I had the c8000 55" LED for over 3 weeks and loved the bright and clear picture, but it was hard to get the settings right for normal viewing, the viewing angle was atrocious vs. even LCD screens, and parts of the screen in dark scenes still have some clouding. I sent the LED back and purchased the c8000 58" plasma. I'm very happy with it so far, especially after tweaking the settings. Now, I have all the pop of the LED but with consistent colors, better blacks and unlimited viewing angle. The details. . . .
Pros
Great uniform picture - great price the $ vs. LED. Easy to self-calibrate vs. the LED Samsung.
Remote is very nice compared to the bluray remote (same as the c8000 LED remote), but I'm using a Harmony 900 for all my components so it isn't used.
You can turn off the motion judder canceller and ditch the soap opera effect when watching movies. Cinema Smooth makes high-end movies look great.
Bright screen compared to plasmas I've had.
Real 3D content (Monsters v. Aliens) looks great (even with a 1.3 highspeed HDMI cable -- however, 2D to 3D conversion of regular programs gives only nice depth - not pop out 3d.
Very thin TV - fairly lightweight for a plasma - nice stand (stainless) and bezel (dark gray), but not as cool in my opinion as the LED version which has a stainless bezel.
Netflix app works through both through the TV and the bluray and surprisingly has good pic quality - not bluray like, but close to DVD quality with no glitches (assuming you have a fast internet connection).
Much less screen glare than the c8000 LED. This TV does not have a matte screen like many other LCD HDTVs, but Real Black Filter kills the glare much better than the c7000 plasma I saw at BB. Note that the c8000 LED has an incredibly shiny screen, making it difficult to watch in a bright room.
Like all plasmas, the screen looks the same despite your seating position in the room. The c8000 LED has a good picture when straight on - but move a few feel off center and the picture would fade substantially. No such problems here.
Cons
TV isn't wifi - need a $80 adapter or have to hardwire it - TV firmware didn't update through the adapter - had to update on Samsung site with USB.
Overall a top notch TV that is larger than the LED, has a better and more uniform picture, lower glare, better off angle viewing and is cheaper. What is not to like? Here are my settings after having the TV a month. If you have a bright room or if you like the "pop" of the LED, these settings will blow you away. If you have a dark basement or watch only at night, dial the CellLight back to 10 or so and maybe put the color on normal vs. cool and you'll be set:
CAL-DAY Mode, Cell Light 20, Brightness 50, Color 50, tint 50/50, Sharpness 40, cool, native, MJC off, Filmmode 1, black (darker), dynamic contrast (med), gamma 2, other settings on auto. Cinema Smooth to "on" but it only works on bluray 24p input. Samsung PN58C8000 58-Inch 1080p 3D Plasma HDTV (Black)
The first 5 weeks with this TV were fantastic, very similar experience to all of the positive reviews - we were more than happy with our purchase. That ended after 5 weeks, we had turned the TV on, went into the kitchen to make lunch, came back to a black screen. When we looked closely, we saw a spider like crack underneath the glass and the TV would not turn back on. The TV had been sitting on its TV stand since amazon had delivered it without being touched or moved. We are currently working with the Samsung warranty to get this problem fixed but I just heard back that they say it is "physical damage" and not covered under warranty. After some research, I found a forum on c-net dedicated to this issue - hundreds of angry consumers with the same exact experience we had - all flat panel samsung tvs that mysteriously cracked under the glass without anyone touching the unit. In most cases it took them weeks/months of complaining and filing to get resolution from Samsung - usually with first a rejection under warranty. It is just not worth the trouble. I am hoping Samsung comes through to fix the issue, but it is not looking good. At this point, I'd recommend avoiding Samsung all together (believe me, I did not think that a couple of months ago - I thought they were top of the line which is why we were willing to spend so much on the tv) - the complaints I found were on Samsung brand tv's specifically. They obviously have a defect issue with the number of complaints I have seen. This is my first ever negative review and I have avoided posting anything until I gave Samsung a chance to fix the issue and after hearing that we incurred the "physical damage" and that is not covered, I have to say something and post this review - it is just not right what they are doing. I plan on filing with the BBB and joining all the consumers on the forum who have already filed with the NJ Attorney General's office.
