Calling All Panny 'BD10A Owners: What "Picture Mode" Do You Use?

[ClinicaTerra LTD]

Fumbling around with the Panny 10A's different "modes" to select when watching Blu-rays and DVDs (under the onscreen menu's "VIDEO" tab), there are choices for NORMAL, FINE, SOFT, CINEMA and USER...I have been using NORMAL for DVD and BD playback as the other modes I have tried just seem to make the picture worse -- FINE is the worst of all of them, as it introduces more grain and noise, while I don't really know what benefit CINEMA has; the USER selection opens up choices for calibrating the video all over again with COLOR, BRIGHTNESS, SHARPNESS, two kinds of noise reduction and more...

After fooling with all these selections for awhile, I came to the conclusion that NORMAL seems the best mode, and the display should be calibrated without needing to fool with picture controls inside the player...

What do you other owners use for picture mode?

Also...what's the deal with the "TRANSFER" selection on these Panny players? Should this be left on AUTO 1 or is this not the correct setting?

[Dotpattern]

I've got mine set to normal and made all adjustments in my tv using the calibration tool on the Ratatouille BD. I've also left the Transfer to Auto1. My BDs and DVDs have all looked great.

[ClinicaTerra LTD]

Thank you DotPattern...

Thanks for sharing your settings -- seems "Normal" is the preferred setting but I was just curious...I played with all the settings like SOFT, FINE, CINEMA and USER but they just didn't seem to look good at all -- FINE in particular made the picture look so much grainier it wasn't even funny...

Anyone else? Do all you '10A owners use NORMAL mode? And what is the deal with the TRANSFER selection -- should this be on AUTO 1 or 2?

[ClinicaTerra LTD]

How about anyone else that owns a 'BD10A or other Panasonic -- Dot shared his settings with me, but do you other owners use the Normal picture mode as well, or do you use other ones?

The Soft, Fine and Cinema modes seem to make the picture worse unless I'm not seeing something right; anyone else use these modes?

And what should that "Transfer" setting be on -- is AUTO 1 the correct mode?

[tiger roach]

I had mine on the default settings, and just used the panel's settings to calibrate the picture. Maybe I should experiment.

Can't do it now though, my BD10A is at the Panasonic service center because it froze up for no reason.

[ClinicaTerra LTD]

Thanx for your thoughts Tiger...

The default settings for DVD and BD are the "Normal" picture modes; this seems to look best to my eye and like you, I calibrated my display which seemed to be more important than going into the picture settings of the USER menu of these players and adjusting them there...

Sorry to hear about your 10A...it just froze up out of nowhere?

While I haven't had any problems like that or any major problems so far, I question this deck for many reasons, and I'm looking forward to replacing it soon.

[tiger roach]

Originally Posted by ClinicaTerra LTD

Sorry to hear about your 10A...it just froze up out of nowhere?

While I haven't had any problems like that or any major problems so far, I question this deck for many reasons, and I'm looking forward to replacing it soon.

Yeah, just tried to crank it up one day, it got stuck on "hello" and the tray would never open. Tried everything, key combinations, power off etc, and so did the guy on the phone, but no luck.

Other than this little bump in the road, my only gripe with the deck is the flip-down panel in front. I don't know what they were thinking there. I hope to get a couple more years of use out of it.

Although the new Pioneers look awful sexy...

[ClinicaTerra LTD]

Originally Posted by tiger roach

Yeah, just tried to crank it up one day, it got stuck on "hello" and the tray would never open. Tried everything, key combinations, power off etc, and so did the guy on the phone, but no luck.

Other than this little bump in the road, my only gripe with the deck is the flip-down panel in front. I don't know what they were thinking there. I hope to get a couple more years of use out of it.

Although the new Pioneers look awful sexy...

Damn...too bad...but -- perhaps it's an excuse to get a new one?

I'm probably the only one in the modern world who actually likes the flip down door on the Panasonics; I think it makes them look sophisticated. I don't mind closing the panel every time I load a disc, and I like the glowing blue "Blu-ray" light. However, I cannot excuse Panasonic for not including an eject button or load button on the remote -- a problem they have never addressed even with some of their DVD players. I mean, it's a bit ridiculous -- you're hosting a film gathering or party or having people over to your home theater, and you literally have to walk up to the player, pull the door down, load the disc and close it all while standing there...and then, you have to walk away in time to dim the lights and get back to your seat before the "FBI Warnings" and coming attractions...

Yeah...I was being told about those Pioneers...I may actually consider one for the next player, but the choices are very daunting...I don't know which will give "better" BD playback than another; I was considering the $1000 Denon, or perhaps the Marantz deck...but then there are the Sonys and Pioneers...