Official Panasonic ST50 Series Discussion Thread [No Street Price Talk] - Page 93

Absolutely, that's exactly the kind of thing I'm referring to. This tv has one mode, and only one mode - 60Hz. 48Hz isn't even an option due to the unwatchable flicker. They should have either included 96Hz (like Samsung did with their E7000/E8000), or not bothered at all and just left it with 60Hz only. Don't advertise something like 48Hz mode, because that's more a bug than a feature.

Same for "motion smoother" - which has no place on a plasma. I'd gladly trade in both of those "features" for something useful, like a swivel stand. In fact, I'd pay extra for a swivel stand. I really miss that coming from the D7000. If they took out all the useless "enhancement" settings that are all best left turned off, and included 96Hz mode instead, this set would be a killer. Still an awesome tv, but I hate all the useless crap they market with it.

Truth in advertising is a great concept that sadly never caught on.

the black "pause/flash" on the netflix app is simply because its changing between quality levels (due to connection speed fluctuations) , its normal and no way to fix it unless netflix changes the way its app works.

Here's a weird issue, and please tell me if I'm just being obsessive, but I'm also curious if anyone else has this.

The top/back of my 50" ST50 appears to be slightly *bent*.

I don't think it's shipping damage or anything, because the box looked perfect and the packaging seemed basically undisturbed. I'm pretty sure it's the way it was made, but just curious if they're all like this, or if it's just some natural variance on a big TV (it's only maybe a couple mm curve over the 50" width, though it seems to bend from one spot on the right side), or if it is actually something I should be concerned about. I don't see any picture problems right now, but I'm just worried about some kind of stress on the panel that might show up later.

Photos attached - please excuse the dust in the one with flash, it's really not that dusty!

If my TV is bent, I send it back

Quite interesting about the "bend" - just checked and sure enough, mine also has a very slight bend, just as your pictures show. I have no idea what that's about.

@ Buzzing

My TV does have a slight electrical hum during really bright scenes, audible if around 2ft from the TV. I pretty sensitive hearing and it doesn't bother me.

@ Bent TV

My TV is straight. It is possible that is due to the case screws being over torqued and/or not done in the proper order.

I'll give that a try and see what happens.

The wierd thing is, is that it even looks grainy on the break in slides?

It's hard to explain, even with a solid color it's like the very tiny dots are chaning color or quivering?

Sometimes when watching a show it only looks good when an object is center screen and fairly stationary, while the rest looks out of focus or fuzzy?

Not sure if you know what I mean.

I agree, the 48hz mode seems like some sort of a cruel joke- totally unusable imo.

Would simply loosening the closest case screw help alleviate any pressure on that area?

I've also tried to check the screen itself and it appears straight. I think it's just the bezel/trim that's got a slight curve to it, but still wonder if it's putting extra pressure on the screen.

I think there's also a chance that this is me just looking for *anything* wrong with this TV now that I've tweaked my colors a bit (D-Nice's settings didn't really work out for my panel), I don't have any other problems.

As someone who designs large plastics for a living this is unavoidable. Every plastic part of significant size sees warp. We try very hard to use cooling fixtures and cycle times as well as carefully tuned material thickness and ribbing to counteract it, but all you can really do is lessen the issue. It is allways there whether you notice it or not. Your set might just be on the outside delta of normal warp so you see it a little better than the average set. I see at least one area that is like this on every plastic product I own, of coarse it being my field makes me nitpick it. Stop nitpicking and enjoy the picture!

I send it back

50st50 not true 16 ms ı try hdmi1,2,3 but input lag not be 16ms ı used gt30 it is low input lag gt30=30ms st50=16ms, why st50 input lag very bad

because of the extra processing that the GT and VT do (so i've heard)

Thanks - this is kind of what I was hoping for. I probably won't feel totally at ease about it for a month or two, but I actually looked at my old 42" LCD today in the same way and it's warped too, in pretty much the exact same place. Never noticed before. And I've had that thing for 5 years now.

You are right, I need to just quit nitpicking, my wife thinks I'm a total nut. She said she wished she had the camera when I was eyeing this thing last night.

48hz is completely useless in 2d but works ok as in you can barely notice the flicker in 3d and the upside is it removes almost all crosstalk.

Are you trying to say that the input lag is good or bad? You said the St50 isn't true 16 ms, but then you said st50=16ms. I don't understand what you're asking.

I was not aware of this. I'll have to give it a try in 3D mode then and see how it does with flicker vs crosstalk.

I just bought the 50st50 and received it Wednesday last week. I've been watching no logo movie channels to break it in, but I've noticed that in normal mode the dark areas of the screen look extremely noisy, but when I switch to cinema it looks fine. Is that normal or is something off with my screen? I don't remember any noise on my old 42 plasma.

Thanks! I just tried it (in a brightly lit room). It does not flicker and there appears to be less ghosting. Also, playing 3D in 2D mode and using 48kHz doesn't flicker!?! WTF Panasonic!?! Of course, as we all know playing 2D content in 2D with 48kHz does flicker; so frustrating!

If you want to see what your actual picture quality looks like at this stage play a Blu-ray disk of a movies that's are shot with a 1.78:1 aspect ratio ( will fill your screen without black bars) and that are known to be a high quality transfer. Don't stretch or zoom them. Movie channels can have a lot of compression which is going to effect the picture quality.

