The Official Panasonic UT50 Settings/Issues Thread - Page 23

Woulu U make it easy and post links on how to do calibration and also the link to the settings you were given?

Link to UT50 settings

My room has windows, but at night it's quite dark. I'm not having an issue with lighting in room, although I agree it does impact quality of picture, but for me minimal. As for foray into service menu, it was my first time. Just don't do anything stupid- there are function buttons assigned and indicated on the service screen., basically 1, 2, 3, 4- Make sure you get at least 200 to 300 hours on your set before performing these enhancements.

See post #250 this thread

Ok while waiting for my ut 50 i'm looking at Budget AVR's. If i settle on a budget AVR like the Denon 1612 when they say HDMI pass thru does that mean the AVR will NOT mess with the video signal?

Obviously important cheap hardware doesn't mess with my picture!

Any help with this would be great!

I just bought a P50UT50 last Sunday (1/20) since the price was just too hard to pass up, but still haven't unboxed it as I'm still kind of undecided about plasma for OUR situation. We're currently using a 2006 Sony RPTV that was basically a lemon and had its optical block replaced once and just waiting for it to kick the bucket, so looking for a cheaper TV to take its place since it's not our main family TV.

This set would be in the basement so no windows, which is great, but it's our main gaming TV, which is bad. I also play Call of Duty, sometimes for a few hours at a time. In the past, we typically only watched a movie here or there at this location. After reading more and more of these threads, it seems like while plasma is better PQ wise, it might not be best for our uses?

If your primary use is gaming you would be better off with an LED imo

I definitely wouldn't buy a plasma if the main use is going to be gaming.

Some gaming is ok, as IR will get wiped out by full screen content watching TV and movies. But if it's going to be mostly gaming and not that much else, IR will be a much bigger problem--especially if there are a lot of long sessions of the same game like CoD.

I just sent back a 55" UT50 and got the 55" Panny ET5 LED set myself. Mainly because the buzzing on bright scenes on it bugged me. But I had also gotten worried by some IR after some 3-4 hour gaming sessions. I'm very pleased with the LED personally (see the UT50 thread here, or the Panny 2012 LCD thread in the LCD subarea for more impressions).

I agree completely and I am a diehard plasma guy occasional gaming yes but as a primary gaming set no

EDIT
Edited by Bartol10000 - 1/28/13 at 6:15pm

Thank you guys for your honest opinions. I'll be taking back the set this weekend most likely. Now on to deciding what to replace with...

As noted, I've very happy with the 55" Panny ET5 I replaced my UT50 with. Maybe keep an eye on those and see if they go on sale again (was $960 when I bought)--it was the only really fairly high rated (customer reviews, professional reviews are so-so) 3D LED set I saw within $100 or so of what I paid for the UT50. Other than some Vizios, and I had a bad experience with a Vizio plasma years back so I'm wary of them.

Sony and Samsung make some really good LEDs and LCDs if you can find a deal on a model you like.

Plasma's are great gaming television's IMO the pixel response time means no motion blur with fast moving games. I've gamed on several big screen LCD's and can't stand the motion blur that is associated with them. 120hz and 240hz are useless for gaming because it introduces input lag. I think if you watch your gaming sessions for the first 150-200 hours you'll be fine. I left my television on for about 6 day's straight to get me past the break in period faster, when I wasn't watching television I ran D-Nice's slides. I've had my UT50 since the end of August and play a few 3-4 hour gaming sessions a week, COD & Halo 4 manly and my television doesn't suffer from BURN IN. It does have IMAGE RETENTION after gaming but it lasts no longer than 5 minutes. I keep a USB with D-Nice's slides plugged into the TV and run them occasionally to check for IR and after one cycle of his slides whatever IR that was present is wiped clean. Good luck on your quest for a great gaming television.

LB

They're great for gaming if you are mixing up content. Not great for the hardcore gamer types who play the same games for hours on end every night as the IR gets more severe in those cases due to the repeated same static images for long sessions and from not running much other full screen content to help it clear up.

