The Official Panasonic TC-PXXS2 Owner's Discussion Thread [NO Price talk] - Page 56

If you use the fireplace, I'd be very concerned about heat and damage to the TV.

I do use the fireplace from December thru Feb only on the weekends and only when temps get in the 30's. I assume others that have their TV's mounted over their fireplace use the fireplace as well? I know a few of my neighbors do and so far no issues.

the wall this would be on doesnt get hot at all when the fireplace is being used plus it has a large mantle on top that would deflect the heat going up to the TV that is emitted from the fireplace opening into my den.

@Elway - My assumption as well but wanted to hear other opinions just in case I wasn't thinking about something that would get in the way. I will only have one HDMI cable from the TV down to my AVR and the power cord and that will be it besides a speaker bar that would sit on the mantle but not sure how I will hook that up at this time as I haven't even started to look at those.

Anyone have a good recommendation for a speaker bar that they use with their S2? Preferably the 65"

I've had a 58" S2 for about a month now, and am noticing numerous white horizontal jagged lines flashing when scenes transition on certain cable channels. Good signals (blu ray, xbox, network channels) are all fine. But channels like Bravo and Foodnetwork have the white flashes. My LCD TV on the same signal (same HDMI cable) does not have the flashes.

Is this an issue inherent to the TV with poor quality signals, or does it sound like something is wrong with my set? My wife doesn't care in the least about PQ, but it's bad enough that it's driving even her nuts (and these are her favorite channels). Thanks.

jason i use hdmi 1 for cable and hdmi 2 for blu ray should i use d-nices settings for blu ray and my other settings for cable hd

It's just the computer guy in me that says heat + electronics = bad. Also, depending on the height of the fireplace, viewers' necks could be hurting after a two hour movie.

Just things to consider.

LOL, I am one of those computer geeks as well. I appreciate the points as they are all valid. I am going to put in a fire and let it burn for 5hrs or so that way I can get an idea of the temperature up on the wall and that area before we proceed. I have also thought about the height and the viewers necks, still debating that and trying to determine if that will be an issue.

Originally Posted by chris5159
my settings are for the tc-p42s2 and for the first 100-200 hours(break-in period). Mode: Cinema, Contrast: 50, Brightness: 50, Color: 48, Tint:G +6: Sharpness:0, Color Temp: Cool, All other modes:Off--- except for Blur Reduction(On); 3:2 Pull down:On(Auto). Black Level:Light; Screen Format: Full; HD Size: Size 1. Note: the Screen Format and HD Size settings are up to you. after the break in period the contrast settings can be increased if the lower setting of 50 is not to your liking. The Brightness setting can be increased but from what I read over a 51 setting you can see small black dots on the screen, as one person has already mentioned previously, not sure if this a common occurrence. A too bright screen tires my eyes anyway, so i think I'll stick with the mid range setting... I'll see in a month or so and just write down these temp settings for further reference when you start to play with the settings later on. Good luck and enjoy.

As mentioned above, when I pull down the menu for "tint" I can olnly make adjust to red, How do I tab over to green tint to make adjust?
Thanks
Frank

I am almost done with my 100 hours of slideshow on my S2. Are you saying after you make the service menu offset changes, use the disc to calibrate? Does this provide better results than D-Nice's recommended settings? I was planning on strictly following his instructions in the 2010 panasonic plasma settings thread, but if this disc provides equal or better results, I will look into it. Thank you

i know this has been discussed quite a bit in the thread but I can't help but bring it back up. Just got a 58s2 yesterday. I noticed that whenever the source has grain, the S2 accentuates the grain to make it look even more obvious. If the source has no grain (like an animated bluray) then no grain is shown on the s2. This was very apparent when I was comparing TVs at BB. They were all playing the same source. At one point, a commercial came on that had inherent grain. While all the TVs showed the grain to some extent (many of them subduing the grain), the S2 accentuated the grain so that it was even more obvious. I have seen this at multiple stores with multiple sources so I know it's not just one bad setup.

Anyone else have the contrast set at 90 and above? Mine is set at 90 and it really makes for a bright, cheerful, vivid pic. This is in cinema mode with brightness and color both at 50.

Make sure you turn all processing off on your blu ray player. I have the bd 85 and have it set to "user" as this seems to turn off some processing of some kind. I was getting some "flicker" in a few scenes and this eliminated it. I also noticed that the grain was reduced slighly!

Also, make sure your sharpness is set to zero.

There is nothing wrong with doing this, but if you have not done so already, download the AVS HD calibration disc that is FREE provided by this forum.

You should use the primary color ramps on the disc to ensure that the top end of color detail is not clipping and bleeding into solid red, green or blue. I found that the default color setting of 50 just loses some detail, and using this pattern you can fix it. I think with the S2 I setup, full color detail returned when the color was set to 48. That was the maximum color saturation the set could do without clipping detail.

Worth looking at since you prefer high contrast and high color saturation.

