Samsung Launches 8500 Series LED-Backlit LCD HDTVs Comments

So if Samsung refers to the B8000 as the 'Series 8', what's this? Series 8.5?

I'm wondering how good these new LED HDTV's will be as a TV and monitor in one. Nice and thin like a monitor, 32" in full HD, it should be passable for desktop work and great for movies/games.

Something like the UE32B6000 32"

Thoughts?

Bought a B7010 last week but promptly sent it back after discovering it doesn't have a headphone jack. This is a must for me. It seems the entire 6000/7000/8000 & now 8500 series do not have one.

7,000,000 do I hear 8,000,000 in the room?...anyone?

I hope that an industry standard that gives consumers a 'realistic' and comparable measure of C/R will appear sometime soon. These numbers are getting rather stupid.

However, nice to see some more LED technology appearing (along with the first iteration of a consumer LED based projector you guys reviewed. - Looks like the money will run out before the desire - again ;)

@FreQ - Unfortunately, I don't think any of the big-name manufacturers are making LED TVs in 32" sizes yet. If they did I would be one of the first in the queue, as long as they weren't too pricey.

Samsung already have a 32in (edge-lit) LED set on sale. I think it belongs to their 6000 series but I'm not sure. They're selling them in Currys.

samsung: "...edge-lighting was as good as direct lighting..."

layman's terms: "...before we didn't have the tech to make a backlit screen so thin, but now we do..."

Ooh, you cynic, ilovethemonkeyhead!

I seem to remember that the TR review of Samsung's edge-lit TV's gave them a big thumbs up. I was looking forward to getting one when I eventually have to give back the borrowed TV I have at the moment (which interestingly, was top of the range 3 years ago when it was bought, and is now, like, _so_ dated - I mean, its only got one HDMI port. Seriously!) I'd like to see TR compare a similar sized 8000 series and 8500 series though.

@Thomas: Seriously? You sent back a TV because it didn't have a headphone port?

Surely you can take the audio line out from any one of the many audio outputs that you find on TVs these days, then feed it through a cheap amp? If you're going to limit yourself to TVs with headphone jacks you may find you're left with a short list...

@PS3½ - Thanks for the information. Didn't realise they made them in 32" sizes, though it appears they only started with the new Series 6, 2009 range. £699 at Dixons group, so not too expensive - guess I'll have to start saving up.
@FreQ - Thanks for the model number - I hope TR manage to review it one day.

Sigh... my 8000 arrived Tuesday and the 8500 gets announced Friday. Typical. That said, very happy with the 8000 so far. BD Rip of Casino Royale excellent, and DVD of Pirates of the Carribean looking amazing too. Shame John never shared his calibrated settings though! When are you going to add calibration settings to every review!!!

@sthair - I think TR don't include calibration settings because they don't technically calibrate the TV, they just adjust it to their best perceived picture settings. Calibration settings are not all that useful anyway, since every TV will be slightly different and every viewer will have different ideas of what constitutes a good picture.

I'm considering getting the B8000 when it comes down a bit in price, I will probably make a purchase in the next few months. Although perhaps the 8500 will be worth waiting for and saving the cash for, any idea when it is released?

@Chris - well, I am happy to have TR's "best perceived" as as starting point. I trawled the AVForums threads and definitely found people's suggestions very helpful, even if they were "personal opinions".

They have a video review of a Samsung LED TV on av forums:
http://www.avforums.com/reviews/Samsung-UE40B6000VW-LED-LCD-TV-Review.html

Apparently, the LED's auto dim and it can't be switched off. Bit of a killer. I was looking at the UE32B6000 32" for £699 but if it auto dims, it will be tough to justify.

@sthair: Gleaning from other people's experiences with the settings is always useful, of course, but that's not what I was referring to. I was just saying that *calibration* settings are not that useful, although I suppose they're a starting point. I thought John provided a few valuable pointers in his review, though.