Th42px600a Owners! Anyone Passed The "purple Snake" Test?

[Eth Nick]

Ok guys, no progress as of yet - Service Centre have emailed the Tech Specialists over at Panasonic (I asked why they don't just phone them but their response was that the techs receive too many calls as it is ) & are waiting for a response back.

Here's what I did initially to get the ball rolling...

*Emailed Panasonic. Here is their response...

Thank you for taking the time to contact Panasonic with your enquiry.

This is not normal for it to occur on any television. Some customers have reported the same problem and it is currently being investigated by Panasonic. I ask that you call through to our customer care centre so that one of the representatives may take your details and refer your case to the relevant person who Is looking into this matter

We trust this information will be of assistance. However, if you do require further support Panasonic have a very informative product web site located at www.panasonic.com.au . Many of our customers have found that most of their questions can be answered here with our excellent Frequently Asked Questions section - for this, please see the following link: http://www.panasonic.com.au/support/faqs/ . .

Kind Regards,

Panasonic Customer Care

www.panasonic.com.au

*Called Panasonic (132600) & got put through to their tech support,

*Explained the purple snakes to a helpful lady by the name of Catherine who wanted to know 3 things before proceeding; Serial number, Date of purchase & Retailer,

*She was then able to arrange for the D-Board to be sent from Sydney, down to my local service centre in Melbourne.

Reference number from Panasonic is 32863.

*Make sure you get details of your local service centre including a contact number & name, so you can find out any progress without going through Panasonic.

[ozjonty]

I first noticed the 'purple snake' - or magenta push problem - after about 5-6 months of use, but this may just because I hadn't triggered the issue before. The more you watch, the more chance you have of seeing the problem.

Anyway, I'm going to contact Panasonic (what's the best way - look them up in the white pages??) - I tried the web site but it's so crap that it bugs out when you submit the customer request form.

T.

[ozjonty]

Ralfi - can you contact me at monksoft@gmail.com please? Also, what email address should I use for Panasonic?

Thanks

Tim.

[Eth Nick]

Ralfi - can you contact me at monksoft@gmail.com please? Also, what email address should I use for Panasonic?

Thanks

Tim.

Here's the link to Panasonics' Support Centre...

http://www.panasonic.com.au/support/customer%5Fcare/

You probably don't need to use it though - just try calling them up. Hopefully it'll save you some time. They'll tell you If you need to use the above link anyway.

[ozjonty]

Here's the link to Panasonics' Support Centre...

http://www.panasonic.com.au/support/customer%5Fcare/

You probably don't need to use it though - just try calling them up. Hopefully it'll save you some time. They'll tell you If you need to use the above link anyway.

Yeah, thanks - the reason I thought it didn't work was because I use Firefox - jeez I wish they'd get their websites professionally built..to support the major browsers, not just IE.

Anyhow, I used IE..and sent them a message. I'll also ring up as well.

Thanks

T.

[ozjonty]

Update - I rang Panasonic this morning (132600). First call to them, the guy didn't take any of my details, just said I had to contact my closest service centre. He then gave me 2 choices - Bentleigh and Macleod - so I picket Bentleigh (being closer to Camberwell). So I ring the service centre, the guy says that they can't do anything and can't get a D-board without approval/etc. from Panasonic. He also then questioned the "evidence" and "the internet" and was basically unhelpful, but he did say I should get back in touch with Panasonic.

I mean I hate this - the problem is annoying, but aside from the purple snakes, the TV is fantastic. Crisp, clear images, and via HDMI and my Panny S97 it is film-like.

So - I finally got through to another guy, Gordon I think - and I mentioned Catherine and the reference number 32863 - and he said he'd talk to her and then get back to me.

So I wait - but I've logged it with them before the warranty expires atleast. Additionally, I'll call them tomorrow as a follow-up. Do we know for a fact that the .03 D-board will fix this?

Cheers

Tim.

[ghostmo]

HI!

Yesterday was watching in ch7 and ch9 HD channels and they telecast some nice scnearies with light grey or green background, i never seen any snakes. Seems like purple snake appears only in low res movies or telecasts.

Raja

Snakes have appeared in high quality sources also, such as "West Wing", "24", etc on tele, plus movies such as Harry potter goblet of Fire. Obviously, this tele unfortunately CAN have some dificulties in rendering certain scenes due to the software/firmware glitch. It is only occasional though ( on certain shows/movies, and only certain scenes), on an otherwise excellent tele with superb picture quality.

[ozjonty]

Another update - my complaint is now also being handled by Catherine (she is more senior apparently than Gordon who I spoke to).

So she is getting back to me apparently. Ralfi - which service centre are you going through?

Thanks

Tim.

[Eth Nick]

Another update - my complaint is now also being handled by Catherine (she is more senior apparently than Gordon who I spoke to).

So she is getting back to me apparently. Ralfi - which service centre are you going through?

Thanks

Tim.

St. Albans Service Centre.

