Oldboy what made you buy a new TV?

[Sizzers]

Hi Oldboy. I'm thinking of maybe changing my TV shortly and this is one of two models I'm currently looking at (the other being the TX-P42ST30), so a couple of quick questions if I may?

I've had no issues with the tv apart from the fact that it thrives on HD but isn't so keen on SD material but it never disgraces itself it's just that HD material is so lovely when compared to SD but then that's what you should expect, no? But i would say that the G20 was slighlty better with SD tv channels as the GT30 is a little noisier but that's all i can find in way of a very slight issue but it's such a slight complaint that you could dismiss it out of hand if you wish as it's really hard to find fault.

When you say it's not so keen on SD material, is this for both DVD and TV sources? I currently have a lot of DVD's and a lot of my TV viewing will be in SD through Freeview (at least for the foreseeable future), so would you say this TV is going to be wasted on these sources?

What i have noticed are some inconsistances with the screen...during a pan from left to right or vice versa you can clearly see some lines in the screen where colour, contrast and brightness is different to the rest of the screen which span the entire height of the screen in thin lines. I'm slightly concerned about this ,i must admit, and as i've calibrated correctly i know there is nothing i can do about it, i may phone my retailer as all the tvs i auditioned never showed these lines

I hope it's just a run in issue as they aren't always visible so i will wait untill it's had 200 hrs and decide then if it's an issue but it may just be me looking for issues rather than just watching the tv ray:

Has this issue (hopefully!) resolved itself?

To be honest this TV is going to be a good £100 over budget, but if in your opinion you think it may be worth the extra then I can arrange to travel for a viewing session.

Many thanks for your thoughts,

Malc.

 

[Oldboy]

Sizzers,

No worries i'm happy to help if i can. To answer your first question i would have to admit i was very harsh on the tv at that point as i hadn't acclimatised to the difference in picture quality offered by the GT30 over my previous G20 tv, there is so much more detail and sharpness offered by the GT30 with both SD tv and DVD that initially it was overwhelming...i just wasn't used to it. I need to take back my previous comment regarding SD tv and DVD as it's simply not true, if anything it's light years ahead of the G20 as it doesn't suffer from an overwhelming softness to the image. It's like someone came along and wiped away a thick layer of vaseline from the screen and that took a little getting used to!

SD material shouldn't bother you atall with this tv as with both SD tv and DVDs (i have hundreds of them myself) i have no complaints what so ever, i just wished there was a way to make it all magically turn into HD LOL.

As for the lines i can report that all is well and after a good 500 hours run in period they seem to have disappeared completely with no sign of the issue now. What i will say though is that my tv did start to show signs of the green tinge issue recently but after contacting Panasonic engineers arrived just over a week later to perform an update via SD card and within 15 minutes the issue was resolved, it's a known issue but a simple fix is in place if you experience it but i thought it was worth mentioning as some 2011 models are affected.

Go and demo both the ST and GT30 tvs if you can but if it was me then for the sake of the extra cash i would have to recommend the GT30 as i remain very happy with mine oh and yesterday i saw the 42GT30 at Richer Sounds for just £699 and that's a bargain!

I would be interested to know what you end up buying and your feelings about the tv after purchase but in the meantime happy shopping and you've picked the right time to buy as there are many bargains to be had as the 2012 range starts to arrive at retailers.

Edit: see the hot deals section of the forum as one eagle eyed member got the price down to £629 including a 5 year warranty, now that's one hell of a deal!

 

[Sizzers]

Hi Oldboy, and many thanks for your reply.

I must say that, on paper at least, the GT30 does look very tempting, and you have at least allayed one of my concerns regarding SD quality but this has now begun to put me off.

I currently have a Sony 32V5500 which I have had for a little over 2-years and IMO it is an excellent TV. Both DVD and Blu Ray I find superb, SD-TV is very good indeed and HD-TV through my seperate tuner is excellent, but it's just too small! Now I'm looking for a more immersive and "cinematic" experience than what my Sony can provide, and I love an end-of-line bargain which is why I'm looking at these plasmas.

Initially my maximun budget was £600. I don't drive and transport is a real problem, so actual viewing can be a real problem; I can view the GT30 (at a Currys store, I know!), the ST30 would be totally blind as there is no where travellable I can view it, so any other thoughts?

Thanks again,

Malc.

 

[lobby]

Hi Sizzers, we bought the 50ST30 a month ago and really love it at £699 it was a bargain, we didnt want to spend over £1000 for the GT. And we find the freeview especially hd to be better than our old SD sky box, both very good and thats on a 50", dvds also look good, but it shines with blu-ray.I would say when your comparing the model specs on smaller screens the price jump is not so much, but alot between the 50" ie ST30 £699, GT30 £1099 and VT30 £1399.We would have loved to have got the GT30 and found no significant improvement from the VT30 over the GT30. The ST30 has no THX mode which some say has the green blob effect, i cant and dont want to comment about that as ive not seen it.So if you cannot demo them i would spend my money on the best i could affordand try and get a good warranty for peace of mind.

