Review: Samsung D550
Samsung D550 review
Our users have requested that we look at a cheaper-priced Samsung TV. D550 is a mid-end plasma-TV from Samsung with 3D and a Full HD panel, but without all of the Smart TV features. And in case you are wondering. Yes, it is a 51-inch TV. In 2011 Samsung switched to 51 inches from 50 inches on their entire plasma-TV line-up.
But can Samsung D550 compare to Panasonic’s plasma TVs? And is it a true large-size value-for-money TV? We intend to find out.
Samsung D550 is available in 51, 59 and 64 inches in the US called PN51D550, PN59D550 and PN64D550. In Europe Samsung D550 is available in 51 and 59 inches called PS51D550 and PS59D550.
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Size: 51" widescreen Resolution: 1920x1080 Response time: - Contrast ratio: - Brightness: - Viewing angles (H/V): - Panel type: Plasma TV Wall mounting: Swivel stand: Dimensions (HxWxD): 78.7cm x 119.6cm x 5.7cm (without stand) Weight 21.8 kg Built-in speakers: Inputs VGA DVI (but possible to convert through HDMI)
Audio (type) (Audio in/out)
S-video Composite Component HDMI Outputs Audio (type) S/PDIF Tuners Analogue DVB-T DVB-T2 DVB-C DVB-S2 Other Price and retailer:
| US retailer | UK retailer |
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Our first impressions
D550 is not one of those slim TVs that we have seen from Samsung in the recent years. It is an entry-level model and if you prefer the very slim profile you need to look at the more expensive sets.
Samsung D550 review
But D550 still has Samsung’s classic black, glossy finish - and a minimalistic, rectangular stand.
Samsung D550 review
All inputs are located on the back of the TV but only 2 HDMI and 2 USB inputs point to the side. The rest point straight out towards the wall. If you only use HDMI-enabled peripherals, no problem, but we would have liked Samsung to place the TV signal connector in a more convenient way.
Samsung D550 review
Most plasma TVs today have buzzing problems and we also experienced buzzing on D550 coming from the back of the TV. In a completely silent room we could also hear it from typical seating distance.
Test tools
Our TV signal is DVB-S (satellite) from Canal Digital and DVB-T (terrestrial). We also have an analogue 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 Media center/PC.We 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 FlatpanelsHD.
Sony PlayStation 3 is our Blu-Ray player.
All contrast measurements are based on the ANSI methodology.
Functionality
In the box we found this spaceship of a remote control. It is what we have come to expect from an entry-level TV but we still wish that TV manufacturers would step up the effort and put some soul into designing these remotes. After all, it needs to lie on our living room table every day.
Samsung D550 review
Samsung D550 is stripped of Smart TV functionality and the only features incorporated are USB playback and DLNA. Samsung supports a range of video and audio formats for playback through the DLNA (Allshare) function but if you seek a complete DLNA streaming solution we still advise you to consider an external box. D550 has a Ethernet cable used for streaming. If you want Wi-Fi you need to buy Samsung’s WiFi USB dongle.
Energy consumption
| Compare power consumption measurements on different TVs and monitors with our interactive power consumption applet here. |
 |  | |
| Standby | 0.1 W | 0.1 W |
| SD+HD | 175 W | 209 W |
| 3D | 298 W | 260 W |
After calibration I measured power consumption to 209 W, which is not uncommon on plasma TVs. Samsung’s D8000 flagship model was measured to 203 W.
Calibration on Samsung D550
Below you can see an out-of-box measurement on Samsung D550 in the Standard picture preset without Eco mode enabled.
| The graph says this: The number on the left is the delta value. Delta is a difference between two factors; here it’s the difference between the measured color on the panel and the actual color that is our target. |
The out-of-box picture settings are not great and we measured gamma rising from 2.06 to 2.87, meaning that bright colors are too bright and oversaturated and dark colors are too dark. We measured the color temperature to 7727 Kelvin which means that colors are slightly too cold and bluish on the screen. The brightness was measured to 80 cd/m2, which is typical for Samsung’s plasma TVs but lower than on LCD-TVs.
