Panasonic TX32LXD700 SD performance issues

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Hi,

After seing that the above TV won your award for the best 32" LCD TV and is supposed to have the best SD perfomance I went ahead and bought one.

The HD picure is great - using a Virgin V+ box and the BBC HD demo channel.

However I am disappointed with the inbuild freeview and when viewing SD via the V+ box.

Maybe I am expecting too much, based on the reviews, but here are my observations...

- Using the freeview tuner in the HDMI attached DVD recorder - Panasonic DMREX77, the picture is better (sharper, better coulour) than the inbuilt freeview. The inbuilt freeview is poorer than Vigin SD cable.

- watching SD via the V+ box (again via HDMI 720p) there are what I assume are referred to as mosquito patterns. This is particularly evident when there is overlayed text- QVC is very noticable. Sometimses there is minor blocking, but this is probably the fault of the Virgin transmission.

- I tried setting the V+ box to 1080i as the TV should be able to scale it down and the picture, including text was worse.

- XBox 360 via component is very nice, thought the dashboard text has slight ghosting around it. I don't know if this is intentional or a picture issue.

So...

Is this as good as it gets for SD, or could I have a faulty TV?

Is this the result of the 100Hz technology? If so why does it happen with static images?

Did I read that you can put the TV into demo mode to show the 100Hz porcessing - anybody know what to press?

Is there a site (maybe What Hi-fi) where I can see photos of SD source on various TVs, especially mine? Do any readers have examples I can look at? I'll try and take my own pictures and upload for you to comment on.

I don't want to return the TV or call out an engineer if the TV is working as intended, its just that I expected more for the money !

Thanks for any advice.

Blonkster

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Blonkster.

I to have this tv and all I can say is that I have been mightly impressed with its SD performance. However, I have no experience with a V+ box as I use a standard def sky+ box. The picture it produces from the said sky box are definitely class leading and are good even by CRT standards. Though what I believe is key to getting a good SD performance from this tv are the following; good viewing distance 2.5m to 3m, good quality cables and picture adjustment.

I do not know much about the V+ box from virgin but I assume it is connected via an HDMI like Sky HD and if it is then I suggest purchasing the Chord Silver HDMI cable for this. My Panny is connected to the tv by a Squart P2110 from QED which reveals a great picture, the only pain being that the cable flexibility is appaulling and there is no way of making it look tidy behind the kit rack - in fact it is a real ****** in that respect.

Another important aspect to consider is picture adjustment, try using a 'THX' setup disc like the one in Star Wars Revenge of the Sith to fine tune picture settings, also use your own eye to see what suits it best.

A more drastic step might be to do away with Virgin TV and get a Sky HD which is an absolute delight to watch and use.

It is however important to bare in mind that close up viewing of LCDs and indeed plasmas to a lesser extent will not look as good as CRTs for the time being with SD content.

If you still have problems after these steps have been tried then you might indeed have a faulty tv!

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Mark

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your reply Mark as I am getting this TV tomorrow and was getting worried when I saw this post!

I will be viewing through a Humax PVR using a Profigold Flat Scart which gives an excellent clear picture on my CRT so assume it will be the same on the Panasonic LCD?

I will also be using an upscaling DVD Player for which I have an Ixos HDmi cable.

I have read a few complaints of problems with the 100hz Motion Pro on fast moving scenes and animation. Have you seen this?

I know the TV won't be perfect as my CRT isn't, but as long as I get a good clear SD Freeview picture and SD DVD then I will be a happy bunny!

I never knew buying a TV could be so stressful! No comments please Tallyho!!!lol

 

[Anonymous]

If there is one thing that the Panasonic does extremely well it is motion. I have detected no issues at all with motion blurring, with the only possible exception being a moving football which is possibly slightly fuzzy, though this is really digging for something to complain about. Overall the motion is crisp, fluid and well balanced. When I compare it to my 23" Samsung LE23R87BD there is clear motion blurring on this so I would say that the Panny really has the edge on all other lcd tvs. The only way to get better motion handling would be to buy a panny plasma or a pioneer plasma - if only I had the space...oh the possibilities!!

