Adam1553552670

Taken a look a few times as their free trials get longer and longer, but there's barely anything on there, and it never seems to change. Mainly catalogue Warner Brothers, Universal, Sony and a handful from the BBC. Nothing of note from Fox or Paramount, classic Disney titles are all $5-7 a pop, and there's no HBO thanks to Sky. All of this goodness is wrapped up in a bundle of sub-DVD quality goodness, 48 playback windows, and cancellation only via phone. Makes the $15/month base price seem excessive, and adds up to a nice steaming pile of 'No thanks'. Netflix and Hulu crush it in every respect.

I got an email from Rapallo AV today saying that they now carry SVS speakers and subwoofers. I have to say I'm really pleased to hear this, as this is the first time we've had a NZ-based retailer (I bought my SVS sub from Deep Hz in Australia, and it definitely wasn't cheap getting a pallet of subwoofer shipped over the ditch). Here's hoping we also see HSU and Emotiva over here at some point. The SVS subs should give the big players (Velodyne, Paradigm etc) a bit of a stir, as they're very nicely priced compared to their direct competition.

Go into the player's setup and clear its persistent memory. Any bookmarks will be deleted.

I believe it's an 83, or at least a modified 83 (the manual states that there are two HDMI outputs yet it doesn't mention 3D and came out in 2009; it also says that it's 'Profile 2' yet doesn't appear to have an ethernet port. Maybe just a botched manual update?). The general caginess of the DAC descriptions and the total absence of pictures of the back panel (which gave the Theta away so quickly), including in the manual and online, makes me think quite a lot of it is straight from Oppo, but the chassis design must have involved some changes, and the LCD display is definitely not from Oppo. All I can say for certain is that it has an Oppo remote control, transport, and Mediatek internals. And an awful manual (although not as bad as the Theta: is there an inverse relationship between cost and the quality of the manual?)

The Eidos Reference Blue 2 Player. An Oppo in a stupid, oversized chassis. Like Theta, they were too cheap to even provide a different remote control. Hopefully it comes with a 'I am a moron' rubber stamp to be applied to the buyer's forehead once their cheque clears.

It's just a box with several HDMI inputs (usually 2-6), and an HDMI output. Some have a switch on the front that lets you choose the input you want, some have a remote control to do this, and some automatically select the first active input. They're not complicated devices. You can also get a splitter which reverses things and accepts a single HDMI input and has 2 or more simultaneous HDMI outputs. Like anything to do with HDMI, they are very device- and cable-sensitive, but if they work then you're set (it's a good idea to buy from someone who will let you return a switch and try another one if it doesn't play nice with your existing gear). Just like audiophile HDMI cables, there's really no such thing as an audiophile switch or splitter. They either work or they don't. Try RapalloAV, Jaycar or even Dick Smith.

There are plenty of models that can compete with it for sound quality, and nearly anything from the major players released in the last three years can comprehensively better it in terms of features. However, if you're expecting to replace it with a newer unit and hear a radical difference in sound quality, you will probably be disappointed. Save yourself thousands and just get an external switch. They work fine and won't degrade sound quality. When 4K comes along, you will only have one source and players will undoubtedly, like many of the first 3D Blu-ray players, support backward-compatibility with an HDMI 1.3 output for audio. Maybe revisit things then. That is, unless you've simply got a bad case of upgraditis. If that's the case just give in and buy something new.

All of these discs were already mastered in 4K, and the audio is already lossless (so no audio changes, as with Superbit). This sounds like Sony simply repackaging existing discs, just like they did last year with their 'Best of Blu-ray' line.

There's a good review of these speakers by Kal Rubinson in Stereophile. I think they're a great set of speakers if you have the room. On the bench they measure among the flattest speakers you can buy, which may put off people used to speakers with a lot of 'character' (ie. speakers with big lumps and troughs). I can't comment on Jamo as I've never heard a pair.

