[BUTLERBOY]

Problem solved i think SUB-BRI SET BACK UP TO 800?
is this right?.

[Mark Hodgkinson]

Originally Posted by MarkyboyUK

Incidentally, do you know what the various service menu "modes" do e.g Mode 00, Mode 01, Mode 02 ?

Thanks

With that you can choose to calibrate for both HD and SD or choose one. I can't quite remember which is which, off the top of my head, but doesn't the text box explain?

Originally Posted by BUTLERBOY

Problem solved i think SUB-BRI SET BACK UP TO 800?
is this right?.

Yes, I think 800 is default for the Brightness control in the SM.

[Mumid]

Originally Posted by David Mackenzie

Actually you can, I did it when I reviewed the TV. The True Cinema mode is derived from the Cinema mode. You have to go into service mode, make an adjustment to the Cinema mode, and then go back into user mode and measure the effect it's had with True Cinema.

Thanks I will test this out.

[Mumid]

Originally Posted by BUTLERBOY

So let me get this right when you alter the calibration settings it only alters what format you are watching at that time!.
So if you are watching standard def on sky it will just change those settings?.
And not the high def ones!.

Yes thats correct - only the service menu settings though not the user menu ones.

[TimmyBee86]

If anyone does write a guide to playing with the service menu, I would be interested. But please write in big letters that the user should make a note of all settings before they change anything. Also that no two TVs are the same, and pro calibrated setting for Joe bloggs may look rubbish on john Smith's tv.

[Lankz]

Can anyone please reccommend me where to get a cheap HD dvd player to go with this tv??

cheaper the better, lol, aslong as its a decent one!

i use my PS3 as a 3D blu-ray player, and just sold my Xbox 360..

ive got a dvd player at home, but the PQ is poor compared to playing dvds via my Xbox 360..

so im now needing a HD dvd player

[TimmyBee86]

Do you mean a DVD player that upscales? Or an HD-DVD player to play hd-dvds? If the former- use your bluray player, if the latter - don't know

[TimmyBee86]

But having said that, I recommend the Panasonic bluray players (I have got the cheap 110) which works well together with an st30 and I think will offer better audio than a ps3 for 3d bluray? (I think... I'm not sure)

These players also handle whatever DVDs you throw at them, nd will prolong the life of your ps3

[Lankz]

Originally Posted by TimmyBee86

But having said that, I recommend the Panasonic bluray players (I have got the cheap 110) which works well together with an st30 and I think will offer better audio than a ps3 for 3d bluray? (I think... I'm not sure)

These players also handle whatever DVDs you throw at them, nd will prolong the life of your ps3

Really? i didnt know you could play dvds on a Blu-Ray player?

thats why i thought i needed a seperate dvd player, lol..

i have loads of dvds, like Man Utd Season Reviews etc that i normally played via my Xbox 360, picture was superb..

the current dvd player i have plays dvds in standard def

so i thought i needed a HD dvd player?

or one that upscales will still probably be a vast improvement than the current one i have! so either ill be happy with

Amazon best best? how much am i looking at??

[TimmyBee86]

Well short term fix is just use your ps3. But if I were you, as mentioned, I would look to get a standalone bluray. I got mine from richer sounds for £100 odd quid, but that was last year, so not sure about today's prices.
If your after cheap, then yes you can pick up DVD players that upscale for much less. Just be wary of your terminology because HD-DVD was a completely different format that lost the HD media war to bluray.

[Lankz]

Yeah i guess, i leave my PS3 in my bedroom though so i was after one for my living room..

where can i get a cheap dvd player that upscales then? that should do the trick..

i wasnt really wanting to spend like more than £30 as i see alot of dvd players at like £30?

[Andreamac]

I've been lurking and reading the 4 parts of the owners thread, decided to buy one and have even ventured as far as mumids settings.

I've been able to access the advanced settings but some of the options you talk about aren't in my advanced options: R-DRV, G-DRV and B-DRV for eg.

Can someone tell me if there's a special, secret button I must press?!

I love the tv, Cast is working perfectly and mumids settings (aside from the stuff I can't do^^) have definitely improved an already cracking display. 3D is as I expected, amazing. I bought Uerotek active shutter glasses and they worked brilliantly, so I found the cod fish demo and freaked the kids out

Sound isn't all that imo, though i'm guessing you all have snazzy amps and it sounds amazing. I've seen the equalizer and my 2nd ask is for a good set up of this. Can anyone help please?

