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(More customer reviews)Disclaimer: I actually purchased the UN46C6900 which is the exact same television with a different colored bezel, however all here applies to the 6800 as well.
After doing a great deal of research online and in the shops, this TV really seemed to make a lot of sense in terms of price vs. performance, and after my purchase I have to say I certainly agree. I am coming from a higher end 32" Samsung LCD from about 3 years ago, and have spent time with friends and their various Samsung, Toshiba, Sony LCDs and Panasonic plasmas. Hopefully this review will help you make a decision and also provide some insight into using it for various input sources, particularly with a PC.
The first question you need to ask yourself is if you want 3D... if you're like me, you'll find the added cost probably isn't worth it, particularly if you already have a Blu-ray player (given that you can get a better deal on 3D glasses with a Samsung Blu-ray bundle). For me it would have cost around $400-500 more to go 3D (for the added set cost of the UN46C8000 and two pair of glasses), and after seeing it in person, 3D will definitely get a lot better in the years ahead. Outside of the performance and illusion (which was pretty cool from my in-store demos), the two problems for me in particular were that the basic and advanced rechargeable glasses weren't comfortable with my prescription glasses, and the basic glasses use a non-rechargeable watch/coin style battery which sounds like a pain to deal with. That said I am definitely interested in 3D (particularly for games), in a few years I will likely upgrade looking closely at 3D sets to see if the quality and ergonomics have improved.
So anyway, actually on the topic of this tv! The main reason I chose this particular set was because I was interested in 120 or 240hz LED-LCD (mainly due to decreased energy consumption), and also some type of smart backlight technology to get better blacks. I've also had good success with Samsung sets, and they seem to offer the most models compared to Sony or Toshiba, so I could really dial in what features I wanted (or didn't want). So in terms of features, because many edgelit LED sets historically have been pretty horrible in terms of light uniformity, particularly in dark scenes, I was initially interested in the local dimming backlit LED sets such as the UN46B8500. Desire to save some expense and wanting to get a 2010 model year set (improved firmware considerations), I settled on this particular version given it's "precision dimming" functionality. Of course the challenge here is that the 6800/6900 set is edgelit, so while the same trickery in the B8500 was going to be impossible (turning off light directly behind the LCD), it pulls off a similar effect pretty admirably with a thinner profile and lot less cost. How this works is, first imagine a series of LEDs placed around the entire perimeter of the screen (picture a movie-star dressing room mirror with bulb lights all around it). These LED's can be turned on/off on the fly, dynamic to the content on the screen. For an extreme example, picture a game with a completely black loading screen, but with white text "Loading" in the lower right corner. In this scenario, all the perimeter LEDs are turned off, except for the ones in the corner, so the black areas are definitely black while the text is back/side lit. In some scenarios, where the solo text is in the middle of the screen, you get a bit of a projection of light from above and below, but this is very subtle and generally noticeable only from off center viewing. In dark scenes and places where pockets of black are on the sides of the screen, the precision dimming effect is really great. The design overall is a good compromise between the previous backlit LED sets in terms of price and form factor versus performance.
Regarding power consumption, I'll say I'm pretty impressed. Using a kill-o-watt meter on my complete system alternating both of my TVs (this and Samsung CCFL-LCD 32"), I did a test using identical conditions and watching the same video clip on my Playstation 3. While using this C6900, the system overall drew 80 less watts while watching the clip. I was especially impressed given that this set is quite a bit larger, so at most I was expecting the power savings from the CCFL would be offset by the increase in size. Actually saving power overall is a real bonus.
Regarding performance over different inputs... when using this set, I have the following items connected:
- Playstation 3 (via HDMI through Sony receiver STR-DN1000)
- Nintendo Wii (from component RGB to the Sony receiver, upconverted to 1080i and sent to TV via HDMI)
- PC (Windows 7 64-bit, slow fan spinning ATI Radeon 4850 via DVI to HDMI cable to HDMI1 port, designated for PC)
- Antenna (for over-the-air local HD, I don't have cable or dish, I generally just watch shows/movies through PC, Netflix streaming, Hulu, etc)
NOTE: If you are using a PC with this set there are many special considerations that I have discovered. As with many 1080p sets, to get perfect 1:1 pixel mapping at 1080p resolution, the TV and PC require proper configuration when using HDMI (or in my case DVI-HDMI).
