Question Panasonic TH-42PD50U

[jlocasto]

Hi All. So I have an 42" Plasma that was in great working order about a year ago. The specific model is Panasonic Viera TH-42PD50U. It has been in my garage and I wanted to start using it again. I have the original remote. I can turn the TV on, and hook up a Firestick to the sole HDMI port, but there is no sound (although the video plays just fine). When I try to access the TV's standard "menu," nothing happens. The TV remote powers the TV on and off, so I k now it works. The TV does not respond to hitting any buttons on the remote nor the TV itself.

I have tried some of the suggested factory reset modes but nothing seems to work. For some reason I cannot get this menu to pop on. I really hate to pitch this thing because despite being 15 years old, it was working great. Any advice on it would be greatly appreciated. I have the original manual but it is not useful. I can provide pictures or specifications if needed. Thank you

 

[gn842a]

Well I run my sound using an S/PDIF cable to my receiver (from the motherboard, not the gpu) and the sound on my TV is something that I never use. From the receiver the stereo and subwoofer wires go out to their respective units.

I go out on the internet using a keyboard and monitor (but I can also use the TV as monitor) so the sound signal as such is coming in via ethernet (not through the TV). The TV does show up as one of two options for the sound system (it's annoying, sometimes after new drivers or new installation of something the sound defaults to the chintzy TV speakers).

So what I'm saying here is that having sound for your shows and having sound from your TV are two different things. Start thinking of the TV as a giant monitor and you won't give a sh** about the speakers on the TV. If it gives you a good picture, you're half way there.

The video works fine you're all set.

You can run to a tuner amp as I mentioned, OR you can just get some computer speakers and run them from the back of your motherboard (the light green connection). Computer speakers are surprisingly good these days and probably better than what you have on your TV. Fifty or sixty bucks will get you in business. (I linked you to a $130 logitech set but even sets half that price will be better than a TV sound system). Switch to a tuner amp with $400 speakers and you're into hi fidelity. And sure, you can get $4,000 speakers too...

Hope that helps,
Greg N