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Posted

Hi Guys

I realise there are 101 panasonic plasma threads at the moment but the questions I have may be fairly specific to the model of the tv. I received this beautiful tv a couple of days ago but have yet to get it running "optimally" on my setup. I'll list what I have done and the problems I have encountered and hopefully from there you guys can let me know if it is normal and if not maybe advise me on what I am doing wrong :blink:

HTPC Setup

I'm running a Nvidia 6600gt straight into the VGA port. Hoping to achieve 1:1 mapping for either 1360x768 or 1366x768. I've tried both Vista (with powerstrip) and XP (using custom resolutions in nvidia drivers) in both cases I have got 1368 running but not perfectly. Upon getting the resolutions added and switching to them I've run Nokia's Monitor test tool http://www.majorgeeks.com/download960.html.

1st problem

After setting the resolution I went to use H and V positioning to adjust the htpc's image to fit the screen. Using the geometry test I can see I have a column on each side missing which I take is perfectly normal as it is 1368 on a 1366 screen. However vertical is where it gets weird. I end up with a 2 blank rows i.e if I adjust to centre the picture a have a blank row above and below the picture. Now as far as I know this isn't right as 768 should fill every vertical row? even stranger on top of that is that there is a further 4-5 rows on the bottom of the screen not being used at all i.e if i adjust the v position all the way down i can fill the 1 spare row (whilst making a gap of 2 rows on top) but a further 4-5 rows below that don't light up at all. I have confirmed they are actually pixels by putting the tv in analog tv mode where the snow fills all of the pixels above and below.

This worries me as it will surely cause uneven ageing of the pixels but I have no idea why my resolution doesn't fill the two spare rows and on top of that why is there 4-5 rows below the image that refuse to do anything! So in total I seem to have around 7 rows doing nothing, 2 of which windows seems to know about and 4-5 which it doesn't pickup at all

2nd problem

Using the moire test in the nokia program the first 3 tests I can get looking fine with adjustments to the pixel clock and phase on the tv but the 4th 5th and 6th tests give me horizontal bands (and a fairly loud hum from the back of the tv) Can you guys confirm if this happens on your sets?

XBOX Setup

On my previous tv I always used a x2vga to view hd resolutions out of my xbox (modded to allow ntsc and hd resolutions) however when plugged into this set it doesn't seem to work often resulting in a garbled mess on the screen (like your trying a resoltion not supported) the x2vga outputs 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i. I was a bit bummed about this so went and stole my father xbox component cables and plugged them into the tv. In this case I was able to display all of the resolutions but the picture was very shaky and seemed to be tearing quite a lot. Now this is where I'm hoping someone else has used this setup as my fathers cables are fairly cheap and thin so I didn't know if this was the issue and if more expensive cables would work. Without going out and purchasing them I have no way to check this other than to hope someone else is running a modded xbox in hd mode on this tv.

I'm really looking forward to hearing some feedback from other owners that may have similar setups. I really want to sit back and enjoy the tv but until I can these things sorted out I'm going to struggle. If anyone has any other settings or configurations that they recommend please feel free to let me know.

Thanks in advance!

Posted

I'veBeen mucking around even more since the last post and have come up with a few more interesting discoveries.

Although my xbox wasn't liking VGA at all I did manage to get it running in 480p mode long enough to notice it filled the two extra rows my htpc wasn't but still the bottom 4 rows (counted them this time) were blank. Now this seems to suggest to me that it may not be the htpc's fault and maybe a "feature" or "fault" with the vga input not picking up the bottom 4 rows.

I then tested the xbox with component and whilst there was heaps of tearing (hoping its the cheap cables) it wsa able to display 720p and 1080i. Via component the bottom 4 rows were suddently lit up again!

This is the point where I thought I'd be a bit silly and create a resolution on my htpc of 1368x770. Rebooted the machine and what do you know those 2 extra lines have been filled in :confused: the bottom 4 rows were still blank but I suddenly have use of two more of the rows with this crazy resolution. Now I'm not to sure whether to use this res as it's not proper 16x9.

Very weird though!

Posted

Anyone?

Please I'd love to hear from any owners of this tv as I'd like to confirm whether I have a faulty unit that isn't correctly displaying the vga signal (the 4 spare rows down the bottom even when running 1368x770)

Also whether to organise the purchase of another xbox component cable.

Thanks guys

Posted
Anyone?

I have the px600 model tv, but AV input wise it should be the same.

I have a modded xbox running XBMC HD signals through a fairly cheap set of Joytech component cables. The display is fine for all signal variations - no tearing or stability problems. I have it set to 1080i normally.

Component cables for the xbox can be hard to find. I found my set in a Harvey Norman, and they used to be listed on the Dick Smith website, but I cant see it listed there anymore. Your best bet is probably ebay, you might even be able to get a genuine Microsoft set of HD cables from overseas.

As for VGA - I havent ever fed a VGA signal to my tv, and I dont have the right cables to try it out, so I cant offer any help for that.

Posted
I have the px600 model tv, but AV input wise it should be the same.

I have a modded xbox running XBMC HD signals through a fairly cheap set of Joytech component cables. The display is fine for all signal variations - no tearing or stability problems. I have it set to 1080i normally.

Component cables for the xbox can be hard to find. I found my set in a Harvey Norman, and they used to be listed on the Dick Smith website, but I cant see it listed there anymore. Your best bet is probably ebay, you might even be able to get a genuine Microsoft set of HD cables from overseas.

As for VGA - I havent ever fed a VGA signal to my tv, and I dont have the right cables to try it out, so I cant offer any help for that.

Hi malh786

Thanks for getting back to me, I've actually seen the joytech cables you mention and was considering them so it's good to hear they function nicely.

Still would really love to hear from someone running vga, I'm really starting to get concerned about this bottom 4 rows of pixels not being used!

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