Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Panasonic Plasma S2 "shimmer"

What it looks like here when you say black levels are jumping around is more than likely as a result of a non-linear Gamma level up and down the scale, (i.e. the color balance at various brightness levels is not linear). This is a separate issue from gray scale which essentially only adjusts the levels of red, green and blue so that they are shown on the screen in the proper proportion at a pre-determined reference level as close as possible usually to the ISF level of 6500K. These adjustments can only be made with access to the internal service menu which the customer doesn't have plus you need the proper measuring devices and software to do it accurately.

The trouble is, even an experienced calibrator can only adjust any of these at two or three points in the monitor so, no matter what, it is essentially a compromise.

I have touted this in other forums and might sound like an A/B repeat tape loop, but even with a less expensive television, when you can interface the unit with something like a Video EQ or DVDO IScan Duo and their 11 point and up grayscale adjustment capabilities and color management systems built-in, you can attain a grayscale, gamma and color accuracy capability that will even considerably exceed the best calibrators work on the most expensive monitor.

I can't notice those black levels jumping when I am more than a few feet away, it looks seemless so it is fine by me.

No problem, I guess when I took a leap and bought one of these units(Video EQ Pro) that was introduced for the first time early last year and got through the initial learning curve, I was amazed what its capabilities were(and they have upgraded it a couple of times since) so when it now comes to the video issues of any monitors, I have become somewhat of a perfectionist.

All part of the fun of this hobby.

I saw a Panasonic 46" C2 plasma today at Best Buy for $499. I haven't studied the C2's yet. Are they a good TV, or is it a TV with problems? One thing I didn't like right away was the shiny reflective screen.

Edit: This is a 720. I'm not interested unless it's a 1080. I'm just waiting for a good plasma 1080 46" to come along for $500 before I replace mine.

Yeah, my seat is a mere 8 feet away and I can see it on still frames or relatively static scenes... but only because I know its there. I've asked friends if they can see it and I universally get, "Hey, you're right! I didn't notice that!"

I'll try borrowing a power conditioner and see if it helps. If not, its not a big deal.

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

snazzed

When calibrating monitors for individuals, from time to time, I see some oddball anomalies that can be related to the contrast being jacked up too high. This is one of the things that you would never notice in the store. Contrast which sets both voltage and white point levels, drags all the colors up or down in relation to that white point which if set too high can push everything beyond the capability of the monitor to handle, hence the strange little things that sometimes can show up on the screen. This is, of course, depending on the source material.

If you have already used something to properly set up contrast, brightness and color in your home and the "sparkles" still appear, then I guess it is an issue characteristic of the set itself.