Official Panasonic ST50 Series Discussion Thread [No Street Price Talk] - Page 172

It certainly is bad ass. If I can get everything working, I probably will. Right now dlna is puzzling me. I never set it up on the tv, bdt310 and now there is the Denon. I'm determined to get all that sharing setup if it kills me.

YouTube link on how to do it.....

Does the ST50 have any reported advantages over the VT50 or does the VT beat the ST in every area??

Thank you very much.

If your receiver has a network connection it can be controlled over IP. I use ORemote in the app store. I think it is $5. It can then control everything through hdmi CEC including the PS3, and the TV itself. So, if I turn my receiver on and choose blu ray it turns the ps3 on and the tv as well.

It should work the same for the TV and with the free Panasonic app I would imagine it would all be able to be controlled using an iOS device, though I do not use it this way, but the concept is the same.

I just received my 50'' ST50 yesterday from Amazon which is replacing my old Panasonic 720p 42PX80U plasma. I didn't expect it to be that much better but I couldn't have been more wrong; to say I was blown away by the picture is an understatement. The picture makes my PX80U look horrible. I even compared a bluray copy of Lord Of The Rings and the difference was insane. Whats even more impressive is that the PX80U is calibrated and yet the ST50 is simply fresh out of the box with D-Nice's settings. I can't imagine how well this TV will perform once I calibrate it.

I must admit, I was concerned by all the complaints of IR for this TV and it even almost stopped me from buying it. However, I'm having absolutely no issues whatsoever. I watched a two hour movie with black bars and even used it as a PC monitor for a hour and still not even the slightest sign of IR when using the color slides. This is already much better than my old TV. It would always get slight IR when using it under the same conditions. (It would only last about ~15min though)

The only thing I need to do now is find some new movies worth watching on it. I have a pretty big collection of movies but everything is played out -- I guess that's a first world problem though.

The VT is the best but for the buck ST is not bad.

Purchase Price....

What does everyone think of the settings from PlasmaBuying guide.com?



Pro Settings (using 2-point White Balance)
Color Space: Wide
W/B high R: +4
W/B high G: +4
W/B high B: +6
W/B low R: -5
W/B low G: -9
W/B low B: -6
Black Extension: default
Gamma Adjustment 2.6
Panel Brightness Default
Contour Emphasis Default
AGC Default
Gamma detail adj. Default
Post Calibration Settings:
Picture Mode Custom
Contract: +100
Brightness: +71
Color: +50
Tine: +0
Sharpness: +32
Color Temp.: WARM 2
Color mgmt.: Off
C.A.T.S.: Off
Video NR: Off
Advanced Picture
Mosquito NR Off
Motion Smoother Medium
1080p ure direct Off
Black level light

Not too sure about those contract levels.

Those look very wrong. Contrast that high isn't necessarily bad for video content, but it does clip some levels above video white and causes some color shifting. Not to mention it would be too bright for a dark room or even dim room. Brightness is also way too high (should be between 55-60, I have mine at 58). Color at 50 would be too saturated and color luminance would be too high. Panel to panel variances would cause some differences in the white balance offsets/gains, but they look far different than D-Nice's, Cnet's and my own. Not to mention you usually want to leave green alone at 0. Motion smoother would cause the soap opera effect, which I'm not a fan of.

If you have the 50"/55", I would use D-Nice's settings. If you have the 60"/65", you can try my calibration settings here (larger panels are a bit different). Or Cinema mode isn't too bad either. Or better yet, get your set calibrated.
Edited by rahzel - 8/19/12 at 1:53am

If its in custom those contrast levels are close. Settings will vary from set to set so be sure to use some reference pieces to dial it in.

Hey everyone,

We are in the process of purchasing a home (inspection is tomorrow!) and if all goes well, when we move in I am looking at buying the 60" ST50. I never had a plasma so I am a little worried, but I have read great reviews about the ST. This thread has 172 pages, so there is a lot to read.

Can anyone help me out with my concerns...IR, etc (especially IR). I know when I mention buying a plasma people look at me funny. But I want a great picture and great viewing angles. I currently have a Sharp Aquos 46". I think the value of this TV is amazing compare to an LCD-LED.

Any info would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Thanks,
Lisa

You have to be able to seperate fact from fiction on some post do they have IR yes all plasma's will have some form of IR depending on the source being viewed and picture settings some go away in a minute or two some require hours if you run the settings in torch mode then look at hours or possible burn in.
With that being said you will be hard pressed to find one with color accuracy, great black levels and just generally more realistic picture that stays viewable from all angles without change at a great price.

Does Panasonic ARC output any sounds to HDMI 1.3 capable AV-receiver or does it always need to support ARC to work at all?
There is no way to get DTS HD master audio or Dolby TrueHD from ARC output?

Is there a way to see how many hours I've put on the TV? I ran it ~100 hours from the onset, but I'm curious what I've got now.

For ARC to work, both devices have to be ARC capable. HDMI 1.3 does support lossless audio but not ARC. HDMI 1.4 supports lossless audio and ARC. I don't believe that lossless audio is carried on ARC but I could be wrong (someone correct me if I'm wrong). I don't use ARC (mainly because my TV doesn't have it) and just run all audio thru my AVR. Your receiver should have an HDMI input/output labled as ARC.

