The Official Panasonic GT30 Settings Thread - Page 33

This TV Rocks!

As I have stated, this is my first Panny [55GT30] and as such, am not very familiar with them in terms of aging and overall operation.

 

At first, the picture appeared lifeless and lacked brightness. Of course, the fact that it defaults to "standard" when first turned on, doesn't help. Many comments on the various forums about how the set defaults to "standard" mode and the picture looks like the cathode-ray-tube that's on it's last legs!

 

However, as it has aged (650+ hrs), it has gotten considerably brighter. So much so that I've now change the "pecking" order as to what screen mode is best! Amazing!

Also, I've experimented with the other modes and found the "drag-mode", Standard, is not bad at all with modified settings. But I also re-visited the "THX" mode and it has now taken a upper-place in the preferred modes.

My pecking order today, 6/23/12  is:
1) Custom . . . with my settings giving the best overall color and white balance with great depth. Direct link here

 
2) THX . . . with these new settings, the picture is "almost" as good as "custom" but is a bit softer.  Many, however, might prefer this mode.  Direct link here

 

3) Standard . . . very close to Custom but less clarity and abit more noise. Good depth and color balance.  It doesn't require any SM changes.  Direct link here

4) Vivid . . . great for watching football, golf, or sporting event. Picture has good balance but doesn't have the 'depth' nor clarity that Custom has. Background has good pop. You have to access the SM to make changes in the W/B menu. Direct link here

Edited by JForge - 6/24/12 at 12:20am

Jforge....How you calibrating? By eye,disc or meter?

So far all my 'calibrating' has been done by disc and eye . . . and then time!

The last is important since after a change is made, I let it 'age' and see if it's 'good'. That's why the 'vivid' and 'custom' modes have so many changes. Also, as you read the TV has aged and gotten brighter, causing me to make changes.

I hope to buy a meter in the near future to get more accurate calibration. Have you tried any of the settings??

Hi guys,

I am experiencing some problems with my Panasonic 50GT30. I cannot manage to use the ARC properly:

I have attached an Harman Kardon AVR 165 HDMI Ourput to Panasonic's HDMI 2 (marked as ARC). Then, i have activated HDMI ARC and HDMI Link on Harman, but still i cannot get sound to the receiver. The only way i can get the digital sound out from my TV is by using the DIGITAL OUT optical cable.

On some old receivers (Panasonic, Yamaha) i had problems because the sound was delayed on digital output. Now i don't have this issue, but how does this ARC works ? I would really like to have only one cable between TV and AVR.

Can anyone give me some advice on this issue ?

Thank you in advance !

I’ve always used those various discs to calibrate my plasmas. At minimal they’re a good starting point, and as you say, you use your eyes to fine-tune. Once pro-calibrated I don’t go back to them for a couple of years. Out of curiosity, I put the Spears and Munsil disc in to see how it lines up after Chad finished my calibration. I only dealt with 2 settings: Brightness and color in Custom mode.

Pro/current:

Brightness – 54
Color – 45

Spears and Munsil:

Brightness – 43
Color – 54

Those numbers present a noticeable difference. What does it all mean? I’m not tech savvy enough to answer those questions, and I’m not trying to degrade any calibration disc. I post this for food for thought.

Your HR rcvr must support HDMI V1.4a for the ARC to work. . . .

Edit: I see that it does support ARC, so it should work. You have to set "home theater" speakers as default speakers in the PANNY menu. For my Sony HT amp, you MUST have just "amp" selected and NOT "TV + amp". Also the Panny should recognize your HT in the Viera LINK menu. That makes it work for me.
Edited by JForge - 6/7/12 at 1:05am

Just a guess . . . but I'll bet the Pro cal has higher CONTRAST setting than the S&M disc shows??? So the higher the contrast and brightness, the MORE color you can tolerate. That's what I've found.

Personally, I can't imagine the color setting past "40" for my viewing. As you seen for my settings (Custom, Vivid and Standard), the color is around "31 - 33".

Guys,

Can anyone recommend settings for watching sports?

I'm watching football in HD and while it looks good I think it can look a lot better

Thanks

. . . read post #962 . . . try the "Vivid" setting
Edited by JForge - 6/9/12 at 8:34am

Switch HDMI Content from Off to Graphics -

Vivid mode

Contrast - 86
Brightness -55
Color-45
Tint-0
sharpnes- 25

Color temp - Normal

Color MGT- On

HD Size 1 - For HDTV Cable/Sat viewing

The key is switching to graphics as it tones down the heavy saturation and you can bring up the color from 38-50 - I just use 45 for better fleshtones...

