Official Panasonic GT50 Series Discussion Thread [No Street Price Talk] - Page 126

Hey Arclight and congrats on the purchase! The GT50 is also my first Plasma and the wife and I love it! It's got a wonderful picture! But I think to answer you question I don't think it's going to matter which HDMI port you use, but HDMI port 2 has ARC support and I think it would come into play when hooking up an AV unit and running all your gear through that and to the display that way it get audio return also but I think the AV unit would also need to support ARC also. At least that's my understanding of ARC. So you should be able to plug your cable box into any HDMI port you want.

Thx!

Can someone please help with my problem. I connected my GT50 to my pc via HDMI as a second monitor. My main monitor resolution is 1680x1050 and the GT50 res is obviosly 1080p. The problem I am having is that when I extend the desktop to the second monitor (GT50), the screen is not being filled up to the edges. In the TV the aspect ratio is set to "Full". In catalyst control panel I see the correct resolutions as I stated above. Why is this happening?

In my HTPC, I can adjust the screen size to fit the tv using the intel video settings. If you have XBMC you can also adjust the screen in the settings. Just play with the pc settings more and you'll get it. Good luck.

I found the solution to my problem. In the catalyst control center you can change the % of scaling up to 15%. I set mine to 6% overscan and it looks fine now.

Have my father-in-law visiting over the weekend. We've be watching college football on Uverse HD on my 55GT50 and he commented that this is the best television picture he has ever seen. His wife was also commenting on how clear and crisp the picture is. All I can do is to smile and agree!
Using CNET settings with following adjustments: Contrast 82, Brightness 57, Sharpness 50. Contrast is high but we started watching while there still was light outside and I had adjusted it for daylight viewing. A little too much for night time viewing but it sure does make picture POP!, almost LED like.
Edited by ludersven - 9/22/12 at 10:32pm

Ok guys another issue, I was watching a movie just now and me and my girlfriend both noticed that there was something very strange with the motion. It was like the movie was filmed with a soap opera camera. It's hard to describe but it felt like the movie was playing at a higher frame rate or something. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I was wondering if this is some setting that can be enabled/disabled? I was watching the movie with the "cinema" setting. I'm gonna test the tv with other movies to see if this happens with them or maybe it was just this specific movie.

Try turning off the motion smoother and see if that makes a difference

In case anyone was wondering about the Skype app or the Panasonic VIERA TY-CC20W... it sucks! I purchased it from Amazon and promptly returned it. I tried using Skype with my Panasonic TC-P60GT50 using an Ethernet connection (gigabit home network) and alternatively using a solid wireless connection. Both methods produced the same results.

Cons:

• Video quality was noticeably worse for call recipients. Tested with multiple call recipients that were using PCs. The app could not maintain a quality connection. PCs on my network regularly work just fine. Lots of "block" digital noise. Overall, this is the main reason it was returned.
• Compared to the PC experience, it also took more time for Skype HD to kick in. Under standard mode you won't get the full field of view as in HD mode. For me, it meant a couch seat on left & right regularly disappear and reappear based on connection quality.
• I currently use the optical audio return to feed my AVR so my TV speakers are fixed off for all inputs and VIERA Connect. For whatever reason, Skype is the only app/input that does not return audio through optical! So that means to use Skype I have to pick up the TV remote and re-enable audio through TV speakers just for the call. When the call is done then I have to re-disable TV speakers. PITA! Optical return works fine for all HDMI inputs and other VIERA apps such as Amazon Video or MLB.tv- it's just the Skype app that doesn't work.
• You have to switch to the app to receive a call. With the camera permanently attached to the TV, I don't know why the app could not run in the background and notify you with on-screen prompts that you're receiving a call. The whole reason I wanted a TV camera is that I would not have to set up a call, gather the family 'round the computer, and coordinate. Having a camera on the TV addresses the ease of gathering up the family for a call but you still have to coordinate a Skype call outside of the app- it's just not running in the background waiting for a call to come in like on a PC.

