Panasonic viera query

Dony

Finally made the leap last week and bought a panasonic viera TXP42 V10.
Anyone thinking of buying one of these tv's should just go and do it. You won't have any regrets. Was going to get a 46 or 50inch but decided in the end to go for a 42 because I didn't want it to take over the room.
Glad I got the 42. Its plenty big! As well as that, big doesn't always mean better.
I was kinda worried about how the standard defination would look but its great.
I'd like to get the viera cast up and running but because I use 3's mobile broadband I've got my wireless router set up upstairs in my house where the reception is much better. Running a cable from the router the the tv's ethernet downstairs isn't reallly an option for me.
So I suppose i'm just wondering can some sort of plug in wireless thingy be got for the panasonic so it pick up the broadband signal from upstairs.
Don't even know what this gadget might be called so can't really search for it if it exists!
Btw, got it in Seamus Watters for a grand sterling with 5 year guarantee.

mac09

Dony wrote: »

Finally made the leap last week and bought a panasonic viera TXP42 V10.
Anyone thinking of buying one of these tv's should just go and do it. You won't have any regrets. Was going to get a 46 or 50inch but decided in the end to go for a 42 because I didn't want it to take over the room.
Glad I got the 42. Its plenty big! As well as that, big doesn't always mean better.
I was kinda worried about how the standard defination would look but its great.
I'd like to get the viera cast up and running but because I use 3's mobile broadband I've got my wireless router set up upstairs in my house where the reception is much better. Running a cable from the router the the tv's ethernet downstairs isn't reallly an option for me.
So I suppose i'm just wondering can some sort of plug in wireless thingy be got for the panasonic so it pick up the broadband signal from upstairs.
Don't even know what this gadget might be called so can't really search for it if it exists!
Btw, got it in Seamus Watters for a grand sterling with 5 year guarantee.

thinking about getting the exact same television. Any feedback on the quality appeciated. Did seamus have many left in stock when you bought? Did he throw in the freesat dish and quad lnb cable?
Much movement on price? did he give you a euro price for it as well?

cheers for any feedback.

Dony

thinking about getting the exact same television. Any feedback on the quality appeciated. Did seamus have many left in stock when you bought? Did he throw in the freesat dish and quad lnb cable?
Much movement on price? did he give you a euro price for it as well?

cheers for any feedback.

Quality of this tv is excellent. As I said, go for it. You'll be delighted. Real nice look to the tv itself and a really nice stand too. High Def as you'd expect is top notch.
I already had a dish set up etc so no haggling on that matter for me. Think he gave me 1250euro as a price to start with but I prefered to deal in sterling.
Richer sounds in Belfast will also do the same tv for 1000 sterling but not with the 5 yr guarantee.
He had 1 or 2 more in stock last week. Let me know how how you get on. Maybe you can get it for fifty quid less.
Here's a few screen shots.

gebbel

The V10 Viera Plasma is a terrific TV. It beats the socks off any LED/ LCD that I have seen, and doesn't suffer any backlight bleed/ uneven backlighting effects that these TV's possess. It comes with a THX viewing mode which guarantees out-of-the-box picture accuracy and quality due to the THX certification. Black levels are exceptional. I have seen HD football on it and I have NEVER seen such an amazing picture with incredibly smooth motion (and that is without using IFC which is an enhancement that gives smoother motion but can also can generate artefacts and smearing). SD stuff is acceptable, it depends on the broadcast bitrate of the channel you are watching.
The TV comes with an inbuilt Freesat tuner..to avail of this non-subscription based service, you just need to run a cable from a spare LNB of the Sky satellite (28.2E Astra). You can then kick Sky into touch (of course you will then have to setup RTE etc. via terrestrial). With Freesat, you also get BBC HD and occassional ITV HD (including some good football matches/ films) transmissions. You also have Viera Cast...which means to can watch YouTube/ Eurosport once connected to the net.
The V10 is the only Plasma that holds a torch to the legendary Pioneer Kuro (but much cheaper than the Kuro so way more bang for your buck) and is extremely highly rated in all the expert reviews that matter. Just check out the V10 thread over on AVForums....you will be hard pressed to find an unhappy owner.

swoofer

op, I am a situation like yourself, and I intend to get a belkin wireless ethernet bridge for about 29 stg from amazon but as with all things high tech I am going to do a bit of double checking.

