The OFFICIAL SAMSUNG PNXXE550 OWNERS THREAD - Page 13

I have been looking at this television as my first plasma coming from LCD. I'm extremely impressed with the picture quality & the advantages that plasmas have, that I've not been so aware of until recent research before this coming purchase. My only concern is the Samsung remote app for android? I own several of Samsungs Galaxy S line, as I'm a mobile tech enthusiast, however I'm a bit unclear as the one o whether the app would be compatible with this model, and how functional the app is? It states in the description that it's compatible with E models, but when I installed the app to take a look at the interface, the settings did not include E series?m I'm wondering if anyone has used the app, and would be willing to share their experience & their opinion on whether or not it's capable enough to be used as the primary contact us. Thqnkbu7

I have used both apps on a transformer and galaxy nexus. I am using an older version. Remote app works really well. Only thing is text does not work in all apps and it will not turn on the TV but will turn it off.

In the settings I've only seen options for Series B, C, & D, which setting will work with the E series? Also, have you had any issues with streaming media from other devices on your network such as PC's or tablets, or using the allshare play app? Thank you for the response :-)

Most setting or buttons work as designed. And in some ways are even better than the remote (qwerty pops up in the browser, and simple remote screen can control the cursor). Only 2 things I don't like are each time I get a pop up asking if I want to connect via Bluetooth. My phone did notdo this before. I need to do a ccomplete wipe. My wife's phone does not have this pop up either. Both nexuses, hero's is stock on sprint while mine is running cm10 on a gem version. I am also using an older version of the app for android since phone is not officially supported (720p display seems to be the issue).

If there is anything you want me to test out or if you want the .apk I am using let me know.

That pretty much covers it, I was really just concerned about compatability, but I've got several android handsets & tablets & chose samsung specifically because of all share & the sammygo app. Sounds silly, but anything I can incorporate into my mobile space is a big plus for me! As far as the blutooth connection asking for your permissions, have you tried going to settings, Bluetooth, select your television under Bluetooth devices, & then try to see if there's a menu button available for changing settings. I'm thinking it's a permissions setting you could change to remember your choice? Also, before wiping & reinstalling cm, I would probably try un installing the sammygo remote app, then remove the TV under settings, Bluetooth, devices. Reinstall the app, then try adding your television again as a Bluetooth device. This will basically clear all data & cache and it may fix your issue. Lastly, try going into recovery & wipe Cache & dalvik cache, fix permissions. If you're familiar with these methods of trouble shooting, then I apologize for the long response, but if not, it may clear up your issue without the inconvenience of a full wipe. Thank you for your patience, and answering my questions :-)

Tried everything you listed. The TV does not show up under settings. Initially it let me pair when on aokp but now the access code does not pop up on the TV so I can pair it. I went through all the settings and barring a complete factory reset I am not sure its going to fix it. But I might as well. TV settings for picture survive through a reset if you enable day/night mode.

Also if anyone has an SIII please report back if the TV is controllable with any preinstalled app or with the one in the play store

P.s. for all share stuff I use a USB hard drive and everything works great.
Edited by scoobdude - 10/5/12 at 11:05am

The gs3 is my primary device, & from what I gather, all share play is good for wireless mirroring! That is one of the biggest reasons I'm going w/ a samsung tv!

I saw some ppl requesting picture settings for the E550, here's Cnet's

http://forums.cnet.com/7723-19410_102-571511/samsung-pn51e550-picture-settings/

Seriously considering this model as I've read that there's been a lot of IR on the Panny Plasmas this year. I know the blacks aren't quite up to par with the Panny but color is better on this tv and I almost exclusively view in a dark setting.

I currently have an LG LM8600, which is beautiful but coming from a plasma it's tough to get used to LCD.

Picked up a PN60e530 to replace my 58b series. Have had a hard time finding info on the 530. Does anyone happen to know, minus the 3d and apps, if the 530 is comparable in terms of hardware and picture quality to the 550? There isn't a thread on avs specific to my tv model. Does anyone have any picture settings they'd be willing to share on a calibrated 530?

