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Official Panasonic GT50 Series Discussion Thread [No Street Price Talk] - Page 207

post #6181 of 9107
Not sure if you guys noticed but the Dnice panel prep instructions on HDJ actually changed recently. When running slides on my first panel 3 weeks ago the prep instructions required slides to be run on "Standard" and all defaults. Now it's "Custom" and all defaults. A lot brighter than Standard. I'm guessing brighter ages faster.


By the way if slides provide "prep" and "aging" vs. break in, then what is the common method for "break in" other than watching?
post #6182 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by stash64 View Post

And what a game it has turned into. All the while I have been tweaking and discovered the energy saving mode. I have seen no mention of this in any of the recommended settings discussions. Has anyone played with the energy saving setting during a calibration ? I certainly will once the set has a couple hundred hours on it. It could offer some improvement in black level.

My advice would be to just leave it at "standard". The "saving" setting serves no useful purpose.
post #6183 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by stash64 View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by htwaits View Post

It's a combination of the pixel orbiter and the picture mode that you're using. You seem to be paying a lot of attention to the edges of your display. wink.gif

I agree that I shouldn't being concentrating on the edges but, watching the Super Bowl right now, I realize why it has been bothering me. I am watching the OTA broadcast and the TV is set to HD Size 2 with the pixel orbiter on.
That's interesting. I don't own a 2012 Panasonic, but I thought that the pixel orbiter was deactivated for HD Size 2 which is a bit for bit mapping of the source material. I have a five year old Kuro, and don't use the pixel orbiter. I've not qualified to debate it's value. I can tell you that I've never noticed any image retention. Most of our fixed image viewing is NFL and NHL games.

I do know that only a few people are capable of detecting the orbiter in action. Also, I don't think it's valid to compare old orbiter technology with current technology. It's obvious that in your case the old technology was best.
post #6184 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by htwaits View Post

That's interesting. I don't own a 2012 Panasonic, but I thought that the pixel orbiter was deactivated for HD Size 2 which is a bit for bit mapping of the source material. I have a five year old Kuro, and don't use the pixel orbiter. I've not qualified to debate it's value. I can tell you that I've never noticed any image retention. Most of our fixed image viewing is NFL and NHL games.

I do know that only a few people are capable of detecting the orbiter in action. Also, I don't think it's valid to compare old orbiter technology with current technology. It's obvious that in your case the old technology was best.

I have an ST50 (2012) and I'm watching Full Size 2 and the PO is enabled.

With PO disabled, any static image that gets IR'd is defined. With PO enabled, any static image that gets IR'd is blurred....it becomes less noticeable, until with normal TV viewing is eventually erased.

What do the people detect when they see the PO in action?

I've watched programming with PO disabled and enabled. There is not change in the quality of the picture.
post #6185 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by LoD80k View Post

Not sure if you guys noticed but the Dnice panel prep instructions on HDJ actually changed recently. When running slides on my first panel 3 weeks ago the prep instructions required slides to be run on "Standard" and all defaults. Now it's "Custom" and all defaults. A lot brighter than Standard. I'm guessing brighter ages faster.


By the way if slides provide "prep" and "aging" vs. break in, then what is the common method for "break in" other than watching?
It as always been Custom unless he changed it to Standard and then back to Custom which seems unlikely.
post #6186 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by htwaits View Post

That's interesting. I don't own a 2012 Panasonic, but I thought that the pixel orbiter was deactivated for HD Size 2 which is a bit for bit mapping of the source material. I have a five year old Kuro, and don't use the pixel orbiter. I've not qualified to debate it's value. I can tell you that I've never noticed any image retention. Most of our fixed image viewing is NFL and NHL games.

I do know that only a few people are capable of detecting the orbiter in action. Also, I don't think it's valid to compare old orbiter technology with current technology. It's obvious that in your case the old technology was best.
The pixel orbiter is universal and independent of any other settings. I use Size 2 all the time and cannot tell if it is on or off so I leave it on. It may not help anything but I don't see how it could hurt either.
post #6187 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bond 007 View Post

The pixel orbiter is universal and independent of any other settings. I use Size 2 all the time and cannot tell if it is on or off so I leave it on. It may not help anything but I don't see how it could hurt either.

I'm not aware of any settings on the ST50, but I believe on the GT50 with THX Bright Room (or whatever the picture setting is called), it automatically disables (I think it grays out the option) the PO.

