Samsung UN46B7000 LED backlit LCD review
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted July 23rd 2009 1:00PM
posted July 23rd 2009 1:00PM
There aren't many technologies that are as fun to watch mature as LCD TVs. It is definitely one of the those technologies that continues to evolve and improves with each iteration. The latest crop of LED edge lit LCD TVs from Samsung fit into that category. The 46-inch 7000 Series is a mere 1.2 inches thick and uses less power than just about any HDTV of its size ever made. To top it off, it offers some of the best picture quality of any LCD HDTV ever made; and it does all of that while being more affordable than its predecessors. It goes without saying that we were excited to get our hands on it, but you'll have to click through to find out how we felt after wards.
The Good
- Plays 1080p h.264 MKV files, but doesn't decode DTS.
- On screen display looks good, shows the frame rate etc.
- Network connectivity via optional WiFi dongle, including DLNA and Yahoo Widgets.
- The menus are great and easy to navigate.
- QAM and ATSC tuners perform well and include simple PSIP guide.
- 1:1 pixel mapping on 1080 content (Screen Fit).
- Accepts 1080p via component.
- Backlit remote.
- Best contrast we've seen on an LCD.
- Super thin and uses very little power. (<1 watt in standby, about 150 uncalibrated).
- Custom 120hz judder settings.
The Bad
- Yahoo widgets are very slow to load and there aren't many to choose from.
- "Screen Fit" mode doesn't work on 720p material.
- There is only one component input.
- Speakers aren't great, but at least you can't see them.
- Remote is missing some transport buttons like next track etc, which sucks for HDMI-CEC.
- DLNA is slow, but isn't it always?
- Skinny TVs can be difficult to make connections to and this one even warns against thick HDMI cables.
- Closed captions don't turn on automatically with mute.
- No standard RS-232 for home automation control, but at least there is EX Link and an adapter.
- Glossy screen is subject to glare.
The Ugly
- Out of the box settings are horrid, as expected. The 120hz setting makes movies look like amateur camcorder footage.
- Price, with a $2899 MSRP it is about a $1000 more than a top-of-the-line plasma of the same size.
- Optional WiFi dongle is $80.
Pictures quality
Around here we don't rate TVs like some other reviewers. We try to look at the overall experience the TV provides and most of all we try to look at the usability of the TV. The annoying thing about most TVs, that is the same with this one, is that it looks terrible out of the box. But while most TVs you can get away with simply switching the mode from vivid to movie, this one isn't so easy. As simple search online gets you some pretty good baselines before popping in the calibration disc, but there really isn't any calibration disc for the 120hz settings that the 7000 series features. We bring this up because we can't remember the last time there was a setting on a TV that had such and impact. We found the default 120hz judder settings down right horrific and could totally see a typical consumer returning a TV because their favorite show looks like it was recorded with a camcorder -- who knows, maybe it is just us and in reality that is how most people want it to look. On the flip side, as videophiles, we did appreciate the new blue mode to help in DIY calibration and was very surprised to see how easily the set handled the pixel phase test pattern on the HD Essentials calibration disc -- not an easy task for any set.
Conclusion
When it comes down right to it, we like the new 7000 series from Samsung. We like the physical appearance of the TV, we like the menus, we like the added features. In fact other than a few annoyances, we really enjoyed using it day in and day out. But then there is the but, which is of course the price. We get to review TVs for free, but if we wanted to keep it we'd have to pay up like anyone else, and we're just not sure how we could justify the expense over the competition. That being said, there are plenty of consumers who could care less about color accuracy and contrast, and are more interested in thin, sexy, and internet streaming. And for them, it might be worth the extra money over a traditional LCD or plasma.
I'm pretty sure it is 1.2in thick not 2.1in thick.
ahh i was thinking the same thing but you beat me to it!
In your review under "The Bad", you say the set lacks RS-232. Not true! All Samsung LED TVs (and most of the regular LCDs) have RS-232, but its NOT the standard 9-pin d-sub connector. Instead, Samsung uses a 3.5mm mini plug connector and its labeled as "EX Link" on the back. It works just fine (you do have to either find an adaptor or make a DB-9 to 3 conductor miniplug cable) and several dealers are using it with RTI and Universal Remote control systems. Most Samsung TVs include a chart in the included paperwork with all of the RS-232 hex codes...I would be very surprised if one wasnt included with your set as well.
I didn't know that. That is great news, thanks for the correction.
Engadget HD's recession antidote please
Does anyone know of anyone that has won an recession antidote?
we never hear who wins...
