Samsung's F8500 PDP owners thread with reviews

[poke smot]

Originally Posted by revgen

The F8500 exhibits more crosstalk with 3D films than I'd like, but I'm happy with it for the most part, especially with Cinema Smooth (24hz->96hz) turned on. Only a few 3D films give it major crosstalk issues. All of which I can count on 2 hands. I've watched about 50 3D titles so far. On the plus side, it performs well with sports, low resolution DVD's, and high-def 2D material.

As far as passive 3D TV's not exhibiting crosstalk, that's not necessarily true if you're viewing from an angle that isn't straight down the middle. The only way to have virtually crosstalk free 3D is with a DLP set.

I hear ya. I messed around with cinema smooth in 2d when I first got the set and it wouldn't turn off - eventhough I turned it off, the motion effect was still on. I had to pull the hdmi plug and put into another to reset that device. Im kinda scared to use it. does it just add the soap opera effect? if it reduces ghosting maybe i'll try. The only thing im still struggling with in terms of 3d is brightness fluctuations when in any picture mode besides dynamic.

I will say that transformers 4 looked amazing and I was able to turn the dial to +1 for a tiny bit of extra 3d goodness. Regardless, moving forward, there is no contest when comparing active vs. passive. now that I own both, passive is the better tech...imo.

[Robert Zohn]

I agree that passive 3D is better than active. When they came to market I was stuck on the full HD resolution of active 3D, but after spending much time with both technologies I now agree that passive is better for many picture performance reasons.

-Robert

[revgen]

Passive does have advantages in regards to flickering, no need for batteries (reducing cost & weight of glasses), and less crosstalk on non-DLP TV's when viewed from a straight angle. For most consumers, they probably won't notice the loss in resolution either.

If more TV's utilized passive instead of active, 3D probably would be more successful among mainstream consumers.

The problem I have with it is that the loss of resolution is noticeable to me. Especially on CGI titles that use a lot of straight lines. Unfortunately for passive 3D, most modern 3D films are CGI. When I have the right glasses, cinema smooth turned on, and viewing at night, flickering isn't that noticeable to me on the F8500.

Fortunately, with 4K on the horizon, I don't see a need for active technology any longer on consumer TV's.

[Robert Zohn]

Very good ^ post.

-Robert

[revgen]

Originally Posted by poke smot

I hear ya. I messed around with cinema smooth in 2d when I first got the set and it wouldn't turn off - eventhough I turned it off, the motion effect was still on. I had to pull the hdmi plug and put into another to reset that device. Im kinda scared to use it. does it just add the soap opera effect? if it reduces ghosting maybe i'll try. The only thing im still struggling with in terms of 3d is brightness fluctuations when in any picture mode besides dynamic.

I will say that transformers 4 looked amazing and I was able to turn the dial to +1 for a tiny bit of extra 3d goodness. Regardless, moving forward, there is no contest when comparing active vs. passive. now that I own both, passive is the better tech...imo.

Cinema Smooth doesn't have a motion effect. It simply repeats frames 4 times, so it resembles film coming out of projector. Motion Judder Canceller is the one that has the smooth "soap opera" look to it.

The problem is that when you turn off cinema smooth, the F8500 turns on the Motion Judder canceller. You have to turn that off right afterwards. It's a bug in the set that Samsung has yet to fix despite numerous firmware updates.

[poke smot]

Originally Posted by revgen

Cinema Smooth doesn't have a motion effect. It simply repeats frames 4 times, so it resembles film coming out of projector. Motion Judder Canceller is the one that has the smooth "soap opera" look to it.

The problem is that when you turn off cinema smooth, the F8500 turns on the Motion Judder canceller. You have to turn that off right afterwards. It's a bug in the set that Samsung has yet to fix despite numerous firmware updates.

I watched a bit of 3d with cinema smooth on. needless to say I was impressed. pans were smooth but it still looked like a film. i didnt watch very long but i saw no brightness fluctuations. I'll be leaving cinema smooth on for 3d movies. it definitely seemed to improve my viewing experience.

[Sixx]

Question for you all. On the 8500, how do(or can you) enable screen protection when utilizing Airplay? I have airplay playing through my Denon and stream through my iPhone. Is there a way to do this or a concern for screen burn in? It appears it does not pixel shift, in this mode, or go into any screen protection since the on screen image doesn't last over five minutes.

Also....I have the display set for auto updates, but when physically checked today, there was a new update!?!?! It appears to not have checked for an update since my original setup. Anybody know why this might happen?

On another note, I'm quite happy with my Sammy! Everything else seems to be working flawlessly!

[poke smot]

overall Im happy with the TV; however, sometimes on certain movies, especially really dark movies (under the skin) there is a pulsating or light fluctuation particularly in dark scenes. Its like the back light is adjusting itself, going from lighter to darker. I checked the settings which are not extreme in any way. the energy saver thing is off. played the same movie on my panny player and the ps3, both use different hdmi cables and same results. i played the same movie on my sisters panasonic plasma and the blacks were solid. it's just frustrating knowing this tv got such great reviews. i just dont get it.

Edit: okay after some research and experimenting, it seems the black optimizer is at fault in regards to floating blacks. With it on, during some movies black levels fluctuate. With it off, things aren't as black, but blacks are solid and unwavering. Hmm...

[poke smot]

Holy cap I love the tv but the active glasses just out right suck! I can't get these stupid things to synch. I tried everything. Batteries, unplugging tv. I gotta say active tech is crap. I can't even watch 3d on this "top of the line" box. Lame.

Edit- wow called Samsung and they gave me a fix that worked. Reset the glasses by removing battery and holding power button while re-inserting battery. Yay!

[RyRyMcNizzy13]

im having some issues with my 3D that hopefully can be solved. First off I'm seeing ALOT of ghosting with depth and background shots. When I adjust it messes up else where and can't get it perfect. I also have no access to depth controls in the menu, how do I gain access to that? And second when watching 3D the image seems to go in and out of a picture setting. The colors change and happens every time there's a change in the Pictures and it's extremely annoying. I also have a 51e8000 and never had these issues. Any help would be greatly appreciated.