A review of the Samsung PS50A556 50" Plasma TV

The new 50" Plasma from Samsung brings a whole new meaning to the word 'classy'. This screen is complete class with its very shiny, glossy black frame and huge screen. The stand is solid and shiny too which although attracts plenty of dust, is very nice. It doesn't really have any unique looks about it and is pretty basic really apart from the size, which is eye catching.

The Samsung PS50A556 is a Full HD Ready Plasma TV with 1080p resolution and blu-ray movies and games etc will be displayed brilliantly with the 1920x1080p resolution which delivers a sharp and clear image. An Entertainment Mode also assists with this and allows the viewer to choose from 3 pre-set viewing modes, movies, games and sports and then optimises the image depending on the environment. Samsungs DNIe works wonders on image detail and colour and promises to deliver amazing results with Colour and Motion Optimisers to being lifelike images as well as Contrast and Detail Enhancers. There are 3 HDMI connections, a dynamic contrast ratio os 30,000:1, Filterbright technology and 18-bit colour processing.

 

We couldn't help but feel a little let down with Samsung's 50" failure which lacked some very important features that other manufacturers wouldn't dream of leaving out. Such as 100Hz?? The dynamic contrast ratio was pretty low too. The Movie Plus system kind of takes over the 100Hz and attempts to improve image quality and it does make images look sharper and more interesting. Images were good and difficult to find fault with as colours stood out boldly with loads of detail and were very natural looking. Blacks were ok, we have seen better, much better but it was still passable. Standard definition images were impressive as were HD images and although we did pick up on a few minor flaws with the Samsung PS50A556 Plasma TV, it was an all round good performer, not brilliant, just good.