Panasonic PZ80/PZ85 Calibration Thread (Updated first post) - Page 11

Yep, no idea why

Here are my re-calibrated settings using Cinema mode this time:

Picture mode - Cinema
Picture: +80
Brightness: +58
Color: +43
Tint: -5
Sharpness: +27
Color Temp: Warm
Color Mgmt: Off
x.v.Color: Off
Video NR: Off
MPEG NR: Off
Black Level: Light
HD Size: Size 1 (Size 2 for Blu-Ray)

Ok, finally found someone to give me a calibration appointment. I just paid Gregg Loewen a travel fee, he said he should be out right before the 4th. WOOHOO!

My friend and I just picked up our Panasonic TH-50PZ80U plasmas for $1299.00 each today without a hitch. We set up his plasma tonight since he already sold his old 50" POS LG plasma today for $500.00.

This thing looks SWEEEEEEEEEEEET. I brought over my BD version of DVE HD Basics and tuned it in to just about perfect. The settings from memory are:

Mode: Cinema (other modes had some video noise)
Temp: Normal (Warm wouldn't get all 3 primary colors correct with the gels)
Picture/Contrast: 45
Brightness: 45
Color: 40
Tint: +4
Sharpness: 60
Black Level: Light
HD size: 2
Video NR: on (did better with SD signals and didn't hurt HD signal's detail)
Color Mgmt: On
MPEG NR: Off

With those settings, all three color gels are damn near perfect. With the warm temp, I could not get more than ONE color gel to be correct.

His black levels are so much better and the false contouring no longer exists compared to what he had with that LG plasma.

Your really gonna love his work, he calibrated my panny plasma a couple weeks ago and also my 65" Tosh DLP. Both sets are considerably better, and his knowledge is invalueable.

Those are excellent settings for break-in but once you are over 100 hours you might try dialing up the picture setting to somewhere over 80.

Right, 34 fL needs a much lower contrast setting than 90... it will be in the 50s somewhere, more than likely, the exact setting depends whether you have adjusted gains in the service menu or not. So you can use Contrast set for a moderate light output (in the 50s somewhere, more than likely) in a dark room and run Contrast all the way up for daytime viewing. The small non-linearity that starts appearing at 100% white above ~90 is unlikely to be noticeable in a bright room anyway. It's typical of these panels to be able to use almost any Contrast setting and not see much change until you get down to 31 fL or so when the gray scale starts to wander around a bit more due the RGB tracking getting larger variations from step to step.

Picture Mode: Custom
Picture: +74
Brightness: +53
Color: +54
Tint: -2
Sharpness: +14
Color Temp: Normal
Black Level: Light
Size: 2 when possible
All other settings: Off

I have the th46pz80 and this setting looks much better than the cinema setting. I think I did a 100hrs.

Thanks. Gregg Loewen should be calibrating my set in about 4 weeks.

Hi,
Just got a 42PZ80U last weekend, and it's great.

Spent a long time avoiding HD because the displays are generally so terrible (my company makes the compression equipment for DirecTV and Dish, so I look at a lot of pristine monitors in the lab).

Anyway, I had been holding out for LCDs to get good enough, and the Samsung 650 looks pretty good, but for a lot more $$. When I saw the Panasonic, I was amazed by the bang for the buck, so I got one.

So here's my question: I have seen a lot of traffic about break-in issues. I'm using a DirecTV HD DVR, and for SD channels, using Pilar vs. stretch mode makes a *much* better picture. Based on some of the comments, should I be worried about the black on the sides during break-in? I try to watch as much real HD as possible, so SD is probably 1/3 of the viewing or less.

Another thing that I noticed when checking out the sets in the stores was the considerable amount of video noise, and I was concerned that it would bug me. But when I got mine home, there is very little noise, and I hardly notice it. One thought I had about this was the cavalier attitude that the Circuit City guys had towards laying the panel down flat; they suggested that I lay it flat to take it home and let it stand up for a few hours before turning it on...sounded pretty sketchy (I got another car and took it standing up). I wonder whether some of the noisy screens I saw had anything to do with the panels being mishandled.

Any tips about break-in would be appreciated. Looks like a good group here.

Thanks,

Marty

edit: I guess I should put this in the owners thread..........

I am seeing a little noise in the background on the two Blu-rays (300, DeJavu) that I tired. Is that normal with a brand new set?

Both movies have some noise, ESPECIALLY 300. Be sure to use cinema mode regardless.

Cheers - I just picked up Pirates and Bond off Amazon for $15 each, I hope their PQ is a little better.

