Panasonic PZ80/PZ85 Calibration Thread (Updated first post) - Page 4

I saw that #, I getting all 3 sets done for 1k + travel

Well, too bad we cant share 85u prof settings very well, but everyone I talk to say a prof calibration is worth the dough. I figure the 85u will be my baby until OLED displays are under $3k for the size, so its worth it. Up until now, Ive always had a slight beef with my tv's, but I love this one. The settings in this thread are good, will be neat to see if calibration makes a leap. Good thing is, at least you know its accurate, plus itll be fun to watch the guy work for 5 hours.

I need to know what mode should i break the TV in. Should every thing be but on 50 or lower. thanks in advance.

From what I've read (I'm around 60 hours on my 50PZ85U) all you really need to do is keep the Picture setting below 60 and avoid letter boxs and bars for long peroids of times, you can use which ever aspect mode works best, zoom will work for most anything.

I've been fiddling with my settings for almost a week now because some of the settings I tried from this thread still push the red and green too much for my taste, albeit they're better than any of the default settings. Essentially, I use the default settings for Cinema mode with the Black Level set to Dark and the Brightness cranked up to above 70.

Panasonic 46PZ80U

Picture Mode : Cinema
Picture (contrast): 100
Brightness: 70-80 (depending on the source)
Color (saturation): 40
Tint: 0
Sharpness: 50
Color Temperature: Neutral
Color Mgmt : On
x.v.Color : Auto

Advanced Picture
Video NR : Off
MPEG NR : Off
Black Level : Dark
HD Size : Size 1 or 2 (depending on the source)

Some pics:

The problem with setting the black level to "dark" is I find it crushes blacks on dark scenes, looks better with bright scenes and colors, but if you try watching a movie with several dark scenes you lose a lot of detail (and have to turn the brightness up so high it washed out the picture). YMMV

42PZ85 in France, dark room, Blu-ray. (tried on The Prestige, 3:10 to Yuma, Iwo Jima)



IFC turned on

-What do you think guys?
-In UK picture=contrast?
-where are tint and black level?
-how come you got numbers displayed for your settings?

Thanks fellas!

OK< OK just bit the bullet and scheduled a Professional Calibration on May 17, can't wait to see the results. I had a previously owned 50" toshiba RPTV calibrated about 10 years ago and what a difference.

I'm in the same boat I guess. My set's got maybe 120 hours on it, and using Tom's cinema settings but turned down picture a bit. I played through the first Metal Gear Solid with some long sessions, and no IR. But after a 4 hour session of Ninja Gaiden Sigma the life bar had caused a fairly persistent IR that took maybe a couple hours to completely get rid of. Maybe that game has a too-contrasty life bar, I dunno. I think I'm gonna be gaming in game mode for a while, at least on that title, lesser PQ be danged.

ive been playing a lot of gta4 today...it looks great on my pz85...i am using 'toms settings' but noticed i have to turn the brightness up quite a bit to make some of the dark shadowy areas 'playable'...

is it true that if i use the game mode i could get less ir? ive read some reports that this mode doesnt do anything to improve gaming/decrease ir/etc


im worried about the small circle in the bottom left corner...i love that they went with such a minimalist UI...btw i played for about 6 hours today (with breaks) and had no IR at all for those wondering...

Help please.

My TV is at about 140 hours and I played GTA 4 for four hours last night. No IR in the slightest.

I have my settings similar to Elway's and it's been fine.


With GTA I turned up in in-game brightness through the game's options to almost full so I could see better in dark scenes... man that game is dark!


Anyhow, no problems whatsoever for me. I also tried out Warhawk and no IR there with the same settings.


I have also heard that the Game Mode doesn't do anything... I think it's probably true lol.



Daedalus_ - sorry mate, but it looks like your menu is totally different then the US's. Picture does = contrast though. We have an "Advanced options" menu that you can adjust black levels, etc., so see if you have something similar to that.


Not sure about the rest of those thnigs But looking at your bars, your levels are similar to ours.

My HDMI cord will be arriving this week, so I will try some of the suggested settings. Right now I'm connected via component, using the cinema setting and things look great.

When the HDMI cord gets here, I will be connecting the Explorer 8300HD PVR directly to 50pz85u. I've read that some tweeking needs to be done when running HDMI so I will try some of the settings here and my own eyes to try and get it right.

