Panasonic Strobing effect on black screens normal?

[comfortablynumb]

I just got a Panasonic 39" TC-39A400U TV couple months ago, I notice when I'm close to the TV I can see on any black backgrounds the back light looks like it's strobing I can see it getting lighter/darker/lighter darker. On Panasonic website they listed 120 BLB (black light blinking) I been trying research all these new screens and backlighting to understand it.

Is what I'm seeing normal on a Blinking backlight, or is there a possible problem with my new TV?

[Chief Blur Buster]

Backlight blinking is used as a method of motion blur elimination, to make motion clearer. This is a common technique in many televisions, but is only now recently beginning to be used with gaming monitors (e.g. LightBoost). However, the flickering should be more visible in bright colors instead of dark colors. The flicker flashes 60 times a second.

Does it look like it is flickering about 60 times per second? (like a 60Hz CRT)
Then yes, it's the BLB in operation, and it is normal. It is often possible to turn this feature off.

If blinking only occurs in dark colors and blacks, and once every second, and only while watching compressed video, then this is the I-FRAME of compression (MPEG2, MPEG4, H.264). This is unrelated to backlight blinking.

Please describe the flicker.
- Does it happen when you are using a game console or computer?
- Does it happen only when watching video?
- Does it happen only with dark colors?

[comfortablynumb]

Thank you for the reply honestly at my normal view distance I don't notice it, I happened to get up the other day to get a drink and I had my Sony Blu-Ray on it's home screen I could see the screen just strobing like a strobe light when I was standing in front of it. I then tried my Roku and on it's black screen I could see it....On Blu-Rays with the black bars I could see the strobing in the black bars but on the color section I'm not seeing the strobe. It's pretty fast but I haven't counted how many times it's flashing.

I wish I could better describe this, but I was also curious as if this is what's causing eye strain and headaches when I'm watching TV

I don't see anything in any menus to disable BLB, I have AI turned off, and I have Noise reduction off...Backlight I have turned down to 72 out of 100 and brightness and contrast adjusted using the WOW calibration disc.

[comfortablynumb]

So it sounds pretty normal then, or should I take it in and get it checked out...I have the extended warranty at Bestbuy.