TIA

[Andreamac]

Ok, so I found the service menu...and exited promptly, far too scary.

Now all I need are some settings for my sound, so a big 'please' to you again.

[noobzpro]

hi guys new to the forum here....just purchased a 50st30 at a clearance price...out of the box what should i do with it and what are the best settings thanks!

[BUTLERBOY]

Your best bet is to run it in first before you alter any of your settings.
Set you contrast and brightness below 50% for the first 200hrs or so.
Any 4.3 programs expand the picture to fit the screen.
And the same with widescreen productions.
But most of all enjoy.

[TimmyBee86]

And if I were you, I'd stay out of the service menu unless you know what your doing. It's far too easy to brick your tv in there.

As advised, keep contrast to a low. Either you can leave the tv on, repeating a film or slides or whatever, or just use normally, but keep an eye on any static images. I also made a habit of setting the sleep timer for 30-45 mins and turning on the scrolling bars screen saver After I used it - but this wasn't a problem for me as the tv is I. A converted garage. Obviously this could be annoying if in the sitting room or whatever.

[BUTLERBOY]

I 2nd what Timmy said about the service menu.
Just set the Tv up with a THX optimiser which you will find on most of the Pixar discs or on any of the Star wars ones.

[Roggster]

Tonight is the last straw for me I think.

In Feb I bought a TX-P50ST30. I got rid of a rather fine Sony KDL-46w4710. I still miss that set picture was jaw dropping, but I wanted a larger set and a bit of 3D.

So I decide to switch camps to plasma.
I read the reviews and, sure enough, another winner from Panasonic at a fantastic price point

So 700 hours in and the other side of torturous doubt and denial, here I am. Why the last straw you ask? My ongoing denial and torture of dirty screen effect (on a plasma?) and what, quite frankly, is nothing short of outrageous image retention (a thing of the past, right?)

Firstly, we settle down to watch the Man Utd v Man City game tonight on Sky Sports HD.
The studio build up features a darkened studio with a large monitor surrounded by vertical blue strips of light.
For minutes into the action we could see ghosts of these lights as lines on the pitch.
Ok, big deal I hear you say, right? But imagine this co stantly during build up, half time and post match analysis. Blue strips on screen for 30 seconds, then the ghosts of them for minutes against the football.

Secondly, once the blue strip light ghosts had faded, sure enough, the vertical dirty screen type bands were evident on the right of the picture.
These bands are not visible in all conditions. Always appears to be on green and greys - like football and cloudy/foggy sky.

Thirdly, once the football has finished (with a result I do not want to talk about hehe), we decide to watch a DVD of Long Way Down - the motor biking series with Ewen McGregor and Charlie Boorman. Lots of great scenery and outdoor shots.*
We had to suffer the sky sports logo and score banner for the whole episode - and it wasn't looking like shifting within the next hour.

Had enough. I've wasted my money and feel like a fool. I want my Sony back! Sure it had off axis viewing angle issues - but what LCD doesn't - but I'll tell you what, the blacks were as good as this plasma!

I've been really anal about what I show on the tv and have respected it for being a plasma.
No long gaming sessions, no static images, generous use of the scrolling bar, low contrast - every top tip I've ever read about caring for a young plasma.*

I've read this forum with interest and patience (and a bit of denial) and the stories I've read on here lead me to believe that when I contact my retailer tomorrow I'll be told "tough, it's within spec and tolerance".*

Humph, who fancies my chances?

[madfx]

I recently purchased the 50st30a and to be honest I am really disappointed in it. Maybe I'm just an LCD/LED man, but after the horizontal line bleed, screen buzz, green tinge "rainbow effect" and DSE I just can't justify the trade off for smoother motion.
I can live with those problems, but the one issue that is absolutely ******* me off is the image retention.

If I pan across a screen with a medium grey/very dark green background I can see the last image sitting there, so I get this horrid ****ing smudgey, cloudy blur on the background when panning, or if I jump out of a menu I can still see it sitting there on the grey/green background until something lighter goes over the top of it (and then it disappears instantly). It is truly hideous!

Is this normal or should I be calling Panasonic and getting a tech sent out/try to get a replacement panel?

I've read a few posts on this epic thread and I really get the impression this panel has a serious issue with green and is just a **** TV even though it received really good reviews. It's actually a kick in the guts as I was excited about plasma and now I just have a bitter taste in my mouth and an empty wallet.

