Official Panasonic ST50 Series Discussion Thread [No Street Price Talk] - Page 100

I'm not an experienced calibrator, but I do my own calibrations and I have the basic knowledge of calibrating.

The white balance allows you to adjust red, green and blue to set them so that they're tracking where they should be to create a neutral grayscale. The ST/GT only allow you to adjust 2 points (high and low) while the VT50 allows you to adjust 10 points (10-100 in 10 steps). This allows you to get RGB tracking ruler flat from 0-100 IRE whereas the 2pt system generally won't be as flat/perfect because there's fewer adjustment points. With a 10pt system, you can also use it to raise/lower gamma.

If you're a little confused, google image search RGB tracking or look at the calibration reports from Chad B of the VT50 and ST50. Or maybe a more experienced calibrator can give a more technical yet easier to understand reply or correct any mistakes I've made.

A color management system (CMS) allows you to adjust the primary (red, green, blue) and secondary (yellow, cyan, magenta) color points to get them as close as possible. I'm not sure how good the VT50's CMS is, but it should definitely allow you to get the color points closer than not having one at all. But the ST/GT have fairly good color despite not having a CMS.

So with that said, while the VT50 is more accurate after calibration, because the ST/GT are already so good, what this all translates to on screen isn't as significant as it may sound. Colors will just look a bit more as they 'should'.

D-Nice holds the same opinion about the difference between the ST50 and the GT50. He probably knows any significant differences that there might be.

If you've got any more to say about your calibration, I'm sure that a lot of folks would be interested. I would like to add your report to the list that's linked in the signature section at the bottom of my post. Tell all.

Check out calibration reports by Chad B. He has or will do extensive reports on the ST50, GT50, and the VT50. His reports are in the owner's thread for each model, and they are probably at Cleveland Plasma which is a forum sponsor. You can find a link to their web site at the top of every page.

I tested out my new 60st50 last night and it has the fluctuating brightness issue. I was watching the heat vs pacers and every time they went to the left side of the court, the screen darkened and to the right, it brightened. It was very annoying. I didn't see it watching anything else including commercials. I have no idea what in the image was driving it since everything looked more or less the same on each side.

Can this be fixed?

Hate to ask but is CATS(Dynamic Contrast) turned off ?

I used his slides and settings from the HDJ forum.

Don't know. I just plugged in the hdmi cable and turned on the tv to make sure it worked. Didn't change any settings.

I've had my ST50 for about almost two weeks now. At night, I leave it on the color slides recommended on this forum, and also during the day while I'm at work. I turn the contrast and brightness up a bit while running the slides, but for normal viewing I turn the contrast/brightness to below 50 (~30). I'm pretty sure I'm over the 100 hr mark, and more than likely approaching 150-200 hrs.

At what point would it be safe to turn the settings up when playing videogames w/ HUD's? I've played sparingly with different games and noticed some IR, although nothing that I really worry about. I am just trying to avoid persistent IR, as I would like to avoid having to switch every 1/2 hour to hour.

Also, to anyone who owns the ST50, are you having issues with buzzing? This is my first plasma, so i'm not sure what's considered loud, but i definitely notice a buzz if the volume is low.

I thought flashlighting was an issue relative to only LCD TV's?

Had the same issue when trying to watch the hockey playoffs. After D-nice calibrated it though its much less noticeable. Still there but not nearly as bad or as annoying as before

well there you have it.. out of the box its in standard mode with not so nice settings.

My 55ST50 also had some FBR out of the box while watching Rangers/Devils on Mon, once I changed to D-Nice none-prep settings after 1st period was over FBR was very much gone during the rest of the game. (that was via component cable).

Last night i switched everything to HDMIs and all inputs run D-Nice none-prep settings. I'll report on FBR after tonight's game.. so far i'm loving the PQ and TV over all (and whoever came up with ARC/HDMI controle idea deserves a brewski). I do have some buzzing going from dark to bright, but i expect it to get better as the TV ages, also hanging it on the wall will most likely reduce it as it will not be amplified by the wall behind.

Maybe i used the wrong terminology but its the issue that people as having when watchin indoor sports like basketball or hockey were the brightness dims when cameras take flash picutres

Think Hockey game and all of the discussions about light fluctuations on the Plasma forums.

No. Flashlighting is when an LCD TV has what looks like someone pointing a flashlight from the corner of the set toward the center, from the inside. Like the flashlight animation on cartoons, where you can see the beam. Make sense? Plasmas don't have flashlighting.

I have never owned a plasma that was completely buzz free.

My 60st50 has an audible buzz when the majority of the screen is white but it is nothing that I can hear over the fan of my ps3 and definitely nothing I hear watching normal content. In fact I would go so far as to say it is probably the most unobtrusive buzz I have heard from a plasma set. Not a problem at all.

How loud a buzz is before you consider it a problem is a different story as that is relative to your sensitivity to it.

