Official Panasonic 2011 TC-PxxS30 Thread - Page 2

I'm looking the 50" S30 and ST30
Can anyone confirm that each of these does or does not have a VGA / pc input?
Glare is a major concern for me, is the ST30 a major reduction in glare?

Is this a worthwhile unit as a bedroom tv? I want something good, but i have a better TV in the living room where i hope to do more serious watching...

I skimmed and did not see anything and I tried searching through the IR and other threads and they seem kind a vague to be honest but do you think that this screen needs to be broken in? And does playing guitar hero and rock band for 8 hours straight regular cause a problem? also the s30 to ST30 for the 50 inch has a ~400 dollar price difference...thats nearly a 50% increase so it is hard to believe that on a budget a 50% increase would be worth it....

No VGA input. But even on the higher end units that do, the VGA input is limited to 768p and my desktop looked like crap when i had my PC connected to it. It's better to upgrade your video card to DVI or HDMI - that looks great.


Yes, major reduction in glare and reflections. You can see this for yourself by comparing these two models in the stores.

It can cause problems if there are any fixed images involved. The risk is up to you. That's pretty straight forward.

kinda dumb when VGA can supper 1080p http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector

I've owned plasmas since the early days when a good unit cost 10k. I just picked up a 50S30 for new apartment that has a modest sized living room that happens to have pretty limited sunlight and a perfect configuration for home theater. In the dark or during the day with the lights off, the panel looks superb. When the light is on full blast it's a little less brilliant but that is typical of plasmas. Now that I've been watching it, I'd much rather watch it (in a darker room) than my top of the line Samsung LCD in my bedroom. If you are trying to stay under 1k price point this is a VERY good deal and feature rich set. Was tempted to upgrade to the ST but after a couple of days see absolutely no reason to since 3D is still ever evolving technology.

Ive had this set for around 3 months now and I got to say texture got smoother over time. it's my first plasma so I didn't know what to expect. yeah it has some lightning reflection but that's why I made a day bright mode which almost eliminates that prob. at night or with the curtains close it does give quite a beautiful pic. especially with cgi animation like toy story. anyone want to share their settings?

To all with XBox 360s, I have an ST30 with a motion problem, so I wanna see if it's only limited to my TV, the ST30 line as a whole, or the new Pannys in general...

The issue is NOT shown in this vid. I'm just showing you what to do to check for the issue.



Choose one of the themes with light boxes (like the one shown), and scroll through the boxes like the vid (make sure you're in the My Xbox section as it has all light boxes... the others have other content that won't help to check for this issue). Can you see ghosting/artifacts in those boxes as you pan? get close if you have to. Thanks for the help.

sorry Ps3 owner here, come on s30 owners let's see those settingS!

bump

@Raven Crimson - I'm having the same experience. I think it's called "Frame Tearing". I bought a P50S30 a few weeks ago. Playing 1st person shooters on an Xbox 360 Slim is unbearable for me. When standing still, the picture is exceptional, but when I move any direction at more than a crawl, there is terrible ghosting - there is two of everything until I stop again. Makes certain games nearly unplayable (Red Dead Redemption, Fallout 3/New Vegas, Oblivion, Modern Warfare 2, et al). I thought it may be my Xbox so I borrowed a friends - same issue. Hooked my old PS2 up to the component video - same issue.

I've scoured the internet for info and haven't been able to find anything. I spent about an hour on the phone with Panasonic and they can't seem to wrap their head around it. After trouble shooting with me they said they'd recommend having the TV serviced. As it was still under 30 days I traded it in for the same model. The tech people at Best Buy looked at me like I was crazy. The issue persists with this new one. If I can't find a solution I'm going to trade it in for a Samsung.

Otherwise, I'm very happy with the TV. Unfortunately, gaming is one of the reasons I went for a new Plasma.

I also noticed that what they advertise as 'Game Mode' isn't a 'mode' at all - it's just a picture preset w/ the brightness and contrast maxed out - the fps or refresh rate settings are unaffected and unchangeable.

If anyone has any advice, I'd much appreciate it.

I've tested two ST30s, and one Panny S2. All of them have that weird ghosting with 60fps gaming, and double images with 30fps gaming.

I believe it's just the way Plasmas do motion. I was playing FFXIII, and it being a 30fps game, the double images when panning was disconcerting at first, but it really only proves to be distracting if you're paying attention to the panning. When gaming, you're usually paying attention to the character on screen.

60fps gaming (like CoD games) is much better, as it doesn't have the double images, but it does have that ghosting on mostly whites.

I can live with it as the Plasma has very little input lag compared to LCD, and does handle motion better than LCD/LED when they're set to handle input lag. LCD/LED handles motion better when enable blur reduction and/or dejudder to max, but it adds a crapload of input lag, making it unplayable.

I'd say the lesser of two evils is plasma. I wish it was still like CRT...

I know for a fact that the 360 menu screens tear and blur as a result of how the menu system itself is created. No problem like that exists on my Panasonic plasmas with the ps3, but only in the 360 menu system. Games all seem fine as well.


Game Mode is in fact much different from "Custom" mode (and the others). You need test patterns to see it. Game Mode reveals darker detail much easier, makes complex patterns much sharper, and removes lots of processes which have been tested and confirmed in many test patterns by me and others. A scrolling ESPN news bar will reveal the "timing" change when switching to game mode from custom, you will see the bar jump ahead, and then returning to cinema/custom it will jump back.

Unfortunately, it is not very obvious, but it IS happening. You have to toggle from game to custom over and over until you find the differences if you really want to see them.

