Panasonic Plasma Screen

Panel Info
Manufacturer Panasonic
Model TH-50PH10BK
Panel Size 50" - 1106mm(W) x 622mm(H), 1269mm(Diag)
Dimensions 1210mm x 724mm x 95mm
Aspect Ratio 16:9
Resolution 1366(W) x 768(H)
Weight 36kg, or 40kg with speakers
Signals
Colour Systems NTSC, PAL, PAL60, SECAM, Modified NTSC
Scanning Formats 525(480) @ 60i/p
625(575) @ 50i/p
750(720) @ 60p/50p
1125(1080) @ 60i/50i/24p/25p/30p/24sF
SMPTE274M
1250(1080) @ 50i
VGA Formats VGA, SVGA, XGA, SXGA, UXGA (compressed).
H scan 15-110kHz
V scan 48-120Hz
Power
Power On 485W
Standby 0.8W
Power Off 0.3W
Connections
BNC In 1.0 Vp-p (75Ω)
S-Video In MiniDIN 4pin
Y:1.0 Vp-p (75Ω), C: 0.286 Vp-p (75Ω)
VGA In Y or G with sync 1.0Vp-p (75Ω)
Y or G without sync 0.7Vp-p (75Ω)
B/Pa/Ca and R/Pr/Cr: 0.7Vp-p (75Ω)
HD/VD: 1.0-5.0Vp-p (Hi-Z)
VBS Uses HD port
with picture: 1.0Vp-p (Hi-Z)
without picture: 0.3Vp-p (Hi-Z)
Audio In (RCA x 4) 0.5 Vrms (Hi-Z)
Audio In (M3 Jack) 0.5 Vrms (Hi-Z)
Speakers 16W (8W + 8W) (10 % THD)
Serial RS232C-compatible D-SUB 9

Panasonic Plasma Screen

Rumour has it that this plasma screen was a donation from YUSU many years ago. No one of that era remains to confirm or deny this.

The screen is generally wheeled out for OBs, and often features in the Woodstock control room as the programme output.

There is a permanent burn of the YSTV logo in this screen, as it is often left on a logo during broadcasts when on camera. There is a white-bar-scroll function to mitigate this, but it is never used. In more recent times, images of pineapples and Nicholas Cage have been burnt into it, but have not lasted long.

Control Protocol

The RS-232C D-Sub 9 port on the rear of the panel speaks the older common Panasonic protocol.

Port Settings
Baud 9600 bps
Data Bits 8
Parity None
Stop Bits 1
Flow Control None

The commands are issued by placing the ASCII characters of each command between a STX (start transmission) and ETX (end transmission) ASCII control code. For example, to turn off the panel you issue <STX>POF<ETX>, or 02 50 4F 46 03 when seen in hex. Parameters that are numeric (e.g. AMT:0) are spelt out in ASCII numerals; for example AMT:0 would be spelt 02 41 4D 54 3A 30 03.

The panel will respond with a similar-looking string that indicates the command was recognised. If the command isn't recognised, no reply is sent. In Panasonic projectors, it's possible to query the state of the device with commands that begin with Q - e.g. <stx>QPW<etx> will query power status, QIN/QIM will query input source, QSH queries the picture blank status and QAV queries the current volume. Some of these functions may carry over to the plasma screen, but are untested.

The following table shows the available commands.

Command Result
AAC:MENCLR Audio Menu - Clear
AAC:MENDYN Audio Menu - Dynamic
AAC:MENSTD Audio Menu - Standard
AAC:SURMON Audio Menu - Surround On
AAC:SUROFF Audio Menu - Surround Off
AMT:0 Un-Mute Audio
AMT:1 Mute Audio
ASO:M Set Audio Output to Main Picture (PIP)
ASO:S Set Audio Output to Sub Picture (PIP)
AVL:xx Set Volume to two digits between 00 and 64
DAM:FULL Aspect Ratio 16:9
DAM:JUST Aspect Stretch "Just"
DAM:NORM Aspect Ratio 4:3
DAM:SELF Aspect "Panasonic Auto-detect"
DAM:ZOOM Aspect Zoom
DWA:OFF Set Advenced PIP Mode Off
DWA:OVL1 Set Advanced PIP to 1
DWA:OVL2 Set Advanced PIP to 2
DWA:OVL3 Set Advanced PIP to 3
DWA:OVL4 Set Advanced PIP to 4
DWA:OVL5 Set Advanced PIP to 5
DWA:OVL6 Set Advanced PIP to 6
DWA:OVL7 Set Advanced PIP to 7
DWA:OVL8 Set Advanced PIP to 8
DWA:OVLOF Set Advanced PIP Mode Off (two screen)
DWA:OVLON Set Advanced PIP Mode On
DWA:PIN0 Set Sub Picture to Lower Right
DWA:PIN0 Set Sub Picture to Lower Left
DWA:PIN0 Set Sub Picture to Upper Right
DWA:PIN0 Set Sub Picture to Upper Left
DWA:PIP Activate Picture-in-Picture Mode
DWA:TWN Activate Side by Side Mode
DWA:SWP Swap Main and Sub Inputs
IMS:PC1 Select PC1 as Main Input
IMS:SL1 Select SLOT1 as Main Input
IMS:SL1A Select SLOT1A as Main Input
IMS:SL1B Select SLOT1B as Main Input
IMS:SL2 Select SLOT2 as Main Input
IMS:SL2A Select SLOT2A as Main Input
IMS:SL2B Select SLOT2B as Main Input
IMS:SL3 Select SLOT3 as Main Input
OSP:SCR0 Disable Screen Saver White Bar Scroll
OSP:SCR1 Enable Screen Saver White Bar Scroll
POF Power Off
PON Power On
SSC:FNC0 Sets Screen Saver to White Bar Scroll
SSC:FNC1 Sets Screen Saver to Image Reversal
SSC:MOD0 Disable Screen Saver
SSC:MOD1 Enable Screen Saver
VMT:0 Un-Mute Video
VMT:1 Mute Video