UN55B8000 SAMSUNG

Had my UN55B8000 SAMSUNG TV a couple of weeks now. It has more than lived up to the hype. Hooked it up and put on a blu-ray disk. Even the delivery guy's jaw dropped, and he's delivered/set up hundreds of TVs.

TV is only inch and half thick and only weighs 60 pounds or so.

In fact, it is sometimes almost too good. When viewing people on HD you can see every little mole, scar, wrinkle, stray hair, makeup, five o'clock shadow, makeup line, etc. I'm sitting here watching the news and I can clearly see tiny pieces of lint on the guy's black suit. I'm guessing the talking heads of tomorrow are all going to have to have much better complexions.

If you like to tweak your TV this one provides a lot of different controls. There are already some websites that will give you what they consider good tweaks to maximize the pic. You can also look for the B7000 tweaks. Looks pretty darn fantastic right out of the box so if you aren't a techie, don't worry about it.

Sounds..not particularly good or bad, but I don't want TV speakers taking up space anyway. If you are going to spend this kind of money for a TV you should be using your stereo system.

Some reviewers were complaining about the number of inputs. Again, how many is enough. I run my PS3, XBOX360, IPOD, and the Dish box through my Denon and so I only use one HDMI.

You can plug it into the internet. No set-up, just plug it in. First thing it did was download 12 updates to itself. Have no idea what they did but ...didn't cause any problems. It automatically loads up some of Yahoo's widgets. Fun to try but...not something I have really gone back and used much. Also has some built in content...recipes, artwork, etc. that I haven't bothered to look at.

You can plug in USB drives and view content directly off the drive.

I long ago got rid of my roof antenna. I bought a little Turk indoor antenna and plugged that in so I can pop over into over-the-air signals and watch TV. It will automatically search and find the on-air channels. It even downloads some kind of TV guide from the internet for the channels it finds.

I also wanted to see if there was any signal degradation from Dish. I haven't noticed the HD degradation with Dish that I had with Comcast. The way Comcast packed the HD signals you could see a real difference between OTA and the packed pics.

Samsung also provides software which allows you to use your PC as a server. Then you can display your pics, music, etc on the TV. Took a little playing around but was easy compared to some of the others I've tried to use.

I've played games with both my PS3 and the XBOX360. No problems. No pixelating. Did not bother to change TV over to game mode. I haven't fooled around with the 240Hz function. I just leave it on standard.

I'm sure there are other features I haven't tried. With the ability to update itself over the internet I have no doubt they will teach it even more amazing tricks.

I've set up my Harmony 880 Pro to control all my devices including the IPOD. IPOD menu/info will display (through my Denon) on the TV.

All of the above features are great but the main thing is... the picture is just absolutely mind-blowing wonderful.

So, fantastic TV. I am VERY happy with it. Obviously I highly recommend it.

More Detail...

I have been looking for a big screen for a while now. Years even. I had pretty much resolved that I was going to get the Sony XBR 8. It has local dimming and is nearly universally referred to as the best LCD unit out there. My problem was that I wanted something with some of the more modern connectivity and interactive bells and whistles. The Sony XBR 9 and 10 added some functions, but were inferior to the XBR 8. Then came the UN55B8000 SAMSUNG. Just like the XBR 8, it does not do edge lighting - but rather uses LED for lighting only in the areas that need it (local dimming - it REALLY gives you deep blacks). I got a chance to see the Sony XBR 8 and the UN55B8000 SAMSUNG side by side and while the Sony was good... the Samsung took the game to a whole new level.

To give you an idea of my setup, I have DirecTV and a PS3 which I use to play my Blu-Ray, Netflix and DVD discs.

The very first thing you will want to do when you hook up your set is connect it to the internet and check for updates. When the set was delivered, I jumped right in and start checking out the picture quality with DirecTV. As I went through channels, some in HD, I was starting to get worried. I was seeing some areas that seemed washed out and was noticing things that had me thinking that the set was not handling motion as well as I had seen in the showroom. However, once I checked for updates, found some, and installed them, everything was well. The issues I was noticing went away and the set performed flawlessly. Now any items I see are the result of the quality of the content.

