Official Panasonic UT50 Series Discussion Thread - Page 48

Hello everyone!

I am the proud new owner of a 55UT50 and although my HD input doesn't come until monday, I'm quite content with the SD picture for now.

I have one question that I didn't see in this thread (I'll admit I skipped through some of the pages though). When I go into the viera tools -> eHelp -> initial setting there seem to be "ghost lines" of dark blue on the left of the screen wherever there is a white line on the right side of the screen. They also appear on other screens where there is either white text for a white line on the right side of the screen. The intensity is various degrees depending on what's on the right side of the screen.

Is my TV defective, or is this just a side effect of the technology in the TV? I don't remember reading anything about this issue before buying the TV.

Thanks in advance

Hi. I do not own this TV, but it sounds to me like you are describing line bleed. Line bleed looks like this. FWIW, line bleed and image retention are two things that seem to have diminished on my LG plasma over time -- although I'm not even positive that is true (both problems still exist), and my TV is not closely related to yours. In any case, if what you are seeing is similar to what you see in that image, then your TV is exhibiting line bleed. It is one of the negative aspects of plasma, and there isn't anything that you can do to eliminate it (although, it may become less severe over time). I think I was actually unfamiliar with line bleed when I bought my first plasma, but it really hasn't proved to be a significant issue (IMO). If you don't find ABL to be a serious enough issue to make you shun plasma, then I highly doubt that line bleed will put you off -- you probably won't notice it very often. You may see it with menus and whatnot, but it's not something that should be a problem with most regular programming. FWIW, you're more likely (in my experience) to see line bleed in animated programming than in other programming.

thanks for the reply. that makes sense. yes it only does happen some menu situations and when i experimented with the 4:3 setting; there was a hint of grey change in the corners. I don't see anything unusual about regular TV.

Good thing there's no hockey this season

Can anybody explain why putting this TV in game mode gets rid of all crosstalk but every other picture mode shows crosstalk?

Hello everyone,

I'm shopping for my first plasma tv and considering the UT50. My question is about glare and how significant of an issue is glare. We now use a 12 year old Sony Trinitron CRT TV in a fairly bright room. During the day we can definitly see some reflection from the windows, but it really does not bother us. Will the glare off a plasma screen and in particular the UT50 be similar or could it be worse?

Thank you.

the panasonic plasma TV the full HD panel models have an neoplasma panel, which have many improvements like low voltage of discharge to get the same image, and small phosphors, but the improvement also comes with the adoption of an antireflex coat on the panel which helps to reduce the glare and at same time keeps the black level even in bright rooms. i have a Panasonic model in particular the TCP42S2 and comes with those improvements in the panel, the glare is not as bad but i guess from the year2010 till 2012 the anti reflex coating must been improved in latest models.

I also had a Sony CRT before I got a UT50, it was just about the same. The dimensions are a lot bigger so there's a period of time to adjust to more ..screen. But it's nothing worse than we ever had to deal with the Sony!

Some people are more sensitive to the reflections, however it isnt due to poor design IMO. Go to a best buy and see for yourself, best of luck!

I agree. The U/UT50 do not have anti-glare layers unlike the ST/GT/VT50 but I do think the glare is very similar to a CRT television. If you don't mind the glare now then I don't think you'll mind with a U/UT50. As mentioned, it is a bigger screen so the reflection can be bigger, but I don't think it's any worse. Definitely worth a look at the store to see what you think.

Hi all, I just got my new TC-P50UT50 yesterday, and as a first time plasma owner I've been trying to read up on the what-to-do's, since for every post you read you see something new you need to do to get the best PQ or avoid IR and other issues.

From what I've been able to gather it seems most people recommend that you run slides for about 100 hours to get even wear & potentially avoid IR and similar issues, but I have not seen a link in this or the other UT50 thread to slides for the UT50, and the only slides I've seen are on ************** and they are only for the ST50 model.

So, should I use the slides from there (even if they're for the ST50, since I'm guessing the slides should be the same regardless of model since as far as I understand it they're simply RGB colored slides)
Or, are there other recommended slides to use with the UT50?

