The Official Panasonic 12G Settings/Issues Thread

[D-Nice]

****UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE SHOULD THESE SETTINGS BE USED WITH ANY OTHER SOURCE MATERIAL BEYOND THE PANEL AGING DVD OR THUMBDRIVE FILES****

Recommended 120 Hour Panel Aging settings for all 12G Panasonic models (ONLY to be used with Evangelo2's DVD or Thumbdrive Files!!!!!!!!)

*****Note: This procedure is designed to equally and evenly age all pixels and ensure the reference settings listed below provide maximum satisfaction. This procedure is NOT designed nor recommended to be used as Image Retention and/or Burn-in prevention.*****

Picture:
Picture Mode: Vivid
Contrast: 100
Brightness: 55
Color: 65
Tint: 0
Sharpness: 50
Color Temp: Cool
C.A.T.S: Off
Video NR: Off

Advance Options
MPEG NR: Off
Black Level: Light

[D-Nice]

TC-P42X1/50X1 Reference Settings

Picture:
Picture Mode: Cinema
Contrast: 80
Brightness: 78
Color: 30
Tint: G8
Sharpness: 42
Color Temp: Warm
C.A.T.S: Off
Video NR: Off

Advance Options
MPEG NR: Off
Black Level: Light

Service Menu Offsets

ADJUST MENU
SUB-BRT: -1

WB-ADJ MENU
R-DRV: -2
G-DRV: -30
B-DRV: -12
R-CUT: -33
G-CUT: -27
B-CUT: -24

Note: These offsets must be entered for both Color matrixes. You access the different matrixes by using a 1080i/p signal for the HD matrix and 480i/p signal for the SD matrix.

Calibration Report

[D-Nice]

S1 Series settings


Canceled

[D-Nice]

G10 Series settings


Canceled

[D-Nice]

G15 Series settings


Canceled

[D-Nice]

V Series settings


Canceled

[D-Nice]

Z Series settings


Canceled

[john_matrix]

Excellent. Can't wait to see what else you've found.

[outsidordinary]

huge debt of gratitude dnice.

[peteylewis]

Stupid question time...

the settings above... I have to run those for 120 hours before watching anything?

If so... 120 hours straight or should I turn the set off at some interval?

That's 5 days of round the clock use... wow.

I may set up the set in my basement to let this run... out of the reach of kids. If the basement is cooler (say 60 degrees?) is that an issue?

[danchilders]

I thought that type of break in procedure was over with the current gen Plasmas. Wasting 5 days of electricity and potential viewing seems crazy to me. How much consensus is there that this sort of thing is necessary?

[D-Nice]

Originally Posted by danchilders

I thought that type of break in procedure was over with the current gen Plasmas. Wasting 5 days of electricity and potential viewing seems crazy to me. How much consensus is there that this sort of thing is necessary?

Reread the first post in this thread... Specifically the information in italicized black.

[skroh]

Originally Posted by danchilders

I thought that type of break in procedure was over with the current gen Plasmas. Wasting 5 days of electricity and potential viewing seems crazy to me. How much consensus is there that this sort of thing is necessary?

As D-Nice implies in the first post, the days when break-in was required to prevent or lessen the likelihood/severity of burn-in or image-retention are mostly a thing of the past.

What is apparently STILL true of plasma sets is that they have a settling-in period where the image quality shifts as the set is first being used, perhaps like curing a fresh paint job or seasoning an iron skillet. It is best to get that steep curve of change over with before fine-tuning the image adjustments of the TV, because if you don't, your settings will drift away from optimal as the display continues to adjust to regular use.

And lest you think that the settling in is a bad thing, as I understand it, the picture quality generally improves rather than degrades during this time, particlularly brightness and contrast.

Is 5 days of electricity and viewing life out of an expected life of over 20 years really so much to pay in order for optimal settings to work as expected?

[skroh]

Originally Posted by D-Nice

Reread the first post in this thread... Specifically the information in italicized black.

Whoops, beat me to it!

[Rick46]

Originally Posted by D-Nice

****UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE SHOULD THESE SETTINGS BE USED WITH ANY OTHER SOURCE MATERIAL BEYOND THE BREAK-IN DVD OR THUMBDRIVE FILES****

Recommended 120 Hour Break-In settings for all 12G Panasonic models (ONLY to be used with Evangelo2's Break-in DVD or Thumbdrive Files!!!!!!!!)

*****Note: This procedure is designed to ensure the reference settings listed below provide maximum satisfaction. This procedure is NOT designed nor recommended to be used solely as Image Retention and/or Burn-in prevention.*****

Picture:
Picture Mode: Vivid
Contrast: 100
Brightness: 55
Color: 65
Tint: 0
Sharpness: 50
Color Temp: Cool
C.A.T.S: Off
Video NR: Off

Advance Options
MPEG NR: Off
Black Level: Light

I'm a newbie to this and would appreciate a quick clarification. As I am reading this, the TV is set to these settings when running the break in material. Once this is done other settings will be applied.

