Samsung PNXXc550 Owners Thread *NO PRICE TALK* - Page 11

Well it seems that in today's world, too many people believe that manufacturing defects --without a resolution from the manufacturer-- are just a risk the consumer takes when they purchase equipment.

I'm old enough to remember when that was not the case. When I was growing up, when you purchased an expensive piece of equipment it was taken for granted that if you took care of it.. it would last 10+ yrs-- EASILY. Every big ticket item my parents purchased worked until they decided to replace it -- I don't ever remember a big ticket item being replaced because it no longer worked (tv, dryers/washing machines, stoves, stereos, refrigerators etc.)! In fact, it was common for equipment that was no longer needed to be given away to younger family members who were just starting out.

These days, I've had to replace video cards (with bad capacitors) after 14 months; taken moderately used, $700 printers in for expensive servicing after 18 months; had digital phones, expensive cellphones, dvd players, mp3 players, headphones etc. inexplicably die for no good reason.

but the thing that amazes me most is how many people seem to accept this as "business as usual"! BullSh!t!! If you spend good money on a piece of equipment and it fails to work properly or turns into an expensive paperweight soon after the warranty expires -- THAT is the time that you should begin to make as much noise as you can, NOT say 'oh well, they got me on that one'!

I'm reminded of all those 1st gen iPod owners whose players died 1-2yrs after spending a few hundred bucks on those things! I have a portable mini-disc player that's 10 yrs old now and still works as well as it did the first day I bought it!

Yea, I backed the wrong horse as far as music players go, but at least mine still works! LOL

Nice write up Chad! From your experience do you think you could give us your opinion on the C550's compared to last year's B550? It seems like both sets have their own share of pro's and cons.

Chad, first off, thanks for sharing your experiences with this model, impressions from somebody that does this kind of work are invaluable.

I have a couple of questions, first you mention that you found nothing useful in the service menu, so from that comment did you only use controls in the user menu to make the picture calibration adjustments? Can you elaborate on what may be 'dangerous' in the service menu?

Secondly, I found it interesting that you allowed the set to rest and then used the screen wipe function before placing a black blanket over the screen to measure the black level. I can understand how this would provide the best black level but is this more of a measurement technique rather then a real world example of how a set would perform under normal usage (for example the checker board contrast ratio)?

Cheers!

Any thoughts on the C550 compared to a Panasonic S2? I'm trying to decide between the two in the 50 inch models and it sees to me that Chad's S2 review was a bit more "glowing" than his C550 review. I really want to like the C550 because of the better features (to me anyway) compared to the panasonic such as usb ports, extra hdmi, ethernet for networking and swivel base. But in the end picture quality is most important. I do play games to some extent but I'm not sure if lag and IR is really a dealbreaker when comparing these two sets.

anyone having problems with cinema smooth 96hz mode on c590? the cnet review seemed to have problems? just curious... also.. I assume cinema smooth is 4X4 pulldown 96hz? and auto 1 auto 2 is some sort of frame interpolation (that I wouldn't use)? thanks everyone.. Tim

Yes, that was it :-)


Curro on a Spanish av site posted calibration reports of the b550 and the c550, and the b550 came out better. Those were 50" though, if I remember right though .... can't quite find it atm. Also, in Europe the b550 had a cms, the c550 doesn't, so obviously easier to calibrate.

Yes

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...5#post18672155

Read the reviews again....I got the impression the c550 got a much better review in perhaps all but color accuracy vs. both the S2 as well as the highly praised LG pk550.

I just reread both the S2 and C550 reviews as jamesco411 suggested. I find that both sets are similar but when I looked at the charts, there seemed to be an advantage towards the C550. I'm by no means an expert though and won't pretend to be!

I think what I should do is to just grab a C550 and bring it home to see how it goes!

To the C590 owners, can you tell me how good Cinema Smooth works for 24p Playback?? CNet said in their review that it wasn't properly handled, they had stuttering in the video, and I was wondering if this is your experience too.

