| Picture performance, advanced connectivity, and an eco-friendly and stunning design come together to form Samsung LED TV 8500. For the image connoisseur, our highest 240Hz motion blur reduction technology, our highest 7,000,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio that displays incredibly deep blacks and pristine whites, and enriched color processing deliver outstanding video. Samsung Internet@TV has web TV widgets from Yahoo, Flicker, Ebay and others to entertain, inform and connect you to specially designed web content right on your LED TV. This Ultra Slim 1.6” depth set is the ideal complement for your room and your life.innovative digital technology. Powerful LED technology offers the most impressive contrast and color you have ever seen on a 55-inch screen; innovative 240Hz technology renders four times the frames per second compared to standard HDTVs, for motion that’s truly lifelike and smooth. A pre-loaded Content Library puts countless hours of information and entertainment at your fingertips. The Medi@2.0 feature brings online content – such as video, stocks, photo sharing and more – straight to your HDTV, with downloadable, customizable widgets that are easily controlled via the remote. The Ultra Slim Design is only 1.2 inches deep, and that’s including the tuner! Another visual highlight is the striking Touch of Color accented bezel. And with the photo frame wall mount, you can bring the elegant brilliance of this inches from the wall – in virtually any room. And with the same passion we have for delivering groundbreaking HD excitement and style, Samsung is dedicated to preserving the environment with LED TVs, through reduced power consumption (up to 40% savings versus 2008 Samsung conventional LCD TVs) and eco-friendly manufacturing techniques. |
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 All good but the delivery... |
| Review Date: March 18, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Hatteraskman, Hatteras Island, NC USA |
The Samsung 8500 LED LCD is a very high quality unit, and the picture, even in standard definition, is excellent. I am a little concerned after reading the owner's manual that the set is more susceptible to burn in images than I expected; nothing in the sales literature about that. The risk increases greatly with viewing stationary images such as pictures without a slide show; also if you do not have the picture expanded to full screen, or if you have internet content such as stock prices that are static content. I had thought that it was more like the LCD display on my laptop, which has not has any such problem in 4 years of use. The problem is said to occur when such static images are viewed more than 5-15% of the time, not much different from plasma.
What was really disappointing was the delivery service. In fairness, I live on a somewhat remote island so it's not as simple as an urban delivery, but there is a bridge and I am only 2-1/2 hours from Norfolk, VA. Truck services as well as UPS and FedEx are routine. Nonetheless, it took almost 4 weeks to receive the TV, even though the initial journey from DFW to ORF only took a few days. The set was not locatable with the tracking number because the carrier didn't scan it in on the receiving dock, a secondary carrier tried to rip off the originating carrier by claiming extra charges for a ferry to the island, even though the ferry loading dock was further away than my house via the bridge, and when it finally arrived, it was by two college students that didn't know a HDMI from a printer cable. They did carry it up a set of steps to my living room, it did finally arrive intact, and I did get it setup on my own even though that was supposed to be part of the delivery service.
This was not Amazon's fault, and when it went missing, their large appliance team found the set and refunded shipping charges, even though it was a free delivery. Excellent customer service on their part, but if you live in a remote/rural area, be prepared for the unexpected.
I would like to say that the speakers built-in are fine for what they are; I have seen previous reviews that mentioned that as a concern, but sound quality was more than just acceptable. I still am going to use surround sound system, but if I didn't have a separate speaker system, I could live without it.
On a final note, the manual is very well written and understandable; while it is going to be a little time consuming to tweak the system for your particular situation, it's not that hard to do. Overall, I can happily say, no regrets [so far] on the purchase. |
Awesome
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| Review Date: March 14, 2010 |
| Reviewer: C. T. Davidson, KY, USA |
| If you can take the hit to the wallet you have to get one of these. Better than I expected! Great picture. |
AMAZING!
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| Review Date: February 27, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Tyler Duncan, |
| This is by far the best TV on the market. I first got the 8000 and had the flashlight effect like everyone else so I returned that and bought the 8500 and now the problem is fixed :) Best picture I have ever seen and the size is amazing hangs like a pretty picture on the wall. |
The Best TV of 2009. Neat Amazon Video Features! Weak Speakers.
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| Review Date: February 18, 2010 |
| Reviewer: P. Colin McGraw, Castle Rock, CO |
CNET called the UN55B8500 the TV with the second best picture quality of any TV they tested behind the discontinued Pioneer Kuro plasma. However, since the Samsung UN558500 is much more energy efficient, thinner, lighter, is 240 HZ, and includes two remotes, I'd say the Samsung UN55B8500 is probably a contender for the best TV ever made.
The black levels are amazing! It's actually hard to tell where the black bars of a widescreen movie end and run into the bezel since the Samsung is so close to absolute black.
On the other hand, I found that the speakers on the TV were pretty mediocre. This TV's picture quality is superb, but not the sound. You'll want to buy extra speakers of some sort.
The 4 HDMI ports are nice to have, but there's only one component/RCA input (which will be taken by your Wii if you own one). The TWO included remotes are great; One is small and simple, the other is an RF remote featuring a spinwheel among other controls.