Thanks in advance

[StinDaWg]

D, are you still breaking in your set? When should we expect final settings from you?

[StinDaWg]

Originally Posted by Rick46

I'm a newbie to this and would appreciate a quick clarification. As I am reading this, the TV is set to these settings when running the break in material. Once this is done other settings will be applied.

Thanks in advance

That is correct.

[peteylewis]

Originally Posted by skroh

As D-Nice implies in the first post, the days when break-in was required to prevent or lessen the likelihood/severity of burn-in or image-retention are mostly a thing of the past.

What is apparently STILL true of plasma sets is that they have a settling-in period where the image quality shifts as the set is first being used, perhaps like curing a fresh paint job or seasoning an iron skillet. It is best to get that steep curve of change over with before fine-tuning the image adjustments of the TV, because if you don't, your settings will drift away from optimal as the display continues to adjust to regular use.

And lest you think that the settling in is a bad thing, as I understand it, the picture quality generally improves rather than degrades during this time, particlularly brightness and contrast.

Is 5 days of electricity and viewing life out of an expected life of over 20 years really so much to pay in order for optimal settings to work as expected?

so why not just watch TV on one of the standard picture modes and then apply the setting after that amount of time?

Is there any empirical data that suggests that running these test patterns for 120 hours and then applying calibration settings is measurably superior to just watching the TV (especially most/all in HD content.. full screen mode...) and then applying the settings?

Or is this just overkill?

Seems like a tad overkill to me but I really have no technical basis for that opinion... just seemslike it is...

[Juan]

Originally Posted by Rick46

I'm a newbie to this and would appreciate a quick clarification. As I am reading this, the TV is set to these settings when running the break in material. Once this is done other settings will be applied.

Thanks in advance

Thats correct.

Edit: Oops, somebody beat me to it.

[danchilders]

Originally Posted by D-Nice

Reread the first post in this thread... Specifically the information in italicized black.

I caught that part. It was the notion that they shouldn't "solely" be used for this purpose that caught my attention.

I understand the notion of a settling period (although admittedly, when people talked about that sort of thing with other electronics--such as PCs--it often seems more like mystic voodoo talk to me). But I'm curious as to why that wouldn't happen anyway and why it is necessary to run test patterns for 100 hours to "settle" it in.

I appreciate the advice and I have always recieved a lot of great free advice in these forums over the years. I guess perhaps I'm just not informed enough in regards of the value of this type of thing to avoid skepticism.

[Habby11]

Originally Posted by skroh

As D-Nice implies in the first post, the days when break-in was required to prevent or lessen the likelihood/severity of burn-in or image-retention are mostly a thing of the past.

What is apparently STILL true of plasma sets is that they have a settling-in period where the image quality shifts as the set is first being used, perhaps like curing a fresh paint job or seasoning an iron skillet. It is best to get that steep curve of change over with before fine-tuning the image adjustments of the TV, because if you don't, your settings will drift away from optimal as the display continues to adjust to regular use.

And lest you think that the settling in is a bad thing, as I understand it, the picture quality generally improves rather than degrades during this time, particlularly brightness and contrast.

Is 5 days of electricity and viewing life out of an expected life of over 20 years really so much to pay in order for optimal settings to work as expected?

Skroh,

Thanks for the detailed explanation it definitely helps newbies like myself when people are patient explaining things instead of getting angry at us for trying to learn new things.

Can't wait for D's review he seems like the guru of plasma. His review should definitely help my future television buying experience which should be a plasma

[skroh]

Originally Posted by peteylewis

so why not just watch TV on one of the standard picture modes and then apply the setting after that amount of time?

Is there any empirical data that suggests that running these test patterns for 120 hours and then applying calibration settings is measurably superior to just watching the TV (especially most/all in HD content.. full screen mode...) and then applying the settings?

Or is this just overkill?

Seems like a tad overkill to me but I really have no technical basis for that opinion... just seemslike it is...

Disclaimer: I'm a newb myself, as you might guess by my join date and post count. I've never owned an HDTV, though I plan to buy a 12G Panasonic as soon as the S and G series are out, reviewed, compared, and available under MSRP. I just have a habit of absorbing big chunks of arcane info quickly and translating it into laymen's terms.

That said, I downloaded the digital slideshow pics from D-Nice's link above to see what they were, and I think it helps to explain the purpose of the break-in process. They are a series of full-1080P images each of a single color: White stepping down through gray to black, then red, green, and blue from bright to dark.