Great for someone who plays some games but also watches a ton of movies and tv. But I wouldn't recommend a plasma for a TV that will primarily be used for gaming. Especially if it's going to be a lot of the same game (i.e. call of duty almost every night for a few hours etc.). I got some IR from Borderlands 2 after some 3-5 hour sessions that took a few hours to go away. Same with some times that I watched ESPN for several hours. Just a bit annoying really, but is bothersome as I'll sometimes game all day when I'm really into something, or like to leave ESPN or CNN on all day in the background when working at home etc. and I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that with the plasma after getting some IR from shorter sessions.

Again though, I'm not bothered by motion blur and don't care about getting close to a reference picture (or even knowing what that is) so I'm fine with LED. I just gave the UT50 a shot due to being cheaper. It's the last time I'll try plasma as it's just not worth the buzzing I've heard on every plasma I've been around, worries about IR etc. since I don't really care that much about the PQ improvements. Hopefully some new tech that will come along that matches plasma PQ and has no IR and no buzz or other sound (as I'm very sensitive to such things) and we can get the best of both worlds.


I'm not trying to rail against plasmas by any means. They offer a great picture, especially for the price. But one reason I took a shot on plasma again was there are so many posts saying they're fine for gaming, that IR isn't an issue at all any more, that buzzing isn't as bad as it used to be etc. But I ended up having the exact same bad experience with IR and buzzing that I had when I tried plasma previously back in 2007 or so.

Part of it could just be lousy look with getting faulty units. But i think it's more that plasma just isn't for everyone. Some are going to get IR more often (and have it stick around longer) as they play games for longer sessions than others, or watch the same couple of channels all the time. Some people are more prone to hearing buzzing. People need all the info so they can be aware of the things to consider, and see what experiences people with similar usage habits had with plasma etc.

I just don't see plasma as a good option for someone who doesn't mix up content. If it's mostly full screen content with no logos, then fine--no mix needed. But if it's mostly games, or mostly ESPN or mostly 4:3 content or mostly 2:35:1 content then IR is going to be a much bigger issue than for the average member who's naturally doing a mix of TV channels, movies, sports, games etc.
Edited by dmaul1114 - 1/29/13 at 12:03pm

Am I missing Neo's settings for the UT50? Everyone in the thread seems to reference them but I can't see his initial post.

He took them down. A post with his initial settings is still up in the other UT50 series thread.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1406618/official-panasonic-ut50-series-discussion-thread/30#post_21963221

I started with those and used the WoW disc and found they were pretty spot on. Had a couple I ended up one or two clicks different than his (and he notes ranges for contrast etc.).

HDMI pass through means that the audio/video can go directly to the TV even if the receiver is off. It's handy for people who want to watch TV without using the full home theater setup, and use the TV's speakers instead. It won't effect how the video is processed, and the Denon 1612 will serve you well.

Digital signals are much harder to degrade than analog signals of the past. I have the lowest end Denon model--the 1312--and I can tell no difference in the picture with the Bluray going through it vs. plugged directly into the TV. And it does 3D fine as well. So you should be good to go with the 1612.

The 1312 is very bare bones feature wise. But I really don't care about features (and I'm not an audiophile). I just want 5.1 sound and needed an HDMI switcher so it fit the bill for $150.
Edited by dmaul1114 - 1/30/13 at 5:31pm

Okay folks, I just gave Anikun's WB settings (via Buddha's click procedure) a shot on my 50UT50. The colors popped, skin tone was great.. but the blacks... they were red-ish! Like, disturbingly RED! I imagine this is because not every TV has the same WB settings from default so I wanted to see if there was a way I could combat this tinting if I show you my defaults.

R-Cut -- 80
G-Cut -- 80
B-Cut -- 80

R-Drv -- FF
G-Drv -- F0
B-Drv -- 7C

All-Cut -- 80
All-Drv -- FF

Any ideas how to correct those reddish blacks? That seemed to be the only issue I could see. Thanks!

