Thin is in at Samsung. The company’s new 6000, 7000 and 8000 LED backlit series measure a svelte 1.2″ deep. These sets just about disappear when viewed from the side. The top of the line 8000 series, available in both 46” ($3199.99) and 55” ($3999.99) versions, adds true 240Hz refresh rate to the feature-packed 7000 series. Samsung calls these sets “LED TVs,” but exactly what does that mean?

What It Isn’t 

While Samsung identifies these new, thin sets as “LED TVs” in its ads and on the shipping cartons, and while its website proclaims “a new HDTV technology…,” this is simply not the case.

These sets use conventional LCD (liquid crystal display) technology. White LEDs (light emitting diodes) mounted around the bezel edge, instead of more conventional means of illumination, provide panel backlighting.

There are true LED displays, of course, like Mitsubishi’s Diamond Vision and Panasonic’s Astrovision, used as giant outdoor displays in stadiums and in New York’s Times Square, that utilize up to 30 million red, blue and green LEDs to produce a full-color HD image.

Best Buy piles on, mimicking Samsung’s advertising in its weekly circular, listing these sets as LED HDTVs, while other LCD-based sets are identified as “LCD HDTVs.” In-store shelf tags also identify the televisions as “LED HDTVs” (see photos).

LED backlighting is hardly new technology. Sony introduced the first LED backlit LCD HDTVs in Japan over five years ago and the first in the US in 2005. Sony first introduced edge-mounted LED LCD TVs in 2008.

So, despite Samsung’s position, large flat screen HDTVs continue to use one of two technologies: LCD and plasma. LCD sets not using LED backlighting, use fluorescent lamps (usually a type known as CCFL). So, should you choose to buy one of these ultra-thin new Samsungs, keep in mind you’re not buying “new technology,” never mind a scaled down version of a Diamond Vision football stadium display!

What It Is

As previously stated, the UN46B8000 has a refresh rate of 240Hz for improved motion resolution.  Unlike some other vendors touting 120 Hz displays with scanning backlights as 240 Hz, this Samsung uses twin MEMC (motion estimation motion compensation) chips to achieve a true 240 Hz refresh rate. The chips create interpolated frames between actual source frames. Movie film moves at a rate of 24 frames per second. To achieve 240 Hz, film frames must either be repeated ten times, or new frames created (via signal processing) by interpolating two adjacent frames to create intermediate ones. The test results appear in the performance section below.

Inputs include an Ethernet jack (for access to select internet widgets and websites), a USB jack (for viewing compatible still photo, video files and music files and to add firmware updates), 4 HDMI inputs, 1 component video input with L/R audio, 1 composite input with L/R audio input and a 15 pin Sub D (analog) PC input. There is no S-video input.

Note that due to the shallow depth of this Samsung, the 8000′s HDMI inputs require sideways insertion at the panel’s rear edge. The connectors are spaced more closely than on any other set tested. While it’s a tight fit, all but one HDMI cable we tried had sufficient room for insertion. It’s likely, though, that there are other HDMI cables on the market that may be too fat to fit.  Inserting an internet connected Ethernet cable into the “RJ45′ type jack enabled the 8000 to quickly self-configure, allowing use of Yahoo widgets for on-screen sports news and weather, as well as Flickr and other selected websites.

The UN46B8000 has four picture modes (Dynamic for showrooms, Standard, Natural and Movie) Except as otherwise noted, measurements and picture evaluations were made in the Movie mode,  which was deemed as the most accurate.

There are a plethora of user settings in addition to normal picture settings (i.e. Brightness, Color, and Contrast etc.), including Dynamic contrast (buries darker areas into black and crushes lighter areas), Black tone (darkens darker areas but also buries dark detail), Flesh tone (makes skin redder) and Edge Enhancement (produces more distinct edges without halos) For the most accurate image set these controls to “off”.

The remote control is large with lit buttons. Hot buttons include “content” for internet widget activation as well as a media player (via USB) and picture size (6 aspect ratios including a 1:1 called “wide fit”).

The screen bezel is finished in gloss black with a chrome-type edge. The 8000 includes a brushed aluminum swivel stand. It weighs in at just 39.5 lbs. (without stand).

