Strange shimmering patches on Panasonic/Toshiba Plasmas

[Jon Weaver]

I have seen quite a few demos of the Toshiba 42" and Pioneer 37/42" Plasmas and am generally very impressed.

However, in all cases, I have seen an effect which I can't really describe.

Bascially, when you get an area with gradual shading, there is an irregular shaped patch within this area, which kind of shimmers/flickers and just looks strange..

I have seen it most on backgrounds, when there are large areas of soft shades. For example, a blue Sky in one video had a large area which had the shimmering effect I am trying to describe.

I know that Plasmas suffer from 'solorization', but is this what I am seeing.

Does anyone know what I am talking about??

 

[RobsterD]

Jon ,
I've got the Panny plasma and I do have solarization,posted a thread a few months back describing the problem,it only happens on some Sky broadcasts ie Eastenders and is only really noticeable on skin tones.To be honest if you can live with poor geometry on a Sony 36",which I had previously the solarization I dont think is a problem.Will be gettng the John Sim RGB-Component convertor soon which hopefully will improve things as at the mo using Sky+ with S-video,buy a plasma for god's sake it's the best purchase I've made re home cinema, too many people on this forum are wondering if buying a plasma is worth it .YES IT IS !!! DO IT !!

 

[Jon Weaver]

Its encoraging to hear from an Ex-36" Sony CRT owner who is now happy.

I had the FS70 for over year and due to a huge list of problems, I got a refund and swapped it for hte Philips.

The philips is better, but it still has the same kind of problems as the Sony (i.e geometry).

I am VERY tempted by the Plasma, but little things about it niggle me.


WIth regards to the 'solorization' that I saw, I first noticed it on the 37" Panasonic in Comet playing Monsters Inc... I just walked by and saw these 'patches' in the background. HOwever, the connection was made by composite which was split several ways.

I hoped that this was just a problem with the way they had it setup, however I then went on to Richer Sounds, where they had a system setup with Componant... It was there too.

Like you said though. I am probably looking too hard to find faults

 

[tman]

Jon

From your many recent posts, you've obviously been doing a lot of research into plasmas, but seem to be still having trouble convincing yourself to make the jump.

It certainly is a *LOT* of money we are talking about, and yes, I too got jittery, asking myself 'have I made the right decision?', but when my plasma arrived (TH42PW4) and I set it up, all your concerns dissapear very quickly. It is quite simply stunning, and makes such a difference to your viewing.

I too had a Sony 36" FS70 for over 18 months, and was very happy with it. I never had any problems. Geometry for me was not a problem, but after moving house, the monster set just didn't fit into our room design, and I'd been thinking about plasmas for about 6 months previously.

You will never find a 'perfect' set, it doesn't exist, and probably never will, but plasma refinement has really come on in leaps and bounds in the last couple of years, and the Panny PW4B (and Tosh 42PW16) are as good as you will find anywhere. Almost all people will have niggles about there TV's, no matter how much it cost. I too have seen solarization on my Panny, but generally only on terrestrial broadcasts, and then only really on skin tones, but it doesn't bother me. I have never seen this problem on DVD's though (Tosh SD510e via component).

I think you can gather from the people using this forum, there are very, and I mean very few of them who regret moving to plasma. They may still have some niggles (as I do), but they are not enough to detract from the viewing pleasure you get from a screen of this size and quality, which you wont get from CRT, LCD or RP.

 

[Dixie]

Dear Jon

Thank you for all your postings.They are very interesting.
I think you have covered every worry re. Plasmas.
Personally I have the Panny 37" which has proved to be the best thing regarding AV that I have ever bought.
Nearly all the other Plasma owners say the same thing on this forum site.
So just go and get ANY plasma(the best ones are thePanny/Tosh models) and you will wonder why you waited.

All the best Dixie

 

[Jon Weaver]

Thanks all for your honest responces.

I think its safe to say that I am more than temped.. However, I am still worried about the issues that have been posted, namely 'lipsync' and 'buzzing'.

After swapping my Sony for a Philips, I was relieved to get an amost silent TV (my Sony(s) had awful buzzing). In constrast the Philips is almost TOTALLY silent.. Even in a totally silent room.

After reading about the 'buzzing' problem on the Panasonic, I am rightly concerned, as I would be gutted to upgrade and find that the TV makes a noise.


My final concern, isn't really a problem.. I just can't work out how to connect it it.

I really want 'Just' mode for Sky, which means that the obvious solution would be to get an RGB to Componant converter.. But, i also want to get a Progressive Scan DVD player.

The obvious answer is to go down the RGB-VGA route, as I already have a working RGB solution with 1 RGB input (my Sky+ box connects into the input of my DVD) but then I won't have the 'Just' mode.

I can't work out whether I would be better off loosing the 'JUST' mode and keeping the componant free for a time that I might need it (should I ever upgrade to a PS DVD player).

How do you have your STB/DVD setup??