42ST30 Impressions.

[pkr]

Newspaper advertisements in Kerala show 75K (Onam deals). I know that dealers are giving it for lesser than that.

 

[allajunaki]

Allow me to re-iterate. If My choice would have been the other two. Then I would not have bought this one, would I ?

I will not consider LED TV's for a good reason, I need WIDE viewing angles and LED-LCD's no matter how good, cannot beat plasma in off center viewing angles. They always lose their black levels and colors, some better than others but non can beat plasmas in viewing angles.

Secondly, only a handful of LCDs (LED or otherwise) have acceptable screen uniformity. Most of em has uneven screen brightness.

Thirdly 3d. Sorry, even the best LCD's do not come close the 3d performance of plasma, LCD's are simply not fast enough to switch images as quickly as plasmas can.

Fourth is the motion resolution. The best of the best LCD's are still too slow compared to plasmas. And yes, I would not care if LCDs were faster than what our eyes can register. But unfortunately, that is not the case.

Ofcourse plasma's have their own weakness. But those are the things I do not care for (Power consumption, Peak brightness, etc).

I hope this is straight enough for you. There are people who swear by LCD's and there are some who swear by plasma. I belong to latter. I will be a convert once I see and feel LCD's have improved to match or beat plasma's on above parameters. (2 - 5 years perhaps). Plasma's have reached more or less their peak of optimization, so much so that there is not much of difference in 2010 and 2011 models. But I think there is a good chance that plasma will reach '0' level blacks in couple of years ( Should read some of patents panasonic own).

@ALLAJUNAKI

To put it straight :-

Would you recommend buying Panasonic 42ST30D, other options being LG 42LW6500 and sony 40NX720 ?

 

[turkishbald]

Hello there,

I'm not quite sure if this is the right thread to post my question here. But, can anyone give me any information regarding the calibration for the 42st30? Im new to all this. So would be quite glad and appreciative if guided.
And allajunaki, that was a good review. Clears out all the doubts one may have. And its quite a fact that the st30 is one of the best HD TVs in 2011(till date atleast) hyeah:.

 

[emailnagpal]

Allow me to re-iterate. If My choice would have been the other two. Then I would not have bought this one, would I ?

I will not consider LED TV's for a good reason, I need WIDE viewing angles and LED-LCD's no matter how good, cannot beat plasma in off center viewing angles. They always lose their black levels and colors, some better than others but non can beat plasmas in viewing angles.

Secondly, only a handful of LCDs (LED or otherwise) have acceptable screen uniformity. Most of em has uneven screen brightness.

Thirdly 3d. Sorry, even the best LCD's do not come close the 3d performance of plasma, LCD's are simply not fast enough to switch images as quickly as plasmas can.

Fourth is the motion resolution. The best of the best LCD's are still too slow compared to plasmas. And yes, I would not care if LCDs were faster than what our eyes can register. But unfortunately, that is not the case.

Ofcourse plasma's have their own weakness. But those are the things I do not care for (Power consumption, Peak brightness, etc).

I hope this is straight enough for you. There are people who swear by LCD's and there are some who swear by plasma. I belong to latter. I will be a convert once I see and feel LCD's have improved to match or beat plasma's on above parameters. (2 - 5 years perhaps). Plasma's have reached more or less their peak of optimization, so much so that there is not much of difference in 2010 and 2011 models. But I think there is a good chance that plasma will reach '0' level blacks in couple of years ( Should read some of patents panasonic own).

Thanks a lot.

I have finally decided to go for Panasonic ST30D. hyeah:

Will start bargain process from Monday

If I am able to get 50" below 1 lac, then would go for that else for the 42" one. :yahoo:

=========================================================

Thanks everyone for the HELP

 

[allajunaki]

Unfortunately, ST30 does not come with too many calibrations options.
But fortunately, the default presets are quite good.
I use normal for most of the Channels, True Cinema for movies.
I prefer to keep "Eco Mode" On, since it scales up/down the contrast to match ambient lighting.
I have turned off the "Motion Smoother" since I do not prefer the artificial smoothing.

