Read usere review of Samsung UN46B8000 LED HDTV
Very pretty picture, some of the time.
The UN46B8000 is a very good display if space is an issue. However, it is not exactly what I was expecting. The store display I had seen was in open light and the display was connected to a Samsung BluRay player. This appears to be the key, as the display has some proprietary processing enabled for Samsung players. The 240Hz conversion gave the picture an odd life-like quality and I really liked it for CGI films. I figured that would translate well to games and I was tired of the poor black performance on my Aquos, so I picked up the set. A couple of things - first, even though this is touted as LED technology keep in mind that's only for the backlight. The display tech is still LCD. You're not getting per-pixel illumination. You're getting edge-mounted backlighting supplied by LEDs. Second, the set is very laggy. The video has about a 150ms lag when all of the upscaling is turned off and 'game mode' is enabled to reduce lag. In full processing mode (240Hz, dynamic contrast, etc) the lag is over 500ms. If you don't have a Samsung DVD player(which seems to correct it), this translates to noticable lag in video behind the audio track. Extremely annoying. And half a second makes playing games with any optimizations completely worthless. Lastly, the backlighting is blotchy in pure black situations with low ambient lighting. You don't notice it much in normal store/room lighting, but when you turn out the lights the backlight produces soft 'clouds' of grey shift through a solid black field. There are some hot spots around the edge as well, where a small amount of light bleed occurs.
The display has a decent number of inputs, especially considering its size. Four HDMI, a component, and a VGA. The lack of a dedicated DVI was surprising, but the first HDMI port doubles as a DVI with a converter (all ports will work with HDPC compliant DVI outputs, but only the first port can handle a standard DVI-I/DVI-D signal from a non-HDPC source).
A word about signal range - this display is very strict when it comes to valid source. A receiver that gave me perfect performance at 1080p with my Aquos produces an invalid signal error with this display. A cheaper HDMI cable I was using for my PS3 produced nothing but static on the screen. I had to go get an official PS3 cable to get a correct 1080p display. My ZuneHD dock will NOT display at 720p, regardless of what I've tried. It works fine on other displays, but the Samsung won't sync the signal. Very frustrating.
The extra features of the set may appeal to some, but I have no need for a terribly slow media streming service built into my set. Any dedicated media streaming station or game console is going to outperform the in-set features for DivX playback. The widgets were just a bad idea. I have a 50Mbps internet connection and they still take forever to load. They aren't really useful and 'typing' with the remote is an exercise in self loathing.
Aesthetically, the set is incredible. The ultra-thin bezel is a thing of beauty. Glossy in the right places and stylish. You will most likely want to turn off the blue LED on the front of the set though, as it glows so bright it is a major distraction in low light situations. This is easily accomplished through the setup menu.
The remote is a mixed bag. Most people buying a set at this price point will probably have a universal anyway, but some may not. Samsung even recognizes that their remote is overly cumbersome and they include a second 'mini' remote for basic volume/channel/source features. The main remote has a motion sensor in it so whenever the slightest vibration occurs (such as a bass-heavy moment in a movie) it lights up. Getting up to get a snack? It lights up. Did your cat rub up against your coffee table? It lights up. The actual controls are pretty standard. There's an iPod style jog wheel for navigating menus, but you'll probably give up the poor performance of the circular motion for standard four point clicking. This leads to misinterpretation of your input sometimes, since the wheel will move slightly when clicking on the four points and the selector on screen will move as a result. I would have perferred a simple arrow interface. Part of the problem may be due to the fact that the menus are very laggy. Most operations on the display seem to be.
I can't rate the audio because I don't use the built-in speakers. Given the size of the set, I can't imagine them being very good at anything but high to high-mid range. But I can't say for certain.
Final verdict- If space or wow-factor are an issue, then this set certainly fits the bill if you can't set up a high end projector. The blacks are decent and there are plenty of inputs. There are minor issues around the backlighting in low-light environments and it is not the best set for video gaming because of the lag. If you have a Samsung BluRay player you will get the most benefit out of this display. Other players will display noticable lag when some of the 'wow' features are turned on. If I had it to do over, I probably wouldn't at this price point, but if some of the plusses are what you're looking for it's probably worth it. *** out of *****.
Samsung UN46B8000 46-Inch 1080p 240Hz LED HDTV
From Samsung
| List Price: | $2,399.99 |
| Price: | $1,402.48 |
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