Samsung PN58B650 1080P Plasma
I was quite enthusiastic about Samsung's line of 2008 1080p plasmas. The 550 model and up offered a fully functional color management system and many other calibration goodies located right in the user menu (Note: for 2009, Samsung has removed the CMS from the 550 series. Only the 650 series and above include this great feature). My only reservation about these panels was the relatively high black level. I calibrated several of these, and I got a fairly consistent black level of about 0.025fL. With peak output calibrated to 35fL, this yielded an off/off contrast ratio of about 1400:1. This is not terrible performance, but it was clearly bested by last year's Panasonics and the Pioneer Kuros were in a completely different league in this regard. Thus, I was anxious to see what, if any, improvement Samsung had made with the 2009 panels.
Black Level, Peak Output, and Contrast
I am pleased to report that they made considerable progress indeed. After optimizing Brightness, Contrast and Gamma, the Samsung plasma had a black level of 0.012fL, which is just about exactly half of last year's model. This should provide an on/off contrast ratio of about 3000:1, or maybe a little higher depending on peak output. This takes the Samsung's black level performance from mediocre to very good. It is still not in the Kuro range, but it is now at least as good as last year's Panasonics.
Even more impressive is the Samsung's checkerboard contrast. This test reveals a display's ability to resolve differences between light and dark at the same time, whereas the more common measurement of on/off contrast reveals the display's black level floor. Checkerboard contrast is an important metric for mixed scenes and on/off contrast is important metric for dark scenes and the image's overall depth. Some displays excel in one but not in the other. For example, JVC's stellar front projector, the RS20/HD750, offers Kuro-class black levels and on/off contrast, but its checkerboard contrast is just average —around 300:1. The 2008 Panasonic plasmas offer on/off contrast similar to the 2009 Samsungs, but their checkerboard contrast is only about 600:1. With the PN58B650 I measured an exceptional 1658:1 checkerboard contrast. This is the second highest figure I have measured from any display save the now-discontinued Pioneer Kuros.
I have not yet had a chance to measure either the G or V-series Panasonics plasmas released recently, but early indications suggest that the G-series black level is unchanged from last year's. The V-series may be lower, but I'll wait until I have a chance to measure one myself before passing final judgment. Suffice to say that the contrast of the Samsung 2009 plasmas—considering both on/off and checkerboard measurements—are now clearly superior to the 2008 Panasonic plasmas.
As for peak output, I selected Movie mode and then calibrated peak output to 35fL, although this panel is capable is much more. This much light output is quite adequate for well-lit rooms, and much higher than that I find fatiguing in dim environments. You can, of course, get more light output from the panel by selecting the Dynamic or Standard Modes, but then you lose the phenomenal color accuracy that the panel is capable of.
Grayscale Tracking
Grayscale tracking indicates a display's ability to produce a neutral shade of white from the brightest whites to very dim grays. This is arguably the most important aspect of a display's color performance, because without a neutral grayscale, all colors will appear unnatural.
Samsungs always ship from the factory with a a very blue grayscale preset. Fortunately, Samsung also includes both a user-selectable preset that is reasonably accurate and all the tools necessary for a custom grayscale calibration located conveniently in the user menu. I measured the available grayscale presets, as shown below.
As you can see, the Cool preset's grayscale is very blue. The average Delta-E (the standard metric for color error) is 24.7, which is much too high. SMPTE's error tolerance is 4.0 or lower.
The Normal preset is only a little better.
Even the Warm 1 preset is not very warm. It is still considerably too blue, with an average dE of 14.9.
As has been the case for as long as I can recall, Samsung's Warm 2 color temperature preset is the most accurate. We now have an average dE of 5.5. This is still above the recommended level, but for viewers who are not picky about color, this would easily suffice.
The Warm 3 preset is distinctly blue-deficient and would impart an orangish tinge to the image. Not recommended.
The best performance, not surprisingly, is seen after a custom grayscale calibration.
With an average dE of only 1.6, this is nearly perfect performance. It gets a little bluish only at the very darkest end of the grayscale.
Color Accuracy
Much like the grayscale tracking, for accuracy of the primary and secondary colors, the Samsung includes both a reasonably accurate preset and the tools to make it even better through custom calibration. First, let's look at all of the available presets.
The Dynamic mode provides the most light output, but not very accurate color. This is because this mode automatically selects a very blue color temperature, which throws off the secondary colors considerably, and it exaggerates the brightness of the primary colors, especially blue. I used the dE model of CIE94 for all color measurements. This metric scales lower for color than it does for the grayscale. Thus, 1.5 or lower is the desired result. 1.0 or lower yields essentially perfect color. At an average of 7.6—more than 5 times the desired amount of error—I'd stay away from the Dynamic mode.
The Eco mode, whose sole purpose is apparently to save energy, is the worst mode for color accuracy. All of the colors are undersaturated and much too bright. With an average dE of 11.7, Eco also should be avoided.
Most consumers will probably automatically select Standard, thinking that this is the most accurate preset. It isn't. In fact, its profile looks very similar to Dynamic.
As with all Samsungs, the Movie mode is by far the most accurate preset.
In fact, were it not for yellow, which is slightly undersaturated and shifted towards green, the Movie mode would probably be good enough that a custom calibration wouldn't even be necessary. As it is, a CIE94 average of 1.8 is very good for a manufacturer's preset.
