LG 50PK550R Owner's Discussion Thread

[BLASTO]

BLASTO,

Yes, I agree with you that LG has quality control (QC) issues. Never imagined myself buying a LG Plasma. I was (and am to an extent) a Samsung faithful. However, PK550 is VFM and LG shines in some worthy departments (like looks, PQ, price) with this display.

Now on to the Panasonic 50" V20. Again, agree with you on the VFM angle. It may be non-VFM but worth the spend. What I meant is compare 42" V20 with 50" PK550. Which one is VFM? If your budget allows consider the 50" V20 for high-end. For high-end stuff VFM plays very little role.

Hope we are in agreement now.

Well, I was talking of V20 not being VFM from price differences between the samsung and LG models in question in the international market and not in absolute terms. Furthermore 42" V20's price is good considering the international pricing, only 50" is way out. Infact all 50" Panasonics are way out it pricing compared to international siblings. (I know that there will be huge price differences when comparing US vs Indian prices. Iam not talking about the absolute price but in terms of ratio of prices which should not affect the argument.)

Iam a LG affectionato myself. All my household items are 90% LG. Just that it loses out to competetors in TV and HT IMO. That takes LG out of A/V items in my house.

 

[dotMac]

"why don't we get together and ask ChadB if he could help us, since he is a professional so he will have a lot of knowledge over us, and we can like pitch in (all who want these settings to be enabled ) and offer him payment as well for his troubles(because i think noone would care to do this as a favour, maybe some Moolah can motivate),"

Are you guys planning to contact ChadB to get details on how to enable expert calibration menu on the 550R? Just wanted to make sure on what information are you trying to get from ChadB.

 

[dotMac]

And if I were to spend 1.2L, I would still put my money on a PK550 60" incher
Am already feeling that 50" TV is small
My wife who was complaining that 50" would be too big (largely worried by the amount of pixellation she saw on a 42" C10 in the showroom) now totally happy about this TV and she too feels its small

I must say that this does a pretty good job on upscaling the SD content that I get from local cable(not even a component output from STB). I am so impressed with the quality that I have deferred the purchase of HD STB at this moment.

So for me, investing 1.2L on a 60" seems worthy than putting it on a 50" V20. I would any day recommend this TV with a warning that I am not a videophile

 

[bnsbhat]

Will some of you guys please give a feed back as to " FROM WHAT DISTANCE YOU VIEW THIS TV" ?

How good or bad is the viewing from 6 to 8 ft? Will the viewing be tiring at this distance?

I could be installing in a small room with max viewing distance of 6 to 8 ft, hence the Rs. 62,500/- question TIA

 

[dotMac]

A question on ISM setting wrt to break-in :
1. I am using the 120 pics in slideshow during the break-in period.
If the ISM is set to Orbiter, I observed that ~5 pixel wide are completely OFF either on top/bottom/left/right edge at any give point of time.

So I believe, for uniform aging of pixels, ISM should be turned off during the slideshow. Am I right?

Or is it an issue in my display? i.e. even with Orbiter ON, do you all see 100% pixels glow?

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

Replacement came in today. Total bummer!

By looking at the carton I made out that it was a used and abused display.

No surprised when it was opened. The packaging materials were torn; remote not in the plastic cover and had smudges all over it. I did not really notice until the base was being mounted. I happened to help the guy and felt the back panel was mutilated at the left bottom. It looked like a road bump and could touch the internals of the TV. Sent it back immediately and reported to LG service centre. I have a video to upload.

Disgusting, irritating, annoying to the core. What next? A new replacement promised on Wednesday 8 pm.

I also complained about the lack of basic CMS. The person I was speaking with accepted this fact and assured he would take it up with R&D. Taking it with pinch of salt unless I see results.

Very, very sad day. I have decided to take these guys to task; everyone involved in the transaction. They cant dump foreign shit in India and expect us to consume it. Even after a replacement I will ensure this episode is escalated and LG has enough explanation.

Not in a mood to forgive or forget.

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

If the ISM is set to Orbiter, I observed that ~5 pixel wide are completely OFF either on top/bottom/left/right edge at any give point of time.

Try with ISM orbiter off. You see same results? Note that the panel itself has a thin black internal lining in additon to the bezel. The lining should be uniform on all four sides.

I am sure with the break-in slides and orbiter on 100% pixels glow. Are you playing the slides from USB or DVD?

 

[dotMac]

Try with ISM orbiter off. You see same results? Note that the panel itself has a thin black internal lining in additon to the bezel. The lining should be uniform on all four sides.

I am sure with the break-in slides and orbiter on 100% pixels glow. Are you playing the slides from USB or DVD?

With Orbiter off I see all pixels glow. With it being ON, one of the four edges will have pixels OFF. Some times all pixels do glow. I guess it cycles.
Here is how it looks :

In above pic you may notice that some pixels on right is OFF. After couple of minutes, the whole scene will slide right and the pixels in left will turn OFF. Similarly it will move down and up; leaving some rows of pixels in top/bottom off. :sad:

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

Then I think orbiter on is the culprit. You will see the pixel shift in normal viewing as well with orbiter on. That's how it should behave; shift pixels every 2 minutes.

 

[Srinivas29]

Replacement came in today. Total bummer!

By looking at the carton I made out that it was a used and abused display.

