Samsung PN58B550 Owners Thread

[ridergroov1]

Alright. I got my TV today. Got it running. Right now I have it running in the following:

Movie Mode
Cell Light 7
Contrast 50
Brightness 50


I have the break in DVD running. If someone can confirm this is okay that would be great. Still worried a bit about messing this thing up. Should I turn up or turn down anything? Thanks.

[oppopioneer]

Depending on who you ask, break-in periods depends. Some people say the first 20 hours, others say the first 50 hours, some say 100 hours, some say 150 hours.

Just make sure all the programs you watch the entire screen is full and there is no black bars aka letterbox and no icon/symbols in the corners. Don't play video games or use your tv as a computer monitor. HBO is good at that, all their movies and shows are full screen. Watch dvd movies that are full screen too, turn it off right before the ending credits. Do that for the first 2 to 3 months and you'll be fine. If you have the tv on for 5 to 8 hours minimum a day with full screen video for 2 to 3 months that's a good break-in.

You have a Samsung. Samsung and Panasonic plasmas suffer from burn-in and ghost images more than Pioneer plasmas do. Pioneer is one of the few that has the best anti-burn in protection features. You need to take extra care of your Samsung.

[ridergroov1]

Originally Posted by oppopioneer

Depending on who you ask, break-in periods depends. Some people say the first 20 hours, others say the first 50 hours, some say 100 hours, some say 150 hours.

Just make sure all the programs you watch the entire screen is full and there is no black bars aka letterbox and no icon/symbols in the corners. Don't play video games or use your tv as a computer monitor. HBO is good at that, all their movies and shows are full screen. Watch dvd movies that are full screen too, turn it off right before the ending credits. Do that for the first 2 to 3 months and you'll be fine. If you have the tv on for 5 to 8 hours minimum a day with full screen video for 2 to 3 months that's a good break-in.

You have a Samsung. Samsung and Panasonic plasmas suffer from burn-in and ghost images more than Pioneer plasmas do. Pioneer is one of the few that has the best anti-burn in protection features. You need to take extra care of your Samsung.

Ha. I see you are an avid Pioneer TV person. This goes along the lines of what I have been told, just freaking out about having burn in problems after all the reading I've done. Are you saying to never play video games on it or just during the first 100 hours? Thanks for your reply. Much appreciated.

[oppopioneer]

Originally Posted by ridergroov1

Ha. I see you are an avid Pioneer TV person. This goes along the lines of what I have been told, just freaking out about having burn in problems after all the reading I've done. Are you saying to never play video games on it or just during the first 100 hours? Thanks for your reply. Much appreciated.

I personally would never play video games or use my pio plasma as a PC monitor. I bought my Pio from an authorized licensed pio dealer and they told me that's the worse thing you can do to a plasma tv. If you want to play video games on a big screen buy a seperate LCD/LED tv for that.

[mpr1978]

I have the same set as the original poster(PN58B550T2F) and i have the same problem with the burn in issue. I really don't see it untill i go from tv to blu ray.
My set is only 3 weeks old so is this a problem that i should be worried about.

I also have a 50" hitachi P50S601 plasma and i never experienced this type of burn in issue, is this a 1080p thing or a "name brand" thing?

[sadmaker]

If you're using the slides, ramp your contrast way up for a faster break-in. contrast and brightness set at halfway are for viewing purposes.

[sham]

for what it's worth, i have been playing xbox360 on mine for about 10 hours a week since october, and i have no burn in. i occasionally have some image retention, but that's what the scrolling bars are for. also, i have the pixel shift set to 4 every 2 minutes. and, i have tweaked the settings using the tweaktv settings (i think that was the website). my picture looks fantastic to me and i have no burn in.

[sadmaker]

Originally Posted by oppopioneer

I personally would never play video games or use my pio plasma as a PC monitor. I bought my Pio from an authorized licensed pio dealer and they told me that's the worse thing you can do to a plasma tv. If you want to play video games on a big screen buy a seperate LCD/LED tv for that.

