Bought the Samsung 50" C550.

[dgtl887]

Thanks for the advice. I am following up with a friend to see what my options are. The immediate problem now is, even if I am able to get a replacement, I have lost confidence in Samsung as a brand. Not to mention that I am really not too thrilled about the 'image retention' issues with Samsung plasmas.

May I ask you why you've lost faith in Samsung ? I mean, have you had a TV fail on you in the past ? I'm interested to know because I'm interested in a Samsung plasma.

There's the 47" LG LH90 back-lit LED in that price range, I believe.

Should i be worried.
I was planning to pick c450 tomm' but after reading your updates am confused.
On the other hand Lg thread has their own issues.
Sigh, what to do

Don't worry too much about it. There are always some TV's in each brand that don't turn out great. In all probability, you'll enjoy your TV just fine.

 

[borg]

Yes the problem is quite similiar, but not always exactly like this and not as apparent as the examples given in the article. Banding/Posterization seems to be an issue that quite a few people on the internet are complaining about with Samsung TVs. Also the complaints are not specific to any particular type of TV. In fact there are far more complaints with LCDs than with Plasmas, but this may simply be due to the fact that Samsung sells far more LCDs than they do Plasmas.

there is a new firmware update available, release date 13 july, i am going to try that
Image quality that exceeds beyond reality Samsung Plasma Series 5 - PS50C550 - Plasma TV - Television | SAMSUNG

 

[sanjay0864]

So, do consider the possibility that color banding might have been visible on your TV right from the beginning but you are noticing it only now.

Also, I may not be an 'expert', but I am familiar with good picture quality and thus something such as this escaping my notice for a day, let alone ten days is highly improbable if not impossible.

I have been rethinking about what you have said and now I am not too sure about my statement earlier. The more I think about it, I realize that maybe you are right, I really had not watched enough of the TV earlier and whatever viewing I had done was primarily HD sources. It is only the past few days after the FIFA World Cup, got over that I watched some SD. So, I cannot completely rule out the possibility that this issue may have existed from day one and only come to my attention now upon watching some SD material. Also, since banding is an issue related to bit rate my suspicion is that this maybe an issue related to the terrible quality SD signals we get by DTH/IPTV in India and with all flat panel technologies and not just limited to this TV. Since, so far, atleast on a regular basis, I have been used to only watching SD on a CRT based TV, I have not had to deal with this phenomenon. Yesterday I had the chance, very briefly, to look at a some SD channels, from a 'TataSky HD' set-top box, on a few LCDs and a C450 Plasma at a Samsung showroom and it seemed that the banding issue was present in every single TV I viewed. Now is this a problem from the 'low bitrate' sources, or is it a problem of the upscaling by the set-top boxes, or is it a problem of all flat panels? These are the questions I hope to have answers to and therefore I will be investigating the matter more deeply over the next few days and I will get back with my conclusions. Until then, I am holding back my complaint to Samsung, since I would rather be armed with all the facts before taking them on. Unfortunately I really don't have much time to devote to this right now.

 

[sanjay0864]

Should i be worried.
I was planning to pick c450 tomm' but after reading your updates am confused.
On the other hand Lg thread has their own issues.
Sigh, what to do

Sorry buddy, I really don't have any answers for you right now. All I can do is suggest that you thoroughly preview the TV before purchasing and make sure that you do most of the previewing with SD material, specially from various DTH set-top boxes. Do not and I repeat do not demo the TV with just HD material, specially the TV manufacturers own HD material form a media player.

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

Hey Sanjay,

What banding exactly are we speaking about? I know banding and seen them on some displays but not noticed on LG PK550 with TataSky or DVD.

Any link you can post and I'll check on the LG up close. I will definitely see green pixels for sure even if no banding

 

[hubballi]

Hi All,

Finally bit the bullet and bought the 50C550. Costed me 67.5K. It was delivered on Thursday but due to workload I could not share the joy earlier with you all.

I had been looking at several TVs and had shortlisted on Panasonic V20, LG PKC550 and Samsung C550. LG was very good and cheaper than others and it would have been a better value for money but the super reflective screen stopped me from going for it. Panasonic was on top of the list but in my budget I would have to settle for 42 inches; 50V20 costs too high. Option left was Samsung 50C550. I did a few demos and liked it. Though the black levels are not as good as V20 it is not bad also. It surely better than LCDs and some of older Plasma. I will upload some pictures in a day or two.

Thanks for all forum members for the valued inputs and experience which helped me enjoy this beauty.

Regards,
Arun

 

[HTTV]

Hello Arun,

67.5 for C550 seems like a good deal. Can you please share where you bought it from?

