Samsung PN50A450 50 Inch 720p Plasma HDTV

50" widescreen HDTV (16:9 aspect ratio) * high-gloss black finish * built-in digital (ATSC) and analog (NTSC) tuners for over-the-air TV broadcasts (antenna required) * built-in QAM cable TV tuner receives unscrambled programs without a set-top box (cable service required) * 1365 x 768 pixels * 30,000:1 contrast ratio (1,000,000:1 dynamic) * 175?(H) x 175?(V) viewing angle *

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Big Bank for the Buck
Big TV, low price, great color, great blacks... if you want to save some money and hold off on getting the 1080p television, you can't go wrong with this 720p monster. And the white glove delivery service was 10 times better than hauling it home from the local electronics store.

5 Stars Great
It's simply a great TV, I compared it to my friends 52 1080 LCD Touch Of Red Samsung, and not even for a moment did I regret this purchase.

Phenomenal value/price ratio!

Just be aware of burn in limitations of Plasma TV (zoom in picture when watching 4:3) and have your brightness/contrast settings on 50% or less, an you will be very happy! I had it for over 3 months now and no problems at all.

4 Stars AMENDED: If you think you need 1080P in a 50 inch think again !
Coming from the graphics industry I've always known the spec wars are total ego feeders. At 50 inches 720P is fantastic. 65 inches in the same room and you would be able to see the difference of a 1080P. But not at this size.

If you want amazing HD that is so sharp it will make your eyes bleed... this is your set !

If you want a TV that displays the free HD Cable channels your cable provider provides WITHOUT a cable box... this is the set.

If you want a set not too big to still watch your SD DVD collection... this is the set.

If you buy products based on proper spec for the format rather than EGO... this is your set.

If you don't already own a surround system and want a reasonable cost system... Buy at least a nice self powered computer speaker system though cause the speakers on this set stink. I recommend the Logitech THX rated 5500 series DOLBY/DTS surround with optical input. In a small living room this will rock the couch at $200.

Amazon's delivery was 2 days early... called for an appointment... showed up on time.

UPDATE (10/31/2008): I almost want to remove a star. I want to keep my system simple. Have a PC Media Center and a DVD player connected via HDMI. TV has an Optical Out so a single connection for my sound from TV to Surround system seems to be indicated for TV, DVD or PC watching.

WRONG... This TV will pass my Cable TV 5.1 digital sound to the Surround system. But it limits DVD & PC to 2 channel stereo only. I am now forced to have independent sound connections to audio system. Every time you change a source you need to do it twice. This just should not be the case. The HDMI should carry sound to the TV and TV should pass it through the optical interface that I paid for.

WORK AROUNDS... Buy a HDMI switcher that I should not need to buy. Or buy a programmable remote and spend two days setting it up to run all my devices and teach it to change video source on TV and Audio source on Audio system simultaneously.

BOTTOMLINE... The TV should allow digital sound to pass through the HDMI to the Optical Output on the TV. Why they thought passing through 5.1 for a cable TV channel matters more than passing through digital audio for our HD & DVD sources is beyond my understanding. I'm disappointed.

5 Stars Great Flat Screen TV For The Money!!!
I looked at all the TV's, both plasma and LCD in the $1,500 or less price range. The Samsung PN-50A450 is the best TV for the money. I would have to give Panasonic Viera plasma the number 2 spot, but I have yet to find it in a 50" for $999 with free shipping and no tax. The Samsung's picture was better than the Panasonic Viera's when looking at them side by side. The Vizio is not even an option anymore since you can get the Samsung for less than $1000. I am extremely satisified with my purchase and my friends can't believe I got a TV this size with a picture this good for what I paid for it. Also, pay the extra $$ and get the HD package from your cable company. It makes night and day difference. I don't even watch the non-HD channels anymore.

1 Star Really Upset over this TV
We had this Samsung 92 days.......and now burn in? Already? The manual states no fixed images more than 5% of the time? well, every station out there has their logo fixed to the screen.

