I have been reviewing the information/specs on the Samsung PN50A550 compared to the PN50A530 plasma TV's.

The only difference I've been able to identify is that the PN50A550 has the Wiselink (USB 2.0).

Does anyone know of other differences between these two units?

Thank you,

Cory

I am wondering the same thing. The 550 has slightly bigger speakers as well :s

I thought the 530 was 3D ready. The samsung site shows that its 3D HD ready, but when you look at their innovations page under 3D ready, it only shows the 450, and not the 530.

Also the 530 has Ultra Filterbrite...instead of the standard Filterbrite on the 550.

They had 530s and 550s at Best Buy. I asked the sales guy about the difference. This was his response:

"The lower numbers are better with Samsung. Some of the new ones like 550 and 750 aren't as good as the 530. If it were me, I'd go with that."

lol

I'd like to know the differences as well. Sams Club has the 530 and I thought it was the Discount store "model".

17seconds, who ever told you that had no idea what they were talking about. The 6 series is the highest end model line in Samsung's plasma offerings. The 7 series is the highest end LCD model line. As to the differences between the two models in question, I'm not entirely sure of the difference, aside from the aforementioned omission of the USB port on the 530.

wsfanatic, I think 17seconds already knows that the sales associate is just full of **** indicated by the 'lol' at the end of his post .... man they should hire people that actually KNOW what they're talking about.

It says on Samsung site that the price for this is $1200? http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/spec.do?group=televisions&type=televisions&subtype=plasmatv&model_cd=PN50A530S2FXZA&fullspec=F Can this be right? How come Sam's Club is selling this for a lot more than that? I'm confused!

I thought the 530 was 3D ready. The samsung site shows that its 3D HD ready, but when you look at their innovations page under 3D ready, it only shows the 450, and not the 530.

Also the 530 has Ultra Filterbrite...instead of the standard Filterbrite on the 550.



According to this
www samsung com /us/system/consumer/product/2008/04/23/pn50a530s2fxza/PN50A530_spec.pdf

The 530 is does NOT have the Ultra Filterbright

According to THIS it does:

http://pages.samsung.com/us/hd/

The spec sheet clearly says normal filter brite, and no 3D HD ready...so I guess their innovations page is eff'ed up.

OK OK OK before you worry about this anymore, here is your answer

TV manufacturers crank out tvs that are about 99% alike to avoid price matching

kenmore vaccuums also does this so they can keep the item on sale forever (marketing)

they make the two vaccuums the exact same and one of them has a 2 foot longer cord

same goes for the tvs... they will change like one thing or 2 like add an input or move a speaker and every thing else is pretty much 99% exact

i am under the impression IMO that the samsung lcds 530, 550, 580 are all the same and the only reason they did that is to avoid price matching

that explains why best buy sells the a530 and sears and circuit city doesnt

i think anyways dont quote me on that last sentence^

i would stick to the main models that every store carries like the 550, 650, 750, sony models are pretty good about not making these wierdly changed models

the pna510 samsung plasma also is probably 99% exactly the same as the a550

I own the PN50A530 and as far as I'm concerned, its a great TV! I compared it to Vizio TVs and its WAY better, and when I compared it to other panasonic and pioneer models, it was almost as good. It was good enough that I wouldn't notice the difference if I didn't have them sitting right next to each other. Also, the PN50A530 supposedly offers the same picture settings as the PN50A550. The 550 might have a few more settings.

