Official Panasonic VT50 owners thread - Page 346

Hi Everybody,

After two months of research, Best Buy visits, and postings on forums, I pulled the trigger on a 55VT50. I got a really good deal on it via price matching and am very excited. I really appreciate everyone's input - this site has been invaluable. I'm currently having some home rennovations done and won't have my home theater area set up when the TV arrives, so I'll probably go the route of 100 hours of D-Nice slides and settings to see what that looks like.

I have a few questions:

1. Probably an AVS noob question, but for custom pictuer presets, how many does the TV offer? For instance, can I have D-Nice settings as well as a few of my own? Not sure - my 11-yr old HD CRT TV has only one custom preset.

2. For the slides, can I run the TV for 100 hours straight, or should I give it a rest? Is there a consensus or whatevs? Any other useful info regarding break-in? I know there are different camps on this, but I figure since I won't be using the TV - I may as well give it a quick and uniform break-in that will correlate with D-Nice settings, which I hear can be pretty good.

3. I'm looking for a modest upgrade in sound. I'm not an audiophile, but I want some bass and decent sound. I was planning on spending around $300, but was going to pull the trigger on an Energy(?) sound bar that was on sale for $500 - it sounded really nice. However, the VT50 is so low in the stand that, not only did it cover the sensor, but it ran above the picture. This was a problem for a lot of the soundbars - they have to be pretty short and I want to be able to use the remote. I was looking at the Panasonic SC-HTB550. I realize that a TV maker probably isn't the best at making audio equipment, but they have received decent reviews, they pare with the TV, and, most importantly, they can be used as satellites on either side of the TV - this is an ideal setup as opposed to a soundbar, but I don't see a lot of 2 speaker, 1 subwoofer setups. Any suggestions? (I'll probably include this last question in the soundbar forum as well.)

Again, thanks everyone. I'm moving from an 11-year old Toshiba HD CRT TV to a VT50 that I got a bangin' deal on - very stoked!

Hi all - I'm in a quandary! I want this model (the tcp65vt50 to be specific) but our renovations won't be done for at least three more weeks...more likely a month. I'm afraid to purchase and just leave it sitting in a box for four weeks... Or is that ok? I'd have absolutely nowhere to set it up and I'm not thrilled about not having the pros set up the stand and make sure all is in working order. But I'm also getting worried about dwindling inventory. Thoughts?

Buy it while you can. I believe getting it at Best Buy and signing up for reward zone gets you silver membership immediately. That gets you a 45 day return policy. I would take it home, plug it in, make sure everything looks good, then repackage it. Reopen it a out a week before using it, run break in slides and if everything looks good still, have it professionally calibrated. That's my .02

Buy it, and schedule delivery closer to the date you need it

But if it then arrives broken or defective, they may not have any replacment TVs left by that time.

I am going to be shipping a US Television NTSC (60Hz) to the Middle East where they use PAL (50Hz, I assume).

Does anyone know whether the VT50 has options to simply change NTSC to PAL so I can receive a satellite signal where I am? I don't want to use a converter if I don't have to. I am actually planning on getting a ZT but if it's possible to do that on the VT50 I am pretty sure you'll be able to do it on a ZT too.

Is this something that will cause me problems?

Also... in the Middle East they use 220 volts, whereas in the US its obviously 110 Volts. Is it safe to use a voltage converter or does it damage the TV long-term?

Just bought a 65VT50 and an Oppo BDP-103. I don't know much about AV, but did quite a bit of internet research on these and it didn't look like I could go wrong. Doing the house in stages so sound will come later, and I had a few questions for you gurus.

1.) Both items are "smart" and connect via wifi- is there an advantage of using one over the other for streaming/Netflix/YouTube?

2.) My wife likes the 3D feature. Both can convert 2D->3D. Will one work better than the other for this purpose?

3.) Is there a way to set up the Oppo to turn on when I turn on the TV?

4.) Is there any way to make the Oppo default on in the HDMI input channel that my FiOS is using (rather than change it each time on the Oppo screen)?

Thanks in advance,

Zach

Zach, congrats on the purchase. The VT/OPPO combo will provide you with years of enjoyment. To answer your questions:

1.Unless you are using surround sound use whichever one is easier for you. I can't imagine there would be an noticeable difference.

2. I don't know

3. Yes. I quality universal remote can learn all the commands easily. I would recommend looking at a Harmony remote. They are easy to program and affordable. I have had my 880 for several years without an issue.

4. If I am understanding your question correctly, a Harmony remote and a quality AVR (audio/video receiver) will allow this. You can program each activity to diffent HDMI inputs and then sent out to the TV. I would look at Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer Elite or Integra to name a few. Anymore all AVRs have numerous HDMI inputs. I would think 4 is the least you would want, but that's your call.

Hope this helps.

John

2) the oppo works better for this in my opinion

4) the oppo does not have the option (yet) to start up on a specific hdmi "input". By default it always starts at the oppo home page. The use of a Harmony remote would be the answer.

