Official Panasonic ST50 Series Discussion Thread [No Street Price Talk] - Page 153

Finally got my ST50 55 inch up running after running 100hr of slides. I am very impressed with the ST after returning the VT. The ST appears to be much sharper PQ then the VT, I am not sure if it has to do with the filter. When I had my VT I noticed a lot more softness with PQ. The problem was more visible with my box set to 1080i. Changing it over to 720 seemed to help the PQ a bit. The ST doesn't seem to suffer from any of the PQ softness regardless if set 720 or 1080i, looks awesome on both and I am using component video. I think the ST does a better job handling the cable content. The picture is more clean and crisp more defined with all content. The ST does a good job blocking ambient l dont get any glare . At times I forget I am watching a plasma the ST is like an LCD with really awesome blacks. I am using D nice setting for both my ps3 and cable box and they both look great. I don't really have to explain how blu rays looks this is where the ST shines. Anyone trying to make a decision on which model to purchase, save money and get the ST. Folks who live in MA, should take advantage of the tax free weekend coming up this week. 2012-08-04_20-09-11_986.jpg 1088k .jpg file 2012-08-04_20-05-00_127.jpg 1018k .jpg file 2012-08-05_11-46-09_149.jpg 1391k .jpg file

Here are some pics, couldn't resist.

As many sets our company installs I can not think of a single unit the delievers a better picture for the price in a 55 inch model.
I can not for the life of me see any difference between the ST and GT but there is a slight not night and day difference in the VT you just have to trust your eyes those are the only ones that count.

Also, I got a comparison shot of Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One on the PS3 on both an LCD and a Plasma. You can clearly see the "oil painting" effect on the plasma. What I want to know is if this is unfortunately normal for plasma's or if I should be returning my set for another.

LCD on the left and Plasma on the right. The LCD is 1080p as well.



1080p picture from the ST50 on left. 720p picture from the ST50 on right.



There is clearly a problem when this TV is getting a 720p signal. Is there a defect with this set or will it be an issue with all of them. This might be the unfortunate reason to return an otherwise fantastic set. It kills me to see this.


Does ANYONE here have a PS3 that can test this out for me and tell me if they have the same problem? All you need to do is view some game screenshots in 1080p resolution and then go ahead and view them in 720p. Just go to your game folder and scroll down through the pictures and see if you have an oil painting effect. I want to know if this is a problem with ALL the ST50's or if I have a bad set so I could possibly get it replaced for another one
Edited by Frankie1588 - 8/5/12 at 11:32am

If I (and this is just me) had say $1300 to spend I would not spend 1000 on a TV and then get it calibrated. I would spend the entire amount on the TV.
Now if I was spending maybe 2-3k on a TV I may consider procalibration.
Others may have different priorities but I would much rather get a 55 inch ST (as an example) than a 50 inch and get it calibrated. Size matters.

Just got my TV recently. One of the first things I've noticed is that the picture doesn't completely fill the screen - there's about an 1/8 inch black gap around the picture. I've adjusted the aspects as well as turned overscan off (HD Size > Size 2) but can't manage to get the picture to fill the entire screen. Is this normal? This is on both antenna and HDMI inputs.

The Sony LED 55 in NX720 has every bit the picture .

wrong , Sony NX & HX are awesome handling .

My ST doesn't have that "oil painting" effect, as described but the VT I returned did. Not sure if this is important my ST was manufactured in July.

That is very good to hear! My ST was manufactured in February. Would you mind posting a couple comparison shots for proof? Do you have a PS3? Is it possible to tell what the manufacturing date is without opening the box?

Here is another pic that shows it even more.

http://i47.tinypic.com/15xmx4x.jpg

I can post of shots of random movies, I don't have any games to post.

Do you have a PS3?

If not, movies would be OK.

Thanks so much! I am relieved this isn't a problem with ALL the ST50's. I was nervous that I would have to return it and have no idea what to get next.

I do have a ps3 but I only use it to stream.

Do you have a friends list with a few different people on it? You can easily tell by looking at their icons.

No, I am the only user.

Could you add me as a friend? I will change my icon to something that shows a very obvious oil painting effect in 720. Could you take a photo showing it with the info bar saying 1080p AND then 720p?

I would appreciate it VERY much.

That has been discussed several times before and its normal.
There is just some small unused space around the screen, you are not losing any active pixels - this can be confirmed with an AVS709 resolution test pattern screen.

Same on my 50ST50, I don't see any problem with my cable HD DVR outputting 1080i or 720p, or lack of sharpness, using HDMI.
I can view the AVS709 resolution/sharpness test pattern screen even with sharpness set at zero and it resolves every pixel that I can see at 1080p.
The reports of softness with 720p or some sources appear to be about the VT50 and perphaps the GT50 models, they may have some extra non-defeatable extra video processing that may be the source of that issue, that the ST50 models appear to lack.

