Samsung UN55ES8000, UN75ES8000 Features Review and Commentary
Following is a features review and writeup for included features on the 2012 ES8000 Series TVs from Samsung
Features
Micro Dimming Ultimate
This feature is reserved only for the top end ES8000 series for 2012. It divides the backlighting duties in the screen into many more zones than the micro dimming plus. It is still an edge lit local dimming technology and not full-array local dimming like some of the other high end manufacturers produce. But not having the true full array also allows for a thinner profile screen and there is certainly no lack of power from the backlights on this panel.
Smart Interaction
The most impressive and perhaps difficult feature of the ES8000 is the Smart Interaction feature which utilizes the camera built in on the top of the TV to enable “control” of the TV by facial, voice, and hand control. Voice control may be somewhat limited to turning the TV on and off but the hand control seems pretty functional allowing you to wave to bring up lots of control options. The front facing built in camera is what allows all this to take place. Facial recognition enables the TV to set the TV to your own personal preferred settings.
Social TV
This new feature enables online chat while you are watching TV. You can chat online with friends using twitter, Facebook and Google Talk. The user can write commentary about content while viewing at the same time on the other half of the screen. It's a sharing feature so that you can watch and comment the same programming at the same time as friends in other places and enjoy the show “together”... kind of.
Ultra Clear Panel
One of the biggest reasons for the great picture from these top end Samsung LED backlit TV is the Ultra Clear Panel. A favorite hold over from last year, this panel is great for eliminating reflections and reflective light. It is also superb with light throughput, which is how the light comes through the panel during scenes with sunlight or another light source in the picture. This adds to the 3 dimensional effects. The Ultra Clear Panel also makes blacks appear more saturated and deep.
Edge Lit LED Backlighting
Samsung uses very powerful white LEDs as the light source for their LED backlighting in the ES7500 series. These LEDs are at the “edges” of the screen panel – allowing for the very thing depth of the TV. A light guide focuses the luminance of the LEDs to the middle of the screen where the picture is produced. We can attest to the strength of the LED lighting in this TV.
Full HD 3D (via HDMI 1.4)
The ES8000 line of Full HD 3D TVs uses Bluetooth-enabled 3D glasses which can be used in any active 3D TV that also uses Bluetooth-enabled glasses. The ES8000 processes the 3D signal in such a way that it optimizes the signal for a full HD 1080p effect to each eye. The ES8000 supports Full HD 3D for 1920 x 2205p (24Hz) or 1280 x 1470p (60Hz). There are many viewing modes included for viewing in this series including: 2D-3D Converion, Side-by-Side (two images next to each other), Line-by-Line, Vertical Stripe, Checker Board, Frame Sequential: Displays the images for the left and right eye alternatively in frames.
Preset Picture Setting Modes
These modes are very easy to toggle between to test out various contrast and color saturation levels and backlight settings in the TV. Standard (normal general setting with neutral backlight and contrast), Natural (if you have eye strain), Dynamic (when lots of light is coming into the room from windows), Movie (films), Entertain (gaming).
