Panasonic G20 first thoughts

[admin_exported]

Well got this badboy on the wall and all is good.

But the blacks look grey, my LCD was far far blacker, like ink, this TV has a dark grey.

I have it in THX mode, and it has no colour very faded ect.. Tried the advanced settings as well with no luck.

The only way I can get inky blacks is put it on dynamic.

I know LCD is different than plasma, but I have had a panny before and that had inky blacks.

Its a great quality build, with lots of features.

So far very un-impressed for a screen that cost 1300 last year.

Whats your thoughts on this problem, as most people are saying the blacks look like ink (infinite black) are are great, and very life like picture, but I am not seeing this.

Tried nat geo HD and cartoons in hd and discovery hd as well and all look the same.

Thanks

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Well got this badboy on the wall and all is good.

But the blacks look grey, my LCD was far far blacker, like ink, this TV has a dark grey.

I have it in THX mode, and it has no colour very faded ect.. Tried the advanced settings as well with no luck.

The only way I can get inky blacks is put it on dynamic.

I know LCD is different than plasma, but I have had a panny before and that had inky blacks.

Its a great quality build, with lots of features.

So far very un-impressed for a screen that cost 1300 last year.

Whats your thoughts on this problem, as most people are saying the blacks look like ink (infinite black) are are great, and very life like picture, but I am not seeing this.

Tried nat geo HD and cartoons in hd and discovery hd as well and all look the same.

Thanks

Hi mate, interesting - i remember i had mine on dynamic too, also my local home cinema shop used dynamic for it as well. Have you tried Avatar yet?, i personally would use dynamic, i also have my Sony setup with dynamic too.

 

[Anonymous]

Well took it off THX as it sucks, whoever can say they perfer these setting must need glasses.

Its all grey and lifeless.

Did normal setting and adjusted all the settings myself, and now the black is INK black which I am happy with.

Its still a lot softer than the LCD I returned, but thats just plasma.

Overall getting a lot happier, still got some playing to do with it.

Wish I had the money for a ISF guy, but not spending 250.00 for some guy to play with my colour buttons for an hour.

 

[Anonymous]

Just remember Canada16 plasmas need a bit or running in,so can only improve with time.

 

[Anonymous]

Serious? didnt know they needed to bed in like speakers.

Happy days, it seems also now its dark the picture has gotten so much better.

Also the wife said she prefered the 50" over the 46, she said she thinks its more involving.

My mouth almost dropped, she hated me buying this at first

 

[Anonymous]

Yeh this is why they say IR usually goes away/reduces and not to get your TV professionally calibrated on plasma sets until the discharge gas settles.

 

[strapped for cash]

Have you tried setting brightness and contrast using THX optimiser test patterns. It's a somewhat crude method, but better than adjusting settings by eye. Brightness on my V20 is a couple of clicks below default on the THX preset. One thing I'm not complaining about is black level.

I'd also steer clear of the dynamic picture preset, particularly while you're running the TV in. You might be initially taken with the brightness and punch of the picture, particularly if you're used to watching an LCD TV, but you'll never get an image that looks balanced and natural.

 

[Anonymous]

Well got the grinch on in HD sky, and again it seems washed out and blacks are grey.

But during the night its black as black and bright colours.

Has this thing got some kind of sensor that adjust for daytime and night?

It seems to make everything dull and lifeless in the daytime but night its great.

 

[bigboss]

It's not a good idea to set the TV to "dynamic" mode for the first 200-500 hours when the TV is running in. A properly run-in plasma will reduce image retention, apart from prolonging its life. This is Pioneer's advice, for example: http://www.pioneerfaq.info/english/plasmatv.php?player=Plasma-TV&question=Running_In

Your TV may have a light sensor because of which the colours may look washed out during the day. Turn it off.

 

[AEJim]

Have you got it in a bright room with lots of incoming sunlight in the day? If the THX/manual modes look great at night this is most likely your problem. Plasma can't compete with LCD for punch and bold colours under those conditions, escpecially as the glass of the screen reflects incoming light back at you whereas most LCD's have a matte coating.

What I would suggest is to have two preferred settings on your screen for night and day use - it seems odd but it's what professional calibrators do as ambient light is a huge factor in plasma performance. Use the THX/manual settings for night viewing but have another setting (I'm not sure what options the Panasonic's have for this) and use one of the disks with a THX set-up to adjust brightness and contrast on it while the room is very bright. This should help bring the necessary punch back to the picture but please remember it will never quite match an LCD under very strong ambient light unless you use the less natural dynamic modes.

 

[Anonymous]

The sensor on your panasonic is labelled C.A.T.S, ensure this is turned off mate. I remember my S20 was pretty much the same, day time viewing was pale, but night viewing with less ambient light looked great.

 

[Anonymous]

When I turn CATS off, it just goes darker, and the picture is a lot worse.

I think its the screen coating they got on the G20, because my old 720p panny did not look like this.

This is very flat, no sharpness or detail,

UPDATE: For some reason it was off already, turned it on, and the screen just lit up,

Also I dont have it on dynamic, I have it on normal and adjusted the settings to my taste.

