Panasonic TC-P42G10, TC-P46G10, TC-P50G10, and TC-P54G10 Owner's Discussion Thread - Page 205

Stupid question... The zoom on THX is better than any zoom I can get on Custom. Custom is closer than I would like it. I have cycled through the Format options and I cannot get Custom to match the THX output. Is this something I need to change on the PS3?

Also, I have been going back and forth on the THX and Custom (with JeffLackeys SM) and I cannot determine which I like more. THX is not as dark as it is made out to be in my environment, but it is darker than Custom. I guess the only way to know for sure is to get me a colorimeter and calibrate my set

Can someone post that PDF someone made a few weeks back that had all the common recommended settings in one place? I can't seem to find it....

Here ya go.

 

G10 Settings.pdf 52.0400390625k . file

i JUST ORDERED THE 50" G10. I CAN'T USE THE G15 AT ANY PRICE BECAUSE IT IS TOO WIDE TO FIT IN MY ANTIQUE ARMOIRE YES, I KNOW I WILL NEED A COUPLE OF FANS TO KEEP IT COOL ENOUGH BUT THAT IS A SMALL PRICE TO PAY FOR A PRICELESS INSTALLATION.

Does anyone know where the IR receiver on the unit is? I mounted mine on the wall but my center speaker blocked the panasonic logo area

I need an extender does anyone know of an 1 node extender that doesn't cost like $80?

This reply is over a month after your posting. I have been getting worried that I was going to miss out on the 50" G10 I had my heart set on (mainly because of this thread) and it seemed like they were getting harer and harder to get. One of the sources I had been following is Amazon and today I found this set at the best price I have seen. I jumped all over it. Since this will be my first HDTV of any kind I thoroughly expect to be blown away.
By the way, the story behind the one I have been using for several years is pretty interesting. We were in Dallas visiting family not long after my son had bought a beautiful huge screen HDTV. A day or two after he took delivery of it he happened to look across the street and there was a nice hear projection TV sitting next to the curb. My son went over and asked what the deal was. The neighbor said the set was broken so my son asked if he could have it, which was o.k. He pushed it across on its rollwrs and when he looked at it more carefully, the glass and the mirror were broken. SITTING INSIDE WITH THE GLASS WAS A PHONE! He didn't know what infuriated the neighbor so much, but all he did was buy another glass and mirror and it worked perfectly. He gave this 45" Mitsubishi rear projection TV to us and we brought it back 1325 miles to Ft. Lauderdale. It still works great -- so good that we haven't sprung for an HDTV until now.

I was in the same exact boat, with my center covering up the IR eye:

I went with the Impact Acoustic IR repeater kit and problem solved. But I got it from HERE for <$50 TYD.
The only downside is that the G10 appears to be very picky about positioning. If you move the transmitting 'eye' by as little as 1/16" it will not work. So a lot of trial and error (and frustration) might be in order. I ended up taping the eye to the back of my center channel.
I actually stuck one eye onto the back of the speaker, then stacked the other eye on top of that one and taped over the whole thing with scotch tape. It's a bit of a mess but it works like a charm and you can't see it at all anyway.
HTH.

PS You can see the IR receiver in the pic above. It's sitting right in front of the DVD player.

Thank you sir, I am glad I am not the only one, I am very picky about the dialog to come as close to the image as possible, plus I needed the TV as low as possible.

Anyway, it seems like if you get a flash light and tape the emitter right over the TV's eye, it should work fine, but having it further away should work too.

Any problem with the new eye picking up your remote? I am using a harmony remote.

Hey guys.

Currently running the slide show recommended by D-Nice at the moment (just started it). My P42G10 is my first plasma... do they always run so hot? I'm worried that I need to get a portable fan near it as I break it in.

Am I being a dork? =)

(I live in Los Angeles... house is NOT air-conditioned, and can get a little stuffy)

a 50 inch g10 and g15 are the same width and height. the G15 has slightly less depth near the top portion on the rear of the panel. Just compare the specs on panasonic.com.

