Samsung C8000 Review (UN46C8000, UN55C8000)
The Samsung C8000 series is one of Samsung’s latest LED-backlit TVs with native 3D support. It sports a stunning titanium look and a svelte frame. Some highlights include a 240Hz 3DTVpanel, Edge LED backlight, the new remote, and Internet@TV with support for Samsung Apps.
But how does it measure up compared to the latest models from the likes of Sony, Panasonic and LG, and how does it handle 3D ? Keep reading to find out. The C8000 series LCDs (not counting plasmas) are currently available in 46″ and 55″ varieties with the product names UN46C8000 and UN55C8000. These to models are largely identical aside from the size of the panel and are listed for $2,799 and $3,499 respectively.
Features and Specifications:
Screen Size: 46/55 inches
Resolution: Full 1080p (1920×1080)
240 Hz technology: For faster onscreen motion
3D-ready: For use with Samsung 3D Active Glasses
Internet@TV: Customizable widgets providing access to BLOCKBUSTER, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Amazon Video On Demand and more
Built-in Tuner: No external transceiver box
Ultra Clear Panel: For crisp image details, natural skin tones, excellent shadow detail, and vibrant colors.
Touch of Color design: Exclusive Touch of Color design combines texture and color that can complement any room.
ConnectShare Movie: Connect a thumb drive or digital camera quickly and easily. User-friendly interface allows access to videos, music playlists and pictures via the remote.
Game Mode: Enhances dark areas, sharpens the picture, speeds up the image processing response and enhances the sounds of your games. Picture and sound quality optimized for the special needs of gaming systems at the touch of a button.
Exceeds ENERGY STAR Standards: LED Energy Efficient, up to 50% less than the latest ENERGY STAR specification depending on series and screen size in standard mode.
Wide Color Enhancer Plus: delivers the entire spectrum of color and luminance for rich, saturated images with intense detail.
10 Watts x 2 audio power stereo broadcast reception: Supports multichannel sound (MTS)and second audio program (SAP) with 181-channel capacity.
Built in Digital Tuner: no external box needed.
Warranty: 1 year parts and 1 year labor warranty (90 days parts and labor for commercial use), with in-home service, backed by Samsung toll-free support.
AllShare: Sync up your entire household. A wired or wireless DLNA connection lets you stream your PC audio and video files to your HDTV using your remote.
Skype on Samsung TV: Enjoy the convenience and connectivity of free, IP-based, picture-in-picture video calls via Skype right from your couch: View it all life size on your Samsung TV.
Pin-Point Dimming: Samsung’s innovative Precision Dimming Technology delivers our greatest range of dynamic contrast and rich, bright color. You’ll see whiter whites and deeper blacks, minus the “halo” effect, which occurs when light is diffused to such a degree that it distorts the image. Energy consumption is also reduced.
Connections
4 HDMI version 1.4: 4 back
Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC): Allows peripheral AV devices such as a DVD player to be controlled by a Samsung TV remote control.
USB: 2 side
PC input: 1 back
Ethernet: 1 back
Optical sound output: 1 back
Component video input: 1 back
Dimensions
46″
TV without stand: 42.9 x 26.1 x .09 inches (WxHxD); 37.5 pounds
TV with stand: 42.9 x 28.5 x 10.9 inches (WxHxD); 42.3 pounds
55″
TV without stand: 50.5 x 30.4 x .09 inches (WxHxD); 48.5 pounds
TV with stand: 50.5 x 32.8 x 12.1 inches (WxHxD); 53.4 pounds
Prices
46″ UN46C800 New: $2,799.99 $1,958.97 w/ FREE SHIPPING Used: from $1,834.99
55″ UN55C8000 New: $3,499.99 $2,849.98 w/ FREE SHIPPING Used: from $2,349.99
Design
There is no question that the Samsung C8000 looks good in its new brushed titanium frame. It is also very slim – less than an inch thick. This is a huge difference over previous models, which came in glossy black (as most HDTVs still do). It also has a relatively discreet, transparent plastic edge around the frame.
The included swivel stand has four metal legs, providing solid stability should you choose to use it, as well as the possibility to turn the TV manually. If you plan on mounting the TV on the wall, there is a custom kit available from Samsung that makes sure it comes up close to the wall. All of the connectors are located on the back of the TV, conveniently pointing downwards and/or sideways, making it easy to mount the UN46C8000 or UN55C8000 tightly against the wall without running into cable problems.
