Question for Panasonic Plasma HDTV owners (or anyone really)

Hi,

After doing considerable research, and speaking at length with some of
my colleagues, I bought a Panasonic TH50PX60U Plasma HDTV.

While I was shopping around, I looked at this TV in my local Circuit
City. They had it on display along with all of the other brands that
they carried - and at that time it did seem to have the best-looking
picture on the shelf, which corresponded with the majority of the
reviews I could find.

I'd read that Panasonic initializes these panels in what they call
"Vivid" mode - that being maximum brightness. From what I could tell,
the unit on display was in that mode - it was very, very bright when
compared to the other models around it.

After receiving the TV and setting it up, we watched it for a few
weeks. The next time I happened to be in that same Circuit City store,
I happened to stroll by the HDTVs. I was dismayed to see that the same
Panasonic now looked terrible next to all of the other sets. All of
the colors on the screen looked "blotchy" and even though they still
seemed to have crisp edges, those edges seemed to be "blooming" over
their normal boundaries. (I apologize for this decription - the look
of the picture is a bit hard to describe.) Overall, the entire picture
might be described as looking like a huge, luminescent, color-by-number
painting, and this was so drastic that the TV was essentially
unwatchable. Of course, no salesperson at the store could explain why
it now looked so awful.

Obviously a little concerned, when I next had our TV on, I tried
setting it to "Vivid" and, although the effect wasn't nearly as strong,
I could plainly see the colors starting to look blotchy.

Can anyone who owns this set (or one of it's relatives) let me know if
they've noticed any effects like this?

I am constantly battling with my wife not to run the set in Vivid mode,
which she likes to do, after having turned on every lamp in the room to
watch TV (go figure.) If running the set in this mode is going to
worsen this effect, I'd like to know about it.

Thanks for any info...

Another term for it is 'torch' mode. ;-) Many users and many stores
put them at the highest brightness/contrast so that they outshine(!)
the other panels and/or appeal to those easily impressed with "the
biggest and the brightest." This setting will shorten usable life and
make the set more likely to suffer from image retention and burn-in,
to say nothing of being completely inaccurate.

Ideally, all plasmas should be calibrated by a competent ISF
technician but, of course, very few are. What you and others can do
is to get an inexpensive calibration DVD and use it to set the plasma
more correctly. There are, at least, 3 discs on the market: Digital
Video Essentials, AVIA and the Monster Calibration DVD. There is,
also, the THX Optimizer appended to many commercial movie DVDs. Any
of these will be advantageous.

Kal




On 7 Nov 2006 07:42:34 -0800, "Mr. Land" wrote:

Hi,

After doing considerable research, and speaking at length with some of
my colleagues, I bought a Panasonic TH50PX60U Plasma HDTV.

While I was shopping around, I looked at this TV in my local Circuit
City. They had it on display along with all of the other brands that
they carried - and at that time it did seem to have the best-looking
picture on the shelf, which corresponded with the majority of the
reviews I could find.

I'd read that Panasonic initializes these panels in what they call
"Vivid" mode - that being maximum brightness. From what I could tell,
the unit on display was in that mode - it was very, very bright when
compared to the other models around it.

After receiving the TV and setting it up, we watched it for a few
weeks. The next time I happened to be in that same Circuit City store,
I happened to stroll by the HDTVs. I was dismayed to see that the same
Panasonic now looked terrible next to all of the other sets. All of
the colors on the screen looked "blotchy" and even though they still
seemed to have crisp edges, those edges seemed to be "blooming" over
their normal boundaries. (I apologize for this decription - the look
of the picture is a bit hard to describe.) Overall, the entire picture
might be described as looking like a huge, luminescent, color-by-number
painting, and this was so drastic that the TV was essentially
unwatchable. Of course, no salesperson at the store could explain why
it now looked so awful.

Obviously a little concerned, when I next had our TV on, I tried
setting it to "Vivid" and, although the effect wasn't nearly as strong,
I could plainly see the colors starting to look blotchy.

Can anyone who owns this set (or one of it's relatives) let me know if
they've noticed any effects like this?

I am constantly battling with my wife not to run the set in Vivid mode,
which she likes to do, after having turned on every lamp in the room to
watch TV (go figure.) If running the set in this mode is going to
worsen this effect, I'd like to know about it.

