Panasonic ST30 Owners Thread

[jpmlore]

hi, i just booked a Panasonic TH-P50ST30D in the morning. bought it for 88.5K. it was delivered in the evening. Installation may happen tomorrow.Two 3d eye wears and 1+2yrs warranty from girias on bannerghatta road. the delivery guys opened it to check if there was a eyewear inside. one eyewear is different from other. one is TY-EW3D10W (lithium battery operated); other is TY-EW3D2MW (chargeable from TV's USB, cable included, lots of smudges looks like used in the showroom; have requested to change)

 

[van]

hi, i just booked a Panasonic TH-P50ST30D in the morning. bought it for 88.5K. it was delivered in the evening. Installation may happen tomorrow.Two 3d eye wears and 1+2yrs warranty from girias on bannerghatta road. the delivery guys opened it to check if there was a eyewear inside. one eyewear is different from other. one is TY-EW3D10W (lithium battery operated); other is TY-EW3D2MW (chargeable from TV's USB, cable included, lots of smudges looks like used in the showroom; have requested to change)

congrads on the buy...and the price is also good...:clapping:

please do share the review once you get all connected...will be waiting for this...
(one prospective buyer... on this end...patiently waiting for the prices to fall further and then take the dive......)

quick question...on the eyewears....were both of them inside the box...? as far as i know only 1 is inside the box...

so if you found both inside the box...i would assume the box opened/repacked at the dealer end.

 

[jpmlore]

what i got to know is that 42 inch models have the eyewear inside the box.50ST30D does not have free eyewear. i was overhearing the dealer getting confused with the free eyewear. he was getting instructed from somewhere on phone that they need to update the inventory as 2 eyewears given out. they had opened the box at my home and checked if there was one more eyewear inside.i will check the usage tomorrow to see if it has been used earlier.i had made it clear to the dealer that i know how to access the service menu and will return if i find it used. he has agreed to it.

 

[Naveen_Reloaded]

TY-EW3D2SW is 2011 reechargeable 3D glass and TY-EW3D10W indicates its 2010 model , one which comes with battery.

tell the dealer that he promised to give 2x 3D glasses(assuming he did) and you want 2x3D glass or threaten to return back the set .Also insist you want newer one which comes with ST30 and not 2 year old 3D glasses . Tell them sammy gives 2 x 3D glass and LG gives 4 ... There is no harm in connecting totally difference things when bargaining with dealers. Since they themselves dont know much , they have to stick to thier initial deal, ie 2 3D glasses.

ST30 iirc , doesnt come with 3D glasses , we have to purchase and they are f$$$king costly , 9K each.

try your best to get 2x3D glasses . BTW 88K is good bargain price for ST30

 

[jpmlore]

the dealer exchanged the glasses. i now have two TY-EW3D2MW. i think the M stands for medium. but even these are 2010 models (website says 2011 models are TY-EW3D3SW). he does not have the never ones. . my tv is april 2011 manufactured and imported in may 2011. i have the regular remote not the backlit one. i was not able to see the usage time at all even though i could access menu. but i am confident that i got a new piece as all the other indicators are good. got tata sky HD+ installed. the clarity of HD channel is amazing. i am happy with the set. i am currently viewing in normal mode. 50 brighness..50 contrast.. i need more inputs on the 200 hr first usage period.

 

[Naveen_Reloaded]

you are lucky , i got S , smaller 3D glasses and they dont give enough room to view through , not a big problem though. To be true , 3D content viewing has drastically reduced , the hype settles after some time.except for scene from deep sea ( IIRC ) , other 3D scenes didnt have much pop-out punch.

The reason WE (my bro and I ) found was that the pop-out effect has been nulled ,instead they have increased depth within the screen (AVATAR) , so no more arrow towards you stuffs, atleast not with the recent and newer ones. older ones has some effect like those.

April 2011 are affected by Fluctuating brightness issue. google for it. Not prominent though.

 

[jpmlore]

i was reading this forum from many days and hence was prepared reasonably well. i hope the fluctuation brightness issue is addressed by firmware upgrade. i had downloaded the latest firmware and asked the installation guy to update and was done quickly. i am not able to see the fluctuation brightness issue till now. hope i do not have the issue. i totaly agree 2D to 3D is not so enticing. i have thor. was really nice to see in 3D. BTW, i had connected a 500GB samsung goflex hdd and the entire contents were indexed in less than 3 minutes (mix of audio video and images). but will not store the index i.e. we cannot shift to tv for few minutes and back to continue watching. overall a really happy customer

 

[BLASTO]

i was reading this forum from many days and hence was prepared reasonably well. i hope the fluctuation brightness issue is addressed by firmware upgrade.

I haven't heard anyone 'see' this issue before firware upgrade and claim to have gone away after the upgrade.

Infact, I have the VT20 which never had a firmware fix and am yet to see this one time myself.

Chances are you are amoung people who never saw this in the first place.

 

[Naveen_Reloaded]

@BLASTO

[SPOILER ALERT]

You can spot when you change from a bright scene to dark scene , and just wait for 1/2 a second , you will notice a slight bump in the brightness of the blacks.

[SPOLIER ALERT]

Panny claims its a feature to get all pixel to show equal black.. or something that sort. I have latest firmware , and i dont think it is fixed . But i did watch few videos posted before and after the firmware / A-Board updates from North america users , and the difference is very minimal.

 

[Moviela]

Just wondering which software version folks have.

My unit has:

Current Version 2.200
Latest Version 2.200

How to get there:
1. Push MENU
2. Down arrow to SETUP (picture of a wrench)
3. Press OK (3D Settings lights up)
4. Down arrow to Network Settings
5. Press OK (Connection test lights up)
6. Down arrow to Software Update
7. Wait a few moments for the TV to call the mother ship and display the information.
8. Press RETURN and your regularly schedule program will appear.

 

[Karooo]

Yeah, I downloaded the latest firmware from the Panasonic website, it went pretty smooth.

I got the 3D3MW glasses, Dec 11 import. Looks like the place where I bought from, rocks lol.

I love the TV so far, 120 hours in, it seems to have settled down. I can watch regular TV now, without much hassle.

 

[alphacentury100]

Yeah, I downloaded the latest firmware from the Panasonic website, it went pretty smooth.

I got the 3D3MW glasses, Dec 11 import. Looks like the place where I bought from, rocks lol.

I love the TV so far, 120 hours in, it seems to have settled down. I can watch regular TV now, without much hassle.

Looks like you have got the latest and best pack sofar. 3rd generation medium glass which you received are 2011 models. **3d2** glasses are 2010 models and **3d1** are generation 1 battery operated old glasses.

after more than 20 days, my replacement TV came yesterday. The seal was fresh and never opened and repacked. but to my surprise even this tv has been used more than 100 hrs and switched on more than 100 times. I know the seller had nothing to do with it, as he gave me the piece as soon as he received it. So I looked for any Burn in, but luckily there was none, so I decided to keep the TV with me.
They haven't given me the 3d glasses yet. I have insited them to give me only 3rd generation medium glasses like yours. they said it may take another weak.
I don't understand what is with panasonic India. Why are we always given used demo pieces. I couldn't find a single 50inch st30 on display in any shop during my search for purchase, though 42st30 was in display in some stores. Where, i mean, in which place do they use all these tv's before delivering them to us?
I just spoke to the panasonic brandshop about the second pice also being a demo piece. They said they will look in to the matter. May be, I shoud have gone with samsung alasma.

 

[alphacentury100]

Bothe the tv's which I received have 9 digit serial number(QN145****) August 2011 make, while every one speak of 10 digit serial numbers like xx1299xxxx. Is something wrong with the serial no?

 

[amol12]

after more than 20 days, my replacement TV came yesterday. The seal was fresh and never opened and repacked. but to my surprise even this tv has been used more than 100 hrs and switched on more than 100 times.

What seal are you talking about? The brown sticky tapes? One can open the box without removing those. All one needs to do is remove the plastic retainers on the sides and the box splits into 2!
You should not have accepted without checking the usage.

 

[Prem.V]

Bothe the tv's which I received have 9 digit serial number(QN145****) August 2011 make, while every one speak of 10 digit serial numbers like xx1299xxxx. Is something wrong with the serial no?

No problem..Even my tv is Aug 2011 make and have serial number QN145**** only.

