LG 50PK550R Owner's Discussion Thread

@Mannu.. buddy since you have the logitech remote...were you able to access the service menu ( i remember you sharing the codes)

Can you check i f there is any option that allows

(service menu, set DIVX to HD)

for USB playback of all formats beyond just avi and divx

Thanks,
Vivek
 
Got this response from LG for my email

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"Dear Customer,

Thanks for sharing your concern with us.

We have forwarded your issue to the concerned branch office so that an immediate step can be taken in this regard.

To help us serve you better ,please provide us your valuable feedback, on our service ID [email protected].

Thanking you and reassuring you of our best services always.


Thanks & Regards
Roopa Panwar
Customer Service Dept.
LGEIL- Head Office
Greater Noida (UP)"

Exactly the same first response to my complaint. Now email them that you need to talk to someone, explain the problem and find a solution. Else they will send you another "please provide us your valuable feedback" email.
 
@Folks...
Sorry for a very long break... I did the purchase as Bangalore group buy, last month.. Due to some personal reasons I could not catch up online.
Guys, the performance of this TV is awesome, especially with HD content the PQ is mindblowing. I have setup a HTPC, to play the HD content.
I have watched Avatar, SpiderMan 1,2&3 and HIMYM. All were great.
Esp, Avatar was very natural.

Guys, after a couple days of the purchase, I saw two stuck pixels on my screen :(. Reported to LG the next day. The guy from LG came on the next day, and just after seeing that, he said the TV will be replaced.

As he said the TV was replaced in 4 days. Thats really the good part.
I checked the set very carefully and it was new package only.

But the sad thing is on this set too, I see two stuck pixels. :( more closer to the center of the screen.
I found this in a couple of days.
I spoke with the Bangalore Service Center Manager, and the Technical Head. They seem to suspect the June batch TV sets. The Technical head gave me options of going in for another full replacement or the panel replacement. I insisted on the complete TV replacement and he suggested for the next batch of TV.

I do not have any dancing green pixels.

As per the LG guys, on the worst case, they would exchange for another model, but I wanna stay with a more stable piece of PK550.

Hoping to get a good replacement.
 
Hey krinamob, grand welcome :)

Even my latest replacement is from June batch and has couple of dust specks inside the glass. I suspect yours must be dust and not stuck pixels.

Mannu posted a process: Switch off the the TV and scan the stuck pixels with a torch (more visible in a darkened room). If it casts a shadow then its dust.

Will call HO guy tomorrow to pass him some more gyan.
 
Thanks Shaiju...:)
But am sure these are stuck pixels only :( ..
The torch trick holds good for dead pixles only and not stuck pixles.
I could clearly see the pixles one stuck on green and the other with red color.
Though these are not visible from 4 ft, I kinda became more of a videophile that i hate to find such problems.
Due to the probable problem with dust specks only I insisted on TV replacement rather than going for panel replacement.

Let me see what LG has for me..
 
LG should replace. I had requested my complaint to be kept open until I am fully satisfied.

Dropping an email to [email protected] right now on behalf of everyone. I have email addresses of Vivek, dotMac and Srinivas. Will keep you copied if you PM me your email.
 
@illusion_heart

For the AC ryan POHD, check the thread below. He is ready to ship to a US address for 165 USd, all inclusive :)

AC Ryan PlayOnHD with free HDMI Cable & Wireless USB - eBay (item 220538528624 end time Jul-09-10 12:03:22 PDT)

I am waiting to see a demo of WD TV Live plus, a friend has got it from US....will be meeting him this week sometime. Will update soon.

Friend, sourcing is not an issue but decision is, i am current stuck at

Plasma - 60PK550 or 50V20D ( now i am thinking should i even be spending this money or just pick up 50PK550 - July batch post reading posts.)
Media player - AC ryan PlayonHD or WD Live Plus
Storage - Seagate 1 TB or WD 1 TB
 
Well you can build the rest and then get the Plasma :)))

BTW Ac Ryan, on that link there are other options with built in 1 TB HD too for around 294 USD etc
 
Just got a call from LG CS. I had sent pieces of Shaiju's mail to them. The menacing tone of the mail sure seems to work with them :)))

I told them to send me a Sr Tech person with service remote etc. I mentioned that a junior Engg with basic know how will not work at all.

Lets see how this goes.......do let me know anything we need to ask beyond this topics.

@Shaiju might need your help and steps on what needs to be checked.
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The display has buzzing green dots all over the screen, especially near dark area and facial features and contours. The problem can be minimized to an extent by lowering the brightness to less than 48. However, this workaround has a negative impact on the picture quality; the picture becomes dark and unfit for normal viewing.

Another major disappointment from LG is that you did not include CMS and expert modes on Indian version of PK550(R). Even a fancy but useful feature like Picture Wizard II has been dropped.

The USB port plays on SD movies and not HD...while the other LCD models from your staple, SL90 or LD650 plays the mkv and HD movies by default.
 
Got 550 today @ 63K. It is manufactured in June and its made in India, That is what the sticker says. The person who bought the piece installed it on the stand. He said LG person will come 2moro and do the wall mount installation. Surprisingly LG demo person called me before i got my piece delivered. I will have to call him again and ask for him 2 come. Normally i have seen that i have to chase the dealer or the LG service guy. 2day everything went really fast. I have plugged tatasky normal box. Trying to find a HD box of tatasky.

Shaiju and Mannu's comments helped me a lot to look for the things before buying. Thanks. Some dealer also said to me that what do you think we wont deliver the box to you or what when i insisted on seeing the box. Anyways i did the best i could before buying.

