AVS › AVS Forum › Display Devices › Plasma Flat Panel Displays › Official Panasonic 2011 TC-PxxVT30 Series Thread Discussion Thread [No Price Talk]
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Official Panasonic 2011 TC-PxxVT30 Series Thread Discussion Thread [No Price Talk] - Page 4

post #91 of 6382
5/4/11 at 7:43pm
Thread Starter 
MSRP will be $4299 on the TC-P65VT30. Street price will be less.
Cleveland Plasma Insider
» Get the latest news and updates at the Cleveland Plasma sponsor page.
Reply
Cleveland Plasma Insider
» Get the latest news and updates at the Cleveland Plasma sponsor page.
Reply

Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #92 of 6382
5/4/11 at 9:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cleveland Plasma View Post

MSRP will be $4299 on the TC-P65VT30. Street price will be less.

what will the street price be? can pm me pricing?
Reply
Reply
post #93 of 6382
5/4/11 at 10:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joseph1 View Post

Does anybody know what the USB output can record through HDD/USB thumb drive when the TV is on? Can it record program coming from cable, satellite, DVD player, Blu-Ray player, OTA? This is a great feature if it works.

The North American models cannot record anything through the USB port. European models are another story.
Reply
Reply
post #94 of 6382
5/4/11 at 10:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RandyWalters View Post

The North American models cannot record anything through the USB port. European models are another story.

That sucks !

I don't see why there's an exception. Now I'm wondering what other features they don't include for N. America.
Reply
Reply
post #95 of 6382
5/5/11 at 6:42am
OK, my VT30 arrived yesterday. Shipping went fine and there was no damage. The tips from Robert (VE) concerning how to remove the top portion of the box was very helpful. Got everything hooked up fairly quick and we watched part of Tron (the only DVD Blu-Ray we have) and watched OTA programming, mainly Survivor. Picture quality was outstanding, especially in THX mode. Upped the settings in Standard some, but still went back to THX. My VT is not calibrated. The digital tuner seems strong…had no issues pulling in the channels that I knew, plus the auto scanning found a few more. Our prior TV was a Sony 34” HDTV CRT unit. Watching Survivor was a real treat…really can’t see how the picture could be any better.

Sound quality of the VT30 is good. I was concerned since I don’t usually run our sound system when watching OTA programming, nor do I want to, and our Sony had fairly good front oriented speakers. The VT has a small mesh screen at the very bottom of the front, to allow sound to travel out. Since our unit sits inside a furniture/entertainment center, the sound is probably more focused toward the room that if it was just wall mounted. Just my general theory, but I’m pleased this turned out good.

Tried the 2D to 3D conversion...the kids thought this was fun. It was cool, but I don't know how much of that I would use. Especially since I only got one pair of glasses. Come on Panasonic...that sucks and you know it...

What I don’t like….

Why Panasonic needed to change standard connection configurations I just don’t know. My optical sound cable, running from the TV to my receiver now needs a special adapter to fit the VT30. The adapter was included, but why change this simple connection point. Same for video and component hook-ups…adapters are required (and supplied). Why not just have the standard connection points?

Aspect ratios. My wide screen Sony seemed to display proper OTA aspect ratios automatically…no requirement to change aspect ratios. Non-HD programming would have side bars. But the VT seems to want to display all programming in full screen regardless. This means that the viewer has to switch to an appropriate aspect ratio. Maybe I’m doing something wrong…I’ll have to study this more. I’m using “Just” as the aspect ratio for regular viewing. I never had to contend with this on my Sony. Maybe Panasonic is trying to avoid the TV from showing the sidebars, since the manual mentions that this can cause IR issues.

The stand; it’s very sturdy, but somewhat ugly in my opinion. Would think something with “legs” would have looked better. My wife thinks its fine.
Reply
Reply
post #96 of 6382
5/5/11 at 7:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cleveland Plasma View Post

June sometime, yes.

So if BB is telling me a delivery date of May 14th for the 65 should I be saying BS ?
Reply
Reply
post #97 of 6382
5/5/11 at 7:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by spacecoast View Post

Aspect ratios. My wide screen Sony seemed to display proper OTA aspect ratios automaticallyno requirement to change aspect ratios. Non-HD programming would have side bars. But the VT seems to want to display all programming in full screen regardless. This means that the viewer has to switch to an appropriate aspect ratio. Maybe I'm doing something wrongI'll have to study this more. I'm using Just as the aspect ratio for regular viewing. I never had to contend with this on my Sony. Maybe Panasonic is trying to avoid the TV from showing the sidebars, since the manual mentions that this can cause IR issues.

