Can LCDs effectively compete with plasma TVs? Samsung says “yes they can” with this top-drawer 55-incher, which manages to overcome most of LCD’s traditional weaknesses by way of deep, rich blacks, detailed shadows, and superb video processing. “Any traditional notions of what LCD can and can’t deliver are now void,” declared reviewer Michael Trei, and who are we to argue?

Test Report

Ten months might not seem like a long time, but it is an eternity when it comes to TV technology. If you read “The Great Flat-Panel Face-Off” (February / March 2008), we recall that we discovered that a state-of-the-art plasma TVs can generally outperform the best LCD model. But we also said that LCD technology still has a lot of tricks up its sleeve, and we might expect major progress before too long. Well, with the release of Samsung’s latest top-of-the-line LCD LN55A950, that time is now.

LCDs have always been good at providing the kind of incisive and brilliant image that keeps them flying off the shelves in brightly lit Costcos. But their image contrast and shadow detail was never quite as impressive as the best plasma. Unlike a plasma, where each pixel generates its own light and can be turned on and off individually, most use a fluorescent backlight LCD that is constantly on, with crystals LCD opening and closing sequence to block light. This system is not perfect because each pixel leaves a bit ‘light bleed through even when fully closed, resulting in a lower overall level of black.

One solution is to replace the fluorescent light source with a series of white LED lamps, which can selectively turn on the TV lights down or even outside of image areas that are very dark or blacks. Samsung used this technology in model LN-T5281F in the flat face to face, and can also be found on the LN55A950.
While LED backlighting is probably the most significant feature LN55A950, this flagship model also includes a dizzying array of other features and settings. A rate of 120 Hz screen-refresh now is higher than standard LCD, but the 950 version lets you choose between three levels of smoothing motion. You can connect the Samsung to a home network and use the Ethernet port set to stream video from your computer, you can also connect online to a server from Samsung that provides constantly updated news, stock prices, and local weather forecasts .

Samsung calls its style house current “a touch of color, because of the thin strip of color embedded in the frame of the TV. With the set of the 950 series, which the band is gray (a touch of gray?), And the chassis has a very thin fabric that looks a bit ‘like fish scales. The focus here is obviously more about the features and benefits than trying to create a frame or super-tight thin plate, so that the 950 is actually a bit ‘bulkier than some of the latest super-slim models.

Together with the Ethernet connection, you get a full range of inputs including four HDMI 1.3 ports, two component-video inputs, RGB computer input, a USB port and a connection to RF ATSC tuner set. The remote is one of the best I met in an instant, with a logical layout and a fully backlit keyboard. Nor do you need to locate the light button as it includes a motion sensor automatically turns on the keyboard every time the remote is moved. There are six aspect-ratio modes available (depending on the format of input-signal), including a dot-to-point mode called Just Scan. Unfortunately, instead of having a single dedicated button that lets you scroll through the options-aspect ratio, you must perform several keystrokes using the menu on the screen.

Reviews TOSHIBA REGZA 46SV670U 46-INCH LCD HDTV

Feature

TOSHIBA REGZA 46SV670U Specifications

Video 1080p Full HD Display 2,000,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio CrystalCoat™ Contrast Enhancer FocaLight™ LED Backlight with Local Dimming ClearScan 240™ with Backlight Scanning Resolution+ Super Resolution Technology 10-Bit LCD Panel PixelPure® 5G 14-Bit Internal Digital Video Processing AutoView™ DynaLight™ Dynamic Back-Light Control Cinespeed™ LCD Panel Cinema Mode 24 fps (3:2 Pulldown) TheaterWide® Modes ColorMaster™ Color Control Color Temperature Control Built-In ATSC/NTSC/QAM Digital Tuning Native Mode™ Deep Color Official DivX® Certified Product

Audio Invisible Speakers Audyssey EQ™ Mute/Half Mute

Convenience Deep Lagoon™ Infinity Flush Front Design with AR Coating REGZA-LINK® (HDMI™ CEC)** Gaming Mode Input Labeling Picture Freeze Auto Aspect Control Channel Browser™ Channel Labeling USB Port SD Card Slot Expert Mode Sleep Timer 4-Item Universal Remote* Logo Light On/Off

Jackpacks HDMI™ Digital Inputs: 4 (1 Side) ColorStream® HD Component Video Inputs (2) Side A/V / Rear A/V / Rear S-Video: 1/1/1 High Res PC Input (S-XGA, 15 pin, D-sub) IR Pass Through Dolby® Digital Optical Output Analog Audio Out (Fixed)