 

[Anonymous]

I think the default is it switched off from what I remember. It will be pushing the contrast etc. up to compensate for the higher ambient light, it will reduce it again automatically when the room gets darker. The important thing is it looks right to you. Pre set modes are all very well but everybodies viewing preference is very different.

 

[Anonymous]

still needs a few adjustments, but liking it a lot more.

I was starting to understand why people were complaining about the TV, but all is good, or just about.

Too bad to use skype you need a webcam that costs 120.00.... No freakin way, I cant believe panny would be so selfish.

 

[pejwhome]

Hey Canada,

I use Professional 1 for daytime viewing and Professional 2 for night time viewing. I have Gamma set at 2.0 on Pro 1 and all other settings on default. This produces a picture which is perhaps too milky white to be ideal but means the picture is generally more easily viewable in daylight. On Pro 2 everything is default settings except for brightness which is down a couple of notches and gamma at 2.2. Everything else is switched off on both Pro 1 and Pro 2 including CATS.

One thing to bear in mind is that the screen filter isn't the greatest on the G20 so it's not going to give the inky blacks your after in daylight viewing. Also your not going to get the cartoon colours and brightness of an LCD if it's set up properly.

As has been said above, I would be very careful running the TV in. Even on the normal setting, if you've get the settings turned up too high, it could ruin the panel long term.

I would invest in the Digital Video Essentials HD Basics Blu Ray to help you calibrate the TV and see what the panel's capable of, good and bad.

 

[pejwhome]

Also saw your comments on the Hot Deals thread and pleased you don't see the 50hz and floating blacks problems. Problem is that once you've noticed them, they become very distracting. Also they're more noticeable depending on what your watching.

It's interesting that every retailer I've spoken to claims to have never been able to see the 50hz and floating blacks yet, Panasonic themselves seem to accept these issues are present on both the 2010 and 2011 sets.

 

[Anonymous]

The setting I do have seem a bit bright and dont want to ruin the pic, so might tone it down a bit for now.

Also been watching lots of stuff and I am really not seeing any problems, with the screen turning different colours with the blacks.

The infinite black seems to be true, But not during the day or on THX. On my settings its now inky black, but like some have said my setting could ruin the screen in the first running in period.

I thought when I bought this set that THX would be amazing, I also thought, these guys probably know what a picture should look like, but to me, its just really dull and grey, But I supose everyone is different, I tried getting used to it, but just could not bring myself to watch it.

Overall, for 600.00 I am very very happy,

 

[Oldboy]

Canada,

I have the g20 42inch and have no problems atall with THX mode BUT it still needed calibrating to get it right, you must bear in mind that every panel has slight differences and that THX mode is just a good starting point and NOT the definitive picture mode out of the box. Use a bluray or dvd with the THX calibration on it and then use it only for movies.

I do not use THX mode at any other time, for example i have cinema mode calibrated for viewing normal tv content both during the day and night. During the day i will draw the curtains to preserve the black levels and it's here where your inky blacks are disappearing...any ammount of daylight in the room will kill the blacks and as soon as you black the room out a little you will find the blacks come back to full force. It's not a huge issue and easily resolved by pulling the curtains which isn't alot of hassle eh!

I do see the 50hz issue during football for example (look at the half way line, you get a double image) but i don't find it distracting even though i know it's there as it's only noticable under certain conditions and definately not there all the time. The floating blacks started to appear after a week or so of having the tv but if i use cinema, thx, either of the isf modes or game mode then i don't get any atall and from what i have read on the subject it would seem this is the consensous of opinion.

I will say that dynamic mode will end up doing more harm than good in the long run as excessive brightness and contrast will shorten the life of the tv quite considerably and impact on picture quality so avoid this mode at all costs! Calibrating correctly in any other mode is a much better option.

Before i go i have just one more point...when you have come from having an LCD tv ANY plasma will seem strange as the picture is so much different, it took me a good few weeks to adjust to the picture on my plasma as i had only had lcd up to that point but now i would never go back as plasma produces a far more natural and involving picture than any lcd i have owned. Stick with it, keep tweeking as you go and remember to recalibrate every 6 months or so as the panel settles in.

Hope that helps you

 

[Anonymous]

thanks oldboy and also on the nas thing,

I have noticed when you close the curtains the blacks are amazing, and so is the picture.

This TV is not meant for daytime viewing in a bright room, so if you want to but this TV, but some curtains as well.

I am getting more used to the picture, and your right about the picture being neutral, the picture from a LCD to a Plasma is night an day, but not in a bad way.

thanks again everyone, oh and it took me like a month to get the settings right on the LCD, so I am sure I am over reacting like I always do.

 

[Oldboy]

No probs Canada...just stick with it as you will get it right in the end. It's like all new equipment in that you just have to keep tweaking untill you are happy.

After a few weeks i'm sure it will look spot on, i couldn't be happier with mine now tbh but at first i had the same concerns as you but those concerns soon melted away once i got the picture calibrated just right and my eyes adjusted to the plasma image.

Wish you many happy hours of viewing oh, and welcome to the plasma owners club