Official Panasonic ST50 Series Discussion Thread [No Street Price Talk] - Page 183

Our old Pioneer HTR also knows nothing of HDMI ports: we run HDMI from both the blu-ray and HDDVD players to the tv, but also run toslink cables from each player to the receiver.

For our Uverse (cable tv) box, we run Component Video cables + stereo audio to the tv, again with a toslink to the receiver.

Our LR system is set up similarly - albeit without the HDDVD player. The receiver there is newer, but a less expensive model, and still lacks HDMI ports (although, thankfully, both of these receivers DO handle DTS - which is apparently the default, or Only, audio mode for most blu-rays - ??).

This cabling setup has worked fine for nearly 5 years. (The CRTs we had in place prior to that time - & our first plasma purchase - had Component Video as their best input. Our oldest "HTR" only decodes Dolby Pro Logic: for "5.1 Surround" you needed a source that would feed analog channels to the receiver.)

hi was at best buy and they have the 65st50 plasma for 2099 dollars and the 65gt50 for 2999 dollars. i have read that with hockey or any bright white picture there is a thing called abl which automaticlly dull the picture and cannot be turned off. in that case would it be worth an extra 900 dollars and the 65gt50 would not do this or it could be disabled in the menu. just watch moviers and sports.the picture on the 65st50 was on in best buy next to the 65vt50 and me and my wife said the st50 pic looked as good as the vt50 for 1600 dollars less.but if the st50 does that automatic dimming say on hockey then that is a deal breaker.

All plasma screens have ABL. It won't affect the whites in a properly set up or calibrated panel.

I have a setup for this too from my media player. I have to set my WDTV Live SMP to audio out digital via optical and it goes to the Amp. Meanwhile the video is connected via HDMI. This then means no audio is available to the new Panasonic ST50 TV and therefore my headphones. There is also an audiosync problem when setup this way with this TV.

That is why I was after a reco on settings I need to have on the TV to try and get the best digital audio passthrough from the unit, to the TV to the Amplifier.

Thanks for your tip.

The way you have it setup is how I used to do it with my old Samsung plasma which only had one DVI input.

I just purchased a 55" ST50 a couple hours ago. im currently waiting on a buddy to get here to help me get it off my truck and in my house.This is my first plasma and first 3d tv and I need some help on how to properly break it in. Ive read through pages of comments and keep hearing about 100 hours of slides. Do the slides come with the tv or do you guys have a disc you bought separately? Also if you have any links to proper break in procedures or could just tell me I would appreciate it. Thanks.

1.) best option pay to get calibrated
2.) if a paid calibration is not in the budget then get a set up disc such as Spears & Munsil ,DVE for Blue ray or Disney WOW.
3.) if those can not be located easily put in a Sony Blue-Ray Disc and when it gets to the movie menu punch in 7669 it will have limited screen set up but better than nothing.
4.)Break in with slides are an option if you do follow the ( D-Nice 2012 Panasonic set up) directions he post one set to be used with slides the other setting without.
5.) the adjustments are made in the Custom mode be sure and take the brightness and contrast off of torch mode lower than 80. take into account this has to be set on each input.

I only paid $115. I would have went with a receiver if I was spending $400+ of course.

I also don't have a surround sound setup yet. Currently using the built in speakers.

So I've had the 55ST50 for about 2 months now. I ran the slides for 100 hours and I'm using DNice's settings. The TV has been fine. I haven't had any of the issues people frequently mention. The Olympics on NBC didn't look great but that appeared to be an NBC issue.

My one complaint on the TV has been with its glare. Everything in my basement reflects off of it and it really annoys me. Any recessed lighting I have has to be completely off or it reflects. I have one really small window on the side and that reflects in the day. I don't know what the anti-reflective coating on this thing does but if I didn't know better I would bet there wasn't one. I have a 5.5 year old Panasonic plasma that has the same amount of glare. I can't tell one difference between them in terms of glare. Does anyone else have this issue? What level of glare is normal vs. what should be blocked out by the filter?

From what I've seen, the ST50 anti-glare filter seems to be primarily for reducing glare from overhead lighting, not reflections around the room.
You can test that with a small flashlight aimed at the screen from above and compare from at the same level and below the screen.

The ST50 has one of the better screen filters out of the TVs I've owned. IMO, it does a great job of reducing glare and reflections and maintains black levels decently in semi-bright rooms. In very bright rooms the filter turns to a greenish color and contrast suffers, but it's still above average overall, and all the pro reviews I've read seem to agree with me.
Edited by rahzel - 9/3/12 at 5:10pm

Just curious, anyone saw anything like this? I decided to live with it, because it's actually visible on some one-colored slides only and otherwise my set is great (no buzzing, no IR whatsoever).

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How is it mounted? If possible tilt is down a bit or swivel it left or right a bit.

Is the visible content on the 50 supposed to go bezel to bezel? On my TV there's about 3/16 or so (I was eyeballing it) area with no image around the inside of the bezel. On most LCDs (i know this is plasma and my first) the visible display usually goes bezel to bezel.

That space between the bezel and the active pixels are normal for the Panasonic plasmas.

