Official Samsung LNxxA550 (Series 5) Owners Thread NO PRICE TALK! - Page 9

Yeah, it is supposed to be 30k:1. I think Samsung has been even screwing up their stickers. Today I was in a BB and saw a 550 that said 1,000,000:1 on the sticker. Very strange.

kind of agree. If the reflections are about the same i may as well get the 65f because it adds a lot of depth and pop... oh and those are not my pics, they are peanut's.


the 550 you saw was probably a plasma? Because the Samsung PNA550s are plasmas and have 1mill:1 dynamic contrast.

Is there anyway i can find out if my tv is really 15k:1 or 30k:1? btw I bought the 37 inch 550 at best buy. Any else have a sticker with 15k:1?

if you go to BB's website and look up the 37" it says 15k:1 in the specs... the 37" and smaller sets do have slightly downgraded specs than the 40" + sets...

should i return the 37 and get the 40 instead? i have a fairly small room.

Yes, it does have pop, once I figured out some settings. I have begun plugging in the 4661 numbers from another post's advice. Getting real nice results so far. Compared to my previous W3000, the A550 seems about the same, I was even at BB this evening with my friend who has now bought a 52A550. I cant wait to snap pics of Cars on blu ray. Amazing.

My sticker on the 52A550 said 30000:1

First time poster, short time reader. I bought the 46a550 yesterday - it's my first hdtv. Since I knew I was switching satellite providers I got $300 off for signing up for DTV - but I found out this morning they won't install for another week (after they told me at CC it would be thisThursday)! I picked this thing up hoping to see my Tar Heels in HD for the rest of the tournament, so I was pretty disappointed.

Today I went to Radio Shack and picked up the best indoor antenna they have ($50) to see if I could possibly pick up HD CBS out of Raleigh 30 miles away. Tonight I set it up with my wife's help. Powered it on, answered the set up questions easily with the remote, it automatically scanned for channels and when it was done I had, uh, I don't know, 15 or so channels, including all the necessary ones in HD. That's a pretty free awesome!

Without any adjustments to the picture the thing looks great. My wife, who was very happy with our 27" Emerson and could not fathom bringing a 46" tv into the home, let alone paying that much for a gdtv(!) - she was impressed and didn't think it was too big.

Final thoughts. I approached this acquisition by thoroughly researching Consumer Reports, CNET, AVS and many other online sites. I settled on a Samsung 46-incher because they got strong reviews - all of them. But I admit I was easily influenced away from many brands (like Vizio) because they'd score something like a 6.3 versus, say, 7.6 for a Sammy or Sony. At the end of all my researching I went into BB and CC to check these things out. I was struck by how damn similar the picture quality was between all brands (and I can be a critical SOB). I know the store feeds can be poor but when they're all getting the same feed they all looked pretty good. I was expecting to look at a Vizio and see a blocky mess, and then look at a Sammy and see pure bliss. When bringing this up with a salesman we'd flit our eyes back and forth for awhile and then he'd finally say, 'I think that ones better.' The point is, HD is such a striking improvement over regular tv that I think 99% of hdtv buyers would be happy with any of them. So if you're like me, out there torturing yourself over which one to get, just get a decent brand and a good price - you'll be happy.

Yet I got this 46a550 Sammy and it's awesome!

The A550 has a glossy matte screen. Yes, it does show light, not image. The 65F was like a plasma, tube, whatever. It was like glass. In my situation, the screens were almost like night and day difference, regardless of the pictures. One pic shows a reflection coming down and continuing on the 65, whereas the 550 the reflection fizzled out at the screen. In a night setting, the 65F would show all light in other rooms, and I could see what people behind me were doing. The 550 is so far a much less distractive view for me. Ill try to get pics ASAP.

woops! pic #1306 is the 65F!

hmm, saw the A550 at Circuit City today. Maybe it was the way it was calibrated, but Iwas not impressed at all by the PQ, especially compared to its competitor (the 46inch Pany Plasma

Spider man and Cars are from a PS3. Nemo is a progressive scan SD dvd. The dude singing is from Letterman (Dish HD) (component). All pics are at the standard setting with those 4661 settings I am trying out. Hope this helps.

