Samsung PN58B650 58-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV

Review by Johnny Chan for Samsung PN58B650 58-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV
Rating:
It has been a while since I wrote my last review on Amazon so in light of my recent purchase of this PN58B650 HDTV, I think now is a good time to put another review under my belt.

If you’re reading this review, you’re probably in the same boat I was in several weeks ago when I was shopping for a 55+” LCD/LED/Plasma HDTV. If you’re in the “should I get an LCD/LED or Plasma TV” mindset, read on. If you’re set on getting a Plasma and really care to just know more of what’s so great about this specific model, skip to the next paragraph. Yes, I was in the market for EITHER an LCD/LED or Plasma. During the many days I spent researching differences/advantages/disadvantages of LCD/LED versus Plasma, I came across a lot of pros and cons for both platforms. There are supporters and bashers of both and at the end of the day, it all comes down to personal preference. I’m not really going to go into the differences between the two platforms as there is a plethora of information on the Internet that goes into great details laying that down (just google ‘plasma vs lcd’). Instead, I’m going to give you my reasoning for going with Plasma. It is a known fact that LCD TVs exhibit a “blurring” of the image during fast motion. This is why all the different manufacturers out there have 120Hz and 240Hz models — and you pay a premium for these over the standard 60Hz LCD TVs. However, if you get the chance, go to your nearby electronics store and take a look at these 120Hz and/or 240Hz LCD TVs with a BluRay movie playing. (And be sure the 120Hz/240Hz is not turned off as there is a way to turn that off — which defeats the purpose of paying a premium for the feature in the first place). Observe how the movie doesn’t have that cinematic motion-picture feel. It looks a lot more like watching a TV show recorded with a camcorder, or commonly described as “the soap-opera” effect. Now watch that same BluRay movie on a Plasma screen… ahhh… doesn’t that look amazing! Okay, for me, that put me into the Plasma camp. Onto the PN58B650.

Knowing that I wanted to get a plasma TV and knowing that I wanted a tv 55″ or larger, my choices were limited to three manufacturers: LG, Panasonic, or Samsung (Pioneer had already exited the Plasma market by the time I was searching for a TV but still could be found in various places). I had previously owned a 42″ Panasonic Plasma TV and have read a lot of good things about the picture quality of the Samung Plasma TVs. Anyhow, to make a long story short, after some researching, I decided on getting one made by Samsung (but if you’re in the market for a Panasonic, the PN58B650 would be comparible to the higher-priced Panasonic TC-P58V10).

If a Samsung Plasma is one of the choices you’re considering, you’re probably comparing the various different Samsung 58″ plasma models: PN58B550, PN58B560, PN58B650, PN58B850 (not available through Amazon), and PN58B860. So many models to choose from in a 58″ from one manufacturer — it gets very confusing. So what the heck is the difference between the different models. As you can see, the last three numbers in the models indicate the major model differences — Samsung distinguishes the models as 5-series, 6-series, and 8-series. There are two each of the 5 and 8 series while there’s only the PN58B650 for the 6-series.

So why the PN58B650 over the others?

Since we’re purchasing a television, picture quality is the number one important feature/factor to consider. The 650, 850, and 860 all produce the same picture quality with the same level of contrast (3,000,000:1) and same color reproduction technology (Wide Color Enhancer 3 — which also gives you much more control in color calibration if you ever decide to professional color-calibrate your TV). All three also have a built-in Media Player (more on that later) and Internet-based widget “apps” (which I don’t really care for since I do all my Internet-related activities on my computer). The difference between the PN58B650 and the 8-series is the physical thickness of the units… 2.9″ vs 1.2″, respectively. The major difference between the 850 and the 860 model is that the 860 has a Crystal Full HD Engine with Cinema Smooth feature that enhances the smoothness of BluRay movies whereas the 850 does not. Here’s the kicker… the PN58B650 ALSO has that feature — so in comparing the PN58B650 to the PN58B860, it all comes down to whether or not you can live with a 2.9″ thick TV and save hundreds of dollars compared to the PN58B860 since feature-for-feature, these two are comparible. If money is no object, go for the thinner of the two!

