Official Panasonic VT50 owners thread - Page 332

I originally posted "I just received my 65VT50 today but when I turn it on it has a black screen and no responses to anything but the on/off button. Am I doing something wrong or do I have a bad unit?
Bummed!"

The Panny rep was here on 2/1 and the buzz I heard was a broken screen. He said there was no point of impact and the plasma screen was broken everywhere. Must have been dropped somewhere along the way. Waiting now for replacement.

Hi all, I've been following along here for a while. I bought the 55" vt50 and then upgraded to the 65"... I'm really happy with it, but I've noticed that when the newer unit de-interlaces, the two fields are wildly skewed. It really makes edges look jagged. This is on most still images. I haven't had flickering problems in motion. The issue is most noticeable in red things, but I see it in all colors and along all sharp edges. Source is FiOS 1080i HDMI (I've tried 3:2 pulldown on and off and this doesn't make a difference.) I didn't see this on the last screen and I don't see it with our other screen (an LED). It is noticeable over 10' away.

Is this normal behavior? Should I swap it out for another or call Panasonic? Thanks for the advice!

I've included a picture that makes it more obvious in the BROADWAY letters.

That's the thing, I was in the middle of a game and it just shuts down. Every time it's happened I've been in a game or watching tv. When I power it on it says that there was no shut down command initiated or something like that. It powers right back up but still.

I plugged it diectly into the wall outlet now so we'll see if that solves the problem.

Are you connecting the TV to the fios box using HDMI? Also, if you try to have your fios box upscale everything to 1080i (as opposed to natively outputting it and letting your TV handle the rest) you can end up with issues like this.

Yes, it is HDMI.

I just played around with the settings in the FiOS box. It was already outputting 1080i 16:9. Just for kicks, I tried 720p and the line looked very smooth (but at 720). I also tried native and it looks just like 1080i. So, I guess that confirms its an interlacing issue, yes?

I have a newer Fios box and it will only output 1080i or 480 i/p (don't remember which) and never had a problem with it. You will only get HD to the TV using HDMI.

Do you think I should swap out the TV?

There's a hidden menu on the newer Fios boxes where you can enable additional output resolutions and/or force the box to output the native resolution for a given channel.

To access it:

-Have your tv and set top box ON
-Then use one hand to power OFF the STB, and the other hand on the remote and hit OK once and then menu once (do them about 1/2 second apart) - so power 1/2 second OK 1/2 second menu
-Once you're in then you click on additional HDMI options and the video settings are in there

omatzyo - certainly an interlacing issue 'somewhere' in the chain, but still not enough information to know who's doing what and doing it right or wrong.

I would say the logical next step would be to insert a DVD and have the player output 1080i to your TV and see if it deinterlaces that properly.

I'm looking at upgrading my LCD to one of the VT50's this year. Are the VT50's still going to be around, or should i hold off on a 2013 equivalent ?

Thanks! Good to know.

the zt60 is looking awesome. Of course it will cost you twice as much if you get it earlier rather than later....

At <2500 the vt50 is tremendous value.

I have a weird issue.

I am trying to stream movies from my windows 7 pc to my tv. It streams fine going through the DLNA option on the tv, and it shows the videos. I want the audio to go through the tv's optical output, into my receiver. Here is the weird thing, if I preview the movie in the list of movies area, it plays through my surround sound fine, but hte minute I start it and watch it, it goes through my tv speakers. has anyone seen this? I searched and cant find any info on it.

Thanks

That's a power saver seting. Go into your panny menu and into power saver - easy to turn off

Starting to mess around with the Viera stuff on my week-old 65VT50 and two nagging problems present themselves...

(1) Downloaded the Viera "remote" application for kicks for my iPad, and also to use the iPad's less clunky keyboard if I want to enter webpage addresses, etc. Worked fine when I first installed it but the next time I turned on the tv, no dice, the iPad doesn't see the tv. Reinstalled the application, worked again but as soon as I exited, shut down the tv and turned it back on, same issue - the application doesn't see the tv.

(2) Using the Viera web browser, is there any way to import my bookmarks from my regular pc/laptop's IE or Firefox browser versus painstakingly entering in bookmarks one at a time by hand? Not that I plan on using my VT50 for web browsing due to the obvious danger of IR, but it'd be nice to know I can go to one of my regular sites without having to hack out the address at least for the first time.

BTW, in answer to the person who is doing audio out from the tv to their receiver via the optical output, I've had no problems going out to my older Pioneer Elite VSX50TXi receiver's optical input. Even using the tv remote to "Mute" or change the volume of the tv's (own built in speaker) sound doesn't affect audio output coming from the receiver. I get audio from both the "preview" files tile screen as well as whatever selected video I'm watching.

Thanks so much for your help! That's a great idea. I just tried it and the two fields still seem misaligned. Edges have that jagged edge. If I tell the DVD player to de-interlace, then it looks fine.

From what I've seen in other's posts, their problem was with de-interlace causing a flicker. I think for them the 3:2 pulldown corrects that problem. I'm not having this problem.

Just happened again while I was playing a game. When I turn it back on it says "no action shut-off was activated".
I don't get it, if I'm playing a game why does it think there is no action and shuts off? Is it a known issue to turn off while your actually using it?

By the way thanks for the heads up I switched it to stay on. I hope that fixes it

I think actions need to be recognized by the tv, like changing volume or opening a menu.