I was going to use those power outlets but I think they have to be on the same ring main to actually work and when you thoink about it that makes sense.

gb--

Dony

Thanks for that fine seal of approval Gebbel.
Is this the gadget I need?
Don't know how to paste a shorter link.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Belkin-Wireless-Ethernet-Bridge-802-11g-54Mbps_W0QQitemZ290388790995QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_Networking_SM?hash=item439c854ed3

Skitz

GBCULLEN wrote: »

op, I am a situation like yourself, and I intend to get a belkin wireless ethernet bridge for about 29 stg from amazon but as with all things high tech I am going to do a bit of double checking.

I was going to use those power outlets but I think they have to be on the same ring main to actually work and when you thoink about it that makes sense.

gb--

Just be sure whatever router you get can act as an 'access point' or has a birdging mode. Not all routers will. Basically you need the new router to extend your current router's signal, so it will need to be able to 'talk' to it. Not all routers can do this.

I've tried the extenders that you plugin and send the signal through the mains plug wiring (I've got a Devolo one, didn't research it much, was more of an impulse buy). I found it very easy to use and works very well even when the source is on a downstairs plug and destination upstairs. I think it gives a pretty good stable connection. The connection bandwidth isn't wonderful from the limited testing I did, but probably more than sufficient for your needs and probably just as good if not better than any wireless signal.

John W

gebbel wrote: »

The V10 Viera Plasma is a terrific TV. It beats the socks off any LED/ LCD that I have seen, and doesn't suffer any backlight bleed/ uneven backlighting effects that these TV's possess. It comes with a THX viewing mode which guarantees out-of-the-box picture accuracy and quality due to the THX certification. Black levels are exceptional. I have seen HD football on it and I have NEVER seen such an amazing picture with incredibly smooth motion (and that is without using IFC which is an enhancement that gives smoother motion but can also can generate artefacts and smearing). SD stuff is acceptable, it depends on the broadcast bitrate of the channel you are watching.
The TV comes with an inbuilt Freesat tuner..to avail of this non-subscription based service, you just need to run a cable from a spare LNB of the Sky satellite (28.2E Astra). You can then kick Sky into touch (of course you will then have to setup RTE etc. via terrestrial). With Freesat, you also get BBC HD and occassional ITV HD (including some good football matches/ films) transmissions. You also have Viera Cast...which means to can watch YouTube/ Eurosport once connected to the net.
The V10 is the only Plasma that holds a torch to the legendary Pioneer Kuro (but much cheaper than the Kuro so way more bang for your buck) and is extremely highly rated in all the expert reviews that matter. Just check out the V10 thread over on AVForums....you will be hard pressed to find an unhappy owner.

Couple of Questions, I live down in Wexford and Joyces Electronics have a Pioneer PDP LX50 90 in stock (last one floor model) for €1800 (sure I can haggle - They also have the Panny 50G10L in stock for €1300 (again I am sure I could get them down a bit)
So I assume I can only get the V outside ireland? And how much better is the V than the G?, like what are the big differences?

And last question as they have a Pioneer LX50 in stock - which one is the better set that or the Panny V ( I assume the V is better than the G?)

I am upgrading from a Panny V500 42 and love Panny, but I always thoght that Pioneer was better, but could never afford it, but maybe that was the past?

Thanks

mac09

@ Dony - got the same tv and it is excellent. no complaints

@ John W - Yes the V series panasonic is not available in ireland. The V series is superior to the G series and comes with THX certification which means it operates very well out of the box, see www.avforums.com for excellent comparisons between the two.