Using FULL will give you the best resolution and no overscan.
Reply
Reply
post #98 of 6382
5/5/11 at 7:48am
Has anyone tried streaming Netflix? How's the quality? I assume it streams the same as the new Panny BD players (110 and 210)?
Reply
Reply
post #99 of 6382
5/5/11 at 7:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by spacecoast View Post

OK, my VT30 arrived yesterday. Shipping went fine and there was no damage. The tips from Robert (VE) concerning how to remove the top portion of the box was very helpful. Got everything hooked up fairly quick and we watched part of Tron (the only DVD Blu-Ray we have) and watched OTA programming, mainly Survivor. Picture quality was outstanding, especially in THX mode. Upped the settings in Standard some, but still went back to THX. My VT is not calibrated. The digital tuner seems stronghad no issues pulling in the channels that I knew, plus the auto scanning found a few more. Our prior TV was a Sony 34 HDTV CRT unit. Watching Survivor was a real treatreally can't see how the picture could be any better.

Sound quality of the VT30 is good. I was concerned since I don't usually run our sound system when watching OTA programming, nor do I want to, and our Sony had fairly good front oriented speakers. The VT has a small mesh screen at the very bottom of the front, to allow sound to travel out. Since our unit sits inside a furniture/entertainment center, the sound is probably more focused toward the room that if it was just wall mounted. Just my general theory, but I'm pleased this turned out good.

Tried the 2D to 3D conversion...the kids thought this was fun. It was cool, but I don't know how much of that I would use. Especially since I only got one pair of glasses. Come on Panasonic...that sucks and you know it...

What I don't like.

Why Panasonic needed to change standard connection configurations I just don't know. My optical sound cable, running from the TV to my receiver now needs a special adapter to fit the VT30. The adapter was included, but why change this simple connection point. Same for video and component hook-upsadapters are required (and supplied). Why not just have the standard connection points?

Aspect ratios. My wide screen Sony seemed to display proper OTA aspect ratios automaticallyno requirement to change aspect ratios. Non-HD programming would have side bars. But the VT seems to want to display all programming in full screen regardless. This means that the viewer has to switch to an appropriate aspect ratio. Maybe I'm doing something wrongI'll have to study this more. I'm using Just as the aspect ratio for regular viewing. I never had to contend with this on my Sony. Maybe Panasonic is trying to avoid the TV from showing the sidebars, since the manual mentions that this can cause IR issues.

The stand; it's very sturdy, but somewhat ugly in my opinion. Would think something with legs would have looked better. My wife thinks its fine.

Thanks a lot, it's nice to read owner impression's instead of griping from folks who have not even seen the TV yet.
Reply
Reply
post #100 of 6382
5/5/11 at 9:11am
spacecoast, you really need to get at least a 2nd set of glasses.
Reply
Reply
post #101 of 6382
5/5/11 at 9:58am
Spacecoast,

Thanks for the review! The question that a lot of people will probably have is: did you notice any brightness fluctuations or floating blacks from your viewing so far?

Thanks.
Reply
Reply
post #102 of 6382
5/5/11 at 10:13am
Quote:
spacecoast, you really need to get at least a 2nd set of glasses

I agree...I'm waiting for Panasonic to send them to me as a thank you.

Quote:
did you notice any brightness fluctuations or floating blacks from your viewing so far?

No, I thought the picture was quite exceptional, especially OTA HDTV. Also I did see a large banner (might have been in a commercial) that was in black, and I recall thinking..now that color of black was really BLACK. See, spending too much time on this forum.

Also, at the end of the night I placed my hands on the top and partially the rear of the TV, and did not notice any heat, which was somewhat of a surprise. The TV was probalby on from about 6 pm to 10:30 pm.
Reply
Reply
post #103 of 6382
5/5/11 at 11:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by spacecoast View Post

I agree...I'm waiting for Panasonic to send them to me as a thank you.