 

[Sizzers]

Many thanks for both of your replies and thoughts.*I made myself both physically and mentally ill yesterday, spending well over 10-hours researching this and other Panasonic 2011 plasma sets and all that it has done as shattered my confidence in buying this or any other 2011 model due to the "green blob" issue. It doesn't even seem that particularly hit-and-miss to me, either. I've come across too many instances where people have had a replacement set only for that to have exactly the same problem, and even sets which have not displayed the fault on purchase seem to get affected somewhere down the line.*Intially I would have been more than thrilled with the outgoing LED TX-L42E30B, but being unable to source a set I turned my attention to plasma. If I can find the time I'm hoping to go and view it's replacement the TX-L42E5B tomorrow to see how that compares

Many thanks for both of your replies and thoughts.

I made myself both physically and mentally ill yesterday, spending well over 10-hours researching this and other Panasonic 2011 plasma sets and all that it has done as shattered my confidence in buying this or any other 2011 model due to the "green blob" issue. It doesn't even seem that particularly hit-and-miss to me, either. I've come across too many instances where people have had a replacement set only for that to have exactly the same problem, and even sets which have not displayed the fault on purchase seem to get affected somewhere down the line.

Initially I would have been more than thrilled with the outgoing LED TX-L42E30B but being unable to source a set I turned my attention to plasma, so if I can find the time tomorrow I'm hoping to go and view it's replacement the TX-L42E5B to see how that compares

 

[zientific]

Don't be put off by the green blob issue. I bought the 42gt30 in January and have had no problems with it what so ever, best TV I have ever had and intially I was going to go for a Samsung due to the mentioned problems, but once I demoed the GT30 there was no going back.

 

[3937edwards]

hi sizzers dont be put of by the green blob/ tinge issue i to was worried but there is a software upgrade from panasonic which has to be carried out by a panasonic engineer in your home by a sd card i did have the green tinge i rang panasonic and within a few days came out done the upgrade and solved the problem so if you do get the issue help is there to resolve it but remember not all the gt30s suffer. by the way i purchased this tv and its amazing

 

[Sizzers]

Don't be put off by the green blob issue. I bought the 42gt30 in January and have had no problems with it what so ever, best TV I have ever had and intially I was going to go for a Samsung due to the mentioned problems, but once I demoed the GT30 there was no going back.

I appreciate that most of what gets posted on forums is all the faults/complaints/personal gripes etc etc, but this has so put me off.*I don't even remember the Sony clouding issue a couple of years back being this bad; at least that seemed to be fairly hit and miss if you got a dud one. I appreciate Oldboy's comments but even he has had the problem. Has it been resolved totally satisfactorily? I have no idea, but it shouldn't happen on this scale. All screen sizes and ranges (S/G/V) seem to be affected by this problem (sorry, fault) with the exception of the U-series which seems to have escaped (I have read that it's the 2010 panel but I can't confirm this).*And no, I am most definitely not a Panasonic basher. I am 53 and have been being buying their various products since I was about 16 along with Sony's, and I've never had a problem with anything I've bought from either company and have never been anything less than thrilled with what I've bought (even a £10 pair of Sony ear buds!)*There is a problem here which Panasonic are in complete denial (lying) of, just as Sony were with there clouding issues, but I guess you just get used to that with global multi-nationals. In contrast Rega....I bought a Rega Brio-R amp last month which gave a fairly loud buzzing through my speakers. I contacted Rega and explained the problem and exactly what I had done to make sure it wasn't anything connected to either my connections or electrical supply (I won't bore you with the details), and you know what? They accepted there was a problem and what I had done to resolve it, and sent out a replacement direct to the dealer having tested it before despatch to make sure the new amp amp didn't have the same problem. Now that's service!

I appreciate that most of what gets posted on forums is all the faults/complaints/personal gripes etc etc, but this has so put me off.

I don't even remember the Sony clouding issue a couple of years back being this bad; at least that seemed to be fairly hit and miss if you got a dud one. I appreciate Oldboy's comments but even he has had the problem. Has it been resolved totally satisfactorily? I have no idea, but it shouldn't happen on this scale. All screen sizes and ranges (S/G/V) seem to be affected by this problem (sorry, fault) with the exception of the U-series which seems to have escaped (I have read that the U-series has the 2010 panel but I can't confirm this).

And no, I am most definitely not a Panasonic basher. I am 53 and have been being buying their various products since I was about 16 along with Sony's, and I've never had a problem with anything I've bought from either company and have never been anything less than thrilled with what I've bought (even a £10 pair of Sony ear buds!)

