Plasma 'effects'

Hi all,

I've just purchased a Hitachi 32PD5200 plasma, and frankly, it was so awful I'm
going to return it. 'Still' scenes are perfect, great to look at, but anything
with motion in it is full of artifacts, and often scenes involving panning
disolve into just banded colour.

I know this can be an issue with plasmas, but they can't all be this bad!

So, is this TV worse then the rest, or am I just being picky?

Any suggestion for other smaller size (32/36 inch) plasmas which also have a
good (HD-ish) screen resolution?

Linus


--
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services. www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk www.uknumber.co.uk www.callthrough.co.uk
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Linus Surguy wrote:

Hi all,

I've just purchased a Hitachi 32PD5200 plasma, and frankly, it was so awful I'm
going to return it. 'Still' scenes are perfect, great to look at, but anything
with motion in it is full of artifacts, and often scenes involving panning
disolve into just banded colour.

I know this can be an issue with plasmas, but they can't all be this bad!

So, is this TV worse then the rest, or am I just being picky?

Any suggestion for other smaller size (32/36 inch) plasmas which also have a
good (HD-ish) screen resolution?

Linus


A lot of plasmas have enhancement effects, supposedly to improve picture
quality, which in my experience they don't. I've seen banding on just
about all of the plasmas that I've checked out - some worse than others.
I see it on my plasmas now, but it's something that I can live with - it
doesn't happen that often. I certainly haven't seen a plasma for a long
while now that shows artifacts badly, but this could be source dependent
.. I do see some blockiness on some sources - $ky, Freeview etc., but fed
with a high quality source (DVD) I'm more than happy. Do remember that
plasma as a technology is not as far down the track as CRT is, so,
unfortunately, you do (IMHO) have to make some compromises along the way.

B4 you return the unit, do check the following:

1) Turn-off any fancy picture processing effects, or set them to minimum.
2) Check to see if all sources show the same problems. Are you feeding
RGB signals in, etc.?

If you don't see the problems (much) on sources such as DVD, then I
wouldn't think the panel is 'duff'. Of course, you could have a bad
sample or a poor model. What about reviews Do they hint at the model
being naff?

HTH


Clem

Clem Dye wrote:

Linus Surguy wrote:

Hi all,

I've just purchased a Hitachi 32PD5200 plasma, and frankly, it was so awful I'm
going to return it. 'Still' scenes are perfect, great to look at, but anything
with motion in it is full of artifacts, and often scenes involving panning
disolve into just banded colour.

I know this can be an issue with plasmas, but they can't all be this bad!

So, is this TV worse then the rest, or am I just being picky?

A lot of plasmas have enhancement effects, supposedly to improve picture
quality, which in my experience they don't. I've seen banding on just
about all of the plasmas that I've checked out - some worse than others.
I see it on my plasmas now, but it's something that I can live with - it
doesn't happen that often. I certainly haven't seen a plasma for a long
while now that shows artifacts badly, but this could be source dependent
. I do see some blockiness on some sources - $ky, Freeview etc., but fed
with a high quality source (DVD) I'm more than happy. Do remember that
plasma as a technology is not as far down the track as CRT is, so,
unfortunately, you do (IMHO) have to make some compromises along the way.

B4 you return the unit, do check the following:

1) Turn-off any fancy picture processing effects, or set them to minimum.

I have tried just about all the combinations of 'noise reduction' on and off and
similar 'dynamic' and 'natural' modes that I could think of!

2) Check to see if all sources show the same problems. Are you feeding
RGB signals in, etc.?

Primarily the problems have been seen on RGB feeds, with the source being either
Sky or a Sony DVD player. It (major colour banding) is most obvious on 'tv' type
programmes where panning occurs from one person to another. Film source material
from DVD is less likely to show such scenes, so it occurs less with DVD, but it
is still obvious on any scene/source that shows large horizontal movement.

If you don't see the problems (much) on sources such as DVD, then I
wouldn't think the panel is 'duff'. Of course, you could have a bad
sample or a poor model. What about reviews Do they hint at the model
being naff?