I'm afraid you'll be waiting forever. My VT30 is on order (should get it next week). I did buy a 2nd pair of glasses. If they start a promotion soon, maybe we can "return" it and buy it back to cash in on the promotion (I already got Avatar 3D when I bought a Panny BluRay player (the 110) in March, but extra glasses would be nice).
Reply
Reply
post #104 of 6382
5/5/11 at 11:23am
Have you noticed any buzzing? My display will also sit inside a wall unit, and I'm concerned any buzzing will be amplified inside the wall unit.
Reply
Reply
post #105 of 6382
5/5/11 at 12:24pm
Quote:
Have you noticed any buzzing?

I did think about that last night and checked...no noise...at least so far.
Reply
Reply
post #106 of 6382
5/5/11 at 12:28pm
Quote:
Using FULL will give you the best resolution and no overscan

thanks Donny, I'll give that a try. With my Sony I didn't have to change anything. SD 4:3 content would simply have side bars, and thus it was not stretched or distorted. I really don't want to have to toggle among aspect ratios everytime I do a channel change, but maybe with the vt30 I will have that situation.

Also, I noticed that the side bars were gray not black, and my wife commented that that was somewhat strange looking. Is that color/shaded adjustable?
Reply
Reply
post #107 of 6382
5/5/11 at 12:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by spacecoast View Post

thanks Donny, I'll give that a try. With my Sony I didn't have to change anything. SD 4:3 content would simply have side bars, and thus it was not stretched or distorted. I really don't want to have to toggle among aspect ratios everytime I do a channel change, but maybe with the vt30 I will have that situation.

Also, I noticed that the side bars were gray not black, and my wife commented that that was somewhat strange looking. Is that color/shaded adjustable?

You should limit the amount of programming you watch with sidebars for the first 100 hours or so. Don't watch vivid mode. The best viewing modes on that tv are THX and Custom. Check your cable/sat box for a setting where you can change the side bar color from grey to black. I have Directv and I have that option.

I just checked your user manual. Page 55 describes how you can change the color of the side bars when in 4:3 viewing. It's under anti image retention in the menu.
Reply
Reply
post #108 of 6382
5/5/11 at 1:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmpage2 View Post
thanks a lot, it's nice to read owner impression's instead of griping from folks who have not even seen the tv yet.
+ 1000!
Reply
Reply
post #109 of 6382
5/5/11 at 5:17pm
Quote:
Aspect ratios. My wide screen Sony seemed to display proper OTA aspect ratios automatically
Did some checking. As Donny mentioned, using "Full" with HD content is the proper aspect ratio. However, when I change to a non-HD channel, the aspect changes to "Just", which fills the screen (and also stretches the picture). Perhaps this is intentional on Panasonic's part, since this avoids side bars. And if you enjoy a slightly distorted and stretched picture, then great. For me I hate that and I guess I may have to simply press the button to get to 4:3. For now, until the set is used for 200 hours or so I'll avoid the 4:3. Maybe there is a setting to tell the tv to go to 4:3 on SD content...I have not read the manual.
Reply
Reply
post #110 of 6382
5/5/11 at 6:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by spacecoast View Post

Did some checking. As Donny mentioned, using "Full" with HD content is the proper aspect ratio. However, when I change to a non-HD channel, the aspect changes to "Just", which fills the screen (and also stretches the picture). Perhaps this is intentional on Panasonic's part, since this avoids side bars. And if you enjoy a slightly distorted and stretched picture, then great. For me I hate that and I guess I may have to simply press the button to get to 4:3. For now, until the set is used for 200 hours or so I'll avoid the 4:3. Maybe there is a setting to tell the tv to go to 4:3 on SD content...I have not read the manual.

What about the bars on the top and bottom with some movies? Does the VT30 automatically stretch vertically to get rid of those bars (probably a good idea for the first 100 hours)?
Reply
Reply
post #111 of 6382
5/5/11 at 6:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by freddy202022 View Post

So if BB is telling me a delivery date of May 14th for the 65 should I be saying BS ?

I just came from my future son-in-law"s that works at BB (which is where he purchased it)and said his 65" is coming in on the 16'th here in town. I'll post any updates as soon as I get them.
Reply
Reply
post #112 of 6382
5/5/11 at 7:35pm
I haven't noticed 'floating' or 'rising' blacks with the TV through the first week of use.