In Normal mode, I have kept on for the Vivid Color setting, since it keeps my wife happy and it does not oversaturate colors.
But in true cinema, almost all of the settings are kept off, except for Eco mode for bright movies.

You may jack up colors if you find it too muted.

And yes, stay away from Dynamic picture mode, it will kill yours eyes

And yes, there is a bit of black crush in normal mode. So "Normal" in its default setting is not suited for Movies. Unless, you like black crush
No issues in Cinema and True Cinema though...

Hello there,

I'm not quite sure if this is the right thread to post my question here. But, can anyone give me any information regarding the calibration for the 42st30? Im new to all this. So would be quite glad and appreciative if guided.
And allajunaki, that was a good review. Clears out all the doubts one may have. And its quite a fact that the st30 is one of the best HD TVs in 2011(till date atleast) hyeah:.

 

[Kudla]

How does 2D channels behave on a 3D TV? Is there any difference v/s a 2D TV? If most of my viewing would be on 2D should one go for a 3D TV?

 

[allajunaki]

How does 2D channels behave on a 3D TV? Is there any difference v/s a 2D TV? If most of my viewing would be on 2D should one go for a 3D TV?

Nobody has most of the viewing as 3d. Trust me, I have PS3 (3d capable), and an HTPC connected , which is also 3d capable. (And TS+HD Box, which is also 3d capable, though there are no content).
In case of this particular TV, it has a much faster phosphor, which helps in retaining the PQ when there are fast moving scenes.

 

[van]

allajunaki,

quick question...from your current setting in your home...will there be a PQ degradation if one sits on the floor (or even lying down on the floor ) and tries to watch(2d)....

will the filters on the screen degrade(in terms of brightness/color loss) the PQ ?

 

[allajunaki]

Not if you are sitting on the floor ( My TV is mounted very low, eye level from Sofa). Lying down will cause noticeable attrition in brightness, but not enough to cause you to get and sit back on sofa It is not like LCD panels, which washout. Here the effect is similar to turning down the brightness a bit and importantly blacklevels remain hyeah:.

The TV is more sensitive to loss when viewed from above rather than below.

Viewing distance ~7 ft on floor. I guess it will be even more severe as go closer to tv (from floor).

allajunaki,

quick question...from your current setting in your home...will there be a PQ degradation if one sits on the floor (or even lying down on the floor ) and tries to watch(2d)....

will the filters on the screen degrade(in terms of brightness/color loss) the PQ ?

 

[van]

Not if you are sitting on the floor ( My TV is mounted very low, eye level from Sofa). Lying down will cause noticeable attrition in brightness, but not enough to cause you to get and sit back on sofa It is not like LCD panels, which washout. Here the effect is similar to turning down the brightness a bit and importantly blacklevels remain hyeah:.

The TV is more sensitive to loss when viewed from above rather than below.

Viewing distance ~7 ft on floor. I guess it will be even more severe as go closer to tv (from floor).

thanks and +1...this is good...when i was visiting the brand shop the sT30 was mounted almost at ground level...i could see the drop(dramatic) in brightness...but could not check how it would behave if one sat on the floor...

in my home when all my folks turn up (happens almost every now & then)..we are like ~15 to ~20 ppl trying to watch the TV...and are sitting around where ever there is place...this is good...i will not have to hear any smart remarks
(if at all if I go for ST30...)

 

[allajunaki]

You might want to check at a showroom at the viewing distance you have at home , and from the angle you have. Its def. not as bad as LCD's. But the ones without filters will afford you much wider vertical viewing angles.
If you are sitting beyond 7ft then you will not have issues for sure, if you are mounting it at eye level from sofa.

in my home when all my folks turn up (happens almost every now & then)..we are like ~15 to ~20 ppl trying to watch the TV...and are sitting around where ever there is place...this is good...i will not have to hear any smart remarks
(if at all if I go for ST30...)

 

[van]

You might want to check at a showroom at the viewing distance you have at home , and from the angle you have. Its def. not as bad as LCD's. But the ones without filters will afford you much wider vertical viewing angles.
If you are sitting beyond 7ft then you will not have issues for sure, if you are mounting it at eye level from sofa.

yes def. will check out...anyways good thing is i have narrowed down to UT30 or ST30...

will def. be one of them for me...waiting for UT30 demo...