Just forget Normal mode and stay in Cinema mode. TV movie channels aren't going to be the best quality.

There is a lot of advice about settings in this thread. I can't be specific because I don't own a Panasonic, but I would start with cinema mode after turning off all the video enhancement features.

Enjoy.

EDIT: Here is the place to find some great PQ Blu-ray disks. Keep in mind that animation is going to look great but is not going to be realistic.

Welcome to the Blu-Ray Picture Quality Tier List

This may sound stupid, but I wonder if playing 3D in 48Hz mode results in 24Hz hence no fliker?

I think it's the equivalent of Panasonic giving us the finger. Thanks Panasonic!

Not sure if this has been answered already by someone. I tried searching. Im trying to do d-nice's setting for after the prep and my black level is greyed out. I cant change it from dark to light. Is there some setting i need to change? Thanks

oh really, i never tried that, cool!

I'am surprised that a calibrator has not found a way in the sm how to disable/defeat the strobing/flicker effects of the 48hz mode...

The tv is doing this artificially because I was watching The Dark Knight in 48hz and had it paused right on the begining WB intro and you can see the strobing going on while its on pause.So its the tv doing it not the source or refresh rate.

I wish Panny would just issue a darn manual firmware to defeat the flickering or a calibrator that knows how to teach us where to turn it off.

What mode are you in?

im in custom mode

I received my new 60ST50 that Panasonic gave my to replace my pink tinted and green blob affected 60ST30. Of course I had to check screen uniformity first and it looks MUCH better, thank goodness. I see no lines on the right side as some have seen.

I am running the slides to use D-Nice's settings which were calibrated at 40ftl. This will be very similar to the pure mode settings on my ex-500M that were at 36ftl. I found that great for both day and night viewing as I have blackout shades in my TV room.

I have been following this thread since the beginning and most if the issues presented or differences in the GT model likely will not be concerns to me:

-SOE: If I do see it I will just output my Sony 5000es Bluray player at 1080/60 as it performs that task very well. 48hz setting was horrible with the ST30 and would like the 96hz setting of the VT50 but I had read complaints even about that.

-Flashes during indoor sporting events. My 60ST30 showed this only in Hockey games and I don't really watch much Hockey so not a factor for me. Also many complaints in the Samsung Plasma threads about the same issue so it is definitely a combination of the broadcast and interaction of the Plasma ABL circuitry that causes this. Overall Plasma PQ especially in a darkened room outweighs any advantages an LCD might have in this regard.

-Lack of HDMI inputs: I bought a 4x1 HDMI splitter from Monoprice for $40 that gives me a total of 6 HDMI inputs.

-Any concerns about not having a dual core processor: I have my HTPC wired in the TV room at 35/35 Fios and have all the apps I need on my computer.

-720P issues: My Fios box outputs at 1080i and Bluray and Computer at 1080P so not a concern.

-Curved screen: My screen is absolutely straight. No bend is present.

-Buzzing: All Plasmas have some but mine is unnoticeable.

I will wait for the slides to end and then enjoy the heck out if this TV!. Incredible amount of bang for the buck!

Regarding 48Hz flicker:

If I'm understanding correctly, people are suggesting that Panasonic is purposely creating the flicker effect in 48Hz mode, and that it should be avoidable if Panasonic wanted it to be? I'm amazed if that's the case. Why on Earth would Panasonic create a flicker on purpose? Of course, I could also ask why they would force motion smoothing on all 24Hz content, but as terrible as it sounds, they do.

I did try a particularly problematic 3D title tonight regarding crosstalk. I tested it with both 48Hz and 96Hz. I can definitely confirm that 48Hz mode reduces the amount of crosstalk greatly. It doesn't eliminate it, but it helps - a lot. For scenes with little crosstalk, it is virtually eliminated. For scenes with really bad crosstalk, it is reduced greatly, to the point where the scenes are watchable. Overall the 3D looked fantastic, though darker of course. And the flicker doesn't seem too bad in 3D mode - there is definitely some flicker which is noticeable in very bright scenes. So it's a trade-off.

The problem however is I tested it with an animated title, so I couldn't tell how motion smoothing looked. From my tests with 2D material, the tv forces motion smoothing on all 24Hz content when in 24Hz mode. I imagine it would do the same with 3D 24Hz material, but I haven't tried it yet with live-action 3D material. If that's the case, that's a shame because it means we have a choice of watching 3D material with reduced crosstalk and mild flicker with forced motion smoothing, or more crosstalk with no flicker and no motion smoothing.

Damn I hate that Panasonic plays games like this. I'd love to hear other's experiences with this 48Hz 3D mode.

Well I discovered it trying to reduce crosstalk,so mission accomplished on my part and I'm happy I could make a contribution here as I'm new here. I love Panasonic but,it's completely ridiculous on their part as it seems all the same problems are there and they could have fixed these things. We could have great 3d and 24fps non flicker playback in 2d. Maybe someday we will get a magic fw fix for all these problems that have yet to get fixed since like 2009 but I doubt it. Until then atleast we can have somewhat flicker and crosstalk free 3d at 48hz. 3d is alot better if the very very slight flicker doesn't bother you.Also, I repeat for the people yet to try it and just now reading.The flicker in 3d@48hz is nothing like 2d and almost eliminates crosstalk.