Owners of Panasonic's
recent plasma HDTVs have continued to push for more details on the "automatic control" the company cited as the cause of
suddenly elevated black levels and it has revealed a few more details in an email exchange with
CNET. Those hoping for some kind of patch or action in response to the changes will likely be disappointed however, as Senior VP Bob Perry put it, "there's nothing to fix." Citing trade secrets and a lack of a standard measure for black level performance, he also was unable to give any specifics about when the changes are designed to happen or by exactly how much. The company is promising technology in its
2010 models will offer a more gradual adjustment thanks to design adjustments, but that doesn't help current model owners left wondering if their set has, or will have in the future, degraded picture quality either by design or some software glitch. He did close by offering the olive branch of the
VIERA Concierge Program for dissatisfied customers -- we'll see if a happy resolution for all is still within reach.
[Thanks, Chris]
posted February 10th 2010 8:11AM
CRT is still the king.
@Astounding
Haha! Well, you're correct on some (black) level, of course .. but a 50" CRT, if it could have been, would weigh more than would ever be practical. No thanks. I have a 27" 720p Samsung CRT set. It's pretty cool with regard to motion and grayscale/blacks, but It really isn't better than my Panasonic Plasma in any practical sense. (even with it's slightly degraded blacks).
Does anyone know when the 2010 models come out? I thought it was around March.
This better not happen to my v10, its suppose to be the best for black levels other then the kuro.
I am very disappointed Panasonic. I once referred to your plasmas as the true successor to the Kuro, and have sold many a plasma at work to ignorant customers who came in thinking that LCD was the clearly better buy.
This problem is a big deal, and Panasonic's response to the situation has made me very displeased. I can't recommend a product which is faulty, and believe you me, plasma isn't just selling itself these days.
Remember, it is really only educated consumers who bother with plasmas, and these are the consumers who are going to have heard about all this. So if they aren't buying it, and educated sales staff are steering consumers towards Samsung, well, then I suppose that there isn't much else to say about your sales outlook is there?
@chrono5577 uhh .. sounds to me like retailers are going to start telling Panasonic to step up their game. I hope so. Hear that, Panasonic? Firmware update. ASAP, please. You can't afford this.
This is a really disappointing response from Panasonic that really shows how little they care about their customers. This is how you destroy brand loyalty.
I own a 58" TH-58PZ800U and recommended Panasonic to my gf's parents who recently bought a 54" TC-P54S1. We have all been happy with the quality and performance, but now I am filled with dread waiting for the black levels to crap out.
I will not support or recommend Panasonic products in the future. It is completely unethical and irresponsible to sell products where the quality significantly degrades over such short periods of time without warning the consumer.
if you REALLY read those posts in avsforums, an "affected" G10 measures about .015- .018fL- which is hardly unwatchable. in fact, it's pretty solid and in line with the G10 reviews i read last year from HDGuru, hometheatermag, and flatpanelsHD. it's also comparable to samsung's spva lcds, but anyone who's owned a panny before knows they dont have super deep blacks, but have instead relied on a fine balance of contrast, dynamic range (something lcds never get right) and shadow detail. maybe the avs guys thought they were getting kuro blacks for around $1000?
Wow. How long do you expect to keep this technology anyway. So what that the black levels shift once during it's tenure ... Oooh so you'll have to recalibrate. It's armaggedon!
@SuwaneeM3
+1