Samsung PN50C7000 Plasma HDTV Reviews:
Not bad but wishing for more.
by ajcorson on April 20, 2010
Pros: Mostly gorgeous BluRay images. 3D compatible. Plenty bright.
Solid colors with good accuracy. A lot of picture adjustments
available. Ability to set picture settings specific to inputs. Easy
to navigate menus.
Cons: Dynamic contrast makes dark scenes flicker, Source select
function not compatible with macros, 4:3 stretch not automatic, grey
levels in darkest scenes difficult to impact via picture settings.
Cost a tad high. Menu didn't explain anything.
Summary: Buzz ? This unit does have a buzz but it took me a long
time before I noticed. Honestly, my DVR cable box?s hard drive and
fan are louder even when in a cabinet. I can not hear the buzz from
my normal seating distance of 10? even with all sound mutedUnless
you watch a lot of TV with the sound completely off, I?d be
surprised you would notice
Front panel button ? These are all but impossible to see in low
light and generally don?t work well when you can see them,
Source select ? You?re forced to scroll sequentially through your
options or use multiple direction and enter keys to select
something. I?d like to set macros on my remotes but this arrangement
makes it impossible.
Picture mode - The unit will not automatically switch between 4:3
stretched to full 16:9 pictures. If stretch mode is on, the 4:3 is
set correct but 16:9 is also stretched; HD no good. If stretch is
off, you get black bars for 4:3 and now 16:9 looks correct; burn in
no good. I switch between SD and HD when watching cable (all output
via HMDI). Luckily the remote has a picture size key to make
changing the setting easier but I really feel this is a day to day
nuisance that will never go away. So much for smart electronics.
3D ? This didn?t function did not work until I hit ?Picture
Correction? in the 3D menus. For me, the feature is largely a
gimmick. The picture size needs to be about 3 times as large to
really get the effect I see at IMAX. Maybe that?s an unfair
comparison but I can honestly say I have no desire to watch 3D on
this 50? set. It feels like you?re looking out of a window on the
other side of the room. When I look out of a window, I want to be
right in front of it but doing this on the TV would be bad on the
eyes. For still images, the effect is very realistic and well
received by my eyes. Moving pictures seems to have trouble. I see
multiple images all at once and it?s distracting like motion judder
on fast panning film material. Bottom line, I wouldn?t pay for this
feature unless it were at least on a 100? screen.
Dynamic contrast ? This function seems amazingly flawed when viewed
with very low light scenes. I watched 2 movies and noticed in each
that with very low light levels, the dynamic contrast would shift
the background black levels in unit steps to different levels.
Almost like a loose wire in a bad analog connection, the contrast
level just jumps and flickers. To see, get a BluRay copy of ?The
Hurt Locker? and start watching at 1:43:00 (scene 15). The picture
goes almost completely black for 3 seconds during which the screen
flickers between different black levels. If you have either BDLive
or Standard mode on, no other adjustments will make this go away.
They apparently override the dynamic contrast and set it to high. If
I set the TV to Movie mode and turn dynamic contrast to lo or off,
the affect went away. This makes both of these setting useless which
is unfortunate because they were the two that I felt looked the
best.
Black levels - Black levels with good source materials (BluRay) and
a bright image produce a spectacular picture with plenty of ?pop?.
However, I believe most sets excel at this type of material. In the
darkest scenes such at the one in ?The Hurt Locker? I could find no
way to affect the low level grey I was seeing. This did not seem to
impact the ?pop? of normal images and really didn?t detract too much
from the viewing experience. If I could verify another TV can handle
this a bit better, I will probably return the unit since this is one
of the more important features to me. Admittedly I?m a bit picky
here. I?m guessing 90% or more of the population would find the
image to be exceptional and for all but the darkest scenes, I would
have to agree. Even with dark scenes, the image is pretty good. SD
material doesn?t look very good on the set but again, I doubt many
fixed pixel displays can really excel here due to their very nature
and large screen sizes. Magnify anything enough and it will look
bad.