But with the exception of seeing a little more padding on the sides of the picture from time to time as it moves left to right, right to left, up down, etc, I would be interested in how people see it in action.
post #6188 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by RandyWalters View Post

While it's somewhat normal to be able to hear a Plasma buzzing when you're up real close to it, but you should not be able to hear any buzzing beyond a few feet from the TV even with bright content on the screen. The amount of buzzing does vary a little from TV to TV, but any buzzing beyond say 3-4 feet is not normal. Any buzzing beyond that would be completely unacceptable and i'd have the TV replaced or repaired. Myself and several others here have GT50s/ST50s/VT50s that are virtually silent and cannot be heard beyond a foot or two away. That is what should be considered normal.

If this is true, then I have a buzzer. While it is non-existent during casual content watching, when scenes that show outdoors during day light (white clouds, etc.) with no music or moderate speech only I can definitely hear a buzz at 14 ft (MLP). I am fortunate to be within my return window but more than likely, I may go purchase a second set and return the least of both evils.

Otherwise, mine has no IR that I can notice and the picture is great. My eyes may still be adjusting to the plasma picture and all, but it does seem blurry sometimes especially when panning across scenes, etc.
post #6189 of 9107
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by swizzchard View Post

If this is true, then I have a buzzer. While it is non-existent during casual content watching, when scenes that show outdoors during day light (white clouds, etc.) with no music or moderate speech only I can definitely hear a buzz at 14 ft (MLP). I am fortunate to be within my return window but more than likely, I may go purchase a second set and return the least of both evils.

Yours is definitely defective if you can hear it at 14 feet even with the brightest content.


Here's where i posted my own buzzing test on my GT50:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1397245/official-panasonic-st50-series-discussion-thread-no-street-price-talk/7230#post_22629362
post #6190 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by highdefav1 View Post

I'm not aware of any settings on the ST50, but I believe on the GT50 with THX Bright Room (or whatever the picture setting is called), it automatically disables (I think it grays out the option) the PO.

But with the exception of seeing a little more padding on the sides of the picture from time to time as it moves left to right, right to left, up down, etc, I would be interested in how people see it in action.
Yes. I do have the ST. I didn't think that something that simple would be different on the GT but you could be right.
post #6191 of 9107
Got my 50GT50 deliveredfrom Bestbuy last Sat. I think I got a good unit, no noticeable buzzing when displaying normal images, I’d have to put my ear 1-2 inches from the upper left side of the screen to hear a faint buzz. I can’t hear it at normal viewing distance. When displaying a bright white image, with TV volume at 0, from my viewing distance, which is about 10feet ,I can hear a slight buzz along with the normal(?) high frequency whine like the flyback transformer noise from CRT TVs. (If anyone tells you their plasma is dead quiet when displaying a bright white image, their room probably has background noise that mask the noise or they just don’t have good hearing…ok, I think I’ve opened a can of worm with this line.). Since I don’t watch bright white still image all day long, and any bright image won’t display more than a few seconds in normal programs, this is acceptable to me.Definitely no worse than my other Panasonic plasma (TH-50PX600U) that I paid $3k back in 2006.
Sound is very acceptable for the built-in rear facing speakers, I rarely need to turn it up past 20. I tried the HD master, Cnet and D-Nice settings. I think my TV has a slight red push with all of these settings. I am not sure why, but all of them used the warm2 as the color temp, with the exception of D-nice settings, I find the picture with warm2 color temp has a yellowish greenish tint, it’s very noticeable with hockey. With D-nice settings, there is actually not much different between normal, warm1, and warm2, I am currently using a variation of D-nice settings (a -1 or +1 here and there) to tame the slight red push with the gamma setting of 2.2 and keep the brightness low. I guess I can use gamma setting of 2.4 or even 2.6 if I keep the brightness higher, but I find this setting has the best shadow details. What good is deep black, if all you can see is just a black hole. Anyway, looks like Amazon had a price change on this TV, it’s almost $200 more now.
Edited by richardyc - 2/4/13 at 10:12am
post #6192 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by richardyc View Post

