Quote:
Originally Posted by
twkatadin 
Keep in mind that what happened to you is not what Panasonic is talking about with black levels rising. It sounds like you had the issue where your black levels jumped suddenly. That
is a defect in the 2009 models that affects
some small percentage of the units. The rising blacks Panasonic made a statement about is when the black level rises slowly over the course of a few thousand hours. This happens in
all 2009 units and is
by design (so not a defect according to Panasonic).
This second instance, the slow rise, is what Panasonic said the 2010 models will have. Hopefully they have fixed the quick jump defect.
It seems like most people do not notice the slow black level rise because it so gradual. Also, we don't know if the slow rise brings black levels to the same end point as units with the quick jumps. Now whether having the black levels rise at all, slowly or quick, is acceptable is another question.
According to Panasonic, what happened to my set is exactly what they are talkng about.
So far Panasonic has refused to send a technician to look at my set as "Your set is normal and this is a design feature. Please enjoy the finest picture in the television industry." I have spoken with CSR's, managers and advanced engineering support twice.
The first person I spoke with from engineering (December) said that Panasonic is aware of the problem and was working on a fix, probably firmware. His estimated time for the fix to be complete was mid to late Febrauary.
The second time I got through to engineering I was informed that my initial contact was wrong. Panasonic does not consider this a problem and there will be zero fix or support for it now or in the future.
From my understanding of reading Panasonics patents concerning this, these changes, all happen within approximtely the first two thousand hours. So even if some people have sets that reach the level that mine do at a slower rate (thirteen months vs. five months), the black level will eventually settle where mine is now. And believe me, this is noticable whether it happens suddenly or incrementally.
Since Panasonic's official stance seems to be that this is planned and nothing that should cause concern, they will not offer support or assistance to anyone suffering the problem whether the problem presents itself as a sudden change in black levels or an incremental one.
I feel it is good that David Katzmier at cNet has now confirmed this on sets purchased by two of cNet's staff. The black level on these sets did increase by 300% as reported by dNice and others.
I feel it is sad that some lawyers in New Jersey have decided to pursue a class action lawsuit against Panasonic as this will probably make Panasonic more resistant than ever to admit to and address the problem.
My V10 continues to have a better picture than the 32" Sharp LCD in my home office. It probably performs as well as most standard LCD sets on the market. However, the set was purchased based on reviews from various sources and from the performance I initially witnessed from the set. If Panasonic would have been forthcoming anywhere in their specifications or description of the units attributes as to the change in the quality of the picture, my decision would have probably been to postpone the purchase. At that time, I felt that Panasonic offered integrity that the other large manufacturers were lacking.
To anyone who is considering a 2010 model, your set will have picture quality that is the class of the industry. Even after a doubling or tripling of MLL, your set will still offer outstanding picture quality. However, it will no longer be the picture quality as seen when your set was new.
Let's wait for some FACTS from long term tests before jumping to such conclusions. I will say caution is in order regarding buying these things though.
