Samsung 2012 PNxxE450 Thread - Page 6

I just purchased the PN51E450 and thought I'd update the firmware so I downloaded the one available on Samsung's website. When I tried to update it, it asked if I wanted to update 1014 to 1011. So it appears to me that the TV has a more recent firmware installed on it than is available for download. Can anyone confirm that?

Not sure if this is firmware mine says tmx9hausc-1015.0 ,build date 8/4/12


The motion and the way the tv handles the different shades of brightness is better on this tv vs Lg42 pa4500 I had.

Is there a way to get 10 point grayscale by changing model number? I tried changing it to a few different ones but nothing changed.
Edited by Vic12345 - 11/26/12 at 10:17pm

Just got the 43" version of this TV ( a few weeks ago) and I am floored by the Picture quality. This is a. Granted bedroom set and I have a 60"Panasonic Plasma in the Living Room. After getting the setting adjusted I would say this 43 competes with the Panasonic on PQ. If you really want to be awed or disappointed by your set watch the Tree of Life. Incredible picture, crazy ass movie.

Could not resist the recent Cyber Monday deal on the 51" model from Best Buy. Crazy deal IMHO for a brand name plasma. I have a 125" 1080p/3D projector for the media room, so this is going to be used just for the upstairs and casual gaming/TV watching and mostly by the kids. With the seating distance and size limitation (50" was the largest I could go per the room and wife) 1080p made zero sense as we would only be able to resolve 720p anyway. This will replace a 42" 720p Panasonic plasma TV that I have been very happy with over the past 3 years but will be moved into the guest bedroom where the treadmill is.

I am a big plasma fan so I really did not consider cheaper LCD/LED sets. I have a cheaper LCD in the bedroom and there is no comparison in PQ vs the Panasonic plasma.

Will be using DVE to calibrate once I get the set in, and will report back.

Yesterday I purchased a Samsung PN43E450A1FXZA Plasma from Best Buy. It was an open box model for $309.99 before taxes.

I brought it home and set it up in the bedroom to replace a 6½ year old Samsung DLP that just blew it's 3rd bulb in the last 3 years...I've let my niece have it and she can worry about the DLP lamps.

We have DirectTv, while I was setting it up under the display options TV Resolutions for the Sat Receiver the 1080p box is checked. The DirectTv 1080p channels aren't greyed out like they were on the previous DLP set..

I hooked up my Samsung BD-D5700/ZA Blu-ray player and was watching an old Hancock Blu-ray disk at 1920*1080*24p.

Is this the norm?

I had a ~2008 Samsung plasma (PN42A450) that developed this same trait: pixels turning red on the right side/corner. I can only assume they died? This happened after only owning the set about 3 years...I was contemplating picking up this budget plasma for my girlfriend, but my prior experience with my first Samsung plasma left me questioning their longevity. Anyway, I was curious if anyone could comment on Samsung's reliability in the plasma market post 2010.

Feeling like a Samsung salesman but I've heard Samsung plasmas have improved in recent years( not sure about reliability).I paid $165 for 7 yr warranty at visions.If your getting the 51 inch for a lot of standard definition I'm guessing there's better tvs,(although 43 inch is probably better).Hidef excellent.Theres black crush on some of the real dark stuff like other tvs I've seen.

I'm considering replacing my new PN43E450 with a UN46EH5300 that is available from several local stores at a great price.

The plasma gives me eyestrain which is not a problem with either my 8-year old Hitachi 55 " 720P in the family room or my equally old 32" Hitachi 720P LCD. The TV is about 9 feet or so from the front of the TV to my viewing position.

I've tried everything in settings to eliminate the problem and am now running the TV for many hours a day to burn it in. It's getting better but I'm dealing with a 30 day return window.

What would I gain and what would I lose and would I be satisfied with the switch from plasma to LED?

Thank you.

try( movie mode, no dynamic contrast, most stuff off), lowering contrast To 60-80 and raising brightness to brighten it a bit so it's not too dark too give a softer look(just tweak it a little each day,look at it then tweak it a bit more the next day.better to do it later in the evening and dark room.you might adjust color too).it will take a bit to get use to at first.its tricky to get it really good( plasmas are harder to adjust than lcd).Ive seen 2 plasmas very torch mode( whites too bright, blacks too black) when the contrast and backlight are turned up. I'm not sure if this will help eyestrain..You could also try some backlighting behind tv...I have read lcds fluorescent lights can cause eyestrain.

You will lose the good off angle viewing of plasma and you may end up with poor motion blur/ghosting that some tvs have.Plasma looks a bit more lifelike but is a bit harder to calibrate.You wouldn't have to worry on led about break in period which isn't completely known is neccessary.Led is brighter and better choice if you have bright lights in room.no auto brightness limiter on led which is a positive.There's not a lot of difference between the technologies that I've seen ,as its how they are adjusted that makes a difference too.Unfortunately some tvs out of the box need some tweaking which is a bit tricky if you are not experienced doing it.My settings might work on yours,but they dont mean anything unless you go into service menu and checking and changing a few settings But YOU RISK DESTROYING THE TV if you push the wrong button.

