Samsung UE55F8000 in the Dark

[fourforkshouse]

Had a problem with my TV where there is a lighter patch in the bottom left hand corner of the screen. One of the things I was told, was that these type of modern TV's are not made to be viewed in the dark, as invevitably the screens are going to leak some light around the edges which will be more noticeable in dark scenes viewed in the dark. My family have a tendency to crank up the sound system and watch movies in the dark to get that cinema feel.

Is that right?

 

[rocketrazor]

Unfortunately I believe this is a characteristic of some modern led/LCD tvs. I think oldboy (another forum member) has this tv and his mentioned that as well but I think his is only visible on 3d films. Is there a setting anywhere to dim the backlight?

 

[Oldboy]

Unfortunately I believe this is a characteristic of some modern led/LCD tvs. I think oldboy (another forum member) has this tv and his mentioned that as well but I think his is only visible on 3d films. Is there a setting anywhere to dim the backlight?

I have this TV as rocketrazor has said and he is right it's just the backlight you need to adjust, my 55F8000 has been professionally calibrated by a THX engineer and my backlight setting is at 8 in movie mode and 9 in standard mode so use those as a starting point but bear in mind your lighting conditions may mean you need to adjust those setting up or down 1 or 2 points. The patch will disappear once you adjust the backlight and make sure you don't use the dynamic picture mode as that just makes things much worse.

Also when watching 3D discs adjust the backlight to 8-10 as the patch is worse in 3D due to the TV boosting the brightness to off set the dark tint of the 3D glasses but you can get it down to bearly noticeable levels. Don't take the backlight down too far in 3D though as you lose the punch of 3D images so experiment until you get it to where you like it.

Hope that helps.

 

[fourforkshouse]

Thanks guys. Should I avoid sitting in the dark with this TV?

 

[rocketrazor]

Thanks guys. Should I avoid sitting in the dark with this TV?

ill leave it to oldboy to let you know that

 

[Oldboy]

Thanks guys. Should I avoid sitting in the dark with this TV?

That's tricky to answer but I will tell you what my THX engineer told me...if you want to view the TV in the dark then you really need to calibrate it as the settings will need to be set far lower than for normal viewing.

Do you watch movies at night in the dark as a rule?? If that's the case then you need to do a basic THX calibration as a bear minimum simply because the settings will have to be drastically lower than for any other situation, I would use the movie mode on the TV, calibrate it for lights out and use it just for that.

Do you have any knowledge of the THX calibration found on many DVDs?? It wil allow you to get the settings correct for dark viewing so before I go any further it would be very helpful if you could tell me if you know anything about it.

 

[fourforkshouse]

I have used the THX calibration from a DVD, although not the bit which requires special glasses. I have setting from another site, which I then tweeked a bit.

We do not tend to watch TV in the dark normally, but if there's a really good 'popcorn' film out on blu-ray or iTunes, then we will, in order as I say to get that cinema experience.

 

[Oldboy]

I have used the THX calibration from a DVD, although not the bit which requires special glasses. I have setting from another site, which I then tweeked a bit.

We do not tend to watch TV in the dark normally, but if there's a really good 'popcorn' film out on blu-ray or iTunes, then we will, in order as I say to get that cinema experience.

In that case the best way forward is to use the THX dvd as you have done before to adjust brightness, contrast and sharpness in your room with lights out then adjust the backlight down whilst watching a movie (again in the dark) to a level where you lose the tourch effect and are happy with the image and note that setting down for the backlight.

Then turn the lights on and adjust the backlight again to get the same trade off so that the tourch effect has gone and that you get as bright an image as possible without adjusting any other settings and note down that setting, you only calibrate the once with the THX disc simply because the movie mode on the TV will only allow for one set of calibration. This is how the professional THX engineer who calibrated my TV approached the problem as it gives you the best results with lights off and on.

All you have to do then is adjust the backlight to suit lights on or lights off each time you watch a movie, I prefer a bit of ambient light though in all honesty as it helps keep the blacks that little bit darker but I understand why you do it as it gives you a more cinema like feeling.

I know it's a bit of a pain having to remember to adjust the backlight setting each time but it will provide by far the best results in both situations, hope that helps.

 

[fourforkshouse]

Thank you. I will give it a go.

 

[Pindi]

I would recommend having some sort if lighting behind the TV.

1. So you don't strain your eyes.

2. It helps with the black levels on the TV.

I find that LED strip lights work really well.

 

[Son_of_SJ]

My family have a tendency to crank up the sound system and watch movies in the dark to get that cinema feel.

Even though the Samsung F8000 has pretty decent sound, I do hope that you're using a separate surround sound system ....

 

[jog3004]

I would recommend having some sort if lighting behind the TV.

1. So you don't strain your eyes.

2. It helps with the black levels on the TV.

I find that LED strip lights work really well.

I also use led strip back lighting bought from an auction site, & agree with the benefits of this. It is only a perceived improvement, but I find still an improvement & draws you into the picture. I have many friends & family who scoffed at me when I got the lighting, but now actually admit it does work.

 

[Oldboy]

I would recommend having some sort if lighting behind the TV.

