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5K views 15 replies 6 participants last post by  FiveOhFour 
#1 ·
Can anyone attest to the quality and particularly smoothness in playback of 1080p h264 mkv files by these plasma sets?


Currently have a mountain of this content and use a popcorn hour (western digital media player like device) to play it but hoping with these new TVs I can just plug in the Ethernet cable and I'm good.

Also, how about wifi playback of the same? Assuming its not going to be able to stream smoothly these kind of higher bit rate files?
 
#3 ·
Good idea, I'll try that.
 
#4 ·
Good question. I never thought of this as I use an HTPC with a pretty good quality video card and decent playback software. I can compare these two om my Panny and report on that. Otherwise, taking the HDD to the store is the way to go. Good idea, Dougofthenorth.
 
#5 ·
My whole library is h264 1080p .mkv files, the 8500 plays them flawlessly, butter smooth... even rwd/ffwd. I use Plex Server on a wireless iMac, the tv is wired w/ cat5 but the server is wireless. You could not wish for better playback. I have tons of bluray REMUX mkv files which are ultra high bitrate audio & video. Smooth as silk on my Sammy.


fwiw
 
#6 ·
when I was shopping(around may) I brought a 1080p rip of MIB 3 with me to test out(it's got some half decent contrast/blacks, and the opening scene where it's moving quickly down the jail's hallways provides some content to assess motion handling on).


anyway, I couldn't really pick out anything from either set that was better or worse during playback. what I did notice was that the Samsung was a lot easier to get playing, haha. not a big deal though, it just took awhile to find the 'usb' button on the remote, that seemed to be the only way to access the video file. compared to the Samsung that basically popped right into the video folder when I inserted the usb.


I don't remember exactly, as I wasn't really interested in how either played video off USB, but there may have been some limitations on video settings while playing back usb content on one of them. the panny if I remember correctly. I could be totally wrong though, but it's something worth double checking if you intend to do that often. I just vaguely remember thinking I couldn't judge the usb content because one of the TV's didn't display it as well as a normal source through HDMI.
 
#8 ·
The playback is good when it is good. Right now I am playing back a full Blu-ray rip via the DLNA client via Plex Server over my network but some titles I have that play on my HTPC stumble on the player. These titles have issues on an Android stick computer too so I think it is more of an issue with the quality of the rip and not the player.
 
#9 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2  /t/1490938/1080p-video-file-mkv-playback-quality-on-vt60-vs-f8500#post_23880397


The playback is good when it is good. Right now I am playing back a full Blu-ray rip via the DLNA client via Plex Server over my network but some titles I have that play on my HTPC stumble on the player. These titles have issues on an Android stick computer too so I think it is more of an issue with the quality of the rip and not the player.

you're probably right, but I did notice some 'better compatibility' with the Samsung. even just with the usb sticks I brought, one of them was the wrong format and didn't show up on the panny.


I wouldn't want to say there was anything wrong with the Panasonic, or that the Samsung was better, cause as you said, when it works(when you use it properly) it's great, there's no difference between the two. but maybe, the Samsung is a little easier to use, it might support a couple extra formats, or it may have just been the rips I had. all i'm saying is there is a bit of value to not having to worry as much about what file system you have. not huge, since once you know what works, you just make sure that's what you get, but if friends bring stuff over, or you already have a large collection, there might be fewer hiccups with the Samsung.


I really haven't found anything my Samsung didn't play yet.
 
#10 ·
These are mkv with h.264 and dts/HD-MA (Panny plays core audio only). I really think that the problem is the file but the dedicated nVidea GPU in my HTPC chews right through it with hardware acceleration whereas the dual core SoC in the Panny and my android stick struggles with it.


I think it is safe to say that the Panny would play 95% of my library via Ethernet but why? I have a perfectly capable system that delivers lossless audio and 1080p x 23.796 fps high and variable bit rate video.
 
#11 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2  /t/1490938/1080p-video-file-mkv-playback-quality-on-vt60-vs-f8500#post_23881666


These are mkv with h.264 and dts/HD-MA (Panny plays core audio only). I really think that the problem is the file but the dedicated nVidea GPU in my HTPC chews right through it with hardware acceleration whereas the dual core SoC in the Panny and my android stick struggles with it.


