Bass Boost on a Panasonic TV

[Chris Hogg]

My new TV is a Panasonic TX-42MZ800B. It gets its input from a Humax
PVR. At the moment I route the sound output from the PVR directly to
my Hi-Fi unit because I find that the speakers on the TV lack bass and
depth. But sometimes I think there is a slight lip-sync problem, which
I take to be because I am separating the sound and vision signals
early in their passage through the various electronics. I would like
to increase the bass from the speakers on the TV so I don't need to
use the Hi-Fi unit and so possibly avoid the lip-sync problem.

I see that many Panasonic TV's have a 'bass boost' option in the sound
setup routines, but not the TX-42MZ800B AFACT. Am I missing something?
Do they call it something else? Surely they wouldn't omit it
completely, would they? So where is it?

[Jeff Layman]

Post by Chris Hogg
My new TV is a Panasonic TX-42MZ800B. It gets its input from a Humax
PVR. At the moment I route the sound output from the PVR directly to
my Hi-Fi unit because I find that the speakers on the TV lack bass and
depth. But sometimes I think there is a slight lip-sync problem, which
I take to be because I am separating the sound and vision signals
early in their passage through the various electronics. I would like
to increase the bass from the speakers on the TV so I don't need to
use the Hi-Fi unit and so possibly avoid the lip-sync problem.
I see that many Panasonic TV's have a 'bass boost' option in the sound
setup routines, but not the TX-42MZ800B AFACT. Am I missing something?
Do they call it something else? Surely they wouldn't omit it
completely, would they? So where is it?

The e-Help guide for my Panasonic TX-58GX800B notes:
"Some features are not available on all models. Available menu items are
displayed on your TV screen."

So it may well be that your TV doesn't have it if it doesn't appear.
FWIW I just tried "Bass boost" on mine (with a Radio 3 Beethoven piece)
and I couldn't tell any different with the boost on or off. I also tried
running the Bass and Treble menu options between their -15 and +15
limits (I set them at 0 several years ago), and couldn't detect any
difference. Perhaps it's just my ears! If I want decent sound I use an
amp and external speakers.

FWIW while looking through the e-Help guide I also came across the
following:

"SPDIF Delay

Adjusts the delay time of the sound output from DIGITAL AUDIO and HDMI2
(ARC function) terminals if the sound does not synchronise the image."

My TV doesn't have an SPDIF Delay setting so I can't tell you if it
works or not.

[Paul]

Post by Chris Hogg
My new TV is a Panasonic TX-42MZ800B. It gets its input from a Humax
PVR. At the moment I route the sound output from the PVR directly to
my Hi-Fi unit because I find that the speakers on the TV lack bass and
depth. But sometimes I think there is a slight lip-sync problem, which
I take to be because I am separating the sound and vision signals
early in their passage through the various electronics. I would like
to increase the bass from the speakers on the TV so I don't need to
use the Hi-Fi unit and so possibly avoid the lip-sync problem.
I see that many Panasonic TV's have a 'bass boost' option in the sound
setup routines, but not the TX-42MZ800B AFACT. Am I missing something?
Do they call it something else? Surely they wouldn't omit it
completely, would they? So where is it?

https://www.panasonic.com/uk/consumer/televisions/4K-OLED-TV/tx-42mz800b.html

"immersive sound" ???

Dolby Atmos – For immersive sound, thanks to built-in subwoofer

Page 24 "Equalizer Detail" -- that's if "VIVID" doesn't cut it :-)
The Equalizer would give something other than the bland choices.
And since it pretends to have a Sub... well who knows how you
get a sub into a thin TV.

https://tda.panasonic-europe-service.com/docs/2z661aa1d1z1z42bd2z656ez706466z24z1fccde7b9a60f52aff4bc8680bf4d8203bd7851d/pgrp001/pcat033/tx42mz800b/1000177/TX-42MZ800B_OIF.pdf

Paul

[Chris Hogg]

Post by Paul

Post by Chris Hogg
My new TV is a Panasonic TX-42MZ800B. It gets its input from a Humax
PVR. At the moment I route the sound output from the PVR directly to
my Hi-Fi unit because I find that the speakers on the TV lack bass and
depth. But sometimes I think there is a slight lip-sync problem, which
I take to be because I am separating the sound and vision signals
early in their passage through the various electronics. I would like
to increase the bass from the speakers on the TV so I don't need to
use the Hi-Fi unit and so possibly avoid the lip-sync problem.
I see that many Panasonic TV's have a 'bass boost' option in the sound
setup routines, but not the TX-42MZ800B AFACT. Am I missing something?
Do they call it something else? Surely they wouldn't omit it
completely, would they? So where is it?

https://www.panasonic.com/uk/consumer/televisions/4K-OLED-TV/tx-42mz800b.html
"immersive sound" ???
Dolby Atmos – For immersive sound, thanks to built-in subwoofer
Page 24 "Equalizer Detail" -- that's if "VIVID" doesn't cut it :-)
The Equalizer would give something other than the bland choices.
And since it pretends to have a Sub... well who knows how you
get a sub into a thin TV.
https://tda.panasonic-europe-service.com/docs/2z661aa1d1z1z42bd2z656ez706466z24z1fccde7b9a60f52aff4bc8680bf4d8203bd7851d/pgrp001/pcat033/tx42mz800b/1000177/TX-42MZ800B_OIF.pdf
Paul

Hmm - I've long been of the opinion that manuals are written by
super-experts, who know all there is to know about a piece of kit,
probably because they designed it and have followed it through from
prototype to production. What they don't know is how to write manuals
in such a way that the average guy can understand it and that are free
from jargon, and explain in simple terms how to use the kit, why some
features are greyed out and how to switch them back on, etc. My car
manual is much the same. Sigh!

