I finally got my first plasma over the holidays, the Panasonic S1 42", purchased for our bedroom. We LOVE the TV and think Plasma is just about as perfect as we could have ever imagined.

The only really knock on the S1 is that it has a slight greenish tint and the adjustments on the Pannys really are limited. We see this, to an extent, but it definitely hasn't bothered us on the bedroom tv where we don't watch as much tv.

We just got a new place and so I'm ready to buy one for the living room. This is where we watch a lot more tv, it's our personal home theater area.

We are replacing a CRT that's 57" and it's between the Panasonic 58" S1 and the 54" inch G10.

Our concerns with the S1 are whether that color problem might be more of a bother on a larger screen and on the tv where we really sit down and watch the majority of our movies. The positives is that I'm happy with 57", so this won't be a step down in size, it's still highly rated, and it's getting really cheap now. I think I saw it at Amazon for $1600 shipped and no taxes, which is only $100 more than the 54".

The pros to the G10 is that CNET claims the THX mode really does a great job of eliminating the majority of color issues and limitations Panny still has. So we'd almost certainly be getting a better picture. The downside on this model is that I wonder if after being used to 57" for 4 years, if the 54" might seem small. The difference seems small in numbers, but I think your mind gets used to a certain size after so long and it might even seem smaller than it is and, if anything, we'd go up a little on the 57" not down. The other negative is that you don't really get price relief from the 58" to the 54" because the G10 model is a step up from the S1 and that negates any really savings because of size.

I've done all the looking and comparing, but it's not the same as getting it home and getting opinions from users here at DVDtalk who are usually really good in being able to push someone in the right direction when they're on the fence like this and it's such a close call.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

I have the 50" G10 and love it.

I don't think there are many differences between the S1 and G10 - the G10 has Vieracast (the ability to access various internet applications/streaming movies from the TV), 48Hz mode (although I don't use it because I can see the flicker), THX mode (very nice, but unfortunately too dark), and some better picture control.

I don't think know how big the 4" difference would be when comparing those sizes - if it were a 50" to a 60", I'd say go for the 60". Between a 54" higher-end model and a 58" (which is a little more), I'd say go with the 54".

The S2s are rumoured to be hitting sometimes later this month or early next month. Perhaps wait it out and get one of those instead? Price's came out for the 42 and I believe 50 at ~$100 less than the 2009 MSRP. If you check over at AVS there is a whole thread on the 2010 Panny Plasma line.

My 58" S1 has no colorcast whatsoever. I looked for it after hearing about this green colorcast issue and just can't see it.

Thanks, but I'm even more confused now from this reply. Neither TV does the 24p. Has anyone noticed that? The guy at BB said an HDTV that does do the 24p gives you better separation from the background to the foreground. Am I really going to notice this? For those who don't have it, do you find it to be something you wish that you had?

Your post says that the THX mode dims the pic too low and I've read this elsewhere. But, for me, the THX mode is the only reason that I'm considering this tv. If it doesn't make a big difference, then the 58" would seem a much better choice as I've just found out BB has the 58" S1 for $1499 and that's the same as the best deal I can find on the 54" G10.

Exact same price, so if THX isn't a game changer and handling 24p from BD naturally is over-rated, then the 58" would be a no-brainer.

What do you think?

This post scares me. I mean, at some point you just have to take the plunge and I'm not going to be upgrading I don't think for 10 years.

So, it took almost all of 2009 before the S1s were around $1700, then the holidays came and cyber Monday had it around $1450 and now it's $1499 at BB. Can I really do any better than that for a 58" HDTV.

Though I do fear that the S2s will be able to handle 24p and I should have just stuck it out one more year. Do you know if they will?

If not, it will be Nov or Dec before the 2010 models are $1499 and I think that's a pretty great price to jump in at.

I see it some with my 42", so it's there. I just wonder if it's going to be better on the 2010 models and I should just hold on one more year.

