Samsung PN**B450 Picture Settings - Page 31

Does anyone notice a flicker when viewing white/light screens ?

I have seen this posted on other threads regarding plasma TV's but I am wondering if this goes away after a certain time period or if there are any specific settings to help reduce it.

Or do i just have to live with it since i cant return it ?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Hello,

I signed up here just to went my frustration with the same plastic bezel crackling noises reported in other posts.
It is quite annoying listening for these noises for the first half hour of warm up AND another half hour of cool down
Has anybody tried to minimize these with shims between plastic panels, washers etc ?

Thanks.

I've tried a few shims around the bezel and metal rear cover but this doesn't solve the problem. I suspect the real problem is the metal-to-plastic contact between the inner surface of the plastic bezel and the metal reinforcement brackets that line the perimeter of the inside of the bezel. A solution would probably involve trial-and-error methods and total disassembly of the plasma panel from the bezel in order to locate the areas that rub each other as the plastic bezel warms up.

I've had my 42B450 for two weeks now and love it. I also think that the bezel sounds are fewer and farther between the more hours I get on the TV. It's entirely possible that the plastic bezel is naturally "relaxing" after multiple warm-up/cool-down cycles and that eventually the problem will diminish to nothing. That's the trend I'm noticing, anyway.

My guess is that the problem exists on many 42B450's but that people just don't notice it (e.g. watching tv or game playing with sound turned up). Perhaps some units have more subtle sounds than others depending on the tolerances of the molded bezel. I did read an online review where someone had the this problem on the first TV they bought and so they returned it for a second one and it did not make the sounds.

My 42B450 was built on or after Jan 19, 2010, based on a dated sticker inside the unit. I bought the TV on Feb 9 only two-and-a-half weeks after it was built. The unit is perfect in every way --no pixel defects, nothing. I've thought about returning the TV for the same model but there will probably just be something else on the next unit that isn't "PERFECT" either...

I'm going to monitor the crackling sounds for a few more days and then decide which way to go.

UPDATE AND RESOLUTION TO CRACKLING BEZELS PROBLEM 2/25/10:

I decided to buy a second 42B450 to compare the bezel noises to the first one.

My first 42B450 was mfd in Jan 2010 (printed on rear label) and its bezel makes MAJOR crackling noises. Press lightly anywhere in the upper half of the bezel and it emits squeaky, crackling noises as it flexes. Even when I unboxed it the first time it was very obvious just by handling the TV. As we all know, the noises continue as the unit warms up.

Since it appears that not all 42B450s have this issue, I bought a second unit for comparison. Amazingly, the second unit makes absolutely NO sounds whatsoever --the bezel is as solid as a rock just the way it should be. It's like a totally different TV. The mfr date of the second unit is February 2010. HOWEVER, I'm not sure that mfg dates are going to fully isolate the problem. My guess is that the plastic bezel is made for Samsung by a couple of suppliers --one of those suppliers may have built bezels with subpar plastic/reinforcements/tolerances that cause the crackling problem when assembled with the other components of the TV. I doubt there's any way to know when those bezels entered the manufacturing stream or if Samsung has even identified that some bezels are prone to this problem. After reading various forums, I believe the "noisy" bezels were probably used in some late 2009/early 2010 TVs since I didn't really see complaints until the Nov 2009 timeframe. But I'm sure there are other factors, as well.

For certain, I am returning the "crackling" unit and keeping the "noise-free" second one. I think it's pretty much trial-and-error as to which one you get and you won't know until you unbox it the first time. I was lucky to bring home a second unit that was good. To save headaches, the simple test in the store would be to have them open the box so that you can squeeze lightly along the top of the bezel. If it makes ANY sqeaking/creaking sounds at all (a good one will NOT make any sound) just say 'no thanks' and move on to the next box. Very scientific, huh?

