tc-p50s2 crappy picture...

Take it back and get the Samsung.

IMO opinion it would be a waste of money to calibrate a TV you're not happy with.

What picture setting are you using? What is the sharpness set at? There really is no need to have it above 10 or so.

What are you watching? Many BluRay discs show film grain (i.e., it's the disc, not the plasma). The S2 PQ should be very good. I also wonder if you're coming from an LCD, considering your comments, in which case all plasmas will look dull to you till you get used to it. I would not pay for professional calibration if you don't like the display (but I wouldn't switch to Samsung plasma either). You may want to consider an LED (IMO, plasma gives the most natural PQ, but it's all about what you like, not what others like).

I find all but the to top end model Panasonics (V20 and VT20 in Aus models) really grainy, it was one of the final decisions that lead me toward buying a Samsung personally.

Just from looking at lower and mid level plasma's next to each other in stores, I also agree Panasonics are "grainier" than Samsung. You can try the Noise Reduction features and see if they help any. Like I said before, make sure the Sharpness is way down.

Having said that, I own a 50" G25 and I bought my girlfriend a 42" S1. I never watch them and think, "man, these have grainy pictures." Maybe plasma isn't for you?

Also, what is doing the processing of cable? Is your SD feed being processed by the cable box to 1080i or something? Try outputting SD natively at 480i and see if the TV does a better job at processing.

I replaced a samsung plasma with this panny S2 and I see no issue with grain I don't use the over exaggerated settings such as vivid or sports just Cinema with sharpness set to 0 and the picture I am seeing is very nice.

Don't pay a pro to come out and do anything to it. If you cannot find somthing that impresses you with all of the user settings, take it back and return it. Perhaps look at Vizios new local dimming LED tv. It's pretty highly rated, and is seeming to impress the sh*t out of everyone. Great price for a LD LED too.

I am an S1 owner, and I also find it to be a bit drab by todays standards. I'm only suggesting looking at a different technology because if you find the s2 drab and dull, your most likely going to have trouble with another plasma as well.

Reset Everything you have done, put it into cinema and put the sharpness at 10 and be done with it. You'll get used to the color and learn to love it...

Agreed that Samsung's do look cleaner with the sharpness control up high compared to panasonic. Thats why Samsung can get away with sharpness set at 50%-75% of the way up. It really should be off to the point that there is no artificial edging on any part of the picture. Samsung's and Panasonic's (especially panasonic) look better with most of the sharpness off...

I was at wal mart last night looking at the LG 5400 LED/LCD and the FIRST thing that caught my eye was how grainy everything was in motion. It completely turned me away from the TV. I plan on picking up a S2 sometime this week and hope this isnt the case. I have a 37" inch panny in my bedroom and have never once noticed any grain

If you do not like cinema as mentioned in the original post, your probably going to want to use Custom over Standard mode, as standard mode uses heavy dithering, which will give a very grainy look. Custom mode however, has little to no visible dithering, like cinema mode, but is not soft like cinema mode.

If everything else is set properly with the DVE disc, your at about the best you can do with the S2.

FIOS/CABLE and satalite programming content will vary, and a big 1080p tv is going to show artifacts and grain from certain content. For example, if your watching everybody loves raymond on TBS HD....you should expect the picture to look like complete garbage. If your watching HD theatre content, or CBS sports, you should expect some of the best looking content available on your fios connection. But, its still not that great.

Even some blu-ray disc movies can have video noise. Use of a movie that has an amazing transfer to blu ray is your best bet. Rent Avatar. That blu ray is nearly flawless, and is a 1.78:1 transfer (fits your tv perfectly, no black bars). Then you can really test the quality of the set. You simply cannot use FIOS as a source of testing quality.

Good Luck.

Ditto.

Cinema is the ONLY setting that works. My sharpness is at 0 and it looks REAL.

1 Reset your settings
2 select cinema as your picture setting (you should be able to independently calibrate hdmi 1 for your cable / satellite and hdmi 2 for your bluray/DVD again calibrate each independently 'cause hd programming especially on cable can vary in terms of quality from channel to channel mines are done this way to assure maximum performance while watching a bluray/DVD versus cable hd
3 try searching for a Cnet review of your model and try their settings (they usually post them at the end of their reviews) if you like them leave them if not at least that's a base to start tweaking from (repeat this step as mentioned above one for hdmi 1 one for hdmi 2)
3 DO NOT use any advanced setting I.e noise reduction mpeg whatever it is if you have a solid cable/bluray feed the pic should look solid.

Oh and one more thing don't listen to whatever mumbo jumbo about placing your sharpness on 0 like some "experts" are claiming on this forum NO and I mean NO professional calibrator would ever recommend this. Sharpness is needed just do not over due it. Let me know how this works out. My panasonic system looks puuurfect you just gotta tweak around with it a bit.

Didn't say I was an expert or tell him to set his sharpness to 0. Wow. Just 16 posts and already insulting other members. GFY.

BTW, go back to school -- the word is "overdo"

Someone caught a feeling lol Overdo shumulty woo lol you know what I mean

I sit about 7-8ft from my 50G25 and I don't notice excessive grain, so I don't think distance is your issue.

If it is just tiny pixels that look like they are moving, then it is probably just film grain. If you see blocks that are unevenly colored and kind of look like they are moving, that is probably macroblocking which is due to overly compressed signals. I wouldn't think FIOS would have that issue at all.

Actually, I would set your FIOS box to "Native" unless you cant stand the added HDMI handshake it causes when you change channels that are different resolutions. Or, your cable box processes better than the display... Most HD channels are 1080i, so I would probably leave it there or use Native.

I sit about 10 feet away from my set and notice no pixelation I mean I guess i do on some cable channels but the only conclusion I can come up with is the program itself ...some hd channels just do not look good. My blurays always look tip top.. Cinema was a little dim/soft for me in the beginning I used DVE essentials to calibrate my system and after bit of viewing my eyes adjusted perfectly to the image.. Try it for a couple of days that's all I can recommend ..I set my display setting on my hd cable box to 1080i cuzz I mean I just like it that way I noticed no difference between 720p or 1080i when comparing so I just went with 1080i..I did Have both 720p and 1080i selected at one point to view the program in it native output but noticed a lag in the image when changing channels as the box decoded what was best for the particular channel I was watching. this became annoying to me so I set it on 1080i permanently..hope I didn't confuse you wit that..lol..