Official Panasonic ST50 Series Discussion Thread [No Street Price Talk] - Page 298

Originally Posted by Fastfwd 

Just landed myself in sort of the same boat; older receiver with too few optical inputs for the tv, but added a new Panny Blu-ray player and it’s now occupying the old player’s optical input and providing Vudu, Netflix 5.1 surround sound.

The player’s apps might not be quite as slick as the tv’s, but they work well enough. I may even be using the television’s audio more now too actually on stereo streaming and other programming and let the receiver have a rest. This set has much better speakers than my last set anyway.

The tv can’t ‘pass-through’ anyway as stated – so, no biggie to not have it taking up an optical slot. I’m now finally seeing the beauty of a HDMI switching receiver though I have to confess. It’s taken this long though before my old receiver has run out of inputs – never would have dreamed to have all these streaming devices taking up my inputs.

Originally Posted by dose 

Hi,
I hope someone can help, I've been weighing up various TVs and I'm considering the Viera TX-P42GT50B or a Bravia KDL40HX853 but after some net research I have a few questions regarding the ST50.

1) Is the image dithering noticeable?

2) Can you turn off the 'Dynamic contrast' option in game mode? Are there any other feaures that can't be turned off in game mode?

3) Is buzzing an issue? And should the TV be replaced if it can be heard?

4) Are there any issues with connecting a non-Panasonic surround sound system to it? (I think I remember reading that the DT50s wouldn't turn off the TV audio if the sound system wasn't Vierra Connect compatible)

5) Lighting. This is my room setup...

I'm concerned that the TV will be on a 45 degree angle to the window, so sitting in the green seat (my normal seat) or the one next to it will cause issues as it'll reflect the window area.
Thanks in advance

Originally Posted by dose 

Hi,
I hope someone can help, I've been weighing up various TVs and I'm considering the Viera TX-P42GT50B or a Bravia KDL40HX853 but after some net research I have a few questions regarding the ST50.

1) Is the image dithering noticeable?

2) Can you turn off the 'Dynamic contrast' option in game mode? Are there any other feaures that can't be turned off in game mode?

3) Is buzzing an issue? And should the TV be replaced if it can be heard?

4) Are there any issues with connecting a non-Panasonic surround sound system to it? (I think I remember reading that the DT50s wouldn't turn off the TV audio if the sound system wasn't Vierra Connect compatible)

5) Lighting. This is my room setup...

I'm concerned that the TV will be on a 45 degree angle to the window, so sitting in the green seat (my normal seat) or the one next to it will cause issues as it'll reflect the window area.
Thanks in advance

Originally Posted by mrwho25 

How do I tell this TV to output sound through the ARC HDMI port? I've got it connected to my Sony STR DH820 receiver but no sound comes out of the receiver; the TV cuts off it's own speakers and the 'home theater volume' bar appears on the bottom, so I can assume it knows that it's supposed to be outputting sound. My Xbox 360 and blu ray player are connected to the TV with 1.4a cables, and I've connected to the receiver with the another 1.4a cable using the ARC slot on the TV and receiver... this is pretty annoying that I can't get it to work, and I'd like to avoid connecting everything into the receiver bc the cables I have aren't long enough to reach, and re-arranging things is to make it work is going to be pretty difficult with the living space that I have (military barracks are not exactly large, lol). Thanks for the help!!

Originally Posted by mrwho25 

I didn't see any option in the receiver's menus for arc, jus HDMI pass through and control, both of which are on. I'm trying to get sound from the xbox and bluray player, which are connected to the tv's hdmi ports. And yes, i've double-checked a few times and the arc ports are connected from the TV to the receiver

Originally Posted by mrwho25 

I didn't see any option in the receiver's menus for arc, jus HDMI pass through and control, both of which are on. I'm trying to get sound from the xbox and bluray player, which are connected to the tv's hdmi ports. And yes, i've double-checked a few times and the arc ports are connected from the TV to the receiver

Originally Posted by mrwho25 

no, i had them plugged into the TV's hdmi ports, then i used the hdmi 2 arc output to go to my receiver's arc hdmi port. Apparently I have to do it like you said, with everything going into the receiver isntead of the TV. But how can I do 3D on my blu ray and xbox? (or get an image at all, I've always routed stuff to the TV and then I think used a fiber optic cable for the audio) I don't think this receiver passes 3D through to the TV, and I just bought this thing before I got this new TV

Originally Posted by mrwho25 

well that's awesome, I didn't see anything displayed on the receiver or mentioned in the manual, but that's good to know, thanks

Originally Posted by Bond 007 

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-STRDH820-Channel-Receiver-Black/dp/B004QOA920/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1361042609&sr=1-1&keywords=sony+str+dh820

Originally Posted by mrwho25 

no, i had them plugged into the TV's hdmi ports, then i used the hdmi 2 arc output to go to my receiver's arc hdmi port. Apparently I have to do it like you said, with everything going into the receiver isntead of the TV. But how can I do 3D on my blu ray and xbox? (or get an image at all, I've always routed stuff to the TV and then I think used a fiber optic cable for the audio) I don't think this receiver passes 3D through to the TV, and I just bought this thing before I got this new TV

Originally Posted by p3Orion 

Alternatively, you could plug each component into the separate hdmi ports on the TV, like you had previously, and then run an optical cable from your receiver to the TV. Select TV (or whatever the default optical output setting on the receiver is) on the receiver to get sound from your speakers.

This is my setup because for some reason my Denon AVR-1712 shows a couple of rows of black pixels on the left side when I connect the components to the receiver and a single hdmi to the TV. Apparently the receiver needs a firmware upgrade to remedy this, but the 1712 doesn't have network connectivity so I would have to bring it to a service center.

Originally Posted by Bond 007 

1) Dithering is not an issue more than any other tv.
2) There is no Dynamic Contrast setting that I know of.
3) Buzzing is no more an issue than with any other plasma.
4) You can hook up any type or brand of surround sound you want.
5) The st will not reflect significantly worse than any other tv in that spot. At that angle can you even see the reflection? Particularly in the green seat I wouldnt think that you could even see a reflection.

Originally Posted by dose 

Thanks for the replies. I'm not sure if I can see a reflection at that angle as I've just moved house and that will be the layout I imagined that there would be a slight reflection but I could be wrong.
As for the Dynamic Contrast, apparently the GT50 has this whilst in game mode and it can't be turned off, so I wondered if it was a feature on the ST50s too.

Originally Posted by mrwho25 

Right, I wasn't sure what thread would get responses faster I swear I've made it work this way before with a different TV, having everything go into the TV and then an ARC connecting to the receiver, but maybe I'm not remembering right. Thanks for the help!

Originally Posted by Bond 007 

The st does not have dynamic contrast.

Originally Posted by sethmp 

Just a little update to my network wifi problem. I called panasonic to let them know that my tv will not recognize my wireless network(or any other network). We ran through a few options and manually entered alot of diifferent numbers, IP address, DNS, etc.. Nothing worked. I was told a tech would be calling me in 1-2 business days. So i'll wait and see. Hoping nothing is wrong with this set. It's been damn near perfect for me so far

Originally Posted by CLEHD 

I am sure that you have tried this, but I am just relaying my experience. When I first got the ST (I mean the first day) it was having issues recognizing/finding my wireless network. I could have hard-wired it as the modem is right next to it, but that is a different story for a different day. Anyways, I unplugged it and tried again and it found it and connected right away. It has always been finicky, though. Even to this day it will "lose" the connection. But, all that I have to do is go through the find connection screen that pops up and it connects.

Best of luck in your attempts at a solution!

Originally Posted by sethmp 

unplug the tv or the modem/router? I unplugged the modem but that had no effect. I went to the find connection screen and it searches for it and again nothing. I'll just have to wait and see what panasonic's people can come up with.

Originally Posted by rich7sena 

I just got my ST50 open item for a fantastic price. I was wondering for break in (assuming this set hasn't been broken in already) if I can just watch it in cinema mode right out of the box, or should just use standard mode.