The Official LG xxPK550 Owner's Discussion Thread [no price talk] - Page 60

Actually, I see what you're saying, no light behind me, not behind the TV.

Well, I could control the light behind me at night, but during the day I have a ton of light behind me coming from an adjacent room.

Thanks to this thread, I picked up a 50PK550 earlier this week. It's my first HDTV, coming from a 60" rear projection behemoth.

Maybe I'm just lucky, but in the few days I've had the TV, I can't say I've noticed any IR, although I am trying to be mindful about black bars, and have been keeping any 4:3 content on 'Zoom' mode.

PQ is fantastic to my eyes, my jaw dropped when I started up Avatar in 1080p. I hope that it will only get better as the set settles in.

The screen is pretty reflective, but unless I think about looking for reflections, I don't really notice. I have windows on either side of the set (but no direct sunlight), and while the picture is a little washed out, it's certainly not unwatchable. I don't actually use the set much during the day though anyway, so I'm not worried.

My only gripe is the lack of Stereo Audio output. My receiver is old, and even though it's on the list to be replaced, I'm still stuck with it for now. It doesn't even have a remote, so it simply acts as an amplifier. That means that volume control is by device, and always changes depending on what I'm watching.

If you have no control over that light with a blind or curtain, you probably better go for a very refection resistant LCD. Just select such a model in a shop and do not worry about HiFi-TV.
Although even a LCD does not really give an acceptable picture in such circumstances ......

In the real world, the PK550 is at least as reflective as any large screen CRT ever was.

If you think you could live with the reflections from an old 36" CRT in your viewing area then you probably won't have a huge issue with the PK550.

If you think the reflections from a large CRT in your current viewing area would bother you then you do not want to buy the PK550.

Thanks

I'm quite aware of that. Thought it was a longshot nonetheless, thought that somewhere in the firmware (hidden) the ability to allow 48Hz / 50Hz is available

The Euro-model was unfotunately about double the price

I can verify that this post is 100% accurate.

I got my new panel installed today! For anyone following my posts, you know that I had a flashing green pixel and also what appeared to be 2 dead pixels. Well the 2 "dead" pixels were just a piece of dust/debris on the inside of the glass front panel. I was able to help the repair tech (he was alone) and, when he took off the plasma panel, we both looked at the inside of the glass and you could see the dust clearly. I used an air duster and cleaned the panel and got rid of the dust speck. I bet 99.9% of the people in this thread that have 550's with "dead" pixels actually just have dust/debris on the glass. The plasma panel is actually really easy to take off by yourself. You just have to unclip two sets of speaker cables that are attached to the input board, take out a few screws and pull the panel out by two brackets that are attached to the back of the panel. It's so easy a caveman could do it! Just be sure, as I was told by the tech, to NOT TOUCH the inside of the glass front panel. Just use an air duster and you should be good to go. Also the glass panel is firmly attached to the frame so you can tilt the frame up and look at the glass easier to see where the dust specks are.
So I now have a new panel that is pristine and now it's time to start running the break-in slides again! YAY!

60pk550 will be my new baby girl. I will name her Crystal. Crystal will be treated very gentle

before you had the panel replaced did you have any screen uniformity issues? and if so, is the new panel pretty good in this area? just wondering because i exchanged my 550 and the one i got actually has it worse than the one before it. the new one has a little over 90hrs. with color slides (i've been keeping track lol) just hope this will resolve itself once the panel is at the 150-200hr mark

thanks

Recieved my 60PK550 today. PQ is beautiful. I had previously returned Samsung PN58C8000 and i can tell you that i couldnt find PQ no different from the samsung and infact i felt the blacks on LG was much more better than sammy. Fortunately there were no dead pixels and no buzzing sound also.

Glare on this TV is unbearable , especially on dark scenes. Luckily my room could be fully light controllable and i wtch most TV in the night. So its managable

I have a question regarding the LG. Is the 3:3 pull down automatic when a 24hz content is played. I set my PS3 to enable the 24hz and want to make sure that the LG is automatically doing the 3:3 and i dont have to enable it anywhere in the menu(i didnt find any option in the menu though).

Comments appreciated.

Hey guys...

I've now owned the PK550 set for 2 months now and love it. However, one thing that is starting to bother me some is that the blacks have very little detail in them. I've been watching a few action movies lately ie: Iron Man etc on BluRay and noticed for example, when someone is wearing a black suit, you can even really tell where the lapel and or buttons on the suit are because it's so dark.

I have my contrast set at 65 and brightness at 60. I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed this and whether there are any settings I should try adjusting to improve things.

Thanks

PJStyles

What kind of screen uniformity problems are you having? I didn't really notice anything like that with my previous set....although I do notice some problems with my new panel . There seems to be a faint white line that goes about 3/4 of the way down the middle of the screen. It's so faint though and only noticeable on a lighter colored moving background. Also does the smallest box in the contrast pattern (when using Picture Wizard) get whiter when you turn the contrast down towards zero or does it not change color much? Mine doesn't seem to change much if any when I crank the contrast down below 50...even when I get close to zero. Is that normal?

its kinda like how an lcd looks with clouding, there are also some faint lines going down a few areas of the screen, as if the mount bars are pressed against it or something (closest thing i can describe it as lol) but its further towards the edges, maybe 4-5 inches from the right and 3 from the left. they end around 3/4 down the screen, i'll take some pics tommorow if i can just find that darn camera lol i'll check on my pic wizard also to see what mines does. thanks

Try this:

Energy saving: off
Mode: Cinema
Contrast: 75
Brightness: 52
Color temp: warm
Gamma: med
Black level: low
Dynamic contrast, noise reduction and edge enhancer: off

I measured a average gamma tracking of 2.19 (2.22 being idea) with these settings giving a light output of 32 ftl's. (I was able to get a 2.2 gamma but that was in expert mode with 20 pt grey scale adjustment). Hope this helps.