I think it is safe to say that the Panny would play 95% of my library via Ethernet but why? I have a perfectly capable system that delivers lossless audio and 1080p x 23.796 fps high and variable bit rate video.

i'm not saying there's anything wrong with the panny. it works when you use it correctly(right file, etc). i'm just saying the samsung seems to be more flexible in it's use. that is it plays more files, so it's less likely you'll have to blame a 'bad file' that still plays on your more capable HTPC. it's more like a 'difficult file', and panny can't handle it. maybe the quad-core in the samsung hasn't has a reason to be there?


and i'm certainly not making any comments about your system, just what happens when you stick a usb in the tv and try to play it directly. i haven't tried a full BD rip yet, but my test patterns and demo stuff is pretty close to full quality 1080p/24 stuff.


i can't comment on audio though, i've never turned the speakers on at home, but and i didn't really pay any attention to it in the store
 
#12 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by fierce_gt  /t/1490938/1080p-video-file-mkv-playback-quality-on-vt60-vs-f8500#post_23883119

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2  /t/1490938/1080p-video-file-mkv-playback-quality-on-vt60-vs-f8500#post_23881666


These are mkv with h.264 and dts/HD-MA (Panny plays core audio only). I really think that the problem is the file but the dedicated nVidea GPU in my HTPC chews right through it with hardware acceleration whereas the dual core SoC in the Panny and my android stick struggles with it.


I think it is safe to say that the Panny would play 95% of my library via Ethernet but why? I have a perfectly capable system that delivers lossless audio and 1080p x 23.796 fps high and variable bit rate video.

i'm not saying there's anything wrong with the panny. it works when you use it correctly(right file, etc). i'm just saying the samsung seems to be more flexible in it's use. that is it plays more files, so it's less likely you'll have to blame a 'bad file' that still plays on your more capable HTPC. it's more like a 'difficult file', and panny can't handle it. maybe the quad-core in the samsung hasn't has a reason to be there?


and i'm certainly not making any comments about your system, just what happens when you stick a usb in the tv and try to play it directly. i haven't tried a full BD rip yet, but my test patterns and demo stuff is pretty close to full quality 1080p/24 stuff.


i can't comment on audio though, i've never turned the speakers on at home, but and i didn't really pay any attention to it in the store

The audio will only be lossy as the Panny (like all TV's, I think) does not play lossless audio and doesn't have any surround or rear or sub to even do anything with it. For me, Blu-ray is not only about 1080p x 24fps video but also about highly directional lossless audio which you are not going to get out of simply the TV. I have my TV's volume at 0 and really don't know why the mute icon has to stay on screen after the TV is muted or I would just mute the TV instead. On my Samsung you could go into the audio settings and turn the audio off from there but I have not found a similar setting in the Panny.
 
#13 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2  /t/1490938/1080p-video-file-mkv-playback-quality-on-vt60-vs-f8500#post_23883206


The audio will only be lossy as the Panny (like all TV's, I think) does not play lossless audio and doesn't have any surround or rear or sub to even do anything with it. For me, Blu-ray is not only about 1080p x 24fps video but also about highly directional lossless audio which you are not going to get out of simply the TV. I have my TV's volume at 0 and really don't know why the mute icon has to stay on screen after the TV is muted or I would just mute the TV instead. On my Samsung you could go into the audio settings and turn the audio off from there but I have not found a similar setting in the Panny.

I realize the TV's aren't going to play 7.1MA or anything like that. they aren't supposed to. I was just talking about whether or not it was smooth and coherent. afterall, we are comparing one tv to another tv, not TV's in general to avr's and amps and all that.


the panny not have an option to turn off the speakers? that seems like a bizarre omission.


bottom line, as far as compatible content goes, my experience has been that HTPC > Samsung F8500 > Panasonic VT60

performance of playing compatible content though HTPC > Samsung F8500 = Panasonic VT60
 
#14 ·
Okay.


I would never consider the decoding capability of the TV in my top 5 or even 10 reasons to consider a TV. I'll let devices specifically designed and configured for that do that. Basically all I need is a monitor with one HDMI input and a power supply.. No internet, no apps, no player. no crap.. Just a high quality monitor. I cannot get that in this size or in Plasma I don't think.
 
#15 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2  /t/1490938/1080p-video-file-mkv-playback-quality-on-vt60-vs-f8500#post_23887836


Okay.


I would never consider the decoding capability of the TV in my top 5 or even 10 reasons to consider a TV. I'll let devices specifically designed and configured for that do that. Basically all I need is a monitor with one HDMI input and a power supply.. No internet, no apps, no player. no crap.. Just a high quality monitor. I cannot get that in this size or in Plasma I don't think.

i agree completely! but the op asked about it.


i WISH i could get a good monitor that simply turns on and off. no speakers, apps, cameras, etc.
 
#16 ·
I have a backup of my father's Kuro Experience demo disc that i made and he has lost (see: thrown away) the blu-ray mysteriously ( see: not at all a mystery ) and I am hoping to get some advice. On my external hard drive we have all the disc backups and .iso files and such, i dont know exactly what processed i used when i ripped it a few years back but i essentially have a backup of the disc folders and filed and a single file (at least as viewable on my mac) that is titled BDMV and in info it shows as AVCHD Content and is the beefy 14GB majority of the backup, i can play this on my computer via VLC or Bluray Player but how do i convert this into a format that these TV's can handle decoding? I remember being in awe watching it on my fathers kuro and would love to see it on my VT60 now, i don't care about the size so i don't want to add any compression, at least no more than is required to do this properly. Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
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