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75K views 237 replies 71 participants last post by  dave13 
#1 ·
Hi there,


My Panasonic 50" S30 Plasma got here today, and I'm on the lookout for good picture settings and/or break-in slides. I found the thread for D-Nice's stuff, but they advised to only use those slides & settings for the ST30 series. I'm kind of a stickler when it comes to getting the best picture I can, so if anyone can link me or post some calibration for the S30, that would be wonderful. Most viewing would be with 1080p content in a darkened living room. (I don't do much day watching.)


Thanks again,

Mike
 
#3 ·
I'd suggest picking up a calibration disc and calibrating it. (Spears & Munsil is good as well as the DVE HD) If you have a DVD writer, I would also strongly suggest you download and make yourself a copy of the AVS HD 709 disc found here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=948496


The only thing you won't be able to do yourself is calibrate the greyscale, but at least you can look at a greyscale pattern and see how far you are off. You'll be able to tweak the most important settings: Contrast, Brightness, Color/Tint (if you have a blue filter), Sharpness, set the color temperature to one of the Warm presets, and turn off all the extra un-needed processing options.
 
#7 ·
I'm almost done with the slide break-in that was recommended for the ST30. I don't see why it would have any negative effect on the S30. Once it's done, I'll insert D-Nice's ST30 settings (the ones I can anyways) and then tweak from there based on what looks good to me, I reckon. If anyone else has any other info please post it.
 
#9 ·
I purchased this TV about a month ago, and despite playing with the settings over and over again, I can't seem to find the right combination.


I'm watching the Red Wings/Coyotes game, and the ice actually looks a little yellow. I've tried going through all of the settings and tweaking them without any luck. My wife and I have noticed this on other things as well, such as baseball games and even some TV shows. If anyone can recommend/point me to some good settings, I would appreciate it.


Also...I'm not positive, but I think that the picture mode is changing by itself. Maybe not, but I'm pretty convinced that I had it set to Game, and when I went in last time to check some settings, it was on Vivid. Not sure if it has some kind of "auto" setting or if I just changed it and don't remember.


Anyway, thanks for any advice on the picture settings.
 
#10 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by fronzizzle /forum/post/20301479


Also...I'm not positive, but I think that the picture mode is changing by itself. Maybe not, but I'm pretty convinced that I had it set to Game, and when I went in last time to check some settings, it was on Vivid. Not sure if it has some kind of "auto" setting or if I just changed it and don't remember.

Maybe you're aware of this already, but most flat panels these days save different settings for each input. So when you switch from a gaming console to cable TV to a Blu-ray player, you'll get three different profiles. On the other hand, if you have all of those hooked into a receiver, then I'm not sure if that would still apply. Or you just forgot
 
#11 ·
Bought a 50" S30 at Sears on Sunday. Also got the Disney WOW HD calibration disc http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1303667 there as well with the 5yr warranty. So far, I'm loving the picture on it. This is my first HDTV. If I had to do it over again, I might as well spend the extra $150 for the ST30 version that has 1080 lines for motion (vs 900 on the S30). But so far, I am extremely pleased. The Disney WOW disc is very detailed and has calibration categories for different user level experience. I wanted a plasma, and it had to be bought at a brick n mortar store. The LGs (pk550 and pv450) gave it a run for it's money
 
#12 ·
Update..


So I ran the d-nice break-in slides recommended for the ST30 on my S30, for 102 hours. I then set my settings to what he recommends for the ST30, excluding the settings that aren't available on my model.


After having done only HDMI HD cable viewing so far, I gotta say, it looks f'n spectacular. I'm going to try out the 360 & maybe a blu-ray tonight, but so far I am very impressed. I can tell a difference between this & my old Samsung A650 so far pretty easily.
 
