The Official Panasonic U50/54 Owners' Thread - Page 15

Originally Posted by NDKYD81 

And as far as the 48hz flicker on the panny, there's two things about it that I have noticed. I always use it, and after a short time you don't notice it and it's more noticeable when viewing from the side. And it is more evident with brightness, turning the brightness down pretty much gets rid of it.

Originally Posted by wsc 

hi
just wondering what tv settings do i use to running d-nice's slides?

Originally Posted by rclarkrep 

Congratulations on purchase price. I paid $549. This Panasonic is a STEAL!!!
For the users that don't need internet capabilities and all the BS Bells and Whistles. $499 for a 50" Plasma with close to same picture Quality a last years VT30 can't go wrong!!!
I love the richness of color, blacks, clarity etc.
This set is best value with best picture in it's class.

Originally Posted by lmnopz 

My only hope is exchanging for another set and crossing my fingers that l'll win the line bleed lottery, but I feel like this issue exists in all U54s.

Originally Posted by Panoppolite 

There is very little difference in HDMI cables. Monster Cable and Best Buy have foisted this misinformation on the general public that spending upwards of $50 for an HDMI cable is worth it. It is never worth it. By the time a cable hits $15, there is nothing a manufacturer can do to improve its ability to transfer a digital signal.
There is a company where I live that caters to other companies putting in security systems with multiple cameras and monitors. They sell highly insulated quality HDMI cables that cost $1.00 a foot and are used in environments with 600V wiring feeding presses and various heavy machinery. Lots of electrical and magnetic interference that sometimes makes unplugged fluorescent tubing emit light. Best Buy wants $50 for a cable that shouldn't cost more than $10. The company I refer to is Stark Electonics and it is on the internet and I recommend them. You can get a 25 ft HDMI cable for just under $25.

Originally Posted by fastsvo 

I just bought the Panasonic U54 from Costco @ $499 and picked up the extended warrant for another $29 (that was a no brainer).
So since Friday night, I have been running the slides on slow mode and with everything set @ 50%. At this point I am currently @ 58 hours of break in time.
I am starting to have thoughts of defecting from this process and just enjoy the damn tv but be mindful of 4:3 programming, sports games, broadcast logos, etc...
What do you guys think?
I do plan on playing games on this unit so this is why I was so adamant of breaking it in, but like someone mentioned in the previous posts, I am not necessarily going to use D-nice's settings (?), so I kind of wonder if I am wasting my time (and life of the panel) by running this break in process.
If in the future, I do indeed experience burn in, should I just watch other programming in order to get rid of it or run the slides again? Or is the unit SOL?
Thanks in advance!

Originally Posted by Panoppolite 

Its no surprise that so many have issues with burned in images on their plasma. Running CONTRAST which is WHITE LEVEL at 100 is a sure-fire way to burn in images and have repair issues early in the TV's life, as well as shortening its useful life by a decade if not more. These TV's were designed for CONTRAST and BRIGHTNESS around 50 on the scale of 1 to 100. Panasonic did not set contrast at 100 on Cinema, Custom and VIVID because that is where it should be set. Its set there because before the TV is shipped, it is given a voltage check across its circuits to prevent shipping a dud. That is why those modes are set at 100. The Standard mode at 50 is approximately where the TV's should be set and its probably set there as the final step when the menu and circuits have undergone their final inspection. (I worked in manufacturing for 30 years for Fortune 100, 500 and 1000 manufacturers.) The 100 setting is for testing, not routine picture watching.
Anyone set the volume at 100"? Brightness at 100? Color at 100? Sharpness at 100? Do you mean to say that although nothing else is set to 100, you just assume that Contrast should be at its maximum? Wow, and the human eye, on average, can only discern a contrast difference of around 1000:1 on a displayed image. Some people with really good vision may do a little better than that.
CONTRAST controls WHITE LEVEL, not picture contrast. It affects picture contrast but turning it up to the max does not increase your ability to see the contrast in an image. CONTRAST and BRIGHTNESS are SMPTE terms decided a long time ago. Someone seems to be confusing WHITE LEVEL with the ridiculous claims of 3,000,000:1 contrast by manufacturers.
Go ahead, burn them out if you want. Then remember you read this post, Friend. Crank those modes down to Contrast 50 and then calibrate the television. Always start in the middle, not the maximum anywhere. You'll get a much better outcome. The TV will last longer. It will use less electricity. It will have a better picture too.
(SMPTE: Society of Motion Picture Technicians and Engineers. The ones that designed movie theaters.)

Originally Posted by cv1981 

Personally I would just enjoy the set, I don't think the slides will help against any image retention, I have nearly 1500 hours on my set and it still gets stubborn image retention. I have found when I do get image retention from gaming huds, generally takes around 150 hours for them to totally disappear and that is with just watching other programming.

Originally Posted by squeakybirnbaum 

Do you play the same game with the same hud quite a bit? Just wondering how sensitive these TV's are in regard to image retention. I don't game much but was just wondering about something like watching an NBA game with the scoreboard in the same spot for a few hours.

Originally Posted by fastsvo 

Does breaking in the panel using the slides reduce the chances of IR or a burned image?
It sounds like this is bound to happen to every Plasma out there and perhaps there are a few items of recourse available?
1) watch more tv and watch it disappear
2) run the slides?
3) run a white wash?
4) run pixel jogger?
5) leave it on a snowy picture?
I want to be careful with my new plasma and allow the panel to have it's best shot at performance and long life, but down the line if I do get some IR or worse, a burned image, I would like to be certain there will be some way to fix it.