Pioneer was the best but they stopped making tvs and sold their technology to panasonic. Panasonic are really only starting to make use of that technology now (achieving deeper blacks) and their latest range of 3d tvs announced at the recent CES in vegas look impressive.

d8player

mac09 wrote: »

@ Dony - got the same tv and it is excellent. no complaints

@ John W - Yes the V series panasonic is not available in ireland. The V series is superior to the G series and comes with THX certification which means it operates very well out of the box, see www.avforums.com for excellent comparisons between the two.

Pioneer was the best but they stopped making tvs and sold their technology to panasonic. Panasonic are really only starting to make use of that technology now (achieving deeper blacks) and their latest range of 3d tvs announced at the recent CES in vegas look impressive.

Will this TV work with Irish digital TV? Wasn't that something that was different about the TX-P42G10L model?

mac09

d8player wrote: »

Will this TV work with Irish digital TV? Wasn't that something that was different about the TX-P42G10L model?

uk models signified by B in TX-P42G10B possess freesat and mpeg2 tuners. you need mpeg4 to receive the rtes etc so will require an external aerial for this. you also need a dish to receive the free to air channels.

irish models (e.g. TX-P42G10L) have mpeg4 but no freesat.

so you need to ask yourself which you want.

d8player

mac09 wrote: »

uk models signified by B in TX-P42G10B possess freesat and mpeg2 tuners. you need mpeg4 to receive the rtes etc so will require an external aerial for this. you also need a dish to receive the free to air channels.

irish models (e.g. TX-P42G10L) have mpeg4 but no freesat.

so you need to ask yourself which you want.

I'm with UPC so I guess neither is a big concern at the moment. If I did want to get an aeriel and get RTE that way could I get an MPEG4 adapter separately?

mac09

d8player wrote: »

I'm with UPC so I guess neither is a big concern at the moment. If I did want to get an aeriel and get RTE that way could I get an MPEG4 adapter separately?

if you got the aerial to receive rte you wouldnt need mpeg4 tuner.

cnocbui

mac09 wrote: »

uk models signified by B in TX-P42G10B possess freesat and mpeg2 tuners. you need mpeg4 to receive the rtes etc so will require an external aerial for this. you also need a dish to receive the free to air channels.

irish models (e.g. TX-P42G10L) have mpeg4 but no freesat.

so you need to ask yourself which you want.

You are not correct. The B series have MPEG4 decoders which allows them to decode freesat, HD satellite and Irish DTT broadcasts.

They do have a firmware bug which means if the DTT brodacasts use certain program flags, they will not store the stations when doing a channel scan, even though they are perfectly capable of decoding and displaying the perfectly.

John W

cnocbui wrote: »

You are not correct. The B series have MPEG4 decoders which allows them to decode freesat, HD satellite and Irish DTT broadcasts.

They do have a firmware bug which means if the DTT brodacasts use certain program flags, they will not store the stations when doing a channel scan, even though they are perfectly capable of decoding and displaying the perfectly.

So would you go with the panny V ot the Pioneer Kuro? 1800 Vs 1300

swoofer

The pionneer Kuro, its a no brainer but if its an ex demo model it may have a lot of hours on it. €1800 is dear but this TV has actually risen in price. NB It only has an MPEG2 tuner so no good for Irish DTT.

gb--

cnocbui

Yes, the Panny is better value.

I have a Pananasonic TH-50PZ81B and it is superb. By all accounts the current model equivalents are even better and the gap between them and the Kuros has narrowed considerably. Pioneer have stopped making their own panels and buy in those made by Panasonic.

Any difference between a Kuro and Panny these days must be just down to signal processing.

John W

GBCULLEN wrote: »

The pionneer Kuro, its a no brainer but if its an ex demo model it may have a lot of hours on it. €1800 is dear but this TV has actually risen in price. NB It only has an MPEG2 tuner so no good for Irish DTT.

gb--

cnocbui wrote: »

Yes, the Panny is better value.