Despite what I have read in a couple of reviews, a custom color calibration can substantially improve upon the already quite good Movie mode.
Samsung's truly great built-in color management system (CMS) makes getting nearly perfect color a snap for those with the tools and training to use it. To use this feature, you must go into Color Space in the Advanced Settings menu and select Custom. This brings up the controls for the CMS.
With a CIE94 average of 0.6, this is essentially perfect color. I have never measured a display that was better, including the Kuro Elites. The Kuro non-Elites are not even close to this good. The bottom line is that, without custom calibration, at least in the Movie mode, the 2009 Samsung plasmas offer excellent color. With custom calibration, the color performance is world-class.
Gamma
The Samsung plasmas offer 7 different presets for gamma. Although this offers quite a bit of adjustment flexibility, only 2 of the modes are reasonably accurate. Unlike, grayscale tracking and color performance, this display offers no method for adjusting gamma, other than selecting the best preset. I would have preferred the ability to adjust the gamma at each level of stimulus, rather than simply choosing among a large number of presets. The reason for this is that none of the available presets offers a flat gamma response. They are all higher at the dark end of the grayscale and drift down as you get to the bright end.
The question I am asked more than any other is "What is gamma?" There are a couple ways of thinking about gamma. Perhaps the easiest is that it is that part of grayscale performance that has to do only with the brightness of white. As the signal level increases, we want the display to produce a neutral color of white AND we want the brightness of white to be at a certain level for each level of stimulus. In this way, gamma is to the grayscale what color brightness is to primary/secondary color accuracy. Another, more technical, way to think of gamma is that it is a numerical expression of the relationship between the intensity of the signal input and the brightness of the signal output. There is a prescribed relationship between these and this relationship is expressed numerically. Ideally gamma should be in the 2.2-2.35 range. Higher than this and the image will lose shadow detail and appear "contrasty". Lower than this and black levels will be elevated and contrast and image depth will suffer.
Here are the measurements for the various gamma presets with the display in Movie mode.
As you can see, none of the presets offer an even response, but Gamma -1 and Gamma 0 provide a 2.27 and 2.19 average response respectively. I selected the Gamma 0 preset for its superior shadow detail, but either would have been a reasonable choice.
User Menu Settings
For the best image quality use the following settings:
Subjective Impressions
I loved the image that this display produced. The low black level, exceptional checkerboard contrast, good gamma response, and nearly perfect color accuracy and grayscale tracking imparted an extremely vivid, detailed, and natural image with a surprising amount of depth and realism. Plasmas from different manufacturers each have a house "look" that cannot be captured with measurements alone. Samsung plasmas have always looked to me like very sharp CRTs. They have a natural, less digital quality than the Pioneers and Panasonics. I cannot imagine anyone not being thrilled by the quality of the image that this panel provides. Plasma technology offers all of the image quality of LCDs without the problems LCDs have with viewing angle and motion artifacts. Plasmas also offer larger screens at a lower cost. For example, Samsung's own excellent LN55B650 LCD is 3 inches smaller and $100 more expensive. LCDs are somewhat brighter, lighter, and run cooler. However, they are still a step behind plasmas when it comes solely to image quality.
Problems
Other than the somewhat uneven gamma response, I only ran into one problem with this panel. When we set the screen size to ScreenFit, a vertical band about 0.5" wide appeared on the left edge of the panel. The band was invisible in static scenes, but during motion it was quite obvious. It looked like an area of distortion that was connected to the rest of the image by an imperfect seam. I have not seen any other mention of this problem, so I am working on the assumption that it was a issue with this particular unit. The artifact only appeared in the ScreenFit mode. It was irritating enough that I opted to put the display in 16x9 mode instead. This eliminated the artifact, but the panel's internal scaler also robbed the image of some of its sharpness. I'll update this review if I discover anything more about this.
Comparisons and Conclusion
I am an owner of a 2008 Panasonic plasma and a 2008 Pioneer Kuro standard, so I have some perspective from which to judge the 2009 Samsung plasmas. Because of its superior color accuracy and checkerboard contrast, I definitely prefer the Samsung over the Panasonic. I have not yet seen the 2009 G and V-series Panasonics, but what I have read leads me to surmise that the G-series offers little improvement over the 2008 model, and may even have taken a step back, especially in the THX mode. The V-series is a different matter. I'll update this review when I have a chance to spend some time with these models.
The Kuro Standard is a harder call. The Kuro's offer truly world-class black levels and checkerboard contrast. However, the Kuro Standards have mediocre color accuracy and grayscale. They also lack the necessary adjustments to make either any better. Calibrators can custom calibrate the grayscale on the Kuro Standards using an aftermarket tool called ControlCAL. But there's nothing even they can do about the color accuracy without installing a very expensive external video processor. If cost were no object, then I think that these panels are about even. The Samsung excels in color accuracy and the Kuro excels in black level and contrast. However, taking cost into account, I think I'd have to go with the Samsung. You can get a 58-inch Samsung plasma for less than a 50" Kuro would cost, if you can find one.
Quite simply, based on the flat panel displays I have spent some time with, none look better than the Samsung PN58B650. If I were buying a plasma today, this is the one I would get. Highly recommended.