First off, the PC should be connected to HDMI port 1 (labeled for DVI devices). Once you have the PC connected, turned on, it must be set to 1920x1080 resolution (note that if you have an ATI video card, you will also need to set the Overscan Ratio to 100% in Catalyst Control Center, with Nvidia or Intel graphics this is not required).
Second, the TV must be configured properly. There are two ways to achieve perfect 1:1 mapping (or close to it) that require separate settings on the TV and each have their own pros and cons. Both require changing the "label" of the HDMI1 input within the Samsung TV menu:
Method 1: Use the DVI-PC label. This method will provide perfect 1:1 pixel mapping and the sharpest possible picture from a computer. However, I have discovered the big downside is that in this mode, most the TV's bells and whistles are disabled including "precision dimming" and "auto motion plus" (the polarizing smoothing effect introduced with 120/240hz sets). Losing precision dimming sucks (particularly 4:3 content such as videos and emulated games) because you essentially get glowing bars and generally poor blacks, essentially making this TV in PC mode look like the Samsung C6500. This condition also exists when using the PC-VGA port, you lose most of the control over the set and most processing effects are disabled.
Method 2: The DVI Devices label. Initially this method scales the screen funny and does not appear to provide 1:1 mapping, but does enable all the whiz bang effects afforded by this TV (precision dimming, etc). However, much to my delight I recently discovered that by using the screen mode function (the method to toggle the screen between 16:9, 4:3, 4:3 zoom, etc), you can select a "screen fit" mode that effectively scales the 1920x1080 resolution to the total screen size with no over or under scan. The method provides an image that is probably only 98% (read: hard to notice) as sharp as method 1, but in my opinion getting precision dimming back well more than makes up for it. It looks great using this configuration with the PC when playing games (iRacing, Dirt2, colsole emulators), web browsing (text is plenty sharp enough in this mode), watching videos, etc.
Ultimately, because you need to configure the set in this way to get the most out of the PC connection (changing the input label), it becomes impractical to connect the PC via a receiver with all of your other gear connected to the TV via one HDMI cable. I was little disappointed by this initially, but running two separate HDMI cables and occassionally switching inputs on the TV is a pretty easy compromise. You COULD run just one cable, and change the label of the input each time you would switch between PS3 and PC for instance, but the way the TV menus are setup, it becomes a pain, particularly because each input type may have special contrast/color settings. In the end, I have found two HDMI inputs configured independently is substantially easier to deal with.
With all that out of the way, the other inputs via my PS3 and Wii via the Sony receiver look just as fantastic, I couldn't be happier. The color is great and the crispness is there particularly with HD signals. Since I'm a huge Wii gamer (Big props to Sin and Punishment 2, No More Heroes 1/2, Mario Galaxy 2, Zack and Wiki, Metroid Trilogy, and lots of awesome WiiWare games, Cave Story, Light Trax, You me and Cubes), I will concede I'm used to resolution compromises, so I bit the bullet with my old TV and got an upconverting receiver which takes the Wii component signal and upconverts to 1080i to the TV via HDMI. Obviously this doesn't do miracles to the 480p signal (or 480i in some games), but it produces a significantly sharper image than using direct input via component on this TV. Edges are sharper, but yet smoothed out quite a bit, and the colors really pop... Mario Galaxy 2 and Sin and Punishment 2 are particularly striking). I hightly recommend going this route if you're a Wii gamer who wants the most out of the systems's image quality. PS3 of course looks gorgeous via Blu-ray movies and various games I play such as GT5 Prologue, Street Fighter IV and Wipeout HD.
So far so good then, right? Well, the one small criticism I will levy towards this TV is that the viewing angles are not quite as good as was hoping for. I will say that my older Samsung 32", while not having the same black levels and brightness certainly, did hold it's image consistency better from an angle. If you're on center, it looks gorgeous, but move a couch cushion to the right or left (from 7' away), and...Read more›
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