Official Panasonic 37", 42", 50", 58" & 65" (60, 600, etc)- Questions, Sightings, Etc - Page 15

Ok, just ordered the TH42PX60U from Panasonic directly, the first orders was just too good to be missed.

Only issue is that the preliminary estimate for shipment just now is late April, but maybe that changes along the way. --Kent

there are simple solutions to increase the viewing height of a panel, maybe you
CAN get a 50" now, something to think about.

How about some reviews of the 600's now that they're in homes?

Did anyone notice the new "Contrast Management" feature in the PDF? One of the complaints about the 8th generation panels was even though the blacks were superior there were instances where detail was lost because of the great blacks and when trying to compensate by turning up the brightness it made it even worse by washing everything out. This new feature supposedly allows you to fine tune shadow detail by balancing the light and dark areas to a more specific level.

Obviously you mean 60U's. I wish there were 600U's in homes, especially mine!

Anyway, do give us some kind of reviews or impressions you guys. Afterall it is the same glass as the 600U's. How's the anti glare filter? Can you see those 28 billion colors? How about the details in dark sceenes? Is the remote better this year?

You mean like phone books? Let me re-phrase - I like the vertical viewing size of my 48" 4:3 RP, which has 4 vertical inches over a 50" 16:9 set.

Like another reply said, get the 50". Otherwise you will be sorry. Had a 42" for 4+ years (ED) bot when anything larger required 2 mortgages to pay for it rather than one. Got the 50" last year and both HD and SD are fine. Our viewing distance is from 6 to 11 feet. Once you see HD on a 50" you will be keeping SD watching to a minimum

...mike

This is the thread for the 65" Panasonic 1080p:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&page=19&pp=30

You might post there, but I doubt if anyone really knows yet. This 1080p set has been in use in Japan since November, but nothing seen yet about 1080p input capability? Maybe that will change with the US set once HD/BR-DVD is out soon.

Looking at the brochure for the Viera line was intriguing.

Quote about the New Deep Black Filter:

"We reduced this filter's light transmittance, so you can enjoy clean, beautiful images with deeper, richer blacks.

We also applied an original anti-glare process to the filter surface, to suppress external glare and reflection."

So it does seem that the filter is purportedly one of the ways they lower black levels on the new design. Sounds dandy to me - being a black level fiend I'll take any increase in black level depth I can get.

I also note this:

"Higher efficiency achieved improving panel materials and enhancing rib and electrode shapes.....[snip]....these features combine to increase brightness."

What that seems to say, to me, is that they've likely expanded pixel size by reducing the rib (grid) between the pixels. That makes some sense, given the research that went into creating their 1080p models had a lot to do with creating a way of reducing
rib size, to accommodate the higher pixel density. The ED models were, until recently, brighter due to their bigger pixels (as I understand it). So reducing rib size, increasing pixel size (along with the new discharge system) likely increased brightness.

But, if this musing is correct, one nice benefit would likely be a better fill-factor in the new models. That is, a reduction in the visibility of the grid between the pixels, and hence less visible "screen door effect."

Again...just musing, could be wrong. I can't wait to see one of these things. (And it's driving me nuts that some people actually own them, e.g. those folks on the UK forum, and no one is really posting reviews yet).

thanks for the word, Chris.

Wish that I hadn't been married to BB for my replacement. If I coulda escaped BB, I woulda been knockin' on your door. But then you woulda probably hooked me with one of those nifty NECs

Byron

WOW these are tempting... 42" HD is CHEAP for a panny

i dont think im gonna get a warranty if i order from club panasonic.. panasonic should be pretty helpful for first adopters right??

only one problem.. i think theyre pretty darn ugly haha, ill have to go see it in person to make my final decision

so the 60U doesnt include Cable Card ready capability huh...what's up w/ that? the 50 U did. Does this account for the cheaper list price (3499?)

Anyone who order a 42PX60U from Panny directly on 3/10/06 get a confirm email yet? Said on my order confirmation that "Ships within 1 business day" but now, today, 3/11/06, says "shipping by 4/25/06". I got in early but an uneasy feeling is sinking in...

