Pros: Excellent color fidelity, setup, controls, flexibility of adjustments, styling
Cons: Internal audio is mediocre
The Bottom Line: The value, performance, and design of this display makes it suitable for most folks looking for a display, including those with a very critical eye for image quality
daleb's Full Review: Samsung PN50A650 49.96 in. HDTV TV
BACKGROUND: I have done a lot reading on various enthusiast's tech forums, consumer magazines, and a number of audio video tech review publications. Armed with this knowledge I observed a multitude of flat screen (LCD & Plasma) displays. In the end, I found my best choice to be the Samsung plasma PN50A650. The PN50A550 was the break-thru model for the basic technology in plasma development seen today in the Samsung '650 and newer '760 series. The 550 is the most reviewed model of this series, and receieves many allocades.
WHY PLASMA?: Both Samsung and Sony make very impressive LCD displays, with very competitive black levels never before obtainable with LCD panels. LCD generally works best in rooms with more ambient lighting and less control over glare. They will still work quite well in darker environments but not quite the Cinema ambience of plasma displays.
I have an ideal room for hometheater. A low level of ambient lighting in an area tailored for good sound reproduction along with high quality electronic components and speakers. This is very conducive to a plasma display.
PICTURE QUALITY This display is 1080p and at 50" this starts becoming an advantage. Especially with the best Blue-Ray HD movies now available. The definiton, color saturation and dimension of Blue Ray images is outstanding!
Being familiar with proper display setup, and calibration. I've always used calibration disks to optimize (balance color, tint, contrast and brightness) to get the most accurate image. With this particular display, I felt the extra expense of a professional calibration was worth it. These calibrations typically run $300-400. I would recommend it for those who have invested a fair amount of time in choosing their display and who want the best movie watching experience. You can surf to http://www.imagingscience.com/ and learn more. There you can also find a links to calibration technicians all over the country. Many go on 'tours' so your exact location may not be as critical to finding a good professional. As with any kind of service to be performed in your home, make sure you get customer referrals and look for a someone with lots of experience and a fully equippend tool book as well as the knowledge. I am well aware, stores like Best Buy, etc offer such services, but finding a free lance professional with lots of referrals and years of experience is an advantage over 'pod services' from chain stores IMO.
One reason I am delving into the calibration aspect of a display, is the Samsung in particular (LCD and plasma) provides of weatlh of controls and a very good range for color and gamma adjustment in the user menu. This range of controllability is only found in the much more costly Pioneer Elite.
The Samsung is on par, in my opinion, and when fully calibrated even exceeds the very fine Panasonic as well as most others in terms of color accuracy, depth, and realism. Some feel the Panny has some edge in black level, but unless side by side it is difficult to discern.
I found the Pioneer Kuro Elite can beat this combination. Again, with calibration. The entry level Pioneer Kuro is still a beautiful display, but also has limited adjustments. (There are a handful of technicians who have a back-door approach to the these and can calibrate them very accurately through a computer port on the back). The black level of both Pioneers far exceeds all other flat panels. And this is no small point.
In retrospect, I hope this background info did not put too many of you off, but it was all very essential in coming to my decision. For others, it is often enough to just see what they like, and buy it. Considering most displays in stores are not set up correctly (too bright, etc.) they do not reflect how it will look at home. This is why I feel it is worth the education and research before plunking down a couple thousand dollars for something you have a right to expect will give you many years of enjoyment. PC INPUT: This is not an essential feature for me. But it does work and requires very little intervention except to make sure the video is setup correctly on your laptop to match specific video parameters the display can handle. A chart is provided in the Samsung's owner's manual for this purpose.
AUDIO I can not say anything very positive of the '650's sound system. It is okay for casual use, but since I've wired the outputs in the back I only play it through my sound system.
STYLE You will either like or dislike the newer TOC (Touch of Color) which applies a soft reddish hue to the top and bottom frame of the display. It is quite subtle except under the brightest room conditions. You could avoid it and save some money (and lose a couple of other features) and go with a '550 if you want, but screen reflection is bit higher.
The stand with the display allows the screen to be pivoted to 30 degrees in either direction for the best view. Plasmas are fine even when viewed off to the side, compared to LCD screens, so while this is a nice feature it was not a deal breaker for me.
The high gloss finish of both the frame and stand look great. The display uses convection cooling, which means no fans, and a very quiet display. All plasmas typically have a low level buzz, noticeable if you are standing quite close to them. This may be enhanced some if you go with wall mounting. With regards to wall mounting, Samsung offers an optional motorized wall mount to allow pivotiong side to side to be done remotely.
CONNECTIONS: Rear 3 HDMI (One is specially designed for a DVI to HDMI connection for some older cable/satellite boxes or DVD players.) 1 composite input with L/R stereo outputs
2 sets of component inputs
Ethernet jack (RJ45)
Digitlal 5.1 optical output
PC input
Side HDMI input
S-Video input
USB flash memory (for photos and firmware updates)
1 composite with L/R stereo inputs
REMOTE: The remote control is very well designed. It is backlit for easy use in a dark room. The most used buttons are easy to identify by location and shape, and all buttons are of good size while still keeping within the remote's slim and modern form.
MANUAL: The manual is quite comprehensive, and the Samsung website offers good customer service options. SCREEN: The glass screen is fairly reflective but improvements in this area are apparent in the 650 and 750 models. SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT PLASAMS: Lastly, plasmas can be 'victims' of IR (Image Retention) and BI (Burn In). I have found by watching full screen programmng exclsuively during the first 100 hours or so, limits this susceptibility. This is quite universal, and most modern plasmas suffer very few negative effects.
Samsung offers 3 modes for 'erasing' IR, as well as a pixel rotating scheme to help prevent burn-in of constant still images.
CONCLUSION: I enjoyed this display fully from the first day, but after the full calibration the improvement was very noticable, and we have been remarking on the picture quality on almost a daily basis!
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