My first plasma in 2019-advice welcome!

[captainsolo]

I recently found an amazing deal on a very good condition ST60 Panasonic plasma and since I've never gotten to physically own one before I said why not.
So far I'm quite impressed with the results even though the ST60 is not the top tier of the final 2013 plasmas and my XBR960 is no slouch and gives the plasma a run for its money in many areas. I've only done some rudimentary tests and input the DNice recommended settings.

Since this is a whole new ballgame for me any advice is welcome.

First question: What does everyone use for motion settings? Currently on 24p Blu-ray playback I see some noticeable judder going on.

[slimdude]

I have a plasma TV in my bedroom, but since I don't watch sports events, that's when motion blur and judder is usually detected, I don't have a problem with it. Here's an article from Sound and Vision that should help you:

https://www.soundandvision.com/conte...r-my-plasma-tv

[halloween5309]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

I recently found an amazing deal on a very good condition ST60 Panasonic plasma and since I've never gotten to physically own one before I said why not.
So far I'm quite impressed with the results even though the ST60 is not the top tier of the final 2013 plasmas and my XBR960 is no slouch and gives the plasma a run for its money in many areas. I've only done some rudimentary tests and input the DNice recommended settings.

Since this is a whole new ballgame for me any advice is welcome.

First question: What does everyone use for motion settings? Currently on 24p Blu-ray playback I see some noticeable judder going on.

u are lucky to get one at a good price these days

[sa5150]

I have a like new ST50 if anyone is interested (I think there is a way to see how many hours it has been used but I can't find the setting) , Anyone out there know how to do this ?

[captainsolo]

I think it varies by model but there should be a submenu on Panasonics that give a bit of data and one should be the hours indicator.

[Jek Porkins]

Originally Posted by halloween5309

u are lucky to get one at a good price these days

Sorry to threadjack, but what IS a good price these days? I lurk this subforum from time to time because I've got a NIB 65" ZT60 that's been in climate controlled storage since I bought it. (I know I should be watching it, but my life's taken some crazy turns that are too long to describe here.) I always wonder if I should try to sell it and put the proceeds towards an OLED, but I've got a perfectly matched BDP-103 for it and figure it's still a television worth having? Plus dealing with shipping, let alone me not knowing if it's stillborn from sitting in the box for so long . . . I just let it lie in waiting.

[halloween5309]

Originally Posted by Jek Porkins

Sorry to threadjack, but what IS a good price these days? I lurk this subforum from time to time because I've got a NIB 65" ZT60 that's been in climate controlled storage since I bought it. (I know I should be watching it, but my life's taken some crazy turns that are too long to describe here.) I always wonder if I should try to sell it and put the proceeds towards an OLED, but I've got a perfectly matched BDP-103 for it and figure it's still a television worth having? Plus dealing with shipping, let alone me not knowing if it's stillborn from sitting in the box for so long . . . I just let it lie in waiting.

it's worth probaly $1,500 in that condition

[captainsolo]

It all depends on the market for used plasmas. Educated buyers know which models are worthy and higher end but most plasmas are of course not in great shape or have a lot of hours.

If you look on local sales they generally go for anywhere between 100 and 500 depending on make, model etc. I’ve been holding out to find either a Kuro or Panasonic and usually every sub 300 dollar one has bad hdmi ports or some issue. Most of the good plasma sales are on the avs forum and someone locally had a vt60 I’d love to have gotten but the $500 asking price while very reasonable was too much for me right now.

Also because I found this st60 for only $90! (That was his listing price. It was an example of someone just wanting it gone and not caring what they got for it.) The seller lived in a very high end neighborhood and hadn’t even used it very much. He had just wanted to upgrade to a big panel for a bonus space so when I got there the Panasonic just had a roku box plugged in and nothing else. I tested it for a few minutes and he looked over in surprise at the Blu-ray of Spartacus I was using to test it with and asked about it looking so great. Then he asked me if Blu-ray was better than dvd and I had to try really hard not to sigh!!

So in short I got super lucky on finally finding a good set but it took months of on and off searching. If you post it for sale locally be prepared to get all kinds of lowball offers from those who don’t even know about plasmas etc.

[Pondosinatra]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

I recently found an amazing deal on a very good condition ST60 Panasonic plasma and since I've never gotten to physically own one before I said why not.
So far I'm quite impressed with the results even though the ST60 is not the top tier of the final 2013 plasmas and my XBR960 is no slouch and gives the plasma a run for its money in many areas. I've only done some rudimentary tests and input the DNice recommended settings.

Since this is a whole new ballgame for me any advice is welcome.

First question: What does everyone use for motion settings? Currently on 24p Blu-ray playback I see some noticeable judder going on.

My advice is to get a 2nd one and keep it as a spare....and hang on to them for as long as possible....ideally forever.

[captainsolo]

Unfortunately I have noticed a lip sync audio issue where when watching a movie the sync seems to go off after about the half way point and it becomes really obvious for a scene or two then suddenly seems to go back in sync at some later point.

I started searching online and found that Panasonic had done a specific firmware upgrade to address the sync issue. I already knew about the big input lag on this model but since I don't plan to game on it I didn't think it would be an issue. However to my dismay when I pulled up the firmware page it appears my TV has the latest firmware already installed on it.

