This seems like a nice plasma tv from samsung.

You can read more about the nice features on this new plasma here
Read the full spec here.

So far the review is pretty good. Reviews

WhatHifi Reviews

One major downside from one reviewer is that it tends to have image retention.

How much ah?

look like samsung try to beat panny nowaday.....

is it better than panasonic?

sammy already conquered the LCD market... guess they wanna conquer plasma next ?

hopefully panny will bring their v series....

Let the Koreans conquer first.. they have always been aggresive in technologies and pricing...

this will bring the other brands to feel the pressure and stay competitive... then we all consumers GAIN... hahahah

They have the flagship model Samsung PS50B850Y1M from the 8 Series in Singapore but not in Malaysia...


http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/home_av/tvs/0...4694275p,00.htm

RATED 8.4 EXCELLENCE BY Cnet Asia

Samsung has been the leader in TV recently and i fully agree with that judging from the features and picture quality of their TVs. SAMSUNG have always manage to pack in tons of features that will put the japanese manufacturer to shame, however there is still one thing that made me shy away from samsung product and that is RELIABILITY. Most of the people i know recommend me to stay away from samsung products.

What do you guys think?

avoid samsungs

Moved to here instead:

First impression on early hours of operation is that the black is blacked than S10. Colour seems 'deeper'.
Performance is much better than S10 early when the set is new. Of which i would describe early hours of S10 is awkward.
But I still find the colour of B650 a little bit un-natural compared to S10.
Wait till tv break in first as it's still new out of box.

This post has been edited by ronaldjoe: Aug 4 2009, 04:15 PM

agreed wit u bro...

try to grab panny v series and replace with s10k for my ht...

I got it with 5 yrs warranty

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Added on August 4, 2009, 11:27 amActually I like V series more, but it's no-no for me.
I don't have a fat pocket.
For lightning69, V is better bet

This post has been edited by ronaldjoe: Aug 4 2009, 04:17 PM

i saw that statement from the same person before...

If they can provide 5 years warranty like Panny did last year, definitely more people will give it a try.

I am being neutral here. Though many ppl are still skeptical about Korean products, but Samsung is the current leader in LCD.

That alone must meant something. Samsung being 1st, LG 2nd (yes, LG) and 3rd Sony followed by Sharp. This is the statistics currently.

I myself was not really a fan of Samsung, but now seems their PQ have exceed many expectations and cause quite a stir woldwide when they launch their thin LED series. This has got many ppl thinking and talking bout them. Seems they got their strategy right this time.

Is it here yet and how much?

Update:
Those running htpc to be extra cautious during early panel hours
as slight retention mark would come in on still image even for time like 10+ seconds tho those 'mark' are temporary...

ronaldjoe,

Image retention is a definate problem with 2009 Sammys. Pls take the necessary caution.

cos dunno his luck or what, but his korean branded goods always spoil..

I am worried in a way... Now i use remote access from my laptops to my htpc for what ever pc stuff/ thingy.
Only use tv to watch hd content now. I am just hoping that it would get better after break in (say after 200 hours).
Hopefully...I'm just hoping....

That is the major problem with plasma tv especially LG and Samsung. I think panasonic plasma don't have this problem.

No such issue on S10. Just blur image during early panel hours which have improved a lot after break in.
Not sure how would this B650 flare... Now tho i got htpc, i cant use it on this B650
Got to bear it. Rather than having retention on it

Actually panny plasma's also have this, its just not as bad. LG and Sammys are slightly worse. Panny's recover faster, sammy and lg takes a little longer. Phospor residue....Some people do not like to hear this, but Pioneer does fare very well in this regard.

Sorry, but what is image retention? It only happens with HTPC? Why?

Pioneer fr Japan. Samsung is considered 'second grade'.

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Added on August 5, 2009, 12:01 amWhen i use TV with HTPC. Like downloading and go online surfing
It tends to have still image like sidebar, task bars, windows etc...
After a while, when i switched watching movie and concert or dark scenes, I see slight retention...

This post has been edited by ronaldjoe: Aug 5 2009, 12:01 AM

Free ke Samsung ni .....

In terms of durability and reliability, I'm still prefer brands like Sony & Panasonic

This post has been edited by WereWolf84: Aug 5 2009, 07:46 AM

Cons on this unit...

- BUZZING freaking annoys me. If you have a small apartment like mine, the buzzing is really bad.

- Not as bright as LCDs. Somehow brightness during daylight looks faded. Especially fullscreen whites looks like grey.

- Screen flicker on bright spots/areas. Worst when PC mode.

- Hot.

- Astro PQ looks blurred. No problems with DVD or HD but Astro on 50' 1080p is too much. Better to stick to 720p plasmas where the upscaling do not need to stretch so much.

