Panasonic TC-L65WT600 picture settings

Review:
http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/panasonic-tc-l65wt600/4505-6482_7-35827200.html

Related products:
N/A

Calibration report using these settings:
[see below]

TV software/firmware version tested: 2009-200001-10055

Below you'll find the settings I found best for viewing the Panasonic TC-L65WT600 in a dim room via the HDMI input. Your settings may vary depending on source, room conditions, and personal preference. Check out the Picture settings and calibration FAQ for more information.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9996461-1.html

Calibration notes: Unusually for Panasonic, none of the preset picture modes on the WT600 came very close to ideal picture settings. The closest, THX Cinema, was still pretty poor, with a minus-blue grayscale and very light gamma. THX Bright Room and Cinema were even worse.

THX doesn't allow much adjustment, but Cinema offers the full panoply of calibration controls. Using them I was able to turn vinegar into delicious wine; the WT600 ended up with an exceedingly accurate post-calibration image.

Before I got there, however, I had to choose a local dimming setting (controlled by A.I. Picture). Off is the default for THX, but I felt the two highest settings' significantly deeper black levels were worth the tradeoff for their blooming issues. I ended up using Mid, which behaved very similar to Max but evinced slightly less blooming artifacts. Low, which showed virtually no blooming, was also preferable to Off, but its black levels were significantly lighter than Mid and Max too.

The rest of the controls behaved beautifully. The Two-point grayscale delivered an excellent picture and using the ten-point system to home in on perfection was relatively easy--a marked difference from what I've seen on Panasonic's plasmas (one exception was the 100 IRE window; I simply ran out of adjustment headroom there, and red was basically unresponsive.) The color management system was likewise excellent, and allowed me to easily improve all of the color points to very small error levels.

As for the gamma detail adjustment, I used it to good effect although afterward gamma was still less-perfect than grayscale. The issue, as usual, was the slight variations in light output from measurement to measurement in the bright areas, which caused relatively wide swings in gamma. Even so, overall it ended up being very accurate; significantly more-so than any of the default modes, including THX.

--Picture menu
Picture mode: Cinema
Back light: 33
Contrast: 100
Brightness: 0
Color: 50
Tint: 0
Sharpness: 0
Color temp: Warm 2
Vivid Color: Off
A.I. Picture: Mid
Color remaster: Off
Photo enhancement: Off
C.A.T.S.: Off
Video NR: Off
MPEG remaster: Off
Resolution remaster: Off
Caption smoother: Off
Brilliance enhancer: Off
Motion picture setting: Weak

-- Pro settings submenu
Panel brightness: Mid
AGC: 0
Black extension: 0
Cool white effect: 0

W/B detail adjustment menu:
W/B high R: -9
W/B high G: -5
W/B high B: 5
W/B low R: 2
W/B low G: 2
W/B low B: -17

More detail adjustment menu:
[listed as Red, Green and Blue gain, respectively]
100 IRE: 0, 0, -50
90 IRE: 0, -12, -40
80 IRE: 0, 0, -15
70 IRE: 0, -10, 0
60 IRE: 0, -8, 8
50 IRE: 3, -6, 15
40 IRE: 0, -12, 0
30 IRE: 0, -4, 0
20 IRE: 0, -5, -8
10 IRE: 17, 16, 0

Color detail adjustment menu:
Red hue: 0
Red Saturation: 7
Red luminance: -3
*Green hue: 0
Green Saturation: 7
Green luminance: -3
Blue hue: 0
Blue Saturation: 20
Blue luminance: 0
More detail adjustment menu:
Cyan hue: 0
Cyan Saturation: -9
Cyan luminance: 2
Magenta hue: 0
Magenta Saturation: 0
Magenta luminance: 0
Yellow hue: 7
Yellow saturation: 0
Yellow luminance: 0

Gamma detail adjustment menu:
Gamma: 2.2

More detail adjustment menu:
100 IRE: 0
90 IRE: -5
80 IRE: -12
70 IRE: -11
60 IRE: -8
50 IRE: -4
40 IRE: -3
30 IRE: -3
20 IRE: 0
10 IRE: 0

--Advanced picture submenu
Game mode: Off
3:2 pulldown: Auto [often grayed out depending on source]
1080p pure direct: Off [often grayed out depending on source]
4K pure direct: Off [often grayed out depending on source]
1080p pixel by 4pixels: Off [often grayed out depending on source]
HDMI content type: [all Off]
HDMI/DVI RGB range: [all Standard (16-235)]
Black level: Light

-- Screen settings menu
Screen format: Full
Overscan: Off
H Size: Size 1
[no other changes]

*Amazingly, the numbers I ended up with for both Red and Green in the CMS were identical. That's not a typo.