[Max Demian]

Post by Chris Hogg

Post by Paul
https://www.panasonic.com/uk/consumer/televisions/4K-OLED-TV/tx-42mz800b.html
"immersive sound" ???
Dolby Atmos – For immersive sound, thanks to built-in subwoofer
Page 24 "Equalizer Detail" -- that's if "VIVID" doesn't cut it :-)
The Equalizer would give something other than the bland choices.
And since it pretends to have a Sub... well who knows how you
get a sub into a thin TV.
https://tda.panasonic-europe-service.com/docs/2z661aa1d1z1z42bd2z656ez706466z24z1fccde7b9a60f52aff4bc8680bf4d8203bd7851d/pgrp001/pcat033/tx42mz800b/1000177/TX-42MZ800B_OIF.pdf

Hmm - I've long been of the opinion that manuals are written by
super-experts, who know all there is to know about a piece of kit,
probably because they designed it and have followed it through from
prototype to production. What they don't know is how to write manuals
in such a way that the average guy can understand it and that are free
from jargon, and explain in simple terms how to use the kit, why some
features are greyed out and how to switch them back on, etc. My car
manual is much the same. Sigh!

At least with a manual written by experts you get all the information
about the product rather than just what the author understands or cares
about.

Mostly you just get a quick start guide that barely tells you how to
switch it on.

[Chris J Dixon]

Post by Max Demian
At least with a manual written by experts you get all the information
about the product rather than just what the author understands or cares
about.
Mostly you just get a quick start guide that barely tells you how to
switch it on.

Quite! My soundbar is approaching 4 years old. I recently tried
to access the page on their website which the Quick Start Manual
claims is the Full User Manual, but had no luck.

Searching for my model, I found an "Archive" page, with no
content (besides a photo of the unit) and no links.

Seeking advice from the maker, they originally just emailed a
copy of the Quick Start Manual. When I persevered, their final
response was:

"Sorry, we do not have anything else on file for this product
anymore."

How hard would it be to maintain availability of archive
material?

I did try Wayback, but the detail pages were unavailable.

Chris

[Max Demian]

Post by Chris J Dixon

Post by Max Demian
At least with a manual written by experts you get all the information
about the product rather than just what the author understands or cares
about.
Mostly you just get a quick start guide that barely tells you how to
switch it on.

Quite! My soundbar is approaching 4 years old. I recently tried
to access the page on their website which the Quick Start Manual
claims is the Full User Manual, but had no luck.

I always download PDF versions of user manuals, often before buying the
product.

[Jeff Layman]

Post by Max Demian

Post by Chris J Dixon

Post by Max Demian
At least with a manual written by experts you get all the information
about the product rather than just what the author understands or cares
about.
Mostly you just get a quick start guide that barely tells you how to
switch it on.

Quite! My soundbar is approaching 4 years old. I recently tried
to access the page on their website which the Quick Start Manual
claims is the Full User Manual, but had no luck.

I always download PDF versions of user manuals, often before buying the
product.

+1

I always look for the service manual as well, with
https://elektrotanya.com and https://www.manualslib.com sometimes useful.

[Paul]

Post by Chris J Dixon

Post by Max Demian
At least with a manual written by experts you get all the information
about the product rather than just what the author understands or cares
about.
Mostly you just get a quick start guide that barely tells you how to
switch it on.

Quite! My soundbar is approaching 4 years old. I recently tried
to access the page on their website which the Quick Start Manual
claims is the Full User Manual, but had no luck.
Searching for my model, I found an "Archive" page, with no
content (besides a photo of the unit) and no links.
Seeking advice from the maker, they originally just emailed a
copy of the Quick Start Manual. When I persevered, their final
"Sorry, we do not have anything else on file for this product
anymore."
How hard would it be to maintain availability of archive
material?
I did try Wayback, but the detail pages were unavailable.
Chris

Use archive.org .

Post the model of the sound bar and the brand, and someone
can give it a try for you.

If your browser is too old, and the front page doesn't work properly,
go to this URL.

https://archive.org/advancedsearch.php

Go to the question mark in the upper right. Click, so your I-beam is in
the box. A menu with five items shows up. Select the bottom one
which is "Search Archived web sites". Then paste the URL of the
site with the deficient information content into the search rectangle,
go back in time and try another date. Further back. Sites vary in how
frequently they are archived. Some are only accessed once a year, others
are backed up twice a day (which is silly). Archive.org has de-dup software,
so even if it backs up twice a day, there is really only one copy of
the file, made ten years ago. And all they have to do, is link a pointer
to that copy. In that way, archiving each day takes minimal space.