My bottom line: The 42B450 is SO GOOD in every respect that I probably would have lived with the noisy bezel problem if the second unit made the same sounds. I'm glad to have found the second unit to be entirely noise-free --again, it was luck-of-the-draw. In my opinion, it's worth the time and hassle to return the TV until you find one that is good (assuming that the noises bother you enough).

would you rather have the 42PNB450 OR 37LH30?

the 42PNB450 is $120 cheaper

37LH30 is the LG S-IPS panel

Trust me..and i'm not just saying this because i have one go with the pn42b450 you wont regret it. i bought and returned the panasonic s1 sony 40v5100 samsung ln40b630 before finally getting the pn42b450 and ending the search, was the only tv i was completely satisfied with for the price and after having the two plasmas lcd doesnt even compare especially if your playing ps3 or 360 no lag, the blur on the lcds and the lag drove me to a point of insanity. Anyways my two cents haha but trust me i tryed them all go with the plasma..not to mention the extra 5 inches is very noticable i noticed the difference between the 40" lcd's and the 42" plasmas so..

for example my parents bought the sony 46w4100 last year for 1800 which is a 120hz lcd i bought my pn42b450 this year for 600 and it outperforms it in every scenario with the exception of sitting right in front of it and using it as a computer monitor

Current Settings:

Standard Mode

Cell Light = 6 (this was the best in pure white scenes e.g the Olympics..anything higher the white was just a blot with no detail

Contrast = 70
Brightness = 52
Sharpness = 0 (sharpness leads to scenes with a little red content to be distorted..e.g a red belt)
Color = 50
Tint = 50/50

Black Tone = Off
Dynamic Contrast = HIGH(makes up for the lack of cell light and overall makes the pic better)

Gamma -1 (went with it because of dallows)
Color Space = Auto

White Bal = Default
Flesh Tone = 0
Edge Enhance = Off

Color Tone = Normal
HDMI Black Level = Low

I might throw your settings out there just to check them out. But how did you calibrate? By eye or software?

I'm still firm on the cell light setting. That's what pro's said though - 10 was the only setting. Which makes me wonder if the setting will still be in the 2010 models.

On Sharpness - I'm pretty sure that if the source is HD (basically all I watch) it doesn't have affect. Zero, zip, nada. I've tested this with test patterns and 0-100 was no difference. Again, HD content only, source was my ps3 running the AVSHD calibration disc.

I can also honestly say that dynamic contrast OFF is the way to go. You'll get adjusted to the picture shortly after and agree that it looks better.

Dynamic Contrast does add to black level and "pop," but not in a natural way or how the source material was intended, imo.

I've had my set as off for months now and after calibrating I prefer it off. Though I did have it on at one point and I calibrated around it. The picture was nice, but it wasn't as accurate as it could have been.


However, to each his own.

yes before i put the cell at 6 i would have never put the dynamic contrast on but it compliments it very well i think, and again to me during certain shows or commercials and what not the whites seemed WAY to white with no shadowing what so ever...so i watched the movie "Down fall" and originally only watched this to test the blacks but there was a certain scene in there with alot of white and it was just way too white with no shadowing or detail..and i adjusted the cell light until i got it to look right. Also i did this by Eye, not with a calibration disc

Will I notice much of an improvement in picture quality if I upgrade from my 42" Samsung DLP HL24266 to the pn42b450?

dan do you think you could calibrate your tv starting out with the "standard mode" setting if you can find the time of course...just so the standard mode people could have something to go on as well...

i really like standard mode but if there are more advanced calibrations for it(e.g white balance) that would be great

I don't remember seeing anything on this but has anybody messed with the Energy Saving feature on there set. It makes a difference how bright the picture is. I have mine on Low and it seems to look the best.

I use tikijojo's settings but changed the Light Cell to 6 and it makes the faces less washed out or white looking and the snow in a scene more natural looking, less bright or blinding. I know when the sun hits snow it is blinding but at 10 it just washes everything out when you look at a white scene.

Something that always bothered me was how Spocks face looked so white or washed out on the new Star Trek movie when he was in the command room. But now he looks more natural or less flushed. I noticed it on other movies as well. It shows up with very light skinned people.

The picture looks more natural now on the set and less washed out. It may just be my Blu Ray and other Blu Rays may be different. I have a Sony BDP550 I use on this TV. I haven't hooked up my OPPO BDP83 to it to see if there is a difference.

May be just my eyes or how I interpret the picture.