No wonder plasma is a failing technology...misinformed sales people. If I couldn't play video games on my plasma for fear of ruining it, I wouldn't own a plasma. I can assure you I'm not alone on this.

[ridergroov1]

What is the worry in using it for video games? The burn in? Is that it or is there something else? Thanks.

[Kyzer the Medic]

This is why buying a TV right now has me so confused. I want the best picture, fast refresh and something nice and big (bigger than my 46" LCD). I'm hearing two sides... Plasma has the best picture, but to be honest, I'm almost terrified to buy one becase everyone and their brother is saying I WILL get IR, I WILL get burn in.. half say don't play games at all, half say games are fine.. Then the break in period... for the first several MONTHS of owning the big new TV I want, I can't even use it at its full potential ?
Samsungs "Buzz", Panasonics lose their black level....

Then there is LED, but if I want LED I have to get backlit, because if its not backlit its crap, but very few companies make backlit anymore and the ones that do charge a premium for it.

The TV will be going in an entertainment center, so to be honest, I really don't care how thick the thing is as long as its less than 19" thick and will fit on the shelf.. The opening is big enough for a 58" tv with a little wiggle room...

So in saying all that ... what the heck do I do ? Go plasma and wait til July to invite people over to marvel at the huge TV I've had sitting in limbo for months.. or go LED and have people say "whats that wierd light".. ??

[awal]

Originally Posted by Kyzer the Medic

This is why buying a TV right now has me so confused. I want the best picture, fast refresh and something nice and big (bigger than my 46" LCD). I'm hearing two sides... Plasma has the best picture, but to be honest, I'm almost terrified to buy one becase everyone and their brother is saying I WILL get IR, I WILL get burn in.. half say don't play games at all, half say games are fine.. Then the break in period... for the first several MONTHS of owning the big new TV I want, I can't even use it at its full potential ?
Samsungs "Buzz", Panasonics lose their black level....

Then there is LED, but if I want LED I have to get backlit, because if its not backlit its crap, but very few companies make backlit anymore and the ones that do charge a premium for it.

The TV will be going in an entertainment center, so to be honest, I really don't care how thick the thing is as long as its less than 19" thick and will fit on the shelf.. The opening is big enough for a 58" tv with a little wiggle room...

So in saying all that ... what the heck do I do ? Go plasma and wait til July to invite people over to marvel at the huge TV I've had sitting in limbo for months.. or go LED and have people say "whats that wierd light".. ??

I've had the Samsung PN50B860 for 6 months now..

- Never had any type of buzzing sound. I personally know a dozen (well, 11) people that bought a Samsung Plasma within the past year (all are B or C models 550 or higher). Only one of those 11 had a buzzing issue which Samsung resolved in less than 7 days, and it never had to leave his living room.

- Left mine in Standard mode for the first month (no "official" break in procedure performed) and thought the picture looked great before any calibration.

- Always leave the Pixel shift option turned on

- It would get slight image retention during the first couple of months, but nothing major that didn't go away within a few minutes. The scrolling option will remove IR more quickly if leaving it there a few minutes worries you.

- The plasma has been on 4-12 hours a day during these 6 months

- It is being used for PS3 Games 70% of the time, Movies 20%, TV 10%.. Plasma is the KING OF GAMING!

- Direct light can be annoying (think of it as being similar to a mirror). I can have every light on in the room and ajoining rooms with no issues at all. A lamp or window directly behind the viewing position is when you start seeing a glare.

[Kyzer the Medic]

Originally Posted by awal

I've had the Samsung PN50B860 for 6 months now..

- Never had any type of buzzing sound. I personally know a dozen (well, 11) people that bought a Samsung Plasma within the past year (all are B or C models 550 or higher). Only one of those 11 had a buzzing issue which Samsung resolved in less than 7 days, and it never had to leave his living room.

- Left mine in Standard mode for the first month (no "official" break in procedure performed) and thought the picture looked great before any calibration.

- Always leave the Pixel shift option turned on

- It would get slight image retention during the first couple of months, but nothing major that didn't go away within a few minutes. The scrolling option will remove IR more quickly if leaving it there a few minutes worries you.