Mark

 

[Anonymous]

Just to add to above. The actual tv (my panasonic tx-32lxd700) as I said has no real issues with motion but the same cannot be said of my PS3 blu ray player. When my PS3 is doing a slow pan with a blu ray disc there is a noticeable judder but when fast motion is shown the PS3 handles it brilliantly. The other day I borrowed my friends blu ray player - the latest pioneer one which showed absoultely stunning pictures through my Panasonic tv, so good it was that I couldn't believe it. So has anyone else experienced this judder on slow moving pans if they use a ps3. And yes I have downloaded the latest firmware to make it 1080p/24fps compliant.

 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks for the reassurance

Afraid I can't help re the PS3 but hope someone can!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Mark/Monkey,

I'm using the V+ box via the HDMI cable that came with the PAna DVD recorder, though I don't thik that is a t fault.

I cannot do any more testing yet as the TV is out of action due to decorating!

I assume you get QVC via SKy? Would you mind viewing it (you can turn the sound off!) and see what the overlayed item details look like (top left of screen). Does the text show patterns aroound it , or is it sharp?

How does freeview compare to Sky, or don't you have an aerial plugged in?

thanks

Ian

 

[Anonymous]

I have this TV and for the most part SD pictures look great, especially when watching something that was a) well produced and b) broadcast on a decent channel (e.g. Spooks on BBC1).

There are some Freeview channels out there that produce such crap programs and broadcast such a poor signal (no idea about the tech terms for this) where no TV will make them look good!

I agree with the above posts that using an image calibration DVD is a must! I used a Monster one which helped me set my contrast (it's near max now), brightness (around the middle), colour (just below half) and sharpness (halfway) to get a picture that was so much better than what was on the TV as default (this is using the Auto display settings).

I can confirm though that the Freeview picture is very slightly better via my DRM-EX77 (with a good HTMI lead) than via the TVs own tuner - but that's only noticable if I'm about a meter from the screen. Otherwise I don't notice at all (I did a lot of switching to compare the picture during the last England match - it helped dull the boredom!)

All in all, it's a great TV!

Now I'm just waiting for Xmas and my PS3. I'm hoping the Blu-Ray judder on that is either fixed with a software update or that I don't notice it!

Steve.

 

[Anonymous]

I got mine today and am delighted with it after altering some settings but might still need to 'tweak'.

What should Colour Management;P-NR and 3d-Comb be set to? They are all off at the moment.

For some reason I only have one analogue channel (4) so how do I get the rest

Steve what is the 'Monster' DVD you used?

 

[Anonymous]

I used this one: http://www.amazon.com/Monster-ISF-HDTV-Calibration-Wizard/dp/B000EEXEIW

Though I didn't buy it... More a friend copied it for me. Just as well given the reviews on Amazon! There are better ones out there I'm sure... Though the pic I ended up with is still better than the out the box pic.

I now have the Digital Video Essentials DVD which is apparently a lot better!

No idea why the TV didn't tune in any channels (assuming an aerial was connected) - unless you have a really bad reception where you are?

I have P-NR and 3d-Comb both off and colour management to on. The latter just made the grass all the more green while watching the football.

Steve.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Steve!

I'm happy with the settings now but Brightness, Colour and Sharpness are all the same and not sure whether this is okay?

What difference does Colour Management make to programmes other than football?

I'm not sure why it didn't tune in the analogue channels either as I have a good reception but, come to think of it, I got a wideband aerial installed so maybe it won't pick up the analogue channels the same?

Not really bothered about it as won't be watching analogue anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

Liz[quote user="Blonkster"]
Hi Mark/Monkey,

I'm using the V+ box via the HDMI cable that came with the PAna DVD recorder, though I don't thik that is a t fault.

I cannot do any more testing yet as the TV is out of action due to decorating!

I assume you get QVC via SKy? Would you mind viewing it (you can turn the sound off!) and see what the overlayed item details look like (top left of screen). Does the text show patterns aroound it , or is it sharp?

How does freeview compare to Sky, or don't you have an aerial plugged in?

thanks

Ian

[/quote]

Hi Ian

There is a 'shimmering' around the overlayed item details on QVC but, don't know whether it is co-incidence, since I turned Sharpness down by one I can hardly see it all now.

So might be worth a try?

Liz