Panasonic V20 Owners Thread (Settings, Problems, Impressions, Questions)

[vramak]

Now that we have quite a number of V20 owners here, it's time to start discussing settings, problems and impressions.

I got my V20 two days back for 60.5K. I'm still playing with the settings. Here are my dark room settings, obtained after using Pixar HT setup and cross-checking with slides from this site : LCD monitor test images I could not do colour calibration as I don't have proper references, so I'm leaving the colour settings at their defaults.

Mode:True Cinema/Professional 1
Contrast: 10
Brightness: 0
Colour: 45/50
Sharpness:0/10

All other settings to 'Off'. Especially, Setup->Other->16:9 overscan should be set to 'Off' as turning it on crops the picture slightly.

For daytime viewing I'm using,

Contrast: 6
Brightness: 4
Colour: 45/50
Sharpness:0/10

I have to admit my daylight settings look very dull, compared to dynamic mode but my eyes get used to these settings in a few minutes. BTW, if using a PS3, make sure you set RGB range to 'limited'. Otherwise you'll miss black details completely.

Till now I've noticed all sorts of problems like colour banding, dancing pixels, fluctuating black levels and incorrect grayscale but I guess I should 'run-in' the TV before judging these problems. Color banding and dancing pixels were rectifiable to a certain extent by changing settings to what I've given.

PLUS POINTS:

+ Very detailed picture with bluray material. Unfortunately, the level of detail this TV is capable of producing also exposes the defects in lower bitrate files.
+ Good black levels but the TV doesn't disappear into the dark like my Sony CRT does when displaying a black image. I read that even VT20 and Kuro don't disappear into the darkness and they too light up slightly even when displaying a completely black image.
+ Very low screen reflectivity. Almost looks like an LCD monitor.
+ No image retention under non-dynamic settings. But dynamic mode, it creates IR within minutes. An interesting fact is that there are no screen burn protection options in this TV. Would like to know if anyone found these options hidden under some menu.

 

[kevvu123]

HI ,

Pansonic V20 is supposed to be the best PLASMA TV available in the market. But could you please let me know where did u buy it for 60.5 ? Thanks in adva
nce !! congrats with your new tv:clapping:

 

[frankmehta]

I am already a 'part' owner in this TV as I have paid an advance for it. We are going on Sunday to pick it up, provided the formalities (read: Pay Slip from the bank) are ready tomorrow.
I would love to share some of the stuff I have read, heard and seen about the TV. I will be out of action with any personal experience since we will be connecting the TV only at the end of NEXT month. But I will love to be tuned.
Cheers for starting the thread. Was going to start it after becoming an owner ;-)

 

[vramak]

I am already a 'part' owner in this TV as I have paid an advance for it. We are going on Sunday to pick it up, provided the formalities (read: Pay Slip from the bank) are ready tomorrow.
I would love to share some of the stuff I have read, heard and seen about the TV. I will be out of action with any personal experience since we will be connecting the TV only at the end of NEXT month. But I will love to be tuned.
Cheers for starting the thread. Was going to start it after becoming an owner ;-)

Yes, it's a good idea to know what to expect from this TV. Someone in this forum was very disappointed after upgrading from LG LH90.

BTW, I have a question for V20 owners.

Have you tried playing movies through USB? I tried but I couldn't play video files through USB. The manual isn't of much help either.

 

[KiranB]

Has anyone noticed the 'dancing green pixels' on their v20, especially in the black areas while playing DVD?

It looks grainy like noise from far but you go up close and you will see the green dots.

 

[vramak]

Has anyone noticed the 'dancing green pixels' on their v20, especially in the black areas while playing DVD?

It looks grainy like noise from far but you go up close and you will see the green dots.

Yes I do notice green pixels. But this certainly is not a problem. All displays use dithering especially in darker areas. Take a look at this pic,

If you look closely at the darker areas you will notice banding and dithering in the darker shades on the left.

Here's another pic -

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/black.php

If you look at this closely on your TV or monitor, you'll see how lighter shades of gray are created. 'Dancing pixels' or dithering is what creates lighter shades. (One good thing about V20 is that it differentiates up to shade 1 in this pic but my laptop monitor stops at around shade 8.)

One thing you shouldn't see is green dancing pixels on a fully black screen. If you do notice them on a black screen, try reducing your brightness. If even then you can't get rid of the dancing pixels, then there might be a problem with your TV.

 

[KiranB]

The GDP is only visible in normal mode on a fully black screen, but my brightness is anyways too low at -7 and contrast at about 2, colour is 46, sharpness is 0.

