Official Panasonic VT50 owners thread - Page 229

You see the problem with people making up their own abbreviations for things and never defining them: It leads to confusion and misunderstanding.

I guess he means HDMI Input vendor, that is, the supplier of the part that is soldered to the circuit board and accepts the HDMI cable. That component may not have ARC capability (is not HDMI 1.4a compliant, though the supplier claimed it was), Darbee didn't test the capability (inadequate quality assurance (QA)), and now they would have to recall all units and replace all the circuit boards, which is cost-prohibitive for a small company.

Ahhh, now THAT makes sense. Thanks.

In this case, IP likely means "intellectual property", as in "the vendor that sells them the copyrighted, patented, and DMCA-protected hardware that can handle HDCP" to which they attach their video processing features.

One of the biggest issues with HDMI is that in addition to the fairly complicated spec for unencrypted HDMI, HDCP is layered on top of that, and because of the completely stupid fear of someone "breaking HDCP", you have to deal with a limited number of vendors who supply you with parts that "do HDMI". Because of this, pretty much everybody who makes a device with an HDMI input or output can't fix problems with their own devices...they must decribe/demonstrate the issue to their source and have new firmware written that they can download to their device (best case), or new parts made that fix the issue (more typical). This case might be even worse, in that the video must be unencrypted to be processed, and paranoia of "bus snooping" might mean that they have to send off their video processing hardware/software to somebody to wrap HDCP around it in a single-chip solution.

All this to solve a problem that doesn't exist and never will, since there are many easier ways to copy video than by grabbing it from an HDMI connection.

"In this case, IP likely means "intellectual property", as in "the vendor that sells them the copyrighted, patented, and DMCA-protected hardware that can handle HDCP" to which they attach their video processing features. ..."

nabsltd, thank you for your elucidation of the matter. I just took a guess. Perhaps the original questioner could ask for clarification from Darbee, if it matters.

Do you agree that Darbee has no realistic way to fix ARC in current units already in the field?

Yes, I know. My VT50 is connected to the net via WiFi, and I got the firmware update from there. But nowhere does it tell me what's changing, thus I asked for the website to see if there is any info.

I see the file is bigger than before, so it must contain all previous firmware updates as well as the new changes.

Hi. I am having the same issue with my 55" VT50. When viewing an internet app such as netflix, I am unable to hear anything unless I turn on the TV speakers. My TV, PVR, Blue ray are connected via a Denon AVR-4306. Whe I am watching regular TV through my PVR the sound is heard via my surround system speakers. When I click the interent function I continue to hear the TV programming sound unless I shut off my PVR.Then I need to tunr on the TV speakers, A real pain and not worth it since I do have A PS3. It does bother me however. Ive tried running an optical cable from the TV to the Denon AVR, but I then have to change the TV settings on my AVR from HDMI for sound and picture to optical for sound.

Has anyone used the Timer function on the 55VT50? I tried to use it to turn on a DirecTV HR-24 and an OPPO BDP-93. The TV turned on at the correct time, but the attached device did not turn on.

This used to happen to me, I have a Denon 2312. I just turned on HDMI control, and everything was resolved.

I have a Denon 4311, in the Menu it allows audio either to the TV or by the internal amps in the 4311. If you can't find it, then call up Denon tech support.

Firmware Version 1.17



Version:

1.17



Compatible Models:

TC-P65GT50 , TC-P60GT50 , TC-P50GT50 , TC-P65VT50 , TC-P55GT50 , TC-L55WT50 , TC-L47WT50 , TC-P55VT50



Issues Addressed:

1.Improvement of browser.

Download Installation Instructions



Release Date

September 18, 2012





Download

I just returned my Darbee that I had for like 3 days. I had it hooked up to my 65" VT50.

Reasons:

1) I could notice some improvement, but only if I would switch back and forth between on and off. If I would just watch not knowing if it was on or off, I wouldn't be able to tell if it was on or off. I mainly wanted it to improve the look of baseball on my TV, and I didn't notice any real improvement.

2) Crappy remote: Sometimes the device would simply stop responding to remote pushes. Sometimes you would have to mash on the remote, other times it would be completely unresponsive.

3) Automatically turning on and off: Twice in three days, the device totally powered down spontaneously, causing my TV to go black for about 10 seconds, before the device would power back up. When it would power back up, all of the settings would be reset to factory default.

For $289 (price I paid on amazon), I expected more. Given the equivocal improvement in the picture I was noticing, it was a no-brainer for me to return it given issues #2 and #3 discussed above.

That has not been my experience and I have had it since early August. Would seem that you got a dud. As to #2: you need a direct line of sight to the Darbee unit unless you get one of those IR extenders. As to #3, never had any such problem.

I noticed a problem yesterday when using the Amazon Prime and Netflix apps that are on the TV. It would only give me 3 picture settings: Cinema, Vivid, and Custom. The Custom was set to a default and not the custom settings I entered manually and use when watching normal television. Is there any way around this other than manually putting in Custom settings again? Why no THX options?

Just returned mine as well - i definately agree on all points.

Is it me, or did they change the look of the volume slider ?