I have a Pananasonic TH-50PZ81B and it is superb. By all accounts the current model equivalents are even better and the gap between them and the Kuros has narrowed considerably. Pioneer have stopped making their own panels and buy in those made by Panasonic.

Any difference between a Kuro and Panny these days must be just down to signal processing.

Okay a bit of a conflict of opinions here - maybe the two of you could explain in more detail why you offer this opinion.

Yes GBCULLEN, I was a little concerned about a lot of hours being on the floor model (is there any way to check this in the control panel) I thoght 1800 was very good as I thoght the retail on these was around €2500?

I am not really concerned with picking up Irish stations, but does the KURO reciver in the Kuro pick up all the freesat programs, most interested in BBC HD and ITV HD (oh and will the Panny )?

Also are there any other features that one has over the other you think I should be aware off?

Oh and where did you get the Panny cnocbui in Ireland with the Freesat tuner?

Thanks for your help lads

cnocbui

I bought my Panny on eBay and had it shipped from the UK due to the vast - at the time - price difference and difficulty of getting it locally.

The L model you mentioned does not have a Freesat tuner.

I recommended it because I think the €500 price difference, if spent on DVDs, Bluray discs, would provide greater bennefit than the slightly deeper blacks of the Pioneer.

We measured the calibrated black level on our Panasonic TX-P42G10 review unit to be 0.03 cd/m2, which puts it on par with the Pioneer PDP-4280XD 8G Kuro plasma, but still some way off the 0.0031 cd/m2 record currently held by the Pioneer PDP-LX5090 9G Kuro plasma TV. While this may sound like a lot of difference, when there’s full-screen content the black-level advantage of the Pioneer PDP-LX5090 over the Panasonic TX-P42G10 will appear subtle rather than obvious in a subjective side-by-side comparison.

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/panasonic-tx-p42g10-tx-p42g10b-20090415146.htm

swoofer

Just to say the Kuro lx5090 willl not receive Freesat as it does not have an inbulit sat tuner.

gb--

John W

cnocbui wrote: »

I bought my Panny on eBay and had it shipped from the UK due to the vast - at the time - price difference and difficulty of getting it locally.

The L model you mentioned does not have a Freesat tuner.

I recommended it because I think the €500 price difference, if spent on DVDs, Bluray discs, would provide greater bennefit than the slightly deeper blacks of the Pioneer.

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/panasonic-tx-p42g10-tx-p42g10b-20090415146.htm

GBCULLEN wrote: »

Just to say the Kuro lx5090 willl not receive Freesat as it does not have an inbulit sat tuner.

gb--

Thanks Lads, well I bought the Pioneer in the end, for two reasons, one, they went down to €1550 on the price, and two, it had only been on the floor since Dec 16th, so not a lot of miles on her!

I have it set up (still need to calibrate, do you have a good site?) but WoW! I thought the Picture on my Panny PV500 was good, but this is fantastic, obviously the black levels, but the colour the definition is just amazing - I really didn't expect going up from the 1080i to the P would make so much of a difference. I also brought a Pioneer 320 Blue ray player, but I have to be honest even the signal from my Sky HD box is fantastic, I watched the latest terminator and Gladiator over the weekend and it was amazing!

My only problem now is sound, the output from the Blue-ray player is Optical, but so is the Sky box and my amp only has one optical in - I guess it is a splitter (this looks like a great deal? http://cgi.ebay.ie/3-way-Optical-Switch-3x-Digital-Audio-Toslink-Cables_W0QQitemZ350298447289QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_CablesConnectors_RL?hash=item518f6a1db9)

Thanks for your help guys!

swoofer

Now that is some deal, you sell tomorro and make a profit, its literally brand new if you can believe them.

That splitter is ideal. Be warned optical out from SKY can be iffy. COAX is a whole lot better.

For settings these are the best and almost equate to a calibrated set.

