Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler OT Panasonic 42PWD7UY Plasma Owners

Long story short, I need a 42" plasma to mount above the fireplace in the new house. I did the research, found a great deal and ordered the Panny TH-42PWD7UY plasma set. It is on the way.

There is an S-video problem (and solution) that has been identified for sets made prior to 1/05. Other than that, the set gets rave reviews.

I'm just wondering if any members have actual experience with this particular model and would share their insights.

I don't have one myself, but a good friend of mine does and I have watched a few movies and HDTV with him. Over regular cable, the picture looks much shaper than most other widescreen televisions. We have Comcast as our provider and the analog channels come over poorly for any large screen TV, even when in 4:3 mode, but with the Panny plasma the picture is vastly improved. The stretch modes also do pretty well, as there is very little distortion from stretching a 4:3 image to 16:9. As far as HDTV goes, I have watched both movies and Super Bowls and both pictures are fantastic. Even my wife was impressed, no small feet because she could care less about HDTV. As far as DVDs go, I will not comment because my friend still uses a non-progressive scan DVD player, so I know he is pretty much is using a Kia motor to run his Mercedes. I had him and his wife over to watch a movie at my house one night and his wife mentioned that my picture was much better (I only have a Panny RPTV, but it was professionally calibrated). Again, I would take the comment with a grain of salt since he has a low-end DVD player. I have been trying to pressure him into pulling the trigger on a new DVD player, but to no avail. If you are a bigger gamer, the picture from the X-Box and PS2 also impressed. Overall, I think you made a good choice.

Thanks for the quick input Royce!

What are you doing with the LCD tv?

Isn't this set EDTV, not HDTV? I seem to think the resolution is 852x480. Are there any real differences that you can see between EDTV v/s HDTV?

Hey Wayne - you are supposed to give ME the input!!!

The EDTV thing is actually kind of interesting. Here is what I found out. 1) HD displays exceptionally well, to the point you can't really tell the difference between ED and HD. I've seen the consumer model and it looks terrific. This will be the "# 2" TV in the house anyhow. 2) DVDs show exceptionally well. 3) SD shows better on ED than on HD plasma. The price I paid for this thing really makes it a no-brainer. I'm just hoping for some user's on-had experience.

As far as my 50" Sony LCD, I may keep it until I finish the basement. I may sell it and use the money for the Panny plasma. If I sell it now or later, I'll likely get a 60" to replace it. No reason to sell it - it has a GREAT picture. Just an opportunity to upgrade later.

Other than space considerations in the bedroom, why not move the Sony in there, and then get a front projector for the basement?

Good call...if I was going to do a setup in the basement I'd do front projector. Minimal light from the outside to begin with and you can get a nice movie setup down there.

I took a LONG look at the Sony HS51 projector for the basement. I decided to go with the TV instead because of the flexibility, the lack of need for special treatment in the room (dark walls/ceiling etc.) and the screen stuff. The TV is just easier.

OK....don't you ever try to sell me on a front projector then!

OK, I have this plasma and love it. Now it's someone else's turn to promote something besides those d*&n MX remotes... HA! I'm a Harmony believer BTW.

I have the 6UY but it's pretty much the same thing as the 7UY. I also purchased the DVI blade.

1) Where'd you get it? Visual Apex seems to have the best pricing.

2) Yes, there's an svid problem on the 7UY but it's been fixed. HOWEVER, not a prob for me cause I have the 6UY and I don't use anything via svid anyways. Why would you?

3) I have the following connections:
Denon 2200 via component
HD DirecTivo via DVI (using Panny DVI blade)
VCR via composite
Used to have SD DirecTivo via composite
Desktop PC via RGB
Nintendo Gamecube via component

4) W/ SD DirecTV, I found (as well as many AVS forum members) that composite looks much better than svid. YMMV, you'll have to play w/ different sources and see for yourself.

5) Yes, this is ED but my HD Tivo looks stunning. My viewing distance is about 8' to 9' and it's wall mounted. I will post pix wed nite of my new config, as my VP150 black grille should arrive then from Axiom. It's not true HD (only the purists who've bought full HD complain...), but from 8', the difference isn't worth the cost, at least for me.

6) From DirecTV, SD can look VERY good. You have to do a bit of calibration to get it right. And calibrate each input type. I used Avia and then the steaming rat method. The rat method has produced more dramatic improvements than Avia itself. HD is fantastic, even OTA. Haven't tried cable though.

