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50 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I love this TV # SETTINGS UPDATE #, April 11, 2010
This review is from: Panasonic TC-P54S2 54-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV (Electronics)
I have had this TV for nearly a month. After I got the basic picture settings where I like them I am continually amazed at what a terrific picture I get. For me the the CINEMA setting seems to be the best overall setting for both DVDs and broadcast/cable TV and I adjust the the other picture settings as needed for individual DVDs or TV programs.
I wanted to keep this brief so I won't go into any further detail. I am completely happy with this TV. You can never really be sure what a TV is going to be like once you get into your home. In this case I can't imagine how it could be any better.
AVERAGE USER PICTURE SETUP GUIDE
I have had this TV about 3 months now and still Love it. Over that time I have fine tuned the picture settings to the point where I am happy with them in almost every viewing situation and video format without having to make any changes. I watch my TV at ambient light levels from fairly bright to completely dark.
I thought a list of my settings might be a helpful starting point for new owners wanting to get the best from this awesome TV as quickly as possible. I didn't use any test patterns or fancy equipment to arrive at these settings. They were developed using real world viewing. You super techies can scoff and move on now and hopefully this will be a help to the rest of you.
SETTINGS
Picture Mode = Cinema (always)
Contrast 36
Brightness 36
Color 29 (you will probably use this
Tint +1 and the tint control most often)
Sharpness 50
Color Temp = warm
CATS off
Video NR on
Blur Reduction on
ASPECT:
Screen Format = full
HD Size 1
ADVANCED PICTURE
Mpeg NR = on
Black level = light (This is an important setting. On My TV it was defaulted to DARK. On very dark scenes like in
Theaters during concerts there is much useful detail that is lost with the Dark setting.
Another good example is the opening scene of "Master and Commander" The movie opens with a
long distance shot of the HMS Surprise alone at sea just before the sun comes up. The camera
slowly pans closer to the deck of the ship until we can see the black rigging silhouetted
against the grayish blue predawn with sailors climbing up and down the rigging for the
changing of the watch. The next scene is of the ships cook reaching into the on deck chicken
coop to grab a chicken. With the setting in DARK the cook's face, clothing and the chicken
are all dark shadows with no detail. With the light setting the cooks features, his ginger
colored beard and the soft blue and gray stripes of his shirt are now visible along with
the individual reddish brown feathers of the chicken he selected.
I hope this helps you get started. Everyone's tastes are different but this should be a good starting point.
I suspect that these settings should also be good for the other size sets in the S2 line
This review refers to the 2010 model TC-P54S2
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30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty much the best TV money can buy for under $3k in the 50+ inch range, August 5, 2010
This review is from: Panasonic TC-P54S2 54-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV (Electronics)
I've had a few Panasonic plasma's throughout the years and I still even have a Hitachi Director's Series plasma (which I have to say, blows every plasma on Amazon out of the water, but it's also $7,000).
The Panasonic TC-P54S2 (the 54" display in the S2 line of plasmas) is a truly breathtaking television. The G25 line is more expensive and does offer a slightly richer and deeper black than the S2 line (among other, totally unnecessary features), but it's barely noticeable when the S2 plasma is broken-in and calibrated correctly. It's very important that you break-in and calibrate this display. (Check AVS Forums for the calibration slides, which should be run non-stop for 100 hours - then set the settings found in a sticky thread to get the best possible image quality for this display).
There's no buzzing sound like another reviewer said, the display runs cool for a plasma, the colors are vibrant, rich, deep, the contrast is breathtaking (especially compared to so many LCD's that lack a deep contrast like plasmas) and it is just a great display. Did I also mention that it's below $1,300? I remember a friend of mine spending $22,000 on a Marantz 65" plasma which today looks like pure garbage. It's disgusting.
In addition to being a videophile, having a degree in Digital Editing and Cinematography and working for a film production company (where we use $15,000 Sony Professional Reference monitors) I have to say that this is truly an outstanding display product from Panasonic. I've spent a few hours enjoying a 50" G25 series and won't lie that to the trained eye, certain blacks seem darker and deeper - however, to 99% of you out there, you'll never know the difference.
The new neo-PDP plasma technology also helps many things from the last-year S1 series plasma technology from Panasonic. Many bugs have been fixed, the plasma display itself is better and Panasonic actually listened to their customers on multiple issues.
A great tv, but please make sure you break-in the display and calibrate it correctly. 5/5 stars, I would buy 3 more of these if I had room in my house.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Pix ... but dreaded "buzz", July 2, 2010
This review is from: Panasonic TC-P54S2 54-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV (Electronics)
After repeated back-order of the new Panasonic 58" plasma, I "settled" for this TV.
Although only slightly smaller, but MUCH less expensive it features a superb picture that has deep colors, true black, and very bright (if needed for a light room).
As a retired broadcast exec. I'm fussy about my video, and this set is excellent in almost every way. Even the bezel and glass screen minimize glare. The speakers are only adequate, but with the mony I saved thru Amazon I'm just installing a surround system.
The only problem is a faulty high voltage circuit emitting a hum or buzz when displaying bright images. This was evident by the third day, and getting worse as the set warmed up. A call directly to Panasonic (with only a 3-minute wait) scheduled a local service call. Two guys just left having ordered a replacement part to be sent overnight "because you have Concierge Service thru Amazon/ Panasonic". I'll be without this set for a couple of days next week, but I was very impressed with the no hassle - no excuse service.
The original delivery was also "white glove" with two guys unpacking and setting up the TV to my existing Charter Cable service.
Yes, the TV should not have been defective out-of-box; but I appreciate the better than average service that I've received so far.
UPDATE:
After 48 hours, TV was returned (and set up) working perfectly! A defective high voltage transformer in the power supply was replaced. All costs and on-site pickup/delivery handled by a local repair company under contract with Panasonic.
On another note; if you're concerned about picture burn-in or image retention with this plasma set, don't be. Panasonic has a built in automatic "pixelator" and also a manual (if you'd prefer) moving image bar that eliminates any need to baby this set during it's initial setup.
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