending more to get a Panasonic or a Samsung...and Pioneer was right out of the equation) and everyone who has seen it in my circle of friends seems to think it's the bee's knees. Give it a try! I primarily use mine for movies and watching some sports. Colors really pop and images look great.