Remember, there's a difference between film grain and video noise.

300 has a TON of grain.

Here's the gamma data I get for the Custom mode with a Picture setting of 60.

Stim fL
10% 0.181
20% 1.5
30% 4.1
40% 8.2
50% 12.9
60% 18.5
70% 23.4
80% 27.3
90% 32.0
100% 36.9

Average Gamma: 1.62.

I don't see how an average gamma of 2.24 in Custom mode is possible. I'd like to see the raw data.

Here are some pics of the 46pz80 Please tell me what needs to be ajusted. TIA

Quick question reguarding Calibration...I have a friend that does it for Best Buy and will pretty much do it for free. Is this ok or is it nothing like an ISF certified person or whatever? I'm willing to pay the money if a real pro is gonna do something different and better than a dude from Best Buy. I don't wanna insult my friend and ask him if he's good and I know he'll pay extra attention to my set but I just wonder is Best Buy's service the same?

They will be.

I'd go ISF, the last BB calibration we saw in here was pretty nasty. Your friend may know A/V but the service menu is a complicated beast and video calibration is very difficult without proper training. I myself am very comfortable with computers and electronics and I wouldn't even use the SM period. There's a reason these guys charge a good chunk of change for their services, not everyone can do what they do

I agree. Bbuy is trying to broaden their services, but these ISF guys are trained and its what they do. Im also a tech/pc junkie(have built plenty of my own pc's for gaming, written simple software in college) and I have no interest of entering the SM.

Picture Mode: Custom
Picture: +74
Brightness: +53
Color: +54
Tint: -2
Sharpness: +14
Color Temp: Normal
Black Level: Light
Size: 2 when possible
All other settings: Off

I have the th46pz80 and this setting looks much better than the cinema setting. I think I did a 100hrs.

Last night the lighting was not great to take pictures, this what I did, took some sample pics from my Laptop, copied them to the SD card and viewed them on the TV and took some pics of the tv. Maybe you can tell if the above settings are good. The prev pics showed a little more red maybe due to the RED WINGS

here are a couple more, no flash was used.

What did you dislike about Cinema? Ive tried tinkering with Custom a few times, but the noise just drives me nuts.

Yeah-back on the "custom" setting opinions. I have one set up and use it with Late Night with David Letterman but it's a bit washed out and I really can't use it reliably on any other source. I find Cinema at Elwaylight's settings works best across the board.

If referring to me, Cinema looks ok, but I find the custom a bit more lively or enlighten(a little brighter) while the cinema, looks a little fade or like old movies.

Excuse my ignorance what do you mean with Custom a few times, but the noise
do refer to noisy or distortion or what. TIA

I'd say your color is way too high. Anything over 44 looks fake to me. I have mine at 41.

For some reason I keep on going back to my Custom Settings..maybe its because I like a Brighter Picture..then what Cinema is giving me through my Time Warner Cable System.

I seem to get better skin colors on Custon then Cinema..I figure once I get the skin tons correct or most life like everything else will fall into place.

my TV is in the basement with one over head light between me and the TV..

My Custom Settings are..

Picture 60
Bright 45
Color 35
Tint 2
Sharp...45

Color Temp..Warm

and using HD 2 for screen size...

watching night time baseball using Cinema..I have a hard time seeing the batter..and for me Custom makes it brighter ..somewhere inbetween Cinema and Game settings..

I am not sure how much difference in picture Quality there is from getting your Feed from Cable and Dish/Direct...

maybe if my picture coming in was on the brighter side maybe Cinema would be better for me..

I know most on here like the Cinema better...but not me..

then again I am have Cataract surgery in a week and maybe that will get me to change from Custom to Cinema..lol

Maybe Ill try calibrating custom with dve and watch the Nascar race today OTA, this way I can flop back and forth to compare it to cinema. Ill also be watching No Country For Old Men tonight on bluray, so Ill try and run Custom on that too. If it looks bad on that particular movie(has great PQ reviews), then its just not for me.

I see on tv is a 46", marty whats yours? Just wondering if Im seeing more noise in Custom on my 50" compared to the 46".

is what I have....

do you get your picture from Cable or Dish/Direct..not sure how much of a difference in PQ there is because of the feed..

I just used DVE for custom

pic 60
bright 50
color 44
warm

Using nascar and tennis (HD OTA), custom is noisier than cinema. When I use Cinema, I see ZERO noise. I never have an issue with the brightness of Cinema, so Ill just leave it. The tv is getting calibrated in 4 weeks or so, so I wont have anything to worry about then