Quote:
Originally Posted by
TomHuffman 
The black level in Vivid mode is below the ability of my meter to read it, which is 0.001 fL. However, it is not suitable for serious viewing. The gamma is a horror show, much worse than Standard. The whites are severely crushed, with the gamma measuring about 0.8 from 50% to 100% input rising slowly below that until it reaches 2.1 at 10%. It is a about twice as bright as Cinema, but this is achieved by the awful gamma and a greatly oversaturated green primary, more than in Cinema.
So it is very bright. It has a very deep black. But it is no where near accurate. I wouldn't use it for anything other than gaming.
I am at 90 hrs. and I have continued to raise the Brightness control to avoid losing shadow detail. It is now at 52, though oddly the black level measures the same, 0.008 fL.
Please stop sending me PMs asking for my settings. Here they are again.
Cinema
Picture: 60
Brightness: 52
Color: 41
Tint: -2
Sharpness: 50
Color Temp: Warm
Black Level: Light
I calibrated another of these the other day and these settings were almost exactly the same, though his light output was a little lower. I am getting about 34 fL at the 60 Picture setting. Color decoding is nearly perfect, though the red primary is oversaturated and green is oversaturated and bluish. Gamma is a very linear 2.2-2.3.
The only thing missing from this is a professional gray scale adjustment.
I have to say that I have read this and other TH-58PZ800U threads earnestly after purchasing a floor model set a few weeks ago. As a customer/owner of front projection equipment for many years, I have been involved with calibrations and understand the process fairly well.
Having said that and after experimenting with many of the settings put forth by the esteemed group of diligent Panasonic owners here, the THX settings are completely unacceptable to most viewers in terms of flat, darkened imagery. That is not to say they are incorrect or do not track gamma properly or any of the other problems associated with incorrect calibration. It just means they are not pleasing to the eye even in low light conditions. I have had more than a dozen people over the house to look at this tv and every one has concluded the same thing so it's not a singular preference.
I've plugged in [i]gourmetcoffee, daMaster, nyny69 and StuntMan Mike's settings with Warm temperature and still come up with a less than stellar picture that otherwise should be stunning in terms of technology with eye-popping sharpness, clarity and color reproduction considering an expensive Plasma. The THX settings, regardless of whose are implemented, appears stunted, limited, dark and suppressed.
I have gone into Custom with Normal temperature and reduced somewhat the original presets to like Brightness 45, Color 40, Picture 75 and so on. The image pops and is preferred by each and every one shown the comparison. Is this consumer ignorance? Should people have to watch a dark dull image even when experts say it is at 6500k?
The point about watching the correctly calibrated THX image in a darkened room makes no sense whatsoever. So, we spend time adjusting all this going into Service Menus and the like to have to watch tv in a pitch black room? I tolerate that in my home theater since it is a Sony G90 FP CRT that requires total darkness, but I am not going to have to live with that in a family room environment.
I suppose what I'm seeking is common sense and common ground here. I am not arguing whether or not the THX image can or can't be properly calibrated. I am arguing that the THX image under a Warm temperature is not a very pleasing picture to the eye.
