Samsung H6500 (UE48H6500) AVForums Review

Thanks for the review Steve. Having read a lot about li sync problems and Samsung televisions on the John Lewis site reviews, I have to ask if you noticed any problems with this?
 
Thanks for the review Steve. Having read a lot about li sync problems and Samsung televisions on the John Lewis site reviews, I have to ask if you noticed any problems with this?
I haven't had any problems with lip sync on any of the Samsung TVs that I've reviewed and I use them with a number of different audio systems. For example the H6500 was used with a Marantz AVR, a Samsung SoundStand (via HDMI, optical and TV SoundConnect) and the built-in speakers of course.
 
Nice review Stewie, but the new background music's far too loud in your video review and makes it a struggle to hear the commentary.
 
I bought an H6400 earlier this week and it did come with the 3D glasses. I was under the impression the difference between the H6400 and H6500 was the H6500 had a dual tuner.

In any case, was this really worth reviewing if the H6400 has already been done?
 
I don't think the 6400 has the satellite tuner does it?
 
Good point, I think the PR company just forgot to send me the glasses when I reviewed the H6400. You're right about the tuners, I'll change that.
 
I think we've done the death of plasma to well... death. Both LG and Samsung essentially stopped production ages ago and then sold off their outstanding inventory.
 
I have the 55h6500 and there is NOT an illuminated logo! Could you please double check?
 
You're quite right the logo itself doesn't light up but there is an indicator light beneath it.
 
You're quite right the logo itself doesn't light up but there is an indicator light beneath it.
I have this model and can confirm there is no lights around the Samsung logo at all, also no indicator light beneath it either.

It's a great TV but must say DSE is there on panning shots of the sky but not enough to be a concern compared to most LCDs, especially at this price range.
 
Just bought this and must say I'm not impressed with the screen uniformity or blacks. It's got obvious DSE, pretty patchy, and a lot of light bleed all up the right side. I have noticed if I move a foot left or right the oppsotie side of the creen to direction I move, ie, move left, right side of screen gets lighter and blacks become light grey. Is this normal on LCD, coming from plasma, I just don't know.. Thinking of taking it back, but not sure if to sawp it, or go for the 7000 model instead? Or would an IPS panel like the Sony 828 suffer less from the head moving lightening effect? Besides this and the fact SD is barely watchable, I'm pretty happy with it!
 
Just bought this and must say I'm not impressed with the screen uniformity or blacks. It's got obvious DSE, pretty patchy, and a lot of light bleed all up the right side. I have noticed if I move a foot left or right the oppsotie side of the creen to direction I move, ie, move left, right side of screen gets lighter and blacks become light grey. Is this normal on LCD, coming from plasma, I just don't know.. Thinking of taking it back, but not sure if to sawp it, or go for the 7000 model instead? Or would an IPS panel like the Sony 828 suffer less from the head moving lightening effect? Besides this and the fact SD is barely watchable, I'm pretty happy with it!
As you're coming from a Plasma, I think you need to look a bit more in to the differences between LCD and Plasma.

Light bleed and DSE varies on each set so no two will ever be the same, I went through 3 to find one I was happy with and this one is great, however it still has DSE but not enough to bother me and no one else can see it, it's only on panning shots of the sky or light backgrounds, never evident in films.

Regarding Black levels off angle, I actually find this set very got for a VA panel, the black level is great but at night you really have to turn the backlight down to a. avoid burning your eyes out, b. keep the black levels at a good level... I use eco setting to auto dim with a min of 8 (night) and max of 15 (day). I never notice any black level shift during the day but with the lights off at night, yeah but this is a problem with LCD, just keep the backlight at a realistic level for the environment and you should be impressed! I admit I always keep a dim light on as in complete darkness LCD is never going to win any prizes.

Regarding the viewing angle, an IPS screen would be much better but your black level starts a lot higher so it'll look almost grey from the front which kind of defeats the object... however for colours IPS is much better off angle. Good luck with DSE on an LG LCD though ;)

I think this is a great TV and think it's a good and fair review although maybe disagree with the DSE comments as it is there. I believe its direct competition would be the Sony W829 but with under saturated reds, half resolution 3D and slow boot-up response time it too has its faults.

Just remember this TV is incredibly cheap for everything it does and with the H7000 above it for around £300 - £400 more and 2" less, I didn't expect this TV to be perfect. The VA panel is on of the best out there and its only weakness for me is slight DSE and possible banding... Backlight bleed can be avoided by asking for a replacement, the Sony suffers this as well - I believe the H7000 has perfect backlight uniformity from reviews, but then again, mine is pretty much perfect (3rd set).
 
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I have read and fully understand the issues with LCD, but it's a comparative thing and hard to tell until real life situations arise. For example, blacks on LCD are known to be poor compared to Plasma, but, I upgraded because my Plasma blacks were poor, this has better blacks. Also my plasma has shocking banding which really annoys me on pans, like when looking at the blue of sky or something. This has none I can see yet, but if it does, it is much better than my current tv.

