Customer Reviews

Samsung LN52A550 52-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

5 star:		(195)
4 star:		(51)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I have had my TV for nearly a month now and I love it. I am coming from a 27" CRT TV, so of course, I'm going to be impressed. However, here are a few things I would like to pass along to those of you in the market for a new flat panel TV:

* LCD versus Plasma:
If you are having a hard time deciding between LCD and plasma, LCD has nearly caught up with plasma in terms of being the better flat panel TV. You still pay a bit more for a comprable LCD though. If you are hooking up a PC to your TV, will be pausing live TV, or anything else that keeps the picture still for a while, definitely consider an LCD as plasmas still have their problems with ghosting. I was in a Circuit City recently and looked at a new plasma TV with all the "anti burn-in" technologies built in. After accidently leaving an image on the screen for 4 hours, there was obvious "burn-in" on the screen.

* Screen Size:
I originally started looking at 42" TVs, but realized that the picture quality is so good on HDTVs that you can buy a much larger TV even if your seating distance is only a few feet away. So, I limited my search to the 46" - 52" range. Another factor to consider is whether or not you want to spend extra for a 1080p set or settle for 720p. Most experts will say that you can't notice the difference between the two in a set smaller than 50". So, you may want to save the money and go with 720p. Also, I was worried if my TV would look too "big" in my family room, but trust me, it looks great. I'm so used to the screen size now that anything smaller just doesn't look as nice anymore.

* HD and SD Channel Quality
The HD channels look fantastic. I have an HD package with Dish Network and all of the HD channels are incredibly clear. The SD channels are certainly bearable, but a big step down from watching SD channels on my 27" CRT TV (in terms of picture clarity).

* PIP
This feature will not work for most people as you must have an analog signal. Those of you with digital cable or satellite TV will not be able to use it. For everyone else, it seems like it would be ok.

* Sound
I didn't have as big of a complaint as everyone else did. I could hear everything loud and clear. I will soon be hooking it up to a home theatre system to improve the sound, but as for basic TV speakers, they seemed ok to me.

* Price
If you are considering a TV purchase, buying from Amazon is a must. They typically have the lowest price (much lower than big box stores) and you don't have to pay S/H or taxes. The customer service was excellent any time I contacted them with regards to receiving a price adjustment. The delivery service was good too.

* Picture Settings
Most people will complain about the "Dynamic" mode of the TV saying that this is what the big box electronic stores use to make the picture look brighter, sharper, etc. This is true, but keep in mind that if you want to use the DNIe (Samsung's picture enhancing engine), you will need to use "Dynamic". I'm still figuring out if DNIe is worth having on, but what I did was set my "Dynamic" settings to be very similar to the "Standard" settings. This way the screen isn't so bright. As for the rest of the picture quality settings, I left most of them the same except for a few minor adjustments for my personal liking.

* No Auto-Motion
This was definitely a struggle for me. Do I buy a 46" 6 series to get Auto-Motion or a 52" 5 series? I've seen fast moving action scenes in both sports and movies and you can at times pick up some jutter (especially when the background is also moving). If you are really picky, consider getting Auto-Motion (which you can set to off, low, etc), but for most people the 5 series with out Auto-Motion is fine. I don't really notice anything most of the time unless I am really looking for it.

* Bonus
Since you've taken the time to read my long review, here is a little bonus. After you buy this TV (or any Samsung), register it online and they will give you an additional 3 free months of product warranty.

Happy Shopping!

From the AVS Forums. These sound settings will bring your sound to life.

"Official LNXXA550 Calibration/Settings Thread"

A lot of people have used these audio settings and reported dramatic improvements:

Mode: Custom
SRS TruSurround XT: On
Auto Volume: On
TV Speaker: On

(# of clicks):
Balance: 0
100Hz: 8 clicks right
300Hz: 8 left
1kHz: 4 left
3kHz: 3 right
10kHz: 5 right

Turn it up and enjoy the ride. . .Great Pic and more than adequate basic sound!

A while ago I got a Philips 52PFL7422 LCD from Costco. I couldn't get the Philips to look right, even after adjustments using DVE, so decided to return it and get a different brand / model.

After some research and in-store comparisons, I decided to get the Samsung LN 52A550. I checked Amazon and the price was less than I paid for the Philips, and I trusted Amazon, being a satisfied customer of theirs for years.

From the start the Samsung was MUCH better than my previous set. It had none of the issues I had with the Philips. I was surprised how well the colors and black levels looked before I did any tweaking. Wanting to get the best picture I could, I set all the enhancements off and used DVE (Digital Video Essentials) to fine-tune the set. The result was a great picture, not overblown like store displays, but not dim or washed out either.

To summarize, here is my opinion of the pros and cons of this set.

