Samsung UN60D8000

Motion Performance

The Samsung UN60D8000 gave a strong motion performance, though it’s thanks to a feature we can only recommend enabling in limited circumstances. Samsung calls is Auto Motion Plus, though other manufacturers name it differently. Essentially, it works by inserting extra, interpolated frames in between the original frames. The result is a much smoother motion performance than what you’d see otherwise. A lot of the normal problems associated with LCD motion – judder, trailing, and straight lines becoming slanted – disappear.

Interpolated is, of course, a technical way of saying that the TV “guesses” what the inserted frames should look like. In most cases, the guessing is pretty good. However, some patterns gave the TV more trouble. A face set in front of a mantel became a blur, resulting in a face with lines shooting through it.

The other significant side effect of Auto Motion Plus is that some video is not meant to look smoother. Anything shot on film, for example, requires a certain blur. Enabling Auto Motion Plus makes the video look sharp and cheap, like a soap opera. You can adjust the settings in the menu to find a balance you like, or simply disable the whole thing entirely. Just don’t leave it on all the time at the default settings, or you’ll break the little hearts of film directors everywhere. More on how we test motion performance.

3:2 Pulldown & 24fps (10.00)

The Samsung UN60D8000 has no problems with native 24fps content, like you get with some Blu-Ray movies. Just make sure you locate the Film Mode feature in the menu and change the setting from “Auto 2” to “Auto 1.” This will help with the de-judder of some types of patterns. More on how we test 3:2 pulldown and 24fps.

Resolution Scaling (8.68)

The Samsung UN60D8000 has a native 1080p (1920 × 1080) resolution, but many kinds of video you’ll encounter will be of a lower resolution. It’s up to the TV’s internal processing to upscale that content to fit the screen. Overall, the Samsung UN60D8000 is good at this task, though we noted a few problem areas. Details below. More on how we test resolution scaling.

480p

When viewing 480p content, the Samsung UN60D8000 loses a lot of picture to overscan: 2% on each side and 3% on the top and bottom.

720p

The 720p video lost nothing to overscan, but showed some slight irregularities with high contrast, high frequency patterns.

1080p

Just for comparison, we ran the tests in the TV’s native resolution of 1080p and found some noticeable discoloration in high contrast, high frequency patterns.

Other Models in the UNxxD8000 Series
For more information on other models in this series, check our Series Comparison Page.
Samsung UN46D8000 46 in.	Samsung UN55D8000 55 in.	Samsung UN65D8000 65 in.