 

[emailnagpal]

Does anyone know the price of extra 3D glasses for ST30D ?

 

[sunshine_vsk]

panasonic 3D glasses will cost btw 6 .5 to 7.5K, if your planning to buy get the 2011 models which comes with rechargeable battery or better get it from U.S

 

[allajunaki]

If you can get it from US, get Xpand X103 glasses. From what I have read, they are better than Panasonics.

Try 20north.com , I guess you can get one for 5.5k all inclusive

 

[vijjy]

Thanks for posting so much of information. This is what I have been looking for..first hand information..Could you please clarify on the following:

1. How is the SD signal on the model?
2. Have you observed any strain or fatigue after watching this for two hours or so? I am being finicky am I not? Actually this question has nothing to do with the model per se..but for less eye strain some recommend LCD/LED others recommend Plasma!! I did not have the luxury to watch a plasma for hours in a show-room!

3. How about the burn-in issue..Since you have bought 2011 model and it is a neo plasma panel, are you assured that the model will be less prone to this issue?

4. By the way did you get User Manual? Because I tried invain to get a soft copy of Panny Plasma's User Manuals- leave alone VT, GT, ST etc.,

Since I have almost zeroed in on the model I would be grateful if you could clear the air so that I can go and get the unit.


Thanks
Vijjy

 

[emailnagpal]

Sorry, I can't get from US.

Where are they available in India ?

They seems to be quite costly compared to SONY (3,500/-) and LG (550/-)...

I know Lg are passive type BUT sony ones are active sutter type ones... So, Y are panasonic ones so much costly ???

 

[allajunaki]

1. SD upscaling is quite good. But in my house TS+HD does the upscaling part.
2. I have 2 Plasmas, and trust me, they are very gentle on eyes. I watch TV quite a lot, and I have never felt strain from plasma, (nor LCD for that matter). Strain on the eyes has more to do with what settings you use, with respect to ambient light. Too high or too low means you will have eye fatigue.
3. No burn in, no Image retention observed so far.
4. Yes hard copy manual, you will get that with ANY brand any model .

Thanks for posting so much of information. This is what I have been looking for..first hand information..Could you please clarify on the following:

1. How is the SD signal on the model?
2. Have you observed any strain or fatigue after watching this for two hours or so? I am being finicky am I not? Actually this question has nothing to do with the model per se..but for less eye strain some recommend LCD/LED others recommend Plasma!! I did not have the luxury to watch a plasma for hours in a show-room!

3. How about the burn-in issue..Since you have bought 2011 model and it is a neo plasma panel, are you assured that the model will be less prone to this issue?

4. By the way did you get User Manual? Because I tried invain to get a soft copy of Panny Plasma's User Manuals- leave alone VT, GT, ST etc.,

Since I have almost zeroed in on the model I would be grateful if you could clear the air so that I can go and get the unit.


Thanks
Vijjy

 

[allajunaki]

Xpand X103 from 20north.com

http://www.20north.com/Xpand-Universal-X103-3D-Glasses-Compatible-with-Active-3D-TV-s-B/product/?mid=1&pid=B$@!00$@!462RMS6$@!&src=search

Sorry, I can't get from US.

Where are they available in India ?

They seems to be quite costly compared to SONY (3,500/-) and LG (550/-)...

I know Lg are passive type BUT sony ones are active sutter type ones... So, Y are panasonic ones so much costly ???

 

[aakashr]

emailnagpal,

I would suggest to go for 42ST30. I had shortlisted 42ST30, LW6500 & LW5700 but going for Panasonic ST30 since the PQ is very good with SD content.

I'm only confused whether to go for 50ST30 or 42ST30, Though my viewing distance is 16 feet i feel quality of SD channels (especially regional channels) when bad will be more visible when viewed in 50 inches.

pan ST all the way.............I sit 8 ft away from my pan 50V20. you cant beat STs pic quality. Let me know what you decide. all the best!!!