Panasonic TXP50VT65B set up advice please.

[TubularTechnician]

Good Morning Gentleman,

Been posting a bit on the Hi-Fi forum with great results re: advice for my system and nows the time to pop over the road to the TV section to see if I can borrow a bit of your experience.

Recently got the house near as damn it finished and have been installing the electrical fun bits and bobs. Read up on Hi-Fi from the mag and the forum, made my choices and with some ongoing forum help things are going nicely on the music front.

So after I'd settled on my Hi-Fi choices I turned my attention to the visual side of things. Always been a plasma fan, inparticular Panasonic, as we have one of the first ever Viera models (37") in the lounge and to my eyes its still superb after nigh on 10 years. So it was always going to be another Panasonic for me. Plan was, after reading in the reviews and awards section what glowing praise 2012's Panasonics recieved, to get the GT 50" at this years fabulous knocked down prices with a soundbar and blu ray player to complete the set. So set about reading up on the GT on this forum section, but:

You chaps don't make buying a TV easy do you !!

After reading Strapped for Cash and others tales of horror my choice was blown out the water :doh: The wife kept telling me not to be so stupid and to buy it but I didn't dare risk it, and continued to follow Strapped's saga with interest and eagerly awaited the arival of his VT65. So after a week or so of Strapped's continued endorsments I've taken the plunge in Richer Sounds today and came away with the following:

TXP50VT65B, Yamaha Soundbar YSP2200 and Panasonic BMP-BDT500 Blu ray player.

As this is my first TV for 10 years and I never set up that one myself, what I could do with now is some set up and cabling advice if you would please. My questions are as follows:

What is this THX thing ? Did I read you need a disc to set it up ?

Callibration. worth it or does it pretty much set its self up and would I notice the difference ?

Cables. What goes from where to what ? (i will be using a sky box)

Can you recommend any decent cables to use please ? Don't really want to spend stupid money on these as the wife thinks I've already done that on the TV and I'm not 100% convinced of digital cable diferences, but on the other hand I want to do the set and the soundbar + blu ray justice.

All help greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[bigboss]

1) Nothing beats a proper professional calibration. Before you do go down this route, allow your TV to bed in first (200 hours or so). Some people may find the price too high.

Check these links:

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/tvs-and-projectors/samsung-40f7000-picture-settings

http://www.whathifi.com/video/get-the-best-from-your-tv

2) Cables: Just go for some cheap but well made cables, like this one:

http://www.thatcable.com/product/HDMI-Male-to-Male-Cable-Type-A-(Standard)-Version-1-3BHDMI-1.3b

I haven't found a difference between HDMI cables at different price points.

Enjoy your TV! :cheers:

 

[TubularTechnician]

Thanks BigBoss,

the disc didn't get the best reviews so I may look at pro callibration after the 200 hours. I'll have a crack at it myself at the weekend using the WHF vid.

Thanks again.

 

[bigboss]

This disc is very well regarded, supposed to be one of the best in its class:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spears-Munsil-High-Definition-Calibration-Evaluation/dp/B003LQPTWY

 

[Son_of_SJ]

I have the Spears and Munsil Blu-Ray calibration disc. I think it's very good, although one thing that it doesn't do is to show how much you should turn up the colour control on your television. Pity, according to BB's link on Amazon, that it's currently unavailable!

 

[strapped for cash]

I always use the AVS HD 709 patterns, available for free download here:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/948496/avs-hd-709-blu-ray-mp4-calibration

The patterns are great for basic calibration by eye. Beyond that you'd need to buy a colorimeter or pay for a professional calibration.

 

[TubularTechnician]

Thank you Gentlemen. Much appreciated. I'm going to try and track down the disk in the UK as amazon are out and there is a more user friendly MK II version out.

Good review on YouTube of the Disney WOW calibration disk so that may be an option.

TV still ok Strapped ? Anything I should be looking out for ?

Feel I should also mention the deal I got at Richer Sounds. Bought the 3 Items , Blu ray (multi region) £244, Soundbar £649 and the VT65 £1624. I thought that was a decent deal together with 5 year guarantees on the tv and soundbar :cheers: