Brand new panny too dark? Need input! (1 Viewer)

[Jael]

I've got a beautiful Panasonic PT47wx42 sitting in my living room. I'd like it to sit there with no burn in and lasting brightness for a long time. After using AVIA however I find my settings to be as follows:

All figures are out of a 63 maximum setting.

Color: 31
Tint: 29
Brightness: 43 (68%)

 

[Jael]

BUMP

Anyone with a Panny think my brightness is off? Should I be remotely concerned or am I just beating a dead horse?

 

[Felipe S]

I also have a Panny 47". When I'm watching cable TV, anything under 35 for brightness is too dark. When I fire up my RP-56 in progressive mode, I have to turn down the brightness to about 27, and that looks pretty good. Contrast has to also be adjusted depending what source you're watching. For a progressive DVD signal, i have it set at 14, for cable TV 20-24 is good. Just experiment until you find something that suits you.

 

[Jael]

Thanks Felipe & Yhaq,

I'm getting the sense that it doesn't really matter as far as burn in and such. I'm also getting that if the brightness does decrease than I can simply pump it up in the service menu if necessary.

I'm done worrying about settings, I'm just going to enjoy my set!!!

 

[Josh Lowe]

Wow, 37 for color? When I did color in Avia last night it was 29 for color and 29 for tint. The factory settings were nearly dead on with very little push.

 

[Allan Jayne]

>>>Will a decreased brightness on my set decrease its life span as it loses brightness through wear?
No. Decreased picture/contrast will increase the life of the set. Decreased brightness/blacklevel doesn't matter. If overall scene brightness starts to decline as the set ages, you can increase the contrast setting. The brightness/blacklevel test result will vary depending on the overall light level in the room. Set brightness for the best shadow detail and don't worry about it.
If the "line starts to bend" in the contrast/picture/whitelevel test early, that means your set has a mediocre power supply circuit, you can go a little higher on the contrast at the expense of geometry and convergence problems. If the "white square starts to bloom (enlarge slightly)" you should never run the contrast higher. The contrast should be set below where the white square blooms as a hard and fast rule; it should be set somewhat below that point to prolong the life of the TV set.
You will have to go back and forth, repeating the brightness and contrast tests alternately. The position of the blooming point on the contrast scale will probably vary depending on where you set the brightness.
Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[LeslieY]

So based on the last post, I just wanted to confirm what I think was stated:

Setting the contrast to high levels decreses the lifespan of the picture tube. Setting the brightness to high levels has less of an effect on tube life.

I would think that the brightness setting would be the primary factor in tube life, with the contrast playing a secondary role?

 

[Ming Wang]

I've found the brightness level heavily depends on what source you use. I've tried 3 DVDs and the bightness level ranges from 18-46 when properly set.

I think Allan is right. brightness controls black level, and has less effect on tube life comparing to white level, which is controled by picture/contrast.

 

[Gregg Loewen]

I have calibrated more than 30 Panny sets. They very WIDELY in relation to all their settings. On my current trip I have done 3 of them. One was one of the best of the box sets that I have ever calibrated, one was one of the 10 worst. All 3 looked equally as good once calibrated.

FWIW,

Gregg

 

[Steve Schaffer]

I think it helps to think of Contrast (or picture as some mfgs call it) and Brightness as what they really are in terms of video.

Contrast=white level=how bright whites are. The higher this is set, the brighter whites will be, the harder the crts are driven. If set too low, whites will be grayish so it needs to be high enough so white is white and not gray.
Ideally it should not be set any higher than is necessary to make white truly white and not gray, and room lighting should be reduced if this isn't bright enough. Sometimes it is necessary to raise it a bit if roomlight can't be controlled to a low enough level. AVIA and such are good for getting a maximum allowable setting but not necessarily the ideal setting for contrast.

Brightness=black level=how dark blacks are. The lower this is set, the darker blacks are. If set too high blacks will be grayish and the overall picture will be washed-out looking. It should ideally be set so black is truly black, even if some shadow detail is lost in extremely dark parts of the picture.

The brightness being too high is much less harmful to crts than contrast being too high, since this control really makes blacks lighter more than it makes whites brighter, and is less likely to overdrive the crts.

The above is just my take on the contrast/brightness thing.

Most of the sets I've adjusted with AVIA have ended up with contrast at around 30-40%, brightness around 55-60%.