The other strong surprise is just how well the TV works with Amazon! Once you register your TV with Amazon (a slick 5 minute process online), then any movie you rent via the Amazon website will be available to watch on the TV set, and I discovered that sometimes when purchasing Blu Ray movies from Amazon, you can watch a free digital version of it on your TV while you wait for the mail to come! It works super well, you just browse Amazon as you normally would, and your purchased/rented movies automatically show up as available movies on your TV!
Granted the Yahoo! widgets (including the one for Amazon VOD) are pretty slow, but it's tolerable .
Otherwise the TV is just great! Note that you'll want to upgrade your firmware when you first get the TV to avoid the "crop circle" problem, but once you do, your movies and TV shows are going to be even more fun because of the outstanding punch of the picture. I love mine so far! |
Simply the best
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| Review Date: February 16, 2010 |
| Reviewer: A. Leetham, Salt Lake City, UT USA |
| Let's get straight to the point. This is the local dimming LED television we have all been waiting for. It is the best television available today. Yes, it's even better than the famed Pioneer Kuro 151. I owned a Kuro 151 for over a year and I can tell you with 100% certainty that this television outperforms it in every regard. The black level on this 8500 is literally twice as dark as the Pioneer Kuro. The black level on this television is so dark, endless, and infinite that you can't even imagine it. The black level is so dark that the entire television disappears if you are viewing it in a completely darkened room and the scene goes completely dim before switching to the next scene. I'm not exaggerating. You literally can't see the television at all anymore when the scene goes completely dim. It's like the black of being in a completely pitch black cave. I'm not sure it should even be called a black level on this television because it's not a level of black. When I say that, I mean there is no possible way you could measure it. It is legitimately pitch black. It's as dark as you can possibly imagine. If you want to have a little fun, go to CNET and read their review of the Sony XBR8. In the review, they discuss how the XBR8 is capable of achieving a darker black level than the Kuro during certain scenes. Now go and read their review for the 8500. In the review, they discuss how the 8500 achieves a much darker level of black than the XBR8 and how the black level performance is vastly superior to the XBR8. However they also try to say that the 8500 achieves the second darkest level of black -- after the Kuro -- they have ever seen. Well, you can't talk about how the XBR8 can get darker than the Kuro, then discuss how the 8500 achieves a much darker black level than the XBR8, but then try to say that the 8500 has only the second darkest black level you've ever seen. CNET, this makes you come across as hypocritical idiots. It also clearly brings out your bias for plasma, especially Pioneer Plasma. I owned the Kuro 151, and I am now the owner of the 8500. If you compared the black level of these two televisions side by side, it wouldn't even be close. A Plasma simply cannot go 100% literal black. The individual plasma cells can go completely dim, but they still have an electric current flowing through them, and they still have to use a black filter to keep from showing the light of the current in them. Plasma's are also using phosphors which will never be able to go completely dark. The Pioneer Kuro can go very dark and achieves an amazing inky black, but a local dimming LED -- when done correctly -- can completely shut out every single bit of light to any given area of the panel. This results in a black level that is so dark it cannot be measured. It is the only way to achieve legitimate black. Let's discuss a few other performance aspects of this television. Words cannot describe the colors on this television. The color accuracy is absolutely flawless. Colar saturation is also superb. The features are excellent, and only matched a few televisions available today. The video processing and motion resolution are unmatched. The 240Hz with LED motion plus resoloves all 1080 moving lines. This is one of the only televisions ever made that can resolove all 1080 moving lines. This television exhibits no blooming whatsoever. The extreme contrast ratio makes the glossy screen a non issue. The only way you will ever notice the glossy screen is if you are viewing a really dark film in a brightly sunlit room. If you are viewing bright content such as sporting events in a room that is full of sunlight with a window directly facing the television, you would not see any reflection whatsoever. The glossy screen and ultra clear panel also help this television preserve an identical level of black regardless of room lighting conditions. I also own the XBR8 and while the matte screen is great for a room with a window facing the television, the matte screen does not allow the television to preserve that deep, dark, inky exact same level of black. I certainly see some brightening of the black level in a non-darkened viewing enviroment with my XBR8. It definitely still achieves a great level of black, but I just wanted to mention this for anybody who is considering matte vs. glossy. With all of this said, I just want to close by once again stating that this television will not let you down in any way, shape, or form. As my headline/title suggests, it is simply is simply the best. I truly believe that this television will be used as a reference to compare all future televisions against for some time to come. There's not going to be a television released that exceeds the performance of this television for a very long time. We might see a 2010 plasma compare to this in a completely darkened enviroment, but plasma viewing will never be able to compete with this in a moderately dim to very bright enviroment. Yes, plasma's -- the top of the line ones -- have came a long way as far as their anti-reflective screens and increased brightness, but the image displayed by even the very best plasma is still unacceptable in a bright room. The black level still turns to grey, and the colors still wash out. This is never going to change. The technology inherent to the plasma image will never be able to present an image that excels in a bright room. I love my giant 65 inch plasma in my 100% dark at all times theater room, but with this B8500 you truly get the best of both worlds. The picture performance outshines even the best plasma in a completely darkened room and absolutely blows every other television out of the water in a bright room viewing enviroment. I hope this helps. Thank you. |
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