Can anyone tell me if its possible to use PAL on your VT50? Or is it NTSC compatible only?

so I hesitated to answer you since its very hard to know for sure. Some tv's will turn out to be PAL capable without saying so. I do NOT think the vt50 is pal capable. All throughout the manual when it references a resolution it is followed by "@60" for the frame rate suggesting it cannot handle 50fps. Also the power supply is not 'ambidexterous' so to speak, and will require a power transformer.

So you would need an HDMI PAL --> NTSC converter as well as a power transformer to run this thing where you want to. Sounds like a pain in the butt, but obviously if you want the PQ without getting screwed by the EU version, then its an understandable pain....

North American Panasonics do not support PAL, and there's no way to convert them to do so. NTSC/ATSC only.

As for using 220v to 110v Voltage Converters, i've seen postings on the UK AV Forums where people had problems, and my friend who moved to Germany couldn't get his US-spec Sony LCD TV to display an image properly because his voltage converter coudn't convert his grid's 50hz signal to the TV's required 60hz.

You should check European or UK or Middle Eastern based forums to see if anyone has had any luck using voltage converters, since nobody here on US-based AVS uses them here in North America.

Can't you source your display from a European country where the TV will be much more compatible with your country's electrical grid?

And i'm not aware of any US-based retailers who would ship a TV out of the country. You'd also have no warranty outside of the USA, and parts for a USA model might not even be available even if you paid out of pocket.

Does this unit have a NTSC tuner, or is it ATSC only?

Randy, Pal - NTSC converters handle that part of the equation now. A lot of people in the middleeast ship from US via freight forwarding. It's still a pain in the butt to get everything setup in your house though.

As for a reliable power transformer, you'll have to go to a different place to find the right one and will likely need capacitors to smooth out power etc depending which country you are in.

Mo and Randy, thanks for the feedback.

I've actually found out that in Saudi Arabia where I'll be shipping to, a dual-voltage system is actually used. 110v and 220v. One of the few countries in the World to utilize both power grids. Interesting. I guess I just need to be careful that I am indeed plugging it into a 110v line.

Now just have to worry about converting NTSC to PAL!

no worries mohamed.

this should get you started

http://www.world-import.com/samar.htm

Thanks for that .

What if the satellite receiver/decoder I am using has the option to change from PAL to NTSC? Will I still need a converter?

Oh, that's a cool feature and it would seem you are covered! Admittedly the last time I've had to do this was 10 yrs ago and not in Saudi so i'm not current. Seems like SA has all the bases covered already =]

I'd still look into some of those converters anyhow since it seems some of them will even deinterlace and upconvert to 1080p for you which may be a benefit on such a nice TV for those football matches.

I've had the 65 in. VT50 for about a week. I've been varying my content. The blu-ray performance is beautiful. I am noticing an "issue" while watching satellite (Directv) HD content. On a scene where the camera focus is the foreground everything looks great. However, the background appears to have some sort of blocking. I apologize if I'm not using the correct term. For example the background may be a solid wall and you can see some non-uniformity such as blocking. It's not the screen because I have not yet seen this issue with Blu-ray and I've watched 3 of them already. Just satellite HD tv. If you focus on it then it's pretty obvious. Again, everything in the foreground is crystal clear. Perhaps it's the source or source material.

Like you said, it's probably just the source or material. What size screen are you coming from? It's possible you just never noticed it before if you had a smaller screen.

Interesting CNET article explaining why plasma's buzz, and some other altitude stuff.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57569926-221/plasma-tv-altitude-how-high-can-they-go/

Just a general question/heads up to those still reading this thread

I went to the Viera store and purchased one of those mini-keyboards and received it last night
They seem pretty cool and all, but unfortunately the trackball function doesn't work with my 65VT50.

I took the USB and inserted it in to my PS3 (they advertise that it also works with that system) and viola!! The trackball and everything else functions

So I call IOGEAR Customer service today and they armed me with some info to ask Panasonic Viera care, specifically, does my unit supports HID-3 mouse.
I was informed by Viera care that my unit does NOT support this function

I will probably keep this accessory anyways. As I can use the arrow buttons to navigate, and the biggest reason I made the purchase was for easy keyboard typing.

My questions for those still reading is :

Has anyone else purchased one of these keyboards, and do you too have this issue

Was the customer care lady correct in informing me that my VT50 does NOT support HID-3 Mouse functionality

Thanks in advance

Bill

I have the 65 in. which replaced a 46 in. sharp lcd. I notice the sharp lcd seems to do a similar blocking.

I hope they can fix this in the future.

Vieraremote anyone know how to stream pics movies from iPhone?

I have hdmi from denon 1713 to TV. Ps3 to denon.

Thanks

Instead of blocking issues I should probably call it background noise behind the key subject matter. Key subject matter is fine but there's a ton of background noise. Just finished watching the good wife and the background noise was very distracting and annoying. Anyone else experience this issue?

I would say it's just the source material, sounds pretty normal to me. I imagine you're just noticing it more with a larger TV. Some cable providers deliver better PQ than others, but a lot of it still comes down to the actual content. I'm not sure about Direct TV, but with TWC, most major network shows have a lot of "noise" in the background.