Panasonic Viera TC-50PX14 720p Plasma

MyLittleViking

I just purchased this TV not too long ago and was wondering what I need to get the best picture quality out of this TV. Of the upconverting DVD players I've tried, none have done a better job at displaying the 1024 x 768 native resolution (720p) better than the TV itself.

Is there a way to change the resolution of the TV or will it always default at 720p? When playing a Blu-Ray, will the TV automatically "down-convert" to the native resolution or would it be better to set my Blu-Ray player to 720p?

What do I need to know about the 600Hz Sub-field Drive? I saw a real difference in the 60 Hz and 120 Hz LCD's, is 600 Hz that much better or just marketing mumbo jumbo?

Does it use the standard 24 fps or do I need to set it to this mode?

Are there any "tricks of the trade" that will improve the picture quality?

Using good quality HDmi cables... and an Oppo BDP-83 player...

Also, when hooking up to a Home Theater system, will there be any degragation of the sound quality when using the optical out off my TV.

Thanks in advance!

jam269

Nope, 720p is it, unless it has specific modes, like "PC Mode" or something similar. The TV will always upconvert video lower than 720p (Like Standard Definition) to 720p, and downconvert video higher than 720p (Like 1080i HD) to its native resolution, which is 720p.
Yep, see above - As far as to which one is better, TV or Blu-Ray: Some TV's do a better job at downconverting than others, so my suggestion is to try both and see if one is better than the other. My guess is that the TV will do a much better job.

It means almost nothing for Plasma. Plasmas do not have the blurring problems that LCD's have. LCD's are overcoming the blurring problems by increasing their refresh rates (those 60 Hz, 120 Hz, and now also 240 Hz you refer to), but for Plasmas that is not the same thing.
It supports it, according to panasonic's website. As far as enabling it, not sure, check the manual.
You might want to consider calibration DVD's. Avia or DVE (Digital Video Essentials) calibration discs are 2 popular ones.
Probably not one you'll notice. I'm guessing you're not an audiophile, so optical will be fine.

Congrats on the purchase, enjoy!

MyLittleViking

I notice motion issues with plasma vs. my old CRT, is this more of an issue of getting "used to" watching a new TV than an issue with plasma??

jam269

Partly yes... but CRTs, for overall Picture Quality (including motion), are still unbeaten.

MyLittleViking

most of the motion issues I notice are with out-of-focus images in the background, will this become unnoticable over time?

PFC5

This is more about the size of the screen being so much bigger than your CRT screen was. I think you will not notice this after getting use to the larger screen size. Plasma is the closest to the tech used in CRT (using phosphors) with many more resolution benefits over CRT but slightly lessor black level quality. Getting a calibration disc will likely help quite a bit to adjust the settings and make this look better with all sources also.

I believe plasma is about the same response speed as CRT and both are something like 1000x faster than LCDs and are measured in nanoseconds not milliseconds.

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