There is a problem here which Panasonic are in complete denial (lying) of, just as Sony were with there clouding issues, but I guess you just get used to that with global multi-nationals. In contrast Rega....

I bought a Rega Brio-R amp last month which gave a fairly loud buzzing through my speakers. I contacted Rega and explained the problem and exactly what I had done to make sure it wasn't anything connected to either my connections or electrical supply (I won't bore you with the details), and you know what? They accepted there was a problem and what I had done to resolve it, and sent out a replacement direct to the dealer having tested it before despatch to make sure that the new amp amp didn't have the same problem. Now that's what I call service.

 

[Oldboy]

You are over reacting regarding the green tinge issue.

Yes the issue has been widely reported but i'm afraid you've been reading far too many stories on the web, Panasonic are more than aware of the issue and to suggest they are in denial (or lying) about the issue is simply not correct. Panasonic has communicated with it's customers on these forums since the green tinge issue thread was started and has since developed a fix to the issue in stark contrast to the Sony clouding issue that i was victim of (i had 5 replacement tvs that all had the issue) that never had any fix, the two just don't bear any comparison really as this issue has a resolution.

You have to remember that not every tv is affected and that the majority of stories out there on the net will be negative, it's just the nature of the beast as it provides an effective way to complain rather than praise. What must be said is that if you are unlucky enough to get a tv with the tinge then a free on site fix is readily available and takes 10-15 mins to carry out via sd card and i don't know anyone that has had this carried out where it hasn't solved the issue completely.

It took about a week from first contact to getting my issue completely resolved which is good service in my opinion and my GT30 is free from the issue now and i remain very happy with the tv despite the tinge issue rearing its head.

Problems can arise with any mass prouction electrical item and it's how the manufacturer reacts to these that is the most important factor so if you want to compare the Sony and Panasonic issues then the reaction from Panasonic has been far far better than that of Sony who simply said it didn't exist and refused to do anything to help its customers, i had several all out heated exchanges with Sony on the issue where in comparison one phone call was all it took to get my GT30 issue resolved with no hassle.

I won't go any further into my bitter battle with Sony but the two couldn't be any further away in terms of the service i received and the resolutions offered, i still think that at the current price level a GT30 tv is a bargain and that you can buy in confidence that a fix is available should you be affected by the tinge.

That was excellent service you received from Rega, it's good to hear an issue that was dealt with so well by a manufacturer.

 

[Sizzers]

Well there's been a little bit of movement since then. I'm just about to switch it ON!!! ray:

 

[Oldboy]

In that case i truly hope you are happy with the tv and that no tinge is present, i would like to hear your views after you have had a chance to familiarise yourself with it if that is possible. What size screen did you go for?

I think you have got yourself a real bargain with the GT30, even at the £1100 price point at which i jumped in i remain a very happy chappy indeed and am extremely happy i got one....even the emergence of the GT50 hasn't swayed me from my thinking which is rare as i'm a sucker for upgrading to the latest model

 

[Sizzers]

Hi Oldboy….and NO TINGE!!!

I have the 42" like yours and it's too early to draw too many conclusions as I'm busy running it in at the mo. This shouldn't take too long, though, as I've already got around 30 hours on it in so far. I've kept everything nice and low with no static images/bars etc, so I haven't bothered too much with the set-up until I've run it in but more on this later. So initial impressions are:

Negatives

1. Retailer. I had to purchase from Currys. Would have been far happier purchasing from RS with a 5-year guarantee for the same price of £700, but I don't drive and it wasn't practical to find someone to run me half way round the country to find a set! The extra peace of mind with an extended guarantee from a more reputable retailer would have been a welcome bonus, though.

2. Settings Adjustment. I knew this beforehand but I cannot understand why there is no scale on the settings adjustments. This, of course, makes it impossible to note what levels you have set everything too which I think is very poor indeed.

3. Freeview Tuner. Now admittedly I don't have the best aerial set-up, but just as with my Panasonic DVD recorder it struggles to pick up and hold on to some Freeview channels (never any such problems with either my Sony TV or Icecrypt Freeview HD box). This wouldn't have particularly bothered me as long as it didn't affect the HD channels - which it does - but the solution has been Freesat.

4. Freeview SD-TV. Seems a bit woolly to my eyes. Not unexpected, and maybe no proper calibration hasn’t helped ,but not expecting much improvement there even so.

5. Aesthetics. Minor detail, but I really do not like the silver edging around the actual screen. Not a problem in a darkened room, but to my eyes it makes the picture look “boxed in” under normal lighting conditions.

Now the good!!!...

