The Official LG xxPK550 Owner's Discussion Thread [no price talk] - Page 34

There's no option to select 72Hz mode on the TV; it switches to that automatically when it detects 24p signal.

Press "Info" on remote to reveal TV's incoming signal (720p, 1080i, 1080p60, 1080p24 etc)

Hi guys,

if you could chose 50PK550 (690) or 50PK750 (875)
which one would you pick ?

50PK550 gets a better review (blacks,contrast,PG)but 50PK750 has ethernet and some anti reflection but image enchancer bug?

The only diff in Europe is the AR coating and the ethernet.


(also posted in the official PK750 thread)

only reason i would pick 750 was if i wanted the internet widgets and had a bright room. otherwise, not sure if its worth the extra money.

i will already have my pc hooked up so via hdmi so i don't need the widgets or the movie playing ability. and my room will have black-out blinds and is not very bright to begin with.

having one or two dead pixels are the norm i think, its unavoidable. Long as you can't see them at viewing distance I wouldn't worry.

so far, about 1 month later, the tv is still working well. IR is no were nearly as noticable now as to when i first got it. I'm still being carful and doing the break in process the best i can. The tv still looks great. Still calibration the settings *lol* Different movies look different. Dark movies, bright movies. So i'm getting closer in finding a mid ground. So far, i really enjoy the tv. Man the tv is sexy. Ghe gloss frame with the shiny mirror like screen makes the tv look sexy.

Also no dead pixels. Whew.

did you mean that the PK550 EU has an AR coating?

where did you find this?

no it hasn't
PK750 has it

the TV salesman at Sears told me LG is known for having stuck pixels.

and he also said to stay away from LG. what a salesman

a salesman told me you NEED a power conditioner with plasmas.

Well I got my PK550 today! I like it alot so far and I actually had a "WOW" moment watching some 1080i Epix Channel movie. I never had a wow moment with my LCD. The only thing I will have to get used to is how reflective the screen is during daylight hours. My LCD had a reflective screen but the LG seems much more mirror-like.

I did what some people in this thread suggested and I turned down the contrast to 65 until the 100+ hours of break-in are done. What should I leave the brightness and sharpness settings at or does that one not matter much for the break-in period? Also should I turn the Energy Saving feature off?

Picked up a 50pk550 today after following this thread for the past little while. Unfortunately I think I got a dud. From everything I had read I wasn't expecting much if any buzzing, but with audio muted this one can be heard walking into the room 16-ft away. Even at normal audio settings I hear it far too often.

Also the box didn't appear to have been opened but there's clearly a "13HD" channel bug burned into the top right corner and as far as I know there is no such channel where I live, so that's awesome.

Anyway, just sharing my experience. I'll be swapping it tomorrow and praying to all kinds of gods I don't have to repackage that one as well.

Sounds like you got a panel someone else returned! Good luck on the next one.

Hi guys,

I have return this tv twice already. Reason Stuck pixel on one and Stucks and dead pixel on the other. I suggest you run the 120 pictures Break in and look at them carefully... You might get a surprise!
I dont trust this set anymore.
Sorry guys if im being negatif but check it out ok.

Can you see the stuck pixels from where you're sitting?

it depends the size and the place that is located

Well, I just checked out this tv at avu and the pq is awesome! My wife and myself watched a few parts of (life) bd and we were impressed.I was looking for this set after reading chad's review and other's so we purchased it.We will be getting the tv(60 inch) this friday and this is our first plasma. Whats the break in process? IR?I'm just kidding, nice vibrant colours and pretty bright screen too. I'v been following this thread so i have a pretty good idea of what to do.I had a samsung lcd :lnt5271 line through the middle of screen(less than 2 yrs) and we bought a 40b610 which just shut down all of a sudden after 2 months. We just want a decent set that will last more than 2 yrs and the price wasn't bad either.Samsung makes some nice tv's and maybe we just bought a couple of bad sets but we are done with samsung(well,maybe a cell phone?). We have a hd channel that has picture slides(full screen) that last a couple of minutes each so that will work for the break in process. We looked at a bunch of sets and this one stood out the most.Shopping for a tv is pretty hard with all these choices out there(led,lcd, plasma, 3d,edge lit).Thanks people for being so informative and i always go to this site before i make any big/small buys (home theater).I'll show some pics next few weeks once everything is set up and hopefully there is a callibration thread soon.

when I called LG they told me they require at least 8 dead pixels in order for it to be covered under warranty

mine has two, but I can't see them

Where did you find those prices??