Can anyone replicate the above settings in the normal mode and let me know if they see green pixels on a fully black screen.

 

[vramak]

The GDP is only visible in normal mode on a fully black screen, but my brightness is anyways too low at -7 and contrast at about 2, colour is 46, sharpness is 0.

Can anyone replicate the above settings in the normal mode and let me know if they see green pixels on a fully black screen.

Try to stay away from Normal mode. Use the professional modes so that you can adjust gamma. First, adjust brightness and contrast to get good black detail and white detail. Also make sure there are no dancing pixels in pure black - that way you can ensure you're getting the best blacks. After adjusting brightness and contrast, adjust gamma to your liking. Good gamma will give great detail but will also make lower quality sources look bad. S-curve gamma is a good option for lower quality sources - the extreme black and extreme white details will be clipped but still mid levels will look more vibrant.

BTW, if you watch TV mostly in a bright room then it's advisable to keep brightness a little higher and let a few dancing pixels remain in the blacks. That way the picture will be brighter and more watchable and you won't lose black detail.

Once again, make sure you can get rid of green dancing pixels in blacks by adjusting brightness. If you can't get rid of them even by lowering brightness then it might be an indication for a faulty panel.

 

[frankmehta]

I AM NOW a proud member of the 50V20. Paid the full amount right now. TV will be delivered to my new residence very soon. Will have it installed ONLY one month later when the house is complete. For now, the TV will be in storage. But I have already checked it out and it's perfect. Dad says the picture looks very very natural but the brightness was very low. I told him we will keep the brightness the same for 100 hours. He was very happy, though, to see such a large screen.

Anyways, since no one has posted any pictures of their beauty here, I am posting a low resolution mobile capture. BUT still, it's worth the look ;-)

 

[vramak]

Congrats frankmehta! I guess you're the first owner of the 50" V20 in this forum. Enjoy your new toy!

 

[illusion_heart]

Congratulations Frank !!!!!!!!!!!!! good show.....share your 50" experiences with us.

 

[Bangalore123]

I AM NOW a proud member of the 50V20. Paid the full amount right now. TV will be delivered to my new residence very soon. Will have it installed ONLY one month later when the house is

what is the final price you paid to get the best tv on the planet?

 

[idlebrain]

Congrats Frank.Finally some one with 50" V20. What is the price you paid? I was quoted 1.18 Lac in Hyd.

Thanks
Satya.

 

[bphukon]

Congrats Frank.. could u Plz post form Pics while the TV playin from HD content?

 

[KiranB]

I am seeing a lot of dithering as well as banding on my panasonic v20.

I got rid of the green pixels by adjusting my brightness and contrast but this dithering is way too distractive.

You can notice the dithering in the pics below on the face and the background too.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

There is also some banding visible around the actors neck.

Are any of the other V20 owners facing this issue.

I want to be sure if this is an inherent problem or is my panel bad.

 

[borg]

I am seeing a lot of dithering as well as banding on my panasonic v20.

I got rid of the green pixels by adjusting my brightness and contrast but this dithering is way too distractive.

You can notice the dithering in the pics below on the face and the background too.

There is also some banding visible around the actors neck.

Are any of the other V20 owners facing this issue.

I want to be sure if this is an inherent problem or is my panel bad.

i see the exact same problem in my samsung 50c550, can see if within 2ft and while watching sd dth,and also while in movie mode

 

[KiranB]

No response?

Looks like I am asking somethin dumb or all the V20 owners are busy watching movies.

 

[chirag007]

Well, I am not videophile, but as common man I don't see too bad in those images. I think I can live with that.
Anyway, thanks for showing example. Now it clears my mind that I can buy V20.
btw, did you mention source of material and how you played?

 

[vramak]

No response?

Looks like I am asking somethin dumb or all the V20 owners are busy watching movies.

Noticed your post only now. Looks like your source is of low quality. I see lots of compression artifacts. Try using a better source and you won't see these problems.

 

[KiranB]

Well, I am not videophile, but as common man I don't see too bad in those images. I think I can live with that.
Anyway, thanks for showing example. Now it clears my mind that I can buy V20.
btw, did you mention source of material and how you played?

The source is 1080p brrip and I have also tried more uncompressed sources. All have this problem.

The dithering is not very prominent in animated movies (including avatar). It is more visible in areas where there are few colors like the sky or the skin.

I am playing it through my PC with the DVI -> HDMI converter.

The still pics dont look that bad but the moving picture is very distractive as you can see the pixels dancing where dithering happens.

From beyond 7 feet its hardly visible but I sit at a distance of 5 feet.