233 replies to this topic

[petetherock]

Anyone seen these in oz and in particular in Sydney yet?
They are out in USA, Singapore, etc

Keen on a 64" .... Waiting for this...

[Paul81]

Haven't seen them, i attempted to buy a 64D8000 today and they are all gone (in Sydney at least) so will be looking to snap one of these up if the price is right.

You can order now at Harvey Norman and Good Guys, rrp is $3899 they told me.

Expected the last week in April or 1st week in May.

JB Hi-Fi are expecting them sooner however they "haven't seen them and have no pricing" so make of that what you will.

If anyone does see one, I am interested in the location so I can go and check it out; The reason we wanted the D8000 was for the silver facia and the pictures I have seen of the E8000 indicate it is darker but not solid black, yet the comments indicate they are black so I am rather confused and really wanted something non black (and not LG).

What are your expectations? Good or wait and see?

Edited by Paul81, 09 April 2012 - 08:37 PM.

[Paul81]

Is the PS64E8000 the local release of the PN64E8000 that is in the US?

http://www.samsung.c.../PN64E8000GFXZA

[andys]

Paul81, on 10 April 2012 - 10:45 AM, said:

Is the PS64E8000 the local release of the PN64E8000 that is in the US?

http://www.samsung.c.../PN64E8000GFXZA

Correct.

[Paul81]

Thanks

[petetherock]

Can anyone tell me where is the remote sensor ? I need to mount a tv lower and the panny IR and remote sensor are all in the centre, which the bulbous tweeter of my HTM 4s centre is..

[petetherock]

Got the answer to my question: right side, so that means I can mount this a tad lower...

http://www.samsung.c.../PS64E8000GUXXU
No real reviews yet, but an installer friend liked it except he mentioned some 'noise' which he is trying to resolve...

Some manuals here:
http://www.samsung.c...00GUXXU-support

[petetherock]

Btw there is also the E550 which in certain countries will go up to 64" too.
http://m.samsung.com...D1KXXU-features

[alanh]

All,
Beware Samsung technical specifications are incomplete as are other manufacturers
http://www.samsung.c...64_8000_V10.pdf
It makes no mention of the tuner which is ATSC using 6 MHz wide channels. No mention that it will not receive MHEG-5 middleware. It is used to transmit the EPG so that you don't have to change channels to find out what is on another network. It is also kept to the current program starts and finish, particularly for live programs. It does not say if it can decompress MPEG-4 signals, however it can decompress MPEG-2 signals.
There is no mention of the power mains voltage. Its probably 115V, 60 Hz.

http://www.samsung.c...E8000GUXXU-spec
The specifications mention that the tuner is capable of DVB-T2/C/S2 This actually means it will receive also DVB-T and DVB-S. So it is capable of receiving Cable (Not DVB-C2) and satellite with out separate set top boxes. Unfortunately the DVB-S2 cannot be used for VAST in Australia because of the encryption used here.
This receiver can also decompress MPEG-4 and MPEG-2, not mentioned.

Despite the fact that this receiver can receive DVB-T, in UK/Europe/Africa/Hong Kong/Singapore/Indonesia use different UHF channels making our RF channels 28 - 69 because we are unique in this. For our RF channels 6-12 are identical to channels 5 - 12 in the rest of the world (exception the Americas and NE Asia) should work.

http://www.samsung.c...bsubtype=plasma
All it says that it will receive DVB-T signals. Does not mention the unique 7 MHz wide UHF channels.
It mentions MHEG-5 but says it will work in NZ but not here. So no good EPG as mentioned above.
It does not say if it will receive DVB-T2. It also does not say if it will decompress MPEG-4

http://www.samsung.c...D8000FMXRD-spec
All it says that it will receive DVB-T signals along with some version of MHEG.
NZ uses the same UHF channels as Europe.
It must be able to decompress MPEG-4

There is also no mention of the sound compression systems which are in these receivers except US version "Dolby Digital Plus/ Pulse" for the internet, where as Dolby digital is used in NZ for transmission. I don't know if NZ are using any of the surround sound facilities.
So in short, the specifications leave a lot to be desired, and you will have to wait for the Australian model if you wish to watch free to air TV. The only other alternative is to use an HD set top box for reception. Pay TV will be ok.

It is unknown if the switchmode power supply in the US model will work upto 240 V because it is not mentioned. So avoid US models.

AlanH

[petetherock]

Alan:
Your last two links are to D8000 ones...

Anyway it's a little strange that a top of the line TV has no D-sub PC input... Or SD card input..

But I rather miss out these and get good picture quality... will be exploring this in more details once I can lay eyes on it...

[alanh]

petetherock
I realise you have quoted the Australian site, however it is difficult to know if the hardware in overseas versions has been removed particularly of the European models. For example the only changes required is in the control program to modify the UHF channels to step up in 7 MHz steps instead of 8 MHz steps.
MHEG-5 middleware changes the control program for example an exact EPG.

The UK, Africa and some European countries, including the CIS are using DVB-T2 and this is spreading like wild fire, MPEG-4 compression is common around the world. Australia's ACMA is also investigating using MPEG-4 and DVB-T2.

The reason why there is no D connector is that there is plenty of computer graphics cards which have HDMI output which can produce full HD output all the time.

The reason for no SD card is that the industry is copying the computer industries' use of USB storage sticks.