I've been using my PS3 for BD playback through my Onkyo TX-nr626 receiver via HDMI. I believe I was using HDMI input 1. I've never had to use any offset values as I'm usually running into an HDCRT for my display and using external speakers which has no audio sync issues whatsoever. I'm still using the same receiver and external speakers and if I switch back to the HDCRT there are no sync issues at all.

If I switch over to HDMI2 with the ARC could that solve my problem?

So far this is killing my enthusiasm for an otherwise fantastic unit. i have every additional feature disabled including all motion smoothing and this isn't connected to any online functionality. I used the DNice recommended settings and am only using this for Blu-ray playback via HDMI.

I fixed my other issue which was some ghosting type artifacts on 3D playback. Apparently the tv defaults to a higher refresh rate and when switching back to a lower 96fps rate it resolves the issue. Of course I found this help on an old thread AFTER finishing the movie!

[captainsolo]

I finally got the lip sync issue resolved...I think. Since I've never had to dabble much with ARC I realized I hadn't gotten my tv and receiver to fully engage with each other. Now that that's settled the sync seems spot on. Oddly the tv will seem to default to tv speakers a few days later.

The weird thing is that in doing this if I then watch with headphones into my receiver the sync is off and I then have to disable ARC to get proper sync.

[captainsolo]

Turns out I was mistaken. I had the lip sync issue still creep up over arc connection occasionally and tried everything I could think of even down to the different refresh rates on the plasma.

Then on a sudden hunch I tried one last thing and wouldn’t you know that was the problem?
I turned off 24p playback on my PS3 and restarted a disc and the sync was dead on with no issues whatsoever.

So apparently this is an issue inside the tv when any of the three 24p plackback rates are engaged.

[captainsolo]

I've tried every variant of CEC and ARC and other players to try and get the sync right but nothing seems to work. The only thing that gets perfect sync is disabling 1080/24p or playing Standard def materials. I've even tried the av sync and lip sync in my onkyo receiver and tried to adjust audio delay. I even used the same film on two different players simultaneously to get the tv audio and receiver audio to sync but even that didn't work.

[captainsolo]

I'm going to try and play around with this again. Once I finally figured out to disable 24p to solve the lip sync issue then I had the weird oddities happen in my speakers blowing the tweeter diaphragm. Since removing the plasma from the equation and replacing the dead diaphragms I've had no issues whatsoever.

Reposting this here:
I've had a weird issue pop up. Since my setup was built around my HDCRT I've had my ST60 on a stand in front of my CRT stand and receiver when in use. Suddenly one day the voice coil diaphragm on my Klipsch tower went out and I replaced it. Then the same thing has happened to my center. They've been fine for years and I've babied them.

Is there something plasma related that can cause speakers to blow their tweeters out? I have heard a slight frequency noise when watching with headphones plugged into my receiver and the plasma is on (onkyo txnr626, Senn hd380pros)

[Twm1988]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

Is there something plasma related that can cause speakers to blow their tweeters out? )

Not that I know of... I've had 3 different plasma screens over the last 15yrs, and I always have had my center channel speakers mounted right on top of the TV. Owned probably around 15 different center speakers for various amounts of time, and never had a tweeter or woofer die... and I like to lean into the volume too.

Most decently modern speakers (15 yrs old or newer) will have some sort of magnetic shielding or protection of some kind to protect against tube TV's and the like. Maybe someone you know can lend you their LCD, LED OLED TV to hook up in the plasma's place and see if you still hear that slight frequency noise with the headphones plugged in?

[captainsolo]

My klipsch speakers are a bit older but still rock solid. They're from the mid 90's and the towers I have are a bit newer from about the early 2000's.

It was so weird when they went because suddenly I noticed my right channel had gone out playing a dual mono track. Once I finally figured it out and replaced it a short while later the center went out.

After removing the plasma there have been no issues or noises whatsoever. You'd think that my HDCRT would emit more noise or frequency but the opposite is true.

[amarster]

I got a VT60 when it first came out in 2013 and had it calibrated. I had image retention from sports and news initially, but that eventually went away. I only watch cable 1080i premium channels and Blu-ray using my oppo on it. I have the motion set to low on 24 hz and absolutely love it! Hope you like your set! Plasma has been my best TV so far even if it's not 4k.

[captainsolo]

Well I just discovered the cause of my problem…plasmas and this st60 in particular emit rf frequency to a ridiculous degree. If my headphone cable gets anywhere the tv while on the noise is incredible.
Who thought this was a good idea?!?! The picture is gorgeous, the quirks are ok so long as I set my receiver delay to 200ms for 24p playback…but I have to have it far away from any gear or speakers to avoid issues.

[Dean L]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

Then he asked me if Blu-ray was better than dvd and I had to try really hard not to sigh!!

People are so dumb

[stonesfan129]

I've still got mine. Not sure what the model is but it's a 46" Panasonic Viera (TC-P46S30). I have been using it as a second TV in my bedroom. Doesn't get too hot and picture looks really nice for movies. I watch sports on it sometimes if they're on OTA TV. I would say plasmas look more natural to me (Panasonic Viera and Pioneer Kura) and the colors look better. Mine still has some minor temporary burn-in issues. I don't think this TV has many hours on it. However, the newer OLED sets are lighter (this one weighs about 75 lbs I think), they use far less power and you have newer things on them like 4K HDR/DV, more HDMI ports.