Color ? I though color accuracy was no issue and generally looked
excellent. There?s a tremendous amount of controls here including 10
point white balance adjustments. However, I have been struggling
with the amount of color but it?s likely no fault of the TV. Some
cable channels look way too saturated and others much too grey. I
think this is a case of garbage in ? garbage out. What I don?t see
are the grey color issues stated by the other user; not to say they
don?t exist.
Sounds like a lot of negatives but honestly I think most people will
find this set very enjoyable and be highly satisfied. I?m
disappointed with the dynamic contrast function, source selection
method, and inability to affect grey in the darkest scenes. Due to
these reasons, I?ve left 3 stars. I may actually return the unit but
I don?t have a clear better option to go with other than last year?s
Samsungs.
Great potential but dot crawl or motion blur is awful.
by beastmanmn on June 8, 2010
Pros: It's best picture is awesome. Great depth and color to the
picture. Glare is not an issue which helps bring you into the
picture, not just like you're watching TV or looking through a
window.
Cons: The dot crawl (or motion blur) is significant, especially on
older film. Worked with Samsung tech support, which was good, but
provided no help. Returned it for Panasonic plasma, which didn't
have any issues with dot crawl.
Summary: Was extremely excited when I brought this TV home as its
best picture is phenomenal. But after several hours of watching, I
started to notice this motion blur around the some of the edges of
slower moving objects. The blur would typically show up on either
the edge of a darker object with lighter background or on lighter
object in darker background. Also, this blur was very noticeable on
older films where the video wasn't recorded with as high of
resolution as today's films. But was still noticible even on new
blu-ray DVD's. Also, problem existed for both DVD and Directv.
Bought a high end Monster HDMI cable per Samsung's recommendation,
but that didn't fix it at all either.
First worked with Samsung online tech support. Had me adjust a few
settings but nothing improved it. They referred me to their Tier 2
techs who hooked me up with a local service tech. They provided no
help at all.
Next I took the same DVD into the retail store, had a few of the
sales staff watch the DVD with me to see if I could duplicate the
problem. I could. We then moved to the Samsung Series 8000 plasma,
again same problem. We then moved to the Samsung LED Series 8000.
Again, same problem. By now I'm convinced that all new TV's are
going to pose this problem.
We then went to another recommended plasma TV, Panasonic and by now
was nervous that every TV was going to produce this motion blur
(explained to me as called dot crawl). However, the Panasonic plasma
didn't do it at all. So have since brought home the Panasonic plasma
and have yet to notice any of this dot crawl.
All in all, quite disappointing in the TV. The picture quality when
not blurring is unbelievable, but that motion blur is not good and
is persistent once you notice it. And because we could reproduce
this at the store with all of their top end Samsung's, I'm convinced
that it's a manufacturer's technology that is root of the problem.
If Samsung could get this fixed, they would have one spectacular TV.
Ghosting/Blur/Halo effect ... Soap Opera Effect FIXABLE
by mskgodan on July 31, 2010
Pros: After some struggles the picture and 3D are what I expected
when purchased.
Cons: Apparently EVERY unit is coming out of the factory in game
mode even though the on screen guide says it is OFF.
Summary: None of these TV's should be sold without a warning of this
serious bug, but there is a very easy work around
I was at my wits end and nearly ready to take it back... then I came
across a few other reports of this game mode issue. Since I am not a
"gamer" I would have never stumbled upon the fix.
Using the menu button-->Plug&Play-->general-->game mode you must
turn this mode ON, then OFF and wallllaaa you can finally use the TV
. This process must be repeated for each and every source (at least
the HDMI anyway). I did this with the sources on but that may not be
necessary
Excellent TV - no issues after owning for 5 months
by jgcec on July 23, 2010
Pros: Excellent HD picture, remote, excellent 2D to 3 D conversion,
excellent 2D picture, good online services including Netflix,
ability to change it to a C8000 in service menu to add Dejudder
control and more custom settings, thin, ghosting rare in 3D
Cons: notice occasional flicker in 2d to 3d conversion, but have not
seen anyone else complain about it, so it is probably my 3D glasses
Summary: Consumer reports and CNET rate it as a close equal to the
Panasonic. I really enjoy the occasional movie or tv show converted
from 2D to 3D, especially if there are outdoor scenes. I have not
used it to watch 3D content yet, because there is so little.
I had the Samsung 2009 plasma B650 and it is better than that in
every way. All those issues that other reviewers notice, I haven't
noticed. I have seen Blue Ray Hurt Locker and didn't notice any
issues like one reviewer said. another reviewer mentioned 4:3
pulldown issues and I have not seen any problem with that either. I
use it with Direct TV dvr, Apple TV and the Samsung BD-P3600 blue
ray player.
I usually watch it in Movie mode or Relax mode and it looks great.
Great TV provided the ghosting image can be fixed.
by briscoanddixie on July 15, 2010
Pros: Great deep color. Amazing picture detail.
Cons: When I first got this TV the ghosting WAS TERRIBLE. I think
this is a TV defect (see Summary). As far as I can tell TV only puts
out 2 channel stereo (even using a digital optical cable). Makes you
not even want to use the streaming movie feature.
Summary: If there's a way to output 5.1 stereo directly from the TV,
I can't figure it out.
The TV had MAJOR ghosting issues. I went through Samsung customer
service to try to fix it and nothing worked. 2 days prior to my
service appointment, the ghosting stopped completely (I hope it
doesn't come back). The only thing I did to the TV prior to the
ghosting stopping was turning on then off the game mode. I don't
know if this was the fix, but I haven't had an issue since.
Hopefully Samsung figures it out soon and offers a fix.
I think the ghosting image is a problem this model TV; not just
mine. I read of many people having the same issue. If it couldn't be
fixed, I'd still be having the problem. Ironic that CNET did not
have the same issue during the testing.
Not bad but wishing for more.
by ajcorson on April 20, 2010
Pros: Mostly gorgeous BluRay images. 3D compatible. Plenty bright.
Solid colors with good accuracy. A lot of picture adjustments
available. Ability to set picture settings specific to inputs. Easy
to navigate menus.
Cons: Dynamic contrast makes dark scenes flicker, Source select
function not compatible with macros, 4:3 stretch not automatic, grey
levels in darkest scenes difficult to impact via picture settings.
Cost a tad high. Menu didn't explain anything.
Summary: Buzz ? This unit does have a buzz but it took me a long
time before I noticed. Honestly, my DVR cable box?s hard drive and
fan are louder even when in a cabinet. I can not hear the buzz from
my normal seating distance of 10? even with all sound mutedUnless
you watch a lot of TV with the sound completely off, I?d be
surprised you would notice
Front panel button ? These are all but impossible to see in low
light and generally don?t work well when you can see them,
Source select ? You?re forced to scroll sequentially through your
options or use multiple direction and enter keys to select
something. I?d like to set macros on my remotes but this arrangement
makes it impossible.
Picture mode - The unit will not automatically switch between 4:3
stretched to full 16:9 pictures. If stretch mode is on, the 4:3 is
set correct but 16:9 is also stretched; HD no good. If stretch is
off, you get black bars for 4:3 and now 16:9 looks correct; burn in
no good. I switch between SD and HD when watching cable (all output
via HMDI). Luckily the remote has a picture size key to make
changing the setting easier but I really feel this is a day to day
nuisance that will never go away. So much for smart electronics.
3D ? This didn?t function did not work until I hit ?Picture
Correction? in the 3D menus. For me, the feature is largely a
gimmick. The picture size needs to be about 3 times as large to
really get the effect I see at IMAX. Maybe that?s an unfair
comparison but I can honestly say I have no desire to watch 3D on
this 50? set. It feels like you?re looking out of a window on the
other side of the room. When I look out of a window, I want to be
right in front of it but doing this on the TV would be bad on the
eyes. For still images, the effect is very realistic and well
received by my eyes. Moving pictures seems to have trouble. I see
multiple images all at once and it?s distracting like motion judder
on fast panning film material. Bottom line, I wouldn?t pay for this
feature unless it were at least on a 100? screen.
Dynamic contrast ? This function seems amazingly flawed when viewed
with very low light scenes. I watched 2 movies and noticed in each
that with very low light levels, the dynamic contrast would shift
the background black levels in unit steps to different levels.
Almost like a loose wire in a bad analog connection, the contrast
level just jumps and flickers. To see, get a BluRay copy of ?The
Hurt Locker? and start watching at 1:43:00 (scene 15). The picture
goes almost completely black for 3 seconds during which the screen
flickers between different black levels. If you have either BDLive
or Standard mode on, no other adjustments will make this go away.
They apparently override the dynamic contrast and set it to high. If
I set the TV to Movie mode and turn dynamic contrast to lo or off,
the affect went away. This makes both of these setting useless which
is unfortunate because they were the two that I felt looked the
best.
Black levels - Black levels with good source materials (BluRay) and
a bright image produce a spectacular picture with plenty of ?pop?.
However, I believe most sets excel at this type of material. In the
darkest scenes such at the one in ?The Hurt Locker? I could find no
way to affect the low level grey I was seeing. This did not seem to
impact the ?pop? of normal images and really didn?t detract too much
from the viewing experience. If I could verify another TV can handle
this a bit better, I will probably return the unit since this is one
of the more important features to me. Admittedly I?m a bit picky
here. I?m guessing 90% or more of the population would find the
image to be exceptional and for all but the darkest scenes, I would
have to agree. Even with dark scenes, the image is pretty good. SD
material doesn?t look very good on the set but again, I doubt many
fixed pixel displays can really excel here due to their very nature
and large screen sizes. Magnify anything enough and it will look
bad.
Color ? I though color accuracy was no issue and generally looked
excellent. There?s a tremendous amount of controls here including 10
point white balance adjustments. However, I have been struggling
with the amount of color but it?s likely no fault of the TV. Some
cable channels look way too saturated and others much too grey. I
think this is a case of garbage in ? garbage out. What I don?t see
are the grey color issues stated by the other user; not to say they
don?t exist.
Sounds like a lot of negatives but honestly I think most people will
find this set very enjoyable and be highly satisfied. I?m
disappointed with the dynamic contrast function, source selection
method, and inability to affect grey in the darkest scenes. Due to
these reasons, I?ve left 3 stars. I may actually return the unit but
I don?t have a clear better option to go with other than last year?s
Samsungs.
Great potential but dot crawl or motion blur is awful.
by beastmanmn on June 8, 2010
Pros: It's best picture is awesome. Great depth and color to the
picture. Glare is not an issue which helps bring you into the
picture, not just like you're watching TV or looking through a
window.
Cons: The dot crawl (or motion blur) is significant, especially on
older film. Worked with Samsung tech support, which was good, but
provided no help. Returned it for Panasonic plasma, which didn't
have any issues with dot crawl.
Summary: Was extremely excited when I brought this TV home as its
best picture is phenomenal. But after several hours of watching, I
started to notice this motion blur around the some of the edges of
slower moving objects. The blur would typically show up on either
the edge of a darker object with lighter background or on lighter
object in darker background. Also, this blur was very noticeable on
older films where the video wasn't recorded with as high of
resolution as today's films. But was still noticible even on new
blu-ray DVD's. Also, problem existed for both DVD and Directv.
Bought a high end Monster HDMI cable per Samsung's recommendation,
but that didn't fix it at all either.
First worked with Samsung online tech support. Had me adjust a few
settings but nothing improved it. They referred me to their Tier 2
techs who hooked me up with a local service tech. They provided no
help at all.
Next I took the same DVD into the retail store, had a few of the
sales staff watch the DVD with me to see if I could duplicate the
problem. I could. We then moved to the Samsung Series 8000 plasma,
again same problem. We then moved to the Samsung LED Series 8000.
Again, same problem. By now I'm convinced that all new TV's are
going to pose this problem.
We then went to another recommended plasma TV, Panasonic and by now
was nervous that every TV was going to produce this motion blur
(explained to me as called dot crawl). However, the Panasonic plasma
didn't do it at all. So have since brought home the Panasonic plasma
and have yet to notice any of this dot crawl.
All in all, quite disappointing in the TV. The picture quality when
not blurring is unbelievable, but that motion blur is not good and
is persistent once you notice it. And because we could reproduce
this at the store with all of their top end Samsung's, I'm convinced
that it's a manufacturer's technology that is root of the problem.
If Samsung could get this fixed, they would have one spectacular TV.
Ghosting/Blur/Halo effect ... Soap Opera Effect FIXABLE
by mskgodan on July 31, 2010
Pros: After some struggles the picture and 3D are what I expected
when purchased.
Cons: Apparently EVERY unit is coming out of the factory in game
mode even though the on screen guide says it is OFF.
Summary: None of these TV's should be sold without a warning of this
serious bug, but there is a very easy work around
I was at my wits end and nearly ready to take it back... then I came
across a few other reports of this game mode issue. Since I am not a
"gamer" I would have never stumbled upon the fix.
Using the menu button-->Plug&Play-->general-->game mode you must
turn this mode ON, then OFF and wallllaaa you can finally use the TV
. This process must be repeated for each and every source (at least
the HDMI anyway). I did this with the sources on but that may not be
necessary
Excellent TV - no issues after owning for 5 months
by jgcec on July 23, 2010
Pros: Excellent HD picture, remote, excellent 2D to 3 D conversion,
excellent 2D picture, good online services including Netflix,
ability to change it to a C8000 in service menu to add Dejudder
control and more custom settings, thin, ghosting rare in 3D
Cons: notice occasional flicker in 2d to 3d conversion, but have not
seen anyone else complain about it, so it is probably my 3D glasses
Summary: Consumer reports and CNET rate it as a close equal to the
Panasonic. I really enjoy the occasional movie or tv show converted
from 2D to 3D, especially if there are outdoor scenes. I have not
used it to watch 3D content yet, because there is so little.
I had the Samsung 2009 plasma B650 and it is better than that in
every way. All those issues that other reviewers notice, I haven't
noticed. I have seen Blue Ray Hurt Locker and didn't notice any
issues like one reviewer said. another reviewer mentioned 4:3
pulldown issues and I have not seen any problem with that either. I
use it with Direct TV dvr, Apple TV and the Samsung BD-P3600 blue
ray player.
I usually watch it in Movie mode or Relax mode and it looks great.
Great TV provided the ghosting image can be fixed.
by briscoanddixie on July 15, 2010
Pros: Great deep color. Amazing picture detail.
Cons: When I first got this TV the ghosting WAS TERRIBLE. I think
this is a TV defect (see Summary). As far as I can tell TV only puts
out 2 channel stereo (even using a digital optical cable). Makes you
not even want to use the streaming movie feature.
Summary: If there's a way to output 5.1 stereo directly from the TV,
I can't figure it out.
The TV had MAJOR ghosting issues. I went through Samsung customer
service to try to fix it and nothing worked. 2 days prior to my
service appointment, the ghosting stopped completely (I hope it
doesn't come back). The only thing I did to the TV prior to the
ghosting stopping was turning on then off the game mode. I don't
know if this was the fix, but I haven't had an issue since.
Hopefully Samsung figures it out soon and offers a fix.
I think the ghosting image is a problem this model TV; not just
mine. I read of many people having the same issue. If it couldn't be
fixed, I'd still be having the problem. Ironic that CNET did not
have the same issue during the testing.