I was at my uncle's house over the weekend. He has a newer Samsung Plasma. I couldn't see the model number but he just got it at Best Buy and they said it was a new Samsung, just came out this year (according to the salesman). Sorry to say it but this TV sucked. The picture quality was horrendus. I mean, grainy, no colors, didn't pop at all. Couldn't see any details in the dark areas. We tried some SD channels and to me, they where unwatchable. When it was stretched to fit the screen some things looked so bad it literally gave me a headache. Things where blurry and hard to distinguish. I figured something had to be wrong with the setup or something, I didn't think Samsungs where a bad set, I always heard good things about them on here. I tried everything I could to help them. I plugged it in via Component from their Time Warner HD Cable box. I ran the new Avia calibration disk, I couldn't get crisp, clear picture quality. Colors where very muted, no details in dark scenes, it was just a black area. We brought out his old CRT and it looked pretty good when hooked up via coax from the same source. I didn't know what to tell him to do, I recommended calling out Best Buy to take a look at it or something, maybe he could get his money back or try another Samsung set because to me, that TV would be out the window it was so bad. I would of been pissed if I came home to that. I could tell they where getting upset because they kept asking, does your TV do that, does it do this, do Plasma's do this in general, etc.

Also, the IR on that set is UNREAL. I warned him big time. I turned on Lifetime, SD just to see what SD looked like. I left it on for oh about 2 minutes. Turned off the cable box and the Lifetime logo was right there on the screen, bright. It was only on there for a couple minutes. I've never seen a plasma do this. THANK GOD mine doesn't, I would freak out. I can clearly see his cable box channel tuner banner on the screen at the bottom. Very clearly. I told him to run some HD channels for a few hours to see if he can get it to go away (if he keeps the set).

Do you guys think it was the set? Are Samsungs this hard to calibrate and that bad on SD content? Even HD content was very muted colors. Any thoughts, should they return it for a new one? They are really dissapointed/disilluioned on Plasmas for sure.

That's a shame. Your uncle could have a "lemon."

My friend has a Sammy plasma (about a year old) calibrated with Avia and the HD channels look top notch. SD channels are not great but seem better then what you are describing.

You might want to get the model number and check around AVS or elsewhere and see if these newer sets are problematic.

It seems like you tried everything. It is possible to try another HD set to confirm its not the source? If you don't want to go through the hassel of the return, you can try to get the Time Warner tech out to check.

Otherwise, if the purchase is within the 30 day window I'm almost certain you can return to BB with no questions asked.

Yeah, I think I will call him and tell him to try returning the set for another one if he can, it was totally wacked in picture quality.

WilliamR, yes, I too would call him and have him exchange it for another. I went to BB with my cousin yesterday because he is in the market for a 50" plasma in the $2000 range. We looked at the Samsung 5054 (oddly enough they didn't have the 5064) and the Panasonic 75U. Both looked great after we snagged the remotes from the salesman and adjusted them. The picture of the Samsung was great for the price it can be had for, so I certainly think that your uncle received a lemon. Of course, rule out the cables and the time warner box first (the connections on the box could have been bad; time warner sucks...I should know, I use them).