Official Panasonic UT50 Series Discussion Thread - Page 46

I think they will work, but there's no guarantee.

Hi there, I need HELP. I am planning to buy a TV today;hopefully you can give me some sound advice. I am buying one of two I have chosen, one plasma,or one LED. The plasma is the SMART VIERA® 50" Class UT50 Series Full HD Plasma HDTV, and the LED is the Panasonic® TC-47LE54 47-in. Smart LED HDTV**.

I am putting it in the living room on the main floor, in the corner where no direct light will hit it, but the room is an open space, very sunny with a huge window in the room. Both TVs will be roughly 800 dollars, so the price is nearly the same. My problem is that I am a woman who can see the difference between the plasma and LED TVs, just as I can hear the differences made in stereo systems. So I know the plasma is the better picture. But what about in a sunny room? I want to use the TV for Skype with family, and I have a 2 year old (taking that into consideration because of the front of the TVs).

I need some serious advice on which one to buy. I read about the flickering, and in my house had to change the energy saving curly light bulbs back to old school, because I has vision issues from the flickering in those lights in the house.

Help please!! Hopefully I will hear back today...thanks!!
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I think you might have some issues with the UT50 in a bright Sunny room, the UT50 has no AR coating to deal with reflections. Not sure about the Panasonic LED but it will definitely have inferior black levels. Whether you will see the flickering is unknown but most people don't. Is your budget fixed ? MIght want to move up to the ST50 performs better in a bright room.

I recently purchased a 50ut50 and after some reading on the topic a couple pairs of the 4100gb also. For the life of me i cannot get either pair of these glasses to pair with the display and i am really irked since I've read of others having success with little hassle. So if you can share and/or link me to what magical procedure i have to follow or the root cause it will me much appreciated.

Press the on button on the glasses, it will briefly flash green.
A graphic should appear in the bottom right of the screen (Glasses/Battery Indicator/TV Screen).

Hold the on button longer if you need to pair the glasses with the TV again.


How far away from the TV are you? I assume you have put the battery in the right way round

Funny enough is that i actually checked before creating a profile and posting my problem on here.
No graphic shows up and they go right into the green-red cycle soon as i hit the power on both pair. Batteries were mentioned in another forum but i used the one supplied and i feel id have to be even less lucky to have them dying out of the box on both pair.
I place them on my stand on the outside of the base of the display since the instructions say to be no more than 20" away when pairing. I vaguely remember watching a cnet review where they mentioned that pairing can be easily achieved by touching the glasses to a particular part of the bezel but no dice on that route either.
About ready to return them since the overall cost of $40 and the value of my time i could have had enough to buy the Panasonic model.

That's a shame, I wonder what it could be
I can pair mine over 20ft away without issue (I would try further but I need someone to watch the screen for me )

Have you tried unscrewing the Bluetooth module from the back of the TV.
Give it a gentle (magic!) blow and make sure it is firmly inserted back in the TV.

I guess that could be the faulty component, we won't know til you've tried the Panasonic glasses.

They should be working,if you truly have the samsung ssg-4100gb's and can't get them to work you'll have the same problem with the panasonics. Its possible that the BT adapter in your tv is bad as there have been a few people here that have had that problem. You can try unscrewing your bt adapter and reconnect it.

Worth a shot, happen to know where its located?

**UPDATE** So i found the module on back took a screwdriver to it and hit it some "magic solution" and i am up and running. Didn't work the first time i took it off but come to find out the screw for it was drilled in the wrong spot, which leads me to think Panasonic is more Mexico than Japan. I left it out and now have to go cut out some carboard blinders to eliminate the light issue these glasses are known to have.
I appreciate the help you guys have given today and in the past. Although i only made a profile today, AVS Forum has been my go to for years. THANKS!!!!
Edited by OGPI - 11/24/12 at 1:35pm

On my 42" UT50 it's on the right hand side near bottom of the TV (directly below the power socket).
It's secured by one screw and releases downwards. Should be clearly identified with a Bluetooth logo.

Edit: There may be a strip of blue tape over it, I remember removing it during installation.
Edited by MBeeching - 11/24/12 at 1:38pm

OK SO, while I thought I had managed to watch many hours of TV with an offensive logo and escaped any long lasting IR... apparently I was wrong. It just isn't visible unless the color is all light green or all light brown/orange.

