Panasonic TH-50PM50U arrived today - Page 4  

shaster:

Glad you are pleased with the Costco pm50u. I am now a Costcoholic for the peace of mind they provide. Quick question:

I used INHD Tune Up and DVE to calibrate my pm50u.

First I've heard of a Monster Calibration Video? Is it new and I'd appreciate your settings.

Mine are posted on page two of this thread.

Thanks

Ken

Ive found that the default Standard setting is real close to INHD's test patterns for Contrast and Brightness, also the Vivid mode is close too, not much tweaking necessary as you think Panasonic must know how to calibrate a plasma?
I have the baby brother 42PM50u.
I'm trying top hold off going to Costco's now ive heard there in stock?
I know i'll want to find a reason to return the 42 if i do!

Theueck,

Yes, I think the monster DVD ISF calibration is new. It was only like $30 off the monster website. Go to the website and in the search box type calibration DVD.

I did see your post about your settings. My settings are as follows:

Normal: no
Pic Mode: Vivid
Picture: +28
Brightness: +30
Color: -6
Tint: 0
Sharpness: +1
Color Temp: Normal
Color Mng: Off
Black Level: Dark

The settings are fairly good out of the box, but I've played around a lot, and I find that these are the best for dark blacks with enough brightness to compensate for a bright room.

Gongura,

I am switching to Astound so I can't respond regarding the Dish stuff at this point. I only had the 501 receiver and the adjustment to the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300 HD PVR unit is an adjustment all in its own, including the 480P, 720P and 1080i as well. I am hoping to mess around with these settings this weekend.

SD when when I had it on Dish was ok and took getting used to but nowhere near as clear as my old tube tv. See my post regarding picture quality for more of my experience so far.

I can echo some of what you have mentioned. No motion sickness. Pixelation is a signal problem from my provider. I don't have the DVD worked out yet either to where I am totally happy but I think it has a lot to do with the the DVD player and the TV not what the TV is capable of. Olympic Hockey in HD is absolutely stunning.

I tried the Harmony 880 with my old setup and TV and had the same experience you did so I returned it to Best buy. Until the equipment and the remote actually communicate with eachother as to settings status these things will always be hit and miss in my opinion. The Panny remote that comes with the TV is an absolute joke.

Finally I appreciate everyone posting settings, especially if you have the calibration video, I am nearing my 100 hour break in period at this point. The only thing left is to order and HDMI cable and see ho it helps or not.

I just installed my panny from Costco yesterday. I have been working with the settings, but I can't seem to get any vivid reds. Greens are oversaturated, but even at the -15 level of tint, the reds don't show beyond a muddy maroon. I have been looking at the HD broadcast of the Olympics by comcast through their pace HD box.

I keep checking out this TV at Costco, but just can't swing the cash. It kills me to walk by it every time I am in Costco. I have never seen a better picture on any TV. The display that is set up still seems to have a pixelation problem, but all the feedback on this site makes me think that it must be either the TV having a defect, or maybe some sort of compatibility problem with the Costco source. They run their HD feed through a computer so this may be the reason it pixelates. The interesting thing is none of the other plasmas pixelate.

Glad every one likes their TV. Man, I would love to watch 24 in HD on this sucker.

Roy

the pixelation problem is from the vivid mode being the default. not only does the electronics pixelize it more to sharpen the picture, but its makes for huge amounts of clayface. if you buy it, use standard mode.

What is clayface, if you don't mind my asking?

I finally got through to Panasonic, the technician walked me through some basic checks. I have a bad cable from Comcast! Now that I can see the reds, I am thrilled with the picture! This set is a joy to watch! (TH-50PM50U)

clayface is a bad form of false contouring where the faces of people dont look natural, they look like they were molded from clay.

If you have an HD receiver from your cable or satellite supplier, they all have an over the air connection so you can add you locals by just connecting the antenna to the box.

No you do not need the box, I just returned a Philips 50 Inch and got this Panasonic in return. They were giving me a hard time for returning the TV not the lack of a box.

Ok Folks ...here is a story for you, I bought the 50 inch Philips from COSTCO before the Superbowl and from the day that I bought it, I struggled with the colors and the contrast. The Philips did have a couple of nice features, like a USB port to look at your pictures directly from a memory sick and it also had a HD tuner.

