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Samsung PNXXc550 Owners Thread *NO PRICE TALK* - Page 8

post #211 of 2793
5/12/10 at 10:43am
Man this forum is great! I have looked around a bit and there is a ton of info!!

Are far as adjusting the picture on my (2) 50" C550's will the AVS HD 709 downloads and the THX Test Settings on DVD work just fine?

From what I have read hear, Samsung did away with a few of the CMS adjustments on the C550 models.

Also, can anyone confirm that Samsung or Best Buy denies warranty claims if the Service Menu is accessed?

Thanks for your help!
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #212 of 2793
5/12/10 at 10:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by islandvic View Post

I bought (2) 50" C550's and a Samsung C5500 BluRay Player two days ago. I didnt do my usual "due diligence" because the wife was nagging to "just buy the damn things" at the store and the manager cut me a GREAT deal....

This is my 1st HD display. I am very excited, especially being on a tight budget. One display will be in my living room, the other in the den.

I will not get my HD Digital Cable setup until tomorrow and all my cables from monoprice until the day after....

I will report back with a review when I have all my equipment set up!

So far, I have noticed a couple of BS issues with these models that I was not aware of at the time.

*** Using composite A/V input from a DVD player or Digital Cable DVR Box is horrible! I get a huge buzzing sound that increase when I turn up the volume (goes away when muted) and I get these scanning horizontal lines. The picture was not what I expected as far as the pixelation (yes I know that composite is the worst, but the good stuff arrives in a few days!)

*** There is only 2 audio outs, 1 is a 3.5mm analog jack that IS NOT VARIABLE OUT! The second is an optical out, but only can pass Dolby Digital if using an over the air antenna!

*** No S-Video inputs, limited component inputs,

*** Internal Speakers are TRASH

*** It has a nice 5 channel Audio EQ, but it deactivates when any mode other than "Standard" audio is selected. If the "Dialouge" mode or others are selected, then the EQ turns off.

I was P!$$ed about the non-variable audio outs because for the time-being, I was going to use my Creative Labs 5.1 PC Speakers that I had before on my 36" Sony Wega CRT. It had variable outs and I could use the volume on my remote to change level..

The problems mentioned before will be hopefully rectified when I get the HD DVR's from Time Warner and all the appropriate cables from Monoprice.

Welcome to the world of HD, but you should have saved some of that budget for some additional equipment!

I am not sure what you would expect from composite A/V or PC speakers, if you want a picture and sound you can boast about you'll need to step it up a little... (note the big smilie!)

I personally would never use the internal speakers or watch anything by HD signals on these or any other HD displays.

You will probably be a lot happier when you have connected the HD DVR's!
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post #213 of 2793
5/12/10 at 10:57am
Yeah be patient, all will be well when you get your "proper" gear.
Composite cables may even hurt your TV. lol

As far as the differences between the 550-540 it is mostly hardware issues: smaller speakers 2x10, No 802.11, infolink or allshare, its a bit lighter and a different color. (platinum black)

As far as the 590 all I am seeing is it has Headphone capabilities, above the 550.
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post #214 of 2793
5/12/10 at 12:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spinal Tap View Post

Yeah be patient, all will be well when you get your "proper" gear.
Composite cables may even hurt your TV. lol

As far as the differences between the 550-540 it is mostly hardware issues: smaller speakers 2x10, No 802.11, infolink or allshare, its a bit lighter and a different color. (platinum black)

As far as the 590 all I am seeing is it has Headphone capabilities, above the 550.

Does this mean the entering the service menu on a 540/550 will in fact enable the Crystal Full HD Engine? Because CS and the Crystal Full HD Engine are not "advertised" on lower models. I know doing this enables Cinema Smooth, but I don't know if it enables the Crystal Full HD Engine. Also, the Samsung site makes it sound like the Crystal Full HD Engine and CS are part of the same thing, which gives the impression that if you turn a 540/550 into a 590 then you get both.

If both of those can be enabled in lower models, than that means I can save about $350 give or take. The only thing I'm worried about is voiding the warranty. Or I could just get a 590 and not have to worry about anything.
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post #215 of 2793
5/12/10 at 4:02pm
Yeah, i'll be hopefully slowly putting togeter HT gear for the unit in the Den.

I'm thinking about getting the Onkyo SR308 receiver and Polk Monitor 50's and CS10 for the front stage for now, then adding a little Polk sub and surrounds down the road.....