Either way...buy whichever one is cheaper in the marketplace since they're basically the same TV. There's no real advantage of getting one over the other. (at least for US models. European model G15s have some little extras.).

Pricing has varied enough over the last few months that the G15 can sometimes be cheaper than the G10.

The break in display is very hot and draw a ton of power. my system draws 2.5 amp when playing a regular movie but when I use the test because of all the pixels lit up it draw about 4.8 amps.

I am doing the same thing here in NorCal and I would not leave it on for too long with the door closed, I can feel the heat emitting from within a foot of the screen right now.

Totally just pulled a stationary fan from my attic and set it up to cool my new baby!

I am curious, I have some blu rays that are 1.85 aspect ratio, when I put them in I was expect to see a thin black bar on top and bottom, but I could see none.
I am on "HD2" so no overscan. Does my BD player zoom for me..if that is possible?

Totally overkill. Think about what you said there and think if you would feel comfortable showing it to your friends neighbors and family. Then think about if they would commit you to a home.


I also find it odd that so many people use the the slide method which has the settings on the set placed in such a way as to cause IR or burn if something odd happens when not watched. Especially when it is not needed unless you are going to use settings that have been promised for more than half a year.

Your set would run half as hot if you broke it in the way your supposed to which is 50 contrast for 125-150 hrs thats pretty much it.

Keep trying to stop the break in myth!
so glad I decided to listen and think before I blinded followed this forum myth of slides to break in.

People think about it. Dnice said in the very first message that the break in does NOTHING to prevent IR or Burnin.

I really hope you are kidding...

The worst thing you could do is baby a new piece of electronics during it's warranty period. Normally with electronics and computers if something is going to break it happens within the first 30 to 90 days. Therefore it is advisable to push it a bit and use it a lot.

Hi..

my set is new and I tried the xbox 360 NETFLIX briefly, in THX and standard mode there is a bit too much purple, I was watching "lost" and blood color and lips are a bit purple.

I'm not saying Netflix is my reference material..
but I was wondering if the xbox 360 color space need to set to something beside RGB?
will this go away after the TV have more hours? or professionally calibrated?

I havn't tried blus yet switched back to running breakin DVD for now.

SerialMike: Are the custom and standard settings you used in the pdf in post 6126 after the break in period? Which of those settings do you prefer most?

I see they deviated from the settings you posted very early in this thread...

I will be trying some of these settings as a starting point and then tweaking from there once my break-in period is over.

Give the guy a break! Try giving advice without the personal attack.

I have a 50" V10 mounted in a corner amoire type cabinet. The first night I had it I let the break in slides run over night and the inside of the cabinet was warmer than I felt comfortable with. After that, I set the power saver mode for shutting off the TV with no activity for 3 hours. After 3 hours of break in slides the interior was warm, but not like after 8-10 hours. During regular operation, the interior of the cabinet never gets overly hot and the unit was on probably 12 hours last Saturday watching college football.

what is the setting? From the first post of this thread recommended 100% contrast.. I am on the 50 contrast 50 brightness for now.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1128487

Picture:
Picture Mode: Vivid
Contrast: 100
Brightness: 55
Color: 65
Tint: 0
Sharpness: 50
Color Temp: Cool
C.A.T.S: Off
Video NR: Off

Advance Options
MPEG NR: Off
Black Level: Light

I ran the break-in slides for about 150 hours. The first two days it ran non-stop and then I ran it over night until I hit about 150 hours. The picture is awesome, way better than my sisters Sammy 52" LCD. I'm now at about 410 hours and three months into my new 50" G10.

