Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
76 of 77 people found the following review helpful.
Great Set from Samsung
By elixxxer
I have been researching plasma televisions for the last few months in preparation for my first large TV purchase. It was a painstaking process that eventually lead me to purchase the Panasonic G25. Because I lived with that TV for about three weeks and have enjoyed the C7000 for the same amount of time, I am poised to compare the two.What first must be addressed is why I chose to return the G25. Two words: floating blacks. This is not to be confused with the phenomenon of rising blacks, where over time the ability of the panel to produce deep, dark blacks is diminished (although this afflicts 2010 models, it occurs at a more gradual rate). "Floating blacks" occurs when images on screen change in brightness and the blacks rise and fall as a result. This represents a significant problem because it is reactionary: when a bright image appears, the blacks do not rise immediately so the effect becomes very obvious and irritating. Floating blacks have been reported by many, while others swear they either do not exist or are indiscernible. I found the behavior to be pervasive for all material and absolutely unbearable. This is unfortunate, because the G25 was fantastic in every other regard: nearly perfect colors out of the box in THX mode, rich blacks with great shadow detail and not a hint of image retention or burn in. In all of the aforementioned categories, the G25 outperformed the C7000 and makes me wish Panasonic would have their niggles sorted.Onward to the C7000.Overall, I am very pleased with the television. Aesthetically, it is an extremely striking piece of kit. The base is a beautiful piece of brushed aluminum (well, it's probably steel, but the finish is brushed), the bezel also sports a brushed finish, which in my opinion is far superior to the glossy bezel of most sets, and the glass-like base support and surround add the finishing touch to a special looking television.The picture quality of this television is great, to be sure. I find the out-of-the-box colors to be fairly inaccurate and they will be further from true without a professional calibration than the Panasonic. Black levels are good, although not as a rich as the G25 (pre-rise anyway, that could change after a year or two). The screen is a bit brighter than the G25 with more color pop and I have had no issues with motion. The G25 was noticeably grainier, a possible issue if one's normal viewing distance is closer than average (say, closer than 8 feet). The standard menu allows for far more customization than the Panasonic and there is no need for a non-professional to ever enter the service menu. The internet widgets are exponentially superior to those offered by Panasonic, but I have so many streamers, media devices etc. that the included Samsung apps are rarely used.There are a couple of things that irk me with the Samsung, none necessarily significant. Image retention is far more prominent on this set than the Panasonic or my parents' five-year-old Phillips. A static image left on screen for just a few minutes will result in image retention (and I do have the pixel orbiter set to engage after just one minute). Luckily, it will disappear within minutes after switching to any content that will get those pixels moving and none of the retention has resulted in burn-in. I do play games and still detect no burn-in whatsoever. Also, I did notice a bit of line bleed that I never experienced with the G25, but that seemed to be an isolated incident as I have not observed it again.That segues nicely to my next point of complaint: game mode. The input lag on this set makes games unplayable in any mode BUT game mode. This in itself is not an issue, because with game mode engaged, any remaining lag is imperceptible. The problem stems from a poorly designed menu. To activate game mode, you must enter the menu, scroll down to services, then click the general setting menu, and then choose on or off. If input lag is going to suck so much in all other modes, this needs to be a single button-click on the remote. Moreover, you can't disengage game mode by simply switching picture modes. Instead, you must again navigate the same asinine menu tree. Irritating and unnecessary, but at least input lag is perfectly acceptable once in game mode.What many buyers considering this set are probably concerned with is 3D capability. It is by far the least expensive 3D television currently available and (especially with the present inclusion of a BR player/starter kit combo) is an unbeatable value. 3D on this set is nearly as good as the big boys (read: VT25) with little crosstalk or ghosting. 