Its funny , both my entries today were asking for a winners list ..no one ever knows who won .. Oh well
Only the winner is notified, so if you don't win, you'll never know.
Come on guys, it's as easy as sending a self-addressed stamped envelope!
Giveaway Results: To request the name of the winner, send a self-addressed stamped envelope, specifying which Giveaway you would like the results for, to Weblogs, 22070 Broderick Drive – 12E:D01, Dulles, VA 20166. Requests must be received within 30 days of the Giveaway entry deadline.
I wonder how many of these they get
There are winners. I was lucky enough to win this back in March.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/23/engadgets-recession-antidote-win-a-paradigm-cinema-70-ct-surro/
I never doubted them ... i just want to win : )
Is the set's thinness worth the extra $1000 as compared to the Tosh 46SV670 or LG LH90? I guess if you're that pressed for space, maybe so, but I have a feeling that there won't be as many of these mounted on the wall as there should be.
Thin TV that's not wall mounted = vanity purchase.
Actually, there's only a $300 spread between the LG 47LH90 at Best Buy ($1999) and the Samsung UN46B7100 ($2299, same as a UN46B7000 except gray instead of red ToC) or the 7000 at Crutchfield. Crutchfield also lists the Toshiba 46SV670. The SV670 also appears to be hard to find...most big vendors on CNet list it as out of stock. I see vendors on CNet listing the Sammy at under $2000 as well, but only as low as $1900 on the LG.
I'd have to see them side by side to see if the dimming and dejudder is less annoying on one than the other, but a street price delta of $300 (15%) makes the question harder to answer than the $1000 (52%) that you claimed. The fact that it only consumes 1w in Standby and 150w in Torch mode is pretty impressive. I'm also not a fan of the big-ish bezel and even bigger faux glass faux bezel on the LG. Worth 15% more? Maybe it is...
The 6000 has the exact same panel and is priced (normally) at 1999. I work at best buy and the difference between the trio is substantial, LH90 boasts the full panel LED backlight with better local dimming but the colors are way more washed out that what you get in the samsung. the toshiba doesnt even compare, its like looking through a pair blue glasses. im not one to nit pick about the frame but the lg and toshiba have horrendous frames compared to the samsung. The edge lit can be a bit of a problem though in low light scenarios. I would go with the 46A950 personally.
I noted that there were no comments in this review about the uneven screen illumination or the way that black bars (2.35:1 content) change in lightness as the on screen content changes. Maybe the reviewers just didn't notice? But I wonder because it was the first thing that I noticed when I looked at this 7000 series.
2.35:1 letterbox bars are in the picture, so if they change brightness, it might be due to dynamic contrast, which sucks. Meaning all blacks will brighten up when most of the picture is bright. I don't think this one has local dimming. The thicker Samsung LED-backlit LCD line should be better.
DLNA is lightning fast on the PS3.
What type of LED backlight is it? There are two kinds:
- mono-color: a blue LED covered with a yellow phosphor that produces "white", but not the full color gamut
- tri-chromatic and tetra-chromatic: red, green, and blue LEDs to produce the full color gamut
Evan, the LEDs on all current Samsung sets are "white" LEDs. They did make a 70" beast 2 model generations ago (early last year) that used RGB LED backlighting, but it was also $40,000! Sharp tried to come out with RGB LED backlighting as well on their thin sets, the 65" was $16,000 MSRP, the 52" was $12,0000 MSRP! Needless to say, neither company was too successful with these models! :)
even Sony has what they call Triluminous LED (their RGB LED) on their 46 & 55in XBR8 Series TV's. but they on the other hand have sold well. current price on the 55XBR8 is $4999.99. they also had it a few years ago on their 70XBR3 that went for just over $30,000.
KDL55XBR8: http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665532062
I can't imagine that the edge-lit LEDs make up for the price difference over the LN46B750
Hey Engadget
Fix the economy by giving one of THESE away!
The only thing I'm giving YOU is a bench scraper.
I don't think I could deal with the widget lag. That looks painful! I'd kinda rather go for an LED backlight display without widgets (which would hopefully be cheaper) or wait for them to put proper hardware in them.
Why is this a negative: not being able to screenfit (aka 1to1 pixel map) a 720P image onto a 1080P display? Did you expect the 1080P screen to open to reveal a 720P screen?
No that would be impossible without huge black bars. But I do expect to be able to watch 720p content without overscan.
I got the UN46B7100 (gray instead of the ugly red) @ Best Buy for $2200. It's a great TV. I just need to calibrate it.
