FAQ & RULES LINKS_ Plasma & Panasonic Plasma FAQ - Read First! - Page 33

can anyone please explain this to me, I don't want to ruin my new plasma.

I just got my new Panasonic 42PHD8UK and have set it up with a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD cable box going through a Denon AVR-1706 receiver though component cables. I have the following questions with my set up:
(1) It looks like I can change the signal for every channel (480i, 1080i, 720p, etc.). What would be the optimal signals to use for HD channels, regular network programming, etc.? What would be the optimal aspect ratios to set the display to?
(2) Once that is done, how can I tell that the display is showing that exact same signal (i.e. there is no degradation, etc. when going through the receiver)?
(3) What is the best display setting for optimal picture viewing?

Any input/pointers will be very helpful.. Also, any other suggestions on settings for the Denon AVR 1706 will be great. Thanks!

1) set the hi-def channels to whatever their native resolution is - as per Ken H's thread:
720p - ABC HD, ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD, FOX HD
1080i - Everything else

set SD channels to whatever looks best for you. your TV has a native resolution of 768p, so it will have to process any signal into that format. You might have the best luck with a 480i signal, but you might find 1080i or 720p or 480p look better to you too.

I have read that the "just" setting for SD programming is what is preferred, and it fills the whole screen so you won't have to be concerned with burn in. As for HD, your TV lacks the capability to resize the image, so what you see is what you get (keep this in mind when sending a 720 or 1080 signal to your TV even when it is from a SD station.)

2) you can always switch beween "through the receiver" and "straight to TV" in order to see if you notice any difference, but since you have 100 (mhz??) bandwidth for your component cables, you should be fine (it's the same as the denon 4806).

3) at least get the avia disk and do some calibration, but if you want the most out of your TV, pay to get it professionally calibrated

anyone out there have any input on this question?

in the first 100 hours you should avoid high white and black levels in your settings. picture (white level) and brightness (black level) should be at 0 or lower. 25 is a standard vivid setting (default) and should be avoided.

Bruzzi has a ton of great info for you to read here-

http://www.glaucobruzzi.com/plasma-faq/index.php?

Bruzzi, Are the new 60 series more ISF friendly than the 50 series?

Thank you Sir I will stay tuned.

OT:

How is this done? Isnt there only passthrough and upconvert-1/2?

Hello, new member here. Been doing my research and I had pretty much decided to purchase a Panasonic TH-50PX60U. Spent this afternoon visiting my local Best Buy, Circuit City and Sears. Sears was the only one with the set on display. Then the Sears salesman starts bad-mouthing the set. He says:
1) it won't last as long as a LCD
2) it uses a lot of electricity
3) images will burn in
4) non high-def channels look like crap

It's #4 that worries me the most. We have about a dozen high def channels. I estimate about 1/3 of our viewing is on non-high def channels. How is a non high-def signal on this set?

Then the Sears guy starts pushing a Sony set with "3LCD." Way cheaper too. But...the picture looked flat and dull compared to the Panny plasma. And the viewing angle on the Panny was much better.

Tonight, doing some research, I learned that Samsung has a 46" LCD, the LN-S4692D. This set seems to be about the same price as the Panny. How would you rate the Samsung 46" LCD versus the 50" Panny?

Low resolution images will always look bad when 'exploded' to a big screen. Just the way it is. Some will argue that at 42, ED does a better job than HD, but you are talking 50, so thats a mute point.

Its also has a lot to do with the quality of the signal. Only recently something happened to the SciFi channel where the picture really improved.

Given that he was totally wrong on points #1-3, why should he have any credibility on #4?

reason1 and JimP are absolutely right. SD signals look (even) worse when displayed on a larger screen and some channels and/or shows look better than others. Add to that the likelyhood you'll quickly get spoiled watching HD and before long, you'll probably find yourself watching only a few favorite shows on SD. They may not look great, but most of them will be more than acceptable.

In addition, each generation of plasmas has had better deinterlacing and scaling circuitry than it's predecessors, so the quality of SD presentation has improved over the years.

Of course, the only answer is to watch some SD programming on the set you are considering and see for yourself.

Will do. As you say, it's the only way. I believe our SD signal is good, so I'm hopeful the SD channels will look fine.

may i ask what kind of brackets you all are using to mount your 50inchers?

