Colour smearing on 50" Viera?

Hi,

Still looking into the set up of my 50" Viera, but has anyone had/has a colour smearing problem when images move on the screen. The faster it moves the more separated the RGB colours are, red being the most prominent, sometimes the lines are really big. You don't notice it all the time, but when you do, you really do!
Watching Sky is worse than DVD but it's still there. This is all via Broadcast quality component cables by the way?
Is this is problem with cables and setup or is this a Viera plasma thing? I guess the bigger the screen the noticable it will be.
Any feedback would be great.
Thanks.

 

Fill, this is definately not right.
I only have the 37" version, but it exhibits none of what you are describing. The picture is superb, via DVD and Sky using £2.99 cables. ( I am upgrading them by the way)

 

Thanks Orlando, that's kinda good hear, in a bad way? Knowing I should be getting better than this I mean.

I thought of a better to explain the picture quality, it's like watching a 3D movie but without the glasses on. Again, it's not like this all the time, just when things move around.

I just read the review of the Pioneer 50" in this months Home Cinema magazine and it talked about vapour trails in movement and thought this was a bad coloured version of that, and it's a plasma thing. The cables I have are £40 a pop by the way? Not sure what do do now though. I guess I'll have to fork out even more money to get someone to look at it? Seem wrong though after spending all that money!!
When will the spending end!

 

Might be worth using a set up disk such as DVE to get the best picture. Take a look in the power buys section.

 

ok, great.

Gonna sound thick here, what's the 'power buys section'?

cheers

 

Just bear in mind that the native resolution of the panel is higher than the source you are feeding it so the panel has to upscale the image. The 42 and 37 SD models have a lower resolution so either display natively (in the case of NTSC) or downscale (PAL). Downscaling is usually accomplished much better by the plasma.

It's possible the upscaling of the 50 isn't very good and causes these problems you are seeing. An external scaler would certainly help I think.

 

Yeah, I thought about that. Once you get into the realms of 50" do you need an external scaler to help? But it's another £1000 ontop of everything else I've just spent. Also I've heard that there are problems with external scalers and Viera sets? I really hope it's something else (simple) as more equipment / more costs is something I can't do at the moment.

thanks

 

You'd need to find out exactly which signals/resolutions the Viera 50 can accept. With a scaler, generally you would feed it the highest signal the panel is capable of accepting or use it's native resolution (so that the internal processing is bypassed). Most plasmas will downscale very well.

I still think one of your best options is to get it calibrated, at least that way you'll have the best image your system is capable of producing with your current equipment. ISF Calibration for a plasma is around 250 quid.

 

Fill, start with the obvious things first, like leads. I saw the picture of yours wall mounted and very nice it looks to, but how long are the cables and how are they routed, are they connected properly etc.
I have seen two 50" running one was showing motor racing and the other an MTV channel. The racing looked very good with no smearing. I remember thinking I hope mine will look that good.
I don't known where you are based, but they have a 50" on demo in John Lewis at Blue Water, you could see if it was the same as yours. At least then you wil know.
As a last resort I know you got yours from a good retailer, you could swap it for the 42" with cash back.
Keep us posted with how you get on.

 

I've got more than a sneaking suspicion that the only way to connect a scaler to this screen is via the VGA port on the front panel. The component input I fear won't accept anything better than PAL, 576p. This leaves you with a cable more than slightly in your face. All the manufacturers do this, this is a consumer device, not a videophile's dream, they simply don't think anyone who knows what a video scaler is will buy one, they make a TH50PHD6 for that.

 

Orlando, I've got a 3 metre broadcast component cable running from the screen to the amp. Unsure of the cables name sorry. Then 1 metre component cables running everything else, all the same brand. As far as connected properly? I hope so, that's why you pay for the install, the last thing you wanna do is start ripping cables out of the wall!!
Nooo!

 

Maybe there's something amiss in the setup somewhere along the line? Can you post the settings of the plasma? I assume the DVD player is set to output a progressive scan signal etc etc

 

So fill, this is a pro install job, yet they sold you a viera, or did you make them sell it? It's a super TV repacement, but no way is it a custom installer's panel. Too limiting and difficult to integrate. I've never sold one for such a thing, sold the odd one to folks who want to bung it on a stand and turn it on. It's not a smaller panel you need, it's the PHD6.

 

did u mean the phw6?

the vieras are nice but even some of the smaller plamas - esp the new jvc has a poor picture compared to the earlier model. maybe they are making them cheaper and cutting corners? certainly not the way to go!

 

It's not really a cheapness thing, just design for purpose. PHD, PHW, just different colours.