Panasonic PT-47WX49 Available (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

Massimo, YOU THE MAN!
The only prob now is that I'm really excited for this set. It cannot get here soon enough! But I'm prolly still a week away from receipt... ARGH!
Please keep us up to date on what you discover.

 

[Massimo N]

Dave, the store is called Steves TV in Kitchener. BTW, Future Shop has this set in their main warehouse. The FS I was in didn't plan on bringing in a display.
I forgot to mention that the set appears to be very solid, and has a nice finish too. Looks like no problem for my 32lb Ref. CC cenrer.
More impressions tonight...I hope

Mass

 

[Brett W]

That was a great post Mass, good luck on getting it tonight. Along with a number of other posters I too am waiting for this set - ordered it from OneCall last Monday, and it shipped Wednesday. So I am hoping for late next week to finally have my own set...
...but until then it is living vicariously through you

hope you enjoy the set. I know I really can't wait.
On a sort of OT though, maybe a group of us could set a site up that caters for this new TV. After all there are numerous sites for the 40H80 and the 46W807 etc, well just a thought.
- Brett

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Hey Massimo. How's it going!
What is the price they are asking for the set?
Do they have the 56WX51 by any chance? What is the price if they do?
Keep us posted and good luck!
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Every man is my superior, in that I may learn from him.

 

[Massimo N]

Well I'm back from the dealer and I'm taking delivery between 3:00 and 4:30 this afternoon. I still can't believe I finally have a widescreen TV.
This morning I spent a good 2 hours at the store with a couple of the sales guys (they were interested in all the test paterns I was putting up). Here are a few more of my impression.
First off, the SVM is not defeated in when using component inputs. You can see some obvious ghosting/ringing. The sales guy took a look at the service manual and told me that it can be defeated in the service menues. I'm not sure if he had the actual 47" service manual, but I took his word for it. Worst case scenario, I can get the SVM coils disconected at the CRTs.
After I set the brightness, and contrast on the set using AVIA, I set the Color and Tint to the Blue filter. If I calibrated the set to proper blue, the set exibit RED PUSH. I hoping that I can tame this down in the service menue. The red push was about 20%, Green was at 5% and Blue was at 0%. This is better than my current set (this is not saying much: 27" Panasonic Pana-black). The sales guy is following up with Panasonic to see how to correct this.
I tried to get the codes from the sales guy, but he wouldn't say a word. The store performs some of the ISF calibration services for a reasonalbe fee. They charge $350 for Grey Scale, Convergence, Disabling the SVM and Mechanical/Electronic Focus.
Other points worth mentioning are:
-Overscan out of box was less and 5%
-Geometry was pretty good (could use some touch up, but overall pretty good).
-Corner to Corner focus was pretty good.
-I'll need to to a full convergence. I'm not sure how good the 9 point will be. BTW, through the user convergence, you can choose between either a 1 point center or 9 point convergence.
-The power suply was solid. Bright sceens didn't wash out the whole screen. The test I used for this was the moving blacker than black bars on AVIA. Once you set the contrast and brightness up, there are a few patterns that has the blacker than black bars on the left half, and different intensities of white on the other half (Starting from Black).
-The internal doubler works pretty good. I had the sales gut hook up a Panasonic DVD-RV31 for me so I can compare a progressive and interlaced player. The progressive player (Toshiba) definitely look better, but not by that much. I didn't notice too many artifacts.
Needless to say, I'll take a peek at the service codes tonight to see if I can tweek the set a bit. If all else fails, I'll use that tweek where you attached something to the component cable. I can't remember what it's called but I remember Ron-P mentioning it on his Mits 46" to control the red push.
HD look AMAZING. I compared it to the Sony 65" (?) XBR Widescreen and Toshiba 56" and it definitely looked better (more detail).
Brett, a dedicated site sound great! Don't know how to do it, but it sounds great
Lou, the set listed for $3499 and I got it for $3299 including delivery. You can probably do better. I'm not a good hagler ... all I do is say "how much can you move on the price"? and let the sales guy come back. The Panasoinic 56" was not on display. I didn't ask for the availability.
I'll try and post something tomorrow after I've had some quality time with the set.
Sorry for the long post, but I figure that a lot of people are looking for a lot of info on this set ... I know I was

If anyone has any specific questions, just let me know.
Thanx,
Mass

 

[John DeLuca]

Thanks for the info Massimo. I'm curious. Does this set need a stand for it like the Mitsu 46" or is it high enough that it doesn't require one? I am really interested in this set and this thread is making me really happy.

 

[Carlo_M]

Massimo,
Thanks for the 411. Can't wait to hear your further experiences with the set. I'm a-tingle with anticipation now for my set!
Ron-P has a link in one of his posts for a webpage he created with instructions on how to build a red push attenuator. I think that's what it was called. Maybe a search under attenuator would bring up his post.
Too bad the set exhibits red push. But I guess since my current set (Sony 32") has 15% red push, I won't really notice much of a difference...