I guess this is my first post

We have similar price here in the Netherlands (if you check the online stores)

I ordered a 50PK550 a month ago, and it will only be available some time in May

P.S. I'm not Dutch

www.iishop.be

FYI--- I too have one dead pixel, but I can't see it from where I sit at, so it's not a deal breaker for me.

Just so that everyone can describe it correctly, there is a difference between a Dead pixel and a Stuck one. Dead pixel is what it sounds like, there is no light coming from it and shows as a black dot. Stuck pixel is a pixel that is stuck On at a particular color no matter what is being displayed, usually Red is the color that becomes stuck. Hot pixel is a pixel that is stuck On with all colors, will show as a white dot.

Run the Picture Wizard to set up the Sharpness & Brightness, and then turn down the Contrast to 65. Mine is set @ Brightness=48, Horizontal Sharpness=46, Vertical Sharpness=54. I keep the Energy Saving at Medium for everything.

Thanks Neuron! I had Energy Saving turned off all day yesterday but I will turn it on Medium until I finish the break-in process with the color slides (149 hours to go!!!). I also just noticed one stuck pixel when I started running the slides. I didn't see any when watching TV or gaming yesterday on the LG. You can't even notice it from my normal viewing distance so it doesn't bother me. I will be on the lookout for more in case this turns out to be a spreading problem. I bought the LG from Sam's Club and they have a 90-day return/exchange policy so if I ever do have a problem within the next 3 months I can easily return it.

Would any of the tricks to fixing stuck pixels on an LCD apply to plasma?

(ie. Jscreenfix)

I just checked out the 50pk540 (same as the 550 but without the USB media play function) at Sam's Club. The picture quality was awful! Easily the worst of any of the large displays they had on the showroom. The blacks were very light, and the whole image was flat and low-contrast. In fact, it looked identical to the LCD about 10' away--meaning the plasma straight-on looked like the LCD viewed about 60 degrees off center!

I assumed it was improperly set up so I went through the various picture modes and then did a quick calibration using LGs calibrate tool (nice feature, btw), but no joy. What do you think...just a bad set? I can't believe LG could sell any sets if that's the norm. What would cause such a thing?

YOu're not going to get optimal viewing in a place like Sams Club. That being said, i saw a 550 in a Costco, and it looked great. Better than the LEDs and other plasmas it was standing beside.

I just got the PK540 yesterday and it has an amazing picture. This is coming from someone who recently had a Sony NX700 Edge LED and the LG beats the Sony hands-down! I haven't even had the opportunity to fully calibrate the LG (I am doing the break-in procedure now) and still the PQ is great. I am very satisfied.

Understood, but that's true of all the sets. This one look worse than any other, by far. Maybe I needed to go to advanced settings and check gamma, etc.

When did you see the 550 at Costco? They don't carry LG around here.

Keep in mind that the 550 has a very reflective panel so the blacks will probably look washed out under bright lights.

Check to see what the Black Level is set to. The setting of Low is for darker areas and will give you a deeper black. The High setting is more for bright environments and will not give you the deepest blacks. Also check to see if it is set for Home Use or for Store mode, it will be under Options. The Store mode will prevent a lot of the settings from being changed. If possible, set it to Home Use and then run the Picture Wizard. As was already said, plasmas always look horrible in a store environment unless the lighting is controlled. All of the harsh lights will reflect off the phosphor and lighten the screen considerably.