Weights and Dimensions Dimensions: 45.59″ x 28.46″ x 4.45″ (WxHxD) Weight With Stand: 72.8 lbs. Dimensions With Stand: 45.59″ x 30.83″ x 13.58″ (WxHxD) Weight With Packaging: 90.4 lbs. Dimensions With Packaging: 48.74″ x 34.76″ x 17.52″ (WxHxD)

General UPC: 022265002575 **Use of REGZA-LINK®, which is a feature based on HDMI-CEC, requires an HDMI-CEC compatible display device. Depending on the display device specifications, some or all REGZA-LINK® functions may not work even if the display device is HDMI-CEC compatible. *In some cases, the remote control may not operate additional devices, in which case, it is suggested that you use the original remote control for the applicable device. Viewing 24 frames per second requires content created in 480p / 24 frames/second. Effect of Resolution+™ enhancements may vary depending upon the input signal and content quality. This TV may not support some MP3/WMA/JPEG/DivX recordings due to differences in recording formats. See owner’s manual for more information. Design specifications and dimensions are not final and may be subject to change. Please confirm specific features and exact dimensions by reference to the product itself.

Two different remotes come with the UN55B8500. A mini remote, shaped like a flattened egg, can turn the set on and off, adjust the volume, and change channels. The larger remote is fully functional (apart from being menu driven rather than having direct input selection) and fully backlit.

I did have a few minor quibbles with the Samsung’s generally good onscreen menus. The most annoying thing was that some of them timed out too fast, particularly those associated with white balance and color space calibration. The remote’s joystick feature was also overly sensitive, especially on a right click. This tended to trigger the onscreen cursor to move down rather than to the right.

I’m a movie and broadcast HDTV kind of guy. I’m not yet into all the new bells and whistles that let you pull movies, music, and photos from either a USB device plugged into one of the set’s USB inputs or from a home network. But the Samsung lets you do all of these things.

I also haven’t greatly explored the bottomless pit of Internet TV. But you can do this on the Samsung as well. You’re limited to the sites that Samsung has partnered with to bring you a variety of Widgets such as YouTube, streaming Blockbuster movies, and Yahoo, with its Gallery, Weather, News, Finance, and photo-sharing features.

E-Motion Control
The UN55B8500 is a 240-hertz set; it operates at a constant 240-Hz refresh rate for all sources. If the source is film based and transferred at 1080p/24, the Samsung repeats each frame nine times (10:10 pulldown) to bring the source frame rate up to 240 Hz. If the set receives a film-based source other than 1080p/24—that is, one mastered with 3:2 pulldown—it recognizes this, converts it to 24 Hz (by eliminating the 3:2 pulldown), and again repeats frames as needed by the 240-Hz refresh rate. If the source isn’t film based, the set repeats frames as needed for a 240-Hz refresh.

The UN55B8500 also offers frame interpolation, which it calls Real 240Hz, to reduce motion lag. When it’s switched on, the set interpolates the added frames instead of simply repeating them, which cleans up motion blur dramatically. Some viewers like the result; others hate what it does to the look of film, which is smoothed out so much that movies end up looking like soap operas. However, for some films, that might be appropriate!

Real 240Hz offers four active modes. The most intriguing is Custom, which has separate controls for Judder Reduction (for film-based sources) and Blur Reduction (for video-based material). Despite the distinctive names, each of these controls dials in frame interpolation. But they let you set different levels of interpolation for each type of source. When Custom is engaged, the set distinguishes between a film and video source and automatically dials in your chosen setting, as appropriate. If you don’t like what interpolation does to movies at any setting, you can set Judder to 0 and Blur to perhaps 7 or 8. The set will then switch on frame interpolation for video programming such as sports but leave it off for films.

A separate feature, LED Motion Plus, cycles horizontal blocks of the LED backlights on and off, scrolling from top to bottom once every frame (1/240 of a second). This shuts off the backlighting while the LCD is changing states from on to off, or back, so you don’t see the lag that occurs during this transition. It also significantly reduces image brightness.

However, even without these features, I didn’t find motion lag to be a concern on this set. I only switched to LED Motion Plus or Real 240Hz to check them out; I left them off for all other testing and viewing.

Performance Plus
The Samsung sailed through all of our HD video processing tests without a hiccup. The Video Test Bench chart doesn’t address standard-definition upconversion (all of the VTB tests are 1080i to 1080p except for Scaling, which is 480p to 1080p), but the Samsung earned a passing grade on that level as well. It only exhibited a borderline result on HD 3:2 pulldown, and it had some difficulties on the original letterboxed DVD release of Titanic—an extremely challenging test.

