LG 50PA5500 50" Class Full HD 1080p Plasma TV

Please see my picture on the main page of the screen with white spots on it.My TV was defective, but I will not give it a 1 star rating simply because my unit was screwed up. My problem is with the seller (Circuit City). I paid for a new tv and they sent me a refurbished one...I still gave it 4 stars because the picture is great! The biggest hesitation about getting a plasma was the glare. Most plasma's are like giant mirrors. This TV has very little glare. The color and brightness is phenomenal for a plasma (still not quite an LED, but impressively close). All in all, if you get a good set (without the stupid white spots), this is a great TV for the price.

I got this TV as a really good deal. Free Shipping and I only paid $548. This is replacing an Insigna 42 in my bedroom. The Insigna's both hdmi inputs went bad and the tv would keep checking for signal so I am not hoping this TV follows that trend.Easy setup, and the picture seems very crisp. I have copied some suggested settings from another reviewer that I put in and it really changed it for me. Also just double check your cable box is still set to HD, sometimes I have seen it revert back.Settings used:Aspect Ratio: Just ScanEnergy Saving: OffPicture Mode: Expert 1Contrast: 90Brightness:60H. Sharp: 30V. Sharp: 35Color: 48Tint: 0Now select Expert controlDynamic Contrast: OffNoise Reduction: OffGamma: MediumBlack Level: LowFilm Mode: On or off (I didn't see a difference between the two while watching cable TV)Color Gamut: WideEdge Enhancement: OnColor Temp: MediumMethod: 20 Point IREPattern: OuterSelect an IRE value i.e. 0 now move down and change the color settings. Go back up and select the next IRE value i.e. 5 then move down and change the color settings. Do this for all the IRE values. Yeah its a long and painful process but worth it.r=red g=green b=blue.0 ire r=-5 g=0 c=05 ire r=0 g=0 b=010 ire r=-16 g=0 b=-3615 ire r=0 g=0 b=020 ire r=-17 g=-13 b=-3425 ire r=-9 g=0 b=-3730 ire r=-6 g=9 b=-2935 ire r=0 g=0 b=-1340 ire r=9 g=17 b=-2545 ire r=0 g=0 b=050 ire r=-10 g=0 b=-4255 ire r=-18 g=0 b=-1060 ire r=15 g=20 b=-3765 ire r=-18 g=0 b=070 ire r=5 g=30 b=-3175 ire r=-9 g=9 b=-2980 ire r=-6 g=19 b=-5085 ire r=0 g=0 b=090 ire r=-8 g=16 b=-995 ire r=0 g=0 b=0100ire r=-5 g=0 b=-24Now go to the COLOR management:Red Saturation 0Red tint -1Green Saturation -6Green tint 0Blue Saturation -8Blue tint 0Yellow Saturation -5Yellow tint 11Cyan saturation -2Cyan tint -2Magenta Saturation -3Magenta tint -10The only thing I do not like about this TV is the huge remote, but I did not let that affect the review of the TV bc you can easily get an all in one remote or just switch everything over to your cable box remote which is generally more compact.The TV itself is a nice picture, it is not super bright like most Plasma's which is actually something I really love. I don't want to be watching a christmas tree.

I purchased this TV brand new, the TV arrived, and it has a great picture, and lots of nice features, particularly on the inputs. For a week I was super happy with my purchase.Unfortunately 9 days after the TV was set up in my home, the panel completely went out, no menus, nothing. Being a patient reasonable guy, I called the retailer (not Amazon, for the record) and then LG support. After 3 visits from the LG approved flunky repair guy, where he changed a part, "had to order a new part," then that didn't fix it, try again! Sadly incompetent. The third time he says the panel has to be replaced. At this point every part inside the TV has been changed, and I have been without the TV I paid for for 3 weeks! My call to LG to ask for compensation for their crappy quality and service feel on deaf ears. I gave them a choice to either offer me something for my trouble, or I would have to return the TV, as my faith in the ability of LG's service partner to fix the TV was compromised. LG does not care about making customers happy, or quality control, apparently. I am returning the TV, and will not buy another LG product....ever.And before people start questioning my 1 star review, a great picture is not worth anything if the TV doesn't work, 9 days working, 3 weeks not working, I gave LG the opportunity to keep me as a customer despite the failure of this TV, and they refused to acknowledge that this situation was a problem. Maybe if you roll the dice with this TV from LG, you MAY get a TV that works for a long time, or maybe you don't, and you end up like me.UPDATE: I ended up exchanging for a new TV because the original packaging got thrown away and I did not have a way to return the item to the retailer safely. Returning for the same TV allowed me to use the new TVs packaging to return the broken TV. If it doesn't fail (4 days so far, so good), and causes me no further time and hassle, I may consider raising my rating.Further, you should be aware that when displaying 4:3 content, the side bars are grey instead of black. There is no way to change this setting without distortion the aspect ratio of 4:3 content. Grey side bars are pretty distracting, not optimal in my opinion.Update 10/23/2012: GAHHH! The other night I notice on Netflix through WII (component input) that there was a permanent blue horizontal line on the splash screen. I couldn't see it on content, so I assumed (hoped) it was a problem with the netflix/wii. Last night when watching OTA through the tuner, I noticed it again, meaning it appears on all inputs and is a problem with the TV. It only is visible with blue and red backgrounds, particularly the kind used on the graphics for TV news and things like the debates. I thought perhaps a burn in issue from 4:3 content, but the line is on the left side of the screen past where the grey bars show up for 4:3 content (or black if the content is encoded in 16:9 with black bars, depends on the station) Looks like I will try and return one more time? Either I am the unluckiest person ever, or LG has some quality problems with this product.Update 11/15/2012: I returned the second TV. I ended up locating the foam packing, but still not the box. I was able to find an acceptable box that I modified to fit the TV, and sent it back. The retailer was now "out of stock" of this TV, and I could not find an exchange I wanted. I think I am going to buy locally, though even then, having to return a TV multiple times would still be a pain. I was in a few local retailers, and both of them said they had more customers return LG TVs with problems than the other big brands. Buyer beware!