Thanks for any info...

Vivid Mode = Torch Mode - a very good way of describing it.

I see Vivid as simply what it says: vivid. Not natural at all.

I have a Panasonic 32" LCD ~ I use the Std mode for all viewing. Works (for
me) just fine.

Wayne



"Kalman Rubinson" wrote in message
...
Another term for it is 'torch' mode. ;-) Many users and many stores
put them at the highest brightness/contrast so that they outshine(!)
the other panels and/or appeal to those easily impressed with "the
biggest and the brightest." This setting will shorten usable life and
make the set more likely to suffer from image retention and burn-in,
to say nothing of being completely inaccurate.

Ideally, all plasmas should be calibrated by a competent ISF
technician but, of course, very few are. What you and others can do
is to get an inexpensive calibration DVD and use it to set the plasma
more correctly. There are, at least, 3 discs on the market: Digital
Video Essentials, AVIA and the Monster Calibration DVD. There is,
also, the THX Optimizer appended to many commercial movie DVDs. Any
of these will be advantageous.

Kal




On 7 Nov 2006 07:42:34 -0800, "Mr. Land" wrote:

Hi,

After doing considerable research, and speaking at length with some of
my colleagues, I bought a Panasonic TH50PX60U Plasma HDTV.

While I was shopping around, I looked at this TV in my local Circuit
City. They had it on display along with all of the other brands that
they carried - and at that time it did seem to have the best-looking
picture on the shelf, which corresponded with the majority of the
reviews I could find.

I'd read that Panasonic initializes these panels in what they call
"Vivid" mode - that being maximum brightness. From what I could tell,
the unit on display was in that mode - it was very, very bright when
compared to the other models around it.

After receiving the TV and setting it up, we watched it for a few
weeks. The next time I happened to be in that same Circuit City store,
I happened to stroll by the HDTVs. I was dismayed to see that the same
Panasonic now looked terrible next to all of the other sets. All of
the colors on the screen looked "blotchy" and even though they still
seemed to have crisp edges, those edges seemed to be "blooming" over
their normal boundaries. (I apologize for this decription - the look
of the picture is a bit hard to describe.) Overall, the entire picture
might be described as looking like a huge, luminescent, color-by-number
painting, and this was so drastic that the TV was essentially
unwatchable. Of course, no salesperson at the store could explain why
it now looked so awful.

Obviously a little concerned, when I next had our TV on, I tried
setting it to "Vivid" and, although the effect wasn't nearly as strong,
I could plainly see the colors starting to look blotchy.

Can anyone who owns this set (or one of it's relatives) let me know if
they've noticed any effects like this?

I am constantly battling with my wife not to run the set in Vivid mode,
which she likes to do, after having turned on every lamp in the room to
watch TV (go figure.) If running the set in this mode is going to
worsen this effect, I'd like to know about it.

Thanks for any info...

It doesn't have anything to do with the "mode" selected. It was likely to do
with the programming. Possibly an analog channel or something less than HD.

Bob


"Mr. Land" wrote in message
ps.com...
Hi,

After doing considerable research, and speaking at length with some of
my colleagues, I bought a Panasonic TH50PX60U Plasma HDTV.

While I was shopping around, I looked at this TV in my local Circuit
City. They had it on display along with all of the other brands that
they carried - and at that time it did seem to have the best-looking
picture on the shelf, which corresponded with the majority of the
reviews I could find.

I'd read that Panasonic initializes these panels in what they call
"Vivid" mode - that being maximum brightness. From what I could tell,
the unit on display was in that mode - it was very, very bright when
compared to the other models around it.

After receiving the TV and setting it up, we watched it for a few
weeks. The next time I happened to be in that same Circuit City store,
I happened to stroll by the HDTVs. I was dismayed to see that the same
Panasonic now looked terrible next to all of the other sets. All of
the colors on the screen looked "blotchy" and even though they still
seemed to have crisp edges, those edges seemed to be "blooming" over
their normal boundaries. (I apologize for this decription - the look
of the picture is a bit hard to describe.) Overall, the entire picture
might be described as looking like a huge, luminescent, color-by-number
painting, and this was so drastic that the TV was essentially
unwatchable. Of course, no salesperson at the store could explain why
it now looked so awful.

