Samsung UN65ES8000 Review

65" 1080p 3D LED HDTV with Google TV, Smart TV

by Robert Wiley, Senior Editor

This is Samsung's top of the line for 2012, the 65 inch UN65ES8000. It's got loads of extra features including a cool new remote which includes a QWERTY keyboard and Google's new TV search function. 3D viewing is excellent with no visible crosstalk, blurring in the edges or 3D screen uniformity issues. It's also got that very cool styling and super thin screen depth. We wish Samsung could inlude more than 1 or 2 pair of the active shutter 3D glasses. Samsung has been working hard on their Smart Hub Smart TV offering for 2012 with more Apps and full search. Brightness on this TV is extreme and so is contrast. We absolutely love the contrast and black level. Watch out for washing out your colors with too much Brightness. Keep this setting set to moderate.

Picture Quality

Color

Colors are plenty bright but are somewhat muted from time to time – depending on content. Certainly with 1080p broadcast programming they will be super vivid. This is a great time to test our calibration settings for this model or its predecessor (either should work). You will see a marked improvement in realism with these color calibrations.

Back Light

Background light in scene images from the sun or other sources present an excellent contrast in the UN55ES8000 due to the great light throughput caused by the LED backlighting combined with Samsung's newer LCD panel overlays. This is also assisted by the clear coat screen. One of the side benefits of this is incredible picture quality in older 480p type signals (standard definition TV or DVD). In some scenes you would think you were watching a 720p high definition signal.

Contrast

Samsung's UND8000 series from last year included some of the best contrast ratio levels we experienced all year. Depending on the sensitivity of the light meter, contrast for this TV will be at the very top range. This Samsung TV is also be a top performer in brightness levels. We measure peak brightness from a quick review at CES, the UN65ES8000 has just as strong a performance. In torch mode (peak brightness) whites measure over 100 footlamberts.

This shot shows the fine detail the ES8000 is capable of.

3D Viewing Quality

3D Viewing Quality has improved drastically on this years and last years Samsung offerings. Samsung uses active shutter glasses in it's 3D offerings and continues to espouse that technology. Samsung has one of the widest arrays of 3D glasses available with the introduction of the (SSG-3300GR) model 3D glasses. The new 3D glasses are light and comfortable. The ES8000's active 3D display has great depth, detail and none of the crosstalk and bottom edge blurring that it once had. I've also noticed a marked decrease in eye strain/fatigue due to watching 3D on this TV and others like it. The only negative we have recently noted is some glare from the inside lenses of the glasses from surrounding room lights. Other than turning off the lights, I have not figured out a way around this problem.

Smart TV

High end Samsung TVs will include their new "Smart Hub" in 2012, this divides the connected features of the TV into categories:

Samsung Apps: Samsung was the first to offer an HDTV app store similar to the ones you find on today's smartphones. There is plenty of free content like YouTube, Pandora, streaming media and social media content and there is also premium content that varies in price but is for the most part cheap.

Your Video: Based on what content you watch this area of the Smart Hub will suggest content you may enjoy based on your viewing habits.

Search All: Search your TV, any DLNA connected devices and even networked PCs all at the same time. Quickly find the content you are looking for

Along with the other Smart TV features, you get Google TVs new search function and also Samsung's Social TV feature which allows you to see facebook activity, Twitter feeds and other social media platforms on a side bar.

WiFi

Built in Wifi is included in the ES8000 and allows for easy connection to the Internet to enable the Smart TV Internet TV options.

Skype

Skype is available with an optional camera (CY-S7C1100-ZA) for around $169.

Web Browser

A full web browser allows full access to the Internet, which is very useful for searching today's wide selection of online free television programming or gaming.