Steely
Dumped Comcast for FiOS
Premium
join:2000-10-15
Princeton Junction, NJ | reply to wings10
Re: Plasma TV experiences. What Brands??
That's a nice photo....but I can see some reflections off that screen. 
I bet it doesn't have the same great coating that we have on the 50" model! |
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Steely
Dumped Comcast for FiOS
Premium
join:2000-10-15
Princeton Junction, NJ
| reply to wings10
said by wings10  : My 42" is a 720 as well. I must have got the model before they changed to black. My apologies. I misread November 2006 as November 2007. I got my black 42" in late 2007. Yours is at least a year older which probably explains the totally different appearance including color. |
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timcuth
Braves Fan
Premium
join:2000-09-18
Pelham, AL
clubs:
 ·AT&T Southeast
|  reply to Bubba17
said by Bubba17 :said by BoulderHill1 :Absolutely, Plasma all the way for me. So, for you and the other plasma lovers posting here .. they no longer suffer screen burn-in problems, particularly associated with game machines? We got our Panasonic TH-50PZ700U just after Thanksgiving. We got a Sony PS3 on Christmas. No problems with either, so far.
Tim
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"Love consists in overestimating the difference between one woman and another" - George Bernard Shaw
~ Project Hope ~ |
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timcuth
Braves Fan
Premium
join:2000-09-18
Pelham, AL
clubs:
·AT&T Southeast
|  reply to wings10
said by wings10 :Yes The Eagles DVD is awesome. I have Hell Freezes Over but it is on VHS. I should get that in DVD. That is a great idea. I think I will play the Eagles DVD on mine, soon. Mine is "Farewell I Tour, Live From Melbourne".
Tim
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"Love consists in overestimating the difference between one woman and another" - George Bernard Shaw
~ Project Hope ~ |
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BoulderHill1
join:2004-07-15
Montgomery, IL | reply to BoulderHill1
I GOT IT!! It s the TH-50PX80U 50 inch 720p with the glare coating. Much lighter than the Philips. It is 70 some pounds where the Philips was over 100. I'll post some of my thoughts about it soon. Need to get used to it first. |
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wings10
I Am Legend
Premium
join:2004-06-09
South Elgin, IL
 ·Dish Network
·AT&T DSL Service
 ·Comcast
| said by BoulderHill1 :I GOT IT!! It s the TH-50PX80U 50 inch 720p with the glare coating. Much lighter than the Philips. It is 70 some pounds where the Philips was over 100. I'll post some of my thoughts about it soon. Need to get used to it first. Enjoy.
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"The American Indians found out what happens when you don't control immigration." |
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Vistaluvr
@rr.com | reply to BoulderHill1
*drool* at Contrast Ratio. |
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Fat City
Premium
join:2003-03-10
Freedonia | reply to wings10
When will this year's 58" Panny hit the shelves? |
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wings10
I Am Legend
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join:2004-06-09
South Elgin, IL
·Dish Network
·AT&T DSL Service
·Comcast
| How about their 150".  |
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timcuth
Braves Fan
Premium
join:2000-09-18
Pelham, AL
clubs:
·AT&T Southeast
| reply to Fat City
said by Fat City :When will this year's 58" Panny hit the shelves? I'm just guessing, but it should be fairly soon. Certainly by June.
Tim
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"Love consists in overestimating the difference between one woman and another" - George Bernard Shaw
~ Project Hope ~ |
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Steely
Dumped Comcast for FiOS
Premium
join:2000-10-15
Princeton Junction, NJ
| reply to Vistaluvr
said by Vistaluvr :*drool* at Contrast Ratio. Maybe.
I couldn't help but notice this Amazon user review for the TH-50PZ85U (one of the new 2008 models) and specifically what was said regarding contrast ratio...
quote:
I was really excited about the improved contrast ratio because on paper it was such a huge jump over last years model but after getting it set up and watching it side by side with my TH-50PZ77u, I have to say it looks almost exactly the same. I played several Blu ray movies (Cars, Casino Royale...etc), test patterns and solid color screenshots and they were no differences to my eyes. In some instances, the blacks were more detailed on my TH-50PZ77u.
