LG 50PK550R Owner's Discussion Thread

[Mannu]

HEHE !! i was thinking of keeping it ON for the first 2 months atleast,

And yes it could be a speck of dust try using a torch to see if it casts a shadow, i don't have any dead or stuck pixels on mine.

Although i am wondering why this problem wasn't there before and has kicked in now, could be that it gets worse after usage, but none of avsforum member who have had it for months have said that it gets worse overtime, still lets see what LG will say about it.it.

 

[Mannu]

Well i have made a video of it and uploaded it on youtube, it is shot from very close range almost adjacent to the screen, the pixels aren't visible from the average viewing distance, but still it is a problem for sure, other than this i do not have any qualms with this display and this too is mangeable by keeping the brightness level below 54, for me it kicks in at 54.]

Looking at the video, it really is a big turn off. What actually is bothering me now is that post your burn in period will the problem aggravate or remain the same when you jack up the contrast. Even if it remains the same it sure is going to be a nuisance factor while watching.

Well i can't answer that bro, but none of the avs members have complained about it aggravating, and they have had the display for months now, also it is related to brightness setting and not contrast, only when brightness is turned beyond 54 do i see these green pixels, but even if i put contrast to above 90 with brightness below 50 i don't see any dancing pixels, for me 54 brightness look too high, as you can see from the pic i have posted, the brightness in that pic is set to 47.

 

[illusion_heart]

Well i can't answer that bro, but none of the avs members have complained about it aggravating, and they have had the display for months now, also it is related to brightness setting and not contrast, only when brightness is turned beyond 54 do i see these green pixels, but even if i put contrast to above 90 with contrast below 50 i don't see any dancing pixels, for me 54 brightness look too high, as you can see from the pic i have posted the brightness in that pic is set to 47.

My bad regarding the mix up between brightness & contrast......will hold on to my moolah till you and some of the other forum members complete their burn in period.

 

[Mannu]

Well that would be the wiser decision, i am also getting somewhere in getting the expert modes enabled, and if it comes out positively, it could be all the more reason to buy this display over any other in it's price and size range.

Also the main reason i bought this display was the football world cup, if it wasn't for the world cup i would have waited for the next year panasonic plasmas, since they are going to implement the Kuro tech in next year plasmas and i am pretty sure they are gonna blow everyone else out of the water next year.

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

So Mannu a 50" Panasonic next year? Or is it 65"?

We never stop, don't we?

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

Re. the greens, mine vanish if brightness set < 52 (50 is even better and no problem). Think LG has overblown the green on this display. Does not affect the picture any ways other than the greens on dark black areas. Still a problem to be fixed by LG.

Just watched some part of Planet Earth part 2 DVD. Looks delicious :licklips:

 

[Mannu]

So Mannu a 50" Panasonic next year? Or is it 65"?

We never stop, don't we?

:yahoo: that's life i guess, keep moving forward, but i am pretty happy with my display, i am watching NGC HD and the PQ is simply breathtaking, for me it kicks in at 54, but even at 47 i feel brigthness is very good for me it maybe because of my near perect viewing environment (totally pitch black),at 47 I don't loose any shadow detail, i start loosing propotionable shadow detail at below 43 level.

I am hopeful that it could be atleast reduced if not completley removed using calibration options, keeping my fingers crossed to have it enabled on our Indian displays.

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

Although i am wondering why this problem wasn't there before and has kicked in now, could be that it gets worse after usage, but none of avsforum member who have had it for months have said that it gets worse overtime, still lets see what LG will say about it.it.

Yes, the green pixel is now the only (minor) issue with an otherwise jaw-droppingly good display. Let's make it an "official issue" if a third person discovers same problem.

Edit: Some forum members are deferring their PK550 purchase decision based on our green pixel posts. Seems we have scared them, hehe!

 

[Mannu]

Yes, the green pixel is now the only (minor) issue with an otherwise jaw-droppingly good display. Let's make it an "official issue" if a third person discovers same problem.

Edit: Some forum members are deferring their PK550 purchase decision based on our green pixel posts. Seems we have scared them, hehe!

Well dotmac said earlier that it was there for him as well.

Maybe dwindling sales could motivate LG to do something about it , anyways i thought of taking a few pics of what this set has to offer, it has been taken on manual settings with everything turned off, f 2.8, IS0 100, no contrast brightness priorities, bracketting off, so this is pretty much close to what i see in reality.

http://tinypic.com/r/x29d39/6


http://tinypic.com/r/2csceg8/6

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

... it could be a speck of dust try using a torch to see if it casts a shadow, i don't have any dead or stuck pixels on mine.

Yay! it is a speck of dust. So no dead /stuck pixel. :yahoo:

 

[viveknath]

Hi Shaiju , Mannu and dotmac....

@Shaiju----- Congrats buddy.. finally relief

I too see the green pixel issue at brightness above 53 /54...but had been keeping at mostly 49/50......

and Shaiju i tried the settings you had posted..... the pics and PQ is indeed jaw dropping.......I mean can see details which i thot didn't exist )

but have reverted it back to break-in settings.... and I can say one thing with conviction.. after using the break in process... the PQ has definitely improved.... some of the channels which looked shitty on day 1 of the TV are more clearer and crisper...over the last 13 days .....

so all in all.. I am satisfied customer......so far

and next if we can get the expert mode or a firmware update to try out some of the calibrations as given on avsforum.... I think it will be a cherry on the cake.....

