Samsung PN51D8000 51" Plasma SmartTV Video Review

A

admin

Audioholics Robot
Staff member
For the past few years we've started asking ourselves "What's important in a TV?" Is it the black levels? How thin it is? Color accuracy? Media streaming? Apps? I mean, what is it that people look for in a new flat panel? And more importantly, what should YOU look for? Well, honestly we can't answer the question. Some want one thing over another, but some people want it all. And I guess that's what Samsung had in mind with its new D8000 Series plasma TVs. It really does seem to have it all. The TV is first and foremost, a plasma - so it's got excellent black levels. But Samsung also figured out a way to make it incredibly thin. The TV is 1-1/2" at its thickest point, but most of the TV is right around 1". For a plasma this is incredibly impressive - it's kinda like a supermodel.


Discuss "Samsung PN51D8000 51" Plasma SmartTV Video Review" here. Read the article.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
Wish there was a bit more talk/testing of video resolution, color accuracy, etc. to go along with the video review, but I've been pretty happy with my D7000 so far.

One area that is not touched on nearly enough is the speed of the Smart Hub and the speed of that stuff from other devices. I find the D7000 display to be nearly unusable with how slow everything loads. In this day and age where a decent PC is had by most, and better Androids and iPhones are also in the hands of the multitudes, having a TV which takes a while to scroll from box to box, or takes a long time to load applications is a huge headache. Now, my D7000 may have slower processing of these apps than the D8000, and it certainly doesn't have the QWERTY remote.

Still, I didn't buy it for the internal apps, but for the image quality and I certainly feel like my D7000 has delivered.

It would also be nice to get some comparisons to what else you've tested this year which are similar/better/worse than the D8000. The online report is that a big concern with the D8000 is that it has a anti-reflective coating which can sometimes peel. This isn't an issue in a testing process of one or two weeks, but is a long term issue that I'm not sure if Samsung has been dealing with properly.

The D7000 does not have this protective coating. I'm not sure if the D8000 is still experiencing this issue, and if it does experience it, and Samsung deals with it well, then it may not really matter in the long term.

The most obvious question is how well it stacks up against the Panasonic plasmas. The most direct cost comparison is the GT series from Panasonic. The VT series is also worth discussing in comparison to everything as it is the reported image quality leader, but has a significant price jump from the D8000/GT series plasmas... is it worth it and how much better is it than the Samsung?

While these are all questions I seem to be asking, I think that it is because these are the questions I was asking myself before I personally bought the D7000 this year. It is also the questions I see asked in these forums most often from people looking to buy.

Of course, it is always worth discussion of LCD vs. plasma and how that all compares, but I suppose it doesn't need to be rehashed in every article, but linked to a good analysis of the general differences in the two technologies.

Good stuff with the video review... as always from you guys.
 
96cobra10101

96cobra10101

Senior Audioholic
I just bought this tv. We were on the fence between this and the Pany VT, but wifey wanted the interactive stuff the Sammy offered. When the sales guy showed her the qwerty remote it pretty much sealed the deal. The tv was for her anyway.
 
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