Official Panasonic VT50 owners thread - Page 57

I meant no offence rogo. In the end, I really hope you enjoy the vt50 as much as I do. I really think you will find the bezel much less of an issue than you are anticipating. But you never know. I do look forward to your thoughts once you get situated with your new set. Good luck

My living room smells really bad due to the TV. Got this tv last friday and the smell is really strong. It smells like a skunk. Some nasty chemical.

Should I be worried?

I'd be worried. Mine doesn't smell or buzz at all.

A GT50 owner reported something similar a month or so ago... I take the set back. That's not normal, and your health could be at risk.

Maybe the TV Gods are telling you,you should of paid your mortgage or rent instead of splurgging J/K

Give it a couple of days,its possible that the new electronics components are breaking in.If after about a week and that odor is still there or worse,return it asap.

I guess i'll call Panasonic tomorrow. sucks

Yes. Sounds like something is off... we had this same smell from our dishwasher when it was going out due to the heat and wearing rack coating.

Topper, I saw your smileys. I wasn't offended at all. My comment was more of a general statement about some of the hate that runs about.

I have to figure out what I'm doing about this shelf thing right now because the center channel has been sitting in front of the old plasma for years since the stand is just high enough to make that work. It won't work on the new one so we're going to mount a shelf on the wall above which means a Home Depot trip and some clever carpentry to make it look like it's always been there. The problem then becomes scope creep to try to hide the wire and, well, you know... the fact the TV hasn't been ordered yet becomes sensible.

I should just pick up the phone and call Chris or Robert and make a deal. That would force my hand.

I had a similar dilema and finally wall mounted the set. This made all problems go away and looked much better in the end. Is wall mounting something you have considered? I have also seen a piece of granite or butcher block used to increase stand height.

What setting are you guys using for your contrast? I have the tv set to cinema and it's set to 100. I read in the GT50 thread and the owner complained about the smell when the contrast was set to 100. Should I be setting the contrast to a lower number initially?

Around 80 seems to be popular. Can't see how 100 can cause the TV to stink though.

Originally Posted by Tempest261
7. Input lag. It's definitely there, even in game mode. Updated measurements from reviewers and individuals have it somewhere around 50 ms in game mode, which higher than average. However, I'm not a hardcore console gamer, and the game mode is "good enough" for me. On the bright side, the game mode looks VERY good, versus the abysmal PQ of the Samsung UND8000 LCD in game mode. It's also nice that it's a picture mode, and not a buried setting like it was on the Samsung. But anyway- definitely not a panel for the hardcore console gamer.

This has me somewhat concerned as I'm very interested in the VT50 but I'm mainly going to be gaming on it with movies watched in between. I'm not a very competitive gamer but I don't want noticable lag while playing. I wonder if I would be able to detect this much lag or if it is a non issue?

I played a few games of 2k12 today on my PS3 in Game mode earlier today after picking up the set and I didn't really notice anything. Now my old TV was a sony CRT triniton wega which had almost no lag. But I think that it shouldn't make that much of a difference.

5 foot.

No smell, no buzz, take it back.

Man, sometimes there are images on this set that are just flat out stunning...

I'll try to get a few picture comparisons with the 5080HD tonight and post a more detailed comparison...no promises but I"ll try

Yeah... I don't think it's a big deal. I also question the measurement methods. The method of measurement seems to vary from reviewer to reviewer, and thus until someone measures many different sets (and technologies) with the same equipment, it's hard to say that the **50 series has an input lag problem.

And regardless of all of this, I agree- in game mode I don't notice any input lag issues whatsoever.

Nobody on the ST, GT, or VT who has played games on it is reporting any noticeable lag. Some of us very much question the high numbers AVForums is reporting because they are drastically higher than any other site.

Got may 55VT50 today and no smells, buzz etc. sweet picture.

On the VT50 I calibrated, I got 6fL of light output in the 3D mode post calibration. This is about the same brightness you get at a RealD single projector 3D movie theater screen.