Pros:
1. Great contrast - adjusted backlight, contrast and brightness so the blacks look great and whites are not blown out. A really nice, not-too-bright, natural looking image.
2. Great Color temperature and Tint
3. Menus are well organized and VERY comprehensive - many advanced adjustments are available without entering special service menus.
4. USB photo and music interface was nice and menus were comprehensive.
5. Clean-looking frame and pedestal.
6. Noise Reduction and Dynamic Contrast modes, when needed, offer subtle enhancements without degrading the image.
7. Great HD quality from Blu-Ray/PS3. Games and Blu-Rays look fantastic. Even older non-HD DVD's look very good.
8. Great HD and Good SD quality from Cable Box (after adjusting the factory default contrast down to mid-60's, sharpness down to around 0, edge enhancement off).
9. Good quality from Wii and Playstation 2 - contrast, etc. settings similar to Cable Box. The games looked surprisingly good even though they are 480i or 480p. Be sure to not ovewrdrive contrast or sharpness. Use backlight to brighten if necessary.
10. HP Laptop (with NVidia graphics) connected via HDMI looked great. TV displayed various resolutions properly without chopping off the top or sides.
11. Low glare screen. Not as matte as some others, but definitely not high gloss like other Samsung LCD's. This was a must-have for me due to the bright room where the TV is installed.
12. Very good off-center viewing angles. - MUCH better than my previous LCD set.
13. Remote has good-sized buttons and a backlight.

Cons:
1. Sound is hollow unless you perform some adjustments (see AVS Forums for suggested settings). Not really a factor for me since I connect up to an external stereo system anyway.

Didn't Try:
1. VGA/PC Video input.
2. Digital sound outputs.
3. Composite video input.

All-in-all I am very happy with the purchase and with Amazon shipping and customer service.

I researched the daylights out of HDTVs every day for a month before finally buying the LN52A550. Among other TVs, I had previously eyed the Samsung LNT5265F (last year's model), but was turned off by the glare of the shiny screen on that and other Samsung LCDs (looked at them at Best Buy and they WERE excessively shiny). Also, the 8ms pixel response time of those models was a bit slow for sports, with noticeable motion blur. But then the LN52A550 was put out, which has a matte screen and 5ms response time, and at $2,054, I was sold. (The price beat Best Buy's by $450 and that was before another $200 in sales tax.)

I've had the TV almost three weeks now. This TV has phenomenal picture, color, and contrast. Fast response time is great for sports and movies. I have a Sony 1080i upconverting DVD player and movies look great. HDTV signals (Comcast cable with 1080i) look absolutely stunning. There are tons of settings for picture adjustments; the menus are very easy to navigate. I would've liked a few more zoom and aspect ratio adjustments for the 1080 modes, but what's there is adequate.

For me, one high-priority selling point on the Samsung LCDs is the contrast ratio/black levels, and I have to say I was very impressed with this one's. My father has a 52" Vizio LCD and the black levels (more like dark gray) are not even in the same ballpark as this model's. Very dark shade of black. Almost as dark as on my Sharp CRT.

As other reviewers have noted, the sound is pretty weak, but that was absolutely zero factor in my decision because I use a Dolby Digital surround receiver and haven't used the speakers on any TV in my living room for a decade. I can't say how the sound of this model compares to other TVs; I'll just say that if you own a $2,000 TV, you should own an audio receiver and decent speakers.

As some might be, I was a little nervous to online-order a 52" TV (for fear of dreaded dead pixels and having to ship it back, mainly), but everything went great. The delivery took six days from when I ordered to when it arrived. The delivery guys unpacked it, moved it where I wanted it and let me hook it up and turn it on to make sure everything was working. Also, under Amazon's 30-day price guarantee, I've gotten refunds totaling $165 because the price went down to $1,889 since I ordered. Amazon refunded the difference no questions asked. Great service, great TV, great experience all around.

I have no complaints about the television, but about the Samsung company itself. People who purchase from Samsung need to read this review to know the nightmare that may be in store for you should something go wrong with your new television. I would STRONGLY urge anyone who purchases a product from Samsung to make sure you purchase the extra in-store warranty that guarantees immediate exchange at the store you purchase it from in case anything goes wrong. That way, if the tv breaks, you don't have to deal with Samsung Customer Service and can simply get it exchanged at the store you purchased it from. We purchased the 2007 model of this t.v. on December 23rd, 2007 and it broke within a month of us buying it. The LN52 A550 is the model t.v. that they will be replacing it with after 8 months, yes, you read that right, 8 MONTHS of wrangling with Samsung Customer Service department. We paid for a $2,000 television and got to actually watch it with enjoyment for about a month before these awful lines started spreading like a virus all over the screen. Samsung literally has the absolute worst customer service department I've ever worked with. I am not alone in this, other folks have had the exact same horrible experience as me (see the forums on Samsung). They make great products, but they do not back up those products with quality support. They will miscommunicate, not call you back, be rude to you when you call them, drop the ball and never move forward on your case until you practically make it a full time job in your spare time to call them. I've had to call them close to 20 times in the last 3 months. Today when I called, I found out that they had closed me case and listed my television as FIXED when it was broken beyond repair and we were supposed to already be in the review process for a new television. I'm not exaggerating about how bad this service is, so please, save yourself the time and aggravation and spring for the extra hundred or so bucks, just in case. You will save yourself the cost of having to go to the doctor for high blood pressure meds after attempting to deal with Samsung's Customer Torture Department. To top it off, our warranty on the replacement t.v. ends on the same day as our old, broken tv. They won't extend it, even though it was all their fault that we had to wait so long for a new televison. Buyer beware, is all I'm saying. Good luck to everyone.

