| | |  | | Home » Samsung PN50B550 50-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV | | | | | | | Description: | | Samsung¿s new PN50B550 plasma flat panel HDTV redefines our commitment to design, performance, and cost of ownership. Its 50 inches of 1080p Full HD picture performance makes it the perfect living room centerpiece. The attractive Touch of ColorTM design adds a subtle clear-to-charcoal gray accent to the set¿s bezel. Enjoy brilliant, film-like images in Full HD resolution. Samsung¿s breakthrough mega dynamic contrast ratio offers a more accurate color tonal range, deeper blacks and shadow details. The new E-Panel technology featuring our innovative FiterBrightTM technology reduces glare in brighter rooms and delivers a better picture while using less energy. Add 4 advanced HDMI inputs that feature Samsung¿s Anynet+ (CEC standard) technology making system control of compatible A/V devices like a Blu-ray player or HTIB system a one-touch operation. Experience Full 1080p performance on Samsung¿s new B550 series plasma HDTVs that are easy on the environment and easy on the wallet. | | | Features: | |
• 50-inch high definition TV with 1080p resolution
• Four HDMI, two component, and one composite video input; two 15W bottom speakers and SRS TruSurround HD
• Samsung E-panel technology like Ultra FilterBright Plus, 600Hz Subfield Motion, .001 response time, and a Mega dynamic contrast ratio
• Anynet+ (CEC standard) technology makes system control of compatible A/V devices like a Blu-ray player or HTIB system a one-touch operation
• One-year parts and labor warranty
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 48.8 inches | | Product Width:
| 2.9 inches | | Product Height:
| 30.2 inches | | Product Weight:
| 73.6 pounds | | Package Length:
| 59.6 inches | | Package Width:
| 34.8 inches | | Package Height:
| 11.4 inches | | Package Weight:
| 99.1 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 73 reviews |
| | | | Used and New: | | | |
| All | |
| $940.00+ $54.49 *Shipping | Used
- Mint | |
| Used | |
| $940.00+ $54.49 *Shipping | Used
- Mint | |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 73 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
47 of 50 found the following review helpful:
 Great TV for the price!May 13, 2009
By A. Pion
I received this TV last week and so far it has been AWESOME! I would have given it 5 stars but the sound quality is a little muffled. It doesn't bother us much since we plan on hooking up a surround sound system but if you are using the TV's speakers exclusively, you may want to reconsider. Picture quality is amazing...best I've seen and I did a TON of research before deciding on this model. I was back and forth between plasma and LCD and I'm so glad I went plasma. We have the TV in a bright room and the new filters seem to work great. Not much glare at all. Definitely no more glare than the 36 Sony Wega tube TV this Samsung replaced. If you are not picky about the sound, this is a great choice. After a week, we are not disappointed!
33 of 35 found the following review helpful:
 Samsung PN50B550 - Awesome TVJun 04, 2009
By Brian A. Appel
"Well Researched Buyer"
I researched a lot of TVs and narrowed it down to the Panasonic Viera 50" and the Samsung 50" Plasma. I had seen the A550 Samsung for a long time and when I was finally ready to purchase I noticed the B550 had come out. This model is just a beautiful television. The picture is very crisp and sharp. The blacks are nice and rich. My favorite feature is the swivel base. I was debating whether I wanted to invest in a swivel wall mount or not, but I knew I wanted to be able to view it from angles in the kitchen and towards the outside of my house. This was the only TV this size with a swivel base. Since receiving my TV, I've watched movies, basic cable, HD cable, and playedmy Wii on it and I haven't found one issue. I highly recommend this television.
When purchasing a TV like this, I wanted to go online to get a good deal. I also wanted a merchant I trusted because this is such a large purchase. [...] I purchased this TV with no tax and no shipping, which right there saved me about $200. I wouldn't have walked out of best buy for less than $1800 and I got this TV for $1360. I chose basic delivery to keep it free and the guy wheeled it right into my house next to where I was going to keep it. It was delivered within just a few days after ordering. Very fast and reliable shipping!
I would definitely buy this TV again [...] Can't wait for football season!!
