Official Samsung LNxxA550 (Series 5) Owners Thread NO PRICE TALK! - Page 33

yes i know, so is the tv our not? do you know, yes i have been browsing both forums. the tv seems great spec but if it isnt out im not sure. Ive seen the Sony D3000 in the sony store in cardiff, and it seems VERY nice in my opinion, and ive seen samsungs, and seen many, but i think the sony is 8000-1 dynamic, this new samsung is 15,000-1, but the sony has the 100hz and the same features, but not 1080p, so its one of the two i shall get, not bothered about the panny, just because. I was also told today by the sony shop that he had bin to a conferense and was told by the BBC, that 1080i signals are better than 1080p, as 1080i containts the original and sometimes more information, and when its 1080p it ads a layer of glisten on to shine the image, doesnt change it much, and can sometimes hide detail. so im not sure, but its eiher this from dixons which can be got for £630 with discount codes, or £700 or price matched from john lewis with 5 years warranty.not sure, any ideas?

In no way is 1080i somehow superior to 1080p, that's total BS on that salesman's part. Also, from the contrast ratios you listed, it sounds like you're discussing a smaller model than even the 40" 550. If that's the case, then 1080p vs 720p will hardly make any noticeable difference unless you're sitting very close to the set.

aah ok, i am pushing towards the sony, yes they are the 32" i am talking about d3000 and the one in dixons, so i may swing for the sony with a 5 year warranty, will be good idea and it did look nice

plus, what is the difference between 1080i and 1080p then if so, both have the same resolution, does one just do better high deffintion or what, as the 1080 is the same resolution

http://www.hometheatermag.com/gearworks/1106gear/

trying to setup the tv tonight.

I notice that when I put it on HD, the 16x9 resolutions leaves about 2 inches on each right and left side that's just plain black. Is this normal? I figured 16x9 would fill everything but top and bottom.

so, coming out from the cable box do you have the cable hooked up with HDMI or component?

Is there that much difference?

Is your audio hooked to tv too through either of those?

First time poster, I just got my 40"550, first LCD tv, from BB. I just watched "HIT MAN" on blu ray on PS3 little bit...PQ was great enough to say "wow" with my wife..COD4 on xbox 360 looked like a different game than i used to play with my old 32" cube tv. however, wii looked suck...even after changing wii's setting to 480p and 16:9 screen.
i may need to play with tv setting...but have no idea what to do yet..still reading threads here ...my HD cable box doesn't work somehow so i don't get any hd channels yet...tech will come on saturday morning to fix..other than that i'm so happy with my 40"550...was going to buy toshiba 42"540 but i'm glad that i pick sammy......1080p just looks sooooooooo amazing!!!

ps. what is 1499 post that some people mentioned when they calibrate their tv? where can i find it?

I get my tv in 2 days and cannot wait. One thing I have heard is for the wii (i have one too) you should get the Component Video Cables not the red whiet yellow ones supplied with the wii. That should help you there.

As the the 1499 post it's here:

It has settings and such. Just scroll down to post #1499. Enjoy and good luck!

congrat on TV purchase. Btw, your Wii will never look any better,lol.

You need to set everything to widescreen (in each piece of equipment's menu, dvd, stb, xbox, ps, etc.), and try different aspect ratio settings on your tv. And make sure the source material is in widescreen format as well. Many sources use different aspect ratios, but you should not be seeing 'side bars' if you are watching hd and/or widescreen programming.

So I went to Best Buy again to see if they price match Amazon and the guy said no. He's a nice guy though and I've talked to him before so I would probably buy from him if I do go to BB. BB has a 60 day price match policy, and I do have a 10% coupon, but I also have to pay 8% tax which doesn't help much.

And also, I spoke too soon, as Amazon has dropped the price again......and I wouldn't pay tax nor shipping. But, I kinda wanna buy in a store just in case something goes wrong.

Decisions decisions........

^ wow.

Also, samsung's PIP says that you can only watch "analog" signals. I wonder if this means that you can only watch what's coming in through the Coax (whether its digital or analog OTA), because i read somewhere that the hdmi processor could only do one at a time. Has anyone tried watching a digital OTA channel on PIP?

I just pulled the trigger on a LN52A550...from Amazon. The 30 day pricing policy is a nice bonus. Their prices fluctuate so much that I'm pretty confident I'll be saving even more more money by the 30th day.

I decided that I no longer need to pull my hair out on deciding which TV to buy...last week I was about 100% sure I was going to go with a Sharp, then I noticed this thread. Hopefully, I'll be happy with the Sammy.