I have the same concern over SD on the 50" - just check out some of the negative reviews on this matter for the TH-50PX50U on Amazon, PriceGrabber, and Circuit City (many complain of a fuzzy or grainy look). The fact is, most of the programming out there is still SD, especially the quality shows that I want to watch. The saving grace with the new models could be the "1080p" remastering chip, which upconverts non-HD signals to "near HD quality". (see brochure)

2 questions for those who have the 60u 50".
1. How does SD look? Please indicate the signal you're using (cable or satellite) and your viewing distance.
2. How do DVDs look when feeding a regular interlaced or progressive signal (not upconverted from the DVD player). Is there even a need to get a upconvert DVD player with the new models because they have the chip in the plasma itself?

Thanks for your input!

I'm moving to new loft soon and I want to get bigger plasma screen (currently I have 42" Panasonic). The only problem is that viewing distance is not going to be bigger than 6 feet (because of the furniture layout).

Now I'm facing dilemma, should I get 65", 61" or 50".

My video source is:
HD DVD Toshiba
HD DishNetwork 942 PVR (I use it for HD Voom + language package)
Comcast Cable (I use it for SD programming)

My favorite options are:
Panasonic TH-65PHD8UK
Panasonic TH-58PX60U
Panasonic TH-50XVS30

Does anyone have experience with similar setups?

It will not help with SD sources. You can't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.

I own an HP PL5000N (a rebranded Panasonic 50PX500U) which is connected to cable. I usually use the TV's built-in tuner for analog SD as the reception is somewhat better then my Motorola 6200 STB. HD and digital SD look the same, which is good because I can only get a few HD channels on the built-in tuner (no cable card installed). I have a cheap Panasonic DVD recorder with progressive scan but no upconverting.

1: While shopping for my first plasma this forum had me so worried about the quality of SD that I even warned my wife about it, the reality is it's not bad at all. The channels that look bad on this set (foreign speaking channels, community access channel, etc.) look bad on all my TV's, all others are quite watchable. One note: If the sharpness is set too high it will be more noticeable on SD than HD.

Bottom line is: I watch a lot of SD television and if given the choice to watch on my plasma or my old 32" CRT, I'd take the 50" plasma and not think twice about it.
2: My DVD player is set to output 480P; haven't tried any other settings but DVD's look great.

Does anyone know if they changed the REMOTE on the 60 U as compared to the 50U ???



Just wondering if they positioned the buttons differently


Thanx for any info

I got the same web confirmation date when I ordered mine today. Now, those dates could move back and forth, who knows. Best to be patient. --Kent

i dont get some AVS'ers... you get the newest tech on the block with your fancy pants setup but you dont take PICTURES!!

seriously pictures of people setup give a much better view on things than the super photoshopped ones on the manufacturers website

It has been reported there are macroblocking issues associated with the OPPO OPDV971H and Panasonic's PX50/500U series PDPs which may be indicative of its performance with Panasonic's 60/600U series displays. This problem is related to the Faroudja/Genesis chip which may exhibit the macroblocking issue in Faroudja-based DVD players and is not confined to just the OPDV971H as described in the Home Theater DVD Benchmark Review. This problem has also been reported to exist with Panasonic's DVD-S77 player:

"The Panasonic DVD-S77 was a bit of a surprise for me. I just recently reviewed the updated S97 flagship player that seems to be almost exactly the same as the S77 . . . well at least from a build and chip standpoint. Both players use just about the exact same components to deliver the goods, but the S97 is a bit more refined in the end.

The S77 is a two-chip-based player. For its core processing, it relies on a Matsushita MPEG decoder that is pretty much shared throughout the Panasonic DVD player line. What separates the S77 from the lower priced options is the inclusion of the Genesis/Faroudja FLI-2310 video processing chip. This chip not only offers spectacular de-interlacing performance, but also top-of-the-line video scaling for up-conversion to high definition resolutions.