On a high quality broadcast you might think this tv sold for $10000 about 10 years ago compared to some of the lowsy looking ones they use to sell.
Edited by Vic12345 - 12/13/12 at 5:35am

I have never went in to the service menu on my PS43E450. I wouldn't go there unless I need it because I'm calibrating this for my sister and don't wanna mess up. Can you please describe all the settings that can be accessed in that menu?!
Not sure what those contrast , brightness and wb 128 mean. What do you mean by 128?

I went to the local TV store and the seller there was talking about how all the plasma TV's have a setting (maybe it was Samsung only, can't remember), introduced 5 years ago, to keep the power usage of the TV's under control by reducing the brightness of the picture so that the overall brightness of the picture stays pretty much the same if it is pushed to certain limit. I can see it constantly on my TV when everything goes white, then it is not white, it is grayish. If there is more darker stuff in the picture, the whiter stuff is whiter. Not sure if the USA models act the same. These limits are said to be possible to turn off with the codes. That is why I was asking for the menu items there. Maybe it is the codes, maybe it is in the service menu settings.

Anyone, any idea about this?

I re-calibrated my TV, I have 576 hours on the TV now from before which was about 200 hours. I tried to use the calibration disk but the colors looked dull, so I did it with the disk and set the colors by eye as well.

Movie mode settings, for movies and TV.

mode; movie
cell light; 20
contrast; 88
brightness; 55
sharpness; 14
color; 61
tint; g43/r57
color space; native
R offset; 21
G offset; 1
B offset; 20
red gain; 50
green gain; 20
blue gain; 50
gamma; +2
dynamic contrast; medium
black tone; off
flesh tone (set while watching tv); +5
color tone; standard
size; 16:9
digital noise filter; off
HDMI black level; low
film mode; off
game mode; off
eco sensor; off

ps3 setting used with this TV, for blu ray films;
RGB full range; limited
super white; off
deep color output; automatic
video output format (HDMI); RGB
upscaler; full screen

Edit, to get to the hidden menu, press on the remote; mute, 737, enter. I left this at default on my TV though.

Thanks Vic12345 for the post.
I think the ABL is what I was looking for because I am disturbed by the symptoms that are described here - http://www.avsforum.com/t/1347781/auto-brightness-limiters-abl-in-plasma-sets
I've seen ABL mentioned a lot, I didn't know it was the same thing I am worried about myself. I am used to the LCD panels, this is the first plasma I am looking at at my home.
I can't get used to the fact that the contrast is wrong going from dark scenes to bright ones/screenful of white. The contrast in brightness is lifelike and okay in one picture across the screen (not sure it retains the contrast when little dark figures on white screen because the white is too dark and dark parts can't go any darker for the minimum black level is the limit) but it isn't lifelike in the sequence of frames if the scenes that go from dark to very bright or vice versa. Getting that right would make the video a lot more lifelike for me. The picture can be excellent, but not the video (wrong contrast between different scenes).

It was interesting to read how you would calibrate your brightness and white balance.
I think I could use some of that if I were to calibrate again soon with my bare eyes and no test patterns. I was using AVSHD709 basic patterns in MP4 form for my initial settings. I've fiddled with the WB and the settings already and I think I can't get the colors much better. Colors aren't right in every part of the screen. Some parts tend to be reddish when bright screen, some greenish, but it wont be noticed by the average viewer. Not sure what is going on there but I am not returning the TV of this price for that.


Overall I think the colors of my Philips PC monitor are much more accurate across the screen.
What I like about this Samsung TV is its upscaling quality of SD content. I am watching a lot of terrestrially broadcasted SD stuff in 576i resolution and it looks like it is at least 720p (when looking from 3m distance, it is watchable at 2.5m too, got the 43'' model) compared to other TV brands. I've never seen better SD picture in any TV in any store or anyone's home.
For the SD to be perfectly good I am using the sharpening set to no more than 10. (Think it depends on the SD content quality a lot, I am getting good quality SD MPEG-4 content broadcasted here.) Can't imagine setting it at 50 or at least more than 15, 20 looks already bad for me. (It would lose details in the picture as would not turning off all the noise reduction stuff. I can't stand losing information in picture.) For HD content using sharpening set at 0.

Also like the viewing angle.

The guy in the TV shop seemed pretty confident that this ABL thing can be turned off in Samsung TV's with some codes, so I am searching the net for more information or going back to the guy some day to ask if he knows these codes.
Not sure everyone would use these codes. Power usage can go up a lot, I guess. Maybe at least 1.5x. But that is not the concern for me.

Delete
Edited by Vic12345 - 12/30/12 at 10:30pm

Thanks for suggestions, Vic!

I think the correct contrast and brightness in most scenes is more important for me than the occasional ABL kicking in hard. ABL disturbs me only for that I am a perfectionist, I guess. I think setting contrast: 88, brightness: 55 is close to what I like as well.
I am not worrying about setting the contrast and brightness too wrong on my TV because I would notice it instantly, I am so sensitive about it. I was using like 20+-steps grayscale in initial setup and color scale too for the colors not to clip. Red tends to clip though, but it is because I am using warm setting I guess.



