Get an exclusive sneak peek into our new project. >>> Click Here
Our native mobile app has a new name: Fora Communities. Learn more.

Dissapointed w/ Panasonic TH-42PX600U

2586 Views 9 Replies 8 Participants Last post by HoustonPerson, May 22, 2007

aagha

Discussion Starter · May 15, 2007

I've had my Panasonic TH-42PX600U for a bit over four months, and I have to say I'm a bit dissapointed.

The picture quality is pretty crisp, but there are elements of how the TV functions and its menu system that I find frustrating. Though I'm pretty happy with the picture quality, I think it could be better. I've noticed if I'm watching some PBS shows broadcast in HD, there seems to be a "trailing effect" where, when things move, it seems the "pixels" on the screen are lagging and trying to catch up to the motion--not sure if that makes any sense. Overall, it makes the picture look blurry when there is movement.

It would be great to hear from others as to wether there are shortcuts for what I'm trying to do, or if the "problems" I'm stating are specific to me, or is it common for this model.

Furthermore, if people have recommendations for different settings for TV viewing versus Movie viewing, that would be helpful as well. I have mine setup according to the info on Plasma TV Buying Guide (Top 10 TV's writeup):

Panasonic TH-42PX600U Optimal Picture Settings
Picture Mode Standard
Picture +22
Brightness +8
Color -1
Tint -4
Sharpness -14
Color Temperature Warm
Enhanced Black Level Off

Here are some of my gripes:

Functionality

1. Takes forever to turn on. This may be an issue with all Plasmas, but mine takes nearly seven seconds to turn on--from the moment I hit the power button to the time I get a picture on the screen.

2. Changing chanels is slow. From the time I hit the "channel up/down" button to the time I actually go to the next channel, it takes between one and 1.5 seconds

Menus/Features

1. Manual channel editing stinks. In order to manually edit the channels (labels, wether you want them to show up or not, etc.), you have to go three or four levels through the setup menu. There seems to be no easy way to jump around--I admit I might be being overly picky here, as I could always just write down which chanels I want to change and then go through the setup just once and tweak things as I want.

However, overall, I'm not crazy about the menu system.

2. TV Guide. When I first saw this feature, I was pretty impressed. I have basic basic cable (w/o a cable box), and it was nice to have a feature like this without having to own Comcast's box. However, over time, its done nothing but frustrate me.

- When I hit the TV Guide button, it can take up to 10 seconds for the UI to come up.

- Even though I have only basic basic cable, the guide displays nearly all the TV stations that exist (HBO, etc.)--nevermind that I neither have any of these stations nor can I get the signal for them. I would have thought the system to be more intelligent in that it would show a TV Guide listing only for those chanels that I have.

- Some channels I do have don't display: ABC. Even though I have ABC (420 on ch. 4 and 720p on 40), neither of these chanel listings display in the TV Guide. I've gone through and tried to rescan channels from scatch,

- The setup is a pain. Even though I've gone through and had the TVGuide rescan all my channels over and over again, tweaked the settings, etc., I can't seem to get it to work. I'm willing to concede this problem could be exhasperated by the fact that a) we have only basic basic cable and b) Comcast could be sending out a funky signal that might be keeping things from working properly.

What are others' experiences like?

PS - I love the TH-42PX600U for movies--just amazing. For day to day use, I'm not so sure, and am contemplating a change to a LCD.

See less See more

Save

1 - 10 of 10 Posts

oldcband

· #2 · May 15, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by aagha /forum/post/0

Here are some of my gripes:

2. TV Guide. When I first saw this feature, I was pretty impressed. I have basic basic cable (w/o a cable box), and it was nice to have a feature like this without having to own Comcast's box. However, over time, its done nothing but frustrate me.

- When I hit the TV Guide button, it can take up to 10 seconds for the UI to come up.

- Even though I have only basic basic cable, the guide displays nearly all the TV stations that exist (HBO, etc.)--nevermind that I neither have any of these stations nor can I get the signal for them. I would have thought the system to be more intelligent in that it would show a TV Guide listing only for those chanels that I have.

- Some channels I do have don't display: ABC. Even though I have ABC (420 on ch. 4 and 720p on 40), neither of these chanel listings display in the TV Guide. I've gone through and tried to rescan channels from scatch,

- The setup is a pain. Even though I've gone through and had the TVGuide rescan all my channels over and over again, tweaked the settings, etc., I can't seem to get it to work. I'm willing to concede this problem could be exhasperated by the fact that a) we have only basic basic cable and b) Comcast could be sending out a funky signal that might be keeping things from working properly.

TV Guide is a great feature. When your in the guide go to set-up, "change channel display" then you can turn on or off the channels you want or don't want.

Also to make the guide work you have to have a PBS analog channel from 0-99 if you don't have one it can't download from your cable company. Also get a cablecard if you can if you don't have one.

If your recieving any listings its working from an analog "PBS"l from your cable company. Then you just have to clean up your system in the "change channel display". Good luck.

Save

batpig

· #3 · May 15, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by aagha /forum/post/0

I've had my Panasonic TH-42PX600U for a bit over four months, and I have to say I'm a bit dissapointed.

The picture quality is pretty crisp, but there are elements of how the TV functions and its menu system that I find frustrating. Though I'm pretty happy with the picture quality, I think it could be better. I've noticed if I'm watching some PBS shows broadcast in HD, there seems to be a "trailing effect" where, when things move, it seems the "pixels" on the screen are lagging and trying to catch up to the motion--not sure if that makes any sense. Overall, it makes the picture look blurry when there is movement.

The PBS thing is a problem with their broadcast -- it's been widely complained about. I see the same thing on certain PBS-HD shows. It's almost certainly a problem with the broadcast, not with the TV.