Frankie try messing around with rgb limited as rgb full settings, also the superwhites function. On my old sony I had the same effect just it wa softer in 1080 as opposed to 720 try keeping your ps3 fixed
To 1080p also.

Btw which model do you have?

Also try game mode for gaming. I wouldn't worry too
Much about a calibrated picture for
Gaming

Frankie if it persists I would also look into returning it and trying another set and hdmi cable
Perhaps.

Gomess, thank you very much for lending your input.

Unfortunately, PS3 doesn't have a built in scaler. SOME games will allow you to force 1080p, but not many at all.

I tried changing all those settings, but it still remained the same. I also tried swapping HDMI cables and even using a different HDMI port.

I have a replacement on the way and I REALLY hope this solves the issue.

What set do you have? Does this happen on your set?
Edited by Frankie1588 - 8/5/12 at 2:42pm

Well it looks like jp0213x has the same issue afterall. I had him compare some shots and he also got the oil painting effect. I cancelled the replacement. I am not sure what I am going to do now since it looks like this is a problem among all the 2012 Panasonic Plasmas (ST/GT/VT anyways). I really don't want to have to get a Samsung set, but it might be my only option.

Why don't you just score a ST30 online? Man, how do you think i feel with all of this input lag BS. XP and i don't want to have to resort to a samsung.
UT50 seemed like the perfect match for me, but the ho-hum mixed lag results is what is stopping me from getting one....I wish i could
haul the U50 or UT50 back to my place(Obviously could, but i'm not in the mood for any more TV returning)
and play around with both to see how they compare to my X3, but even then chances are they will
be worse or the same and even then i'm not sure that i'd be completely satisfyed in comparison to what i 'could' get from the ST30 regarding input lag.

Anyways, does the ST30 suffer from this so called oil painting effect? I can safely say that the X5 doesn't have this problem, but nobody
seems to get a hoot about that model hehe. XP
Edited by WaveBoy - 8/5/12 at 4:26pm

Sony LED - gives you inky Plasma blacks and an overall better TV .

I don't feel comfortable buying a used TV. That just feels like I would be asking for problems.

The input lag is not a problem with me on the ST50 at all. I don't even use game mode (which I showed you was capable of 16ms input lag). I am coming from a likely 16ms(never measured) input lag HD CRT though. So 16 to 32ms may not be a big difference to me. I know you have a 0ms set so im sure its noticeable to go from 0ms to 32ms

This "oil painting" effect isn't AS obvious as I see in the XMB. I remember previously playing Uncharted 3 and not even noticing it. In fact, I didn't notice it until I forced my PS3 to show 720p ONLY and I noticed it on the XMB. It still bothers me because it should not be like this.

I will go with the ES6500 if I have to, but I am not sure yet. I am also hesitant about getting a Samsung because I have always heard great things about Panasonic's Plasma TVs. I wish there was just a defect with my panel and I could get a replacement ST50. I would even rather get a GT50 and upgrade than get a Samsung, but I know the ST/GT/VT are all relatively the same aside from features. I also heard people getting the "oil painting" effect on the GT50/VT50.

I have also seen the UT50 have the same issue with "oil painting". That is actually where I first heard that term (UT50 owners thread) being used and it is perfectly accurate.

Why do the newer Panasonic Plasmas have more issues than the previous ones! A friend of mine has an older Panasonic Plasma (I think it's the S1?) and doesn't have the "oil painting" issue at all.

Not sure what I am going to do right now.
Edited by Frankie1588 - 8/5/12 at 5:18pm

The oil paint effect was more obvious from the ps3 thumbnail but when the picture was blown up it look fine, didn't have much of a oil paint effect. Man its a great TV but if you aren't happy do what you gotta do.

They actually don't, but keep trolling Panasonic threads because of your inferiority complex and insecurity and maybe you'll convince someone someday..... or not.

There aren't more issues, there are actually less and the PQ is much better. Why would you downgrade a better tv for the minority of times a PS3 needs 720p in your overall tv watching?

They might even fix it in firmware if you notify their engineers.

Just calibrated my 60ST50. Here are my night settings if anyone wants to try them. YMMV in terms of how well they work on your set. If you have the 50/55", set the brightness to 56.

Picture Mode: Custom
Contrast: 82
Brightness: 58
Color: 45
Tint: 0
Sharpness: 0
Color Temp: Warm2
C.A.T.S: Off
Video NR: Off

Pro Settings
Colorspace: Normal

W/B High R: -6
W/B High G: 0
W/B High B: +5
W/B Low R: +9
W/B Low G: 0
W/B Low B: +1

Black Extension: 0
Gamma Adjustment: 2.6
Panel Brightness: Mid
Contour Emphasis: Off
AGC: 0

Advance Picture
Block NR: Off
Mosquito NR: Off
Black Level: Light

Notes:
dEuv (grayscale)=1.5avg
dE94 (color gamut)=1.3avg
Gamma=2.33avg
Brightness=35fL


Edited by rahzel - 2/23/13 at 6:14pm