If it is indeed not working flawlessly as it should, could Samsung provide a fix via a firmware update???

That's good news. The C550 measures well and is fantastic value for money. I might have to pick one up on Memorial Day.

Wow!, isn't this the 3rd or 4th time you have asked this question?

And IIRC it has been answered each time.

As for a firmware fix coming from Samsung, you would have to ask them, not us.

Actually NO if you get your facts straight, I asked before WHAT they do, because I wasn't aware.

This time I'm asking, since I learned what Cinema Smooth is, if it actually works as promised. Because CNEt just posted a review a few days ago, saying it doesn't work.

So this question is new.

Whoa! Somebody is a little testy! Chill a little... and don't be so quick to jump...

If you searched on this forum, there are posts in the Samsung threads that answered what CS is, what it is supposed to do, and that there have been reported problems... in fact most if not all of your questions so far and probably close 100% of the newbie questions about the 2009 and 2010 sets are answered in the threads listed below.

Really guys, is it too hard to read through a few pages? There is a ton of information to be had in these threads but you have to make the effort too!

Samsung PNXXc550 Owners Thread *NO PRICE TALK*

Samsung AllShare and Internet@TV Discussion

Samsung PN58C590 Calibration Settings

Samsung PNxxC550 buzz poll

Did I just turn my Samsung PN58B550 into a 560? Yes I did!

Glad to do it!
Yes, I used only user menu adjustments. I tried the "0000" trick and tried opening up the advanced and expert modes and could not.
Some Samsungs (didn't check if this did or not) have a "calibrate" function, that if activated without the exact right test pattern sent via the correct input, will mess up the picture. There are numerous instances of people that do that and then post in the display calibrations forum asking how to restore it. There are other things that could possibly damage or whack out the set.
The rest/wipe technique was an effort to eliminate any IR from degrading the measurement result. The PN-C7000 I reviewed seemed especially prone to this, and I suspect the LG PK750 might have measured better if I had done that. Whether it's more real world or not isn't what I was concerned with; it's more of trying to make sure the set isn't handicapped.

The C550 seems to have much better shadow detail, and the contrast ratio/black measurements are better. But it seems to have some color enhancement built in that makes fleshtones redder if not compensated for. Some people like it, but I didn't. Of course that can be compensated for as I said in the review by notching down the color or turning the fleshtone control toward green, but those solutions are both at least slight compromises. I always thought the B550 had good color. So, I guess a bit of a toss up, but the C550 probably comes out on top.

Thanks for the 'heads-up' about the service menu (good to know), and anyway from your results the controls found within the user menu should be able to take care of any adjustments we would need to make.

Interesting how IR can affect the black level, but it does make sense when you consider how plasmas produce light, reminds me of the old CRT sets where persistence was carefully chosen property of phosphor coating inside the screen.

Samsung has been known to revise or add things to the service menu via firmware changes, so maybe in a few months they'll open something up. Also could be something hidden that I didn't uncover, but I doubt it. From what I found, a complete cal can be done in Movie mode.
That does not mean it doesn't need to be calibrated, or that anyone can do it right without the tools and knowledge of what they're doing.

Chad, roughly where would the C550 fall in your overall rankings? Based on your review, plus the generally positive feedback from others, it seems like the C550 would be a pretty good value pick at its relatively low price tag.

For those that have seen the B650 or B860 from last year, how much of a drop-off is it from those models to this year's C550? In other words, would it be worth it to spend the extra $250 or so for one of the remaining B models or just go with the C550?

I wouldn't mind knowing this as well.

Also, Chad, how would you compare the Samsung PNxxC550 to the LG xxPK550?

Got my PN50C550 on Friday. So far no buzzing.

Working on my 62nd hour of breaking using the files that I d/l'd from here. It may or may not be necessary, but why not. It is only running when I'm not watching the set, so no skin off my back.

