Samsung PN58C550 - Blu-ray Forum

The_Donster · 02-20-2011, 03:56 AM

Does anyone have any opinions on this particular plasma? Initially we were thinking lcd/led, but upon further research it seems you get more bang with your buck with a plasma. One of our local retailers has this particular model for $1300, which seems to be inline with the online prices. While I would love a little larger screen, I can live with this until I'm ready to get something in the family room. If you have any other recommendations, feel free to post them as well. Especially if they are a larger screen size. Thanks in advance

DavePS3 · 02-20-2011, 04:46 AM

I think you'll find the blacks quite gray-ish. Test a BD with 2.35:1 or 2:39/2.40 and look at the black bars compared to the higher end sets. In some cases, the lighter blacks give you a bit more image retention. I've certainly noticed it.

SammyB · 02-20-2011, 05:16 AM

Another option you might want to seriously consider is the panasonic tc-pxxS2. It's available in 54", 58" and 65". Should be similiar priced to the pnxxc500. Darker blacks, similiar otherwise. Not sure about the gamma on the s2, it might not be able to get to 2.2, but some Pannys seem to have this problem. Most people wouldn't say that's a huge thing however.

Sorry I didn't mention this in message I sent you.

Pannys do seem to fair better on burn in as Dave sortta mentioned. Not sure if it has to do with Samsungs have lighter blacks. Anyway, Samsung or Panasonic, neither should get permanent burn in.

The_Donster · 02-20-2011, 06:11 AM

Thanks guys, appreciate the assist. I'll check into the pn58c590 you mentioned in your pm Lloyd when we go back. I didn't notice any Panasonic's at this particular store, but we're going to go back to Best Buy to take another look at those lcd's we were considering. I want to make sure I'm making the right choice with our money. Once I'm done there I'll start thinking about bd and soundbar vs home theater next.

Lucif3r · 02-20-2011, 07:47 PM

Just an FYI: Amazon has the 550 on sale for $1,200, free shipping and no tax. I wouldn't spend a dollar at Best Buy.

dsskid · 02-21-2011, 01:06 AM

The Samsung PN58C550 has better color accuracy, gamma, grayscale than the Panasonic S2, and in the 58" size... better blacks as well.

SammyB · 02-21-2011, 03:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsskid

The Samsung PN58C550 has better color accuracy, gamma, grayscale than the Panasonic S2, and in the 58" size... better blacks as well.

The gray scale for both are off by about 200 Kelvins from what I've seen. The c550 is about 6,700K while the s2 is about 6,300K on average. Samsung does have the upper hand on color accuracy. Most Pannys seem to have some problems with gamma, with the VT20/VT25 what results I've seen are at 2.0, while more ideal results are 2.2 or 2.5 (most recommend 2.2, but some calibrators insist 2.5 is better for certain displays, keyword is "certain".) The Samsung is much closer at in the 2.2 to 2.27 range, so pretty much right on the money.

Black levels I've heard were better on the samsung this year, which seems odd to me because Panasonic tends to have better blacks. I'm going to go see if I can find some calibration results on the two looking specifically for for black level readings.

SammyB · 02-21-2011, 04:38 AM

Okay, so I've looked at some calibration results. Couldn't find any for the pnxxc550 or the tc-pxxs2 specifically. Did find it for the panny g15 and g20, and the samsung pnxxc450, and the samsung pnxxb650.

The g15 measured at 0.018ftL and the g20 measured at .014ftL. For Samsung the c450 measured at .020ftL and the b650 at .024ftL (however the 100% IRE was at 44ftL and I believe this was meant for a dimmed room rather than complete darkness, so these results would probably be lower if calibrated for a dark room).

So to take a bit of a guess and bit of a logical step, Panny should measure out to around .014ftL to .016ftL while the samsung will likely be at .016ftL to .020ftL. If this is the case or the calibration results were accurate at all then Panny has slightly blacker blackers. Slightly.

All these results did however show samsung to have more accurate colors, and almost even gray scale (maybe slightly better, but not by leaps and bounds by any means). Gamma looked a bit better on the Samsungs too.