Very short but it is easily replaced similar to a PC power cord. Best Buy Geek Squad guy gave me an extra one he had on hand. The retaining clip didn't fit the new cord, but I'll look for a new clip one of these days. Can probably buy a longer cord for $5-10.

Ok, so here's a more in depth review of my 5080HD vs my 55VT50...I will rehash some of the things already mentioned in my initial impressions.

Cable content: Initially I declared the 5080HD the Overall winner, now I'm not so sure. Perhaps I've gotten used to differences in the two sets and have become more accustomed to the look of the VT50. The 5080HD is more consistent and is able to handle subpar feeds far better than any of the current sets on the market that includes this 55VT50. It absolutely obliterated the 929 when I had it and it still beats the VT50 for CONSISTENCY. However, the VT50 never looks washed out like the Sony did. It does however get a bit pixelated at times and in some cases colors look a bit crushed. Overall I'm calling this a draw because, the 5080 was definitely more consistent, I find myself having a lot more "WOW" moments and "blah" moments with this set. Some content even on a cable feed looks downright impressive. Lots of great detail, improved skin tones in some respects. There have been eight or ten instances just today where it feels like you're looking through a perfectly clean window. I definitely notice more grain as a result in some scenes or shows but that's a product of the source not the set. So while its more inconsistent with subpar feeds good to excellent feeds look downright ridiculous (in a good way).

On Blu Ray content I initially said the VT50 is absolutely killing it. This still holds true, Blu Ray looks fantastic. Also, on an item rarely discussed as it relates to 720p (or 768p) vs 1080p is the difference in PQ on 2.35:1 movies. On a 768p set you're getting closer to 500 lines of resolution instead of 1080 or even 768 lines of resolution. On these movies even at 10 feet away (I usually sit 8 to 9) the difference is pretty dramatic (corrected vision to 20:15). So if you've got an older 768p set and everyone says don't bother upgrading, you can't see the difference at X feet, you'd do well to factor this scenario into your little equation.
The colors look good (thought not calibrated yet, I have noticed some issues) but not perfect, though I have tweaked on it some(see not calibrated comment). The detail, contrast, dynamic range on this set, at least in the daylight are definitely better than the 5080HD. The dynamic range seems to be quite impressive. Black levels look really good, in fact I'd say the first 50 or 60 hours or so of use have done this set some good. The initial red push is gone for the most part and the black levels seem better then right out of the box. I'll let Chad or D-nice comment on the technical aspects of why this may have happened because I don't know why this would happen other than initial break in of the electronics and perhaps initial aging of the phosphers?

Both sets seem to handle motion VERY well. This is no exception, sports look stunning. Thus far I've watched a bit of DVR'd Sprint Cup racing, some Indy, F1, Tennis, Basketball and some Boxing. All look very good. No surprise as I expected the Panny to handle motion with no problem.

First impressions were the screen filter on the Pioneer was better. That definitely holds true now that I've had more time with the VT50. The filter isn't a problem, it's still quite good given the windows and potential for reflection with my setup. But the 5080 was significantly better, especially at dealing with reflections and bright things taking place behind the seating environment, for example, under counter lights, or light reflecting off my watch for example were never an issue on the 5080 and have caused some moments on the VT50. The screen filter on the Pioneer is simply amazing, especially considering it was years ago. Items behind the TV are definitely more noticeable on the Panny by a fairly good clip but not ot the point of being distracting even on pretty dark content. In a "cave" scene I did notice a reflection behind the tv and the same for under water scenes but I will tell you as soon as any object hits where the reflection is you can no longer see it.

This panel is capable of getting quite bright in comparison with the Pioneer. However, in some scenes its as bright or brighter and in others it's not as bright which is interesting. Not sure if its due to some mild FBR or if it's just a difference in the scene rendering.