Would love to find some decent calibration settings to use until I can get my hands on a disc. Anyone have any advice?

Got my PN58C550 today to replace my PN58B550. I can say with relative certainty that it, out of the box, seems like a better picture from what I can tell. Also, no buzz whatsoever from my set. I can't wait to start using it a week to 10 days after break in is done What a PITA. But, still excited.

what the heck are you saying?

He would rather have a poorer picture and a buzzer to deal with... it's never as much fun if everything just works!

There has been some posts regarding picture quality on this new model. I have close to 400 hrs and this TV is capable of producing amazing picture quality. I recently visited some friends whom own the same set and I was somewhat dissapointed how poorly his picture quality was on HD programming. He had HD cable 720p & 1180i but know where the quality I was enjoying ( compared to his previous set ) he thought the new results were a big improvement . Since he had'nt purchased a blu-ray player, I hooked up mine to show him what he would be missing - the results blew him away, we went to a local electronics store and purchased a portable HD antenna and with his proximity to local HD broadcasting resulted in equally amazing picture quality. I live in Las Vegas and have a roof top HD antenna with amazing results without smaller cable bandwidth problems. Netflix , Amazon & Hulu offers a big HD availability. Using C/net recent review C590 calibration.

Hi guys, I'm new to this site. I just got my new 50C550 yesterday, and I am finding some great info on here. Thanks!

I did have a minor problem that maybe someone knows about. I want to calibrate my TV, but before I buy a calibration disk, I tried fiddling with the pic settings.

The problem I have is that I cannot access the HDMI Black Level or the Film Mode under Picture Options. I don't know why - I'm running a PS3 through the HDMI2 port, and I think I remember accessing the HDMI Black levels yesterday while playing Red Dead Redemption, but for some reason I can't access either now.

Anyone have any ideas why? These options are accessible in the C550, right? Also, do yall think it's worth it to buy a calibration dvd, and if so, which one is the best? All I have hooked up to the C550 is a PS3 right now, but I'm planning on getting HD cable installed soon.

Thanks for reading, and if yall have any questions, feel free to ask! I'm really happy I found this site.

Hi everyone.

I bit the bullet and bought a PN58C550 a couple weeks ago. So far been very happy, though the menus, especially the source switching, are driving me nuts. But maybe it's just user error so I won't b*tch about that - yet. It's not a buzzer at least. I did have to switch to all HDMI as it did not like component in my situation.

I have some MPG movies on an external USB drive. I can't figure out if there's any way to get the audio to work through my Denon AV amp like I do my other sources (Tivo and DVD). My drive doesn't have external audio outs, so perhaps it's impossible? I guess it's not really a tv issue per se but perhaps someone has a solution or alternative.

Also in Media Play some movies won't scale up to full screen, yet others will. Is this just an encoding issue with the particular movie?

thanks in advance everyone.

Brian

Not sure about the problem(?) you may be having with source switching... is it not working or do you miss not being able to directly select a source?

As for the movies on the USB drive, audio can be had from the 1/8" mini jack (stereo only) or from the optical output, both on the back of the set. If you are using a MPG file type then compatible audio streams are AC3/MPEG/LPCM/AAC. I generally use MKV or Xvid and they work fine, stereo or multi channel sound depending on the original encoding.

I haven't noticed any scaling issues, but I guess that would depend on the original format.

Just wondering if anyone else has had a problem when watching HD cable where the TV speeds up for maybe half a second every 5 minutes or so - almost like it is catching up. It is very noticeable, but also very brief and it does not do it on bluray or ps3. It is especially noticeable when watching sports.

Cheers...

Al - thanks very much for the response. I think you answered my major question -- I need to run an optical cable to my AV receiver and that should get me the USB drive's audio. Hopefully!

I think the scaling issue is just how the video was ripped. Not all of them were ripped by me.

thanks!

BT