I am really disappointed and mad, feel the tv was just a waste of money.

Have burn in on the bottom and on the left side.

Nice picture though but not worth it if it gets burn in only after 90 days. I also own a 32" Samsung HD LCD that I have in the bedroom, really makes me wonder if it will do the same. The manual for that says the same thing about burn in/image retention......waaaaaa!

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Samsung HPS6373 63 Inch Plasma HDTV

No matter how you look at it, Samsung's TrueWide HP-S6373 63" Plasma HDTV with digital cable-ready tuner outperforms the competition. Even in a brightly lit room, images remain glare-free and crisp from every angle thanks to Samsung's patented FilterBright Plus technology. Billions of colors and the 10,000:1 contrast ratio capture every nuance. Rich surround sound completes this extraordinary entertainment experience.

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star A completely inferior large-screen plasma
I ordered this item from Amazon and was really excited for its arrival. Amazon's service was top-notch (as usual) and I had the TV in just a few days.

And that was the end of anything positive.

I really can't tell you how disappointed I was in this plasma.

Firstly, the picture quality is well below that of the competition. It does an extremely poor job with standard definition broadcasts and even HD broadcast don't look great. No matter how I adjusted the set, I couldn't get a realistic color setting. It seems the only choices are "too red", "too blue", and "too green". Ughh...

Secondly, the build quality leaves much to be desired. The TV comes delivered with a rotating stand that seemed like a nice feature as my room won't allow wall-mounting. But owing to the fact that the stand is mostly plastic, it does not provide adequate support for the TV and the end result is that the TV does not stay level in the stand. In fact, the left side of my screen was a full 3/4 of an inch lower than the right side. It was very noticeable.

Finally, if you are someone who enjoys watching standard definition programs in a wide-screen format, you're in for a rude awakening. As you probably know, almost all manufacturers include a picture setting that expands the picture on the right and left screen edges while leaving the center of the screen untouched. Samsung calls this setting "panoramic" (others call it justified, etc.). Well guess what? Even though this is the flagship product in the Samsung plasma line, Samsung made the decision to leave this screen setting off of this TV. If you're watching a standard definition program your only options are putting up with the left and right side black bars, a zoom setting that cuts off the top and bottom of the picture, or a full-screen option that leaves you with the dreaded "fat head" syndrome.

When I first saw this 63" plasma at this relatively low price, I thought it seemed to good to be true. Turns out it was. Spend a couple grand more and get yourself the Panasonic 65" 1080P model. That's what I did and I couldn't be happier.

5 Stars Amazing Plasma TV
I ordered this TV through Amazon/ButterflyPhoto. To be honest I was a bit concerned that I would have issues with the delivery. Come to find out, my fears were completely unfounded. I had an excellent experience. I ordered it on a Monday and it was in my living room on Wednesday.

The TV itself is amazing--despite what one other reviewer had to say about it. It comes on the swivel stand, which is rather sturdy and bears the weight of the TV rather well.

The picture is amazing--even on non-high def channels. I had a Sony HDTV prior to this and with this TV it is as if I had never truly seen High Def programming. The non-HD signal on regular digital channels are as good as the HD picture on the Sony and the HD signal on the Samsung is incomparable!

I thought that I would not like the fact that the TV does not have a wide-zoom option for picture size, but it is not an issue. Leaving the TV in 16:9 aspect ratio is fine--it is hardly noticeable.

5 Stars Excellent Plasma
I originally purchased a 56" Samsung 1080p DLP (HL-S5687W) from Amazon. Unfortunately, I was one of the few who could see the rainbow effect of the single chip DLP color wheel. The rainbows were very distracting and I couldn't live with the set.

Amazon couldn't do anything for me such as exchanging the set for a different model. Fortunately, Samsung was willing to work with me and gave me the option to exchange/upgrade for a different set. I chose to go with the HP-S6373 and couldn't be happier.

