Samsung F8500 plasma anticipation thread

[strapped for cash]

Thanks BB.

While plasma sales haven't been entirely unstable, or unhealthy, I'll be interested to see the figures in three or four years time.

 

[laserman16]

Thanks BB.

The Amazon.com price price has fluctuated from $1,900-$2,200 over the last four days. I'm willing to pay £1,800 if the TV is notably better than the VT60.

At the current exchange rate, $2,000 = £1,340. I'm hoping £2,000 is a little steep for the 51", despite relatively high UK prices. We'll see...

Don't forget that the Amazon.com price excludes sales tax which varies from state to state and is added after the sale, whereas I assume the price you are hoping for in the UK will include VAT.

 

[strapped for cash]

Good point, though US sales tax is lower than UK VAT, ranging from nought to seven percent. I'd still consider £2,000 for the 51" expensive by comparison.

 

[laserman16]

Unfortunately these manufacturers don't use the same exchange rates as the financial markets.

 

[Nick_Shepherd]

Is LCD cheaper to produce / develop than Plasma? I would say Plasma would only die if LCD gets really good (which it seems to be doing) AND its cheaper to put in store.....?

maybe Plasma will just become more high end for movie lovers....my limited GT50 use and first ever Plasma after years of LCD, I find Plasma much much better for movies, in a room trying to recreate a cinema experience, but not as good / usable / easy viewing with normal tv show viewing....

 

[bigboss]

Is LCD cheaper to produce / develop than Plasma? I would say Plasma would only die if LCD gets really good (which it seems to be doing) AND its cheaper to put in store.....?

Yes, technically, LCD is cheaper, because you can apply 1 technology to cover all devices - from smartphones & camera screens to large TVs. I don't think plasma's demise will be linked to LCDs being cheaper. If that was the case, why don't plasma TVs sell in price conscious markets like India?

Plasmas will die out when the sales fall & manufacturers don't make any money from it.

 

[Nick_Shepherd]

'Plasmas will die out when the sales fall & manufacturers don't make any money from it'

true, but what will the trigger for the drop in sales be?

 

[bigboss]

'Plasmas will die out when the sales fall & manufacturers don't make any money from it'

true, but what will the trigger for the drop in sales be?

Panasonic exiting the TV business. :?

 

[strapped for cash]

what will the trigger for the drop in sales be?

Plasma will cease to be a desirable technology when viable OLED TVs match plasma price points.

 

[bigboss]

what will the trigger for the drop in sales be?

Plasma will cease to be a desirable technology when viable OLED TVs match plasma price points.

....and that.

 

[strapped for cash]

what will the trigger for the drop in sales be?

Plasma will cease to be a desirable technology when viable OLED TVs match plasma price points.

....and that.

That's the future sorted. Now I need to find a TV to fill the gap...

 

[Nick_Shepherd]

I'm going to try a third GT50 and if not happy, go for a GT60 if reviews say its as good as the GT50.....I won't stretch to the Samsung as its likely to be 2k give or take.....

 

[BenLaw]

what will the trigger for the drop in sales be?

Plasma will cease to be a desirable technology when viable OLED TVs match plasma price points.

Don't we also need to wait 5-10 years to see if the colour stays right? (Or whatever the possible problem is that I can't remember properly!)

 

[strapped for cash]

Yeah, there's that whole blue diode thing to consider as well.

I'm working on the basis that we'll know if this is a problem by the time I can afford an OLED TV. Who knows at this stage what problems will need sorting.

Engineers have certainly had long enough to hone LED and plasma tech and we're still in a mess with both. It's enough to make you ditch the hobby, almost. There's always the false promise that the perfect television is a little further down the line...

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

CRT anyone?

 

[strapped for cash]

CRT anyone?

Now that's an idea!

My parents have a 40" LED TV in the living room and a 28" CRT in the study. The living room set hardly gets used, while they huddle round the CRT TV in the smaller room.