20 of 21 found the following review helpful:
worth the waitJun 02, 2009
By Patrick Harris
This is a great TV. I was torn between buying last years model the pn50a vs this years pn50b. I decided to get the newer one because its supposed to use half the energy. The pn50B is dramatically cooler to the touch, front and back than last years model.
Picture quality is amazing. The colors and clarity from blue ray and HD Comcast programming in my house is better than I have seen on most other HD TV's at the box stores.
There is more glare on the screen than my old HD Sony tube it has replaced.
Overall, I am very very happy with this plasma and highly recommend it.
14 of 14 found the following review helpful:
Wow. Just......Wow.Oct 30, 2009
By imvho
Spent almost 2 years researching our next HDTV (I kept putting off our purchase in hopes that CableCard 2.0 would actually be developed...). I studied all the relative benefits & drawbacks of LCD/LED vs Plasma.
PROS:
LCD/LED - No image burn-in risk. Almost no screen reflection, so it's great for rooms with lots of daylight/windows or bright evening lighting.
PLASMA - Richer colors, deeper/darker blacks, greater contrasts, more vivid/natural picture. No "rainbow effect" in fast-moving images. Virtually no image degradation when viewing off-angle (i.e. if seated at an angle to the screen or if standing up).
CONS:
LCD/LED - Blacks are never deep/rich and colors aren't quite as true as plasma. Some viewers will notice "rainbow effects" in fast-action scenes. Picture deteriorates as you move away from "dead-center" (so, people seated at an angle to the TV or standing up will not see a good picture). Considerably more expensive than Plasma for screens 42" or larger.
PLASMA - Screen is more reflective than LCD/LED, which can be distracting in rooms with lots of daylight/windows or bright evening lighting. Potential for image "burn-in". Not available in screen sizes smaller than 42".
I had decided to go with Plasma because picture quality and viewing angle was critical for me, and since I never planned to frequently use a 50" TV as a computer monitor, and didn't plan to watch news channels for hours on end, the burn-in possibility was a non-issue.
And last year had finally settled on this model -- or more accurately the precursor to this model (the PN50A550) --after reading many reviews and ratings, including the ones by that well-known consumer reporting/testing organization, and checking the pictures on the walls of TVs at local big-box retailers. I just waited until the price came down below $1100.
Then about a month ago, a big-box retailer offered a special deal in the Sunday-paper circular: This TV plus a Samsung Blu-ray player (BD-P3600) for $1099 including delivery & set-up & haul-away/recycling (of the old TV), so I impulsively jumped that very day....and couldn't be happier.
Even SD content looks better on this, but HD content is jaw-dropping. The picture is amazing no matter where you are in relation to the screen, and the colors are deep and rich.
At certain times of the day, the room can get quite a lot of daylight, but this TV is actually a bit better than the 36" CRT it replaced as far as annoying reflections go.
This latest model has a grey "TOC" [Touch Of Color, a colored rim], so you really don't even notice it. (Personally, I never saw the big deal about the "TOC" thing; it was just a rim of color around the outside lucite edge. Whoop-dee-doo. And I really didn't want the red edge anyway, so I'm happy they switched to grey.)
This has a pixel-shift function to help eliminate burn-in from steady images (like station IDs, or tickers on CNN/Fox/ESPN/any sports program), plus it has an "eraser" function if you see any slight burn-in. In my research, I found advice that suggested avoiding watching more than an hour at a time of those "ticker" shows for the first 100-200 hours (when the pixels burn the brightest), so we've been following that. My spouse likes NASCAR so by this next weekend, the TV will have gone thru its "break-in" period, so it will experience 3+ hours of NASCAR tickers. Will post back if there was any burn-in.
We currently have this hooked up to only standard cable (our HD Cable box is hooked up to the original HD TV, downstairs in our home-theatre setup...and I refuse to pay Time-Warner another $10/mo rental fee for a box that can't possibly cost them more than $40), but by running the Auto Channel scanning function, we're able to see HD channels for all "local" cable channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, etc).
Sound: Has been fine for everything so far. It's perfectly crisp, with plenty of treble, mid-tones and bass for TV shows, news, kids' movies. Much better than the 8-year-old CRT it replaced, but it's NOT a "theatre" experience; you must get an external audio setup for that, and can't expect it from any TV.
