Please read the entire post so that you get an idea of what I'm talking about!

I just had my PN50B650 calibrated yesterday and learned some new things about my plasma.

First, I never knew that the Samsung's have viewing modes that can be added through the service menu. The calibrator yesterday has now given me two additional viewing modes outside of dynamic, standard, movie, and eco: CAL-DAY and CAL-NIGHT.

This is awesome because it means I can still use Movie mode and make adjustments to other inputs if I want.

My calibrator did all of the adjustments within the service menu, and spent a specific amount of time on the white balance (which by the way is now amazing, I never noticed it before but my whites are SPARKLING white now!). The issue becomes that since these were done in the service menu, their user menu settings don't always match up (especially in regards to white balance). Meaning the service menu has advanced settings to adjust such as further gamma controls and such.

Here's the disturbing problem, and I want to know if anyone else has experienced this. Please note it doesn't happen every single time, but it does happen often enough

I was watching television last night and realized that the black bars on the top and bottom were sort of washed out looking. This is cable television so I know it's horrible quality, but I figured the blacks on these bars should at least be deeper, especially since I know my set is capable of it.

So to try and fix this I adjusted the brightness and gamma setting all the way down, no dice, still the same washed out blacks.

Frustrated, I switched the set off and on, still no dice. Finally I decided to switch from my CAL-DAY setting to MOVIE, and BAM the blacks returned to the normal, deep blacks that I know the set is capable of.

Curious, I switched the mode back to CAL-DAY and the all of that mode's settings took effect, but the blacks stayed just as deep as with movie mode.

I turned my set off, and back on, and it reverted immediately back to those washed out blacks. Switch to MOVIE mode and back and the blacks return to normal.

Now my question is can anyone who uses the service menu and CAL-DAY and CAL-NIGHT verify this isn't just my set? In addition, the CINEMA SMOOTH bug that I, as well as everyone else, experience does THE EXACT SAME THING as this in regards to the black levels experienced from switching the feature on and off! I find that very interesting.

Thanks in advance.

Greetings

Is there an HDMI standard versus expanded setting that is different between the two modes?

Sound like the individual programs you are watching have different black levels, this is very common and it is the way the content provider is sending the signal. Black and Color level vary greatly per channel.

Thanks for the replies, and let me clarify.

This is on cable television through the coaxial connection, there is no cable box in-between.

As far as individual channels having different blacks, it's not specific to one channel. If the blacks are washed out (which many times if I turn on the set they are, and turning off the set won't fix it) all I have to do is switch my display from CAL-NIGHT to MOVIE and back, and presto, they return to normal until I turn off the set again.

Also, this is *only* on cable television. My PS3 and other devices don't experience this issue (outside of the cinema smooth bug).

I see analog cable. It could be a memory problem with the TV but more likely a sync clamping issue due to inconsistent modulation from the cable company. Do you have different cable options in set up? make sure you are not on "Air" for tuner set up.

I see analog cable. It could be a memory problem with the TV but more likely a sync clamping issue due to inconsistent modulation from the cable company. Do you have different cable options in set up? make sure you are not on "Air" for tuner set up.

I am pretty sure I'm not on Air, but I will double-check when I get home. That's a good idea.

I'm unfamiliar with the sync clamping idea, all I know is if my set is set to cable when I turn it on, the blacks are a dark gray. If I switch from my CAL-NIGHT setting to MOVIE and back, it fixes it until I turn the set off again. It only does this on cable.

I am pretty sure I'm not on Air, but I will double-check when I get home. That's a good idea.

I'm unfamiliar with the sync clamping idea, all I know is if my set is set to cable when I turn it on, the blacks are a dark gray. If I switch from my CAL-NIGHT setting to MOVIE and back, it fixes it until I turn the set off again. It only does this on cable.

These Samsung tvs have an issue with higher black levels when cinema smooth (96hz) is engaged. My guess is that he engeged cinema smooth during calibration and when you change it to movie, cinema smooth is not active. Samsung is aware of the problem supposedly.