Official Panasonic PX60/600 Tweaking, Settings, Issues, Technical Thread! - Page 2

I've adopted this advice and set everything even lower for now. I'll calibrate further when I get over 100 hours and compare the AVIA settings that I get to the earlier ones I posted above from my first few days with the panel.

I also found helpful optivity's link in the other thread to Panasonic's own advice. It makes a good case for waiting re: calibration and paying attention to break-in first:

Plasma Facts and Myths Panasonic Presents Advice From the Video Purist Perspective

Your voice of reason rises above the "din..."

Phosphors run the hottest when brand new... aging gracefully thereafter... The behavior of your PDP will change during its first 100 --> 1000 hours of operation.

If these TVs really last for 60,000 hours (20+ years of normal viewing) why the rush to calibrate a brand new PDP?

ostensibly, it would be possible to the break in continuously, right? just turn the PDP on for four days straight. okay, that may be a little drastic, but perhaps turn it on overnight for 10 days?

Yup. Also make sure to point the remote control straigth to the sensor on the TV (The remote range is poor).



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BruZZi's Panasonic Plasma FAQ bruzzi.ws
Lots of info for all Plasmas in general.

Yup. That's what I do.

But make sure to use a full-screen source (or use the "zoom" mode) that doesn't have any static logo.


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BruZZi's Panasonic Plasma FAQ bruzzi.ws
Lots of info for all Plasmas in general.

Any recommendations on a good source to use? Do you recommend using one of the break-in dvd's linked to in the burn-in/break-in thread(there seems to be mixed views on those)?

Alternatively, would just running any "menu-less" dvd in a loop work for this type of thing?

Can someone please post the link to the user's manual? I can't find it in google.
Thanks!

I'm using the breakin DVD which is great. Big props to who ever created it.

got the tv today, love it. quick question. What should I set the aspect ratio to , JUST or FULL?

Can anyone confirm whether the 60U's JUST mode is the same as the 50U or is it like the 8UK?

not available online yet.

Does anyone know of a universal remote that will work with the TH-42PX60U? I bought one which can access the menu mode but it doesn't have the ability to "enter" any of the settings.

Thanks. got it to work now.

Another question, how do I get pictures in SD card to run full screen?

Watched the Japan vs Cuba baseball game last night on ESPN. I get it only in SD, and it looked very good. Closeups, in particular, looked very detailed and sharp. Distance shots, such as those showing the entire baseball diamond, fell apart slightly. Overall, a very enjoyable SD picture.

The first ten minutes of the baseball broadcast were cut into by the double overtime Michigan vs Notre Dame basketball game --- a very exciting finish. However, the PQ was noticeably worse than the baseball game. And this was from the same channel.

I sometimes flipped to CNN during commercials. CNN was very bad, one of the worse SD channels. Too bright, washed out, clay faces (the make-up artist should be fired!). I wish there were more consistency from channel to channel in SD, and I realize it is not the fault of my TV, but of the stations themselves. However, my 42-inch Panny accentuates faulty signals far more than my old Sony XBR, which makes the most out of SD.

Does anybody know what color temperature is "Cool" and "Warm"? It seems that "Cool" is about 6500 K and "Warm" about 5000 K. Am I right?

My black level adjustment is grayed out (inaccessible) most of the time. One time, when I was fooling around with the menu, it did change from "light" to "dark". Under what conditions is the black level adjustment accessible? Do you have to go into the service menu?

TIA!

I always thought that Warm was generally closest to 6500K. That's where I have mine set (at the moment) with Dark Blacks. Without a color spectrometer (?) it's hard to tell which is closest to 6500K. Guess it's whatever looks closest to natural.

I usually like to adjust color etc when watching the local 11PM news because their faces occupy a lot of the screen and faces are the easiest to judge color.

Maybe choosing the color temp brings up a default black level, which you can change if you wish? Seems to me that Black level is always available to be changed.

I need to be able to adjust overscan because on TWC San Diego 707 (ABC HD) I can see a few lines of video noise at the very top of the screen. I only see this when viewing from my SA8300HD. When viewing OTA, no overscan.

I've been playing with DVE now that I've crossed the 100 hr mark.

I'm somewhat confused at how to set the picture "contrast level" on a plasma since it doesn't bloom like a CRT. DVE didn't give me a good way to adjust for contrast with a their pattern for a plasma.