Wow, changing the Panel Brightness to High makes everything look so much more vivid. I am guessing that it is the equivalent to the dynamic contrast settings on an LCD? Either way, setting it to high and turning the Contrast down to around 76-78 really makes the colors pop, even if it makes the picture look less realistic.

I think I will keep this setting for TV station use and leave leave the panel brightness at the default Mid setting for PS3 bluray/game use. I suggest trying it to anyone who feels the picture looks dull.

I'm not sure if this function is available with the Denon avr-4306. Where in your menu is this located?

Custom has separate settings memory for each input.

yes They did.....also Pictures looks more crispy and vibrant

has anyone been able to confirm that the new firmware does not impact picture settings?

I am trying to get sound from Viera Internet on the TV to come thru my Denon 4311 receiver. Researching this thread, it seems that I need to connect a SECOND hdmi cable to the TV. Is that right?

At the moment, I have a 1.4a HDMI cable running from HDMI1 on the TV to the receiver. I thought that would allow me to hear the sound.

My Panny Bluray player supplies sound to the AVR very easily and I can just use that for streaming. It's just easier to get to Viera from the TV than the Bluray player.

Alternatively, can I take the HDMI cable going to HDMI1 and simply connect it to HDMI2 and change all my other settings to correspond with HDMI2?

The Onkyo TX-NR818 is the favorite AVR of many here for use with their VT50. But what is the advantage of the Onkyo, in terms of video processing, compared to say a Denon or a Marantz? What kind of external processing does the VT50 really need, other than 1080i to 1080p conversion?

Just purchased the 65VT50 a few days ago. So far I really love this TV. Originally I had the Sharp 70" in my bedroom but couldn't look at the clouding and fading corners anymore. Don't get me wrong, the Sharp is a great value but not good at all for dark room viewing. Anyways, the Panny has a beautiful picture when using Cnet's settings. I won't go as far as to say that it matches my Kuro 9G but it's extremely close. One thing I find humorous is all the fear over IR. I am sure it does exist to some extent but I've had this TV for a week now, never ran any break in slides or zoomed letter box content and there's no hint of any IR. Here's the thing, all of your components probably have screen savers and the TV itself has a 3 hour automatic shut off so if something happens it's most likely the direct cause of your negligence. Anyone on the fence should really just take the plunge and buy this TV.

A quick follow-up after owning the 65" VT50 for a couple of months.

* DVDs look great on this set. I have a fairly extensive library and I was concerned about how they would turn out, and I am pleasantly surprised. Yes, Blu-ray is better, but the DVDs still look fantastic. I've been plowing thru my library and have really been enjoying myself. Variations in the quality of the DVDs is noticeable.
* Burned DVDs are quite acceptable. I've been recording anamorphic DVDs from HD channels for years, especially OAR 1.78:1 releases and/or releases without major special effects and sound. They also display better than I had expected.
* I've been using the 96hz setting coupled with the Oppo 1080p 24 output for Blu-ray and DVDs. I have not noticed any flickering
* DirecTV DVRs are set to native; both 1080i and 720p sources look great, depending on the bandwidth that DTV supplies. 480i source materials are upconverted by the AVR to 480p and are acceptable.

All-in-all, a highly recommended set that will extend the life of your DVD library.

I would suggest that the display should be professionally calibrated, or DIY using light meters and tools that access the ISF settings. Given the cost of the set, this is pound-wise investment to get the most out the display.

Setup:
- Calibration report can be found at http://www.avsforum.com/t/1408338/official-panasonic-vt50-owners-thread/4740#post_22242961 .
- Viewing distance is at 12' in a room using black-out curtains. I've been pretty much using only the ISF dark room settings.
- On an older release of the firmware. The calibration was completed before change to the CMS settings, so I have not enabled wifi on this set.
- Oppo BDP-93; Denon 3312CI; DirecTV

jdg

Unless you run an optical cable from the VT50's audio output to your AVR, you can only get digital audio for VT50 sources (OTA DTV, Netflix, etc.) to your ARC (audio return channel) compliant AVR by connecting the HDMI out from the AVR to the HDMI2 (ARC) input on the VT50. You may need to change the VT50's speaker settings to Home Theater and adjust the HDMI settings on your AVR accordingly.

hey gang, couple questions

I'm coming from a Pioneer 5070, and while not a Kuro, it's been one heck of a panel. Would this VT50 be a logical transition? I like what I'm reading so far.

Are there any bugs or quirks on this set? I'm about a dozen or so pages into the thread so far. Just seems like every product out there these days has some sort of quirks.

Oh, and lastly, my in-wall HDMI cabling is likely not 1.4, and may not even be 1.3. Am I going to be okay with a single 24AWG older HDMI connection? I'd be pairing it with a Pio Elite 84TXSi AVR.

Any input is appreciated.

TIA

Yes. That's how mine is set up, albeit with a Denon 3312.

Thanks roxme. Thought it would be complicated since my wires go behind the wall. Just switched HDMI cable to HDMI2 (ARC) from HDMI1. Easy.

Now if I can just get Harmony to work properly for the Viera Internet TV. Always something ...

You would not find it very humorous if you ever obtained it.

Menu, information pane, then hdmi settings, and then switch hdmi control to on