I guess you noticed the same thing I did; the "graphics" setting really softens the video which is ok . . . but it changes the 'tint' making for strange flesh tones. And, I had to increase the color settings as you did.

The bottom line, I tried it for awhile but don't like it b/c of the tint change.

Yeah ,the GT and VT30 have color decoding issues which kind of ruins fleshtones in certain settings....Vivid,Cinema and Custom Mid/HI modes require one to either lower the color kind of low around 40 or switch HDMI Content to graphics to avoid the color decoding problems rearing its ugly head.

Its a shame that I've got a measly $200 40" LCD that I picked on black friday and the skintones on that thing are spot on and the $2000 tv struggles at times to make skintones right or you have to manipulate things by switching things off or on.

Panasonic just needs to give us a darn firmware patch for color decoding errors and then we dont have to worry about skintones and switching HDMI Content on and off or to graphics....

I wrote to Panny Tech support about a patch and they gave me the typical canned answer that there is no plans at the moment but they will notify customers when one is made available.

Thanks guys, i'll give those settings a try tonight and let you know the results

Alien,why did Chad have trouble with THX....I thought all or most calibrators say THX is the easiest mode to calibrate?

Also what was your Black Level readings for your set when Chad checked it.

Other than to say he didn’t like the results he was getting in THX, he wasn’t specific. THX is his preferred mode to calibrate. I guess it goes to show that all sets are not created equal.

FYI, I’ve gotten used to the less than bright picture after it was calibrated, so much so, it now seems bright. The flesh tones still blow me away. I think I have around 650 hours on this thing. Calibrating resets the hours.

You can see the black level in the attachment. Also, look where the blue was in RGB Balance before calibration; it was almost off the chart. You can barely see it at 120.

Panasonic 65GT30.pdf 267k .pdf file
Edited by Aliens - 6/11/12 at 8:01am

Hi,
Thanks for your the help with the redness. I have the GT55 and used Ken's settings. I think his settings are best for movies. Do you have a black extension setting on your TV? I haven't found any settings that include that.

Jeff

IIRC, black extension is only accessible in Custom mode.

In Custom, scroll through until you come to Pro Settings and hit OK. Scroll through those settings until it rolls over to the next page and you will see black extension at the top.

Thanks ,
I'm just not sure what it does or a good setting for it. When I play with it, I can't see a difference. I had no idea there were so many settings. Do you have your own settings for custom and THX on GT 30's? I've tried a lot of different settings I've gotten from forums. I'm still not set on one. Thought I might me able to try yours.

Thanks

Have you tried Dave_O’s settings? Mine are very close to his. Listed are the differences. HDMI/Content type makes a noticeable difference. You need to play with it to find what pleases your eyes. If you can afford, it I can’t recommend a pro-calibration enough. Otherwise, in some instances, you’re fighting a color battle that can’t be won. That doesn’t mean you can’t have a great looking picture and thoroughly enjoy your TV, it just means you may not be seeing everything the TV can offer. JMO. YMMV.

Custom Mode:

Contrast 75
Brightness 54
Color 45
Tint 0
Sharpness 23
HDMI/Content type – Graphics
Color space – Normal
High R 0
High G -1
High B 0
Low R –2
Low G –1
Low B 0
Edited by Aliens - 6/11/12 at 12:16pm

I have Dave's settings and they're nice. You're right I'm fighting a losing battle. I'll try your settings and see which I like better. Thanks Aliens

I’ve had an epiphany . . . and it’s due to my P55GT30 providing me with great video!

Epiphany may be overkill but I've come to the realization that my HDTV’s picture is now deeper and richer. And what I didn't like 2 months ago, has changed!

It seems as though the picture quality from my P55GT30 has continued to improve starting around the 300 hr mark. Now at 750hrs, it produces some outstanding video.

In post #962 here , the ranking of my favorite settings has been revised. I’ll keep you in suspense until you read the post. There are direct links to each setting for your convenience.

