Panasonic TH-50PF9UK (1080p panel) what do we know about it? - Page 7

Nothing wrong with newegg, I buy computer stuff from them all the time. But that Panny plasma price is WAY too high. Check a forum sponsor for a MUCH better deal (and return policy... Newegg typically doesn't take ANYTHING back)

BTW, this thread is for the upcoming P"F" 1080p model, not the P"H"

Generally the new 1080p sets that accept a 1080p/24 input refresh the display at a multiple of 24 (typically 48 or 72 Hz or even 96 Hz).

Ron Jones

Thanks for the correction a steer in the right direction for better price and service. $1,715.00 for the "F" model does certainly beat newegg.

Ya got yer model numbers mixed up there. The "F" is the new 1080p (1920x1080) and it's running upwards of $4600 right now. The "H" is the 1366x768 under $2000 model. (pssst.... we're not supposed to talk price in the plasma forum )

Thanks for being so kind on model mix up folks, with me cluttering up the forum and etc. 10-4 on $ - they are cheap BTW compared to 5+ years ago. honestly, I think my mustang go fast habit will win this year, so I look forward to a 50"+ 1080p (1920x1080) in late '07 or early '08. AT&T (we/I actually) just launched IPTV in Houston, so I can't wait to get my 55" Mits RPTV off of OTA SD & 480P DVD.

The 50PF's are in the warehouse at distributors now.

I pulled the trigger and ordered one, hopefully it ships out Monday!

Wasn't the forthcoming 1080p consumer series supposed to designated "PZ," or am I confused again?

This isn't the consumer model, it's the professional model.

And even then, there's no guarantee they use that name here in the US.

We need an AVS Forum member purchase and test report and no I am not volunteering.

I read the document and the only reference to an HDMI board is the 1 yr "old" TY-FB8HM which is 1.1 and not 1.3 compatible. I have such a board with my TH-50PHD8UK. Also max resolution is 1080i60 (1125/60i). I did not see any reference to a FB9HM blade yet. The TY-FB9FDD DVI/HDCPboard is the only digital one to go all the way to 1080p

I hate to say it but I think the VCR was obsolete way before this Plasma came out...

The link was to a different PDF, the PDF is now different, the previous PDF made reference to an HDMI 1.3 board coming out in Q1.

Ordered from VA last week just before the storms hit Seattle. Slight delay in processing due to power outages, etc. out there, but VA came through and shipped the unit out Monday. Two days later it landed in Cleveland, and was out for delivery today, Thursday. Excellent customer service overall.

See below for pics of the packaging, for those of you interested in that sort of thing I notice Panasonic no longer does the double-boxing like they've
done in the past. A bit disturbing for such a large fragile high value item... As seen on the yellow tape, United Airlines Cargo faithfully inspected the
box, so my plasma is bomb-free ... The PF sports SIX fans on the back vs. only 3 fans on the regular 50" PH HD unit. Just turned the unit on, and so far so good, the fans are totally silent...

More to come...

Pics! We need pics of that bad boy!

drool.... drool... drool...

Yes, we need details on how the new 1080p TH-50PF9UK display looks! I expect the biggest question most of us have is how are the black levels compared to the 50PHD9UK or the 50PX60/600U models?

Now these are actually shipping, maybe time to start an owners thread on it so the rest of us can keep informed. The 50PF9UK should provide a preview of what the picture quality will be for the 1080p 50" and 58" consumer models presumably coming in the spring.

A 50" display is too small to be watching in a totally dark environment. With the need of ambient light, black level will need to increase accordingly. It wouldn't surprise me even if the black-level isn't as good as the "PH" it will be more than adequate. Just using the wrong gamma curve can do more damage to black level and picture quality than just having a good black-level. It is the whole picture/viewing experience that counts.

scrooge!
As I get older, fatter and uglier, so do my girlfriends. At times some off-screen shadow details are best left unseen. Therefore, I respectfully disagree.

I can't recommend who or what you watch with, I can only recommend ways to optimize viewing.

The concept of the 50" being too small for a dark room stems from the percentage of your field of view the TV occupies. The smaller field of view and high brightness of the display can be very fatiguing to watch, sort of like looking into headlights on a dark road.

Out of the box, the PF "Standard" mode seems more like the "Cinema" mode of the PH, i.e., what I would call a little more subdued. I set the PF to "Dynamic" and it gives the picture more "punch"... more brightness (my personal preference) and matches the "Standard" mode I've become used to on the 42" PH Panny.

I'm not sure how to express "blacker blacks" - the PF does seem "darker" overall vs. the PH. When the TV is turned off the glass looks blacker on the PF than it does on the PH... PH glass looks kind of grayish when the set is off.

First observation: Side by side comparison in my office of the 50" PF and a 50" PH connected to the same source via a Gefen 1:3 HDMI splitter using HDMI-DVI cables. No HDCP handshake issues with the HTL-HD receiver's DVI. Using DVI input on the PF and PH. DirecTV was the source here unfortunately, so no meaningful comparisons of PQ (resolution wise) could be made. There was a scene in The Killing Fields on HDNet Movies that showed noticable false contouring on the 50" PH8UK with the TY-42TM6D DVI blade - this was NOT present on the PF. When the HTL-HD was tuned to an OTA station with just snow on the screen the EPG text appeared clear and readable on the PF, whereas on the PH8UK it was "watery" looking because of the snow. I don't know if this implies the PF is better able to lock on to poor/out of sync input signals.