3D content is sparse at the moment and will continue to be for the foreseeable future (partly because of the exclusive packaging bull malarkey perpetuated by Samsung and the studios themselves; talk about shooting yourself in the foot). As such, the 2D-3D conversion algorithm is a nice addition and can deliver surprisingly impressive results. It works well for some content and is insufferable with others, so you will have to experiment and see what works for you. Some games and animated content seem to respond particularly well. I recently experimented with native 3D content via the PS3 and was surprised with the results. Stardust HD and Motorstorm both exceeded my expectations, especially considering they were not initially created with 3D as an objective. WipeOut, while not nearly as striking (and a medicore game at best), still enjoyed the added benefit of depth afforded by 3D and still yields an appreciable effect. I should also add that I have experienced no issues whatsoever concerning communication or syncing between the glasses and the television. Additionally, the glasses are fairly comfortable and having to change a battery every 50 hours is actually preferable in the long run, as opposed to losing the charge with internal units, necessitating a trip to the factory (or refuse bin).A tangential but important note: when the 7000 line of Samsung plasmas was first released, a picture-processing mode called Motion Judder Canceller was engaged and undefeatable. What this processing actually does is irrelevant: it should be avoided like the plague. If you choose this set, make sure it has firmware 1026 or later installed or download it immediately if not. For giggles, I converted my C7000 into a C8000 in the service menu, which activates the option to enable or disable MJC (I do not recommend this as there is no need). I enabled it and within seconds wanted to gouge my eyes out, it really is that bad. Make sure MJC is off, forever. And ever.I suppose this review might come across as somewhat negative. I have decided to keep the Samsung and am happy to have returned the Panasonic, if that is any indication. I give a slight edge to the G25 in overall picture quality, so if you do not need/want 3D and do not observe floating blacks - or don't know what the heck I'm talking about (and believe me, ignorance is most definitely bliss here) - I would go for the Panasonic, primarily because it is surprisingly inexpensive for the picture it offers. Otherwise, the Samsung is a great set and impeccable value considering its feature set and stunning design. All of the 2010 plasma models have their foibles, it just so happens the C7000 offered the least of them in areas concerning me for the right price.
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful.
One fantasic TV!
By RedPhillips
This TV is absolutely amazing. The picture quality is top notch, and after demoing several models from panasonic, samsung and LG, I decided for the price this TV included everything I could ever want. I'm extremely pleased with my decision. After purchasing a Samsung LED in December, I was left somewhat unimpressed. My first HDTV was plasma and after owning a few LCDs and one LED I decided to go back to plasma. I mostly compared Panasonic and Samsung, but also took a brief look at some of LG's LED TVs. It finally came down to the G25 by Panasonic and this TV, the PN50c7000. Picture quality was the most important to me, so that came first. Both TV's looked excellent in HD(Source was star trek BD), but after demoing the two several times I felt the PN50c7000 had the edge. I consulted one of my buddies who is an expert on HDTVs(a professional calibrator)and he broke down the pros and cons of each model. I went with the PN50c7000 and could not be happier. The picture quality is fantastic, with rich colors and very deep blacks. The addition of 3D was also a plus to me, but definitely not one of my priorities. Standard definition also looks amazing, and with TV's these days SD quality can vary drastically from set to set(The G25 was not as great at reproducing SD, one of the deal breakers for me). Finally, the PNc7000 had far more internet capabilities than the G25, which was another added bonus, as well as 3D. Since owning the TV I have tested many sources and it seems to reproduce colors very accurately, and again, has a great contrast. I would also like to address the issue many have had with this TV, the so called "soap opera effect". The first generation models of this TV came preloaded with MJC(the newer ones do not), or motion judder canceller, which made movement look "fake" or ghostly when watching from some sources. This is a feature also found of the C8000 series, but for some reason samsung didn't include an option to turn it off on the C7000. Many returned their sets in anger because of this, but its actually a very easy fix. There are several options, the easiest being the game mode option. Switching the game mode from on to off in the general settings will turn this effect off. Do this for each source and no more MJC. Samsung has also issued a firmware update on their website which can be applied via a USB flash drive that will also fix the issue. The last option, which many tech savvy individuals have done, is switch the TV from a c7000 model to an 8000 model via the service