brightness level on a Panasonic

[pauld]

I have a Panasonic TH-42PWD4 and I wondered what other Panasonic owners have their brightness and contrast levels set at.

I have already turned mine down but would also like to know what Joe recommends them set at.

 

[pauld]

Come on guys, what do you have your screens set to on the menu. Do you turn both your brightness and contrast down and if so what to ?

 

[Jon Weaver]

I havn't set mine up properly yet and have only had it for a few days, but mine are currently all on 0

I am only using the VGA input by the way.

 

[John G]

I would also like to know what picture settings Panasonic owners use.My plasma is set at factory default (I only got it a week or so back).However,I have noticed that while well lit scenes do look fantastic,dark scenes are noticeably poorer.Whilst watching The Matrix on darker scenes skin tones are very poor,even to the point of looking blotchy.
Could you guys please let me know what your settings are?
Thanks in advance,John

 

[Nike]

From the AVS forum, I got that a good starting point is contrast (white level) of -18 (yes minus)
Then set the black level (brightness) according to the level of light in your room. Using a THX optimiser (not ideal, I know) mine comes-out at about +6 I think.
If you are using component, set on 'cinema'.
White balance 'warm'
this is using the RGBHV input.

It feels wierd at first, especially if you have got used to factory settings. The screen & your eyes will thank you long term though!

If I go back to factory settings now, it looks ridiculously over-bright.

 

[Alex ArbabZadeh]

Hi Nike,

Why is it correct to set colour temperature to "warm" rather than "normal"?

Also, why use "Cinema" mode when using Component inputs?

I was under the impression that Normal/Dynamic/Cinema modes merely had the contrast setting in a different place. As in, even if you have it set to "0" in all three, Dynamic will have a higher white level and if you have it set to Cinema it will be lower. So if you calibrate the screen through Component inputs what difference which one you use?

Also, do you advocate using a warm colour temperature for Component inputs?

Many thanks,

Alex.

 

[Nike]

Alex,
I was just relaying what works for me after 6 months with my PWD4, based on my own experience & reading many threads over at AVSforum.

I never said that any of it was "correct" or not.

My room is pretty dark & these settings give me a very 'film-like' picture that I have not had to mess with for a while now.

 

[Paul D]

The American settings are based on an IRE of 7.5. (ie a higher black level start point)
PAL DVD players should normally be set to 0 IRE.
Based on an 0 IRE setting my plasma is now set as follows.

TH-42PW5BX
(DVD player.... Sony DAV-S880)
(Pace sky digi box)
I found colour balance to be fine "out of the box"

Picture = Normal
Contrast = + 5 (to mantain some punch during daytime watching)
Brightness = 0
Sharpness = 0
Temperature = Normal
Gamma = 2.0 (my preference), but 2.2 ws ok too.

These setting may be different with different DVD players etc.

 

[bluebear]

I got a Panny D4 and I view it (If possible, with all the lights OFF or just a 25W table light in the corner of the room) with the following settings.

All RGB settings at factory reset except for :

Contrast = 0
Brightness = 0

These are stored under "Dynamic" settings on RGB menu.

Also looks great in normal Daylight (Not sun).

I just use the "Normal"settings to demo the screen to people, but you need to put on your sun glasses !

When using the PC input, I have it turned right down
(Contrast & Brightness).

Note. That the picture setting are stored for each of the different input types.

Have Fun,
Bluebear.

 

[pauld]

Thanks bluebear,

I've tried your settings and agree they look good, they were not far from the settings that I had already set, but I'm going to use yours. I still love looking at my plasma and everone that sees it seems to just stop and stare and marvel at the picture and its style.

 

[CarlB]

I use my plasma in controlled lighting near darkness, but my settings from calibration through VE and Avia are:

Contrast -20
Brightness 0
Colour 4
Sharpness -6

These are calibrated with the 'cinema' setting and normal colour temp (default gamma).