Since I was not happy I compared the 50 inch Pioneer and the Phillips at Best Buy, the difference was very noticeable. Then I decided to go to COSTCO and see what they had. Right next to the Philips they put this Panasonic TV, at first it did not look that much different, then they did a close up of an Olympic skater and at that point I said WOW, I am returning my Philips and Getting the Panasonic. The difference was $200 more for the Panasonic. As far as I am concerned $200 is a bargain.

I took my Philips back the next day to COSTCO without a box. At first they were asking what was wrong with the TV, or I could not return it, Meanwhile I was reading their return policy on the wall that stated "you may return any item if you are not fully satisfied". I told them that the TV had bad colors and I lost picture and sound periodically which was true. They refunded me the money and I bought the Panasonic.

When I got home....WOW....this TV blows Philips out of the water. The HD feed is outstanding, SD is better than Philips, I connected my HD box via HDMI and it makes a difference, both for HD and SD. My DVDs are incredible, I have a Bose hometheater and all the DVDs I watch are great.

Here are the things I like about the TV:
1) Screen quality
2) They included sound connections to the HDMI
3) All inputs have independent settings.
4) Simple options
5) Easy to adjust
6) LOOKS GOOD

I am very happy with this unit and will recommended it to anyone.

Socceteer, thanks for the info about not needing the box to return the TV. I'm glad you've now got a better set. -Jeff.

I've had the older 42" ED Panasonic plasma (TH-42PWD5UY) for a while now and really like it. Saw the TH-50PM50U in Costco the other day and I think we would enjoy the bigger screen and HD resolution.

Can anyone confirm that there is no connection for a PC? My 42" ED panel has RGB input (but no HDMI) so the notebook plugs right in.

Is there such a creature as a VGA(RGB) -> DVI -> HDMI converter?

there is no RGB input on this unit. it is a 50px50u without a tuner.

no, rgb is analog, hdmi is digital. there is no converter that i know of, unless you use a scaler box like the DVDO. you can convert rgb to component though and connect it that way. check monoprice for an rgb to component cable.

why were they giving you a hard time for returning the tv??? was it a long time after you bought it?

On Monoprice, I found what I think you are talking about, but the description seems to indicate it will not work:

Any insight?

youre right william. some tvs will take both types...this one will not.

You are very welcome

Not at all, 20 days. I was very surprised also, I always understood that their policy was all about satisfied customers. I guess it maybe because some people went and got the large Plasma for the Superbowl and then return it. I guess I do not blame them. I was going to buy another TV, maybe they did not get that.

wow...thats definitely a bitching phone call to national customer service right there...AND id have gotten the employees name..all of them that gave you a hard time, including the manager if he did also. what area are you in? new york area? that would make perfect sense.

oh to add also, from what i understand, scalers like the dvdo will only allow HDMI in to go out on HDMI if HDCP is enabled on the input signal..it turns off the component connections due to the lame petty stupid HDCP rules that the lame petty overpaid entertainment industry insists on. thank god for dvdshrink.

:) Yeah I was disappointed, since I hear all the time that COSCO is great with returned merchandise. This is the first time in my 10 years as a member that I have returned anything. The Manager was called in and all he did was took my information, went to his office and came back 10 minutes later with a check.

This was at the GILROY store, which is located 30 miles from San Jose CA

2. All of the good PDP's will look awesome when it is in your house because there isn't another one right next to it to compare it with.



FYI "PDP" is a Pioneer Part number

Ok, I am shopping for a 50 inch- Panasonic seems a good choice- here is the question- probably really dumb- I am going to use either Dish or Cable for HD- I have a Pioneer surround system- DVD player to push movies- what is the difference between a TH50PX50U and a TH50PM50U- is it as simple as a monitor vs a TV with tuner? If I use cable or Dish HD I would not use the tuner either right? Am I missing something here? Please help, lots to learn about this! Thanks

hello all!
can someone that owns this and still has the box do me a big favor and measure the height?
i'm trying to determine if this will fit in the SUV upright.
thanks
eric

To Hippster1;
You are right, it is simple; the PM50U simply does not have a tuner. I have mine "fed" through my cable box and my dvd player. It works great. Both are through the one HDMI input (I invested in the HDMI switcher from monoprice).

To ericwarren;
The PM50U measures about 33 inches high. This does not include the box though, so consider that when you pull up to the store in your SUV.

I just got back from Costco to check out the THPM50U. The price was $3299, but I see that 1/9-1/15 it was on sale with a coupon for $300 off, bringing price down to $2999.

So I guess my question is, to those who are shopping for one now, do you plan to pay $3299 or are you finding it for the lower price? Kills me to pay more...