#13 ·
I have a family member who's taking delivery on this set today. I was hoping to find some tips for her. She's not an AVS type
and she lives a few thousand miles away so I can't help her with any hands on tweaks. I'll check back in here to see if anyone posts some suggestions. In the meantime, I'll continue to hunt around for settings.
 
#16 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by fronzizzle /forum/post/20301479


I purchased this TV about a month ago, and despite playing with the settings over and over again, I can't seem to find the right combination.


I'm watching the Red Wings/Coyotes game, and the ice actually looks a little yellow. I've tried going through all of the settings and tweaking them without any luck. My wife and I have noticed this on other things as well, such as baseball games and even some TV shows. If anyone can recommend/point me to some good settings, I would appreciate it.


Also...I'm not positive, but I think that the picture mode is changing by itself. Maybe not, but I'm pretty convinced that I had it set to Game, and when I went in last time to check some settings, it was on Vivid. Not sure if it has some kind of "auto" setting or if I just changed it and don't remember.


Anyway, thanks for any advice on the picture settings.

If the S30 is anything like the previous generations of Panasonic Plasmas, this yellow ice your seeing is the nature of the beast.


Only my oldest Panasonic plasma doesn't do this, but all my newer ones do.


It is very distracting. It has to do with the color temperature preset's (like "warm") white balance. Yellow ice would usually show up with a lack of blue in the grayscale, and/or too much green. I am not sure if there is adjustments on the S30's custom mode for white balance, but if there is, you could always eye-ball it.


Otherwise, Using a higher color temperature like "normal" or "cool" is the only fix besides professional calibration.


Without a pro calibration, I found using a higher color temp along with intentionally moving the tint into the red 2 ticks helped reduce the issue as much as it could.


If white balance is too yellow, like the text of credits, hockey ice, etc, only adjusting the grayscale controls will fix this.


In closing, I have noticed that "VS" network coverage of some hockey games has a yellow tint to it as well.
 
#18 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by stang323 /forum/post/20319489


picture mode :cinema

contrast: 56

brightness:49

color: 53

tint:2

sharpness:0

color:warm 2

color mgmt
ff

cats
ff

video nr
ff

screen format :full

hd size:size 2

advance picture : everything off and black level light

24p:48hz if possible


best setting so far for me

Thanks,do you use the same settings for movies and live sports on tv?
 
#22 ·
I've been looking seriously at this display because I just need a good TV for my living room. It has pretty much everything I want and I'm not worried about having absolute awesome blacks or perfect PQ. I've seen it at BB and liked how it looks so I was just wondering if anyone who has bought this set would talk a bit about what you think about it. It's a fairly good price and I do want a plasma but don't really want a 3D display (even though 2D PQ is supposedly better) or really want to spend the extra for that. thanks.
 
#23 ·
Another update.


As I had posted, I ran the slides for over a hundred hours straight, then used the ST30 settings. I use them for cable (1080i), Xbox360 & Blu-Rays (1080p) in a darkened (usually) living room, and sweet baby jeebus.


Game of Thrones on Sunday looked unbelievable, as do my games and movies on the PS3.


I completely recommend using the ST30 break-in process with the slides as well as D-Nices settings on your S30. Compared to my old Samsung A650, I can certainly tell a much more crisper picture.


I haven't noticed anything negative from the process yet, except my TV looks like it's "on" when it's not, if that makes any sense. The glass/image when the TV is off is a very light shade of black, like it's on but with no signal. A minor complaint, and I for one am glad I went ahead with the process.
 
#26 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by 4ML /forum/post/20339555


I'm lookin' at this model as well as the ST30 - and was curious about the motion picture resolution, if there is any diff. between 900 lines and 1080 lines. Any help will be much appreciated, thanks.

It's usually hard to spot the difference between 900 or 1080 with regular content. Perhaps if you are watching some content that has alot of massive and fast motion you may notice it. It's mostly something that is tested with patterns and whatnot.


Don't let the motion resolution be the only factor, factor in picture quality improvements as well.
 
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