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Problem with new Panasonic Plasma Television


D-Rex

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I bought a Panasonic TC-P46U1 46-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV and, to put it bluntly, I am extremely disappointed, I should have known that I wasn't going to replace my $2500 42" Toshiba (bought 3+ years ago) with a $698 television from Wal-Mart. Despite the fact that it is listed as a 1080p and a Panasonic, I cannot get it to have as good a picture as my Toshiba (well, now it is my daughter's...LOL!) So, I have to have a replacement if I return this one.

So, what I should be looking for if I do end up buying another Plasma? The Panasonic has too dark a picture, and I can't seem to get the colors where they are right for all of my HD channels and Blu-Ray. It is constantly losing focus when I am watching a football game. It seems to lose clarity during fast motion, like an LCD. It supposedly has a 600hz refresh rate so I just don't know why this TV isn't rocking my world!? Anyone have any similar issues with this particular model?

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Wow, I just got a 42" Pana Plasma in the G15 series (don't have the exact model # in front of me) & am happy as can be. It's my first HDTV, though, so I have little direct comparison.

I thought mine was a bit dark at first but seems to be getting better. That or *I'm* adjusting to *it*. You can, of course, (& probably should?) make adjustments to the picture.

I was watching football & saw a lot of out-of-focus camera work, not an out-of-focus picture. As a former cameraman experience in this level of work (including 2 SuperBowls under my belt), its not uncommon. Its really tough to keep focus when you are zoomed in tight with moving objects. That and those heat waves created by off-camera heaters between you & your subject.

With HD I'm seeing a lot of the flaws in the programming I never noticed before.

I haven't experienced any motion blurring with my HDTV.

Mine also has been great with my new Blu-Ray, too.

Maybe its the difference between a lower (Wal-Mart) series & the top-of-the-line?

Frank W.

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that's very suprising to hear.

i have a 50" X1 and absolutely love it. the G10/15 series are considered by many as the best dislays in their price range.

remember, plasma do take sometimes to beak in, 200-300 hrs. if you want to break them in quicker, there are slides that you run 24/7 for a few weeks. there are also tweaks and settings to help bring out the best of your display.

i would suggest you pay a visit to the avsforum. lots of info over there.

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Surprises me too. I bought a 50-inch Panny plasma about 4 months ago and couldn't be happier with it. I agree with a previous poster who talked about the "break-in" time. I waited about 200hrs before calibrating mine, but the picture now is outstanding. Most of my buddies have LCD's and my tv blows their's out of the water. You can't compare the brightness of your tv to the ones in any store, they turn the brightness up so high.

If you are looking for a "bright" tv, LCD or LED might be what you are looking for. However, if you want truer colors and deeper blacks, you gotta stick with plasma. Obviously, this is all my opinion. Good luck!

Jarrod

PS- I highly recommend the TC-P50S1, that's my model, like I said before... I LOVE it. You'd pick up 4 inches in screen size for about $200-300 more.

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Thanks for the feedback everyone! I just don't understand it. I got to thinking, maybe it's the cheap HDMI cables... now I see some of you nodding your heads... ;-) Well, I switched to the same HDMI cable I was using with the Toshiba and the picture *might* be marginably better but still not up to par. I noticed nobody indicated they had the exact some model I have so I might assume the 'S' model (mine had a 'U" in it) is a better TV.

I am noticing a predominant green hue around the background in movies and TV programs that I hadn't noticed before. Since I can see it in my Toshiba as well but to a lesser extent, I am wondering if it is the HD feed I am getting from ATT Uverse. Man, who woul dhave thought trying to upgrade a simple plasma that is at most 4 years old with another plasma that is supposed to be better would be so difficult!?!

I am not sure what I should do right now, I probably have about two weeks to decide before my return period expires so any additional advice would be appreciated. maybe someone could agree to take a picture of what some scenes in some movies should look like and they could send them to me. Whether that be some current movies on HBO/Cinemax/Showtime (non-TV-MA movies! ;-) or a DVD movie like Harry Potter, etc. That way, I can compare them to pics of what I am seeing. Would that work?!?

Thanks!

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I have 50" panasonic, a TC-P50G10, and I am very happy with it, and if you are going to get another one, I would strongly suggest that you stick with the G series at the very least. The V series is suppossed to be better, but for the price the G series gives you all you need. What you need to concern yourself is with the panel type and so long as you choose something with a NeoPDP panel (S series and up) you should be ok).

Hope this helps.

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d-rex - you may have one of the very few bad ones, I have panny plasma as well and like everyone very happy with it. I also have another well known brand plasma and the panny IMO is a far better picture, different model than yours though.

like what has been said above if you can take it back on warranty then that would be the way to go i think.

Good luck..

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I have read nothing but problems with Panasonic LCD and plasma over the last 4 years. Bulbs burning out after 2 weeks to 2 months the after a lengthy period in the shop the new ones go out just as quickly. I was just reading on the Costco site about several Panasonic plasmas having to be returned afters less than a weeks use. Best of luck!

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Try going to tweak my tv entering your model # and trying there calibration settings to see if it makes it any better...I have a v10 it was pretty nice out of the box but after break in i went to tweak my tv and it was nite and day for me.

Thanks for the site. I checked it out but wouldn't you know, they don't have tweak recmmendations for my model. I really have the 46" but all I saw listed was the 50". So I check it out and there were no tweak recommendations for it either. It was a nice try though!

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As far as the losing focus problem, I am curious if you experience it on all sources or channels? I ask because I have noticed that football games that are broadcast on ABC, everytime they show a replay and switch to live play it is out of focus for about 5-6 seconds. I have Insight cable and only notice the blur on ABC games. Football on any other channel is excellent.

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I have always noticed that some channels have better HD picture for their football broadcasts than some other stations. I just couldn't get comfortable with the picture quality, color, or the lack of brightness. Plasmas are supposed to lose brightness over time so I couldn't imagine haw dark it would be after 3-4 years if I had it maxed out with its brightness right now! My 4 year old Toshiba is still looking great at about 60/100 on the brightness and contrast scale. That TV may last another 20 years!

So, I will be retuning the TV tomorrow and heading to Sears to get either an LG or a Samsung LED TV. I was originally looing to get the LG or Suamsung 50" Plasma but I am sold on the picture of the LEDs. They just appear to have greater contrast to me. Although they didn't have the game on any of the LEDs, I was told they look great on the LED. If they are lying to me then they will get a TV returned to them before my card has a chance to clear!

So, does anyone have any experience with eithe rthe Samsung or LG LED TVs?

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Strangely enough, when I was at Sears yesterday to buy the Samsung LED, they happen to have an S Series Panasonic 50" Plasma sitting right next to it for $899. If I hadn't already had problems with the U Series I would have bought that in a heartbeat! Luckily I didn't, I knew what to look for so I had the Sears Tech hook up a blu-ray player to the Panny. All they had was Iron Man but it turned out to be a good movie to find what I was seeing on the set at home. When RD Jr. is first captured and building Iron Man in the caves, the light appears to be mostly green in those caves, despite the fact that the light around the source is bluish. When the same movie was put in the Samsung LED, the light coming through was predominantly bluish with some green displayed in only the darkest regions. If someone has a set-up where they could tell me what they see when they review these scenes it would be nice (plus, it's not a bad movie to watch again! ;-)

So, right now I am trying to tweak the color, brightness, darkness, etc., of the LED. It is harder than I thought it would be! The picture is stunning but I am still finding some issues. Might go try that tweak page again before I start listing my issues. If anyone has any other advice about the LEDs or if you have one and want to offer suggestions then I am all eyes!

Thanks everyone!

Dallas

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