The Official LG xxPK550 Owner's Discussion Thread [no price talk] - Page 17

2 inches is not very significant when going from 58 up to 60. I went from a 60inch SXRD down to a 58 Panny plasma and it was not noticeable. I think the screen area is only about 8% smaller....so not a big deal at all. I just saw a 58 Panny next to a 60 LG at a store and again it was hard to even notice a size difference. If you went up to a 63 or 65 inch then you would notice quite a jump in size.

I believe you have the same clouding as I do on my set. As I mentioned before, it is noticeable on solid dark colors.
The strange thing is it is only you and me on this thread who could see that so far. It made me think that
my set is defective. So at this point I am not sure if I should exchange it or just return it.

Same with buzzing - only on bright scenes with no sound (which is OK).

Just had another PK550 come, and go..... Something messed up on the display. Looked like this one cluster of pixels were way out of whack. I thought it was something on the screen at first and tried to wipe it off.

I didn't see that clouding/unevenness I saw in your photos Dumon, but I wasn't looking for it. I'm going to go to HHGregg since sears is now out of stock and see if I can pick up another one tomorrow. I will check very carefully for the clouding thing for you.

This will be my 3rd PK550, seems LG lets some defects through on their cheaper models. If 3rd time isn't the charm, I'm either going to start hunting for a kuro, or a projector.

I'll be returning my set tomorrow to Sears. Have not decided if I should go for another one.

Yes, I have an X-Rite.


Those were basic calibraton guide, and explanations about important concepts. You don't need to have (or planning to buy) a color analyzer to read them. They are always useful.

Sometimes, what people think to be a defect of the set, it could be only a wrong setting on some options of the TV or of the DVD/BD player/consolle, just to give you an example. Most of the time, the TV option "Black level" and some settings of the PS3, can show you bad performance on blacks and white levels, and/or color banding, if you did not set them right.

These digital displays are not like the old CRTs, where you had only 3 basic settings. People need to learn many things if they want to get the best from them (unfortunately).


Unfortunately I actually don't own one of these new models, otherwise I would have shared my complete setting (after having it calibrated with the X-Rite and Calman) with you. I'm planning to buy one later this year, but before I must find the new house I'm looking for.

Like you, I too don't agree with "sharing settings is completely useless", if that work is done in a professional way: really complete settings (sometimes not only about the HDTV but also about BD players & Co) and with detailed explanations. I have done that thing 1 year ago with my LG plasma, on an italian forum. You can have a quick look to my thread here: LINK. On the post N. 3 there are the setting after a good break-in (more than 300 hours). On Post N. 2 there are the settings during the break-in, and many other infos. It was an hard and long work, but I got satisfaction from it

While we know that 2 HDTV, same model and same software version, will be never exactly the same, having a "professional" and complete settings available is always a good "start" (mostly, much more than only a good start.. I don't know how to explain it in english), expecially if your HDTV is not THX certified. Otherwise, the best calibration profile out of the factory is "Cinema", and with just some small modifications, you usually get a very good result by using it. I have explained those things 2-3 weeks ago, has I told you on my previous post. But I got no feedback from it . It looks like not all people is reading all the posts.

I agree. You need at least 4" difference to see a real (small) improvement. I would not change a 58" with a 60" only for that thing.

About the pannys rising black, here is a new article from CNET, about the long-term test they have started some time ago:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-...eed&subj=Crave

after 982 hours of use, the V10 they have bought for that test has doubled the MML. Now it is 0.016 fL, let see what will happen after 2100 hours or so. The LG 50PK550 had 0.0132 fL, from the Chad B. review.

Two more days!!! Can hardly wait. Just got a prerecorded message from Sears stating that tomorrow I'll receive another message with the delivery window for Monday. Also If anyone is having sunlight issues, I went to Walmart yesterday and got these Room-Darkening window panels (sortof like curtains) by Mainstays, they're $10 each and they work really good. Each panel will cover one window and they come in different colors and lengths.

Went to sears to check out the 50pk550 and the 50PJ350. I was very impressed with the picture quality. Still trying to decide which model I want to get. I mostly play games on my tv and considering most games are only 720p I think the PJ350 might be good enough. I like how sharp the image is, much sharper than the panasonic that was sitting next to it. To bad sears doesn't have any in stock or I might have one right now!

agreed, the PQ is top notch. much sharper than the panasonic in the same area(G20), and even the sammys near it(C450/C550). my question is this: I read on this forum about someone having a tint guy come out and install 3M anti glare on his older set with good results. wonder if this is a pie in the sky scenario or feasible, because right ow the lack of filter is the only thing keeping me from pulling the trigger on this beauty.

I saw one of these today and i still think my G20 has a better picture but thats just me. Might have to do with the fact that i will never get a LG product in my life again after what happened 4 years ago

If you go with the 50PK550 be prepared to see HORRIBLE edge flickering (aliasing) all over your games, this is truly an issue, every single game that I tried(on different consoles) have it, and it doesn't depend on settings. It will also be on your movies/TVshow, pretty much anything that is not Blu ray.

+ the lag issues, this TV is a not the best choice for gaming.

I saw a g20 today and it did look very nice I thought. I also saw some of those amp lcds for the first time today and I have to say I would never buy that.
It was very obvious to me I wasn't looking at a series of photographs but instead at CG. I want to see the real thing, not a bunch of cgi made by tv lol.