Game Mode has nothing to do with IR. It is just a setting with very bright colors similar to Vivid that really doesn't do much for gaming (for me, anyway). I play games, watch TV, and movies all in Cinema Mode. If you want to reduce IR while gaming, turn down the Contrast in whatever mode you're in.

See post #17 and #18 of this thread.... you have a "Euro'' model ?

Yes I have, and the way the settings are displayed sucks.

Just reran the bluray DVE since Im closed to 100 hours.

Pic 85 (this is just a preference, dont go over 90 IMHO regardless)
Bright 52
Color 44
Tint +3 (I had to go positive with the color filters to get red more in control)
Sharp 50(I see edging around 75 to 80)

I wish Tom or somebody would come across a 80 in the field. I would like to see the difference in the settings compared to the 85 series.

^^ They should be exactly the same.

The only difference is a higher contrast ratio, which I doubt you could notice and the PC input, which is a waste since PC looks far better with HDMI (dvi to HDMI cable for the win).

PC mode is restricted to the 13-- resolution, but HDMI is 1920...

Since I don't have a spare $500, suddenly the PQ on my set is near-perfect.

Honestly, the set is damn awesome the way it is after using DVE. It seems once you get to the 200 hour range some of the inital quirks work out.

Noticed some light IR after around 40-50 hours. Haven't run the break in dvd. Perhaps I should have!


However, I haven't displayed anything that explains the IR I see.
No prob, I am going to wash it out using "galaxy quest" tonight. Great film.

According to panasonic reps and the manual it does help with IR. I have no idea how, but I want to use it if that's the case...and I wouldn't mind some good numbers if anyone has them

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I'm not running a break-in dvd, just trying to watch everything on full screen.

If I'm using the settings from TweakTV, will this be ok for the 100hr break-in period or should I lower some of the settings.

http://www.tweaktv.com/tweak-my-tv/1...1&model_id=255

most people just don't get it. There is no such thing as one setting for all TV. Panel variance, component variance, etc creates differences between one TV to the next, even when they are manufactured within the same day.

Best thing you can do is either pay someone or use a calibration disc. My BD DVE is very close to Tom's(prof calibrator) settings so I think those are very good starting settings.

Cinema- Most like because the PQ is better/sharper
Picture-IMHO its a personal preference
Color-This is where a calib disc is helpful, you cant guess on color
Brightness-same as color
Sharpness-The disc test pattern can keep you from over sharpening

As far as warm, standard and cool, thats a personal thing too(even though its pretty much fact that anything less than warm is not correct).

A proper calibration is a proper calibration, period. It's about mathematical results such as greyscale, brightness level etc etc. Once you're talking about taste, then it's no longer "calibrated" because then it will be out of what is correct (unless you like what is correct).

Sharpness, it's the only thing that can not be measured mathematically. The training I've been given is that to set the setting until the image starts to correct artifacts and then bring it down a couple of clicks. Basing it from that education, my findings have always been between 49 to 59 but never lower or higher. Especially not 18.

I got a 46PZ85u this morning! I'm sorry but this is my first HDTV ever and I'm a little unclear if the settings in the first post are meant for the break in period or for after the break in period. For the break in period, it's recommended to use these settings, right?:

Cinema mode
Picture: 60
Brightness: 52
Color: 41
Tint: -2
Sharpness: 50
Color Temp: Warm
Black Level: Light

Any other tips would be appreciated (I'll be on the owners thread a lot!)

i have the pz85, can anyone please tell me where to download the break in dvd? thanks!

Daedalus,

Very interesting! It is a lot different from State side sets. Tint is missing; this is therefore much like other brands in the states; that is, if you have a "digital" signal "tint" is not adjustable. What I consider the norm. Maybe the "tint" will therefore only show up, if there is an analogue input?

Next Item: Contrast instead of Picture. "Picture" IMO is a "catch all" to make things simpler for those not really experienced in adjusting their TV. Separarting the "contrast" portion out of the "picture" element would give "more control" on getting the ideal PQ a lot quicker and more accurate.

I also believe the overseas sets have the full blown Gemstar or equivilent TV Guide that our models do not.

To Me, it looks like it has "significantly" updated software and picture controls that our sets are lacking?

No "reset" at the top of page one! Great have they finally put it at the end where it belongs? Also, page up and down.

Anybody else?