Samsung 50C550 initial impressions.

[asdflkg]

PLasma TVs do generate more heat compared to LCD TVs. My V20 screen is warm while my Sharp Aquos LCD is almost at room temperature. One of the reasons (may be the only reason) for this is the plasmas operate based on charging of the gas while LCDs are passive and emit light based on backlight using CCFL or LEDs.

To find more about how warm your plasma could be run the RGB slides (Break-in slides). My V20 can be used for making omelette. And obviously Plasmas consume more power at least 50 more, hence some energy must be converting to heat form. Please note the law energy - Energy neither be created not destroyed. We can only convert one form of energy to another form. In this case electrical energy to heat.

And if your plasma is not getting warm, please check if it is LCD TV

 

[Kittu]

My V20 can be used for making omelette.

With that I can sleep peacefully after watching a blue-ray movie

 

[hubballi]

to C550 owners:

Is the banding issue mentioned earlier in the thread a distraction from the overall viewing experience ? Whats the picture quality like on this TV ?

For me its 3 months and have not noticed any banding on my set with any input ( SD or HD). I am extremely happy with my investment.

 

[Kittu]

Nice article on Plasma burnin

What is plasma burn-in, and how to fight it

 

[hubballi]

True either it is my apprehension or my other Sony LCD was made with intercooler inside (never was hot) . Will have to observe it for few days after few different runs (movies,SD and Hidef) ...I have asked sammy support guys but seriously the service guys are DUMB . They have no idea on anything .. I was asking one of the guys about calibration settings / initial settings for new TV for burn-in .. They had no clue yes I spoke to 3 of them,one of them was senior service supervisor. Not only Samsung most of the other electronic companies have bad service technicians who know nothing about the product. It is hightime they shld start focusing on after sales service.. Forget launching a new product everyday first support the old products that are sold to customers....

I guess companies in India dont want to invest more in getting skilled engineers and train them well because majority of their customers dont know yet about the different technologies or the product details and what to expect. This is the reason why LEDs are selling soo much. Hear the pitch the TV sales people make for LED TV and you will be shocked on what all they talk. I guess with time and more experience on customer side things will change.

 

[Kittu]

I guess companies in India dont want to invest more in getting skilled engineers and train them well because majority of their customers dont know yet about the different technologies or the product details and what to expect. This is the reason why LEDs are selling soo much. Hear the pitch the TV sales people make for LED TV and you will be shocked on what all they talk. I guess with time and more experience on customer side things will change.

Sorry for going OT, Are you from bangalore by any chance? Reason I am asking for is , I am getting a vintage stereo amp soon and wanted to try them with Alpha B1s . Unfortunately no one has them for audition here may be after I get the amp I can take your help to see how they will pair ?

 

[hubballi]

Sorry for going OT, Are you from bangalore by any chance? Reason I am asking for is , I am getting a vintage stereo amp soon and wanted to try them with Alpha B1s . Unfortunately no one has them for audition here may be after I get the amp I can take your help to see how they will pair ?

unfortunately I am based out in Pune but you are welcome to test your equipment with my speakers if you can travel with amp.

 

[heynownow]

I own a LG 50PK550, and the panel runs pretty cool. It gets warm of course, but it's not hot to the touch.

 

[Kittu]

I own a LG 50PK550, and the panel runs pretty cool. It gets warm of course, but it's not hot to the touch.

coming from LCD experience I thought it was hot.. But I ran it full load on few blueray rips for few hours and kept lil vent open for it to breath and fan was running ............. The system was normal..... So it needs some breathing space and some ventilation..........:clapping:

 

[plushly]

to C550 owners:

Is the banding issue mentioned earlier in the thread a distraction from the overall viewing experience ? Whats the picture quality like on this TV ?

If you are talking about the posterization/ banding, it seems mileage varies between units. On my first C550, YES the banding distracted from TV viewing. It was pretty much there with all content (did not have a bluray player though). In my opinion the banding was more irritating than the buzzing which is the reason I exchanged the set. The banding became more evident as the set broke in. Mind you this only appears in movie mode (which I believe has its own subset of white balance settings in the service menu). It is impossible to get deep blacks and shadow detail in both standard and dynamic modes.