Performance

The edge-mounted rows of LEDs produce a level of performance with both distinct advantages and disadvantages compared to conventional behind-the-LCD panel light sources. The major advantages of this configuration are low energy consumption, a very thin form factor and high image brightness. The UN46B8000 uses less energy than any large screen HDTV flat panel we’ve ever tested.  In the “Dynamic” retail showroom mode it consumed just 148 watts with an on-center screen brightness of 79 ft. lamberts (the dynamic setting defaults to the “backlight” of 10, the maximum).  The “Home” mode default is called “Standard” mode, (with a preset “5″ level backlight control setting) and consumed 123 watts. The “Movie” mode with the backlight set to “1″ consumed just 94 watts, with a brightness of 22.3 ft lamberts. Unlike rear mounted LEDs, which can change brightness within zones where the image darkens, the edge mounted design requires a steady intensity. This results in a steady power meter reading, and creates a direct correlation between the level of black and ultimate brightness. The best compromise is a backlight setting of “1″. Lowering the control to “0″ made the image too dim, while raising it caused blacks to lighten. The “1″ setting was fine for evening or day viewing with window shades; however, daytime viewing in rooms without window treatment may require a higher backlight setting to provide a sufficiently bright image, sacrificing deep black levels. The black level is quite low, though not as deep as our reference Pioneer Pro-141FD plasma

Getting the LED white light to travel from the edges to behind the LCD panel requires an optical wave guide that twists the light 90 degrees. This is no easy feat to perfect and Samsung hasn’t managed to completely nail it: screen uniformity wasn’t perfect when viewing a full white screen test pattern. On rare occasions, when viewing content with white areas at the top or bottom edge (see photo, note red circle is a room lamp reflection not the TV) or a blue sky, this non-uniformity gave the screen edge a schmutzy (dirty) appearance.

Viewing angle is another LCD issue, and this LED-lit LCD is no exception. Blacks appear lighter and whites darker as one moves off axis, either vertically or horizontally. While this effect is visible with all LCD displays, the fall off is greater with the LED edge-lit 8000. Measuring brightness at 20 degrees horizontal off dead center revealed a brightness decrease of 15%, along with lighter blacks. Whether or not this is an issue, depends upon your viewing distance and the width of your viewing area.

The 8000′s performance shined in areas of signal processing, motion resolution, noise reduction and gray scale accuracy, passing all the standard definition HQV tests for 3:2 Film detection, detail and noise reduction.  It also passed the HD HQV deinterlacing 1080i signals and film cadence tests with the 8000 set to Film Mode 1. Warm 2 color temperature was near the industry D6500 standard and fine-tuned near perfection using the 8000′s “White Balance” control with the aid of signal generator and a Photo Research spectroradiometer.

There are two controls for the 8000s “Auto Motion Plus” 240Hz circuitry. Access is available by using the “Custom” mode (the other modes are factory presets and “off”). The first control labeled “Blur Reduction” can reduce or eliminate motion blur with video based sources such as live sports, newscasts, reality TV and some scripted series. The second control is called “Judder Reduction”, it smoothes out horizontal pans of film based sources (movies and many scripted TV series) eliminating the stutter present on other displays and supposedly reduces motion blur, though this is difficult to confirm. Unfortunately there is no objective test material currently available to quantify the amount of blur reduction with 24 fps source material.

Using the video-based FPD test disc, the “Blur Reduction”  set to “0″ produced a motion resolution of 320 lines, the same as seen on most 60 Hz LCDs. Increasing the control to the “5″ position measured 630 lines of motion resolution, about the same result as most 120 Hz LCD flat panels previously measured. Cranking the control to the maximum “10″ position produced full 1080 line resolution. The only trade-off—a slight horizontal streaking—is more apparent as the control setting is increased. This was only noticeable close-up on light objects featuring dark details such as black lettering on a white street sign, or a girl’s dark lipstick against her light face as she swings on a rope. Overall the effect was insignificant enough to keep the control locked at the 10 maximum.

The “Judder Reduction” control makes pans appear smoother. The trade-off was that film-based material appears more like “live video” with a smoother texture as the control setting is increased, as if the film grain has been reduced or nearly eliminated. Comparing the 8000 against our reference Pioneer Pro-141FD confirmed the video-like look, noticeable even when the control is set to “Off”!  Some viewers like the improved smoothness while others (including myself) don’t.  The best compromise was with the control set to position “1″.

HDTV color accuracy was excellent. With the 8000′s “Color Space” set to auto the primaries show a very slight deviation from the Rec. 709 HDTV standard. Samsung claims the colors can be precisely fine tuned using the 8000′s custom “Color Space” control; if one has the inclination and the proper test equipment.

Evaluating image quality using Verizon FIOS cable (SD and HD) and Blu-ray confirmed the UN46B8000′s ability to produced fine looking pictures. The judder reduction circuitry really smoothed out the image during fast action sequences, such as seen in the Transporter 3 Audi-Mercedes chase (Chapter 10) on Blu-ray.

The full motion resolution and overall excellent performance places the UN46B8000 at the top of all the LCD HDTVs tested. We will see if the 8000 can keep its crown when we review the current Samsung and Sony LED rear backlit models currently in queue. Despite our quibbles regarding its “new technology” advertising, this Samsung is the first HDTV to deliver the dream of a thin, light weight, bright, clear 46″ HDTV that you can easily hang on the wall like a painting. The HD Guru awards the Samsung UN46B8000 ♥♥♥.

-HDGuru® with Michael Fremer

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