I have a copy of the new Star Trek I can check out. I'll try to mess with it tonight.

i tried the energy saver suggestion and i am quite pleased with the result...

also I also thought that the cell light on 10 made the white way too blinding too..(no shadowing, detail..ect..)

anyways I popped in a THX optimizer disc last night and I am more than confident that at least my brightness and contrast levels are accurate..

and as for the color settings i went with dans and they seemed to work even in the standard mode(at least to my eye) and here is my current and hopefully final settings

Mode- standard
Cell light - 6
Contrast - 90
Brightness - 52
Sharpness - 90
Color -45(i jacked my color up a bit from dans..)
Tint- g42/r58

Advanced - everything off or zero except edge enhancement on and colorspace - native

White balance -
R-offset - 21
G-offset - 25
B-offset - 15
R-gain - 25
G-grain - 0
B-gain - 27

these tint and white balance settings make the reds look better to me as well

and i have energy saver on low

Got the PN42B450 at home now

disappointed with how the image looks at 720p

the real resolution for this tv is 1024x768 and for PS3/360 at 720p (1280x720) the tv has to scale (Artificially show that resolution) and it does a poor job

Things look more Standard Definition than HD at 720p on this TV, I have a LG 37LH30 and my Dell 2209wa to compare it to, the image on the PN42B450 is very noisy when scaled and lacks clarity. Its really looks like i'm gaming at Standard Definition with this thing at 720p, movies are less noticeable because they tend to be noisy looking by nature while video games and onscreen text has that clarity and it really stands out to me

the blurring is almost non existent, its very good and I can make out objects while moving which was never possible with LCDs

Set your ps3 to output 1080p not 720p..how close are you sitting?

Not to be mean but it sounds like you're doing something wrong.

1080p is 1920x1080, the TVs resolution is 1024x768, its going to have to scale even higher making the image even more noisy and distorted from its default standard resolution

i'm doing something wrong, no its just the way tech is handled when it has to scale

No, if I remember correctly someone said before that the tv doesn't use square pixels, it uses rectangular ones to compensate for the resolution. 1024x768 is just native for pc and ****. You can force 1080 and adjust the screen/text accordingly. It doesn't look bad.

Trust me when I say there's something wrong with your setup. What's your source? ps3, cable box, what cables are you using?

PS3 and 360 using monoprice HDMI cables

i do like the glossy screen this has, colours come out much nicer

When you boot the ps3 for instance. It should display what resolution it's using in the upper left. What is it?

1280x720@60hz

hdmi1

We all undertand how scaling works but your causing the ps3 to scale things such as blu-ray down then the tv to scale that signal just put it on automatic the ps3 will send the native signal of the source to the tv and then its only being scaled once plus as i asked earlier how far are you sitting? and what are your settings? if your sitting 3 feet away have a signal scaled twice and your settings are wrong it will look bad...ive had high end lcds i have them in my house, had a high end plasma as well this tv has the least noise of them all...text however will always look slightly jagged on a 720p its the only thing people can really tell if you have a keen eye...as i said earlier my tv hooked up to hd box exactly the same as my parents high end 120hz lcd same channel same show mine looks much nicer..and nt even comparable for blu-ray or games through my ps3...dont use my xbox 360 anymore so i have no comment about that....anyways let me know viewing distance and settings and trust me set your ps3 to automatic for the least amount of scaling

thanks, maybe i don't understand how scaling works

you're right and this is very strange to me but 1080p actually looks much cleaner even tho it has to scale almost double its resolution lol

street fighter hd remix looks good at 1080p as does the afrika animated theme

i'm sitting about 8 feet away from the tv

So the set's better jangaboo? Hopefully you're happy with it now. For the money, you really cant beat it. My apologies if i sounded mad I assure you i wasn't haha.

Just got the PN50B430 a week and a half ago, i love it, but can't really find a good setting for it. B430 and B450 is the exact same thing just without some inputs and the anti-reflective coating on the screen.

The best i've found was combining like 3 of your settings together, but its probably because i mostly watch SD TV shows on this thing. Playing PS3 on this thing is great using default settings already though.

yep its better, it also helped lowering sharpness to around 10 on my ps3 and no problemo

I'm not sure if i'll keep it yet...the TV does have great looking colors, motion is much better than LCD but I find LCD better in the way it draws or displays objects on the screen especially for games and web pages

and here's 3x zoomed macro shot closeup of TV PN42B450 - not sure i want to say pixels cuz i don't know how Plasmas work

What do you mean by objects? because i find games look much better on the plasma than lcd...however like i said when recommending the tv if your using it as a computer monitor a 720p plasma is not a good idea...definately need 1080p for use as a computer monitor..unless your using it strictly to stream video or play games but sitting up close ad surfing the web wont looks good..not to mention overscan on hdmi or stretch on vga

i've noticed some image burn in, its subtle at the moment

This first person shooter I play has health meter bottom right corner, score board at the top and map on the bottom left and on a pure black screen i can see the outlines of these objects but its is subtle, i can't notice it other than having to be close to the screen

i'll try to get some screenshots of it tomorrow