3DTV REVIEWS

Panasonic TC-P65VT50 3D Plasma HDTV Settings

Settings

Unit-to-unit sample variations, the viewing environment, and the source might render these recommendations less than optimum. They are provided only as a potentially useful starting place.

The settings here that are most likely to translate reliably from one sample to another are those involving specific features with only a few selections, such as Gamma and Noise Reduction. The ones most likely to be subject to sample variations are video controls offering a wide range of adjustment, such as white balance (grayscale) and color management (where available). Even relatively small differences in the common control settings, such as Contrast, Brightness, and Gamma, can shift the white balance, though the resulting visible change may be innocuous. Production line tolerances can do the same.

We do not provide settings or access codes for service menus. Random alterations of such controls without detailed knowledge of what they do may corrupt a set's firmware. This will likely require extensive in-shop repairs not covered under the warrantee. Service menu calibrations should be attempted only by an experienced calibrator familiar with the specific brand of set and a clear understanding of which controls to use and which to avoid.

We strongly recommend that you find the optimum basic video settings for your sample by using one of the many available display setup DVDs, such as Digital Video Essentials (DVD) or DVE HD Basics (Blu-ray). These will help you to set the basic controls correctly, brightness, contrast, sharpness, and sometimes color and tint. Experimenting with the more complex color calibration and other controls in the user menus will do no harm; the changes may be easily reset. But tuning a set "by eye" is no substitute for a full calibration, which is best left to a trained and properly equipped technician such as those certified by the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF) or THX.

	2D	3D
Picture mode	Custom	Custom
Contrast	79	100
Brightness	57	57
Color	45	43
Tint	0	0
Sharpness	10	10
Color temp.	Warm2	Warm1
Color mgmt.	Off	Off
C.A.T.S.: Off	Off	Off
Video NR	Off	Off
Pro settings
Color space	Normal	Normal
W/B high R	-2	-7
W/B high G	+1	0
W/B high B	+5	-7
W/B low R	+6	+15
W/B low G	-4	-5
W/B low B	+3	0
W/B Detail Adjustment	*	(*)
Hue, Saturation, Luminance	**	(**)
Black extension	0	0
Gamma adjustment	2.4	2.2
Panel brightness	Mid	High
Contour emphasis	Off	Off
AGC	0	0
Gamma detail adjustmentt	Default	Default
Screen format	As needed	As needed
HD Size	As needed-See text	As needed
HDMI/DVI RGB Range	Auto	Auto
Advanced picture
3D/YC filter	Off	Off
Color Matrix (component only)	As needed	N/A
Block NR	Off	Off
Mosquito NR	Off	Off
Motion smoother	Off	Off or Weak
1080p pure direct	Light	Light
3:2 pulldown	Auto	Auto
24p Direct in	96Hz	60Hz
Pixel Orbiter	Enable	Enable
4:3 side bars	Mid	N/A
3D menu
Auto detect 3Dt		Auto 1
3D signal notificationt		On
2D>3D deptht		Medium
3D adjustmentt		Off
Left/Right swapt		Normal
Diagonal line filter t		Off

* W/B detail adjustment (3D settings in parenthesis)

IRE	20	30	60	70	80	90	100
Red gain	0 (5)	0 (2)	0 (-1)	0 (-1)	0 (-1)	0 (3)	0 (4)
Green gain	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (-1)	0 (0)	0 (0)	1 (0)	2 (3)
Blue gain	0 (0)	0 (-1)	-2 (3)	0 (2)	0 (1)	0 (1)	-1 (-5)

**Hue, Saturation, Luminance (3D settings in parenthesis)

	R	G	B	C	M	Y
Hue	0 (-5)	8 (-5)	3 (0)	2 (-44)	2 (-15)	2 (30)
Saturation	-11 (3)	2 (-15)	-1 (0)	1 (0)	2 (25)	-1 (0)
Luminance	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)

COMMENTS

Thank you for this review!

