Samsung's F8500 PDP owners thread with reviews

[v_squared123]

Originally Posted by poke smot

Hey have you guys been getting much ghosting in 3d? Seeing more than I'm happy with. Especially in backgrounds. Anyway I left the 3d meter on 0, so it's not that. I haven't watched much 3d on it so far, mostly sin city 2. Other than that, wow the 2d is amazing on this set.

Originally Posted by Spaulding

I don't see much ghosting. it might be dynamic setting it makes colors wonky try lowering it to 42 or so.

The F8500 is the only plasma with the best 3D performance out of all plasmas. Crosstalk should be extremely low on this tv.

Maybe its the material or some skewed picture settings?

[poke smot]

Originally Posted by v_squared123

The F8500 is the only plasma with the best 3D performance out of all plasmas. Crosstalk should be extremely low on this tv.

Maybe its the material or some skewed picture settings?

nothing extreme in my settings. content wise I did notice that sin city 2 has bad ghosting but christmas carol seemed quite a bit better. but I am seeing some ghosting on everything...guess ill keep playing with it. just expected.the 3d to be great right out of the box...guess I could try playing some discs with the ps3 instead of my panasonic. I have hdmi going straight to tv so its notva receiver issue. I never subscribed to difference in hdmi cables since the ones I'm using were fine in my old set up...ah well.

[HECII]

poke smot, Do you have a 3D capable hdmi cable? I use one by Mediabridge and they work great.

[poke smot]

Originally Posted by HECII

poke smot, Do you have a 3D capable hdmi cable? I use one by Mediabridge and they work great.

Yeah. I'm using the same cable I used with my Vizio passive 3d and it worked fine then. Like I said it's the background especially. I threw in sin city 2 again and brought the meter to -1 and it helped but...transformers 4 was a lot better. Anyone else watch sin city 2 in 3d on this? I know I paired the glasses correctly and maybe the batteries seem weak. They drained pretty quick and I haven't even watched a full movie in 3d, just like 10 min chunks everyonce in a while. I should probably go get some new ones but it just seems more extreme than that.

[GuyIncognito]

Originally Posted by GuyIncognito

Am I pretty much out of luck in hoping to find the 60" model new for $1500 still from a store? I have been checking typical places like Best Buy and Amazon to see if they happen to restock a couple here or there but so far no luck. Are there any small shops that might ship it? It seems the 51" is the only one that comes back into stock on Amazon randomly. I even called Value Electronics which is a small shop based in New York because their website said they had some in stock, but when I called the guy said that no longer do and need to update the website. Not sure what other options are out there.

If not, what is the next best option as far as picture quality for a 60" TV?

Anyone? Also, I am wanting 3D since I have a lot of 3D blu-rays.

[Sixx]

Originally Posted by GuyIncognito

Anyone? Also, I am wanting 3D since I have a lot of 3D blu-rays.

If VE doesn't have them, I guess I'd try emailing Samsung. Maybe you can obtain a list of dealers that the last shipments went to. I searched for over two months for my 51. They aren't easy to find! Good luck!!

[poke smot]

Well watched a ton of 3d over the weekend. Ya know just 15 to 20 min chunks from like 15 different movies. My conclusion: my set up hates sin city 2. I saw no real significant ghosting except on that title. So...

I guess the irony is this: my passive set had great 3d and mediocre 2d, so the jump in quality from 2d to 3d was huge. This discrepancy made me want to watch a lot of 3d. On this Samsung though the 2d is so good that when one switches to 3d the effect isn't as great - if that makes any sense.

[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.

[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]

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.

[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

[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.

[revgen]

The only way to eliminate crosstalk completely is to buy a DLP projector or a used DLP rear projection TV.

The next best solution is buying a TV that uses passive 3-D glasses.

As far as colors changing, I've never had that issue on my 64" F8500.

[HDTV1080P]

DLP front projectors are the best in terms of 3-D picture quality. Some consumers have home theater rooms where they have a dedicated ceiling mounted projector or dual projectors for IMAX style setup in a dark room. The problem is some consumers cannot install a projector for various reasons. That is why they end up going with a flat panel screen. I wish they would bring back rear projectors, however no one makes rear projectors anymore since flat panels replaced the technology (only ceiling mounted front front projectors are being made now). Maybe in the future someone might develop a short throw DLP projector that can be 9 inches or less from the wall and sit on a cabinet. Sony has a 4K SXRD short throw projector that can be a few inches from the wall and sit on the same TV cabinet as a flat panel screen. With that type of short throw technology, there is no need for rear projectors anymore. Overtime hopefully the quality and price of short throw front projectors will improve.