menu, which gives you a menu option to turn MJC off. I can confirm that this works, but do so at your own risk. You can potentially brick your TV if you do something wrong. The first two options are extremely easy and safe to perform. Don't return your sets because of this and miss out on a seriously impressive TV. Overall this TV has it all. An extremely impressive PQ, internet capability and 3D are all present on the PNc7000, with a sleek, slim design to top it off. I would recommend this TV to anyone, and while the Panasonic G25 is also a very impressive TV, my opinion leans toward Samsung this year.Update: There is some image retention on this model that many will notice, including myself. Don't worry, its never permanent. There is a recommended 100 hour break in time with most plasmas, and this is no exception. If the temporary image retention bothers you, make sure you dial down the contrast and especially brightness. Do this for the first 50-100 hours and image retention should slowly become a non issue. For those who don't want to do this, run the scrolling bar across your screen when image retention occurs and it will do the trick. Note: I recently left my screen on pause for 3 hours(forgot to turn it off!) and of course it left quite a bit of burn in. I ran the scrolling bar for 2 minutes and everything went away. Works like a charm.Update #2 : Well, after about eleven months of use(and eleven great months at that) a line of pixels has died in my screen. It is a very small line about 1/3 the way down. I opened the TV up to check all the connections and they were solid, so I have chalked this up as a bad panel. Luckily I bought an extended warranty so BB has ordered the new panel and will send someone to put it in at the end of this week. I'm almost positive Samsung also offers a warranty for at least the first year, but dealing with them will probably be complex and take a much longer amount of time.I briefly searched to see if anyone else has had this issue as well but so far I have found only a few cases. While It is certainly disappointing to have a panel fail after only eleven months, the PNC7000 is still an amazing TV with stunning PQ. I would give it 4 stars, current conditions withstanding. Just thought I would share my experiences even if it is a rare occurrence.
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful.
Awesome TV with a few shortfalls
By E. Boci
I purchased this TV as a replacement for an older JVC DLP 1080i set. The colors and details are amazing! Playing PS3 games and blu ray movies on a plasma are everything I've read about. There has been absolutely no blurring during action movies like some LCD's can have. I don't know how it compares to some of the "industry's finest" plasmas, like a Kuro, but from what I've seen, the black levels have been superb.I describe myself as a pretty technical person, so I really appreciate all of the adjustments available on the 7000 series. I would liked to have purchased the PN50C8000, with pro calibration controls, but it wasn't available to me at the time I purchased this model.Adding to the geek appeal is the internet functionality. I am able to connect it directly to a LAN cable, so all internet widgets and video streaming are quick and don't lag. Possibly one of the greatest connection feature has to be the USB connection. I have a 1 TB external hdd filled with movies and video. I have only encountered one obscure file format that the TV hasn't been able to play. It will even play .mkv files!There have only been a few downfalls to this TV. From the time I turned it on for the first time, there has been a buzzing noise emitting from the screen. I can't pinpoint the exact location, but you can hear it when you would like to have the volume lower (like when our baby is taking a nap). Apparently this has been an ongoing issue with Samsung TV's, and it seems that I have been one of the latest victims. I am still unsure how I am going to handle this buzz (take it back to Best Buy or call Samsung).This is probably expected with how thin these displays are, but the sound is pretty tinney and doesn't have a lot of quality. Most people will probably want to purchase a sound bar or have a home theater set up, like I do, so it really isn't that big of a deal.The only other thing, which is inherent in plasma screens (no matter what the companies tell you), is burning images. I've read all over the internet that modern plasma displays are not supposed to be susceptible to this problem, but let me tell you, if you leave your DVR paused for more than a few minutes on a bright screen or an image with a prominent network icon (Discovery Channel HD), you will definitely see an image for a little while. The TV has features to minimize or allow the pixels to "unburn" itself, but you need to be careful anyways.So far I have really enjoyed the PN50C7000, I would definitely recommend it, but will always caution the buzzing.
See all 63 customer reviews...
I am impressed so far. **IMPORTANT** UPDATED 10/02/12 @ 03:50