It's really only a bother because I'm OCD, and because the very reason I did leave the TV on Cartoon Network for 4-6 hours straight a couple of days in a row was to "test" the panel for any IR problems while I have until Jan the 24th to return it as a "gift" purchase to BB. (Keep in mind that afterwards I ran the scrolling bar utility multiple times to get rid of it, or so I thought). Even after wearing the TV another 40-50 hours it's still visible with just the perfect background and if I know what I'm looking for. I guess I'm just annoyed that I can't seem to totally get rid of it. I never notice it when watching movies... only certain cartoon shows and only when they have the perfect solid color, and then I doubt anyone else would see it or notice it because they wouldn't know what to look for. I can also make it appear by opening a paint program and displaying a solid light green or light orange color over that section of the screen. Again, I feel like I'm crying over spilt milk with how incredibly hard it is to see now, it's just I would have expected it to fade as quickly as it took for it to appear... ie... for 8 hours of logo, 8 hours of white screen or other content to make it go away.... but after aging it 45+ hours with a combination of white screen, pixel jogger, and full logoless 16:9 content, just to try to entirely kill something which only took maybe 5-6 hours of total display time with commercials in between to become a problem is a minor peeve and feeds my paranoia... oh well.

It's completely unnoticeable while watching movies though. Also, I've left logos from other stations on there for almost as long and cannot tell ANY IR no matter how hard I try to look for it.... so I wonder what is it about their damned logo that's so bad? They seriously need to make it transparent... it's easily the most high contrast logo I've ever seen and I'm pretty sure it's why it sticks and nothing else seems to. I can only imagine how many angry Plasma owners there are out there who just decided to let their kids watch Cartoon Network for extended periods. If I ever watch anything on that channel now I use the Zoom setting to zoom in beyond the logo, looks crappy that way... but oh well.

Should have a "Plasma user" boycott of Cartoon Network until they get a less offensive logo.

If after another 100 hours of use as tracked in the service menu it doesn't totally go away so that I can't even see it with the right background I may consider going to exchange for another identical model or ask Panasonic to replace my panel... because I'm going to have a hard time believing that something which took such a short time to form can't be erased in 150+ hours is not permanent burn in...

Again though, I'm likely overblowing this as any truly visible IR disappears from this set in very short order... I'm just annoyed that there's ANY at all after an extended period... even if pretty much invisible to anyone but me and then only under the perfect conditions.

I'd say my panel seems fairly immune to long term IR that is noticeable under normal watching conditions... and maybe that's as good as I'm going to get. Still though, wish it didn't have ANY long term IR no matter how incredibly hard to notice it is. It just bugs me that it seems to have reached a point where it won't fade any further. (as in completely).

Could you take a screenshot, if you have TV in on your PC, and invert the colors of the logo and display that? Some do the same thing for letterboxed movies - have a black center and white side bars. Also, the BB protection plan covers IR, so if you're concerned about it being an issue again in the future you may want to consider that. I'm very careful with leaving anything static on the screen and don't watch TV. My only static image is my PC desktop of media center/BDP menus.

I just bought this TV from amazon. I wanted to know what would be the easiest way to connect a set of 2.1 Harman Kardon Soundsticks II? Doesn't seem like there is a 3.5mm jack on this tv.

Optical Out or HDMI. I'm not familiar with those speakers but those are the only two audio outputs available on the UT50. You might need to connect them to a receiver or something then.

There is a 3.5mm headphone jack on the left hand side (under the SD card slot).
It is not a proper line out though, so you may have to play with the settings to achieve satisfactory results.


Is there no way to use the AV2 audio sockets as an output?

Well, Everything will be connected to the tv with hdmi cables. Not sure how to get my speakers working with that. No A/V receiver, either.

Has anyone used 3Active glasses with their Panasonic UT50? Any problems with them? I need to purchase two pairs, but the Panasonic brand name glasses are about $70.00/pair. The 3Active are only $99 for two pairs on Amozon.com.

Any UT owners heard or used these glasses?

Thanks,
Ghpr13
Edited by Ghpr13 - 11/25/12 at 7:38pm

I'm very happy with the 2012 Panasonic active shutter glasses, many are also happy with 2012 Samsung active shutter glasses. Never heard of that brand.

I just got the UT50, and fine detail looks terrible compared to my V20. The best example is when I'm in Windows (HTPC) looking at small black text on a white background. On the V20, this looks perfectly normal. Text is sharp and defined like any monitor. On the UT50 it looks blurry, almost like it's been scaled slightly. Another example is looking at foliage against a grey sky in games. The leaves seem to have a slight white halo around them. Any suggestions.

Hey guys!
I'm about to give this set a shot but I'm nervous. I've never owned a plasma before so I want to make sure it will be the right set for me. I've read through half the thread but I'll just feel better if I ask a few questions.

1. I live in Colorado at about 6000 feet elevation. Should I be concerned about altitude? I've read 9100 feet is what Panasonic sets are rated for but I wanted to make sure this set is rated for that too.