Got my 50GT50 deliveredfrom Bestbuy last Sat. I think I got a good unit, no noticeable buzzing when displaying normal images, I’d have to put my ear 1-2 inches from the upper right side of the screen to hear a faint buzz. I can’t hear it at normal viewing distance. When displaying a bright white image, with TV volume at 0, from my viewing distance, which is about 10feet ,I can hear a slight buzz along with the normal(?) high frequency whine like the flyback transformer noise from CRT TVs. (If anyone tells you their plasma is dead quiet when displaying a bright white image, their room probably has background noise that mask the noise or they just don’t have good hearing…ok, I think I’ve opened a can of worm with this line.). Since I don’t watch bright white still image all day long, and any bright image won’t display more than a few seconds in normal programs, this is acceptable to me.Definitely no worse than my other Panasonic plasma (TH-50PX600U) that I paid $3k back in 2006.
Sound is very acceptable for the built-in rear facing speakers, I rarely need to turn it up past 20. I tried the HD master, Cnet and D-Nice settings. I think my TV has a slight red push with all of these settings. I am not sure why, but all of them used the warm2 as the color temp, with the exception of D-nice settings, I find the picture with warm2 color temp has a yellowish greenish tint, it’s very noticeable with hockey. With D-nice settings, there is actually not much different between normal, warm1, and warm2, I am currently using a variation of D-nice settings (a -1 or +1 here and there) to tame the slight red push with the gamma setting of 2.2 and keep the brightness low. I guess I can use gamma setting of 2.4 or even 2.6 if I keep the brightness higher, but I find this setting has the best shadow details. What good is deep black, if all you can see is just a black hole. Anyway, looks like Amazon had a price change on this TV, it’s almost $200 more now.

The DNice settings use Warm2 as well.
post #6193 of 9107
Yes, but with D-nice settings, there isn't much different between Standard, Warm1 and Warm2, so I use Warm1, at least that's what I see with my TV in my room. YMMV.
post #6194 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by richardyc View Post

Yes, but with D-nice settings, there isn't much different between Standard, Warm1 and Warm2, so I use Warm1, at least that's what I see with my TV in my room. YMMV.

Ahh...I see. I misunderstood.
post #6195 of 9107
Finally had the chance to do some critical viewing of my 60" GT50, here are my impressions so far:

Settings/set up: I've run D-Nice's slides, and have tried various settings, including HD-Master's, D-Nice's, Black Ops', etc. I settled on day/night settings on separate inputs running out of the main and secondary outputs on my AVR. Day, I'm using HD-Master's settings (for 3D as well - thanks!) and for night I'm using D-Nice's settings. I have a PS3 and a Dish STB running through the AVR.

Both day and night settings look incredible for film content through the PS3 and through my STB - I've watched Planet Earth, Drive, Fellowship of the Rings, so far, and all provide great color and incredible dark scene detail that wasn't apparent or displayed correctly on my 600U. However, both look terrible for sports. They are dark and dull for the most part for the football, hockey and basketball I've watched. Additionally, I've been running it side by side with my 42" 600U (720p), and find the image a lot softer, generally, on broadcast content - and particularly soft on wide angle shots on sports. Obviously the GT50 is far better at filmed content, but it just looks soft on a lot of non-film broadcast content. I chalk most of this up to quality of the content coming in and the flaws being magnified on the larger display and conversely minimized by the smaller display. It's still a bit disappointing, however.
post #6196 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johanne View Post

Finally had the chance to do some critical viewing of my 60" GT50, here are my impressions so far:

Settings/set up: I've run D-Nice's slides, and have tried various settings, including HD-Master's, D-Nice's, Black Ops', etc. I settled on day/night settings on separate inputs running out of the main and secondary outputs on my AVR. Day, I'm using HD-Master's settings (for 3D as well - thanks!) and for night I'm using D-Nice's settings. I have a PS3 and a Dish STB running through the AVR.

Both day and night settings look incredible for film content through the PS3 and through my STB - I've watched Planet Earth, Drive, Fellowship of the Rings, so far, and all provide great color and incredible dark scene detail that wasn't apparent or displayed correctly on my 600U. However, both look terrible for sports. They are dark and dull for the most part for the football, hockey and basketball I've watched. Additionally, I've been running it side by side with my 42" 600U (720p), and find the image a lot softer, generally, on broadcast content - and particularly soft on wide angle shots on sports. Obviously the GT50 is far better at filmed content, but it just looks soft on a lot of non-film broadcast content. I chalk most of this up to quality of the content coming in and the flaws being magnified on the larger display and conversely minimized by the smaller display. It's still a bit disappointing, however.

Part of the softness is that very few sports channels are broadcasted in 1080p. Everything ESPN does, which is alot, is broadcast in 720p.
post #6197 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by Porteroso View Post

Part of the softness is that very few sports channels are broadcasted in 1080p. Everything ESPN does, which is alot, is broadcast in 720p.

In fact, none broadcast in 1080p, but what I'm seeing is on both 1080i and 720p broadcasts.
post #6198 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by Porteroso View Post

Part of the softness is that very few sports channels are broadcasted in 1080p. Everything ESPN does, which is alot, is broadcast in 720p.