Movie Mode

Contrast 32
Brightness +1
Colour 0
Tint 0
Sharpness -15

PRO ADJUST

PURE CINEMA
Fim Mode OFF (SKY) or Advanced (BLUE RAY HD) This will switch to 1 automatically for (SD DVD)
TXT Opt OFF

Intellegent Mode OFF

PICTURE DETAIL

DRE OFF (more accurate) or Low if you want more contrast
BLACL LEVEL OFF
ACL OFF
Enhancer Mode 2
Gamma 2


COLOUR DETAIL

Colour Temp Manual (PUSH FOR ENTER FOR 3 SECONDS)

Red High -4
Green High 0
Blue High -2
Red Low -1
Green Low 0
Blue Low -2

CTI OFF

Colour Management

Red +1
Yellow -1
Green 0
Cyan -1
Blue 0
Magenta -4

Colour Space 2

Noise Reduction All Off

Options Menu

Drive Mode 2 for Sky
Drive Mode 1 for BD/D

then go to avforums.com, join up and you will have enough reading to last a lifetime.

gb--

John W

GBCULLEN wrote: »

Now that is some deal, you sell tomorro and make a profit, its literally brand new if you can believe them.

That splitter is ideal. Be warned optical out from SKY can be iffy. COAX is a whole lot better.

For settings these are the best and almost equate to a calibrated set.

Movie Mode

Contrast 32
Brightness +1
Colour 0
Tint 0
Sharpness -15

PRO ADJUST

PURE CINEMA
Fim Mode OFF (SKY) or Advanced (BLUE RAY HD) This will switch to 1 automatically for (SD DVD)
TXT Opt OFF

Intellegent Mode OFF

PICTURE DETAIL

DRE OFF (more accurate) or Low if you want more contrast
BLACL LEVEL OFF
ACL OFF
Enhancer Mode 2
Gamma 2


COLOUR DETAIL

Colour Temp Manual (PUSH FOR ENTER FOR 3 SECONDS)

Red High -4
Green High 0
Blue High -2
Red Low -1
Green Low 0
Blue Low -2

CTI OFF

Colour Management

Red +1
Yellow -1
Green 0
Cyan -1
Blue 0
Magenta -4

Colour Space 2

Noise Reduction All Off

Options Menu

Drive Mode 2 for Sky
Drive Mode 1 for BD/D

then go to avforums.com, join up and you will have enough reading to last a lifetime.

gb--

Thanks for that, great info!

I am pretty sure my Sky Box doesn't have Coax out!

By the way when you say "Pro Adjust" are you saying this is another Menu, or is "hidden"?

Obviously I haven't even had time yet to take a look at the menu's so I just wondered?

swoofer

no if you go to picture and select then another menu opens, look at bottom, scroll down, pro adjust, select etc.

This TV has an unbelievable no of adjustments and there is one kind of hidden select where you have to hold menu for 5 secs or so but I have forgotten.

when you go to av forums look for a poster BUMPTIOUS he is D man. You are going to have a lovely time setting this up. And you will end up coming back to the settings I gave you! I tweak sharpness but thats just me.

gb--

John W

GBCULLEN wrote: »

no if you go to picture and select then another menu opens, look at bottom, scroll down, pro adjust, select etc.

This TV has an unbelievable no of adjustments and there is one kind of hidden select where you have to hold menu for 5 secs or so but I have forgotten.

when you go to av forums look for a poster BUMPTIOUS he is D man. You are going to have a lovely time setting this up. And you will end up coming back to the settings I gave you! I tweak sharpness but thats just me.

gb--

Ok cheers, no I don't want to get to much into the settings, I did it with the Panny, and ended up driving myself crazy, switching and fiddling all the time - TBH, out of the box it is excellent, so I might just go with your Movie settings ( I switched it to Movie from Dynamic as soon as I turned it on and improved the picture about 110%!)
Oh by the way, yes the Sky HD box only has Optical out (which I have always used) but it seems okay to me on DTS through the amp, actually pretty spectacular on a good DTS movie!
Thanks again!