De-Interlacing

The S77 uses a new chip from Genesis called the FLI-2310-LF. I had heard rumors that Genesis and Faroudja had figured out the dreaded macroblocking issue that has been so rampant with the latest Genesis chip. Since this chip seemed to be a new iteration of the 2300, I thought for sure this player would not have macroblocking. Unfortunately, that is not the case. In fact, it is worse in this regard than its big brother the S97. Using my tried and true reference scene, Chapter 22 of A Bug's Life, macroblocking was clearly evident through almost the entire scene. I don't know why we haven't seen this problem fixed yet, but it has become more and more frustrating for everyone. As with all FLI-2310 based players, I don't recommend the S77 if you have a display that shows the issue. Unfortunately we don't have a list of what displays those are, but we do know that Panasonic plasmas are one of the worst offenders."

With that said I see no evidence of macroblocking with my OPDV971H playing 480i up converted to 720p on my 50PX50U. I'm more likely to see evidence of macroblocking when Time Warner's incoming signal is mucked-up instead of a DVD played back on my OPPO DVD player.
While I can only speculate... I believe the introduction of this display will be delayed until it can support native 1080p over HDMI and two-way content services.
While Panasonic dropped the CableCARD slot on the 60Us at least they provided another HDMI port which supports many additional connectivity options. The good news is their 600U series PDPs w/CableCARD and (2) HDMI ports has an MSRP which is less than what the 50Us were initially priced at last spring.
Members plasma or flat panel theater setups:

AVSF Plasma or Flat Panel Theaters Gallery.

I have the 65PHD8UK and it is absolutely outstanding. But, if you are planning on a viewing distance of 6', I think that it is worth your while to wait for the full 1080p version that is due to come out this fall. While the present 65" panel is great up-close, I'd suggest 8' as the shortest viewing distance given that it is a 768 panel. I defer to others online to comment on the 50" and 61" models. As for the 58" size, my guess is that it will peform similarly to the 61" models. Since this is the first year that Panny will be producing the 58" glass, you may want to see it before you buy it. My guess is that it will be quite good, but one never knows for sure until one sees it in person or has the benefit of reading several reliable reviews by qualified reviewers.

Panasonic has not even officially announced the 58PX60U model for the US market, so it won't be available for some time - maybe this summer, but we have only rumor to go by for the 58" model. The TH-50XVS30 is the now approaching 2 year old Onyx model which was Panasonic's attempt to compete with the Pioneer Elite at the high end speciality stores. Panasonic has not updated the Onyx's and there has been no reports of new Onyx's models in the pipeline. Unless the 50XVS30 is sold at a HUGE discount, avoid in favor of the new 50PX60 or 50PX600 models.

At only 6 feet, the 65" is likely to be too big, especially for any SD channels.

I ordered a 50PX60U on 3/10/06 and was given a 3/22/06 ship date and told I would receive an email confirmation. As yet I haven't received the email, but I did get a phone call on the 10th from Panny verifying that I had placed the order. I was told the order was being sent to the warehouse.

We'll see ...

The 58" model has been announced for the Japanese May 1, so it should not be too long after that for the US!
http://japancorp.net/Article.Asp?Art_ID=12054
"The 50-inch TH-50PX600, 42-inch TH-42PX600 and 37-inch TH-37PX600 will be available on the Japanese market on April 15, followed by the 58-inch 58PX600 on May 1."

For anyone who is interested about confirmations, I just got mine via email from Panasonic. I ordered on 3/10 at 8:30 EST.

and... did they give you a shipping date a/o tracking info ???
I ordered a 42PX60U on 3/10 at 1:15PM EST, I'm still waiting.

One possibility is that they sold out the warehouse stock and the later delivery
dates (April) that are being reported are for panels yet to be delivered to warehouse....

I'm not stubborn to get 65" just because the size factor...I want to be comfortable with viewing experience so I guess I will take your suggestion in consideration and research more about 50".
Should I consider 1080p 50" or it really doesn't matter? I'm curious if 720p HD programming will make any difference on those 1080p screens.

What does the Order Status on their web site say about your order? I ordered my set around 4:30pm on 3/10, still no update yet but I guess it was late Friday afternoon. But the order confirmation I printed definitely said "1 business day."