If the URL where the info was located, changed over the years, this
can make it hard to find a manual. You will need your best detective
tricks then.

Sometimes I find versions of programs that run under Windows 7, by
traveling back in time, but I don't really enjoy doing that. There
are people who keep asking Windows XP questions, and every problem
they've got, requires a solution fetched from archive.org . No web site
seems to keep a WinXP era solution, on their web page.

One thing archive.org does not keep, is FTP sites. If the URL was
ftp.something.com , forget it. It's gone. But http://www.something.com
or https://www.something.com , those might work.

Paul

[David]

Post by Chris Hogg
My new TV is a Panasonic TX-42MZ800B. It gets its input from a Humax
PVR. At the moment I route the sound output from the PVR directly to my
Hi-Fi unit because I find that the speakers on the TV lack bass and
depth. But sometimes I think there is a slight lip-sync problem, which I
take to be because I am separating the sound and vision signals early in
their passage through the various electronics. I would like to increase
the bass from the speakers on the TV so I don't need to use the Hi-Fi
unit and so possibly avoid the lip-sync problem.
I see that many Panasonic TV's have a 'bass boost' option in the sound
setup routines, but not the TX-42MZ800B AFACT. Am I missing something?
Do they call it something else? Surely they wouldn't omit it completely,
would they? So where is it?

Try feeding the sound from the TV and not the PVR?

My TV has an optical out and my speakers have an optical in so they seem
to work well together.

Scarily, when I first configured the digital out the TV played a test tone
to synchronise with the speakers.

LG43UQ91006LA TV.

Cheers



Dave R

[Tim Streater]

Post by David
My TV has an optical out and my speakers have an optical in so they seem
to work well together.

Ditto except I feed the optical into my amp. But I still need the subtitles.

[Chris Hogg]

Post by David

Post by Chris Hogg
My new TV is a Panasonic TX-42MZ800B. It gets its input from a Humax
PVR. At the moment I route the sound output from the PVR directly to my
Hi-Fi unit because I find that the speakers on the TV lack bass and
depth. But sometimes I think there is a slight lip-sync problem, which I
take to be because I am separating the sound and vision signals early in
their passage through the various electronics. I would like to increase
the bass from the speakers on the TV so I don't need to use the Hi-Fi
unit and so possibly avoid the lip-sync problem.
I see that many Panasonic TV's have a 'bass boost' option in the sound
setup routines, but not the TX-42MZ800B AFACT. Am I missing something?
Do they call it something else? Surely they wouldn't omit it completely,
would they? So where is it?

Try feeding the sound from the TV and not the PVR?
My TV has an optical out and my speakers have an optical in so they seem
to work well together.
Scarily, when I first configured the digital out the TV played a test tone
to synchronise with the speakers.
LG43UQ91006LA TV.
Cheers
Dave R

Thanks. Got that to work after a bit of fiddling. The rats nest of
wiring behind all the kit doesn't help, not does the fact that the
Hi-Fi unit only has a single two-channel (L/R) coax input, and I
needed a bit of ingenuity to get the DVD player to connect into the
system. However, by using the RCA output from the DVD player, via an
RCA > HMDI converter and then into the HMDI2 socket on the TV, which
in turn feeds the only input on the Hi-Fi unit from the TV headphone
socket, everything works, as long as I remember to change the TV input
from HMDI1 to HMDI2.

[Chris J Dixon]

Post by David
My TV has an optical out and my speakers have an optical in so they seem
to work well together.

My setup is a Humax HDR-2000T feeding a Samsung UE43KU6000 TV.
The TV optical out then goes via an optical splitter to both a
Polk Command soundbar, and a channel on my Marantz PM6007
amplifier feeding my Hi-Fi speakers.

The soundbar is what I generally use, but occasionally it is
worth the extra fiddle to use my separate speakers.

This works well with the PVR, and the TV's live output, but if I
am using some of the smart channels on the TV, such as iPlayer,
then the amplifier channel indicator flashes, showing that "The
sampling frequency is not supported by this unit."

The soundbar has no issues, but the colour of its tiny LED is
different on those occasions when the amplifier fails to work,
possibly showing Dolby content (1). There does not appear to be a
way to influence the TV optical output.

(1) It is generally red, whilst Dolby is supposed to show green,
and Bluetooth (which is not in use) is blue. It is so small that
I have real trouble interpreting it.

Chris

[Harry Bloomfield Esq]

Post by Chris Hogg
I would like
to increase the bass from the speakers on the TV so I don't need to
use the Hi-Fi unit and so possibly avoid the lip-sync problem.

One way to improve the bass, is to increase the size of the speaker
baffle. Modern built-in TV speakers are tiny, lacking in bass, because
of their size...

An old trick which can sometimes help, is to bluetack a short section of
cardboard tube, a similar size/shape of the speakers, over the speakers.