Official Panasonic GT50 Series Discussion Thread [No Street Price Talk] - Page 190

Not familiar of either of those models, but if you're serious you should also consider the Sony BDP-S790 player as well.

I upgraded to it from BDP-S770 last year and the difference between them is amazing. New dual-core processor is main reason for that.

If this tv doesnt get bright enough then you are used to watching a tv that is far too bright. With the proper settings no one should complain about brightness unless the sun is blazing straight onto the set in which case you need curtains.

I am having extreme dithering on my GT50 on all my sources Blu-Ray Cablebox and have THK and also custom from C-net settings. It can be seen from 10' away and is very disturbing, I am looking for any help I can get from the knowledgeable people on this forum.

They have the same 2 point controls in the service menu. The exception is you they can adjust more than just Custom from the service menu.

Service menu adjustments are done on a color temp basis, warm, normal and cool. So consequently those changes impact all picture modes. Really no difference as HD master indicated same drive and cut controls just less user friendly. But in answer to the OP question, a very good calibration can be coaxed out of just the two point controls.

LCD can't produce black. There is always some light leaking through the panel. At night, when you are watching content with black in it you will only get a dark shade of gray. It looks kinda mucky. There can be quite a few inconsistencies in the lighting used to illuminate an LCD. Edge lit LED can produce bright rays and blotches all around the edge that can be excessive and highly distracting. Top end back lit LED do better because they are programmed to shut off certain sections of the lighting when it's not needed. These models are far less popular because they are very expensive. I'm not going to list all the problems but another big one is the poor off-axis viewing from most LCD panels. As your viewing position moves toward the sides instead of head on from the center, the black level further degrades and the color begins to wash-out.

I agree 100%

At night, I absolutely agree that this set is more than bright enough. I also agree that most LCD's are probably set too high.

The "pop-less" daytime image is related to 2 things. 1) not enough brightness from the panel to compensate for the brightness of the room and 2) the loss of black. During the daytime turn off your plasma set and look at the screen. It's not black. Whatever it is, it's the blackest black that can be produced in that room with the current lighting. It's almost a mid-level gray. That kills contrast and gives you a washed out picture.

LCD's can be cranked up far beyond plasma levels to give much brighter whites. The power off screen will still not be black but the brighter whites give a higher relative contrast ratio and more of this pop factor that people like.

At some point when the ambient lighting decreases both types of displays are close to equal. As you keep getting a darker room the plasma image looks better because you don't need the extra brightness and the higher absolute contrast ratio of plasma takes the prize.

It totally depends on the viewing environment. Everyone has different conditions. My set is in the corner of a "great room" flooded by daylight from a wall of glass. It gets "soft" during the daytime. The GT50 still provides a viewable / acceptable picture but its no where as good as it looks later in the day.

Also add in the thx brightroom which while somewhat extreme for my viewing conditions I can see being a solid choice in a very bright room. My calibrated brightroom looks nice but so far I haven't had to use it as custom has plenty of output in my room.

Two quick suggestions: 1) Do a reset then start fresh. Someone had some issues that were remedied by a reset. 2) Track down a simple set of test patterns with at least a gray scale / brightness pattern that has "video black" and see if you can lower the brightness or contrast or panel level or some combo of any of these until the picture cleans-up while still maintaining the full gray scale.

All of the posted settings here are starting points. No two sets ate exactly the same. You may need additional tweaking.

You should not be seeing gross distracting dithering from 10 feet away. Maybe someone else will have some other thoughts.

Thank you for your help, I'm not sure how to do a reset to my TV.

HD-master ,,just put in your daytime settings Try nighttime ones tonight
Only thing i changed was the temp,,its at "normal",,maybe someday i'll get used to warm 1,2 ,,but at least its a step in the right direction ,right
How are the 3D settings coming ,,i'm anxious to see them ,,thanks

This is just a simple reset from the top option on the screen after you push menu. I think it says "reset to defaults".

There may be some uber system reset as well but I don't think you need that ( yet )

if you guys were going to try an LED would you even consider the Samsung E8000 to get into a 60" or would it be the HX950 55" (knowing the 65" or an Elite is just too much $$)?

The HX950 and the Elite are the only LED's that can compete with the Panasonic or Samsung plasmas.

Missing the chance of getting a USD300 discount on a 50GT50 today (collections are late this month).

Your panel does get better as the more it is used, the blacks are the best in 2012 models. Use custom settings and watch a bluray movie such as Reel Steel and you will notice how awesome the blacks are. Not a Verizon background

I am noticing the GT50 improving with more actual viewing(non-slide) time. That said I just walked into BB and a guy was returning an HX950 55"for a 65. Got the open box price. Shootout is about to commence. I'm anxious to see the differences in my room.

Mine did. I thought it was great when I first turned it on, but I swore after every day I swear it was a better t.v. It's leaved off now.

I did look for a total reset of the TV on this forum, and I did reset it and as of right now it looks better than it did. The dithering is not so easily seen as it was before, but I am going to give it a better test when I have more time. Thank you for your help.

What are the ideal settings on a directv box with the GT50. Check all the resolutions or just the 1080i, 1080p. Does it make a difference do that vs. having all resolutions checked?

With the GT50, I prefer Native set to off (on the DirecTV receiver) and all resolutions checked EXCEPT 720p (on the DirecTV receiver).

For my fellow HTPC users, are there any special settings I should have on the PC other than just setting the resolution to 1080p?

I'm using an Nvidia card

Can you tell us how to get to the Native setting?

Menu -> Settings & Help -> Settings -> Display -> Video

Gents

I want to thank everyone for their input. I truly appreciate it. I almost feel bad for the people who aren't aware of the forums and the excellent advice available to make these sets look so darn good. I made some tweaks tonight and made some equipment changes. I am blown away by this picture. I can't wait to share the details and settings and see if I can return the favor to some of the other guys that were having the same issues. Let me just say don't be to quick to give up on the TV.Mine looks better than the floor models at best buy.

We turned the HX950 off after the first qtr of the Pats Ravens game. Since I brought it home i'm going to take some time to give it a fair shake and tweak it the best I can just to see, may as well.

Thanks HD-Master. Mine was set that way. As far as unchecking 720...what would that do? I found that for TV watching that's only coming 1080i, when i switched to 720 the picture improved.

Thanks

The 2012 Panny's appear to deal with 1080i better than 720p.

Set it however it looks best.

I dogged that Panamax 4300 earlier. Turns out i had some things plugged into the nonfiltered outlets. Tried it again and it cleaned up all of that grainy noise. I have zero graininess. Not needing the pricey 950, my wife is cool with new Receiver, Blue ray player, and sound bar if only I can find an affordable one that won't block the remote signal for the TV.