The Official Panasonic U50/54 Owners' Thread - Page 4

I've tried changing all those settings, still doing the same thing, thanks for the help though!

Amazon just dropped their price to $699 for the U50 and $799 for the UT50! Talk about bang for your buck!
Edited by mektarus - 6/11/12 at 2:40pm

What a great TV. Went to Costco for my price adjustment.

It has even motivated me to buy an Xbox 360... I haven't gamed in nearly half a decade (just graduated from University today actually (that's my reasoning)) so I'm stoked!
People mentioned IR & burn-in... I haven't noticed any at all on my TV.

This price drop on the UT50 has me contemplating returning my U54 to Sam's and picking up the UT50 from Amazon. This is my first plasma and I've been very impressed with the picture on the U54.

I just wanted to thank everyone on this thread for great comments and advice. It made my decision to buy this TV much easier. I already have a Roku device for internet streaming and don't have any interest in 3D, so getting the best TV picture for my money at less than $1,000 was my goal. This forum made the decision a no-brainer.

For those looking for another great deal on these TVs, try your local Sears store. Costco was out of them, so I went to Sears and they have them on sale for $699 through June 15, 2012. AND, if you have a Sears charge card, you get either 18 months to pay or another 10 percent ($70) off. I chose the latter and got the TV for $629, plus tax. Took it home in my SUV so no shipping charge either. And the picture, after following the recommended calibration settings, is sweet.

BTW, I know the focus here is on picture quality, but another factor for me is product quality and reliability. Consumer Reports shows that Panasonic TVs have the best QC in terms of repairs and serious problems reported at 3 percent for Plasma TVs. LG is at 8 percent and Samsung is at 5 percent. Just another reason to like the Panasonics.

Thanks again.

The U50 and UT50 are great values right now, with very good pic quality as well as good build quality.

Well, I got my 50U50 a couple of days ago and I am really impressed so far. This is my first plasma (replacing a DLP) and I was really worried about glare and how the PQ would compare to our previous TV, Let me say that so far I could not be any happier. The picture is fabulous, even with brightness and contrast turned down for break-in! And, while the screen is practically a mirror, glare has not been an issue at all (maybe we're just lucky with viewing angles).

For the first 100 - 150 hours I am keeping the brightness and contrast both at 30 and I am alternating between slides and regular viewing (NO BARS!) and occasionally running the scrolling bar. I am also refraining from gaming during the break-in period.

What a great deal this TV is!!

PS - can you see total viewing hours in the service menu? If so, how do you access it?

Thanks

Thanks for the response Lefty. This is my first plasma and I've read so much (too much?) about IR and burn-in that I am definitely paranoid. I'm trying to fast track the break-in process so I have the TV running 24/7 and I run the slides when no one is watching TV (overnight, etc.) so that I can control what is being displayed. They still count towards break-in time don't they?

As far as brightness/contrast goes, I've read 50/50 or less and I've even seen some recommend 0/0 so I settled somewhere in the middle. Even though it sounds really low it doesn't really look all the dark. Is there a benefit to having them set higher during break-in?

Thanks.

Here's the video I used to break-in my U50. Just put it on a thumb drive, plug it in, & let it play during the day while you're at work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4gE_Xez-fQ

Hey audioman, what format did you convert the video to? I'm having trouble finding a format that the TV(U54) can play.

Hey Neo, are you still planning to calibrate a U50/54. I'm really interested to see what your setting would be.

Thanks.

Are you trying to download it as an FLV file? You can get the MOV file from the link under the video description, which is where I got mine. I don't think I had to do any converting before playing it.

I put it on my USB drive and the tv says no movies found. I tried .mov, .mp4, and .mpg and none of them can be found by the TV Is there some sort of setting I need to change on the TV itself to be able to recognize the file?

Picked mine up from Sam's Club a couple of weeks ago. Other than the first 20 seconds it took to realize that Standard mode is awful, I'm digging it so far. Excellent PQ. Pop Hugo Blu-Ray at 1080p in, sit back and be amazed.

If I had to find something to complain about, I've noticed what I only know how to describe as "jumpy" motion watching BR or playing Xbox. It's just not smooth when there's a lot of movement, almost like it's skipping refreshes or frames. Also, a couple of games had pure white text sliding across a pure black background and the text was hard to read with a lot of "jitteryness." But we're currently space limited and only sitting 10 feet from the TV... thinking that might have something to do with it? My eyes tend to see these things before others do, but I'm a graphic designer by trade so picking out image/movement issues is my day job. It's a little disappointing as I avoided LCD solely because I can't stand blurry motion and overly digital feeling picture quality. Anyone else notice this or is it just me or my set?