The_Donster · 02-21-2011, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucif3r

Just an FYI: Amazon has the 550 on sale for $1,200, free shipping and no tax. I wouldn't spend a dollar at Best Buy.

Don't worry, I'm not planning on getting my plasma there and that online price is comparable to what I'm seeing in the store. Unfortunately because I live in Washington State I don't think I can get away with not paying tax through Amazon. They kind of whammy me and I feel a little better knowing I can box things up and take them back to the store if I need to. As far as Best Buy, I wouldn't consider them unless I decided to go with the Mitsubishi LT 55265 or the Sharp LC60E88UN. They are one of the only one's selling either one of those at a affordable price. I'm also taking Panasonic's out of the equation because it seems that BB is the only one's that carry those and they are pushing the 3D hard, which we don't want or need. At this point it is between the PN58C550 or PN58C590. I plan on taking a bd once we get our refund from the taxman. Any suggestions? I have Casino Royale, Inception, Kick Ass and Scott Pilgrim. If so, which scene? I'm leaning towards Casino Royale because of the intro scene, but I'm open to suggestions on seeing what both of them do. Appreciate the assist though

DJ Matt · 02-21-2011, 04:01 PM

http://plasmatvbuyingguide.com/

Should find some nice info there.

DJ Matt

OH PLASMA · 02-21-2011, 08:42 PM

I have a Samsung PN58C550 and love it. I found some calibration settings on the PNXXC550 owners thread on avsforum.com and my picture is great. I don't know that it was necessary, but I ordered 2 new HDMI 1.3 cables from Blue Jean Cables and couldn't be happier with the picture I am getting. I am a firm believer in that you get what you pay for. I wouldn't dare compare this to a 58" plasma in the 3k to 5k ( Panny VT25 or the Sammy 8000 for example ) price range, but I would put this television up against any plasma in the less than 2k price range.

The_Donster · 02-22-2011, 03:26 AM

Posted this over at my lcd thread, but thought I would post here too. Now my wife has thrown the Samsung PN63C590 and PN63C550 into the mix. So now we're going to check those out and see the difference for those. I think they are like the 58" and it has that feature(24FPS) that Lloyd Nasty told me about. Anyway, we're going to go up north and check out Video Only and Best Buy. Once we reach our decision we'll go back and buy from the saleman we both liked. Hopefully we can just take the Sharp LCD out of the equation and just decide which size to get, 58" or 63

The_Donster · 02-22-2011, 04:05 AM

OK, quick question for those who have larger flat panels. Do I want a low profile or will a regular wall mount do with the 58"-63" range sets? Someone recommended monoprice, which I'll probable go with unless they throw one in the deal. Same with the sound system. Right now I think I'm going to narrow my search to the FP and the BD-D5700 BD player. I'm starting to get a bit overwhelmed with the amount of information you guys have provided. BTW, DJ Matt, thanks for that link. Looks like they might have the calibration settings for the larger FP's

dukenukem · 02-22-2011, 04:41 PM

At that size i would go with a regular wall mount.

The_Donster · 02-22-2011, 05:20 PM

Any suggestions on which one and is that because it might put a strain on the bolts with a low profile Duke? If they don't throw one in I'm going to monoprice and getting one from them. I'm definitely thinking we should get the bigger set. Worse case scenerio, it ends up in the family room down the line and we buy a 58" for the living room.

dukenukem · 02-22-2011, 09:04 PM

Try and look at some sanus mounts.Those low profile mounts may make it hard for you to access tv connections that would be on the back since it will be very close to the wall.

The_Donster · 02-23-2011, 02:43 AM

Thanks Duke, I'll check that out once I get done doing some home work on the stuff. Like I said in my LCD thread, they didn't have the 63" at Video Only. I did get to see the scale across the street at BB though and can honestly say I'm not seeing a $700 difference in price. So unless fate takes a hand it is between the 58" C550 or C590 and the Sharp LC60E88UN right now.