We also noticed too much artificial sharpness, which adds a white noise around for example black letters.
I now switched to the predefined movie preset found in picture menu on D550 and took a new measurement.
The movie preset is better and gamma is closer to our 2.2 goal. Brightness is also slightly higher, providing users with a better experience in brightly lit living rooms. We still measured color deviations but I recommend choosing the movie preset over the standard preset. Also, in the movie preset the artificial sharpness level has been reduced significantly, which is truly rewarding in terms of actual-perceived picture quality.
I now did a calibration on Samsung D550. Here’s my result.
After calibration we improved gamma but we still experienced some minor problems in the dark end of the scale, which means that not all dark colors are perfectly distinguished. However, we managed to improve color accuracy and get the color temperature right.
Below are my calibrated settings.
| |
| Picture preset: | Movie |
| Cell light | 18 |
| Contrast | 90 |
| Brightness: | 52 |
| Sharpness: | 15 |
| Tint: | G50/G50 |
| Black Tone | Off |
| Dynamic Contrast | Off |
| Gamma | 0 |
| Colour Space | Auto |
| Flesh Tone | 0 |
| Edge enhancement | Off |
| Motion lighting | Off |
| Color tone | Warm2 |
| Digital Noise Filter | Off |
| MPEG Noise Filter | Off |
| Digital Noise Filter | Off |
| HDMI Black level | Low |
| Film mode | Off |
| Size | Screen Fit |
| R-Offset | 26 |
| G-Offset | 24 |
| B-Offset | 26 |
| R-Gain | 30 |
| G-Gain | 20 |
| B-Gain | 29 |
Picture quality on Samsung D550
| In this section I go through picture quality with the calibrated settings. |
Samsung D550 has some issues with reflections due to the plasma panel. In a brightly-lit room I can imagine that it causes some problems but D550 is not much different from the typical mid-end plasma-TV. However, when compared to matte LCD/LED TVs or high-end plasma TVs with anti-reflective filter, D550 definitely has some road to cover.
Samsung D550 review
Color gradation is fairly good but D550 is not able to distinguish all dark colors. It also has some issues with semi-dark colors.
Samsung D550 review
SD picture quality is average for a plasma TV. This is one area where Samsung has clearly saved costs by not using their most advanced picture systems. Detailing in typical SD TV shows and DVD is fair but compared to the high-end plasma TVs D550 lacks the final push. However, I still believe that most mid-end plasma TVs are doing a better job when it comes to SD reproduction than mid-end LCD/LED models and this is also very true for D550.
Samsung D550 review
HD picture quality is good and detailing is very high. I also noticed that motion detailed is great compared to LCD-TV in this price range. D550 still has some ground to cover before it compares to the high-end models but it is very clear that Samsung has re-used some of the expertise from previous year’s high-end plasma TVs and implemented the technologies into cheaper plasma TVs in 2011. D550 is, therefore, a great inexpensive companion for HD watching. It also handled our 1080p24 Blu-ray tests flawlessly.
Samsung D550 review
However, D550 also revealed a high level of pixel noise that is visible from 1-2 meters away. For the best experience I therefore recommend that you sit at least 3 meters away from the TV.
One of the reasons for D550’s good performance is fast response time and we noticed very little blurring on fast motion. However, one of the main problems with plasma TVs has always been phosphor trailing and therefore we were eager to examine this phenomenon on D550. D550 is an improvement over older Samsung plasma TVs but we still noticed phosphor trailing in games. Nothing serious but it is there.
Samsung D550 review
We measured input lag to 16 ms in game mode (use PC), which is great. With most of the pre-defined picture presets, input lag averaged to around 32 ms.
Last year’s C680 model was Samsung’s first inexpensive 3D plasma TV but the new phosphor required for 3D plasma TVs made it suffer from retention and some consumers complained about the level of retention. Samsung has addressed the issue on D550 and even though we experienced retention after some hours of TV watching, I will not rate it as a problem on D550.
