Posted by: tvreview2you | April 29, 2010

Samsung UN558000 55-Inch 1080p 3D 240 Hz LED HDTV

Samsung UN55C8000 55-Inch 1080p 3D 240 Hz LED HDTV

LOVE IT!!!

I just got this TV yesterday & thus far i LOVE it!!! I have it hooked up through Monster 1000hd Ultimate High Speed HDMI cable (15.8 Gbps) oh & i have Fios. It looks like i am looking through a window, its AMAZING! I watched a DVD ( i also got the Samsung BD-C6900 1080p 3D Blu-ray Disc Player) & it also looked AMAZING! I have another flat screen that i bought a few years ago, a Pink 32″ SONY Bravia KDL-32S3000/P. The picture on the Samsung is significantly better! I have yet to try out the 3D. so i will have to get back about that. I mean it is Ridiculously expensive for what it is. But its pretty great. As people have mentioned there is a bit of “juttering” which is slight & doesnt happen frequently & does not affect the volume, so it doesnt bother me. If it affected the volume it would drive me insane. So if not for the slight juttering & price i would have given 5 stars.
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Great Great Great !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been watching this TV for about two weeks and I have been disappointed at all. I was concern about the TV being an LED screen but it’s amazing. Is the best investment I have ever done. Love it
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Previously owned b8000

Just got tv upgrade from samsung because my b8000 was having the clouding/flashlight effect plus corner lighting not any more with the c8000. I immediately upgraded firmware and now a great television awaits dont be fooled by other reviews this is great if you can find a deal I only paid $1800 great price for 3D tv!!!!!
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I’m in Love

Got my UN55C8000 Last week Thursday, to replace my LN52A650. I have no Issues with my tv. The Black level are great, the motion handling is very good. I’ve watched 4 Blueray movies on it so far.Played some God of War 3. I’ve yet to see the lights in the corner/top like what some other’s have said. No clouding at all. The color is very good. Compared to my old LN52A650, This led tv is a stunner. The only compaints I have are 1 wifi not built in and 2 it’s not 480htz.
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The best vehicle for 3D content.

Acquired the TV while on a trip to the States and brought back to Brazil with me (a 55″ by commercial flight!). My lab at the University of Sao Paulo has created stereoscopic 3D content for teaching and entertainment for many years. This TV has proved to be the perfect medium to show our material to small audiences. The images are cristal clear and the definition is superb! Thanks Samsung and all the others manufactures (Panasonic and Sony so far) for bringing this futuristic machine to reality in my time. I highly recommend it. Just be patient and wait for all the wonderful content (entertainment and educational) that will be flooding the market very soon.
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The C8000 is definitely an underachiever. It is one highly disappointing television.

While the C8000 is technically not Samsung’s flagship television for 2010, — that honor belongs to the 1/3 inch deep C9000 that costs $6,000 — it does represent Samsung’s best foot forward as far as picture performance is concerned. With this fact in mind, I simply must say that it is a major disappointment. The longer I have it, the more problems I find with it. I have become more and more upset and frustrated with it by the day. I actually originally rated it identically to my rating of the C7000, but after having it for almost two weeks now, I must lower my rating. It is just a lot more disappointing and aggravating than my C7000 was. Granted, this could be because I didn’t have high expectations for the C7000, but I didn’t find as many problems with it either. I will say upfront that it does outperform the C7000 in a few respects, but not by enough to ignore all of the additional flaws; especially when you consider the fact that it costs more and it is supposed to handily outperform the C7000 in every regard. Furthermore, it has far more problems with it’s video processing and handling of 720p/1080i HD content than the C7000. Therefore, I simply could not give the C8000 more than 2 stars. I will start out by giving a quick outline of the flaws and strengths. The flaws: Video Processing that is defective by design, a black level that is not up to par, poor screen uniformity and viewing angle. The strengths: The design – If you like brushed titanium that has a distinctly silver look, as well as chrome, you will love the design. I’m sure it will be a little too ostentatious for some, but will suit others very well. I don’t love the design, but I won’t deny that it is uniquely aesthetically pleasant. Overall, putting personal feelings aside, I think one would have to concede that the design is ultimately a rousing success. The features – The feature set speaks for itself, and holds it’s own against the features of the high majority of other television. The Remote – The remote is gorgeous and is as showy as the television itself. None of these aspects bring down the rating of this television. It is the picture performance and a lot of defects that really bring down the score.