Can't help you with the TV guide, since I use a cable box.

The fact that watching movies is amazing should be an indication that some of your problems are source-related; when you get a good source, the PQ is outstanding. I seriously doubt that an LCD would be any better for day-to-day TV watching.

Those settings from the article that you are using are great for movie watching, but for watching TV tone it down a little and try Normal color temp. You should set those setting to "Cinema", and set your "Standard" to Normal temp and optimize it for normal TV watching. You will have different settings, but I find that toning down the Picture and Color settings helps produce a more realistic picture that doesn't burn the retinas.

My settings for TV, via HDMI and an 8300HD cable box:

Standard

Picture +15

Brightness +7

Color -7

Tint -3

Sharpness -10

Color Temp Normal

Black Level Light

Everything else OFF

See less See more

Save

mvesledahl

· #4 · May 15, 2007

Wow... those settings for contrast and brightness seem pretty high... I have a 50 8uk and have the contrast set at -8, brightness at -5...

Save

Techniwizard

· #5 · May 15, 2007

the consumer units use a different scale for their controls 0 - xx whereas the pro units use -20 through +20.

Save

zoyd

· #6 · May 15, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by batpig /forum/post/0

The PBS thing is a problem with their broadcast -- it's been widely complained about. I see the same thing on certain PBS-HD shows. It's almost certainly a problem with the broadcast, not with the TV.

yes, PBS-HD has horrible motion artifacts because they allocate bandwidth to their sub-channels so the HD channel bitrate is less than any other broadcast.

Save

HoustonPerson

· #7 · May 15, 2007

aagha,

Depending on where you live PBS HD can really be bad at times - it is real bad in Houston. Often you will see the color portion and the B&W portion "not" in sync with each other creating some of the weirdest motion blur ever. If you watch HD Live Sports OTA, the PQ should be great (baseball, football) etc. This would be true for most CBS, NBC, and FOX in most areas of the country with OTA viewing.

TV Guide On-Screen there has been a ton of major changes in the service (data grid formats streams). If you can find a way to do a re-set on the TV Guide system and then re-set it up the problems should go away. This may include even "one" session of entering all zeros for zip code and then again with the correct zip code. Find out how to do a "soft reset" on your TV - many TV's only require them to be un-pluged for 30 min or so..........then do the TV Guide set up's again.

Also, follow the suggestions to those above on TV Guide after you have done a soft reset for the TV............tuning from channel to channel with TV Guide will still take about 1.5 seconds..........but other features using and setting up correct channel numbers, ordering, "ons" and "offs", searching etc. should make things go faster for you. Good Luck

Also, if you have access to OTA for Live HD sports, then you should be able to see what the TV can really do.

See less See more

Save

aagha

Discussion Starter · #8 · May 22, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by HoustonPerson /forum/post/0

TV Guide On-Screen there has been a ton of major changes in the service (data grid formats streams). If you can find a way to do a re-set on the TV Guide system and then re-set it up the problems should go away. This may include even "one" session of entering all zeros for zip code and then again with the correct zip code. Find out how to do a "soft reset" on your TV - many TV's only require them to be un-pluged for 30 min or so..........then do the TV Guide set up's again.

Thanks for the input. I tried to reset the zip code to 00000, and then checked a couple days later, and I still had two CBS stations and no ABC.

Re the reset, I'm not having any luck on finding out how to do this. I haven't done the 30 min un-plug since I'm afraid of losing all my other settings.

Is there an online guide to using the TV Guide functionality or a help resource?

Save

mister_two

· #9 · May 22, 2007

Turn on/off. Yes it is slow, I don't know if it's 7 seconds or longer, have never timed it but it does take a long time. Sometimes I didn't think I hit the on/off button and turn it off while it's trying to come on. It's frustrating.

Channeling surfing speed. Is it slow all the time ? Or only when you are changing from a HD channel to a SD channel? I notice it's slow when changing from a HD to SD station or vice versa. But going from HD to HD or SD to SD it's normal speed. When I had the 42PD50U it was the same thing. I was told this is normal.

Save

HoustonPerson

· #10 · May 22, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by aagha /forum/post/0

Thanks for the input. I tried to reset the zip code to 00000, and then checked a couple days later, and I still had two CBS stations and no ABC.

Re the reset, I'm not having any luck on finding out how to do this. I haven't done the 30 min un-plug since I'm afraid of losing all my other settings.

Is there an online guide to using the TV Guide functionality or a help resource?

1. two CBS and no ABC, sounds like you may need to go into TV Guide channel set up, and review the entire grid. some new or corrected stations are added to the very end of the list. It is common to find some stations that are turned "off" that should be "on" and visa versa - so read that list carefuly. ALSO, if a channel is missing from the list, you can use channel re-assignment. For example lets say you Guide does have ABC analogue and you want it to be ABC digital (very rare but it can happen) then you could just change the number isn TV Guide set up (ie; 13-0 to 13-1 if that is your ABC digital).........for the two CBS just try to identify the bad one and turn it "off"

2. Honestly, you best choice may be the full re-set and that alone could solve the above problem. Also, you may have to call Panasonic, they should also, be able to explain over the phone to re-setup the TV and completely whip out TV Guide so you can set it up again.

3. I know it may be a pain, and a lot of time reading but the following may help some.

http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/IS...me/tvgos2.html

http://www.tvguideonscreen.com/

http://www.vgi.com/support/

Once you know the TV Guide system and what it can do and provide, you should like it - while I guess I am one of the rare people that feels that way. It provides so much more information then other guides, so quickly (compared to others), and ten times ? more data on the screen, I simply perfer it to all the other "paid for" guide systems.

See less See more

Save

1 - 10 of 10 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month