John W

GBCULLEN wrote: »

Now that is some deal, you sell tomorro and make a profit, its literally brand new if you can believe them.

That splitter is ideal. Be warned optical out from SKY can be iffy. COAX is a whole lot better.

For settings these are the best and almost equate to a calibrated set.

Movie Mode

Contrast 32
Brightness +1
Colour 0
Tint 0
Sharpness -15

PRO ADJUST

PURE CINEMA
Fim Mode OFF (SKY) or Advanced (BLUE RAY HD) This will switch to 1 automatically for (SD DVD)
TXT Opt OFF

Intellegent Mode OFF

PICTURE DETAIL

DRE OFF (more accurate) or Low if you want more contrast
BLACL LEVEL OFF
ACL OFF
Enhancer Mode 2
Gamma 2


COLOUR DETAIL

Colour Temp Manual (PUSH FOR ENTER FOR 3 SECONDS)

Red High -4
Green High 0
Blue High -2
Red Low -1
Green Low 0
Blue Low -2

CTI OFF

Colour Management

Red +1
Yellow -1
Green 0
Cyan -1
Blue 0
Magenta -4

Colour Space 2

Noise Reduction All Off

Options Menu

Drive Mode 2 for Sky
Drive Mode 1 for BD/D

then go to avforums.com, join up and you will have enough reading to last a lifetime.

gb--

I tried this last night, but TBH, it was just a little too much colour for me! Skin tones were a little red, and reds, well all colours were ultra bright - now it was really sharp and clean, but just a little bright - I pumped it back to factory settings, and actually preferred it! But thanks, I know a lot of it is down to personal preference, I guess i just prefer a more natural look.

By the way, does anyone know the best Sky box settings - it was on contrast high and 1080i when used with my old Panny pv500 - but as I now have 1080p should (as there is no 1080p setting) just choose "auto" or leave it on 1080i?

lorconblue

Have done a whole lot of reading forums and reviews, I want to buy a 42' Plasma, and all roads lead to the TX-P42V10B.

I want Freesat among all the other features, BUT, I still can't figure out for sure if there is a working MPEG 4 tuner installed in this particular model. Naturally I would be looking to the future with regard to recieving the RTE DTT service.

Has anyone actually received the test transmissions from RTE with TX-P42v10B ??

big_moe

i have tested mpeg4 on a V10 and AT THE MOMENT mpeg4 works on it fine.

there is no guarantee how long it'll work though.

Freddie59

mac09 wrote: »

uk models signified by B in TX-P42G10B possess freesat and mpeg2 tuners. you need mpeg4 to receive the rtes etc so will require an external aerial for this. you also need a dish to receive the free to air channels.

irish models (e.g. TX-P42G10L) have mpeg4 but no freesat.

so you need to ask yourself which you want.

Will these also tune to normal cable frequencies?

big_moe

the Irish model will (the one with L after it) and the UK model wont (the one with B after the model number)

adam

Freddie59

big_moe wrote: »

the Irish model will (the one with L after it) and the UK model wont (the one with B after the model number)

adam

Cheers.

cnocbui

Freddie59v2.0 wrote: »

Will these also tune to normal cable frequencies?

No, they have UHF tuners only - no vhf, but some people have suggested using a VCR to tune in cable.

The bit you quoted about the Panasonics with Freesat tuners not having an MPEG4 decoder is untrue, they ONLY have an MPEG4 decoder, but it is backwards compatible with MPEG2.

lorconblue

big_moe wrote: »

i have tested mpeg4 on a V10 and AT THE MOMENT mpeg4 works on it fine.

there is no guarantee how long it'll work though.

Thanks, Big Moe, I finally bit the bullet anyway and purchased yesterday afternoon. There is more than one way of getting RTE programmes on the telly when all is said and done.