I G10 U.S.
hanno la modalità THX. Prima di parlare male degli altri (addirittura di CNET), informati. Una googlata costa 1 minuto.
E a tal proposito, ti dirò che la modalità THX sui loro G10 aveva presentato sin dall'inizio evidenti errori di calibrazione, ed in AVSforum esiste un thread solo su quel problema. Stessa cosa avvenne per i V10 italiani. La differenza è che per i V10 ci fu/qualcuno trovò un aggiornamento firmware che forse risolse il problema, per i G10, a distanza di 8-9 mesi e fino ad un paio di settimane fa, invece no, nonostante panasonic, davanti alle numerose lamentele dei possessori, avesse promesso di risolvere già diversi mesi fa.
Tornando agli ulteriori test eseguiti recentemente da CNET, onde evitare ulteriori critiche infondate, riporto di seguito il pezzo saliente:
"Panasonic has confirmed that its plasma TVs reproduce brighter black levels by design as they age, but will not divulge exactly how much brighter after how long. New testing conducted by CNET provides some hints.
Results from two aged Panasonic plasma TVs purchased in 2009 indeed show brighter blacks, and correspondingly reduced picture quality, compared with similar 2009 models with fewer hours.
The two aged TVs were a TC-P50G10 owned by CNET Senior Editor John Falcone and a TC-P42G10 loaned to us by CNET reader Efrain Perez. Both had approximately 1,500 hours of use, which at the average rate of 5.2 hours per day works out to about 9.6 months of age, at the time testing was conducted. We also measured another 50-inch TC-P50G10 and a 50-inch TC-P50V10, each with about 500 hours.
According to our measurements, the models with 1,500 hours both reproduced black at 0.023 footlamberts; the 500-hour models measured 0.008.
In an attempt to corroborate the measurements with real-world material, we conducted a side-by-side viewing session, attended by CNET staff and otherwise modeled after our standard TV test procedure, that pitted Efrain's TV against the 50-inch V10. When we originally compared a G10 with the V10 in 2009, using new review samples, we called their black level performance "basically the same."
That wasn't the case this time around. In dark scenes from "The Dark Knight" on Blu-ray, the 500-hour V10 clearly displayed a darker shade of black than the 1,500-hour G10, leading to more-realistic reproduction of nighttime city-scapes in Chapters 2 and 8, for example, the rooftop parlay in Chapter 8, and the silhouette of Bruce Wayne as he enters the room in Chapter 18. The difference was also visible in letterbox bars, albeit less so, in numerous brighter scenes. This viewing session was conducted with each TV set to the default THX picture mode, with no adjustments made to any picture settings.
Questions linger
The differences we observed and measured could be the result of what the company calls the normal aging process. According to Panasonic's statement, made after we first reported user complaints about this issue: "...Panasonic Viera plasma HDTVs incorporate an automatic control, which adjusts an internal driving voltage at predetermined intervals of operational hours. As a result of this automatic voltage adjustment, background brightness will increase from its initial value."
For what it's worth, however,
these increases in black level performance over time don't seem normal in our experience. I haven't noticed any sudden change in black level on my 2005 Panasonic at home, for example, and a Pioneer Kuro we've used as a reference since September 2008 shows no increase.
Unfortunately we're still not sure about the true extent of the loss in black level performance. The sample size involved in our test is still quite small among the thousands of Panasonic plasma TVs sold last year. In addition, we have yet to observe or measure any substantial change in the models we're testing. The only way to know for sure how these TVs change as they age is to conduct a long-term test using more samples, something that's currently beyond CNET's resources.
We contacted Panasonic with these test results but the company declined to comment because of pending litigation related to the issue.
In the past the company claimed in response to our questions that the proprietary information regarding specific hour counts is a trade secret, and that black level performance is difficult to measure. In our experience, however, it's relatively simple to get consistent results (see our procedure below).
'But really, will I notice the difference?'
Panasonic also claims that "Customer satisfaction with our Viera Plasma's has been excellent. We are confident that the long-term black level performance will continue to provide customers with an excellent picture over years of use."
But in Efrain's case at least, customer satisfaction is not excellent. He tells us he first noticed the change himself "around late December/early January while I was watching 'Blade Runner' in the dark." He hadn't yet read about the issue on CNET, and had never previously visited AVS Forum where the first reports surfaced. He called the change "really noticeable and detrimental," and said he didn't agree with the characterization by Panasonic's Bob Perry calling it "subtle even among trained experts." Efrain does not consider himself a videophile or a video quality expert.
In an e-mail exchange he told us:
As for the TV's current performance, I am disappointed by it. Prior to purchasing the Panasonic G10, I owned a 2008 Samsung LN40A650 40-inch LCD, and I decided to switch to plasma because of the exceptional black levels and viewing angles it affords. When I first got the Panasonic, I loved it. The blacks were as deep as I have ever seen on a plasma outside of the Pioneer KURO. But now, to my eyes, the black levels on my G10 have diminished to the point that it looks more like my old Samsung when viewed from the "sweet spot" in the middle.
Efrain contacted Panasonic in late January and after getting nowhere with the company's customer service--the rep actually sent him Panasonic's original February 3 statement one day later--offered to send us his TV for testing.
Like other customers who have noticed the loss on black-level performance, many of whom posted comments to our stories, Efrain bought the TV expecting a certain level of picture quality. Like most of those customers and many CNET readers in general, he's evidently a tech enthusiast who weighs his buying decisions carefully.
So is John Falcone, and he didn't notice the change at all on his TV at home, which also measured the same elevated black levels. John says he rarely watches in a completely darkened room. Echoing his sentiments, numerous other commenters to our stories claim not to have noticed any increase. "
Link all'articolo completo.
Un'ultima considerazione: la sonda utilizzata da CNET per le misurazioni non è il classico "sondino amatoriale", bensì una delle migliori che ci sono in giro (
LINK), e che attualmente costa in U.S. circa
3.400 USD.
Tra i numerosi utenti che hanno rilevato variazioni analoghe sul livello del nero, ci sono anche Tom Huffman (autore, tra l'altro, del software di calibrazione ChromaPure) e D-Nice, due famosi calibratori professionisti. Una class-action non la si avvia senza prove concrete, visto anche i costi che comporta.
Ed infine ti ricordo che la risposta data da Panasonic Italia ad AV Mag. l'altro giorno, è stata la stessa che fu data da Panasonic U.S. a CNET
in forma scritta dal VP Bob Perry, quindi potete mettervi il cuore in pace sia per i modelli 2009 che per quelli 2010. Questi sono fatti, non chiacchiere da bar.
La cosa incredibile è che mentre in U.S. hanno avviato giustamente un class-action, molti di voi invece continuano a stare dalla parte di panasonic, cercando ogni piccolo dettaglio per sminuire la cosa, occultarla o metterla in dubbio. Neanche l'ammissione "costretta" della stessa panasonic vi è bastata. Mi piacerebbe davvero sapere chi ve lo fa fare se siete "customer", ma se invece siete "dealers", allora è tutto chiaro.