Official Panasonic GT50 Series Discussion Thread [No Street Price Talk] - Page 74

Long story short. Get a ST...

And you believe that.....

How can I find opinions of people like D-Nice? I haven't had too much luck on google.

Probably because the ST50 is an incredible value. It performs fairly close to the VT50 at a fraction of the price, but the VT50 does perform better.

I disagree, with the shades of graduation the VT has will make this a second teir TV as the CNET people post and as do I.

Again, Cnet weighs all categories, not just performance. The ST50 is the editor's choice because it's an extremely good value. It even says best HDTVs overall. I'm willing to bet that Cnet will say that the VT50 performs better than the ST50 if you ask them. And that's just Cnet's opinion... the pro calibrators will tell you that the VT50 is the better performer, and I'd trust their opinions more than anyone else'.

lol, if that was true it would be ahead of the ST. As I have said and D-Nice which is the omega of all TV'S he even said and let me quote if I have it wrong "that the ST50 performed better in areas than the VT" The VT has the flaw of this 25000 of graduation which is broken...

Ugh... how would that make the VT50 ahead of the ST50? If the ST50 offers 97% of the performance of a VT50 (my guesstimate) for a fraction of the price, which set do you think Cnet would recommend? If performance was the only weight for their rankings, THEN the VT50 would be higher than the ST50. Go ahead, ask them which set has better performance. Again, I'm willing to bet that they will say the VT50.

D-Nice has also said that if his Kuros ever died, that the VT50 would be the only set that he would be comfortable as a replacement. No it doesn't match the Kuro, but it's the closest overall. It's the only set in the 2012 Panasonic lineup with reference color... it just doesn't quite match the Kuro in black levels.
Edited by rahzel - 6/16/12 at 4:18pm

For folks who use their TV only for watching programs and DVDs and not for games or computer monitor, the GT50 and VT50 seem to be better from everything I have read.

This would drive a person crazy who is trying to decide which model to purchase. LOL I am planning on buying soon but appears I need to wait for the dust to clear.
Edited by jp0213x - 6/16/12 at 4:25pm

I am in complete agreement.

Hope the ST works for you. Do report back when you get it. It shouldn't be too hard to find the perfect TV for the game you like.

Just a note, IMO you should have waited to see how the ST performs before trashing the VT and GT. As promised, I just finished trying all my PS3 games (18 titles), most were 720p and a few were 1080p, some are very dark in gameplay while others are bright. I have good vision and sat 6 ft away from my 60GT50, tried hard to pick it apart but honestly I did not a see a hint of what you're describing. I don't have the game Limbo though. Wish I did just to try it, it sounds like a good game (9.0 on IGN).

If you are tempted, I vote you get Limbo and try it out! lol

For those considering this TV, just my 2 cents. I've had my 60GT50 for two weeks now with no issues at all. All I've noticed is an excellent picture. I use my 60GT50 for cable, DVD/Blu-ray and Roku. I also have it hooked up to my computer (all via my Pioneer VSX-1121 receiver). I am not a gamer, so I cannot comment on that.

The GT50 was pulled because it suffered severe IR and did not recover as quickly as the others that were accidentally exposed to a static image over night. They are waiting for a replacement.

The thing is that more ST50 owners have complained about IR, seen during normal programming, than GT50 owners have. The ST50 has often been compared to the VT30, which suffered from very persistent IR problems. I had no problems at all with IR during the 3 weeks I had the 60GT50.

Edit: I am returning the 55VT50 and will buy another 60GT50.
Edited by sheshechic - 6/16/12 at 5:37pm

I might get the game and try it although even if I experience the same issue I still wouldn't downgrade to the ST. Everything I've tried on my GT50 so far has been nothing short of stunning, from my HD IPTV to DVDs to Blurays and now all my PS3 collection. And I'm comparing this to 2 calibrated LCDs and my previous two plasmas. No offence but if one game made me want to give all that up and change TVs, I'd have to give my head a shake.

There's no hard proof of this. I've seen complaints of all models and comparing the 2012 line in general to the 2011 line as far as IR. The 2012 line have the same panels and are different from the 2011 line. IR should be the same on all of the 2012 panels. If you noticed more people complaining about IR on the ST50 series, then it's probably due to the number of owners of the ST50 vs the GT50.
Edited by rahzel - 6/16/12 at 5:41pm

My bad, I should have stated that I was expressing my own theory. You are probably right about everything you've just said.

