Official Panasonic ST50 Series Discussion Thread [No Street Price Talk] - Page 38

So how exactly does ST50's 3D suck? I would guess that it is as good as as VT50 and GT50. Which one had brighter 3D picture?

Thats why this forum exists-- the opinion of others-- I too care about the speakers on the st50 -- but now I find myself not caring about your opinion. funny how that works.

If they are ok with the speakers in their 15 year old TV, they should have zero issues with the ST50's speakers. In fact, the ST50's speakers should be better if properly dailed in.

xCREEP1NGDEATHx I really appreciate this comparison as I too was considering a PN51E7000 after the great performance of last years D series. I really wanted the samsung over the panasonic, mainly for the aesthetics although the st50 doesn't look too bad itself. Ill take better 2d performance over aesthetics any day so you just sealed he deal for me. =) Just ordered my Marantz NR1402 today and plan on ordering the Energy RC-micros next week, followed by the 50" ST50. I plan on unboxing everything together and am thinking of doing a video as i can't seem to find one anywhere. This will be my first home theater setup so the anticipation is unbearable.

The 65gt30 is selling for $1820 on Amazon right now while the 60st50 is selling for $1899.

I'm torn at the moment because I'd like the extra screen real estate, but the extra brightness of the st50 is a big deal to me too.

Any opinions on this?

I know right? People are spending 1k+ on these fancy TV's yet they insist on listening to the itty bitty wittle speakers in it...which is mystifying considering how inexpensive lower end HTiB's and soundbars are nowadays...

Wait until the 65ST50 gets down to 1900 and buy one. I made the mistake of buying a 55ST30 last year not long after they came out and now I just want to kick myself when I see the 65ST30 for around the same price.

Every flat screen deserves at the minimum a decent 100-200 dollar soundbar at the VERY least. I've never cared for surround sound and I prefer high quality 2.1 setups with a nice large and heavy 12 or 15 inch subwoofer with a quality dedicated amp for the subs and a quality stereo receiver with atleast a clean 100 watts goin to each main speaker then some nice 3 way speaker for the L and R 1 1/2" tweeters 4" midrange 7" midbass with a quality crossover network built in.

The 2.1 setup is also ideal to run music through it as well.

Really? That's news to me. Not every person cares or wants a surround system.

And what do your parents like?

lol dunno what parents have to do with anything. And my comment wasnt actually directed at d nice per say was actually to the guy he was responding to was just to lazy to go back a page :P Trust me I know D nice knows crap tons about home theater more than I ever will. I just think its better to concentrate your money on higher end 2.1 components than spreading the budget for 7.1 surround. You get nicer sound buying 2 really high end speakers than spreading that budget to 7 lower end speakers.

Plus I am big on high quality music listening. Have a high end 2500+ system in my car too many components to list. I have a cowon j3 + pico slim amp with jh 13 pro custom iem's powered by the amp. And quality 2.1 setup with polk lsi 9 L + R Infinity kappa 12's (their highest end one). Addicted to high quality music, love the 24 bit flac vinyl rips

D-Nice's response was to a member who is buying the tv for his/her parents.

oh oooops didnt go back that far kinda just skipped to last page my bad

Now that I read the gt50 review i think its worth the price premium. Slightly better blacks, better shadow detail with more gradation, very accurate OOB THX mode one of the best out of box measurements I've seen on a review ever almost all delta errors below 3. OUT OF BOX! Near perfect gamma out of box. Plus the gt50 has full CMS controls and 10 point grayscale to rly get it reference quality accurate.

I like the st50 but the gt50 isnt like a repeat of the st30/gt30 the difference is bigger this year and while the st50 is a great tv if you can afford it the gt50 is a worthy upgrade imo. I'm worried the vt50 will be very tiny difference between the gt50 and itself. Only real difference is the filter used.

So after 50 hours my 60ST50 hit a .0029 mll. I have it calibrated to a very bright 45fl. (living room isn't light controlled). All in all the set is pretty amazing. Having a little trouble on the low end, it seems a sacrifice has to be made - less shadow detail for less dithering (this may just be a DIY beginner issue). Was wondering, and D-nice you may have thoughts on this, should i invest in a DVDO DUO to have more cal. control or would the money be better spent on the VT?

The NA gt50 does not have the 10pt. or CMS

That review was for the EU model. NA does not have the same user controls.

thats disappointing, maybe you can hack the region and enable it. I still firmly believe if you have no intentions on getting a professional calibration than the gt50 is worth the price premium. It has the best out of box measurements of any tv i've seen kuro's might be better not sure havent seen it's out of box.

Did you compare your numbers to D-Nice's?

.0029 and 45ftl output those 2 numbers together are pretty impressive. Panasonic has some real winners this year. Finally a decent leap forward.

I've always seen those external video processors as a way to spend a whole lot of money for very tiny picture differences.

Different calibration, different numbers

I agree that it's disappointing. And it may be worth the extra cash for some if shadow details are better and/or for the dual core processor for the web.

Which reviews are you referring to? I'm curious who said that the GT50 has better shadow detail. The blacks are about the same and I doubt the extra gradations will make a noticeable difference. And there's no CMS or 10pt grayscale on the NA GT50 as adrian said. THX mode is decent, but a calibrated ST50 would be better.


Actually, it's pretty much the same as last year.

I agree. This kind of performance at this price is pretty remarkable.

I see. Can you tell by his numbers where the problem may be with your calibration regarding the low end?

yea I didn't realize the NA version didn't have 10 point and CMS. I still think 2012 version has a bigger gap than last year. The focus field drive, extra gradation,dual core processor and all the usual upgrades. It def has more upgrades to it than last years comparison even without the 10 pt and cms.

AVForums reviews led me to the same conclusion that Laststop came to, especially after watching the video reviews.

Not so much a problem as it is just a lack of controls. Obsessive nit-picking, isn't that what we do?

Yes it is what we do. I tried the AVS 709 on our LCD last year. I had to stop because I was driving my husband crazy and then I started doing it after he went to bed and as a result was getting little sleep.

I plan to buy a new Panny this year and then get my two Pannys calibrated hopefully by D-Nice. The opportunity got away from me last year but now I'm glad I had to wait.