CONNECTING IT: Do NOT pay tons of money for HDMI cables. You can trust me on this. I bought one $99 cable a $45 cable and a $9.99 cable. I tested all three and there was absolutely no difference in picture quality. The bottom line is that the signal is digital... it is a string of ones and zeros. You either get a picture or you don't. I tested these cables for a week and was able to return the expensive ones. This is not like the old stereo speaker cables or component cables that used to connect your tape deck to your receiver or your receiver to your TV. You could actually make an argument for expensive cables in those cases because it actually carried the signal. In this case, it just does not make a difference.

The HD content on DirecTV looks amazing. The lower resolutions stuff is REALLY going to stand out as bad, but that is the result of the source.

Netflix content surprised me. Now you can get Netflix content off a variety of boxes... so I cannot comment on all of them. However, I can tell you that with either an xbox 360 or a PS3, you are going to be pleasantly surprised by the quality this set gives you. The HD content on netflix is not quite as dazzling as your going to come to expect from HD, but it is amazing considering it is streaming material.

The quality of Blu-Ray discs (I have so far only played Star Trek and 300, but they are STUNNING) on the PS3 is top notch. If you have an upscaling DVD player (Which the PS 3 does) you will find that the DVDs will look better than you have ever seen them look before. I just sat down to watch 'V for Vendetta' on DVD and it looked amazing. The upscaling is definitely improving the experience and the Samsung is really making it look its best.

Whatever you connect to the UN55B8000 SAMSUNG is going to look amazing. However, don't count on them sounding amazing. The built in speakers are a bit problematic. They seem to be pointing towards the back of the unit. As built in speaker go, I have heard much better. I am currently shopping for some external speakers. I suppose the good news here is that the unit has easy support for external speakers.

The interface is also a bit of a pain. Not horrible, but a bit wonky and the menus seem to lag a bit behind input from the remote. The one ray of sunshine in this is that you will find that fine tuning the picture is relatively easy and straightforward. I was able to get a picture I was happy with after about 20 minutes of fiddling - without ever having to dig up the manual. Also, the presets are actually pretty good. I don't think you need to tweak the "Movie" setting at all if you are doing a Blu Ray or DVD night with the lights turned off and some popcorn in your lap.

It integrates easily with a ton of things from iPods to iPhones and hard drives. It also supports widgets - but I have to admit I have not really jumped onto the bandwagon just yet.

The delivery from Amazon came off without a hitch. The guys brought it in, set it up and let me do a quick inspection to make sure it was not damaged in any way.

While the price tag may seem a bit high, I think you will find that the price on Amazon is just about the best out there. I did quite a bit of shopping and found I was saving more than a few hundred dollars buying it on Amazon - it also helped that I had a ton of Amazon gift certificates at the ready! If you are on Amazon Prime, delivery is then free and once you do all the math, you are saving a whole lot of money.

But, is it worth the extra grand to get this unit instead of the Sony XBR 8? No doubt in my mind. I have since gone back to the store and seen the Sony and can clearly see the contrast difference. The UN55B8000 SAMSUNG just blows everything else out of the water when it comes to reproducing those deep, rich blacks. With the better HD quality source, you are going to feel like you could reach right into the set and grab a hold of Leonardo DiCaprios spindly little neck.

More Detail...

Let's get straight to the point. This is the local dimming LED television we have all been waiting for. It is the best television available today. Yes, it's even better than the famed Pioneer Kuro 151. I owned a Kuro 151 for over a year and I can tell you with 100% certainty that this television outperforms it in every regard. The black level on this UN55B8000 SAMSUNG is literally twice as dark as the Pioneer Kuro. The black level on this television is so dark, endless, and infinite that you can't even imagine it. The black level is so dark that the entire television disappears if you are viewing it in a completely darkened room and the scene goes completely dim before switching to the next scene. I'm not exaggerating. You literally can't see the television at all anymore when the scene goes completely dim. It's like the black of being in a completely pitch black cave. I'm not sure it should even be called a black level on this television because it's not a level of black. When I say that, I mean there is no possible way you could measure it.