7) DVDs look great. I've been watching the Incredibles and the transfer comes across very well.

Any questions, let me know. I've had mine for over a year.

steaming rat method?

yeah, haven't you ever had Chinese take-out??

Great input. Please - WHAT is the "steaming rat method"????

Here it is. BTW, from my understanding, it should work for all displays, not just plasmas. Heck, it's worth a shot.

His basic premise is that your display should look like a window. PQ should look lifelike.

Steaming Rat

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PQ should look lifelike.

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Does anyone not have this as their goal?

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On screen, Peter Parker in Spider Man lifts his hand into a close up. I lift up my own hand: "What is the essential difference between how my hand looks, Vs how his looks on the screen?"

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CAVEAT: This does not work unless you are of the same general skin tone as the actor. It took me hours to try to match Will Smith's skin tone to my own.

Also, I wonder how he takes care of the most artificial looking part of any movie. I can never quite capture that 3:2 pulldown telecine effect in my day-to-day life. Which is probably good - I'd never be able to hit a baseball with the motion blur and only a dozen or so chances to see it in the .48 seconds it takes to reach the plate.

Bren R.

Many people are used to the bright picture settings from the stores. This "torch" mode creates 'oohs' and 'aahs' but doesn't convey reality.

But, I would assume (and I know I should never assume) that anyone involved enough in HT to be reading these forums knows that the default setting on the TVs suck?

I guess I just didn't "get" the article, though I admit I skimmed it. Saying that a TV should be set up to portray an image faithfully or realistically is like saying that ideally, speakers should reproduce sound faithfully.

I'm not trying to sound like a jerk, but isn't that kinda obvious to anyone involved just a tiny bit in HT?

I thought that was a very interesting read.

The crux of it seems to be this part:

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the calibration rendered by an ISF technician does not have the goal per se of “creating a real-looking picture.” It is instead goal number one for an ISF technician to bring the performance of your display in line with NTSC imaging standards. A smoother, more realistic image is often the happy by-product of a display calibrated to NTSC standards, especially compared to most artificial-looking factory settings. But the essential idea of such calibration is that a movie image should look the same on my display as it looks on your display, as it looked on the original broadcast monitors used for transferring the image. Whereas my goal is strictly that of realism: picture settings that are specifically created to my taste, in a way that best fools MY own eyes in to believing the image

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In order to buy-in to the Steaming Rat method, you have to also believe a couple things. First, that subjective adjustments can be more realistic than NTSC standards as implemented by ISF technicians, and second, that your enjoyment of program material is enhanced by making it more "realistic" rather than viewing a purer representation of the intent of the artist/director.

Obviously, the author's enjoyment was much enhanced by his adjustments and I truly believe that his shared experience could help other people. Only he sees out of his eyes, so who am I to quibble?

The whole thing does seem more than a little like the tube debate. In either case, I enthusiastically support subjective evaluations like "more enjoyable". I'm not sure I can be equally supportive when people use terms like "better" or "more accurate".

Perhaps I find it hard to get too worked up about this stuff since I have an old CRT RPTV. Or maybe it's because I really have always liked those super-saturated Technicolor movies. To me, making "The Wizard of Oz" look more "realistic" would not enhance my personal HT experience.

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making "The Wizard of Oz" look more "realistic" would not enhance my personal HT experience

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watch it while listening to 'darkside of the moon'.. you might feel "enhanced" then..

bigjohn

Hope that guy doesn't watch CSI... Otherwise he's gonna be up adjusting that set every scene change!

CSI, man, that is a HARD show to calibrate for. The original is way too dark, bluish. CSI:NY is a little reddish. Too much artistic license if you ask me.

It's just Bruckheimer's style. Check out Bad Boys for further extreme examples of this. CSI:Miami is greenish or goldish, CSI:NY is blueish or greenish (IMHO), Vegas varies more than the other two.

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Only he sees out of his eyes, so who am I to quibble?

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Actually, I discovered a door behind the filing cabinets in my office that leads inside his head!

(Don't tell me you haven't seen this movie!)

Malkovich..Malkovich...Malkovich.

Malkovich.

WhatFurrer

The Panny arrived today. Since we won't be using it until I install it at the new house early-mid June, I thought it wise to unpack it and hook it up before my 30 day return privilege expires.

Without any tweaking, the picture is beautiful. Tried SD, HD and DVD. All terrific. Can't wait!