Even with the above, for $650, I'm super happy with it.

The U series is better than the UT? How so? The UT has a 2500 Focused field drive, while the U is just 600, plus the UT has other additional Picture features 'and' 3D.
People are saying the UT looks better than the ST50 and that's because the ST50 apperantly has that Anti Glare filter(correct me if i'm wrong)
that delivers an inferior picture.

I'm curious about input lag. People can say it's great or this and that all they want, but it's all about the measurements.

Gaurantee the jumpy/frame skipping is because you have your BR player set to 24hz instead of 60hz...Switch it to 60 and you'll be amazed by how much the problem is reduced. As for gaming, if you're playing a title that runs in 30 frames per second
get ready for some nasty frame doubling. On LCD's it's less noticable because the lousy inherent motion blur basically hides it, but because Plasma motion handeling is miles better and closer to crt the actual
frame doubleing effect is totaly noticable...It's there when you're manouvering/spinning the camera around. 3rd and first person based titles suffer the most.

So does having the same black levels apply to the Panny X5? and is there a difference between the new 2500 Focused field drive for the UT series
in comparison to the older 600 field drive? Or is it just marketing bs? While plasma is 'close', CRT is still the king of motion handeling
PLUS they don't produce any of that nasty dithering effect.

The U going by the specs just does 600hz. if the UT's higher hz really does improve motion than I'm already sold on the UT,

Hello,
First time poster. Just picked up a UT50. Looks great but I tried running a blu ray movie off my PS3 last night and I'm noticing 'blue lines' appear throughout the movie. Don't know if it's my PS3, or the movie itself, but it's really annoying. Does this problem have a history? I don't want to lug it back to the store if I don't have to... so any advice would be very appreciated. thanks.
Update: Just found out that the problem was imbedded with the movie Super 8. DOH!
Edited by Rockulus - 6/21/12 at 1:05pm

You were right about the TV not being able to read those formats.. I guess I used my PS3 to play the vid. If you don't have anything that can play the file for your TV, try converting it with handbrake. It's a great program to have, & you'll most likely used it again in the future if you don't already have it.

Anyone know the input lag on the U50? (in milliseconds)

My guess is 16ms...Which is the lowest it can get. Well hopefully it is in the U & UT's case!
I'm leaning towards the 50" UT....BUt there's still a teensy weensy chance that i'd opt for the U.

As an anniversary gift, we gave my stepsister's family a 50U50 and I'm jealous as hell. I have a 42PX80U and this looks way better to me. Also easier to calibrate. I came back later with my calibration discs and other than contrast, I only gave the TV minor adjustments here and there.

From my adjustments:

Cinema Mode
Contrast/Picture: 83 (seemed pretty darn obvious to me from both my Spears & Muncil disc and my Monster Calibration disc, which is unusual since contrast is usually hard to adjust on my TV)
Brightness: 56? I forget the exact number, but it was only one notch above it's default.
Color: 49 (again, just one notch difference)
Tint: -1

No other major adjustments.

I don't know...it may be time for me to upgrade.

Ok, I've had my 50U50 for 2 weeks now and the TV's been great with a fabulous picture. However, on 4 separate occasion the screen has inexplicably just suddenly gone black. The TV appears to still be on as the red power indicator is still lit. If I turn the TV off and back on then it's fine. Has anyone else had anything like this happen? I guess i'll be returning it.

I am looking into buying either the U50 or the UT50. I really don't like 3d at all (and will probably never use it) if u can believe that, I just would rather watch 2d. Does anyone know if the UT is any better than the U other than it has 3d capability? I heard the viewing angle on the U50 is very poor, and the salesman at one the retailers told me the UT50 has a much better panel.

I will be using the tv for ps3 gaming and blu rays in a fairly dark room. When I move to my apt, I will have to buy good blinds

I can buy the U50 for $799.99 CND, or the UT50 for $999.99 CND.

Is the UT really worth the extra $200?

I went with the U50 over the UT50, because I too do not care for 3D. The viewing angles on my U50 seem to be just as good as any other plasma in my home. Not sure how much better the actual picture quality is of the UT series is over the U series though.
Edited by cv1981 - 7/1/12 at 11:32am