Panny 53wx52 (1 Viewer)

[Steve_Cohen]

Well, I made the plunge and bought it. Before reading many of the posts here, I thought I made a good choice, now I'm not as sure. I have read about many things regarding RPTV's (calibration, the pop, ect...)and now I am worried that this will be a big mistake. I finally got the wife to ok this purchase and I dont want to hear her rub it in. I guess my question is, What is likely to be my out of box experience? I bought the thing from a very respected local tv store and spoke to the tech guys there about calibration. They seemed to think it wouldnt really be necessary unless there is a problem with the unit. Anyway, any and all input is appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

Condition out of the box ... decent ... likely. Better that last year.

I highly doubt the techs you spoke with even understood the term calibration in this context. Sometimes it is easier to just use the letters ISF ... if they don't know what that means, then please move along ... and fast.

Regards

 

[Gregg Loewen]

Hi Steve.

The Panasonic sets vary HUGELY out of the box. In the past month I have done 2 of the new model year. One was one of the best 20 I have ever seen prior to calibration. The other was one of the worst 20 I have ever seen.

Out of the 250 plus sets I have calibrated I have only had 1 set that didnt require gray scale work. However this set was brand new, and after 100 hours of break in would require it.

I hope this helped.

Gregg

 

[Steve_Cohen]

Thanks for the replies guys. Question, how does your average RPTV buyer even know anything about calibration? Circiut city, or Best Buy wont tell you about it. Most people think it is just like buying a regular tv. Also, im in Connecticut. Where would I look for a good ISF calibrator? Or, is it worth getting a copy of AVIA prior to deciding if the set will need calibration by a professional.?

Again, thanks for your help guys, i'm new at this RPTV thing.

Steve

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

The average buyer won't know. Sort of like not knowing that there are people that can hot rod cars ...

To the average person, what they get out of the box is perfectly acceptable ... since they don't know any better. As long as it looks similar to the store tV's that's plenty good enough.

Contact Gregg Loewen as he is up in Maine and will visit/tour connecticut.

A test disc like AVIA gets you 25% of the way there. If you research the topics and tweak more yourself ... you might be able to take it to 75%. The final 25% needs instrumentation. $$$$

Regards

 

[jeff lam]

I am wondering how after reading this forum you are questioning your decision, this set is very highly regarded here. After Gregg has a go at your set your wife will be saying how wonderful it is and why you didn't buy it sooner, not rubbing it in. Give Gregg a call after 100 hours of normal use. Make sure the contrast is turned down low and run through Avia or VE if you have it!

 

[Justin H]

Steve,
You're getting advice from the best here so don't take it lightly. Since you don't seem to have an AVIA/VE disc I can give you a few pointers as a fellow owner (47WX52). The 'correct' settings for the basic picture controls using one of the calibration discs has been relatively uniform over at www.panny.tv which is a group of panasonic tv owners, (as you may already know). Settings for color/tint/picture/brightness/sharpness should all be somewhere around 31 except for Sharpness which should be at 10 or below, then you can tweak a little in either direction to your liking. Then turn off SVM in the user menu and do Convergence 1 and 2 (every now and then as it breaks in). In general, this should get you in the ballpark of an AVIA/VE calibration.
Remember, this is just a suggestion! If you're levels haven't been touched OOTB this should help greatly, but
1) deifinitely get yourself an AVIA/VE disc
2) break it in, beak it in, break it in, then...
3) think about an ISF calibration
...and you will not be disappointed.
Hope I've helped. Enjoy!

 

[Steve_Cohen]

Again, thanks guys for responding and calming me down a little. I will definately take all the advice very seriously and do as much tweaking and calibrating i can with AVIA before making the decision to do an ISF calibration.

To Jeff Lam: Let me rephrase: I only started reading this forum after the purchase and found out alot of info I didn't know before. I was really worried more about the purchase of a RPTV and not getting a great picture without extensive calibration. I will definately get AVIA.

Thanks!

 

[Brajesh Upadhyay]

Gregg calibrated my Panny 53WX42 recently. Even though it was quite good out of the box, his calibration improved it considerably. My set has a 'speed bump'/dip issue in 480i/p, but I don't know if others do. I'm trying to find an overlay template so that can be fixed. After that, I can stop worrying about the picture & enjoy the show.

 

[Steve_Cohen]

Well, I got the unit this weekend and am very happy with the purchase. The OOTB experience has been excellent so far. Going to tweak it some more over the next several weeks. Now I just need digital cable or a dish.

Thanks for everyones help and suggestions.