Samsung D8000 (PS51D8000) 51 Inch 3D Plasma TV Review

We take a look at Samsung's latest 3D plasma TV

by Steve Withers
TV Review

144

Recommended
Samsung D8000 (PS51D8000) 51 Inch 3D Plasma TV Review
MSRP: £1,699.00

Introduction

Given the amount of fuss that surrounds the release of a new Panasonic plasma it is easy to forget that other companies also manufacturer them. In fact both LG and Samsung have plasma lines but between LG's recent launch of Cinema 3D and Samsung's obsession with LED backlighting their plasmas can sometimes feel like forgotten relatives. This is a shame because both LG and Samsung make rather good plasma displays that can easily compete in most areas with Panasonic - black levels being the obvious exception. In addition the South Korean plasmas haven't suffered from issues with 50Hz and have much better video processing, especially Samsung who offer some of the best scaling and deinterlacing on the market. We reviewed the PS50C7000 last year and overall we were quite impressed with the display, our only real concerns related to black levels and image retention. This year we have Samsung's top of the line plasma the PS51D8000 which promises to deliver more than just an additional inch of screen size. The PS51D8000 includes last year's funky styling and offers active shutter 3D of course but it also includes Samsung's new Smart TV and promises to improve in areas such as image retention and black level. Let's take a look and see how the PS51D8000 measures up.

Design and Connections

The look of the PS51D8000 is very similar to the LED-LCD version and shares the same attractive silver brushed metal design. The major difference is that the plasma version has a slightly wider bezel at about 2.5cm thick at the top and sides and about 4cm thick at the bottom. Around the outside of the bezel is clear plastic edging which is 0.5cm thick at the top and sides and 1cm thick at the bottom. The additional inch in screen size is achieved by making the bezel an inch smaller whilst keeping the overall dimensions the same as the previous 50" plasma. The idea here is that anyone who has limited space can upgrade to a slightly bigger screen but be safe in the knowledge that the new display will fit in the space occupied by the old one. The back of the PS51D8000 is made of black metal and the whole display has a solid well engineered feel. The chassis is incredibly thin for a plasma being only 3cm at the top and slightly wider at the bottom, which is where the speakers are hidden. One downside of this super thin chassis is that the power cable cannot be detached because it is earthed and would require a kettle style cord for which there is simply no room. We don't necessarily have a problem with this but the power cable was far too short and despite the display being very close to a power socket we could barely reach. The stand remains something of an acquired taste but its purpose is clearly to make the Samsung displays stand out at point of sale and in this sense it works very well. One complaint is that although the chassis and lower part of the stand are both made of metal, the column attaching one to the other is hardened plastic with no special threads for the screws, just holes. This not only makes the display difficult to assemble (and disassemble) but also gives this part of the construction a slightly cheap feel. However overall the build quality is excellent and the design of the D8000 series remains both elegant and contemporary.

The PS51D8000 has a generous selection of connections at the rear and their layout follows the trend that has developed amongst all the manufacturers this year. At the rear there are downward facing inputs for an aerial, a satellite antennae, a LAN port, component video in, composite video in, analogue audio in, a RGB in and a VGA in. With the exception of the aerial, the antennae, the VGA and the LAN sockets the other connections require special adaptors that are provided with the display and are clearly designed to reduce clutter and keep the chassis as thin as possible.

The remaining connections are also at the rear but are sideways facing and about 17cm in from the edge. There are four HDMI inputs one of which has an Audio Return Channel, two USB ports, a headphone socket, a Common Interface (C.I.) slot, an optical digital audio out and an analogue audio in that requires an adaptor. It is clear that Samsung are trying to accommodate both the slim design of the display and the possibility of wall mounting in the position of the connections but we're not convinced by sideways facing inputs. The problem is unless these inputs are far enough away from the edge of the display you can see the cables poking out the side, especially if you use high quality HDMI cables. However that minor point aside we liked these connections, they were plentiful, sensibly placed to allow for wall mounting and the adaptors were easy to use.