The reviews on homecinemachoice suggested that the panel was good, although the
slightly newer 32PD5300 did have comments 'some image foibles' and 'colour
banding evident'.

Whilst it is possible I have a bad sample, I'd be surprised if it affected the
image processing in a way that only occured with my panel.

I am happy with some losses compared the CRT, but given the cost of the panel,
with this particular model, it is too annoying to live with.

Linus


--
Linus Surguy - Magrathea Telecommunications Ltd. Wholesale and retail telephone
services. www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk www.uknumber.co.uk www.callthrough.co.uk
www.telesave.co.uk: UK 2.5p/1.5/1p South Africa 6p US,France,Germany,Eire 2.5p
Looking for VoIP ? We're the largest wholesale numbering supplier in the UK!

"Linus Surguy" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I've just purchased a Hitachi 32PD5200 plasma, and frankly, it was so
awful I'm
going to return it. 'Still' scenes are perfect, great to look at, but
anything
with motion in it is full of artifacts, and often scenes involving panning
disolve into just banded colour.

I know this can be an issue with plasmas, but they can't all be this bad!

So, is this TV worse then the rest, or am I just being picky?

Any suggestion for other smaller size (32/36 inch) plasmas which also have
a
good (HD-ish) screen resolution?

Why not try and LCD if you are looking at this size?

Loz

(Linus Surguy) wrote:

Hi all,

I've just purchased a Hitachi 32PD5200 plasma, and frankly, it was so awful I'm
going to return it. 'Still' scenes are perfect, great to look at, but anything
with motion in it is full of artifacts, and often scenes involving panning
disolve into just banded colour.

Actually, one thing someone could clarify, - is the banding/artifact effect
generated by the panel itself, or is it generated by the video processor unit
(inbuilt on the PD5200, but external box on others) - if so, can the problem be
made to go away with a better processor unit outputing a digital signal straight
into the plasma?

Linus


--
Linus Surguy - Magrathea Telecommunications Ltd. Wholesale and retail telephone
services. www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk www.uknumber.co.uk www.callthrough.co.uk
www.telesave.co.uk: UK 2.5p/1.5/1p South Africa 6p US,France,Germany,Eire 2.5p
Looking for VoIP ? We're the largest wholesale numbering supplier in the UK!

Linus Surguy wrote:
Hi all,

I've just purchased a Hitachi 32PD5200 plasma, and frankly, it was so
awful I'm going to return it. 'Still' scenes are perfect, great to
look at, but anything with motion in it is full of artifacts, and
often scenes involving panning disolve into just banded colour.

I know this can be an issue with plasmas, but they can't all be this
bad!

So, is this TV worse then the rest, or am I just being picky?

Any suggestion for other smaller size (32/36 inch) plasmas which also
have a good (HD-ish) screen resolution?

Welcome to the plasma world - it gets better after a few hundred hours use
but never as good as a direct view CRT. Of course being plasma there's none
of the geometric distortion of the CRT, or the convergence issues.

Nothing is perfect - for 32 inch you may be better off with a modern TFT but
the viewing angle isn't as good.
--
We are the keepers of the sacred words: Ni, Pang,
and Ni-wom!

I have never, ever seen a plasma or lcd tv that compares to a good CRT.
Ever.

I honestly dont see the point until Hi-Def media really hits, and
despite being superior technology they just dont display the current
television standards very well. A 1365 by 768 display panel will
present a 720x576 PAL image in a really nasty, blurry fashion - and
it'll never be as sharp as a good CRT screen. When media that more
closely matches the resolution of these displays becomes prevalent,
then the tables will turn, and plasma's will look amazing. But until
then, I really dont see the point other than for posturing.

You just have to look at the ridiculous amounts of image processing
circuitry in Plasma/LCD's - my 32" CRT has absolutely no image
enhancement settings whatsoever (aside from the usual noise reduction)
and it knocks the socks off every flat panel tv I've ever seen.