But the above quote is right. As I unfortunately found out. IR is still an issue and a great disappointment. A couple of days ago, I decided to spot check the screen for any problems...and there it was...the dreaded IR. And it came from an unlikely source, my TWC cable box. I'm using a SA box with the SARA DVR software. Every time the channel is changed the channel name is boxed in a light blue box at the bottom of the screen. It's up for maybe 3 seconds each time the channel is changed, longer if I'm surfing. But apparently, the 3 seconds has a cumulative effect over time. I can change the menu colors, but the channel box is always very bright, no matter what color. The IR is easily seen as the break-in slides run. After I ran them for an hour the IR was gone. But, since I typically keep my TVs for years, I have to wonder what the long term prognosis is for plasma. Three months for IR, 1 year for burn-in? Now I'm considering a TiVo or Moxi so I can get a handle on the menu colors...

It really sucks. Plasma has the best picture, but it will be a high maintenance TV and IR will always be an issue. Add one more item to my to-do list...

For the first 150 hours or so you are advised to keep contrast and brightness 50 or below setting. What I did with my new G10 is take Mike's numbers and just reduced them but kept the ratio the same. I then used the 120 slide set for plasma break in available here My break-in values are

Format: Zoom so it is FULL SCREEN at all times.
Intended Use-FiosTV, Blu Ray, DVD, Ps3, x360
Picture Mode: Standard
Contrast: +50
Brightness: +49 <-- edited to reflect SerialMike's suggestion
Color: +48
Tint: -4
Sharpness: +83

Color Temp: Warm 2
Color Mgmt: Off
x.v. Color: Off
CATS: Off
Video NR: Off

3D Y/C Filter: Grayed Out - OFF
Color Matrix: HD
Block NR: Off
Mosquito NR: Off
Black Level: Light
3:2 Pulldown: Off
24p Direct In: Grayed Out - 60Hz
HD Size: Size 1 For FiosTV, Size 2 for Bluray, DVD, PS3, X360


You're correct. And I edited out. But it did sound really sad and it was meant more as a rib nudging than an angry reply.


Could you please post pictures? Do you see it permanently such as when the TV is off or on other channels? Did you try running the anti-burn-in clear out on the TV?

As a brand new G10 owner, I am curious to see what this effect is that has been repeatedly discussed on this thread. Thus far just watching TV for about 7hrs of zoomed I have not seen this yet. I believe this has been described in this thread as normal with plasma and CRT TVs, as I know my old CRT used to get "ghosting" image that took a few moments to disappear. Also, friend has a Hitachi for 2 years and the plasma set has worked perfectly with no IR or Burn in -- and let me tell you they did NOTHING other than plug it in and use it without thinking about it since hour #1.

Just got my replacement 50G10 from Amazon yesterday...

No dead pixels or stuck pixels! wooohoooo...

Interestingly I was expecting the picture to not be as good since I had about 2 1/2 months on the old set and had used Orta's SM settings. However, I think the picture on the new set looks fantastic as is.

One thing I did notice, the firmware version on the new TV appears to be newer than what you can download. I don't remember the exact numbers but when I tried to update it, it said the newest version for download was a lower version than what it currently had (I think 1.190 compared to 1.240 or something like that - can't remember the exact numbers). Not sure what changed though.

That's intersting. Out of curiousity, what are your settings?

I don't have mine at torch level, but I haven't seen any IR at all on this new set. One example - I run the DirectTV software download for my DVR about every Friday. Basically, there is a pretty bright D* logo on the screen for about 5 - 10 minutes. I do it on both DVR's - one attached to my 3 year old (very broken in) 42" Panny and one attached to my new 50G10. On the 42" Panny, I can clearly see the logo when it goes to a white screen for about 30 seconds before the download is complete. However, by the time the white screen goes away (about 30 sec.), the logo is gone. Now on the G10, I don't ANY hint of the logo no matter how close I look.

Also, I notice from time to time on my 42" Panny, that when I've had the D* guide up for a while looking for something to watch I can still see a little bit of the guide when I select a channel (since it goes to a blank screen as it cycles to the right format for the channel). Again I can't see that at all on my G10. I have yet to see ANY IR no matter what I do. However, like I said - I don't have it super bright, so that may help. But, with comparable brightness, the G10 has MUCH less IR than my 3 year old 42" Panny.