You are correct. You have to mess with the buttons on the remote or the TV for it to stay on more then 3 hours unless you turn that function off. There is also a function to turn it off if no signal is received for 10 minutes.

Just hit the info button when you take a break. I hope you're taking a break at least every 3 hours from video gaming. My eyes would be bugging out after that long anyways. We tend to blink less when staring at a computer monitor or TV anyways.

I use a Harmony One remote, does using the volume button on that count or does it need to be with the Panasonic remote? Well I guess it does'nt matter since i turned the function off.

Thanks for the help and for the info guys. I was starting to stress out!

Ok for the first time noticed IR on my VT50 lol. But it only happened when I put in my old graduation DVD from 2005 . Doesn't do it when watching any HD material. Weird lol

As long as the TV sees input, it does not matter what remote you use. If you ever fall asleep while watching a movie and the menu screen plays over and over again, you might get a bad case of IR. To me it would be better to leave the option on and just hit the info button every now and then to reset the timer. Since you play video games which require hundreds of button presses an hour, hitting one on the remote doesn't seem to be too much of a hassle. You can map the info button to one on the Harmony , I'm sure. Just FYI, a static image on you TV won't cause it to turn off after 10 minutes. That is only if there is no signal. I'm sure you already know that but it's worth mentioning.

+1

While playing a movie off of your network, using the remote control press "option" and see if audio out is shown as TV or home theater. Should be on home theater.

Speaking of DLNA, when accessing either video or still pictures from my windows 7 computer, the 65VT50 doesn't list many of the files that are in the same directory. They're photos and videos all taken with the same camera within minutes of each other.

It also resorts them in a strange way.

I am in the early stages of buying a new TV to replace my 2006 52” Sharp LCD. This time I am really looking for high quality and am trying to decide between an LED-LCD like the Sharp Elite 60” or a Plasma like the Panasonic VT60 or the upcoming ZT60. I also looked at Samsungs and Sonys for the LCD but neither had that same PQ I am looking for.

Here is what my setup is like:
• Approx. 15’ x 15’ family room
• Lots of windows and south facing, but rarely any direct sunlight on the TV itself
• Recessed overhead lighting only
• TV mounted fairly high above fireplace, roughly 48+” up
• 5.1 sound system with Pioneer AVR, Energy speakers and sub

So what I am struggling with most is the light in the room. At least 50% of the TV time is during daylight hours (wife and kids) but when I watch I turn off the lights and close the curtains. At first I was leaning toward the Elite because I figured the LED would be better for daylight TV watching but I understand their later production runs might be flawed and the TV might be discontinued (true?). So that leaves me thinking about plasma but is the reflection going to be too much? I hear that the newer LED TVs are also much more reflective so maybe it doesn’t make a difference?

Thoughts? Suggestions?

skidog, my tv was shutting off intermittently and it had nothing to do with the shutoff powersaving option. I know this because the damn tv would not manually turn back on right away. It would randomly respond to the remote later at random times anywhere from a few monutes of trying again to an entire day. Best Buy switched monitors. They brought ina new box. The Magnolia guy and I removed the two week old monitor from the stand and flipped it with the brand new monitor from the box. He peeled off the new serial numbers from the new packaging and gave them to me. The new monitor of course has it's own serial number on it. Best Buy treated me good on this. He theorized it could be a faulty power supply.

My replacement monitor looks good too. This is purely perception, but I think my original monitor had a tad more sharpness and pop. It's so slight that it could just be me being excited to see the VT50 the first time in my room.

You know where the VT50 shines. During Beyonce's half time show is when my relatives really appreciated the black levels on the TV or any other shot in the stadium when they were dimming lights for spotlights (or power outages!!!).

So after two months of talking to Panasonic, they have finally agreed to refund my dealer the cost of the VT50 so I can get a replacement ordered. My issue was I had the line down the right side of the screen and a few weeks ago a second line formed in the left middle of the screen that was very noticeable and distracting during hockey or any bright scene (even without movement). Panasonic kept saying this was normal, until I sent them another pic and circled the issue, then they agreed to replace it.

So my question is now, do I try to get another VT50 or wait for the VT60 or ZT60 depending on it's price. Last time they replaced the tv it took 3 months to get one in. If it's 3 months again, the new models should be in. I'm leaning towards having my dealer get the refund and then me holding onto the tv until the new models are available. I would love to get a 60" ZT60, but the price is probably going to be too high. Might have to settle for the 60" VT60.

sorry, I can't be of much more help. I agree with you. What you are describing seems to mean the TV is not deinterlacing properly. In one of the reviews it came out that 3:2 pulldown on AUTO doesn't work properly, but you've been assigning it to the ON position with no effect as well. Unfortunately it looks like you need to contact panny support.

Goodluck!

edit: by the way, if you have never updated the firmware, then now would be a good time to try.
Edited by mo949 - 2/5/13 at 8:23am

It was up to date. I did contact support and they said it was 'serviceable'. It is only 2 weeks old, so I think I will swap out with Best Buy for a brand new unit. I hope this is a fluke.

I spent some time reading back through this thread last night, and it sounds like others have had similar de-interlacing issues and corrected it by using external equipment (AV receivers and the like), but I'd rather not spend another $1k for something it really should do out of the box.