[krbuck]



It just arrived this afternoon. It was just over 100lbs, so any healthy adult can carefully get it up some stairs.


Unfortunately, the order for the stand got lost, so its sitting on my floor now; I'm using the foam packing spacers to prop it up until the table stand arrives.


I'm using a Scientific-Atlanta 2000HD cable box provided by Time-Warner to view HD content (just HBO). I also have A Panasonic RP56 DVD player and a Denon 4802 receiver on order that have yet to arrive. But existing video sources include a hacked stand-alone Tivo an older DVD player and of course the SD cable box.


I immediately turned to HBO-HD. A movie was playing and it automatically went into 16:9 mode HD. The picture was quite nice, but I did notice some "blocky" color gradients, especially in dark backgrounds. I'm pretty sure this is Time-warner's fault as I've seen this before in SD video, and my cables are all high quality (Monster).


SD video from the component outputs from the 2000HD looks good. I have reception problems, especially on lower channels that causes snow and some cross-hatching. I doubt many joe-sixpacks would care much, but hafter spending $6000 on video equipment, its pretty hard to swallow. I see a satellite in my future.... I just can't decide which.


One other thing about the SD signal from the component inputs I noticed was that I could not put it in stretch mode. I was only able to stretch the svideo input which I had hooked up to my Tivo. I'm not sure why this is, but I'd really like to stretch this since I'm worried about burn-in.


The Tivo output looked pretty awful after looking at the HD content. It may also be that I need to do some adjusting and more experimenting, but my guess is with the poor signal from Time-Warner along with normal loss in Tivo (even at highest quality) its not going to get much better.


I'm still awaiting my Denon 4802 so I can do switching between cable, Tivo and DVD. I'm expecting the RP56 and Plasma output to be stellar. I'm still not exactly sure how I'm going to rig this all up though. If anyone has a similar setup, I'd be grateful for your suggestions.


--Karl

 

[iceman143]

Major,


Your plasma sounds too heavy. I have the same unit and it only weighs 65 pounds, of course, if I was trying to carry it upstairs I'm sure the 100lbs would feel more accurate.


You will see a tremendous difference from good source material. I am using an RP91 DVD player and with progressive scan the picture is great. I have been waiting and waiting on the Zenith STB for satellite HD but am growing old while waiting. Presently I have a Sony STB with DirecTV which is much better than the cable in my area but still some channels are poor. National Geographic Channel always has one of the best pictures.


Watch for a lip sync problem with s-video. You may wish to see if your receiver will allow a delay to compensate. I am using bettercables component RCA to BNC cables with great results and added a longer and better power cord from Chris at BPT. The OEM power cord was too short for my mounting area so Chris designed a 12' one to fit the Panasonic 42. I receiver some GREAT ideas about building my own power cord but in the end time constraints dictated the purchase. I am using a Yamaha RX-V1 receiver.

 

[krbuck]



Yes, I noticed the delay. Its quite obvious. I hope there is a way to compensate.


I'm not sure if the Denon 4802 will help once it arrives and I get it installed. --Karl

 

[markkent]

I got my 42" panny yesterday, today it is on the wall.

It has a manufacturer date of September 2001, but it buzzes. 62db up at the monitor. The only dvd I have on hand is the IMAX Everest dvd where the audio is people talking, and I can hear the screen from 8 feet away.


Anyone have any comments on how loud any buzz should be and/or more information on what the initial 42UY buzz sounded like?


Thanks,

-mark

 

[krbuck]

So far, the loudest piece of equipment I own is my Tivo, but that's understandable since it has two 80gb hard drives whirring away.


My manufacture date is also September 2001. I've probably not listened carefully enough to determine if I have this problem too. --Karl

 

[iceman143]

Mark,


There are at least two forum members who received their units in the initial shipment several weeks ago and then returned the unit to be fixed. I believe they are both from the New York area. I received my 42" in the initial shipment but do not have the problem. I do have a humming noise that is audible when very near the unit however from 8' it can't be heard. The sound is very similar to that of a fluorescent shop light.


The noise is not from a fan.

 

[Spoffo]

There's something wrong if you can't get stretch modes when sending SD video into the component inputs. If it's 525i, you should have all the same modes available as with the S-video input. It it's 480p, you only get "zoom" and "full", but you shouldn't be locked into viewing with black bars.



. . . . .unless . . is the "SD" you're talking about maybe the upconverted SD on a digital OTA channel? Many of these stations float their 4:3 SD picture in a transmitted 16:9 frame. The system treats this as a widescreen picture, black bars and all. The work-around is to tell your STB that you have a 4:3 monitor via the preference settings.. then it will crop off the black bars. I know you can do this with the DTC 100. YMMV with other boxes..

 

[TonyP]

I received my panny 42 a couple of days ago, dated September 2001. I have no buzzing...unless you put your ear to it.


------------------

TP

 

[esinger5]

Just received my replacement Panny 42" and the buzz / hum is just as loud as it was with the original unit.


Obviously, it is not audible with the audio blasting but once you mute everything, it can be heard from across the room.


I measured it at 64dB - way too high for a high end audio or video component.


Will get on the phone with Panasonic Monday - hope they have an idea on how to fix it.


