If you are planning to buy a TV like the Samsung UN55D8000 than you are planning for the ultimate video experience at your home.
In order to help you obtain the best possible results, we developed this buying guide to help you through the process of choosing and acquiring a fantastic television for a fantastic experience.
What Type of Television?
What is it to be – LCD or Plasma? The majority of new TV sets now available are flat-panel LCD and Plasma screens that can be wall mounted or placed on a stand. You will also see some models advertised as “LED TVs.” These are actually LCD sets that use LED backlights; they are not a whole new type of TV.
LCD TV: This is a good choice if you want a thin, lightweight TV that comes in a wide range of sizes and is well suited for viewing in a bright room.
LCD TVs tend to be brighter than plasma screens, and many have matte screens that don’t suffer from reflections and glare, making them a good choice for brightly lit rooms. With LCD TVs, there’s no risk of burn-in of static images, which can be a concern with plasma TVs, although it is now less of a problem than it was in the past.
However, LCD TVs have not caught up with plasma TVs concerning their viewing angle. With most LCD sets, the picture looks its best when viewed from a fairly narrow sweet spot right in front of the screen. As you move away from the center of the screen – either horizontally or vertically – the image can dim, lose contrast, look washed out, or lose color accuracy. So if you’re sitting off to the side (say, at the end of a long couch), stretched out on the floor, or looking up at a TV over the mantel, you could very well be enjoying less-than-optimal picture quality.
PLASMA TV: This is a good choice if you want a thin TV with a screen 42 inches or larger with an almost unlimited viewing angle.
You’ll find more sizes, including 46-inch and 54-inch models, as manufacturers try to compete more directly with LCD sets. There are also many more 1080p sets than in the past, including 42-inch models. Best plasma TV sets are hard to beat for color accuracy, deep blacks, and great contrast. And a virtually unlimited viewing angle means that no one has a bad view, because you see the same picture quality from almost anywhere in the room.
An irritation can be the reflections from a plasma TV’s shiny screen in a bright room, though an antireflective coating can minimize this.
Be aware that static images displayed for extended periods – such as stock tickers or video games – can burn in temporarily, and could become permanent if you consistently leave the same pattern onscreen over a long period. But that seems to have been more of a problem with earlier plasma TVs.
The Samsung UN55D8000
From the 15 site, I would like to highlight the following characteristics.
The Samsung UN55D8000yf looks stunning as a picture on your wall with its slim design (only 1.2” deep) and its ultra slim bezel (0.2”), which enhances the 3D viewing experience. If you don’t want to hang it, no problem. It comes with a swivel stand that makes it look equally light and lets you adjust it for optimal viewing angles.
Picture quality itself is an advance even over last year’s Samsung C8000 models featuring deep blacks and excellent, high quality contrast as well as extremely low picture noise levels. This is achieved with Samsung’s advanced Micro-Dimming Plus technology that literally allows each LED to be tuned individually. Miniaturisation has allowed the introductions of this technology in spite of the extreme thinness of the TV.
Image quality of the Samsung UN55D8000 is further enhanced through Samsung’s proprietary system that includes 240Hz with Clear Motion Rate to generate fast image response times for unblurred, clear viewing of fast moving objects.
In spite of its very slim design, the Samsung UN55D8000yf also features built-in surround sound. However, the thin design now shows its limits. To be able to benefit from a full home cinema experience, you may well want to add an external surround sound system. This will allow you to turn viewing into a full home theater experience.