Okay... so here's my 2 cents...
But first, some context...
My setup... in a finished basement, 20 x 9 - two small windows, but the sun streams in during the morning. TV is situated on a short stand/table ~14inches high - there is a staircase behind the TV (which affects the sound from the TV)

Connections -
Comcast HD (DVI to HDMI cable plus audio cables)
SD dvd/vcr combo (old school...I know, I know.. get with the program)
Bose Lifestyle 50 system (again, I know)

No game console...yet.
No BR player..

I know, PS3 - combo BR player and console... prob is I think I want more XBOX based games (I prefer driving sims)..GT5 I know..but that is all OT...

So, the best I can get is 1080i out of Comcast and it still looks awesome. I'm coming from a Vizio 37 LCD in the same space so it's quite a step up in viewable area!

Typical viewing is mostly movies, science channel, and some sports - baseball and either F1 or Speed GT/ALMS races - btw, watched the home opener for the Red Sox (live near Boston) and during the ring ceremony - some of the super close-ups on these guys, I'm thinking, 'dude, decided not to shave this AM?'... talk about detail!

As far as settings... I'm all over the map... trying different things, tried the 61/65 series post 1499 - still not sure yet - there are SO many variables.

On the sound topic ... for the total experience you need a surround sound setup... with a screen this big (46) or bigger you miss out not having it. That said, if I'm just turning on the TV to watch some science channel show, I'm not going thru the whole thing to rev up the whole audio setup.

Out of the box, I agree, the sound was so so. I turned on the SRS TruSurround and cranked up the low frequencies in the EQ - that seemed to do the trick for me. But as I noted before, the speakers are firing down at a solid piece of furniture and bouncing off the back of the stair wall back towards me. Since your specific setup in terms of, on a wall, in a cabinet/surround, lots of furniture/carpet, size of room will all affect how the sound reaches you, my solution may not be sufficient for others.

I've seen a couple scenes 'break-up' or pixelate (if that's even a word) in the center of the TV while watching cable but I think that was the signal, not the TV as I've not noticed anything with the DVD player.

I'm watching Star Wars (the original on an SD DVD player, no upscaling - again.. out of date tech, I know....) and still looks excellent. Though I noticed in one of the tie-fighter scenes I could actually see the square mat from the animation that they did (lovin' the contrast ratio!).

Ok, haven't tested the wiselink stuff yet... off to give that a try and keep working my calibration.

Will try to post a couple pics of the setup later.

Well, if all goes well, CEVA delivers my TV tomorrow.

Hello all,
Well I posted last Thursday 04/03 on buying LN46A550P3F.. I bought it from Amazon and like I said before this my first major purchase from a online store.. Monitors and PC’s are one thing but when spending thousand or more dollars it a leap of faith or at least that is what I thought.

Once I placed my order of course I got a automated response back from Amazon on my purchase and they stated that I will receive a email with the tracking number.
04/04 Friday at 4PM I had a tracking number and was on CEVA’s website setting up email alert to send me if anything changed.

04/06 Monday at 1Pm notice that the LCD was in my local city..

04/07 Tuesday at 12:46 they tried to call the house to schedule a delivery. Tuesday afternoon I booked for Wednesday to be delivered between 2Pm – 6Pm.
This was way faster than I thought it would be..

Remember this is free shipping..

04/08 Delivery day, CEVA called at 13:10 stating that they could be 10min early if I was to be home. I was so sure enough they arrived.

Now one thing I did notice that CEVA did not open the box I asked if they could and they stated they would but the more I thought about I really wanted them just to drop it off and leave. (New toy syndrome)

CEVA also stated that if I found anything wrong with the TV or packing that I could call CEVA and they would ship me a new TV and take the old one away no questions asked.. So I signed and kicked them out..

The box was undamaged and no flaws, so I unboxed the TV and started to play.
Yes the sound is different due to the fact that the speakers are located in the back of the LCD.. Now I wall mounted this so i get reflective sounds from the wall. It’s not bad it’s just different as the last LCD had speakers in the lower front panel.. So that might be the reason why people hate the sound, or they might have it on a Stand without any backing.. Unknown but the sound is find for the DVR.. Movie on the PS3 is running thru 5.1 Surround sound.

Wall Mounted and hooked HDMI cables for Time Warner HD DVR and PS3, SD is all right not that bad matter of fact it’s clearer than my old LCD.. But you will need to view in Wide Screen or it will box it to 16.9 or 4.3.. Once flipping to a HD channel you want to change it back to 16.9 so you can see more of the picture.. and I’m getting 1080I on the HD channels

My old LCD was a 1080I max and the most I would get from my HD DVR was 720P. So great improvement.

