Review: Samsung 50A557 / A588
Introduction
This review has been translated from Danish and contains the introduction, measurements, pictures and a conclusion. Some sections have been excluded from the translation, however. Future reviews will be fully translated.
Samsung has launched an impressive amount of new TVs series lately. The new series range from the low to the high-end segment and here we look at a 50 inch plasma-TV with an attractive mid-end price. This is the new plasma series from Samsung called the 5 series.
The model is 50 inches and has a black glossy frame that has been a symbol for Samsung design for some time. It is also the first Full HD plasma range made by Samsung and it will be interesting to see how the 5 series perform compared to other popular plasma TVs such as the PX80 series from Panasonic and the PG6000 series from LG that we have also reviewed.
Note also that the 50A557 is technically identical to 50A567. Difference is the tuners.
Also, the A558/568 series are more or less identical.
Size: 50" widescreen (plasma) Resolution: 1920x1080 Response time: - Contrast ratio: 1000000:1 (dynamic) Brightness: 1500 cd/m˛ Colours: 16,7 millions Signal processing: 8 bit for each colour Viewing angles (H/V): 175°/175° Dot pitch: - Panel (Type): Plasma Power consumption: 720W Wall mounting: Swiwel stand: Dimensions (HxWxD): 108.7cm x 152.8cm x 87,6 mm (42.3cm – with stand) Weight 41,4 kg Built-in speakers: 2x15W
Inputs: 480p/i, 576p/i, 720p, 1080i & 1080p (50, 60 Hz) 1:1 pixel mapping: Inputs • VGA • DVI (can be converted through HDMI)
• Audio (type) • SCART • S-video • Composite • Component • HDMI • Other Outputs • Audio (type) • SCART • S/PDIF • Other Digital tuners • Analog • DVB-T • DVB-T (MPEG4) • DVB-C • DVB-C (MPEG4) • DVB-S • DVB-S (MPEG4) Warranty: 2 ĺrs garanti Pixel guarantee: Etc:
Price and retailer:
Our first impressions
Samsung's new 5 series plasma is not part of Touch of Colour line and the design reminds me of the Q96 series. This is not strange though as the 5 series is the replacement for the Q96 series and therefore a mid-end TV.
The TV has the familiar Samsung glossy black frame look. The materials are plastics.
At the bottom a grey bar has been integrated, which is working as a sound projector, projecting sound from the hidden speakers on the back to the front of the TV. In the middle Samsung has placed a small blue LED. It can be turned off if you don’t like it.
The stand is oval and has the same glossy black look. It can swivel, too, which is a nice feature if you have chairs and sofas in different locations in your living room.
On the left side Samsung has placed a few inputs for digital cameras and camcorders. Amongst these is a HDMI input.
The rest of the inputs are located on the back and pointing towards the back wall, which is just plain stupid.Test tools
Our TV signal is DVB-S (satellite) and DVB-T (terrestrial). We also have an analogues TV connection.
Testing is done with the DVE (digital video essentials) and Peter Finzel test DVD. Testing is also done with DVD, TV, Blu-Ray and Mediacenter/PC.
We also use our own monitorTest . The software supports some of the traditional test patterns used to evaluate displays as well as some new and unique test patterns developed by the people here on Flatpanels.
Sony PlayStation 3 is our Blu-Ray player.Functionality
The remote has gotten a new look. I was not crazy about the previous remote and I am not very enthusiastic about this one, either. The design looks more like the design from the TV now because of the glossy black look. The shape of the remote is almost oval and the edges are soft and smooth, which makes the remote look a bit too funky.
The plastic is hard. The buttons seem a bit too cheap and rubber-like. The organization of the buttons is fine, however, and very much alike previous remote controls from Samsung.
The OSD (on screen menu) is the same one as on the last generation of Samsung's TVs. This means that you have three picture profiles called Dynamic (whatever you do, don’t use this one), Standard and Movie.
In addition you can tweak the following: backlight, contrast, brightness, sharpness and colour. In the advanced menus you can activate/deactivate dynamic contrast, black adjustment, edge enhancement and similar dynamic colour circuits.
You can also change the color temperature, and control a 6-step RGB (red, green, blue) setting, which is a fantastic tool for obtaining better color accuracy and reproduction.Picture Quality
This section has been abridged when translated. The graphs, pictures and tables have been kept in order to show the results from our tests. After this section you can find the conclusion which has been fully translated and extended. Future reviews will be fully translated.
Out-of-box picture parameters:
The graph says:
The number on the left is the delta value. Delta is a difference between two factors, here it’s the difference between the measured colour on the panel and the actual colour that we want; the target colour.A delta value lower than 2 results in a visible deviation from the actual colour. A delta value over 4 or 5 results in wrong colours. A delta value between 1 and 2 results in precise but not perfect colours. A delta value lower than one results in almost perfect colours. The target is 0. Everything between 0 and 1 is barely visible to the human eye.
HD
I calibrated the display with my hardware and found that these settings improve the picture quality.
After calibration Profile: Movie Cell brightness: 4 Contrast: 95 Brightness: 50 Sharpness: 0 Farve: 50 Colour temperature Warm 2 Colour tone 50 Gamma: -3 Movie Plus: On/Off Dynamic contrast Off Black adjustment Off Contrast improvement Off Skin colour 0 RGB: Manual • Red-: 24 • Green-: 22 • Blue-: 24 • Red+: 25 • Green+: 25 • Blue+: 25
HD
HD
HD
HD
HD
We have measured contrast; the ratio between brightness and the black levels: NB: This is the static contrast and no dynamic contrast has been measured.
| Out-of-Box | After calibration | |
| Black | 0,07 cd/m2 | 0,07 cd/m2 |
| Brightness | 86 cd/m2 | 69 cd/m2 |
| Contrast ratio | 1229:1 | 986:1 |
Contrast ratio: +/- 50
HD
HD
We have also examined the homogeneity of the panel. You can see from the picture below (click to enlarge) that the homogeneity is perfect and no backlight bleeding is visible.
Conclusion
The 5 series is not a part of Crystal Design line from Samsung, and the design is very similar to older Samsung TVs. The TV remote control has received a facelift and some options in the OSD has been added, which means greater picture potential.
The image quality of SD (standard definition) has not really improved compared to the last generation of Samsung plasma TV and Samsung does not reproduce a SD picture like the one on Panasonic’s plasma TVs. The picture quality of HD signals has been improved considerably, however.
The HD picture quality is very nice on the 50A557, mostly due to improvements in the panel such as higher contrast (and good shadow detail), higher resolution, less dithering and better color managements and accuracy. I could not get a proper 1080p24 signal through to the screen, however, and it makes Blu-Ray movies stutter in fast-paced scenes and when the flat panel is panning over for example a landscape.
The panel has some minor phosphor trailing but it’s significantly better than on the Panasonic PX and PZ series, which has a green phosphor trail that is often visible in for example GTA IV on gaming consoles.
In closing, the Samsung 5 plasma series is quite interesting, though – mainly because of the very attractive price level. You can actually get a well-performing 50-inch TV at a low price making the 5 series a value-for-money TV in the large-inch segments that beat many LCD-TVs that are a far more expensive. It does not take on the big boys such as Pioneer’s KURO plasmas and Panasonic’s PZ series but it reproduces an honorable picture that I’m sure will please most everyday users.
| Pros | Cons | Target group |
| Deep blacks and contrast | SD picture | Living room |
| HD picture | No 1080p24 | Home cinema |
| Almost no phosphor trailing slřr |
Price and retailer:
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