Steffche Posted October 21, 2004 Posted October 21, 2004 As a recent proud owner of a 42" Viera, I was joping to get some responses from other Viera owners with the following information. 1. What picture settings do you have..ie, brightness, contrast etc... 2. Do you have any issues with analog TV reception? Many thanks Look forward to your replies....
Steffche Posted November 2, 2004 Author Posted November 2, 2004 Just thought I'd give it one more go.....surely someone can respond?
Steffche Posted November 4, 2004 Author Posted November 4, 2004 The reason I ask this question is because the other night I used DVE to calibrate my display...and found that brightness had to be cranked up to a whopping 68 according to the test patterns. I wonder if DVE is not suitable for Viera's with their "Real Drive Black system"....???
cable_merchant Posted November 4, 2004 Posted November 4, 2004 hehe that's the trouble with being an early adopter hey! Which one have you got - are you happy with it? 68 doesn't sound like too high a value for the brightness - it's not as if you had to really max it out... Did a real moving image look good after you had calibrated it, or did the correct level for the test pattern look too bright for video? Leon
Steffche Posted November 4, 2004 Author Posted November 4, 2004 I've got the 42"....yeah I had to drop brightness a little.....now running at 59. Overall I am very happy with the display....I just think that it needs a good clean input signal....such as HD tv programs...or a good quality DVD. Anything less and you can see it!
fattchoi1503559854 Posted November 4, 2004 Posted November 4, 2004 Steffche I have recently decided to take a plunge into the world of plasma display. The Panasonic Viera 42" is so far my favourite choice. Can you please tell me more about this plasma? I would appreciate if you could reply to my following query: a. What STB are you using with your Viera, if any? b. Do you have Foxtel Analogue? If so, how does it look on the Viera? (I live in a unit and Foxtel seems to have huge problem upgrading us to Digital) c. How does dvds look on the display as compared to say the conventional tv? d. What is DVE that you refer to in your post? e. Finally, how much did you pay for the Viera and where did you buy it from? I am in Sydney. In all honesty, I don't know much about all these plasmas and connections, etc that I am reading in all the forums here. But I gather it is the best place to start as all comments are from real experience rather than marketing. In fact I went to Bing Lee last weekend and was talked out of buying the Viera as the salesperson was trying to sell me the Fujitsu instead. Harvey Norman then talked me out of Viera and tried to sell me a Hitachi instead. Confused, I ended up not buying anything until I have done a bit more research. Fattchoi
Steffche Posted November 4, 2004 Author Posted November 4, 2004 You have to be carefull when dealing with salespeople.....in actual fact their advice is probably the least useful when it comes to purchasing a display. There are always reasons for them to push you to one particular brand over another. In my opinion the Viera has the ability to display the deepest and most acurate blacks than any pther plasma on the market. It has excellent color processing, and in the 3 weeks or so that I have had mine, I haven't experienced any skin tone smearing or banding effects. I am currently using a Philips HD STB which is apparently one of the best STB's on the market? HD channels look absolutley fantastic...when they decide to braodcast HD material. DVD's also look great on this display...fast motion doesn't appear to be a problem...skin tones are perfect...dark colors are amazing....the only problem I am having at the moment is slight noise in the picture when watching dvd's. I can eliminate the noise with the MPEG Noise reduction, but that also softens the picture. It may be the DVD player? Still under investigation. The built in speakers sound awesome...although I do use my surround amp/speakers when watching dvds anyway. Price......well in the end I got it for $6200 through Megamart...including wall bracket......it's a loooong story... I would suggest reading more threads in here...particularly the New NEC one....some other guys in here swear by it. In the end you have to decide what you will mostly use it for...what type of material do you normally watch on tv...ie, fast motion...dark scenes...DVD.....digital tv....etc then go and see for yourself....you are the best judge. If the retailer isn't willing to reconfigure equipment for you..(ie if you want to see what DVD looks like on teh display...or HDTV) then go elswhere. Cheers
fattchoi1503559854 Posted November 4, 2004 Posted November 4, 2004 Steffche Thanks for your reply. Most appreciated. I did compare the Viera vs. the Fujitsu and the Viera vs. the Hitachi. I have to say from my point of view, the Viera is as good if not better than both of them. The only reason I hesitated after the salespersons pitch is I thought I had better double check with more research. After all, it took me quite a while to save enough money for the plasma I don't intend to end up with a lemon. For your information, I was also offered $5900 for the Viera and $300 for the stand. So all up also $6200. I was also offered a Toshiba HD STB for $700. Don't know which model though. It was hooked up to the Viera producing very impressive picture. I watch a lot of Foxtel Analogue (until they decide to upgrade my block to digital) and DVDs. My dvd player is the Loewe Xemix 5006. Hope there is no compatibility problem. Glad you find the built-in speakers sound awesome. I tried it at the shop but it was very hard to judge as there were lots of other noises about. The speakers system does intrigue me a lot. Right, thanks again for your info. But if it not too troublesome, would you mind giving me details of your Philips HD STB? It would be good if you can give me the model number and the price you paid for it. Cheers.
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