Official Samsung LNXXB650 Thread - Page 3

The 650 here also has the ToC with a red color, its the 610 that has a carbon look to it. It sounds like the 610 is basically the 630? Is that possible?

I'd be interested to see what the LN46B610 looks like, I'm sure it will be the same as the B650 except with the Matte screen and carbon cabinet although I'm not sure I like the sound of the carbon cabinet.. Googled it and couldn't come up with any pics, anyone seen any pre released pics or specs??

I wonder if it would have the MediaLink 2.0 features, as well. I would have loved the Carbon ToC over the red myself, but I'm loving the glossy screen.

Over in this thread someone indicated they saw macroblocking in scenes of fast motion.

I checked out a LN46B650 on display myself and also saw macroblocking, but I could not tell if it was from the source or the TV itself. I couldn't compare between different TVs fast enough. Other TVs seemeds to have less blocking in general, but were also blurrier in general, so I thought it might be a factor of their noise filtering turned up high.

I'll be using the set as a gaming display first and foremost so I'm concerned if the TV itself is macroblocking fast scenes as a result of it's new scaling chip.

Can anyone else confirm if they're seeing noticeable macroblocking on this TV?

You will see macro blocking on the BB in store sports video clips when it pans. (Basketball and ice skating.)
The macro blocking is seen in the spectator areas, and I believe it is on the source.

I didn't notice any macroblocking looking at the B650. A650 or XBR6.. You sure it wasn't due to transmission errors?? Maybe the feed to the B650 was different or compromised. I will most definitely look closer for this next time I'm up at Sears(BB still hasn't received any 46B650s yet, not sure what they're waiting for since the price on amazon has already dropped down to what the A650 sold for a month ago)..
Also, could the Motion Settings on the B650 been set wrong? I know when I was playing with the Judder and Blur slides on the display model I made sure I reset them back to what they were before I fiddled, maybe someone went into the settings and played with them and the DNIe or Digital NR settings and never put them back to what they should be..
Funny thing is BB had a Sony XBR6 next to a much cheaper Insignia and Sharp but someone had fiddled with the Sony's settings and left it that way, when you saw the 3 next to each other the Sony looked like crap, we know the XBR6 is anything but crap and set correctly would blow the other two away BUT no one reset the Sony and it sits there looking lousy next to the other two much cheaper sets, they won't sell many XBRs like that lol...

Someone started rating them on BB's site.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1218063831168 2.5 with 2 reviews

Do the new LED backlit UNxxB6000/7000 sets use the same new scaling chip?

There was also a UN40B6000 on display (which really does look amazing, but the price difference is still too great compared to the quality difference, IMHO) and that didn't have any noticeable blocking.

If there on the same scaling chip, then I think it's save to say it was just the settings or the source on the B650. If not, I'm really wondering about possible resolution dropping compromises made with Samsung's new scaler.

That review looked so familiar that I had to do a search here and it turns out it was from a AVS Forum member. I believe the second review is also a member here, I think it's great that our guys share they're experiences and views outside of our group, the more info people can get on a product the better..

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...=#post16088880

That's where I saw the macro blocking, at BB. Funny thing is I went ahead and bought an LN40B650 today anyway but not from BB as another retailer had a lower price and then gave an additional 5% off to move me up to the 40". I was convinced the 37" would be good enough for the bedroom but not all retailers will carry the 37" version. Also the specs. are weaker on the 37" vs. the 40" set. It is a pretty fantastic picture. I only begun to play with some settings. Got sucked into an HD movie as the PQ is very good with a good source.

Actually other than the size, the physical specs between the 37" and 40" B650 are nearly identical.
BB has the wrong specs (online) for contrast and response time, but correct in store. Should be 100,000:1 and 4ms for both models.

The slight differences are, the 40" preliminary specs claims that it has an integrated woofer, but I don't see a grill for it on the rear.
It also has the content library, Internet TV and the DLNA software disc for setting it up for a home PC network.
Both have the HDMI-CEC Anynet feature, even though the 37" specs states "No" for that feature.

$400 difference in list price.