Last year the C8000 series came with a high quality and stylish remote that complimented the avant garde design of the displays themselves. We quite liked the design of that remote and when we heard that the D8000s in the US were shipping with Samsung's dual sided QWERTY remote we were looking forward to trying it out. Unfortunately unlike our cousins across the pond we have been deemed unworthy of this premium remote and only get a very basic remote that is essentially the same as you would get with an entry level Samsung. Whilst Samsung will make the premium remote available for those that wish to purchase it as an accessory, the decision to not include this remote is clearly cost related and reminds us of our position in the world market place. The actual remote included is at least well laid out and includes all the necessary buttons including one for the Smart TV Hub and also one for 3D. The only problems we had with the remote related to the position of buttons next to the up/right/down/left buttons which we kept accidentally hitting during calibration. We also found that quite often the display wouldn't receive the IR command from the remote, even when we pointed it directly at the receiver on the display. We weren't sure if the blame lay with the remote or the display but it was annoying when this happened.

The PS51D8000 uses active shutter glasses and according to the Samsung website there are none included with the display which given the high end status of this display seems a bit mean. Having said that we sourced our review sample from a retailer and there was one pair included so it would be best to check if you decide to buy the PS51D8000. We generally like the design of the Samsung active shutter glasses and they are comfortable to wear even for long periods of time, they can be worn over normal glasses and are designed to stop light from coming in from the sides. Our only real criticisms relate to the size of lens which could be bigger to improve your field of view and the fact that they are quite fragile and could fall victim to clumsy users.

Menus

The PS51D8000 uses Samsung’s latest iteration of their menu system which is well thought out, pleasing to look at and offers a clear and concise series of choices. Although the layout and choices are essentially the same as last year the menu screens have had a cosmetic make over since then and in fact look very attractive. The menu offers a basic set of options including Picture, Sound, Channel, Network, System and Support but within these main choices are a large number of sub menus. The Channel menu obviously shows you all the available Freeview channels and the Networkmenu allows you to set up your network and AllShare settings. The internet connection is very simple to set up and can be made with a LAN cable or with the built-in Wi-Fi which is a nice touch.

The Sound menu is also fairly comprehensive with a choice of modes such as Movie, Music, Standard, Clear Voice etc. as well as controls for Sound Effect, 3D Audio, Broadcast Audio Options, Additional Settings and Speaker Settings. The sound produced by the PS51D8000 was reasonable considering the depth of the chassis and the location of the speakers but I’m assuming that anyone buying a display like this will wisely be using an outboard receiver to provide the surround sound. The System menu contains controls for the Time, Language, Eco Solutions, Subtitles, Digital Text, Security, PIP, Screen Burn Protection and General. It is here in the General sub-menu that you will find the Game Mode hidden away. Quite why Samsung continues to put the Game Mode here rather than with the other modes in the Picture menu is a mystery but if you want to use the Game Mode this is where you will find it.

The last of the non-picture menus is the Support menu and in here you will find the e-Manual, a Self Diagnosis function and the Software Upgrade sub-menu. The Picture menu offers a choice of four types of viewing Mode called Standard, Natural, Dynamic and Movie. In lieu of any THX preset the latter is Samsung’s attempt at an accurate out of the box setting. There are the usual basic controls that you would expect to find on a plasma display such as Contrast, Brightness, Sharpness, Colour and Tint. There is also a control called Cell Light which allows you to adjust the overall brightness of the display by boosting the voltage to the screen and achieving a similar effect to a backlight control on a LCD display. In addition there is the Eco Solution control which adjusts the setting depending on the ambient light but I find that this can cause fluctuations in the display’s brightness and I prefer to leave it off. Both the Picture Mode and the Eco Solution can be accessed directly using the Tools button on the remote.

Within Advanced Settings there is Black Tone which allows you to change the brightness level, Dynamic Contrast which varies the Contrast on-the-fly to try and boost the dynamic range, gamma which adjusts between the bright and dark areas of the image, Expert Pattern which provides a series of test patterns and RGB Only Mode which allows you to see each of the three primary colours individually and is a useful for checking correct colour decoding. Most of these controls default to off which is good as we recommend that you leave them that way. Also within Advanced Settings is an option called Colour Space which gives you a choice between Auto, Native and Custom; if you choose custom you have access to a full Colour Management System (CMS) which will allow for accurate calibration of the colour gamut. There is also a choice of a two point white balance control or a ten point White Balance control which will allow for very accurate calibration of greyscale. Whilst the display doesn't have ISF certification, Samsung are to be congratulated for including such comprehensive calibration controls.