Now many of you are probably comparing this PN58B650 to the lower-priced PN58B560 and PN58B550. The 5-series does lack quite a bit of features I just mentioned when comparing the PN58B650 to the 8-series. For starters, the overall picture quality won’t be quite as nice on the 5 series over the 6 or 8-series. The range of the contrast ratio on the 5-series is less (2,000,000:1) and the color reproduction is not quite as nice. Don’t get me wrong, though, the 5-series does still yield a stunning picture, nonetheless, and you definitely can’t go wrong. Next, the 5-series models also don’t have a built-in Media Player. Let me tell you why this is such a cool feature to have. I have various movies/video/photos/music stored on an external USB hard drive, which I normally play on my computer. Wouldn’t it be nice to play those directly on your new 58″ Plasma TV? Well, that’s where the built-in Samsung Media Player comes in. Simply plug your USB drive into the USB port of the PN58B650 (or the PN58B850/PN58B860) and the TV itself will read the movie/video, audio, photo you select from your USB drive, and play it directly on the TV (yes, the TV has a built-in hardware decoder). This is a feature the 5-series lacks. And finally, the 5-series units do not have Network connectivity. This may not be a feature needed by many people but again, if you had movies/video, audio, photos stored on your computer, you can simply stream it to the TV and have the TV play the media files directly off your computer’s hard drive!

After owning, using, and playing with all the different features of the PN58B650 for the last two weeks, I have been just amazed at the picture quality and features of this TV. I have watched four Blu-Ray movies on it (sooo sharp and the colors are so vibrant and true to life), played a couple different PS3 games on it, and watched various TV shows. I also plugged in a Western Digital 1TB USB hard drive directly into the TV’s USB port and watched a 1080P HD movie straight from the Hard Drive. It had no problems playing the file (the movie was 1920×1080 x264 encoded (~9000kbps video bitrate) and had a DTS soundtrack in an MKV container in case any of you were curious).

Now I’ve read in various reviews about how various Samsung Plasma TVs emit a buzzing noise (sort of like an electrical buzzing noise coming from the tv, not the speakers) but I’m happy to report that I have not noticed a buzzing noise (even when I mute the speakers) and I’ve used it for quite a number of hours.

I hope this review has helped you make a decision on your next big screen flat panel HDTV. Please click the “Yes” button below if you found my review helpful. 🙂

UPDATE (01/20/2010): In my review, I mentioned that I was able to play 1080P (1920×1080) MKV movies. Apparently, it seems the built-in Samsung Media Player in the Samsung TV will not allow you to fast forward or rewind MKV movies (though it will play them just fine). If you plan to transcode any of your home movies, be sure to transcode it to an MP4 container (instead of MKV) if you want the ability to fast forward or rewind through the movie.

UPDATE 2 (02/04/2010): After owning and using this TV for a whole month, I’d like to give a quick update since long-term reviews are better than reviews from someone who hasn’t owned something for that long.

First, I’d like to address concerns about the whole “buzzing noise” that some people have been experiencing with their units. I’m very pleased to report that my unit still has not exhibited any sort of buzzing noises. I’ve tried sitting at various different angles from the screen (directly in front of the screen and different angles off to the left and right side of the screen) and also at various distances from the screen (as close as 4′ all the way back to 15′) and there was no buzzing noise. Since the buzzing noise is supposed to come from the TV, not the speakers, I turned the speakers all the way down to 0 so I could listen for the buzzing noise.

Picture quality is still amazingly clear and vivid and I still constantly express my “oooooooos” and “aaaaaahhhs” to my girlfriend (who thinks I sound like a broken record since I can’t stop complimenting the TV… oh well, she’s not much of a gadget person so I guess she can’t appreciate it as much as I appreciate the quality). I’ve watched numerous Blu-ray movies on it and a lot of cable television. For the HD channels broadcasting HD shows… all I can say is… WOW! I’ve found myself watching random shows that I didn’t really even care for just because it was in HD and looked stunning on this TV.

In my 01/20/2010 update, I mentioned that I wasn’t able to fast-forward or rewind movies transcoded inside an MKV container. It turns out that this is only the case when I’m trying to watch MKV-based videos stored on my computer. I have the TV networked to my home network with my computer acting as a DLNA server to serve media files to the TV through the network. The TV is networked wirelessly using a wireless bridge (Samsung actually makes a USB wireless network adapter that you can use if you don’t want to go through the act of setting up a wireless bridge). When I have an MKV-based video file on a USB based hard drive/flash drive, the TV’s media player can fast forward and rewind through it fine. I haven’t tried plugging the TV DIRECTLY to my router as the wireless bandwidth limitation may be the culprit.