Submitted by figuredmaple on August 4, 2012 - 8:38pm

I have been waiting for this review since the 2012 CES! Also, thank you for the comparisons with the Kuro models.
Although I was ready to buy this set this year, hopefully the 2013 VT60(?) will perform better than the previous Kuro Elite and be the new black level champ, especially without the black level crush that this model has. I'll be waiting for your review of the 2013 models before I finally buy one.

Very good review

Submitted by aleksandr on August 5, 2012 - 8:08am

Great review Tom. Now waiting for the first OLED review...

Fantastic Review

Submitted by true audio on August 7, 2012 - 5:04am

Thanks for stroking my ego and my Pro-141FD !

Panasonic VT50 review

Submitted by Fosgate MC220 on August 8, 2012 - 12:16pm

Wow T.N. your review seems to be having a negative effect on the sales of this T.V.
What power your pen wields (but then you know how your opinion affects us).
I too have been waiting (impatiently) for your review... but I have not yet had the chance to
experience/audition this set for myself.
I for one missed out on the Pro-141FD (loved it... but I'm an over the air kind of guy, so the no tuner thing did not work out). Oh... and then there was the fact that I couldn't afford it anyway.
I will not be able to afford an OLED either, so I am looking for the best bang for the buck. I do appreciate the caveats, but I'm not sure about waiting for the next generation either. Will Panasonic keep improving their plasmas' at this price point or will we see a dumbing down of quality because they can't sell this model?

"The darkest scenes on the

Submitted by etrochez on August 12, 2012 - 5:02pm

"The darkest scenes on the Panasonic weren’t quite as enticingly rich, a result confirmed by the two sets’ measured black levels (0.001 foot-lamberts on the Kuro after three years of use; 0.002 ft-L on the Panasonic after an estimated 200 hours of operation)."

So, you could tell the difference between 0.001 and 0.002 ft-L (that's one thousandth of a ft-L) even before the test? Mmm... I don't think so. Lost interest in the article after that comment.

TC-P65VT50 or TH-65VX300

Submitted by mzaborowski on August 15, 2012 - 4:41pm

I'm an avid fan of your column and Home Theater Magazine in general, and I'm glad the review of the TC-P65VT50 was finally published because I was waiting on your opinion before I finally fall of the fence and make a purchase.

I'm still hesitant because I've very interested in Panasonic's TH-65VX300 professional display but I've yet to see any meaningful reviews of it. Several forums praise it and several damn it as not being worth the premium price over Panasonic's consumer models.

Personally, I can leave features such as Viera Connect because I'm more interested in picture quality and color accuracy.

So, if you had your choice between the TC-P65VT50 or TH-65VX300, which one would you choose?

Recommended settings error?

Submitted by jerryyng on October 10, 2012 - 11:31am

Under the advanced picture settings, the recommended setting for 1080p pure direct is "light". I believe the only choices for this setting are either "on" or "off". I believe the recommended "light" setting is for Black Level which is not listed here. Hopefully Mr. Norton will update this review and correct his recommended setting for 1080p pure direct.

Vt-50

Submitted by kent harrison on November 27, 2012 - 12:41pm

Good review on this television,but im going to wait on Vt whatever next year it probably will be 4kby2k one that will be nice,that would be my last tv in the basement for at least 5 years if the price is right.

Burn-in

Submitted by mlepito on January 9, 2013 - 9:23am

This TV definitely has burn-in issues. I watched only full screen tv on it for 200 hours at 50% contrast, then on game mode only set the contrast to 80% instead of the 100% set by Panasonic and it still burned the score from Modern Warfare IIII permanently into the screen. I'm even starting to get some Black Ops II sore on there too. I think maybe we need to look at permanent image retention again and not just assume the pixle warble will take care of it. This also happened on the VT30.

Image retention

Submitted by juanseva_2 on February 12, 2013 - 3:42pm

hello.
I am very happy with the purchase of my tv panasonic GT50, but I have a concern about the image retention. Although I have been very careful with these first months, not yet complete 100 hours of use, but I've noticed especially that with only two hours of use on channel foxhd, the logo has been printed on a little screen ... and has been declining, but what do you recommend caution to avoid these problems in the future? ...
Thanks !!

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