Within Picture Options there is Size which obviously gives you sizes to choose from including Auto Wide, 16:9, Wide Zoom, Zoom, 4:3 and Screen Fit. This function can be accessed directly using the P. Size button on the remote. There is also Colour Tone (really colour temperature) which gives you a choice of Cool, Normal, Warm1 and Warm2 and a Digital Noise Filter control (3D noise reduction filter) which will reduce analogue background noise. There is a MPEG Noise Filter, a HDMI Black Level control that we left set to Normal and a Film Mode option that has two choices - Auto1 and Auto2. The final sub-menu within the Picture menu contains all the 3D related controls and can be accessed directly by using the 3D button on the remote. This sub-menu allows you to choose the 3D Mode (2D to 3D, Side by Side, Top and Bottom etc.), the 3D Perspective (which adjusts the 3D perspective), Depth which only affects the 2D to 3D mode, L/R Change which swaps the images for each eye, 3D-2D which shows 3D content in 2D and 3D Auto View which automatically selects the correct 3D Mode when it receives a 3D input. The PS51D8000 allows you to save the settings (including White Balance and Colour Space) for each input, this is a very handy function as it allows you to correctly calibrate each input for the device that is connected to it.

Test Results

For the purposes of measuring the out of the box performance we used the Movie mode preset and made sure that all picture enhancement features were turned off. We then set the Cell Light to an appropriate level and used a PLUGE pattern to correctly set the Brightness, a Hi-Lo Tracking pattern to correctly set the Contrast and we set the Colour Tone to Warm2. As you can see from the graph above the Greyscale performance is very good with Gamma tracking around our target of 2.2 and the DeltaEs all measuring below 5 and some even measuring below 3. There are a few errors creeping in around 50 to 70IRE that will result in visible discolouration but the 10 point White Balance control should allow us to improve this performance still further. As you can see from the CIE chart above there are some sizeable errors in all the colours except yellow which was actually spot on. Most of the colours were undersaturated, especially green, blue and cyan which stands to reason as cyan is a combination of green and blue. There were also some sizeable errors in the hue of red and green and the luminance (brightness) of red and blue were too high. Given that the CMS built into the PS51D8000 allows control over hue, colour and luminance we should be able to correct most of these errors.

To calibrate the PS51D8000 we left the majority of settings as they were and used the 10 point White Balance and the CMS to set the Greyscale and Colour Gamut as correctly as possible. As we had experienced previously with Samsung’s 10 point White Balance control we found actually calibrating the Greyscale to be time consuming and counter-intuitive at times but we were able to get a good result ultimately. As the graph shows the Greyscale tracking is now ruler flat with DeltaEs of less than one for all IRE levels. The Gamma is still tracking at the 2.2 target and overall this is a reference standard performance. The Greyscale forms the backbone of the displayed image and that is why it is so important that there is a smooth transition from Black to White with no discolouration. If you think about it in painting terminology the Greyscale creates the canvas to which we add the colour, any discolouration of that canvas will affect how the colours we add look.

The squares on the CIE graph represent where each colour is supposed to be when material is mastered to an industry standard called Rec.709. The closer a display is to Rec.709 the closer the viewer is to watching the material as the creators intended. This is the reason why we measure the colour gamut and place so much importance on colour accuracy. It is also the reason why we push manufacturers to include a full CMS and why we resist attempts to expand the colour gamut of a display beyond the colour space in which PAL and high def material is mastered. When using the CMS the native colour gamut of the PS51D8000 was actually wider than the one we measured in Movie mode and thus we were able to produce a very accurate Colour Gamut. The first thing to notice is that now the Greyscale has been fully calibrated White is measuring at D65 which we would expect given the excellent results for Greyscale. In addition the luminance, colour and hue DeltaEs are almost zero now and whilst there is still a small error in the colour of red it certainly wouldn't affect colour accuracy. In fact the overall DeltaEs all measure less than 2 and most are less than 1 which is an error level that is indistinguishable to the human eye and a reference for colour accuracy.