Next test was the PS3 with a favorite blue ray movie WOW it was so clear and perfect. I did have to setup the Blue ray settings and normal screen setting from the old LCD at 1080I to 1080P-24

I could not take my eyes off it.. Same old movie but now a better picture deeper blacks and no blur that I can see. More testing is required as well as calibration to get the best out of the LCD.

I’m not a expert on AV or LCD’s but this one is a hit with the best bang for the buck.
Overall very pleased with Amazon, delivery and this LCD. So I hope this help anyone that is trying to decide on buying at BB or CC and having to pay tax and all of that BS that comes from getting them to honor Amazon or any other online CO. Save your money and get it thru Amazon.. Matter of fact I will not be going to BB or CC unless I want to view a product but then I will buy it on Amazon.
All I have to say is WOW.

bingo. PS3 will get most games that will be on Xbox, and if you want a blu-ray player and have an HDTV, its a no brainer imho. but you're right, this is OT.

*cough get a PS3*

For the folks that have posted that are playing COD4 or other fps, hows the set do at keeping up with the game? anyone play on live with it yet? Possibly do the crosshair test, Im definetly tryin to avoid the 650 as i hate the TOC, not to mention the extra $1000 thanks in advance

I was contemplating the same decision but it was for price reasons. I made up my mind when I saw a 46 inch screen directly on top of a 42 inch screen at sears. I said there would be no way I would be happy with a 40 inch screen over the 46 inch! So I got the 46a55o and it should arrive next week. My couch is about ten feet away with a love seat angled closer. My thought is you are going to have this thing around for a while so you might as well go big and not be looking back and saying "wish I woulda". However in your case you are a lot closer so I can see your dilemma even more. My opinion would be to go big if u can afford it. I could not afford the 2 grand at sears, cc, bb etc, so I got it cheaper on line and will hope for the best.

My wife said the same thing and actually got upset because returning the TV involved a 20 mile round trip (twice...oops). I told her I do not settle for mediocrity!

Alright everyone! I have taken some pics on my sound settings and think they are a big improvement. Let me know what you think.

wow thanks. that does sound much better for the 10 min I listened to a movie and music station. I don't heard the tin can hollow sound anymore.

Did you pause the screen? Or just let it load?


Once again, I know that these are updatable. I can read a bit of Korean and I noticed that is said usb update or someting like that not found. Are these updatable? Shall I call samsung because I want an english menu?

Love the TV thus far tho.. .

Thanks to all the new owners for posting their reviews. I'm about to return a 4061 because I can't live with the buzzing of the backlight (when <10). I would appreciate news on whether the buzzing problem has been resolved on the 40" A550.

I searched this thread and see a couple of owners complaining of buzz so it sounds like it is still an issue. To test for it, you need a mode where the backlight is set to less than 10 and mute the sound. On the 4061, the buzzing was very noticeable.

Thanks
Mark

Hi Mark,

Just went and turned on the TV (46A550), picked an HD channel from the cable box (note, I have to run DVI to HDMI with stereo RCA cables, doubt that affects it but, just so ya know) put it in movie mode (backlight = 5) and hit mute.

Sat on the couch (~8 feet away) and listened... room was silent overall... turned my head towards the TV - couldn't really hear anything. Went over to the TV and put my head beside the TV with my ear in line with the TV (meaning top of head against wall behind TV) and I COULD hear a very faint buzzing. Went back and sat on the couch...tried to listen for it... could not really hear it from the seating area.

That was with the TV on for 5 minutes. Did it change if the TV was on for a couple hours? (Sorry, didn't search the 61 thread).

Hope that helps a little bit.

Hi,
I'm Leo from Italy and I'm a new member of this forum
I have a question for everybody and I hope that someone can help me.
I want to say who is the builder of loudspeakers mounted on LCD SAMSUNG series 5 (LN32A550P3F).
I'm sorry for my not good english.
Thanks a lot.

I was playing COD4 last night and it looked amazing! I am going to post a write-up later on how to set up the Xbox with this TV via HDMI, based on a previous post of mine.


Those settings are almost exactly the same as the music preset! Which is good, because that equalizer setting actually makes the sound not that bad.

So for the record, I think the sound is ok... just set the eq. like rye said or use the music setting (to compensate for the freq. loss of down-pointing speakers) and use rye's other settings (except for auto-volume, which really bugs me).