I was about to pick up the UN55B7100 at Best Buy when I started doing research and discovered that Toshiba and LG were on the verge of releasing LED-backlit sets to compete with the Samsung line. I'm glad I did, as I ended up getting the LG instead. It's got a full LED array (so does the Toshiba), unlike the Samsung, which is only edge lit. The Samsung is much thinner and more energy efficient because of this, but can't do local dimming. As a result, it can't compete with the contrast of the other LED sets, and if you look at them side by side it's not hard to spot.
I can't wait for their review of the LG LH90 series, as I'd like to see an independent opinion on my new set. :)
The worst thing about this tv is the edge lit leds. These do not have Local Dimming, so the hole screen is being dimmed just like a conventional backlight!
The blacklevel is not great, viewing angle is not good en the details in the blacks are not even in the same sector as a plasma.
Because of the bright picture people think the picturequality is good, but when you take a good look you can see it flaws.
Wait till you see the 55" UNB8000 fully calibrated. I swear it will make you want to take your Plasma back (Don't low rank, I have two plasma's in my house and love them).
As for your comments about the speaker's being underpowered etc... What do you expect? The television uses 40% less power than the 2009 domestic LCD line and are only 1.2 inches thick.
It's as thin as 2 blu-ray cases stacked on top of each other.
I understand you review televisions as overall what they offer and from an average consumer view. But stuff like the slow-loading widgets or horrible out of the box settings is pretty unnecessary to complain about.
Most people who will buy this kind of expensive television will definitely change the settings and I read somewhere that less than 5% of people who actually have Widget or RSS powered televisions use them.
But going back, I tried out the 55" UNB8000 against a Pioner 60" Plasma Elite Pro 151D and when fully calibrated I am telling you the Samsung beat out the Pioneer in color and black levels more than half the time. Motion wise the pioneer had the samsung beat because even though the b8000 is 240 hz, if you use the motionflow too high you get artifacts, too low and it doesn't stop enough blur, and then you get the soap-opera effect. So motionwise it was definitely the pioneer. It was fast enough with no blur but maintained how "films" look and didn't turn into the soap look.
Now remember that the colors and blacks were better on the samsung calibrated to d6500k and looking straight at it. Stray further than 70 degrees on angle and the colors wash out slightly on the Samsung. Not as bad as most LCD's do, but enough to detract while the Pioneer still maintained picture full integrity. Design wise hands down the Samsung. The Pioneer felt like a brick next to the razor thin samsung.
I just wanted to say that us plasma lovers shouldn't count out the new high end LED televisions. They more than match the very best plasmas. Too bad the price is a little steep.
BUT, remember the Samsung is the very newest iteration of technology, while the Pioneer is older and so were Pioneer to come out with a new plasma (sadly, they are leaving the business) I have no doubt it would trump the Samsung once again.
And before I get chewed out by someone... I know they are edge-lit LED displays. Which is why in my first post I wrote that it beat out the Pioneer half the time. And other times, it would sort of become a little brighter.
This was also properly calibrated and to me, it beat out the a950's local dimming LED. It was very close but it did beat it out but then other times it would appear to lighter..
However uniformity is a key thing. It would appear to be the blackest at some parts and lighter at others. Remember this rivalled the Pioneer Elite Pro 151D and so were it go against other plasmas such as Samsung's own or Panasonics, I have no doubt it would beat them for sure.
It still suffers from the inherent LCD problems such as loss of color/depth when you view from an angle.
Wait, if that TV in front (1st pic) is 46", then what is that monster behind it?
That is a 60-inch Pioneer Kuro.
Actually the TV's depth is 1.2", not 2.1".
I purchased the 55" version a few months ago and the picture quality is incredible. I was a big plasma fan (looked hard at the Pioneer Elite), but I liked how vibrant and detailed the picture was on the Samsung, how thin it was for wall mounting (I actually went with a 2" deep mount so I was sure I could run the HDMI and power cable behind it), the fact it was about 3" wider than most 50" TV's (slimmer bezel) for an extra 5" of screen, had user adjustable motion processing, and was very energy efficient.
The downside is that you can see the LED backlighting in a dark room, but we usually have a light on so it's not too big of a deal (it would be my #1 negative though), the picture does lighten pretty quick as you move off axis, and I agree the widgets are slow so we don't use them. Great TV overall though.
If you dont need dlna or youtube wisgets you can get the 6000 series. i have the un40b6000 and the settings out of the box do stink.
This tv is pretty good.
PS my tv does screenfit on 720p so i dont understand how they said theirs is different? Does their tv have the latest firmware? (which is 1009).
