Panasonic PZ80/PZ85 Owners Thread [No Price Talk] - Page 369

Originally Posted by John51705

I'm quite certain I don't have the "Picture" settings configured optimally OR correctly!
I think I will the "break in" settings for a little while and then try a set up disc - or possibly one of the THX discs (i.e. Toy Story or Indiana Jones). Any suggestions for these?

Originally Posted by Dan P.

The THX patterns are ok. I think Avia has a better test for black level. They divide the screen in half with black and white, and put the grey bars in the black. This gives you a more realistic test for black-level where there's dark and light areas in the same scene. Digital Video Essentials is good too. You need RGB filters to calibrate saturation and hue, and you get the filters with Avia and DVE, so you'll want to get a test disc so you get the filters.

If you calibrate the set you will end up with the numbers people are suggesting for "break in", but I don't think the "break in" is so important with today's sets equipped with pixel orbiters and such. Unless you intend to use this thing to display a single static image all the time (like a neon sign), you just aren't going to have any issues.

That said, there may be one scenario where you could give yourself an issue. If you set the "format" to 4:3, side bars "off", and the picture set to "vivid" mode, and then left it that way a very long time, you could experience uneven phosphor wear. By setting the side bars to "bright" (or at least more than black), this evens out the phosphor wear when the set is in 4:3 mode. But I can't think of a reason why any one would buy a 16:9 TV and permanently make it 4:3.

Originally Posted by StinDaWg

I am looking at the 42" Panasonics and trying to decide whether or not I need 1080p. I returned a 50px80u because the picture did not look clear enough to me from 8'. I have very good eyes and have a knack for picking out flaws in a picture. I thought the black levels on the 50px80u were very good but not great. I would be sitting 6-7' away from the 42" set. I'm not too worried about spending a hundred or two more for the 1080p set if it's going to be sharper and have noticeably better blacks. Anyone go through this same decision?

Originally Posted by StinDaWg

I am looking at the 42" Panasonics and trying to decide whether or not I need 1080p.

Originally Posted by John51705

I think I will the "break in" settings for a little while and then try a set up disc - or possibly one of the THX discs (i.e. Toy Story or Indiana Jones). Any suggestions for these?

Originally Posted by John51705

Thanks for your input Dan! Where can I get these Avia discs? And what exactly am I looking for here? (thanks for your patience!!)

I'll do some "tweaking" and let you all know how I did!

thanks everyone!!!

Originally Posted by tspinning

Congrats rtronick, great TV! I'd say even with the temp stand, I'd find a way to tie all your cables into one "cable mass", that made my (also junky stand) look a million times better, and my girlfriend also was much happier because she was no longer distracted by the wire mess.

Originally Posted by John51705

Thanks for your input Dan! Where can I get these Avia discs? And what exactly am I looking for here? (thanks for your patience!!)

I'll do some "tweaking" and let you all know how I did!

thanks everyone!!!

Originally Posted by auskck

FYI:Panasonic
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7868966.stm

Originally Posted by John51705

Thanks for your input Dan! Where can I get these Avia discs? And what exactly am I looking for here? (thanks for your patience!!)

I'll do some "tweaking" and let you all know how I did!

thanks everyone!!!

Originally Posted by teamprp

I picked up the 50PZ80U several days ago and am having several issues with the picture. This is my first plasma. I'm coming from a sony rear projection KDF 50" E2000. On the 80U I am currently using the cinema setting with picture & brightness a little under 50/set on warm/sharpness at 50.

The panny obviously has better contrast, visual depth and a cleaner image (no screen door effect like the sony). And the colors are pretty good. Although not "perfect." Overall, the 80u obviously looks very nice with over-air HD broadcasts and Blu-Ray. But I have a few issues.

1. I'm seeing some screen flicker, almost like a CRT monitor with a lower refresh rate. I don't notice it all of the time, but I do often. Is this normal for plasma screens to have a slight flicker? I do not mean a motion flicker like film motion, I mean like actual refresh rate type of flicker.

2. I'm also seeing more banding in the gradients than I noticed on the rear projection sony. I'm going to do a side x side to double check.