Thanks,
Anurag

 

[hubballi]

Hello Arun,

67.5 for C550 seems like a good deal. Can you please share where you bought it from?

Thanks,
Anurag

Pune @ Joshi electronics on MG road. Knew the owner through a friend. Hence a little bit higher discount.

 

[plushly]

I have been rethinking about what you have said and now I am not too sure about my statement earlier. The more I think about it, I realize that maybe you are right, I really had not watched enough of the TV earlier and whatever viewing I had done was primarily HD sources. It is only the past few days after the FIFA World Cup, got over that I watched some SD. So, I cannot completely rule out the possibility that this issue may have existed from day one and only come to my attention now upon watching some SD material. Also, since banding is an issue related to bit rate my suspicion is that this maybe an issue related to the terrible quality SD signals we get by DTH/IPTV in India and with all flat panel technologies and not just limited to this TV. Since, so far, atleast on a regular basis, I have been used to only watching SD on a CRT based TV, I have not had to deal with this phenomenon. Yesterday I had the chance, very briefly, to look at a some SD channels, from a 'TataSky HD' set-top box, on a few LCDs and a C450 Plasma at a Samsung showroom and it seemed that the banding issue was present in every single TV I viewed. Now is this a problem from the 'low bitrate' sources, or is it a problem of the upscaling by the set-top boxes, or is it a problem of all flat panels? These are the questions I hope to have answers to and therefore I will be investigating the matter more deeply over the next few days and I will get back with my conclusions. Until then, I am holding back my complaint to Samsung, since I would rather be armed with all the facts before taking them on. Unfortunately I really don't have much time to devote to this right now.

I have the c550 (Australian version) and the posterization/ false contouring issues are really starting to bug me. Skin tones (and like colours) have a green and pink division where they go into shadow. Bit depth in shadows seems to polarise colours, thusI only notice this in MOVIE mode, which I believe is the only mode that can be calibrated properly. STANDARD mode has weak blacks and too hot skin tones. I have tried switching on and off noise reduction, changing white balance levels and every other setting to no avail.

It is interesting that I cannot remember having the issue when I first got the TV. I have updated the firmware, which may coincide with the elevated posterzation, I'm not sure. It does seems easier to get a more pleasing skin tone in movie mode than I remember - could be the firmware or just better calibration settings.

I am torn as what to do. I thought about exchanging it for an LG 50pk550. While to me the LG seems easier to adjust color and contrast wise, I feel the output for TV has very poor processing (not sharp and chronic "clayface" smoothing that I cannot seem to reduce - analogue TV is unwatchable on the LG). Since I mainly use it for TV, I decided the C550 does a better job (but for the posterization issues) and it has a much less a reflective screen than LG.

I might email Samsung regarding the issue (from experience I suspect they will just say to return it for exchange, without addressing the issue).

 

[sanjay0864]

I have the c550 (Australian version) and the posterization/ false contouring issues are really starting to bug me. Skin tones (and like colours) have a green and pink division where they go into shadow. Bit depth in shadows seems to polarise colours, thusI only notice this in MOVIE mode, which I believe is the only mode that can be calibrated properly. STANDARD mode has weak blacks and too hot skin tones. I have tried switching on and off noise reduction, changing white balance levels and every other setting to no avail.

It is interesting that I cannot remember having the issue when I first got the TV. I have updated the firmware, which may coincide with the elevated posterzation, I'm not sure. It does seems easier to get a more pleasing skin tone in movie mode than I remember - could be the firmware or just better calibration settings.

I am torn as what to do. I thought about exchanging it for an LG 50pk550. While to me the LG seems easier to adjust color and contrast wise, I feel the output for TV has very poor processing (not sharp and chronic "clayface" smoothing that I cannot seem to reduce - analogue TV is unwatchable on the LG). Since I mainly use it for TV, I decided the C550 does a better job (but for the posterization issues) and it has a much less a reflective screen than LG.

I might email Samsung regarding the issue (from experience I suspect they will just say to return it for exchange, without addressing the issue).

Your problems with the C550, seem to be the same as mine. Strangely enough, I too don't remember having this issue when I first got the TV. Now, it seems unwatchable with certain channels/programs. I myself am also very confused as to what I should do now. Although in India, the option of having the TV exchanged or refunded are quite is not an easy task if not altogether impossible, I might be able to return the TV. So I am tempted to simply buy the Panasonic 50" V20, but the problem with that is, I really don't care for TVs that don't have a black (preferably matte finish) frame and unfortunately Panasonic has stupidly decided to have a grey colored frame for their V20 series. Also, more importantly I have actually taken a real liking to the C550's GUI, remote and over all feature set. Basically, if it were not for this one issue, I actually think the TV is a great value for money.