Black level: The level of black achieved by the C8000 is relatively dark, but still has to be considered a disappointment. The black level is just not as deep or realistic as one might expect on a television of this level. Samsung has been touting the precision dimming feature of this set since the very first specs for it were released a few months ago. They made it sound like this precision dimming would allow this set to achieve a level of black that rivaled any full array local dimming LED LCD or Plasma. Well, I’m sorry, it just didn’t happen. The precision dimming feature definitely doesn’t work like it should. The black level on this television is relatively deep, but nowhere near what it should be. Basically it’s somewhere in between most edge-lit led sets and full array local dimming sets or high end plasma’s. It’s definitely not what I think we all believed it would be, and it definitely doesn’t hold up to what Samsung stated could be achieved with it’s precision dimming feature. Considering the price of this television, and the fact that it is Samsung’s best effort at excellence for 2010, the black level is definitely not up to par. Due to the fact that the black level is not what it could or should be, shadow delineation is only about average. You will not find details in shadows like you will on a television with a better overall black level. Shadow detail is decent, it’s just not what you may have experienced on a television capable of achieving a deeper, more realistic shade of black.

Color Accuracy: There’s no need to say a lot here. The color accuracy, as well as the overall saturation of colors in any viewing environment is essentially flawless. I really can’t take points off here. The color accuracy and the way the colors are displayed on this television regardless of which picture mode is being used, is absolutely stunning.

Video Processing/Motion Resolution: The C8000 definitely loses some points here. It’s really quite sad because Samsung had absolutely perfected this feature on many of their previous high end sets. It seems like they just tried to do too much with this feature on the C8000. When I say that, I mean that there are just too many different adjustable settings that affect the video processing/motion resolution, and it seems this might be what caused some problems. There are 3 different adjustable settings that affect video processing and motion resolution. 240hz Auto Motion Plus, Smart LED, and LED motion plus. I believe that defect within the video processing must be blamed on Samsung trying to do too much with this aspect of the television. The biggest flaw I found is that this television is utterly incapable of properly handling 1080/24p content. As I watched my first blu-ray on this television, — which happened to be Sherlock Holmes — every time the camera panned over something, I kept thinking that it looked funny. I definitely wasn’t seeing the innate judder of film. It looked synthetically smooth. Nothing like what I am used to from televisions that handle this content appropriately. Therefore, I used 2 different calibration discs with test patterns, and popped in several films that I know to have distinct camera panning scenes. My fears were confirmed, no matter which settings you use, or how you adjust the Auto Motion Plus 240 Hz feature, 24fps content cannot be properly handled by this television. This television also has a problem processing 1080i/60hz and 720p/60hz signals, which will cause stuttering/hitching, as well as very short pauses with sudden jerky movements. This means that you have to continue adjusting the Auto Motion Plus and/or LED Motion Plus features for every different program you watch on cable or satellite until you find a setting that works with that particular signal. It is extremely annoying, and entirely unacceptable on a television such as this.

Standard Definition Programming/HD programming via Satellite or Cable broadcast at 1080i or 720p: This aspect represents another huge misstep on the part of the C8000. The television absolutely cannot de-interlace 1080i content to display it properly. (I confirmed this with two different test patterns) It also seemed to have a lot of trouble converting standard def 480 signals. This means that all broadcast HD programming as well as standard def programming — while still looking excellent — loses some quality in the finer details. The main images being displayed — such as an actor’s face during a close up — still look outstanding, but details in the background look quite poor. A lot of people won’t even notice this type of thing, so it’s not a huge issue. I just feel that a television of this caliber should never have a problem with something as simple as this. I will however reiterate that most viewers won’t notice or care about this, so I don’t deduct much for it at all.