Pros:

• Skype camera connects via a TV USB port- clean install.
• Skype camera attaches to top of TV via magnet. There is a notch in the camera mount and it fits just around the screw that's centered at the top rear edge of the TV. The look is clean, but not the best- there's a gap between the top of the TV and the camera "bar" that I would rather not be there (see pictures below). I would have preferred a flush fit that could still be angled.
• Audio quality was adequate. Not bad enough for me to list it as a Con. Call recipients were able to hear soft voices- assuming the connection quality was good.
• There's a mode in the app that you can show both last input (e.g. TV) and Skype at same time in two small windows side-by-side. This is a pretty cool feature.

I had high hopes for the Panasonic Skype camera. One less device to maintain. At approx $90 at Amazon it's not even a cheap accessory for it's limited use. I also chose the GT50 over lesser 2012 models in hopes of getting better app performance due to the dual-core processor; I'm not sure what the extra processing helps, but not the Skype app!

I'm currently testing the new Logitech TV Cam HD, purchased from BestBuy. I like the "always on" connection, but honestly, I'm not too impressed with that PQ either. It's getting returned, too. So far my best Skype solution on the GT50 is to run Skype on a PC and output to TV via HDMI with a regular USB camera placed on top of the TV. The picture quality on both ends is the best.

Hope this helps someone!






Edited by vivatech - 9/24/12 at 9:09am

why wouldn't you just set it to full size 2 and 0% overscan so the picture fits perfectly on the screen?

Thanks for this. Just purshased my GT50 and was looking at trying Skype with the Logitech camera V-U0022 listed as compatible but it's not available here in Canada. I think I won't invest much time hunting for this finally. I thought it would be nice to Skype right from the couch on such a big screen...

Maybe next year models will have improved on this but too late... won't change our set before a decade.

Can someone please tell me what the default hdmi settings are in custom mode? Entering the cnet settings and it says default for the hdmi settings but I'm not sure if I have tinkered with them before! Thanks!

Why not just reset that input to the factory default ?

OK, I'm officially freaking out!!!! I purchased this expensive product on May 27 at Amazon so it's over the magic 90-day window for my prized AMEX credit card purchase protection.

The "4:3 black bar" areas now have a different shade than the main center area of my TC-P60GT50!!!!!! It's happening for all inputs as well as VIERA Connect apps. What's going here?

The TV regularly plays full screen TV and Xbox and Blu-Ray/DVD content. My kid's TV stations are non-HD, which is basically the only non-HD that the TV plays. I randomly noticed this about two weeks ago and my heart sank.

The following pics were taken in THX Cinema mode. The darker the scene, the less visible the artifacts are. What do I do???????

Its image retention. It is probably not permanent. Run the scrolling bar from the settings and then what I would do is find a nice full screen animated movie (I think toy story 3 is) and play it all the way through, maybe a couple times. I don't think it will require much to get rid of it, but who knows. I would guess that someone watched 4:3 material for a relatively long time, or it was paused etc.... but it should go away if you play some full screen material. I wonder if there is a reverse 4:3 slide out there (would not be hard to make one in photoshop either) where the side bars are white and the center is black? That could help.

More like unever phospher wear, play lots of full screen content and zoom or stretch that 4:3 content to wide screen for a while.

I made this real quick to give an example of what I mean. It may not be exactly lined up on the sides but you get the idea. reverse bars.jpg 45k .jpg file

I ran my ST30 for almost a full year with a windowed image most of the time, black on all 4 sides and saw a little retention on it after a while. After a month or so of not doing that I don' t see it anymore.

First thing I'd do is turn on the gray side bars for when you have a 4:3 480p/i input. That will help. They won't come on when there's a 4:3 image showing with a HD signal coming in.

Thanks for the replies- I'll run the anti-image retention scrolling bar tonight along with some back-to-back Blu-Rays and turn on gray side bars. I'll give it a few days or so with these band aids before I contact customer service.

