[jad3d]

Greetings all..I am new here so take it easy!


Recently, I purchased a Samsung PN50550B Plasma for my family and while we have enjoyed it, I have lately been noticing a slight change in brightness/contrast while viewing HD cable content. I have disabled pretty much all auto features (particularly of note, the dynamic contrast setting and the auto DNR) and yet this intermittent flickering remains. In terms of Blu Ray movies, I havent watched enough to determine whether or not this "problem" is exclusive to cable content or both cable and Blu Ray.


Now, a Samsung LED we owned prior contained a feature (within the Service Menu) titled "Dynamic CE" or something to that affect. I disabled this on the previous panel in order to stop this intermittent "flickering," thanks to an AVS search. However, with the 550B plasma, this setting already seems to be disabled. So, Im gathering that this particular setting does not necessarily address the issue at hand when using this plasma model.


Are there any other settings, within the Service Menu, that would eliminate this intermittent change of brightness when using the 550B plasma?


BTW- The latest firmware exists on this tv and I am using HDMI (current standard) for both cable and Blu Ray delivery.

 

[daniel'son]

.. might try turning 'energy savings' to 'off' w/i Menu. other than that, try plugging directly into socket, bypassing any protectors (temporarily); of course, turn set off first.

add: have you tried running yr dvd player thru it to see if dimness continues.

 

[jad3d]



Quote:
Originally Posted by daniel'son /forum/post/18238776


.. might try turning 'energy savings' to 'off' w/i Menu. other than that, try plugging directly into socket, bypassing any protectors (temporarily); of course, turn set off first.

add: have you tried running yr dvd player thru it to see if dimness continues.

Well, energy savings is "off," at least in the main menu. I havent checked the service menu to see if additional disabling is needed. I do, however, have this thing plugged into an AVS power conditioner/surge/voltage regulator. But, all of my other panels (Sony LCD) are also plugged into their respective AVS units and have not shown such issues. I may give it a try though.


In terms of the Blu Ray player...Im going to watch "Zombie Land" tonight and see if the issue remains.


Thanks for the reply.

 

[daniel'son]

.. some have mentioned 'possible' bad hdmi cord before; if player is working ok, then maybe primary cord or cable box. hopefully something else & not set itself.

 

[tburgess]

I have the same problem. I didnt see much posted about this issue so I just brought it up again in the PNXXB850 owners thread. I was just about to log off and noticed your post.


I have a PN50B850. I was watching the latest Star Trek movie (blu-ray on a PS3) and at 4:54 during a dark scene the screen's brightness level increased. When the dark scene was over it dropped back to where I had it set. It did this throughout the movie. Its driving me nuts. I cant find anything in the manual or the settings that would explain why its doing this. I'm surprised more people havent complained about it. It is quite apparent when using the movie default setting and the lights are off.

 

[NewOldVinyl]

Welcome to the wonderful ABL feature of plasma TVs. Automatic Brightness Level or Auto Black Level. The TV has a mind of its own with regard to how bright the panel can get and it will dynamically reduce the overall brightness if it thinks a particular scene is "too hot for it to safely handle" or some such thing. My Panasonic V10 does this. It can be extremely annoying on certain material.

 

[tburgess]



Quote:
Originally Posted by NewOldVinyl /forum/post/18239504


Welcome to the wonderful ABL feature of plasma TVs. Automatic Brightness Level or Auto Black Level. The TV has a mind of its own with regard to how bright the panel can get and it will dynamically reduce the overall brightness if it thinks a particular scene is "too hot for it to safely handle" or some such thing. My Panasonic V10 does this. It can be extremely annoying on certain material.

I'm not sure about Jad3d's set by my unit adjusts the contrast up, not down in relation to the settings I use. Your description doesnt seem to explain my sets behaviour.


If it is some sort of automatic "feature" of the TV I dont understand why I havent been able to find the option to turn it off. I seriously dont think many here would be very happy if they went through the trouble to have a plasma calibrated if the TV is just going to alter those settings on the fly.

 

[tburgess]

I watched a movie today and left the lights on this time and didnt notice the brightness level adjustments at all. I guess thats just what I'll have to do and its not a big deal. I wonder when I get my set professionally calibrated if it will do it at all.

 

[jad3d]

It seems as if I have not experienced this issue so much when watching Bluray movies (via HDMI). Rather, it almost seems exclusive to DVR content (via HDMI).


DVR issues? Who knows? Frankly, Im tired of worrying about it. However, if I get to the core of the issue, Ill post it.


Thanks for the replies.

Quote:
Welcome to the wonderful ABL feature of plasma TVs. Automatic Brightness Level or Auto Black Level. The TV has a mind of its own with regard to how bright the panel can get and it will dynamically reduce the overall brightness if it thinks a particular scene is "too hot for it to safely handle" or some such thing. My Panasonic V10 does this. It can be extremely annoying on certain material.

It seems as if such a function could be disabled, IMHO. But, I have not found it yet (on the 550B). Ironically, as I mentioned earlier, I did manage to defeat such an occurrence on the Samsung LED (via the service menu) I owned prior to this plasma..go figure.

 

[petem23]

My new C550 does the same thing. It is very annoying. It happens all the time durring commercials. One a commercial end screen goes black then if the next commercial starts with a bright or white background the screen dims to almost grey then when it switches off of the white the picture returns to normal.

 

[rodneytasm]

I have the pn50b850 and I've notice this intermittent brightness while watching hockey or playing hockey on my PS3. Basically anything with alot of white. I love the TV but this is really bothering me.

 

[ahartig]

I have the same issues............... no real solutions yet?


Any suggestions?

 

[robshdtv]

ABL is most likely your culprit. Plasma's intentionally tone down completely full bright white screens as that is the most energy usage color for a plasma to create, which is often why plasma's will buzz louder on a full white screen. This is to keep the power supply from over driving. You might want to lower brightness and/or contrast and see if you can make it less noticeable.


One of the drawbacks on owning a plasma. You either live with it knowing it's there for a reason or switch to another technology which will have it's own issues. I myself don't mind a not so blinding white like LCDs produce as that to me is over the top and not how whites in real life look. Of course YMMV. (Yes I own both plasma's and LCD so I have seen the difference.)

 

[Jon Teboe]

I have the same annoying issue on my Panasonic Plasma Viera 65" 3D Tvs. It is quite annoying to me. So from reading these posts, it sounds like this is normal for plasma tvs. Really? That is terrible if this is to be expected. I have the Best Buy techs coming out to see the problem on my new 2013 ZT60 plasma set. I hope it is something that can be fixed. Thanks for posting!