It was funny, when I was returning ,y 65F the sales person magically produced JUST 1 MORE unit they had found in the back, and was trying SOOOO hard to get me to take it. He also said he thought the 65F had more 'pop' then the A550. But like I said, he was really pushing for an exchange, not a return...

I think I can agree with that. Overall, my experience is a lot better than my 4661 and WORLDS better than my LED DLP... I really hated that thing. I just got done watching tons of HD stuff and I am legend and using those post 1499 settings... just WOW. It really was a great buy. And considering they can be had for the same price as the last generation, you can't beat it.

Also people keep throwing around "pop." Keep in mind that if you get your set professionally calibrated, it isn't going to "pop" like you are describing here. "popping" as it is being used here is actually a result of poor color temperature. I would get over the "pop" and buy this set. It "pops" plenty fine if thats what you want. Just don't get it professionally calibrated. It will end up looking more matted, like at the movies. Thats why the pros always tell you to give it a week to set in and for you to get used to it. Because everyone sets their TVs to "pop" and then can often be disappointed with the calibration when in fact, the TV is really displaying the best picture that it possibly can (scientifically).

So while you're haggling over what has more "pop," I have been enjoying the best picture I have ever owned. Again thats compared to a sammy 4661 and a sammy 61 inch LED DLP. My sources are a pioneer BDP95FD blue ray player and a scientific atlantic comcast 8300HD. All HDMI. No grain no PQ problems what so ever.

Justin

Then get the pany plasma.

Justin

Ya none of that is the TVs fault. Thats all source and connection issues.

Justin

Did you miss where I said that the 24fps worked flawlessly? Of course I have a flawless source to do it with.

Justin

So how is SD on this TV? Anyone can tell me?

Looked just fine to me. Also, look at my uploaded pics on pg9. #1341. That is a regular dvd, on progerssive scan dvd player (not up-convert). I thought SD looked just fine on the 65F also. I am not that critical of SD because I simply just do not watch SD very often.

I would have to say, generally, plasma does not give you a striking image, or a dynamic one. And considering any type of dynamic or bright image for plasma is generally a no-no, why would someone who wants a dynamic (pop) image get a plasma? Again, I revert to my uploaded pics. Does the Cars pic not provide ample bang?

And if they are, they are ignoring them. Thank you Justin!


As I said earlier, I work in an electronic store, previously I was a Cable Installer and Technician, I look at these TVs all day, everyday, side-by-side, and HANDS DOWN the A550 is a big step up from the 65f. I own the 65f and I am replacing it Friday with the 550. Why? Blacker blacks, better response time, better sound, better menus, non-reflective screen, better color depth, newer technology. The list could go on and on. Don't get me wrong, I like the asthetics of the 65 better, the chrome finishes and rectangular base, but that isn't enough to make me keep it. At least 3 65f series TVs in our store have had faulty power buttons. My 65f has insane green and pink gain even after calibrating the bejesus out of it. and the killer Motion Blur on everything I watch that isn't TRUE HD. all of the standard def and even the most of the HD broadcasts coming through Coax have ghosting or trailing. I thought about sending Samsung a letter asking them to pay for the glasses I will need from watching this TV. But I set them up side by side in the store and played identical content from Basic Cable, regular composite DVD, upconverted DVDs, and Blu-Ray, and time after time the 550 looked better.

