Official Panasonic VT50 owners thread - Page 297

Has anyone used an articulating arm to hang this TV with? I'm going to installing a Kanto Articulating Wall Mount for 37 to 65-in. displays. It's rated to 135 lbs so it should be ok. The TV will be out to it's max (or close to it) at 20"s. Just wondering if anyone else is doing that

If you set your cable box to output "native", then the VT50 can do what you want, as it remembers the aspect ratio setting on a per input per source aspect basis.

It will do this for channels it receives from the antenna input, as it is getting the "native" signal, even if you can't set your cable box correctly.

My only concern is the reflection from sunlight in the room. The room in which the set will be gets a lot of indirect sunlight. About 1-2 feet behind the TV and to the left of it (as you are looking at the screen) is a floor to ceiling glass window about 7 feet high and 12 feet long with an eastern sunlight exposure. Should I be concerned about reflection and seeing myself sitting in my chair as a reflection on the screen? I currently have a set with a matte screen and there is not reflection problem but it is a small screen. Thanks for any advice.

Hey everyone - looking to order my first plasma! Can't decide where to get it from though... Adorama has it the 55 inch vt50 for $1619 free shipping, but does NOT accept returns. J&R has it for similar price, but $98 shipping and not sure about return policy, kind of vague. I guess my question is, with a TV like this, how important is a return policy (like buying it from best buy?) Should I completely avoid adorama where I won't be able to return it at all and everything will have to be through panasonic if something is wrong?

I wouldn't order anything sight unseen unless you know exactly what the return policy is.

Thanks. Adorama's policy = no returns on large tvs. Browsing through some of these pages, I've seen a good amount of cases where people had to return/exchange soon after buying, and I've also read a good bit on the vertical lines/bands defect which is making me more and more nervous. Should I avoid sites with a "no returns" policy then?

I guess in a bright room it should. Mine is in my basement man cave and liked THX Cinema with contrast increased some, 74 or so. I now use a custom mode setting I copied from the VT50 settings thread. I spent some time tweaking those custom settings for my set and achieved very nice results, flesh tones can look so accurate life like now!

Also the VT50 picture quality improves as the panel ages or breaks in. After about 200 hours I did the last of my tinkering. But I read the panel will continue to improve up to 400 hours, though probably a very small amount at this point.

I might invest in a pro calibration at some point to get that last bit of color accuracy etc. Anyway, the THX modes or a good custom mode are the only ones close to accurate. The others standard, game, sports and vivid are pretty bad IMO.

I would stay away from them unless you don't care about customer service or throwing your money at something you've not seen and hope it works. Don't let the cheapest price available fool you.

The Standard setting is a horrendous picture setting out of the box. I tried tinkering with it but cant get it to a satisfactory level. Stick with Custom or THX.

Have Best Buy Price Match and get free shipping.

I replaced the same TV. You'll love the VT50 - it is brighter than the XBR1 ever was and the screen is less reflective than most flat panels today.

Anybody else pissed off with the updated youtube settings on the TV and know how to change the search menu?

I am using Verizon FIOs and the settings were fine until a month ago when the TV got updated. And I am aware that what we see on the TV is not the same as what we see when accessing our youtube from an ipad or computer.

That said, the current search option is unbelievably clumsy - all words and numbers of the search menu are in a single line and worse, no provision to backspace or delete a mistyped word.

In fact, the unfriendly user format seems to be on purpose to force the owners to use the TV only to watch the youtube video and not do much of other stuff.

Curious to know experiences of other owners.

Thanks!

Just so you know you can link your smartphone Youtube app to your TV. It then works where you search, play, pause etc with your phone and it sends all these commands to the TV. I have this and it actually works extremely well.

Just passing it along for what it's worth.

You may have a receiver that doesn't support ARC...i had the same problem as you. I have the Denon AVR-790 model. You will need a optical digital cable and connect that from the tv's digital audio out and connect it to the [IN] OPT-1 (TV) jack. Then when you want to listen to the internet streaming sources from your tv to your receiver (IE YouTube, Netflix, etc), select the TV input. This worked for me, so hopefully this solution will help you out as well!

I replaced a 50" Sony LCD rptv and the vt50 is much brighter. Also I never used thx bright, only thx cinema until using custom. Brightness is not an issue.

Thanks, emcdade. Mine has a September build date. It does seem like the later builds are faring better, at least in this thread.

Thanks, jamiee. I guess I'm hoping that if I stick my head in the sand it will go away on its own! I've had the panel for three months. At least now I know to call it vertical banding.

7thSeal, I actually didn't see it during the break-in period. I wasn't watching the TV all that much during those eight continuous days, and when I did it was HD programming or VUDU and I was busy being mesmerized by the new toy and goofing with the custom settings found online, etc.