The_Donster · 02-24-2011, 12:01 AM

Since not everyone is following my LCD thread I thought I'd post some night and day shots of the room I'll be putting the new fp in. Weather has been a little weird. So the middle day pic looks very close to the night shoot, aside from my curtains being drawn. Still not sure what direction I'm going in, but I'm thinking the LCD might fit our needs more than the wants of a plasma. I plan on watching plenty of movies and play my 360, but during the day we'd be watching a lot of Sprout with my 19.5 month old. Not to mention the lighting possible not being sufficient for my Kinect when we start playing that a bit more. Sorry, but I just don't have time to worry about burn in or breaking it in before I can stop worrying about my purchase. Like I said in my other thread, as much as it is frustrating to read my constant waffling it is even worse trying to pull the trigger. The last thing I want is to have buyers remorse. Anyway, I am going to look at the tv's one more time before making a final decision. Thanks to everyone for your input on the situation.

Night shots:

Day shots:

Lucif3r · 02-24-2011, 12:46 AM

I broke in both my parent's 63c8000 and my mine with the slides that make their rounds on the AVS forums. It was as simple as leaving the TVs on overnight playing the slides from a flash drive. At the end of two weeks, I checked the service menu for panel usage to make sure it was over 200 hours and then calibrated them. Haven't had a single issue with IR.

The_Donster · 02-24-2011, 08:01 AM

So you calibrated them yourself, using what? I'm still deciding if I should pay for this or do it myself? Given what BB charges, wish I could find a inexpensive alternative. If I could have them calibrate my upstairs fp too, I might be able to bite at the $200. BTW, how many nights did it take you to break the set in? I'm curious, since I could easily get a few snapshots on a USB flash drive and do that. Anyway, I hear what you are saying Lucif3r. Still, I have my worries about plasma's though. At least with the lcd I can plug it in and immediately start watching whatever.

02-20-2011, 03:56 AM	#1
The_Donster Blu-ray Knight Top contributor Member since:Dec 2010 Location:Deep in the heart of NE Texas 4K collection:1 Blu-ray collection:216 DVD collection:231 Trading Score:14	Samsung PN58C550 Does anyone have any opinions on this particular plasma? Initially we were thinking lcd/led, but upon further research it seems you get more bang with your buck with a plasma. One of our local retailers has this particular model for $1300, which seems to be inline with the online prices. While I would love a little larger screen, I can live with this until I'm ready to get something in the family room. If you have any other recommendations, feel free to post them as well. Especially if they are a larger screen size. Thanks in advance

02-20-2011, 05:16 AM	#3
SammyB Active Member Top contributor Member since:Feb 2008 Location:MA Home Theater Gallery:55 Blu-ray collection:327 DVD collection:14 Blu-ray reviews: 2	Another option you might want to seriously consider is the panasonic tc-pxxS2. It's available in 54", 58" and 65". Should be similiar priced to the pnxxc500. Darker blacks, similiar otherwise. Not sure about the gamma on the s2, it might not be able to get to 2.2, but some Pannys seem to have this problem. Most people wouldn't say that's a huge thing however. Sorry I didn't mention this in message I sent you. Pannys do seem to fair better on burn in as Dave sortta mentioned. Not sure if it has to do with Samsungs have lighter blacks. Anyway, Samsung or Panasonic, neither should get permanent burn in. Last edited by SammyB; 02-20-2011 at 05:22 AM.

02-20-2011, 06:11 AM	#4
The_Donster Blu-ray Knight Top contributor Member since:Dec 2010 Location:Deep in the heart of NE Texas 4K collection:1 Blu-ray collection:216 DVD collection:231 Trading Score:14	Thanks guys, appreciate the assist. I'll check into the pn58c590 you mentioned in your pm Lloyd when we go back. I didn't notice any Panasonic's at this particular store, but we're going to go back to Best Buy to take another look at those lcd's we were considering. I want to make sure I'm making the right choice with our money. Once I'm done there I'll start thinking about bd and soundbar vs home theater next. Last edited by The_Donster; 02-20-2011 at 06:35 AM.

