Panasonic PZ77U Tweaks, Tips, Settings, Issues, Technical Thread

[SSpectre]

Due to popular demand in the thread about the PZ77U, this thread is devoted to tips, issues, settings, and other technical topics about this series of televisions.

I'll start with my settings:
Picture Mode: Standard
Picture: +9
Brightness: +8
Color: -1
Tint: -2
Sharpness: -10
Color temp.: Normal
Color mgmt: Off

I'll admit that I may have gone a little easy on the Picture/Brightness side because at that time I was unaware that Panasonic doesn't really allow this TV to go into torch mode. I was surprised I could get the TV's settings to such a high level without losing clarity and toned it down a little.

I may revisit these settings in the future.

How to view the number of hours the TV has been on:
Hold down the {VOL -} button ON THE PLASMA.
Press the {RECALL} button on the remote control 3 times.
The Service Menu will be displayed.

Use the {1} or {2} buttons to select "SRV-TOOL"
and press the {OK} button to access it.

Move the cursor to the right side of the last option
TD2Mictocode: 81c0000f
Flash ROM: 1-227E
PTCT :00.00.00.00.00 | <<HIGHLIGHT HERE>>

Then press and hold the {MUTE} button on the remote for 3 seconds.
The TIME / COUNT info will be displayed:

TIME = Hours and Minutes of Operation.
COUNT = Times the Plasma was Powered On.

To exit, press and hold the {POWER} button on the TV for 2 seconds.

NOTE: The TIME/COUNT values are now in Decimal Numbers.

[jezza1918]

42pz77u was just hooked up. a bit confused but i may know the answer so i need verification. i cant find the proper aspect ration when im watching HD. while watching HD channels the options are - zoom, 4:3, full and Just (i should have an H-Fill option as well)...when i have it on Full, the normal setting, i have grey bars on top and bottom of screen, while watching same tv at my friends house on Full, he has a normal screen. i have an HD cable box, but have not had the chance to buy any HDMI and/or component cables yet...are these the answer? if not, anyone know what is?
i fully understandd that with basic coax cables that I will not receive full HD service, but to me that means pic quality, not the aspect ratio
thanks

[Sherryl]

This is so timely. I think I just decided on this 50" model, thanks to the display forum and after much research and foot and eye work. I will need all the tips and tweaks I can get, er the TV can get. Be checking in with you soon, hopefully.

[LCSeminole]

Just got my TH-42PZ77U set-up in the home theater minutes ago. What's everyone using to calibrate their sets with??? Is there a calibration disc for Blu-Ray and 1080P sets available or am I stuck with DVE & AVIA???

[EclipseAgent]

Awesome.. I get my TV on Friday and will def check this thread.

One recommendation I have is for the people that have the TV post your settings and a picture of SD and HD content and a basic description of lighting in your room that shares the TV.
This will help someone decide which setting to try.

I will do the same when I get my TV "broken in".

I will calibrate using AVIA most likely.

[qsoundrich]

I'm seriously considering the 42 model, so I'm wondering what kind of feedback the owners can give (after calibration.) I saw some complaints from a professional on this forum about calibrating the new Panny plasmas, so let us know if you end up getting the view you were hoping for.

Also how do people feel about the anti-glare screen? Does it soften the image too much, or does the reflection diffusion do such a good job it's worth it? I will be placing my TV in a room with lots of windows, but no direct sunlight. I'm coming from a 26" LCD. It's SO hard to tell in a showroom how a TV will really look.

[bperry8]

Originally Posted by qsoundrich

I'm seriously considering the 42 model, so I'm wondering what kind of feedback the owners can give (after calibration.) I saw some complaints from a professional on this forum about calibrating the new Panny plasmas, so let us know if you end up getting the view you were hoping for.

Also how do people feel about the anti-glare screen? Does it soften the image too much, or does the reflection diffusion do such a good job it's worth it? I will be placing my TV in a room with lots of windows, but no direct sunlight. I'm coming from a 26" LCD. It's SO hard to tell in a showroom how a TV will really look.

