The Official Panasonic U50/54 Owners' Thread - Page 12

I'm getting my TCP60U50 tomorrow. I'm looking forward to comparing it with my ST30.

I just got the two disc Disney WOW calibration tool and went through the calibration steps on my U54.

In the contrast settings I could not get the brightest white bars to appear at all no matter the settings. The description says the two of the three bars on the farthest right should bleed together to get the desired setting but no bars on the right were ever visible so I have some white clipping.

Also in the brightness calibration I couldn't get the "ideal" star and checkered boxes to just barely appear. I did get all of the "visible" images to appear though.

Is this standard with the U54 or plasmas? If not, how do I get these to calibrate properly?

Despite this I found that it seems to have improved the image. I'm probably just approaching my first 100 hours now. I had watched some Band of Brothers at my initial "eyeball" calibration and due to the look of it and the relatively high contrast it didn't look that good. The shadows were too dark and contrast was too high. After the WOW calibration it looks pretty good, but could it look better?

Got this TV three weeks ago and am on the fence if I keep it or return it to Costco.

The colors look outstanding on the TV considering the price. Blacks and shadow detail in particular are different matter. I had to move brightness to almost 100 to see details while watching Prometheus. I have had some IR, but very brief, nothing lasting more than few seconds.

Line bleeding (or at least that's what I think it is called) when watching info for trailer previews (green screen) is rather strong on this set. Blue? No issues whatsoever.

I will have to buy after market remote due to lack of back lightning on factory remote. Again, considering the price, one can't expect everything.

Not running slides just watching lot of variety. I think Avatar is probably as good or better than any slides.

Question: is there some way to find how may hours I already have on the TV?

For the price I think it is one of the best deals out there, but the lack od shadow detail and IR are concern.

Which mode are you using? I find on my U50 every mode other than cinema crushes shadow detail in mid to high APL scenes, but cinema seems to show all the detail, maybe even a bit too much when set properly, only meaning shadow detail seems to be a bit bright with my brightness level set at about 57 in cinema mode.

Greetings:

I'm considering the 50" U50, Any audible noise from these units from about 6 feet away, such as buzzing, humming, high-pitched whines, rooster calls at 7 a.m., etc.?

I got my TC-P50U50 two weeks ago. I have followed the break in thing: Brightness below 50, contrast fifty or below, etc, yet my picture looks pixelated at times with jagged edges, especially during sports scenes. The worst issue is that if there is a scoreboard in the middle of the screen(this is an example, any kind of static display graphic on screen) will stretch out to the sides. Its the only way I can think to refer to it..the faded lines of the box will go all the way horizontally as if it is a ghost of the scoreboard. his happens with breaking news icons, anything like that where there is like a white tracing in places the graphic never was..it just spreads out from the sides. I may return it, but before I do I want to make sure its not just me as Blu Rays look excellent and dont do that.
I made a thread asking about this before I saw this dedicated thread, sorry, noob mistake.

its been two weeks of breaking in, so I'm not sure if I should make my pic settings better or not, or even what to use.
My Settings:
Contrast: 50(never above)
Brightness:45
Color: 53
Tint 0
Sharpness 35
Color Temp Warm2
Color Mgmt. Off
C.A.T.S. Off
Screen Format Full
HD Size: Size 1
Block NR: Off
Mosquito NR Off
Black Level: Light
3:2 pulldown: Off/ grayed out

Any help or ideas are greatly appreciated!

So far it seems to be the picture on the 60u50 is better than the 55st30 I have. I turned on the u50 and got the same issue a lot of people are talking about in here, only my version was much worse.

When hooked up to my cable box the screen would go black then back to picture but it would do this every few seconds! I switched the HDMI cable and so far so good.

I picked up a 60u50 yesterday at Frys Electronics - they had a really great one day special on it and could not resist it. The actually had it mislabeled in their newspaper ad as a 60 inch S30, so when I went to the store I saw it was actually the 60 inch U50. Anyway, so far so good - I am messing with the calibration using some of the various suggestions on this forum - so far the skin tones are off (slightly) but I have not had enough time to dial it in, and from reading this forum it looks like the panel needs to age before any of the calibrations can be finalized. My other TV is a 50 inch 2010 Panasonic GT25 - other than the skin color and reflectivity which is better on the GT, I cannot discern too much difference between the two. For a bedroom TV, I think the U50 will be fine and cannot beat the price.

I need to replace my dying Toshiba 52XF550U and saw the 50PU54 today at my local Sam's Club for $550. Can anyone comment on the sound quality on this model? While I have a home theater receiver, I often just use the speakers on the set. Also, how is the SD quality?

I went ahead and bought it. Figured the sound couldn't be any worse than my old Toshiba. Sounds more than adequate with the Bass Boost turned on.

Does this model have the "Motion Smoother" feature?

The Cnet site lists "Yes,No". Not sure what that means.

Hello - U50/54 owners. I have a issue with HDMI 2 Audio output. I created a new thread, not sure if it was appropriate here.. Appreciate your inputs

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1438252/tc-p50u54-hdmi-2-no-audio

I just bought the P50U50 the other day and it'll be delivered tomorrow. My wife wasn't thrilled to learn that plasmas have a break-in period, though -- roughly how long should we be concerned about stuff like game HUDs, black borders during movies, and so on?

No Breakin required, just set the TV where you like it and enjoy. I have over 1000 hrs on my U50 and all great. Best TV I ever owned! Deep Blacks and great color. I use Cinema mode and Contrast around 85. I watch mostly at night and shades down during day.

There are certain marketing features on the TV I would suggest turning off, otherwise set most stuff at 50% and go from there.

