cooking girl says:

I recently bought the PN58B540 which is pretty much the exact same show as this one. I heard about the buzzing noise these sets tend to make, but thought I’d give it a try. How terrible could it be? I am at 4500FT elevation.

Sure enough, mine buzzes so terribly I can’t stand it, especially since the room it’s in has a vaulted ceiling, so the buzz/humm seems to be channeled into the center of the room directly in front of the show, which consequently is the best place to view a movie (not that this set has terrible viewing angles but for surround sound purposes). If I sit off center, the buzz practically goes away, but again, this is not an acceptable solution due to degrading the overall surround sound experience.

So, even though this set has a gorgeous picture, I had to return it because I was not 100% satisfied. The buzz/humm was too prevalent when directly in front of the TV, even 30 FT away (My kitchen flows into my living room, and I was still annoyed by the buzz there). I had such high hopes for this Samsung Plasma, but unfortunately, will never buy a Samsung Plasma again for this reason.
Rating: 2 / 5

John P. Boylan says:

After having an ancient Dell 50in plasma (5yrs ancient) that bombed out on me and , weighing the cost of parts (and the lack thereof)for repair to decreasing prices of flat screen technology,well,chose it was time to go shopping. After a couple of months of research-spec, review and viewing comparisons of various screens( and hemming and haw-ing)-chose to take the leap with the Sammy PN58b550-and have had it for 2 weeks at this writing. Was truly concerned about reviews reading the “riot report” of the nefarious buzz-pleased to report here have none such coming from this set(manufacture date 12/09). This may have been a defect in earlier runs( though I do see some posting here who made buys after 2009 and report a buzz-I’d be curious of set’s manufacture date). Also some have attributed this buzz to sets operating at higher altitudes (elevations)-I sit at about 700 ft. and no buzz-how high is TOO high?

About the set-wonderful! Had looked at its higher end brethren (600 & 800 series) but found I didn’t need ,nor would fully utilise -all the bells and whistles offered (widgets-wireless connectivity,ect). Have a laptop for that and couldn’t justify spending $500 or more for the toys. And unless you’re a deep videophile ,doubt you’d notice any discernible difference in pic quality. As previously noted by others here-blacks are deep,colors are vivid,no IR, smooth motion and a very user friendly menu.Also the set itself is visually pleasing,glass-like frame which begs for wall mounting(which mine is). For my family, this set was the best “bang for the buck” out there-recommended……
Rating: 5 / 5

Richie"Bananas" says:

I have several LCD tv’s in my home and this PLASMA is by far the best. On the LCD tv’s I occasionaly experience small boxes and blurr during quick moving scenes even with the 120hz. The picture on this PN58B550 is incredible, colors are natural and are realistic and there is no blurr or boxes on the screen during quick moving scenes. As for the size its perfect, and its not as heavy as the plasmas use to be. The speakers produce very acceptable sound. All in all this is a fantastic tv. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Rating: 5 / 5