The Official LG xxPK550 Owner's Discussion Thread [no price talk] - Page 161

thanks, I can deal with it as long as thats just the way it is and there's not something I can do to make it better. Ultimately, how bright my blank Internet Explorer window is, is not all that important.

The picture is great otherwise.

Hi everyone,

Just got the 250... i was considering the panny 42 inch but this was the same price..so who doesnt need an extra 8 inches... <<insert that's what she said joke here>>. In any case i used Big Brads settings.. set looks great..... I wasnt going to worry about break in... but yesterday when was inputting the 20point settings.. i had gobs and gobs of IR of the menu options..turned the tv off for a few hours and then went back to it - still there... it went a way BUT... has anyone else noticed these sets being particularly sensitive to IR. I wasn't that careful with my Panny when i got it...but that ended up alright. If the set is this sensitive to IR how easily does that translate to Burn In for these particular sets?

Also i'd read through the forum but it is 161 pages... but what i was able to gather/search is that these sets the 550 and 250 are ostensibly the same with the exception that the usb port on the 250 is for service only? any other features of note? Can anyone confirm or deny?

Cheers,

The only IR I've seen on mine is always gone by the next day.

Do you still see the sidebar image even after watching a couple of hours of 16x9 content? Is it still there when you turn the set on the next morning?

I was just at a store today and there is IR or burnin on the floor model 60PK550. Didn't hang around long enough to see if it was permanent or not. I think this model is more susceptible to IR then a Pany. No other floor display plasma had it. Also this problem noted by other posters here. I think this TV is not a very good quality long term project. Cheap clear out pricing right now maybe for more reasons then making room for the 2011's.

First of all, yes, that's what she said

Secondly, I still get some temporary IR when I dive into the tv's menu, the guide on my cable box and/or when viewing my Netflix queue, but this IR can only be seen on solid colors (usually black) and I've never noticed it when viewing any real content on the screen. It also goes away within a few minutes or so as long as I continue to watch content. If I have a guide or menu up for a while before turning the tv off, I can see the IR as it's powering down, and then I can still see the IR if I turn the tv back on the next day, but it goes away within a few minutes of watching normal content.

My parents' old Vizio plasma behaves the same way, so I believe this to be perfectly normal and I don't worry about permanent burn-in at all.

I disagree, however, I can only speak for the 50PK550, not the 60". I think it's a very high quality tv, and I paid about $100 more than it's currently going for. Would you be happier with a Panasonic VT25? Yes, most likely, but you'd be paying a LOT more for it. Expectations must be tempered a bit when you're dealing with an entry/mid-level plasma, however, this tv has met and even exceeded my expectations during 9 months of ownership. YMMV.

Yeah, quality is lower in some regards, but not by much. And in 2 years' time this LG will be no more out of date and "low quality" than the best VT25 or C8000. Tough call. I'm still trying to decide between this 60PK550 (which I have presently) or the new Samsung 59D6500 for 1100.00 more.

IS that a 2011?

Yes. Should be out in a few weeks.

Need to go to SAm website for details? Where to find advance pricing?

THks

The Pany G20 I had did not retain even a flicker of anything and I gamed for 4 hrs after buying it. And watched everthing on it for a week. NOt one noticable IR. I returned it as It's only 54" and I want 60".

Look here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1304494

A quick search in the G20/G25 Owner's Thread reveals that many owners do experience some IR on those sets as well. Those sets also cannot properly display 1080p/24 content. No tv is perfect.

I purchased my 50pk550 about two months ago, ran break in slides for about 100 hours and have about another 200 hours of viewing fullscreen content. I have only recently started playing alot of video games again. Last night I played MAG on PS3 for about 3 hours by far the longest I have played anything with static images on this TV, I ran color wash in between matches and ran color wash when I finished playing. I watched some 16x9 content for about two hours after. When I woke up this morning and turned the tv on I still noticed some IR where the name of my squad members is on the bottom right corner of the screen. Is this burn in or just really stubborn IR?

I'd assume it's just IR. Are you using Orbiter for the ISM Method when gaming? After you've run the Color or White Wash it sets ISM to normal. Make sure you set it to Orbiter, and it should help with static images.

Yes I make sure it stays on orbiter and always set it back after running color wash. It is probably IR but I have been very Careful and Protective with this TV since its my first flat screen, I won't even let my GF use when I'm not home or after I go to sleep. I'll run color wash again when I get home. Should I try White wash? I haven't really used because the Owners manual says to use it sparingly and so far color wash has gotten Rid of any IR that I have had.

Yes, give the white wash a try, it should take care of any IR pretty quickly. I wouldn't run it any longer than a few minutes max. I've always thought the reason LG suggests to use it sparingly is because an all-white screen requires more power, but others also believe it can prematurely age the phosphors when left up for a long period of time. I don't know how much merit that really has, but better safe than sorry I guess.

P.S. Feel free to let your GF use the tv as she wishes at this point (over a couple hundred hours of use). My wife watches plenty of 4:3 and Letterboxed content (History HD I'm looking at you) and I watch lots of 2.35:1 Blu-rays and do a fair amount of gaming with no problems to speak of. I babied this plasma the first hundred hours or so and then decided to stop worrying and just enjoy it.

Thanks for the quick responses. I will try white wash when I get home. My last question, Should I wait for any IR to go away before playing the same game? I would assume so since it will be displaying the same image again and will only get worse if it is not gone completely.