In all, the backplate design is a great solution if you are planning to mount the television on the wall – all connections are placed as not to interfere with wall-mounting, but there may also be some downsides to having all connectors on the same side depending on your setup.
Features
In addition to the four HDMI connections, the TV has two USB ports on the side that can be used to hook up USB pen drives or hard drives and play stored content – a very useful feature and one that support most of the common file formats. Samsung has one of the broadest support for video formats, including DivX and MKV video. IMG and ISO disc image files are also supported.
The new Samsung remote is a welcome upgrade over the previous incarnations with a very simple and straightforward design that is easy to get used to. It lights up with the touch of a button to make it easier to distinguish the different buttons in the dark. Despite the seemingly plastic-looking design, there is some weight in the remote; it feels solid and is highly comfortable.
Samsung Apps is a new interface from Samsung that lets users access an App Store to download various apps created by developers and businesses. If you have an iPhone or Android smartphone you will feel right at home – this is like the App Store, only in a TV version. There is already a full range of apps and more will follow as the app catalog continues to expand.
Samsung’s approach to Internet-to-TV integration is one of the more flexible compared to other manufacturers. It is both useful and fun to add new apps regularly and bring new functionality to the TV, and it also a way of future-proofing the device. One could argue that it’s a problem that Samsung Apps (as well as other solutions) is a proprietary system. It would have been better if all manufacturers could agree on a standard, but that is unlikely to happen and this is the best alternative so far.
Image Quality
The panel is treated to minimize annoying reflections, which works fairly well. There are on average much less reflections on the UN46C8000 than you will get from equivalent models from LG or Sony. All colors are all beautifully reproduced with a minor exception for some of the darker hues, which may show some shades of gray. It is not too noticeable to become a problem, however.
High Definition image quality is nice and detailed. The good contrast and relatively accurate colors contributes to an HD picture that is on par with some of the best LCDs today and certainly much better than cheaper models. We noticed good performance in fast scenes like sports and action movies. It also does well with standard definition sources such as DVDs, with good image quality and very little to no visible noise, which is sometimes a problems with HDTVs.
There are several presets available for those who don’t want to delve into any advanced settings. For those who do like to experiment there are myriad configuration options hidden in the menus, including the standard backlight, contrast, brightness, color and sharpness levels as well as gamma, color space, white balance and a lot more.
3D
The 3D feature is of course one of the most interesting aspects of the C8000 series. Samsung’s 3D glasses are comfortable and shielded to take in less light from the sides. You can also get them in children sizes. Otherwise, Samsung’s solution is very similar to the other manufacturers. As usual, the amount of 3D effect you will experience relies heavily on the source. If the content is well optimized for 3D the technology produces excellent results.
LED-based LCDs offer more brightness on average than plasma TVs, and this has a positive effect on 3D movies and games. In some situations the TV experiences some issues with crosstalk. Crosstalk is the phenomenon where the images intended for the left and right eye respectively are not clearly separated by the 3D TV. In practice this means that some pixels may be visible where they shouldn’t be. Again this depends on the source and in some situations it becomes distracting.
Conclusion
Once again, Samsung has managed to build a very slim TV with lots of neat features. Besides the 3D functionality it is an excellent HDTV in any situation. What makes it better than average is the Samsung approach to internet integration and the strong file support for media playback. 3D image quality is good, but not perfect due to the crosstalk issue, where you may experience some ghosting. In normal 2D playback, whether the source is high definition or not, there are very few things to complain about – the television is on par with the best LCDs on the market.
In all, the Samsung UN46C8000 and UN55C8000 are worthy successors to last year’s models. They both follow up on the features that made their predesessors popular and add some more.
Prices
46″ UN46C800 New: $2,799.99 $1,958.97 w/ FREE SHIPPING Used: from $1,834.99
55″ UN55C8000 New: $3,499.99 $2,849.98 w/ FREE SHIPPING Used: from $2,349.99
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2 Responses to “Samsung C8000 Review (UN46C8000, UN55C8000)”
I’m considering the 47 inch. How do these ones compare to the 3D tvs from Sony?
Comment made on July 13th, 2010 at 5:07 pmThe main difference with Sony 3D TVs is that Sony’s don’t include the 3D kit (glasses and IR receiver). Otherwise Sony TVs are good but IMO Samsung have better internet features if that’s important to you.
Comment made on July 13th, 2010 at 6:29 pmLeave a Comment