Video processing is an area where Samsung displays have always excelled and the PS51D8000 is no exception, we put it through all the usual processing torture tests and the results were absolutely superb. Samsung has previously used processing provided by HQV but more recently they have started using in house software which sits within the HyperReal Engine chipset.

As always we started with the SMPTE colour bar tests on the PAL and NTSC HQV benchmark discs which the PS51D8000 had absolutely no problems with, correctly scaling the full 576i and 480i images without any loss of detail or unwanted ringing. The PS51D8000 also performed brilliantly when it came to video deinterlacing with jaggies only appearing when the line was at a very acute angle in the first test. In the second test the motion adaptive deinterlacing was also excellent with only very slight jaggies appearing on the bottom most extreme of the three moving bars. The PS51D8000 also resolved all the fine brickwork in the detail tests and quickly locked onto and displayed a solid image in the film detail test (provided the Film Mode is enabled). However as we expected based on my experience with other Samsung displays the PS51D8000 actually failed the test displaying film material with scrolling video text when Film Mode was set to Auto1 but passed when it was set to Auto2, so if you experience any problems with video text over film try changing between the two settings. We're not entirely sure why Samsung includes two film modes but according to the manual Auto1 is optimised for viewing film material and so we generally used that setting. In the cadence tests the D8000 had no problems correctly detecting both the 2:2 (PAL - European) and 3:2 (NTSC - USA/Japan) tests, producing rock solid images that were free of artefacts.

The PS51D8000 also performed very well in tests on the HQV Blu-ray benchmark disc and with the player set to 1080i the PS51D8000 correctly deinterlaced and displayed both the video and film resolution tests (provided the Picture Size is set to Screen Fit). The PS51D8000 also showed a fast response to changes in cadence as well as excellent scaling and filtering and good resolution enhancement. The PS51D8000 had no problems handling 24p material either, reproducing the test images smoothly with no judder or other artefacts, especially when Cinema Smooth was engaged which increases the frame rate from 24 to 96. In fact the only high definition test that the PS51D8000 performed poorly on as the one showing video text overlaid on film based material but once again switching to Auto2 fixed this.

Finally we moved on to our trusted Spears and Munsil test disc which contains a number of very handy test patterns to measure the overall performance of the display and needless to say the PS51D8000 sailed through all the cadence and deinterlacing tests. We find that the ‘Image Cropping’ test is useful for checking if there is any overscan and the ‘Luma Multiburst’ is handy for making sure that the full 1920x1080 resolution is being displayed. These tests are particularly useful for demonstrating why you should always use the Screen Fit aspect ratio instead of the 16:9 ratio. If you leave the PS51D8000 set to the default 16:9 ratio then the image is cropped by up to 30 pixels and the scaling involved results in reduced resolution that is easy to see on the multiburst test. We understand that manufacturers use the overscan to avoid consumers seeing junk at the edges of the video image when the display is in a showroom but if you don’t choose the correct pixel mapping ratio you are no longer watching a full high def image. The situation isn’t helped by the fact that each manufacturer uses a different name for its own pixel mapping option and quite often these names aren’t very informative. In the case of Samsung they call their pixel mapping option Screen Fit but other names we've seen include Just Scan, Dot By Dot and best of all Pixel By Pixel.

In addition we were able to use the ‘Dynamic Range High’ test to check that we had set the Contrast correctly with the PS51D8000 showing excellent headroom performance from reference white (video level 235) up to peak white (video level 255) and absolutely no signs of clipping. On the ‘Dynamic Range Low’ test the PS51D8000 also correctly showed detail down to a video level 17 and reference black below that to video level 0 which confirmed that we had also correctly set the Brightness control. This test also showed why you should leave the Black Tone and Dynamic Contrast controls off because engaging them immediately resulted in lost video levels at the bottom of the dynamic range.

