True 24p, 48hz, 72hz on Plasmas

[Craig Ryan]

I just watched a few scenes off of The Godfather Blu-ray release, which is absolutely stunning, and Dead Man's Chest on our Panasonic 58" 800u Plasma.

I turned the 48hz refresh on, and while initially the infamous "flicker" was a little irritating in the highlights, I fell in love with how smooth it rendered the 24p footage. In fact, especially on Dead Man's Chest, the motion was almost too smooth. I was curious what the consensus is on these refresh rates featured on the new Panasonic Plasmas (48hz 2:2), as well as the 72hz 3:3 on the Pioneer Kuros. Perhaps it's simply the fact that I'm used to the judder of the 3:2 pulldown of 60hz.

For me, it seems like it may even be smoother than 35mm projection...and I've heard that many theaters use a 1/48 shutter, so you would see each frame twice, like the 48hz refresh. I'm just wondering how these refresh rates really compare to what you see in the theater.

 

[Andrew Walker]

For me, it seems like it may even be smoother than 35mm projection...and I've heard that many theaters use a 1/48 shutter, so you would see each frame twice, like the 48hz refresh. I'm just wondering how these refresh rates really compare to what you see in the theater.

Most theaters do use shutters that are 2 bladed or blast the film frame twice with light. But the at some of the higher end screening room and maybe some regular old theaters, depending on who sold them the gear, have three bladed shutters. These make for some nice sharp images on screen but they do cut the light output just slightly.

 

[David Rasberry]

I have always found the 60hz 3:2 pull down conversion annoying. Doesn't match the cadence of theatrical projection. The move to refresh rates that are evenly divisible by the frame rate is a big improvement. As far as I'm concerned, the less flicker the better. High refresh rates are good.

 

[Craig Ryan]

Most theaters do use shutters that are 2 bladed or blast the film frame twice with light. But the at some of the higher end screening room and maybe some regular old theaters, depending on who sold them the gear, have three bladed shutters. These make for some nice sharp images on screen but they do cut the light output just slightly.

That makes sense; probably why Pioneer does 71hz, which apparently has no flicker and plays back Blu-Ray 24p footage very nicely.

I have always found the 60hz 3:2 pull down conversion annoying. Doesn't match the cadence of theatrical projection. The move to refresh rates that are evenly divisible by the frame rate is a big improvement. As far as I'm concerned, the less flicker the better. High refresh rates are good.

I agree; I've always felt 60hz 3:2 was too "blury" and didn't render motion well at all. The 48hz on the Panasonic models is a nice strep, but unfortunately the flicker is pretty irritating in the highlights, however I find the rendering of 24p motion to be much more superior to 60hz, so I deal with the flicker for now. In a perfect world where every company was like RED, we'd probably already have a firmware update to include 72hz on the Panny models :glare: