Samsung PN50B550 50" Plasma TV

Great TV for the price!, May 13, 2009

I received this TV last week and so far it has been AWESOME! I would have given it 5 stars but the sound quality is a little muffled. It doesn't bother us much since we plan on hooking up a surround sound system but if you are using the TV's speakers exclusively, you may want to reconsider. Picture quality is amazing...best I've seen and I did a...read full review I received this TV last week and so far it has been AWESOME! I would have given it 5 stars but the sound quality is a little muffled. It doesn't bother us much since we plan on hooking up a surround sound system but if you are using the TV's speakers exclusively, you may want to reconsider. Picture quality is amazing...best I've seen and I did a TON of research before deciding on this model. I was back and forth between plasma and LCD and I'm so glad I went plasma. We have the TV in a bright room and the new filters seem to work great. Not much glare at all. Definitely no more glare than the 36 Sony Wega tube TV this Samsung replaced. If you are not picky about the sound, this is a great choice. After a week, we are not disappointed! minimize

Samsung PN50B550 - Awesome TV, June 4, 2009

I researched a lot of TVs and narrowed it down to the Panasonic Viera 50" and the Samsung 50" Plasma. I had seen the A550 Samsung for a long time and when I was finally ready to purchase I noticed the B550 had come out. This model is just a beautiful television. The picture is very crisp and sharp. The blacks are nice and rich. My favorite...read full review I researched a lot of TVs and narrowed it down to the Panasonic Viera 50" and the Samsung 50" Plasma. I had seen the A550 Samsung for a long time and when I was finally ready to purchase I noticed the B550 had come out. This model is just a beautiful television. The picture is very crisp and sharp. The blacks are nice and rich. My favorite feature is the swivel base. I was debating whether I wanted to invest in a swivel wall mount or not, but I knew I wanted to be able to view it from angles in the kitchen and towards the outside of my house. This was the only TV this size with a swivel base. Since receiving my TV, I've watched movies, basic cable, HD cable, and playedmy Wii on it and I haven't found one issue. I highly recommend this television.

When purchasing a TV like this, I wanted to go online to get a good deal. I also wanted a merchant I trusted because this is such a large purchase. [...] I purchased this TV with no tax and no shipping, which right there saved me about $200. I wouldn't have walked out of best buy for less than $1800 and I got this TV for $1360. I chose basic delivery to keep it free and the guy wheeled it right into my house next to where I was going to keep it. It was delivered within just a few days after ordering. Very fast and reliable shipping!

I would definitely buy this TV again [...] Can't wait for football season!! minimize

worth the wait, June 2, 2009

This is a great TV. I was torn between buying last years model the pn50a vs this years pn50b. I decided to get the newer one because its supposed to use half the energy. The pn50B is dramatically cooler to the touch, front and back than last years model.

Picture quality is amazing. The colors and clarity from blue ray and HD...read full review This is a great TV. I was torn between buying last years model the pn50a vs this years pn50b. I decided to get the newer one because its supposed to use half the energy. The pn50B is dramatically cooler to the touch, front and back than last years model.

Picture quality is amazing. The colors and clarity from blue ray and HD Comcast programming in my house is better than I have seen on most other HD TV's at the box stores.

There is more glare on the screen than my old HD Sony tube it has replaced.

Overall, I am very very happy with this plasma and highly recommend it. minimize

Outstanding, as expected, June 16, 2009

This is my first HDTV, but I did spend a good couple months shopping around and studying up on my features, pros/cons, etc... First of all the picture is beautiful, but hey, that's to be expected. I love the ample HDMI ports, and as it turns out, the swivel stand ended up being a pretty awesome feature. Plasma is plasma, and there's no getting...read full review This is my first HDTV, but I did spend a good couple months shopping around and studying up on my features, pros/cons, etc... First of all the picture is beautiful, but hey, that's to be expected. I love the ample HDMI ports, and as it turns out, the swivel stand ended up being a pretty awesome feature. Plasma is plasma, and there's no getting around the fact that you're going to have some reflective glare if there is a bright window or light behind you. So, in our livingroom at around 6pm when the sunlight is beaming in the side window, we just swivel that baby a little to the right and viola! No glare. I'm also a gamer and despite the fact that my 360 is an older model that uses component instead of HDMI, it still looks gorgeous. I'm dusting off old games that I haven't played in years and it's a whole new experience! I should also mention that I was concerned about the big plasma TV being hot. Some of the floor models I've seen almost turned me off of plasma because they let out noticible ambient heat. But I haven't noticed that at all with this set. Very happy. minimize

Great, but still prone to burn in., October 9, 2009

The Good:It is a great set for the money. You just can't touch a good 1080P 120-240Hz LCD or LED t.v. in this size for this price range. There are plenty of connections, although if you have a 50" t.v. you really just need one hdmi input and maybe an optical out if you need to run sound back to a decent receiver. The picture quality is amazing...read full review The Good:It is a great set for the money. You just can't touch a good 1080P 120-240Hz LCD or LED t.v. in this size for this price range. There are plenty of connections, although if you have a 50" t.v. you really just need one hdmi input and maybe an optical out if you need to run sound back to a decent receiver. The picture quality is amazing when watching Blu Ray movies or other 1080p sources.

The Neutral: Which brings me to the sound. Other people have taken marks off for the sound of the built-in speakers. I haven't found them to be that bad considering they are in the back of the t.v. for aesthetic purposes. Speakers are always going to sound muffled when they are facing away from you. I would say again, if you have a t.v. this big you should also invest in a decent receiver and a set of speakers. You can't get the full theater effect with the two little speakers that come on any t.v. you purchase. The built in speakers in this t.v. are adequate for watching the news or other programs where surround sound isn't going to greatly improve the viewing experience anyway.

The Bad: The plasma sets are still having issues with burn in. I didn't realize it was such a problem until I unpacked this and skimmed through my manual. In the very front of the manual it tells you things that can cause burn in. It covers almost every use you could think of for a t.v. Off the top of my head, here were some of the things that were included:

- Watching a t.v. show with a channel logo or stock ticker (all the cable news channels have tickers)
- Playing video games (Think of title screens, pause screens, and in game stat bars)
- Using the t.v. as a computer monitor (This is probably the worst since there are almost always parts of your screen that will stay the same for long periods of time.)
- Watching DVDs (I am assuming they are referring to leaving it on the title screen either while getting all you snacks and stuff ready or falling asleep during the movie and letting the title screen stay on after it is over.)

All of the aforementioned activities will void your warranty for screen burn in. So basically, if you get screen burn-in they aren't going to cover it. Both of the stars I took off were for this reason. If I spend this kind of money on something that is strictly for entertainment I want to be able to thoroughly enjoy using it at all times and not have to worry that by playing my favorite game for a few hours I could permanently destroy my screen. It takes the enjoyment out of it when you are constantly paranoid about burn in.

There are a couple of things that this set can do to help prevent burn in. There is the pixel shift which can shift the picture up to 4 pixels away and do so as frequently as once per minute. I have this set on the max and I have not noticed the shift yet even when looking for it. The problem with this solution is that many stationary images are going to have bars that are a lot bigger than 4 pixels in any direction. So even with the shift, the same color will most likely be on any given pixel in that area.

The other tool they provide you with is a screen wipe that you can run through the remote that will scroll different shades of black and white across the screen in what I would describe as a digital eraser. I tried it last night after playing Fallout 3 for a few hours and being paranoid that the life bar would burn in to the screen. It seemed to work well and it's possible if you use that at the first sign of burn in that you could prevent permanent damage. Again, it's just something that you shouldn't have to worry about constantly.
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