Panasonic 42pz700, 50pz700u, 50pz750u, 58pz700u and 58pz750u Owners Thread! - Page 326

This is the PZ700 thread. You're better off first looking at the PZ77U thread which most likely will answer all your questions about that set. I'd just call COSTCO and find out if their 2 year warranty will transfer with the set. Depending on the age of the set, you might still be able to get another vendor's EW. Check out the Extended Warranty threads.

Also, as this is your first post, you might not be aware that there is a [Search this Thread] feature in the upper right of the thread page which you can only access when logged into the forum.

I think you're confused by my avatar. I don't swing that way, buddy. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

And all this time I thought we had a movie star in our midst!

My first post was a question about connecting the 42PZ700U before the Dish Network folks installed my HD-DVR. I took the advice and hooked it up and was concerned about the darkness issue. I appreciate your replies.

Effective Tuesday, 4-1-08, the Dish guy came in and stripped out my old coax and installed new, higher impedence, coax, new dish and HD-DVR. My initial reaction was, and still is, WOW!!! What a difference the receiver makes in the picture. Now I am totally happy with this set. Watching TV is now a great experience.

Damn....she likes girls. ...what a shame.

Just kidding.

so you are not a girl, not that there is anything wrong with that

Sorry yeah I was seeing your pix on the left side there and assumed it was your pix
Who is that a pix of?

Natascha McElhone. Most people know her as "that chick from Ronin."

Yeah, these sets were made for HD. Literally. Welcome to the club.

+1
If you buy this TV without upgrading to HD programming, the SD program PQ is no better (some cases worse) than any other plasma out there.

Good news, I just saved a fortune on my car insurance! No, not really, but my faith has been restored in Panasonic. The yellow issue came back on my 50PZ700 so the repair dude came out to look at it again. I suggested that Panasonic should just replace it rather than repair it. He agreed. He called his Panasonic rep and he agreed as well. Unfortunately Panasonic said they no longer have any 700's to send out, so they will have to send me the 800 model instead! Darn!

Not sure how long it will take to get here but I can't wait to try it out.

THANKS PANASONIC!!!

I just received my Blu-Ray copy of the DIGITAL VIDEO ESSENTIALS: HD BASICS Calibration Disc. I ran through all the of the calibration tools and wanted to post my settings. I am not sure if it is a HUGE improvement over the posted CNET settings so I wanted some of you guys to try these settings and let me know what you think. Do you think there is a slight improvement at all?

TV: th-pz700u
setup: PS3 hdmi --> Onkyo 605 reciever --> th-pz700u

-no SERVICE MENU calibration was done to the tv. The service menu settings are the same out of box. I only made changes to the USER SETTINGS.

Picture menu:

Picture mode: Cinema (the disc specifically mentioned that Cinema mode would be the most accurate starting point for any calibration)

Picture: +30

Brightness: +6 (this test proved very disappointing as it turns that the tv actually cuts off ALL BLACK COLOR displays at a certain level. Out of the 3 test bars present, only 2 of them were displayed. A brightness level of 6 is based out of the 2 black bars that were present. *If not the TV, a possible reason for the 3rd black bar not showing could be be the Onkyo 605 receiver*

Color: -3 (This is where the pz700u unit does VERY POORLY. According to the color tests on the DVE disc, this unit produces the color of BLUE very accurately but the colors of Red and Green fail miserably, green is much more worse than red)

Tint: -1 (Tint was not part of any of the calibration tests, therefore I set according to CNET)

Sharpness: -30 (Sharpness had little to no effect on any of the tests.)

Color temperature: Warm

Color management: Off

C.A.T.S.: Off

Zoom adjust: Grayed out

PC adjust: Grayed out



Other Adjust menu:

Video NR: Off

3d Y/C filter: Grayed out

Color matrix: Grayed out

Block NR: Off

Mosquito NR: Off

Black level: Light

3:2 pulldown: On

HD size: Size 2

-So these are the settings that I personally felt best complete all of the calibration tests on the Digital Video Essentials blu-ray disc. Try them out and let me know what you think. Thanks.

Keep in mind that your settings are input specific for the PS3 BD viewing only and would not necessarily be appropriate for cable/satellite TV or SD DVD viewing settings.

nyboy42...I've been drinking the CNET PZ700U KoolAid...I find that their recommended settings (Cinema and Custom) look best on my 50PZ700U...your Cinema settings are so close to CNET's Cinema that it is difficult to discern a difference.

Picture from +27 to +30 is almost a negligible increase in brightness.
Brightness from +8 to +6 is ever so slightly darker contrast.
Color from -4 to -3 is near indiscernible.

So...your settings look outstanding on my 50PZ700U!!!

