Panasonic ST30 DIY Calibration and Settings Thread - Page 47

What settings are you using ?

Is anyone here using their ST30 with an HTPC? It seems like if anyone is, no one is using it with HDMI/DVI Range set to non-standard, which is RGB Full on the computer itself. It completely changes the settings you'll get.

I calibrated with madvr and if I have it set to black extension 0, the black test pattern is best with 56 brightness and with BE of +4, 64 brightness. Brightness any higher leaves a film on everything and anything lower loses black detail. I prefer BE on since the picture has more pop as others describe.

My 55ST30 started to have the infamous buzz. I researched on this forum and someone said they tightened some screws on a circuit board and it stopped the buzz. I looked on Youtube and found this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsicYOXVqDA

I thought it couldn't hurt to take the back off and tighten some screws. I took all the screws off, popped off the back and it seemed like all the screws were loose. I tightened as many screws as possible, especially the one in the video. I put all the screws back in, put it back on the wall and bam, no buzzing. I've also read that the power supply can cause buzzing, but this cured my buzzing. Good luck to anyone who tries this and if you fry your TV, don't blame me...

Yes, I run an HTPC with mine,

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1357093/how-do-i-calibrate-tv-through-htpc-source

this thread gives some good info on how to deal with the whole 0-255/16-235 settings to achieve the best PQ as far as video goes, as there can be multiple conversions from RGB to YCbCr before it gets to the TV screen, and you want to minimize this as much as possible and have the HTPC do any conversions, since i believe a GPU will do a better job than the TV will. I think the best method is to have your GPU set to RGB/0-255, your video player to 16/235 and then leave the TV on Auto. This should produce the best image quality for video playback. However, you're still going to have the crushed blacks problem with everything else. Setting the TV to non-standard adds an extra conversion into the chain, because the TV then takes what the PC is outputting and then converts it back to YCbCr/16-235, so this is less than desirable

In the end I ended up just leaving my video card on YCbCr, because i play games and stuff on my HPTC. With this setting, the GPU does the conversion to YCbCr, and it does a better job than the TV will.

Hi Jimmy,

I've been reading your messages for a while now on this thread. I'm just wondering if you're still using the same settings and if you have the latest firmware on your ST30.
I'm going to try your settings tonight, because with the settings I have been using for almost a year now, my PQ seems to have changed...

Thanks!

Hey I don't think anybody still looks here, but I got a question that's been frusturating me.

What is Side by Side 3D? If you push the 3D button, then the red button and select side by side 3D, it seemingly places both side by side images on top of eachother. Yet when I use a polarized traditional 3D movie glasses, nothing effects it.

Is there no way to do splitscreen 3D on this TV? Using this method:
http://youtu.be/A_GlxVCtzJs

Hello all!

I recently bought this TV on and have 30 days to decide to keep it or not. I have the 55ST30 model and I believe it's a June 2011 model. I don't see any problems with IR or green blobs but I'm really unhappy with how the TV looks in game mode while using my XBOX 360. My Previous tv was a Sony XBR3 and it didn't seem to have too much lag and the picture was much better while gaming. Does anyone have some good settings they care to share?

I've read such great things about this PQ of this TV but wow the factory settings are horrible. Blu-rays via my PS3 were so so and I'm not too impressed. I have to still see how the Jimmy settings work with my OTA and blu ray. The other TV my GF and I looked at was the HX850 from Sony. The factory settings look pretty damn good but I care more about input lag and PQ while gaming. Just trying to find the happy median for both of us.

thanks again

Best picture mode is custom mid panel brightness, contrast upper 70s brightness mid 50s, color mid 40s tint 0 or +1. All comes down to greyscale after that, need a diy cal or a pro cal to nail that. My set continues to shine

On my 65ST30 (pro cal'd by Chad B) I get can almost identical PQ at the same brightness level (33 fl). Custom has just a hair bit more accurate color on the report, but Cinema has just a hair bit lower gamma (closer to 2.5 vs just over 2.6 on Custom) on the higher IRE which can very slightly be visually seen.

Chad got 41ftl out of custom for me about 30 ftl out of cinema but you are righ both good modes i prefer custom both a day and night mode

My settings are close to those here (warm 1 instead of 2) and I'm very satisfied with the PQ.

Has anybody tried to set the picture on these sets for streaming though the built in apps from panasonic. It looks like you lose the graphics setting. I was wondering if this is going to kill the PQ of Jimmy,cobra,careyp, and others that have tuned this set so well with graphics setting.

That graphics setting tames color saturation for mid panel brightness i am pretty sure its availible for streaming have used my cal setting with netflix with no issues

I ended up just sticking with Cinema mode whenever I can. I use custom mid for some stuff, but I've noticed that there is some subtle banding on ocassion that I cannot seem to calibrate out. Most people would never notice it, but it bothers me. It doesn't show up in brighter stuff, like sports, but I notice it in a lot of movies and TV shows.

Double post.

How do I enable the 3:2 pulldown? I am using the Custom mode and 3:2 pulldown is grayed out.

Thanks!

The first thing I'd try is feeding it an interlaced source, hit the "INFO" button on the remote to see.