1. So you don't strain your eyes.

2. It helps with the black levels on the TV.

I find that LED strip lights work really well.

I also use led strip back lighting bought from an auction site, & agree with the benefits of this. It is only a perceived improvement, but I find still an improvement & draws you into the picture. I have many friends & family who scoffed at me when I got the lighting, but now actually admit it does work.

Hmmm could either of you point me in the right direction in order for me to look at doing this myself with my Samsung 55F8000 LED TV please? Any info would be appreciated as would any pics of your TV running with the LED lights on, many thanks.

 

[bigboss]

I have the Ikea dioder. Check my home cinema pics.

 

[jog3004]

I bought mine from a well known auction sight & searched ambient lighting. Quickly looking on this site I can't find the exact one I bought but it came with the control unit ( could run upto 6 led strips) 2 x led strip lights, remote & power supply. I bought another 4 led lights & in total cost about £40. That was about 5 years ago. My biggest problem with them was getting the strip lights to stick effectively & still the lights occasionally fall off & need resticking. For me the cost was worth it even with my current Samsung 64f8500. I'll try take some pics & work out how to put them on the forum,but may be next week before I get chance. Id give clearer links to the lights on the the site but not sure whether this will contravene what hifi forum t&c

 

[Oldboy]

I have the Ikea dioder. Check my home cinema pics.

You have a lovely room bigboss and lovely lighting, i'm very envious. The strips look quite effective and much better than I thought they would...nice work

Will check out the strips and I presume they were reasonably priced coming from Ikea?

 

[Oldboy]

I bought mine from a well known auction sight & searched ambient lighting. Quickly looking on this site I can't find the exact one I bought but it came with the control unit ( could run upto 6 led strips) 2 x led strip lights, remote & power supply. I bought another 4 led lights & in total cost about £40. That was about 5 years ago. My biggest problem with them was getting the strip lights to stick effectively & still the lights occasionally fall off & need resticking. For me the cost was worth it even with my current Samsung 64f8500. I'll try take some pics & work out how to put them on the forum,but may be next week before I get chance. Id give clearer links to the lights on the the site but not sure whether this will contravene what hifi forum t&c

Thanks for the info. I will have a look on fleabay this evening and see if I can find something similar, I like the idea of a remote to control them with too and for £40 it's a good value idea...I think I will definately go for it if I can find anything similar to that. Sticking them is easy as I would just drill and screw instead if there is a point on the strip where you could do that? Failing that a bit of grip fil would do the job.

Links to ebay aren't an issue on the forum so if you could point me in the right direction that would be great

 

[jog3004]

This link is probably the closest option to the one I bought:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LED-MOOD-LIGHTING-TV-BACK-LIGHT-COLOUR-CHANGING-AMBIENT-SOUND-HOME-THEATRE-LEDS-/310518954485?pt=UK_HomeGarden_Lighting_Lamps_Lighting_SM&hash=item484c5f39f5

I liked the remote as I used learn function on my Logitech1100 remote & set it up so the lights turned on with all rest of my kit. I had to turn off light reaction to audio as my wife hated it, so I compromised (I know, very magnanimous of me )

& set it to constant colour.

 

[bigboss]

I have the Ikea dioder. Check my home cinema pics.

You have a lovely room bigboss and lovely lighting, i'm very envious. The strips look quite effective and much better than I thought they would...nice work

Will check out the strips and I presume they were reasonably priced coming from Ikea?

Thanks oldboy! I bought it for £40. I think it's now available for £20-30. They have 2 models. I went for the multicoloured one.

 

[Oldboy]

This link is probably the closest option to the one I bought:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LED-MOOD-LIGHTING-TV-BACK-LIGHT-COLOUR-CHANGING-AMBIENT-SOUND-HOME-THEATRE-LEDS-/310518954485?pt=UK_HomeGarden_Lighting_Lamps_Lighting_SM&hash=item484c5f39f5

I liked the remote as I used learn function on my Logitech1100 remote & set it up so the lights turned on with all rest of my kit. I had to turn off light reaction to audio as my wife hated it, so I compromised (I know, very magnanimous of me )

& set it to constant colour.

Very many thanks for that, top man :clap:

At that price I'm definately warming to the idea but I prefer the 4 strip idea like bigboss has in his set up and it would provide a better effect I think, I like the idea that it would react to movie soundtracks too...it's very close to the Phillips ambilight system.

 

[Oldboy]

I have the Ikea dioder. Check my home cinema pics.

You have a lovely room bigboss and lovely lighting, i'm very envious. The strips look quite effective and much better than I thought they would...nice work

Will check out the strips and I presume they were reasonably priced coming from Ikea?

Thanks oldboy! I bought it for £40. I think it's now available for £20-30. They have 2 models. I went for the multicoloured one.

Thanks bigboss I will have a look but I do favour the ones that react to sound at the moment, I think it will provide more impact...decisions decisions :?

 

[sonycentre]

I brought this a few weeks ago the 46" version for £500 The Phiips
46PFL8007,and moved my 40" sony kdl40hx803 into the bedroom.I love the ambilight got used to it now,i just thiught it was a gimmick at first but it really works.