3D Television/3D blu-ray viewing: The C8000 has to be awarded some major bonus points here (Albeit with one huge caveat). I must admit, viewing a 3D blu-ray on this television — especially with the newest firmware, which allows customization and adjustment of the 3D level — is wildly impressive. I couldn’t stop thinking about what a technological marvel this is. The 2D to 3D conversion feature — while nowhere near as impressive as actually viewing native 3D content — is pretty remarkable. Overall, the 3D aspect of this television is definitely it’s biggest strength. However, I must talk about something that has to be considered a huge problem with the 3D feature. When you engage 3D, the television automatically adjusts the backlight, contrast level, and brightness of the television, while also changing the picture mode. This is understandable because wearing the active shutter 3D glasses really dims the picture. The key problem is that when the backlight, contrast level, and brightness are elevated on this television, the screen becomes a dark grey sky completely full of clouds. Light begins to shine in from multiple areas of the panel. It looks atrocious. It is very distracting, and really takes away from the 3D viewing experience. If you manually adjust the settings to lower contrast, backlight, and brightness, or switch to a dimmer picture mode, it absolutely ruins 3D viewing on this television. It’s a lose-lose situation. To fully enjoy 3D viewing, the settings affecting brightness and contrast must be elevated, but that causes light to leak in. Lower these settings, and the television is too dim to give you an immersive 3D experience.

Taken as a whole, the C8000 is a good television (Albeit one with a lot of flaws and problems). Good is not a word that one wishes to use to describe highly expensive, flagship — as far as video quality goes — television that represents a company’s best effort at picture performance for an entire year. The C8000 is better than the C7000, but not enough better to warrant a higher star rating or a higher cost. This is especially true when you consider the fact that the C7000 was never intended to be anything other than Samsung’s cheapest 3D TV and did not have half the hype surrounding it or create half the expectations that the C8000 did. The precision dimming feature is essentially a gimmick, and doesn’t allow the television to achieve a shade of black that is much better than other edge-lit led sets. To cap off the review, I will say that I am extremely thwarted by this television. I have already initiated a return, and I will be highly anticipating the LX900 and HX900 from Sony, the LE 9500 from LG, as well as the PNC8000 plasma with real black filter for bright room/daytime viewing. After owning and returning both the C7000 and C8000, I have given up on Samsung LED LCD sets for 2010.

Update: The following questions were posed to me in the comments section -

- Are the black levels good?
- Is there blooming?
- What about the flashlight effect?
- Does the screen get washed out if its across from a window?
- Are regular 2D blurays and standart TV pretty to the eye?

I promised that I would go in and update my review to give very basic answers to these questions. Please read through the comments section for additional detailed information regarding this television.

- Are the black levels good?
Yes. The level of black achieved by this television is very good. One key point to remember is that the black level is very good while viewing the television from direct center, but starts to turn grey and somewhat bluish as you move further away from a center viewpoint. Now, ask yourself this question. Do you think that the level of black achieved by a manufacturer’s very best effort at picture performance in any of their televisions should be very good or something better than that? Again, this television represents the highest quality picture performance you will get from Samsung in 2010. Do you think the black level should be better than very good? I definitely do. I think that paying close to $3,000 for a television should get you a black level that is absolutely superb. Especially considering that the television you paid that much for is the best one that company made that entire year. The black level of this television basically matches the black level of other edge-lit led — B8000, B7000, C7000, etc. — sets. In most viewing environments, it is identical. In a completely darkened room, it is barely deeper. Some people won’t even be able to tell that it is barely better. Wouldn’t you agree that this is not what the precision dimming feature was intended for. Samsung stated that the precision dimming feature would allow this television to achieve a level of black that matched any full array local dimming television without exhibiting blooming. Well, it didn’t do this.

- Is there blooming?
Blooming on this television is very rare. You will see it exhibit some faint blooming occasionally, but only in extremely dark scenes in which something very bright is also present. Think of a scene in which 90% of it is darkened, but there is a bright light present. A good example would be some of the Rorshach scenes in Watchmen. The blooming is greatly improved upon as compared to the full array local dimming sets, but you will still barely see it from time to time. The precision dimming feature did it’s job regarding blooming. Now, if only it could have done it’s job regarding black level, and eliminating light shining through the panel.