I will report back when I get the HD hooked up with all the appropriate cables!

BTW... I ordered a Component Cable for my Wii for 480p. Will there be a difference in picture quality compared to using the OEM Wii composite cable?

Thanks!
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post #216 of 2793
5/13/10 at 6:06am
I recently bought a lowly C540 model Plasma for a relative. Hooked up via composite with standard cable and the picture was definitely "standard".

Upgraded cable service and picked up an HD box from the cable company. After hooking things up and activating the box - jaws hit the floor!! Picture was that good with cable and their supplied component connections.
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post #217 of 2793
5/13/10 at 11:10am
As promised, here are the settings that I am currently using:

Mode: Movie

Cell Light: 15
Contrast: 90
Brightness: 56
Sharpness: 10
Color: 56
Tint: G33/R67

Advanced
Black Tone: Off
Dynamic Contrast: Off
Gamma: +1
RGB: Off
Color Space: Auto

White Balance Settings:
Red-Offset: 22
Green-Offset: 25
Blue-Offset: 12

Red-Gain: 20
Green-Gain: 25
Blue-Gain: 33

Flesh Tone: Off
Edge Enhancement: On

Picture Options

Color Tone: Warm1
Filters: Auto
Film Mode: Auto2
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post #218 of 2793
5/13/10 at 11:18am
Does somebody have a thread or chart, that compares the different MLL levels of the different 2010 Plasmas???

I specifically want to compare the black levels of the Panasonic G25, to the Samsung C550... Because the "rising black levels" of the Panasonic has me worried, I'm thinking I should get a Samsung instead.

Thanks to whoever helps... Please...
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post #219 of 2793
5/13/10 at 6:10pm
I work for the US Air Force and we just purchased 6 of these 50inch models. I don't know too much about the Samsungs. I own some Panasonic's. Hopefully they don't disappoint
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post #220 of 2793
5/13/10 at 9:20pm
update..

I just got the Time Warner HD setup today, the contractor gave my some HDMI cables to tide me over until the Monoprice units come in..

A few thoughts...

NO BUZZ on either sets! I have read here these models sometimes make a buzz from the back of the panel. None here so far..

My initial complaint of the internal speakers being trash was not quite accurate...

When I got the sets home the first night, I couldnt use my S-Video cable so I had to use composite A/V. This created a tinny sound and a buzz that got louder with an increase in volume.

All this went away with the HDMI cable.

There is minimal glare.

So far so good, I report back after I get the Monoprice cables in, and have the BD-5500 and Netflix up and running!
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post #221 of 2793
5/14/10 at 6:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by aydu View Post

I recently bought a lowly C540 model Plasma for a relative. Hooked up via composite with standard cable and the picture was definitely "standard".

Upgraded cable service and picked up an HD box from the cable company. After hooking things up and activating the box - jaws hit the floor!! Picture was that good with cable and their supplied component connections.

Why do you say that the C540 is lowly?
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post #222 of 2793
5/14/10 at 8:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by utsmaster18 View Post

Why do you say that the C540 is lowly?

Yeah, how come? I just saw the latest Brick flyer (Canada) and they have a C530 model... so the C540 is a step up!
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post #223 of 2793
5/14/10 at 10:40am
Hey folks,

My TV came, as scheduled, yesterday! I bought it off Amazon, which in turn sold it through One Call, which in turn, sold it through a third party HD TV store up in PA. And they shipped it through ConWay Freight (no Amazon Prime avx). ConWay shipped it when they said they would and called a half hour prior to delivery. I had a 34ft Mac truck pull into our development and stop in front of the house. The entire truck bed was empty except for a pallet with my TV strapped to the top. The box was almost completely undented except for one small area, and the ShockWear capsules remained unbroken. Delivery man, despite the claim of curb-side only, helped me carry it inside.

This TV was incredibly easy to unbox, and the box is easily saved for any later transportation. The stand is beautiful, especially if you have a dark plate glass TV stand. It did seem necessary to have two people for mounting the TV to the stand, and the directions weren't very clear on that step. The TV base slides INSIDE the TV itself...and it seems to be a beautifully sturdy fit.

I turned it on, and thankfully...NO BUZZING! There is a faint hum in the background, but it's so quiet that with any media turned on at even the lowest volume, it remains unheard. My biggest and darkest fears...removed!