3. Upscaling from Standard Def DirecTV looks worse on the 80U than it did on the sony. The image looks more blurry and colors look more plastic-like and almost "smudged". Could it be the additional scaling to 1080p of the 80u rather than the lower upscaling to 720p of the sony? Both tv's are 50". However, I do not think it is the additional resolution since a friend has the same setup I do but with a 55" 1080P sony rear projection and his standard def directv tivo basically looks just like it did on my sony.

4. I'm not a fan of the green trails and can see them easily. They are terrible while gaming and while watching black and white video(opening scene of Casino Royale). But I know they should reduce with more use.

What bothers me the most is the screen flicker. Followed by gradient banding. I can live with below average standard def scaling for a while until I upgrade. But that flicker almost makes it visually awkward to watch tv. (I am also bothered by the visual anomalies of rear projection DLP.)

Any ideas what I could try tweaking? Maybe I am just too sensitive for Plasmas? Has anyone else noticed these issues or am I just that unusual hahaha

Originally Posted by albert0373

I'm getting some slight green phosphor trails too though not too noticeable. (46PZ85u)

Hmm...hope it goes away.

Originally Posted by dividedsky319

Anyone else ever get a buzzing in the upper left of the screen?

When I go and "push" on the upper left corner of the screen it stops. But it usually comes back. Maybe it's something getting hit by a fan?

Originally Posted by jrimmer

Hi John,

I sometimes have to tweak the settings depending on the material I'm watching. For example if I'm watching national geographic the picture can look quite grainy if I have it accidentally on Vivid or Game.. gets better with lower contrast and brightness...also check to make sure that the sharpness isn't set too high or too low. Some of the default settings i found to be lacking.

However, in general i find that going with Cinema is your best bet.. dial down the colour a shade and tint to your taste.. it does make the picture a bit Hazy. (Probably not the best word, because the PQ isnt altered at all). Thats mainly what i put it on anyway and make minor adjustments accordingly.

Good luck with the new set!

Originally Posted by odd-props

funny how the story makes a big deal out of "Panasonic set to cut 15,000 jobs" and then at the end of the article there is this little blurb "Sony is also cutting 16,000 jobs and closing five or six plants" like it's no big deal.

Originally Posted by John51705

is the PZ80 doing anything with the signal (in regards to upgrading it) from the BluRay? The signal is coming out of the Onkyo as a 1080p signal - would the PZ80 be trying to process it in anyway or would it simply "play" it as 1080p?

Originally Posted by tboo

Im getting a loud buzzing noise as well in that same area. Its VERY loud during bright scenes.

Originally Posted by teamprp


1. I'm seeing some screen flicker, almost like a CRT monitor with a lower refresh rate.

2. I'm also seeing more banding in the gradients than I noticed on the rear projection sony.
3. Upscaling from Standard Def DirecTV looks worse on the 80U than it did on the sony.

4. I'm not a fan of the green trails and can see them easily. They are terrible while gaming and while watching black and white video(opening scene of Casino Royale). But I know they should reduce with more use.

Originally Posted by bodosom

If you have overscan turned off (hd size 2) and noise reduction/filtering disabled the PZ should be doing little to a 1080p signal. This isn't always the best though, I was surprised to find that the PZ does a better job of de-interlacing 1080i than my HD player. Surprising because it's inferior (at 480i di) to my Oppo DVD player. I haven't gotten to scaling tests just yet.

Originally Posted by John51705

So I should set the HD Size 2 for BluRay (I want the 1080p) and HD Size 1 for when I'm watching cable (480, 720, 1080i?) to take advantage of the overscan?

Originally Posted by bodosom

I always use 2. Size 1 is ... gross. Mainly because it's so much and there's absolutely no reason for it with HD programming. If I'm watching 4:3 and get dot crawl in the main program I put the PZ in 4:3 mode which appears to zoom the image a few pixels vertically as well as overlaying the pillars. The video noise is uncommon in program material (on DTV using native mode) and although it's quite common in 480i commercials I skip those.