--eli

 

[sejngordon]

I also received my panasonic 42 this week and I also hear a buzzing like a flourescent light sound but only if I go around to the back and listen. From 8 feet away I can't hear it. Mine is also dated Sept. 2001. Like Astro I have mine set up in the styrofoam feet until my wall mount arrives. One funny thing that happened was that I thought that the volume control was broken because every time I turned up the volume it just went back down. I called panasonic tech support and they told me that I had a defective unit. Then I realized that the styrofoam was pressing against the volume control button! I felt pretty dumb. Otherwise so far so good.

 

[krbuck]

I watched Band of Brothers last night. WOW.


Overall, I'm pretty happy. I still need to figure out a solution for my Tivo that keeps it continuously online and able to record and play with no lip sync delay. As long as I use component input, its great.


I'm still waiting on my Denon 4802 to test out the Panasonic RP56 DVD player so I can get the full 5.1 sound. I've pretty much decided to go with Dish Network, so that will be another input.


As for the hum, I thought my Tivo was the loudest component I owned, but a little investigation revealed it is my el-cheapo subwoofer. I may have a ground loop somewhere.


Thanks to everyone on this forum that provided support! --Karl


------------------
http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollect...p?alias=krbuck

 

[markkent]

Quote:

Originally posted by esinger5: Just received my replacement Panny 42" and the buzz / hum is just as loud as it was with the original unit. [snip] I measured it at 64dB - way too high for a high end audio or video component. Will get on the phone with Panasonic Monday - hope they have an idea on how to fix it. --eli

Please post whatever you find out. I'll post info that I get.


I found that the sound level goes up depending on how much white is on the screen. This should give the EE techies some hints about the source of the problem.


I get to 72db (i.e., loud) with a mostly white screen. I think this is why I noticed it while watching the IMAX Everest dvd... lots of snow and ice.


-mark

 

[eelton]

Quote:

Just received my replacement Panny 42" and the buzz / hum is just as loud as it was with the original unit.

I'm sorry to hear that. It was out of fear of this happening that I requested to exchange my 50" Panasonic for a Fujitsu. I can't say yet whether that was a good decision, though.


By the way, I had also noticed that the noise varied with what was on the screen. The most noticeable difference was between displaying nothing (black) and anything--even the "no signal" text. That produced the biggest jump in the noise, with a slight further increase as the screen got brighter.


The sound came from the right (as seen from the front) side of the monitor, perhaps a third of the way up from the bottom. The noisy fluorescent light analogy is a good one.


I also noticed that it was getting louder over time; in fact, I don't think it was present when I first received the plasma. Of course, it may have been increasing awareness and frustration that made it seem louder.


[This message has been edited by eelton (edited 10-07-2001).]

 

[eelton]

One more thing about the buzzing--some people have described a very faint noise when they put their ears to the screen. This was also present on my unit (and I assume is inherent to all plasmas), but was separate and different from the much louder buzz/hum.


Both could be compared to a fluorescent light, but the first was the very faint sound of a normal light, and the second the much louder sound of a malfunctioning light (or is it the transformer or ballast that does it--I know next to nothing about fluorescent lights).


On a relative scale, if the faint noise from the screen was a 1, fan noise was 3 and the buzzing was 10. The buzzing was audible from at least 20 feet away with the audio muted.

 

[esinger5]

I checked 4 separate units (2 with July manufacturing date and 2 with a September sticker) and all sounded the same, i.e. loud buzz/hum that's coming from the back and can be heard from more the 10 ft. away.


It might be that I'm just very unlucky (I noticed a slightly dark cloud following me the other day) or maybe I'm too sensitive...


Similar to mark and eelton's observations, I also noticed that the noise changes with the picture and is a little louder when the image turns white. I also experienced the feeling that the noise seem to grow louder over time, but I suspect that it was the fact that when I first turned it on, it was still early in the evening and fairly noisy around my apartment.


Before opening the September units I called Panasonic and the engineer I spoke with told me that he heard (no first hand experience) that "they" made changes to the units and replaced some of the components that were causing the noise. It obviously didn't help. I will call him back on Monday and ask for a more detailed explanation.


I really hope for a resolution by Panasonic because the picture is truly stunning and I would hate to change it for an NEC.


--eli

 

[markkent]

Due to the buzz, [email protected] is handling my panny42 swap. A shipper is coming to pick up the original and another shipper is dropping off a new one.


I know it's been said here many times, but I'll add this: dealings with [email protected] are smooth and pleasant.


-mark

 

[MoocaT]

Markkent,


Please, let us know if you received your new Panny 42" from Paul and if you have the buzzing!!!


Thanks,


MoocaT

 

[thequietman]

I am wating for my panny 42 to arrivefrom dell sometime in the next wo weeks. Iam worried about these posts about humming

noises. Did anyone receive their panny from dell yet...does it buzz?.....Is there a tel no for Panasonic tech support to check if changes have been made to particular serial no models?

Thanks

thequietman

 

[K-Wood]

I received my Panny 42 (the UY commercial model) from Paul at ProjectionOne two weeks ago. I does not buzz. There is a slight lip sync delay on s-video, but its no worse than the normal delay from satellite. I'm really happy with the unit.


- Ken

 

[krbuck]

I stuck my head back behind my panasonic 42" display and hear "the buzz". I think the reason it never bothered me before is that I keep my monitor inside a cabinet and its not as obvious.


--Karl