Official Panasonic ST50 Series Discussion Thread [No Street Price Talk] - Page 232

The ironic thing is, that several of the posts immediately prior to EricST's were either positive...

...or, genuine questions about the product and others helping them out (which is what these forums are for).

I've found greater value in the posts from someone with 400 posts in 6 years, than 400 posts in 4 months. The higher the post count, the greater the amount of useless BS

Wow that is some serious IR maybe even to be considered burn in.

I have had issues of my own on my P60ST50. Your white screen looks much more uniform than mine (mine has a green tint in the middle and the edges are a brighter white). I also have a vertical band on the right side of my screen which your set appears to have one (maybe two) as well.

Watch regular tv and/or movies with it and if the thing does not go away I would consider it burn in.
I watched a football game on FOX this weekend and noticed the logo and the score ticker at the bottom of the screen when I ran a white slide. I ran slides for a few hours and then watched some tv and before long it all went away.

That is not necessarily true but I see your point. It could also mean that he is not helpful but only posts when he needs something. Regardless, my point was that he has enough experience to know that many people only post their complaints. He, in fact, would seem to fit into that category. I see you also have very few posts in a long time and didn't really add anything beneficial with this one.

I have contacted Panasonic Finland, right away first answer was that IR is not under guarantee.
Then contacted directly their service and answer was that only option is new panel but they thought Panasonic don´t let to do that.
Contacted to consumer protection which is pretty good here in Finland and they thought it should not be caused by normal usage of set and that´s why product is faulty.
They contacted seller and also Panasonic.
Now it´s going to service (no cost for me) and they examine if it´s faulty or not.

IR is normal and ok, had that with my´n two earlier Panasonic plasma models but wiped away under hour by normal TV viewing.
This strongly seems burn-in.

I posted my´n calibration few posts earlier, if someone asks settings (True Cinema, Brightness 0, Contrastat 47 (118cd/m2) with AVSHD709 100% window, Sharpness 0 etc.)

Bought TV two months ago, so those came very quickly, I watch TV something like 4 hours/day.

Always IFFY to judge from photos, but the "FOX" image in your photo - as seen on MY Computer Monitor - looks a lot like the IR we experienced throughout Roughly the first 400-plus hours on our 60ST50. Several of the Retained Images easily hung on for well over 50 hours of usage. (Prime examples: "ESPN" & "ENCORE HD" logos, plus the Uverse "GUIDE" lettering.)

IR reports have been all over the map, but - on our particular panel - IR began to improve at some point beyond the 400+ hour mark, and is currently not a "problem." (Takes longer to develop, dissipates readily with normal programming - and it is rare to actually see it in any event....)

If you are unable to find a better solution, can always hope that your set similarly improves with age....

People are more likely to come here and post issues rather than come here and say how happy they are with their set. Plus Panasonic, specifically the ST50 and VT50, are two of the most popular models here.

If this has been answered I apologize...I own a 60" GT30 but am entertaining the thought of replacing it with a 60"ST50 and would basically be an even swap with no money lossed or gained...Is the PQ drastically better? In specific, the color accuracy? Thanks.

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The ST50 is more accurate, has better black levels and contrast, and is more aesthetically pleasing. The leap in PQ won't be dramatic, but it should be noticeable. Personally, I would swap it if little or no money was required, no question.

I completed the 100 hours of prep slides last night at 9:00pm. I immediately put in D-Nice's calibration settings and started watching some tv. We had some company at the house that had never seen "UP" and I put it the blu ray just to check out the display of "a few minutes" and we ended up watching the whole thing! It was stunning! I cannot believe the black levels coming from this set. There is a scene where the villian (Muntz) is introduced and he is standing in a cave. There were subtle greys and shadows in the background and on his face that I had never seen before with my DLP.

After, I stayed up til one a.m. playing around with the W.O.W. disc that arrived from amazon today. So far the only setting that I change from D-Nice's is the brightness (up to 60). I can't wait to get home and tinker with it some more.

I guys,
I am a happy owener of a 65ST50.

