Samsung PN50B650 Video
Samsung PN50B650 Video Transcript
[ Music ]
>> David Katzmaier: Hi. I'm David Katzmaier, Senior Editor at CNET, and this is the Samsung PN50B650. There's also a 58-inch member of the B650 series, and this review will apply to both models. This TV is kind of in the middle of Samsung's plasma lineup. It does have a sleek, kind of red styling around the edge here. You'll notice that there's a dark red tint around the frame of the screen as well as the glass base that also has a swivel on it. So that's kind of a unique styling feature. Most of the TV's out there are glossy black with no kind of color in them. The color does extend to the menu system itself, which offers a good range of adjustments. You can play with color temperature, color spacing, even choose this new cinema smooth mode for film. It actually allows the TV to properly reproduce 1080p 24 content from Blu-Ray, which is a nice new feature this year although in our testing it didn't work as well as it should have. The back panel does include a good selection of inputs. There are 3 HDMI's as well as a PC input in the back. The side panel adds a fourth HDMI input. This TV also has Yahoo widgets feature, which is, allows it to go out on the Internet and find things like weather reports and even advanced things like Flicker or interface with a Twitter widget. There's more widgets coming down the pipe, and our testings feature was a little less than advertised. However, it's really slow to use so if you're relatively inpatient, I would wait for an update for them to fix this kind of sluggish response time with Yahoo widgets. We took the Samsung into the lab, and we were very impressed by its picture quality. It does produce a very nice deep shade of black. Color accuracy, especially with all of the adjustments we mentioned, was excellent as well. The real hiccup, though, is when you try 1080p 24 content. It actually caused the picture settings to reset. So if you do laborious kind of picture setup in one setting and then you put it in 1080p 24 mode, it actually makes the picture look worse. So at the end of the day, we didn't really like that hitch, but otherwise, this TV is a very good performer for the money, and again, that's not a major knock against it. That's a quick look at the Samsung PN50B650, and I'm David Katzmaier. [ Music ]
Related Videos
The Samsung LNB750 series can't beat the picture quality of the best plasmas and LED-based LCDs, but for a conventional LCD, it's one of the best we've tested.
Although its picture quality can't quite live up to the high price, the Samsung UNB7000 series is a technological and design tour de force.
With picture quality that matches its less expensive brother but not the best of the stiff competition, the main appeal of the Samsung PNB850/860 series is based on its sleek, ultrathin panel.
The professional-grade Gefen EXT-WHDMI may not quite match the quality of an actual HDMI cable, but its solid transmissions make it a viable candidate when wireless HDMI is the best option.
While the Samsung HP-S5053's picture doesn't rank among the best of the 50-inch plasmas we've reviewed, its sweet style and scads of inputs help it compete.
The Samsung HL-T5687S makes a compelling alternative to flat-screen wallet-busters at this size, although we couldn't quite ignore its uneven screen uniformity.
Its feature set is both competitive and interesting, and it has a top-notch 2.5-inch LCD, but the 5-megapixel Samsung Digimax i5 can't keep pace with the competition when it comes to speed and photo quality.
Samsung's YEPP YH-820MC isn't quite as slick as the iPod Mini, but it's smaller and offers features that the Apple player lacks, such as recording capabilities and a photo-friendly display.
The Samsung LN-T4661F delivers very good picture quality along with plenty of style and functionality, although it's not quite the best of its breed.
It costs a mint, but Samsung's local dimming, LED-based UNB8500 series delivers the best picture quality of any LCD we've tested.
Samsung PN58B650 Review
The good: Reproduces deep black levels; accurate color with superb saturation, properly handles 1080p/24 sources; uses less power than previous 1080p plasmas; extensive feature set with Yahoo widgets, network streaming and built-in content; solid connectivity with four HDMI and one PC input.
The bad: Somewhat expensive; glitch in 1080p/24 mode causes picture setting change; frame's red coloration not for everyone; no S-Video inputs.
The bottom line: Samsung's PNB650 series can't quite match the best plasmas on the market, but it comes close enough to offer a viable alternative.
Samsung PN58B650 Specs
Manufacturer: Samsung
Part number: PN58B650S1FXZA
- Product Specifications
Samsung PN58B650 Prices
Online stores
| Store | Certified rating | Inventory | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
|
 Rate this store See store profile |
In stock |
$2,039.99 |
|
Rate this store See store profile |
In stock |
$2,599.99 |
|
Rate this store See store profile |
In stock |
$2,139.00 |
|
Rate this store See store profile |
In stock |
$1,939.00 |
|
Rate this store See store profile |
In stock |
$2,139.99 |
