Samsung PN58B550 58-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV Thread - Page 25

New to the forum, been lurking around a few months….
I picked up the 58B550 from BB last weekend, couldn’t pass up the deal.
I have my Sammy connected to a HTPC (W7) with a ATI Radeon 4350 graphics card
With just a little tweaking of the ATI controls, this set was rocking… Local OTA/via pc and a mess of 10.4 MP still photos, were crisp and color accurate. I can’t wait to try out some BR on this puppy. Any recommendations as to a good BR title to try?

i thought Hurt Locker and Ninja Assasin looked awesome on BluRay

Welcome to the non lurking part of AVS Cat. Keep the head low when bragging about the superior plasma PQ, some people get offended at that Glad to hear you like the SS-550, my 50"550 is fairly new to me and I love it as well.

I at one time built a PC into a nice component sized case and put it in my setup. I love having a computer there but there was the boot time, no remote, etc, etc. so when a friend offered his used WDTV for $50 I bought it. I love it and mated with a 1TB WD drive. Takes up very little space, is noiseless, low power consumption. I do now n then miss the pc and someday hope to have a HT type with a remote.

Has anyone had a remote problem? My remote does not seem to work sometimes. The weird thing is the buttons on the tv do the same thing once in awhile.

I am using MS Media-Center under Windows 7 I really don't think the HTPC uses much more energy then a TiVO box. I do have to remind myself to reboot the HTPC at least once a week. 58 Plasma + HTPC is like a marriage made in heaven. Can't wait for football season.

I have just received this TV today after having a 4 year old HDTV die on me (another company.) Anyway, this is my first plasma and I'm wondering if it safe to go to these settings right now, or do I need to keep everything below 50 for now to "break it in" as I've seen mentioned a few times in this thread.

I have a Xbox 360 and a PS3. I've read that the general consensus is to set the PS3 to the following settings:

1. RGB: Limited
2. YPb/CbPr/Cr Super White: On
3. BD / DVD Video Output Format (HDMI): YPb/CbPr/Cr


Maybe this is a silly newbie question, but what settings do people recommend for the Xbox 360? Specifically, the "Reference Levels." I used Intermediate on my old TV but am considering Expanded for this TV.

Thanks in advance for any help with those questions.

Oh yeah, one other question that might be stupid. How important is it to run a break-in DVD that I've seen mentioned here? I've just been watching TV (full screen) and playing a bit of XBox 360 since I got the TV. Where does one get the break-in DVD?

Thanks again for any answers to these questions.

Hi folks. I was wondering if there was a service menu guide anywhere for this TV. Not sure what most of these settings do. Thanks!

yes, service mode is avail, do a search, very easy, it's something like mute, 1, 8,3, power I think.

Right, I know how to get into it. I just don't know what anything does. Thanks for the post though.

I was wondering if the B550/560 had the full color management option? I have a 58B860 with all options avialable, so very familiar with that panel. However, I just bought a C550 for the bedroom and no color management standard. I have entered the service menu and up the model to the 590, which added Film Mode, but no color management. Anyone know where exactly to activate this option within the service menu, if even possible?

The 5 series don't have the custom color option. I think it starts right at series 6. Also as far as I know, there is no way to get it from the service menu.

What size is your C550? How are you liking it? Can you compare it to the B's at all?

Piper, do a search, i think I remember reading that you could change your series from a "5" to a "6" somewhere on these forums......only bad thing is it voids your warranty I believe

Anyone know if there is a way in any of the menus or the service menu to find out how many hours of use are on the TV? Thanks.

Yes.. There is a column in the service menu that says "Panel Display Time" Either in the main menu, or the option menu. Some models even have the option to reset that time.

Hi everyone. Well I've had this TV for a few months now and overall very happy but there is one thing that is bothering me now. At the bottom in the center there is an area that is maybe 5" x 5" that is like a blotchy black spot. I only notice it when there is a real dark scene and only sometimes when there is a dark scene. I can't really describe what it looks like other than an area that stands out from the rest of the screen area. If I look really really close I can see almost a square in the center of the screen as well but I never really notice that, only this black blotchy area. Has anyone else experienced something like this, know what this is, or possibly how to get rid of it? Curious to see if anyone has any info or experience with something like this. Thanks.

Love everything about my new 50c550 EXCEPT the stupid power on/off jingle. Can you turn it off? Does Sammy think they need to be like Micro$oft now and have a welcome to my TV start up jingle? I have had the TV for 2 weeks and it drives me crazy. I know it is childish, but it has become a huge pet peeve for some reason. If I cannot find a way to disable it, the TV WILL go back for something w/o a start up jingle!

Are you serious?

Yes. I said it was childish. But it annoys the he$$ out of me. I cringe every time I have to turn it on. What is the point of the jingle? Like I am not going to know if the tv turned on when I hit the power button? They need a jingle to let me know that?

So back to the original q, can it be disabled?

Not sure. Check the settings. If you are using a receiver and have the audio in the TV turned off it doesn't play. Might be the best you are going to do. Maybe in the service menu.

I thought I was picky, but you've taken it to a whole other level

Haven't checked the service menu yet... Will try that, thanks. To be honest I really am not that picky, but for reason (irrational reason at best) that drives me crazy. The best I found I could do is to mute the tv before I turn it off, but it still does it at power on.

I'm pretty sure you can shut that off in the regular menu. I at least recall seeing a volume level for it. Personally I thought it was weird too but it doesnt bother me much.

Push the Menu Button, Go down to Setup go down to Melody, and then switch it to off or low.

Cheers

Hey, a long time ago I found a thread that stated you can turn the PNB550 into a 560 ( to enable external HD playback ), through the service menu. Has anyone done this or know of a link how to do this? Thanks in advance.

I did it. It enabled a few more options in the menu. Click the link to for more details.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1175569

Bringing up an old thread... but are others using settings like this? I setup my set a while back and bought a new BD player (sony bd-370) and realized (forgot) that the settings on each source were independent. We were watching the new Beauty and the Beast BD - and I realized my settings were waaaay off! I have some questions about the above settings (realizing that every set might differ, yadda yadda).

1. Why start from Movie mode vs. Standard / Dynamic etc?

2. I used the AVS HD709 disc for the first time, and I was suprised that my contrast had to be set so high and brightness so low. The combined bright and dark settings page (chapter 3? IIRC) told me an interesting story - when I set brightness via the dark page, the mixed page was way off and I couldn't see the dark lines at all, so I assumed dynamic contrast might have something to do with that. I think I had a high brightness / low contrast setting before, but wanted to see if others were also following the low brightness / high contrast.

3. Is anyone changing the 'skin tone' settings?

What's the altitude max on the current model Samsung Plasmas?

I have a 50" 550, I'm not sure how this works so this might be a stupid question. But, is there any way, even in the service menu, to enable variable audio out?

That's a great question - I would love to know that as well! I have an old receiver that doesn't have a remote so the variable output was great on my old set.

How do I change the HDMI Black Levels to low? It is greyed out and I cannot change it from normal.