An amazing plasma TV! Wanted to upgrade from a bulky and heavy projection TV upstairs to new flat screen TV to make a media room in finished basement. Wanted latest 3D technology that wouldn't become obsolete so soon. Didn't go to local stores to view demonstration of TVs since don't know how well they are set up. Instead relied on Internet reviews posted on various models by owner of new TVs. Samsung PN58C8000 plasma recived lots of good reviews including comments on how picture didn't change with viewing angle or across screen, 600 Hz sub-field motion, deep blacks and only 1.5" thick.
This was most expensive purchase we've made thru Internet & it turned out fine! Order was completed on a Tuesday morning, set was shipped Tuesday afternoon and arrived at our Ohio home that Friday morning in fine condition. Set was placed on VAS TV stand we got from local Walmart that allowed 70 degrees rotation left or right so it could be viewed at kitchen or media room. Stand that came with TV provided 20 degrees left or right rotation. Used HDMI 1.4 cables to connect Samsung 3D Blu-ray disc player BD-C6900 and cable box. Set had no noticeable buzzing with or without ferrite cores on power cord which smooth out power voltage spikes. Set was manufactured in June 2010 so buzzing reported by some earlier reviews must have since been fixed by Samsung. We have not yet used Internet to upgrade TV firmware.
2D
After using and testing this plasma PN58C8000 TV for over two & a half weeks, it is capable of providinig an essentially perfect picture at any angle and across screen from edge to edge. It is amazing how picture has much better detail, bolder colors, brighter screen and very sharply outlined text than older 1080i projection TV.
Many adjustments can be made to picture in Mode, Advanced Settings and Options menus. Most can be left either at factory settings, Auto or changed once for viewer preference. Mode provides six pre-set picture type configurations of cell light, contrast, brightness, sharpness, color and tint(G/R) plus BD Wise configuration for Blu-ray discs playing on Samsung 3D Blu-ray player. These allow picture settings to be selected for one's preference, program source & time of day. Write down factory settings for each picture type before making any changes to them. TV remote is a nice contemporary design that allows quick access to picture Mode using Tools or Menu buttons.
Samsung 3D Blu-ray disc player has inter-connectivity features of BD Wise and Anynet+ of this TV that automatically sets optimum resolution and other linked operations thru HCMI 1.4 cable. It is one-half the size of older Blu-ray players, loads discs in one-third the time and has neat contemporary touch controls with blue see-thru disc window and logo. Has built-in wireless LAN which we haven't set up yet. Provides great picture for Blu-ray and DVD Movies & is frequently bundled with Samsung 3D TVs.
There are two test patterns for settings on shades or colors in Menu- Picture- Advanced Setting- Expert Patterns. But much more comprehensive HD set-up & tests are on Blu-ray disc, DVE HD Basics, available from Amazon.com. It explains how to set-up TV HD picture & Audio for optimum capabilities. HD video calibration patterns are provided for brightness, contrast, color, sharpness, resolution & geometry plus 1080p advanced video test patterns & demonstration videos. For Cal-Day picture mode, the TV was run thru video calibration & basic set-up patterns. This plasma TV passed every test pattern & could be set-up for exact reproduction of the incoming video.
Setting for Cal-Day mode provided by another reviewer of this TV at Amazon.com works good and only slight changes were made for viewer preference. My settings for perfect picture reproduction in semi-dark basement are: Cell Light 10, Contrast 90, Brightness 50, Sharpness 0, Color 50, Tint 50/50. Advanced Settings- Black Tone Dark, Dynamic Contrast Low, Gamma +1, others Off or Auto. Picture Options- Color Tone Normal, Film Mode Auto 1 or Cinema Smooth (only Blu-ray 24 Hz), rest normal, Auto or Off (Motion Judder Canceller Off). Cell Light can be increased to 15 or 20 if room is bright or just want very bright picture. Note that Sharpness adds artificial edge whitness not in original video & should be set to 0 for best picture fidelity. For personal preferences may want to increase Sharpness to 20- 30 or change other settings such as Black Tone, Dynamic Contrast, Gamma, Color Tone and MJC. Any of Picture Mode Setings can be changed for viewer preference.