In Game mode the input lag on the PS51D8000 measured at 40ms which is worse than the 20ms we measured on the PS50C7000 last year. This is something of a disappointment and might be a little too high for very serious gamers. Apparently the Game Mode is optimised for use with an X-Box 360 so if that is your game platform of choice you might find the input lag is a little lower. As mentioned previously the Game Mode itself is hidden away in the General sub-menu of the System menu.

For a reasonably large plasma the PS51D8000 is surprisingly energy efficient, although due to the self-illuminating nature of the technology the power usage varies depending on the content being shown on the screen. The consumption figures in Movie Mode using 0, 50 and 100 IRE windows were 85 watts, 99 watts and 180 watts and the PS51D8000 used less than 1 watt in standby. The average power consumption when watching actual full screen material in Movie Mode was about 240 watts which is quite good.

Picture Quality - 2D

The 2D performance of the PS51D8000 was very good with both standard and high definition and this was in no small part due to the reference greyscale and colour gamut. These two areas combine to produce the key building blocks of an image and if they aren't right then no image can ever look it's best, which is why we place so much emphasis on them.When it came to standard definition content the excellent video processing really helped and the resulting images were very impressive. The built-in tuner was also very good which combined with the processing produced very watchable pictures from standard definition Freeview programming. Any compression artefacts and other problems were the result of the broadcasts themselves rather than any failing on the part of the PS51D8000. Things improved even more when we watched DVD based material and film content in particular had a smooth, judder and artefact free appearance.

When it came to high definition content things were even better and content from FreeviewHD looked especially impressive with plenty of detail and minimal compression artefacts. Obviously with Blu-rays the image quality improved still further with wonderfully natural and detailed images. The PS51D8000 produced impressively film-like images from all our usual test material and also had no problems with 24p content especially when the Cinema Smooth function is turned on. There were also no problems with motion handling as tests using the FPD benchmark disc evidenced. The PS51D8000 includes Samsung's latest Real Black Filter which is designed to reduce the amount of light that reflects off the screen and in this area it was a success with far less reflections than we've seen from other recent displays. The PS51D8000 also includes the Clear Image Panel that uses a new filter and panel structure that is designed to eliminate layered images and improve viewing angles. The viewing angles were certainly good and the PS51D8000 was capable of producing clear and detailed images, although there was some PWM noise.

The only real area of weakness in the Samsung plasmas remains black levels, especially when compared to this year's Panasonics where the Samsung blacks were clearly inferior. Now in all fairness Panasonic has spent a fortune acquiring patents, engineers and technology as well as building state of the art facilities in order to produce the kind of blacks that we're seeing this year but even so the blacks on the Samsung are basically the same as last year. Whilst we ultimately feel that measuring black levels is a pointless exercise but we appreciate that some members place a great deal of importance on them, especially in plasma reviews where more importance is placed on native blacks.

So with that in mind, the PS51D8000 measured using our Klein K-10 in dark surroundings and a calibrated mode produced 0.06cd/m2 at 0IRE and 115.47 cd/m2 at 100IRE (approximately 1,925:1 on/off ratio) using standard window patterns from our Sencore MP500. By comparison our 2 year old Pioneer LX5090 Kuro measured 0.03 cd/m2 at 0IRE and 110.1 cd/m2 at 100IRE calibrated (giving an on/off ratio of 3,670:1 approximately). The ANSI-contrast measurements on the Pioneer were 0.04 cd/m2 black and 85.4 cd/m2 white which gives a ratio of 2,135:1 approximately, whilst the PS51D8000 managed 0.06 cd/m2 black and 94.95 cd/m2 white which resulted in an approximate ratio of 1,583:1. Overall the blacks weren't bad but there was clearly room for improvement and we felt that the dynamic range was also a little disappointing resulting in images that sometimes seemed a little flat. There is the option of choosing Black Level Low rather than Normal in the Picture menu but we found that doing so crushed the blacks and the image lost shadow detail.