There are absolutely zero channels being broadcast in 1080p. I believe it depends more on the quality of the source material than the actual resolution. Your average TV show isn't going to look nearly as good as half the things on the Discovery Channel, etc.
post #6199 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by stash64 View Post

And what a game it has turned into. All the while I have been tweaking and discovered the energy saving mode. I have seen no mention of this in any of the recommended settings discussions. Has anyone played with the energy saving setting during a calibration ? I certainly will once the set has a couple hundred hours on it. It could offer some improvement in black level.
I am 99% sure that directv broadcasts in 1080p. The rest broadcast in 1080i, which is why ESPN thinks that sports looks better in 720p than 1080i. So ya, you don't get 1080p unless you have directv, although at&t uverse is the next one that is supposed to make the switch.

edit: by the way, yes, even espn is 720p on direct, so it's the same way for all of us. Still, if you've seen the sharpness of 1080p, whether on movies or whatever, and you go back to 720p, you'll notice the difference.
post #6200 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by Porteroso View Post

I am 99% sure that directv broadcasts in 1080p. The rest broadcast in 1080i, which is why ESPN thinks that sports looks better in 720p than 1080i. So ya, you don't get 1080p unless you have directv, although at&t uverse is the next one that is supposed to make the switch.

edit: by the way, yes, even espn is 720p on direct, so it's the same way for all of us. Still, if you've seen the sharpness of 1080p, whether on movies or whatever, and you go back to 720p, you'll notice the difference.

Direct TV has movies available in 1080p, I don't believe they have any broadcast channels in 1080p.
post #6201 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by Porteroso View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by stash64 View Post

And what a game it has turned into. All the while I have been tweaking and discovered the energy saving mode. I have seen no mention of this in any of the recommended settings discussions. Has anyone played with the energy saving setting during a calibration ? I certainly will once the set has a couple hundred hours on it. It could offer some improvement in black level.
I am 99% sure that directv broadcasts in 1080p. The rest broadcast in 1080i, which is why ESPN thinks that sports looks better in 720p than 1080i. So ya, you don't get 1080p unless you have directv, although at&t uverse is the next one that is supposed to make the switch.

With DirecTV, only select PPV titles are 1080p. The rest are native to the broadcasting choice of any given network. The majority of U.S. networks use 1080i (CBS, NBC, HBO, etc.), while the rest use 720p (ABC, ESPN, FOX, etc.). The only 1080p broadcast content is PPV through select providers.

Looks like you updated your post. Yes, most PPV titles through DirecTV have a 1080/24p option.
post #6202 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by davemchine View Post

tpollagi, does the bluetooth box you have need to be turned back on or reconnected to the tv every time the tv is turned off and then back on?

I gave the box to my daughter after it failed to connect to my tv. It said, "device not supported." Tried several times. Not sure what else I could have done but I'm open to suggestions. Appreciate all the help you have given me.

The box reconnects automatically when the TV is turned on if it was connected when the TV was turned off. If it was disconnected it stays disconnected. The little red rectangle turns green and the TV displays a message indicating the bluetooth device has been connected. Obviously, it disconnects when the TV is turned off. The device will only pair with one device at a time (no big surprise there) and I usually use the device to stream MOG from my I-pad so I have it disconnected from the TV by "default".

I don't know why your TV is telling you it's not supported. Do you have the most current version of firmware 1.17 running on the GT ?

All I did was go to Setup, Bluetooth settings, Bluetooth devices and push the connect button on the Logitech box when the TV is displaying the rotating-circular-animated-arrow-thing. As I recall, it then asked for a password and I entered 1234. That was the end of the initial pairing. Now I have the option to connect / disconnect or unpair.

I went to amazon to check the current price and get a second one for another application but saw Amazon is sold out and two other sellers were charging crazy prices. Tracked down a review and saw that that the Belkin unit is operationally the same just a different size and shape; price is also much better.
post #6203 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by stash64 View Post

...It would be nice if thin-panel TV manufacturer's offered optional speakers that could be attached to the bottom or sides of the TV if they can't create natural sounding audio within the TV itself ....

I think they all do. The most popular option is the all-in-one sound bar. The price on some of these things is crazy for what you get.

The sound quality of the GT is actually pretty good for flat panel. I find it more than adequate for simple TV. Mine isn't tinny at all. It has a decent high end and it actually has some bass. No, it isn't going to shake the house but compared to many others that have no bass at all, it's passable. Before I went with GT I had tried a LG LED. It sounded like a pocket sized AM radio. All it had was tinny mids. Truly unbearable.