That's what it comes down to, upgrades and features. Samsung made sure to separate the 6000 and 7000 series by leaving some features out. The thing is that if you don't buy for tomorrow today you'll end up having to buy a whole new TV which most people shouldn't do if you're already spending $1,500+. I didn't pay nearly as much for my Sony and I'm still kicking myself because I know I'll be able to get a connected Vizio for the price I paid and be able to get YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, or Blockbuster streaming. Now I have to get an external add on and hope it works or get a whole new television.
Samsung is great with firmware updates, but I'm sure that they want people to pay the extra money to be able to access the online content directly from their television.
If you only care about picture quality - then you'll likely end up with the 6000 series.
Best,
Chance Stevens
Editor, http://www.tvlampsnbulbs.com
It's "couldn't care less," not "could care less." Well written, otherwise...but so very annoying to continue to hear people use this incorrectly. Why is this so hard to understand?
"Could care less" is an abbreviated form of "I could care less, but it's so not worth my time that I can't be bothered to." :P
treoo0 is right, the correct phrase is "I couldn't care less" (unspoken post text, "even if I tried").
I don't get it. "I could care less". Could you? Well why don't you?
It bugs the life out of me when Americans get it wrong, but I think it's too late, as it has now become too common :(
What's funny is that if you use the Media Player option and play 720p video off of a thumbstick or harddrive you can in fact set 720p to pixel by pixel mode, borders and all. Try it. Now I haven't figured out why they'd let you do it with video on a portable device but not with a feed from a game console, DVD player, computer, etc. but it's there.
Can we get a review of the 55" UNB8000?
A pioneer elite plasma pro 111fd will put this picture quality to shame.
Perfection
1. the state or quality of being or becoming perfect.
2. the highest degree of proficiency, skill, or excellence, as in some art.
3. a perfect embodiment or example of something.
4. a quality, trait, or feature of the highest degree of excellence.
5. the highest or most nearly perfect degree of a quality or trait.
6. the act or fact of perfecting.
7. what videophiles strive for in a video display
Perfection is what every videophile wants in a video display. Pioneer has gone the extra mile to cater to the videophile’s stringent requirements.
Blackest black levels of any flat panel on the market today? Check
Colors that make your eyes want to divorce your eye sockets? Check
Dynamic contrast range that is guaranteed to cause couch potato syndrome? Check
Grayscale that rivals $40,000 studio monitors? Got that too
The PRO-111FDs $5,000 MSRP now areound $2,400.00 sticker price will probably cause some buyers to venture down other flat panel purchasing avenues. However, I personally could never put a price on perfection. The PRO-111FD has it all. At this point I’ve run out of things to say about the PRO-111FD. Feel free to add your own words in the blanks below.
A pioneer elite plasma pro 111fd will put this picture quality to shame.
Was that Ross Perot in shot 3?
The profile shot that showed the thinness of this set next to the other one kind of blew my mind a little bit. (!)
The Bad: It only outputs stereo out of the optical output. no running the back to a receiver... and with only 1 component input make sure your receiver can handle HDMI switching and is able to putt component to HDMI
At least on the 6000 series, you can get analog audio out with a mini-plug, such as those that are iPod adaptable, to female RCA jacks.
Any information available about power consumption?
Erik,
According to ZDNet, while in operation it uses 104 watts. This is extremely low for a television of this size.
Best,
Chance Stevens
Editor, http://www.tvlampsnbulbs.com
Can anyone tell me how Samsung's new line compares to their previous top of the line? The Samsung LN55A950? Thanks!
I have the A950 from Samsung (last year's top-of-the-line LED 46" with local dimming). I did tons of research and side-by-side comparisons of the two TVs (thanks Crutchfield store in VA!). To be honest, the A950 beat the pants off the new side-lit TVs. Sure, the A950 is thicker and doesn't have the Yahoo Widets (it does have some Internet content, but not worth the sluggishness), but having the LEDs behind the screen really seems to make a huge difference. I picked up the A950 last week at OneCall for $2299.
The a950 is backlit LED and so in around 65% of the time it beat the UNB8000 in regards to blackness. However, when properly calibrated, the UNB8000 easily beat the a950 in terms of color, motion etc...
The unb8000 is 240 hz and has a 178 degree viewing axis. The a950 has horrible side viewing and afer 55 degrees to the side you will lose color.
The only positive I give to the a950 is because of it's local dimming, it does appear to have slightly darker blacks most of the time, but in terms of everything else the UNB8000 has it beat. From it's 1.2 inch thick body, to it's improved motion capabilities, color, better viewing angles etc...
But the price is pretty expensive.