All the above problems I believe are inherit in Plasma technologies in general.

Now the good:
- Black levels
- Color accuracy

Both I can never tune it to match the Plasma compared to LCD. Typical LCD color accuracy and black levels are off.

I actually turn off all artificial processing to get the best results. No Dark enhancements, dynamic contrast, no sharpness, etc.

Avoid this if you watch Astro most of the time. This plasma only make justice on higher resolution feeds (DVD and above)...

1) Buzzing - so far no, hopefully not
2) I find LCD too bright for me.
3) Flicker - I find sometimes but S10 is worse
4) Hot - S10 is much hotter than B650
5) Astro - later of the year Astro would have HD channel (stage by stage tho), I watch HD content mostly of the time

Features that I like (add on):
1) Much better GUI compared to S10
2) Networking (wireless/ LAN)

Much like a pros and cons situation. Strongly suggest V series for those with fat wallet like our TS.

No worry as for image retension,i did once in 2~3mths and the logo will goes off.

Is this your 1st plasma? How many hours has it been running?

Plasma phospours take time to mature. It will become less blurred as time goes. Typically after the 100hr mark. Astro shd be better defined than LCD.

Fullscreen whites should never look grey. I believe it is some setting that you have not optimized. Fullscreen white will not be as bright as a LCD due to the nature of plasmas APL but it shd never look grey.

Screen flicker will reduce as the phospors age.

I have seen Astro on Full HD plasmas and they look very good. Give it time. On fast moving objects, it shd be much better than LCDs due to its refresh rates. There shd also be less macroblocking.

What are you trying to tune? LCD accuracy in terms of which parameter?

Samsung is supposed to be pretty good with SD broadcasts, better than Panny in this regard.

For Astro you might want to turn on some of the NR as the broadcasts is pretty crappy.

Pls let me know what you are looking for and maybe I can help.

@ronaldjoe

You seem to be happy with the Samsung B650, but why do you say the Panny V will be better? Any experience with it?

From what I read, the V should be no different than the G except for the THX Mode. But that would be useless anyway as the G in asia has more adjustable pro options for calibration.

THX mode gets the primary colours spot on. Even the secondaries are almost accurate. I believe only magenta is off. The Z series fixes that.

Even though Panny sets have greyscale calibration options they do not have a CMS. No amount of tweaking can fix the problems with the colours on the Panny. THX mode is the best bet.

Better colour accuracy vs G + reliability from Panasonic + design + after sales service
And of coz bigger screen, V is 65" and more $$$

Yes it is. It's fine during low lighting situations (after 6pm). Daylight watching seems dimmer.

Fullscreen whites should never look grey. I believe it is some setting that you have not optimized. Fullscreen white will not be as bright as a LCD due to the nature of plasmas APL but it shd never look grey.

I would say dim. Somehow i suspect it's dynamic contrast. Here's how i test. I use PC HDMI as source so i can control.
> 1st test picture, 100% white. Screen dims, whites becomes greyish.
> 2nd test picture, 50% white, 50%. The whites becomes whiter.
> 3rd test picture, 10% white, 90% mix color. perfect whites.

No changes in TV settings. Just different type of picture. Even easier to see the effect of dimming when i drag a white window around the screen. When it fills up 100% of the screen, the white becomes grey. Can see the dynamic contrast ratio (or dimming) adjusting itself.

I have turn off all enhancements. May try to put on Game mode and let you guys know the result.



Hope it does!



No complains on fast moving pictures at all. No ghosting whatsoever. Again, easiest to test by dragging window. However, horizontal bleeding seems to be a major problem. Eg, scrolling text / credits will exhibit image bleeding. That annoying as well.



The disappointments i have with this set is below:
- Scrolling bleed
- Buzzing
- Astro PQ
- 100Hz only works for 50Hz input. It will not optimize HTPC movies channeled via HDMI. The signal must be in 50Hz or 1080p/24Hz to take advantage of the cinema smooth function.

The likes i have:
- DLNA (even plays MKVs)
- Price / size ratio
- Color accuracy and black levels
- Thin (surprising for a plasma)

However, i don't think i can get a 50' LCD within the same price range with the blacks and color accuracy

I have curtain down which effectively can block sun light.
PC HDMI input to "HDMI 2" - mode set to "PC". I don't see bleeding. It's much clearer than S10 on 1:1 pixel mapping.

hi tewwyble,

maybe u should post some picture of your mention issue so other might able to help u out lor..just my 2 cents

oohh.. image retention is burn in.. hhehehe.. how stupid of me.

But I heard Samsung got some anti burn in technology, something with moving pixels for static images... this don't work?

May be this would happen during early panel hours.
Btw after all this 'debate', I prefer B650 over S10.

aiya.. still no display arrived in Penang yet... damn..