- What about the flashlight effect?
As I originally stated in my review, it is highly present during the viewing of 3D content. I suppose I should have elaborated and mentioned that if you elevate any of the picture settings that affect the brightness of this television, the flashlight effect will become extremely noticeable and distracting. You will be able to see it using “Dynamic” picture mode, or if you raise any of the contrast, brightness, or backlight settings in “Standard” picture mode. When viewing 3D content, the television automatically elevates these particular settings and light really begins to shine in from the corners as well as everywhere on the panel. If viewing this television in “Standard” mode, regardless of viewing environment, without raising any of these settings, the flashlight effect will be practically invisible. If viewing this television using “Movie” mode, in a completely darkened room, the flashlight effect will be entirely non-existent.

- Does the screen get washed out if it’s across from a window?
If you were viewing a film with a lot of dark scenes — think Harry Potter or something similar — the picture wouldn’t necessarily get washed out, but the reflections would create a great difficulty in viewing this type of content. If you are watching lively bright content such as sporting events or animated films, or if you are watching a television show or blu-ray that is full of brightened scenes, the picture will still look gorgeous. It would not be washed out or difficult to view for any reason at all. Overall screen uniformity is about what you would expect for an LCD television. The picture looks best from direct center in the sweet spot, and gets worse as you move further to the left or right, or if you are looking at it from higher than the television. Basically, the viewing angle is quite poor, but not more so than the viewing angle of other comparable televisions. You definitely experience some color loss, and blacks turn bluish grey, but this happens on every LCD. This issue is especially noticeable on edge lit LED LCD’s.

- Are 2D blu-ray’s and standard TV pretty to the eye?
I believe I addressed this pretty well in my original review but I will try to be more basic in answering this question. 2D blu-ray’s look great. They look about exactly like they would look on any very good television, which is to say exceptional. There are many televisions that will display a blu-ray film just as well as this television does. In most viewing environments, — especially brightly lit rooms and daytime viewing — watching a blu-ray on this television will look just like watching one on most other edge-lit led sets and really good traditional lcd sets. Therefore, viewing a blu-ray on this television in a bright room will still give you a much better image than any plasma television would. However, in a completely darkened room, blu-ray’s will still look great, but the image will not hold it’s own against led lcd televisions with better black levels and a lot of plasma’s. Standard television programming and high def television programming will look great — with the exception of the video processing errors — to all but the pickiest viewers.

I really hope this helps. I am not satisfied with this television at all, and I believe that a lot of people that purchase it will feel the same way. You are just not getting what you pay for when you buy this TV. Samsung stated that this television would be superb, and I was expecting excellence. It is definitely not superb, and a lot of televisions that cost much less will give you the same picture quality (only without the 3D feature). If you absolutely must have 3D right now, plasma is not an option for you, and you can’t wait for a better television from Sony or LG, it’s not the worst decision you could make. However, you will have paid close to $3,000 for simply a very good TV. If you can wait, and would rather spend $3,000 on an outstanding TV, there will definitely be much better televisions released within the next few months.

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Hands down best bang for the buck!

Let me start by saying that I do own this TV, and it is replacing the c7000 model. About a month ago I walked into a local retailer and asked when the 3D sets were coming out, to my surprise they had just received the first shipment of C7000 3D ready sets from Samsung. After spending about a half an hour checking out the TV, and asking a lot of questions I decided to take the plunge and purchase the TV, 3D Blu-Ray player, and starter kit. My intentions were not to buy a new set that day, but it was getting to be time to upgrade anyway so I wanted to have something with some “wow factor” for a while. A friend and I loaded up the set and got the connections made, cracked a couple of beers and checked out my new investment. There were mixed reactions to say the least. Once the novelty of the 3D wears off you can be really critical of that model. Huge amount of “crosstalk” on the picture, and cloudy bright spots with “flashlighting” in the bottom two corners. Very disappointing. I went back to the store to look at the display model again and did not see a fraction of the issues that my set was showing. The salesperson said that the Panasonic Plasma should be coming in any day and they expected it to be light years ahead of the Samsung in picture quality, black level, no crosstalk, etc.