Has anyone used the serial port to access the Service Menu on any of the PK550 models?

So far I can use the codes in the online manual for the standard remote but no luck with the service options like ez adjust. I might not have the right codes for the 50PK550, any suggestions where I might find the codes to use?

I really can't answer based on experience since any IR I've had goes away fairly quickly by Color Washing or just watching some 16:9 content. That may have to be a personal preference. If I want to play FIFA or MW2 right now and there's some IR up there from yesterday or whatever, I'm not waiting to get rid of that IR. I have tried to treat this tv the same way I would treat the LCD in my bedroom. I don't worry about burn-in on the LCD, so I try not worry about it on the plasma, however, I do run a color wash every now and then as a peace of mind type of thing. Hope that helps.

Thanks alot you've helped immensely. I am slowly getting less protective about the tv. I was the same way with the the last tv I bought a 48" Toshiba Rear Projection Screen. I am probably too worried about this IR as I can only notice it when the screen is black. Once agian Thanks.

i've had this set since april 2010 and i can tell you it does get better with ir once the panel ages a bit more, and any uniformity issues will show improvement also.

just kick back and enjoy the set with a decent blu!

if you want to see what this set can do, i recommend speed racer

My experience is very similar. Babied it first 200 hours and since then watch it without worry. Don't have any IR issues.

Agreed! Watch with no limits. Enjoy the tv.

Hello,
I'm looking to finally upgrade my ancient 2002 Philips 42" plasma, I'm ready to pull the trigger on the 50PK550. It seems like the best bang-for-the-buck non-3D plasma in the 50-60" range.
Is this a good time to purchase or should I wait longer? It looks like the prices on amazon are pretty decent (I just don't want to buy one and see them drop 20% next month).

Also, I guess I posted the question in the wrong place: If the PK750 is only $25 more, is it worth upgrading to? It seems like there were LOTS of issues with the PQ last year that supposedly were fixable with a software upgrade (but I'd prefer PQ over widgets)...

Thanks!

the lowest i saw the tv direct from amazon was 899 so the current price should still be ok. i paid 990 for mine in april. LG will be releasing the new 2011 models soon, you might not see anymore pk550 (nib) deals, probably used or msrp.

hek i'd offer to sell ya mine for decent price if you were local lol i really wanted the 60" pk550

After reading this thread helped me out so much when picking a TV, I figured I'd address some of the more common concerns and questions after having bought the 60PK540 and having used it for 100+ hours and a couple months. Feel free to ask me any questions about this TV.

About the input lag: it's either minuscule, or non-existent. I was fairly worried about this, as I game quite a bit, running the gamut from twitch action and fighting games to slower-paced games. I've played/tested many games on the 360 (HDMI), PS3 (HDMI) and Wii (Component), and the one game that I MIGHT have noticed lag was on Midnight Club: LA. It's completely possible it was in my head though.

I played Super Smash Bros Brawl with a friend of mine, and we've both logged many, many hours on that game on a CRT, and neither of us noticed, and we both were able to play as well as ever. I haven't even thought about the lag for weeks now. I bought a VGA cable for the 360 before the TV got here because I was worried about possible lag, but I haven't even taken it out of its bag.

About the screen glare/reflectiveness: if you're the type to be bothered by this, don't get this TV. The screen is quite reflective, even in fairly low levels of light. I don't really mind glare, so this isn't a big deal to me. Plus, the majority of the time that I use the TV is after work when it's darker anyway.

About image retention/burn-in: For the first 100 hours, I kept the contrast and brightness at 50, and didn't play any movies or games for over 2 hours that had any kind of static image or bars. I don't use any of the IR protection options like Orbiter, Color/White Wash, etc. I never had a single problem with burn-in during that period, and now that I'm over 100 hours, I've logged probably at least another 80 hours just using it how I feel with high brightness and/or contrast, and I still haven't had any problems with IR.

About the TV in general: it's fantastic. I really don't have a single problem with it. It looks completely gorgeous, even with default video settings. I'm extremely happy with this purchase. Incredibly sharp, deep blacks, bright, accurate colors.

Hello,

So I took the plunge and purchased an LG 60PK250 after having too many problems with my Samsung UN55C6400. This is my first plasma and would like to know if the dancing red/green pixels are normal. I have played around with the settings and have reduced the appearance of the red/green to the point where they are not visible at normal viewing distance. I have read others have had this "problem" but is it really a problem?

I looked for the firmware version number following what other posters wrote but either its not there or my Canadian version is different. The build date is Oct2010. I got the tv on special from Costco.

Thanks for your help in advanced.

MC

I dont have the lg 50pk550, but I have the 2009 LG 42pq30. I do see dancing green/red pixels once in a while when I first turn on the tv, but it goes away in about 5 minutes if I switch to another channel and then back. I think its because we're in the winter time and the tv needs to warm up first. I usually don't see the dancing pixels in the summer, but I get it more in the winter. I am very much interested in the 50pk550, but I was hoping the prices would drop by now. The 50pk550 has been holding its price almost constant.

Thank you for the quick reply. The tv has less than 15hours runtime. I had it on looping full screen blurays for over 8 hours but the green/red dots were still there. I will play with it tonight or maybe visit a store to see if the problem is happening on a demo set.

The green/red noise on dark images seems normal for this TV. I have it too (60pk550) but only viewable from very close. At normal viewing distance I can not see it. If your TV has same behavior, then it seems consistent with most peoples' experience with this TV.