A chance to talk to FlatpanelsHD's reviewers.
User avatar
By Rasmus Larsen
#5745
Schizo007nl wrote:Good review!

I've got one issue during reading the review.

The remote control isn't the same as the last year 2010 models. The new remote control has an optical trackpad in the middle of the navigation keys. You can use the trackpad as a mouse when you are using the built-in webbrowser.
No. When you slide down it's like pressing the Tab key on the keyboard. That's why I said navigation in the web browser is stupid. :(
User avatar
By Rasmus Larsen
#5746
PhilipK wrote:Hi Rasmus. Thank you for a great review! I have the European version of 55D8000 (called 55D8005, maybe you reviewed this one? Seems that your neither have smart led which the US model has). I must say that this is a great TV with fantastic PQ. However, when the picture is panning fast up and down I can see horizontal banding all over the screen (about 8 layers). I changed my previous TV (LG 55LX950n, same model as 55LX9500 in the US) just because constant horizontal banding which, in my opion, significantly reduce the viewing experience. Kind of tired of this just because of all the problems with my LG, so I need to know if this matter is a fact on all D8005 sets or if I have bad luck when I have actually changed my set a couple of times with no improvements regarding this. Some input from you would be really appreciated! Thanks in advance.
This actually calls for a long answer but basically you have to remember two things. Banding can be caused by 1) the Tv 2) content. And often it's actually banding from the content. Try to pause what you are seeing in one of the banding sequences.

But you explanation pretty much suggests that it's a TV thing. D8005 has banding, sure. Almost every Tv on the market has simply because a proper picture circuit is much more expensive than what we find in common TVs. You could have a faulty set but I'm not sure.
User avatar
By Rasmus Larsen
#5748
wirk wrote:Rasmus,

Here is the detailed presentation of the banding artefacts in the D8000 from a US forum. Would be good to know
if you also notice them and how serious they are for viewing.

There are three pronounced vertical bars and two lesser vertical bars that constitute banding that can be seen under some rare conditions. Dark grey will always reveal them. They are not as problematic in normal viewing but certain panning scenes of particular colors and shades reveal them. Underwater scenes, grey skies, panning over a dark field, etc. This is not a defect it is a byproduct of the tech in the tv.

Also, there is a threshold at which the LEDs on the edge dim to deepen black level and increase contrast. Some scenes cause the lights to go bright when they should be dark. Perhaps it is situations where bright lit center and dark edges appear and the LEDs have no choice but to go bright to light the center of the screen. Under such condition the edges of the set will be much brighter and washed out compared to the center. Contrast on the edges is reduced considerably under this condition. Palladia shows this all the time on night concerts where the stage is center but the rest of the screen is dark.

The only variance with the two above anomalies on this set are whether or not you notice them, and whether or not the content you are watching reveals them. I'll agree some early sets had other issues (in my case) such as lines in the diffuser panel and even more pronounced banding than what is common but every set shows these anomalies. Those of us who see the anomalies will also see them on sets that some of you claim are problem free.
Also, the two above issues are much more visible in dark environments. Nobody is debating that these sets show moments of absolute image bliss. Just that once second all is well and a scene comes on which is a mess under the same settings.
The vertical bars are there, yes. It's how the TV is buit. But I have to say that they are not relevant at all. I never saw it in practical use.

It's true that it has a auto dimming function but please don't confuse it with the one one the 2010 models. That function was crazy and very annoying. :)
User avatar
By Rasmus Larsen
#5749
PhilipK wrote:
wirk wrote:
PhilipK wrote:[Thanks for your input. I have tried to enable and disable both motion plus and led motion plus, motion lightning and film mode have always been disabled. Any other suggestions?
This is then a strange effect, nobody else reported it. On the other hand fast vertical panning does not happen that often so maybe people did not notice it? At this point it is not clear what might be the reason but it does not look as the problem of this particular set, rather general problem.
Next questions which come to mind:

1. Are the bands showing only when there is camera panning of whole picture
or also when there is object moving vertically?

2. Are the bands static or flickering or fluctuating?

3. Do the bands show up suddenly at specific speed of panning or they emerge gradually stronger?

4. Do the bands have exactly the same size?

5. How te bands look from very close distance? Do they have very sharp borders?

Two more ideas which would help to find out the reason:

1. One has to check if the set is still making some kind of backlight switching despite taking off advanced modes. Taking pictures with camera at
high speed may reveal it.

2. Using PC with PC input setting, one could simulate panning and see how it appears.
I can record a short sample from a scene where the "banding" occurs. Would it be possible to sent it to you some how?
Yeah, let's see a youtube video if you manage to record it. :)
By wirk
#5754
Rasmus,

Still about the backlight nonuniformity in the D8000. Here is the link to a message with pics comparing backlight uniformity of the D8000 and new Sony HX929 which has full array local dimming. One can see the uniformity is not so good on the D8000. According to people this nonuniformity shows up in some critical scenes though not much in typical ones. What is your opinion on this? Is the D8000 excellent for typical viewer but for the critical one it has small but annoying artefacts? So in the end, the new Sony would be a better choice?
By Avior
#5775
Rasmus Larsen wrote:
Schizo007nl wrote:Good review!

I've got one issue during reading the review.

The remote control isn't the same as the last year 2010 models. The new remote control has an optical trackpad in the middle of the navigation keys. You can use the trackpad as a mouse when you are using the built-in webbrowser.
No. When you slide down it's like pressing the Tab key on the keyboard. That's why I said navigation in the web browser is stupid. :(

While in browser you can toggle with "yellow c" between cursor and Tab modes
By Juan
#5783
Good D8000 review!

My doubt is about D7000 model. Reading Samsing specs, it seems to be EXACTLY to D8000 in terms of image and sound quality, and the only difference is the frame (with "Samsung" logo with light). Indeed, the price difference is very low (only 100 euros).

Can we asume that D7000 has xactly the same picture and sound quality as D8000? In this case, D8000 good review could be valid also for D7000 model.
By Chris2k
#5970
Hi,
I have bought this TV 3 months ago and used to love it !
10 days ago I realized that the audio was stuttering a lot and after doing lots of tests I contacted the assistence and they picked it up.
They brought it back after 4 days and now the audio is not stuttering any more, but it's horrible. It's reverberating and kind of scratchy, as if it was broken.
When I contacted the assistance again they have told me to change all the audio settings and turn down the calibration.
Furthermore they told me not to use the "game setting" and the audio film mode...
It's kind of a joke ! I use my TV just for watching movies and playing with my Xbox online.
At the end they accepted to repair again the audio of my TV, but they told me that nothing will change.
Apparently everyone is aware of that "problem" and I should go out to buy an optional sound bar or system.
Note that all those problems are hearable at volume 15 and I am not a super audio freak and have never bought any optional audio system before.
Are you guys aware of this ?
When I bought my TV I did not notice anything with the audio and all was perfect.
By Slayer_ch
#6078
Thank you for this great review. The picture settings make a very big difference to the better side.

I think it's very sad that the default values are mostly completely wrong to a perfect calibrated picture.

Did you test if there needs to be any adjustment to the picture settings in the newest firmware T-GAP8DEUC-1018.1 ?