02-24-2011, 12:01 AM	#18
The_Donster Blu-ray Knight Top contributor Member since:Dec 2010 Location:Deep in the heart of NE Texas 4K collection:1 Blu-ray collection:216 DVD collection:231 Trading Score:14	Since not everyone is following my LCD thread I thought I'd post some night and day shots of the room I'll be putting the new fp in. Weather has been a little weird. So the middle day pic looks very close to the night shoot, aside from my curtains being drawn. Still not sure what direction I'm going in, but I'm thinking the LCD might fit our needs more than the wants of a plasma. I plan on watching plenty of movies and play my 360, but during the day we'd be watching a lot of Sprout with my 19.5 month old. Not to mention the lighting possible not being sufficient for my Kinect when we start playing that a bit more. Sorry, but I just don't have time to worry about burn in or breaking it in before I can stop worrying about my purchase. Like I said in my other thread, as much as it is frustrating to read my constant waffling it is even worse trying to pull the trigger. The last thing I want is to have buyers remorse. Anyway, I am going to look at the tv's one more time before making a final decision. Thanks to everyone for your input on the situation. Night shots: Day shots: Last edited by The_Donster; 02-24-2011 at 04:03 AM.

02-20-2011, 04:46 AM	#2
DavePS3 Blu-ray Guru Member since:Jan 2007 Location:Toronto Home Theater Gallery:56 Blu-ray reviews:1 Trading Score:1	I think you'll find the blacks quite gray-ish. Test a BD with 2.35:1 or 2:39/2.40 and look at the black bars compared to the higher end sets. In some cases, the lighter blacks give you a bit more image retention. I've certainly noticed it.

02-20-2011, 07:47 PM	#5
Lucif3r Senior Member Top contributor Member since:Jul 2010 Location:Frisco, Texas 4K collection:301 Blu-ray collection:1332 DVD collection:6 Blu-ray reviews:1	Just an FYI: Amazon has the 550 on sale for $1,200, free shipping and no tax. I wouldn't spend a dollar at Best Buy.

02-21-2011, 01:06 AM	#6
dsskid Active Member Member since:Apr 2008 Trading Score:1	The Samsung PN58C550 has better color accuracy, gamma, grayscale than the Panasonic S2, and in the 58" size... better blacks as well.

02-21-2011, 04:38 AM	#8
SammyB Active Member Top contributor Member since:Feb 2008 Location:MA Home Theater Gallery:55 Blu-ray collection:327 DVD collection:14 Blu-ray reviews: 2	Okay, so I've looked at some calibration results. Couldn't find any for the pnxxc550 or the tc-pxxs2 specifically. Did find it for the panny g15 and g20, and the samsung pnxxc450, and the samsung pnxxb650. The g15 measured at 0.018ftL and the g20 measured at .014ftL. For Samsung the c450 measured at .020ftL and the b650 at .024ftL (however the 100% IRE was at 44ftL and I believe this was meant for a dimmed room rather than complete darkness, so these results would probably be lower if calibrated for a dark room). So to take a bit of a guess and bit of a logical step, Panny should measure out to around .014ftL to .016ftL while the samsung will likely be at .016ftL to .020ftL. If this is the case or the calibration results were accurate at all then Panny has slightly blacker blackers. Slightly. All these results did however show samsung to have more accurate colors, and almost even gray scale (maybe slightly better, but not by leaps and bounds by any means). Gamma looked a bit better on the Samsungs too.

02-21-2011, 04:01 PM	#10
DJ Matt Active Member Member since:Sep 2008 Location:Longueuil, Qc, Canada Blu-ray collection:340 DVD collection:7	http://plasmatvbuyingguide.com/ Should find some nice info there. DJ Matt

02-21-2011, 08:42 PM	#11
OH PLASMA Member Member since:Jan 2009 Location:Ohio, United States	I have a Samsung PN58C550 and love it. I found some calibration settings on the PNXXC550 owners thread on avsforum.com and my picture is great. I don't know that it was necessary, but I ordered 2 new HDMI 1.3 cables from Blue Jean Cables and couldn't be happier with the picture I am getting. I am a firm believer in that you get what you pay for. I wouldn't dare compare this to a 58" plasma in the 3k to 5k ( Panny VT25 or the Sammy 8000 for example ) price range, but I would put this television up against any plasma in the less than 2k price range.