I'm not sure why the KEFs are so cheap here, but they sound fantastic. I upgraded to them (and a Q600c centre) from a full B&W system earlier this year. I much prefer the sound of the KEFs to the B&W 683s that I had initially planned to buy, and that was before considering the astronomical price difference. They have gone up recently, though: I only paid $1499 for them in July (I thought this price was a mistake but decided to try anyway and they arrived a couple of days later). Incidentally, Avalon, the importers of KEF also import Onkyo, which is also very cheap here compared with the rest of the world.

Panasonic are already using LG panels, complete with passive 3D technology, in their LCD TVs. The TV market is generally a black hole for profits, and the market is already saturated with sales continuing to fall around the world. They don't really have any choice but to focus on models and technologies that promise better margins. Sony are doing something similar by cutting the number of TV models they produce by half.

Blu-ray music videos are usually 1080i/60 which uses about 20% more bandwidth than 1080p/24, so possibly the HDMI cable isn't coping. 15 metres is a pretty long way for an HDMI cable and this could be the problem, depending on the interaction between the cable and the hardware. Can you try another cable, or add an inline repeater (like this)? On the other hand, I would expect problems to show up pretty quickly rather than after 10 to 20 minutes...

Yes, it will record to a USB HDD. Look at the bottom of this page (click 'Tech Specs' then scroll down to 'Features'. If you're paying cash I would have thought you could do better than that (it lists for only a few dollars more than that on the Harvey Norman website, without any haggling).

Yay. Just checked Youtube on the ST50 and it's now in 720p.

Just sent them a message via their website.

I just tested this on my ST50. No Youtube in HD here either. I checked my line speed and it was just over 11Mbps, and the TV has the latest firmware. Now, interestingly, when I fired up the Smart TV interface on my bedroom Samsung LED, Youtube was notably absent (it was one of the first apps I installed when we got it). A few seconds later the TV told me it was running a Service Update and installing 'Youtube on TV' (that's a new name) which took about 20 seconds. When it was finished, Youtube started and I was streaming in HD without a hitch (I always go straight to the GoPro HD promos). It looks like Panasonic are just behind the ball a bit on this most recent Youtube change. Hopefully they can get an update out for it soon. Youtube made unannounced changes to some of their audio parameters causing audio problems with some Panasonic products Youtube's audio and video are linked: high quality audio is only available when HD video is also selected. Maybe someone noted a consequence (poor audio quality) without picking up the underlying cause (no HD video).

Adam : Do you have plans to get the panel calibrated? Are you planning on any particular bed-in procedure? Probably not, as it's just used for TV viewing and maybe the odd Blu-ray. I'll calibrate it myself using Spears & Munsil and DVE, and probably leave it at that. I normally run with lower contrast and brightness settings for the first hundred hours or so, but I haven't experienced much image retention for a few years (at least with my Samsungs). Does the power supply buzz like Fahrenheit's GT50 ? Not that I can detect. It's much quieter than any of my previous Samsungs, in fact. If I hold my ear a few centimetres from the screen I can hear a gentle electrical hum, but I've never encountered a plasma that doesn't do this. Picture quality is really very good. The black levels especially. The SmartViera stuff seems a bit more primitive than than Samsung's Smart TV (even on my 2011 6 series), and the DLNA client application is very primitive (about on par with the Oppo 93's: just a long list of titles without any options to sort alphabetically/by date/by name). Sound quality isn't much to shout about, but general build quality is definitely a step up from Samsung (even the Series 8). Now to spin some Blu-rays...

