Panasonic Plasma VT25 Series

[Anonymous]

I need to calibrate several Panasonic VT25 Series sets in the very near future. As these are basically brand new, I have not seen any comments on calibrating these – but as they are THX Certified, I would *assume* they could be made pretty spot on – if not very close to there when they are shipped.

Is access to the SM in these newer 2010 models the same as in the past?

Do the differences seen in and out of the SM still exist in these THX Certified Sets as they did for the past Panasonic Plasmas?

Is there a comparable ISF ccc menu in THX Certified Displays? If so, how is it accessed?

If no ISF ccc type menu, is it suggested to work with these in SM or UM – or is there enough control for GS and Color Management in UM?

Thanks

Topic

[Anonymous]

Nah, I don’t usually toss around numbers. I’m not an ‘stat’ guy who goes nuts posting that online.

According to Minolta, the CS-1000A does measure accurately below 1cd/m2, but just not as tight within the spec as the CS-2000…which is why it isn’t published. Even though it can deliver readings below .0029fL like any other meter, to what degree of accuracy I’m not quite sure.

For the sake of anyone’s curiosity, what is somewhat assuring is that the readings are repeatable at those values – I can take a measurement of .0003 five times in a row. The Y-reading does not bounce around. Even the x/y readings at low light don’t bounce around much, by a few ten thousandths, maybe…in the field, the variances probably aren’t that far off the +/-.001 published spec with the luminance range starting at 1cd/m2. Maybe there’s another factor I’m not considering…? So the results may be good for my clients, but might not be good for the lab which is what this piece was designed for anyway. Visually, everything looks correct. I don’t believe I’m interpreting anything incorrectly. I can’t say the same for my i1Pro at those same readings which is known to be limited to about 1fL. It still delivers readings below, but it’s repeatability is terrible and visually it looks wrong.

[Anonymous]

I just calibrated a 65-inch VT25 with a build date of May ’10 and it performed beautifully in the THX mode. Gray scale tracked pretty flat (the best I’ve seen from a Panny) and color accuracy was very good. By far, the best I’ve seen from any Panasonic PDP.
Gamma is still a bit on the low side. I measured an average value of 2.13, but at least it was linear from low to high.
A pretty nice panel.

[Anonymous]

I know they pushed out new firmware to version 2.0. I wonder if they made corrections? Do you know what version the firmware was?

Also, how did you access the ISFccc?

[Anonymous]

Randy, I believe Lee calibrated the THX mode:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18769080#post18769080

[Anonymous]

It appears he calibrated a 65″. I made the measurements on a 54″ prior to release of the 58″ and 65″. I wonder if its the same firmware version and sets are the same – as the User Manual is different for 50″/54″ and 58″/65″.

As the custom mode was almost dead on 6500K across the board, I am sure its not the meter.

But regardless, if calibrated in THX mode only, no way to do seperate Day/Night options.

[Anonymous]

I calibrated the THX mode, adjusting gray scale on the service side. It is the same procedure I have used on the last few lines of Panny PDP’s.
I am not interested in the ISFccc mode until it is out of beta testing and deemed reliable and/or necessary.
This particular client was not interested in a day setting as he has control over the ambient light in his viewing room. Normally I would adjust the Custom mode for a day (albeit a compromised) setting. As I tell all of my clients, reference viewing will only happen in a darkened room environment. I will set up a day setting if I determine more light output will be needed during day time hours. Again, explaining to my clients the compromises involved with a less than an ideal viewing environment.

As has been mentioned many times by Gregg, Michael and many others, education of the client is absolutely essential in helping us separate ourselves from the BB’s of the world. Especially when we have to compete against free! 😡

[Anonymous]

Randy,

Unfortunately, I didn’t record the firmware version. I only noticed the build date. I will be returning to this clients home in the near future and will take note of this set’s firmware.

[Anonymous]

There is clearly something amiss here, but perhaps they are fixing these default issue in these firmware updates. There have now been 3 since the original VT25 50″ and 54″ were released in the USA. It’s pretty clear Panasonic pushed these out in a hurry in the USA so Samsung would not have the 3D market to itself. Perhaps the THX default is better in the newer firmware as Panasonic is getting their act together.

Dunno.

The only thing that would concern me is if they screw up a calibration in the THX mode by pushing out new firmware, which is why I prefer to wait for access to the ISFccc mode as they would not over write those settings, but then again, that is may be me being overly cautious.

[Anonymous]

@Randy Kabrich 2107 wrote:

There is clearly something amiss here, but perhaps they are fixing these default issue in these firmware updates. There have now been 3 since the original VT25 50″ and 54″ were released in the USA. It’s pretty clear Panasonic pushed these out in a hurry in the USA so Samsung would not have the 3D market to itself. Perhaps the THX default is better in the newer firmware as Panasonic is getting their act together.

Really not much different than the firmware issues with the V10 series.
Calibrate and schedule a follow up appt. if the client wants to have it re-cal’ed after a firmware upgrade. Another opportunity for revenue.

[Anonymous]

@Lee Gallagher 2108 wrote:

Really not much different than the firmware issues with the V10 series.
Calibrate and schedule a follow up appt. if the client wants to have it re-cal’ed after a firmware upgrade. Another opportunity for revenue.

As there is no THX 3D mode, what did you do about 3D calibration?

[Anonymous]

FWIW, I had a chance to measure the THX defaults with the newer firmware this morning. It has been corrected and is now very similar to what Lee saw in his calibration. I guess the take away is to make sure that the customer has the firmware updated!

[Anonymous]

@Randy Kabrich 2114 wrote:

As there is no THX 3D mode, what did you do about 3D calibration?

The client wasn’t interested in 3D. I wasn’t quite ready at this particular appointment to perform it anyway.

[Anonymous]

Hi Shawn

Are you going to make software for Panasonic or JVC RS35 and RS25 projectors?

Best Regards

[Anonymous]

Not sure that shawn monitors this thread, so I will answer what I know.

Shaun actually has a “working” model for the VT25, except the Panasonic Firmware itself is flawed (shouldnt be a surprise if you have followed my various posts on issues with Panasonic Firmware) and the gamma setting as well as white balance controls in ControlCal do nothing in the actual set itself (even though the set shows the value changing).

[Anonymous]

Yes, I’m here.. I’ll have a new release soon though I’m getting mixed reports back about 2 additional controls.. I’m also waiting for info back from Panasonic about the w/b.

[Author]

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