37" specs: http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/d...XZA&fullspec=F

40" specs: http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/d...XZA&fullspec=F

Thanks Beeper. A little late for me since I own a LN40B650 now. Wife is happy she got the widgets ... but there is a bug.

The one damn feature my wife was really looking forward to was the Yahoo Weather Widget. I set up the Network connection with "Auto setup" and it went smoothly. Every now and then however the connection "failed" even though it is a hard wire.

Later after this connection issue became stable, I updated to our city and a few others of interest from the defaults. Right after making these city changes the Weather Widget will no longer open up. All other widgets work fine, I can see up to date news and stock quotes. The weather widget will no longer open up. I triple checked the network and it is fine.

I also tried to check for a SW update and the menu for the SW update also shows no network connection. I go back and check and it is fine. All widgets work EXCEPT the weather widget. Also, the SW update menu complains of NO CONNECTION.

UPDATE:
Deleting the weather widget and then re-installing seemed to clear up the loading issue with the weather widget. All the cities I had entered in where present upon a re-install of the widget.

The SW update connection still shows as "fail" even though all widgets are working fine.

I went back to Sears today and watched a LN40B650 for a while along side a bunch of other 40 inchers.

I'm reasonably sure the macroblocking was in the source. There was at least some noticeable blocking on all the TVs. However, it was definitely more noticable on the B650. I'm wondering if it's actually a product of the TV's response time. E.g. perhaps the blurring on other TVs is covering up some of the blocking in high motions scenes, whereas the B650 is perhaps keeping a sharp image and thereby all the blocking in the source video is visible?

In any case, it wasn't severe enough to put me off from the overall image quality which was definitely better than the other sets there. I think I'll be picking a B650 up. I'd been wanting an A650 for a while and just kept putting it off because I knew the newer models would be coming out soon.

kevivoe, since you have one, can you comment on the supposed macroblocking issue? I would suspect what people are seeing are just in the source being used at the stores. If you aren't seeing any issue with this at home, please let us know so that we can avoid a silly rumor.

Yes. I was one of the people who complained of macro blocking in another thread. I went back to BB and wanted to check other sources. They humored me and I found it could have been source related or setup related. No display issues on the 2nd visit. They may have been concerned that a customer pointed it out to them. My 2nd visit allowed me to see a 6000 series and 550 series now installed. They told me a Samsung rep came by to "brief" them and help them through some setup items.

The LN40B650 has no issues with DirecTV that I have seen in the past 24 hours, both SD and HD (1080i) channels. Have not stared at a 720p channel enough to be sure. No opportunity for blu-ray or HD DVD yet. Thinking about trying at least one of them out ... we have a Vudu box too so I am curious how a lower bit rate 1080p signal compares to others.

There are so many adjustments available. I had noticed a lip sync issue on the HD history channel on close ups of people talking. I futzed with the AMP settings and others related to 120Hz and it seemed to improve the sync. I do not have a external sound processor in the bedroom. I am thinking of dialing down the processing. Turn off any modes related to speed such as "game mode" and dial down AMP and other 120Hz functions.

I did notice they have edge enhancement higher than I prefer as default.

Overall a very good picture. Just a touch < than the 6000,7000 and 8000 series in the store but not as much as the premium would indicate (to me). Our last LCD purchase was 3 years ago and I would say this 2009 B650 is quite a bit better PQ. It has an equalizer and a few sound modes too, not like a Denon/Yamaha/Pioneer/Onkyo mind you but good enough for the bedroom and 99% of the population I would guess.

For those of you who were waiting for my B650 vs A750 results, here they are: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1133892

KVW now I'm not a gamer and I won't be letting my kids play they're Wii on the new LCD what ever I pick in fear of a flying controller hitting the screen SO if you were picking between the B650 or A750 on HD, Blu Ray and SD viewing only would you still be picking the A750 over the B650??

If gaming wasn't a factor, I would definately choose the b650 over the a750. The increased PQ and customizable AMP is awesome. I'm gunna miss it.

