Any Panasonic plasma experts out there?

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Wills1

710 posts

Ultimate Geek

#103097 30-May-2012 12:18

Just needing some help.

I bought a p42gt20z, upgraded from an older HD ready panasonic plasma. love the tv but I'm having some trouble with the viera cast function.

Firstly here's my setup:

TV-----> Sony amp STR-DH520-------->Mysky HDi all connected via HDMI

When I use viera cast and want to watch youtube for example I don't get the sound from youtube. Its still sky tv sound. Im assuming that this is because the only connection to the tv is HDMI "IN" at present. But even if I connected the optical cable out from the tv, I would still need to change the av setting on my amp, is this correct?

Also just a general question in regards to colour. I've got the contrast up quite high at 80 to get a brighter shade of colours. The general presets look really dark and grey. I know this come down to personal taste but what do most people use as a general range for settings, I'd be interested to know.

Any help would be appreciated

sen8or

1789 posts

Uber Geek

#632762 30-May-2012 17:33

Does your tv and AV receiver have a HDMI connection that is 1.4 compliant (supports audio return channel)? If so, you should use that, otherwise you will need to connect via optical and assign it to a new input on your amp.

For brightness etc, give it 100 hours or so to let the TV settle in, then do some basic calibrations off appropriate DVD/Blu-ray disc (some will come with "thx optimiser" as a bonus feature, use this - Monsters Inc DVD is one off the top of my head or for Blu-ray, Terminator 2 Skynet edition)

Cheers

Wills1

710 posts

Ultimate Geek

#632811 30-May-2012 18:47

sen8or: Does your tv and AV receiver have a HDMI connection that is 1.4 compliant (supports audio return channel)? If so, you should use that, otherwise you will need to connect via optical and assign it to a new input on your amp.

For brightness etc, give it 100 hours or so to let the TV settle in, then do some basic calibrations off appropriate DVD/Blu-ray disc (some will come with "thx optimiser" as a bonus feature, use this - Monsters Inc DVD is one off the top of my head or for Blu-ray, Terminator 2 Skynet edition)

Cheers

I'm pretty sure the amp is 1.4 compliant. Its only 1 year old.

I will give it some time to settle. I'm tempted to run it at 100% contrast but worried it could damage the screen or significantly shorten it's lifespan

Jaxson

8042 posts

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Trusted

#632817 30-May-2012 19:06

It might be a bit much to expect the hdmi control to work across different brands of gear. Personally I turn it all off and use a harmony remote to automate the switching of all gear and for the price I highly recommend that approach.

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#632873 30-May-2012 20:30

I have a hunch, that even though most people here will cringe when you mention your brightness settings...
Your tastes will probably be quite different.
I run my TV in the professional mode (I think you can access this from the 'Setup' menu, then turn on 'Advance (isfccc) - this will give you another picture option. However... you'll probably tell us it's too bland.
I know my partner did when I first took my TV home.
Now, she HATES dynamic mode with a passion.
Why?
Well, as soon as I showed her just how fake the colours are in Dynamic, how neon green the grass is, how red peoples skin tones are etc etc. Dynamic will also wash out the black areas, leaving you with the worst of both worlds.

Nety

2584 posts

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Retired Mod

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Lifetime subscriber

#633027 31-May-2012 06:45

+1 The thing is it shouldn't come down to personal preference. The TV should be presenting the image as close to what it was meant to by the director. They are all relying on us to set our TV's using a set of standard settings. As above if you get a set-up disk and use science (rather then personal preference) to set-up the TV correctly most likely at first you will think everything looks a bit colourless but you will quickly adapt and I can assure you very quickly seeing a TV set to how most are, you will be thinking oh my god can the owner not see unrealistic everything looks?

Concerning HDMI 1.4 assuming because it is only a year old it should have 1.4 is a mistake. Even now a good number do not. What is the exact model and we can confirm.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#633134 31-May-2012 09:52

It's a TH-P42GT20z, it was a limited release, Japanese made 3D set with THX certification.
Similar to the 42V20, but on steroids...
It has ARC - guaranteed.

Jaxson

8042 posts

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#633201 31-May-2012 10:49

Nety: The thing is it shouldn't come down to personal preference.

Well the thing is it should come down to personal preference.
Given it's his TV, he should be the one to decide what looks good, not what others say is the best....

Enjoy that sweet spot before people start telling you what to look for. Ignorance is bliss at this stage

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Wills1

710 posts

Ultimate Geek

#633420 31-May-2012 14:08

Dunnersfella: It's a TH-P42GT20z, it was a limited release, Japanese made 3D set with THX certification.
Similar to the 42V20, but on steroids...
It has ARC - guaranteed.

The picture modes are Dynamic, normal, cinema, true cinema, game, photo.

I find cinema modes are very washed out for colour, and dark. When there's an image of the sky changing from cinema to true cinema makes the blue sky look green.

Wills1

710 posts

Ultimate Geek

#633446 31-May-2012 14:32

Dunnersfella: I have a hunch, that even though most people here will cringe when you mention your brightness settings...
Your tastes will probably be quite different.
I run my TV in the professional mode (I think you can access this from the 'Setup' menu, then turn on 'Advance (isfccc) - this will give you another picture option. However... you'll probably tell us it's too bland.
I know my partner did when I first took my TV home.
Now, she HATES dynamic mode with a passion.
Why?
Well, as soon as I showed her just how fake the colours are in Dynamic, how neon green the grass is, how red peoples skin tones are etc etc. Dynamic will also wash out the black areas, leaving you with the worst of both worlds.

I just found these settings. Trying professional1 at the moment I have to admit I do think it looks very dull.

I know its a hard question to answer but roughly how long might the tv last for if its run at 80 or higher contrast? for its life. Maybe I had the contrast right up on my old panasonic plasma and thats why I'm finding it hard to adjust.

fahrenheit

757 posts

Ultimate Geek

#633623 31-May-2012 19:08

Wills1:
The picture modes are Dynamic, normal, cinema, true cinema, game, photo.

I find cinema modes are very washed out for colour, and dark. When there's an image of the sky changing from cinema to true cinema makes the blue sky look green.

Although I've had no first-hand experience with your model, True Cinema will likely be the most accurate/functional out of the box preset.
If you have gamma control, then try something between 2.4/2.6. This might crush the blacks a bit, so you will probably need to raise brightness by 3 or 4 nits. Get an adjustment disc like AVS HD and use the black clipping pattern to set brightness correctly and use the white clipping pattern to check that you aren't clipping peak white by raising the contrast too far.
Cinema and Pro 1 and 2 generally have their peak white level capped, so pushing the contrast generally won't help get more intensity out of those presets.

The reason Cinema looks so washed out is because it defaults to a gamma preset of 2.0. In reality that number measures more like 1.6 on the Panasonics. Changing the gamma to a gamma greater than 2.2 will help make it more useable.

Thats enough for now. Let us know how you get on.