I just got a new PN51E550 for under seven at a big box store. It has so many features for the price. It replaced an old Panasonic 1080p now moved to the basement for my son..
The Samsung is not the main TV (We have an older XBR for that).
The is my first 3d TV.
After 3 days my only negative is the reflection on the screen which I fix by closing the window blinds.
I like:
Picture quality including black levels
Wireless built-in (can access a hard drive attached to the Cisco Router)
Bluetooth (using my RIM playbook keyboard with track pad)
Blu-ray 3d is fantastic (using Sony PS3)
OTA TV Tuner (I need another HD cable box)
Size (fist TV over 50")
Smart TV and apps
good remote
3d glasses included
displays 3d photo's from my digital camera
usb ports play TV shows recorded on a jump drive

Thanks to every-one who posted setup instructions and values

Any recommendations on upgrading 3D glasses from those supplied? I have the pn51e550.

Has anyone determined a way to diable the auto brightness limiter on Samsung tvs?

There are some for 50 bucks that actually have a feature to view in 2D while every one watches in 3D. Also rechargeable.

Just wanted to mention that the c-net picture settings posted by caseycjc above made a big improvement with my fade to black problem (ala the set briefly turning off during dark scenes), and looks good all around, so big recommendation from me...

For those with the 60inch model these setting may not produce the same results as intended due to the pen tile matrix display.

I have 64E550. Love it.

I also have Pioneer Elite VSX-60. Don't have the 5.1 speakers yet, so I want to play the audio via my TV speakers. Cannot figure out how to do this. I have the HDMI plugged into the ARC port. Not sure what i change on the Pioneer.

Please help!

Should be a setting either under audio or the one with the gear that allows you to select output. I had issues with arc through my receiver so I resorted back to optical. However arc is only for sending audio to the receiver from the TV as a source.

For the pioneer check the settings under the HDMI section. I don't have a pioneer so hopefully someone else familiar with your model can help.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1409572/official-samsung-pn51e530a3fxza-owner-thread-no-price

settings should be similar.

I'm still happy with my PN51E550. I recently replaced my Denon 988 with an 891. It didn't have everything I wanted, but was dirt cheap so I'm not complaining. I was finally able to pass 3D and use ARC. I like that the other devices with HDMI-CEC activated show up in the list of sources on the TV. Samsung calls it Anynet+. Switching from the AVR source to the TV tuner, the TV switches the source on the AVR to the TV input which I've labeled SMART TV. Switching to a device in the TV source list will also change the input on the AVR to that device. The TV remote volume button will change the AVR volume and a picture of a speaker and the words "Anynet+ AVR 891 pop up as well. With the volume set to absolute on the receiver, starting at zero, the TV displays the number almost perfectly as it is just one degree off of the receiver display. Powering on a device from the list will switch the receiver to that input. This worked for all but the HD DVD player, stupid old machine. Interestingly, while using the Samsung Blu-ray player to stream Netflix, I changed the input and the player paused the stream so that it would be at the point where I left it when I returned to it. Its not without its glitches but works well most of the time. Its control can be tweaked a bit. The Samsung app works most of the time but fails to connect now and again. I decided to complicate things even more by using a Griffin Beacon to try and control everything with my iPhone. It has its own set of glitches but I'm really having fun with it. I can control the old HD DVD player and the Oppo. Woohoo! I wish they'd put the ARC input on the back of the TV instead of facing out toward the side.

THANK YOU!
I really appreciate it!

Hi gentlemen!
First of all, Je parle français, so sorry for my english!
Here's my story...In the last few months, I had 4 Sony LED tv! Yes, you read it right, 4!!
All of them were awful in terms of screen uniformity. The first 3 were EX620 55''. Clouding, banding and flashlighting. The current one is a EX640 55'' wich is supposed to be perfect. But it's not. There's no clouding, but 3 of the 4 corners are having flashlighting. And still a lot of banding...(Banding is when the camera pans, you see a line, 5-6 in my case, that look ''dirty'') So I'm looking for a plasma. I'm thinking about the Samsung E550 60''. I've been trough the 13 pages of the forum and I think my choice is made, but still have a few concerns...
-How is the screen uniformity with a plasma (I know it's the LCD backlight that cause deffect, but I'm asking anyway, I'm looking for a perfect or close screen uniformity)
-IR...I'm a little PS3 gamer (4-5 hours a week, mostly on weekend) Do I have to worry? I'm watching a lot of news, like your CNN (but here it's RDI and a lot of ''normal'' program with a logo in the right corner...I'm scared of burn-in!
-Does it NEED break-in? It will be the ''principal'' television, and I don't want to not be able to watch it for 150 hours!
-What is (clearly if possible!) a Pentile Screen or Display? I ain't no engineer and everything I read about it was'nt clear at all!
As you guys said, I think I'm ''hardcore''! I want my set not to be perfect, but close to it, and I think plasma is the answer (and it's bigger, cheaper and 3D! ) Am I going to make a good choice?
Thank you guys for taking the time to read it (and maybe answer it!)