Also, are there any recommended calibration settings for the UT50 similar to what D-Nice posted in the ST50 thread?

Or... are slides a waste of time if not used with D-Nice ST50 settings, and I'm better off just watching std 16:9 content with no black bars for the first 100 hours? Like I said, I'm a total newb when it comes to plasma, but I wouldn't mind doing the 100 hours of slides if it means I will get more even wear on all colors, less risk of IR/burn-ins etc.


Thanks!

Slides are only for being able to calibrate sooner so you have less drift later. As long as you watch different aspect ratio material, if its not 16:9, you'll be fine. Just avoid game HUDs and TV station watermarks for extended periods of time, especially for the first 100 hours. The UT50 settings and issues thread has settings listed in it.

^^^^^well put ^^^

I have no issues with cross talk on my ST50. But if I were to guess as to why game mode reduces cross-talk, it would be because game mode probably reduces video processing to increase response time / reduce input lag. The faster the response time, the less chances of cross-talk.

Ok, I guess I'll skip the slides then... It's funny how you read so much conflicting information about this stuff...

I'm finding dithering to be extremely noticeable on this TV. I remember people saying that it was unnoticeable or barely noticeable at normal viewing distances, and that it was only a significant issue if you were too close to the screen, but I don't think so. I'm trying to use it as a gaming monitor, and if I increased the viewing distance to the point where the dithering became unnoticeable, the TV would be effectively 2/3 the size of my 23" monitor.

Brighter images are excellent. Colours are very rich down to a certain point. Blacks are very good. But darker greys, greens etc. look absolutely horrific. The dithering is bad in stills, but becomes even more noticeable in motion.

Also, a note to New Zealanders: The freeview recording function on the NZ version of this TV is useless. I skimmed the manual and saw that it had timer programming and scheduling straight from the EPG. I didn't realise that this was only for the AU version. The NZ version has push-to-record and that's it. Worthless.

Try cutting sharpness, especially if it isn't zero, also decrease contrast if sharpness doesn't fix it.

If grays don't look good then you need to calibrate white balance. Once calibrated they should look fine.

Is the Panasonic TC-P60UT50 the same as the Costco's Panasonic TC-60PUT54?

I assume so because the wholesaler version of the U50 is the U54. I haven't heard of it so just make sure it is UT and 3D so you don't mistakenly end up with a U54.

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this question but I'd like help to decide which plasma to buy in between the following:
1-Costco's Panasonic TC-60PUT54 (they don't have the 50" in the UT series - $1290 in Canada)
2-Costco's Panasonic TC-50PU54 ($690 in Canada)
3-Panasonic TCP50GT50 from a specialized TV shop ($1500 in Canada)

The sales people at the TV shop recommends Panasonic plasmas. They say ST are good, GT are better and VT are the best. For the money, they recommend the GT.

They are trying to stir me away from the Costco's Panasonic saying that it is a lower quality than the ST and more importantly that I would not be able to get it repaired by authorized Panasonic repair shops.

On the other hand, some people in this thread say that the UT50s are the deal of the decade (great picture quality for the price) and others really like the U50 series. If the UT50s are much better than the U50s, then I'm ready to spend the extra cash and get a 60" in the process. But I'm wondering, like the TV shop says, if the GT50 series is really that much better than the U50 or UT50 series and if I should go with that one instead?

Also, Costco's 5 years warranty is peanuts compated to the TV shop. And we all know that Costco has exceptional service. But is it true that I would not be able to have the Costco's Panasonic repaired after the extended warranty period?

What do you think? Your feedback will be much appreciated!

Oops, a little correction. The TCP50GT50I saw in Canada are normally around $1700 to $1800 in Canada. The $1500 quoted is for an open box. Reading how careful you're suppose to be with a plasma during the first 100 hours, an open box might not be such a good idea after all. Agree?

