Samsung F8500 Series
Display
If a plasma TV does not have a great picture quality, then nothing else the TV offers matters. Fortunately, the Samsung F8500 plasma TV is one of the best in picture quality when it comes to blackness level, resolution and contrast ratio. In our experience, this Samsung plasma screen is better in brightness than others, and the picture sharpness is just a little crisper.
This has deep black levels, important in plasma TVs. Samsung's Real Black Pro filter gives it a contrast panel deeper than most of its competitors. Samsung doesn't publish a specific contrast ratio like the competition, but without a standardized test for all the best plasma brands, the comparing the actual numbers can be misleading. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding, and the Samsung F8500's picture quality is hard to top in a side-by-side comparison.
The best Samsung plasma TVs have a 600Hz subfield drive, and the Samsung F8500 is no exception. A subfield drive measurement indicates how often the plasma TV sends electrical pulses to the pixels. The 600Hz subfield drive is top of the class, and motion blur is almost nonexistent, so this TV is great for fast moving images, such as sporting events or video games.
Features
The Samsung F8500 has a multitude of features to go along with its great display. This TV puts the smart in smart TV. You can customize your screens to switch between watching TV, watching on-demand movies and shows or using apps. There's even a panel for your personal photos, music and videos. This Samsung plasma has built-in Wi-Fi, and you can connect to the internet for web browsing or to use apps like Facebook, Twitter, Netflix and YouTube, among many others. Some apps are preloaded, and others you can download from Samsung Apps.
This plasma display is also super interactive. It has S-Recommendation technology that lets you use the voice activation feature to ask your TV to perform specific functions like finding a certain show. Just speak into the remote and S-Recommendation will do the rest for you. Not only that, because of the built in camera on the F8500, you can also use hand gestures to interact and give commands to your smart TV. You can even use the built-in camera with the Skype app to talk to your friends and family.
Connections
For the complete home theater experience, you will need to connect all your devices to your plasma TV. Blu-ray players, game systems like the Playstation 3 and your cable or satellite box are all capable of showing HD content; however, if your TV doesn't have enough HDMI ports to house them all, you may find yourself constantly plugging and unplugging cables. The Samsung F8500 has four HDMI ports, the most we've seen on any plasma TV. It's doubtful you will need more than four ports for all your home theater devices, and with this TV, you won't have to make a decision of what you'd like hooked to your beautiful plasma display.
Older composite and component connections are still be available on this television. It also sports two USB ports, which are great if you need to hook in a peripheral such as a wireless keyboard. If you have flash drives with family photos on them, and would like to share them using your plasma TV, USB ports are great for that too. There's also a LAN port if you don't want to use the built-in Wi-Fi.
Help & Support
In our experiences, Samsung's customer support was very helpful, thorough and friendly. Samsung is one of the best plasma TV brands because it offers a variety of ways to contact the company if you run into a problem. You have the option of chatting with a representative through a toll-free number or with the live chat option. You can also email the support team a question if you don't want to speak with a live operator.
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