Since you own this TV I'm looking at buying tomorrow or Saturday, can you tell me about the 24p issue?

Do you notice it as any kind of issue when you're playing your BDs? Did you compare the 58" panny to anything that did handle 24p?

What made you pick the Panny? I know for about the same price there's a Samsung 550 that does handle 24p. The reviews from customers don't seem to be as good as the Pannys, though.

Thanks.

I went into BB again and think the 58" and $1499 to me seems like too good of a deal to pass up on. I almost bought this at $1750 from Amazon last year and thought that was an ok deal.

Just one last question, for ANYONE in the know, is it likely that the 2010 S2s will handle 24p from a Blu-Ray player like, say, some of the really expensive Pannys or the Samsung 550 (which even buzzed in the store)?

I'm sure the low end model from 2010 would be the only one I'd be able to get anywhere within $300 of this deal and if they add the feature, it would be the one thing I might consider before going in tomorrow waiting for.

I know some of you know details that were announced, so if you know this one, PLEASE let me know, because I'd really love to get this tomorrow. I thought the colors were plenty good enough, but even though I don't notice it in my bedroom that the blu-rays don't look more like film like because it doesn't do the 24p refresh, I'd still like it if I could afford it.

Thanks.

Well, it doesn't seem like anyone cares.

But we went ahead and bought the S1. The reviews are terrific, the price was very good, we didn't go smaller in size, and we finally have a 1080p plasma in the living room as of Monday!

Zombieland will be the last blu ray we ever will watch (on Sat) in 1080i on our old CRT.

We're happy.

Thanks for those who chose to offer some help and feedback.

Enjoy your new big plasma!!

Nobody cares - so in the span of 4 hours you didn't get a response and ran out and bought a TV? We don't move at the speed of AVS around here!

Anyway, the information on the S2s:

Anyway, hope you enjoy your S1!!

I'm trying to figure out why people care so much about 24p. I thought everyone cared about 120 & 240Hz, not 24. If I want to see film flicker, I'll go see a film.

I was teasing about the nobody cares thing. That's why I used the sad face...sarcasm. I'm not a big user of those, but I didn't want people to get the idea I was being serious and I still screwed up.

Yes, I asked for your opinions and still ran out pretty quickly, but I did a lot of other research and there just didn't seem to be another good option for us. The price was right and the reviews were great.

Neither my wife or I are videophiles like most of you and especially at AVS, so I think we'll be happy. Oh, that's not to say we don't appreciate a great picture, just that we don't notice with an eagle eye a lot of things others seem to see very easily.

Would anyone like to take a crack at helping me with the basic settings only? I could really use your help by Sunday, because it's coming on Monday.

I got my bedroom plasma around Christmas and used CNETs settings even for break in. For the first 200 hours we try and watch almost everything that fills the screen. If we watch a movie with an aspect ratio that has bars still, we'll watch several things after or later/next that fill the screen. Very common sense and here's what CNET listed:
Cinema
Contrast 55
Brightness 63
Color 32
Tint 0
Sharp 0

That seemed fine to me for break in. Maybe tweak it after, push the contrast up a bit at least.

But the 58" same friggin' series (S1) and this is what they have:
Cinema
Contrast 100
Brightness 63
Color 32
Tint 3
Sharp 0

That doesn't seem right and I'm guessing that can't be good for break in to have the contrast that high. They're basically identical other than the crazy jump in contrast and the very small difference in tint.

Can anyone give me some feedback? Should I just dial it down to the 55 (for contrast) that CNET has listed for the 42"? Any other suggestions?

Much appreciated.

Go to AVSForums and find a thread that is dedicated to settings for the S1 series. You'll find a lot of suggested settings there and many that have been calibrated.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...7#post17210257

That contrast is sounds way too high for normal viewing. Checked out TweakTV's for comparison and they have the same thing.

http://www.tweaktv.com/tweak-my-tv/c...c-p58s1-3.html