The replacement unit I received has it sometimes depending on source, but even then it is not distracting and as severe as before. It is there in perhaps 20% of broadcast content, but even then only if you really look for it. Before it was there in nearly 100% of broadcast content. The graduations are much better on this set. Balanced skin tones also seem easier to achieve. The new set is also devoid of floating blacks/ flickering which is something that also irritated me a bit with the first unit.

However, I am at the point of possibly returning the second set due to return of loud buzzing. It wasn't there initially, but has gradually got louder over time. Which is shame, because otherwise I am pretty happy with this set (SD upscaling is poor in my opinion, however).

I had t'ed up to change for an LG PK550 to be rid of the buzzing, but they had been out of stock so have had to wait. Though glossy screened, the LG seemed to be better at upscaling and motion and bit better sound quality. I think the that the Samsung may be slightlty sharper in native HD, but its scaling power is ordinary. Meanwhile I witnessed my first buzzing LG in another store the other day, so it seems that while Samsung remains the king of buzz, LG can still be affected occasionally. Am in a bit of a quandery now: take a punt of the LG and be rid of buzzing (hopefully) but risk annoyance with other issues, or stick with the buzz I know?

 

[Imrahn]

A new update is out on the official site dated Oct 05.....Installing now.

 

[Kittu]

A new update is out on the official site dated Oct 05.....Installing now.

Link , & What does it do ? Please post your impressions after the update .. Will follow next .

 

[borg]

Link , & What does it do ? Please post your impressions after the update .. Will follow next .

Image quality that exceeds beyond reality Samsung Plasma Series 5 - PS50C550 - Plasma TV - Television | SAMSUNG

look under support:download:firmware

As usual samsung left the upgrade file blank,so dont know what is it for

i did the update last week, didnt notice any significant change

 

[Imrahn]

Updated and nothing can be said now as its mostly placebo effect....will make a thorough tweaking again and let u know.but for the time being,seems color hotness has come down in some cases especially with channel logos and skin tones.Picture sharpness seems improved as well especially with low end SD channels.

Other owners, plz post ur views.....view a channel continuously for sometime preferably news channel/reader, then update and view the same and see if u can 'feel' any positive/negative changes.

 

[uziel]

The date feature is useless. Once you power down the tv.... its resets the date and you have to configure date n time every time. Samsung user manual have itself mentioned not to keep tv in standby mode for long hence forcing to shutdown and repeat this all over again.

 

[sanjay0864]

The date feature is useless. Once you power down the tv.... its resets the date and you have to configure date n time every time. Samsung user manual have itself mentioned not to keep tv in standby mode for long hence forcing to shutdown and repeat this all over again.

Absolutely right. Sometimes I wonder what kind of nincompoops work for these companies. Why the TV does not retain the date/time upon being shut down is totally beyond my comprehension. Specially considering that we live in a country where power outages are the rule rather than an exception.

 

[borg]

A new update is out on the official site dated Oct 05.....Installing now.

Another one dated Nov 30 th available for download now

 

[Kittu]

Another one dated Nov 30 th available for download now

Guys , are you not having image retention issue ?


I think I am seeing the images for quite sometime .... :sad: any help with settings... I hate to run slides everytime I see an image ...

 

[borg]

TIR doesnt bother me anymore, if it is there then it is too faint to notice from normal viewing distance, and i am running it almost on torch mode(brightness 60,contrast 88)

only thing that troubles me(causing headache literally) about this tv is while it is showing a side to side pan shots( saw a lot of them during the cricket matches),. i cant precisely explain what it is - judder, motion blur.
so much for plasma having better motion

 

[borg]

Other owners, plz post ur views

Is everybody Else's 50c550 still working fine or not?, Two weeks ago mine turned itself off and started clicking ,no picture or sound just the standby led which glows

Samsung tech came and isolated the fault to x main board.Later he told me the board is no longer available for replacement.

out of warranty by 3 years so decide to attempt a component level repair
couple of Renesas IGBT's and auk(? never heard of this company before) mosfets shorted in it. Also till they are replaced no way to be sure if they are blown due to a panel problem

the original components are obsolete and therefore unobtainium, even hard to find equivalent part that matches all parameters, so gonna try something
close to the original parts