I believe it is automatic as long as the source sends a 24p signal.

ehgz1,
Thanks for the update about the fix for your dust/debris problem. I also have the same issue that is effecting a couple of pixels. It is nice to know it is a correctable issue as that is the only issue I am having with my PK550. Otherwise, I love this set. Thanks again for the post.

keyoctave,
what source were you using with those Cinema settings, when you have measured it with your meter?

Ps. you have forgotten the Color value (at least) .

It should work in that way. If I remember well, during playing if you press the OK button on the TV remote, you should see the video mode on the screen.

every tv need a calibration, Gamma and grayscale need to be calibrate to get a better
picture detail.

grayscale
http://www.curtpalme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10457

gamma
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_correction

How do I set color temp to warm? The only thing I see is a W30 number under temperature with an orange little gauge/slider that adjusts the W30 number.

I will try the increased contrast although I'm concerned about burn-in given I play the PS3 quite a bit.

Thanks

Ok I just got my tv today, not used to plasma, but for breaking in the brightness shouldnt go higher than 50 right?

But what about the vivid mode, is it ok if I push the contrast up and put dynamic contrast on high? I am no expert what so ever, but I like the lcd " pop " it gives to movies. Or shouldn't I enable dynamic contrast when breaking in?

the w30 is the color temp. its set at warm30 by default and brings the color temp closer to 6500K (ideal), but probably not spot on for every set.

edit: for gaming you can lower the settings untill ur past the break in period, 100-200hrs. but if you are concerned you can just run the color wash every hour or 2 to get rid of any ir that may show. good luck

Please do not use vivid during break in. Turn the contrast in cinema down to 55 or so and enjoy full screen content if you do not run break in slides.

So I had a 60pk550 made in Mexico in February. It had two dead pixels, dirt, a hand print, and a scratch on the inside of the protective screen. I called LG and they would not do anything. They took no blame, and said that cosmetic issues are not covered by warranty. Great.... Luckily I then called the place where I bought it and they're sending a replacement TV. LG was very attentive with follow up calls and checking to see if the Tech was doing what he was suppose to but not taking the blame for letting a TV pass QC in this condition is annoying. In either case I am getting a new TV, I'll keep my fingers crossed that it turns out better!!!

I was using a Sony BD550 bluray player, HDMI cable, and a DVE test disc.

The color was set to 50.

Again, this was in Cinema mode. The other modes were way to high in color temp. Gamma was off as well with out setting the contrast and brightness properly.

As an FYI to everybody, the color saturations in Cinema mode were pretty darn close to what it should be on the CIE chart (the triangle chart that shows primary and secondary color accuracy). All were a little oversaturated but in the same amount. No skewing off in one direction or another. When I did a calibration in Expert mode using the CMS, it made a difference, but not all that much. It's the grey scale that needed the most work.

I did more tests on input lag with a different program that is supposedly more accurate. Turns out the hdmi is not as slow as my stopwatch tests indicated before. Vga still looks to be faster but not as huge a difference. I posted pictures in the input lag thread and it comes out to be at most 3frames of lag on hdmi at 60fps. Still no good for competitive gaming, but at least its not 80-90.

Can someone on here do me favor? Could you run Picture Wizard and tell me how the Contrast pattern changes when you lower the contrast setting? Specifically it looks like the inner most box in the contrast pattern is suppose to get whiter than the other boxes when you lower the contrast. My set doesn't do that and I think it's got some problems. UGG

Has anyone seen these at any of the Costco stores on the West Coast? It sure would be nice to have their return policy available for any issues with flashing pixels, dirty glass, dust particles, etc.

@ Slostvt

Is there anyway you can provide some settings using a medium color temp? I input your 20 point settings from a few pages ago and they look really good. The only thing I notice is that with the warm color temperature it produces that golden/yellow hue to everything. While watching avatar the sky is golden or overcast looking, when if you switch to a medium temp it produces the blue sky and white clouds. I tried just switching it, but then of course the blue values would probably have to be readjusted for the cooler temp right? Anyways, any help on this would be appreciated as I like the more natural look while watching movies...... I love the color pop too, but not at the expense that everything is yellowy!

@Keyoctave

Same as above..... just wondering what you found while doing your calibration settings with the 2 point scale vs 20 point. I have yours set to expert 2 and found that the warm setting produced the same effect. I realize you are trying to get as close to 6500k as possible but do you not notice that hue the warm setting produces? Any movie that has outdoor scenes with the sky and clouds just doesn't look right. Maybe I'm just not used to it but the cooler temp of medium looks more accurate.

My settings are the same as you had posted earlier with the contrast at 75, bright at 52

Thanks in advance, your work is appreciated!

I should also point out that my viewing area is light controlled with blackout shades...... and 30-35 ftl is fine. i like the 75 cont, 52, bright for the 32 ftl.

jeez I don't know how dust specks get in the glass but before the tech left yesterday we looked over the whole screen and didn't see any dust particles. Well this morning I noticed one (thought is was a dead pixel again but it's just more dust!) and I took apart the screen and cleaned the glass meticulously with a lint-free cloth and an air duster and put it all back together and so far it's perfect, knock on wood.