Which beings me to the main point; if you don't like the sound bar approach, all you need to add are computer speakers with a sub. My GT's predecessor was a Samsung Fluorescent lamp LCD. Not thin at all by today's standards but the sound was very dull and hollow. I had a pair of Klipsch THX computer speakers with the sub hooked up to that. Very simple and it sounded great. Ran the LG model for a month like that because its sound sucked so bad. I didn't connect them to the GT because it sounds OK. I have considered adding just the sub because the bass isn't very immersive but like most others, if I want full audio I just turn on the receiver.
post #6204 of 9107
I purchased a set of audioengine a2's which are tiny little speakers and they sit perfectly to the side of my gt50 on the same cabinet fed by a oppo 103 and don't block the field of vision whatsoever. They are vastly superior to my crappy panny soundbar that was free with my g25 and is specd at 10% thd.
post #6205 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by RandyWalters View Post

The Pixel Orbiter is virtually useless and causes more irritation than it's worth. I don't like how the image seems to "shimmer" when it's activated and it does nothing to prevent IR so why even use it? It's mostly just a Placebo anyway.

Yeah... I think I will be turning it off after I get a couple hundred hours on the set. It's just a little disappointing that the shifting is so noticeable, mainly due to the gap between the bezel and the viewable image area. I have never had a TV with an obvious gap like this. I guess I can see where there might be reflections off the bezel without the gap/masked area, but I've never noticed it. Then again, it's just me and my dog most of the time... so I am always sitting dead on.

As for the buzzing, you say it is normal to hear it when up close. If so, what is the "normal" source of the buzzing ? Is it the panel itself ? The buzzing from my TV is coming from the back side, upper left when facing the TV. It is very obvious and very irritating, and it is not the panel. I'm guessing it is power supply or transformer related.
post #6206 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by Recstar24 View Post

I purchased a set of audioengine a2's which are tiny little speakers and they sit perfectly to the side of my gt50 on the same cabinet fed by a oppo 103 and don't block the field of vision whatsoever. They are vastly superior to my crappy panny soundbar that was free with my g25 and is specd at 10% thd.

Thanks... A2's are a good choice and I agree that they will sound better than most soundbars. I will look at small passive bookshelfs as an option too, but I do like the idea that the soundbar would block the gap between my stand and the bottom of the TV. I can see my power cable, coax, ethernet, and HDMI cable thru the gap and the soundbar would hide the cables. Otherwise, I need to work on a little creative cable routing.
post #6207 of 9107
Good evening all.
I finally decided it was time to upgrade from my Panny 34" (CT-34WX50) to the modern world. A tough sell for the Mrs. since the 34" still has a great picture from sharp angles, and no one is going to knock it over. Lack of HDMI was finally getting to me with the new rules resulting in downgrades from the BD players when using component cables...anyway....I digress.
What an awesome set. I've been monkeying around with the HD-Master setting (Thanks!) and that's been a nice help. Picture is fantastic. I've only run into one small thing I can't figure out:
I've been streaming NHL Gamecenter games from a home PC to the BD Player using PlayOn streaming. I had thought Viera connect had an NHL app to eliminate that rigged up affair, but it appears to be missing from Viera this season.
SO, I decided to try accessing GameCenter via the built in browser, and what do you know, we're cookin' with gas! Beautiful picture, streaming in HD, and yes, even the puck is visible. I'm sure the dual-processor is a big help here. BUT, the sound will only play out the TV speakers. I had the speakers off and the output shunted to the Receiver, but nothing was playing. Am I missing something? Can browser audio be sent out to the receiver?
post #6208 of 9107
LOL...never mind. It took me longer to write that than it did to turn around and realize the Receiver was still set to the DVD player. Carry on...
post #6209 of 9107
Hey Randy,

Been reading a lot about my new 65" GT50. Thanks for all of your help.

I found your post about checking for buzzing with D-nice's slides. I put it on the "whitest" slide, and there was immediate buzzing. I could hear the buzzing in a quiet room at about 8 feet out. Is this excessive? I just got my TV last wednesday so if I need to send back, I need to do it soon (Amazon).

Thanks

Scott
post #6210 of 9107
Quote:
Originally Posted by drscottdo View Post

Hey Randy,

Been reading a lot about my new 65" GT50. Thanks for all of your help.

I found your post about checking for buzzing with D-nice's slides. I put it on the "whitest" slide, and there was immediate buzzing. I could hear the buzzing in a quiet room at about 8 feet out. Is this excessive? I just got my TV last wednesday so if I need to send back, I need to do it soon (Amazon).

Thanks

Scott


Hey Scott,

I got my 65" buzzer from Amazon too. Just curious... what was the build date on your set ? Mine is April 2012. Given the number of TV's Amazon must move, I was expecting a late 2012 build. I will probably try the service route rather than returning and I plan to call Panasonic tomorrow. I had a bad delivery experience (and I let Amazon know) and I don't want to go thru that again.
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