Anyway, so after returning those 50pk550s I went to hhgregg and saw the 60pk750. I was going to go for a 50pk950 but the price on the 60 750 was better than I was expecting.
The 550 next to it was only 70 dollars cheaper. And of course come with bluray player to sell.
Reason I'm going with the 750 is because I had the lady with me and she says the 750 will be easier to clean lol.
And I'm hoping the 750s may have a little higher QC on the panels.
Gonna go pick it up monday

I'm hoping to be able to use ps3 media server to stream video over the network. Ill be surprised if it has enough horsepower to decode 1080p

easier to clean lol thats a good seliing point for the 750
hopefully this one works out for ya and be sure to flood this thread (or 750 thread lol) with tons of info

i'm going crazy without a tv lol 550 vs 750 hmmm....ding ding!

i think we call that "bias."

@shaddix did you see edge flickering on your games? I don't recall you did, but I don't remember. Just curious...

I didn't notice any flickering with picture set to game or expert, played a good bit of MAG. I had my sony crt right next to it and the only negative difference I saw when using the PK550 was the increased lag( I did get used to the lag after an hour or so FWIW, I don't consider it unplayable because of the lag).

On vivid and standard however I did see flickering on sharp edges, was made a bit better through turning off the dynamic contrast edge enhancement etc etc. I consider vivid unusable.

The only thing I am still concerned about is IR with long term online game HUDs. Sears was giving me 30 days to test it, and had I gotten one that I considered worth keeping I would have been able to test it. hhgregg only gives me 14 days, not sure what I'm going to do. Maybe try to twist their arm into giving me 30 days.

you know I'm really considering not even playing my 360/PS3 on the new TV for some time (if I go plasma for sure) so that the panel ages and I've had enough hours on the set. I will test out a game or two, but who knows if what I want to do would really make a difference and help out. I was very surprised as well that the 750 vs 550 at my hhgregg was only $100 difference. The 950 shouldn't be that much I would think...

Excuse my ignorance on this subject but, in terms of IR "going away", does IR become a non-issue after so many hours? In other words is it something that gets better over time? Just wondering because after I read the review on the LG 950 they mentioned how disappointing it was that LG still had this issue.

Picked up a 60pk550 on Friday, thought i would give you guys my thoughts after 2 days of use. Keep in mind i'm coming from a 10 year old hdtv ready rear projection Toshiba. The box it comes in is huge. I had to run back home to grab the truck, there was no way it was going to fit in the suv. The tv itself is huge. Yes, it is a mirror, but that's not much of an issue in my house. I'm not doing any gaming on it, and won't be hooking up my computer to it, so no issues that way for me. I have not noticed any IR at all with tv viewing. Heard a pretty loud buzz come from the tv this morning when i first fired it up, but it went away within the first minute or so. That was the only time i've heard any sort of buzzing. The picture looks very good, hd content and blu ray look great. My one complaint so far is that fast movement doesn't appear to be handeled very well. Maybe i'm sitting a tad too close (16 feet), but i don't think that's the issue. Things seem to go a bit blurry, and my eyes have trouble following the content. Maybe i have a function in the menu disabled?? Black level looks good to me, shadow detail seems lacking though, but i'm not too worried seeing that i'm still breaking it in, and it hasn't been calibrated. Looking forward to watching baseball on this beast tomorrow!

That's my 2 cents.

Finally got my set (pk550), just been checking HD signal and Blu Rays and let me tell you the set does not disappoint. Watching UP on Blu Ray and the set displays good colors and PQ.The ONLY con i have is the glare !! The Ol' Lady noticed as well from the angle she was sitting. We might have to invest in some window shades or blinds !

Is there a menu setting to disable edge enhancement? I was looking for the manual online but couldn't find it.

Yes there is under advanced settings.

There is, under picture controls>advanced, edge enhancement is at the bottom.

Problem with IR. Example game I've been playing recently is MAG. This is a FPS with a persistent white HUD. Now if I were to play this game for a couple hours in the evening every day, I would get TIR.
Depending on how long it takes for IR to fade, it may never go away simply because I'm playing the game every day. What I need to test, is if I play the same game for like three weeks, will the IR go away?
After its been on the screen for 3 weeks straight, I'm not sure. Return policies at sears do not even give ample time to test.
Ideally, I would play break in images for 400 hours, then leave a static image on the screen for 6 hours every day for 3 weeks and then see if the IR fades.
LG warranty states it does not cover burn in, so I really have no idea if lg plasma will work for me.

Also I'm noticing in certain scenes while watching blu ray they tend to start dim and then brightening ? weird i shut off energy saving and still doing it ? anyone know what could be the cause ?

I don't know funny guy, but I have come up with a master plan.........

I will leave orbiter and whatnot all turned off.
If I play a game that has a static bright hud, then I will take screenshots of that game, and use photoshop to create a negative of the hud, then replace the gameplay image with gray. So where was once white it will be black, and I will make sure it lines up to the pixel.
In this way, I can evenly age the phosphors. Genius, plasma here I come

Can any hardcore gamers confirm this? And Is the lag really that bad?

No one is covering burn-in problem . But it is really rare now. I don't know 1 single person have had that problem on any plasma, nevermind the brand, and I have read tons of different threads on many forums around the world, during the past 2 years

IR (and not only it) get a bit better after the initial "break-in". You should wait at least 100-150 hours of use on these plasma display with a panel life of 100.000 hours, before get a real idea about IR and their global picture quality.