One annoying problem last year was the amount of image retention and we were happy to see that Samsung had clearly addressed this with their 2011 models. The PS51D8000 was much better in this area and whilst there were still occasional instances of image retention it was never a problem. There have been reports on the Forums of problems with brightness fluctuations and whilst this has certainly been true with some of the recent Panasonics we found no evidence of this on the PS51D8000. There had also been reports of banding but once again we found no evidence of this outside of limitations in the source material itself. We also saw no evidence of line bleeding of any unwanted noise reduction as reported in other Samsung reviews.

Picture Quality - 3D

This was an area where we were quite impressed last year but as with the black levels we found the 3D performance a bit of a disappointment this year because Samsung don't seem to have moved on in the same way as other manufacturers. There is no doubt that the 3D performance of the Panasonic plasmas is truly excellent this year and whilst the performance of the PS51D8000 was good we felt it could be better. One of the major problems with 3D is a lack of brightness caused by the glasses and whilst the PS51D8000 has a reasonably bright image for a plasma the 3D mode could have been better and perhaps because of the disappointing dynamic range we found the 3D images to be a little dull and unexciting. This was especially true in side by side comparisons with a passive 3D display. Whilst the PS51D8000 might have a higher resolution we found the passive image had more punch and appeared brighter. However the 3D mode did produce a reasonably accurate image free from obvious discolouration or clipping, so perhaps Samsung has chosen a more accurate image over a brighter one. We found that the active shutter glasses worked very well in conjunction with the PS51D8000 and we never lost synch during testing. We also weren't normally aware of any flicker although sometimes it could be seen out of the corner of your eye. The glasses were certainly comfortable and light and they blocked ambient light from the sides but we felt the lenses themselves could be bigger.

Overall when watching 3D blu-rays the PS51D8000 performed reasonably well producing sharp and detailed high definition images but there were instances of crosstalk which we found distracting. The 50” screen is large enough to give the 3D images impact and the overall quality of the display does give the whole experience a real sense of accuracy and dimensionality. The PS51D8000 also performed well with 3D games - thanks i part to the motion handling - and we found the images to be both involving and exciting which greatly enhanced our gaming experience. Finally the PS51D8000 also correctly displayed side by side 3D material provided by a 3D camera which is similar in nature to the content on Sky 3D. We believe that Samsung’s 2D to 3D conversion software is actually one of the more advanced that is available and as such it does work surprisingly well. However we feel it is best suited for use with 2D games, here the software seems better able to determine depth information and the resulting dimensionality is more believable. When used with real world material we found that the software became too easily confused and the illusion was shattered resulting in an uncomfortable experience. Ultimately though it remains a novelty feature and in the same way that you can’t turn a standard definition image into a high definition image, you can’t make just a 2D image into a 3D image, no matter how sophisticated the software.

Features

As one would expect from a modern display the PS51D8000 has an impressive array of features and in this area Samsung truly is at the cutting edge. Aside from the 3D capability that we will discuss later, the PS51D8000 also has built-in tuners for FreeviewHD and FreesatHD. Set up is simplicity itself and the resulting EPG is one of our favourites that provides clear programme information, is easy to navigate and includes a PIP of the channel you are currently on. As is often the case with high end displays the PS51D8000 provides the ability to record programmes via a HDD connected through one of the USB ports and it also offers a time shifting capability. The PS51D8000 also includes Allshare which wirelessly connects the display to compatible devices through DLNA, thus allowing you to stream content from other devices including music, photos and video.

All the manufacturers have been pushing their updated internet platforms this year but of all the ones we've tested we believe that Samsung's Smart TV is currently the best. Firstly it offers Smart Hub which centralises all the functionality in one place and allows the user to download apps and search for TV content whilst watching live programmes. The Search Allfunction will allow you to find video content from a number of sources including broadcast TV, You Tube and VOD services which it will then show at the highest resolution available. It also allows you to surf the web and to keep in touch with friends and family using various social networks as well as use Skype when you buy an optional TV and microphone.