This television is truly one of the best purchases I have ever made. The picture is simply flawless with no dead pixels, high contrast, and absolutely even color over the entire picture. I can't find anything bad to say about the picture at all.

The menu system is easy to understand but a few functions take more button presses than they perhaps should. The feature to display pictures from a USB flash drive is simple to use and your pictures will look incredible when blown up on the screen. There were more connections than I needed but that's a good thing considering possible future needs.

The only caveat is that the sound is a bit disappointing. There is little low end puch to the sound. I use it with an AV receiver so that isn't an issue for me.

The outer edges are a shiny piano black and it looks great. The screen being matte (unlike the higher end Samsung models) really cuts down the glare and that was a big selling point for us as our viewing area is near our kitchen and our old CRT TV really had a lot of reflections that were annoying. No problem with the Samsung though. I've only played regular DVD's on it so far and they look reasonably good as long as you are a few feet away.

Normal (non-HD) programs look really good. This TV does a good job of conversion to whatever signal you give it. HD programs look incredibly sharp as you would expect.

Overall, I would recommend this TV to anyone and Amazon as the company to provide it. It's a great value even though there were a couple companies offering a (very slightly) lower price. Amazon did a great job for me with this purchase (I was wary of ordering a TV like this over the Internet). After the order, they emailed me that there may be a delay as they ran out of stock but it actually came on the first day of the original delivery window. The delivery company from Washington DC did a fine job and they even waited for me to open the box to make sure it wasn't damaged.

I had narrowed my choice for a new tv to either the Panasonic 50" plasma or the Samsung 52" LCD. My daughter has the Panasonic which is a very nice set. But due to the brightness of the room, I decided on the Samsung. I've had it set up for the past week and all I can say is this is an amazing tv. Regarding the price, local big box stores are selling this for $2799. I paid $2338 at Amazon on April 2 and due to the 30 day best price policy, to date I have received $120 in credits to my card. If you're in the market for a tv, I cannot say enough about the Samsung LN52A550P or Amazon.

This is my first HD TV I have purchased in my life. I have been having this TV for 2 weeks now. There are no dead pixels. The picture quality and colors are great! The sound quality is average. There is no bass and/or treble controls on this TV. The sound on this TV is loud enough for a small room. If your room is really huge then it might not be loud enough for you. I would recommend for you to buy a home theater system for this TV to get the full amazing sound experience. The screen barely has any glare on it when I open all my windows when it's sunny outside. Standard and high definition channels look amazing on this TV if you use a HDMI connection. I don't see any ghosting when I play my video games or computer games. The menu system for this TV is very user friendly. I wish Samsung made bass and treble controls available in the menu options like the Sony Bravia TVs. Overall this TV is great!

It took me a long time to decide between this one, the 6 series and the 7 series. What really did it for me was the matte screen. They say the super-glossy screen of the 6 and 7 series helps the contrast, but I stared at both TV's in a Circuit City for a long, long time (a total of about 4 hours of time between about 6 visits at different times of the day/night) and I simply could not see the difference in that respect. What I could see, clearly, was my reflection in the 6 and 7 series TV's, but not in the 5 series. Though I did like the appearance of the 6 and 7 series better, the 5 series simply performs just as well IMO, costs less and doesn't have the irritating reflective screen.

HD looks breath-taking, SD looks good too and gaming on this bad boy is fantastic. It'd be nice if it had a DVI input instead to use as a PC monitor, but VGA is good enough. Still can do 1080p over VGA, the colors look great and it makes a fantastic PC monitor.

Just so everyone's clear, the 5 series is NOT a 120hz TV. The 6 and 7 series are, not the 5 series. Which is fine, cause I actually decided after much watching of the 6 and 7 series, I don't really like the 120hz feature. It might be nice for live TV and/or sports and maybe gaming, but for movies and regular TV... it just doesn't look right to me.

Anyway, I love it and so will you. You won't be disappointed with this TV.

When matched with TiVo HD, Time Warner HDTV service and a quality HDMI cable, the result is stunning for HDTV channels. I find myself mesmerized by the output quality, and I don't want to go back to watching regular tv channels (even from cable). Regular (compressed) channels from Time Warner are unimpressive (they look filled with noise). Blueray is phenomenal.

Even compared to my 47" Panasonic plasma and Sony 32" LCD which are about a year old, this unit's display of colors, including blacks, is far superior.