480p Vertical Overscan Panasonic TC-P42S30

[Charleaux330]

I bought a Panasonic TC-P42S30 not too long ago. The tv has some burn in, but it's not really noticeable while playing games I'm really happy with it for 720p and 1080p content. The problem that I noticed was with 480p content. Both 480p content via HDMI and Component is overscanned at the top and bottom. I'm losing about 10-12% of the image combined.

Does anybody have the same problem with these televisions?

I've spent a couple of hours in both the settings and the service menu. I can't seem to find a setting to adjust. The tv is also not giving any error codes. Also, 720p and 1080p content scale fine and do not overscan.

[Konsolkongen]

I seem to recall that every Panasonic TV I’ve owned forced overscan on 480p content, so it’s not a problem with your set. Really stupid decision on Panasonic’s end, and last time I checked this was still a thing on their new sets :/

I think Samsung does/did forced overscan on 4:3 content.

And LGs OLED does some slight overscan on 4:3 as well, if Screen Shift is enabled. I contacted LG about this and argued why I thought it was a bug and actually had a really nice discussion with one of their product managers in Sweden or Finland. So hopefully he has passed this on and it will be fixed on the 2020 sets.

[Charleaux330]

I seem to recall that every Panasonic TV I’ve owned forced overscan on 480p content, so it’s not a problem with your set. Really stupid decision on Panasonic’s end, and last time I checked this was still a thing on their new sets :/

That is lame. I picked this up hoping I could use it for 720p/1080p and 480p content so I could get blacks that were closer to my crt pc monitor. I wasn't going to ditch my PC CRT entirely, because I still like it for Dreamcast VGA or 1024x768 PC games. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to buy a Garo, but oh well.

Edit: I didn't know this was an issue with new OLEDs. I'm glad I know it's something to look out for.

[Josh128]

I seem to recall that every Panasonic TV I’ve owned forced overscan on 480p content, so it’s not a problem with your set. Really stupid decision on Panasonic’s end, and last time I checked this was still a thing on their new sets :/

I think Samsung does/did forced overscan on 4:3 content.

I have 4 Samsung plasmas in my home and they definitely do not force overscan on 4:3 content. I know because one of them is my primary 480p console display. These are the F5300 and F4500 series, circa 2013 and 2014.

OP, make sure you dont have a "Picture Size" option in the menu or button on the remote somewhere. The Samsungs do have such an option that can cause overscan on all formats, fullscreen 480p, or 720p or 1080p.

I did have a Panasonic Viera TC-P50-X60 at one time but I dont recall whether or not it had this overscan. I do know that the only areas it beat the previously mentioned Samsungs was in its handling of 480i. The Samsungs 480i mode was very soft while the Panasonic's was razor sharp. Other than that the Samsungs trounced the Panny in every other respect.

[Charleaux330]

I seem to recall that every Panasonic TV I’ve owned forced overscan on 480p content, so it’s not a problem with your set. Really stupid decision on Panasonic’s end, and last time I checked this was still a thing on their new sets :/

I think Samsung does/did forced overscan on 4:3 content.

I have 4 Samsung plasmas in my home and they definitely do not force overscan on 4:3 content. I know because one of them is my primary 480p console display. These are the F5300 and F4500 series, circa 2013 and 2014.

OP, make sure you dont have a "Picture Size" option in the menu or button on the remote somewhere. The Samsungs do have such an option that can cause overscan on all formats, fullscreen 480p, or 720p or 1080p.

I did have a Panasonic Viera TC-P50-X60 at one time but I dont recall whether or not it had this overscan. I do know that the only areas it beat the previously mentioned Samsungs was in its handling of 480i. The Samsungs 480i mode was very soft while the Panasonic's was razor sharp. Other than that the Samsungs trounced the Panny in every other respect.

I've checked on the remote, in the settings and also in the service menu. It's constant overscan only on the vertical portion of the image not on the horizontal at all.

[Konsolkongen]

I have 4 Samsung plasmas in my home and they definitely do not force overscan on 4:3 content. I know because one of them is my primary 480p console display. These are the F5300 and F4500 series, circa 2013 and 2014.

I'm pretty sure my E6500 plasma did this, but it could have been a one time mistake from Samsung

I've checked on the remote, in the settings and also in the service menu. It's constant overscan only on the vertical portion of the image not on the horizontal at all.

Okay this sounds like a different problem then. When I had Panasonic plasmas they would overscan on all axis. Just like when you enabled overscan on higher resolutions.

[Charleaux330]

I've checked on the remote, in the settings and also in the service menu. It's constant overscan only on the vertical portion of the image not on the horizontal at all.

Okay this sounds like a different problem then. When I had Panasonic plasmas they would overscan on all axis. Just like when you enabled overscan on higher resolutions.

Right, this doesn't seem like normal overscan. Like I said 720p and 1080p is fine. I get the full picture. It's just 480p thats cut off at the top and bottom. I tried different inputs 3x hdmi inputs, 1 component input, I didn't try the composite.

I opened up the tv when I first bought it, because there was a buzzing noise that was pretty loud. I did some google searching and someone had made a video about the screws holding down the electronic boards inside of it where the problem. Panasonic came out with a kit that included lock washers to replace the original screws. I replaced them.

While I was in there I tried to find any H/V pots that maybe I could tweak like on my PC CRT, but I didn't seem to find any.

EDIT: Maybe replacing a board on it would fix the issue. That would be fantastic if it wasn't too pricey.

EDIT2: I also tried updating and downgrading the firmware. That didn't work either.

EDIT3: Alright so check this out. I emailed a repair man on Ebay and he said what is your source? I told him a Gamecube and Wii. He said try a standard dvd player not a bluray player. So I grabbed one and tried it along with my Xbox 360 (480p) and PS2. None of them overscanned vertically or horizontally. It's only the Wii and Gamecube. wtf

[Josh128]

EDIT3: Alright so check this out. I emailed a repair man on Ebay and he said what is your source? I told him a Gamecube and Wii. He said try a standard dvd player not a bluray player. So I grabbed one and tried it along with my Xbox 360 (480p) and PS2. None of them overscanned vertically or horizontally. It's only the Wii and Gamecube. wtf

I was about to ask you basically the same thing. You mentioned DC, do you have a VGA to YUV converter to check it as well? Can you post a picture of the overscanned image from the Wii or Gamecube?

So if you set the Wii to 480i, you still have the same problem?

[Charleaux330]

I checked the 360 again by playing a dvd and it is definitely cutting off the picture on the top and bottom. I realized this when I changed the aspect to letterbox in the 360's dvd menu. It showed a little bit more picture on top and bottom. So... I guess it is my tv. That sucks.