- The plasma has been on 4-12 hours a day during these 6 months

- It is being used for PS3 Games 70% of the time, Movies 20%, TV 10%.. Plasma is the KING OF GAMING!

- Direct light can be annoying (think of it as being similar to a mirror). I can have every light on in the room and ajoining rooms with no issues at all. A lamp or window directly behind the viewing position is when you start seeing a glare.

Thank you ! That honestly does help a lot to quell my fears as I am going to do some gaming on it and watch movies and TV a little bit more than you do but not having an immediate horror story posted proves that maybe I should stop listening to all the negatives and just go with what looks good to me, which so far, has been plasma

[ridergroov1]

Originally Posted by Kyzer the Medic

Thank you ! That honestly does help a lot to quell my fears as I am going to do some gaming on it and watch movies and TV a little bit more than you do but not having an immediate horror story posted proves that maybe I should stop listening to all the negatives and just go with what looks good to me, which so far, has been plasma

Yeah. I've had the PN58B550 for about 2 weeks now. Lots of tweaking going on. Way different look than my LCD. But i have had no buzzing, limited IR which goes away after a few minutes of the scrolling thing. I ran the break in DVD for about a week until I got to 100 hours. Then started using it here and there with gaming and movies. Now I am using it and just running the scrolling for 30 minutes on the sleep timer at night when I am done. I'll probably do that for the next 100 hours or so and then I will just use it. I really wouldn't worry about the buzz or IR issues. I was scared as well but do not have real issues with those things.

One thing I did have was digital snow and flickering on the home screen of my PS3 until I turned the brightness down of the PS3 them to -5, then it stopped. This is a known issue with the PS3 home screen and has yet to be resolved but not really an issue if you turn down the brightness. I just didn't like what it was doing to the screen. I freaked out and did a lot of reading so hopefully you won't if you have a PS3 and me telling you will save you some time. Just down the brightness. No issues during blu playback of kind of though as far as this goes.

Hope that helps.

[Kyzer the Medic]

"Way different look than my LCD"


How so ? I was looking at a plasma yesterday at best buy showing The Guardian.. set the TV to THX mode and it looked way to dark and washed out.. is that a plasma thing ?

[ridergroov1]

Originally Posted by Kyzer the Medic

"Way different look than my LCD"


How so ? I was looking at a plasma yesterday at best buy showing The Guardian.. set the TV to THX mode and it looked way to dark and washed out.. is that a plasma thing ?

I don't know. It's just different. I guess you could say it's less digital looking. Took some getting used to but I'm starting to really prefer it.

[mpr1978]

I noticed that i get the "buzzing" sound only when i play blu-ray movies or watch hd channels9(it's really not that loud, my comp buzzes alot louder), when i mostly watch the regular tv channels(by pressing the TV button) and i don't hear buzzing. So I take it that the buzzing sound only happens when you watch HD channels or blu-rays. Anybody else notice this??

[Dase]

Just use common sense and you'll be fine. I have just passed the 400 hour mark on my set and it's awesome. I didn't run break in slides. I play video games. It's fine.

If you do notice any IR, use the screen protection feature (scrolling bars) for 5-10 minutes.

Most of all, just enjoy your new plasma!

[Spurrier Sucks]

As title states, what do you think? Should I pull the trigger or is the Buzz I keep reading about not worth it?

[bigpapy]

I just purchase the PN58B650 last week I yes the tv have a buzz but only if you really pay atention you can hard it is not that loud like people say also the PQ of this tv is awesome

Ubaldo

[jimq1977]

hey Spurrier Sucks I have the Samsung pn50b850 and tyo be quite honest with you I do hear the buzz. Its a slight bit more then i was expecting but in all honesty it doesnt affect my viewing please. Its an amazing picture and you would be hard pressed to find another TV that is as first class produced as this. I too read all of the negative reviews concerning the buzz and you know what...with every tech theres down falls...but honestly the people who posted those reviews are far too anal about things and from my perspective should have kept their opinion to theirselves....you know what they say opinions are like *******s, everyone has one and most of them stink.

My suggestion go demo it and see what you think...