There has been one measured report of black levels rising on AVS. It was on an early build 50V10. The member seemed like a trusted person, but he even said that when there is content on the screen he does not notice the rise. It is just that with the light meter it measured higher than it did when he first calibrated it.
Which, If I understand correctly, is designed on purpose. As it's programmed to boost output over time, it obviously won't be perfect in its adjustment. I guess the G series issue was that the programming was overkill.
Also, a few other less reputable members at AVS claimed their V10's black levels rose as well, but not without actually measuring it.
According to the AVS thread, Panasonic is actually supposedly looking into this matter and sounds like they will get to the bottom of it eventually.
Do not let this get in the way of your purchase! You have made a good choice
Man, blacks are impossible to discern comparatively, unless they are side by side. If they are not side by side, and say one display is much dimmer, then our eyes actually adjust anyways!
I will, with some slight embarassment, share quotes of mine that were two days apart. (I had just had a demo of a very high end JVC projector):
jostenmeat said:
What was interesting about the doubling of black bars was that I could see the PJs absolute blacks versus the "real" absolute black on the sides. There was a considerable difference, and I noted that the PJs absolute blacks were significantly higher than my own even on a retroreflector.
jostenmeat said:
I was paying much more attn to my own absolute blacks on the black bars, and they aren't as good as I thought they were when I was viewing the rs25. The dual sets of black bars at the demo surely just made it more prominent.
Lastly, darned if I have a snowball's chance in hell of finding it, but BMX once posted this really cool image, basically an illusion/trick on the eyes. Basically there was one area called "A" and another "B", both with the exact same darkness, but you would swear to the lord almighty that one was darker, simply because it was a shadow of some (blue?) box/cube thingy. The way you could tell was by masking it out with your hands, IIRC. Pretty neat. Anyways, my quotes above, I think, are pretty related to this type of illusion/trick.
*The whole point of that spiel is related to people's *perceived* differences in blacks.
BMX, if you read this, please post it. Heck, I'll just PM you, hehe, I think it's both entertaining an enlightening. Ok, PM sent, heh.
