Update post: Samsung PS63C7705 (PN63C8000) test – part 2

So finally got my Samsung PS63C7705 delivered and set up. Here it is on the floor before being wall mounted (and no – it’s not a crack in the glass, just a reflection).

The Scandinavian model PSC7705 is the same as the UK model PSC7000 and the American PNC8000. The UK PSC6900 is the same as the American PNC7000 (difference between those and the C7705/C8000 is the real black filter and a few firmware changes).

As most people know you should really wait a few hundred hours before performing a calibration as a plasma panel changes some of it characteristics when it’s run in. But I couldn’t wait and had to see if I was able to get a good picture from the start, so I loaded up the (also just received) Samsung BDP6900 with some calibration patterns and started doing some measurements.

Now – I was not aiming for any perfection as it can take hours to get an absolutely perfect calibration – and knowing that the panel will change slightly over the next hundred hours I just wanted it to be somewhat close to calibrated. Hopefully others can use these settings for now and I will update with a new post when I do the final calibration after about 200 hours of panel time (should be in a few weeks).

At the minute I turned it on (and switched it to Movie mode) I was impressed. The image looked perfect and the blacks where quite good (in a bright room). There where no pixel faults which was something I was fearing (both my old LG and Philips has pixel faults).

Before calibration

Black level: ca. 0.02 cd/m2

White level: 117.36 cd/m2

Contrast ratio: 5868:1

Gamma: 2.41

After calibration

Black level: ca. 0.02 cd/m2

White level: 104.46 cd/m2

Contrast ratio: 5223:1

Gamma: 2.20

One thing to note is that the Cell Light setting only controls the white level (how bright the pixels can be). It should only be set to 17 or it will make the gamma curve become S-shaped.

Settings used

Please note that every panel has differences so using these settings will not give you a correct calibrated image. However they will probably bring you closer than using the default Movie Mode. I will post some new settings when the panel has a few more hours on it. The colour settings are for HD material (but can be used for regular PAL SD also).

Firmware: 1013.

Picture quality

The overall picture quality is the best I’ve seen on a Samsung screen. Much better than their LCD (and LEDs). The picture just looks more natural and life like than on a LCD.

3D

One of the reasons for buying this set was the possibility of 3D. I tried out some of Samsungs LED LCD’s models with 3D, but they really had bad ghosting issues (left image overlapping into the right because of the LCD lag). The PS63C7705 has none of these problems and 3D is looking good (better than in theaters) though it takes some time getting used to when playing 3D games as your eyes need to learn not to focus directly on the screen.  It’s on par with the Panasonic VT20 (which I’ve also tried a few weeks ago) and I just need to find out how to save the settings when in 3D mode as it keeps defaulting back to “Standard”.

Noise

Like most Samsungs it does buzz a little. Both a high and low pitched noise. The low pitched buzz is only audible when the volume is turned down. I know Samsung has exchanged a lot of sets because of the buzzing issues and I’m not quite sure yet if I’m going to do something about it. I guess I’ll let it run for a few more hours and see if it goes down to an acceptable level.

Picture issues

When something with hard horizontal lines and high contrast is displayed this happens:

The two gray stripes that extends from the black box are not supposed to be there. I don’t know if this is something that occurs on most plasma panels (it’s known as line bleed), but it didn’t appear on my old LG plasma. Here is another example of the text bleeding into the red graphics.

If you’re watching shows with subtitles you’ll probably notice it. During normal movie/tv watching is not that big an issue although your eyes will look for it once you start noticing it.

Image retention and phosphor trails

There is none or very little – even when provoked by PS3 gaming or HTPC use. I’m actually quite impressed by this as I know other people who owns Samsung plasma’s have lots of problems with IR. So I hope the panel stays this way.

I have not been able to spot any issues with phosphor trails when playing games or black and white material (and I’m normally quite sensitive to phosphor trails).

Remote

The remote looks great, but it’s really a pain to use. During the calibration I had to switch to my old Samsung remote as I kept hitting the wrong buttons. The problem is that when it’s dark it’s impossible to feel the buttons as it’s all flat.

Compared to Panasonic P65VT20

I originally wanted to get the P65VT20, but because it being twice the price and apparently having lots of problem with motion handling (although haven’t seen this myself) I decided to go for the Samsung figuring that it would have to do the job until Panasonic gets the Kuro technology right (hopefully in a few years) – or perhaps wait for a 200″ OLED wall.

So what are the differences the between the Panasonic and the Samsung.

• Price (Samsung is about half the price of the Panasonic).
• 2 inches larger screen on the Panasonic.
• A little bit better blacks on the Panasonic (although only people who have owned a Kuro will notice). Samsung hits ca. 0.02 cd/m2 (don’t have the equipment to measure lower) and the Panasonic has been measured at 0.009 cd/m2 (0.012 cd/m2 after MLL rise).
• The Samsungs do make a louder buzzing sound (both a high and low frequency).
• The Samsung has a much smarter and better design. The Panasonic looks like it was made in 2004 and is hard to wall mount.
• The Panasonic is about  2.5 – 3 times as deep as the Samsung.

Update: Samsung PS63C7705 (PN63C8000) test – part 2

Update about the black level: Samsung C7705 plasma black level at 50Hz vs. 60Hz.