 

[John DeLuca]

I bought a Red Push Attenuator from Yeringto on the Home Theater Spot anticipating getting a 46" Mitsu. Unfortunately, my wife was laid off from her job and I never bought the tv. Now that things are getting back on track and this Panasonic tv is out, I'm wondering if the attenuator I bought will work on the Panasonic? What do you guys think? I'm really atarting to lean toward this new Panasonic tv and it would be great if the attenuator works for it.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Congrats Massimo!
You are making me very jealous!
Give us a follow up post when you have it all set up and worked in.
Gotta find those service codes though according to the panasonic web site there is a 165 point digital convergence function. Will you be having a ISF calibration done?
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Every man is my superior, in that I may learn from him.

 

[Carlo_M]

John,
I don't see any reason why the attenuator wouldn't work on this set. The red push values are about the same (Mits I think is around 15% and Panny's is 20% according to Massimo's measurements).
Glad things are back on track for you and yours.

 

[John DeLuca]

Thanks for the info and kind words Carlo.
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[Luis Gabriel Gerena]

"The test I used for this was the moving blacker than black bars on AVIA."
It was my understanding that AVIA doesn't have any Blacker than black patterns, if it does can you tell me where is it (ie chapter,title)? Thanks.

 

[Massimo N]

Just a quick follow up.
In preparation for the set I moved my equiment rach from the right side of the room to the left side. When the TV arrived, all the connections were on the right side. DOH! Unhook, move rack, tidy up wires ...
After I got the set I turned down the picture (contrast), set brightness and durn down sharpness all the way down as per AVIA.
Louis, I used the wrong term. I meant the moving black bars test.
I was wrong with my first measurement of the "Red Push". The red push in this set is 25%. I did some research on the attenuator, got the instructions but unfortunately B&M Radio Shacks in my area do not carry the parts. I'll see if I can mod the instructions to construct something ... or order from the internet.
I set the colour saturation and tint by eye as when using the blue filter, the picture becomes oversaturated.
John, I believe the Mits red push attenuator will probably reduce the red push too much on the Panasonic. The Mits "red push" is off the scale at 47%!
I've attached the link on the instructions on building the attenuator from hometheaterspot. Read ALL the posts. There is a chart in the later post that show the resistor values for the %age red push.
http://www.hometheaterspot.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=47&t=000058 I have yet do figure out how to disable it. It appears this is a manual disconnect.
Other notables ...
-Only one memory for picture setting

-The JUST mode does a great job on all 4x3 material (I don't think I'll every use 4x3, even for games).
-You only need to set convergence in each mode (480i, 480P and 1080i). No need to set it for each stretch mode.
Did I mention the SVM is REALLY annoying!
Overall I'm very happy with this TV. Once I can disable the SVM I'll be a lot happier. BTW, if anyone knows how to do this PLEASE let me know.
Thanx,
Mass

 

[Carlo_M]

Massimo,
That's a bummer to hear that:
1. SVM is not easily disabled (and that it's readily apparent)
2. Only one setting for picture settings.
Does this mean that there are only one set of settings? Or is there multiple modes (like Film, Game, Vivid) and one set of settings for each? If there's only one that reaches across all modes, this is really a big mistake on Panny's part, since AVIA calibrated settings are usually too dim for daytime (hence lots of ambient light) viewing.
Have you been able to get into the service menu yet? If not, have you contacted Panasonic about ordering the service manual? Maybe SVM has a value that's easily disabled in there.
Thanks for posting your experiences.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Congrats Massimo.
More questions if you don't mind.
Have you compared a nonanamorphic DVD due to an anamorphic one? I'm wondering how apparent the difference is between the 2?
Also - does Steve's TV do trade ins? I have a 50 inch 4:3 Toshiba RPTV that I would like to trade against a new one.
Keep the updates coming!
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Every man is my superior, in that I may learn from him.

 

[Brett W]

Mass (and other prospective owners) - I just hooked some Web space up, and hope to have a basic site up by the end of Wednesday (work is very busy right now

) so aim to have some basic info, FAQ and an initial forum up and running.
Once we get the SVM info sorted out then we can share with the masses, not to mention all the other neat tweaks you come up with and I find once I get my TV this Thursday
- Brett

 

[Jim Tudor]

I've been following this thread with much enthusiasm, but being new to the world of RPTVs, I must confess ignorance to the term "SVM". Could someone be so kind as to post what it means? Is there a handy dictionary of terms on the site somewhere? Thanks so much, and good luck with the TVs, guys.
JiM T

 

[Robert Bergman]

Just wondering what Panasonics warranty is? I went to their site and gave up. I also went to oncalls site but didnt find anything about an additional warranty.
I would be great if previous Panny owners or current purchasers of this set could bring us up to speed on this issue.

 

[Brett W]

Rob, there is a 1year parts and labour (labor as you americans like to spell it =). OneCall said if I needed anything done in the first year to phone a local Panasonic repair shop and they'll take care of me.
As far as extended goes, well nothing was mentioned, but once I get the set I am going to make some enquiries as to an extension. Don't know about North of the border, and also should I get any more info I shall post here.
- Brett

 

[Yohan Pamudji]

SVM = Scan Velocity Modulation. It is supposed to "enhance" the edges of objects, but to the trained eye it actually introduces unwanted artifacts that ruin the picture.
Massimo, thanks for the info and keep it coming. I can't wait until somebody in town carries this thing. I hate having to choose between Toshiba's vertical line problems, Mits' red push, and Pioneer's ridiculous prices. This Panasonic--could it be the one?
Carlo, waiting on that report when you get yours buddy!
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