The Official Panasonic TC-PXXS2 Owner's Discussion Thread [NO Price talk] - Page 54

I've built my entire home theater, as well as my fathers (who uses a HT Pojo, uses his AVR as pass through to his projo & tv, and uses a couple different 50 foot runs of HDMI cables)... End result, excellent.

When I did my fathers system I was working at Future Shop at the time. And we had a 75% off Monster staff deal going on. After all the hdmi, component, and speaker wire, I was still over 800 dollars with 75% off Monster.... crazy.

With Monoprice I think everything cost me around 120, shipped to Canada. Amazing. It's been setup now for about 2 years, never had to touch a cable. All works excellent.

My system is a little more standard, all 1 room. None of my cables are longer than 12 feet. Amazed with the value of monoprice cables and accessories.

I got to a point near the end of my run at Future Shop that I was telling my customers to buy their cables from MonoPrice.

Well, looks like it's the satellite box and not the cheap hdmi cable. Sorry I jumped to conclusions but it was late and I was tired. Component video input looks really good so it didn't make sense that the hdmi connection wouldn't work.

I tried out my bd85 dvd player and can confirm hdmi is better and both hdmi cables performed identically.

I read on cnet that cable boxes are notorious for having issues with hdmi, so either I try out another sat. box or just use the component vid cables I guess.

i have a P58S2 as well and from what i've picked up on in this thread, source has a lot to with grainy picture. like i mentioned in a previous post, it seems most cable HD is not that great, and when blown up on a 58" screen the difficiencies are even more noticeable. not a ton you could do about it, but i would assume that going from video component to HDMI should improve the picture no matter what. that's JMO though and i am still learning things myself. i've also read that there's is no need to get "THX certified" HDMI cables, or pay any extra $$$ for "PS3 specific" or any supposed specifications. HDMI = HDMI, so go to monoprice and pay $5-$9

Most National HD has been over compressed now, in the HD space race among providers. A few years ago, when we had 37 and 42" tv's, no biggie, but these 55"+ tv's really show the crap for what it is. Two options, buy a smaller tv or deal with it.

I think my issue is the hdmi compatibility between sat. box and tv, not an overcompressed signal. Cnet said it is a very common problem and there's nothing you can do about it because most cable/sat providers do not have multiple models of hd-dvrs. They recommend using the component video cables in this case, which is what I had to do. They also say the difference in pq is very slight anyway, but it is noticeable on my dvd player if you switch back and forth a few times. It is a huge difference in my sat. box, the hdmi has dancing pixels, grain, and the picture looks like it was cartoon-ized... very clearly a major issue.

I have an HTPC connected to my Panasonic 54s2. The HTPC is using USB-UIRT for IR control. Whenever the TV is on, the USB-UIRT light blinks a lot, like it's getting IR inputs. Any idea what the panasonic might be doing that's causing this? If I turn off the tv, then the IR blinking goes away.

Supernoman, I have the same issue. USBUIRT constantly blinking.

Here's a thread in another forum that has some info about plasmas and potential IR interference:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=74141

Some IR devices have sensor circuits that are too sensitive to background IR radiation, the plasma screen might be generating some pulsing IR that is getting picked up by the USB-UIRT. You might try covering the TV screen with something like a piece of cardboard and see if the problem goes away, to see if that is what's going on.

Can someone explain how to keep the tv from turning on/off when I turn my cable box on. I thought I read the manual and turned off the viera link settings and power on, but apparently that is not it. Thanks

So I'm about 90% certain I will be pulling the trigger on a 58" S2 here in the next week or so. I love my current 50PX80 from 2008. Now I hate to ask it here, but how does it compare to the Samsung C550 which is the same price point?

My worry with the Panny is the floating blacks I keep hearing about, I didn't see it when I saw a 65" S2 with letterboxed material at Fry's the other week, but it would drive me nuts if the bars kept changing from darker to lighter during a movie.

And of course my worry with the Sammy is the widespread reports of buzzing that the Samsung's always seem to have. I'd like to stick with Panasonic, since I know the brand so well and there's a great bunch of information in this thread about tweaking the S2 series.

Ok gotta ask... are you sure you are actually powering off only the cable box, or are you using the cable company's remote's "All On" type of macro button?

Is the cable box connected via HDMI and if so, is it directly connected to the TV (rather then through an A/V receiver)? That's usually the only way HDMI CEC (Panasonic brands it as VieraLink) would have been the culprit.

Also might be helpful if we knew what the cable box's make and model number was.

I have verizon fios and am using a motorala 6416. When I turn off the cable box for example I hit stb button then power, and the tv goes off. The tv is connected to the cable box with hdmi directly, no av reciever. I will check again tommorrow to make sure that viera link settings are off, but I am pretty sure they are.

I only see floating blacks on a small amount of content. Its a tad annoying, but otherwise a good set. Reminds me of my local dimming led lcd, just not as annoying.

i got a question about where on the avs forums can u find dealers on the forum who do calibrations

Anyone watch Inception yet? For the first 20 minutes, I saw what appeared to be the worst floating blacks ever. Someone has also reported an issue like this on the Oppo 93 thread, with another disc, so im curious as to whether its a player issue or the S2. I have a little over 1000 hours on my set.