[madfx]

here's a video of the issue

May 1, 2012 9:46 PM - YouTube

[Roggster]

Originally Posted by madfx

I recently purchased the 50st30a and to be honest I am really disappointed in it. Maybe I'm just an LCD/LED man, but after the horizontal line bleed, screen buzz, green tinge "rainbow effect" and DSE I just can't justify the trade off for smoother motion.
I can live with those problems, but the one issue that is absolutely ******* me off is the image retention.

If I pan across a screen with a medium grey/very dark green background I can see the last image sitting there, so I get this horrid ****ing smudgey, cloudy blur on the background when panning, or if I jump out of a menu I can still see it sitting there on the grey/green background until something lighter goes over the top of it (and then it disappears instantly). It is truly hideous!

Is this normal or should I be calling Panasonic and getting a tech sent out/try to get a replacement panel?

I've read a few posts on this epic thread and I really get the impression this panel has a serious issue with green and is just a **** TV even though it received really good reviews. It's actually a kick in the guts as I was excited about plasma and now I just have a bitter taste in my mouth and an empty wallet.

My sentiment exactly mate!

[TimmyBee86]

IR is a bit of an oddity, but you really shouldn't get much on this set. My last tv (Samsung plasma) would IR if you had the Xbox menu up for 5secs... It was awful. This tv - I accidentally left it on the other day for a good 12 hours on the 'no signal found' screen and didn't have an ounce of retention.
What settings do you use? How high is your contrast?

[madfx]

I just leave it on 50% I use the TV in a dark room.

The thing is this IR is instant and really only effects the colour green (or some darker greys), you can see that in the video above. If I were to pull that map up and snap back to say a blue screen I wont see it burnt there. This makes me confident it is a processing issue and can be fixed.

I'm getting a tech out under warranty next week. If he turns around and says it's within spec I will punch him in the dick

[deblee]

IR is a bit of a strange one, my LG gets it more than the ST30 and I have the ST30 on quite high contrast (80%) however I do not play games
The only IR I notice is when I get the menu on screen for some time & go to a black/grey screen at night, however this goes very quickly or on Sky Sports super sunday's when I have the TV on from midday to 6.30pm, the Sky Sports HD1 logo lingers a bit but by the time I come to watch Homeland at 9.00pm its gone

A pic of my ST30 with backlighting

[Roggster]

Originally Posted by deblee

IR is a bit of a strange one, my LG gets it more than the ST30 and I have the ST30 on quite high contrast (80%) however I do not play games
The only IR I notice is when I get the menu on screen for some time & go to a black/grey screen at night, however this goes very quickly or on Sky Sports super sunday's when I have the TV on from midday to 6.30pm, the Sky Sports HD1 logo lingers a bit but by the time I come to watch Homeland at 9.00pm its gone

A pic of my ST30 with backlighting

How is the uniformity/dirty screen effect on yours deblee, and what size panel?
Ta.

[deblee]

Originally Posted by Roggster

How is the uniformity/dirty screen effect on yours deblee, and what size panel?
Ta.

Absolutely perfectly uniform screen on mine, no green (now) and no dse, something I am really fussy about tbh line bleed is a non issue, my LG is far worse in that regard
I get the normal plasma buzz but its no worse than the LG in the other room
The only issue I have is wrt fan noise but some acoustic foam stuck on the back has resolved that
Its a 46ST30 btw

[MarkyboyUK]

Originally Posted by deblee

Absolutely perfectly uniform screen on mine, no green (now) and no dse, something I am really fussy about tbh line bleed is a non issue, my LG is far worse in that regard
I get the normal plasma buzz but its no worse than the LG in the other room
The only issue I have is wrt fan noise but some acoustic foam stuck on the back has resolved that
Its a 46ST30 btw

Did you have DSE and the firmware update fixed it or was your TV replaced?

[deblee]

I had some of the green tinge, not a biggie but there nonetheless
However after a couple of months use it seems to have disappeared
Never had DSE on this set

[madfx]

sounds like I was just lucky enough to get an absolute ****ing dud then.

My set has a big dirty green blob down the center, noticeable line bleed, pretty bad DSE and horrid IR.

what a pain in the arse! I'll definitely be pushing panasonic for a replacement after the tech inspects it.

[deblee]

Tell me about it, I had two UT30's both had bad dse, quite bad vertical lines as well, I'm very fussy about that sort of thing
It seems we have a panel lottery much like lcd's, although tbh from what of seen of lcd, the plasma dse is far less of an issue