Samsung PN**B450 Picture Settings - Page 12

The DVE Disc has the color filter included. Which is a minimum otherwise you have to try and eye ball it. I noticed the color buttons on the remote don't work. Not sure if I'm doing it wrong or it's just not supported on this model.




So do you have cable that goes to a box or just have the coax run to the TV?

For the PS3 are you using HDMI? I think you might get slightly different results based on the connection type.

They charged me a bit more for the HDMI and less for the TV, but it all worked out to $679 at the end.

... weird. Amazon broke out the charges for my order differently from either of your two orders. $541.xx plasma, $8.xx cable and the balance for the blu-ray.

Plasma arrives tomorrow. I ordered on the very last evening of the deal.

My pn42b450 is occasionally giving me an error message "Mode not supported". Has anyone seen that? It's happened three times. After some fiddling with controls, the problem goes away. It could be a problem with the satellite receiver that the TV gets its signal from --- I don't yet know.

I just have the coax cable, which is directly connected to the tv. (I don't get tv with internet boxes, or everything else.)


Yes, I use HDMI cable.


After many trials, I think I've found satisfying configurations for the tv, and the PS3.... I'll try the DVE disc to get better colors. Thanks again dallows

No problem. You might notice some changes after the TV gets 100+ hours on it. Slight changes so that's why it's recommended you wait until about 150 hours to calibrate.

My TV is constantly making noise like it's "settling". I've almost had it a month....If you touch the top of the TV and slightly rock it back and forth, I can reproduce the sound...It's almost like the plastic on the bezel or stand is settling. Would have thought it would have stopped by now. I don't know what to think about this...

I also cannot get a picture that I am satisfied with OTA w/ coax.

OTA used to look great on my LG.

Hi Everyone.
Just purchased a PN50B450 yesterday.
Just wanted to tell you my story.
This is my fifth HDTV this year and I have some things to say that you may find interesting.
The first tv I bought was a Samsung HL67A750 LED DLP . It had a VERY nice picture on it and was my first experience with HD.
I ended up buying a used Vizio p50hdtv10a PLASMA for my bedroom because going from 67 inches in the living room to a 19 inch crt at bedtime sucked ..lol
Well, after watching the plasma in the bedroom with its sharper images and excellent screen uniformity, I started to become unhappy with the DLP set.
SO , I put the DLP up for sale, got $100 more than I originally paid for it, and went and bought a PN58B550 plasma.
Had the B550 for a couple weeks and became unhappy because of pink hue issues and it didnt seem as sharp as the 50" vizio.
So , I took it back and got a Panasonic TH-58PZ800U.
I used service menu offsets provided in the owners thread for the 800U but after 2 months, I could NEVER get a picture I was happy with.
I also think that maybe Plasma is better suited at 50" or under because it didnt seem very sharp either..like it always lacked a tad bit more focus.
(By the way, I have a PS3 for bluray).
Finally got fed up with the Panasonic 800U, sold it on craigslist at a loss of $400, bought the PN50B450 and brought it home.

Heres my findings about the TV's i've had so far:

Samsung HL67A750: Great pic if you dont move your head up or down or sideways when viewing...or if you lay down on the couch to watch tv, the screen goes dim at the top.

Samsung PN58B550: They STILL didnt fix the pink hue??????
Still, a great picture on it, excellent colors and blacks were on par with the Panasonic 800U IMO. however, the "soft" image of what I percieve to be a deficiency in plasmas over 50" was annoying.

Panasonic 58PZ800U = CRAP! THX Mode = DIM even with service menu adjustments. Colors just never popped and had a dull, lifeless picture on it.
Blacks, IMO, were NO BETTER than the Samsung B550.
Like the B550, picture seemed soft.

