The PS51D8000 represents a huge step forward for Samsung’s Plasma lineup, and is the first time we have recommended one of the company’s PDP TVs on more or less equal footing with competing models from Panasonic. Although the image doesn’t have the same richness as the Japanese company’s equivalents, Samsung’s PS51D8000 has its own strengths to keep us happy.
Compared to previous Samsung plasmas, black level is much improved, the annoying image retention that affected previous models is almost gone, and crosstalk in 3D is very nearly as good as Panasonic’s efforts. We’re delighted by this, since we love high quality video, and competition is always good for the consumer.
However, the Samsung PS51D8000 still faces stiff competition from Panasonic’s similarly-priced TX-P50GT30, which produces deeper blacks, has a better light-rejecting screen coating, much more accurate out-of-the-box preset modes, and also features better Greyscale tracking even after calibration (keep in mind we’re comparing the tracking we achieved in “Game Mode” – the Greyscale tracking in the noise reduction afflicted standard modes, which we chose to avoid, is better than Panasonic’s mid-range efforts). However, Samsung’s plasmas exhibit less false contouring during motion than Panasonic’s, avoiding the effect where fast motion areas can break into ridged (and sometimes spuriously coloured) bands. This means that the PS51D8000, overall, has the best motion quality of any HDTV we’ve reviewed recently. The D8000 plasma also delivers superior vertical resolution when operating in 3D mode, avoiding any jaggedness in sharply textured areas.
We debated the final score for the Samsung PS51D8000 at length, trying to decide between a high “Recommended” or low “Highly Recommended”. Had we chosen the former, the reasons for withholding the higher rating would be the TV’s less-than-first-class black level, and the non-working “Off” mode for the noise reduction feature, which results in grain smearing. However, we eventually settled on “Highly Recommended” because we didn’t feel it would be fair to award this rating to Panasonic’s Plasmas – which are still affected by unavoidable gamma fluctuations – and not to Samsung’s, which do at least let the user avoid the noise reduction quirk by using “Game Mode” (as we did during this review). After all, the only down side of this in practice is a spike of red at 20% grey (see our calibration charts) – and we think that there are many Panasonic owners who would happily trade a little bit of Greyscale tracking quality to be rid of fluctuating brightness.
Just so we’re clear, we should mention that the nearly undefeatable noise reduction nearly cost the 51D8000 its “Highly Recommended” rating. Had it not been for the fact that using “Game Mode” to avoid the NR is now nearly concession-free, it would have slid down a notch. We feel that Samsung should rethink this. Having no proper “Off” switch for the DNR system serves no-one, least of all Plasma buyers, who are arguably more likely to be video enthusiasts irritated by behind-your-back processing.
The Korean company still has work to do, but things are now at the stage where the PS51D8000 is a viable alternative for Plasma buyers who aren’t being served by Panasonic. Its combination of judder-free motion, good Greyscale tracking, perfect colour reproduction, class-leading motion performance, fairly quick video gaming responsiveness, and full resolution 3D display, earns it a highly recommended rating.
The only questions on our minds now are: what is a 2012 Samsung Plasma going to look like, and how will the cheaper 2011 models perform? Hopefully we’ll find out in the coming months.
). Ακόμα και στα πιο πρόσφατα patents τους βλέπω μόνο παραδείγματα με ένα reset ανά υποπεδίο. Για την ακρίβεια δεν έχω βρει ούτε ένα patent των Κορεατών που να έχει κάποιο παράδειγμα οδήγησης με ένα reset/frame και έχω δει αρκετές δεκάδες.