How do you guys do this? I don't want to have it set to high.....currently I have it set at +10

On the 50/500 series the black level is locked on "dark" when viewing SD channels (with the built-in tuner) and on "light" when viewing HD. When the component input is used you can choose. I'm not sure about HDMI as I don't use it.
I don't know what the Kelvin equivalent of warm, normal, or cool is but I always found that warm made the highlights too yellow. I started with mine on "normal" but now that it has several hundred hours (at least) on it I find that it looks best on "cool". I actually wish it had a setting between normal and cool (or that the grayscale could be calibrated) but cool is closest to neutral gray to my eyes.

The manual says (pg 19) .."valid only for external input signals". I also noted it was greyed out when on input [1] TV but when I changed to Video 1 it was able to change between Dark and Light. I have it on Dark.

Hideph

Thanks, RicheyPoor, you answered my question on why black level is locked. I am using the built-in tuner(s) for cable TV (no STB), and only component for my DVD.

I find that using "Warm" on SD makes everything have a brownish cast. I prefer "Cool". Still, I would like to know what the Kelvin temperature is for Warm, Normal, and Cool.

is there supposed to be the rainbow effect with panasonic 42-60u plasma's at all. For some reason I turned my head real quick and I thought I saw the rainbow effect like with DLP's. Do I need to adjust some settings so I dont see this.

Right now my settings are:
Pic Mode: Standard
Picture: +12
Brightness: +5
Color: -2
Tint: -5
Sharpness: -3
Color Temp: Normal
Color mng.: On

Other Adjust
Video NR: Off
3D Y/C filter: greyed out
Color matrix: greyed out
MPEG NR: Off
Black Level: Light


Should I adjust anything:

I have been really happy with my 4260u.

I wondered about the 50" but since I am in an apartment in NYC, the distance is only about 8-9 feet. 50 would be too big, and PQ not so hot.

I am being cautious about levels, but I do think that this series may be less burn-in prone than earlier ones. I am keeping everything on Just or zoom for now, but there is only so low I can go with the levels or else it is not enjoyable to watch.

Others had posted in the mega thread that they had burned in images from the cbs logo, olympics, etc.

I really havent had that problem, but I do switch channels regularly so the image isnt constantly on the screen.

For my home theater, I got the Denon DVD-1920. It is awesome. got an AVR-1906 as well which I really like, and the Harman Kardon hkts-14 which is an insanse steal for what you get sound and price-wise.

any else car to share their settings?

Any word yet on overscan control?

My 50PX60U's overscan is non-existent on the top in 720p mode. So I'm seeing just a line or two of video noise. I sure wish we knew how to increase overscan. Apparently we can't just move the picture up with VPOS. BruZZi said he hasn't gotten the service manual yet.

I really like the fact there's little overscan. It means we see more of the picture. But we do need a little. I compared the overscan of the 50PX60U and the Vizio 42HDTV and the Vizio had much more overscan. As a result, you lose 5-10% of the original material.

Are you guys using the light or dark black level setting on the TV? I can't remember which one introduces the unwanted material.

If my DVD player also has a similar setting, you would want them to match correct?

There are a lot of suggestions on power centers on AVS, you can do a search to find them. You definitely should have one. In general, I think the Monster's are overpriced but search on amazon or buy and you'll find one that is a great deal right now.

So am I to understand this product is unable to accept a cableco RF in and a OTA RF in concurrently and without a channel scan when switching between the two ????

(That would be a deal-breaker)

Thanks folks !!!!

What kind of DAC do I need to use with the Toslink (optical) digital audio out? I do not want to use an AV receiver if I can avoid it.

I hooked up a Monarchy DIP to the Panny via Toslink. The Monarchy is capable of converting from optical to coaxial. I then connected the Monarchy to an ART DI/O DAC via coaxial. Then from the DAC to my powered speakers. Turned everything on.

However, the Monarchy's light indicates it is not getting a lock on the signal. What kind of digital signal is the Panny outputting? 16 bit at 44.1 Hz? 24 bit at 96Hz? Something else?

TIA!

Anyone else care to share their settings for their new Panny's? I currently have it toned down until I hit the 100 hr mark but I don't necessarily enjoy the picture. I prefer sharper colors (think Vivid turned down a notch). Is it not safe to adjust to this type of picture before the 100 hr mark?