In fairness to context I would suggest reading the entire review. I know it's just one observer and it's not very scientific, but salespersons in more than one store I was checking out TV's in told me that some of the advertised specs, especially contrast ratios, were often exaggerated and not necessarily accurate or in any way standardized. |
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BoulderHill1
join:2004-07-15
Montgomery, IL
·AT&T DSL Service
| reply to BoulderHill1
Ok, now that I have the Panasonic a few days, I can give my thoughts. First and very importantly it stays on!! Unlike the Philips that would randomly shut off. It does have some nice features that the philips did not. One is the signal strength indicator. I am using OTA for my tv viewing. No cable, no dish, just an antenna on a forty foot tower in the back yard. I can use the signal meter to determine optimimum direction of the antenna. Also the concealed front inputs are much easier to get than how the philips were on the side/back. I would however have to say that dialling in the best picture seems difficult. The menu provides some preset profiles (that can be modified) for the color, tint, sharpness, etc. as well as a custom profile that you would use for your liking. What I find troubling is that when I adjust these settings to what I like it only seems to be for the current channel or input. For example, if I dial in the picture while watching Leno on the tonight show then change the channel to watch something else those same settings do not look as good on this channel. On the philips tv this was not an issue. Also the Philips TV had an "auto" picture format mode that automatically filled the entire screen regardless of the aspect ratio of the source. This was good when just channel surfing..as you would go from a program being broadcast 16x9 to another in 4x3 or another that might be letterboxed. It would try to fill the screen automatically with minimal distortion. The panasonic doesn't have this. But the Panasonic does stay on! |
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wings10
I Am Legend
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join:2004-06-09
South Elgin, IL
·Dish Network
·AT&T DSL Service
·Comcast
| said by BoulderHill1 :Ok, now that I have the Panasonic a few days, I can give my thoughts. First and very importantly it stays on!! I am using OTA for my tv viewing. No cable, no dish, just an antenna on a forty foot tower in the back yard. I can use the signal meter to determine optimimum direction of the antenna. I would however have to say that dialling in the best picture seems difficult. The menu provides some preset profiles (that can be modified) for the color, tint, sharpness, etc. as well as a custom profile that you would use for your liking. What I find troubling is that when I adjust these settings to what I like it only seems to be for the current channel or input. For example, if I dial in the picture while watching Leno on the tonight show then change the channel to watch something else those same settings do not look as good on this channel. On the philips tv this was not an issue. Also the Philips TV had an "auto" picture format mode that automatically filled the entire screen regardless of the aspect ratio of the source. This was good when just channel surfing..as you would go from a program being broadcast 16x9 to another in 4x3 or another that might be letterboxed. It would try to fill the screen automatically with minimal distortion. The panasonic doesn't have this. But the Panasonic does stay on! ???? Seems you need to tweak you TV. I have no had no issues or problems your mentioning with my sets.