Mostly what you need to decide is do you want the anti-reflective layer of the screen? That's the biggest difference besides price between the screens. If you want reduced glare and don't want to have to control ambient light or light coming in from outside, then you may want to consider the ST or GT. If you have a light controlled room or always view in a dark environment, then you may really like the UT. Some people, like PathofNeo, don't like the anti-reflection layer because they claim it creates posterization/DSE/oil painting effect. He actually owned a VT50 but sold it to buy a UT50 because he preferred the look of his 42" UT50. That's a decision you'll have to make. I would recommend the UT50 over the U50 because it has extra processing power because it's 3D capable. I'm also not sure if the U50 has streaming apps like Netflix and Amazon and network connectivity - but it might. If neither of those are considerations, then you may prefer the U50 because it has everything you need. The GT50 adds some more picture modes (THX day and night modes) and white balance is available in the regular menu. GT50 may also have a CMS for calibration. The U/UT50 do not have CMS available at all and white balance is only available via the service menu. I don't know why Panasonic wouldn't be able to repair a TV from Costco, afterall, it is a Panasonic TV just re-labelled for Costco/Sam's Club. I think for value you can't beat the U/UT50.

Hope this helps.

This is very helpful. Thank you so much anikun!

Hello everybody!.

Im looking for a new 3D TV (i've never had one before) and so it happens this one is on sale on a local store (Panasonic 42ut50, yes 42...) well the thing is I've never had a plasma TV before and im really concerned about the burn-in issue as i would mainly use it to play videogames on a PS3 or PC (that have a HUD always on like battlefield 3 or FIFA) or movies in 16:9 (black bars) and also to connect it to my laptop (via HDMI) and I've read that this is a really usual problem with almost if not all plasma TVS.

So should i buy it or search for a LED instead?

I've seen some good models too like:

Samsung UN40EH6030
Sony KDL-40HX757
LG 42LM3400

Wich one would you choose if it wasn't this one (Panasonic)

THANK YOU!!

Greetings from Colombia!

If you can wait a few more months I would say hold off for the 2013 sets. Unless you can afford an Sony HX850/950 or Sharp Elite LED most non-plasma sets are really underwhelming. Panasonic plasma are pretty great this gen with the exception of the oil painting effect on non 1080p material and the mentioned image retention (IR) and in some cases quick on set burn-in. Which is truly sad because they are some of the best looking sets this generation.

Sure i can wait but for how long? I know the CES is coming and manufacturers usually show their new products there, but from that point to reach a comercial stage it could take a long time, without mentioning that i'm in Colombia and who knows how long would it take for those products to get here, so i could be facing at least 3-4 months before anything interesting shows up around here.

Are those other TV'S so bad that i definitely should wait? ( because i don't have more money for a High-End TV)

The picture quality of this years Panasonic plasmas blow any near and even moderately priced LCD TVs out of the water. They just can't compare. Letterboxed movies won't be an issue because unlike LCD, black just means the pixels are not being used, so you should never have black image retention. Technically, black means the pixels are unused so the phosphors are younger and therefor brighter compared to the film frame, but it would take thousands of hours to ever be able to notice that, and you would have to exclusively watch letterboxed material. As for desktop, I have Windows 7 set to change the wall paper every minute with the start menu to auto-hide. I try not to keep windows in focus stationary for too long. For video games, I wouldn't play for extended period of time, give the TV a break periodically. But definitely wait until 100 hours of use before letting static images stay on for too long. Those are the hours most susceptible to burn in. Image retention is normal and will go away, burn-in is much less likely. As for posterization, I've never noticed that on my 50-inch.

Where can I download the owners manual?

Baring that, can anyone tell me where on the rear of 50UT50, are the HDMI and 100-base-T RJ-45 connectors located?

I'm hoping they are in the lower right section of the rear (looking at set from front) because my current HDMI cables won't reach AVR otherwise. Hence, a delay to order a new, longer one.

Panasonic website. The inputs are on the left, looking at it from the front.

Thanks for the information.

I was having a problem with links on OP. Getting a redirect as file wasn't found; reckon they moved it, but I sorted it.

Determined I need longer HDMI cable, though. Oh, well.

I picked up the costco 60ut54, it is the same as ut50 but it comes with the wifi dongle. Basically you get that and the costco 90day return policy with 1 extra warranty but almost every CC has that so no big deal.

Question is would it be worth it to pay $99 for the 5year warranty from costco?