If I did, I'd burn my eyes out! Nothing wrong with it (as long as whites aren't losing detail), just a personal preference as to how bright you like your picture.

Whatever looks best to you man!

So far everything is looking best for me using D-nice's settings.

If your BluRay player has adjustments you could possibly adjust gamma a bit.

You could set the TV to look it's best on HD-cable and then use the BluRay player's adjustments to make that look it's best. Then you'd be able to just use Cinema and still have unique settings for each input.

What I plan on doing is running some calibration discs eventually and I will deviate from D-nice's settings as needed, but I doubt it will be much change if any. I don't know of a way to test the Sat/Cable HD input, but that can vary so much from channel to channel I don't think it matters. As long as the clearest channels look great there isn't much you can do.

I just asked this but since you mentioned it I figured I could ask you. I am almost done with my 100 hours of slides and will then make the changes according to D-Nice's settings. Are you saying to use the free calibration disc instead of using D-Nice's settings?

Use D-Nice's settings which should get you most if not all of the way there, and then use the discs to tweak as needed.

And also try to just tweak it on your own w/ discs or just your eyes.

Then decide which you like best!

I will try that. As far as tweaking with my own eyes, I don't think I'd know what to adjust in order to get the best picture. I'll just use D-Nice's settings and then use the disc to tweak. Is the calibration disc relatively easy to use?

Thanks for the help.

Silly question but, anyone know how 'tall x long' the TC-P58S2 shipping box is???
I need this dimension to see if it will fit in my truck.
I'm hoping to pick this set up and move my new 50" Zenith Plasma to the master bedroom.
Thanks, Ray

jason were it says for the offsets is a sd signal or imput is watching rtn classic tv a sandard signal

From the Panasonic website (I'd post a link but I'm not allowed yet since this is my 2nd post:

Carton Dimensions 39.9" x 62.0" x 13.1"

I'm getting my TC-P58S2 on Monday and I really want to watch the Monday Night Football game on it...would it be ok to start the calibration after I watch the game?

I'm no videophile, but I play a lot of Xbox, so I may only do like 24 hours of the calibration, thoughts? Thank you!

I haven't used the calibration discs on AVS yet, but I plan to. I need to build another HTPC for the bedroom first.

I own the THX Ultimate Demo Disc DVD and have used it before. I used it briefly, but for some reason the DVD folder isn't playing correctly through XBMC.

Typically the discs give instructions, but if not you basically want to be able to differentiate between all shades of colors. I used this website to make some adjustments through my HTPC:

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

The website is good at explaining what to look for and what settings to adjust to get there. Using that website I was able to do my own rough calibration using the normal temp and you can see my settings if you look at my previous posts in this thread. On the Contrast page I found the Normal temp to give the most accurate color, and then I adjusted contrast and color on the TV so that I could differentiate all the different shades of each color band. Too much color made the right-end of the color scales blend together, and too little contrast did the same for the left-end. The left most shade is black, and then you should just barely see the next shade. I adjusted Brightness, Sharpness, and Contrast again using the other pages. I also adjusted gamma via my HTPC's settings. The HTPC also has hue, and saturation adjustments, but I haven't messed w/ them yet.

But, then I tried D-Nice's settings, and liked the picture more, so that's where I'm at now.

It's good to go through some kind of process yourself, though, so you can get a feel for everything. Try watching various material to get a better overall impression of each setup you come up with. I watched Avatar to get a wow effect, and then tried some dark material (Batman Begins) b/c that's where I've had issues in the past w/ my other displays. I wanted to be able to see all the details in the black suits and that's where some of my gamma adjustments came in.



RTN?

Just press info on the remote, and it will tell you if it's a 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, or 1080p signal. Don't worry about adjusting the SD offsets unless you actually watch SD sources. That way you will have an additional backup of your SM settings as the HD and SD cuts and drives are the same from the factory.



You should be fine. D-Nice will not guarantee anything unless you follow the procedure exactly, though. My set is a floor model w/ 2400hrs already on it. So, I skipped the slides, and just applied D-Nice's settings and am very happy.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the phosphors age exponentially. At first they age very fast, and then the aging process slows. So, doing the slides w/ the vivid-tweaked settings gets you past that initial quick aging process and ensures the phosphors age evenly throughout that time. That 100hrs at those vivid settings might be equal to ~1000hrs using the Cinema settings and normal viewing. So watching a 3hr football game when the phosphors are brand new might be like watching a 30hr game after the set has ~1000hrs on it. If the content isn't very dynamic you are more likely to get uneven aging...but I doubt many people would be able to tell the difference w/o expensive calibration equipment.

