AVS › AVS Forum › Display Devices › Plasma Flat Panel Displays › Panasonic TC-P42U1 / TC-P46U1 / TC-P50U1 Owners Thread
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Panasonic TC-P42U1 / TC-P46U1 / TC-P50U1 Owners Thread

post #1 of 197
11/29/09 at 12:19pm
Thread Starter 
Please post your pictures, settings and any issues you have.


I thought we needed a thread of our own since none exists.

I own a 46U1 myself, I bought it a few days ago. My experience so far has been great with only a few slight problems. I noticed the greens were a little harsh, whites as well and I also noticed a bit of phosphor lag on a few movies where a white or black object was against an opposite color background such as a flashlight in a dark cave or a suit sleeve against a bright sky.

I am still in the break-in period and I try to limit the amount of static images I view but it is not easy. I have mine set to Custom with a slight bump in Contrast to 60 and Brightness to 65. I couldn't stand the Standard setting to long as it was way too dark for my room even at night.
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 197
11/29/09 at 12:59pm
I picked up the 46 from Wal Mart Wednesday and I really like it so far. Great deal, btw.. might be one of the best bargains out there right now.

I'm still in the break in period as well. I've been using D-nice's break in procedure when I'm not watching tv, so hopefully that will help. I really hope that someone who knows what they're doing will post some service menu tweaks. This set looks great out of the box, but there are definitely some small tweaks that could take it to the next level. The white's are a little dirty (My first plasma, so I may just be used to LCD) and at times the green can be a little much.

You're right, the Standard setting is too dark. I was actually reading a review that said Panasonic made the Standard mode like that in order to make the TV energy star compliant. Apparently if you make a TV have a really dark power friendly default setting it can meet energy star requirements, lol. The settings I'm currently using are probably not as power friendly. Here's what I've been using lately.

Picture Mode - Cinema (Custom is good too, but I prefer the slightly warmer look of Cinema)

Contrast - 82
Brightness - 66
Color - 44
Tint - +4
Sharpness - 0 (May need to be jacked up for SD)
Color temp. - Warm

C.A.T.S., Video NR - Off
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 197
11/29/09 at 10:04pm
im looking to get the 50UI from bestbuy for 999 it looks awesome compared to the sony and samsung beside it. i m just concern coz i believe it has no anti glare.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 197
11/30/09 at 12:16am
Bought my TC-P50U1 in July. Love the picture but in a room with any more light then its in would be awful in glare. Defiantly needed calibration but the difference was night and day. I actually used Dnice's offsets in the service menu and cinema mode settings and the picture came out very well. No more green push.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 197
11/30/09 at 6:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tim1086 View Post

Bought my TC-P50U1 in July. Love the picture but in a room with any more light then its in would be awful in glare. Defiantly needed calibration but the difference was night and day. I actually used Dnice's offsets in the service menu and cinema mode settings and the picture came out very well. No more green push.

That's good to hear. I'll have to give those offsets a try once the break in is finished.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 197
11/30/09 at 12:03pm
Just make sure you write all your original settings down and understand what your doing in the service menu. You can get into trouble in there if you start changing stuff without knowing. First time in the service menu i navigated around and wrote everything down then went back and started changing.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 197
12/1/09 at 12:12pm
Yeah, I'll definitely write down all of the original settings before I change anything. I took a look around in the SM yesterday and it seems pretty straight forward. I don't think I'll be able to screw anything up.. Just one more day of break in left and I'll be all set.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 197
12/3/09 at 10:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnrg87 View Post

I picked up the 46 from Wal Mart Wednesday and I really like it so far. Great deal, btw.. might be one of the best bargains out there right now.

I'm still in the break in period as well. I've been using D-nice's break in procedure when I'm not watching tv, so hopefully that will help. I really hope that someone who knows what they're doing will post some service menu tweaks. This set looks great out of the box, but there are definitely some small tweaks that could take it to the next level. The white's are a little dirty (My first plasma, so I may just be used to LCD) and at times the green can be a little much.