@ ronaldjoe

What about brightness, sharpness and details between B650 and S10?

Can you provide comments?

I don't have fat wallet lah. Not like some of members here already have a few plasma tv at home lol.

---

Added on August 5, 2009, 1:46 pmThe last time i try out an LG plasma, i see image retention after leaving a still image on the screen for a min or so. That is too bad. I can accept if we get retention after leaving a still image on the screen for a long period of time like 30mins or 1hr but not when only after a few minutes.

For me i can try to avoid having any still image on the screen but there is too many programs that have channel logo and especially gaming which have hud that might cause permanent burn-in.

I hope the those new samsumg plasma owners can provide more info regarding how prone is the new set to burn-in

This post has been edited by lightning69: Aug 5 2009, 01:46 PM

Agreed with you totally. My 8th gen Kuro had no retention issue at all. The orbiter really works! I did not even do proper burn in. Out of the box, it's been working like a horse and the picture is getting better everyday. If you mampu to pay 6000 for a korean plasma, might as well top up 2000+ more and get 508XG... guaranteed you will smile upto your ears

Compared B650 and 508XG side by side at Best KLCC. 508XG still wins on PQ.
But B650 only lose marginally as 508XG PQ is more natural... I need full hd panel. So resort to B650.

---

Added on August 5, 2009, 2:32 pmNowadays quite a lot hd program with 'transparent logo'. So it should be okay...
I will press 'red alarm' if my set 'kong'. So far it's still doing well. Just have to be cautious.
My wife watches a lot HD TVB series/programme, channel logo is on top right. So far no burn in yet.

This post has been edited by ronaldjoe: Aug 5 2009, 02:32 PM

The screen dims when it displays a 100% white screen is the nature of plasmas. I don't think this will be a problem with actual content.
The power supplies are very high voltage, to display a full 100% white screen will cause the power supply to overload, hence the APL (Automatic Peak Limiter), this limits the supply to the power supply thus dimming the screen intensity. This will not happen in real life since there will always be some other colours/shadow in pictures. You will not see this in real life movies. If you are seeing it, there is an enchancement that is causing this.

Plasmas shd be calibrated with window screens. Bleeding is a non issue, there is some setting that is not optimized.

Buzzing, some plasmas do buzz, check and see if you move the plasma a little, there might be some resonance, if it is too high, ask them to come and check, it might be a power supply issue.

100Hz is meant to only work on 50Hz material only, there shd be no other use for 100Hz. HPTC is normally transmitting at 60Hz, you cannot use 100Hz for that since it is not a multiple. 60Hz material shd not judder anyway unless the source has a weird cadence.
Astro PQ, give it some time.

Does the buzzing sound seems normal?
Can it be heard easily? Or it just below average volume?

Hi, bro, mind to share with us by post some pictures

Nothing special...The curtain is just thick enough that it can block sunlight and make the room dark
A re-post...this pic was taken around 6pm on first day of delivery:
(You can still see sunlight at the edge of curtain)


This post has been edited by ronaldjoe: Aug 5 2009, 11:07 PM

Most plasmas have some sort of anti reflective coating on the glass, it really should not be so bad until u need to close everything. You will get used to it.

Right. I just like dark room... this B650 is better than S10 on reflection.
S10 seems a bit grey-ish in bright room.

Can anybody help, where can I still get Panasonic TH-50PY850 in Malaysia ?

I saw an older B450 sammy in senQ and i thought the PQ was excellent - solid contrast, deep black and nice color. I bet B650 must be much much nicer. Somehow the Panasonic displays there were all "grey" and even worst, the color was a bit orangish. Why Panasonic is like that ah?

The black of B650 is like 50% blacker than B450.
Best place to view it is at Harvey Norman Pavilion (with other plasma) or Best Denki KLCC (side by side with Pioneer 508)....

I saw 1 unit at the Kuching. Price is around RM4,XXX. At MJC.

@ that price is would be a f@rking steal!!! (assuming its a new and not demo unit)

Demo oso dun mind la... as long as it's in good condition...no scratch etc... some it's been 'break-in' already
5 yrs warranty ... made in Japan

What if they "break-in" with a static image?

Can view mah... but normally they would do it with demo disc

Made in Japan?? 5 years warranty?? and so cheap???

This post has been edited by de_lasoul: Aug 6 2009, 07:58 PM

That's our bro said. I would take without second thought (provided good condition)
I guess most of us would do the same too

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Added on August 6, 2009, 10:15 pmThis B650 image retention is quite SERIOUS.
For now it's big NO for HTPC usage.
Still image like 2-3 minutes would give a temporary mark on screen.
It disappeared after 10 minutes or so.
It's worrisome as I cant have peace of mind with it.