It is legitimately pitch black. It's as dark as you can possibly imagine. If you want to have a little fun, go to CNET and read their review of the Sony XBR8. In the review, they discuss how the XBR8 is capable of achieving a darker black level than the Kuro during certain scenes. Now go and read their review for the UN55B8000 SAMSUNG. In the review, they discuss how the UN55B8000 SAMSUNG achieves a much darker level of black than the XBR8 and how the black level performance is vastly superior to the XBR8. However they also try to say that the UN55B8000 SAMSUNG achieves the second darkest level of black -- after the Kuro -- they have ever seen. Well, you can't talk about how the XBR8 can get darker than the Kuro, then discuss how the UN55B8000 SAMSUNG achieves a much darker black level than the XBR8, but then try to say that the UN55B8000 SAMSUNG has only the second darkest black level you've ever seen. CNET, this makes you come across as hypocritical idiots.

It also clearly brings out your bias for plasma, especially Pioneer Plasma. I owned the Kuro 151, and I am now the owner of the UN55B8000 SAMSUNG. If you compared the black level of these two televisions side by side, it wouldn't even be close. A Plasma simply cannot go 100% literal black. The individual plasma cells can go completely dim, but they still have an electric current flowing through them, and they still have to use a black filter to keep from showing the light of the current in them. Plasma's are also using phosphors which will never be able to go completely dark. The Pioneer Kuro can go very dark and achieves an amazing inky black, but a local dimming LED -- when done correctly -- can completely shut out every single bit of light to any given area of the panel.

This results in a black level that is so dark it cannot be measured. It is the only way to achieve legitimate black. Let's discuss a few other performance aspects of this television. Words cannot describe the colors on this television. The color accuracy is absolutely flawless. Colar saturation is also superb. The features are excellent, and only matched a few televisions available today. The video processing and motion resolution are unmatched. The 240Hz with LED motion plus resolve all 1080 moving lines. This is one of the only televisions ever made that can resolve all 1080 moving lines. This television exhibits no blooming whatsoever. The extreme contrast ratio makes the glossy screen a non issue. The only way you will ever notice the glossy screen is if you are viewing a really dark film in a brightly sunlit room. If you are viewing bright content such as sporting events in a room that is full of sunlight with a window directly facing the television, you would not see any reflection whatsoever. The glossy screen and ultra clear panel also help this television preserve an identical level of black regardless of room lighting conditions.

I also own the XBR8 and while the matte screen is great for a room with a window facing the television, the matte screen does not allow the television to preserve that deep, dark, inky exact same level of black. I certainly see some brightening of the black level in a non-darkened viewing environment with my XBR8. It definitely still achieves a great level of black, but I just wanted to mention this for anybody who is considering matte vs. glossy. With all of this said, I just want to close by once again stating that this television will not let you down in any way, shape, or form. As my headline/title suggests, it is simply is simply the best. I truly believe that this television will be used as a reference to compare all future televisions against for some time to come. There's not going to be a television released that exceeds the performance of this television for a very long time.

We might see a 2010 plasma compare to this in a completely darkened environment, but plasma viewing will never be able to compete with this in a moderately dim to very bright environment. Yes, plasma's -- the top of the line ones -- have came a long way as far as their anti-reflective screens and increased brightness, but the image displayed by even the very best plasma is still unacceptable in a bright room. The black level still turns to grey, and the colors still wash out. This is never going to change. The technology inherent to the plasma image will never be able to present an image that excels in a bright room. I love my giant 65 inch plasma in my 100% dark at all times theater room, but with this UN55B8000 SAMSUNG you truly get the best of both worlds. The picture performance outshines even the best plasma in a completely darkened room and absolutely blows every other television out of the water in a bright room viewing environment. I hope this helps. Thank you.

More Detail...