Don't read all the negative posts, they are VT50 users regretting the extra $2000 they spent. LOL!!!! The other are always looking for problems.
IR is a thing of the past!

AWESOME TV!!!!

Turn it on and enjoy.

Actually the extra $3000 for a VT50! Why would anyone want a "Flagship". These U50"s are so under radar. Keeps the price down $599 for a 50" plasma = a STEAL! Thanks Panasonic, keep on marketing the higher end stuff that really doesn't offer much more than gimmicks!

No offense but you know this from a personal side by side comparison? a comparison of calibration charts? Believe me I'm a panny lover but to believe there is no seperation at all between the lower and high end models is a little over the top.

The price difference between a 50" U50 and a larger 55" VT50 is more like $1,700. If an entry-level Walmart/Costco TV with minimal features and inputs is plenty good enough for you that's great, but you don't speak for the people who would gladly pay more for a flagship model.

The only reason to buy an entry level TV is to get that low low price and that's just fine, but there is definitely a market for the high end models and demand exceeds supply several times per year. There's no way i could settle for the U50's glossy reflective screen or it's inaccurate skin tones, but i don't fault those who don't care about such deficiencies in order to save a ton of money.
Edited by RandyWalters - 11/9/12 at 1:02pm

I bought VT55 , GT50 and U50. I did side by side comparison at home. I thought VT and GT were same other than design and couple gimmick features. I hooked up the U50 and was felt why would anyone pay for the other pictures.

I liked the bright Cinema on GT and VT with lit room conditions, but I watch TV in low lit to dark room. U50 with gloss vs louve filter seemed very rich or same color, blacks were same and picture quality same. The only differences were in lit room and all the marketing extra's on the VT and GT. Bezel, filters, shades of graduation (LOL) color adjustments, web, stand, screen design etc.

If your looking for a standard plasma for watching TV get a U50, if you need all the bells and whistles get a GT or VT but prepared to spend a lot of money.

U50 steal of the year., I compared to GT and VT, I also compared LG PA5500 and Samsung 51", Vizio and elite led's.

Sorry, you are more accurate with pricing. I disagree with inaccurate skin tones. Glossy screen is an issue with lighting, but had the VT and still saw some artifacts. Not that much better. VT not worth the extra $1700 plus I got U50 at costco with 2 year warranty. I can always sell it or move to another room for a flagship if I really need one.

Been following this thread for a while and just pulled the trigger on the P50U50 from Amazon after debating between this and the Sammy E530. In the end the reviews seem to indicate this is the better set as far as PQ goes and considering the recent price drop, it was a no-brainer. Cant wait to get it delivered and set up. Will definitely check out some of the settings that have been posted up - thanks everyone for sharing. Thankfully I have a light controlled room so some of the issues, such as glare should not be an issue.

Certainly entitled to your opinion but I wouldn't pass them off as "facts". I will give you credit for not trolling the VT50 forum, enjoy your set.

I do not see the "motion smoother" feature in the menus or owners manual. I suppose it could be hidden in one of the sub-menus, but I would wager it does not have it.

Update on the my $699 60 inch U50: Everything is good, I really think the picture is great. I had discussed earlier the skin tones were off slightly, but with a little adjustment and a week of playing time I would now rate them as excellent. Reflectivity could be an issue in a bright room but no issue in my bedroom with two windows with blinds and the typical bedroom nightstand lights.

"Facts"? What do you mean? Thanks

What do you mean by "facts"
Thanks

All I was getting at is you have some pretty strong opinions, not everyone agrees with your assessment. That is all

U50 has bottomed out at under $550 which made me decide to come in from 2006 9UK Industrial Plasma (looking forward to finally using HDMI) but six years later, do we still need to reduce contrast, if so to what? and run Burn-in DVDs, if so which one? or do anything else and for how long?

There is some conflicting info about this being unnecessary in 2012.


Thank you for clarifying.

What you are describing is called "Line Bleed."

I just picked up the U54 from Costco ($599) a week ago and this is my first plasma. I am fully impressed with the quality and I love everything about this set EXCEPT the line bleed I'm experiencing; which is quite a bit worse than my roommate's Samsung PN51D450. The picture quality of my U54 simply blows the Samsung out of the water.

Do you more experienced plasma users just accept line bleed as part of the plasma package and ignore it? (line bleed is inherent in plasma technology)

Is it really a lottery as to how bad LB will be out of the box?

I'm seriously considering returning/exchanging...
Edited by lmnopz - 11/14/12 at 5:27am

I have the same issue and am undecided yet if I keep the set or not. I only watch movies on the set (BD or DVD, no TV) and the worst offender is the green screen in the beginning of movie trailers (showing the movies rating, etc.).

However, not all green traliers show the same intensity. Some are much worse while others are almost non existent. That leads me to believe it is the source rather than the TV itself.

Blue move trailers have no line bleeding whatsoever.

Very true. For the $, probably the best buy this year. Period.

However, breaking period is required IMO (and shared by countless others) and one needs to use the full screen initially. Would not waste time with slides, but make sure during the break in period your whole screen is on. No black bars (vertical or horizontal).


I have no clue what you are saying here. The skin tones on my set are just about as good as they get.

Thanks. To get the details down then: You are saying that it is not necessary in 2012 to worry about initial contrast settings but to instead set the TV exactly as you want it set permanently - then leave it on an HD source which covers the full screen for the duration of the break-in period.

Time used to be 100 hours, is break-in period still 100 hours?


In other words, is this what most people suggest:
1. Set up the set exactly as you want it to be.
2. Leave it on an HD channel for 100 hours.