Jonathan

A pentile screen has less subpixels than a standard one, because instead of having regular triplets for each pixel, one of the 3 rgb subpixels (generally the green one) is shared between nearby pixels. If you're a purist for image quality, I'd suggest you to avoid pentile panels. They're not mappable 1:1 and you lose details and contrast.

I'd be careful not to discourage people from purchasing the 60" model. I happen to own the 60e530 and honestly, unless you are watching tv 3" from the screen, you won't notice. At the proper viewing distance, if it is a good display, your eyes will detect nothing except a quality image. Compared to the 58b550 I had, this display has deeper blacks and essentially the same color and sharpness of a quality Samsung plasma. It does display 1080p 24p properly. But, again, the pentile pixels are viewable if you are looking at them super close. For the money, it is a steal and I wouldn't discourage anyone from buying one.

And what is a proper viewing distance? The set will be at 12 feet from the couch, am I going to see anything wrong?
And about my other concerns? Anyone can tell me if I should worry?
-How is the screen uniformity with a plasma (I know it's the LCD backlight that cause deffect, but I'm asking anyway, I'm looking for a perfect or close screen uniformity)
-IR...I'm a little PS3 gamer (4-5 hours a week, mostly on weekend) Do I have to worry? I'm watching a lot of news, like your CNN (but here it's RDI and a lot of ''normal'' program with a logo in the right corner...I'm scared of burn-in!
-Does it NEED break-in? It will be the ''principal'' television, and I don't want to not be able to watch it for 150 hours!

I game on PS3 and XBOX 360 using a PN51E550. There can be image retention when images are static for long periods. This occurs most often when black boxes or lettering are fixed in one place. I will run the scrolling feature after long sessions on the consoles. Uniformity is not a problem at all. I noticed an improvement to the picture after the first few days of use and made minor adjustments to the picture as a result.

I don't think you'll see anything from 12 feet away other than an excellent picture.
Wouldn't worry about image retention either. The scrolling anti-image retention feature really does work. Also, I ran my break in slides for about 3 hours before watching regular programming. You can still watch tv, though. I periodically run the slides and still watch movies and such. There are viewpoints on break-in vs. no break in needed. Today's plasmas are less "fussy" then those from 5 years ago.

I was watching from around 8 feet and could really notice the checkerboard pixel pattern on light colors, which occurs because of the sub-pixel arrangement.

Just curious, what firmware version do you have? I am doing everything I can to be objective here, but I DO NOT see the pentile "screen-door" effect unless I am literally right on top of the screen. And I am REALLY LOOKING. I don't expect you to know how obsessive/compulsive I am when it comes to my home theater, but I can assure you - I have spent hours upon hours watching/testing this tv. My tv shipped with firmware version 1017.1. The latest available firmware on the Samsung site is 1012.3. Just wondering if the firmware version has anything to do with the huge difference of opinion we have here on the pentile visability.

I am on the latest firmware. I can see the pen tile issues when less than 5 feet. However my last 2 phones have been pen tile an I have learned to look past the usssue. I am completely happy with my unit. But its like anything, there are pros and cons to both.

On a side note has any one had issues with Netflix basically changing the size and aspect ratio and portion visible. I have only noticed when I let a show go all the way to the credits.

Gotcha - thanks for the reply on the firmware. I've also read on other forums that gamma and saturation settings will have a slight impact on the visability of the pentile pattern.
I am also happy with the tv. But seeing though I am quite restless, I have a Spears and Munsil disc coming soon. I plan to recalibrate with the filter and see what I come up with. I view my 60" tv from a distance of 11 feet, FYI. Not sure if that is considered "too far" for those of you seeing the pattern more than me.