My PN50A530 has the following settings:
-Cell Light
-Contrast
-Brightness
-Sharpness
-Color
-Tint (G/R)
It also has "detailed settings" for the picture which contains the following, a few of which contain their own subsets of features:
-Black adjust
-Dynamic Contrast
-Gamma
-Color Space (this contains the option to change the Red, Green, and Blue colors (range 1-100) of each individual color on the plasma display. Those colors are Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Cyan, and Magenta)
-White Balance (Allows you to adjust R-Offset, G-Offset, B-Offset, R-Gain, G-gain, and B-gain on a range from 1-50)
-Flesh tone
-Edge enhancement
-xyCC
Under the "picture options" you have the following things to adjust:
-Color Tone (Cool2, Cool2, Normal, Warm1, Warm2)
-Size (16:9, Zoom1, Zoom2, Wide Fit, 4:3, Just Scan [sort of like "auto" although there can be fuzzing at the top or bottom edges of the picture for certain channels)
-Digital NR (noise reduction. Settings: Off, low medium, high, auto)
-DNIe
-HDMI Black Level
-Film Mode (This has the options of "auto" or "off". I am not 100% sure, but I think this mode is designed for 24p content. Whenever I play something in blu-ray at 1080p, it changes the refresh rate from 60hz to 24hz, which prevents the need for a 2:3 pulldown process, which means that the film is more "film-like" because it does not lose any frames in the process. I've read about a Panasonic 800U that employs the same thing, but uses 48hz. However, I've read that in areas where there is white, you can see noticeable flicker. Even though 24hz is literally half the amount of refresh rate as the Panasonic, I have yet to notice any flicker. Also, the user manual only shows the modes for “1080i”, not progressive modes, but I’m pretty sure that my PS3 was outputting in 1080p. Not sure what that’s about)
-Blue Mode only (displays blue color only for fine adjustment of hue and saturation)
-Screen Burn in Protection, which contains the following options:
---Pixel shift (This allows you to adjust the time interval [1min-4min] at which the pixels shift, it also allows you to turn it on or off. It allows you to shift the picture horizontally and/or vertically to whatever amount of "dots" you would like to shift the picture. You have an option of 0-4 dots for horizontal and/or vertical). This is designed to help to prevent burn-in, but it wont altogether PREVENT burn-in. TV logos that sit on the screen for a long period of time can still cause burn-in or image retention, but with the pixel shifting, it will be less visible and possible spread it out a little more).
---All white
---Scrolling (this is a picture that goes progressively from black to white and scrolls across the screen to rid the screen of any image retention)
---Side Gray (this is for when you watch 4:3 channels. It has the option for light or dark. Light is supposed to try to prevent any burn-in caused by watching strictly 4:3 images for long periods of time.

Overall, I would say that this plasma display is an excellent purchase with its deep blacks and excellent and highly adjustable picture settings. My only concern is the fact that I've read that the PN50A550 has had panel problems where there are noticeable green and pink/red bands in areas that are supposed to be white. I've looked very closely for this and I barely notice it. To notice it, I have to be standing 2ft away from the TV. However, some users claim that this condition is progressive and gets worse and worse. So I guess its a problem of Quality Control on Samsung's part. The best way to test it is to go to "Burn Protection" feature and select "all white" which will simply display an all-white picture. You can check this to see if anything is changing and then if there is a serious problem you can call Samsung or depending on where you bought it from, return it. I've yet to notice MY PN50A530 display get progressively worse and I've had it running for over 150hrs so far. I'm pretty much beyond the "break-in" period or just finishing it. Since I was aware of 1 hour after I bought the TV, I check the "all white" and have now just compared it after about 150hrs+ and I don't yet notice the bands getting worse (I cannot notice them at all when I am watching the white screen from a distance [where I always sit, 10-15ft] or if I am watching any picture at all). So I would say that its not a HUGE issue, but its worth considering before purchasing the TV. I got my TV for about $1,700 from a place that supposedly has a no-questions-asked 6-month return policy on TVs. If I notice anything getting worse, I will undoubtedly return it and spend more money for a Panasonic (which is also known to have issues for some panels) or a Pioneer Kuro, which is rarely known to have as many problems as other plasma panels. Soooo, to answer your question, I believe the A530 and the A550 are pretty much the same TV, if not, the same panel. I don't understand why Samsung has the two different models. It is interesting because the A530, according to samsung.com is $1,199 and the A550 is $1,999. I can’t find any place that sells the A530 for less than $1,500 except at one website that is selling it for $1249. I’ve found the A550 to sell for as low as $1,200-1,250 from several online retailers. As far as specifications go from the PDF files on the Samsung website, they are identical with the exception of the “USB 2.0 Wiselink” which I think is on my A530 anyway in order to perform firmware upgrades. I called Samsung and they claim that the contrast ratio is different and he said something like one of the tvs is 30,000:1 and the other is 1,000,000:1. When I asked what the hell he was talking about (not in those words), he said his superiors had confirmed this. I also talked to someone online through live chat support and they claim that the contrast ratio of the A530 is 20,000:1 and that the A550 is 30,000:1. I then talked to someone else about the same thing and they said that the only difference was the USB 2.0 Wiselink which apparently allows you to connect your camera or MP3 player to the TV. I still don’t think this is worth the $800 difference that is shown on their website. This doesn’t make any sense considering the fact that the specifications on the website say that they are the same. Anyway, I made a post on some Samsung forums with an expert on the website, so we MIGHT get the final answer. Now THAT was a long post.