02-22-2011, 03:26 AM	#12
The_Donster Blu-ray Knight Top contributor Member since:Dec 2010 Location:Deep in the heart of NE Texas 4K collection:1 Blu-ray collection:216 DVD collection:231 Trading Score:14	Posted this over at my lcd thread, but thought I would post here too. Now my wife has thrown the Samsung PN63C590 and PN63C550 into the mix. So now we're going to check those out and see the difference for those. I think they are like the 58" and it has that feature(24FPS) that Lloyd Nasty told me about. Anyway, we're going to go up north and check out Video Only and Best Buy. Once we reach our decision we'll go back and buy from the saleman we both liked. Hopefully we can just take the Sharp LCD out of the equation and just decide which size to get, 58" or 63

02-22-2011, 04:05 AM	#13
The_Donster Blu-ray Knight Top contributor Member since:Dec 2010 Location:Deep in the heart of NE Texas 4K collection:1 Blu-ray collection:216 DVD collection:231 Trading Score:14	OK, quick question for those who have larger flat panels. Do I want a low profile or will a regular wall mount do with the 58"-63" range sets? Someone recommended monoprice, which I'll probable go with unless they throw one in the deal. Same with the sound system. Right now I think I'm going to narrow my search to the FP and the BD-D5700 BD player. I'm starting to get a bit overwhelmed with the amount of information you guys have provided. BTW, DJ Matt, thanks for that link. Looks like they might have the calibration settings for the larger FP's

02-22-2011, 04:41 PM	#14
dukenukem Active Member Member since:Jan 2008 Home Theater Gallery:23 Blu-ray collection:31	At that size i would go with a regular wall mount.

02-22-2011, 05:20 PM	#15
The_Donster Blu-ray Knight Top contributor Member since:Dec 2010 Location:Deep in the heart of NE Texas 4K collection:1 Blu-ray collection:216 DVD collection:231 Trading Score:14	Any suggestions on which one and is that because it might put a strain on the bolts with a low profile Duke? If they don't throw one in I'm going to monoprice and getting one from them. I'm definitely thinking we should get the bigger set. Worse case scenerio, it ends up in the family room down the line and we buy a 58" for the living room.

02-22-2011, 09:04 PM	#16
dukenukem Active Member Member since:Jan 2008 Home Theater Gallery:23 Blu-ray collection:31	Try and look at some sanus mounts.Those low profile mounts may make it hard for you to access tv connections that would be on the back since it will be very close to the wall.

02-23-2011, 02:43 AM	#17
The_Donster Blu-ray Knight Top contributor Member since:Dec 2010 Location:Deep in the heart of NE Texas 4K collection:1 Blu-ray collection:216 DVD collection:231 Trading Score:14	Thanks Duke, I'll check that out once I get done doing some home work on the stuff. Like I said in my LCD thread, they didn't have the 63" at Video Only. I did get to see the scale across the street at BB though and can honestly say I'm not seeing a $700 difference in price. So unless fate takes a hand it is between the 58" C550 or C590 and the Sharp LC60E88UN right now.

02-24-2011, 12:46 AM	#19
Lucif3r Senior Member Top contributor Member since:Jul 2010 Location:Frisco, Texas 4K collection:301 Blu-ray collection:1332 DVD collection:6 Blu-ray reviews:1	I broke in both my parent's 63c8000 and my mine with the slides that make their rounds on the AVS forums. It was as simple as leaving the TVs on overnight playing the slides from a flash drive. At the end of two weeks, I checked the service menu for panel usage to make sure it was over 200 hours and then calibrated them. Haven't had a single issue with IR.

02-24-2011, 08:01 AM	#20
The_Donster Blu-ray Knight Top contributor Member since:Dec 2010 Location:Deep in the heart of NE Texas 4K collection:1 Blu-ray collection:216 DVD collection:231 Trading Score:14	So you calibrated them yourself, using what? I'm still deciding if I should pay for this or do it myself? Given what BB charges, wish I could find a inexpensive alternative. If I could have them calibrate my upstairs fp too, I might be able to bite at the $200. BTW, how many nights did it take you to break the set in? I'm curious, since I could easily get a few snapshots on a USB flash drive and do that. Anyway, I hear what you are saying Lucif3r. Still, I have my worries about plasma's though. At least with the lcd I can plug it in and immediately start watching whatever.

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