This winter I finally hooked my receiver up to the 50PZ700U I bought in July. It does the oddest thing with the optical out to the receiver.

When watching HD OTA, if there is a large amount of solid color on the screen, ie a mostly black screen or white screen, the sound to the receiver cuts out. I checked and the problem does not happen with the built in speakers. Is there something I am missing here? thanks!

Also, does not happen with HDMI sources or VGA sources.

so that goes to show that CNET really know what they are talking about when they thoroughly test these HDTVs

Chiming...

Since reading these forums, friends have asked for help getting into the HDTV era.

Yesterday, I took a friend to Costco, signed him up and bought the 42 700 (should have done it 2 weeks ago for $200 cheaper-DOH).

Running Comcast moto dual dvr through hdmi. Pulled initial settings from AVs (thanks avs). Pic is fantastic.

FWIW-Can this set be challenged as an entry level HD for the money (getting close to $1k)? Needless to say, my friend was thrilled and couldn't thank me enough.

Got this info from another thread and checked it out. I'd go to the Fry's website if you are looking to get a 42PZ700U now. They are listed under the Audio/Video portion.

Woot! I will be the proud owner of a 700U in just a few hours!! Gotta love Fry's!

Edit: Back with my 42PZ700U!! Can't wait to get her hooked up and broken in. Comcast is coming next Saturday to hook up my HD and then I will be getting a PS3 to go along with my HD-A35!! Check and mate!

Wow, so even right out of the box with Picture set to 0, this is just an amazing TV! Currently watching Top Gun in HD on my HD-A35 and loving it!!

One question: How do you freeze the screen like I've seen on so many other TVs? Is there anyway to do this through the TV? I want to do this to take a picture for the site. Thanks.

Thanks to everyone that helped me to make my decision!! You guys are amazing here. And everyone check out Fry's right now. Good deals.

You freeze the source input which in your case would be "pausing" the HD A35.

Well that's what I figured, but I used to be able to freeze the picture on my old TV. I want to "freeze " it not pause it. But I guess it doesn't have that option. Not a big deal though.

Hi everyone. New to this thread, but not this site.

My neighbor friend down the street has a Panasonic 50 inch plasma 720p, not sure of the exact model, he bought his at Costco last year. I really like the picture on his, it looks great.

I know Consumer Reports has rated the Panasonic #1 on their list of plasmas, and from what I've seen of my neighbors, I think they're right, the picture is really nice.

I want to buy one this year, but I am not sure if I should get the 720p or should I go for it and get the 1080p model? Is there much difference in picture quality between the 2?

Those of you that have either the 720p or the 1080p models, what are your overall thoughts of each?

So without having to read 328 pages of posts, any information would be greatly appreciated.

BTW, I currently have a 4 year old Toshiba RP-HDTV, and overall its a good TV, but after seeing the Panny plasma, I eventually want a new one.

Thanks.

Just a couple of quick shots from my new 42PZ700U. Right out of the box other than Picture set to 0. Top Gun in HD-DVD on my HD-A35 and my 360:

He most likely got the TH-50PC77U.


It was this thread's series (700/750 @ 1080p) that was actually rated highly not his model.


Some would say the PQ of the 700U is better than the 77U primarily due to the difference in the anti-reflective screen vs. anti-glare screen.


This thread is for the 1080p series. Those formerly owning the 77U (in this thread) traded up to the 700U. Do a search on 77U in this thread and you can read their posts. However, at this stage you might also want to be considering the 2008 line replacing the 77U, 85u or 80u as they have the latest generation screens and have been out a month or two. There is a dedicated thread on those models.

chaz01, Tell your neighbor to print out the FRY's price on the 42" PZ700U & bring it to Costco & they will refund him the $200.00 & then he'll really love you.

I've got the 50PZ700U and I was wondering if anyone could give me some settings?

Already looks like a great TV but i'd love to improve it..

the settings thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...1#post13577421

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but Sickboy, I think you are losing lots of detail from your 360 by setting Black Levels to Expanded. I noticed some black crush and loss of detail when I set my 360 to expanded and PS3 to RGB Full. I got the best results from setting both to normal and adjusting the brightness and Picture settings.

I guess I'm not the only one, phew.... I have the exact same symptoms and have no solution, I tried a couple different optical cables, just in case, both exhibit the issue. I have the Onkyo 605 and don't see any mention of this behavior from other folks.

I also get audio dropout as shows approach commercial, the show is still playing but it's probably within 5 seconds of the commercial break. The sound is garbled on the TV speakers, and no sound is coming from the speakers. One example that happened pretty much every time was Jericho (an excellent show), as they went to their static screen playing the morse code. Pretty much always lost the receiver audio. Now, how either the TV or the receiver know a commercial is coming is a bit strange, but this does happen.

I've never had it occur with the DVD player.