Most of your questions can be answered in this forum:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...904003&page=52

[SbWillie]

anti-glare has no softening effect in my book...better pic than anything I've seen in any store!

`-10 on sharpness???

[posterns]

I've been playing with my 42PZ77U for a few days. At first I was unhappy with the graininess I felt I saw which I now realize is the matte coating. I seem to notice it more in darker scenes and more on SD broadcasts. HD stations look great however. Still getting used to the somewhat blurry SD channels which from what I see on other sets is common.

Still trying to get color right. My biggest complaint is skin tones tend to be somewaht flat and have a clay look. I also find that if I adjust color on one station it will be off on another. Is this typical with plasmas? flat screen TVs? This is my first so I have no real reference.

In any case, as of now these settings (with minor tweakings) have been working for me:

Standard
Picture: +30
Brightness: +14
Color: -2
Tint: -4
Sharpness: 0
Color Temp: Cool
Color Management: off

I've also used this on some shows with Black level set to Dark, which gives a rich black (although midtones can be a bit dark).

Jeff

[David777]

So far all I did was quickly set things by eye.

Standard
Picture +20
Brightness +8
Color -3
Tint 0
Sharpness 0
Color Temp Warm
Black Level Light

I'm not really happy with DVD quality, and HD from cable can be off and on. Some is pretty good. I'm sure Blue Ray or HD DVD will be amazing. I have a few pics of 300 on HD from my laptop. I'm still not sure about the anti glare layer. It does seem to dull the picture slightly, but as others have said and as you can see from my pics, with good quality material I don't think it makes much of a difference.

[deller6]

I just got this set and love the HD picture (most of the time), I had a 1080i Sony CRT previously and needed a bigger screen. Since I am new to plasma I was wondering if low white-levels are an inherant characteristic of them or is it just the PZ77U.
I've got "picture" turned up to 30 (I hate using maximum settings for fear of wearing out the TV) and still when watching any scene that is predominantly white, the image gets pretty dull in my opinion (I've tested many different sources). Is this a power source/usage issue? Do plasmas just not get very "bright"?
Any ideas? I'm attaching two snow scenes from Planet Earth on BluRay approximated to my perception of how white the snow appears. I adjusted camera exposure and appearance to match how "not bright" it seems to look. I'm sure all our computer monitors will makes these pics look different, but you probably get the idea.
Any input would be appreciated.

[Stix2]

Dull white? You mean actual white :P not that eye burning white on LCD's hehe. Whits are white like they should be. Never had whites in my days walking around at work that torch my eyes.

[Hannzo24]

My Settings:

Picture Mode: Standard
Picture: +12
Brightness: +7
Color: -2
Tint: 0
Sharpness: -6
Color temp.: Normal
Color mgmt: Off
Black Level: Light
All Extra Settings Turned off
HD Mode 2

I like to keep my room pretty dark when using my TV. I have one lamp off to the side of the set that I keep on most of the time to give me a little light. The one window that I have on the opposite wall to my TV is covered by a black curtain, no light gets through. I am very happy with my tv and have enjoyed every minute of it thus far. The only dilema I'm dealing with is trying to decide what format to go with. I really haven't even seen a true 1080p signal yet.

[SSpectre]

Originally Posted by jezza1918

42pz77u was just hooked up. a bit confused but i may know the answer so i need verification. i cant find the proper aspect ration when im watching HD. while watching HD channels the options are - zoom, 4:3, full and Just (i should have an H-Fill option as well)...when i have it on Full, the normal setting, i have grey bars on top and bottom of screen, while watching same tv at my friends house on Full, he has a normal screen. i have an HD cable box, but have not had the chance to buy any HDMI and/or component cables yet...are these the answer? if not, anyone know what is?
i fully understandd that with basic coax cables that I will not receive full HD service, but to me that means pic quality, not the aspect ratio
thanks

Let me make sure I understand you correctly. Your cable box is hooked up to the TV using coaxial cable?

[SSpectre]

Originally Posted by SbWillie

anti-glare has no softening effect in my book...better pic than anything I've seen in any store!

`-10 on sharpness???

