Panasonic PT40LC12 Questions (1 Viewer)

[Bobby S]

I am seriously considering buying this set, but after searching the forum for previous posts I find myself a bit confused. Some people love this set and others seem to hate it. Most agree that the black level isn't that great, but some swear the colors are awful, some saying just the opposite, that the colors are great. So does anyone with this set have any new opinions about it? Most of the previous posts seem to be from around September. Has anyone changed their opinions since then or have any new info re: this set? I would truly hate to spend $3000 and find out I'm not happy with it. Thanks in advance. Bob

 

[Eric Hargrove]

Overall, we have been very happy with ours. We did have the store we bought it from replace the first one after two dots appeared on the screen. This was after about two weeks of use. The new one has had no problems. The only downside that I have noticed is the black levels are not as good as my RPTV. The picture is outstanding otherwise. We purchased the extended warranty for this set as it is new technology. For $149, it's good insurance.

 

[Bobby S]

I finally had the chance to check out a couple of these sets in person today, and I have to say it was a BIG disappointment. Saw these at Sears and a local shop called Paul's TV and in both cases the picture was absolutely terrible! The one at Paul's looked worse than the one atSears, but both were incredibly awful. One salesman, who was just a kid, kept insisting that the picture was "beautiful", even though it was just local cable and terribly grainy. Black level was definitely lacking and when I asked the kid to tweak the picture to see if a blacker level could be reached he insisted that he "didn't want to mess up the picture because it's perfect now". And he said that beginning on Jan. 19th all sets would come with a "free $1000 HDTV decoder box, so you should really buy it right now". I can only assume that the picture would look alot better with a DVD playing on the screen but there was no DVD player connected to the set. I can't tell you how bummed out I am about the picture quality compared to other sets playing all around this one in the store, which were also much cheaper in cost. The Panasonic CT-36HX42, while not a 16:9 set, certainly was displaying a stunningly good picture compared to the PT-40LC12. And the Panasonic Tau CT-34WX52 was equally amazing in terms of picture grain and brightness and color. So now I'm back to square one. I have no idea what to get now. Remember the good ol' days when you just bought the TV, brought it home, adjusted the color to your liking, and then sat back and enjoyed the set for the next 10-12 yrs? Seemed so simple then, because it was.

 

[Andy Kirn]

I've got the 45" model, and the black levels are not even an issue for me. Its only noticeable in really dark scenes and the IQ is otherwise fantastic. Add on the list of features and the incredibly small size and I'd recommend it to anybody.

 

[Lee Daza]

Bobby

The problem is a poor video source. I have the 40" version, and when you watch something in HD or pop in a DVD it's completely different than trying to watch standard TV signals or god forbid a STRETCHED TV signal on this set. Every flaw in the transmission of video is shown on this set, so when I watch what my Tivo recorded it definitely won't win any beauty contests. A 30" CRT would provide a much better image because they pixelation would not be as noticable. BUT.... we're talking about a 16x9 HD television here, and with appropriate sources the image is fantastic. For watching regular TV you don't need a set like this.

On the other hand, the benefits of having a set like this are that 1) you don't have to worry about burning (unlike most RPTV's and plasmas, where it may be advisable to watch regular TV in 'stretched' fat head mode so as to prolong the life of your screen), 2) You will be hard pressed to find a RPTV that has similar brightness and viewing angles, making it perform almost like an insanely thin and light CRT, 3) it is very light and thin(I pick it up and put in on my coffe table when I need to get at the wires of my system) and 4) it apparently has a very good de-interlacer/doubler

The cons so far have been 1) need to clean the air filter frequently to prevent dust from getting inside, 2) as you have found out, watching regular TV broadcasting reveals just how poor these signals really are. Every artifact of the compressin algorithms that digital cable uses shows up as well. If this were a speaker, I would say it was almost completely 'transparent', 3)some have complained of it's limited control set compared to other brands, 4) black level is not the best (though having calibrated mine using an Avia disk, I would have to say the claims of poor blacks are likely miscalibrated(overly bright) sets as much as anything) Other sets do black better though, that's for sure. 5) some complain about the fan noise, but if you use computers you should be sonically immune to the sound, especially if you have the volume at anything above a midnight whisper.

Seem like a lot of cons? Well I wouldn't trade my set in for anything. High Definition broadcasts and DVD's look absolutely spectacular, which is why I bought my 16x9 HD set in the first place, you know?

PS- Even though it's been discussed before somewhere, I'll post when I get back from work about how I fixed the slight 'red push' of my set and got the greens to where they should be. My green level was over over 30% off!

 

[Lee Daza]

Oops... found this post, which tells me my fix for red push and green level were done with bogus information.:frowning:
So, it's a good thing I remember the original settings and have put them back to where they were in the service menu.... guess I won't be poking around in there anymore.