Samsung UN46C8000

Black Level (8.23)

The Samsung UN46C8000 produced a black level of 0.09 cd/m^2^, a very strong performance when stacked up against the Samsung UN55C7000, Panasonic TC-P50VT20, and Sony KDL-46EX700. Granted, we expected to see some improvement over the Samsung C7000 series, but the C8000 series appears to be a big step up.

Unfortunately, we have to take this number with a caveat. The Samsung UN46C8000 has a very heavy-handed dynamic contrast ratio that makes dramatic shifts in backlight level based on the presence of shadows or highlights on the screen. On most TVs, you can turn this feature off. On a TV this expensive, it’s absurd on two points: 1) that you can’t turn the feature off, and 2) that the effect is so dramatic.

We spotted this problem immediately during our calibration process, and tried to work around any unfair advantages this might present in our testing. A lot of the potential biases are already accounted for. For instance, when we test black level, only 80% of the screen is black, with a 20% white outer border. This seemed to keep the Samsung UN46C8000 from revving up the dynamic contrast ratio too highly. (When the screen is 100% black, the backlight actually shuts off completely, effective producing an ‘infinite contrast ratio’). Don’t get us wrong, the Samsung UN46C8000 is a really, really good looking TV. Just don’t read the performance numbers blindly. More on how we test black level.

Read Reviews of Comparison Products
Samsung UN55C7000	Panasonic Viera TC-P50VT20	Sony Bravia KDL-46EX700

Peak Brightness (8.97)

The Samsung UN46C8000 managed a solid performance in our peak brightness, reaching 362.22 cd/m^2^. It’s a tough fight against the Sony KDL-46EX700, which was so bright it actually hurt to look at sometimes. More on how we test peak brightness.

Contrast (8.65)

The contrast ratio of the Samsung UN46C8000 measured 4024:1, according to our tests. As noted above, these scores should be approached a grain of salt, as the TV employs a very heavy-handed dynamic contrast ratio that cannot be disabled, which we detailed above. Our tests were able to ‘peer through the veil’ to some extent, but the TV was practically built to game the tests.

The Samsung UN55C7000, which could not hit the same black level score or peak brightness, had a much smaller contrast ratio. We suspect this is partly a function of better quality parts in the C8000 series, in addition to anything the dynamic contrast ratio was producing. More on how we test contrast.

Tunnel Contrast (9.19)

The Samsung UN46C8000 kept a more-or-less even black level. Normally, we’d like to see a flat line here, indicating a perfectly uniform black level, no matter how much white is on the screen. More on how we test tunnel contrast.

White Falloff (5.48)

The white falloff test perfectly illustrates the perils of a dynamic contrast ratio that you cannot disable, as is the case with the Samsung UN46C8000 (more details on this problem). The white level remains constant for most of the test, up until the white rectangle takes up only 5% of the screen, surrounded by 95% black. At this point, the white level plummets by nearly half. The change was dramatic and obvious to the eye, as the TV processes the picture and thinks ‘I guess the black is more important than the white now, so I’ll reduce the black light to almost zero.’ Sure, there’s some logic in this processing decision, but what if the white portion happens to be the important subject in the shot? More on how we test white falloff.

Uniformity (7.75)

The Samsung UN46C8000 showed some uniformity issues when we first booted it up, but these became minimal after a few hours. When the screen is mostly black (we couldn’t test an all-black screen, because the TV shuts off it’s backlight completely when this happens), we saw few problems. When looking at an all-white screen, there was some dimming and yellowing in the corners, but not an excessive amount. More on how we test white falloff.

Greyscale Gamma (6.77)

The Samsung UN46C8000 showed a decent, but not perfectly even greyscale gamma. Look at the chart below. It shows how smoothly the TV is able to transition from shadows to highlights in the greyscale. Those bumpy areas, especially towards the lower left, indicate areas where banding may occur. This may also be a result of the dynamic contrast ratio creating sudden drops in backlighting, which we were not able to disable.

That area in the lower left that becomes horizontal indicates the point at which the Samsung UN46C8000 simply can’t produce any differentiated data. It lacks the ability to produce detail in the darkest shadows.

The slope of the curve, 2.74, is steeper than ideal (ideal falling between 2.1 and 2.2). More on how we test greyscale gamma.

Other Models in the UNxxC8000 Series
For more information on other models in this series, check our Series Comparison Page.
Samsung UN55C8000 55 in.