Samsung PN50A550 1080P Plasma
There is one feature of commercial displays that a lot of calibrators do not generally like to discuss, at least publicly. Not all displays are equally good candidates for calibration. A couple of variables come into play here.
For a display to be a good candidate for calibration, you have to consider both factors. Some displays (not very many) come from the factory fairly close to specification and frankly don't need much adjustment. A much more common problem is that the display needs calibration, but it lacks the controls necessary to make a good calibration possible.
Having said this, I can now honestly say that the 2008 1080p Samsung plasmas are perhaps the best candidates for calibration I have ever seen. First, they don't look great out-of-box. As is common for most manufacturers, the default settings on the Samsungs are designed to give the display more visibility on a well-lit showroom floor than they are for good performance. Second, they have an unusual wealth of properly functioning controls easily accessible in the user menu that allows a calibrator to dial in a nearly perfect image. I calibrated one of these recently, and when I had finished both I and the client were stunned by how much better the image looked. This is not marketing hype. If you have one of these, in my opinion it is foolish not to get it professionally calibrated.
Feature set
What particularly impressed me about this display was that the user menu contains controls for just about every aspect of image performance that a calibrator cares about, including:
Special mention is owed to the Samsung's color management system (CMS). It allows a calibrator with the right equipment to accurately adjust all aspects of the primary and secondary color performance. The human interface is a little more difficult to use than similar systems found on the Sharp and Epson 1080p projectors, but the result is the same: beautiful and accurate color. To my eyes, this one of the most important aspects of image quality, right there along with contrast and sharpness.
In fact, the only downside of this display is its black level, which is not as good as the 2008 Panasonic or Pioneer plasmas. On the other hand, its post-calibration color is considerably better than the Pioneer and its processing is considerably better than the Panasonic. Dollar-for-dollar, I think that this is about the best flat panel display available right now, although the Panasonic 50PZ800U offers very close competition. The Pioneers look nice, and have the best black levels of the bunch, but they are awfully expensive and their color is not as good as either of the previously-mentioned alternatives.
Contrast and light output
Out of the box the image was very bright, in fact too bright for comfortable evening viewing. Also, you should not max out a plasma's contrast setting in the first 100 hours of use if you want to avoid problems with image burn-in. After lowering the contrast and properly adjusting brightness, I measured a contrast ratio of 1353:1 (35.8/0.026 fL). Unfortunately, the client's room was not completely light controlled, so the actual black level is probably somewhat lower than this, which would give a better contrast figure. When we watched actual program material, the subjective contrast certainly seemed better, so I am guessing that a more accurate figure would be just south of 2000:1.
Gamma
Also, as is typical of factory settings, especially for plasma displays for some reason, the gamma was much too low initially. I made changes to the gamma adjustment and got a nearly perfect 2.2 reading across the entire range. This is exemplary performance.
Having a linear gamma in the correct range (2.2-2.6) is very important for perceived image depth and dynamic contrast.
Grayscale Tracking
In the default setting the gray scale was too blue. This was easily remedied by the white balance adjustments located conveniently in the user menu. As you can see from the charts below, post-calibration the grayscale was about as close to perfect as is it possible to get. The dE from 20-100% was generally less than 1.0!
Color Performance
Here is where the Samsung really showed what it can do. Its color accuracy post-calibration is as good as any commercially-available display and much, much better than many of the most expensive and popular displays. Please do not attempt to use the CMS to adjust the color unless you have the right equipment and training. You will likely just screw up the image. However, if you do that you can always revert to one of the color space presets that the Samsung provides. Movie mode is the most accurate.
Color Decoding
This is one area in which this year's crop of Samsung 1080p plasmas is so much better than last years' offerings. The Movie mode in the 2007 models gave reasonably good color performance, but the color decoding was screwed up. However, the CMS in the 2008 models allows you to adjust this. I am using the term "Color decoding" in a loose way to refer to the relative brightness of the primary colors. Most consumers don't understand this because the only chart they ever see that depicts color performance is the CIE chart shown above. But this chart does not display color brightness, which would require a three-dimensional representation. In any case, it is an essential aspect of color performance that is not well understood.
Subjective impressions
When finished, we tuned to a high-definition cable channel and I was astonished by the clarity, sharpness, depth, and realism that the display provided. It was simply one of the best images I have ever seen. Because of the great processing and inherent advantages in viewing angle, I saw none of the image artifacts you occasionally see on even high-end LCD models. Because of the astonishing color accuracy and nearly perfect grayscale tracking, skin tones looked deeply saturated but also completely natural, without any hint of sunburn or yellow or orange tinge that you see too often on displays who lack the Samsung's color performance.
If I was going to buy a plasma display today, then this would be it.