Official Panasonic 2011 TC-PxxS30 Thread - Page 16

Exactly, nothing you can do. I returned my S30 for an ST30, because it drove me crazy. If you can do that, you will be happy as they fixed it on the ST,GT, and VT series.

With 'fixed' in quotes, do you mean that the brightness fluctuation cannot be resolved?

I recently installed a 50S30 for my friend, and noticed what seemed like a brightness fluctuation a couple times while initially setting up. Didn't see it afterwards, but I don't visit often, and she hasn't reported any such occurrence; it's been over a month. (I'll be visiting in a couple weeks for a more thorough calibration.)

The mfr date is Nov 2011, fwiw. I had them run the slideshow as part of a low-contrast 100-hr break-in period. They use Cinema Mode only (movies only w/ direct connection from BD player and Roku streaming, NO broadcast TV.)

Can someone point me to the firmware update and/or procedure, or advise if it's even needed with no apparent malfunction?

Thanks in advance!

Well, my 50S30 has some burn-in. Stationlogo is burned into the lower right... Hasn't gone away since yesterday. My old TH42PZ80u didn't suffer from this issue... Is this something that would be covered under the standard 1-year warranty?

on my set top box I tried all 4 options (upconvert 1, upconvert 2, fixed, and auto HDMI) still have images off screen, really annoying when watching ESPN and can't see the upcoming stories. BTW the set top is a scientific atlanta 8300HD

Hey guys, finally started watching some 4:3 content and was shocked when i saw how much of the image is cut off. The only way to fix it is to stretch it, or use the "full" setting in the aspect menu, but then I get black bars through the bluray player. Guess I'm pretty much screwed here. I really miss my sharp led tv, too bad sharp don't make plasmas. I wanted to watch it in the original aspect ratio, I'm not sure what to do.

They did patch the S30 for "standard" mode only, which is a horrible setting for PQ in my opinion. I used Cinema exclusively when I had my S30, and this is what Panasonic recommended for FBr issues (that or Custom.) But no, in the end, Panasonic is either unable or unwilling to truly fix the FBr issue with the S30. It doesn't bother a lot of people (my wife never saw it.) It drove me absolutely crazy though, and so I returned my S30 for an ST30. I have yet to observe any FBr on my ST30. I was more pissed off with Panasonic over how they responded when I called them, than I was over the fact that they wouldn't do anything about it. Telling me that they "diagnosed" my tv over the phone and that it was operating to spec is just rediculous when nobody had seen it in person. If your friend doesn't complain about it, don't point it out to her. It was very distracting to me and I coudln't live with it.

Thanks, dtbreen76.

I might create a Custom setting for laughs next visit, but Cinema will likely be all that's ever used.

You couldn't miss the brightness fluctuation when it occurred, and my friend noticed it at the time. And I did ask her if there was anything that didn't look right after a few weeks (without mentioning FBr specifically). Maybe it simply doesn't occur in Cinema on this set.

Does anyone use the scrolling bar feature as actual regular maintenance for wiping the screen? Is this possibly a good idea? If so how often?

No.

This is probably a stupid question but does a TCP60S30 contain a cooling system? I'm worried about heat damage in the long run.

The back is perforated.

What kind of damage are you worried about? My S sits in front of our door wall (Michigan speak for sliding glass door) and soaks up the sun in the AM... I swear the back of that thing is too hot to touch in the morning!

I've just been reading about how excessive heat can damage a plasma if it's not properly cooled.

Link to source?

Not that I'm trying to dispute: excessive heat can damage anything. But I'm not sure where the concern is coming from. Panasonic has been engineering and designing plasma displays for more than a decade and they have a good reputation for reliability. I would hazard some speculation that proper thermal dissipation is a major component to the design of *most* consumer electronics (stay in your corner, Xbox 360...) I've not heard of excessive heat issues being the cause for any defects other than a few guesses as to the true cause of samsungs much ballyhooed screen cracking and a VERY loose guess as to the source of panasonic's 'green blobs' issue.

The top of both my plasmas are much cooler than my sole LCD. Conversely, the screen gets warmer to the touch on my plasmas than my LCD (at least around the edges). One thing I will say is I grabbed the top left edge of a Samsung plasma (d550 I think) at my local best buy the other day and I was a bit surprised how hot it was. Nothing out of the ordinary for anyone who runs a performance pc but I was surprised as both my panasonic's stay pretty cool.

Here's a link to the article I was reading... http://www.plasmafix.com/plasma.php

Ok-- first of all, this link is from a repair/service shop. Their sample size is a bit skewed as they only see defective/broken panels. Second, he mentions the brands that are known for having thermal issues are Phillips, Daewoo and Sony... Do you know how long it's been since any of those manufacturers last made a plasma? It's been YEARS. My point is that this article is old. Like WAY old. As such, I really wouldn't concern yourself as the technology has come a LONG way.