I am really into picture quality, and this set has the best that I've seen anywhere. I had a 65" CRT RPTV for about three and a half years, and although it was ISF calibrated, the Samsung plasma looks much nicer. When I decided to get a new HDTV about five months ago, I went through two Sony 1080p SXRDs (KDS-60A2000), both ended up having green blob problems. Then I tried the Samsung DLP, which had the rainbow effect that I mentioned earlier. I spent so much time researching HDTVs, and the Sony and Samsung models that I had tried were arguable two of the best sets available at the time (I spent way too much time at the AVS Forum).

Anyhow, I am very happy with the Samsung HP-S6373. It minimizes two of the big concerns that people have with plasmas - glare and burn in - by using FilterBright Plus and automatic pixel shift technology. You can still see some reflection in a brightly lit room, but there is no silk screen effect (SSE), which was very noticeable on the SXRD and DLP. I'd rather have a little glare instead of SSE.

Both the Sony SXRD and Samsung DLP are 1080p sets. I understand why the higher resolution is important, especially for 1080i/1080p material but I can honestly tell you that my 1366 x 768 plasma looks much nicer than either 1080p set. Granted this may be due to my 12 foot viewing distance, but ultimately the best picture is up to the viewer and a 1080p sticker doesn't necessarily mean that the picture quality of one set is better than another.

I constantly found myself tweaking the Sony SXRD and Samsung DLP sets to get the best picture. I used service and user menu tweaks and recommended settings from Cnet and the AVS Forum, but was never completely satisfied. The HP-S6373 plasma didn't look so hot out of the box either, but after setting it to movie mode (with no other adjustments), it looks amazing.

It's probably not completely fair to compare RPTVs to a plasma, but I am just providing my opinion based on the sets that I've had. Another reviewer mentions that the build quality leaves much to be desired. I haven't owned any other plasmas, but compared to the RPTVs that I've owned, this set is pretty solid. The TV is level in the stand, so perhaps the reviewer had a bad stand.

The only annoyance I have with the set is that I can hear a slight buzzing noise when the volume is muted and a bright image is displayed. I can't hear it from where I sit and haven't noticed it during normal viewing. I just read complaints about buzzing on some of the Samsung 50" sets, so I was listening for it. I have to get within a couple feet of the set to hear it, and like I mentioned, it's only audible on bright images. Compared to the much more significant green blob and rainbow problems that I had on previous sets - this is a non issue.

Sorry to write so much, I just figured that I would share my experience incase anybody else has had as much trouble as I've had finding an HDTV that they are happy with. Most people (including my wife) would have been completely happy with the Sony SXRD or Samsung DLP.

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Samsung FPT5094W 50 Inch 1080p Wireless Plasma HDTV

Samsung's 50" FP-T5094 offers full HD 1080p resolution. Watch its astonishingly crisp picture from any angle - even in a brightly lit room, thanks to its ultra FilterBright anti-reflection filter. Because the image is transmitted to the screen from its remote hub, you have more options as to where to place this stylish HDTV.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Awesome TV -- For Adults!
I bought this television in July. Let me just start by saying that the television is AWESOME for watching television and DVDS/BDs. I have it going through my Sony receiver, which has 4 HDMI inputs, and the ability to add audio delay. Sooooo... that being said, I don not have the problem with not being able to connect enough devices to the tv. I bought it for that very reason...I don't want a bunch of wires/cables goiing to the tv as it hangs on the wall! So I have 3 HDMI devices going to the Sony receiver, and 1 HDMI output from the Sony to the tv transmitter...I never have to change the tv input device... just the receiver input device. Now, add this all to the Harmony One remote and it works perfectly!

I also don't have the problem with gaming delays because I simply don't hook the games (PS3, WII, 360) to the system...I use my 72-inch Samsung TV (which cost less initially on Amazon, now goes for 3,999.00)for that!!!!