Despite the amazing PQ when it was working, if it's this easy to get image retention then I'm not sure I want or can recommend this TV anymore.

Operating a TV should not require maintenance or thought- there's no WAF if I have to bug her to "use the TV correctly".

Was trying to find how to disable the gray showing up left and right when using 4:3, can we make those black? Can't find that setting in the menus.

+1... I could not find it anywhere either. And I checked my FiOS STB and couldn't find it there as well. I did switch the STB defaults to stretch 4:3 content automatically. A little loss in PQ is worth losing image retention.

It's taken all this time for you to notice that the center of your screen has aged faster than the area where your children's viewing has black bars. If you put the kids on full screen viewing and forget about it, your screen will return to normal over a similar period of time. You might also get the kids some DVDs with a 16x9 aspect ratio.
Have you ever seen "A Bug's Life". If not, check it out and notice the early scene where the falling leaf caused the ants to lose their trail. They had a panic attack which called for an intervention. I think you could use an intervention about now.
Your TV is still working.
You can switch to a LCD/LED TV, but if this problem is bugging you, I hate to think how you will react to some of the well known LCD characteristics.

As for maintenance, how about your car? If you use some of the suggestions that have been offered, then you should be able to set up your TV so that the hours your kids use it won't impact your enjoyment. Don't bug your wife. It would be better to do without TV all together.

Menu
Setup
Anti Image Retention
4:3 Side Bars

First, RELAX. It is what it is. Should it be like that, NO. Should you have to worry about stuff like this, NO. Unfortunately the way things should be and the way things actually are don't always overlap the way we expect. Panasonic's marketing indicates they are using new "fast switch phosphors". I don't know how long they they have been using these new phosphors. Combined with the "new" 2500 Hz focused field drive and you are probably going to get IR behavior different than what has been seen before.

My guess is that in time the panel non-uniformity will fade and become irrelevant. Don't be surprised if it doesn't disappear with a few hours of "fix'n". It could take days, weeks, months?

As others have suggested, stretch the 4:3 content to prevent further uneven wear. I'd be cautious about trying to "reverse map" the sides. You may end up with two inconsistent bands rather than one large inconsistent center field. If you go this route, I'd suggest applying a gradient (50-100 pixels or so) over the the center of the "lines" you now see. If you can "fade" that line, any non-uniformity from the center to the edge of the set will be irrelevant and un-noticeable.

Also, if you hit the panic button and get the service people involved DON'T say IR or burn-in. These are not warranty items. Refer to it as "panel non-uniformity"
Edited by tpollagi - 9/24/12 at 4:39pm

Like all, I am hoping and thinking it is simply IR. That being said, unless you purchased a PSP from Best Buy or any other that covers Burn In, in the event that it is uneven phosphor wear calling Panasonic will almost positively be an exercise in futility.

Of course if you read through all of the ST/GT/VT threads you'll find most will insinuate that you're either crazy or failed to use any common sense in breaking in your TV. They will assume that you keep your TV on 100% brightness and 100% contrast. They will mention that they have never ever seen IR or Burn-in. You can check the two threads on this forum dedicated to this non existent IR/burn-in problem and you'll see that it really doesn't exist. It must not exist because they've never had it. I started a thread a week or so ago regarding "Break-in Philosophy". Look at some of the comments and you'll see what I mean.

The side bar selection is grayed out, no pun intended.

I should be set with stretching 4:3 video via the STB and avoid the black bars altogether.

gooooosfraba

Anyone with a 3D camera and use their GT50 to watch those in big 3D? Just curious if you also noticed crosstalk...

The fact is I just bought that TV and was a bit shocked when I saw crosstalk. I waited for so long to buy a first HDTV! For the last 3 years I was eyeing the VT/GT line and was convinced those were the best for PQ in 2D but also among the best for viewing 3D content. I still believe the 2D is amazing but being a fan of 3D like me, well... I haven't watched anything else in 3D since and would probably enjoy moviesbut for now my mind is stiuck on this little disappointment.