Samsung PN50B450 = I'm finally a happy camper. I wish the screen could be bigger but I wont go there with plasma (over 50") anymore.
It is SOOOO nice to see good colors again in my living room.
I cant tell one bit of difference between this and 1080p sets as far as resolution goes. It actually even looks sharper.
I'm using an average of the common setting in this thread (my Movie, warm2 mode looks good, not red like others have reported)

With that said, here's what you might find surprising:
The VIZIO P50HDTV10A in my bedroom, bought from craigslist for $500, with the red snow storm issue (which I took care of myself by adjusting voltage to potentiometers on the video boards) has, by FAR, the BEST LOOKING PICTURE of all of the tv's I have owned so far.
The HD pictures from my STB are just amazing and even 3D looking and the colors are completely satisfying - I adjusted the colors and picture settings to my liking when I first got it and I NEVER EVER -NOT EVEN ONCE have changed a setting on it since - and I am very picky.
It just sucks knowing that i will eventually get the "Pop of Death" that these particular models suffer from and it will be gone
And SD tv, looks better than on any other HDTV I've had too.
Black levels, to these eyes seem to me to be on par with everything else I've owned.


So, its the Cheap Vizio, with the B450 coming in at a close 2nd.
YEP, 2 720p sets, bottom of the line, entry level plasmas, have better, sharper, crisper images with more pleasant colors than the much heralded 1080p Panasonic 58" 800U or the 58" B550..and cost me a thousand and change LESS.

**Scratching my head****

^^^^ Can you try and take any pics of the Vizio in use to show us? I'm curious.

I just picked up a PN50B550 and was getting frustrated with some of the settings I was finding, the colors were just off.. too vibrant, too unnatural, etc..

I used these and the picture is nothing short of AMAZING, with every component I use. Thank you!!

I have a PN42B450, when I try to access menu item "Advanced Settings" it's grayed out and won't allow me access. Can anyone tell me how to get access?

Thank you.

Change the Picture Mode from Dynamic to Standard or Movie.

Glad to help! Enjoy.

Dan

I've had my b450 for about a week now, progressively lowering the color setting over time. I'm down to 40 now, and it still seems inaccurately overly-colorful to me (using movie/warm2, of course). Perhaps with a few more hours, I'll have to start digging into the sub-menu, white balance, etc. Don't get me wrong, the colors look gorgeous, just not entirely believable.

Yes, the primary colors are very oversaturated out of the box. Almost all digital TV's are now. It's an unfortunate side effect of trying to have your model TV stand out in the store, just like how they default to Dynamic mode in the store. Yuck.

I've found that nice clean HD feeds can handle a higher color setting, like 44, but most standard def stuff has a harder time with higher color settings. I think mine is set 40-44 right now for day to day standard def material.

Dan

hmm, I'm finding just the opposite. For example, I was finishing up a movie early this morning, standard def dvd released about 10 years ago (Duets, played on an Oppo 981 with all settings neutral/untouched on the Oppo dvd player), and it was almost shocking going from the movie to live tv (the Today Show in HD) and seeing how much more incredibly colorful the Today Show was in comparison.

I could have easily cranked up the color settings on the plasma for viewing the dvd without issue as opposed to notching up the color setting for much of the HD television content I view.

Why isn't there an owners thread for the 42B450?
Anyways i'm thinking about picking one up just to last me for around 2 years, then I'll sell it and it put it towards a 50" 1080p 3D ready HDTV when the Wii2 and PS4 come out in 2011-2012.

I was thinking of going for the Panasonic 42" 1080p S1...but why spend the extra $600 for 1080p(and inferior Color and processing)when the Wii only does 480p to begin with AND i barely play My PS3, but i watch Alot of movies and now Bluray...But i guess 1024x768(The lower end 720p) using HDMI is good enough for now until i upgrade 2 years later to 1080p. What can I say, I just want to get rid of my Bulky heavy Silver Sony 32" wega CRT And replace it with one of these. My only gripe is the red stripe on the B450...and i worry that the Color,Motion and Blacks wont be as good as my CRT...Those 3 things are what i LOVE about my Wega.

Ha, I didn't even notice this until you said something. I know I couldn't see it; I had to get out a flash light to directly shine on the bottom to see it. I wouldn't be worried about it.