I picked up a 65ST50 this afternoon, to replace my 2011 Samsung PS59D6900 which decided to kick the bucket on Sunday after 13 months. I'm sure Samsung will fix it, but after having a few issues with this model (first returned for screen defects and a few niggly bugs that continued to annoy me) I want to try something else, and go up in size at the same time. At Harvey Norman they had the ST50, VT30 and the new Samsung PS64E8000 set up along a wall which allowed them to be compared easily. The Samsung had a great picture (looked essentially the same as last year's to me), but was nearly $4900 and had a lot of silly features I didn't want to pay for (voice/motion control, a second touch/voice activated remote etc). The 65" VT30 was $4300, but the contouring on faces was just unbearable to me, and the black border made it look huge (wife would hate that). The ST50 had a really excellent picture (better than the VT30 IMO, but blacks not as deep as the GT50 a few feet away). I'm not too wild about the design (looks like a Samsung knock-off with the same transparent border) and the bezel is a reflective grey, but I'm sure I can live with it. The year's range is a heck of a lot better looking than last year's hideous designs though, I have to say. The price, $3598, was just too good to pass up so I took it. This is my first Panasonic plasma in years after a straight run of three Samsungs (42Q91, 50B850, 59D6900), so I'm hoping for a positive experience.

Not sure yet. I could get Panasonic to clean it, but it means shipping up to Auckland. Given how new it is I'm not too keen to do it myself and void the warranty...

It looks like my scepticism wasn't misplaced. Tonight I noticed a faint dust blob on the upper right-hand quarter of the AE7000's picture. So much for a sealed light path!

So to recap, he should be pleased to accept the offer of a repair as when it inevitably breaks down again he 'might' be able to argue that, as a known issue, it 'should' be covered by the CGA and be repaired yet again (if Sony feel like it). But you don't really expect Sony to be in the market when this happens anyway. And just asking for a new TV that isn't faulty from the outset, removing the need to go through this hassle, is just being greedy. OK. Sounds reasonable to me.

As he says, if it's a design flaw then it will just happen again (and probably won't be covered by the CGA when it does). This fact will always be in the back of his mind. If I were in his position I also would want to wash my hands entirely of that TV model.

I rarely cleaned my AE2000's filter, and on the few occasions I did it didn't seem to be dirty at all. Given its environment, the sealing of the case, our typical indoor temperatures and low altitude I don't imagine leaving it alone poses any risks. The lens shift wheels on the AE1000-4000 were/are much easier to use than the current AE7000's (and AR100's) joystick. It's almost impossible to get the lens position right without overshooting and then having to fiddle around for an eternity. It's actually more difficult to use than the one on the AX100 (the last projector I owned with this joystick system) as the new lens is so big. I've watched a few 3D movies and they can be really impressive. The problem is the lack of good content. When a movie does come out in 3D on Blu-ray, there's a good chance it's a 2D title that has been poorly converted to 3D in post-production rather than actually filmed with 3D cameras. These typically still look better in 2D, overall (titles like Thor, Conan, Priest and Captain America). Some, like the last two Harry Potter movies and Clash of the Titans, are practically unwatchable in 3D. There are only a handful of 'genuine' live-action 3D movies (Avatar, Resident Evil 4, Tron Legacy and Transformers 3 among them) and a variety of animated flicks. Even some animated films (like Alice in Wonderland and The Smurfs) are only natively 3D during their animated sequences. I've got about 35-40 3D titles all-up now, but I don't go out of my way to get them any more (when I first got 3D I bought a lot of titles from the US and UK). It doesn't look like the situation is getting better either, with more big-budget conversions on the way, including Titanic, Finding Nemo and *shudder* Star Wars Episode 1 coming to 3D soon. The AE7000's primary duties have turned out to be with 2D Blu-ray, and luckily it excels with these. It also reportedly has a 'nearly' sealed optical block that's immune to dust blobs. If so, this will be my first Panasonic projector that hasn't had them (AE100, AE500, AX100, AE2000)...

Brightness '0'? Is that correct? If so that's probably the problem.

Not much you can do about it, although from experience cleaning the filter actually makes it more likely to occur thanks to the projector's (not very sealed) design. My old home theatre room was pretty clean but I still got dust blobs every few months, so I think it's just luck whether you get them or not. My previous AE2000 was set up on a ceiling and it only took a few seconds to get back into position after a clean: most of the hard work is when you first set up (consider yourself fortunate: Panasonic's latest projectors are much harder to set up thanks to their goofy 'joystick' lens adjustment system).