While many LCD sets offer matte-finished screens, Samsung’s are reflective. Like most LCD displays, the UN55B8500’s picture degrades progressively as you sit further and further off axis. But while you, the fussy videophile, will demand dibs on the middle seat, most viewers won’t be troubled as long as they stay within 30 degrees or so of center. This will cover any seat on a typical couch that’s roughly 10 feet from the set.

Before calibration, the Samsung’s black level was impressive in a way that sets local-dimming designs apart. In a darkened room, a fade to black in the program source plunged the room into complete darkness, as if the set were off. Actually, it was—or at least the LEDs were.

The calibration increased the black level a bit. I could now clearly see the screen in a black fadeout—although it was very dim—and the black bars on widescreen scope films were visible when I looked for them. There was also a slight variation in the uniformity of the blacks. The images were a little lighter on the sides of the screen than in the middle. But these variations were barely visible. They only showed when both the image on the screen and the room were very dark.

I’ve reviewed local-dimming sets that go a bit darker than the Samsung, but the visual impact of the Samsung’s black level was still first class. Plus, the measured result was about as low as our test tools will read. My favorite black-level test scenes in Spider-Man, Stargate: Continuum, and King Kong (2005) were convincingly dark, with good shadow detail and little trace of the hazy gray overlay that afflicts most ordinary LCDs. I only noticed its shortcomings in a direct side-by-side comparison with a Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-141FD on the most challenging, low-contrast scenes, such as the below-decks sequence at the beginning of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. The Samsung can run neck and neck with the discontinued and fast-disappearing KUROs in terms of color, resolution, and adjustability. It can also easily beat them in available brightness and energy efficiency. But while the Samsung approaches the KUROs’ overall black level and shadow detail, and does so in impressive fashion, it still falls short—as do all of the other sets we’ve tested, to be fair.

While the Samsung’s post-calibration color tracking was good rather than exceptional, that distinction did nothing to compromise its subjective color performance. When the program material is right, the result could be striking. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is a movie that doesn’t get much love, largely because of the cartoonish mayhem in act three. But it’s filled with brilliant color. The interiors in the Plaza Hotel, Duncan’s Toy Chest, and the shots of New York’s Christmas decorations were all jaw-dropping. You won’t be disappointed with the Samsung’s color performance.

You won’t find yourself shortchanged on detail, either. While the transfer of Home Alone 2 is a bit soft here and there, the scenes that count—all of the above and a lot more—were crisp and clean. You want more? Check out the buildup to the battle scenes in Braveheart—a nearly flawless transfer. There isn’t a trace of softness from the Samsung in these scenes, even in the longest long shots of the English and Scottish armies.

Conclusions
The Samsung UN55B8500 doesn’t just offer a wide range of useful adjustments and other features. It also provides a natural-looking picture that impressed me and all the others who had the chance to see it. Yes, it’s a bit pricey, but there’s more to being a top-of-the-pile set than Blue Light Special status. The UN55B8500 is a superb HDTV.

Samsung UN55B8500 LCD HDTV

By Thomas J. Norton   •   November, 2009 Price: $4,500 At A Glance: Deep blacks • Excellent resolution • Full range of color adjustments • Local-dimming LED technology

Back to the LED Future

Samsung, it appears, is going LED in a big way. Thirteen of its LCD sets in the 6, 7, and 8 Series use LEDs for back-lighting instead of CCFLs (cold cathode fluorescent lights), which until recently have been nearly universal in flat-panel LCD HDTVs.

While LED backlighting offers the potential for improved color performance, more uniform screen illumination, thinner sets, and less power usage, its biggest advantage is that LEDs can cycle on and off almost instantaneously. With the right implementation, this capability opens the door to dramatically improved black levels.

The technique is called local dimming. Not all LED-backlit sets are local dimmers, but two of the new Samsungs are. At the top of the pile is the 55-inch UN55B8500.

Samsung was the first company to market LED local-dimming designs. We had a look at the first generation (the LN-T5281F) back in April 2008, and the second generation (the LN55A950) in November 2008 and again in a four-set Face Off in February 2009. On each occasion, these sets made a profound impression on us, delivering black levels that we never dreamed possible in an LCD design. The opportunity to spend quality time with the third generation, which incorporates all of Samsung’s refinements of the technology into its current flagship set, was a no-brainer.