As much as we like the development of internet TV one of the annoying aspects is trying to type in words with a standard remote and in fact the premium Samsung remote tries to address this by including a QWERTY keyboard. Thankfully Samsung has provided an elegant - and free - solution for those that don't want to stump up for one of these premium remotes. There is now an app that can be downloaded onto Apple and Android devices that allows you to both control the display and use their keyboards when surfing the net. There is even the ability to stream content to your device, which might prove handy if you have to move away from the TV but don't want to miss something. The combination of a display, the internet, video on demand, social networking, streaming content and tablet controllers really does place the TV at the centre of the digital home and we can expect to see further integration over the next few years.

Conclusion

Pros

  • Reference greyscale performance after calibration
  • Reference colour accuracy after calibration
  • 10 point white balance control
  • Colour Management System
  • Freeview HD built in
  • Impressive internet platform
  • Very well designed menu system
  • Superb build quality and design
  • Excellent video processing
  • Excellent off-axis performance
  • Built-in WiFi
  • Low power consumption for a plasma

Cons

  • Black levels and dynamic range could be better
  • Some PWM noise
  • 10 point white balance control can be problematic to use
  • Occasional instances of crosstalk
  • The input lag could be better
  • 3D glasses might be a bit fragile
  • Only a basic remote is included
  • Display didn't always register the IR signals from the remote

Samsung D8000 (PS51D8000) 51 Inch 3D Plasma TV Review

There is much to recommend about the Samsung PS51D8000, it is attractively designed and well built and is capable of some excellent 2D performance. It is a shame that the UK model doesn't include the premium remote control that is being shipped with the US model but with a free app available that turns your tablet device into a system controller perhaps remotes will soon be a thing of the past. The out-of-the-box performance was reasonable but could be better, however the PS51D8000 has excellent calibration controls that are capable of producing a reference greyscale and colour performance. We still find the white balance controls a bit counter intuitive but the results speak for themselves. The video processing remains some of the best that we have tested in a domestic display and the motion handling is also very good. The screen filter reduces reflections from ambient light which is useful when watching content during the day and the off-axis performance is excellent. There are also no real problems with image retention which is a big improvement on last year's models.

The PS51D8000 is as featured ladened a display as you are likely to find and comes with built-in tuners for both FreeviewHD and FreesatHD. It also includes Allshare which allows for easy streaming of content such as music, photos and videos and it can time-shift programming using a USB connected HDD. The EPG and the general menu system are well designed and easy to navigate and the Smart Hub provides an excellent home screen for the whole system. Best of all Samsung's Smart TV is one of the most impressive internet platforms available offering applications, video on demand, internet surfing, social networking and Skype. The black levels, whilst not bad, are essentially the same as last year and therefore something of a disappointment, especially when compared to some of the competition. The dynamic range was also rather underwhelming which resulted in images that sometimes felt a little flat. The 3D performance was also a bit of a disappointment, once again it seemed no better than last year and once again it wasn't as good as some of the competition. The 3D images were rather dim and didn't feel as dynamic and immersive as they could but they did at least look accurate, although there were some instances of crosstalk.

We also had some other minor complaints such as the length of the power cable and certain difficulties we encountered assembling the stand. We would also prefer it if the HDMI inputs were further from the edge and we found that sometimes the display didn't receive IR commands from the remote. At 40ms the input lag might be a bit high for serious gamers but it shouldn't pose any problems for the more casual player. Finally we found the 3D active shutter glasses to be a little fragile and considering this is a high end model we would have liked to see Samsung include more than one pair. However overall the PS51D8000 is a very competent plasma that is both attractive to look at and capable of producing an excellent image, especially in 2D. In addition the 3D performance is good and the Smart TV platform is excellent so if you're looking for a good all round performer we'd recommend giving this display a demo.

Scores

Contrast/Dynamic Range/Black Level

.
.
.
.
6

Screen Uniformity

.
.
.
7

Colour Accuracy

.
.
8

Greyscale Accuracy

.
.
8

Video Processing

.
.
8

Picture Quality

.
.
.
7

3D Picture Quality

.
.
8

Sound Quality

.
.
.
.
6

Smart Features

.
9

Build Quality

.
9

Ease Of Use

.
9

Value for Money

.
.
8

Verdict

.
.
8
8
AVForumsSCORE
OUT OF
10

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