LG 50PK550R Owner's Discussion Thread

[saumitra]

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.

This is a generic question but may be useful for all LG LCD & Plasma owners who also have a Logitech harmony universal remote. How do you access the service menu using the harmony?

 

[Mannu]

This is a generic question but may be useful for all LG LCD & Plasma owners who also have a Logitech harmony universal remote. How do you access the service menu using the harmony?

i posted the procedure in this thread only, it's in the starting pages of this thread

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

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.

Just off a call with LG person. Explained the problem and he is visiting me this Saturday to check the green pixel problem (and hopefully remove the lone dust in my panel). He can then take it up with R&D.

Any other feedback or complaints? When he at my place do you guys want to do a conference? I can patch from my mobile. Will try and get contact of LG India / APAC business head if need be.

Edit: After all the interaction I somehow feel it is the branch / distributors that screw up big time. The LG HO guy I spoke with showed more understanding of the problem and ready to help in anyway. The other were like "hum kya kare" types.

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

Hey, I see the Chandigarh owners are planning to meet. Jealous! Am I the lone owner from Mumbai?

 

[Mannu]

Well i had written a complaint yesterday, the service guys tured up today itself, they just left, showed them the problem but they kept looking at my face like bozos, don't think they had any idea what i was talking about, anyways their senior tech will visit me today or max by tomorrow, i will update later.

 

[siddh]

Can anyone tell me do you get the wall mounting free or it has to be purchased at an extra cost?

 

[Mannu]

Can anyone tell me do you get the wall mounting free or it has to be purchased at an extra cost?

No you do not have to pay for it, the LG installation guys who will come to install your display will have the wall mount with them, so if you want they could mount it for you, and no extra charges are levied on the customer for this.

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

Even if you are not planning on wall mount right away still ask for the wall mount. Will be useful later on.

 

[Srinivas29]

Looks like i missed the action yesterday. Wow 3 pages of posts. Amazing, keep it going.

The way to enter into service menu has changed. I haven't seen anybody successful yet to enter the menu.

Any luck in speaking to the folks in LG regarding the service menu.

I will recheck my TV for green dancing pixels.(Reminds me of shrek :lol:. Because of green. Should call it shrek rather than green dancing pixels.)

Let me check if there is shrek on my TV. :lol: Today.

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

Shrek the 4th with new improved greens. Catch it on a LG 50PK550R near you.

Sri, did you manage to locate the Shrek on yours?

 

[Mannu]

Well the senior service guy came today, showed him the green pixel problem, decent guy, wasn't pushing for things that he didn't know of, about the green pixels he said that is how the colors are made using the three primary colors, so i gave some tech lesson as well, in the end he had to agree that it was a problem and it ruins the blacks, i have asked him to bring his service remote next time around, maybe he can tell me something about the service menu that i don't already know about, i was pushing that the green pixels are a calibration issue and he should bring the service remote for precisely the same reason, let's see what turns up later. Enjoying the wimbeldon in HD right now, will post back later.


Also here is the pic that shows the green pixel thing that other guys at avsforum are debating about http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/2935/extraitd.jpg

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

Hey Mannu, what tech lessons? Would like to know as I have a LG visit scheduled for tomorrow. Not a service guy but some branch / region head.

I want to give him as much as info required to convince him that we need calibration options.

 

[Mannu]

Well he was trying to make me believe that this was normal, as these three colors (RGB) are used to make the different colors which is correct but still doesn't justify why we see green pixels in the image wherein it should be shades of grey or for that matter shades of the subsequent color which is adjacent to the black, So i gave him a tech lesson on the lines of this in my own words, so that he could understand it as well, here is where i learnt how the color reproduction is done in plasma TV's and why they are superior and why the green pixels shouldn't be there.

"Every pixel is made up of three separate subpixel cells, each with different colored phosphors. One subpixel has a red light phosphor, one subpixel has a green light phosphor and one subpixel has a blue light phosphor. These colors blend together to create the overall color of the pixel, the same as a triad of a shadow mask CRT or color LCD. Plasma panels use pulse-width modulation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-width_modulation to control brightness: by varying the pulses of current flowing through the different cells thousands of times per second, the control system can increase or decrease the intensity of each subpixel color to create billions of different combinations of red, green and blue. In this way, the control system can produce most of the visible colors. Plasma displays use the same phosphors as CRTs, which accounts for the extremely accurate color reproduction when viewing television or computer video images (which use an RGB color system designed for CRT display technology)".

So as you can see i think it might be that the pulse width modulation for the green pixels is not done correctly in these displays and that is why we see green dancing pixels dancing on the blacks when we crank up the brightness.

On a side note though i was browsing through the service menu of my display today and saw a term by the name over modulation control, i didn't know what it might do so didn't tinker with it, but it might have something to do with how the brightness is controlled, but then i maybe wrong.