After a week or so I went in to see the Panasonic that was now also on display only to see the same issues with crosstalk in 3D. The 2D experience on the Panasonic was quite good but at the time the only size available was 50″, and I was replacing a 62″ set and really didn’t want to make that drastic of a change. So on bright pictures the Samsung was absolutely stunning! In a dark room while watching a dark movie the picture was just unacceptable for a TV in this price range. At this point I figured that I would return the TV, and wait for one of the larger Panasonic’s to hit the stores.

Then I saw that the C8000 was being released earlier than expected, and had new technology called Pinpoint Dimming. After doing quite a bit of reading reviews, and others’ experience with the Samsung locally dimmed set’s I decided to give Samsung another chance before going to Plasma. Amazon had the TV for sale before my local retailer so I placed the order and crossed my fingers that I would not be returning two new TV’s instead of one. Well let me wrap this up by saying that I am sooooo glad that I made this choice! The C8000 is absolutely stunning in aesthetic quality, and is the best picture quality I have probably ever seen! Dare I say it is even better than the 8500 from last year that gets such great reviews. There is no flashlighting, the black levels are completely pitch black, and as another reviewer already stated, once you get the picture dialed in the way you like it there really is no comparison. Everyone that sees the TV in my house has to stop and watch for a while, in fact, the downside to owning it is that I can’t get people to go home!

Now with that being said, there are some minor observations that would be different in a perfect world. If you put this set in a large room and watch it from a large angle you will lose some of the black levels, and for the price it really should have wifi built in. Also, in the menu’s it seems that some settings should be grouped together under the headings, so you have to jump around in the menu’s a bit to get your set dialed in, but this is typically not something you will be doing all the time. Other than that I really can’t see a problem with it. When considering the C7000 or C8000 do yourself a favor and choose the latter. Even if this set was hundreds of dollars more it would be worth it. This one will be hard to beat.

UPDATE: After having the TV for about a week it started having some technical issues like switching sources randomly, and changing the picture settings for no reason. Samsung tech support was very good and we thought initially the problems were being caused by the Logitech remote I use, however after increased tech issues the TV had to be returned. Being that the picture quality is so exceptional on this set I have already replaced it with another one of the same model purchased at retail (for much less money actually) and am keeping my fingers crossed that this one does not have any technical issues. I am leaving my review at five stars simply because every so often you can get a bum product, or something could have happened during shipping, but have to say that Samsung, and Amazon have been really great about taking care of me on this, and the picture quality really is very good. Reading the other reviews I am surprised that anyone would not give this a five star rating. When replacing my C8000 I checked out one of the last B8500′s still available, and side by side I have to say that not only me, but most people in the store were more impressed with the C8000. By the way, I have owned several products that C-net gave very high ratings that I had no success with, and vice versa, so I really think it comes down to your own expectations on a purchase like this.
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Nice but not exceptional TV

I am revising a review I submitted the first week I had this HDTV. I definitely have mixed feelings after having the un55c8000 for almost a month. There is alot to like, and several things that are very frustrating about this HDTV. At the end of the day, I returned it to Amazon and purchased the Samsung plasma 58c8000. In any event, I got this set, the c6900 Sammy bluray and 3d starter kit for a phenomenal price in late March from Amazon (much lower than it is going for in late April 2010 now).

Pros

Great picture on the right settings – I fooled around with the settings for 3 weeks before finding the right mix. This set has a lot of options on settings and you can end up with a totally different looking TV if the settings are poor. The best I could come up with was to switch to Standard, Color 45-50, Tint 45/55, Backlight 12-14, Brightness 45, Sharpness 0 (this is important) and switch almost all the other settings off except for Smart LED to med/high, Motion Plus to Custom with 10 blur/2 judder, Mode Auto2, and Natural.

Nice stand and titanium bezel. Good look.

Remote is very nice compared to the bluray remote, but I’m using a Harmony 900 for all my components so it isn’t used.

Bright screen compared to plasmas I’ve had. Blur settings above enable you to enjoy sports without the “soap opera” effect but there are some issues watching movies (see below).

