Panasonic TC-L55ET5 - Blu-ray Forum

ONE_DAY_AS_A_LION · 11-25-2012, 08:14 PM

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Panasoni...&skuId=4860489

This was on sale during Black Friday for like $799 or $899. Now that was a steal.

Does anyone have one? I have a Panasonic plasma but it's old, so I'm looking for a new tv.

Suggestions?

BLeClair12 · 12-20-2012, 04:52 PM

This thread is pretty old at this point, so you've likely already made up your mind one way or another, but I figured I'd throw my two cents in...

I've got the 42" version of this model. I didn't love it at first. In fact, I considered returning it. Not because the quality wasn't great - it's quite fantastic, but because I found the adjustment controls to be severely limited and I couldn't get the picture right for the life of me.

After about four and a half months, I've gotten it to where I'm comfortable after several calibrations and tinkering. It had a strange yellowish/green tint on nearly everything.

It also doesn't play nicely with other brand AV systems. My Sony HTiB just recently miraculously cured itself of a delay that had been nagging me for months. I have no idea how. I had given up and one day it was just gone.

Really, though, those are just isolated issues. I paid $599 for the 42" and I'm completely satisfied. Now that I've corrected my problems, I love it. I'm not sure it's quite worth the asking price at Best Buy right now, but I'm sure a sale will come around again.

And for the what it's worth, I think the 3D is fantastic as well.

Member-115369 · 01-25-2013, 02:05 PM

I ordered one from Amazon for $959.99 on Wednesday--but the price is back up to $1,259 now. I'm sending back a Panny PC-P55UT50 plasma that I couldn't stand the buzzing and IR on in exchange for it. Should get it on Monday.

Member-115369 · 01-28-2013, 07:17 PM

Posted my impressions and settings over on avsforums, figured I might as well post them here too.

I just got the TC-L55ET5 today. Exchanged a 55UT50 plasma for it through Amazon. I had the plasma for a couple weeks but couldn't live with the buzz that I could hear 10+ feet away over dialogue in bright scenes (a tech came and changed out screws--didn't help) and was starting to get annoyed by IR from games and ESPN. Amazon was sold out of the UT50 so trying another wasn't an option, and I was pretty sure Plasma just wasn't for me since I have a brighter room, watch hours of ESPN and play a decent amount of games.

After a few hours (TV was delivered around 10am) with the new set, I'm very happy with it. Completly silent, not buzz at all. Picture is awesome. Blacks and motion aren't as good as on the plasma a expected, but colors pop much more, the set is much better with my blinds open (though I still wish the screen wasn't glossy) and the 3D is surprisingly clearer. I expected the 3D to be worse being passive vs. active. But it looks better to my eyes (less double image/blurring of things far forward in the field). And I love not having to mess with batteries, turning glasses on etc. Picture uniformity seems solid, minimal light bleed in the corners as best I can tell. I'll preface all that by saying I"m not a videophile type and won't spend much time looking for problems.

I tuned the picture settings using the Disney WoW disc, and this is what I came out with.

Picture Mode: Cinema
Back Light: 25 (just left that where it was)
Contrast: 97
Brightness: 57
Color: 78
Tint: +2
Sharpness: 25 (didn't seem to make any difference to me turning it up or down (everything is hooked up via HDMI through my Denon 1312 receiver) so just put it at 25 fairly randomly
Color Temp: Warm
Color mgmt: off
A.I. picture: off
C.A.T.S. Off
Video NR: Off

Aspect Adjustments: Use Size 2 so you aren't losing 5% of picture with overscan in Size 1

HDMI Settings: Content type=Graphics

Advanced Picture:

Block NR: Off
Mosquito NR: Off
Motion Picture Setting: Off
Black level: light

I'm using those for 2D and 3D now (have to set 3D seperate--display 3D content then go into the picture menu)--both look great to me. The glasses don't seem to darken the picture much in 3D, unlike on the plasma where I had to bump contrast some for 3D.

BLeClair12 · 02-01-2013, 04:18 PM

I'm curious to know why you chose "graphics" for HDMI content type. What exactly does that feature do? I couldn't seem to figure it out and left everything on "auto" in that area.

Member-115369 · 02-01-2013, 08:44 PM

I don't really notice a difference.

I just went with it as I briefly had Panny 55UT50 and most of the posted settings on AVS Forums for it said set it to graphics as the color accuracy was better. So I just went with the same on this one too.

I'm still loving this TV. Great picture and no buzz or worries over IR that drove me bonkers with the plasma.

11-25-2012, 08:14 PM	#1
ONE_DAY_AS_A_LION Expert Member Member since:May 2009 Blu-ray collection:138	Panasonic TC-L55ET5 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Panasoni...&skuId=4860489 This was on sale during Black Friday for like $799 or $899. Now that was a steal. Does anyone have one? I have a Panasonic plasma but it's old, so I'm looking for a new tv. Suggestions?

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12-20-2012, 04:52 PM	#2
BLeClair12 Blu-ray Guru Member since:Jul 2008 4K collection:743 Blu-ray collection:2068 Trading Score:5	This thread is pretty old at this point, so you've likely already made up your mind one way or another, but I figured I'd throw my two cents in... I've got the 42" version of this model. I didn't love it at first. In fact, I considered returning it. Not because the quality wasn't great - it's quite fantastic, but because I found the adjustment controls to be severely limited and I couldn't get the picture right for the life of me. After about four and a half months, I've gotten it to where I'm comfortable after several calibrations and tinkering. It had a strange yellowish/green tint on nearly everything. It also doesn't play nicely with other brand AV systems. My Sony HTiB just recently miraculously cured itself of a delay that had been nagging me for months. I have no idea how. I had given up and one day it was just gone. Really, though, those are just isolated issues. I paid $599 for the 42" and I'm completely satisfied. Now that I've corrected my problems, I love it. I'm not sure it's quite worth the asking price at Best Buy right now, but I'm sure a sale will come around again. And for the what it's worth, I think the 3D is fantastic as well.

01-25-2013, 02:05 PM	#3
Member-115369 Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Jun 2010 4K collection:3 Blu-ray collection:241 DVD collection:165	I ordered one from Amazon for $959.99 on Wednesday--but the price is back up to $1,259 now. I'm sending back a Panny PC-P55UT50 plasma that I couldn't stand the buzzing and IR on in exchange for it. Should get it on Monday.

01-28-2013, 07:17 PM	#4
Member-115369 Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Jun 2010 4K collection:3 Blu-ray collection:241 DVD collection:165	Posted my impressions and settings over on avsforums, figured I might as well post them here too. I just got the TC-L55ET5 today. Exchanged a 55UT50 plasma for it through Amazon. I had the plasma for a couple weeks but couldn't live with the buzz that I could hear 10+ feet away over dialogue in bright scenes (a tech came and changed out screws--didn't help) and was starting to get annoyed by IR from games and ESPN. Amazon was sold out of the UT50 so trying another wasn't an option, and I was pretty sure Plasma just wasn't for me since I have a brighter room, watch hours of ESPN and play a decent amount of games. After a few hours (TV was delivered around 10am) with the new set, I'm very happy with it. Completly silent, not buzz at all. Picture is awesome. Blacks and motion aren't as good as on the plasma a expected, but colors pop much more, the set is much better with my blinds open (though I still wish the screen wasn't glossy) and the 3D is surprisingly clearer. I expected the 3D to be worse being passive vs. active. But it looks better to my eyes (less double image/blurring of things far forward in the field). And I love not having to mess with batteries, turning glasses on etc. Picture uniformity seems solid, minimal light bleed in the corners as best I can tell. I'll preface all that by saying I"m not a videophile type and won't spend much time looking for problems. I tuned the picture settings using the Disney WoW disc, and this is what I came out with. Picture Mode: Cinema Back Light: 25 (just left that where it was) Contrast: 97 Brightness: 57 Color: 78 Tint: +2 Sharpness: 25 (didn't seem to make any difference to me turning it up or down (everything is hooked up via HDMI through my Denon 1312 receiver) so just put it at 25 fairly randomly Color Temp: Warm Color mgmt: off A.I. picture: off C.A.T.S. Off Video NR: Off Aspect Adjustments: Use Size 2 so you aren't losing 5% of picture with overscan in Size 1 HDMI Settings: Content type=Graphics Advanced Picture: Block NR: Off Mosquito NR: Off Motion Picture Setting: Off Black level: light I'm using those for 2D and 3D now (have to set 3D seperate--display 3D content then go into the picture menu)--both look great to me. The glasses don't seem to darken the picture much in 3D, unlike on the plasma where I had to bump contrast some for 3D.

02-01-2013, 04:18 PM	#5
BLeClair12 Blu-ray Guru Member since:Jul 2008 4K collection:743 Blu-ray collection:2068 Trading Score:5	I'm curious to know why you chose "graphics" for HDMI content type. What exactly does that feature do? I couldn't seem to figure it out and left everything on "auto" in that area.

02-01-2013, 08:44 PM	#6
Member-115369 Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Jun 2010 4K collection:3 Blu-ray collection:241 DVD collection:165	I don't really notice a difference. I just went with it as I briefly had Panny 55UT50 and most of the posted settings on AVS Forums for it said set it to graphics as the color accuracy was better. So I just went with the same on this one too. I'm still loving this TV. Great picture and no buzz or worries over IR that drove me bonkers with the plasma.

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