Panasonic TX-P50VT20 Picture Settings

Leopardi

I've had the TX-P50VT20L model for almost 18 months and I'm still in search of picture settings that I'll be happy with. Unfortunately, I've been using the Dynamic mode from the outset, so whenever I try to change to any recommended settings, I convince myself that the loss in overall brightness is decreasing the PQ. I've even set Sharpness and P-NR to max despite reading how ill-advised that is.

I would be grateful for any advice regarding this issue. I am utterly clueless when it comes to calibration.

babybuilder

Leopardi wrote: »

I've had the TX-P50VT20L model for almost 18 months and I'm still in search of picture settings that I'll be happy with. Unfortunately, I've been using the Dynamic mode from the outset, so whenever I try to change to any recommended settings, I convince myself that the loss in overall brightness is decreasing the PQ. I've even set Sharpness and P-NR to max despite reading how ill-advised that is.

I would be grateful for any advice regarding this issue. I am utterly clueless when it comes to calibration.

Hi
you are definitely using the wrong settings. I'm surprised that you dont have screen burn after 18 months of dynamic setting. The TV is meant to be"run in" with the first 200 hours in thx mode. Check out avforums.com to get settings for this model. This is a very good tv and needs to be calibrated properly. Dynamic is normally used only for shop display and I hope you havent destroyed future picture quality. My advice is to get someone with a bit of experience to calibrate this tv.

Leopardi

babybuilder wrote: »

Hi
you are definitely using the wrong settings. I'm surprised that you dont have screen burn after 18 months of dynamic setting. The TV is meant to be"run in" with the first 200 hours in thx mode. Check out avforums.com to get settings for this model. This is a very good tv and needs to be calibrated properly. Dynamic is normally used only for shop display and I hope you havent destroyed future picture quality. My advice is to get someone with a bit of experience to calibrate this tv.

Thanks for the reply. I'm tempted to invest in a calibration disc, but calibration done by a professional would seem to be the best option.

eddiem74

Leopardi wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I'm tempted to invest in a calibration disc, but calibration done by a professional would seem to be the best option.

Its possible some of your THX certified DVDs or Blurays have the THX Optimizer calibration patterns on them which is a start and will save you buying a specific disc. If you google a bit on that you will find titles which contain it e.g. Star Wars.

These videos might also help get you started and explain a bit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-l1AFroyO4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JKR6ofUZBQ

Leopardi

eddiem74 wrote: »

Its possible some of your THX certified DVDs or Blurays have the THX Optimizer calibration patterns on them which is a start and will save you buying a specific disc. If you google a bit on that you will find titles which contain it e.g. Star Wars.

These videos might also help get you started and explain a bit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-l1AFroyO4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JKR6ofUZBQ

Thanks for the reply, Eddie. I heard of that Optimizer, but I have yet to try it. I must check my collection to see if any of my discs have it. I'm tempted by the Spears and Munsil calibration disc, but I've heard a new one is due in 2012, so I'm holding off for now.

big_moe

i have the same tv, when im watching films i leave it in thx mode (cos i have the room darkened) but when watching regular tv i leave it it normal mode with a few tweaks to what looks good to my eye.

dynamic mode looks crap when i go back to it now

Leopardi

big_moe wrote: »

i have the same tv, when im watching films i leave it in thx mode (cos i have the room darkened) but when watching regular tv i leave it it normal mode with a few tweaks to what looks good to my eye.

dynamic mode looks crap when i go back to it now

Cheers! I am trying to wean myself off Dynamic mode. It's a tough task! My main worry is IR, but I keep thinking I'm losing overall quality when I switch to THX or Normal. The eyes so easily deceive in these situations.

big_moe

THX mode does take a little getting used to. Put it into THX mode and watch a good looking blu-ray, then switch it to Dynamic and you'll be shocked how crap it looks!

Leopardi

big_moe wrote: »

THX mode does take a little getting used to. Put it into THX mode and watch a good looking blu-ray, then switch it to Dynamic and you'll be shocked how crap it looks!

I did that earlier with Tree of Life. I'm still not cured! I did reduce contrast in Dynamic to 50, so that might be a positive sign!

ROGER THE LODGER

Hi there.Maybe you have this tv connected to a sky box,but if not, you can still record with no loss in quality simply by plugging into the side usb slot a portable [in my case 500GB]hard drive.Panasonic recommends you use a Buffallo which are available from the likes of Amazon etc.Subscription free pause and rewind and totally hidden from view when wall mounted.Not bad for 50 euro delivered.

Leopardi

ROGER THE LODGER wrote: »

Hi there.Maybe you have this tv connected to a sky box,but if not, you can still record with no loss in quality simply by plugging into the side usb slot a portable [in my case 500GB]hard drive.Panasonic recommends you use a Buffallo which are available from the likes of Amazon etc.Subscription free pause and rewind and totally hidden from view when wall mounted.Not bad for 50 euro delivered.

I was thinking of investing in one of them. Is there any way to get the material from the HD onto DVD/Blu-ray, or is it protected in some way?

ROGER THE LODGER

Only a HDD USB that has been registered with the tv can be accessed.Panasonic has used encryption with a unix operating system called Free BSD5.0 and pc's can't read this. The tv formats the HDD and this allows you to record off both digital tuners although not two at the same time.you could .If you wanted a later date to find a different use for the HDD you go into the tv menu and deregister the drive and with it any recordings would be erased.By the way any USB HDD from 160GB to 2TB are acceptable with a max recording time for a hd programme of 3 hours so most RTE2 hd champions league games or films can be taken on no problem.

rolion

Can anyone explain to me what exactly goes behind the "screen" when selecting various viewing modes,such as Dynamic,THX,Cinema and so on !?

I tempt to use 'Normal' / 'Cinema' for most of the movies,'THX' for satelitte and 'Dynamic' for Live Concerts.

Thanks in advance.

ROGER THE LODGER

Not sure of what you mean by ''behind the screen''.These are just presets with various levels of contrast,colour, hue, brightness etc.

Leopardi

big_moe wrote: »

THX mode does take a little getting used to. Put it into THX mode and watch a good looking blu-ray, then switch it to Dynamic and you'll be shocked how crap it looks!

I'm still concerned with this issue, especially having read the following review where it states that in THX Mode contrast should be set to full:
http://www.digitalversus.com/tv-television/panasonic-viera-tx-p50vt20-p8172/test.html
I assumed that when choosing THX Mode I should stick with its default settings.
I'm completely clueless when it comes to such issues, so feedback would be much appreciated.

big_moe

I leave mine in THX mode without any changes.

Leopardi

big_moe wrote: »

I leave mine in THX mode without any changes.

It seems that is the best option.