Don't know what bracket, but it was FREE. It can't hurt to ask, those things cost next to nothing, and its where they make a lot of money.

depends on your cable/sat box. some will have different settings for each channel, some will only let you choose one. His post stated that he could choose the resolution for each channel, but you may not be. If you have a question about that specific cable box I am afraid I can't help you as I don't have it, but you should be able to call customer service or get a service manual from the manufacturer online.

hello:

I am thinking of buying panni 37xx50u . But I have concern about connecting a pc to it. can I hack a good connection to ti with a dvi to hdmi adapter. I have a radeon 9800pro card and I believe ther is something called powerstrip to get all the video modes. Is it possible to get and display a 720p signal from computer?

thanx

Hi BruZZi,
excellent job.
I recommend a Panasonic Plasma due to your support here @ AVS.
We've bought a brand new model, please see:
http://www.produkte.panasonic.de/product/product.asp?sStr=5@-@1@13@40@41@@@@@TH-50PV60E@Viera|Plasma-Bildschirme@&altMod=N&upper=&prop=
Non of your factory menu access works on this model.
Any idea? I realized that the image is not centerd. Grayscale is also a bit off. I lke to do a perfect greyscale tracking, i own Progressive labs CA-6x and be ready to do the job.
I like to share my results to the community as soon as i finished my calibration.

Best
Armin

I know this question has been asked before can someone point me in the right direction.

I just got my 50" Panny from Visual Apex on wed. got all hooked and am very happy. But I noticed one thing thats has me wondering. I notice a really subtle fluttering on the screen. It almost looks like small smooth waves on a pond. Its not always noticeable but I catch it more on darker screen images. I have the unit hooker up to a Panamax power conditioner. Since I don't have my HD box from Comcast, I currently have the video feed going from my Pioneer 74thxi rec. to the Panny via an AudioQuest S-G S-video cable. I have changed cables around and have noted no difference.

Could this be a frequency setting issue? Any suggestion would be great. I have checked Buzzi's site but didn't find any anwsers, not saying its not there... I did use some of the info there to do some color calibration though.

my bad I meant Bruzzi in my last post.

Not sure a power conditioner will fix a ground issue if you have one in your house. Try it without the ground (not saying you should keep it that way if it fixes it).

Hey Bruzzi,

I've been following this forum for awhile and I believe you must be a Panasonic guru when it comes to plasmas. I just recently returned a Sammy(hpr5072) for a Panny (th50px500u) because of all the great things I've read about it (SD picture is like day and night difference when compared to the Sammy). I'm very satisfied with the quality and have gone through the 100 hour break in period.

My question is about the VGA input. I've recently tried hooking my PC up directly to the plasma with the VGA port. The picture came up and everything looked good but not great. A lot of the colors seemed too bright, especially the red color. The plasma ghosts out the color funciton when viewing from VGA and I couldn't get the bright red to dim down even through contrast and brightness settings that remained available from the tv. I tried fooling around with the video card (Gforce FX5200) setting but I couldn't get it right because it'll look good when viewing some movies but looks too dark or too bright when viewing others.

I was wondering if you ran into similar problems when hooking a PC up to the the plasma or is there any way I could download a monitor driver that Windows XP can detect if it is a plasma monitor rather than using the "default monitor."

well I pulled all the power cables and signal cables, reorganized everything, keeping power cables away as much as possible from the signal cables. Problem is no longer there, power conditioner is still plugged into to same outlet as before. So its really hard to say what the problem may have been exactly. I think it may have been power cables running parallel with my signal cables.

Uh...S-Video....are you serious?

I will try hooking up mine this weekend and let you know how VGA is on my 500u.

Bruzzi,

Just saw the pic of the PD60U. Looks the same as the PD50U but the specs on the width of the 60U show that it is 42" where as the 50U is 42 3/64"

Also the 60U looks like a darker shade of grey than the 50U. Can you confirm if there is an actual difference between the 50U and 60U?

I'm kind of disappointed in Panasonic that there is no change in the look. Maybe the 42"ED is reaching near the bottom on the price/margin scale so they are trying to invest as little as possible in R&D for the ED to remain profitable.

I am buying one of these. Which one should I buy and why?

I am not sure if this is the right place for this question, but here it goes.

First off, thanks to all who have input, I am a longtime reader, but first time forum participant.

I recently purchased the new Panasonic Plasma and while out visiting a local electronics store I was told that I should have both a line conditioner and a ups hooked up to this in the case of any powerline surges, blackouts or lightning. The sales person mentioned that the bulb needs to cool down and with the power cutting off, it does not have a chance to do this and that I risk ruining my tv. Can someone tell me if this is necessary or is someone trying to sell me a product I do not need. I have regular panamax surge protector on it now, however, that is about 5 years old, do you think it may be time to purchase something newer and perhaps more current to products being produced?

I have considered buying both a conditioner/proctector and a ups for this, also, I have a Samsung DLP in my theater room, which I was also told by the sales person would require the same protection setup.

I do not have a problem purchasing these items, my question to the forum is, which direction should I be looking at and what would be the best to invest in, I know this open alot of personal opinions, but I am willing to listen to all input you may provide. I have been considering Monster, Panamax, and Belkin PureAV.

If you could offer me any advice, it would be greatly appreciated.