Both sets are kind of "blah" with full white scenes...for example Planet Earth's ice worlds was pretty grey on the KURO and still grey on the VT50 though not as grey.

Remember that my VT50 has NOT been calibrated yet, some differences could be due to the calibration or lack there of. I'll begin that process next month and supplement with D-Nice settings to dial in my particular panel.

Playing regular DVD's look good or terrible depending on the source disc. Burbs looked terrible the other night...but great movie then I watched some chick flick with my wife last night (can't remember the name) that was on DVD and it looked pretty good. Even did the "ZOOM" to take it from 2.35:1 to full screen and it still looked quite good upscaling the DVD content. Overall impressed as hell with this set.

Here's a few pictures we can discuss:
These were all taken at the same "time" obviously there can be some frame differences depending on where that second I actually managed to pause it. Sorry for some differences...
First up Pioneer


And the VT50


The greens look drastically different on the two and you can see quite a bit more detail on the Panasonic.



A darker scene
Pioneer


Panasonic


Clearly more "detail" on the panasonic here. The Pioneer seemed to leave out a lot of the darker details though some were still present. D-Nice had mentioned this was likely due to gamma tracking differences.

And a lighter scene
Pioneer


Panasonic


Interesting thing about this pic, the Pioneer actually seems to be brighter along the top then the Panasonic. Not what I would have expected, could be a product of the scene though. As I mentioned there seems to be a few differences in some of the scenes between the two sets.

Those pictures were taken in RAW, tilt corrected, cropped and I decided to do zero color correction. So that's exactly how the light hit the sensor on the camera. I felt this was better because it would not be altered by the user/viewer (in this case me) and the pro's could chime in on any differences.


Finally comments on two more issues that are common...

DSE - Dirty Screen Effect is less on the VT50 then on the 5080 but still makes itself known at times.
SDE - Screen Door Effect is almost non existent on the VT50. You have to be VERY close...as in a couple feet. On the Pioneer it became visible with some content as far away as 7 or so feet and was definitely visible on almost everything at 5 feet. You can see the impact of this in some of the shots and at full resolution or even half res the differences are stark. I may do a 50% crop or something for you guys so you can see what I'm talking about.

Can anyone recommend or discourage the vt50 for gaming? Would IR or burn-in scare some away? I suppose half of the use would be for gaming and the other half for full screen HD content. Thanks.

anybody have one in a large, well lit room?

I saw one at the store today and was blown away but it was a dark room...I am a little worried about it washing out.

What are the major differences between the 55VT50 and the 65VT50. I currently have a 65VT30 which I have a good offer on to sell and I am wondering if I should get the 55 or 65. I am also moving into a smaller place and not sure if the 65 would be too big. Will I notice much of a difference with 3d? Is there a difference in black level/overall picture quality between the two? Are there any none issues in one over the other or in both?

@6SpeedTA95, those first 2 examples the VT50 wins hands down, but I'm not so sure about the 3rd one. Notice the banding in the sky on the Panasonic shot.

Putting the 3D advanced settings, 24p, on 48hz definitely cleared up ghosting problems in the Puss In Boots 3-D movie.

While watching the first Harry Potter movie, I kept rotating between 48 / 60 / 96 hz and had a hard time telling any difference. It seemed that 96hz smoothed out some motion that 48 caused to blur or flicker a bit.

Is anyone getting a dark gray screen with distortion when the set is changing screens? Not during a movie but say when there is a blank screen after you hit the play button from the movies menu screen. Don't know if it's a settings related problem or not. I also witnessed the blank (top and bottom) area of the screen changing from black to dark gray and repeating during a movie.

Update: I was watching a movie and as the credits rolled, I got close to the screen and it is not even a solid black background. It's like I described it above.

The differences between the 55VT50 and 65VT50 is that the 65 is 10" larger.


Sorry, couldn't resist. The larger panels may have a lower MLL.

The only difference is, the 65" has slightly better black levels.

Hey does anyone know when CNet plans to review this baby