After a month’s usage (used almost daily and hours at a time), I can now more confidently substantiate my original review (and my purchase!). If the PN58B650 is still a current model in a few months, I’ll provide an even longer-term update then. Or I’ll provide another update should there be any negative changes in this product I feel people should be aware of.

Review by Kristin for Samsung PN58B650 58-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV
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I recently bought this TV from Amazon along with this TV I purchased the following item Bell’O SFP-9901HG Color Accented Flat Panel Audio Video System. I have yet to receive the stand but it says it can hold up to 58″ inch plasma, I’ll edit the review later to let you know how that works.

I wanted to write this review since I saw another review stating that they had issues watching 480i content with this TV. I haven’t found anywhere where this is well documented and on top of that, I had absolutely no problem watching regular DVD’s on this TV with my HD DVD player Toshiba HD-A35 1080p HD DVD Playerthrough an HDMI cable. They played stunningly (especially for a regular DVD). The picture was crisp and clear on DVD not to mention how it looks when I play an HD DVD. Perhaps the reviewer may need to update their firmware on their hardware; otherwise I’m not sure why they couldn’t watch a standard DVD on an HD DVD player. I have yet to try any games on this TV so I can’t rate it in that area.

I have had no issues with the volume controls or loudness of the regular speakers. I currently do not have a home theater and these controls are set lower than what I’ve had to set my other 2 TV’s at (a 42″ inch and 52″ Toshiba Regza LCD TV). The speakers get a + from me.

I was very worried about burn in after purchasing this TV. I have only had LCD’s therefore the issue of burn in never arose. I have researched this problem a lot and it seems although it can still be an issue it isn’t as prevalent as it once was. Most of my DVD’s including HD DVD will leave the block boxes at top and the bottom while watching and this worried me. However, they say as long as you integrate watching regular TV or swap it up so that it isn’t there all the time, the burn in issue really isn’t an issue. The biggest thing is to be careful for the first 200 hours as this is when burn in can occur the easiest. Just don’t leave anything paused or sitting there for an extended period of time and your average semi-cautious user won’t experience any problems.

I did a lot of research before I purchased this TV, including checking prices, visiting local retailers and just viewing articles on the Internet. Overall, for me, I think this was a very good buy. I think anyone who purchases this TV definitely won’t be disappointed.

UPDATE: (September 7, 2009)

I’ve owned this TV for about 3 months now and just wanted to do a little update since it can be hard to review something correctly after only a week. The stand I got for the TV works great for me. A little low even at it’s highest but I don’t like high level TVs as they put a kink in my neck. I played an old Nintendo NES game (Tiny Toons 2) about a month ago which left some burn in and made me extremely unhappy. I started to berate myself for not buying an LCD and not have to worry about burn in. I ran the ‘screen wash’ that is built in and it took it out within 10 minutes or less. I had no retention of any image any longer. Since then, I have played Zelda, Twilight Princess and haven’t had any issue with any burn in (most newer console games come with game mode built into the consoles as well). In addition, I also purchased a surround sound system since I’ve always wanted one. I ended up getting the Yamaha YHT-791 Yamaha YHT-791BL Home Theater in a Box (Black). I still use the TV speakers for regular TV but use the surround sound system for movies, games, etc. I have to say that overall everything works beautiful together and I still couldn’t be happier with my purchase. The TV is amazing and I always get a lot of compliments on picture quality and the size of the TV (oh yeah). For the price you can’t really go wrong. I purchased mine with a coupon in June for $2189.00.

As others mentioned there is a buzzing sound, sometimes it irritates me sometimes it doesn’t. Just depends on how low I have the TV. It still wouldn’t be enough to make me downgrade to the Samsung 55″ inch TOC LCD TV, which was my first choice.

Review by Aaron Cohen for Samsung PN58B650 58-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV
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I’ve gone through 3 of these sets now, and each one had the same exquisite picture … and the same incessant buzzing noise, even when all lines into the TV are unplugged the TV is muted.

And no, it’s not my electrical power: I have a Monster power center, and previously had Samsung’s PN58A550 plugged in to exactly the same outlet, and it had no buzz whatsoever.