Case in point: my 2008 46pz800u weighs over 80 lbs WITHOUT the stand and has a bank of fans along the top to exhaust heat. My 2011 50S30 weighs about 30lbs LESS (despite the fact that it's larger) and has zero fans as it's heavily ventilated at the top (almost to the point I worry about dust...). I should also mention that my 46" is rated at 628W and operates a little below 400W. My 50" is rated at 299W and runs somewhere in the territory of 180W! 3 years!

Well thanks for taking the time to clear that up for me.

The image burn finally faded out about 9 days after it happened... Ugh. Don't let your wife/gf watch the Soap network all day. Some reason it burned the logo into the screen.

I replaced my 2001 42" Panasonic industrial model this past December because it had developed, over about the past 5 years, a problem where pink dots would appear at the edge of highlighted areas such as the edge of clouds in the sky. These would be very intrusive at times. Waving curtains of thousands of pink dots! It was clearly a thermal issue since it improved with cooling fans, worsened in the summer as room temps went up, worsened if you increased the brightness of the image, etc. I always wondered if some internal heat sinks were coming loose or a component was failing and becoming heat sensitive. It was always in the top half of the panel and often seemed to be delimited.

Sorry to hear-- but I would again say that you have little to worry about in a modern plasma. 2001 is an eon ago in technology terms. Think about the electronic environment in 2001: no iPod/iTunes, DVD was trying to overcome VHS, digital delivery was still years away from being feasible, blackberry and palm were just introducing the concept of the smart phone, HD was something esoteric and 'unnecessary'.

I'm not concerned about my new set. You're correct; an electronic eon has passed since that first panel was made.

Way back when, there was some concern about transporting these displays flat, instead of upright. Invisible damage could supposedly occur and a year later show up as pink dots. Any truth to that?

Never heard of that but I still think it's a good idea to transport upright. Without going in to too much detail: I helped someone carry home a 60" plasma recently and we had to lay it down to fit-- when we arrived to set it up... Oh man. Long story short, the retailer actually took it back and the next one we borrowed a pickup for.

I laid my S30 flat to get it home and had no issues. The guy at the store said they do it all the time. He did advise me to to let it sit upright for a few hours before turning it on. It actually sat for a week as it took me that long to build a custom articulating fireplace mount (probably a much longer story than yours )

Nevertheless, glass has far more shearing strength than torsional strength. I'm glad your display didn't break but transporting the display laying down exposes it to damage far more than transporting it upright. Results will vary but if you can transport upright.

I'm very happy with my S30.

Brand new owner of a Panasonic TC-P60S30...Fellas I love this TV...No problems so far with a November 2011 build date. We put this on layaway back in February and got it out today. $999...Great deal IMO.

Bama, most of the activity is happening over in the S30 picture settings thread. This thread is largely dead. If you'd like to chat about your set come on over!

Hi all... I bought a TC-P60S30 almost a year ago (in August) and have not been very awed by the picture. Especially with BDs and especially when these BDs look better on other people's crappy Visio TVs (maybe they're not as crappy as I thought ).

Anyway the picture is too GRAINY for a 1080p picture (BD movie, HD feed, etc). I'm using a PS3 and have tweaked the settings so that it looks a bit better, but it's not clear like I know it should. I have not been blown away by the clear picture I should see from my Avatar movie that I see on my buddy's TV....

I've called customer service and after a month (of troubleshooting and getting the run around) have been told they don't think it's an issue but gave me a service number to call but not to expect that the warranty would cover it (because they don't think their's an issue). This picture does not look better than 720p, even when it shows it's a 1080p signal. What gives? I want to push to get a tech out, because I cant' buy that this is just a grainy, sub-par pix... maybe I'm being naive? Sheesh...

Oh, and I did turn CATS off when the brightness started freaking out.

I can get a Geek Squad person to come out to calibrate for free (prior to the warranty ending).... can he/she unlock some magical picture setting that will make the graininess go away? I'm just not sure...

Thoughts?

Something simple I hope...

What is your signal source?

HDMI connection?

Have you calibrated the panel?

If you have, what are those settings?

What other type of display(s) do you own now or have owned?

Side by side the image of my 720 panel and the 1080 are very obvious. (Both are Panasonic VIERA's)

My nephew has a TC-PVT50 in his "man-cave". It cost more than twice what I paid for my TC-P50S30 and is close to being worth it. Seriously, it is spectacular.

Hopefully a true A/V geek will walk you through this.

Thanks for your reply.

• Connections: HDMI
• Signal Sources: PlayStation 3 (BD), OTA HD (which I'm not expecting miracles because my signals aren't that strong; however 1 channel is usually at 90% or so... clear but not WOW clear...)
• Calibra

tion: No, I have only calibrated the TV per my THX setup disc. I'm leaning toward having the Geek Squad come out to calibrate... but can they really take the graininess out? Maybe there's something wrong with the TV...? (sigh)

If I have a grainy image on mine, I would have the geeks there for sure. Something (the signal source is a bit suspect) is amiss.