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"The American Indians found out what happens when you don't control immigration." |
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BoulderHill1
join:2004-07-15
Montgomery, IL
·AT&T DSL Service
| Thats just it Wings, I've been tweaking all weekend and can't seem to find the optimum settings. Settings that work well on one program seem to be less than desirable on another. Like this example: Say I tune into Channel 5.1 NBC and adjust the picture settins to PICTURE +75, BRIGHTNESS +55, COLOR +50, TINT 0, SHARPNESS +60. All looks good, but then if I change the channel to 26.1 WCIU the U, things look pastey and on another channel it may look flat/weak. If I then adjust the settings on a "pastey" channel then another will be overpowering. Perhaps I just need to find a middle ground. |
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BoulderHill1
join:2004-07-15
Montgomery, IL
·AT&T DSL Service
| reply to wings10
This is my first HD TV in my own home. I've had some experience with friends and relatives setiing up their systems but it's different when it's in your home. Like I said the Philips was the first one I had and the setup was really easy and it was consistant from channel to channel and source to source. Once I tweaked it all the channels looked good, depending on the program of course. |
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BoulderHill1
join:2004-07-15
Montgomery, IL
·AT&T DSL Service
| The aspect ratio is the other issue. I spoke with the guys at circuit city about it today. Apparently none of the brands they sell have an automatic mode for the aspect ratio (format). I gues I figured all HDTV's had this feature because it was my first experience with the Philips. The auto format mode was cool when just surfin channels because the tv would just fill the screen no matter what came on. Even like when commercials would come on, one commercial might be in letterbox format while the next could be a movie trailer in 16x9 and then the following car ad would be 4x3, all the while the tv would fill the display. Granted sometimes the tv would get it wrong, most typically with a commercial that looked as though it was letterboxed but in the lower black bar would be some text that would be pushed off the screen in the auto formatting. The auto format mode would constantly adjust the picture to get the most out of the display. When I would view a DVD or other source the of course I could select the proper format for what I was viewing. |
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wings10
I Am Legend
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join:2004-06-09
South Elgin, IL
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3 edits | reply to BoulderHill1
Are you setting it on Full, Wide etc? My set will stay in the aspect ratio I select. On all channels. Maybe your issue is your only using an off air ant? But I do as well for HD locals and have no issues. I don't know what to tell you but I never heard anyone have the issues your having on any brand plasma or LCD for that matter.
Now if you watching something that is full screen and then as you say a letterbox format comes on then yes that would remain in letterbox. That is the correct ratio. You can "Zoom" in but it will just make the image look bad.
Remember just becasue you have a "Wide" screen TV does not mean that it will display "Letterbox" without the black bars on the top and bottom.
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"The American Indians found out what happens when you don't control immigration." |
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wings10
I Am Legend
Premium
join:2004-06-09
South Elgin, IL
·Dish Network
·AT&T DSL Service
·Comcast
1 edit | reply to BoulderHill1
said by BoulderHill1 :Thats just it Wings, I've been tweaking all weekend and can't seem to find the optimum settings. Settings that work well on one program seem to be less than desirable on another. Like this example: Say I tune into Channel 5.1 NBC and adjust the picture settins to PICTURE +75, BRIGHTNESS +55, COLOR +50, TINT 0, SHARPNESS +60. All looks good, but then if I change the channel to 26.1 WCIU the U, things look pastey and on another channel it may look flat/weak. If I then adjust the settings on a "pastey" channel then another will be overpowering. Perhaps I just need to find a middle ground. Since your watching Off Air each channel will be a bit different.
Get HD Cable or HD Satellite. You have a Plasma for god sake's. 
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"The American Indians found out what happens when you don't control immigration." |
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BoulderHill1
join:2004-07-15
Montgomery, IL
·AT&T DSL Service
1 edit | reply to wings10
Yes the set stays in the aspect ratio I choose. If I set it to full on channel 5 and then change to chanel 11 it is still on full. I find that "full" seems to display just about everything in its proper ratio. And yes I do understand that letterboxed material will still have black bars top and bottom. Actually I do have a very good understanding of all different aspects of this stuff. Such as DTV (digital television) is not the same as HDTV (high definition television). One being the method by which a signal is deleivered to the tv set and the other is the resolution of the picture. Higher resolution = sharper picture. |
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BoulderHill1
join:2004-07-15
Montgomery, IL
·AT&T DSL Service
1 edit | reply to wings10
I also know how to use the different formats the tv has to display certain material better than my old 35" tube crt did. Example, I have a fairly large Laserdisc (yes the 12inch laserdiscs, remember them?)collection. Many of these are "widescreen" which really is letterboxed in a 4x3 format. When played on your old CRT tv you would of course have the movie appearing with the black bars on top and bottom with the picture extending completly from side to side. Playing the same laserdisc on the plasma display in a 4x3 zoomed format almost completely fills the screen. This is because the letterboxed image is displayed "pillarboxed" on the 16x9 screen. Then zooming in enlrges that which in turn pushes the black bars off the screen. Same could be done with a letterboxed VHS tape. |
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