Second observation: Now that I have the PF at home, I am able to compare the 50" PF to a 42" PH via component connected to an SA8300HD on cable. The PF does show improved PQ on non-multicasted channels, specifically HDNet, HGTVHD and FoodTV HD. Unfortunately my NBC and CBS affiliates both multicast so I can't get an outstanding 1080i sample from either of those. 720p looks identical on the PF vs. the PH. IIRC, there was some discussion that 720p might look worse on a 1080p panel than a 720p (768p?) panel, but I'm not seeing any difference. Standard DVDs at 480p look a bit smoother on the PF (smoother edges, fewer jaggies)

Watched an SA8300HD recording of NBC Sunday Night Football (1080i) and there is a bit more clarity on the PF. On the 50 yard shot, the stripes on the players pants are smooth and clear (no jaggies). I guess one might say the 1080p picture is "softer" because there are no more of the jaggies you'd see on a 1366x768 or 1024x768 panel watching 1080i material.

The bright white lettering on Leno's coffee cup is now clear without any jaggies.

Played a recording of the HDNet resolution test pattern. A level of clarity I have never seen before on the non-1080p plasmas.

So far what I've seen from broadcast sources, this is kind of like having a Ferrari on a road with a 60 mph speed limit (or should I say an MPEG2 19Mbps speed limit) I think might need to invest in an HD-DVD player to really see what this thing can do.

There is a 1:1 pixel mapping function in the menus. Just press a button and the screen goes into 1:1 mode. Could be handy for the HTPC people.

I've seen 3 or 4 generations of the Panny commercial plasma line, 42" and 50", ED, HD, and now the 1080p, and I don't see anything out of the norm here. Looks like the same solid commercial construction, same out of the box colors. The only difference is a bit darker picture on the 1080p and of course MORE PIXELS !

(sorry my pictures suck but I was in a rush to get out the door...)



8 megapixel photos of the back panel and of the HDNet test pattern on the SA8300HD:

http://www.mindspring.com/~paule/

It has been a while since I have posted here. I have a TH-50PHD6UY. I wont say that I am disappointed with my purchase, but I have never been able to get the DVI to work right with my D* receiver and now my Comcast receiver. Worst yet, I cant use the HDMI board since I dont have the version 7 display or higher. The reason that I bought this display was so that I could just drop in a new board when technology advanced to something new and improved. I really feel like I got the shaft big time. Now they come out with their 1080P model but do not yet have the HDMI 1.3 board yet? I am sorry gentlemen but I am really pissed off at Panny. I have a DVI board that doubles as a boat anchor and I am running component video. Yes the picture is good, but I am tired of Panny not thinking about the consumer when it comes to HDMI compatibility. If you are considering a 1080P display, TRY THE PIONEER PRO MODEL. Thanks for letting me vent.

The pioneer doesn't have hdmi 1.3 either.

If you really want Consumer features, buy a consumer display. Kind of hard to have any sympathy, when you are complaining about "consumer" features on a Professional Broadcast monitor. What if they didn't support HDCP?

There is really nothing to gain currently by 1.3 as long as you have good 1080p connectivity (totally noise free cable). There is no current media mastered to use the 1.3 benefits:

I really like the claims of larger color space "previously not available". 99% of the movies are mastered to SD colorspace which means every movie displayed on HD or bigger colorspace is wrong!


(we all get to vent)

I updated my review of the 50PF and uploaded new photos:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&&#post9250034

Received my PF yesterday (50") and spent around an hour setting it up. I must say that this is a big improvement over my old TH-50PHD6UK! Black levels are much, much better, details (naturally) more clear, 3D effect outstanding. I'm running the set in "Super Cinema" mode, which has a very aggressive gamma curve, averaging around 2.7. There is a red hump in the grayscale from 30-50 IRE in this mode (goes to around 6300K instead of 6500K) if you calibrate 20/80 IRE correctly.

I run the set in native 1080p (1x1) with an outboard Lumagen processor and both 59.94Hz and 50Hz sync perfectly.

Settings:

Brightness: -7 (seems to be correct for both my sources (DVD+HD Cable))
Contrast: 6 (gives me 25 Foot Lambert, leaving it at 0 caused some noise issues in Super Cinema mode)
Sharpness: -1 (the most neutral setting. Used to be 0 for older Panny's, but no 0 adds some artificial sharpness, I think).

Color Decoding is perfect, since the set is using native RGB when fed DVI. So, no need for color/tint controls.

I will try out the Standard and Cinema modes next to see if I can get the gamma down a little bit and possibly eliminate the red hump. If I can't, I can always compensate in the Lumagen.

Overall, a very impressive set, even better than the Sony LCD XBR3 that I considered having the finest 1080p picture so far.

Carl, does it accept 24, 48, or 72Hz? 65'' model cannot do it, right?

Standard mode with gamma at default 2.2 is yields a much more accurate gamma curve than "Super Cinema" mode. It's very close to 2.2 across the entire curve, and the grayscale is a lot more even, biggest divergence is Delta E 0.9 at 70 IRE, which should be non detectable to the human eye. "Warm" color temp on my set is a little low in blue, but this will differ from set to set, so I will not be posting any grayscale settings. If you stick with "Warm" it should get you in the ballpark. The grayscale changes as the set break in and ages anyways...

DVDs: Much better than my old 768p set. I whole new level of detail is revealed. Those extra pixels really make a difference, since diagonal edges can be rendered much smoother with more pixels.

Cable HD: Very clean and detailed. I wish I was sitting a lot closer to the set than I am (10 feet). Either way, for what my eyes are worth, 1080p vs 768p on a 50" set makes a very big difference.

Cable SD: Here is where the VP really makes a difference. Overall, a very solid improvement over my old set.

Next, "how does Cinema mode behave" and how well does is calibrate for B/W movies (D54).

Nope, only 50Hz or 59.94/60Hz over DVI. Anyway, it doesn't matter, since (from what I understand) the panel is always driven at 59.94/60Hz anways, doing frame rate conversion internally.