AlanH

[petetherock]

Well the Singapore site is here:
http://www.samsung.c...0GMXXS-features

And the new set seems to have lost some features, whilst gaining things which don't seem very useful...

And again, all these are not so important as good PQ... and that remains to be seen. The VT50 isn't going to come round yet, so again the older VT30 I am not sure how it performs, but to be honest, I reckon I will be happy with either brand, so long as they are reliable and bug free.

Strange also, that the Samsung is almost 40% lighter than the VT series...

[Paul81]

Harvey Norman have just taken receipt of the first of the 64" - I received a call today from a salesperson at a store I visit, I will be going in to see it on Saturday

[petetherock]

Any price on that HN set?
Where are you located Paul?
NSW?

[Paul81]

I am located in Sydney. Only pricing I have thus far is $3899 rrp
My wife is 'shopping' today and if she sees one in any other store, I will let you know.

[CraigusOz]

If I'm not mistaken - the new e-series plasma's are thicker than the d-series. Seems a bit odd to get thicker. Would like to know why (particularly since I'm wall mounter - thinner is nicer.

[petetherock]

First the Caveat...

This was a quick survey of a 60" set, courtesy of a friend who is a happy owner of one of the first sets available. This is not meant to comment on the finer points of the picture quality (PQ) and I reserve further opinion on the PQ when I have done a calibration.

http://peteswrite.bl...mpressions.html

Overall, even though it was a short cursory look, I felt that the PQ is good, and the feature range decent, although I do miss having that "dot by dot" mode, which allows me to bypass any video processing or scaling in the TV.

[alanh]

Peter,
The screen is the same in all countries and is the signal processing.
I also suggest you look at Panasonic who will be releasing their range of 1.65 m screens in the middle of the year.

AlanH

[petetherock]

I am in a bit of a bind.. On whether I should wait for the vt50.. Which by all counts should be an improvement over the vt30 but it will cost a lot more and the issue of having to mount it too high for my liking will also exist, so this E8000 might be the one instead, even though there are no reviews yet...

[Paul81]

Picked it up today; OMG it's an awesome picture straight out of the box (note: I am going from a 42" 1080i Samsung plasma to this one) watched a bit of blu-ray and a DVD, now watching ten news in SD and it shows up every single speckle.

I am only testing it for a few days then packing it up till I finish building my house (about 2 months), then after a bit of a run will arrange to calibrate.

Stand is chrome, fascia is a brushed charcoal aluminimum type finish but black from about 4m away to the eye.

Tv tuner is working great, picked up all channels on first scan. Guide is accurate and offers reminder option. Record function appears but is greyed out.

Note: setup offered location choices between Australia, New Zealand and Singapore so assume that means we have the same unit as them?

No buzzing or any sound at all other than content sound, except in the setup menu has a rainforest type tune playing with nature sounds lol. Fingers crossed it all remains like this.

Thus far thumbs up from me.

[petetherock]

Paul, can you pm me the price you paid and maybe the place / sales person you got it from?
Good to hear another voice which found the TV to be impressive...

Now the issue is whether I should suck it up and wait for the VT / ST 50 to emerge or simply get this. I know that for both series I am going in at at the higher end of the price... but with the new Samsung SPP thing where they want to keep prices up, I may not have much choice...

[andys]

petetherock, on 12 April 2012 - 11:29 PM, said:

First the Caveat...

This was a quick survey of a 60" set, http://peteswrite.bl...mpressions.html

FYI Re: 96hz mode

When you engage Cinema Smooth (for 1080/24p content) it will be displayed at 96hz (4 x 24).
With Cinema Smooth off 1080/24p content will be displayed at 60hz.

Hope that helps.

Andys.

[miata]

I'd be reading this very carefully, before making a decision, assuming that the 50 and 60 would perform the same as the 42.

http://www.hdtvtest....01203191731.htm

[petetherock]

Thanks Andy, the Samsung manuals aren't the most informative in the world by far...
I am just vacillating, on whether it's worth waiting for the new Panasonics to show up or bite the bullet and get this.

For the Sammy:
- I can mount it lower - to about 750mm off the floor which suits my eye level much better - the bezel is 4cm thick and usually most movies are in the letterbox mode, so the whole TV can be mounted much lower with part of the set actually behind my centre speaker
- non captive power cord - there won't be a cable dangling downwards since I have a PC already fitted to my wall
- nice color - ok, not that important
- remote sensor located at the side, so it won't be blocked by my tweeter
- back lit remote

Against:
- ? reliability - the whole Caps issues has me worried and we are not in USA where class action suits and refunds are De-riguer
- the New Panny is probably made in Japan..
- better blacks on the Panny?
- it's ironic that 2 1/2 years after buying my Kuro, things have not gotten better?
- small stuff like no SD card slot, less HDMI inputs, poorer speakers, slightly smaller image (64 vs 65")
- buying a new TV with potential firmware issues since I will be one of the first wave?

- I have only owned Pioneer TVs and I have no fuss, no worries about colors, buzz, blacks, Fbrs and what have you... the modern TV seems to be fraught with all kinds of issues!

[Paul81]

I have heard the 2011 Panasonic models were the last to be produced in Japan. All new models would be manufactured in Thailand.

* I don't have any evidence or a link about this other than its what I was told. The person that told me was a salesman (Japanese man I believe not that matters) in Liverpool, Sydney mega centre (independent store) and he had 2 sets left.

Time will tell.

Pete, did you see the E8000 today anywhere?