High Definition LCD TVs

Samsung LN52B550 52 Inch 1080p LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color

52″ screen (measured diagonally) * widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio * Touch of Color high-gloss finish — black with red accents * 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) * 1920 x 1080 pixels *

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Great TV
TV works great. Great price too. Put Tv above fireplace and it looks great. Couldn’t have asked for a better deal.

5 Stars Awesome!
Awesome! Great TV! Great Price! Don’t think twice to buy this from Amazon. Delivery was spot on. They took it out of the box and put it on the pre-assembled stand. They connected it to my DVD and Cable Box and demo ‘ed it to me. Even explained the functions for a little while. Great experience! Good bye Home theater store (Modia)…for ever!

5 Stars Like it
I had the A550 model before this (it was stolen and the insurance company replaced it with the B550 model) and I like this one as much as the last one. My only gripe is that I don’t like the clear plastic at the bottom of the tv (I realize it’s for the red LED but I don’t plan on using that).

Also, from the A550 page on Amazon, a reviewer offered some advice for the sound setup. [...] I think it needs a little more mid, but it should get you closer to a reasonable audio setting. If you have iTunes, open the equalizer and try out the presets to get a feeling for how to structure the audio settings (I prefer the jazz setting, for reference).

5 Stars Very good picture, with a litte bit of tweaking
I received this tv as a warranty replacement for a 56″ dlp. I was initially not happy to be getting a smaller screen, and I was not looking to own an lcd. My fears were unfounded, as the B550 is turning out to be an excellent set.

I have been tweaking the settings on this set using the HFCR software and a Spyder2. I’m not an expert… I just like tweaking to get as good a picture as I can out of the set. The grayscale tracking on the tv is excellent (once adjusted), and it can be controlled very well through the standard user settings (the gain and offset settings in the advanced menu).

The out of the box settings on the set are almost blinding, and on the cool side. Turn the backlight down to 4, set the mode to “Movie” and turn off all of the picture enhancements. The results after tweaking in the user settings and service menu have been *excellent*.

Info is very sparse about the 550 series. You can find lots of technical info here : [...]

In case anyone is looking for panel information, my set has a code of SS02.

I recently purchased a Blu-ray player, and the picture on the B550 is amazing.

The only downside I can come up with is that the contrast will drop as you move too far off center. The colors remain accurate, but a “haze” develops as you pass 45 degrees. The stand does allow the set to be turned, which makes this a non-issue for me, but if you are mounting the set on a wall, it may be a bigger issue.

I was very nervous about getting a 5-series Samsung. Don’t worry if the 6 or 7’s are out of your price range… the 5 series seems to be very capable of providing a great picture.

4 Stars Great TV Great Amazon Service
Love the TV and only had one problem with delivery. The first one they shipped was destroyed in shipping. But Amazon had a new one being processed for shipping before the truck was out of the driveway.

One minor negative about the TV. You pretty much can’t use a TiVo remote to switch between picture sources. The Tivo will pull up the list of inputs and allow you to change but there is no way to then remove the source menu so you have to clear it with the TV remote.

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