UPDATE: So it may have been the movie's fault! I tested the settings at the beginning-of-time scene from the Blu-Ray "The Tree of Life" and that shot may have just been tinted a little more red per the swirling clouds. I tested "Constantine" and "Apollo 13" and they looked pretty solid. Maybe I'm just being a little paranoid, lol. Is it worth it to mention though that when it's a black image, there are only red "pixels" dancing (phosphors, if that's the correct term)? No green or blue to be found.
Edited by joeyohhh - 1/30/13 at 5:55pm

Definitely because of wb variation the only way to measure greyscale accurately is with a meter no way around it.

Your RPTV is pro bably a KDS55A200 and Sony replaced most Opptical Blocks so they are still working with a bulb change about every 2 years. Sony gets $250 for the bulbs but they can be bought with the cage for about 100 and even cheaper without the cage....but one must use vynal gloves to work on the bulb change if messing with the cage. I still have this same TV and it is still working but now I have the 50Ut650 in the Bedroom I don't want to watch the Sony. Sony is not replacing the Optical block any more but is offering a replacement TV (last years model) for a killer price.

I don't bother to feed the vidio through my Denon from D* but connect the Box to the Denon 2309CI through Optial cable. Cable and D* are sending poor audio any way. I use the Denon for Blue Ray to TV as well as radio, IPod, etc. The Blu Ray passes through the HCP port and the input automatically selects multi Channel and then I have all of the Audssey commands. Depending on the source material sometines I switch to PLII or Neo Cinema but don't notice much differance. If you want info on HDMI swtcher, check out Monoprice.

Hello,

Couple days ago I got i1 Pro and did one test on may 42UT50E. Calibration settings applied from Anikun07
Bellow first my attempt

On white levels seems ok, but dark levels not correct. I know that t i1 Pro is not accurate on dark levels, but there is to much...

I think RGB-CutOff need to adjust.

What LED did you end up with?

Just using the receiver works for me. A big reason I upgraded my old receiver to this one was to reduce cable clutter by getting rid of optical and component cables and just having HDMI cables from gadgets to the receiver and then just one HDMI cable from it to the TV.


Panasonic TC-L55ET5. Got it last week for $959.99 from Amazon. I'm super pleased with it so far. Blacks and motion were better on the UT50. But I like bright scenes and games better on this, no buzz and zero worries about IR. I would have went with this set from the get go if it had been on sale, but took a chance on the UT50 since it was $850 while this one was $1,260 when I first started looking (and quickly jumped back up around there).
Edited by dmaul1114 - 1/31/13 at 1:45pm

Glad to hear you like it!

Whatever works for you. I wanted to eliminate cables (ease set up as I move pretty often) not just hide them.

I'm not an A/V enthusiast so I just go with decent low end equipment and the simplest wiring hook up. Only complication is I like having 5.1 surround, so that's always a lot of clutter/hassle with the speakers and their wires. Gaming too with the mutiple consoles. But after this gen I'll pare down to one console max as I don't game enough to justify owning multiple ones any more. So that will help with clutter too.

It appears that, after reading the service manual for the 60ut50, that every 60ut50 TV has the same default white balance settings. I'd imagine that's the same for each of the sizes. Or, does panasonic adjust each panel independently ?

Hi everyone and great thread. This is my first post and i would like to specialy thank anikun for his posts and settings. I bought the 50ut50 and am in love with my tv. Its driving my girlfriend nuts because everytime we sit down to watch tv im messing with settings lol she will never understand to her it all looks and sounds the same. My question is how much of a difference does it make on anikuns custom settings when changing the values in the service menu? Im already happy with the way it is and dont want to mess anything up.

One more thing so far the only thing i have not been happy with is watching hockey with any of these settings until lastnight i was flipping through my settings and i stopped on vivid which normaly looks very bad but i may have found use for vivd. The ice looked amazing and the puck and players popped so well with amazing detail. I did drop the contrast to 90 just becasue i hate running anything max. i will try it again on saturday and tweak the settings furthur in vivid. Go Leafs GO!