Reviews on the ‘net indicate that I’m not alone in this problem – supposedly 1/3 of folks owning this set have reported the same annoying buzz. I had thus hoped to get lucky if I just kept getting replacements from Amazon, but each of the 3 replacement sets I’ve gotten have had the same problem, though on this last one the buzz is a bit softer and less directional. (With previous sets, the buzz was concentrated in a column from the middle of the set towards the viewer; with this latest one it’s emitted diffusely from the front and back of the TV.)

I’ve called Samsung each time, and the last 2 times the person I conversed with there indicated that Samsung had been receiving a number of complaints on this count, so I must express some surprise that almost no other reviews of this TV here on Amazon report this problem … so I’m beginning to wonder how many of these reviews are seeded by Samsung itself. (??!)

With the last set I returned, I had Samsung send out a technician in hope that the problem was repairable. He arrived, and said there was nothing he could do about the buzz because his instructions from Samsung were that if the TV is turned up above 25 and the buzz wasn’t detectable while sound was coming from the TV, he wasn’t supposed to repair it. He also said that he would have to pull out and replace 5 electrical panels, but that it would take all afternoon and probably wouldn’t make a difference. His recommendation was to send it back and try again, because – like reviews on other sites state – allegedly only some of these sets are defective.

So, this TV is great if you have a house, and can leave the volume cranked whenever watching it … assuming that there’s always a solid soundtrack playing on whatever you’re viewing. This TV is also great if sound isn’t an important component of your viewing experience, or if you are not easily distracted by buzzing. For example, if you were never annoyed by the high-pitched squeal of old CRT TV’s – or if you don’t even recall ever hearing it – the buzz on this set *may* be OK by you.

But, if you are sensitive to noisy distractions and/or if you live in an apartment or condo and want to watch TV in the evening at lower volume – so that your neighbors don’t try to kill you the next morning – or if you watch programming with silent, contemplative moments in it, do yourself a favor and look elsewhere.

Review by Curt R. Petersen for Samsung PN58B650 58-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV
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This TV is the best thing I have spent my hard earn money on in the last 9 years. Picture quality is amazing. Everything from HDTV, PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and Blu-ray looks jaw dropping compared to my old rear projection set. It has PIP. It can properly render 1080p/24Hz without any flickering even with the cinema smooth feature turned off IMO. No undesirable soap opera effect like the LCD’s. I noticed some minor image retention within the first few hours of use while watching Transformers the first night of owning the TV with the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen, and the date and time on the PS3 XMB. I can only see it faintly on an all black screen. I switch to HDTV and could not see it at all. After one day of watching the TV I do not see any more image retention at all. I play video games with health bars and ammo count displays for many hours with no problems. IR is not a problem with this TV. The TV sits next to sliding glass doors where sunlight comes in and I can see the picture just fine. My rear projection TV picture was so terrible in the light I had to close my blinds most of the day. This TV is perfect for anyone who wants an amazing picture quality. Two things that some people might not like is that you can feel the heat the TV produces if you are right up on it, and the digital out is only two channel audio. No multi-channel decoding of any kind. The heat is noticeable but not a problem for me. I am finally indulging myself in the 1080p world.

Review by Pastor Michael for LG 55LH90 55-Inch 1080p 240Hz LED Backlit LCD HDTV, Glossy Black/Infused Blue
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First of all you can get the tv at best buy during sales for 2199 and then get them to match a coupon for sears for 10% off.

Secondly, there are no voice issues if you use the right kind of hdmi cable…get the brand new updated version and you won’t have

any problems. Third, do yourself a favor and buy the new ps3 to play your movies on..even if you don’t need a game system.

It has wireless networking, it’s down to 299 and it will display all your photos and music on your tv, it’s like having a 120

gig hard drive hooked up to your tv with blueray capability. I have been looking for a year for the right tv and i knew this

was it. The picture is fully backlit, instead of edgelit like the Samsung, that makes a big difference in the details. The

other thing is that the picture is absolutely stunning. The LED technology will save you money over plasmas and last longer…

approximately 7-15 years longer. It doesn’t run as hot as plasmas, the electricity cost you a lot less, there’s no fear of burn in,

the picture is unbelievable and there’s several places to use it as a computer monitor. Pertaining to other people’s comments

about the power light, it actually blends into the background when you’re watching tv or a movie, it’s not bothersome at all, but

in the case that it does bother you really bad, hey, just get a sharpie, lol. Some of you reading this are wondering what tv to

buy. If you do your research, consumer reports, cnet and all those, they will tell you this is one of the best in the 55″ category.