Seems to me the idea is that you want to put some usage on every little cell of the display and do so as evenly as possible. Each cell is a sealed glass bubble (square/rectangular, not round) containing a gas, some phosphor, and the various layers that combine to make them light up in the right way at the right time. They are arranged in clusters of red, green, and blue that combine to make the colors your see. Normal viewing content will not consistently and reliably exercise all these clusters, and each color of each cluster, equally. Normal content will have a bias toward a certain range of colors and brightness, and will tend to be most active toward the center of the screen. Using the break-in images uses every cell on the screen equally so that, when it's time to adjust the settings, you're dealing with a predictable starting point.

Now you might ask, If normal content doesn't use the screen this way, why should I care, since normal content is what I plan to watch, not test patterns? The problem is the exceptions. You'll end up saying, my TV looks great, EXCEPT in really dark scenes, or EXCEPT when I watch a nature program with shots of the Arctic wilderness, or EXCEPT when I watch a spaghetti western with desert landscapes, etc. etc. You want your whole screen to be as good as it can, all the time.

[NOAMattD]

When you buy a new car, you gotta factor in some time for the engine to break in and get used to doing its job.

Also, I am REALLY happy to see service menu settings being posted in addition to standard menu stuff. Thanks a lot D-Nice!

[TayC]

Originally Posted by D-Nice

TC-P42X1/50X1 Reference Settings

Picture:
Picture Mode: Cinema
Contrast: 80
Brightness: 62
Color: 30
Tint: G8
Sharpness: 42
Color Temp: Warm
C.A.T.S: Off
Video NR: Off

Advance Options
MPEG NR: Off
Black Level: Light

Service Menu Offsets

ADJUST MENU
SUB-BRT: -1

WB-ADJ MENU
R-DRV: +4
G-DRV: -30
B-DRV: -12
R-CUT: -8
G-CUT: 0
B-CUT: -1

Calibration Report

Awesome!

[mjagers1982]

Originally Posted by D-Nice

TC-P42X1/50X1 Reference Settings

Picture:
Picture Mode: Cinema
Contrast: 80
Brightness: 62
Color: 30
Tint: G8
Sharpness: 42
Color Temp: Warm
C.A.T.S: Off
Video NR: Off

Advance Options
MPEG NR: Off
Black Level: Light

Service Menu Offsets

ADJUST MENU
SUB-BRT: -1

WB-ADJ MENU
R-DRV: +4
G-DRV: -30
B-DRV: -12
R-CUT: -8
G-CUT: 0
B-CUT: -1

Calibration Report

I assume there will be no technical difference between the US X1 and Europe X10? So I can use these settings also?

Another newbie question. I understand before you can use these settings you have to do the 120h break in, with the break in settings mentioned in the startpost. Can you watch normal television during the break in, or is it better not to do this? If it's possible, I have to change back the settings to the plasma's default?

[D-Nice]

Originally Posted by mjagers1982

I assume there will be no technical difference between the US X1 and Europe X10? So I can use these settings also?

I don't know. However, I would not assume that the EU X10 model is the same as the NA X1 model.

Another newbie question. I understand before you can use these settings you have to do the 120h break in, with the break in settings mentioned in the startpost. Can you watch normal television during the break in, or is it better not to do this? If it's possible, I have to change back the settings to the plasma's default?

You can do whatever you choose. However, these settings were based off of a strict break-in concept. Deviating for that concept will yeild different results.

[whiteboy714]

Originally Posted by D-Nice

Tint: G8

I'm not sure what that means with the G. Is it - or + ?

[D-Nice]

Green

[speedking]

Originally Posted by peteylewis

Stupid question time...

the settings above... I have to run those for 120 hours before watching anything?

If so... 120 hours straight or should I turn the set off at some interval?

That's 5 days of round the clock use... wow.

I may set up the set in my basement to let this run... out of the reach of kids. If the basement is cooler (say 60 degrees?) is that an issue?

I wouldn't run a set 120 hours straight. In addition, I wouldn't run this program "unattended". If you had a glitch and the image was frozen on the screen for a prolonged period of time it "could" result in IR.

In my case, I just ran my Panny full screen for awhile(to guard against IR)and did nothing to address the color issue and settings. It's 2 years now and I love my PQ. Perhaps I could have improved it with these settings and procedure, but I'm happy. I adjusted it, along the way, to get the picture I wanted.

I'm just saying that this procedure might not be for everyone. D-Nice is kind enough to provide this information for "videophiles" but it's far from a mandatory procedure. If you don't feel comfortable with it, don't do it.

[whiteboy714]

Originally Posted by D-Nice

Green

Thanks D, hey how do we get into the service menu to apply your settings?

Is it something you recomend people do? I'm no dummy when it comes to electronics but I defenitly would die if I effed something up.