Panasonic TC-P50U50 Calibration

From what I've been reading here I don't think D'Nice is interested in dealing with the low end plasmas, one being for example the UT50 which is just above the U50. I'm not 100% so someone else may chime in with the proper answer but I don't think the low end models have calibration options.

Is there something not right about the way your U50 looks? I'm asking because after reading this forum I'm wondering if some people are just getting their new Plasma's calibrated because they just read here that they should or they want to be part of the crowd? My GT50 is being delivered tomorrow and this is my first Plasma and after reading this forum about calibration, slides, don't do this, don't do that, I'm just going to take it out of the box, turn it on and set the picture to the way "My Eyes" want to see it, not some professional calibrator's proper way of viewing. There's no guarantee anyone will like D'Nice's settings so unless the TV just looks bad and you can't adjust it the way you like it then I would say look for calibration tools.

Your only calibration option outside of a Calibration disc with the basic picture controls would be to venture into the service menu. No real point in doing that unless you have a meter and software to adjust greyscale. Someone may eventually do that for your set but someone elses settings often dont translate into good results. There is a free AVS709 calibration disc that is availible on AVS. Download that and read the documentation that comes with it. Disney WOW calibration disc is supposed to be excellent also.

Getting Brightness Contrast set correctly is half the battle so to speak, and a calibration disc in my experience will get you most of the way there. Lots of very knowlegable people here to help with whatever calibration option you choose. Enjoy your new set

Professional calibration can yield some pretty impressive results. Just depends on your personal preferance and tolerance for picture problems that can sometimes only be corrected thru a calibration with a meter and software. Whether it is DIY or done by a professional it can signifantly improve set performance. But you are right it is an individual choice whether one chooses to adjust by eye, use a calibration disc or go even further to enhance the capabilities of your set. Most calibrators in my experience take into account a customers preferances when doing a calibration.

I second the avs hd 709 disc. It's FREE and, IMO, better than any of the setup discs you can buy (S&P, DVE, WOW). Too bad it doesn't come with a blue filter!

If you own Spears and Munsil also thats not an issue

The Panasonic P50UP50 should have been called "PU" because it stinks. I loved having 50" of screen real estate, but after a month of watching and configuring it, even my wife (who normally doesn't complain about sound or picture quality issues) said the washed-out look of this set was driving her crazy. After adjusting this Panasonic plasma set by eye wouldn't satisfy me or my family, I attempted calibrating using the THX Optimizer test patterns. Nothing I tried would bring this TV up to the levels of brightness and contrast of my previous set. It had excellent black levels and normal white (or "hot") areas of the screen would like fine, but as soon as the screen needed to be bright, the set failed to bring out the levels of white I expected. To illustrate the point, a movie or a TV show would look fine, but anytime the scene called for an all-white background, it would be dull.

I found that the dullness of the white areas depended on other on-screen content. For example, if you're seeing an all-white scene (say, a snow scene), white would be dull. But as soon as I pulled up the TV's menu system (which blocks about two-thirds of the screen), the remaining one-third (white) area would brighten to expected levels. If I closed the menu, the screen would fill with dull white again. It acted as if the TV was simply incapable of producing brilliant white if needed across the whole screen but could do so just fine if white is confined to a smaller space. I turned off every automatic processing feature I could access but could not reduce this effect. I had contrast up to 100% (which is the main control for enhancing the power of "white") and had brightness up to 80% (which is the main control for enhancing the lightness of shadows).

I replaced this set with 46" LED by Samsung. While I do miss the Panasonic's 50" screen, and there is a slight issue with not having as wide a viewing angle as plasma, I finally have the brightness my family and I have come to expect in our living room. I don't have a bright living room either, but even with the lights completely off, the plasma set still couldn't produce the full-screen white levels I knew it should. I've also completely negated the LED's motion blur and soap opera effects by manually adjusting blur and judder to my liking. Samsung offers granular controls over the entire viewing experience. So, while I cannot recommend this Panasonic set to anyone, I can whole-heartedly recommend the Samsung 46" 1080p LED Model Samsung UN46EH6000 46-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LED HDTV.

You & my wife are of the same opinion. We actually had a much better set than this EH6000 model, previously to our TC-P50U54, we owned last years premium, UN55D7000. And I would whole-heartedly endorse the U54 over the D7000 & this year's lower budget model EH6000. The overall build quality, imo, on the U50 is superior to both sets & offers much better black levels & overall PQ.

Samsung's QC dept leaves something to be desired too. I hope you don't have any issues in the long term & would encourage you to pick up the ext warranty, if you haven't already done so.

Check out CNET's table(below) from Dave Katz's mid-year report card, and even though the U50 isn't on it, its sibling 3d cousin UT50 is and apart from 3d & the 2500 ffd, it uses the same generation G15 progressive pdp. And it is near the top of the list, whereas the EH6000 is lodged in the lower-middle of the heap.

Here is CNET's review of the UN46EH6000: http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/samsung-un46eh6000/4505-6482_7-35159621.html?tag=results;prodInfo

Overall @ the end of the day it's what you like most & I hope you have many enjoyable hours watching your new set. Btw, Fry's Electronics offered your set yesterday @ <500, which is a sick deal for a 46" LED. It was 1/2 off their already low price.