As for the .03 D-Board (which I have), i've mentioned in this thread that it will get rid of the purple snakes, but what it does is replace them with "fuzzy" pixels on certain backgrounds, so your PQ isn't as clear on some shows. In my case, probably half the shows I watch are effected, which doesn't bother me too much. But like i've mentioned before, if there's an .04 board in the country, that'll clear up the PQ & take care of the purple snakes at the same time, i'd prefer it.

[ozjonty]

St. Albans Service Centre.

As for the .03 D-Board (which I have), i've mentioned in this thread that it will get rid of the purple snakes, but what it does is replace them with "fuzzy" pixels on certain backgrounds, so your PQ isn't as clear on some shows. In my case, probably half the shows I watch are effected, which doesn't bother me too much. But like i've mentioned before, if there's an .04 board in the country, that'll clear up the PQ & take care of the purple snakes at the same time, i'd prefer it.

Ok - sorry, I was thinking you were about to have the board replaced - so you did get your .02 replaced with the .03 ?

I guess I'm a bit nervous now - I didn't want to sacrifice PQ. They are going to install a new board for me in a few days after they get the part from Sydney.

T.

[Eth Nick]

Ok - sorry, I was thinking you were about to have the board replaced - so you did get your .02 replaced with the .03 ?

I guess I'm a bit nervous now - I didn't want to sacrifice PQ. They are going to install a new board for me in a few days after they get the part from Sydney.

T.

Yeah, I went from 41.02 to 41.03, so what you can do is go through with it providing Panasonic can verify that the board contains "PDROM" firmware version 41.04

It'll be interesting to see what they say.

I couldn't get through to Catherine on Saturday, so i'll try again this week. Seems she's the only one who's willing to help us out.

[ozjonty]

Yeah, I went from 41.02 to 41.03, so what you can do is go through with it providing Panasonic can verify that the board contains "PDROM" firmware version 41.04

It'll be interesting to see what they say.

I couldn't get through to Catherine on Saturday, so i'll try again this week. Seems she's the only one who's willing to help us out.

Dunno about the PDROM firmware version - will the service centre guy go into the service menu to verify this? Catherine has been very professional in her approach - the funny thing is, what if this doesn't fix it?

Differing opinions on .03 and even .04 in the UK forum here

Ralfi, be good to chat to you about this in an easier way - you got MSN?

[ozdoc]

Ralfi, be good to chat to you about this in an easier way - you got MSN?

Hey. The rest of us PX owners are eavesdropping on this conversation also....

[pacer265]

Hey. The rest of us PX owners are eavesdropping on this conversation also....

Ditto. Mine is only 1 week old and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Can't say I've seen snakes yet but am watching the thread with interest...

[ozjonty]

Oh, don't worry - I'll be sharing all information in this forum - I just wanted to ask him about specific PQ issues.

What's the point of this forum if you don't share?

[Eth Nick]

Just got off the phone with Panasonic (Catherine). She's going to talk directly to their Tech Specialist tomorrow & get back to me. I left her with the "PDROM 41.04" firmware version info.

Again, she seemed very understanding of the issue. & i'm sure i'll hear from her before my Service Centre gets back to me (following their email to Panasonics Tech Specialists).

[ozdoc]

I had a chance to play around with the PX600s settings last night.

The upshot:

Absolutely no snakes noted on the inbuilt tuner (since owning the panel, not just last night..)

Snakes galore on playback of West Wing via Toppy 5000 (SD) using sVideo.

Now the kicker. Changing the PX panel picture mode for the Toppy imput from 'Manual' to 'Cinema' reduced the snakes by about 75%, and changing it to 'Auto' makes them almost not visable at 3m.

Given this, I'm happy to wait out for the .04 board to surface in Australia.

[bac]

I had a chance to play around with the PX600s settings last night.

The upshot:

Absolutely no snakes noted on the inbuilt tuner (since owning the panel, not just last night..)

Snakes galore on playback of West Wing via Toppy 5000 (SD) using sVideo.

Now the kicker. Changing the PX panel picture mode for the Toppy imput from 'Manual' to 'Cinema' reduced the snakes by about 75%, and changing it to 'Auto' makes them almost not visable at 3m.

Given this, I'm happy to wait out for the .04 board to surface in Australia.

Good to hear you're happy with the results of your tinkering. However, I'm convinced that the snakes can occur regardless of the type of input device, connection and panel settings.

Changing the panel settings between Auto/Cinema/whatever adjusts the colour/brightness/contrast/etc. of the resulting picture, which may well have the effect of 'tuning' the snakes out of the currently viewed program source. However, this doesn't preclude them showing up again with a different device/connection/program combination where they may not have been evident before.

It's already been documented on this thread that changing one DVD player for another can produce sufficient variation in the picture such that with a particular DVD snakes appear on one player but not the other.

Long story short - I don't believe it progresses the issue to talk in terms of seeing snakes on device X but not Y if I change the panel settings from this to that.

Cheers,

BAC

[ozjonty]

Just got off the phone with Panasonic (Catherine). She's going to talk directly to their Tech Specialist tomorrow & get back to me. I left her with the "PDROM 41.04" firmware version info.

Again, she seemed very understanding of the issue. & i'm sure i'll hear from her before my Service Centre gets back to me (following their email to Panasonics Tech Specialists).