I have the 60GT50, and as noted in the VT50 review they said do reduce the 24P setting in the 3d mode from 60Hz to 48Hz, however in my settlings under the advanced submenu this is greyed out and I cant change it.
I tried all the different puctuire modes and its the same in all. I am doing something wrong?

(Please read my post later... I think Limbo isn't a good example. Just wanted this disclaimer here so I don't get people overly worried from this post.)

I've got Limbo... and I wanted to find this was a non-issue so bad so I could tell everyone here not to worry about it, but it's there. It really is obvious too. The game isn't "unplayable" by any means but it definitely is very grainy. It shouldn't be like that. I may be wrong though... it's been a while since I've played the game and it could just be that it was meant to give that "old movie" type grainy black and white look.

Now I'm seriously considering returning the TV. I'm so angry because I spent so much time breaking this TV in and I was happy with it... but now this is really bothering me. I think it is also affecting text and it's the reason why cable looks so "soft" to so many people. I don't know. I'm going to look into this more.
Edited by thesubmittedone - 6/16/12 at 6:27pm

When I said "unplayable" I meant that the TV has serious problems...Which you have confirmed. Sorry for the strong wording...

No problem... I'm looking at youtube videos of the game now and I actually see that grainy look. It's just not as pronounced. I think Limbo might be the worst of examples and the TV just really shows every "grain" whereas other TVs don't. I am a little less angry about it right now and am starting to feel better about it. I might be fine with the TV.

Just trying to put my input on the problem with this TV..I'm a Panasonic fanboy so please don't be angry with me..

It's the dang game- foggy, grainy

view it full screen to see what I mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvRuu2rmZbI

And this: "What struck me like a brick on the forehead was the art design of the game. LIMBO is done exclusively in grainy, flickery black and white that fades with the distance and towards the edges of the screen. All the active elements are black or dark gray silhouettes, with bright white spots for eyes, and the world is filled with dark and threatening shapes – be it trees, a ruined city or an insane factory. There are giant insects that manage to be disturbing in very non-obvious ways in a game context, and sparingly used human characters who mostly just run away or attack the player. The overall mood brings to mind both film noir and German expressionism, and it ends up being extremely bleak, threatening and dismal.The feeling of skirting the edges of hell – and not a cartoony place of fire, horns and hooves but something truly dismal – is palpable."


http://www.avsforum.com/t/1403635/official-panasonic-gt50-series-discussion-thread-no-street-price-talk/2190#post_22139699

Not sure I agree right now. I'm looking at more videos of Limbo right now on youtube and what I'm noticing is that, while there is a clear sense of more "grain" in the backgrounds of Limbo, there is also more shades of light grey than in anything I'm seeing on youtube. The only time the "graininess" is apparent is in the light backgrounds, which also show a much wider range of shades than any TV has produced in the youtube videos.

What was once a huge source of concern for me now is turning into a source of being impressed, lol.

I think it may be that you're just not used to the level of detail this TV can produce? It's clear the developers of Limbo intended a grainy, film noir-type look. The Panny just really brings it out, almost to a fault.
Edited by thesubmittedone - 6/16/12 at 7:06pm

Is it 720 or 1080?
Edited by sheshechic - 6/16/12 at 6:56pm

I don't think anyone here is angry at you. I certainly am not. In fact I found your finding quite interesting and made me go through my entire PS3 library looking for the issue. Try explaining that to the wife. lol

I also just read three detailed reviews of the game Limbo and all them made reference to the strong grainy filters used for the visuals in the game. So the graininess is there by design. It's possible that the VT/GT's higher shades of gradation made this more pronounced. Now, whether you'll tolerate that, well that's totally up to the individual.

My thinking is more along the lines of putting things into perspective. Ask yourself this; does grainy content form the majority of your viewing? If so, then the answer is simple; The GT/VT sets might not be for you. For others, like myself, where the TV has simply been stunning on just about every kind of content I've thrown at it, I'd be inclined to keep it. The wildcard for you is if you find a TV that handles Limbo perfectly, are you sure you aren't giving up on something else that might affect other types of content?

I think trying the ST50 is your best bet, at least to see if it suits your needs more, not to mention save a few bucks in the process.

I agree... I do think, however, that the GT50 is showing the grains way more than any TV before has. Is that a good or bad thing, lol? I'm thinking good.

Who would think that so much would change in just 2 years? We don't hear that much about it and so they seem like little changes... until you buy a new tv. I am now in the market for a new receiver to replace the one I bought in 2010. I think it's a good thing, my hubby and bank account don't think so.

Not a sexist comment or anything, but I've never seen the wife buy HT equipment and the husband complaining. Usually it's the opposite.