Hello guys,
I just saw that 60st50 is sold for a really low price at Amazon. İ was thinking of buying a 65". How is the black levels of 60" compared to 65". Also does 5" jump in the screen size jusify the price difference?

Thanks,
Yenal

Also for buzz i noticed something.

My TV is sitting on BDI stand which is about 25" from the ground and it puts TV about 2' from the wall, sitting on my couch dead center in front of the TV i hear some buzz going from dark to light picture, moving just a bit left or right or down and buzz becomes un-audible. This makes me think that dead center is a acoustical sweet spot for buzz bouncing of off the wall behind the TV. Mounting it on wall 1 foot higher from current position might just kill buzz entirely.

Fair enough if PQ is the only deciding factor however for me I have to have the complete package especially where advertised features come into play. While the ST50 is a nice budget set, IMO it fails in regards to the apps and multitasking due to the slow processor and as D-NICE mentioned, styling, which is something very important to me. GT50 and VT50 IMO are much better looking TV's and they both offer the dual core processor for the apps and multitasking. Also connectivity is limited on the ST50 against the GT50 and VT50.

The GT50 is a very nice balance for people who want the majority of the VT50's features but don't have the budget for them.

If PQ is the only thing that's important and you're a budget conscious person then of course the ST50 is a good buy.

Personally I think all models that have the Viera Connect feature should have a dual core processor, it's kinda lame that an advertised feature runs slow and is limited in functionality unless you have the faster processor.

i went from 42 to 55, and i must say i'm still getting used to the size.. mind you i'm at least 10' from TV. go to displaywars.com to compare sizes.

not sure about black levels, should be same since they both use same screen..

The apps are plenty fast on my ST50, but I rarely use them. Occasionally I'll use the Netflix app when I don't need great sound and just use the speakers in the TV. Do they open in a manner I'd call "snappy"? I would not call it snappy, but they open just fine and the apps work perfectly when started. Saving a fraction of a second is not a big deal to me, I'm not that impatient. Anyway, otherwise I typically use my PS3 for Netflix and Amazon Prime viewing.

I'm not aware of any multitasking, and I am also not aware of any limited functionality between the ST and GT.

I have read every page of this thread and only saw 2 posts on this, but would like to ask what people are using when it comes to the HD Size? Full and Size 2 seems to look the best but I am just curious as to what people use. Does it fill your entire screen with picture?

My ST50 set up has a dual core processor with full web functionality at 35/35mps speeds and 6 HDMI inputs. Of course I have already had my home computer hooked up to my displays for years now and I bought a Monoprice 4X1 HDMI switcher for $40 when my ex-500M had only 2 HDMI's. That is the beauty of this years Panasonics. They didn't skimp on picture quality for the most part between models just on features that some may or may not need. In regards to styling all I know is that the ST50 looks a heckuva lot better than the ST30 it replaced.

I'm so confused now. I was almost decided that i'll go with 50 inch ST50, but then i read about some problems with it. FB, IR, buzz, banding, green/pink tints etc.

Who can recommend sth good for me?

I need TV (either plasma or LCD), about 50 inch, budget around 1200 EUR / 1600 USD (50"ST50 is about equivalent of 1100 EUR in Poland), it must be good for playing FPP PC games (low input lag) and watching 1080p movies (MKV+DTS) from portable HDD (Samsung S2 750 GB) - files > 8GB (need dual core CPU in tv?) and it must have optical out to my logitech z-5500 speakers. 3D performence is not important.

My room is bright, windows are perpendicular to the tv so good antyreflective sreen coating required. I'll be sitting 3.5 m away from tv.

I was thinking about ST50, Samsung plasma E6500 (cheaper and comes with 2 pairs of glasses, but no reviews on the net!), or LCD Samsung ES6800. The more i read the more stupid i get. Every TV has sth wrong with it. PQ wise panasonic is very good but i'll shoot myself if i get a tv set that has FB or problems with fast pc games

Is there a tv to fulfill my needs? How ST50 handle large 1080p MKV files?

Thanks. Enjoy.

Thank you for that, I just found these setting last night because and they were defaulted on Full and HD Size 1. Size 2 definitely looks better, one more quick question do you use the Pixel Orbiter? I read turning this off also gives you more of a full screen.

Just a quick update on my 55ST50.

Ran the slides and used D-nice's settings.

No flickers, no flashes, no vertical lines, no excessive heat, no buzzing, etc...

Now I suppose if I sat there and watched the corner of the TV or focused in the white portions of the screen or participated in any other of the multitude of obessive behaviors, I might, or I might think, I see these things. Myself, I just like to enjoy the material and let other people worry about the rest.

Thanks,

Care to expain this to me? I always thought the Pixel Orbiter was a good deterrent to IR. If it really doesn't have an effect, I would rather turn it off. What is your reasoning for calling it "useless"? I appreciate the info.