Samsung UN55C9000

Display Size & Technology

The Samsung UN55C9000 is a 55-inch LED edge-lit LCD display. When a TV is this thin, you can usually count on it being edge-lit. The alternate technology is back-lit LCD, which allows for local dimming, but requires more room behind the screen, and hence, thicker frames.

Of course, the shiny new feature on the UN55C9000, among many at CES, is 3D display. Samsung has opted for active shutter display. You'll need glasses to see the effect, and you can bet that those glasses will not come cheap. The assumption is that TV manufacturers will conduct business the same way as game consoles, which entice you to buy a second, then a third, then a fourth controller. You want everyone to enjoy the experience, right? And at x dollars a pop, the companies have you hooked.

By the way: yes, 3D TVs also revert to traditional 2D whenever you want.

A 3D 1080p display with a 240Hz refresh rate.

Everyone wants to know if the 3D actually looks good. We're hesitant to make any real conclusions based on pre-production models in the far-from-ideal environment of the CES show floor. So, with that caveat, we can say that the 3D technology we've seen is just not that impressive. Yes, things pop out of the screen, and that's cool, but you can't ignore the tell-tale artifacts. Most objects have a slight halo around them, which runs completely contrary to the idea of HD sharpness and detail. Also (and this is a killer that the manufacturers are failing to address), the 3D display seems to make those pesky blocks of MPEG artifacting pop out from the background. Not only did Bruce Springsteen pop out on the display model of the UN55C9000, so did all the blocks of banded color on his guitar and shirt.

The Samsung UN55C9000 also features realtime 2D-to-3D upconversion. This process was explained to us in one of two ways:

a) Quite simple.
b) Complex and proprietary.

These two companies were a) Toshiba and b) Samsung, which are also the two companies that announced the 2D-to-3D upconversion feature. The difference between upconverted 3D and native 3D content on Blu-Ray has yet to be reviewed in a thorough manner on consumer TVs. From what we could see and gather in conversation, upconverted 3D can make objects separate from their background. The effect reminded us of Doom, or other early first-person shooters: it looked like 2D objects in a 3D field. Native 3D makes objects actually pop out of the screen and into the room, creating a more immersive experience.

Formats & Resolution

The Samsung UN55C9000 is a native 1080p display, which used to be the highest resolution, until Toshiba announced their Cell TV with a 4K (3840 x 2160). Since no one is going to be offering any content exceeding 1080p any time soon, however, the UN55C9000's measily 1920 x 1080 resolution should be more than sufficient for the foreseeable future.

Brightness, Blacks and Contrast Ratio

There was little mentioned about traditional specs like black level, contrast, and color, because everyone was too excited about 3D and touch screen remote controls to create a spec sheet.

Color

There was no mention of color improvements over last year's models. We have been impressed edge-lit LED TVs from Samsung in the past.

Motion & Refresh Rate

The Samsung UN55C9000 has a 240Hz refresh rate. When displaying 3D content, the refresh rate is 120Hz for each eye. Motion performance was all but impossible to determine, as Samsung was only displaying 3D content.

Viewing Angle

The viewing angle on previous Samsung LED TVs has been around 35-40 degrees, which is about average for an LCD. One of the benefits of plasma is a far wider viewing angle.