If you decided to go with the B450 I don't think you would be disappointed. Unless you expected deep blacks. They're good but full screen blacks are a bit gray. I deal.

The red at the bottom isn't noticeable at all.

I wish there were pictures up, or an owners thread for the B450.
Anyways, how is 600hz for motion? as well as brightness and Color. Honestly i wish Samsung would of come out with a 42B550

is 600hz almost as good as CRT Motion? The last time i was at FutureShop i never really had a good chance to check out the displays, they all looked like crap running on the same feed...Nothing was bluray, just fuzzy looking TV channels Also since its 1024x768...When playing PS3 games on 720p or watching Bluray there will be upscaling and downscaling which sucks...But how much worse would the picture look considering I'm missing out on 256(Compared to 1280) pixels..Somebody mentioned there's a bit of overscan also, whatever that means...Anyways, it would be great if somebody could post up some pics to show off the blacks and color ect...And why would the blacks be Lighter when set to fullscreen? that's pretty weak....After all, for the Wii I'll be playing Virtual Console games in 4:3, but that's really it...And i dont watch alot of TV....Supernatural and South Park are the only shows I watch hehe. It will be mainly for the Wii and Bluray/Dvd's and maybe some PS3 gaming once in a while...If i were to soley buy this for 1080p Bluray movies and PS3 games, then i'd go 1080p...But since the wii is 480p it doesn't make a difference.

Well this is kinda the "owners thread." This one has the most info/settings/feedback. I don't know what happened to the OP or if he could change the title.

I've never had an issue with Motion. I'm not sure what the 600hz translates into real world but there's no hiccup or lag I've seen.

I don't have an issue with the resolution either. I don't notice any weirdness or problems with the image when I play ps3/xbox360/blu-ray. It all looks crisp and clear and colorful.

If you go back to pages 7 and 8 Dan and I have posted some images of our displays. They're not exact but pretty close to what you'd see, just imagine better when actually viewing. On my pictures though I was comparing my Standard and Movie modes. So all of the images labeled 1 are the Standard config. the problem we discovered was not all the sets are the same. Dan uses Movie/Warm2 and gets awesome results whereas I have to use Standard mode(calibrated a little) to achieve the same picture. It's just the way some of the panels are.

We also have our settings posted throughout the thread - the latest being on most recent pages.

What I meant by "full screen" blacks is if you have a black image, piece of clothing, whatever, in the middle of an image that has other elements to it, it will look dark black, like it should(depending on source). But if you have a scene say like in the Dark Knight were the Joker is in the interrogation room; then you'll see a bit of glow from the display when there's a lot of black supposed to be in the image.

Get what I mean? The panel can't go deep black, but it gets the job done for a $700 set.

my quick take on recent questions:

"touch of red" - as mentioned a few posts ago, I too have had the experience of pulling out the flashlight just so I could get a better glimpse of this supposed red color strip. If your room is very bright, you'll see the color of red somewhat, but it will be very muted in terms of intensity. Get any dimmer in the room and it disappears from view.

black levels w/ respect to old Sony CRT - this is one of those "it bothers some a lot, it bothers others just a little" subjects. I'm in the former camp and I suspect you will be disappointed too coming from a higher quality CRT. Like stated before, mixed light scenes with black content will look great in terms of the black tones. But that's not the crux of it. Even any el cheapo LCD can make blacks look good in those types of scenes (I know, I've owned a few).

It's when you get to scenes where it's predominantly dark throughout the frame or scene that the black levels of this base Samsung model really takes a hit. I find it pretty distracting and subpar but I pretty much knew that would be the case going in (based on reading these forums for ages and previous experience with a Samsung plasma).

Knowing that I wouldn't be keeping this model beyond 1-2 years, I was willing to live with it because it was still a very slight upgrade in black levels from my previous LCD and purchasing a base model at a great price would allow me to flip the plasma down the line without taking much of a financial hit. In the interim, I'll concentrate on the superior colors, size upgrade & other positives this Samsung plasma has over my previous tv.