Pinpoint dimming works. No flashlighting like the c7000 series I’ve witnessed.

Real 3D content (Monsters v. Aliens) looks great (even with a 1.3 highspeed HDMI cable — however, 2D to 3D conversion of regular programs gives only nice depth – not pop out 3d.

Super thin TV – fairly lightweight.

Netflix app works through both through the TV and the bluray and surprisingly has good pic quality – not bluray like, but close to DVD quality with no glitches (assuming you have a fast internet connection). Software upgrade worked well for bluray and TV to update netflix and the other internet apps (just not the firmware update to the TV itself) through wifi.

Cons

Lots of screen glare in a bright room (although offset by bright picture). This TV does not have a traditional matte screen like many LCD HDTVs. It is a VERY shiny screen, and the reflections look somewhat warped – like the screen is not uniform. It is not noticeable during normal watching, but with the TV off or in very dark scenes, the reflections are bowed.

Narrow viewing angle – if you’re off center by more than 5 feet you lose blacks. This is a major problem unless all of your seating is directly in front of the TV.

TV isn’t wifi – need a $80 adapter or have to hardwire it – TV firmware didn’t update through the adapter – had to update on Samsung site with USB.

The pinpoint dimming works – to a point. This TV does not have the flashlights in the corners of the screen like its sister TV, the c7000. However, it does have “clouding” in dark scenes where you see a glow of of light around bright words/objects where the rest of the screen is dark. This is very noticeable in credits in movies but not discernable in everyday watching of normal TV shows.

My biggest beef with this TV is that you pay for the 240hz auto motion plus to make this TV more “plasma-like” for purposes of motion blur. However, the auto motion plus makes most movies look too “soap opera-ee” while making live sports look incredible. So, you are constantly fooling around with the settings every time you change the channel.

Another issue with the TV is something that another reviewer spent a great deal of time on, and that is the jerkiness/judder of movies. While most movies on bluray, directv and dvd look phenomenal most of the time, about every 10 min or so, you will see a jerky scene – lasts about 2-3 seconds, that appears unnatural. Then the movie just continues looking great. 10 minutes later you see it again. I’ve read that if you turn off the judder and auto motion plus, this may fix the problem, but again, then you have to switch all your settings every time you switch between sports and movies. A bit high maintenance . . .

In all, the picture quality with the right settings on this TV is great. The problem is that it is too much work to constantly change your settings depending on what you’re watching. Also, the off angle viewing issue, clouding and bowed screen are a turnoff. If these issues were fixed, this TV would be unbeatable. Unfortunately, I ended up frustrated by the potential of the TV that isn’t quite there yet.
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Also converts any video game into 3D!! With GREAT results!

Simply Breathtaking! So much new stuff here that its hard to figure out where to start. The picture quality is first rate, but I don’t think anyone would expect anything less from a TV of this stature, so I’m not going to speak anything more about that – 8 million:1 contrast ratio!!. Make sure you upgrade your HDMI cables to v1.4 to get the 3D to work best, although I’ve heard that it works just fine with other HDMI versions.

I had originally thought the 2D movie to 3D feature was a bit over-rated by some other reviews that I have read, however after playing with it for a while, I have developed a new appreciation for it. I recommend watching the Blu-Ray – Planet Earth, the chapter on Mountains. The 3D was simply ashtonishing. I can’t seem to wrap my head around how the TV can do this 3D conversion on the fly, but I’m definately excited about this technology. Earlier I had watched “300″ with the 3D turned on and it was pretty trippy until I got sick to my head. It also works with video games like PS3 and Xbox360 (keep in mind its fake 3D and not as good as real 3D, but some will enjoy the new way of playing and watching TV). I thought Halo looked pretty impressive on the Xbox360, until I saw how good Gears of War 2 looked in 3D. It was hard to believe the 3D was fake, and I don’t think I will ever play Gears of War without the 3D from now on. Make sure you turn up the 3D settings to “10″ for maximum 3D effects. The amount of 3D pop up can be adjusted on a sliding scale of 1 to 10. Just about every video game looked great in 3D.