I little Googling found this (http://forums.cnet.com/5208-13973_102-0.html?forumID=146&threadID=315446&messageID=2902343):

On the samsung website, with the exception of the USB 2.0 wiselink, there is no difference in specifications between the PN50A530 and PN50A550. However, the difference in price according to the samsung website is $800 (a530 = $1,199 vs a550 = $1,999). I called Samsung and they claim that the contrast ratio is different and he said something like one of the tvs is 30,000:1 and the other is 1,000,000:1. When I asked what the hell he was talking about (not in those words), he said his superiors had confirmed this. I also talked to someone online through live chat support and they claim that the contrast ratio of the A530 is 20,000:1 and that the A550 is 30,000:1. I then talked to someone else about the same thing and they said that the only difference was the USB 2.0 Wiselink which apparently allows you to connect your camera or MP3 player to the TV. But he claimed that the contrast ratio for both was definitely 30,000:1. I still don’t think the USB 2.0 wiselink is worth an $800 difference that is shown on their website. This doesn’t make any sense considering the fact that the specifications on the website say that they are the same. Can you help shed some light on this? Thanks

Changeplayer,

I can certainly understand your frustration. I think I can clear up some of the questions you have, and explain where some of those answers came from.

1. The WiseLink is indeed an upgrade on the A550, and is not on the A530. This feature allows you to play music and pictures on your television (slideshow, music, etc) from a thumbdrive.

2. Price difference on the website don't necessarily reflect the prices in the retail stores today.

3. Contrast Ratio. I apologize for the misunderstanding, unfortunately it is common.

We have both LCDs and Plasmas, each with a 530/550 line, so it's possibble they were mistakenly reading the specs off the LCDs while you were enquiring about plasma units.

The LN (LCD series) are in the x0,000 (Ten Thousands) contrast ratio level. Naturally, different technologies are measured differently, so a LCD contrast ratio is different from a plasma contrast ratio.

The Contrast Ratio for both Plasma panels is 1,000,000:1, across the board of our entire lineup this year, with the exception of the 410 Series.

Here are our offical spec sheets:

PN50A530:
http://www.samsung.com/us/system/consumer/product/2008/04/23/pn50a530s2fxza/PN50A530_spec.pdf

PN50A550:
http://www.samsung.com/us/system/consumer/product/2008/06/05/pn50a550s1fxza/PN50A550_spec.pdf

Both list 1,000,000:1 Dynamic Contrast, so essentially, the panels should offer the same picture quality.

I'm sorry this information wasn't delivered consistently. I will address this issue with both service and our online support team.

Anytime you need, please feel free to come here with your questions.

Thanks for considering a Samsung plasma.

--HDTech
So, the only difference is the USB 2.0 port for picture / MP3's from a thumbdrive.

I'm about to purchase the PN50a530 from Futureshop in the next week or so and I've still yet to hear a definitive answer about the differences between the a530 and a550. Futureshop lists this tv as having a 20,000:1 contrast ratio and only a 1 year warranty on its tag but when asked, the salesperson says it's 2 years warranty. The a550, which Futureshop does not sell, says 30,000:1, as we all know, with a 2 year warranty at Bestbuy (sister store).

Ugh...I need some piece of mind before I make this purchase. I don't care about the wiselink, all I care about is the picture quality and if it's as good as the a550.

Please help!

I'm about to purchase the PN50a530 from Futureshop in the next week or so and I've still yet to hear a definitive answer about the differences between the a530 and a550. Futureshop lists this tv as having a 20,000:1 contrast ratio and only a 1 year warranty on its tag but when asked, the salesperson says it's 2 years warranty. The a550, which Futureshop does not sell, says 30,000:1, as we all know, with a 2 year warranty at Bestbuy (sister store).

Ugh...I need some piece of mind before I make this purchase. I don't care about the wiselink, all I care about is the picture quality and if it's as good as the a550.

Please help!

Both sets are identical PQ wise. Other than the wiselink feature both are the same.

Enjoy and welcome to AVS. :)