As for the Aspect ration, its just a setting under the input type, I have my PC in HDMI2 and A/V Receiver in HDMI 1 (Receiver has PS3, Wii, Cable all hooked through it). As stated before, just set the Aspect Adjustments to Screen Format: FULL and HD Size to Size2.

The Aspect only should matter if you are trying to watch non HD programming... and honestly, if you splurged on this TV (any 50+ inch TV) and are trying to watch SD stuff... should have saved your money.

Glasses... yeah, you are only ever going to get 1 with the TV, some stores may try to throw in more to get you to buy... but come on, you knew this going in.

All I can say is the Picture is great in THX mode, and cant wait for the real tuners to come out with some more specific settings.
Reply
Reply
post #113 of 6382
5/6/11 at 5:54am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by freddy202022 View Post

So if BB is telling me a delivery date of May 14th for the 65 should I be saying BS ?

A while back I heard it would be mid may also, a few days ago it looks like it was pushed 2 weeks......we will see.
Cleveland Plasma Insider
» Get the latest news and updates at the Cleveland Plasma sponsor page.
Reply
Cleveland Plasma Insider
» Get the latest news and updates at the Cleveland Plasma sponsor page.
Reply
post #114 of 6382
5/6/11 at 6:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by spacecoast View Post

Also, I noticed that the side bars were gray not black, and my wife commented that that was somewhat strange looking. Is that color/shaded adjustable?

You should leave the bars grey as they will reduce image retention, especially so for your break-in period.
Reply
Reply
post #115 of 6382
5/6/11 at 11:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cleveland Plasma View Post

A while back I heard it would be mid may also, a few days ago it looks like it was pushed 2 weeks......we will see.

You can play around with various zip codes on the BB website. For example I see Seattle gives a date of the 16th or 18th of this month (not recall exactly which) but most other places I checked including Portland and SLC just gave an out of stock response.
Reply
Reply
post #116 of 6382
5/6/11 at 11:13am
Thread Starter 
Those dates are not firm, when those dates come and the product is not in, it add 2 weeks......
Cleveland Plasma Insider
» Get the latest news and updates at the Cleveland Plasma sponsor page.
Reply
Cleveland Plasma Insider
» Get the latest news and updates at the Cleveland Plasma sponsor page.
Reply
post #117 of 6382
5/6/11 at 1:52pm
Chris, any promotions yet from Panasonic with a VT30 purchase? Free 2nd pair of glasses, Avatar 3D, etc, etc?
Reply
Reply
post #118 of 6382
5/6/11 at 3:55pm
Thread Starter 
None, as of yet......
Cleveland Plasma Insider
» Get the latest news and updates at the Cleveland Plasma sponsor page.
Reply
Cleveland Plasma Insider
» Get the latest news and updates at the Cleveland Plasma sponsor page.
Reply
post #119 of 6382
5/6/11 at 5:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by soxthecat View Post
As of this afternoon, David Katzmaier has had 55VT30 in the lab for about an hour. The black level so far is 0.0062 fL. Higher than last years 2010's VT25.
A "new" (under 500 hours of use) VT25 in it's rarely used lowest MLL-mode.

Most of the viewingtime a brand new VT25 will show 0.020 cd/m2.
Reply
Reply
post #120 of 6382
5/6/11 at 6:45pm
3 cons from AVForums review (UK version of the VT30)

1) There are the occasional instances of brightness fluctuations seen on the VT30.

2) The VT30 does at times suffer from drawbacks of the technology such as some posterisation and banding with strong single coloured backgrounds.

3) It has to be said that the THX standards usually insist on a 2.2 gamma curve for certification, so we are surprised that the VT30 gamma is so low in THX mode. It is tracking at around 1.9/2.0, for the majority, and we would ideally like to see this closer to a 2.2 curve. What this results in is a slightly washed out image that may well suit a bright room environment, but which will produce washed out results in a dimly lit environment. This is not quite ideal and in the THX mode there is no way to correct the gamma curve (there are no options for gamma settings)."
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Plasma Flat Panel Displays

Gear mentioned in this thread:

AVS › AVS Forum › Display Devices › Plasma Flat Panel Displays › Official Panasonic 2011 TC-PxxVT30 Series Thread Discussion Thread [No Price Talk]