Official New Panny thread: 42PD50, PX50, PX500 - Page 20

Napple, I don't know the exact dimensions, but having taken the box off I can estimate that it is 50" wide, 18"deep and 34-36" tall. I think that most SUV's would be able to handle it, even something like the Acura MDX. I wish that I could be exact...sorry.

37" H, 50 " L, 21" W.

It's *much* bigger in the box than out, as you might imagine. I didn't stand a chance of getting it into my Grand Cherokee. The important measurement, vertical height, was 37+". I think otherwise it would have fit.

Since this is my first post (although I've been anally reading this forum for months prior to my purchase), I'll mention that the PD50, my first "really nice" TV, leaves me drooling in slack-jawed amazement at the picture. My brother-in-law was busting on me about how my Panny was smaller than his LCD RPTV, until I turned it on for him. He shut up immediately and hasn't said a word about it since.

Alright, new owners, let's see some pictures.

plasmahouse HAS 37PX50U IN-STOCK

so has anyone figured out how to get into the service menu yet? i tried setting autoscan to cable and i couldn't get it to work. (i went to autoscan and selected cable, then pressed return, which brought up the menu question "change will be lost, continue?" then did the other steps, but no luck.

I just got my PD 50 from circuit city today and set up 4 hrs ago.
I am in a unique position of having lived with the PD25 for 15 days before I decided to exchange it for the PD50 and save approx 500 dollars!!

The pluses as compared to the PD 25
1 better performance on SD analog much less jaggies
2. grey scale ramp on Avia disc smoother than PD25- those extra shades do make a difference!!
3 PERFECT COLOUR DECODING- absolutely no green , or red push by using avia disc- allowing gorgeous colours out of the box.
4 zoom adjust is cool for SD - I can set it so that less of the heads get cut off and the channel logos at the bottom cant be seen ( I mostly watch in zoom mode)
5 No white crush at all- I had noticed it quite a bit in the PD25


Minuses
1 No one has figured out the access to service menu. The old approach does not work.
2 does not look as nice
3 Very annoying and slow menu system


All inall the picture quality is outstanding and definitly better than PD25 out of box.

As far as the question of the generation of glass- one thing is for sure the glass is much darker than the PD 25 making me assume that either the glass is a different generation or has different coatings

Even though I love the PQ of this TV as I have mentioned above I discoverd a wierd phenomenon.

When I had used my PD 25 with auto scan it found 3 HD channels - NBC, CBS, and PBS which I loved watching. I think these are the only OTA channels we get here in Buffalo.
When PD50 performed the auto scan- it found 3 HD channels which are generally encrypted- HDnet, HDmovies and ESPN HD. It did not detect the other three channels through cable.

Has any one else had this problem - if so is there a solution which does not involve taking the digital service from the cable company along with a STB ?

The channel might not be displayed with the same number on the PD50 as it was on the PD25.

For example, for me PBS-HD is actually on 91-1, but I see it as 15-1 on the PD50 because of PSIP (the ATSC data that tells the TV how to display a channel name.) PSIP implementations appear to be different from station to station and how PSIP is interpreted seems different from TV to TV.

I assume you looked at all the digital channels in manual mode that were listed after your autoscan (the digital ones are of the form #-# instead of a single number.) The broadcast channels should have been identified by their station ID under "caption".

If that doesn't help, then there may be an error in the way the PD50 handles PSIP, or (more likely, I think) in the way your cable company handles rebroadcast of your local stations.

I asked this question in another thread but it was posted a while ago, and I got no response. Here it is again: I am ready to buy the 7uy commericail 42 ed, but I wonder if the difference between it and the newer PD50 would make the latter a better choice even though I dont need the tuner, speaker, stand, etc.

But how significant is the difference? Or is there a difference?

To quote R. Harkness he has never seen a consumer model (even the onyx at 3X the price) that compares with the commercial model. If this is still true with the PD50 I do not know.

I don't know if you saw this or not:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&pagenumber=20

I now have it hanging on the wall. I will take some pictures tomorrow or Wednesday

I also found that the Cable auto scan produced HD channel numbers that were not the same as the ones from the Comcast digital box (which I tried out once). I did however, receive all the locals they provided plus ESPN and In-demand preview. I did not need to subscribe to digital or have any boxes to get these unencrypted channels.

I have since re-scanned on Antenna to get OTA local DTV stations which gives me more HD selections than cable. I use my VCR to tune the analog stations from cable through S-video 1. Panasonic made a big mistake giving up the second RF input. But the picture makes up for it.

I was wondering if anyone had used their plasma as a center channel.