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

Thank you. Glad to be on this forum. Got the support, patience, energy and knowledge to deal with the problem. Else I would be insane by now.

Agree. As you reach 80-100 hours the picture improves drastically. Colors have a new life and white become white (not slight yellowish / pinkish as in start).

:yahoo::yahoo::yahoo:

Yes, maybe LG should thank us and release firmware as it will help an already good display.

:cheers:

Question on bezel and screen maintenance. How do you guys keep it clean, shiny, dust-free and scratch-free?

 

[dotMac]

Now I am bit relieved considering that Dancing pixels are found in every panel
Otherwise I was considering it as a manufacturing defect that crept into only a few unlucky TVs I had actually tried to video it, but the camera could not capture it well and so left it. Anyways, as I said in my original post, this issue does not bother me at all. And even if I am getting a full reimbursement, I will be keeping this set as of now.

This will definitely bother me if it worsens as the usage increases. No such hint so far.

But we are do scaring lot of potential buyers. :lol:
LG should take a note of this and come out with an explanation.

 

[viveknath]

Shaiju, guess in your email or chat with LG CS folks, you can just direct them to this link

That should do the job ... and in the mean while lets keep making more noise for firmware update, expert mode enablement etc ))))

haven't cleaned the screen so far,, but just saw that the TV box had a screen cleaning cloth with some instructions

 

[dotMac]

just downloaded the user manual of this tv, and I would say, by far, this is the only plasma that allows out of the box playback for .mkv full HD files. Impressive!

I dont think it does the HD. Which manual r u referring?
The Indian edition does not have it. I will try to post the section from the manual I got once I go home today. I don't have the manual now. If I remember correctly, it does not even do a 720p via USB.

@anoopes had posted a manual at : lg-plasma-owners-manual. I haven't checked it. But most likely it could be of an Indian edition.

Checked it. Not applicable for Indian version. Though I am not sure whether the TV we get is actually capable of doing HD, my manual definitely says otherwise.

 

[Mannu]

Well guys interesting turn of events, looks like what we are seeing on our displays is different from what oter people are terming are dancing green pixels. Here is a post from shaddix which includes a video in which he has explained the phenomenon that we guys are saying to be a defect, have a look

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18847590#post18847590

Also after reading that i spent a good 3 hours searching the above thread and the green pixels they are talking about are different, the problem that we are pointing out is very much curable by using the 2 point calibration according to shaddix and he has demonstrated the same in his video. The problem they refer to as dancing green pixels is in the content of the picture and not the black bars as us, now what happens is that when there is a dark screen being displayed the edges where the black should slowly turn to grey and then to the other color which is present int the scene does not happen rather the gradation that they see has green color to it rather than gray pixels, i will post a pics of what this means, so the problem we are talking about is pretty much curable.

I will be venturing into the service menu today and try and tinker with a few settings that i know doesn't harm the set, i will let you know if i could get the modes enabled. Also officialy lodged an complaint with LG about this, lets see what the service guy has to say about this.

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

I did post my problem on AVS / AV forum too. Looks like further calibration eliminates the issue. However, I say it should have not be there in first place.

Many AVS members also pointed that LG's new (or tweaked) software may have introduced this problem.

 

[Mannu]

yes i agree it should not be there in the first place, but we now know that it can be cured very easily only if we had the expert modes, maybe we can take this with LG as the more reason why we need those calibration options enabled on our display, i have already written to LG about this, if you get to talk with them, you can also try and make them understand.

 

[dotMac]

Well guys interesting turn of events, looks like what we are seeing on our displays is different from what oter people are terming are dancing green pixels. Here is a post from shaddix which includes a video in which he has explained the phenomenon that we guys are saying to be a defect, have a look

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=18847590#post18847590

Also after reading that i spent a good 3 hours searching the above thread and the green pixels they are talking about are different, the problem that we are pointing out is very much curable by using the 2 point calibration according to shaddix and he has demonstrated the same in his video. The problem they refer to as dancing green pixels is in the content of the picture and not the black bars as us, now what happens is that when there is a dark screen being displayed the edges where the black should slowly turn to grey and then to the other color which is present int the scene does not happen rather the gradation that they see has green color to it rather than gray pixels, i will post a pics of what this means, so the problem we are talking about is pretty much curable.

I will be venturing into the service menu today and try and tinker with a few settings that i know doesn't harm the set, i will let you know if i could get the modes enabled. Also officialy lodged an complaint with LG about this, lets see what the service guy has to say about this.

:yahoo:
This should bring in some confidence for others.

By the way how r you try to get into the service menu? Older models required you to simultaneously press Menu/OK button in remote and TV. But none worked for me.

 

[Mannu]

i am using the logitech harmony remote, there are three methods to enter the service menu, one is using a logitech harmony remote, second one is usng any other universal remote, third one is using the LG service remote, the method you have mentioned is no more working.

The menu+menu system works for all the 2008 models and for the 2009 models up to the 3.40 FW release. After that release LG has changed the system and, from what I know, a new easy system like that one to go into the service menu was not discovered until now.