I am not sure if TV this compatible with NVIDIA’s 3D technolgy, but if it is, you may be able to play your PC games in REAL 3D by connecting your computer! I’ll update this when I find out more.

I have not tested the real 3D yet because I have not received the 3D player yet and PS3 has still not updated its firmware to play real 3D. But I will update this after testing it.

The downsides to this TV are as follows (I admit these are nitpicky complaints):
- Several people have complained that this set does not display 24p properly. I have tried to the best of my ability to verify this, however, with the effects turned off (or set on “clear”), the TV looks to me that it is displaying 24p just fine. Since I cannot find fault, I’m assuming most viewers are not going to notice anything so I cannot dock any stars in rating.
- the special features are hard to locate – good luck finding how to adjust settings on the 3D pop up level!
- the 240hz smoothing feature, when active, ends up making the picture look so smooth that action movies resemble home video movies (also described as Spanish Soap Opra effect). On the one hand it’s great to have no flicker or choppiness, but it makes Hollywood movies look very low budget for some reason, despite all the new details that can be seen. The only kind of movies that look good with the full 240fps smoothing are computer animated movies like “UP”, and documentaries like “Planet Earth”. The smoothness really works well for movies like this, the mountain scenes felt like actually being there, and made me dizzy! I didn’t have that effect when I had originally watched it in 24p a couple years back. In fact I remember thinking back then how nice the mountain scenes would have looked if not for all the “judder/choppiness” of 24p. For all other movies I keep the setting on “Clear” which brings back the cinematic 24p picture judder. As annoying as the choppiness is, it sure brings back the Hollywood Magic.
- The illuminated “SAMSUNG” logo that is directly under the TV picture is annoying since I like to watch movies at night, however, I later found out this can be turned off in the settings.
- The TV isn’t as sturdy feeling as my previous flat screen. Because its so thin, it tends to wobble in its base if tapped, and it just gives me that uncomfortable “unsturdy” feeling. This is not a big deal though, I don’t think it will fall and you can always choose to mount it to the wall.
- The flat remote control is cool to look at, but difficult to operate since you can’t “feel” your way around the keys. However, you shouldn’t have to use the remote much since most of us use the cable box remote anyways.

My final verdict: Buy this TV if you are REALLY excited about 3D as I am, I don’t think you will be disappointed. Don’t upgrade just for picture quality. last years 240hz models look just as good, and some reviews say last years look even better.

20April UPDATE: I have finally tested the Monsters VS Aliens 3D movie. The 3D was in fact first rate in most scenes of the movie (even better than theater 3D, but NOT better than IMAX 3D). The fact that this was the very first 3D blu-ray movie is obvious because there is occational ghosting present in some scenes (double images). While many critics have quickly chosen to complain about this, I see another point of view. There were just too many perfect 3D effect scenes in all types of enviornments for me to believe that the ghosting is inevitable. I think the occasional Ghosting effects were due to this title being rushed out the door with the release of Sumsungs new 3D TV lines. I don’t think there will be any issues with removing the ghosting from future titles when more time is given to master the 3D content. Color me impressed and glad I made this purchase!
Read More About Samsung UN55C8000 55-Inch 1080p 3D 240 Hz LED HDTV

Where To Buy Samsung UN55C8000 55-Inch 1080p 3D 240 Hz LED HDTV

Active 3d Rocks!

You get the best of it all. The 8000 series functionality with 3D capabilities..
The coolest thing is you can watch regular 2d TV and Movies in 3D. The TV’s 3d processor
converts 2d. It isn’t as good as true 3D but I watched the original Star Wars “A New Hope”
converted to 3d at the smooth 240Mhz and was wowed.
I bought the package with 3d Blu-Ray player and glasses. Great deal and It was easy to set up.
After 2 weeks of use, I have no cons to report. However, don’t forget to buy a high speed HDMI cable.
Waiting for the super slim C9000? If you don’t have the (rumored) 6k to drop on it, This is your TV..
It’s thin enough.

Read More About Samsung UN55C8000 55-Inch 1080p 3D 240 Hz LED HDTV

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