How much better is the S30 than the older PX80? Blacks, contrast, colour, other issues etc?

I couldn't pass up the deal I received at Best Buy with the help from Sears for a 60" S30. I doubt the ST30 is worth 400 more than the S30. From what I saw looking at the displays, the 2000.00 Samsungs looks awesome, but I'm not looking to pay over 2000.00 for a TV.

I'm fast approaching my 100 hour break in period. Anybody have any good picture settings? I'm thinking about looking into a Blu Ray calibration disc.

PIcked up a 46S30 last night, it was on sales less than half price than ST30 and I don't care much about 3D. Any break-in and setting advice? TIA.

I picked up a 60 inch S30 about two weeks ago. So far I am loving the new TV. I am using it in my basement to watch movies in complete darkness. My previous TV (Sony KDL-52XBR-2) is now in my family room.

I think the blacks are better on the Panasonic and the new TV also seems slightly sharper with better contrast. I plan to put the Sony next to the Panasonic next week for more testing.

I snagged these settings off a website and I like them:

Custom Mode
Contrast = 69
Brightness = 59
Color = 47
Sharpness = 12
Tint = 0
Color Temp = Warm 2
Black Level = Light
24P direct in = 60HZ

I am experimenting with higher contrast of about 75 so see if I like the picture more. I am undecided at this point. I also noticed the Cinema mode looked a little bit dull to me.

Anyone else have any settings to share?

I've used a combination of all the previous settings on this thread and so far so good. I'll put yours in an see how it looks.

I picked this TV up yesterday from Best Buy to replace a broken Samsung PN58C550. I loved my Samsung, but so far I am enjoying this one a little more. The screen is very impressive and has a great anti-reflective picture. Watched Jackass 3D (I know, great first choice) last night and enjoyed the quality very much.

I have a PS3 (HDMI), Wii(Component), 360/HD-DVD(HDMI), and HD-DVR Cable Box(Component), all running to this set through an older Onkyo TX-SR705 7.1 Surround Receiver.

So far everything has been great. I have not witnessed any tearing or ghosting on the XBOX or PS3. Are the ones that are ghosting hooked up through component cables? I have not played the Wii yet, but am hoping that does not tear.

The Viera Link features are actually really nice. I already have about 8-10 Netflix playing devices, but now think that I will use Netflix on the TV for general day to day watching (especially for the 3-year old), in order to prevent powering up a console and receiver. The Napster is awesome (free for all of us Best Buy premier silver members). I can see that being a hit at any family or friend party/gathering type atmosphere. Facebook was a little odd and didn't work too great--no big deal.

The picture settings on this TV are pretty generic and limited but so far I haven't felt like I've needed to tweak much, unlike the LG-LW5300 LED TV I had, or the Samsung that I am replacing this with.

I will probably run a calibration disc sometime soon, but am really happy with the picture so far.

Also, this TV is definitely slim on inputs... only one component, so a receiver may be almost necessary depending on what you are hooking up--thank god for HDMI being incorporated into almost everything nowadays. On, that note, does anyone know if a USB keyboard would work with this TV? Typing on the remote is not the easiest of adventures.

I will update if I determine anything else of note within the coming days/weeks. Highly recommend this set for someone on a budget that wants a nice, big, beautiful television set.

OK, picked up my P50S30 today and have some questions about breaking in the set.

Is it really necessary and if it is could I just watch full screen movies to break it in?
Also should I not adjust any of the picture settings till after the break-in period?
I really wanted to watch some sports on it but the burn-in concerns me.

How the heck did you watch a 3D movie when your new S30 is not a 3D TV??

Ha. Sorry to imply I watched a 3D movie on this set. I watched Jackass 3D, (the third Jackass movie) not in 3D mode. Just in standard 2D mode. Although I do think the movie comes with the generic red/blue glasses for people that want to take that route.

Also, I don't believe in breaking in plasma screens in this day. Watching full-screen movies/programming should be just fine.

I watched full screen movies and TV to break in mine. Then I applied a mixture of settings on these forums. TV looks great. Even if its only a S30.

Could you two post your updated settings?

I mainly play videogames and watch movies(standadrd dvd's and some blu rays via ps3 and hdmi) in a dark room.

Just picked one up on Saturday - barely fit inside the car across the back seat

Great picture, sound not so much, lots of distortion at relatively low levels, so now looking for a surround sound system (sigh, it's a hard life )

It shouldn't sound distorted. If you have Bass Boost or Surround Sound turned on in the Audio menu, try turning them off as they often make the TV sound worse.

I've had my 50" S30 for about 2 weeks, and it buzzes a good bit when there's a lot of white on the screen. Really only notice it when it's relatively quiet, although sometimes I can hear when there's a bit of noise. Has anybody else seen this?

Edit: Otherwise, love the set. Replacing an aging DLP that I frankly just got tired of

I have a 60" S34 (Costco version of S30), per Panasonic, its the same set. I have the tearing on the XBOX 360 menu. It seems pretty bad. I can see it also in game of COD Black Ops. When standing still, the screen looks amazing. When panning left/ right, you can faintly see the picture become "fuzzy" with a bunch of dots/ pixelations all over. Its not motion blur, and I dont get it on my older 50" Panny plasma. Its not pixelated in just one spot, but the entire display. Now that I notice it, its hard to un-see. I am going to give the set some more time to break in (I have 90 days to return to Costco). If it doesn't go away or get better, then I think I am upgrading to the ST30. I like the set and dont want to take it back, but its getting hard to watch sometimes.

Anyone else see this on their sets? I have a 360 Elite Version connected via HDMI.