Samsung PN60E7000 Vs. Panasonic P60ST50

Before reading any further I want to mention that these observations are ones made with factory sets and prior to any professional calibration. As others have pointed out, the professional reviews are reviews outlining performance both before and after professional calibration. I would expect the results of my comparisons would change quite post professional calibration. I just wanted to post my "Joe consumer" impressions between these two sets out of box. There is nothing at all scientific that led me to these observations so keep that in mind as you read my impressions.


Hooked up a new PN60E7000 so I could do a direct comparison between it and the p60ST50 I have had for about 2 weeks. I had the Sammy hooked up via HDMI and ST50 hooked up via component cables so I could compare DTV viewing simultaneously.

Initial impressions using CNET's E8000 settings and CNET's ST50 settings:

Black levels look noticeably darker on the ST50 compared to the E7000. This had a really big impact on almost all material I viewed. Colors pop more and there seems to be more depth to the image on the ST50. I think the ST50's superior black level performance is single biggest image quality factor out of all the items I will bring up. My daughter commented on the E7000's letterbox bars and how they seemed dark grey in comparison. With the two running side by side you can definitely see why everyone is so concerned about black level performance and can easily see the positive impact better black levels have over the overall image quality.

It might be my perception but the black levels on the E7000 seemed brighter to me than on the D7000 last year. This goes against everything I have been reading about this years Samsung models and it might be a perception issue since I am now used to the really nice black levels of the ST50.

Brightness: The ST50 clearly gets brighter than the E7000 but in a controlled lighting environment like my basement this is really a non-issue as the E7000 gets plenty bright. It may be more of a consideration in a brightly lit room but even then, I don't think the E7000 would have an issue.

Glare: Both TVs fared really well. No problems with either related to excessive screen glare.

Sharpness: Hands down, the E7000 get sharper. With the E7000's sharpness at 20, it is sharper than the ST50's sharpness set at 100. This can be a pro or a con depending on your viewing preference but I like the ability to go sharper on the E7000.

Motion: I had been complaining about the ST50s motion handling but when I compared the two they are very similar. I think overall cinema smooth provides a slightly smoother more movie like image but it is an almost imperceptible difference between the two. I do like the ability to turn on motion smoothing on the ST50 but this is something I rarely use.

Input lag: The E7000 has very bad input lag in any mode other than Game mode where the Panasonic set performs good in both Custom mode (with all processing off) and Game mode. This is a benefit as you can tweak the image in Custom mode on the St50 whereas, game mode for both sets is rather locked down concerning changing the image settings.

Concerning gaming visuals, I have to give a big nod in favor of the ST50 and I think it all goes back to how deep and controlled its black levels are. This has a major impact on the depth and overall appeal of games. Games like Dead Space look much better on the St50 simply due to its black level performance.

3d (Did not test this at all, not a big fan of 3d and never use it)

Buzzing: The ST50 is by no means buzz free. It's buzz is the standard plasma buzz that increases as the screen gets brighter. Nothing I, or anyone else who has owned a plasma set is not use to. The E7000 I received, unfortunately has an audible buzz from the minute you turn it on regardless of content that is, or isn't being displayed on the screen. it is very directional and affects the central viewing position the worst. This might be a deal breaker for me. I had the same problem with two D7000 sets I returned last year. It is a very high pitched constant buzz.

Image Noise: I feel the Samsung set handles compression noise and motion artifacts better than the ST50. It is not as large a leap this year as it was between say, last years D7000 and ST30 but it definitely edges out the St50 in terms of cleaning up motion artifacts.....

Overall: For normal TV viewing or Sat broadcasts, the E7000 has a very clean, natural picture and gets very sharp for a plasma set. (For anyone who is use to LCD TVs and wanting to take the plasma leap, this is a great set since it can get closer to the sharpness that LCDs offer if that is your thing) The colors are warm and saturated and appear to be pretty accurate. it handles motion very well but I think I am going to stick with the ST50 because it has much deeper black levels and that alone pays pretty large dividends when watching almost any content on the set. The ST50 has very nice colors as well that are punchier, a much cleaner image compared to last years models and overall presents the better image across all media I tested. If gaming is a big part of your viewing, I would recommend the ST50 over the E7000.

Both are really awesome TVs and depending on what you are looking for I don't think you will go wrong with either set. For me, the black level performance makes all the difference in the world. I now have a complete understanding why everyone on these forums is so crazy about black levels. In this area alone, the ST50 is just way better than the E7000 and this alone has the single biggest impact over what you see on screen.

Now if Samsung could get their black levels to Panasonic 2012 levels and Panasonic could offer a slightly cleaner image and have sharpness control as good as Samsung we would have the perfect set. As it stands, both have their issues but both are really great TVs. I'm sticking with the ST50 is simply a personal preference. It is pretty cool to have the ability to check them both out in house. side-by-side, viewing the same content.

edit: I really did not go into Blu ray content. Both offer an extremely clean image with uncompressed HD content. Due to the better contrast ratio on the ST50 it just makes everything pop off the screen better. Sweeny Todd is a great blu ray to compare black levels and it looked ABSOLUTELY AMAZING on the ST50 but still really good on the E7000.

Update:

Sound. Being that I never use the built in speakers I am a little bias and both sound crappy. But if you will be, the ST50 has better low end but sounds rather tinny in the upper end, the E7000 sounds somewhat muted/muffled but for tvs this thin I don't know how we can really ask for too much more. Tiny speakers put out tiny sound.

Fade to black issue on E7000 presented itself. Screen turns completely off when there is very little or no light output in the signal. Easily resolved by bumping brightness up to 46 from 45 which has no noticeable impact on picture quality.