Wanted to ask whether this set is hdmi 1.4 HEC certified? Can't find somewhere this info. Is the HDMI 2 port, which is ARC also HEC certified? (hope it is).

I'm gonna chime in on my 60ST50 experience. I've had the tv for about 3 or 4 weeks now. LOVE IT. No slides, took it out of the box and went straight into normal use. Lots of football, tv, movies with black bars, lots of xbox (NHL13 and Halo4). NO IR AT ALL. BEAUTIFUL PICTURE. I love this tv. If I put my ear to the back of the tv with no sound I can hear a very slight hum but it is impossible to hear during normal tv use.

Reading all these post about people stressing about running the slides makes me chuckle. Just plug it in and enjoy this marvelous tv. I'm using settings from rehzel on the other forum. FYI I've owened an LG plasma about 6 or 7 years ago and then many different Samsung LCD and LED sets. This plasma is amazing.

I'm assuming you mean me.
I'm here as well, and my settings are also posted here on page 153 (post 4590).

The slides are meant to be used with D-Nice's settings. Personally I didn't run the slides, which is why I didn't have a prep for people to follow. This will slightly affect how my settings work on other panels, which is why D-Nice has a controlled prep.
Edited by rahzel - 11/14/12 at 12:43pm

is there any motion blur during football games? or basketball games? i watch a lot of sports and play video games and i've read a couple things about this set having some motion blur during basketball games... any feedback? i thought plasmas were supposed to handle motion with ease, so i'm curious.

thanks for the candid review. i'm thinking about replacing a sharp LCD from about 5+ years ago.

Actually thats not really correct. The slides are meant to help the phosphers age evenly and prepare the set for professional calibration. This has morphed into people using it to age their sets then apply the settings. Unless you are getting the set professionally calibrated, the benifit of using slides is give or take for most uers....

Big props Rahzel. Love your settings. Thank you.

No motion blur at all. I agree that plasmas handle motion much better than lcds so that is an odd comment.

Ya I have read so many negative comments on this set about ir or buzzing or whatever, I wanted to provide some positive first hand experience.

No problem. Glad they're working well for others.
There's nothing wrong with what I said... it was my personal opinion. Yes some people run the slides to age the phosphors evenly during the first hours of use (I never said otherwise), and sure there is some benefit in doing so, but outside of doing so to prep your panel to use D-Nice's settings, it's a waste of time IMHO. Just watch regular content and avoid black bars as much as possible during the first 100-150 hours, or preferably a little longer if you plan on getting your set professionally calibrated. They're certainly not necessary... it's a personal choice, whether you're getting your set professionally calibrated or not.

Most people that run the slides do it to also age all of the phosphors evenly, and to age them the same way that D-Nice aged his reference panel to remove the variable of how your set was aged during the first 100 hours to achieve optimal results. That's what I meant when I said that they're meant to be used with D-Nice's settings (for prep purposes), because if you plan on using D-Nice's settings, then running the slides is necessary to achieve optimal results. But if you're not using D-Nice's settings, they're not necessary.

Some people are also under the impression that slides will magically reduce IR issues, but that's a load of crap IMO. IR varies from panel to panel. There are many people that have run the slides and have IR, then there's people like me that didn't run them at all, and I've seen virtually no IR on my 60ST50.

Quoted from D-Nice's thread:
Edited by rahzel - 11/14/12 at 8:06pm

Finally some sense on this aging subject. People that are returning ST50´s with problems and are aging with slides (not saying its the slides problem, but just do it differently with the returning set) should try not to use slides and avoid black bars the first 100 hours or so. Avoid doesn't mean be worried, just avoid.

My ST50 is not perfect but its fantastic. Thanks rahzel for the clear up that sums it all.