Originally Posted by Panoppolite 

Its no surprise that so many have issues with burned in images on their plasma. Running CONTRAST which is WHITE LEVEL at 100 is a sure-fire way to burn in images and have repair issues early in the TV's life, as well as shortening its useful life by a decade if not more. These TV's were designed for CONTRAST and BRIGHTNESS around 50 on the scale of 1 to 100. Panasonic did not set contrast at 100 on Cinema, Custom and VIVID because that is where it should be set. Its set there because before the TV is shipped, it is given a voltage check across its circuits to prevent shipping a dud. That is why those modes are set at 100. The Standard mode at 50 is approximately where the TV's should be set and its probably set there as the final step when the menu and circuits have undergone their final inspection. (I worked in manufacturing for 30 years for Fortune 100, 500 and 1000 manufacturers.) The 100 setting is for testing, not routine picture watching.
Anyone set the volume at 100"? Brightness at 100? Color at 100? Sharpness at 100? Do you mean to say that although nothing else is set to 100, you just assume that Contrast should be at its maximum? Wow, and the human eye, on average, can only discern a contrast difference of around 1000:1 on a displayed image. Some people with really good vision may do a little better than that.
CONTRAST controls WHITE LEVEL, not picture contrast. It affects picture contrast but turning it up to the max does not increase your ability to see the contrast in an image. CONTRAST and BRIGHTNESS are SMPTE terms decided a long time ago. Someone seems to be confusing WHITE LEVEL with the ridiculous claims of 3,000,000:1 contrast by manufacturers.
Go ahead, burn them out if you want. Then remember you read this post, Friend. Crank those modes down to Contrast 50 and then calibrate the television. Always start in the middle, not the maximum anywhere. You'll get a much better outcome. The TV will last longer. It will use less electricity. It will have a better picture too.
(SMPTE: Society of Motion Picture Technicians and Engineers. The ones that designed movie theaters.)

Originally Posted by Greymulkin 

Can someone link to or repost the calibration settings in the CNET review? I read the whole thing, but didn't see them. I didn't, however, watch the video - is that where they were?
I got a TC-P60U50 from Fry's for $700 (before tax) and I am liking it so far. My complaints:
1.) Line bleed! It's not bad, but it's there, I notice and find it distracting.
2.) Buzzing on white screens. Not really loud and only when they're silence.
3.) Screen reflectivity. The room where it lives is completely light-controlled, but my limited option of lamp placement makes things rather difficult.
4.) Skin tones seem off, even in Cinema mode. I don't have any good calibration disks though.
Has anyone used NuView's / MightySheild AR flims or some time of museum acrylic? Seems like they would be perfect for these sets and relatively cheap, to boot. Just wondering how they would affect colors.
Unfortunately, I only have an Xbox 360 with component cables to hook up to it. I was using the XFINITY app to watch TV, and no matter what tweaking I did, I couldn't get the black in Weeds to look right. Maybe it's just a bad signal?

Originally Posted by squeakybirnbaum 

When do you notice the line bleed? During a movie or just with commercials and stuff like that? I should be getting this TV soon if Panasonic.com ever gets them back i stock. I'm hoping that the line bleed isn't as annoying as the banding and light bleed and flashlighting I would have probably had to deal with with an LED TV.

Originally Posted by Greymulkin 

Almost any time there are menu-like elements on screen. Although I was watching a newscast where there was a cityscape behind the anchor and i noticed line bleed across the person's face - essentially it was coming from all the square lights in the buildings. This was also a broadcast signal so YMMV.
I didn't notice it at all when play Halo Anniversary.

Originally Posted by Greymulkin 

Almost any time there are menu-like elements on screen. Although I was watching a newscast where there was a cityscape behind the anchor and i noticed line bleed across the person's face - essentially it was coming from all the square lights in the buildings. This was also a broadcast signal so YMMV.
I didn't notice it at all when play Halo Anniversary.

Originally Posted by cv1981 

That's when I notice the line bleed on my U50, I see it occasionally during video game playing, but most of the time it shows up as solid lines shooting through peoples heads.

Originally Posted by squeakybirnbaum 

So would you guys still recommend this TV? I was going back and forth between a 73" DLP or the 60u50. Lines through peoples heads seems like a bit of a problem. I'm not sure how more people don't complain about that.

Originally Posted by Greymulkin 

To be fair, this was an OTA signal and my set hasn't been broken in / calibrated. I'm really torn - I like the 60 screen and the price. It's just... you'd think by now they would have sorted out these drawbacks.

Originally Posted by squeakybirnbaum 

So would you guys still recommend this TV? I was going back and forth between a 73" DLP or the 60u50. Lines through peoples heads seems like a bit of a problem. I'm not sure how more people don't complain about that.

Originally Posted by squeakybirnbaum 

Do you have the color or contrast cranked up pretty high? I'm wondering if that makes the line bleed more noticeable.

Originally Posted by cv1981 

It doesn't happen very often at all, when it has happened there was usually some long horizontal object in the background.

Originally Posted by Greymulkin 

I'll check it out when I get home. I had run a DVD calibration disc on my xbox 360. It had me setting contrast really high, around 80-90, but brightness down at 17. I think I had a setting messed up on the Xbox so I'll re-do it with the right setting (it was the black-level setting, I think I mistakenly left it on "expanded" when fooling around).

Originally Posted by TrevorS 

Now, I just need to wrap my head around this image retention thing. I used to view a lot of broadcast 4:3, but since Comcast went digital, everything appears to be either LBX or 16:9. Guess between broadcast and movies, LBX is what I most need to be careful of, complication being I really prefer to view OAR. Do these sets get much more forgiving of 4:3 and LBX after 100 to 200 hours?