Plasma picture faults?

PowerMalc

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I have recently taken delivery of a new Panasonic TX-P50S20 and I can not fault it, very pleased and a big improvement on my old Sagem DLP.
Set up with 'True Cinema' mode, 16:9 overscan, brightness and colour turned down a couple of notches

However in trying to take a more active interest in AV there are some terms I have come across that I do not understand.
I would appreciate if anybody could answer the following questions or point me to some links

1. What is posterisation (sp?)
2. What is floating blacks
3. What is 'skewed colour gamut'
4. Black level differences. Surely black is black

Many thanks
 
1) Posterisation = reduction in the colour palette so that an image is made of few distinct colours. The real evidence and problem of this is visible bands of colour where there should be a smooth transition of shades.

2) Floating blacks = an unintended change in the [visible] level of black

3) skewed colour gamut = SD and HD standards define how colour should be decoded and presented. A skewed gamut is a fault of the decoding, where some of those colours are presented incorrectly (ie. too much red or green in a picture).

4) Black level = in the source, there is one level that is defined as black, and should be rendered as such. However, no TV can truly produce black. There is always a level of reflection from panels, even in an otherwise completely dark room (from the generation of light by the TV). Then you have things like backlights in LCDs that are always on, with the LCD attempting to cover it for black (which it can never do perfectly). Or raising the black level slightly on the TV so that near black detail isn't crushed. Lots of possibilities, but bottom line you will never measure 0 light output at black, and some TVs measure a higher level than others.
 
1. What is posterisation (sp?)
2. What is floating blacks
3. What is 'skewed colour gamut'
4. Black level differences. Surely black is black
1. Posterization - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - its a plasma problem.
2. When something bright is onscreen the blacks sometimes get brighter on plasma. So the black bars top and bottom might get lighter in a film.
3. Theres only one correct way to show HD. Really there shouldnt be any color controls on the TV at all. If color gamut is wrong then colour is not a correct representation of how things are meant to look. Some people prefer skewed gamut that makes color more vivid than its meant to be though.
4. The big difference between tube TV and flat TV is that flat TV cant do black. If your in a dark room and the screen is meant to be all black on a tube TV it is jet black and on a flat telly its not. It lights up the room with a dark grey instead. Some flat TVs are better than others but none look black in a dark room.

If you watch in a bright room you want an LED telly as they look great in a bright room when plasma or tube TVs dont. In the dark plasma is better but still not great.
 
grahamtriggs and chronoptimist

Many thanks for such comprehensive answers, plenty for me to look into and think about.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:
 

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