Among the contenders for the year’s plasma, the Samsung PN63C8000 packs top-notch picture quality, sleek modern styling and tons of features into a superb HDTV that is worthy of the company’s flagship tag. With Samsung’s first foray into 3D plasmas considered an astounding success, consumers now have a fine glimpse of what lies ahead in the fast evolving 3D HDTV technology.
Design
One’s attention is immediately drawn to the clean look and sophisticated styling of the PN63C8000: narrow matte gray bezel with metal-like texture with only the company logo as accent, Samsung’s trademark
Samsung PN63C8000
transparent edges on the bezel that match the transparent swivel stalk, and the brushed metal that altogether work to present a decidedly upscale design.
It would have been perfect if the candy-bar remote that comes with the PN63C8000 is better-designed; it is the same clicker shipped with earlier models – with poorly differentiated keys and indistinct groupings – that is quite difficult to use especially by feel. Perhaps this is a ploy to make consumers buy the pricey touch-screen remote that works with this plasma and makes tweeting easy, but at $350 apiece that is really a hard sell. It’s a good thing that Samsung retained the blue-highlighted menu system; at least the intuitive and well-laid out options and explanations help a bit in using the TV.
Picture/Screen Clarity
Giving dark, consistent blacks that are as impressive as other top plasmas, the Samsung PN63C8000 delivers superb images that pop out of the screen in both 2D and 3D materials. Video processing is definitely cutting-edge, as it resolved 1080p/24 sources effortlessly; it also handled fast scenes quite well with the inclusion of Motion Judder Compensation which eliminated false contouring and panning movements often noted in inferior processors. The plasma also handled standard-def materials effortlessly, rendering every detail of DVD format movies quite well.
Along with the exceptional black levels, color accuracy in the PN63C8000 is also excellent, with natural-looking skin hues, well-saturated screen images, and rich shadow details. The anti-glare feature of the HDTV also works quite well, as picture quality does not deteriorate in bright light conditions and off-angle viewing. There is no blooming effect noted in bright objects shown against black background, and screen uniformity is consistent throughout. With numerous picture controls and video settings, videophiles would surely have a grand time tweaking the plasma to their desired viewing settings.
Features
To top off the excellent performance, Samsung generously outfitted the PN63C8000 with awesome add-ons to sweeten the deal: standard streaming media providers like Vudu, Pandora, and Netflix and new ones like Hulu and Dailymotion; Napster for audio content; social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter; and GoogleMaps. However, there is some redundancy in the Samsung Apps and Yahoo Widgets as some services are offered in both interactive programs.
The plasma is equipped with pixel orbiters and scrolling bars to prevent image retention and burn-in. Connectivity options include four HDMI ports; VGA-style PC input; composite/component/RF inputs; AV and digital audio outputs, two USB ports and Ethernet port for connecting to the Internet.
It seems Samsung left no stone unturned in making sure the PN63C8000, its flagship plasma, would eventually become a crowd favourite. With its eye-catching and impeccable good looks, superb picture quality, and impressive add-ons, that target is definitely not farfetched.
| Do you own this TV? Submit your rating… | |
 | GD Star Rating loading... |