BTW Panasonic Plasma can be opening without the need of opening the top brown tape. Guess you got a demo piece

 

[Prem.V]

Looks like you have got the latest and best pack sofar. 3rd generation medium glass which you received are 2011 models. **3d2** glasses are 2010 models and **3d1** are generation 1 battery operated old glasses.

after more than 20 days, my replacement TV came yesterday. The seal was fresh and never opened and repacked. but to my surprise even this tv has been used more than 100 hrs and switched on more than 100 times. I know the seller had nothing to do with it, as he gave me the piece as soon as he received it. So I looked for any Burn in, but luckily there was none, so I decided to keep the TV with me.
They haven't given me the 3d glasses yet. I have insited them to give me only 3rd generation medium glasses like yours. they said it may take another weak.
I don't understand what is with panasonic India. Why are we always given used demo pieces. I couldn't find a single 50inch st30 on display in any shop during my search for purchase, though 42st30 was in display in some stores. Where, i mean, in which place do they use all these tv's before delivering them to us?
I just spoke to the panasonic brandshop about the second pice also being a demo piece. They said they will look in to the matter. May be, I shoud have gone with samsung alasma.

There is a Facebook forum for Panasonic India. Post your complain and i bet you will get a speedy response

You will probably get Small size latest 3D glasses which i was informed is all they have in stock.

 

[alphacentury100]

Prem, you too received a replacement, right. How many hours was your new replacement tv run and how many counts has it been turned on? was it supposed to be 0 hours & 0 counts for a sealed tv?
When did you get your glasses?

 

[van]

hi folks...finally took the plunge...bought 42ST30 over the weekend...hyeah:

42ST30 + 2pairs of 3D glasses for 62k @ Devi. Yet to recieve the glasses (dealer has promised 3rd generation 2011 medium sized glasses the light weight ones...lets see how it goes)

currently TV is stand mounted & connected to cable(youSCOD18) STB...PQ is comming out good. Checked pretty much all the channels...all channels are comming out pretty good in terms of PQ.
(except for few local channels offered by the cable operator...the source quality itself is bad )
(to be honest...the PQ is beating my expectation...was worried it would be bad...and might have to go for a DTH STB...but it is good)

wathced a few movies...king kong(KK)...man KK looked huge...(50" would have been better...)

got a fresh piece...checked the usage in service menu...it showed up 27mins and on/off count as 1...:yahoo:

Aug11 manufacturing date...(need to double check...)

Not going in for any break in...just using like a normal TV ...

seating distance is 4 to 10ft

using below settings
Mode : cinema
color : Warm (when set to cool or normal...the whites look bit greyish rather than pure white...)
contrast : 45
brightness : -5
color : 45

True cinema mode looks like a joke on this set (or i did not set it properly)...it increases the brightness a lot...even the black bars (top/bottom)...loose the blackness with this setting.

yet to upgrade the firmware 2113...still shows as 2011

Issues so far ::sad:
1.) the audio output to HT is not working as expected...i.e., the volume is very low...need to turn up the volume in HT to the max...(at first I thought it is a defect as no audio was comming out over the HT...was facing same issue with my previous TV...the volume in HT had to be pumped up...so i think it is normal...yet to test this properly)
2.) not playing audio for mkv files...(will upgrade the firmware and recheck)
3.) seeing some kannada channels are gettign cut off on right of the scree...but all other channels (english/hindi)...seem to be fine...

Overall happy with the buy...will post some pice in the comming weekend.

now need to start planning for couple additions in near future
1.) PS3/XBOx
2.) a proper HT
(now feeling should have gone for 50" ....lets see...ahem...next year maybe for my room...the latest one...)

let me know if you have any specific questions...

 

[TheSeeker]

many congrats van ! you got yourself a superb TV. now i dont have had much exposure to the ST30; in fact, only once, back when i was of the stern opinion that i would buy only an LED TV and plasma was out of question ! but a side-by-side comparison of a BDrip with sony EX720, and the instantaneous answer from everyone of the family was - get the ST30 ! however, i ended up with some other TV finally

i remember the BDrip i played on the ST30 was an mkv file, and there was sound audible on the ST30. am not sure whats causing the problem. as you said, might be a firmware issue. whats the audio spec of the file ?

 

[Prem.V]

Prem, you too received a replacement, right. How many hours was your new replacement tv run and how many counts has it been turned on? was it supposed to be 0 hours & 0 counts for a sealed tv?
When did you get your glasses?

@alphacentury My replacement tv had 0 Hrs and 0 Counts. It has to be 0 & 0.
I received the glasses on 9th Jan, almost a month after purchasing the TV.