There is a calibration forum, Id check there. There are a few really good calibrators running around these forums.

I just got the 58S2 the other day, set it up, and the picture was initially horrible. Huge amounts of video noise on all sources, crawling pixels obvious up close and somewhat obvious even from a distance. I followed all the advice here, cinema mode and everything else, to no avail. Then I replaced the component cabling with HDMI, and presto, the noise vanished. It's odd because I had no such video noise on my 2005 Panny plasma using component. I have honestly never seen component--->HDMI making much of a visual difference in the past, if any. But on this TV, it was the difference between unwatchable and a picture which is really pretty good. Color accuracy isn't so great but overall I'm pleased with the picture.

FYI, do NOT use component cables with this TV.

- Dave

It's the source, not the cables or the tv. I experienced exactly the opposite on my sat. box and it only made a slight difference on my Panasonic bd85 blu ray player with the hdmi picture being better.

That's what I thought too, until I got the video noise with BluRay as well. It went across all sources.

larry is there a thread where people who do calibrations on this forum and if there are can u please give me a link

There is a calibration forum here. Id recommend you look at the THX list there also, because most of those guys are ISF too (if it was my money I'd prefer them to be certified by both). ChadB, Gregg Loewen (LionAv) and D-Nice are 3 I'd never hesitate to use. Ive been using Gregg for awhile now.

i checked that elway but does not list state by state

I am a retired Marine (1985) and I just bought a Pana TC-P42s and finally dumped my 36" tube Toshiba...with the help of a few very strong friends!!!!

I am technically challenged so please bare with me.

1. What is burn in and how do I do it?
2. Where do I find calibration details for this model.
3. I was able to get my DVD to work, but the old Awai Amp with surround speakers doesnt look like it will work. Can I keep the speakers and just buy another amp to run the sound through and if so what type. Just something basic and cheap for sound only from the TV and DVD.

Thanks in advance for any help,

Frank
USMC (ret)

im looking for the calibration experts on the avs forums, i had the post but lost it, elway what u gave me was not on the avs forums

That is the list of THX certified calibrators, directly from THX's website. There is also a list here, but anyone with a meter can post there, and thats not what you want. You want experience, and qualification so you get your moneys worth. As someone who gets their gear calibrated, Id recommend two options:

1. Hire Gregg (or anyone from LionAv.com), DNice or ChadB (they travel)
2. Find someone near you on the THX list and contact them

Dont just hire any old guy that says he's a calibrator.

1. Burn-in is where an image is left on the screen for so long that it ages the plasma phosphors and you see that image when the screen is dark. Not a good thing. There is also image retention, which is similar but does go away.
If you are referring to break-in, that is to use a series of colored images to break the phosphors in evenly as opposed to just turning the TV on and watching it right out of the box.

2. Calibration info can be found in the Panasonic 2010 issues thread here in this section of the forum. D-Nice's settings seem to be the crowd favorite.

3. Can't help ya on this one really. How will you be hooking it up to the TV?
You can keep on eye on slickdeals.net for a cheap AVR receiver. I got my Denon for $200-ish about 6 months ago and its great. Should be able to keep the speakers if you like them and just replace the AVR itself

ok elway since your the expert, on calibrating tvs,
i live in michigan in the suburbs of detroit, can u recamend a good person

Just got my panasonic tc-p42s2 yesterday. Bought it on Black Friday via Amazon.com for $549, what a steal! The delivery date was missed and the shippers knew from the get go, so complained to Amazon and also to the shipper, got a nice rebate and changed shippers and am now enjoying this great plasma. My first HD and I know I made the right decision. Beautiful picture after some tweaks(thanks to all for the help on the settings). It's on Cinema, 50 contrast 50 Brightness and on Cool setting amongst others. No problems what so ever. The sound is fair to good, after coming from a small tube tv, I'm enjoying it. Next step, is to buy a 5.1 surround sound system. For those complaining about the grainy picture on many channels, if it's not in HD, all the TV's regardless of type are grainy. HD picture just outstanding. I also discovered that since I wear eyeglasses(nearsighted), even the quality of the lens makes a difference. i threw on another newer pair of eyeglasses that were NOT High Index lenses, and my vision clarity increased, I almost freaked, i could not believe it, I kept going back and forth checking and rechecking and it's a definite, for those of you myopic and spent a lot of $$$ on ultra thin High index lens, be aware the light transmission to your eyes is reduced!! Just the nature of the beast. My newer pair of glasses, i chose a slightly thicker, non High index lens. So, that being said, be aware even that will affect your viewing pleasure of the plasma. LED/LCD NEVER!!! Plasma is the way to go!

The THX calibrators list does not list anyone from Michigan so go to the AVS "display calibrations" forum and look at the top of the page for the thread titled "isf calibrators where are you located..." . Make a post there that you are looking for a calibrator.