Below I have measured black level and contrast.
| | |
| Black level | 0.12 cd/m2 | 0.12 cd/m2 |
| Brightness | 80 cd/m2 | 105 cd/m2 |
| Contrast ratio | 667:1 | 875:1 |
Contrast ratio +/- 50
After calibration I measured black level to 0.12 cd/m2 – considerably higher than on Samsung’s high-end plasma TVs and also higher most new LCD/LED models today. We measured 0.06 cd/m2 on Samsung’s D8000 plasma.
Samsung D550 review
I moved on to shadow detailing and this is one area where Samsung D550 struggles. The darkest shades of grey are not distinguished from black and we experienced pixel noise on dark colors in general. I managed to improve shadow detailing during our calibration but D550 leaves room for improvement.
Below I have examined the Samsung D550 a completely dark room to see if it has clouding, backlight bleeding or floating black issues.
Samsung D550 review
We experienced no light issues on our D550 sample.
3D picture quality on Samsung D550
| We used the PlayStation 3 and a 3D Blu-ray player to test 3D movies and 3D games. In this test I want to examine 3D depth, 3D picture quality, 3D crosstalk and finally include a small comparison to some of the other 3DTVs on the market. |
The TV does not come equipped with 3D glasses so we used Samsung’s standard 3D glasses.
3D picture quality is great. We experienced a high level of detailing in 3D and minimal crosstalk in games and movies. I actually believe that this entry-level D550 model is very close to Samsung’s high-end D8000 plasma model, and that is certainly not a bad thing.
Samsung D550 review
D550 did very good in our 3D gaming and movie examinations and reproduced the material as intended. The colors are not accurate with the out-of-box settings but with the calibrated settings we achieved fairly good color accuracy in 3D.
However, the TV struggles with darkening images due to the shutter glasses and some pixel noise in 3D picture – especially in the dark areas of images. And then there are the usual complaints about active shutter 3D glasses: flicker in brightly lit environments, expensive 3D glasses (because they need to be bought separately) and charging of batteries in the 3D glasses.
But all in all D550 is certainly a great and inexpensive 3DTV.
PC and Media Center
In order to achieve 1:1 pixel mapping you need to select the aspect ratio called “Screen Fit" in the TV settings.Viewing angles
The viewing angles are wide and color shifting is almost non-existent. This came as no big surprise because it is what we expect from plasma TVs today. I have not taken viewing angle pictures. I consider it irrelevant because viewing angles on D550 are great.Sound quality
The speakers are hidden from the front but provide decent sound. The bass is weak but the mid tones are adequate for most TV watching and occasional movie watching. I guess this is largely due to the larger cabinet that allows Samsung to incorporate slightly better speakers than in their ultra-slim TVs.For movies, games and music I recommend separate speakers.
Conclusion
D550 lacks most of Samsung’s Smart TV features and the stripped-down TV only implements USB playback and DLNA. However, if you want added media functionality you can always connect an external media box, which is often recommended anyways.Samsung D550 is a clear example of how manufacturers take advantage of display technology developed for previous year’s high-end models. Samsung D550 is not competing with Samsung’s own D8000 plasma model or Panasonic’s VT30 flagship but it offers some of the picture characteristics of much more expensive plasma TVs that were sold a few years back. For example, D550 is a great performer in sports, games and action movies because of its high motion detailing and low trailing. It is not on par with Panasonic GT30 but then again, D550 is considerably cheaper. And D550 also offers good 3D picture quality and HD picture quality. However, black depth is subpar and we experienced some buzzing from the panel.
To sum up our findings in a few words I think it is reasonable to call Samsung D550 a solid mid-end TV. It offers value-for-money picture quality in a large format. The End.
Price and retailer:
| US retailer | UK retailer |
|
 |  |  |
| Fairly good picture quality | Black depth | Living room |
| Price | Some buzzing | Home Cinema |
| 3D picture quality | Inputs facing backwards | Gaming |
| Low motion blurring | Reflections |
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