The contrast ratio is 2,000,000 to 1, the automotion ms response time is 4 or less because of the 240 hz, not as fast as a plasma but how many people were complaining when there lcd’s were just 120 hz…no one was. Anyway, good luck with your decision but at the end

of the day if you buy this tv, you’ll be happy.

Review by M. Fowler for LG 55LH90 55-Inch 1080p 240Hz LED Backlit LCD HDTV, Glossy Black/Infused Blue
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First, I did a lot of research about the LCD and LED TV’s, trying to find the best one for me. Without looking at price, it came down to 2 sets, the LG55LH90 and the Samsung UN55B8500. I chose the former because of the picture quality. Boy, am I glad I did! We’re sitting here watching the Winter Olympics and it’s like we’re there! The Food Network even gets my stomach growling.

In addition, I want to cut down on my energy usage which helps the environment and saves me money. However, I want to do it all without sacrificing my lifestyle. LED’s are supposed to use less energy than LCD’s. On the LCD monitors you can feel how much heat it generates, whereas the LG puts off very little heat. With the LG55, the Dish Network, and the sound system all up and running, this whole unit is only drawing 224 watts of electricity…sweet! (I actually measured it with a “Kill-a-Watt meter)

Below are the additional items that I purchased along with their prices and the reasons I purchased them:

LGLH90-Purchased through Amazon – $1995.00 Almost bought at Best Buy, but price was higher, and even though they offered to match the price, they still would have charged sales tax.

Mediabridge Ultra Series HDMI Cable through Amazon – $9.99 Read about the Lip-sync issues and the problems people were having. There were comments about “making sure you get a high quality” cable. I also read where the “Monster Cable” was overhyped. Called Best Buy for their opinion and guess what, they said to be sure to buy the $100.00 Monster Cable…wonder why? So I based my decision on the cable’s certification. It is certified at “Version 1.3 Category 2” which is the same as the “Monster Cable” at 1/10th the price. It performs perfectly, with no lip-sync problems.

Sony HTCT100 Sound Bar through Amazon – It appears all large screen monitors sound systems are realitively limited to what sound they can produce. This system sounds beautiful to me…it’s like we’re at the movies! What I like about LG TV, is you can turn it off(when you have the Sound Bar on). Also, if you have just the LG sound on(sound bar off), the LG has an option that makes the sound at the same level, from channel to channel, and even commercials. Great feature when someone in another room is trying to sleep. I wish the sound bar had this feature!

SquareTrade 3-year TV Warranty through Amazon – $169.99 At Best Buy they wanted $450.00 for a 4-year warranty. Read all the customer feedback on SquareTrade and it seemed to be a great deal.

Here’s how I hooked it up:

HDMI Cable – From DishNetwork box to LG HDMI inlet.

Sound Bar – Opti-cable from Dishnetwork box to Soundbar

Hope you have as nice of an experience as I had!!!

Review by WynHun for LG 55LH90 55-Inch 1080p 240Hz LED Backlit LCD HDTV, Glossy Black/Infused Blue
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Picture is excellent (5 stars). I have a bright room with lots of sunshine. So I needed a LCD/LED TV with matted screen. This one worked for me perfectly – except for audio (0 star):

I use Time Warner Digital Cable box to get HiDef Channels. When I connect it using HDMI 1.3b cable, the audio LAGs the video by about 1/2 second. This is not the normal HDMI “Lip Synch” issue where audio comes before video. My lip synch problem on this TV has audio coming after video. If I use component connections instead of HDMI, then no audio problem at all.

I tested the same Time Warner Cable TV box with the same HDMI cable on a Sony Bravia XBR LCD TV and there was no audio synch problem.

I have contacted LG for problem resolution. Will wait to see how good their customer support is.

Review by Kevin M. Keydoszius for LG 55LH90 55-Inch 1080p 240Hz LED Backlit LCD HDTV, Glossy Black/Infused Blue
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This TV is Beautiful. It has deep colors and superior picture. The only drawback is the standby power indicator can be quite bright. But the movies shown on this TV from my Blu-ray are just phenomenal! The 240Hz make the picture sharp during fast motion. The blacks are deep and true, not grey. Why it’s not included in a certain retailers ‘Magnolia’ section is beyond belief. Bottom line is this TV is georgeous!