To answer a couple of concerns about SHINY vs. MATTED screens. The highly reflective coating was something Samsung came up with, they said- matted screens are compromising our clarity and contrast, we don't care if you get a glare on your tv, we would rather use this coating to keep light in that is suppose to be in, and keep light out that is suppose to be out to maintain the highest contrast in the industry. And they did. Until this year, when you are going to see truely ridiculous claims of contrast. Remember, Dynamic Contrast is a fake number. It is the comparision of the lightest and darkest parts of the screen as stated by _____ (said) company. And their methods of figuring out this number may be completely different than another companies. No one wants to read the Native Contrast number because it is so low, that the commmoner couldn't differentiate that this tv says 1,000:1 and the tv next to it says 10,000:1 (dynamically). I hated, hated, hated the insane reflection on my 65f. I had ambient light coming in from the side of this TV that caused a reflection of the white trim on the wall, and if I lit a candle to put on my coffee table, then all night watching movies I would see a perfect mirror reflection. After Samsung came out with their shiny screens, Sony followed suit and came out with a semi gloss. a shiny matted finish that brought their XBR4s to 18,000:1 contrast. the highest for a non-reflective screen, it diffuses exterior light and has a soft edge to reflections. If the tv is on, the backlight will overpower ambient light. You may notice it in the letter box but not to the extreme as the 65f.

About 'Pop'- Justin is exactly right, having a cool color temperature is making your whites look BLUE and yes it pops but it also is drastically unrealistic and washes out skin tones. having that white look neutral/natural, or warm is going to give you a much more acurate picture. also having your tv in vivid with the backlight and contrast all the way up is going to wash out the blacks in your shadows and shorten the overall life of the backlight. So in the store they are trying to grab your attention with this blue 'Pop', but if you value realism you will adjust your settings to adjust to your room lighting. And you will never get 3-D effect from using Vivid settings. Only when calibrated will it appear to have true depth.

I will continue with more when I get to work. Peace.

Wow, the 550 is looking like it will be my first big HDTV, I am pretty sure I will get the
46". Does anyone here have Verizon FIOS like I do with a Sammy? I know a guy that has a 2005 Pioneer Elite and Fios HD seems so look pretty good, much better than the Comcast he had running to it for a couple years. I am glad I decided to visit here and listen you folks in the trenches of fine Sammy HDTV buying.

well said, Hope!

I followed the calibration in the famous 1500/1499 post on both Movie and Standard. However the DNIe is grayed out and I cannot turn that on except in Dynamic Mode only. With the DNIe on I can see some difference. Now in the post it mentioned changing the Pink to 15. WEll I do not have Pink, I have Red. So do I go in and click on each color and change them all to 15?? I am still new to the LCD scene and clibration stuff, so if it sound like I am talking out of my @$$, please forgive me. If someone can put up there calibrations in order as they appear in the setup, that would be great!

I went to BB yesterday having waited many months after the '71 series failed to meet expectations and having viewed the 37" and 40" 550 I honestly have to say I was less than impressed .

I spent considerable time adjusting settings but really didn't see much difference between the '61 model and the 5 series which were on either side. With all the much vaunted ballyhoo about 30,000:1 contrast, I came away feeling that I am going to reconsider my purchase.

Supposedly, there is some "breaking news" coming out of the '71 series thread today and if it pans out, I might just get that model as it is the only LCD that has impressed me to this point.

I don't want to scare anyone away from the 5 series; it is still a very nice set, just not what I had anticipated.

As for the diffenece in contrast ratio between the 37' and the 40", someone stated earlier in the thread that the 37" panels were not manufactured by Samsung. That may be the reason, but honestly I compared the two and they looked about the same to me...I thought the 37" looked a little better.

Try adjusting the flesh tone setting (p. 21 manual)

Did you miss the post 4 posts above yours?

Justin

DNIe is only available in dynamic. Professional calibrators leave it off. In fact, of the pros I have dealt with, all only use movie mode. But what it comes down to is what YOU like.

Justin

Can you please elaborate on this 'oled' and when it is expected to be brought to us consumers?

Thanks D92Mike, I will try that and see what happens. However, I am still wanting to see other owners calibrations on here. And if anyone has calibrated there with those calibration tools/devices.