When I did start to notice something, I thought it might be the crappy cable broadcast (Fox Soccer, in particular) and made a mental note to check it out at some point. As I mentioned in another post, when I noticed a bit of IR I ran the scroller for the first time and that's when I started to pay real attention.

Is it that these panels are bigger or have newer tech in them that they can be so finicky? I replaced an amazingly perfect six-year old 42" HP (the rebranded, and highly regarded 42" Panasonic). Believe it or not, my wife wanted a bigger TV for our treehouse, I mean townhome! And we love this panel!!! Basically, it's not distracting...until it's distracting!

I should probably get in touch with Best Buy soon! As much as I hate to think it, they can't be long for this planet! RIP Circuit City, The Good Guys, Federated (yep), CompUSA, Computer City, Tower Records, Wherehouse, Borders Books...sorry, I was taking a stroll down a SoCal memory lane.

JP

I practically lived at Tower Records in the 70's and 80's! I really miss that store.

I think your right. All non thx modes just don't look right.

Agreed. I'd even say choose one similar to amazon that will also cover the return shipping if there is a defect in the new set. They just took back my defective 65es8000.

So I just got mine last week and I have to say the setup is pretty simple on this set. As soon as you change the picture mode to THX bright room or THX cinema everything will probably look great. Other than that there might be a few options to tinker with in the sub menus, but no need to bother with the picture; its ready to go for enjoying =] After your set breaks in after a month or two, then you can go back and tinker with the fine tuning (if you even need to).

Hi everyone, soon to be new member VT club! My 65 inch is should be in monday or tuesday. I checked current prices on 12/27/12 and got local buisness to price match. Today Amazon dropped price $500!?** Still excited. My last set was bought on sale out of necessity, this time I wanted the best currently available. I have been ISF trained with CalMAN 5 B ultimate software and look forward to playing with this set after burn in. Thanks in advance for all your help on this forum. Doug G.

New 65VT50 Owner
Setup was a breeze
Software was up to date
Nov 12 build
Watched the last half of the Indy/Balt game
No dead pixels
No fan buzzing
No weird glass issues
Sound is good
Setting set per some of the posts for break-in
Running HDNet right now (no logo)
Replaced a Sony KDS55A2000
Life is good....

In a delima: Panasonic Integrated Wi-Fi 3D Blu-ray DVD Player 220, 320 or 500?
any suggestions for my 55vt50?

Just bit the bullet on a 65-inch VT50 from the local Paul's TV to replace my TH-50PHD6UY from 2004; they honored the Paul's online price PLUS the "SAVE400" coupon. I hemmed and hewed for months, was considering the Sharp Elite, but in the end the quality of the 6UY won Panasonic a repeat customer. Now all I have to do is wait a couple of days until it's delivered.

In the meantime, any suggestions on:

1) A good tilting wall mount?

2) A good 3D-capable Blu-Ray player? (I see the Panny DVD player question immediately above.)

Also, any recommendations on a professional calibrator that works in the Boston, MA area? I'm about an hour north of Boston.

Thanks,
Tony

I went to the store again to check out the VT50 and I still wasn't super impressed. When I put it on VIVID mode the colours were really bright and nice and the picture had some punch to it. Putting it on THX 3D mode made things look rather dark and the action scenes during The Avengers was a bit blurry. Could this just simply be that the TV hasn't been calibrated properly and it's in a store setting were lighting isn't ideal. I've heard so many good things about this TV but I'm just not that impressed. I currently have a Samsung LCD LNT5265 and I really like it. Movies, games, etc. look great and I'd just like my next TV to be that much better but I just don't see it with the VT. Again, it could just be because I don't have it in my house and it would look much better.

Does anyone play XBox or PS3 or even PC games on their VT50? How do you like it?

It's slim pickings when it comes to getting a VT50 in my city. I can get the GT50 without issue. Is the difference between the GT and the VT so significant that I should just wait till next fall to get the new VT?

Oppo BDP-103.

Something tells me that you may prefer the brightness of and LCD panel based on your described experience. I moved from a new 60" Samsung LCD/LED to a new 65" VT50 last month. The color accuracy of the VT50 is far beyond the capabilities of any LCD set I've seen. However, I have seen VT50's on display in stores that just didn't look great. You really need to see one calibrated in the right environment to appreciate it.

MeelaPo, I too thought THX was a tad disappointing mode, But after two days, the THX and THX Bright Rooms seem to look better. I don't know if this part of the break in but the colors seem more "vivid" in the THX modes once you put some hours on the TV.
Standard is still a crappy mode. I dont think I will ever use this mode again.
I liked VIVID initially, but now I prefer the THX Bright Room mode. Try playing around with Custom.

I have an iPhone, I don't see where in the YouTube app that I can do this