3D
Only true 3D content available at this time was 3D movies Monsters vs Aliens and Cloudy With Chance Of Meatballs released at end of June. Viewing Monsters vs Aliens was amazing with great picture depth & occasional pop-out-of-screen events. Much, much better than old eye fatiguing red/blue 3D glasses. Shutter battery operated glasses that came with Starter Kit are very light weight and comfortable. They can fit over regular glasses & operate way off-center & up to 20 ft from IR emitter on TV's lower left corner. One neighbor viewing 3D movie on this TV said it was better looking than 3D shown at movie theaters. Samsung 3D Blu-ray disc player interacts with 3D TV so the 3D movie is automatically set for 3D picture.
It is very important to initially set 3D View Point to -1, factory settings of 0 or plus 1 resulted in ghosting & double background images for 3D Monsters vs Aliens movie. Access thru TV Menu- Picture- Enter- 3D- View Point. Once familiar with TV settings one can always go back to View Point & make adjustments to see what happens. For personal preference, Picture Options- Motion Judder Canceller can be set to Standard or Smooth. Picture Modes available for 3D movies are Standard, Movie & BD Wise.
2D to 3D
With only three clicks on remote, any incoming video from cable or Blu-ray disc player can be converted to a 3D picture. Hit 3D button, Enter & then on left double single person icon. Be sure to set focus/depth of the 3D image in Depth to 8 or 9 to give better 3D effect rather than factory setting of 4 or 5. Access thru TV Menu- Picture- Enter- 3D- Depth. 3D effect is not as deep as 3D movies & doesn't have pop-out-of-screen effects. But it gives a more realistic picture to any movie or cable program including some commercials. Like watching out of a window with background off in distance.
HD programs such as entertainment & sports benefit much from conversion to 3D. Blu-ray and even DVD movies take on a nice 3D effect- particularily with foreground/deep background scenes. Avatar 2D Blu-ray movie converted to 3D was pretty awesome, especially the flying scenes. Other movies meant for 3D, such as Journey to Center of Earth, have many scenes of foreground/deep background that have good 3D effects. Animated movies like Up, Cars, etc., really benefit from 3D conversion providing more immersion & enjoyment. Flying movies like 2012, Pearl Harbor, Amelia, etc. achieve great depth in the flying scenes. The series Over America, Over California, etc., and Wing Flight (available from Amazon.com) are really awesome when flying over cities, mountains and alongside the birds.
This TV was worth it just for the amazing 2D to 3D conversion of programs and movies since true 3D movies & cable programs are so few right now. It is entertaining just to review past viewed movies to see how more realistic the picture is.
Audio
As expected, the built-in small two speakers audio is poor, typical of flat screen TVs. It is mandatory that at least a 5.1 receiver/speaker set-up be used to get nearly the theater experience. Doesn't have to be very expensive or new system to achieve the enjoyable surround sound to go with fantastic looking movies. Samsung 3D Blu-ray disc player only has one HDMI 1.4 output, one digital optical output, analog 7.1 output & 2 Ch analog but no HCMI 1.3 output for current receivers. Newer 7.1 audio receivers have HDMI 1.4 pass-thru to TV & best Dolby & DTS capability. Otherwise a 5.1 receiver that supports lower quality Dolby Digital & DTS thru the optical connection to disc player is ok, like our 2001 audio system that can still rattle the walls. We plan to up-date to 7.1 HDMI 1.4 pass-thru system later.
Summary
A TV capable of giving perfect reproduction of original video at any viewing angle and can adjust many things for personal preferences of picture. 3D movies are awesome & gives occasional pop-out-of-screen effects. 2D to 3D conversion of cable programs & movies can give really nice realistic effect when have foreground with deep background- particularily flying & mountain scenes. TV is worth it just for 2D to 3D convesion. 3D glasses are comfortable & fit over regular glasses. Samsung 3D Blu-ray player is outstanding with small compact design, amazing quick disc load times & contemporary design with touch buttons & see-thru window above disc. This plasma cons are the poor audio which is universal with flat screen TVs making at least a separate 5.1 or better audio system mandatory for theater like expeience. (Didn't deduct rating for audio.) Also, this size plasma set uses 440W of power compared to 201W for old 57" projection TV & more than same size LCD flat panel TVs. But this is equivalent of only 2 more light bulbs being on and is small price to pay for exceptional picture with 3D capabilties. - 1080p - Samsung Plasma - Internet Tv - Hdtv'
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