I'm sure one could get away w/ just applying the D-nice settings from the beginning and just make sure you watch dynamic content that fills the whole screen for the 1st few hundred hours. You might need to adjust Contrast and Brightness a bit at first if it's too much for you. Eventually the set would fall into something very close to D-Nice's calibration. You might be ~93-94% of the way to a real calibration instead of ~95% that following D-nice's method to the T gives you.

jason could u please help me with the audio settings couse im not sure how to set it up

How do I get to the green tint section on a 42S on the main adjustment menu. I can tab down to the red and make changes, but cant get over to the green for making a adjustment.

Thanks
Frank

jason since my ps3 is my blu ray player what setting should i use on my ps3 any help u give me is welcome

Are you running into an A/V receiver, or directly into the TV? Directly into the TV it really doesn't matter what audio settings you use. The TV speakers stink.

Sure, tell me your setup, and what you're trying to achieve.



There is only 1 tint option. If you go left of center (-) you are going toward red, and if you go right of center (+) you are going toward green.

Do you see how the bar is red-yellow-green (left-center-right)?



I don't own a PS3, but I'd be glad to help if you list your available settings.

[quote=jason4207;19658087]Sure, tell me your setup, and what you're trying to achieve.
I don't own a PS3, but I'd be glad to help if you list your available settings.
[/QUOte}

jason my tv is a p42S2 my audio surround sound is a
onkyo 5.1 channelhome theater system ht-S3100
i have went into the sm yesterday
for the first time to see if i could do it
is it easy to make the changes that dnice has for someone who is new at this,
for audio what would u set the tv audio setting couse i dont know how to do it

[quote=rabbitt83;19658489]
The SM adjustments are a little intimidating at first, but if you spend a little time navigating you'll feel a lot better. Press 1 to dive into the next menu layer, and 2 to back out. Press 3 to scroll down through the options or 4 to scroll up.

Once you get in the SM press 1 twice to get to the cuts and drives. Then press 3 or 4 and just scroll through all the cuts and drives several times. You should already feel better at this point!

Before making any changes make sure WB Method is 00 and Temp is on Warm. Press 7 until Warm is selected. I like to press 9 until Cinema is selected, but that step isn't necessary. Press 0 until WB Method is 00.

Now you can mess w/ the cuts and drives. Press 3 or 4 again several times to get comfortable. Then do it again, but this time take pictures or write down your settings for each cut and drive. Each Cut & Drive setting should match it's 'Before' value as you haven't changed anything yet.

Now start making changes. If you're not familiar w/ hex-to-decimal conversion you can just backtrack to double-check. The offset for R-DRV is +5, so select R-DRV, and press the Vol+ key 5 times making sure the value changes each time you press it. Then, to double-check, you can press Vol- 5 times and now the 'R-DRV' value should match the 'Before' value again. Press Vol+ 5 times again, and you should be at the same value you went to the first time. Hopefully by now you will feel more secure in your actions as you continue to the next Cut/Drive setting.

Once you get done just press the power button on the TV to save everything. To ensure it saved you can go back into the SM and look at the values again.

You need to do this whole operation twice, once for HD and again for SD. I would suggest just doing the HD offsets first to get comfortable. That way your SD cuts/drives will still be at the factory settings. The HD and SD cuts/drives are the same from the factory, so you can always use the untouched SD values as a reference if you mess something up and lose all your pics or written down settings.


As far as your system hookups your setup makes things a little difficult, but still workable. The problem is that this TV doesn't do pass-through audio for DD/DTS, and your 5.1 system (AVR) doesn't do HDMI switching.

So, if you go w/ an HDMI cable from your PS3 to your TV and then use an TOSLINK cable from the TV to the 5.1 system you will lose those high-end sound fields (DD/DTS). And you can't put HDMI into the AVR. You could use component, but then you'd lose the ability to display 1080p.

I would connect the PS3 to the TV via HDMI. This will give you up to 1080p on the TV and also the ability to hear sound through the TV if you just want basic sound for quiet viewing. Then also connect the PS3 to the AVR w/ a TOSLINK optical cable so that you can get the high-end sound fields. You may have to change some option on the PS3 so it will output sound via TOSLINK while HDMI is being used...not sure what settings you have available.

If you get OTA broadcasts then also connect a TOSLINK cable from the TV to the AVR. That way you can also get DD/DTS from those channels.

Do you have any other devices you need to connect? Like a cable/sat box?

Let me know if you have any issues getting all that to work. If hooked up correctly you should see some kind of DD or DTS indication on the AVR while playing a BR disc. My AVR has a little blue light that lights up, but many just show it on the LCD display. W/n the BR setup menu of each BR make sure to select DD or DTS soundfield for your movies. Your AVR doesn't support DD-HD or DTS-HD, so make sure you only select DD or DTS. The PS3 may also have some audio options, and if so make sure to only select DD and DTS as supported outputs.

[quote=jason4207;19658932]
jason here is my hook up on the p42S2
hdmi1 comcast hd settopbox to p42s2
hdmi2 ps3 to p42s2
audio ps3 to onkyo surround sound optical
audio comcast box to onkyo red white audio cables