Panasonic Black level issue ...Any Irish owners seeing this ?

andy1249 · 08-02-2010 03:24PM #1

This issue has just been making headlines over the last week or so.
Over on the American site avsforums , a number of 2009 PDP owners have noticed a significant shift in black level performance once the set reaches 1000 hours.
The set then has a noticeably greyer appearance to the blacks shown on screen , after many posts on this thread and many submissions to Panasonic , Panasonic themselves confirmed the issue a couple of days ago.

http://gizmodo.com/5464704/panasonic-admits-automatic-plasma-tv-black-level-change-claims-its-a-good-thing

I have a panasonic myself , just over a year old , its a PY80 model under a 5 year guarantee , there are no reports yet of this model being affected and to me it looks as good as it always has , it has way more than 1000 hours up.
In the threads , most people refer to 2009 models.

Have any Irish owners here seen this issue ?

livEwirE · 08-02-2010 04:23PM

I'm an Irish Owner of a Panasonic TH-42PY80EY bought in January 2009 with the 5 year warranty and haven't noticed the issue. Is there a way of viewing the number of hours viewed on the TV? I reckon I'd be well over 1000 at this stage. I'd say I'm happy there has been no degradation in the black levels as far as I can see and I'd say the tv looks as well as it always has. Would be interested in hearing other users experiences though. Thanks for sharing this info mate.

Zonda999 · 08-02-2010 05:00PM

livEwirE wrote: »

I'm an Irish Owner of a Panasonic TH-42PY80EY bought in January 2009 with the 5 year warranty and haven't noticed the issue. Is there a way of viewing the number of hours viewed on the TV? I reckon I'd be well over 1000 at this stage. I'd say I'm happy there has been no degradation in the black levels as far as I can see and I'd say the tv looks as well as it always has. Would be interested in hearing other users experiences though. Thanks for sharing this info mate.

Yours doesnt have a NeoPDP panel so you have nothing to worry about!

Jeez, this would really put me off buying one at the moment tbh, if i was that is!

andy1249 · 08-02-2010 05:12PM

To check the hours you need to go into the service menu , instructions below ,

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/hdtv-video-displays-processors/23475-how-check-hours-used-your-plasma.html

Dont touch the Vol + or Vol - buttons in here as they change values , just look at the counter and then exit.

andy1249 · 08-02-2010 05:16PM

Yours doesnt have a NeoPDP panel so you have nothing to worry about!

There are actually some people claiming issues now with PX80 and PZ80 sets , so it may not be restricted to the NeoPDP's , mine is fine as far as I can tell , and this may be a case of hysteria , but panasonic have not specified particular models affected so its hard to say.
Certainly nowhere do they say that only 2009 models are affected , thats an assumption based on the majority of people with issues , Panasonics statement however , seems says that all Panasonic Viera plasmas are affected by this.

Cmar-Ireland · 08-02-2010 05:20PM

If this turns out to be correct, then it's a bit of misleading advertising on Panasonics part.
Hey buy our great new plasma, best black levels* etc etc

*for the first 1000 hrs only.

livEwirE · 08-02-2010 05:26PM

@ Zonda999, cheers for that, puts my mind at ease:D
@ andy1249, thanks for that, will give it a try.

gebbel · 09-02-2010 05:52AM

Fantastic Blacks on my TX-P42V10B after 6 months. Sensationalism methinks.

andy1249 · 09-02-2010 10:59PM

Sensationalism methinks.

I would have thought that , then Panasonic admitted it ! So no , its not sensationalism , so far most of the people complaining are in the states and their problems are very real.

Maybe the good didnt happen on European models , just interested if anyone here had seen it.

Snake Plisken · 12-02-2010 08:30PM

Blacks are grand on my 50" V10 not seeing any issues with mine very happy with it so wouldn't let this put you off ordering one

livEwirE · 05-03-2010 03:46PM

Here's a good update on this guys...

http://revision3.com/hdnation/vudu#rev3Player

Scroll down the page to the 'segments' section and you'll see 'Plasma Blacks Turn Grey', across from this click on the play button and you'll see the video at the top of the page with latest news on the problem.

Sorry you gotta wait on the ad to finish first, only 15secs though:)

andy1249 · 23-03-2010 05:07PM

There will be no more from Panasonic on this one , a lawsuit has been filed against them on the issue ,

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10462551-1.html

http://hothardware.com/News/Fail%2DIs%2DThe%2DNew%2DBlack%2DPanasonic%2DSued%2DOver%2DDefective%2DTVs/

Snake Plisken · 23-03-2010 07:05PM

Another good article from Cnet who compared a G10 with 1500 hours use against a set with 500 hours the difference was noticable, If its a firmware issue why don't they just issue an update to fix this issue.

Panasonic Black level issue ...Any Irish owners seeing this ?

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