LCD/Plasma/CRT/DLP - questions

[PeteJ]

Panasonic G20 has been released, anyone pick one up? Too many other outgoings this month to get one but I'm looking to buy next month. Be interested to see how much better the V20 is though.

[Lyris]

I'm expecting a review unit (for AVForums review) on Monday or perhaps even tomorrow.

Based on what I've seen at the Panasonic Convention a few weeks ago, they'll be the best TVs in that price range. They appear to have implemented all of the changes we asked for, so the UK model no longer has missing features.

[Lyris]

What's a good response time for an LCD set when I'll mainly be watching TV through a Humax Foxsat box so SD mainly but a couple of HD channels in 1080p. Other uses will be upscaled DVD's and Wii.

I've seen a couple of sets, some say response time not available, one is 8ms one is 5ms. Is 3ms going to be a noticeable difference?

Ignore the numbers - there is no standard for measuring them.

For an LCD TV, you can expect about 300 lines of motion resolution (yes, the resolution is that poor when things move on screen).

200hz LCD TVs tend to reach about 500, only they introduce different motion errors.

Plasma TVs will get to about 900 - 1000 lines naturally - you should go for one of the new Panasonics.

[Decider-VT]

The price is not going to be horrendous. This is Panasonic, after all.

When I asked their tech guy about phosphor trails (just for you Anephric), he claimed that they were gone instead of just reduced. I doubt that, but if they're down to the level of the Pioneer Kuros then it should all be good.

Hmm. I viewed several of the Kuro range in Selfridges last year and all of them had horredous phosphor trails to my eye. Still, if Panasonic can eliminate them entirely I'll be first in line for a set.

[Lyris]

The top-end VT20 Panasonics have basically eliminated the phosphor trailing to avoid 3D crosstalk. Current Panasonics (and the G20, apparently) have green/yellow trails (as I'm sure you're aware), but from what I saw of the VT20, there is only mild trailing on white objects - no more coloured trails. This is based on the TV running in "Dynamic" mode, too!

I'm surprised to hear about you seeing trails on the Kuros, so can't promise you won't notice it at all now. That should also get better after proper setup.

[Decider-VT]

True, I have to bear in mind that I was watching the Kuros in a shop so they probably weren't set up properly. I was sold on plasmas until I saw a high-contrast animation on a Kuro and bang, slight but noticeable phosphor trailing.

The ISF modes on the new range seem to be interesting- looks like Panasonic have taken a leaf out of LG's book regarding access to some of the more advanced setup options. I'd love to see some of the new range. If the trailing issue is eliminated then plasma has a new convert here.

[fahrenheit]

I'd take Kuro trails over Pansonic elevated black levels any day thanks. Unfortunately I couldn't afford a Kuro and had to go with the 50" V10.
In less than 160 hours my black levels have gotten brighter and its set to get worse.

The 2010 models are also affected but they are said to be more gently adjusted. My V10 on the otherhand just changed overnight.

[PeteJ]

My new TV has just arrived, has been setup and is awesome. Panasonic 42G20

Couple of questions:
The AVForum massive seem to be obsessed about a 200 hour "run in" period in which they are literally leaving the TV running a specific slideshow for 200 hours before using it for anything else. To me that sounds crazy, but I don't want to damage it.
I've done as Lyris recommended a while back - installed it and set everything to THX. Should I be concerned in these early hours? I'm certainly not leaving anything in Dynamic mode (looks pretty horrible) but I'm likely to be playing games!

There are about 10 million options in the menu, I have no idea what half of them do Is there any way of playing avi over USB? I can't find what formats are supported (it finds the file but cannot play it). It does support divx however apparently it needs to be registered.

[fahrenheit]

You don't have to do the the slide break-in if you aren't in the least bit fussed about exacting standards, but you should be mindful of the content you view within those first 200 hours.

Stay away from (minimise as much as possible) any letterboxing, pillarboxing, TV stations that have fixed logos and tickers and brace yourself.....gaming.

[PeteJ]

Pretty much everything then!

[fahrenheit]

Pretty much everything then!

Too true.

I did a combination of slides and casual viewing with reduced brightness (with the slides having the greater screen time).

Slides during the day, 16:9 broadcast TV at night and then off until morning.
Got through it in about 10 days.

[PeteJ]

I don't really want to leave the set on while I'm not there so I guess I'll just have to be careful with what I do on it. I don't want to become obsessed about this 200 hour thing to the point I don't use the set!

Been playing with divx HD - have managed to convert a Mkv to divxhd and can run it on the tv through a USB stick. Picture looks amazing however not getting any sound! I know the files are good as I get sound when playing through pc... Any ideas?

[anephric]

Just leave it running the slideshow overnight or something - it's cheaper for the electricity and over and done with in a few days. It's what I did.

[KIT786]

just ordered a Panasonic G20, should arrive next week!

Did you bother with the slides PeteJ? Also have you been able to get the movies running through the USB port(with sound?) Have you tried using the ethernet port to connect to your pc and play the movies over a network, or is that only possible with a wireless usb adapter?

[Salsa Party Animal]

I have Panasonic V10 Plasma for about 9-10 months and is there a firmware upgrade in last 6 months perhaps to allow 3D support like V20 series.