Topic: 2012 Panasonic Plasma HDTVs

[dimitrios007]

$$Buck-Naked$$

thanks for the response hmm i am hoping the st50 at 50 inch will also have this much brightness and input lag for games.. like to game on a big screen 

the st50 sounds like a beast from your response buck and david and other reviews hmm should check this tv with my own eyes then as soon it hits stores in my city in holland

[GANGSTERKILLER]

@ David Mackenzie

Why are there no numbers to see on the ST50 for picture adjust? The VT50 on the second picture has it. Is this a "exclusive professional feature" for the more expensive GT and VT50? I would be very dissapointed if so. I must see the numbers to get the perfect picture. I'm used to it. I have it on al my HD TV's.

[David Mackenzie]

@David: Did you also suffer from bad black levels in 3d mode because I can't seem to get them any lower without destroying brightness and gamma.

The black levels are worse in 3D, yes. Maybe they can fix that later. 3D picture quality on just about every display is bad compared to 2D, so this was the least of my worries.

@Gangsterkiller: yes, that's right. Only on the GT and VT - in the UK at least. I don't know why.

[GANGSTERKILLER]

@Gangsterkiller: yes, that's right. Only on the GT and VT - in the UK at least. I don't know why.

That's just weird! Saving on numbers? Really Panasonic?
I think Holland gets the same panels as UK...

Would this be a issue for yourself as a expert if you had bought this TV?

[David Mackenzie]

No, not really. Since we adjust them by eye and by meters, I've got no real need for numbers - except for speeding up the process of copying to different inputs - but the ST50 doesn't have per-input settings anyway.

I don't see why they leave them out, though.

[Orso]

European models usually have numbers on every picture mode (even my G20 does) and uk models only in "professional" modes.

Afaik netherlands get the european models.

2 easy ways to verify this :
- if (web)stores in Holland are referencing the XXST50 as Panasonic TX-PXXST50E, it's the european model. (UK ones are ST50B)
- Going to the panasonic website and look for the ST50 firmware for your country.

[leedeb]

odd I'm positive I read somewhere on these forums that the Normal mode had changed this year & was cleaner :' but I cannot seem to locate the post

[$$Buck-Naked$$]

odd I'm positive I read somewhere on these forums that the Normal mode had changed this year & was cleaner :' but I cannot seem to locate the post

Why would you want to use Normal mode for? True Cinema is the Way to go for the ST50 and THX or Professional for the GT50 and VT50.

[leedeb]

My Samsung B650 LCD have a black level of 0.04 cd/m2 (measured by Vincent).  Is 0.009 cd/m2 on the ST50 a huge improvement?

Yes, it's noticeably darker. Although 0.04 is still good.

So anything below 0.04cd/m2 is good would you say David?

[leedeb]

odd I'm positive I read somewhere on these forums that the Normal mode had changed this year & was cleaner :' but I cannot seem to locate the post

Why would you want to use Normal mode for? True Cinema is the Way to go for the ST50 and THX or Professional for the GT50 and VT50.

Because on the 2011 range Panasonic capped light output in those modes and for me True Cinema's warm colour balance makes the image drab. Anyway if I want to use a particular mode whats the problem, most of the people I know use this mode on their Panasonic TV's regardless of accuracy.
For my TV & my uses the ST30's Normal mode is sufficient and provides comfortable viewing in all conditions (contrast 75%/ brightness 50%), although for BD I do tend to use Cinema & I can use the Normal colour balance
I just asked the question about the 2012 models that it was mentioned somewhere that the drive method had changed to combat the "slightly" noisier picture from 2011 models, something I find to be irrelevant unless very close to the screen but was interested none the less

[David Mackenzie]

So anything below 0.04cd/m2 is good would you say David?

Yes, I'd say so. Remember that it also depends on the brightness of your room.

@leedeb: Nope, the Normal mode is the same as always - noisier than the others. But do keep in mind that because it distorts the colour (although less so if you use the "warm" colour temperature) we don't spend a lot of time testing that mode.

[daleski75]

@david

Any chance we could see the calibration settings for the VT50?

[Orso]

Pics of 42DT50 vs 42ST50, True Cinema, default settings, in various lighting conditions

Ofc these pics are not representative at all of the actual PQ. 

[SETEM]

Pics of 42DT50 vs 42ST50, True Cinema, default settings, in various lighting conditions

Ofc these pics are not representative at all of the actual PQ.

Wow, you can really spot the difference in detail and realism in the colours... Even on my old dell PC-monitor i can see the ST50's picture looks much more natural. (Though, it could be the camera isn't properly suited for the brightness of the LED though..?)

[David Mackenzie]

To repeat a quote: looking at photographs of TVs is a bit like listening to a sound system down the phone. There's a lot of distortion involved. In the case where the LED LCD looks blown out, that's just because the higher amount of light it's putting out is going above the dynamic range of the camera's imaging sensor.

Nice photos though