I have never done color calibration much. Just the initial setting after the TV was bought. Setting white balance didnt help much removing reds or greens in bright parts in the picture where it should have shown pure white. I think I could use 10-point grayscale settings or something but it is okay this TV doesn't have that for this price.

If I'd try setting WB again it would be interesting to know why should I use alice blue. Never heard of it. After googling I found out it is a very light blue but that is all. Nothing about using it in TV calibration.
I'd like to hear more about it. You could point me to some links on the net or in this forum or explain a bit if it is not too much trouble.
It is just that for me the process of calibrating and knowing tons about it is at least as much fun as watching a good picture on TV. I like fiddling things to perfection.

Also if you'd care to answer, at what distance you are watching yours when using sharpness around 40 and 50 and what resolution is the content?
When sitting far away watching some SD picture the greater the sharpness setting, the better indeed. Sharpness setting in most part is a personal preference too, I guess.


I am happy about this TV anyway. Would recommend to anyone.
Although it is 1024x768 even 1080p picture looks better on it than 720p. The scaling is the best I have seen in upscaling as well as in downscaling.

Calibeye your probably best to just put it on warm 2 and lower the red gain so its not so dominant.you may need to lower the red bias too if your dark reds look redder than your whites.That will save a lot of endless fiddling like I've done.

I watch no TV, OTA or cable. I watch DVD rips and torrents by way of Windows 7 and XBMC through HDMI into an Onkyo receiver (4 HDMI in, 1 out). The computer is pushing 1080P and the PN51E450 is doing the down converting. (With the native 1024 I get black bars top and bottom.) I use HDMI/DVI named to PC, following instructions from above posters. I sit eleven and a half feet from the screen. With settings from posters I get a pretty good picture. Not to long ago I had a Pioneer Kuro and that just spoiled me.

So, here's my dilemma: Playing Dead Island on the XBox 360. Everything seems to be so washed out against a Vizio 50" 720p plasma that recently died. I've tried different settings in the XBox to no avail. Suggestions please!

Gary

My settings i think are dull looking. I'm just experimenting(without meter).I just did not think the out of box settings looked right. Example skin tones.Warm1 Something not right ,warm2 too red, pc too blue.

I've edited settings. Not as dull now
Edited by Vic12345 - 12/22/12 at 4:04am

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Edited by Vic12345 - 1/8/13 at 12:03am

Is there something useful in the service mode that could lead to better picture? Some info on the picture settings not available in standard menu or extra controls there?
What does this number "128" tell you? How come most of them are set at 128?


Merry christmas everyone!

Calibeye I got that from someone qualified in the Samsung d7000 thread.

Don't change wb numbers in service mode unless you are planning on doing a full calibration.

You will screw all the colors up if you change the numbers,and if you ever do go in there make sure you write all the settings down as they may reset like on mine.

Okay, thanks. It's more clear now to me.

Just bought the 43E450. Is there a "prep" routine (like the100 hour slide prep with the panny)?
Thanks.
Tim

The prep slides are generic they will work on any plasma but really arent necessary just vary content keep your settings conservative for the first 200 hours or so you should be good

Hello!

Can anyone post the ADC and White Balance settings of a Samsung PN51E450 menu service? i need it!

thanks!

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Edited by Vic12345 - 1/8/13 at 12:06am

I think the black bars can lead to some image retention pretty quick. It did that to me in the upper part of the screen after watching more than half hour of letterboxed movie with the bright sky against the black bar. Its not a good idea to watch videos with black bars and with contrast set high in the first 100-200 hours on this TV as well as on all the plasmas, I guess.
I am watching a lot of broadcasted TV and channel logos never seem to leave any image retention, only black bars.
The IR is wearing off but I can still see some differences in brightness in the upper edge of the screen (0.5'' from edge) which was left when a video didnt fill the screen 100%. I think I had watched 30-70 hours only when that happened. Not sure it would leave any marks now.
This year's samsungs should be the best in terms of image retention though considering all the plasmas, i have heard.

I personally think that running this TV with regular contrast and brightness for perfect picture wouldnt hurt the screen in the first 200 too, unless there are black bars on the screen for over half an hour, (maybe 15-20min already if there's lots of bright sky/lights). You could use the zoom to fill the screen (but I hate the zoom) and nothing bad happens.

What's with the loud "chime" notes when the TV is turned on?

Sometimes I like to watch my 43" without any sound when I wake up in the middle of the night - don't want to disturb the wife.

Is there any way to delete them?

Not sure what kind of chime you are talking about (and my english is not the best) but maybe there are some bells accompanying the samsung boot-logo when turning the TV on (can't remember if there was any sound if the logo is enabled). Anyway, you can turn this Samsung boot logo off in the menu by going to menu -> system -> general-> Boot-logo->off.
(Not sure about the exact words used in that menu because I'm using a different menu language at the moment.)

CalibEye, I'd appreciate if u give me your settings ADC and White balance. Last week a reset the panel (by mistake) and now the colors look unnatural....

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Edited by Vic12345 - 1/8/13 at 12:08am