Official Panasonic 2011 TC-PxxST30 Thread [No Price Talk] - Page 269

Been playing around and watching most of today. I can't duplicate the problem of any vertical line, left or right, gray or white on my set. A half inch is pretty big so I should see it. Orbiter is enabled. Have no idea what it could be.

Here is my 65ST30 calibration done by ChadB at 48fl. It came out extremely well. dE's under 1.

 

65ST30 Custom (day).pdf 277.0732421875k . file

Thanks Dave. It looks like I just haven't got it right yet. I'm just some sort of DYI calibrator so I wouldn't want to mess with the service menu. I'm wondering if that's what it takes? I know the best solution would be a pro calibrator but for now I guess I just have to live with it being a little dim. I'll try to play with it when I have time to see what I can do with it.

You should be able to calibrate it on mid-panel with the contrast in the 80 range giving you 40+ ftl. The key to getting it to look right with mid-panel is to set the HDMI content mode to "graphics".

The only issue I had was getting the gamma flat. However, if you set the Black Extension to 4 or 5ish and then turn the brightness up in the high-60's low 70's (all depending on your set of course) you should be able to get your gamma pretty flat. You can thank Gremmy for figuring this out.

There's nothing in the service menu you that you would need to mess with unless you want to calibrate Cinema mode.


There is an ST30 DIY calibration thread where a lot of people have contributed to figuring out a whole bunch of stuff about calibrating the set.

I just got a 65ST30. Manufacture date says July 2011. As I recall, that was the key month in them shipping with the fix versus potentially needing it replaced. So does July mean I am good or that I am at the end of the batch that may be a problem? It doesn't list a specific date, just July.

Thanks.

Wow, Chad B does some seriously excellent work! I don't know how this translates to picture, but by his before/after graphs, he really has corrected your set Was the before reading done with the default custom mode?

Hi Gentlemen

I just ordered the ST30 65"

The guy at best buy swore up and down that I need the 4 year protection plan for $450 and I needed to get it calibrated (by them of course) or it would only last a couple years. BB charges $250 for calibration. Is that a fair price?

Best regards
Pat

DO NOT let BB calibrate your set. I went ahead and paid them to do it when I got mine last June, but it's done by a guy who gets paid hourly, whom they only give an hour and a half to do it. It looked really bad the first time the guy did it, and i made him come back a few weeks later, and after he left that time, the set had a hardcore green tint to it, so i ended up buying my own meter. How far was he off? My red and blue high settings ended up at 16+ after I calibrated it myself, he had them at +1 and +2. for 250 bucks you can get an i1 Display Pro to play around with yourself. I recommend it, as you will learn a lot about your set in the process. If you don't want to mess with it yourself, just use D-Nice's settings. They wont be perfect, but in my case, they were closer to fully calibrated than the Best Buy guy got.

Also, I got a 2 year warranty from them, because they told me I could extend it to 4 years in the future if I wanted to. I think i'd recommend the 2 year warranty at least. My set just died on me less than 2 months from when my panny warranty would be up.

The information is in my signature.

Hi, new guy here and just got a P65ST30. Everything seems to work well except I can't seem to get a signal when using HDMI1 (ARC)! Is there anything special about this port? I tried connecting my FIOS DVR and Panasonic BD player and neither can send a signal. What is strange is if I connect it to my Pioneer receiver it still gets no signal but will turn off the receiver as the TV is turned off so I assume HDMI port is working? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

PS I should elaborate, HDMI 2 and 3 are fine but obviously no ARC.

Yes, he's outstanding. This is actually the third set of mine he's worked on since 2005.

I cannot remember if the custom readings were a result of my own tweaks I made, or if they had been reset to default for the start of the calibration.

No question though, putting the numbers aside, I could see real visual improvements as a result. Most notable was.....color just looks more natural (skin tones just look outstanding now), shadows look more neutral, and whites more pure. Extremely happy with the display.

This cannot be stated loudly enough for anyone else. Stick with one of the top traveling calibrators.