My reciever has one preamp out for the center channel for this purpose- but the TV has one input each for the left and right speakers.

Is there some sort of a splitter which can be used? I so where can I get it?

Does anyone have any info yet on availability for the new 50in pannys?

I've been Googling them daily and still haven't seen them in stock, but have begun noticing a couple of sites list them at a great price, more affordable than existing 50in panny consumer models.

I was interested in the same thing eventually. However, I believe the audio L+R IN is for HDMI input only. You would have to be on HDMI Input for that to work. Otherwise, could use a switch box for the Component audio in connections. In any case, a Y splitter should work fine from your receiver to the L+R inputs.

I don't know why more manufacturers don't provide for this. (Sony does on its KE42M1.)

You could use a female to two male "Y" connector. It should be okay with external audio sources, but I doubt it would work with the internal tuner. I'm unaware of any way to use an external sound input together with the tuner.

Even if you succeeded, I suspect you'd create a bad feedback loop if you tried, as (on the 25U at least) the tuner feeds the TV's internal amp whenever the tuner is selected and the built-in speakers are active. Maybe there is a way to make it work (I'm an audio hobbyist, not an EE) but turn the volume way down if you try.

Again assuming the 50U is like the 25U in regard to feeding the internal and external amps simultaneously, a more likely workaround would be to use the built-in speakers "normally" with the tuner to provide the center channel while your receiver feeds the other 4.1 channels. Not pure center channel sound, but probably usable.

"Y" connectors are available anywhere interconnect cables are sold.

BTW, the following is from the Panasonic site

"Panel Type 8th Generation Plasma Panel"

http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs...y=Plasma%20TVs

Does Panny has any plans similar to TH-42PA25U/P (without HDMI, Built-In ATSC/QAM Tuners and CableCARD Slot) for this new model?

for those in NYC area, i was able to confirm (over the phone) that CC at the Atlantic Center in downtown Brooklyn and at the Gateway shopping center both have the PD50 on display. haven't been for myself to see yet ... gotta wait till i get off work!

Just came back from the Pany site, re-read the pages on the 42PD50 (again).

Yes, it does state 8th generation. I don't think they could get away with fibbing on this. But does that also imply "subpixel control"?

I could NOT find any mention of SPC on the Pany site, although I've read the now-numerous posts by those who say the PQ is so much better it MUST have SPC.

I believe them, but wonder if it is due to the doubling of shades . . .

Still waiting to see it with my own eyes.

The BB webpage for it lists SPC as one of its features:

"Other image enhancement technologies include video noise reduction, 3D color management, sub-pixel control and motion-pattern noise reduction"

Don't know how trustworthy or accurate BB pages usually are though.

Guys, it didn't take me but a half a minute comparing the PD50 against the brand new Samsung R4232 to see that the PD50 DOES HAVE SPC...it is quite obvious both up close and at regular viewing distances. I don't need to see it written down, anyone can see it with their own eyes and it is a very real advance in PQ. Hope you get to see it for yourself before the sun goes down.

For those of you considering a Chief mount for the 50U, their tech support just called me (props to them!) with the proper custom bracket numbers:

Tilt mount: Pro 2053

Flat mount: PSM 2053.

Just noticed that Plasmaconcepts has dropped their price on the 42PD50U.

I think I discovered when a re-scan is necessary on the PD50u.

Any time the power goes out! I had to kill the power to the set for a while and when I turned it back on, it claimed one station had too weak of a signal. I did check the signal strength meter this time and it said 88%, FWIW. The other OTA DTV stations were coming in OK. However, the time clock was a few minutes off and I'm not sure the signal strengths on the other channels were all that accurate.

I re-scanned the antenna input and checked again. All was well with all channels. The one that was weak before now said 77% (which is more like reality) and the time was now accurate (taken from the PSIP info).

So it seems the 50u does not retain channel info if signal is missing for a short period or TV power is disconnected. Don't know how long you can have power disconnected though. I had it off for several hours. This makes me want to get a UPS/conditioner for this set.

Oh yeah? They also state 290W, when it clearly says on the back panel 390W!

Does anyone know if the commercial models that came out in october/november have sub-pixel control? They have excellent pictures, and have very similar specs to the new models, like 2048 shades, 3.87 billion colors, etc. Do you think this makes the new ed and hd panels surpass the commercial models in terms of picture quality and generation?

Once the 42PX50U Operating Manual becomes available we will see if there is any mention of the panel generation or sub-pixel control. If the 42PX50U mentions sub-pixel control as a user selectable feature then we can assume that the 42PD50U does not have sub-pixel control and is not using an 8th generation panel.

Wellllll, maybe there's a misprint on the back panel?