 

[plushly]

I checked the TV thoroughly tonight by watching a DVD just to be sure it wasn't a TV broadcast issue I was looking at. The DVD was terrible with a lot of green and red/brown banding in shadowy areas. I am now convinced that the problem wasn't there when I first got the set.

I remember when watching the World Cup recently that in high contrast scenes the shadow areas would flicker between normal and highly posterized patches on the football field. The brightness of the background would tick up and down at the same time. However I didn't notice it to the same degree in most other channels or on DVD, so I assumed at the time it was just the broadcast.

The occasional flicker in black levels would appear in some shows, but has become less noticable as time has gone on. However, the reduction in flicker has coincided with heavier posterization. While watching a DVD (silk road) the black levels would flicker a bit and momentarily normalize the shadow and de-posterize (if that is a word). I am now convinced that the problem is a fault of the Malaysian manufactured panel (either hardware of software).

Can I ask you where your panel is made? (to isolate whether problem is endemic to this model or perhaps just a batch issue)

They will have more c550's available here at the end of the month, so I will exchange once to see if it is a panel problem as I suspect.

 

[borg]

Picture goes yellowish (or looks dull) in movie mode, so i use a modified standard mode to watch SD channels, blue is better than yellow for me

for blurays movie mode is okay

 

[plushly]

I found these settings from the spanish Forodvd site to be the most accurate to my eyes:
Samsung PS50C550 calibration film 18 46 76 10 43 V53R47 calido2 color white colors auto gamma +1 20 25 23 36 28 30

I changed to cell light 15 and warm white1 for tv viewing. Other than that I feel the blacks and skintones are really good (apart from posterization in shadow areas).

 

[HTTV]

I got mine too. still in Box. Box does not seem to contain the wall-mount kit.
Doesn't it come free along with it?

 

[plushly]

In Australia, none of the current plasma's come with a wall mount kit, including Samsung. Normally and expensive extra.

 

[sanjay0864]

I got mine too. still in Box. Box does not seem to contain the wall-mount kit.
Doesn't it come free along with it?

The wall mount is provided by the Samsung installation technician. Your dealer should have informed Samsung of your purchase and they should be contacting you to schedult the installation. By the way, no tv comes with a wall mount in the box. The wall mount is provided free only in India, everywhere lese it is a paid accessory.

 

[plushly]

I have been able to mostly fix the green/ red banding by dialling down the green and red offset (to around 13) in white balance. This of course affects the calibration a bit, but at least there is no Shrek face going on. The problem is that the threshold at which this phenomenon occurs varies according to channel and source material thus the reason having to dial down red and green fairly hard. The result is good if slightly contrasty (blacks are black but seem to sacrifice a little more shadow detail) with HD TV feeds. Obvious banding is reduced about 90% for TV, though there is still a bit of posterization on skintone shadows if you look for it. The only other real annoyance is a bit of flicker of the brightness in certain contrasty scenes, but I think I am learning to live with that (realising that I will not get perfection at this price point).

The settings I have now look nothing like the many calibration settings I have seen posted. Settings I have now are pretty much by eye, but nevertheless quite pleasing for most channels if you like a moderately dramatic filmic look that looks quite sharp.

 

[wingsoffires]

I dont exactly know what this problem of color banding means but it seems this is present in almost all of the Samsung Plasma. Panasonic also seems to be having the problem to some extent. I have read quite a few threads in other forums as well and this has been discussed at quite a few places.

Gain, Lacking and Posterization on my SAMSUNG PS50A457 - AVForums.com

Actually this is making me feel woried as I have almost decided to buy the Samsung 42c450 plasma. After reading these posts today I am having second thoughts as to whether I should be getting a Plasma alltogether let alone a Samsung one.

 

[hubballi]

Picture goes yellowish (or looks dull) in movie mode, so i use a modified standard mode to watch SD channels, blue is better than yellow for me

for blurays movie mode is okay

I concur with you. All my family members had the same opinion. I am using standard mode. Still trying to get the best combination. HD is fine but SD I am struggling.

 

[borg]

I concur with you. All my family members had the same opinion. I am using standard mode. Still trying to get the best combination. HD is fine but SD I am struggling.

the default is warm2 in movie mode , that is why this yellow look

i changed it to normal or cool while in movie mode then it (yellowish/dull picture)gets better

the colors are more natural in this mode,but somechannels i see heavy dotcrawl/dithering,may be this is what sanjay and plushly is saying, it is not noticeable from my normal viewing distance(13ft), when i come close (2ft) it is very much visible. people faces looks like ghost due to this,

also now i see a white line across when the screen goes fully bright and white