Local Dimming
By themselves, LCDs produce no light, which is why all LCD sets require backlighting behind the LCD panel. The individual LCD pixels in the panel simply act as gates, which either pass or block the backlight’s illumination as the source image requires. But LCD’s ability to block light is limited. Some of it always leaks through, even when the image calls for total black. That’s why LCDs traditionally have mediocre black levels and shadow detail.

However, by using LEDs as backlights, a new wrinkle is possible. Since LEDs can be turned on or off and can be arranged in individually addressable zones or clusters behind the screen, it’s possible to selectively dim or darken different parts of the screen to match the light and dark areas of the picture being displayed. It’s still the LCD panel’s job to produce the actual image at the pixel level. However, by selectively dimming the individual LED zones, we can help the LCDs overcome their light-blocking limitations and provide a contrast level that even the best conventional LCD displays can’t offer. This process is called local dimming or, in Samsungese, Smart LED.

Of the 13 Samsung sets that use LEDs for backlighting, only two—this one and its 46-inch sibling—employ local dimming. The rest control all of their LED backlights simultaneously.

Walk Around
While the UN55B8500 may not be the slimmest set in Samsung’s stable, at 1.6 inches thin, it isn’t far from it. And at 78 pounds with its rotatable stand, you won’t have to corral a pair of NFL linebackers to unpack it and set it up. Two average couch potatoes will do.

The Samsung has four selectable picture modes, and they’re separately adjustable for each input. I did my testing in Movie mode with appropriate settings for the most accurate picture. It also has hidden Day and Night modes that a calibrator can adjust in the service menu, lock (if desired), and activate so they appear as user menu selections. (They are not ISF modes; Samsung hasn’t signed up for ISF certification.)

The set offers the usual video controls, including a 10-step backlight adjustment. I never got above a setting of 5, and I rarely set it that high. I stayed mostly at 3 for night viewing in a darkened room and 4 for daytime viewing.

The Advanced and Picture Options menus offer additional adjustments. Some are useful, while others are best avoided. The latter include Dynamic Contrast, Flesh Tone, and Digital NR (you won’t need noise reduction with a good source).

The Black Tone control, with Dark, Darker, and Darkest set-tings, appears to be one of these avoid-it adjustments as well. However, I found that in its least aggressive setting (Dark), it subtly improved the image on some programming and didn’t clip the blacks.

A Blue Only control (available only in the Movie and Standard modes) turns off red and green. This lets you set the color and tint without resorting to color filters, which can be inaccurate on LCD sets.

There’s also a seven-step Gamma adjustment, a Color Space control (with a full set of adjustments to fine-tune the color gamut), and White Balance controls (both high and low for all three primary colors).

In my last Samsung review, I dismissed that set’s Edge Enhancement control. But we live and learn. On the UN55B8500, this adjustment had a subtle yet positive effect on the image, with no visible white-line enhancement or other artifacts (when the Sharpness control is  set correctly).

See you next update

Source : home theater Magazine

The single subjective shortcoming is the set’s fullscreen black level. True, the Panasonic is impressive in this area compared with most sets. The TC-P58V10′s blacks are as deep as those we measured on the Panasonic Premiere TH-65VX100U plasma HDTV we reviewed in the April 2009 issue. That set is a monitor (no speakers or HD tuner) marketed by Panasonic’s professional division—currently for $7,500. Of the other plasmas we’ve tested, only the Pioneer KUROs have produced consistently deeper blacks than either of these Panasonics, and most have been far worse.

It’s only by that standard, and that of the best LCD local-dimming sets, that the TC-P58V10 comes up a little short. You will dearly see the black bars in the widest widescreen movies (movies shot at 2.35:1 or thereabouts). And on ultra-challenging material such as the belowdecks scenes at the beginning of Master ami Commander: The Far Side oj the World, or the decay raft sequence in chapter 13 (“A Small Surprise”) of the same film, you’ll see a trace of the faded, foggy look that
characterizes virtually all modern displays short of the state of the art. Its these types of scenes that make you wish for better blacks on practically every set on the market-including the al most-there black level on this Panasonic.

Fortunately, such scenes are relatively rare in most films, even rarer on broadcast television shows that aren’t called The X-Files or Fringe, and nonexistent on sports. Most dark movie scenes consist of a mix of dark areas with enough bright highlights to give the eye the sensation of decent contrast. What’s most important on such scenes is good shadow detail (related to absolute black level but not quite the same thing) and a punchy, well-saturated look that makes even brighter scenes realistically pop. It’s this type of performance that has kept Panasonic plasmas high in the running in our last two multi-set Pace Offs, even against sets that can produce deeper full-screen black levels.