Pana, You can use the brightness at 49. That wont cause the IR or BI. Contrast is what does it. My recommendation is 50 contrast for first 100 then for a little more viewing pleasure like 52 till 150 then you can go for the full 57.

Thanks for the advice, I just adjusted! I am a little concerned about the channel logos that are on every darn channel, but the logos are opaque so I assume their pixels are changing constantly for colors on the logo so is safer.

Something I see (but still too early to be sure), Black Level at DARK seemed to give a "deeper" image. Did you ever try Black Level at Dark with your standard setting?

The first ones I posted way back were early. I used more patterns and discs later to come to the settings in my sig. The settings in my sig are the final ones. I have been over the set over and over since then and the ones in the sig which havent changed are as perfect as perfect gets from disc no service menu calibration. Some htings may look odd such as -4 Hue but the hue not only takes into account Magenta/Cyan(the standard pattern for hue). I have also looked at how each setting effects all colors. The set was then balanced to get everything as close as possible. Another example is the discs tell you to set color by blue. Well that only accounts for blue. I also looked at the other colors with my own personal patters along with dve and thx to get things adjusted as close as I could on avg for all said colors.

The settings in my sig are for after break in. My advice for the first 150ish hrs is you can use my settings except keep contrast at 50 for the first 100 then 52 from 100-150 if you want just a little more punch

Then after 150ish you can go with the regular settings. I use recommend and prefer standard 100 percent over custom. I use standard for everything TV, Movies, Gaming.

I did post settings for custom and THX for those that requested them.

I thought I would post the OFFICIAL panasonic statements on burn in and break in periods. This is for the 2008 models: http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs...tGroupId=24973


4. What is the "break-in" period and what should I do during the break-in period to minimize any risk of image retention?
When your plasma TV is initially installed, the first 100 hours of use is known as the "break-in period." During this time, to minimize any risk of image retention, you should:
Make sure the plasma TV is in a viewing mode (aspect ratio) that completely fills the screen. The panel is shipped in this condition, in what is called the "Just" mode.
Turn down the Picture setting (in the Picture menu) to +0.
Briefly engage the 4:3 mode and confirm the side bars are set to "Mid", or "Bright". This can be adjusted in the Set Up menu.
Always return the display mode that fills the screen (such as Just, Zoom, Full, or H-FILL).
Try not to view channels with stationary backgrounds or logos for extended periods of time.
Avoid extended display of static images (video games, computer images, DVD title screens, etc.).

5. I've heard that plasma TVs can "burn-in" over time. What is "burn-in" exactly, and is it really a concern?
"Burn-in," or image retention, is an uneven aging of the phosphors in a display device, can occur on any display that uses phosphors to generate an image, including tube TVs, projection TVs that use CRTs, and plasma TVs. Such uneven aging happens when bright, static images are left onscreen for an extended period of time, which can leave a visible "shadow" effect.

Improvements in panel service life to over 60,000 hours have minimized the risk of image retention. In addition, screen savers, pixel shifting, and brightness level adjustments can dramatically reduce any chance of image retention. Use common sense when it comes to your plasma TV; don't pause video games or watch TV stations with station logos onscreen for long periods of time, and use one of the many display calibration DVDs available today for properly setting brightness and contrast.

The rule of thumb: if you don't worry about your traditional tube TV, you don't have to worry about a Panasonic plasma TV.

Awesome, thanks! Also, I have been running the D-nice slides for about 3 hours this AM while doing other things. Do you still suggest running those, albeit occasionally, for the first 100-150 hours at 100 contrast? I just felt like I should at least exercise the phosphors uniformly from time to time.

I hope I can keep myself from bumping the contrast above 50 for awhile, I get impatient!

BTW, I was absolutely astounded at the black levels I saw in Fallout 3 last night!!! I turned the HUD opacity to zero on Mothership Zeta and found myself staring at dark parts of the alien ship. I never got anything close to this type of black level on either of my LCDs! Superb.