Need Advice, about to dump my Panny pt47wx49 (1 Viewer)

[Rick Pay]

Had the Panny for a week now and the picture is still terrible after some minor tweaking. First venture out into RPT land I'll never get used to the bad quality of these screens, nowhere near the the 3d like quality of my 10 year old 27in Sony when viewing dvd's. I know I could get it ISF'ed but I heard that only lasts for a year or two before you have to dish out another $500 to do it all over again. I find it hard to believe even this would get the picture I would want. Saw a picture of Toy Anyway, thinking of returning this and going back to direct view land, which of the following could you recommend...

Panny CT-36hx41
Panny CT-34WX50

Toshiba 36HF71
Toshiba 34HF81

Sony KV-36HS20

 

[Rick Pay]

I meant to say I saw a screen shot from the panny.tv site of Toy Story on a calibrated Panny, still looked grainy to me and nowhere near 3d like quality.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Rick:

Before you make any moves, can you describe your typical viewing conditions? How much ambient lighting is present when you use the Panasonic? Next, generally, what picture settings and modes are you using?

Remember, an RPTV that has been calibrated doesn't sear the retinas with arc lamp-like light output. A well-calibrated RPTV means that you have to reassess just what you expect from a television.

If resolving fine detail is important to you, this model will give you more of that than any of the direct-view sets you're thinking about.

But it's your money, and your satisfaction is what counts.

(Have you used AVIA or Video Essentials yet?)

JB

 

[Sean Moon]

Also, what kind of DVD player are you using? Is it progressive? I have had the PT47WX49 for a month now and love it. Progressive scan makes a world of difference on this set, and all I did was AVIA

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

Part of the problem may be the damaged caused when you disconnected the SVM ... and inadvertantly hit something else in the cabinet.

I don't know where you heard that you had to pay another $500 every two years for calibration. That is just plain wrong.

With some care and attention, you'd at most want to touch up your grayscale every two years if that. If you used someone, local, this would probably cost you under $150.

After the set has settled down, the grayscale is pretty stable but will experience a slight drift over time much like any other thing that gets used. In two years, you would likely find that the grayscale has drifted about 300 to 500K ... if that. And quite frankly, that is too little for most people to care about.

Directview Tube sets will experience this same type of drift.

Regards

 

[Rick Pay]

I have done the Sound and Vision calibration disc, watch exclusevly in the Just mode, and most of the picture settings are around between 25-30, with picture set down lower. My family room is bright during the day, but utilize my darkening shades and have tried different lighting at night, nothing is to my satisfaction. My Directv and DVD viewing is not as clear as on my 27inch Sony, I miss the detail and get a red highlight to left of certain text like credits or Directv program info displayed on the screen. This most likely is due to me being unable to line up the red cross to the right in Convergence 1 of the setup, it can move up, down, and to the left, but will stop at a certain point when moving to the right, just 2 or 3 clicks of the arrow away from lining up under the white cross. I guess RPTV is an acquired taste and I guess I'm just not ready at this point, prefer the window-like and clear picture of the direct views.

 

[Sean Moon]

What kind of cables and DVD player are you using? A progressive scan player and good cables like Monster will dramatically improve your picture. And you even watch DVD's in JUST mode? Your player should be set to 16:9 mode, then watch all anamorphic material in FULL mode on the set to avoid picture distortion.

 

[Rick Pay]

So should all dvd's be watched in Full mode? Even full screen dvd's? BTW, watched T2 and Bug's Life tonight, OUTSTANDING!!!!!!!! The 3-D quality I was looking for. I'm starting to change my mind about this set. Could it be that the set is getting a little better everyday? Break-in period? Now if I can get that red cross in convergence 1 to go behind the white cross, I'll be a happy camper and leave the set alone until I get ISF'd. How long before calibration, 3 months sufficient?

 

[Jack Briggs]

Ahh, Rick, I knew if we could persuade you to give this set some time and get you to make a few more tweaks you would come to understand you own one of the finest HD-capable monitors in that price range!

Give it about a month or two longer of steady use, and it's ready for that visit by Mr. ISF.

 

[Chris Perkins]

If you go into tweaking this set haphazardly, you will end up with a Panny in dire need of professional help. This particular RPTV has made me swear off direct view unless just for some late night viewing in bed. You will be extremely satisfied after a proper ISF.
Chris

 

[Jack Briggs]

How long have you had yours, Chris? I am in love with the showroom model at a nearby high-end boutique--it has been calibrated. Amazing, amazing picture quality. I want one.

 

[Brian Harnish]

Gah! I wish I could find a local high end store that has all of their RPTVs/direct views ISFed. I would love to see a fully ISFed HD RPTV like the Panny that's discussed in this thread. The RPTVs I've seen so far in stores like The Good Guys have severe convergence problems (probably due to being in torch mode for 8+ hours every day).
Well...hopefully later this year I'll finally be able to afford a decent sized RPTV and find out for myself.

 

[Chris Perkins]

I have had this particular Panny since Feb. '02 and was mainly attracted to it not so much as what I saw on showroom floor, but by researching various models online. Then I stumbled on www.panny.tv, and was sold due to its tweakability and the many satisfied Panny owners. At the prices I'm seeing advertised in my area, you absolutely cannot go wrong with this Panny! I suggest counting the cost of an ISF cal into the purchase price, because all the tweaking in the world is not going to get greyscale right without the proper equipment. This set is very blue out of the box. Even including an ISF cal into purchase price, one can pick up this set for less than a lot of us paid just a few short months ago.
Chris

 

[GarySI]

I can't use the link to pannytv. Can you please post the link again. I have a panny 47 and have used the AVIA disc. I'm happy but I know it could be better. I have to save for aN ISF calibration and would love to find out if there is more I can do with the AVIA disc and the service menu

 

[Robert P. Jones]

Please see my website, below, for a view of my 65" Panny - fully tweaked and calibrated, photographed with a 6 year old analog Canon Photura, on tripod from 5' away, timer'd on freezeframed HD.

I retweak my convergence every few months, but am glad to instruct my clients how to do it themselves also, after their calibration is done and I have gone home.

As Michael says, the greyscale was VERY blue, OOB. But show me something else that's new - he'll also tell you that most new RPTVs are that way also...

If you like what you see, that's a 65". Any 47" Panny can and will look every bit that good after a full calibration.

Mr Bob