Motion - I haven't had much of an opportunity to evaluate this aspect yet. It should be close to your CRT, so much so that I wouldn't worry about it. I think a much bigger issue is bit-starving of programming content, especially noticeable with motion scenes and having nothing to do with the plasma itself. The recent Miss Universe pageant broadcast last Sunday was a recent case in point. An absolute mess, nearly unwatchable. And that's really saying something given how spectacular looking some of those women were. Any time there was movement on screen, the picture became a fuzzy, blurring, distracting macro-blocking disaster. This was very evident even on the generally superior OTA NBC HD broadcast and our local spanish language HD OTA station which also aired it.

I just wanted to note real quick that if you have cable and upgrade to an HD package there is a lot of variation between channels and source broadcasts. Some cases may look awesome while others less than some. It's just the nature of it.

Now if you pop in a nice blu-ray it really compliments the set.

I think your observations coincide pretty well with mine. I do not own this model but I recommended, installed and set one of them up for my dad for use in his basement game room.

I (barely) noticed the TOC but my father, brothers and step-mother all failed to even notice it until I pointed it out. It's so subtle on this model it's a non-issue.

Last thing I want to do is get into a plasma vs. LCD discussion... each has its place. For several reasons, I would generally prefer a plasma but happen to own an A550 Samsung LCD. Based mostly on viewing angle requirements in his room, I recommended this plasma to my father, who was not looking to spend a huge sum for a game room TV. Well... I would LOVE to have the black levels of this TV on my LCD. No... it's not "CRT black", but for the price of this TV I was VERY impressed with what it had and with the overall PQ. Even playing Blu-ray content with the room darkened, the blacks were still much better than any LCD I have come across.

For a TV sitting at the lower end of a manufacturer's lineup, this TV is quite impressive. Is it the ultimate display for critical HT viewing? No... but anyone looking for better from a $600 display is suffering from unreasonable expectations, not a problem with this display.

dallows -

Agreed. There is all sorts of variability in terms of HD quality, for various reasons; HD camera settings, station transmission/bandwidth, content provider handling (cable, satellite, OTA), etc. But to experience such poor quality on what's generally considered to be the optimal platform for superior quality HD, OTA (over-the-air) HD broadcasts, was really irritating. Whatever the problem was, it wasn't that.

Agree with you, mostly. I would disagree with your (to me) overly positive impression of black levels but again, part of that comes down to individual taste and standards, not unlike how many LCD fans seem to overly discount the contrast/color fading of off-axis viewing. Some see it as no problem at all or claim there is no difference. I used to think they were all deluding themselves or being overly defensive but eventually I came to view it as something that those people were honestly just not as sensitive to. Me, that off-center slight LCD fade I find to be highly irritating.

For the price though, yea, can't complain too much about the b450, and besides, there would be no reason for more expensive higher end models if the b450 was any better than it already is.

Oh yeah. No, it seemed there was definitely something messed up with that channel's broadcast. Is it always like that?

No, I don't think I've ever experienced anything as poor as that on any NBC HD content; not sports or dramas or sitcoms, etc. Or on any other HD OTA channel for that matter (I don't have cable or satellite but have been exposed to a fair amount of that provider content too).

I did a couple searches on AVS to see if anyone else had been discussing it but I didn't find anything, which I found surprising given how sensitive many members are to issues like these.

Interesting. Must be the feeds, and I have no reason to doubt what you are seeing. Program accuracy can change drastically, that's for sure. My favorite live HD content is golf. It just looks so dang good. So does hockey. Also, some of the PBS material is fantastic, documenting travels across Europe for example. Those are the feeds that seem to have the most natural color. I love watching football also, but many times the contrast is too pumped on those feeds. Still looks great overall.

Anything recorded indoors is going to have a harder time with accurate color reproduction, and some look great, some look way off.

I watch all of my HD content on an OTA antenna.

Dan