So Ralfi, I'm wondering now whether I can ask Catherine if I can wait for PDROM 41.04 ... hmm, lots to think about....

Cheers

[furns]

So Ralfi, I'm wondering now whether I can ask Catherine if I can wait for PDROM 41.04 ... hmm, lots to think about....

Cheers

GDay all, I purchased my PX600A (Jap build) in march and noticed the purple snake issues cropped up after a month or so. I d/l the test dvd and it failed the test brilliantly!!

I rang Pana Service and the guy I spoke to claimed not to know anything about the fizzing pixels/purple snakes fault.

However he was quite helpful and understood I knew what I was talking about, so booked Westview Electronics in Castle Hill to come out and assess the panel.

When they rocked up the techs had heard about the issue but had never seen it, and were quite impressed by the test dvd that I got hold of. They have borrowed it to use to show they rest of the guys at the service centre.

Received a phone call yesterday saying there is not many spare d-boards (which they have identified as the part needing replacement) in Australia and ETA is end of may for my panel to be fixed and returned. I have no idea what version they are waiting on.

Will keep you posted.

Thanks to everyone before me who had done the hard work, it really helps when speaking to the nonces in the call centre who have no technical expertise whatsoever.

[ozjonty]

GDay all, I purchased my PX600A (Jap build) in march and noticed the purple snake issues cropped up after a month or so. I d/l the test dvd and it failed the test brilliantly!!

I rang Pana Service and the guy I spoke to claimed not to know anything about the fizzing pixels/purple snakes fault.

However he was quite helpful and understood I knew what I was talking about, so booked Westview Electronics in Castle Hill to come out and assess the panel.

When they rocked up the techs had heard about the issue but had never seen it, and were quite impressed by the test dvd that I got hold of. They have borrowed it to use to show they rest of the guys at the service centre.

Received a phone call yesterday saying there is not many spare d-boards (which they have identified as the part needing replacement) in Australia and ETA is end of may for my panel to be fixed and returned. I have no idea what version they are waiting on.

Will keep you posted.

Thanks to everyone before me who had done the hard work, it really helps when speaking to the nonces in the call centre who have no technical expertise whatsoever.

Thanks for the info, furns. Could you point me in the right direction to the test DVD? I want something to play when I get my new board installed (which sounds like it could be a while).

Thanks

[furns]

Thanks for the info, furns. Could you point me in the right direction to the test DVD? I want something to play when I get my new board installed (which sounds like it could be a while).

Thanks

Go back to post #25 of this thread and burn files onto a dvd.

[Eth Nick]

Ok, talked to Catherine from Panasonic today. According to the tech specialist she spoke with, firmware version 41.04 hasn't been modified to suit our PAL region. She mentioned that it's only configured for US NTSC & Europe PAL regions.

Our latest suitable version is 41.03, which is what I have.

So there you go. At this point in time, if you're considering a new D-Board, you'll be getting the 41.03 version.

I'm content now - Just watched Lost & was very happy with the PQ. It once again proved that the 41.03 version handles lower quality sources by masking the purple snakes & certain backgrounds with fizzy pixels instead, while the better quality sources (like Lost, AFL footy) are hardly effected, from a viewing distance of 3m & over.

To me, it's a happy, less irritating medium & at least I know I can't do anything about it now, RE: upgrading firmware. Puts my mind at ease.

[Raja sydney]

GDay all, I purchased my PX600A (Jap build) in march and noticed the purple snake issues cropped up after a month or so. I d/l the test dvd and it failed the test brilliantly!!

I rang Pana Service and the guy I spoke to claimed not to know anything about the fizzing pixels/purple snakes fault.

However he was quite helpful and understood I knew what I was talking about, so booked Westview Electronics in Castle Hill to come out and assess the panel.

When they rocked up the techs had heard about the issue but had never seen it, and were quite impressed by the test dvd that I got hold of. They have borrowed it to use to show they rest of the guys at the service centre.

Received a phone call yesterday saying there is not many spare d-boards (which they have identified as the part needing replacement) in Australia and ETA is end of may for my panel to be fixed and returned. I have no idea what version they are waiting on.

Will keep you posted.

Thanks to everyone before me who had done the hard work, it really helps when speaking to the nonces in the call centre who have no technical expertise whatsoever.

Hi!

You better ask the tech to come and replace the d-board at your home like Ralfi's one done, rather than they take your panel and return, where more chances the panel may be returned with scratches etc etc..

For me i am happy to live with it, b ut will definately will ask panasonic to change when they release the latest firmware d-board. I notice this purple snake only in Supernatural, which has very dark low quality telecast and most other p rograms i can't notice anything...

Hi Ralfi, so you don't have fuzzy picture now as you mentioned earlier after the d-board changed..

This forum is very helpful..

THanks and keep posting the updates..

[Eth Nick]

Hi Ralfi, so you don't have fuzzy picture now as you mentioned earlier after the d-board changed..

Yeah I do. But it's only really noticeable on lower quality broadcasts.

If anyone's able to get their hands on a newer firmware than mine, please update this thread. Cheers.