6/23/12: change to "Custom" mode settings where all of the SM W/B changes have been eliminated and done with the "Pro Settings" menu as well as the use of the "Tint" control to allow a limited range of CMS adjustment.
Edited by JForge - 6/24/12 at 12:26am

Hi all, I've recently joined the forum, after being a long term reader, to see if I can get some advice from you all.  Seeing the post from JForge re improvement over time with PQ got me thinking about my own GT30.
I live in NZ and bought my 55gt30 in Nov.  My previous TV was a Samsung series 6 LCD 40 inch.  First impressions of the GT was...Wow, awesome.  Loved the size and the PQ.  I treated my new TV with care and did not watch anything in pillar box, no static screens, never paused, etc ... drove kids nuts with my regime!
Anyway over the last few months I've noticed some issues that I'd like different viewpoints on:

1. Phosphor lag, plainbows: unlike my family I see flashes of yellow when there are whites / high contrast scenes...subtitles an obvious one.  I see these in all screen modes (I primarily use THX).  I've read that this is plasma and some people unfortunately are susceptible to this, others are not.  Seems like the only solutions are to...Learn to accept, reduce contrast, and let the phosphors age.  Is there anything else I can try?

2. Motion blur effect: I primarily see this on camera panning.  Again I see this more than my family but once I point it out everyone is...oh yeah! I normally watch blu rays, where as you would expect this is less obvious but it's there...Sky HD its pretty bad and Sky SD I don't go near.  I've read loads on this in the forums. I don't use any of the adjustments in the settings I prefer to turn them all off as I don't like the soap box effect. The blurring is really disappointing me as I bought the plasma as I'd read about how good motion handling is.

3. Resolving flesh tones.  This maybe related to the blur as I find that the majority of the blurring is around faces / skin tones.  Hard to explain but it's like the faces go waxy and lose definition.

4. Brightness fluctuation - I do see this a little bit but it doesn't bother me.

Soooo, I have played with settings, tried the DVE calibration disk and now resorted to getting an engineer to come and check it out.  After calibration I still had the same issues (but picture looked really good...)
I saw on one of peterlewis's posts that there are colour decoding issues...well when I calibrated through DVE I could do the blue, no probs, the green was fine, but red I couldn't get them all to match...on reading the guide this indicates issues with colour decoding...I don't know how to resolve this.  Also the calibration of brightness and contrast required an increase...which would mean worse Phosphor lag effect wouldn't it?  The one setting I have changed is Gamma...tried it last night and did it at 1.8... When watching District 9, Which did seem to assist...but by that time I,m not sure if that was the wine kicking in!

I don't what else to try, the picture looks awesome but as soon as content starts to pan...hello motion blur effect!  Blur combined with phosphor is making my eyes sore!  My Update version is 2.113.

I'm driving my family nuts with continually changing settings and trying different things, is there any advice you've got to help me with what I could try next?  

Hi all.
Why do I have vivid mode on my settings in the service menu? My panel is GT30e.
The Adjust menu is only DYNAMIC, CINEMA, NORMAL!
I'm doing something wrong?
The firmware version is bad?

I believe that is the European model, which is why those modes are different from the ones in the States.

yes - european model :-(

Wow . . . That's a lot of questions . . but I'll try to answer.

1)They say that some people have super-eyes and can see even the slightest 'trails' but what you describe doesn't seem to be that, if I understand you correctly. My TV doesn't do that . . . or put it this way, if it does, I can't see it.

A google search showed a 2008 - 2009 Panny HDTVs playing Sin City, and this was a definite problem b/c it was very visible. If yours is that way, and it must be, maybe it's bad? I haven't seen any posts that say this was a problem in the 2011 Panny HDTVs.

2) Don't have any of that either! Today Nascar racing was on, and if my TV was susceptible to it, I certainly would have seen it.

3) Not sure I've seen that either under 'faces' but Yes, there are color decoding problems. I guess a 'face' would show the problem most easily, wouldn't it??

4) In early 2011 Panny HDTVs, Fbr was definitely a problem. It was in models built before July - August of 2011. After that, they were 'patched' during manufacturing. The early models were done by Panny Techs by replacing a "board" and/or a FW patch. My set doesn't exhibit that problem b/c it was built in Dec 2011.

As far as doing a calibration using HW and SW, that's something that I've not done so I'm not the one to comment on that. But I'm sure that a professional cal would solve the problems you describe.

I must say, that I can't imagine a "good" picture using 1.8 gamma. Got to be washed out . . . IMO.

If you have the 2.1 FW patch, it was only to be used on USA and Mexico VT30 and GT30 models: http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/tv/download/pro/down_pro.html

Not sure I've helped you . . . .

Im really likeing your New Custom settings. I was afraid when turning down the color to 30 that the pic was going to look colorless and washed out. But the Colors are very crisp!!! These are the best custom settings i have seen to date. Flesh tones are dead on. and like i said Colors pop. Whites are really bright, and blacks are deep. Thanks

Thanks JForge. I appreciate your insights, I'm gonna get a tech out and see what he makes of it...will keep you posted!