The TV programming was quite easy to do, and it managed to find a number of HD channels, even though I don't actually have HD cable. Sweet! I'm really enjoying the fast that I can label and rename everything, from a specific channel, to my inputs. The optical out to my AVR works like a charm, and has no delay that I've yet noticed.

I was actually impressed with the Standard pre-set, but do look forward to some serious calibration setting. I did connect my Xbox via HDMI and try some Battlefield 2, and it looked STUNNING.

Quick Summary:
I've turned my brain to mush researching TVs over the past month, and finally bit the bullet and went with this Sammy. The price was good, the shipping excellent, and the TV is a joy to behold. Thus far, I'm entirely confident I made the best choice for the price, quality, and longevity of the equipment. As I get more into the calibration and hook more equipment up, I'll post a full review. In the meanwhile, I highly recommend you purchase this TV, and then start hoping you don't get a buzzer. If you don't, you'll have yourself an incredible TV!
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post #224 of 2793
5/14/10 at 11:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HitTheTwit View Post

Hey folks,

My TV came, as scheduled, yesterday! I bought it off Amazon, which in turn sold it through One Call, which in turn, sold it through a third party HD TV store up in PA. And they shipped it through ConWay Freight (no Amazon Prime avx). ConWay shipped it when they said they would and called a half hour prior to delivery. I had a 34ft Mac truck pull into our development and stop in front of the house. The entire truck bed was empty except for a pallet with my TV strapped to the top. The box was almost completely undented except for one small area, and the ShockWear capsules remained unbroken. Delivery man, despite the claim of curb-side only, helped me carry it inside.

This TV was incredibly easy to unbox, and the box is easily saved for any later transportation. The stand is beautiful, especially if you have a dark plate glass TV stand. It did seem necessary to have two people for mounting the TV to the stand, and the directions weren't very clear on that step. The TV base slides INSIDE the TV itself...and it seems to be a beautifully sturdy fit.

I turned it on, and thankfully...NO BUZZING! There is a faint hum in the background, but it's so quiet that with any media turned on at even the lowest volume, it remains unheard. My biggest and darkest fears...removed!

The TV programming was quite easy to do, and it managed to find a number of HD channels, even though I don't actually have HD cable. Sweet! I'm really enjoying the fast that I can label and rename everything, from a specific channel, to my inputs. The optical out to my AVR works like a charm, and has no delay that I've yet noticed.

I was actually impressed with the Standard pre-set, but do look forward to some serious calibration setting. I did connect my Xbox via HDMI and try some Battlefield 2, and it looked STUNNING.

Quick Summary:
I've turned my brain to mush researching TVs over the past month, and finally bit the bullet and went with this Sammy. The price was good, the shipping excellent, and the TV is a joy to behold. Thus far, I'm entirely confident I made the best choice for the price, quality, and longevity of the equipment. As I get more into the calibration and hook more equipment up, I'll post a full review. In the meanwhile, I highly recommend you purchase this TV, and then start hoping you don't get a buzzer. If you don't, you'll have yourself an incredible TV!

I think you made the right choice as well (this of course from a fellow owner)!

If you haven't already pop over to the thread regarding 'buzzing' and weigh in, I think that the numbers are tilting in favour of 'light or no buzz'.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1248652
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post #225 of 2793
5/14/10 at 7:22pm
Hey everyone, I am planning of moving from the c550 to the c6500. Is it worth it or not? Are there any noticeable picture quality improvements on the c6500 that make it better than the c550. Please help, what should I do. I might return the c550 tomorrow.
Thank you.
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post #226 of 2793
5/14/10 at 7:35pm
I think the only differences between the C550 and the C6500 series are the slimmer design and the web apps. Not sure if those two features are worth the extra $400 tbh.
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post #227 of 2793
5/15/10 at 7:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by flip808 View Post

I think the only differences between the C550 and the C6500 series are the slimmer design and the web apps. Not sure if those two features are worth the extra $400 tbh.

I agree:
  • And depending where you live (Canada or US) some of those apps will not work in Canada at all...
  • If I could use and really needed to have the apps, I would by a BD-P6500 Blu-ray player instead.
  • As for the cost difference, for me to move from the PN58C550 to PN58C6500 it would be a 43% price increase!
  • TV thickness?, once it is on the wall or sitting on top of a cabinet, who cares.
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post #228 of 2793
5/15/10 at 8:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by flip808 View Post

I think the only differences between the C550 and the C6500 series are the slimmer design and the web apps. Not sure if those two features are worth the extra $400 tbh.