2. While I don't play games everyday, when I do I tend to play long sessions of CoD and Halo when I do (6 hours or more sometimes). I also watch a lot of sports. Sunday is 7 hours straight of Redzone channel watching football and I'd watch ESPN all day if my girlfriend would let me. I know I'd have to break the set in before I do any of this but my concern is even after I break in the TV, will I be annoyed by IR if I have these long sessions?

I fell in love with the UT50 when I saw it on display and I'll probably end up giving it a shot but I'd like to know if I have any reason for concern with my current situation. Thanks guys!

Thank you.

Anyone else out there have any info on using a "generic" brand of RF 3D glasses with the Panasonic UT50?

Ghpr13

I've had this TV in the 55" size since June and I love it. It's my first Plasma and I went from a 40" Sammy LCD to the UT50. When I had the Sammy it had a matte screen, and I was a bit nervous about the plasma screen 

because my TV room is rather bright during the day. With the Sammy's matte screen I never had to worry about it. It just wasn't ever a problem. Now the plasma is more reflective when the TV is off, but I still don't have

any problem with glare or wash out during the day. I'm disable and am home 24/7 so I watch a lot of TV at all different times during the day, and I've never been bother by the reflection factor of the UT plasma.In my TV 

room, I have one regular size window across from the Panny, but it's to the left of the Panny, not directly across from it. The TV room is bright enough during the day to read a newspaper without a light on. Once I calibrated 

it with settings I got in the other thread on AVS, my PQ was stunning! Blu-rays look great as well as Dish satellite. I just haven't tried the 3D yet because I'm trying to get info on some lower cost 3D glasses rather than the 

Panasonic named brand ones.

 

I hope give some newbee owners a better ideal that they have a great TV with the UT.

 

Ghpr13
 

Check your sharpness.

Make sure your set is set to "HD Size 2" in the aspect ratio adjustments... not "HD Size 1", as that zooms in and overscans. It kills the 1:1 pixel mapping which would easily explain this. If you set it to HD Size 2 and set your sharpness right it should be fine.

What is HD Size 2 called on the Australian/NZ model? My settings are all different:

http://panasonic.co.nz/media/529835/TH-P42_50_55_60UT50Z%20Operating%20Instructions.pdf

"16:9 Overscan" is disabled.

What do you guys set sharpness to? I'm pretty sure my sharpness scale at least is the same as yours - 0-100, default 50. If I set it to 0, it helps, but some text still looks fuzzy/blotchy. On the V20, the default of 50 looks fine.

Also, I notice that when I run the scrolling bar I can see a couple of patches of a faint greenish 'clouding' effect on the lower half of the screen. What might this be? It's not static like IR - the cloud 'grows' and 'shrinks' as the bar moves accross the screen.
Edited by Oubadah - 11/26/12 at 1:40pm

You want the sharpness set to zero under normal circumstances and small text like that on a computer screen looks best to me at zero or near zero.

As far as the green blobs when using the scrolling bar utility... I had those too until they went away on their own after around 75 hours of usage.

For the aspect ratio/zoom settings... I don't know what to say other than make sure it isn't overscanning/zooming any and that it's basically got a 1:1 pixel map.

For haloing/blooming try reducing the contrast some.

So is this TV supposed to be able to receive 0-225 RGB?

You guys have "HDMI/DVI RGB Range" - Standard/Nonstandard

According to my manual I should have "DVI Input Setting" - Normal/Full, which I'm assuming is the same thing. The problem is, the setting is never visible.

"For HDMI input mode with DVI input signal" it says. Well how do I make it think it's receiving a "DVI input signal"?

My 0-225 signal looks awful.

Also, I have no "Black level" setting (even my NZ V20 has this) and "Pixel Orbiter has no "Off" setting (just On or Auto).

Why has my UT50 been castrated like this?

Well, here is an update with pics. This example is from Fox Sunday, which seems to be the station with the most issues.
As you can see, in the later shot in the booth, the yellow/orange is almost nonexistent. I have lowered the settings in the menu by 40-50 points and you can still see it. So, thoughts anybody? Defective or signal?

Also, this effect is only discernible on skin. It also is noticeable on say, Pam Oliver, obviously darker skinned.

I'm still not sure whether this is a sharpness issue or a scaling issue.

As I said, the V20 looks much, MUCH better and that's with sharpness at the default of 50. With the UT50 at ) sharpness, it's still not right. If I up the sharpness on the V20, it does look very similar to the UT50's issue.

I also tried an overscan checking pattern. I can see the outermost bar, so it isn't overscanning. But the bars were nowhere near as defined as they were on the V20. Could the UT50 be scaling down for some reason?

I would like to provide photographs of the V20 and UT50 for comparison, and also so you guys can tell me how your sets compare when viewing computer font, but I can't seem to get any good shots. Does anyone know how to set up a camera so show this properly?