Edited by leftyguitar1963 - 7/1/12 at 12:51am

I calibrated mine using spears and munsil starting with the black level 1st then working my way through the disc. My results are the total opposite, my picture is great. Everything looks natural and what's suppose to be bright is bright and the colors are good too! Anyways good luck with the new sammy!

Yeah, this U50 wont get lcd bright, mine is in a basement with only 2 smallish windows, no direct sunlight. I can see this tv being a problem in a brightly lit living room, but if you can control the light in your room, it gets plenty bright.

Hi Trap, just bought a TC-P50U50. It was a replacement for a Panasonic TH-42PZ80U (42' 1080p Plasma).It had been hit by lighning. Both of these units are entry level 1080p units, I think people forget that. My old Panasonic easily was user calibrated using either Monster's Cal DVD or Disney's WOW. Disney's comes with the "Blue Filter" for adjusting your color. You could calibrate the Contrast (Black Level) and Brightness (White Level) and both would be dead on. Dark suits, dark hair and subtle change in blacks would be perfect. White would be bright and not blooming or annoyingly bright. Colors would be natural and even through all brightness. On to the TC-P50U50, out of the box I'd give it a 7 out of 10. I agree that it takes some tweaks to get it close to what I had before. Trying to calibrate it using Monster or Disney's grew frustrating. I always calibrate using the DVD player hooked up through Component cables and believe the TV tampers with the picture less. I have Color Management and CATS turned off. Then I use those setting for the other inputs. I could never get a bright enough picture using the DVDs. This doesn't mean you can't get a great picture, it just means the Gray Scale won't be balanced. I ended up just tweaking it to what I like. Anyway here's what I have, only 10 hours on the unit. I've got it to about a 9.5 out of 10, comparing it to my old one.

PICTURE:

Picture Mode: Cimema
Contrast:100
Brightness:58
Color 43
Tint:0
Sharpness:50
Color Temp: Normal
Color Management: On
CATS: On
Video NR: Weak
Block NR: Off
Mosquito NR: Off
Black Level: Light
3:2 Pulldown Auto

AUDIO:

Bass: +11
Treble: +2
Balance:0
A.I. sound: Off
Surround: Off
Bass Boost: On
Volume Leveler: 0

I'm running this through on HDMI on a DirecTV HR21 1080i. I'd say it's good for now, I'd like to try and get the brightness better. To get it's brightness high enough, it suffers with saturation, looses detail on bright areas. It's not horrible or anything, I just know it can be better. Like I said, it's at about 9.5 out of 10. This is close. I'd like to hear from others on what they come up with. So far, I think $750 for a 50' 1080p Plasma. Great unit, for the price. Hope this helps, Glen T.

Hi folks, Its been a long time since Ive been on AVS. I am also a new owner of the p50u50 and it is a dark\dim panel. Trying to figure out what to do.

What mode are you using? I saw one on display at BB in the custom mode and despite the poor lighting there, it looked pretty bright to me.



Ian

Cnet review for U50. Another winner for panasonic! http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/panasonic-tc-p50u50/4505-6482_7-35149658.html

Im using vivid.

Starting to appreciate the realness of the picture now.

Check out this review and discussion on calibration.

http://www.televisioninfo.com/content/Panasonic-Viera-TC-P50U50-Plasma-TV-Review/Calibration.htm

I went to three different stores (Best Buy, Target, & Sam's) and at BB & Sam's the salesmen favored plasma over LCD. The Target guy pushed LCD. Based on the review above and other places, I'd suggest follow the basic calibration recommended and then adjust to your room. I hope to have the Panny in my house Wednesday.

Hi, i hope ya'll can help me...My P50U50 is fuzzy cant seem tp get the clear pic i would expect. Is it a setting im missinv?

I found this recommendation for calibration:

http://reviews.*******************.com/panasonic-plasma-tv/panasonic-u50-picturesettings

However, I can't figure out how to get into "Pro Settings". Help?

Hey guys, I've been having this juddering problem and haven't been able to fix it. Some goggling didn't find any specific solutions.

Here is the juddering. It is slightly noticeable during playback but when these credits were rolling I REALLY noticed it.

I am not sure if this will help (I do not own this TV) but take it off of the 48Hz mode. I read about this issue in the CNET review: http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/panasonic-tc-p50u50/4505-6482_7-35149658.html

I have the TC-P50U50 and it is to the point where I find it nearly unwatchable. The picture is great, but it flashes drastically between dim and very bright in mid-scene without anything of note changing in the frame. This happens whether the eco auto-dim sensor is on or not.

Any ideas?

Cheers!

Anybody? I have the same issue on occasion. Also, is this set known to crush blacks? I can't get the blacks bright enough to see them better, shadows suffer in the process. I love the inky blacks, but sometimes it's not "bright" enough. Using Cinema setting with Contrast around 70 and Brightness around 55-60.

I don't own this TV, but it doesn't have that reputation that I'm aware of. Reviews said that the shadow detail is good, and the U50's gamma is reportedly a little too low near black, which should actually result in the opposite of what you describe. From what I've heard, a contrast setting of 70 in cinema mode on this TV is very low, but I wouldn't expect that to impact shadow detail significantly.

What source are you using? I find my U50 to be a bit too bright with shadows, to the point some dark scenes look washed out, like a layer of light grey film is over the screen.

Merry Christmas everyone!
Bought this for DH - he is now fiddling with the settings.. can someone tell me where to find this free avs hd 709 calibration download on here?
Thanks so much!

Just do a forum search that simple