Panasonic 42PZ80 Settings Thread

[CH_Peter]

Template for posts.

I will check mine later and post them up, perhaps we can come to some consensus (ish) and I will make this post the "best" - even if that means some settings are marked as "in the range of".

Please post by device. I'll add as many as you like, but we should at least get common ones in here. Feel free to add notes about compromises made (e.g. brightness / detail for games / film).

PS3
Mode Cinema
Overscan off
Brightness Clicks from left
Contrast Clicks from left
Colour Clicks from left
Sharpness Clicks from left
PNR Off Min Mid Max
Other tweaked settings (24p)

Sky / Freeview
Mode Eco
Overscan on
Brightness Clicks from left
Contrast Clicks from left
Colour Clicks from left
Sharpness Clicks from left
PNR Off Min Mid Max
Other tweaked settings (24p)

[Heavysalad]

Don't forget that if you are running Overscan 'ON' then you can reduce the amount of zoom in the service menu in the same way that you can with the PZ70 ... here

Also... with limited menu settings like these on the PZ80 there is no way to agree on what is the 'best' ... what is looking good in one room will need entirely different settings in another room depending on lighting etc.

[vipergrm]

Has anyone managed to calibrate the set anywhere near D65 standard? Any chance of sharing with us how you did it?

[Joey2oo8]

Originally Posted by vipergrm

Has anyone managed to calibrate the set anywhere near D65 standard? Any chance of sharing with us how you did it?

Can't check in work as the site is blocked, but i seem to remember that the review on hdtvtest said the closest to D65, without breaking into the service menu, was the default Cinema and Warm settings

[RottenFox]

Originally Posted by vipergrm

Has anyone managed to calibrate the set anywhere near D65 standard? Any chance of sharing with us how you did it?

Yeah,would be good to get some D65 calbrations,as mine arrives next week(46".)

[diogoperas]

No one with settings

[Jeek]

I've had mine a few weeks now and well chuffed with it. Have it attached to a Vista Media Centre (self built) HTPC via hdmi.
The pc is set to output at 1920 x 1080 so the telly hasn't got to do any scaling.
I've currently got it set to (100% being max to the right):
Mode: Cinema
Colour: 50%
Brightness: 30-40%
Contrast 50%
Warm

Picture seems very good to me with the above. The way I "calibrated" it was to turn down the brightness until the borders in a 2.35:1 film appeared to my eyes to be proper black. If I turned it down further then it seemed to lose shadow detail at times. I still play around with it now and again. At this setting, I don't really notice the slight difference in the bezels black and the border during movie playback.

[CH_Peter]

Originally Posted by Jeek

I've had mine a few weeks now and well chuffed with it. Have it attached to a Vista Media Centre (self built) HTPC via hdmi.
The pc is set to output at 1920 x 1080 so the telly hasn't got to do any scaling.
I've currently got it set to (100% being max to the right):
Mode: Cinema
Colour: 50%
Brightness: 30-40%
Contrast 50%
Warm

Picture seems very good to me with the above. The way I "calibrated" it was to turn down the brightness until the borders in a 2.35:1 film appeared to my eyes to be proper black. If I turned it down further then it seemed to lose shadow detail at times. I still play around with it now and again. At this setting, I don't really notice the slight difference in the bezels black and the border during movie playback.

Above sounds fine, just make sure Overscan is off.

[100%WHU]

Why do we need to turn overscan off?
and how do we do it??

[JeffB]

Originally Posted by 100%WHU

Why do we need to turn overscan off?
and how do we do it??

I think I'm correct in saying that basically if your TV is overscanning it is stretching the image it is fed beyond the borders of the TV (so you can’t see it).

You can turn it off in the "settings" menu.

[100%WHU]

Originally Posted by JeffB

I think I'm correct in saying that basically if your TV is overscanning it is stretching the image it is fed beyond the borders of the TV (so you can’t see it).

You can turn it off in the "settings" menu.

Sorry I know I am being dumb, but how do I do that???

[CH_Peter]

Originally Posted by JeffB

I think I'm correct in saying that basically if your TV is overscanning it is stretching the image it is fed beyond the borders of the TV (so you can’t see it).

You can turn it off in the "settings" menu.

Yes. If you want the image to be mapped 1:1 fromt the original source and pin-sharp, overscan must be off. It should be off for your PC. If the output from it matches the 1080p resolution of the TV, there's no need to stretch the image. Same goes for PS3 games and BR Discs.

The PZ80 will remember whether overscan is on or off between SD and HD sources - not by input, oddly.

[CH_Peter]

Originally Posted by 100%WHU

Sorry I know I am being dumb, but how do I do that???

Press Menu. Go to Settings (it's not in the Picture Menu) and Overscan On/Off is listed there.

[100%WHU]

Originally Posted by CH_Peter

Press Menu. Go to Settings (it's not in the Picture Menu) and Overscan On/Off is listed there.

Now I know I am thick. I can not see overscan at all in setup or picture??

[CH_Peter]

Originally Posted by 100%WHU

Now I know I am thick. I can not see overscan at all in setup or picture??

In Settings Menu, you may have to scroll down off the bottom to see the next page, where you'll find it.