[HDTV1080P]

CNET review on the Samsung 650 series plasma

(A 1080p/24 Cinema Smooth glitch that causes the picture settings to change is mentioned in the CNET review that hopfully will clear up with a future Samsung firmware update)

This CNET review mentions a 1080p/24 glitch on the Samsung 650 series. Possible the glitch might only effect the 650 series Samsungs. No reviews yet on the Samsung 590 and 560 series plasmas that offer the Cinema Smooth feature. The September 2009 review in the Home Theater magazine for the top of the line Samsung 860 series plasma screens did not mention this problem when going over the Cinema Smooth feature in detail. Most likely the problem has been corrected with the release of the Samsung 860 series.

Nice new feature on the new Samsungs allows firmware to be downloaded over the built in Ethernet connection on the TV with a push of a few buttons on the remote control

The following are select Quotes from CNET review on the Samsung 650 series

"The Samsung PNB650 series delivers excellent overall picture quality, surpassing the color accuracy of the superb Panasonic V10 series and also delivering an arguably better picture in a bright room. The Panasonic delivers deeper black levels, however, and a video processing glitch we encountered with the Samsung's 1080p/24 mode also gave us pause."

"Samsung and Panasonic share a lot of features in their plasma TVs, including "600Hz" panels that are said to improve motion resolution to reduce blur. The best thing we can say about this feature is to ignore it; the number was created in response to the 120Hz and 240Hz refresh rates of LCDs. Plasma technology is inherently less subject to blurring than LCD, and in any case it's really hard to see any difference with real material. Like Panasonic, Samsung also includes a mode to properly deal with 1080p/24 sources, although engaging it did cause a strange glitch."

"We did encounter one significant black level snafu, however. When we engaged the "Cinema Smooth" mode in the Film Mode menu, which is designed to help preserve the correct frame rate of film with 1080p/24 sources, black levels rose significantly. It was as if the TV had switched to another, uncalibrated picture mode. Switching Film Mode back to Off didn't return the black levels to their correct, calibrated state; to do so we had to stop playback entirely, which sent a normal 1080p/60 source to the TV and disengaged Cinema Smooth. Needless to say this is unusual behavior, and we'll update this review when Samsung has an explanation (and hopefully a fix). In the meantime, we recommend not using Cinema Smooth with our picture settings."

"Video processing: Aside from the black level issues we described above, the PNB650 handled 1080p/24 sources properly when we engaged the Cinema Smooth setting in its Film menu. We tested this option by watching the flyover of the deck of the Intrepid from "I Am Legend," and the planes and indeed the entire frame preserved the correct cadence of film, without the hitching motion characteristic of 2:3 pull-down. When we switched the Cinema Smooth setting off, the hitching returned. We wish this mode automatically engaged the Samsung received a 1080p/24 source, especially since it seems to turn off every time the TV receives a normal 1080p/60 source."

"We're also big fans of the new-for-2009 capability, unique among HDTVs, to get firmware updates via an online download, rather than making you go to the Web site, as was the case before."

"It's worth noting that on our review sample, we did notice more image retention than we saw on the Panasonic and Pioneer plasmas, although as usual it was quite temporary and disappeared quickly during normal viewing."

"The Samsung didn't quite match the motion resolution of the Panasonic plasmas or the 240Hz LCDs in our comparisons, delivering between 800 and 900 lines, according to our test."



"Color accuracy: Here's where the Samsung outdid the Panasonics and nearly matched the Pioneer. Primary and secondary color accuracy was nearly perfect on the PNB650, and while the grayscale varied a bit more than we'd like to see, it was still solid. Accurate color decoding resulted in excellent saturation, for colors that looked a bit more lifelike overall than on the Panasonic V10."

http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/samsung-pn50b650/4505-6482_7-33573755.html#perf