I used the standard DVD of Avia 2. I felt the sharpness had no effect on the pattern, so I turned it down a bit. A HD version of this pattern may be useful. It's the one shortcoming I felt from using the SD version of Avia 2, but I don't have an HD disc player either.

[Droid6]

Anybody dig into the service menu of this thing yet? I just got one of these yesterday at Best Buy but i'm afraid to even open it listening to certain comments here.

[FooserX]

>>>>Also how do people feel about the anti-glare screen? Does it soften the image too much, or does the reflection diffusion do such a good job it's worth it? I will be placing my TV in a room with lots of windows, but no direct sunlight.

To me, the matte screen only seems to soften the image in the daytime and with SD channels. I think the glossy screen would be better in the day? All I have had is an LCD to compare it to, and in the daytime, the more reflective screen provided better viewing colors. At night, they are pretty darn close to the same with good HD sources.


To deller6 - ALL Panasonic plasmas seem to have slightly washed out pure whites. The 75U (or whichever model the 720p is) was the brightest that I saw at Best Buy...but even the 700 with more reflective screen had the exact same whites as this matte screen.

It really only is noticeable on pure white screens, and it's not like all the colors are washed out, just the white. I watched the Colts game on Sunday night in HD, and their uniforms were pretty darn white to me.

If you go to Best Buy and check out the tv's, you'll be surprised how many of them have a slight grey tint to the whites. The nice LCD's were white...but then they have lighter darks compared to the plasmas. Take your pick. :-P

[Hannzo24]

Originally Posted by SbWillie

anti-glare has no softening effect in my book...better pic than anything I've seen in any store!

`-10 on sharpness???

High sharpness settings usually produces false edges....at least that's what I've heard/read. The sharpness pattern on Avia2 was almost completely worthless to me. Maybee it was just my eyes, but I could not see anything changing at all when I adjusted my sharpness.

[b@nned]

my settings after using DVE are:

Picture: +10
Brightness: +5
Color: -1
Tint: -2
Sharpness: -2
Color temp.: cool
Color mgmt: off

[Tom S.]

I'm seeing some image burn-in/retention on my 50pz77u. Is there a "negative image" setting like there used to be on panny plasmas? Kind of annoying there's no scrolling white bar to use.

[Nickb1907]

Wondering if i can "tune" it to make regular channels look crisper, they have a slight blur to the edges.

And the other thing is on the couple HD channels i have they will sometimes be full screen and sometimes have the bars on the left and right side of the picture to make it not widescreen. Is there anyway to make it automatically stretch the picture or do i have to fix it everytime.

I have posted this in 3 threads now, with no answer. Im assuming noone knows why or how to fix this???

[Hannzo24]

If your seeing sidebars on HD channels then they are playing programs that are not true HD. I've seen it with commercials on my HD channels. Only thing you can do is hit your aspect button to stretch it to your liking.

[checo001]

Originally Posted by Nickb1907

Wondering if i can "tune" it to make regular channels look crisper, they have a slight blur to the edges.

And the other thing is on the couple HD channels i have they will sometimes be full screen and sometimes have the bars on the left and right side of the picture to make it not widescreen. Is there anyway to make it automatically stretch the picture or do i have to fix it everytime.

I have posted this in 3 threads now, with no answer. Im assuming noone knows why or how to fix this???

What is your source for HD? I had the same issue until a Comcast tech installed a new box and told me the setting had been wrong all along. Now it automatically expands the image to fill the screen.

[SSpectre]

Originally Posted by Hannzo24

High sharpness settings usually produces false edges....at least that's what I've heard/read. The sharpness pattern on Avia2 was almost completely worthless to me. Maybee it was just my eyes, but I could not see anything changing at all when I adjusted my sharpness.

The same thing happened to me. I wonder if the HD version of the pattern would make any difference. I don't think the Blu-ray/HD-DVD version of Avia2 is even out yet though.