P.S -> I hope you can understand what i am trying to say here, it's just a hypothesis and i am not saying that this is the reason for sure but this seems to be the only justifiable explanation to me at this point.

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

Do you have an option for WB? Guess that should be white balance.

Does the service menu look like this?

AVForums.com - View Single Post - The Official LG PK350 Plasma Thread

 

[Mannu]

i will post a pic of the service menu in a few days, i am just trying to get acquainted with it and learning what all these terms mean, i think green pixel problem is neither a calibration problem neither a defect in the display, looks like something to do with how pulse width modoulation is working the green pixels, Also i think that is why using the 2 point calibration controls shaddix was able to produce or remove the so called green pixels on a black screen, but even for him they remain to be there on the gradient of the images, this is the only thing that is actually making any sense to me, but then i am no expert and i can be wrong.

P.S -> This is for all, Do not tinker with the service menu, it can kaput your display for good and if u think reseting it to factory setting will make it all go away, then it won't and it also voids your warranty, do not blame me or anyone else later on if something BAD happens to your display, let the service guy handle it and never show off in front of him because if something goes wrong later he can put it all on you, i kept my harmony remote safely away from his eyes, and acted dumb about the service menu LoL.

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

Watch these. Gives me hope that it can be fixed (somehow). On the second video the entire picture is problem free.

With dancing green pixels

YouTube - LG 60PS8000 @ dancing green pixels



Without dancing green pixels

YouTube - LG 50PQ6000 @ without dancing green pixels

 

[viveknath]

In addition to the settings which Shaiju had posted earlier, just collected this settings from avs forum. These have been used by different people with good results after the breakin period of 100 plus hours.

We can try these after few days of break in..

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Contrast 67
Brightness 50
H 50
V 50
Color 62
Tint 0

Expert

Dynamic Contrast Off
Noise Reduction Off
Gamma Medium
Black Low
Film On
Color Gamut Standard
Edge Enhancer Off

White Balance Warm
Method 2 Points
Pattern Outer

Red C -5
Green C 0
Blue C 12

Red B -2
Green B 0
Blue B 2

@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Mode: Cinema
Contrast: 80
Brightness:30
Sharp: 35
Color: 48
Tint: 0
Temp: W30

Dynamic Contrast: 0ff
Dynamic COlor: off
NR: Off
Gamma: MED
Black level: Low
Film mode: ON
Color Gamut: standard
Edge Enhancer: off

ISM Method: Orbiter

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
I have around 70 hours on my 50PK550 now. ...

Energy Saving: Off
Picture Mode: Cinema
Contrast: 72
Brightneess: 55
Sharpness: 8
Color: 48
Tint: R12
Color temp: W30

Advanced Controls

Dynamic contrast: Off
Dynamic Color: Off
NR: Off
Gamma: High
Black Level: Low
Film Mode: Greyed out
Color Gamut: Standard
Edge Enhancer: Off

@@@@@@@@@@@@

In the Expert Mode, you have the option of warm, medium and cool color temp settings. These relate to W30, 0, and C30 on the 'Color Temperature' setting when not in Expert Mode (ie: cinema, sport, vivid, etc). These modes do not allow you to calibrate the grey scale (color temp) like the Expert Modes do, however, they do offer a limited way to set the color temp allowing you to adjust smoothly between the factory preset warm, medium and cool settings. And no, I do not use the energy savings options. They cut the overall brightness of the display which is the same as not setting the contrast level so high. Since I don't watch an overly bright picture anyway, I can get the same effect with a lower contrast setting.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

 

[Mannu]

It keeps getting intersting, HEHE , all the moe reason to believe that it is not a defect with the gas or any of display parts.

 

[shaiju_o_thomas]

Thanks Vivek for the settings.

The 2nd setting has brightness = 30. For us it would be too low, right?

Don't think anything has driven me nuts in recent memory as this all dancing greenies.

 

[Mannu]

so i was reading the article on pulse width modulation and found this

" These rather simple types of dimmers can be effectively used with inert (or relatively slow reacting) light sources such as incandescent lamps, for example, for which the additional modulation in supplied electrical energy which is caused by the dimmer causes only negligible additional fluctuations in the emitted light. Some other types of light sources such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs), however, turn on and off extremely rapidly and would perceivably flicker if supplied with low frequency drive voltages. Perceivable flicker effects from such rapid response light sources can be reduced by increasing the PWM frequency. If the light fluctuations are sufficiently rapid, the human visual system can no longer resolve them and the eye perceives the time average intensity without flicker. "

Maybe they are increasing the PWM frequency and that could be a reason why this display has been able to handle the 24p playback so smoothly and there is no percievable stutter during pans of BD playback, whereas it's counterparts which are more costly but do not do this and end up stuttering, and down side to this is the dancing green pixels that we see which are not seen on sammy or panasonic displays.