I'd like to say "with age comes wisdom," and there's probably some truth in that statement, but I couldn't go back to a smaller CRT TV.

 

[Oldboy]

I'm a bit late to this thread as i've had limited access to the web of late but the promise of the F8500 is undeniable and seems to be ticking all the right boxes but when viewing the first YouTube video I could quite clearly hear some very loud buzzing coming from what I presume was the F8500 set as the noise was only audible when the camera got nearer to the screen. Now I'm not trying to pour cold water over the tv as I remain as interested as everyone else in this set but i've had loud buzzing from plasmas before so perhaps something to be wary of...did anyone else hear it or am I over reacting?

I'm extremely sceptical that any plasma tv will ever surpass the Kuro levels of performance and reliability, for me that was the pinnacle of plasma tech and chasing those levels seems beyond the current manufacturers. In terms of performance Panasonic have got close but reliability has been where they have fallen down when compared to the Kuro range and if i'm not mistaken were Pioneer actually making a substantial loss on every tv sold? That begs the question as to at what price point a genuine kuro killer would cost these days, so perhaps even at £2000 for the 51 inch version the F8500 represents great value if the tv has the performance and reliability of a Kuro (or even just gets close enough).

From what i've gleamed from this thread and the other sources i'm sure the rest of you have seen this tv does seem to have the best chance in some time of genuinely challenging the legendary status of the Kuro and I for one will be keeping a close eye out for a review or even better the opinions of strapped should he be lucky enough to secure one before the end of the month (hope you do strapped as it's been a long rocky road for you up to now).

 

[strapped for cash]

Cheers Oldboy. I feel I'm due a bit of luck.

I recall your long and rocky road with a series of TVs, so I'm sure you understand my frustration.

As excited as I am by the F8500, I won't make a rash decision and I'll thoroughly audition before parting with more money.

On the buzzing front, others have said the same thing. The strange thing is, I can't hear it, even if I turn my laptop's volume way up. To be fair, my laptop's integrated speakers are awful, so perhaps this is why.

When I finally audition the F8500, I'll keep my ears and eyes open for buzzing and brightness pops.

 

[rocketrazor]

Hi Strapped,

The brightness pop you refer to above is that the same as the Panasonic G20's had, ie all of a sudden for no reason the screens brightness or contrast gets higher for a split second and then sets back to normal?

Cheers

Rocket

 

[strapped for cash]

Hi Rocketrazor,

As I understand it, yes.

I had a V20, so I know exactly what you're referring to. I can't say whether this issue has been more or less severe on Samsung plasmas, as I've only glanced at Samsung TVs in stores.

If the brightness pops are no more distracting than on my V20, I'd consider it less of an issue than vertical bands.

 

[Pindi]

The plasma in the first video looks suspiciously like a Kuro to me. :?

What's interesting about this video though is how the bottom two TVs are angled up towards the lighting, and how the F8500 is angled down away from the lighting. That's cheating, Samsung!

 

[simonlewis]

Not completely true pindi, i watched it again AFAIK the top panel is leaning down because it's above your head so you can see it but the bottom two are flat against the wall (horizontal) as you can see peoples shoes & not pointing upwards.

 

[Pindi]

Okay, I suppose that's debatable. But, with the Samsung pointing down it will definitely be effected (or, affected?) less by the bright lighting.

 

[strapped for cash]

I'm not sure the Samsung is pointing down, but the PDP and LCD are certainly tilted upward slightly, which may cause the image to wash out a little more under bright lighting.

There are other possible variables, too. We don't know how each set was calibrated. If the Samsung was on torch mode and the otherTVs were on "movie" mode or its equivalent, that may also account for differences.

We'll have to wait to see the Samsung in action and for data from from reviews to get a clearer sense of how it performs.

I'm optomistic that that the F8500 will run the ZT65 very close in terms of black level, or perhaps even better it.

 

[Pindi]

I think I will be buying a replacement for my Kuro this year, and it'll definitely be between the F8500 and ZT65.