On the other hand, the Panasonic’s color would be hard to improve on in any respect. Yes, we’ve measured slightly better post-calibration color tracking. But the deviations here are well below the levels that are visibly distinguishable from ideal. When you combine this with a nearly perfect color gamut in THX mode, the result is unlikely to disappoint anyone. Greens and fleshtones are particularly impressive. We see green foliage and skintones nearly every day. While we tolerate a range of variations in our video sources depending on the lighting (and in the creative color choices made in many films), we can easily see when they look wrong. They aren’t wrong here. Other colors are impressive as well, as long as you choose THX mode. In other modes, the color gamut is oversaturated. In particular, the reds in those modes jump off the screen at you. Impressive, but distracting. And wrong.

Comparisons and Conclusions

At 58 inches (diagonal), the Panasonic is just slightly larger than the 55-inch Samsung UN55B8500 LCD HDTV also reviewed in this issue (see page 32). And at $2,700, the Panasonic is considerably cheaper. Nevertheless, when I viewed the two sets side by side after calibration, they looked strikingly similar at first. Both had virtually identical color (after calibration). However, the Samsung did win in small but important ways. Its blacks were generally better on the most challenging material. But on occasional shots, such as a densely packed star field against the infinity of space, the Panasonic clearly showed more stars, although they were presented against a lighter black background. The Samsung was also a little sharper, although it would be hard to criticize either set in this regard. On the Panasonic’s side of the ledger, in addition to s’\7e and value, was its off-axis performance. No LCD can equal a plasma in this respect. You can sit almost 180 degrees off axis on a plasma set and still experience an image that’s virtually unchanged in quality from the on-axis position.
I’ve mentioned the Pioneer KUROs’ black level superiority already, so I’ll only add that on those star fields, the Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-141FD (the 60-inch set used in the comparison, HT, May 2009) shows as many stars as the Panasonic. It also sets them against an inky, nearly pure black background—an effect that never fails to make me gasp. In terms of color and resolution, the Panasonic and Pioneer ran an even race. And it’s only fair to emphasize here that the KUROs are not only no longer in production, they were designed to be sold at far higher prices than the Panasonic ($7,000 for the 60-inch Elite KURO PRO-141FD).

So was this an unfair comparison with far pricier sets? Perhaps, but those were the sets that I had on hand, ready for a side-by-side comparison using identical program material. More importantly, we all want a really big flat-panel display that will produce great color and the finest details against a completely black background for less than $3,000, But then wed also like to find a new Porsche for a pittance as well. Of course, we’re not likely to realize either dream any-time soon, but until then.
the Panasonic TC-P58V10 will come as close as an)’ current production plasma to satisfying the affordable dreams of nearly any HDTV junkie. As for the Porsche, you’re on your own.

This is the third best full-screen black level we’ve ever measured on a plasma set. It’s exceeded only by the last couple ol generations of Pioneer KUROs (as a group) and the Panasonic Premiere TH-65VX100U professional model mentioned in the review. The latter was measured with the 25 IRE+PLUGE pattern on Digital Video Essentials: HQ Basics, which allows for a slightly lower setting of the Brightness control than the Spoors a Munsil High Definition Benchmark Blu-ray Edition used here. Using DVE on the TC-P58V10 produced a black level of 0.005 foot-lamberts—the same result we obtained on the TH-65VX100U. The latter sold for $10,000 when we reviewed it back in April 2009. Other recent Panasonic consumer sets have had considerably higher black levels, but they’re still consistently better than the current production plasma sets we’ve tested recently from LG and Samsung—the other two major set makers still in the plasma hunt.

The color tracking (measured in the Warm 1 Color Temp selling) was fair at best out of the box. In our experience, even THX-certitied sets need some calibration love. Ihe calibration produced a better result, but I elected to let it go a little blue across the low-mid brightness region (but no more than just a bit over 6700K) to avoid excessive red shift in the darkest grays. (The IHX calibration was done in the service menu, starting from the Normal color temperature setting. The THX mode is called Cinema in the service menu.) The Delta E after calibration maxed out at 3.63 at 40 IRE and was under 2.2 at all other points.
The color gamut is shown by the white triangle in the CIE chart, the Rec.709HD standard by the (barely visible) black triangle. In THX, as shown, the color points are nearly perfect. This is not true in the other picture modes (not shown), which produced an oversaturated gamut.—TJN

Specifications

Panasonic VIERA TC-P58V10 Plasma HDTV: SPECIFICATIONS