Getting New Panasonic ST30 Plasma TV

LCD and LED are very bright. Personally too bright if you watch in a very dark room for serious movie watching. It hurts me eyes even to view these TV's at people's houses who have never done anything to them beside run them on max brightness and it feels like I'm staring into the sun.

Panny plasma is awesome IMO. Not the Kuro but still very good for the money. I own the VT25 and have loved it.

The VT25 was a bit off in gama if I recall correctly so the cali did help that. It will help any TV regardless of what it is to be the best. Once again not the brightest but the most accurate. People seem to not be able to understand the difference.

Also the ST30 does not have the THX mode. You would have to move up to the GT series to gain this. Look on AVS for settings otherwise to get the ST as best as possible out of the box. Also get it calibrated. It does make a huge difference. The closest you'll probably get is in movie mode with a few tweaks but that is normally where to set it if you don't have THX on them. Also I think warm 2 is the better choice but don't quote me for sure on that.

Update: Prior to the Panasonic, I recently purchased 2 LCD's, a Magnavox 46" (returned-nothing special) and a Samsung 46" (returned- made motion pictures look like TV shows shot with a video camera) The Samsung had an incredibly seductive bright and accurate picture. (exceptional for live sports but that's it) I had never spent time with a plasma before, when I decided to buy the Panasonic ST30 46". The picture on the Panasonic can't match the brightness of the LCD's I've owned recently or seen at others homes, but the beauty and realism of the Panasonic in HD is unparalleled compared to any other TV I've ever seen, simply incredible, amazing even.. The look of it is really special. Oh.. and the fullness and saturation of color!! This Panasonic plasma is amazing!

I just purchased the Panasonic GT55. It has a calibrated THX certified setting. It looks much better than the other modes. With this setting would I still need ISF calibration?
By the way I am very happy with this set so far. I have not purchased a 3D DVD player yet. I purchased it for 3D and to watch regular tv. I was going through a bulb every year or so watching tv on the big screen.

Certified ISF calibration will cost approximately $200. It's done with a sensor attached to the screen and ISF software is used with a laptop to achieve multiple levels of calibration depending on the panels setup capabilities. Using a disc player to calibrate a display has obvious limitations which is why ISF calibration is not DIY.

Any panel should be run in for a few months before calibration. LCD/LED's generally have their brightness set at their maximum out of the box. My Pioneer Elite plasma was very close to correct calibration.

A few years ago I compared and inexpensive Blue Jeans (Belden cable) to a top of the line Audio Quest HDMI and couldn't discern any difference between the two. This may have changed since then.

My calibration I think cost somewhere in the $200 range, it was mostly for the guy's time, as it did take quite a while. I could now do it myself, but I would say that it was a very good value, as I would not have known how to go about it previously, and although it looked good before, the improvement afterwards was much more than I would have thought. I would highly recommend it.

$300ish and if you get right diy disc or good eyes its a questionable
value.

Chadnliz and Learsfool, thanks for the advice. Still learning. Curious, what's the typical fee for a prof calibration, if I go that route?

You will love your plasma - I agree with those saying dial down the brightness. I had mine professionally calibrated after the recommended burn-in period and that is exactly what the guy did. I took good notes so I can do it myself in the future. It makes a very big difference in the picture, and also makes it much easier on the eyes.

dont need burn in disc....just use "anti image retention" feature a few minutes here and there...I have the 46 too..its no issue. Not sure why so many talk about tv logo issue because every 10 minutes stations go to comercial and logos gone. Dont buy burn in disc.....waste of money.

Thanks you all. I've done some research and have a hdmi from Monoprice. I'll try the burn in disc and consider the calibration disc too.

borrow or buy a calibration disc, I could not believe the improvement to my set when done right (for starters turn the sharpness all the way down)

enjoy

Get a HDMI from Monoprice if you are using one, you will get a better picture. I use a much more expensive one which is better still but Monoprice is a great bargain. Conditioners can often make a difference,I had my 50" Panasonic on my Tice Power Block before I sold it and then switched to a Brickwall, which offers protection but no filtering. Yesterday I changed it for my PS Audio Quintet and heard an improvement in the sound into my HT setup. More striking was the improvement in picture quality, which my wife, who is no audiophile/videophile noticed right away.

Check this link:

http://www.televisioninfo.com/content/Panasonic-TC-P50ST30-Plasma-3D-HDTV-Review.htm

It is a review of the 50" version of your Plasma. I recently purchased the 55" version in this series. The review includes recommended settings for this set. I have applied those settings and I am very pleased with the results.

Although the review I linked you to does criticize this TV for motion artifacts, I have not noticed them at all, and I replaced a standard definition RPTV with this plasma, so I thought motion artifacts on my first high def set would be very obvious. My only complaint is some false contouring, but I think that may be from my AVR's upconversion of 480p DVDs. I do not yet have a BRDP. My only high def source is FiOS, and the picture is spectacular. But, I am an audiophile, not a videophile, so take my comments for what they're worth.

Enjoy the new TV!

It is very important that during the first 100 hours of use that you use a burn in disc like this: http://www.eaprogramming.com/downloads/download_main.htm. If you do this it will avoid the likelihood of screen burn in in the future. Plus if you plan on having the tv prof calibrated, you need to wait at least for the 100 hours before the tv breaks in.

Don't know about the Panny in particular, but almost all sets come out of the box in "torch mode", with brightness and contrast set high to make the set look good in a showroom. You will want to dial back the settings, especially on a plasma, since they are subject to image burn in if static images are displayed for long periods of time.

You'll like the wide viewing angle and deep blacks.

I own a Pioneer 6010, and have never had any burn in or other problems.