You're right, the Standard setting is too dark. I was actually reading a review that said Panasonic made the Standard mode like that in order to make the TV energy star compliant. Apparently if you make a TV have a really dark power friendly default setting it can meet energy star requirements, lol. The settings I'm currently using are probably not as power friendly. Here's what I've been using lately.

Picture Mode - Cinema (Custom is good too, but I prefer the slightly warmer look of Cinema)

Contrast - 82
Brightness - 66
Color - 44
Tint - +4
Sharpness - 0 (May need to be jacked up for SD)
Color temp. - Warm

C.A.T.S., Video NR - Off

I just picked up my TC-P50U1 from Best Buy on their Black Friday sale with the Panasonic BluRay player. I'll definitely try these settings out and see how they do. Thanks.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 197
12/4/09 at 3:11pm
Thread Starter 
Here are some pictures of my TC-P46U1:

Jurassic Park (Starz HD)



Pirates of the Caribbean (SyFy HD)



Reply
Reply
post #10 of 197
12/5/09 at 2:49pm
Pics look great.


I just finished the break in up at about 130 hours. I went ahead and applied D-Nice's offsets and I definitely noticed an improvement in the picture, as well as an improvement with the green push I was experiencing. I can't really put a finger on it, but the picture just seems to have more pop.

I'm very happy with this purchase so far. I can't believe how much better this set looks when compared to my old Samsung lcd. I should have made the move to plasma a while ago.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 197
12/5/09 at 6:46pm
Thread Starter 
Same here, I can't believe I waited so long to pull the trigger on this set. I'm blown away by the picture quality! It looks great to my eyes. It is also nice to be able to watch the news from my kitchen at an angle.

The speakers, while not a Dolby 5.1 system by no means are pretty decent.

Now if I could just get my cable box to work right...
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 197
12/6/09 at 10:14am
My girlfriend is having a little trouble understanding the "break in" concept. So I'm going to get it in when she is at work. Is it ok to watch the set for a few hours a night while I do the break in during the day for a few weeks?
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 197
12/6/09 at 7:21pm
How about posting the link to D-Nice's offsets?

Thanks!
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 197
12/7/09 at 6:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beaverhnter View Post

My girlfriend is having a little trouble understanding the "break in" concept. So I'm going to get it in when she is at work. Is it ok to watch the set for a few hours a night while I do the break in during the day for a few weeks?

That's what I did. I don't think I have the kind of will power necessary to buy a new Plasma and not watch it for 120 hours. Though when watching tv you should probably switch back to one of the other picture modes, like Cinema or Custom.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pappa View Post

How about posting the link to D-Nice's offsets?

Thanks!

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

Post one has the Break-In stuff, and post two has the offsets. Keep in mind the offsets he has posted are for the X1, so the results probably differ for us U1 owners. Though IMO, I definitely notice a improvement after using the Break-In DVD and D-Nice's X1 offsets.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 197
12/7/09 at 8:03pm
I have a question, I just bought the TC-50U1 set and wanted to do some adjustments, I looked at D-Nice's post about calibration you have linked. When you go into service menu for example and he has -30, do you just press down 30 times and whatever it is it is or do you have to actually change the number by -30? Sorry, but this confuses me. Second question are these just the break in settings and if they are, where do you find the post break in setting?
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 197
12/8/09 at 11:03am
Thanks...I know next to nothing about the service menu, but I shall be inquiring in a few weeks when my break-in is done.
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 197
12/8/09 at 6:21pm
I have had this set for a few days, can anyone tell me the whites seem very dark to me. I have tried to mess with all settings and they still seem very dirty to me. Any suggestions or is this normal for this set?
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 197
12/9/09 at 7:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jefftra View Post

I have a question, I just bought the TC-50U1 set and wanted to do some adjustments, I looked at D-Nice's post about calibration you have linked. When you go into service menu for example and he has -30, do you just press down 30 times and whatever it is it is or do you have to actually change the number by -30? Sorry, but this confuses me. Second question are these just the break in settings and if they are, where do you find the post break in setting?