Basic controls like Contrast, Brightness, Color/Tint and Sharpness will pretty much be the same for all panels (given the same size), meaning panel to panel variations has little to no effect on this. Contrast and Brightness should be set based on your lighting conditions but with the contrast at 100, it's too bright for anything other than a bright room. When it comes to contrast, there's not really a reference point, it should be set based on a few factors:
1. There's no white clipping. Contrast set too high on certain sets will cause clipping of white detail.
2. There's no shift in color. If you use a white clipping test pattern, you might notice that some of the shades of white start to turn pink or orange if set too high.
3. You don't experience eye strain. If you use a 'Contrast' test pattern and it says it's ok to set it to 100, doesn't mean it's right if it's burning your eyes.

The 2012 Panasonic plasmas are somewhat safe from 1 and 2 if you set the contrast at 100. You do clip some white detail and shades of white start to turn pink in whiter than white shades, however video white (235) and below is fine. If you really need that extra brightness then it's OK, but I personally wouldn't set it any higher than 90-95.
Edited by rahzel - 8/19/12 at 11:46am

Is it just my set, or does the gamma and panel brightness options seem backward?

If I go from panel brightness "mid" setting down to "low", the picture actually brigtnens, or if go from gamma 2.2 down to 2.0 the image brightens (when expecting it to darken)

I've never experimented with Panel Brightness, but Gamma is not backwards. Gamma controls midtone brightness or how fast the set comes out of black. Setting this lower causes midtones to be brighter, or makes the set come out of black quicker and the overall picture becomes relatively washed out. That's how gamma normally works.

The only thing odd about the Gamma control is the slider setting doesn't tell you what the gamma really is. On the 50"/55", setting it to 2.6 actually sets the gamma around 2.2. On the 60/65, setting it to 2.6 actually sets the gamma around 2.31-2.35.

Wow, that's really high contrast in a near pitch black room. Makes me wonder if it's going to be too dim in my moderately bright room.

Does the "keep contrast low during break in period" rule no longer apply?

Thanks for the info, I just changed it to 2.4 on my 65 inch, I'll have recalibrate when its darker and see how much that changes my brightness and contrast settings (if any)

barth2k, who knows, I couldn't tell you. I just adjusted the settings by using the PLUGE pattern on Digital Video Essential which is pretty subjective, but at least it gives you the correct range (45-50), then I went to the 100% IRE window and adjusted contrast until the ftL rose and I got to 120 cd/m2. Correct way of doing it? Probably not, but I do get measurable data which is well in line with how calibrated brightness should be.

When 99% of ST50 owners most likely leave their TV's in torch mode all the time, I think I'll be fine with contrast in the 80's

The 50"/55" are a bit brighter given the same contrast setting (by about 3fL I'm told). My 60" also measures around 35fL with the contrast at 82, which is ideal for a dark or dim room.
As for keeping the contrast low during the break in or aging process, IMHO you don't have to.
Gamma does affect the brightness a bit. On my 60ST50, setting the gamma slider to 2.4 puts the gamma right at 2.2. Brightness had to be turned down a few notches. I like my gamma slider at 2.6 (2.31 actual) for a my dark HT basement.

BTW, I find it strange that your brightness is low compared to mine and other people's calibrations I've seen of the ST50. Cnet set it to 60, D-Nice set it to 56 and I set mine to 58. I don't see any dither until around 59/60. If you have the AVSHD709 disc, try the black clipping pattern. Many people prefer this pattern for setting brightness (including me). You can get it here.

Well in the half-week that I've had it, I've noticedI'm having to raise the brightness a tick as the days go on, so maybe by the end of the month I'll have brightness numbers more in line with the rest.

As of now, on the PLUGE pattern the +2% black bar disappears into the background at brightness 44.

Oh, also I haven't tinkered with the RGB white balance yet, on my LCD's, having to lower the RGB values(red in particular usually) would sometimes require significant boost in brightness to compensate. I'm just too scared to leave test patterns up for too long to do the RGB adjustments just yet lol.

Ok I may need some help here afterall, and barth2k you might be on the right track.

With my previous settings, even though the ftL and cd/m2 are right where I want it, running the gamma test in HCFR gives me some ridiculously low number. I have to drop the contrast lower than 70 to get near 2.2 gamma, but now my brightness and ft/l are shot.

Any tips from anyone?

What patterns are you using for measuring gamma? Windows or full-field? You should be using windowed patterns, between the size of 10-14% of the screen area. Not sure what size the DVE disc uses, but GCD uses 10% and AVSHD709 uses ~14% and are both free. I also have my contrast at 82 and my gamma is at 2.31 pretty flat.
Edited by rahzel - 8/19/12 at 4:24pm

oh, well that would explain that. using full screen 10 gray slides included with HCFR.

With Plasmas you need to always use windowed patterns because of the ABL (auto brightness limiter) function that all plasmas have. LCDs you can use fields.