Obviously a little concerned, when I next had our TV on, I tried
setting it to "Vivid" and, although the effect wasn't nearly as strong,
I could plainly see the colors starting to look blotchy.

Can anyone who owns this set (or one of it's relatives) let me know if
they've noticed any effects like this?

I am constantly battling with my wife not to run the set in Vivid mode,
which she likes to do, after having turned on every lamp in the room to
watch TV (go figure.) If running the set in this mode is going to
worsen this effect, I'd like to know about it.

Thanks for any info...

"Mr. Land" wrote:


Can anyone who owns this set (or one of it's relatives) let me know if
they've noticed any effects like this?

I've had a Panasonic plasma for a year and I never run it in "vivid" mode.
It looks as good as new.

--
Dan

"Fiction was invented the day Jonah arrived home and told his wife
that he was three days late because he had been swallowed by a
whale." -Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Mr. Land wrote:

I'd read that Panasonic initializes these panels in what they call
"Vivid" mode - that being maximum brightness. From what I could tell,
the unit on display was in that mode - it was very, very bright when
compared to the other models around it.

Very very bright and very very *very* horrible quality.

Vivid mode is surely the worst-looking setting. I have mine (it's
a 42D60 -- EDTV panel, but same Viera series as yours) in Cinema
mode; it gives a warm feeling and a smooth color variation (when
looking at persons --- e.g., facial skin --- you get a continuous
color/shading transition with natural-looking skin colors, instead
of a discontinuos "iso-curves" look and horribly artificial colors.

True that it is ultimately a matter of taste... But if your wife
keeps insisting that vivid mode looks better, you'll have to
divorce her --- and of course, if as part of the divorce she
threatens you that she'll keep the Plasma TV, then you may have
to kill her!!! :-)

BTW, the Vivid setting is not a synonim for "maximum brightness";
you can see that it affects the brightness, picture, and color
settings.

If you want the easy solution, use the Cinema mode (well, use
any setting *other than Vivid*). But the really responsible
thing to do is to get a calibration DVD and go through the
process.

HTH,

Carlos
--

I have the exact Panny as you and used the settings supplied by this page:
http://www.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/p...0u-review.html
I'm very happy with the results.
Congrats on your new Tv. Enjoy.

"Mr. Land" wrote in message
ps.com...
Hi,

After doing considerable research, and speaking at length with some of
my colleagues, I bought a Panasonic TH50PX60U Plasma HDTV.

While I was shopping around, I looked at this TV in my local Circuit
City. They had it on display along with all of the other brands that
they carried - and at that time it did seem to have the best-looking
picture on the shelf, which corresponded with the majority of the
reviews I could find.

I'd read that Panasonic initializes these panels in what they call
"Vivid" mode - that being maximum brightness. From what I could tell,
the unit on display was in that mode - it was very, very bright when
compared to the other models around it.

After receiving the TV and setting it up, we watched it for a few
weeks. The next time I happened to be in that same Circuit City store,
I happened to stroll by the HDTVs. I was dismayed to see that the same
Panasonic now looked terrible next to all of the other sets. All of
the colors on the screen looked "blotchy" and even though they still
seemed to have crisp edges, those edges seemed to be "blooming" over
their normal boundaries. (I apologize for this decription - the look
of the picture is a bit hard to describe.) Overall, the entire picture
might be described as looking like a huge, luminescent, color-by-number
painting, and this was so drastic that the TV was essentially
unwatchable. Of course, no salesperson at the store could explain why
it now looked so awful.

Obviously a little concerned, when I next had our TV on, I tried
setting it to "Vivid" and, although the effect wasn't nearly as strong,
I could plainly see the colors starting to look blotchy.

Can anyone who owns this set (or one of it's relatives) let me know if
they've noticed any effects like this?

I am constantly battling with my wife not to run the set in Vivid mode,
which she likes to do, after having turned on every lamp in the room to
watch TV (go figure.) If running the set in this mode is going to
worsen this effect, I'd like to know about it.

Thanks for any info...

My thanks to all of you who were kind enough to take the time to reply.

I can't help but wonder if this "blotchiness" is an artifact solely in
Panasonic plasmas - I can't recall seeing any such effect in other
brands (but then again, I haven't had the opportunity to "crank them
up" either.)

I'll have a look at the settings / calibration disks, thanks again.