Positives
[*]1. Movies. I am amazed so far. At the moment I have a Sony BDP-S380, and although it may be a while before I’m able to upgrade it does an excellent job IMO. I have only watched DVD’s so far, the first of which was “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” as I thought it would be a good test of blacks/dark scenes and motion. I had all processing options switched off and I was blown away by the truly cinematic experience it delivered. It never put a foot wrong to my eyes, and bearing in mind I haven’t done any proper calibration yet this really is something to look forward to once I haveI! [*]So far I’ve let the Sony do the upscaling and will have to get round to see how the Panny compares at some point. I’ve only got a handful of Blu Rays at the mo, none of which I’ve been in the mood to watch so far, so I’m going to pick a couple up at the weekend to see how they compare and can’t wait judging on it’s DVD performance! [*]2. Freesat. Only got it hooked up this morning so probaly too early to give a proper opinion, but there is a major improvement in PQ over Freeview as long as all processing is switched off, and HD is really impressive. As with movies, I won’t be tweaking with these until I’ve done some kind of calibration which I’m dreading. Need to order a new copy of DVE as misplaced my previous copy and can’t wait (not!)Verdict
Loving it so far, and I’m so looking forward to seeing what it really can deliver once I've done some proper calibration. As I am experiencing, though, plasma can take a while to adjust to coming from LCD. LCD is very much more in your face and vibrant, but I'm really beginning to enjoy the more laid back and immersive experience of plasma, particularly with movies.

£700? This is beginning to look like some thing of a steal, even if I did have to buy it from Currys!

 

[BenLaw]

Congrats Sizzers Keep us updated.

 

[Oldboy]

Very many thanks for taking the time out to post such a great reply Sizzers!

Shame you had to buy from Currys but in your situation i can well understand why you done so and for the price it was well worth snapping one up quickly before the chance had gone even if you didn't get the 5year guarantee that Richers were offering.

I know the sliders on the menu are a pain and have caused me some frustration but there is a work around of sorts here, if you turn on the Advance (isfccc) option in the settings menu it gives you two extra picture modes which are both labelled as professional (1 & 2) and both of these have numerical values to every adjustment making it much easier but the only issue i have is that the colour temp is locked here so it does have that slight yellow look to whites but is still very enjoyable once calibrated...just took me a while to get used to it.

My freeview tuner is ok but HD channels are great so it's a shame to hear of your issues but perhaps it's just down to your location and lack of calibration (although understandable due to the run in period)? I really appreciate your feedback regarding the Freesat performance as it's something i have been thinking of recently myself but i wasn't sure it was justified but you have certainly tempted me into looking at a dish install now as it may well be worth the expense.

I must say that the silver surround has never bothered me but i can understand your views, i don't find it distracting and just like it from a design perspective as it's these little touches that make it feel like a premium product but hopefully with time you will get used to it a little.

I must agree with every thing you have said about the tv both negative and positive and can only add that things get even better when you are through the run in period (i would recommend 200-500 hours) and have calibated the tv so you have alot more to come from it yet in terms of picture peformance.

I truly beleive that you have picked up a stellar bargain at £700 and that's far less than i paid for it, i hope you continue to be impressed by the tv and i would not go back to an LCD/LED either after having this plasma tv as i much prefer the laid back cinematic picture when compared to the "look at me!" approach of most LCD/LED tvs.

I wish you many years of happy viewing and it was grest news to hear you didn't get the green tinge.

Best regards, Oldboy

 

[Sizzers]

And thanks for your thoughts too, and Ben too.

I was very lucky with Freesat as there is an old disused Sky dish on the same side wall (nothing to do with me, it was already there!), so I phoned up this company at 9 o'clock this morning and all done by 11-30 for just £66!!! (£55 + VAT). I don't understand these things, but he said if the LNB needed to be replaced it would be twice as much so guess I got lucky!

I wasn't expecting great shakes from Freeview SD-TV on a large screen plasma to be honest, but Freesat really does make a definitie improvement, and HD really hits the spot (well, at least for daytime viewing so far!) I really would consider it if affordable.

Aesthetics are all in the eye of the beholder and all that, but I really don't like the silver edging in daylight viewing. I have the same annoyance with the garish red-lit "Rega" logo on my Brio amp which I have masked with black insulating tape. Think I'll be doing the same with the silver edging! lol

I'm waiting 200-hours before calibrating then I'll leave it. Have you ever smashed your head against a wall using DVE?! I wouldn't wan't to go through that more than once! lol.

I know I had a rant about Panasonic's denial of the "green blob" issue previously, but if you do the research it really is bad to my mind. All my previous TV's have been Sony (CRT and LCD) and never sat down and thought anything more than...WOW!!! This is a bit of a leap in the dark for me - Panasonic and plasma TV's - but loving the ride so far!

Anyway enough rambling as need to get fed, but many thanks for your input as it gave me a bit more confidence to go ahead and buy :cheers: