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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Anybody using Samsung LED Tvs

Carlos Prio

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Hello Guys,

Building a couple of director's cases & new edit rooms (client monitors)and have designated the new 26, 32 & 40" Samsung LED TVs as the monitors of choice!!! Between picture quality, weight, thin profile & efficiency I have chosen the Samsung over having a Plasma emitting heat & sucking up juice!!! Note- I just did a Sharp spot and was given a new Sharp 55 LED which is awesome but not superior to the Samsung IMO.

So, is anybody here using the Samsung LED TVs as monitors????

P
 
I'd love to get some opinions on this as well. I've been looking for a larger monitor to add to my studio for color grading and client viewing. I've been looking at the Samsung UN55B8000 55-Inch.. Good color, nice blacks.. If anyone has any recommendations on good monitors above 40" to use, please post on.. Thanks!
 
Just to add on I have about a 2000-3000 budget for this display... I'd like it to be good for color grading as well... Thanks again
 
I have a 46inch Samsung LED and i love it. I'm not using it for editing or grading but for viewing all my HD content and it stood head and shoulders above any plasma or standard LCD i could find. Just can't beat the blacks:)
 
I have a Samsung Series 7 LED TV. Image quality is stellar but audio is average at best.

There is also a gaming mode for the HDMI inputs that turns all temporal noise reduction filters and enhancements off so that there is no lag between your source and the display (good for editing too).

It is a very bright TV (you will not have a problem even in the brightest room) and the colour reproduction seems very accurate.
 
Integrated audio in any of these flat panel TV's is just terrible. LCD, plasma, etc.. terrible.

I still have yet to see any LED LCD TV that can top a properly calibrated Panasonic or Pioneer plasma in terms of total DR and motion replication. And the 2010 model Panny plasmas actually consume less power than any of the LED LCD TVs at equivalent screen sizes.

These new LED LCDs do have very good blacks, and I would say that both the 2009 and 2010 Samsung LED panels have superior black levels compared to the 2009 Panasonic plasmas. The top end 2010 plasma models have made great strides in the area of black though. Where the LCD's fall short for me is on the high-end. They suffer from fewer overall gradations and clipped range in the highlights that the plasmas can still produce (when properly configured).

That said, as far as LCD TVs go, the new Samsungs are excellent. The C7000 series that was just released is very good, especially for a side-lit panel. The C8000 series is due out in the next couple weeks, I have seen the 55", very nice. The 3D abilities on them are not in the same league as both the Panasonic and Samsung plasma screens due to the motion lag. I think LCD will really come into its own and solve this problem once the 480Hz panels hit the market. ...If 3D is a consideration for you.

I would still recommend a plasma for color grading. For most other purposes, it's up to viewers' preference. If I'm working close enough to the screen to see individual pixels, I would choose the LCD. The plasmas still suffer from noise to some degree, the Panasonic V and G series have made huge improvements in this regard for the 2010 models. Pioneer plasmas have always had superior noise characteristics and mostly superior black levels, but they suffer from slow phosphor response in the green and red channels and have terrible phosphor bleed issues.

One thing that all plasma models do is lose contrast over time. Plasma displays are built to compensate for this by raising minimum black level voltage slowly over the lifespan of the display. Panasonic had a glitch in some of their 2009 models that compensated too quickly and black levels would noticeably rise in a short period of time. What should have taken several years would transpire over a week or two. Ooops. Didn't effect very many displays and only a few models, but it's enough of an issue that a lot of industry watchers and AV enthusiasts are hesitant to buy or recommend the new 2010 panels. Samsung had a terrible issue with their 2009 plasmas as well with an audible buzzing problem.

Plasma is definitely on its way out, though. We are at the limits of the technology for producing high-density displays or resolutions higher than 1080p/2K at screen sizes smaller than 36". The future of LCD technology will be expanding beyond RGB channels for color reproduction. Sharp is already shipping 4-color panels that add a yellow layer, to more than double the gradations possible within the yellow portion of the spectrum, which is the weakest range of color reproduced by conventional RGB LCD panels. Look to future panels to expand to more, Hitachi is also on the same bandwagon, but has not released any products yet.

Personally, I would choose a new Samsung C8000 if I were buying a display this year. The exception would be if I needed to plan on a lot of 3D viewing and/or if I were using it for color grading. If that were the case, then it would be a Panasonic TC-PxxVT25 (V25 series for those in PAL countries). The Panasonic Pro plasmas are all currently two panel generations and HDMI interface generations behind current, with the exception of the 58" and larger panels being one generation behind on the panel itself.
 
I was thinking of going with the 55" B8000 Samsung because I don't really need the 3D option... But do you think I should get the Panasonic 58" TH-58PF12UK...? They're both in my price range. I hear the new 55" vizio tvs are also very high quality with Kuro like blacks, high contrast and excellent color.. The're all in my price range.. Just want to get a quality TV that will serve me well as both an accurate grading monitor / client monitor and personal TV set at the same time... Maybe I'm asking for too much? your thoughts?
 
The B8000 is using the previous panel design. The C8000 replaces it and will come out shortly. It will cost more, but does have better contrast. I have not seen one side by side with the B8000 for comparison, but have seen the C8000 and it does look nice.

I wouldn't recommend the TH-58PF12UK unless you absolutely need the SDI option, because that is the only thing it's good for right now. I'm hoping Panasonic brings out some new pro models soon because their pro line is looking very stale. Unfortunately, the 58"PF12UK only arrived a few months ago, it was the last of the 12-series 1080p panels to be introduced and they never bothered to release 12th gen 1080p panels for 50" or 42" models.

The Vizio isn't in the same league as the other two. Not much for calibration controls or adjustments. Very poor tonal gradation, although the contrast and black levels are good.
 
After buying a 26" LED for my Director's montor I have chosen the 40" LED TV 6300 for editing. These panels are just stunning!!!

Sharp (who is a client) jsut shipped me several LED TVs and I still choose the Samsungs!!!

P
 
Got my hands on a UN55C8000 - brand new 3D model this afternoon. It has the "pinpoint dimming" feature. Which is a fancy name for per-pixel dynamic contrast. HOLY M****RF****R... Black levels and black detail destroy any plasma, even the highly regarded KURO panels. Unfortunately, the motion and pixel lag is still not as good as plasma, but honestly that's not a real problem here, at least not for 2D viewing, it's still quite good. For me, I'm still holding out for my new Panny 50" VT25 (which I have seen on more than one occasion). The LED LCDs still fall short in the highlight tonal range. They just don't have it and I attribute this to the bit depth of the panels themselves. They're a 4-layer LCD with an 8bit RGB panel and a 4th layer for additional dimming / contrast control. If this could be expanded to a 10-bit panel design @ 480Hz, it would crush any plasma...

The Panny has superior 3D, but their glasses are terrible. I do intend to use the 3D functionality as I intend to shoot 3D in the near future and have clients showing interest in it. I'm going to wait until NAB to see what is on show there for 3D solutions, etc.. I'm really hoping for a new card from AJA. Their current line-up is feeling a bit stale and I'd love to see a 3D-enabled KONA with HDMI 1.4 support. I'm also hoping to see the Samsung and Panasonic displays configured for more professional use and I may change my decision then. I'm just having a real tough time with the poor tonal response in the highlights on the LCD compared to what I have seen on all the new plasmas.

Also, I'm not a fan of the C7000 and C8000 backlighting system as these displays have some nasty light leakage in the corners that was not a problem on the '09 B-series models. The 2009 B8500 panel is pretty amazing and almost every bit as good as the new C8000. It doesn't have the per-pixel dimming, but it also doesn't have the light leaks... And it's nearly 60% more expensive than the new C8000 model still... :-/
 
Jeff... Thanks for chiming in again... It sounds like I should hold off until the VT25 becomes available and see what else is out there at that time.
 
Running the 40" 120mhz LEDTV as a editorial/client monitor and have had it matched up and it is incredible!!! At $1000 you cant expect great sound... my 4 year old Sharp 60 cost $10k and you got sound!!! They have to leave something out!!!!
 
Jeff... Thanks for chiming in again... It sounds like I should hold off until the VT25 becomes available and see what else is out there at that time.

VT25 50" and 54" will begin shipping at the end of April. The 50" VT20 is available now, but only through BestBuy's Magnolia centers. It's identical to the VT25 series, but lacks the RS-232 interface and does not have the full ISFcc calibration controls.

The monitors that Carlos is talking about, like the ~$1K 40" 120Hz are an amazing value. While I still prefer the plasmas right now, although I'm starting to waffle on that in some ways, I think plasma tech will be no more within the next couple years. It doesn't have the abilities to go the distance as resolutions and abilities of the LED / LCD tech improves. I think plasma will be a contender for some time to come at large screen sizes for environments where a projector isn't ideal and LCD panels would be too impractical.
 
There is a new consumer panasonic coming out here in europe now, TX-P50G20.

It seems to be 13th generation (G13 in the specifications)
http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_...ecification/3569513/index.html?trackInfo=true

Just got off the phone with support in the UK saying that it has HDMI 1.4. Does it mean it automatically supports 10-bit?

Also in the operating manual i see there has been added more color correction options since the g12 pro plasmas. the pro plasmas have white balance in RGB darks and the RGB highs. This panel has added the option of RGB tone (RGB gamma i guess) and RGB saturation. I have never used any of these panasonic plasmas. Is there more cc options in the service menu?


Would a setup with a kona lhi (hdmi 10-bit) and this panel work well? Would it be 10-bit all the way? If it is I am considering to change my current setup (kona 3, HD-SDI to TV-logic 24inch) to this one.
 
The G20/G25 have been shipping here in the USA for about a month now. Anyway it's a 13th-generation panel. The Euro models have different firmware and menu options compared to the USA models. I can't say what, that is just what I have been told and that was the case with the 2009 models. There are no other adjustment options in the service menu, that I'm aware of. In the USA on the 2009 models we had to use the service menu to get the RGB adjustment, which you guys in the UK had as part of the standard menu. The Euro markets will be getting the updated V and VT series too. These displays are superior to the new G-models, but will also be more expensive.

Yes, the panels are capable of displaying the full 10-bit gamut off of a 10bit HDMI input.

These are nice monitors, but if you can wait and don't mind paying a bit more, the VT models you guys will get later this summer will have a better front glass and AR filter, along with faster phosphor decay and many of the V/VT models have 3D support. I don't know about the UK models, but in the USA, the VT25 series has RS-232 control and full ISFcc calibration controls. I see that the VT20 models are listed on that Panasonic page you linked.
 
More hands on with the new Sammy UN55C8000 display today. And the whole time was right next to the '09 UN55B8500. All I can say is the B8500 from last year is still the king of LED LCDs for now. The new C8000 has some very nice features, but the more I worked with it, the more I found serious issues. I would personally never buy this model. It has some of the worst light-leak I have ever seen. While a pure black screen can deliver impressively low black levels, high contrast areas can introduce vertical smearing and light bleed. It's really bad.
 
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