Printed manual provided with the TV sucks. No information on the basic but necessary things like break in etc. I see that there is a sticker at the back showing info on Dolby technologies. Does this TV have dolby decoder? First thing i also did was i rose the brightness level to more than 50. I was watching in standard mode of the TV. I could not see the green pixels. Also guys can anybody tell me what are the first steps after installation. break in etc. A simple web link would do abt the first steps.

Hey I do have a chase. I forgot. I have to hunt for a tatasky HD box if i want it 2day. Somethings never change.

Thanks

Sid.
 
@ Sid- got it from here on the forum itself for my PK550 :)

basic funda.. keep all picture settings around or below 50 for the first 100 hrs and use the break in slides for few hrs every day




How Do I Prevent Burn-In?

It is rather simple to prevent the burn-in effect from occurring to your plasma.
1. Calibrate your display. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this step. Most TVs come from the store with their brightness and contrast set way too high in order to show good in the display room. Get yourself AVIA or DVE (Digital Video Essentials) DVD, and you'll have a nicely calibrated set in less than 15 minutes.

2. Do not watch any 4:3 or 2.35:1 content during the first 100 hours of use. Most damage is done to the brand-new plasmas by inexperienced users. Plasmas are most susceptible to burn-in during the first 100 hours, and much more burn-in resistant after 1000 hours of use.

3. Restrict non-full-screen programming to 20% until 1000 hours. Plasma manufacturers also recommend limiting viewing of 4:3 or 2.35:1 programming to about 20% of overall viewing time after the first 100 hours and until 1000 hours. After that, your plasma is much less likely to take burn-in. Try watching 4:3 content in "stretched" or "fair" ("just") mode that fills the entire screen.

4. While your plasma is new, turn down the contrast (sometimes called "picture", which refers to white level, or the brightness of light areas of the picture). A new plasma TV is much more likely to take damage from displaying static elements such as logos or teletext. Reducing overall contrast (this controls white levels, and is called "picture" on some displays) helps reducing the possibility of those static elements to burn in.

5. Switch channels to avoid logo burn-in. Avoid extended viewing of broadcasts with non-transparent logos (Tata Sky, Big TV, SCV etc) or where the screen is divided into fixed parts (such as teletext, news channels, or weather reports) all the time. These logos or teletext lines may imprint into your plasma, causing burn-in.

6. Use grey bars instead of black. Some plasma displays allow using color bars instead of black for 4:3 programming. This may greatly reduce the burn-in effect.

7. Enable pixel shifting. Many plasmas offer pixel shifting, otherwise referred as "wobulation" technique, in order to reduce the effect of burn-in. Enabling this feature may decrease the effect of burn-in by "smoothing" the borders between bright and dark parts of the image. This feature alone will not prevent your display from burning in, however, because larger dark and bright parts of the screen will mostly remain where they are, thus causing an after-image with slightly blurred borders.

8. If your DVD player has a screen saver and auto-shutdown feature, turn it on. This helps a great deal saving you from burn-in resulting from paused movies (screen saver) or disk menus (auto-off).

9. If seeing early signs of image retention, run a screen saver on your plasma. New plasmas are likely to display non-permanent image retention after displaying a still image or a still element, such as a logo. Chances are great that this effect will disappear by itself after you watch a different channel (remember using full-screen "stretch" mode) for some time, or if you engage a special burn-in reduction screen saver, if your plasma has it. Please refer to your plasma documentation to find if your TV has a screen saver. Many plasmas don't have it.


Seems complicated? It is not! Here's the list once again:

While your plasma is new:
1. Reduce contrast
2. Avoid content that does not fill entire screen (leaves black bars) for the first 1000 hours
3. Switch channels from time to time
4. If seeing any signs of image retention, run a screen saver on your plasma

Always:
1. Use grey bars instead of black
2. On your plasma, keep pixel shifting enabled - orbitter option
3. On your DVD player, keep screen saver and auto-shutdown enabled
4. Calibrate your display to avoid unnecessary high brightness and contrast levels
 
The latest email has been acknowledged by HO. I have a call with some technical guys tomorrow morning. They want to know the exact nature of the problem and send over seniors for evaluation. Hope I can get across all the problems:
  • green pixels
  • no advanced calibration
  • USB not able to play popular formats

Don't feel too good about losing my cool with HO VoC guy. He is usually helpful but today he seemed hesitant in accepting the issues.
 
@Shaiju might need your help and steps on what needs to be checked.

Vivek,

Try some DVDs with black bars (over HDMI) and check for green pixels. Use same settings at which you start noticing green pixel buzzing. Demonstrate by turning the brightness up and down. You can also show pictures with dark areas like black jacket set against lazy lighting. There will visible green pixels like waves.

The service guy might switch to a totally black screen to prove his point but consider that as a false test of greens.

Also show them the comparison videos from this thread.

Edit: Suggest to test the picture and settings before they arrive as it is better to be confident about the problem. Give them a demo of the same.
 
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@Mannu.. buddy since you have the logitech remote...were you able to access the service menu ( i remember you sharing the codes)

Can you check i f there is any option that allows

(service menu, set DIVX to HD)

for USB playback of all formats beyond just avi and divx

Thanks,
Vivek

Hey bro i have got into the service menu but i haven't tried to change anything in it since i don't know anything about it, an Lg tech will be coming tomorrow most probabaly and i will ask about this from him, in turn i think shaiju can also help in this.


Also good news about the HO, lets get the wind rolling, I'll see what the Lg tech says tomorrow otherwise i will talk to the RO of my region and maybe get into a conference call with shaiju and the HO of his region.
 
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