No surprised when it was opened. The packaging materials were torn; remote not in the plastic cover and had smudges all over it. I did not really notice until the base was being mounted. I happened to help the guy and felt the back panel was mutilated at the left bottom. It looked like a road bump and could touch the internals of the TV. Sent it back immediately and reported to LG service centre. I have a video to upload.

Disgusting, irritating, annoying to the core. What next? A new replacement promised on Wednesday 8 pm.

I also complained about the lack of basic CMS. The person I was speaking with accepted this fact and assured he would take it up with R&D. Taking it with pinch of salt unless I see results.

Very, very sad day. I have decided to take these guys to task; everyone involved in the transaction. They cant dump foreign shit in India and expect us to consume it. Even after a replacement I will ensure this episode is escalated and LG has enough explanation.

Not in a mood to forgive or forget.

Not Surprised at all. I think these guys think that we will accept what ever they give us. I think it is time all the CE companies realize that indian's are not naive any more. They should stop taking us for granted.

All the best for your Wednesday transaction. Hope everything is well this time.

 

[Mannu]

Hey shaiju if it helps, i know what you are feeling right now, when my display came it was broken with one of it's edge totally mutilated, and i gave LGservice centre guys and that dealer verbal bashing of their lifetime, and he didn't dare sell me a broken or a display piece again, i also got hold of LG head of chandigarh, and gave some peace of mind to him as well, well i have found out that there is no need to be the Mr. nice guy with these people, deal them with a hard hand from the starting, I hope the next replacement works out for you.

 

[Mannu]

And yes i was talking about asking ChadB, if he could help in getting these modes enabled, it is unlikely that he will do it for free so i was thinking if those guys who want these to be enabled can get together, and then we can like reach at a price that would seem justifiable for the job and then ask ChadB, to see if he can find out how to enable these modes, we can even send him a pic of the service menu that is there in the Indian sets. Also since the info is same for all of us with the indian sets, we could divide the amount equally among ourselves.

P.S :- Why i am saying this is because getting into the service menu of any display is a dangerous ploy, you can alter the PQ of your set irreversibly, and in an extreme case the set can be rendered totally useless, so that is why getting someone who knows what to look for and where to look for is the wiser thing to do.

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

dotmac, hope I answered your question on pixel shift with orbiter on.

Don't think there is any issue with your display. Anyone else to second my opinion?

 

[viveknath]

@Shaiju......I seriously hope you get a good set on wednesday.. this nonsense from LG / dealer has been really annoying for you...

@Mannu /Shaiju / Srinivas...let us contact Chad B with our problem and also LG guys..or Noida center... since anyway they assemble it over there...i remember reading on the forum ..saying they use cortez software on these versions which doesnt allow expert modes

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

Will some of you guys please give a feed back as to " FROM WHAT DISTANCE YOU VIEW THIS TV" ?

How good or bad is the viewing from 6 to 8 ft? Will the viewing be tiring at this distance?

I could be installing in a small room with max viewing distance of 6 to 8 ft, hence the Rs. 62,500/- question TIA

6-8 ft is a bit close for 50" if you consider SD (DTH, DVD). DVD will be far better compared to DTH.

For HD (bluray) 8 ft is great. My distance is 10-12 ft. Really comfortable with it.

As far as I know, Plasma is easy on your eyes than LCD/LED even at close distance.

BUt don't go with just my opinion. Don't want to spoil your eyes.

What do you guys think?

 

[dotMac]

dotmac, hope I answered your question on pixel shift with orbiter on.

Don't think there is any issue with your display. Anyone else to second my opinion?

Thanks. I am bit relieved that its not an defect in the firmware.

So is my judgement correct that during the break-in slideshow, I must be keeping ISM to OFF? This should in my opinion have an even aging of all the pixels.

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

Not really. Leave the orbiter on and don't bother. Should you switch off and forget to revert during standard viewing If you are sure of yourself then put it on NORMAL for break-in slides.

 

[viveknath]

Dotmac, whats the speed of your slide transition....try at normal or fast (if not already there) and with orbiter on...

 

[dotMac]

Dotmac, whats the speed of your slide transition....try at normal or fast (if not already there) and with orbiter on...

I am doing it at slow now. The instructions read for less than 10 sec. The slow did it in 6 seconds. So I set it for slow.

One doubt :
From Break-In :

In general, the whole point of the break-in period is to "age" the phosphors as evenly as possible while they are "fresh". Over the course of several hundred hours, the phosphors become "baked" (for lack of a better term), which makes them much more resistant to IR.

So my doubt is, with Orbiter ON if some pixels remain OFF, how it will result in a uniform aging? i.e. If a RED slide is being displayed, some pixels will not glow on one edge. It will glow after two minute and by then a different slide with different intensity would be on screen. Hypothetically, if it is a GREEN slide, the right RED pixels may not glow at all. As you suggested, keeping slideshow to FAST should substantially change this and make all pixels glow.
But still the center pixels should be aged more quickly then the once in the edge. Because pixels in the center glow all the time while the once in the edges glow for lesser duration.

So at present I am running the slides with Orbiter OFF and turn it ON when I start viewing other content.

 

[dotMac]

I just realized that InterfaceLift has added a HDTV section. Chk out for HD wallpapers :
InterfaceLIFT: Wallpaper sorted by Rating