[tcfish19]

Got this Panel last Friday and mounted on Saturday. Using in a room with a sliding glass window on the opposite wall. The anit-glare/reflective screen is great. It does change the picture quality as I have a Pioneer 5070 to compare. The Pioneer is glossy and would get killed by the window. This thing you just don't notice that much. The picture is a little different when viewing SD or poor HD than a standard panel like the Pioneer. However when viewing good quality HD their is little to no dif. What you lose is depth in the picture on SD or an upconvered HD signal. Again watching College football on CBS or ESPN I noticed little difference. Or at least not enough to bother me.

What I really like about this TV which no one is talking about is the processing of the signals. My son watches alot of Noggin on a digital SD channel. Watching on the Pioneer versus the Panny the Panny does better with the upconversion. That with added resolution. I was expecting much more macro blocking and mosquito noise like I get on the Pioneer when viewing anything on this channel. But the picture is very quiet, which I like. I like the strech mode as well or better than the Pioneer. They both are running off the same signal with the same cable box and HDMI cables. The colors are not as good but that's about it. I was planning on getting a Pioneer 4280 or 950 but the price is just stupid for a 42" screen. Went with the Panasonic and don't regret. I'm sure in the summer I'll be even happier as the window faces the south and we get lots of light in through it. Really no complaints so far. Makes no noise, fan/buzzing, no image retention and the price was really good, already price matched once since Friday and got another 150 back.

In all if I was looking for a Panel for HT use where I could control lighting I wouldn't look at this panel. It's just not meant for that. That's what Pioneer and Runco and those guys are for. But If you're looking for an everyday TV in a room with windows and lights and people watching mainly dancing with the stars or noggin and you want to be able to watch sports on occasion on it without all the issues of an LCD you owe it to yourself to research this TV. It's a great TV that can handle almost any viewing enviro.

[marvin91]

I am new to hdtv. This is probably a stupid question. I currently have regular directv. Can it still be hooked up to PZ77U and with what cables? I am off my two year committment in Jan. so if I wait until then I can get free hd receiver. If I go now I have to pay for receiver. Is this viable? or should I just splurge now and get hd? Thanks

[Nickb1907]

Originally Posted by checo001

What is your source for HD? I had the same issue until a Comcast tech installed a new box and told me the setting had been wrong all along. Now it automatically expands the image to fill the screen.

basic cable, but its funny. I did the channel memory thing when i got it and i ended up getting 3 HD channels, 50 music channels, and starz that i didnt have with my crt tv.

[RandyWalters]

Originally Posted by marvin91

I am new to hdtv. This is probably a stupid question. I currently have regular directv. Can it still be hooked up to PZ77U and with what cables? I am off my two year committment in Jan. so if I wait until then I can get free hd receiver. If I go now I have to pay for receiver. Is this viable? or should I just splurge now and get hd? Thanks

I presume your regular DirecTV receiver has S-Video or at least a regular yellow Composite Video output and yes you can use either of these to connect it to any Panasonic plasma TV. It won't look all that great, but might be good enough to hold you over till January. You might want to see if you can get their HD DVR - there's a lot of good HD programming on while you're asleep or at work and it's nice to record it all and watch it when you want.

Do you have a roof antenna? If so and if you're close enough to the local broadcast towers you can pull in the digital "HD" channels using the TV's tuner and watch network HD programming.

[checo001]

Just set up this tv today replacing a 480p ED Panny plasma. I have noticed the somewhat muted colors on some of the channels but HD, DVD, and Xbox 360 (what a difference!) look awesome. I've been playing with the settings - any tips to clear up some of the "fuzziness" on the SD channels?

[marvin91]

Originally Posted by RandyWalters

I presume your regular DirecTV receiver has S-Video or at least a regular yellow Composite Video output and yes you can use either of these to connect it to any Panasonic plasma TV. It won't look all that great, but might be good enough to hold you over till January. You might want to see if you can get their HD DVR - there's a lot of good HD programming on while you're asleep or at work and it's nice to record it all and watch it when you want.

Do you have a roof antenna? If so and if you're close enough to the local broadcast towers you can pull in the digital "HD" channels using the TV's tuner and watch network HD programming.

Thanks Randy

I do have S-Video. I will use it for couple of months until I can get the free receiver.