Samsung E versus F series

I plan on buying an F8000 later in the year so I've been following the F8000 thread for a while. According to professional reviews, impressions from people who have seen the TV at Best Buy and comments from owners of the TV the major benefits of the F8000 vs the ES8000 are:

1. No clouding or flash lighting

2. Better blacks

3. Better color accuracy (Samsung is going for a more realistic, reference quality picture instead of their usual boosted picture)

4. Better motion

5. Quad core processor makes smoother menu, better smart tv and helps with picture processing.

6. New design (in my opinion, the design is much better than last years U shaped stand.)

7. Cinema black (darkens the black bars on wide screen movies)

I'm sure there are more improvements than what I listed, but as you can see the F8000 is a good improvement over the ES8000 (not to say that the ES8000 was a bad TV). Right now the price is high, but it will continue to drop as the year goes on.

The F8000 looks better, which should be reason enough. I also think the design is much nicer. Personally I would be looking at the F8000, Sony HX950, and would wait to see the Sony W900A if I was looking for a new LED.

If you want bells and whistles get the E8000, but be prepared for a stressful experience. I went through 6 of them then finally settled on the HX950! No bells and whistles that I did not use anyway, just an awesome quality picture and probably one of the last of Full Array LED TVs since they are so expensive to produce. Want to Skype use your ipad! Want to watch a movie, get an XBR, hands down

LOL. That should be the last thing to consider when buying a flagship model TV, after all..... it ain't the skype that's jacking the price up.

My personal advice is to run away from the ES series sets. Don't look back. Far too many issues, and after moths of fighting Samsung, and after multiple repair attempts, I finally got a refund. Banding, clouding, flashlighting, non-defeatable screen-dimming - stay away.

Wait and see if the F series has improved. Last year just had too many issues.

This should be the last thing you should be concerned with when spending this much for a tv.

are the new F models fully array, direct lit (limited full array), or edge lit?

last years ES models were edge lit and EH models were direct lit

^^^edge lit.

even the lower series models (6000 and 5000 series)?

I do not know what the F series has over the EH full array back light and ES series edge lit LED panels.
All I know is that the back light EH has some advantages over edge light ES.

5.1 sound pass-through/output on the F series. No other Samsung TV before the F series had this.

I think all F series are edge lit and there may be no direct back lit versions from Samsung this year. But they are still selling some EH models in stores. But this year the F6300 does not have the forced microdimming like the upper models.

How confident are you in this? There is an FH6030 model (don't think these are widely available yet) - could those be direct lit?

OK I want to clarify for everyone: Samsung does have a direct-lit TV in their 2013 lineup. I chatted with one of their support people & he confirmed that the EH6030 is direct-lit. Rejoice!

The EH6030 is their old model The 2013 model is the FH6030. I have no idea if the new model is still direct-lit, but the EH6030 is discontinued according to their own site.

Excuse me, yes meant the FH6030. It's direct lit.

Yes, they have just released an FH6030 model for 2013 which is indeed direct lit. Good news. Last years direct lit models were the EH6000 and EH6030 which added 3D and the newer menu interface. The FH6030 is the newer direct lit model and also has 1080p, 120hz, and 3D. And no microdimming. The step up would be the F6300 which adds Smart TV, but is edge lit.

But not quite available in most stores yet, as the listing disappeared from the Best Buy website. Was marked on sale at $999 for the 55 inch.

It's available on Amazon.

Do you know if this applies to the F6400 as well, or just the higher-end models? It would simplify connecting my soundbar...I'm assuming I could just connect the cable box and Blu-ray to the TV via HDMI and then the TV to the soundbar via HDMI-ARC, without having to worry about connecting the other devices to the soundbar as well?

Well I want to purchase from a brick and mortar store because I want to make sure I get a Samsung panel, version TS01/02 or whatever it is this year. I'm guessing the Best Buy listing was released on the website before inventory was in stock, and I am hoping it will return again. They had a good price of $999 for the 55 inch.

Some Best Buy stores in New York City have the FH6030. I'm going to get the 46" version but will check it out this weekend.

is there really any difference between the EH6030 and the FH6030? the Samsung page shows identical features, specs, and pics of the TVs

I can't address those two models specifically, but I can say that the difference between the 2012 ES6500 and the 2013 F6400 IS significant. Every problem I had with the 6500 (including flashlighting and clouding) has been fixed, and the same is true for the HW-E450 vs. HW-F450 Soundbar. I was expecting to be disappointed again, but I'm thrilled. No thought of returning them this time.

The viewing angle still isn't great, but thats true of every PVA/MVA I've ever seen. To be honest, I'm surprised that Samsung or any company could sell a TV with that pathetic of a viewing angle for the price they are. I see the cheapest-ass LCDs in every bar I go into with a better viewing angle; sure, everything else is worse, but at least you can f*g see it from wherever you are in the house.

Hi everyone! Jumping in since this seems to be the right thread.

I'm weighing between the Samsung UE55ES8005 and UE46F8005 (european models) given I'm able to purchase them for roughly the same price. Now, as you can see the older model would be 55'' and the newer would be 46''. Would you say it's worth sizing down to get the F series improvements. I'm (surprisingly) not a big fan of clouding and black levels are very important to me. Is it that big of a difference?

I'm also a bit sceptic about the "realistic" colors. I actually like them a bit exaggerated. Is the old style still available as a setting on the F model?

That is a big dip in size. I personally would rather live with any imperfections of the older model at 55" then settle for a 46" TV which might fix a couple of things.

Oh, and is it true the ES series doesn't play .mkv?

What do you guys think about the FH6030 vs F6300 / F6400? I have always been extremely skeptical of edge-lit LEDs (I've returned several of them). However, the F6400 / F6300s have been getting very good reviews both here and around the web. I've not had a chance to see the FH series in-store so it's difficult to compare between the two. I'm certainly leaning toward the direct-lit FHs. What're you all thinking?