You can get an optical link to RCA adapter but I don't know how well they work. The downside is there is only one optical output. However, you can also get an optical "splitter". Those are of questionable quality from the reviews I read.

Yes. My set has that among some other smaller ones if I look it very carefully from close range with certain one-colored images.

BTW. I'm finally past 400 hours but it seem short term IR is the same or even bit worse. It takes only about 15 seconds to get temporary IR from stationary images.

I'm guessing around 30 hours in my case and I yet have to experience any IR. Hope this will stay the same.

Actually mine was like that under 100 hours. It got extremely sensitive to short term IR after that. My old Panasonic plasma never had any problem with IR.

What settings are you using ? Why some sets are prone to IR and some not is the $64m question. I have over 100 hours, but never had any IR - at least not that I have found.

In fact we watched the olympics with the NBC logo in the corner for hours, although advertising gave the panel a break. But, if it takes 15 seconds to IR how can you watch anything ?

I'm using ridiculously low contrast setting 50%.

Good question. Does manufacturing date make difference? Mine is April 2012.

I actually lived dangerous life last weekend and watched Formula 1 race. I got logo burn on corner but I think it has cleared out in past days. I only tried one slide but I need to try different IRE level patterns to make sure.

Well, I actually can't.

I try to use it zoomed so that logos and subtitles are out of the picture and only when I actually watch something I use normal size. I've had this for over a month now and it is about time to be able to use it normal way.
If it does not get better I don't really know what to do. I was planning to calibrate my unit but no way I dare to use windowed test patterns for hours.

you should definitely call Panasonic on this issue. I've had mine for about a month with no IR or burn in whatsoever.

Upgrading from a Kuro 5080 to a Panasonic 65" ST50 and all the IR talk has me nervous. Never was an issue with the Kuro but now I'm worried about gaming and my kids leaving the On Demand menu up for extended periods of time. I'm usually excited for new tech toys, but now I just keep wondering if I made the right move. Ugh.

Planning on running slides when the TV isn't in use. Is it possible to set up two sets of custom settings, one for watching out of the box and the other for running slides when I'm away?

IR varies from panel to panel... most Panasonic owners aren't having any IR issues. Due to the large number of Panasonic owners on these boards, of course there's going to be more complaints. I haven't seen a trace of IR and I have been actually looking for it.

My recommendation when you first get the TV home is to NOT run slides for hundreds of hours, UNLESS you are following D-Nice's prep instructions to use his settings. Just use your TV like you normally would, and that includes setting the contrast to whatever you would normally set it to. If you see IR after just minutes and it takes a while for it to fade, exchange the set because it's faulty. Try to find this out before your return/exchange window expires with the store because Panasonic most likely won't do anything about it. If your set appears to be fine and you plan on keeping it, my advice is to not go out of your way to look for IR. Unless you see it in regular content then who cares.

Yes it is.

I have a question. I have the European version of the 50ST50. Had it for a couple of weeks now. No IR in the beginning but I am noticing a TV logo in the upper left corner now. It is slowly fading away. I haven't ran slides for a long time. I ran an HD Panasonic demo clip during the first few days while I was away.

My question is about the wireless connection. At first, it was working properly. But now, it has a problem connecting to my network. I can turn the set off and then back on, and sometimes it works, but it is getting annoying. Once it connects, it stays connected. I have a TP-LINK Wi-Fi / N router, working at 40Hz. No problem connecting my smartphone or a laptop, but the TV seems to be experiencing issues. Is this a known problem? Or maybe a faulty wi-fi module? A firmware issue?

I was thinking about reducing the speed of the network to b/g standard and seeing if the problem persists. Maybe the set has a problem with the Wireless configuration?

When the wireless is not connecting and I go to the Network Test, the set displays that there is no network connection present.

Do you have an arched doorway?

Are you seeing the ir with normal content or only on slides?

No, I don't. Just to clarify, it was there right out of the box.

Suggestion: get some shades. For the window.

Hi everyone. I'm considering purchasing an 60st50, and I was wondering if anyone has feedback on the Panasonic Customer Care plan and the overall support experience with Panasonic. Are the service reps helpful? Does the plan have any important limitations? Is it better to just try to find local technicians if something goes wrong? I'm very new to ownership of a tv like this, so I was wondering if most folks are happy after buying into a warranty with Pansonic. Any help is much appreciated.

Have you decided yet WHERE you plan to purchase your TV? As a general rule, am not fond of extended warranties - normally too expensive & with too many "out clauses."

However, like buying from CostCo due to both the 90-day return policy AND the fact that they add a 2nd year's warranty when you purchase - so clearly an "extended warranty" has SOME value...

If you purchase from Best Buy, they offer their own warranty program, and (of course) you can get third-party coverage from someone like Square Trade. (Which you can also buy from Costco, even if you get your panel elsewhere.)

In addition, some credit cards will extend the manufacturer's warranty for an additional year. (IF you use their card to buy the tv.)

The times we've seen "offers" from Panasonic to buy their extended warranty, the pricing has seemed quite high. Still, the ONE time we've used Pan's warranty service (on a several month old ST30) we were very pleased with how things were handled - although the actual "service" was taken care of by a local company.