I sold my DLP this morning and went up to double check the dimensions on the LN 46B650 before ordering it and found it is TOO BIG for the space it's going!! DAMN, they increased the height to 31" which is and inch too high for our Livingroom Bookcase/wall setup which is 31" with a little lip on top and bottom.. The salesman and I looked at every angle possible to get it in, tilting it to get past the 1/4" lip just increases the size of the TV because of the base.. I even looked into removing the little rubber feet but they increased the size of the pedistal brace on the bottom of the base so I would only gain a 1/4" at best.. After checking all the other Samsungs I found the B650 has almost 2 inches on the A750, A850 and the unreleased Samsung LN46B750.. So now my option is go for a A750, A850 both which cost hundreds more then a 46B650 or buy a wall mount for $100 and do away with the base all together...
Nothing is ever simple for me lol..

Another review
http://m.pocket-lint.com/reviews/rev...n-review.phtml

I have finally convinced myself not to buy the B7000 and go with a true LCD but after reading some posts here I think I may wait for the B750 to come out before making my decision. 240hz may be worth the wait.

I finally got to see a 46" B650 in person at Best Buy today. The only A650 they had was a 52" and it was down quite a ways, but to my eyes the B650 had a nicer picture. Definitely was one of the brightest they had on the wall. Looked very nice even with their questionable video source. Even thought the A650 is dropping in price, I think I'm going to have to get a B650.

how is the sd pic quality on the b650, is it better than the a650 ?
also what abut the slider settings for AMP ?

Forgive my newbie ignorance, but what is macroblocking? There is a lot of discussion about this with the b650. I have no idea what people are talking about and what to look for.

http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Article...oBlocking.html

look close at the tamborine, you see blocks in the picture due to compression errors.

More to due with the source material than the TV.

Thank you for that helpful link! Can you fault a TV for revealing macroblocking present in the source material? A TV that is very detailed in its image presentation can't be expected to know a macroblock artifact from a real picture detail, can it?
Or is a TV expected to be able to intelligently analyze a macroblock present in the source and convert this into a smoother image?
If the later isn't possible, I would imagine the only reason the B650 is revealing the macroblocks is because it reveals so well every detail in the origninal source, including macroblocks. I would then hardly find that a fault with the TV, unless being too detailed is considered a fault. Would setting the sharpness level down a notch then help?

I cannot fault the TV. I had seen the macro blocking at the store but bought the TV anyway. It offers a superior picture at home by a mile. The only TV that looked better was the luxia series, but not enough for me to justify the premium. I did not need the thin form factor either. Everyone who has seen our B650 is amazed at the PQ.

I had a chance to look at the B650 yesterday at BB. It was mounted just above the b7100. I didn't see a $1000 difference in picture quality to justify the b7100 pricing. Yes, the blacks were minimally blacker on the b7100; otherwise, I just didn't see any difference with the store feed. Even then, I doubt that that minimal difference would be something I could have appreciated unless the b7100 was right next to the b7100.

Even the Samsung representative, who was in the store at the time, admitted he didn't see that much of a PQ difference either between the B650 and B7100. Yet, they expect a lot of people will be wowed by thin form factor of their new LED sets. For that reason, instead of wall mounting the b6000, and not seeing how thin the set is, they have a special display with the b6000 mounted on a stand along with a Samsung audiobar accessory just below the screen. A special display feed to the set tells you how wonderful this new LED technology is. The 46 in B6000 is priced only $300 above the B650. Its internet features are quite comparable to the B650. Right now, even though I don't see much of a PQ difference and I don't need a skinny set, I am leaning towards the B6000 since it doesn't have an ungly chin. However, before pulling the trigger, I am waiting for the B750 or the B8000 to see if this 240 Htz "improvement'" is real enough for me to appreciate.

Actually the B6000 internet features, etc are more basic compared to the B650.

It has Infolink, but not Internet TV like the B650. It also doesn't have DLNA (PC access) like the B650.

List price difference between the two models is $700.
I haven't seen the B6000 discounted much, while the B650 has been priced as much as 23% below list.

A TV will not correct macro blocking contained in the source.
Now that more and more sources are compressed digital, you will even see macro blocking when viewing on an analog CRT TV if it is in the source.