Official Panasonic ST50 Series Discussion Thread [No Street Price Talk] - Page 28

How about HD Tv ie NHL & NBA etc

From the Panny site, this is what I see that the GT50 has and the ST50 does not have. (US$400 difference in MSRP)

1. 'Shades of Graduation', 24k vs 12k.
2. THX mode
3. Dual-core processor.
4. 'Pure Image Creation'
5. 'Facial Retouch'
6. 4 HDMI vs 3.
7. 3 USB vs 2.
8. PC (VGA) input (and display mode)
9. Metal frame bezel vs plastic

I am curious if #1 makes a noticeable difference in shadow details.
I don't think #2 means all that much, but I can be persuaded.
Number 3 would be important if you plan on doing web applications.
Not sure what #4 is. #5 seemed linked to 2d->3d conversion.
Six might be important if you don't connect through an HDMI switching device.
Seven might be important as a way to attach external data storage, though I would hope that the LAN interface could take care of all the data storage needs.
Nine is aesthetics. It's hard to tell from their picture, but I think it looks something like last year's VT30 bezel.

Just curious if any of the Panasonic insiders here have evaluated the 3D quality and has anybody at all spoken to a Panasonic tech person about the perceived 3D short comings, especially compared to the Samsung's supposedly better quality 3D?

No VGA input? That's unfortunate.

I asked about this specific feature difference earlier and D-Nice responded saying he doubted there would be much of a visible difference due to the shades of gradation difference.

I guess the only way we will really know is after the GT50 comes out and they compare it to an ST50.

I think the gt50 is also suppose to have a better processor. May not equate to PQ improvements, but will have smoother functionality for what its worth.

I know I've said it before but, the GT should have 10pt grayscale and CMS. That is the best way to seperate the ST/GT/VT lines.

I have viewed multiple 3d tvs and I own the 50st50 and the 3d crosstalk/ghosting is very noticeable and very disappointing. I would say the best 3d I have seen was a passive 3d LED with matte screen and blu ray 3d, there was a lot of pop and no crosstalk at all. However, On the same TV on demand content in 3d looked god awful. Thinking about going to the Samsung e7000 for the better picture options and possibly better 3d. the st50 owns 2d content so far though.

Been viewing various DVDs (some 2D and 3D) on my P60ST50. Impressive picture quality. Crosstalk has not been an issue and I am extremely picky about it. Have returned many flat panels. With OLED imminently on the horizon, I saw no reason to spend thousands on a pretty bezel and marginally better PQ...

Very nice.

I think #4 is a sharpness enhancer (dynamic?).

I wonder if the GT will have better 3D picture quality than ST?

looks like amazon has the 60in available

I was not able to hear buzzing last night on my TV (in front or behind).

Something interesting I noticed last night that I had not seen before, up close, the image on the TV looked pixelated. I only noticed how odd the picture looked (paused BD frame of Shrek 4) up close, as soon as I stepped back the image looked fine. I guess I never noticed that with my 50LC13.

Question about the ARC:

Will the ARC pass dolby 5.1 back to my reciever, or is it downmixed to stereo? I previously owned a 2010 Panny plasma and the ARC did not ever work at all. Thanks for your replies!

Thanks, Randy. What an honor to get an answer from such a respected member of the community! That certainly makes sense, and I suppose I can just buy the proper cable for my macbook pro.

Do you happen to have any info on my question about 5.1 through ARC? After some searching I am unable to determine if this is possible, as it seems some say yes and some say no (on previous panny models). If that worked, it would help me afford this set by not having to invest in a reciever with more optical inputs.

Can't find it

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-VIER...d_rhf_dp_p_t_4

Thanks. The search there only turned up the 55

Funny, I was at Best Buy yesterday, and they had a 55" ST50 on display for 3D, and that unit was hot to the touch in back (top), and I could feel warmth eminating from the front glass from about 3 inches away.

Granted, they leave their displays on all day, but I was there at 3PM, and I'd venture to guess it was on since the store opened at 10AM, so that would be 5 hours on.

Perhaps due to no ventilation on that kiosk wall thingy?

I would've given the benefit of the doubt if it were the case, however, it was on an flat 8ft wall, 4" or so thick, a Samsung LED LCD TV displayed next to it, and a LG LED LCD and Sony LED LCD displayed on the other side of the wall, ...in the middle of the showroom floor. ...well ventilated, and the LEDs next to it didn't give off any heat.
And the temp of the store felt cool.

What about 5 hours of straight 3D mode? Does that ouput more heat than 2D viewing?

That being said, the ST50 did have deep blacks, and handled the showroom lights very well.

I don't know if one mode gives off more heat than another, but it was in 2D mode unless you hit one of four buttons on the display board, I believe for 3D trailers, ESPN, and two other. Again, not trying to detract from the display. Just wanted to note that the unit was giving off heat.

This was of interest to me, as I want to get a 50" for my bedroom to mount high on the wall, and a 50" would only allow me an inch clearance from the ceiling, and heat would be a concern for my application.

OK, seriously, enough of the heat inuendo.

The display uses 250w calibrated according to Cnet at 55" (so it will be less for a 50"). It appears to be the most power-efficient Panasonic plasma ever so the notion that somehow it won't work in some application that a Panasonic plasma would ever have worked in before is a "conclusion in error".

Is that more than a current LCD? You bet, it's about 3x what a current LCD uses.

It's also less than a 3-year-old LCD uses.

Heat is not some magic function of plasma televisions, it's a function of laws of thermodynamics. A 55" set is about 20% larger than a 50" set. Because power consumption has historically not seemed to track area perfectly, I'll guess a calbrated 50" uses somewhere around 200-225watts. (Note: It can use much less, and it will in standard mode. Most people won't use it in this mode, however. It can also use more if it's run in Vivid mode, which also won't be done by any normal people.)

Oh, and the temperature of the store has absolutely no effect on the laws of thermodynamics. If you take a lamp with a regular light bulb to the south pole and place your hand on it after it's been running for about 30 minutes, your hand will most assuredly burn. The same lamp will burn your hand at the equator too.

The heat being released is a function of the electricity consumed and the portion of said electricity converted to light and the portion converted to heat. An LCD TV using LEDs as the light source is efficient at making enough light with relatively little heat loss (LEDs actually get hot, but you just don't need very much power to get light from them). Plasma TVs are much less efficient at making light without also generating heat. More power is required to even generate the light in the first place and a fair amount of said power goes to electronics that give off heat.

This is not magic, it's physics. Some models of plasma TVs are slightly more efficient at making light than others, but given how few manufacturers are left at this point, most are fairly similar in their efficiency.

No inuendo...just posting my observation which was contrary to a previous posters observation.

Don't really understand why you had a problem with my post.

I feel like I'm a mere day away from buying a 50" ST50. Gave lots of thought to both waiting to save up more to buy a higher model (VT), as well as just plain waiting until Winter for really good price drops, but my itch to have A television (haven't had one in six years) as well as my sensibility to not go crazy are finally convening haha.

So since the ST doesn't have the 10-point whatever, and only a "pro mode", would that make paying for a real-deal calibration useless? Can this thing be really, truly calibrated for an optimal image through simple menu controls?

I'm going to be buying a ST50 very soon and was wondering - is it really worth it to spend $550 more for the 60" compared to the 55"? It just seem like awfully a lot for 5 more inches. I will be about 8' away from my TV.

I'm still waiting for some pictures/videos from owners. I live in the UK and its not available to demo at the moment and I'm getting impatient lol.