This post has been edited by ronaldjoe: Aug 6 2009, 10:15 PM

wah, that serious? how to use for gaming ah like that?

sounds like a no no for gaming

Panasonic plasma is still more reliable & durable than other brands So did you regret on the purchase of Samsung plasma?

I read in the spec their plasma have an anti burn in features... was this enable?

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Added on August 7, 2009, 12:09 amaiks... there goes my 50"... ahaha

This post has been edited by de_lasoul: Aug 7 2009, 12:09 AM

Have to agree that Panasonic is far more reliable.

Hard to tell now...only 3 days.
I'm figuring on how to access service menu to check panel hours on this B650.

Panasonic Viera TH-50PY850


Kuching is too far for me. If in KL boleh lah....I been hunting down this unit last 2 months. The F@cking Panasonic Malaysia withdraw this Model less than 9 months from our market. They are selling it cheap in Singapore. They are looking down on Malaysian

My sister just bought 1 last week..Paid SGD $4,200 and came with free S$200 Takashimaya Voucher, a free Pana Blu Ray player BD30 & HDMI, 5 years warranty, a free Chronograph watch worth $200+, free wall bracket and installation of wall mount, free delivery,interest free installment by any credit card of one's choice (without surcharge).




http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/home_av/tvs/0...3419219p,00.htm

This post has been edited by formalin: Aug 7 2009, 09:35 AM

Yesterday night, I go to that shop again and that Plasma already gone. Seem like someone already brought it in this few days time. Last time their told me is it their last and demo unit. So, their sale it at loss.

Image retention is bad especially on white materials. Leave anything bright for 2 minutes and it's there.

However, it goes off quite quickly, within 20mins or so.

But the equation seems wrong. 2 minutes enjoyment, 20 minutes suffering.

Also quite annoyed with the buzzing. I'm sitting 6 feet away and i can hear it very loud. Any low volume / cut scene (when watching horror flicks before they scare the shit out of you) etc, definitely can hear it. Potong steam.

Quite a disappointment, if you ask me....

Since samsung plasma have very bad image retention issue, i have to remove it from my shopping list. Looks like there is only the 50S10 on my list now.

Yes it's obvious on white materials.
As for buzzing, someone in AVS commented it could be due the power cord/ supply. You can check on that.

Get white snake or any shielded power cable. Will improve PQ. Even normal TV channel also got improvement.

Sigh...what a waste...

of?

Kian wee said no improvement on TV wor...Can borrow if any excess?

This post has been edited by ronaldjoe: Aug 7 2009, 10:28 AM

Agreed with your comment. Left only Panny 50S10.

I use Copper Line Alpha for my LCD. Got improvement. I got white snake but my avr is using it. Maybe later I try to switch it and see.

Hi..just wanna get things right...why wanna use a premium shielded power cable?
All thats going through the cable is AC 240V at a frequency of 50hz.
Is the shielding used for the power cable or to stop interference caused by the power cable?

My guess is, the thicker the power cables are, the more it needs to be shielded to avoid it from interfering with other stuff? Right?

So after all things considered:

Is it 50B650 or 50S10?

Buy both, the see which one U like more. Then dispose of the other (please call me first, I go wait outside your house).

Better see both side by side before making decision...

No need to guess. You need to try. It works for me

Haha, i'll bid for that too...

ular putih ar?

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Added on August 7, 2009, 10:21 pmI also drive to PG in my MPV to collect..

This post has been edited by ar188: Aug 7 2009, 10:21 PM

IR can be solve easy only.As i tried and it was successfuly.

STUPID
I just realised I didn't turn IR protection in menu.
Default it's OFF.

So will U turn it on and leave a static image for 1 hour and see the results?

This thing works by shifting static pixel.
There are other settings within...
I am not clear how it works yet

Can you please elaborate more .

---

Added on August 10, 2009, 10:38 amI remember one of the reviewer saying that the Samsung set is very prone to IR so I don't think that turning it on really helps as the problem is actually with the phospor itself.

IR if not careful will lead to permanent burn-in so best is to avoid this model. Just my opinion.

This post has been edited by lightning69: Aug 10 2009, 10:38 AM

How to check panel hour in service menu?
I am not familiar with Samsung TV... Please help

Bro, apalah.. now only found out about the Anti Burn In features.. haha.

Anyway, glad to hear there is a function to to prevent the Image Retention issues.

Pls do update us on the Anti Burn In features, does it work? Any more burn in after 10mins of static pictures?

I went to Gurney Plaza. Do not see any PS50B650 in SenQ, Best Denki, SEC.

Samsung sound is not that good (very bad) Anybody dare to comment this?

i dun know y ppl claim this.. dun even know if they own a samsung but my samsung LCD's sound is quite good... but of coz my home theater's sound is better