The settings in the first post are ONLY for the Break-In slides. From what I can tell the settings in the second post are intended to be used after you finish breaking the set in. Though if you're going to watch TV while you're not running the Break-In slides, I don't think it would hurt to go ahead and enter the offsets and picture settings posted there.

The offsets only apply to to the picture temp the TV is in when you enter them. So if you enter the offsets for the warm color temp, the TV will still be using the default offsets when you switch back to the cool/vivid setting that you'll be using for the break in.

When you're in the Service Menu, the 1 and 2 buttons are used to scroll back and forth between the main menus, and the 3 and 4 buttons are used to scroll back and forth in the sub menus. As for the offsets, if the offset in D-Nice's setting reads -30, then you are going to press the volume "-" button 30 times. You don't really need to worry about what the actual values are... Just make sure you copy down your default values before you make any changes. Also, remember you have to enter the offsets twice. Once with a HD source (720p or higher) and then again with a SD source(480p or 480i). To do this I simply used my cable box settings to switch from 1080i to 480p.
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 197
12/10/09 at 10:39am
Anyone else care to share how they feel about this tv? I'm considering picking one up today to replace my 32" Vizio plasma.
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 197
12/10/09 at 3:33pm
Thread Starter 
A few more pictures from Aerial America: Hawaii on Smithsonian HD. This channel has a lot less compression than most channels I think and you can definitely notice the difference in picture quality.

I had "Brightness" set to around 65 but I lowered it to 50 and it looks even better than it did before.





Reply
Reply
post #21 of 197
12/18/09 at 10:41pm
I picked up the 50u1 on black friday

Most of the time the HD picture is excellent but.........

Is anyone getting "dirty" darker colors? What i mean by dirty is that some darker parts of movies or video games seem to have weird different colored pixel spots, sometimes green sometimes other colors. Almost like static with the way they slightly shift around. Only really noticable if you get really close to the tv. The blacks are true black as to be expected, its mostly with darker shades.

Is this a flaw or something inherent to plasma tv's?

Am i being too picky?

I played the same thing on my friends LG LCD and it did not have the random static like discoloration in the same scenes.

Note: this is from 1080p content though HDMI cables

Any opinion or sugestions would be much appreciated! I'm almost tempted to bring it back and go LCD
Reply
Reply
post #22 of 197
12/19/09 at 9:21am
Turn the brightness down to where the green pixels go away.
Reply
Reply
post #23 of 197
12/20/09 at 3:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kylar View Post

I picked up the 50u1 on black friday

Most of the time the HD picture is excellent but.........

Is anyone getting "dirty" darker colors? What i mean by dirty is that some darker parts of movies or video games seem to have weird different colored pixel spots, sometimes green sometimes other colors. Almost like static with the way they slightly shift around. Only really noticable if you get really close to the tv. The blacks are true black as to be expected, its mostly with darker shades.

Is this a flaw or something inherent to plasma tv's?

Am i being too picky?

I played the same thing on my friends LG LCD and it did not have the random static like discoloration in the same scenes.