1 Star Don't buy
I bought this tv 2 weeks ago and have had issues with it since. Though the picture quality was great and the tv was nice looking, I experienced the following problems:

1.You cannot play video games on it, because of the extreme delay between what you see on the tv and the gaming console. The repairman said that if my xbox had hdmi this would be better, but he also said that about componet (which I'd tried) before I showed him that component didn't solve it either.

2. After watching anything for about 15 minutes, the tv screen freezes and then connects with the wireless station, which takes about a minute and usually happens once every few hours. I should note that I plug my tv into a power strip, which I turn off each night to save energy, so if you leave your tv plugged in this may not be as much of an issue.

3. The delay between the audio and video when plugged into a home theater is huge. The setting on my reciever can delay the audio up to 100ms and even that is not quite enough.

For my use, the technology simply isn't there yet, and I returned it yesterday. Amazon was very helpful and gracious about the return, however, and I would not hesitate to buy from them again.

2 Stars Major probelms with this TV
I see some of you are having the issues I am having. Love the look and idea of this TV. The delay well you can't get around it. I was told. "It is not a gaming TV." I was told it was just the burn in problem. But I never new about the delay. I rigged up my home theater and there was a delay. Then I got the manual and yes you have to plug your HDMI cables in and the audio has to come from the transmitter box to your amp. Works fine then.

Now the big problem is that the image breaks up and then goes off and the TV looks for the transmitter again. The AC effects it. The phone effects it. At least that is the problem right now. The LOCAL samsung engineers found that there are 2 capacitors under powered and heat up. These need to be replace from a 10 watt to a 24watt. Well I thought this did it. For about an hour. Same problems. Today it was the wireless phone. Closer I got it basically didn't work at all. So far it's a useless TV. We shall see what happens in the next week. But if someone next door turns on a phone and it can screw your TV up that's a piece of junk that should have never been released. So far the Samsung people say ya so what. We'll see what we can do if not that's the way it is. I'm going to start to talk with Best Buy to see if they will give me something else. Yet my whole room is set up for a wireless TV. As in I'd need a 40' HDMI cable or tear the whole room apart again and through money down the drain. Sucks.

4 Stars Has a few cons to go along with the pros.
I just got this TV delivered to me today. A couple of pros: This is the nicest looking flat screen TV I have seen. The picture and sound are both fantastic, and I haven't even gone HD on it yet. However, within 30 minutes of owning it, I noticed a few problems.

1. That little box in the picture where you plug in all your cables? I didn't realize that thing is the size of a cable box or DVD player. This is obviously my fault for not realizing the perspective of it in the picture, but I'm sure others will make the same mistake. I thought I'd be able to tuck it away somewhere. No can do. I've actually decided to put the TV on top of it, cause it is actually as wide or wider than the stand, contrary to what the picture would have you believe.

2. This TV doesn't have a game mode because it is wireless. The wireless transmission to the TV causes a slight delay in seeing what you just did on your video game. For example, I have a Wii. After I roll a bowling ball down the lane, it takes about one second for me to see and hear it on the TV. So I need to move my Wii to my old TV, which is disappointing. This brings me to problem 3.

3. You can plug just about anything into the wireless box, including an external hard drive through which you can pull up MP3's and photos on the TV, which is awesome, but you can't plug anything into the actual TV except the power cable, so there's just no way to solve the gaming problem. I bought it without planning to hang it on the wall. Other than the fact that it comes with a stand, it is completely meant to be hung on a wall.

4. You kind of have to mash the buttons on the remote for a while before it does what you wanted. You can't just tap a button and the channel changes. You have to really get after it. I get the feeling that it's having to communicate back and forth with the box to get things done. This will probably be solved when I get a comcast box, but I'll still experience a delay.

Other than those issues, it rocks. But if you're a gamer, I'd get a non-wireless LCD.

1 Star Problem with the wireless box
I recently returned this tv. The picture is absolutely stunning, but the tv loses signal with the wireless base unit once every hour or so. I had the samsung tech come and work on the base unit. He replaced some part in it, but even that did not solve the problem. A great tv if it works, but unfortunately mine did not.

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