My wife was away yesterday when I bought it, and she is totally a non-tech freak, uninterested, but she sent me a message at work remarking the picture itself with SD is awful, she's right, it's barely watchable, text is so blurry it can be hard to read at times.

I also tried very quickly xbox after writing my first comment, and found that gaming is very bad due to smearing and blur, but this is an LCD trait, I just never knew it would be this bad. Driving games are hard to see what coming if you go around a bend. BUT, response times are never ever measured in tv reviews, only lag. I don't care about lag, I probably wouldn't notice less it was really bad.
But would the 7000 (which is only 200euro more and the same size) fix this issue? I don't want to waste my time going back and swapping if the 7000, or even 7500 which is only 500euro more than this, have the same blurry images and terrible SD.

The viewing angles I don't have any problems with, I don't mind it washing out a bit, I'm typing this at maybe 60 degrees to the TV and it is perfectly watchable, but the thing I mentioned above of moving my head only a foot or so is annoying. Also, I read in another review, that this screen is back lit hence it's depth, but now I doubt that, so I wonder if the dimming on the higher models will help the blacks more, particularly the bars when watching movies..?
 
@clarky78
So do you have a 46" or 48"? I thought the H7000 is only in 46" but this review is 48". The reason I ask is that I wonder if it uses the same panel.

I see a few people mention poor picture on SD channels on many LCDs but I honestly don't see it... it's 4x less details then HD so what does anyone expect? It could be that the old Plasma you had, had 720P which would deal with SD much better.
Also regards to the blur, again I actually thought this TV was amazingly clear for an LCD, never ever noticed any blur at all. I do use the Motion settings on CLEAR for TV but off for films and gaming. It could be that you haven't turned off DNR as that can cause it, have you tried the calibration settings?

Ultimately I believe that if you're used to Plasma then LCD will take a bit of getting used to, but I can assure you this model is great and worthy of the praise... I would suggest the H7000 is better but obviously you have to pay the extra to get the extra quality.

Oh, and this TV is edgelit.
 
I have the 55" version. My old tv was indeed 1080p. A Samsung first generation 3D smart TV.

I have turned off all features. Still poor, watched a 3D movie last night, Prometheus, at first I was impessed that the 3D had improved, but then after longer all I could see was double vision and ghosting in fore and back ground. So now I realise the 3D is still poor, I think I may consider the Sony W828 as it has good blacks apparently, good viewing angles, but poorer smart services from what I can tell.
 
Thinking of investing in this set. Currently have an LG LED which has banding/DSE and I understand that LG are renowned for this.

What is the banding/DSE like on this set? Does it show on football for example?
 
OK, so I kind of decided I may as well live with the LCD,s faults, having fiddled with the settings, i'm quite happy with most of it now, but for the corners.. all the corners suffer from dark grey on white screens, with the bottom right being noticeably worse. Anyone else suffer with this? thinking I better decide quick if I should return it.. Oh, and my wife has even noticed the DSE, even though she says it doesn't bother her..
 
OK, so I kind of decided I may as well live with the LCD,s faults, having fiddled with the settings, i'm quite happy with most of it now, but for the corners.. all the corners suffer from dark grey on white screens, with the bottom right being noticeably worse. Anyone else suffer with this? thinking I better decide quick if I should return it.. Oh, and my wife has even noticed the DSE, even though she says it doesn't bother her..
Honestly if it's as bad as you state have a look at the Sony, I purchased one Sunday and it's fantastic, you won't get the motion blur that's for sure but will still get a colour loss at an angle, that's just an LCD thing next to a plasma. The 3D on the Sony does get slated and it's nothing special but not a deal breaker for me. Otherwise I love mine and the wife thinks it's the best tv she has ever seen on both SD and HD.
 
I am thinking about the Sony, but I have concerns about it's a blacks. IPS have poor blacks, and the Samsung blacks are not the greatest, though admittedly they are still good. The Samsung 3D is ok, but suffers from ghosting still, I'd hate to think what the Sony is like.. Why is buying TV's such a pain? If they all just worked without fault, then you could just buy based on benefits and best features/picture rather than which is most likely to have the least issues!
 
I am thinking about the Sony, but I have concerns about it's a blacks. IPS have poor blacks, and the Samsung blacks are not the greatest, though admittedly they are still good. The Samsung 3D is ok, but suffers from ghosting still, I'd hate to think what the Sony is like.. Why is buying TV's such a pain? If they all just worked without fault, then you could just buy based on benefits and best features/picture rather than which is most likely to have the least issues!
Well, you can get the LG OLED 55" for £2,500 ATM, or pay a quarter on this TV? It's simple, you get what you pay for!
 

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