Samsung UN46B8500 review – Best video quality ever
Pros
- Black levels are deeper than compared to any other HDTV (except for Pioneer Kuro)
- Shadow detail is solid
- Blooming is reduced as compared to other LCD’s with LED local dimming
- Color is highly saturated
- Video processing is excellent and the dejudder too is adjustable
- Picture adjustment is numerous
- Lots of interactive features like Yahoo widgets
- Attractive looks, thin panel
- Good in energy efficiency
Cons
- Expensive as compared to other TVs
- Some effects of blooming is apparent
- The screen is ambient and hence reflects a lot of light
Bottom Line
This is expensive as compared to other LED based TVs but Samsung makes up for it by giving the best video quality ever.
Manufacturer’s specifications
Samsung UN46B8500 is a 46 inch widescreen TV. Without the stand, the panel is 44.5 inches x 1.6 inches x 27.1 inches and weighs around 41.2 lbs. With the stand, the panel is 44.5 inches x 10.9 inches x 29.9 inches and weighs around 54 lbs. The panel is based on LED back light technology. Refresh rate is 240 Hz, display format is 1080p, LCD pixel response time is two ms, additional features include Auto Motion Plus frame interpolation technology and Ultra clear panel.
Video interface options include Composite, HDMI and Component. The TV has 2 x left-right speaker set up with capacity of 10 watts each. Total output is 20 watts. Audio controls options include Bass, Treble and Balance. Connectors include four x HDMI ( 19 pin HDMI Type A ) – Side, Digital audio output (optical) (TOSLINK), Component video input (RCA phono x 3), Network (RJ-45), VGA input (15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15)), two x USB (four pin USB Type A). The TV comes with an infrared remote control. Samsung gives a one year warranty for this panel.
Design
Samsung UN46B8500 for TN appears silver when seen from the sides, and at its thickest point, it is about 1.6 inches deep. The depth decreases as you move towards the edges. The manufacturer provides a thin wall mount, if you wish to keep this panel on the stand. We must reiterate that the TV looks very sexy when seen from the sides. From the front too it is equally impressive. This TV comes in basic black color accompanied by a transparent border. This makes the TV look like a jewel. You can disable the blue power illumination and this is the only color feature on this TV.
Inside Dope
When we got the Samsung UN46B8500 in our labs for testing, it instantly became our favorite because of the quality that it had to offer. This TV has LED elements arranged on the screen edges as compared to the other two TVs in the 8500 line up have local dimming LEDs. All three TVs here have really slim profile which is why LED back lighting technology is getting really famous now. But the quality is still not as good as plasma TVs especially the Pioneer Kuro (which is now discontinued, unfortunately). The UN46B8500′s off angle viewing is not that good either. But still, people who stick to a sweet spot in front of their TVs will drool on this quality a lot.
Samsung UN46B8500 hasn’t changed much from the last year and we wouldn’t like it changed either because it is simply the best. The text is big, highly legible and is laid against a blue transparent background which occupies almost the entire screen. It is quite easy to get around the screen and for newbies, there is text explanations on features so they don’t get lost.
Samsung UN46B8500 remote has a different twist to it and this is what makes it different from Samsung’s step down panels. The bundled clicker gives you RF capablity which means you dont have to be in the TV’s line of sight or even the in the same room for operating it. You have to ‘pair’ this remote with the TV but this is a small step and you only have to do it once. Apart from that, you have a rotating scroll wheel but we are not too excited about that. The wheel is a bigger than what we saw on the previous year’s models. It took us about half a turn for navigating through the menu. The widgets are quite sluggish and this makes matters worse. These gripes aside, the remote is still good; with big buttons. There is plenty of back lighting on them too. The keys are of different shape and size and hence it is easy to tell them apart by feel. There is a dedicated ‘Tools’ button which gives you quick access to picture in picture controls, sleep timer, E-manual, and sound and picture modes. The remote has a glossy black finish and it is something that we didn’t like because it picks up a lot of finger prints. There is another tiny remote given along with the TV and this is used to control the volume, channel and the power. We liked this cute little remote but once the novelty wears off, you will realize that it is not that useful.
Samsung was the first in the LCD market to come out with LED back lit technology way back in 2007 with LN-T4681F. Then we had the LN46A950 in 2008 in which the picture quality was further improved. Both of these TVs have LED back lighting along with local dimming technology and it is supposed to dim or brighten the TV content automatically depending on what is being shown. This lets the set achieve deeper black levels which is quite important if you want a good picture.
Local dimming lets you have a better picture quality but you need to remember that the number of LED elements behind the panel are still not close to the pixel number on the LCD (about 2.1 million or 1,920×1,080 pixels) so dimming is not that local as we’d have liked. We saw the some lighting in the black areas and this resulted in visible blooming. As opposed to this, OLED and plasma panels can illuminate or darken the adjacent pixels. Samsung told us that this TV has more dimmable zones or LED elements but they didn’t tell us the exact number.
