New Plasma TV - Choppy Motion at Times

[gofast182]

Just replaced my 7 y/o Panasonic plasma with a new one (I've always preferred the picture of a plasma unquestionably).

I notice when the subject matter is large on screen and moving (panning) I notice a choppiness I don't remember on my old one. Seems worse on some channels/shows/movies and not others. Are they shot with different frame rates? Again, not something I noticed so much on the old one.

It's one of the highest rated models there is in all of TV-dom so I'm wondering could it have to do with the same 7 y/o HDMI cable? I've read bandwidth of the cable makes a difference but shouldn't 1080p be 1080p whether it was 7 years ago or not?

I turned the motion smoother off as it utterly destroyed the picture and the old set didn't have or need it. Thoughts? New HDMI cable? A setting I'm not looking at?

As an aside the detail is utterly spectacular, even better than the old one now in the bedroom.

 

[eljefino]

HDMI is HDMI. It's digital so if it works at all it's perfect.

Sounds like compression artifacts. What's your source? Cable box? Can you get something off the air? Fox will be 720p while the other networks 1080i.

The old TV probably had a better algorithm for smoothing. As you say you tried smoothing and hated it.

It also sounds like a mish-mosh of frame rates, I've used 1080i with 29.97 frames or 59.94 fields. Don't have much 1080p content. If you have a top/bottom field first option to mess with in either TV or cable box, try the other setting.

 

[gofast182]

My understanding of HDMI as well, a standardized digital signal that the TV processes. And even though the refresh rate is double, that's internal to the TV itself thus separate from the 'bandwidth' of the HDMI cable.

I have Verizon FiOS coming from the cable box.

Note that I see it most during horizontal motion.

Yes the motion smoother added horrible, distracting digital artifacts in the wake of anything that moved.

The TV is a Panasonic TC-P50ST60 (http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/panasonic-tc-p55st60/4505-6482_7-35567256.html). Again the picture quality by itself is second to none, incredibly sharp, color is natural, and not artificially bright. I just can't figure out why I'd notice motion more on a new one than a 7 y/o one, a little disappointing in that sense.

 

[mattwithcats]

New cable box?

Old HD Verizon boxes are silver, with a clock on the front.
New are black, no clock..

 

[97prizm]

The refresh rates on that tv are odd. Most if not all current tvs refresh in increments of 60. The fact that this tv refreshes at 48,60 and 96 hertz may be the reason for the picture motion looking different.

 

[john_pifer]

Great TV. I have last year's model, the ST50, that I got on Cyber Monday last yr.

 

[john_pifer]

One word of warning - don't spend a lot of time on a news channel with a static logo until the display is broken in. I got some minor burn-in, as, 90% of the time, I'm on Fox News Channel.

A little shadowing is visible in the bottom left corner if the TV is displaying a totally white screen. It's not even visible during normal viewing, though. And, it's not getting any worse despite continued viewing of Fox, indicating that the (minor) damage was done during the break-in period.

 

[Rolla07]

Yeah i would say its likely your cable source..cable box? Get a new hdmi cable for under 10$ and try it..its worth trying. I think its you're cable box not tv.

 

[gofast182]

Originally Posted By: mattwithcats
New cable box?

Old HD Verizon boxes are silver, with a clock on the front.
New are black, no clock..

Older cable box w/ DVR. Silver with orange clock.

 

[gofast182]

Originally Posted By: john_pifer
Great TV. I have last year's model, the ST50, that I got on Cyber Monday last yr.

Thanks. This motion thing does annoy me a little bit but overall the clarity and naturalness of the picture is phenomenal.

 

[gofast182]

Originally Posted By: Rolla07
Yeah i would say its likely your cable source..cable box? Get a new hdmi cable for under 10$ and try it..its worth trying. I think its you're cable box not tv.

But it was the same one (of each) for the last TV. I'll try a new cable first.

 

[05LGTLtd]

Have you tried another hd source?, do you get the same motion issue from a BluRay disc?

 

[RTexasF]

Have you tried the recommended settings to see it that changes anything?

http://reviews.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/panasonic-plasma-tv/panasonic-st60-picture-settings.html

 

[gofast182]

Originally Posted By: gofast182
Originally Posted By: mattwithcats
New cable box?

Old HD Verizon boxes are silver, with a clock on the front.
New are black, no clock..

Older cable box w/ DVR. Silver with orange clock.

Sorry, I forgot I have the version in between, black with white/light blue clock. They just gave us a new one with no clock for upstairs.

 

[gofast182]

Originally Posted By: 05LGTLtd
Have you tried another hd source?, do you get the same motion issue from a BluRay disc?

Haven't tried a BluRay yet. I'll do that today or tomorrow. I can tell you that it was at its absolute worst when watching an on-demand movie the other night, it was actually distracting me from the movie.

 

[gofast182]

Originally Posted By: RTexasF
Have you tried the recommended settings to see it that changes anything?

http://reviews.plasmatvbuyingguide.com/panasonic-plasma-tv/panasonic-st60-picture-settings.html

Interesting, I didn't even see all of those adjustments in there and I'm currently running a custom picture setting. I'll try them out later to see if it makes a difference but it occurs to me most of those have to deal with color accuracy which already looks great to me.

 

[Tosh]

You shouldn't make any judgements based on compressed cable TV or OTA TV signals. Try a known, repeatable source like a DVD or BR.