This is real noob stuff guys, I'm sure you've heard these comments a thousand times before.

Can I run slides during the day and at night, but watch a movie or two (without bars) during the break in? Do the slides just go on a USB?

I will run D Nice's settings after the TV is broken in, or find a reputable calibrator in the Twin Cities.

Purists may tell you no but this is not an exact science and a little preview watching of your TV without bars or the same channel bug very long, and certainly no video games, in my opinion is fine. I did it on my sets and was perfectly happy with the results -- and that includes one d-nice calibrated.

Citivas, thank you for the feedback

Lots and lots of reasons to stay away. I've seen calibration reports from some of these guys and they are jacked up...certainly not what is capable. The traveling calibrators are using somewhat more accurate equipment (spectros in many cases) and I guarantee BB is not even keeping their analyzers calibrated. The traveling calibrators will spend far more time to get it right and have so much more experience with these sets - and they have a passion. They understand the science as well as the "art" that is sometimes needed because of a display's inherent compromises. This alone goes a long way. Not to mention, the 2011 Panasonics are finicky to calibrate - especially the VT30 as it has lots of quirks. Finally, reputation. Who knows what clown from BB is going to calibrate his sets. This isn't like tuning up a lawn mower where you take it anywhere reasonable - unfortunately most people don't understand how much is involved.

Thanks David

Calibration should have NO impact on how long your TV will last.
Unless, of course, it is performed by a Complete Idiot who manages to BREAK something the process!

For a less expensive warranty, go to Costco and pick up a 3-year Square Trade extended warranty. They will sell one to you even though the TV was purchased elsewhere - but they give a 60-Day Window, post purchase, to make the decision....

I'm On my way to pick up a set of 55st30 at the Norfolk NEX. They got them listed for 1250 but target is selling them for 999. Took a picture of the sign at target and they priced matched it. 3 yr warranty for another 50 so I got it for less than 1050 out the door with 4 yrs warranty. This replacing my dying jvc fn61.

I just picked up my 55" at Sears. #1234 so all should be good there.
What does the Costco one cover? Do they have good service? I do have a Costco membership, so I can get the warranty there.

CostCo sells a 3-Year Square Trade warranty. (&, from memory, it is a 3-year EXTENSION of the manufacturers warranty - which would normally mean a total of 4 years of coverage).

Have not done any real research, but ASSUME that it is the "same" Square Trade warranty as sold elsewhere - with same Limitations.

Mixed feelings about buying an extended warranty: general "Consumer Advice" is to avoid them. But the price at CostCo is pretty cheap; and if helps one to sleep better at night.....

Read a consumer viewpoint article dealing with extended warranties some months ago: None of the Big Boys came out looking very good, due to Limitations & Gotchaa's built into the contract. Still, clearly some owners have benefited by having a warrany in place.

So I just checked my TV and I have MG1308xxxx for my serial number, with a build thread of Nov 2011. I connected it on line and its asking to download a firmware update...this shouldnt cause my TV to fritz now would it?

Does this Tv upconvert 2d to 3d when you are streaming netflix via the Tv? I have glasses on order so I cant check now.

Does anyone have the dimensional optics 3d glasses and how do they compare with the 3rd gen Panasonic glasses?

It's version 2.20 to fix a viera connect service issue. It shouldn't cause any problems.

I haven't tried netflix but it works when streaming using DLNA and anything else I've tried. It does a good job at the conversion, better than I thought it could.

Not true I got my Squaretrade warranty thru Costco for my 42" ST30 one day before the one year manufacturer's warranty expired.

Man, this gets asked over and over...D Nice set up his panel prep for a very specific reason. If you do not follow the steps, there is no reason to do the slides at all. Just save yourself the headache and stick to full screen content with no static logos for the first hundred hours. There are plenty of settings out there for people who elect not to follow instuctions.

Koo, thanks for the answer...I'll do the update when I'm done running D-Nice's 100 hr break in.