Sidenote: Really nice to have it hooked up to same-brand Blu-ray player! Can do everything with just the TV remote. And if you are a Netflix member, you should check out that P3600 Samsung Blu-ray -- we've watched a lot of streaming Netflix videos thru that Blu-ray player. I have a review posted there.
UPDATE DECEMBER 2010:
In the summer of 2009, before we'd purchased this set, we'd gone to a dinner party at a relative's house. They'd just purchased a very nice, 50-some inch Panasonic Viera LCD and had it hooked up to HD content and I had been pretty impressed with the picture. Just last night, we'd gone there again. That same TV was on, with HD content (same provider), and with the same ambient lighting in the room. At a moment when other folks were out of the room, I whispered to my spouse (who's not nearly as picky about image quality as I), "Wow, this picture doesn't look as nice, does it?!" and got an enthusiastic head nod and a, "Yeah, ours looks a LOT better." Yes, we've had a few moments of image retention when we fell asleep during a DVD or while streaming Netflix (so the ghosts of the menus -- which had stayed on for a couple hours after the feature ended -- were left on the screen), but the image ghosts disappeared after normal TV watching within minutes.
So I'd absolutely 100% buy a plasma again. The picture is just SO much better that the difference is vividly noticeable even when an LCD set isn't right next to it in the same room.
44 of 53 found the following review helpful:
 Great, but still prone to image retention.Oct 09, 2009
By JAK
"JAK"
The Good:It is a great set for the money. You just can't touch a good 1080P 120-240Hz LCD or LED t.v. in this size for this price range. There are plenty of connections, although if you have a 50" t.v. you really just need one hdmi input and maybe an optical out if you need to run sound back to a decent receiver. The picture quality is amazing when watching Blu Ray movies or other 1080p sources.
The Neutral: Which brings me to the sound. Other people have taken marks off for the sound of the built-in speakers. I haven't found them to be that bad considering they are in the back of the t.v. for aesthetic purposes. Speakers are always going to sound muffled when they are facing away from you. I would say again, if you have a t.v. this big you should also invest in a decent receiver and a set of speakers. You can't get the full theater effect with the two little speakers that come on any t.v. you purchase. The built in speakers in this t.v. are adequate for watching the news or other programs where surround sound isn't going to greatly improve the viewing experience anyway.
The Bad: The plasma sets are still having issues with burn in. I didn't realize it was such a problem until I unpacked this and skimmed through my manual. In the very front of the manual it tells you things that can cause burn in. It covers almost every use you could think of for a t.v. Off the top of my head, here were some of the things that were included:
- Watching a t.v. show with a channel logo or stock ticker (all the cable news channels have tickers)
- Playing video games (Think of title screens, pause screens, and in game stat bars)
- Using the t.v. as a computer monitor (This is probably the worst since there are almost always parts of your screen that will stay the same for long periods of time.)
- Watching DVDs (I am assuming they are referring to leaving it on the title screen either while getting all you snacks and stuff ready or falling asleep during the movie and letting the title screen stay on after it is over.)
All of the aforementioned activities will void your warranty for screen burn in. So basically, if you get screen burn-in they aren't going to cover it. Both of the stars I took off were for this reason. If I spend this kind of money on something that is strictly for entertainment I want to be able to thoroughly enjoy using it at all times and not have to worry that by playing my favorite game for a few hours I could permanently destroy my screen. It takes the enjoyment out of it when you are constantly paranoid about burn in.
There are a couple of things that this set can do to help prevent burn in. There is the pixel shift which can shift the picture up to 4 pixels away and do so as frequently as once per minute. I have this set on the max and I have not noticed the shift yet even when looking for it. The problem with this solution is that many stationary images are going to have bars that are a lot bigger than 4 pixels in any direction. So even with the shift, the same color will most likely be on any given pixel in that area.
The other tool they provide you with is a screen wipe that you can run through the remote that will scroll different shades of black and white across the screen in what I would describe as a digital eraser. I tried it last night after playing Fallout 3 for a few hours and being paranoid that the life bar would burn in to the screen. It seemed to work well and it's possible if you use that at the first sign of burn in that you could prevent permanent damage. Again, it's just something that you shouldn't have to worry about constantly.
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