Note: this is from 1080p content though HDMI cables

Any opinion or sugestions would be much appreciated! I'm almost tempted to bring it back and go LCD

I haven't seen anything like this with my 46u1. What are you using to play video games/watch movies?
Reply
Reply
post #24 of 197
12/22/09 at 5:54am
Hello everyone. Just got the Panasonic TC-P50U1 as an early Christmas present from my wife. I have noticed that the thread for these u1 models isnt very big, and its hard to find anything on the internet about them. I am still wondering if I should exchange this for an S1 series, but at best buy right now the S1 is around 400 dollars more. Looks like I will stick with this model. So far after 2 days I am very pleased, and I am currently running the break in dvd when I am not watching tv. Anyone know which settings to follow after the break in. Do we u1 owners use the s1 or the x1 settings. I have seen no settings for the u series. I will post updates soon, and keep this thread going since nobody else seems to have these models.
Reply
Reply
post #25 of 197
12/22/09 at 6:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hokies84 View Post

Hello everyone. Just got the Panasonic TC-P50U1 as an early Christmas present from my wife. I have noticed that the thread for these u1 models isnt very big, and its hard to find anything on the internet about them. I am still wondering if I should exchange this for an S1 series, but at best buy right now the S1 is around 400 dollars more. Looks like I will stick with this model. So far after 2 days I am very pleased, and I am currently running the break in dvd when I am not watching tv. Anyone know which settings to follow after the break in. Do we u1 owners use the s1 or the x1 settings. I have seen no settings for the u series. I will post updates soon, and keep this thread going since nobody else seems to have these models.

So, you got this for your wife?
Reply
Reply
post #26 of 197
12/22/09 at 6:18am
She said it was for me, but it is in the Living Room. She would not admit it was for both of us. Does anyone else have the 50inch model?
Reply
Reply
post #27 of 197
12/22/09 at 4:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hokies84 View Post

Hello everyone. Just got the Panasonic TC-P50U1 as an early Christmas present from my wife. I have noticed that the thread for these u1 models isnt very big, and its hard to find anything on the internet about them. I am still wondering if I should exchange this for an S1 series, but at best buy right now the S1 is around 400 dollars more. Looks like I will stick with this model. So far after 2 days I am very pleased, and I am currently running the break in dvd when I am not watching tv. Anyone know which settings to follow after the break in. Do we u1 owners use the s1 or the x1 settings. I have seen no settings for the u series. I will post updates soon, and keep this thread going since nobody else seems to have these models.

I'm using the X1 offsets and picture settings that D-Nice posted in the "Panasonic 12G Issues/Settings" thread. I posted a link earlier in this thread.
Reply
Reply
post #28 of 197
12/22/09 at 4:37pm
Hello and Merry Christmas to all! =) Noob here =-/

I picked up an used TC-P50U1 on Friday in new condition for $600 and it worked flawlessly up until last night. I was watching Casino Royale on Blu Ray and about 2-2.5 hours into the movie, the TV turned off by itself for about a good 5 seconds, and then turned back on all by itself. It played fine after that but I didn't feel too good knowing that happened. Anyone ever experience this?

The guy I bought it from said he picked it up from Amazon in July, but no receipt for it. No timers were set and after calling around to some places, I found out these TVS suck up a lot of power and maybe it couldv'e been a power issue. I do have it plugged into a power strip, but its not a fancy one with protection ( I dont think). Maybe I should plug it directly into the wall???

I called Panny and they said even if I have no receipt, there is ways around it so I can have it serviced, but it has to happen again, they said.

Any feedback or experiences like this would be HIGHLY appreciated.

Thank you!!!!
Reply
Reply
post #29 of 197
12/22/09 at 6:48pm
I would plug the TV directly into the wall. If your using a cheap power strip this could be the cause of the TV powering itself off. I use a Belkin Pure AV power conditioner and have no problems with my TC-P50U1 although I've only had it for less than a month.
Reply
Reply
post #30 of 197
12/22/09 at 7:21pm
Thank you for your input, I greatly appreciate that. I thought about plugging it in directly to a wall, but wouldn't that be dangerous in case of a power outage??

Correct me if I am wrong please, but I thought power strips were supposed to prevent damage in cases like this. However, you are right, I have a cheap power strip.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Plasma Flat Panel Displays

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › Display Devices › Plasma Flat Panel Displays › Panasonic TC-P42U1 / TC-P46U1 / TC-P50U1 Owners Thread