I found a couple of sites with settings that are pretty good.

http://www.hometheater.com/content/panasonic-tc-p50st30-3d-plasma-hdtv-settings

http://hdguru.com/picture-settings-andnews-for-the-panasonic-tc-p50st30/4451/

I went with 98 contrast and 55 on the brightness.

well, looks like I've got quite a bit of reading to do. XP
I'm dissapointed with my Pansonic 201S3030's RED & GREEN push....I basically have to dial
down the color to be rid of it, but then everything else looks washed out.... Plus, there's no gamma
control which seems to be on the low side in custom mode(set to 'graphics') I want to get to get it close to the middle.
Maybe I'm just best off getting some sort of proffesional calibrater, since i'm quite the noob when it comes to this stuff. Any sort of help would be ace!

well, looks like I've got quite a bit of reading to do. XP
I'm dissapointed with my Pansonic 2012 S30s RED & GREEN push....I basically have to dial
down the color to be rid of it, but then everything else looks washed out.... Plus, there's no gamma
control which seems to be on the VERY low side in custom.The problem with Custom mode is the effed up gamma. yes setting the HDMI content to 'graphics'
makes the picture look more natural, simular to cinema...But the brightness gets knocked down as well as the color/color saturation. Maybe I'm just best off getting some sort of proffesional calibrater,
since i'm quite the noob when it comes to this stuff. Any sort of help would be ace!
Edited by WaveBoy - 3/16/13 at 6:22pm

The only options I see are pro cal or diy cal with meter and software. Just no way to fix the grayscale without that

How complicated and expensive would it be to do a diy Calibration with the meter and software? And is there also a way to turn
off the auto dimming? This option doesn't seem to be available in the service menu.

You can pick up a i1pro colorimeter for about 250 use HCFR for free. There is a learning curve but its a fun experience imo. Another alternative would be a C3 and Calman Tutorial for 149

Can also get a colormunki which is basically an i1display pro with same accuracy but less featrues/speed:

http://www.amazon.com/X-Rite-CMUNDIS-Xrite-ColorMunki-Display1/dp/B0055MBQOM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1363548494&sr=8-3&keywords=colormunki

that plus the new HCFR fork should work great, that's what I plan to use in a few hundred hours on my new S60

Yep,works just fine...I bought the munki display to calibrate my GT30 and its a hell of alot better than my i1D2.I got great results.

Here are my thoughts on owning the 60" S30 since last Nov...Just thought I'd chime in since there are people still willing to track down either the S30 or ST30 because of their super low 1 frame/16ms of lag(Via component cables) and 2(via HDMI) which makes these two sets the grand daddy in terms of input lag performance out of all the panasonic plasma's.


On the flip side....

DEEP black levels
good motion handeling
1-2 frames of lag
Custom, game and Vivid mode are nice & bright.

The negatives?.....


Cinema mode is JUNK....This doesn't at all replicate the brilliant look of a CRT.

-SUPER dim
-unatural Nasty milky grey haze
-lacks pop, looks flat and is lacking in depth
-colors look desaturated....

It 'seems' the most natural(Along with Custom - HDMI set to 'Graphics') in it's OWN way because the whites and Gamma aren't royally screwed,
like in custom, game & vivid. XP


Custom Mode is close to that of a CRT but it's riddled with a slew of problems, IF pro calibrated
this set on either Custom or Game mode has the potentional to be absolutely phenomenal. The downsides to custom as is?


-White clipping/Crush - (Detail crushing in whites)
-Whites seem abnormally bright and harsh.
-Gamma is too HIGH - (Black crush, Making the picture look a bit unatural, but the bright whites also lend a hand at this!)
-RED push - (at 50 people look like they've been baking in the sun)
-Problem with pink/magneta....Reds look pinkish, and pinks look pushed.
-BLUES look desaturated

-Am i missing anything else? Otherwise this looks like your standard good HDTV fair and ressembles
that of a CRT minus all of the above that make the picture look harsh and a bit unatural.


Custom mode with HDMI set to graphics....

MEH, better than Cinema by itself but it still doesn't look right. First of all, this IS basically cinema mode...Without the nasty milky
grey haze AND it's much brighter! The downside is that the gamma is still on the high side(Cinema's is lower)
colors are totaly desaturated, and it lacks the brightness, pop, crispness and depth and overall wow factor
of regular custom mode. Cinema and Custom(HDMI set to graphics) don't look right for gaming as well.



So yeah, i'm definitly in need of a PRO calibration for Custom & Game mode...Man, i wish i could do it myself but it just seems so overly complex and i'm not interested in learning it all if it does truly pose a challenge.

Waveboy makes some good points.

I cannot speak about the S30, but on my Chad B calibrated 65ST30, Custom and Cinema are fairly close. Grayscale tracking and delta errors are just a hair better in Custom (under 2 if I recall) mode according to the numbers, but not really noticeable with viewing. Gamma spikes a little upward more in custom (to around 2.6) particularly at higher IRE and this is slightly more noticeable than in Cinema while viewing content. The biggest difference between the two modes is light output where as Custom can put out around 8-10 more ftl (calibrated) if one chooses.

My biggest issue with this display is the ABL response which can cause the image to look a bit dingy at times especially with whites. The black levels are decent, but a bit lacking with dark, lower IRE scenes.

Red does tend to drift more in the grayscale than any another color and will be noticeable on content as skin tones can start to look a bit red-orangish and unnatural over time. This can be kept in check with periodic calibration tune-ups though which all plasmas require. Not really an issue, but just an observation.

Still, the ST30 puts out a pretty good image and was a great value in 2011. However, I'm upgrading to a Samsung 64F8500 this week. My friend is supposed to by my 65ST30 if his wife will allow him (keeping fingers crossed).

I too would like to know if there is away to do this maybe with active glasses?

me too,I alternate between low and mid, depending on ambient lighting.