Buzzing on E7000. Hard for me to gauge if this will be a big problem as I have not gone through the motions of mounting it on the wall. It does not appear it will be a huge problem.

No doubt. I still have a few weeks where I can tweak and compare both sets. My findings above were after only about 3 hours with both of them side by side watching the same thing.

What really blew me away is how much darker the ST50 gets. It is a night and day difference. It is also obvious to me that the Samsung gets much sharper. I will try to post a picture of both with a black scene. When you watch them side by side it become really apparent how important or how much of an impact black level has on overall image quality.

I am not brand loyal and I will keep whichever one does most of what I want it to do the best. Both are really great sets in their own right. I will say the Buzz on the samsung set really has me concerned. If I end up going with it I may have to swap it out for another to see if the buzz is any better. It is pretty bad.

It is such a toss up with normal DTV content I can't really tell you which I like better. You get a sharper image with the E7000 but a much better contrast and punchier image with the ST50. Pick your poison I guess.

I have had about two weeks more with the ST50 but there are no screen uniformity issues with this set. I also did not notice any issue with the E7000. IR on the ST50 is a complete non issue. I have played BF3 (few hours at a time) which has the Squad names in bright green and see no hint of IR at all. This was a big issue on my ST30 from last year.

I have watched numerous letter boxed movies on the ST50 as well with no IR. Not sure where you are reading that the ST50 is worse than last years models. I have found the exact opposite as my ST30 had pretty bad IR. Nothing that didn't go away after a few minutes but it was definitely something I noticed.

Both set are a vast improvement over last year concerning line bleed which I considered to be horrible on last years models. You have to really look for it when it does occur on these new sets which seems to be pretty rare.

I have not gamed nearly as much on the E7000 so I can't comment on IR nearly as accurately as I can the ST50 but I have read it is much improved in this area as well this year.

I also purposely watched part of a hockey game (even though hockey is not my thing) given the peak brightness of the ST50 it seemed a much more enjoyable viewing experience (brighter whites) I did not notice any brightness pops on either set as the camera panned from goal to goal.

Well to be honest, I acquired the E7000 due to what I thought was clarity issues with the ST50, turns out watching them side by side that it is really not the TV at all but more the signal. The Samsung cleaned up bad HD content better than the ST50, but, the clean HD Sat signals fared better on the Panasonic so it is really a wash.

I guess the best way do describe the difference is that due to the ST50s excellent black level performance, everything on screen seems to have more weight to it, more solidity. Hard to describe. This is evident in literally everything I watch when comparing the two. I don't know if it is better shadow detail or what but objects in the foreground seem more pronounced on the ST50, not sharper but just more present.

Now keep in mind, these are just my observations and what I call a positive others might consider a negative. I will go back to my original post, the excellent black levels on the ST50 trump almost every other attribute related to image quality when I compare the two sets. I love the E7000s ability to sharpen up the image but to my eye, it does not compensate for its inability to keep up with the ST50 when it comes to brightness and black level.

I watched an X-files episode over Amazon instant video (SD) on the ST50 just last night and it did as good as can be expected. When you start getting in the 60 inch or larger size, there is really not a whole lot to be said about SD performance on any set. It was certainly adequate on the ST50. I did not test this on the E7000.

No matter how they compare, SD on a large TV is basically like putting perfume on a pig. No matter what scent you spray on..... it still stinks, it is just a matter of which stinks worse. I try VERY hard not to watch any SD content for this very reason.

Good question. I tried everything I could on the 7000 to get it even close to the ST50 and it was not even in the same ballpark. I will try tonight to upload an image that shows the difference. It wasn't like the 7000 had bad black levels, they just look bad when you directly compare the two sets.

Everything I have read states there is no difference in pq between the 7000 and 8000 and given Chad B.s impressions and measurements I was caught off guard how lacking the 7000s perceivable black level performance is in comparison.

This is one area I did not test at all. I run all audio through an Anthem MRX 300. I will give this a test this evening and post what I find.

I will give this a try and come back and let you know my findings. In a moderately lit room it isn't as easily noticeable. In a dark or almost dark room the difference is pretty striking. I would think this might be difficult to gauge on the shelf at Best Buy.

Makes me wonder if I have something incorrectly configured on the Samsung. Going back to Deathrattleheads post above, he seems to have the same impressions related to the black level performance differences. This is definitely not my first go around with Plasma sets so If there is something I have mis-configured, I don't have any idea what it would be.

Keep in mind, neither of these two sets have been professionally calibrated so that might account for the noticeable difference in black levels. Not sure.

I know, I read the same review (this is the 7000 not the 8000) not sure if that matters. All I can say is I have them both hooked up and the ST50 definitely gets darker, it is not even questionable based off what I am seeing. These are both uncalibrated which also may account for the difference. If I had a camera that takes good low light images I would post them.

I also noticed the screen turning off during fade to blacks on the e7000 but as someone else posted on the main Samsung thread, bumping the brightness to 46 from 45 resolved this.

I am not trying to sell either set. I actually like them both. If screen uniformity is a concern I can say it is a non issue on the ST50 I have in house.

This could definitely be a factor. I did a lot more testing and tweaking last night and still could not get the E7000 to the inky black levels I see on the ST50. The E7000 gets pretty dark but when comparing the two, the blacks seem to somewhat glow on it. Certainly not bad in this area, just not nearly as good as the ST50.

I have about 170 hours on the ST50.

Makes perfect sense. Neither of these two sets have been professionally calibrated. Any and all observations I do have are out of box observations with CNETs settings applied. (I did add a little disclaimer in my original post to ensure more is not read into my impressions than I intended)

I have never had a TV professionally calibrated. If it makes that much of a difference I can see it would be worth every penny.

Thank you for pointing that out.