Use slides if you want to use d-nice settings do not use them if you think you are giving an IR vaccine to the Plasma TV, it wont prevent problems it will give you a different picture quality, maybe better maybe the same

I suggest sticking this rahzel post on the first post or giving it some highlight so people don't start using slides before they actual understand what they do. D-Nice quote also sums it up too. I confess i was a bit scared when i came to the topic before buying the plasma, i was using LCD and i was a bit creep-ed out people leaving the TV on passing slides, im glad i digged up on the subject and ended up being one more ST50 user.
Edited by grik - 11/15/12 at 4:45am

I've had my 55ST50 for two weeks now. It's an October 2012 build. Didn't run slides. Change to custom setting and turn the sharpness down to 0. Mostly football and basketball games plus The Walking Dead. Picture quality is very nice. I have no complaint about color and clarity.

But I've decided to return it after black friday, during which I will try to find a replacement. I've experienced two major issues that some of the ST owners also have. When I watch basketball game, any channels, as long as it is HD broadcast, occasionally I'd see a quick flash/flicker. I have not been able to reproduce this intentionally. It's an on-and-off issue. Another problem is the buzzing. I'm not trying to bring up another argument here. I actually can live with that normal humming noise, but when the screen has a lot of white or lighter color, the buzz is quite loud that it's too clear to neglect when volume is set below 12. The TV is set in the living room where the ceiling is about 10ft high and the couch is 7ft away. AT&T, comcast and Apple's commericals show up in nearly every breaks of a ballgame and they all end up with their logo in a white background. I thought the buzzing will get better after the TV sort of breaks in but it seems not going to happen.

I'd love to get a replacement but not very confident of getting one that's free of issues. I may go for the GT or just pick up a LED TV.

Well, if buzzing is your issue, then you should know that there have been buzzing complaints about the GT as well. Buzzing is a general plasma technology thing and seems to vary from panel to panel. I'm not sure that the GT has less buzzing, on average, than the ST.

The flashing/flickering during basketball games is what i've read about, too... that's kind of the only thing that has me worried about picking up this set. i watch a lot of sports and i know i'd get tired of that pretty quickly.

are you sure the flickering/flashing (whatever that means) isnt coming from the source of the video? ie. the satelitte signal or cable signal.

Alot of people comment on this quick flashing/flickering and it turns out all they are commenting on is the flash bulbs in the roof of the arenas for the professional photographers. Are you sure this isn't what you are seeing? If it is, that will appear on all sets, no matter what make.

Hey guys,

Besides running slides to calibrate using D-Nices settings, what is the best way to calibrate the ST50 besides hiring a professional calibrator? Any suggestions on BluRays to use or cds, or even any calibrators that are noteworthy? Also when you use the Disney WOW or any of those other discs, are those settings meant only for blu ray, what is the best way to calibrate for regular hd cable?
Thanks for the help!

I suspect the flash/flicker is indeed camera flashes inside a basketball stadium. Then I noticed sometimes the flickering is black instead of white light that came out of a camera flash. I thought it was the HDMI first. I swapped a higher quality HDMI cable and it looks like the problem was fixed, but later in the late when I watched ESPN's sportcenter playing highlights of basketball game it flickered again. I thought it was the channel but on my local sport network also has the same symptom. Other than basketball games, the flash/flicker are completely absent so far. Do you think there's one or some of the auto settings may contribute to this issue? BTW I will swap the surge protector (more of a power strip since it's a very old one that probably doesn't do much protection) this week to see if the problem is due to power.

The buzzing, to me, is mostly bearable. Actually it's hardly noticeable during normal viewing, but when the screen is white or showing a clear sky or a bunch of people in light color shirts, the buzzing is significantly louder. I'd say if the volume is larger than 12, at 7ft distance, I can't really notice that. I am not too concerned of that but alongside with the flickering, my confidence level dropped. I still love this TV though. If there's no good deal in the black friday weekend, I will likely keep it but hopefully I can at least fix the flickering

if it doesnt do the flickering all the time, then it is not the tv. if it was the tv causing it, it would do it all the time. do you have another tv to compare to?

What video/movie file formats are supported by the USB? I'd like to plug in a portable 2 TB hard drive and use my TV to browse it for movies.

Thanks!

You better connect the pc/mediaplayer directly to tv, because the tv player mediaformats support limited and SLOW accessing, it will take minutes to just read files headers, browsing will test your patience.
Try it out with a smaller GB size drive.