Samsung PN59D7000

Motion Performance

Motion was extremely smooth on the Samsung PN59D7000. Moving objects blurred very little, but they appeared grainy and slightly ripply in a way characteristic of plasmas. Stair-stepping along hard, vertical edges was minimal, although leading edges took on a faint, purple border. The following edge appeared green. These minor errors can be discerned with careful study, but it’s unlikely that you would notice the problems in normal TV-watching at an appropriate distance. More on how we test motion performance.

3:2 Pulldown & 24fps (9.75)

While the must always display in 60fps, it excels at the 3:2 pulldown required to translate 24fps sources, such as Blu-ray. There is a Film Mode, with options Auto1, Auto2, and Cinema Smooth. We had great results with Auto1, which reduced all but the faintest flickering in high-frequency patterns. Panning over the seats of a stadium (a practical example of high-frequency patterning) displayed no noticeable error. More on how we test 3:2 pulldown and 24fps.

Resolution Scaling (8.63)

Resolution scaling is important if you intend to watch cable TV that sources at different resolutions. While 480p is all but obsolete, the Samsung PN59D7000 did a great job maintaining crisp lines in its native and most common resolution, 1080p. This indicates an ability to produce crisp edges in this, and other, formats. More on how we test resolution scaling.

480p

Like many TVs, the Samsung PN59D7000 has no Screen Fit setting for 480p. As a result, it always overscans by 5% horizontally and 7% vertically. Its Moiré (Moire) pattern representation was slightly blurry, but very accurate. The same ‘blurry pixel’ look in these patterns affected readability at medium and smaller font sizes. Even the highest-frequency patterns were accurate, but crisp black lines looked a bit fuzzy and grey. On the whole, we would not worry too much about the 480p format, since it is rarely encountered.

720p

In the 720p format, there were minor problems with a couple of the Moiré (Moire) patterns, but they remained very distinguishable on the whole. Fonts down to 9-point remained legible, after which hey could be read, but not effortlessly. Minor problems manifested in the highest-frequency pattern.

1080p

In its native format, the Samsung PN59D7000 has no problem with Moiré (Moire) or high-frequency patterns, which retained perfect accuracy. Text was legible down to 7.5-point size, at which point it began looking a little bit warped and harder to make out.

Other Models in the PNxxD7000 Series
For more information on other models in this series, check our Series Comparison Page.
Samsung PN51D7000 51 in.	Samsung PN64D7000 64 in.