Quote:
Originally Posted by
tomboyter 
No one seems to remember the input from jsf2001, who says that the picture that he gets from the 8 series board is clearly superior to that of the 7 series. I think that when Shane 55 finally gets his 8 series board, we will find that IT is the one that triggers the 14-bit processing with the 4096 grayscale steps and the 68 billion colors. My theory is that the 7 series board does not do it, and the only way to get the full glory of the 8UK is to use the 8 series HDMI connection. The Panny support guy that said they only test the 8UK with the 8 series board, seems to be supportin my theory. Shane55 will settle this once and for all, but I believe jsf2001 when he says that the 8 series board does things that the 7 series does not...
Tom: I need to clarify what I observed and noted elsewhere on this forum as it relates to these two boards. As I have not performed a side by side comparison of PQ from identical source material, I cannot say for certain that the PQ from an 8 series board is clearly superior to that of the 7 series board. What I can say is that the PQ from an 8 series board for 480p, 720p and 1080i source material is clearly superior to the PQ of such source material when the panel is fed via high grade component cable. In particular, I recall seeing a significant improvement in the PQ of 1080i source material. The PQ of Comcast digital cable through the 8 series board is also clearly superior to the PQ of DirecTV fed to the panel through a 7 series board. Prior to the purchase and installation of an 8 series board, I also noted that the PQ of Comcast digital cable fed to the panel through high grade component cable was no better than the PQ (perhaps slightly worse) than the PQ of DirecTV fed to the panel through a 7 series board.
Finally, I also reported that I was surprised by the significant increase in PQ when moving from component to the 8 series board as I did not see a similar improvement in PQ when I moved from component to a 7 series board when feeding the panel a signal from DirecTV. This led me to investigate further and I posted the differences in signal processing between the 2 boards as reflected in the printed manuals for each board. (I also provided web url references to allow other forum members to read the manuals for themselves and confirm what I had found.) The information in the printed manuals seemed to support what I had seen on the panel itself, namely that the 8 series board processed 1080i signals differently than the 7 series board. My read of the specs had me wondering if the 7 series board "bobbed" 1080i signal (showing only 540 lines at a time). While I have not been able to absolutely confirm this conclusion (as it is not practical for me to conduct a side-by-side comparison using identical source material), no one at Panasonic (to my knowledge) has refuted this hypothesis to date. I informed BruZZi about the differences in the manuals for the 2 boards and shared this information with other forum members so that those interested in purchasing an HDMI board for an 8UK panel could make an informed decision. BruZZi has since added this information to his Panny FAQ.
Note that one cannot use an 8 series board in a 7UY panel, but one can use a 7 series board in an 8UK panel.
Patience is a virtue. Good things come to those who wait. Etc, etc, etc. 
