[quicksilver]

Hello all,

I posted this in the Panasonic th58pz800 thread but am still having trouble. The plasma replaces a 4 yr old 51" Sony RPTV. The problem is I can not sit thru a blu-ray movie for more than 30 minutes without my eyes straining. I have checked recommended viewing distance calculators and my current sweet spot is 10 ft. from the TV which is ok. THX recommends 7.5ft. So I have sat 7.5ft sitting on my side couch and it instantly fixes my eye-strain. Now the obvious problem with that is I don't want to view from the side couch because that is not the sweet spot. I have determined that bias lighting does not alleviate the problem. Watching HD tv from 10ft. is fine. Watching blu-ray from my older, slightly smaller, much less detailed 51" RPTV from 10ft. was fine. I think I may schedule a visit with my optometrist soon, although I have already had new prescription glasses within the last 6 months. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[chrisherbert]

Try lowering the contrast on the TV a little. Or set the blu ray player to output 480p.

 

[greenland]



Quote:
Originally Posted by quicksilver /forum/post/15432002


Hello all,

I posted this in the Panasonic th58pz800 thread but am still having trouble. The plasma replaces a 4 yr old 51" Sony RPTV. The problem is I can not sit thru a blu-ray movie for more than 30 minutes without my eyes straining. I have checked recommended viewing distance calculators and my current sweet spot is 10 ft. from the TV which is ok. THX recommends 7.5ft. So I have sat 7.5ft sitting on my side couch and it instantly fixes my eye-strain. Now the obvious problem with that is I don't want to view from the side couch because that is not the sweet spot. I have determined that bias lighting does not alleviate the problem. Watching HD tv from 10ft. is fine. Watching blu-ray from my older, slightly smaller, much less detailed 51" RPTV from 10ft. was fine. I think I may schedule a visit with my optometrist soon, although I have already had new prescription glasses within the last 6 months. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Since it appears to be a problem that you are only experiencing when watching Blu-Ray, you might want to also post your inquiry on the Blue-Ray discussion forum. Perhaps some owners may have also run into the same problem, and may be able to provide some helpful suggestions. Here is the link to the forum.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=149


Good luck with your search for a solution.

 

[HTPC101]

I had that same problem before..

 

[corpfan1]

Ideal Lume from Cinema Quest solves the problem!

 

[baldino]



Quote:
Originally Posted by corpfan1 /forum/post/15434456


Ideal Lume from Cinema Quest solves the problem!

The Ideal-Lume worked wonders for me. I was getting headaches from watching my Panny PZ800U until I bought one. Problem solved--eyestrain is no longer an issue.


Also wondering if the notorious "flicker" problem could be a subtle contributor to your eyestrain. Quicksilver, are you watching 24p at 48HZ? The flicker issue doesn't bother me except when the picture is quite bright, as in sunny daylight scenes.

 

[simplemath]

You answered your own question. At 7.5 feet everything is great. 1080p is high detail, and your eyes try to focus on it. From 10 feet they strain to see something that is too far away, at 7.5 feet they see it easily. If you moved back to 14 feet they would also be ok, because the detail would be lost from what your eyes could focus on. 10 feet is right in the middle of what your eyes can focus on, but they have to work hard to do it.


Like reading a book with fine print from 4 feet away vs. 2.5 feet away...your eyes would thank you for 2.5 feet away right? unless you need reading glasses.


I'd say 10 feet for dvd, and 7.5 feet for bluray. most of the time you will be at 10 feet with 720p material. For blu ray move the couch for a few hours.

 

[quicksilver]



Quote:
Originally Posted by simplemath /forum/post/15435695


You answered your own question. At 7.5 feet everything is great. 1080p is high detail, and your eyes try to focus on it. From 10 feet they strain to see something that is too far away, at 7.5 feet they see it easily. If you moved back to 14 feet they would also be ok, because the detail would be lost from what your eyes could focus on. 10 feet is right in the middle of what your eyes can focus on, but they have to work hard to do it.


Like reading a book with fine print from 4 feet away vs. 2.5 feet away...your eyes would thank you for 2.5 feet away right? unless you need reading glasses.


I'd say 10 feet for dvd, and 7.5 feet for bluray. most of the time you will be at 10 feet with 720p material. For blu ray move the couch for a few hours.

Thank you. I think this is exactly my problem. I wonder tho, do others have the same problem viewing from 10ft? I can't imagine couches sitting at 7.5ft unless they have a very small living room. Or maybe its just my horrible eye vision?


Baldino, I have the TV set to 24p 60hz, if it were set on 48hz flicker mode I think I'd have lost my eyesight by now lol.

 

[brentsg]

Yeah I think if your eyes can resolve some detail by straining, they will. You need to be at a sweet spot where they can resolve the detail without working them... or back enough that they won't try.


I had a similar issue with an LCD screen way back (pc application).

 

[mpcengineering]

You might want to consider reducing the dynamic range of the panel by reducing the contrast if the panel is looking very bright, I know this would probably strain my eyes. If you have access to any measuring equipment, then 86 nits/25 ftL is a good level to go for.


Also I'm not sure what your set will be doing to display 24p content as 60Hz, but refresh rate will certainly be an influencing factor - might be worth looking at least trying some different refresh rates.


Finally I would personally be inclined to calculate correct viewing distance myself rather than using a calculator, this can be done pretty easily with the width of the panel and knowing the native resolution of the panel itself. Let me know if you would like me to run through how to go about doing this.


Hope you manage to sort it out


Jon

 

[quicksilver]

Just an update...

Optometrist confirmed that nothing is wrong with my vision. I don't believe high contrast is the issue because THX mode on the Panasonic produces a very dim picture. As for viewing distance, I've tried from 12ft, 14ft, and finally settled on 8ft. All distances are still giving me a bit of eye fatigue.


Some quick observations viewing HD (just an FYI I AM USING BIAS LIGHTING)

The new season of Lost is incredible. Probably the best HD currently on tv....but one of the few programs giving me eye fatigue. Battlestar Galactica on SCIFIHD is also giving a bit of fatigue. Tonight while flipping the channels....the superbowl gave no eye strain. Watching the Closer marathon on TNTHD gave me a headache. Flipping to The Stagers (brightly lit house show in full 1080i) on HGTVHD after the Closer immediately relaxed my eyes and the headache subsided. So self-diagnosing here, I'm thinking resolution is a major factor in my eye-fatigue. Lost in 720p and TNTHD in god knows what resolution causing trouble, while the Superbowl on NBC and HGTV in 1080i giving no fatigue. That doesn't explain why Battlestar in 1080i is giving me fatigue. So I'm going to take a wild guess and point to BSGs nasty film grain causing the eye fatigue. Or maybe BSG is too dark and the dim THX mode is the cause? I am starting to think that my eyes are NOT normal and more sensitive to details/contrast and maybe the Panasonic is a bad match, after all, it's been noted in nearly every professional review for its incredible detail.


Anyways, can someone please point me in the next direction. Do I suffer and keep this amazing tv? Try a professional calibration? Sell the tv on craigslist and than get what? Should I try my family doctor? I'm so discouraged at the moment and want to just desperately ENJOY watching my tv!

 

[The Natural]

Are you using the recommended light type for your biased lighting. I see one thread where people had an array of colors that really don't alleviate eye strain at all.

 

[RYAXIN]

Based on what I have read it seems like it may be a flicker issue but not certain how one would resolve that, I also tend to agree with seating distance and how much of a roll that plays and how it ties into flicker being noticable at certain distances.