It has been reported that the black specs. are better on the C550.
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post #229 of 2793
5/15/10 at 8:46am
Well, I had a B530 and just traded up to a C540. Notable differences are:

- Styling of course;
- Volume meter in bottom left now instead of bar left side of screen. Prefer the bar, oh well;
- Buzzes just as much;
- Remote look and layout is different and better now;
- The initial settings are much better, more on this;
- Speakers don't seem as loud, but they sound better. I am surprised by this a lot. I thought they would be the exact same. But I've had to turn them up to 50 when it's loud in the house. I have a sound system but I'm not bothered to turn it one when just watching some casual Planet Earth or something.

When selected for home use and put on Movie mode, edge enhancement and all the other crap is already turned off. Good. Also, I haven't tweaked the settings to much, but the cell light was set to 15 and contrast 95 out of the box. After tweaking I found 14 and 95 are working good for me. I was shocked how accurate. I found that 96 was ok and then 97 suddely hid the small white details, so I went with 95. Even the greens are more accurate (I have white balance flat right now). The B530 had to much green but this one is looking close to perfect right out of the box. Barely any tweaking necessary.

Warm 2
Cell - 14
Contrast - 95
Brightness - 55 (I haven't watch and tweaked any dark scenes yet)
Colour stuff is flat.
All the picture enhancing junk is off.
Of course this is crude and the set isn't even close to broken in, so we'll see.

Sound eq is

100hz - +4
300hz - +2
1k - 0
3k (I think can't remember) - -1
10k - -2

The downward sloping eq helped take out some tin sound
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post #230 of 2793
5/15/10 at 9:01am
Anyone using Dynamic Mode? Is so, what are your settings?
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post #231 of 2793
5/15/10 at 9:19am
Dynamic is too bright for my taste.
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post #232 of 2793
5/15/10 at 9:41am
Is anyone experiencing lag when playing video games when using HDMI? If so how much?
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post #233 of 2793
5/15/10 at 3:49pm
Well guys and gals, I am now a proud member of the C550 club. It was my birthday this past thursday so today on my day off I went out and scooped up my first plasma, which previously I had the LN40A650 from samsung. While the LCD wasn't bad this plasma made my jaw hit the floor when I hooked it up and did some viewing, I'm totally comfortable saying goodbye to LCD forever! Cheers to everyone who owns such an awesome set!
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post #234 of 2793
5/15/10 at 5:51pm
OK, does anyone have an answer to this. Does crystal full HD engine on the c590 make a difference from other TV's that don't have this(c550)?
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post #235 of 2793
5/15/10 at 5:55pm
Can somebody PLEASE post the numbers comparison between the MLL levels of the Samsung C550, the Panasonic G20/25, and the LG PK550???

Please???
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post #236 of 2793
5/15/10 at 6:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by XciteMe83 View Post

Can somebody PLEASE post the numbers comparison between the MLL levels of the Samsung C550, the Panasonic G20/25, and the LG PK550???

Please???

I also would like to see a comparison between these sets. I have no doubt that the Panasonic G20/25 are the best, but it would be interesting to see how the C550 compares to the PK550.
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post #237 of 2793
5/15/10 at 8:35pm
Any idea on input lag and burn in frequency for this Plasma?
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post #238 of 2793
5/15/10 at 11:54pm
Anyone have more details on the PN63C550 for 2010? I have been researching last year's PN63B550 which has great reviews on Amazon, but it's getting hard to find online and shows as discontinued on many sites. When I look at Samsung's 2010 plasma lineup, it shows that if you want a 63 inch plasma, you'll have to get either the 7000 or 8000. To my surprise today, I saw on Samsung's website, they have a PN63C550 for 2010, yet nobody in this thread is talking about it. Seems that the 2010 model is much lighter and and has less power consumption. When I look at Samsung's 2010 press releases for plasma, also no mention of anything less than the 7000 in the 63 inch size. How about the 560, 590, and 6500 models too? Thanks!
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post #239 of 2793
5/16/10 at 12:30am
The pn63c550 and 590 are now available I revieved my c590 last week
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post #240 of 2793
5/16/10 at 10:34am
Can somebody tell me if the C590 is worth the extra $200 from the C550?

According to Samsung, the 590 adds a Cinema Smooth and Crystal HD Engine...

My question to you guys is, are these legit features worth paying $$$ for, or are they manufacture spin, like the way dynamic contrast ratios are?

Please...
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