Samsung UN55C9000 55 inch 3D LED TV
Apr 3rd, 2011 | By SimonI know many people are jealous that I get to test different TVs but let me tell you that it is hard work. ;) I’ve got to subject myself to hours of use! In order to fully enjoy a TV you have to be able to see it. Not every room allows you to have a TV stand where you sit directly in front of the screen. In cases where you need to rotate the panel a few degrees to the left or right the Samsung UN55C9000 allows you to do so. You have approximately 15 degrees clockwise and counter-clockwise movement.
This allows you to maximize your viewing angle. In cases where you still don’t sit perpendicular to the screen the Samsung UN55C9000 has an amazing viewing angle. Even at what felt like 170+ degrees you can still make out fine details and colors.
Horizontal View:
Vertical View:
To test out the TV I enjoyed a variety of sources: TV, PC, HDMI and network sources. All of them came out crystal clear even when watching videos or playing music off a wireless connection.
Early in the review you may have recognized a few pictures of Modern Family being shown on the TV. This was a very low resolution source, only 652×352. The Samsung UN55C9000 is a 1080p TV and we need some 1080p source! Below we have a trailer capture of I am Legend in 1080p. The detail is very sharp and the color is very vibrant. In dark scenes the C9000 had no issues making out the details. With the 120 Hz Auto Motion Plus technology you don’t have any blurring effects. The transitions are seamless to the naked eye but a camera can still catch the subtleties.
The Samsung UN55C9000 doubles as a monitor for my HTPC. The 55″ screen is large enough to read the news off a webpage with the 1920×1080 resolution. With the amazing color quality this TV can easily double as a monitor of large size photo editing or CAD drawing.
The Samsung UN55C9000 is capable of 3D display provided you have 3D glasses. The UN55C9000 uses the Samsung 3D Hyper Real Engine to convert 2D to 3D and while it make it look like you are watching a 3D video, it’s not nearly as good as native 3D media. For native 3D media I had a copy of Monster vs Aliens and I found the 3D effect to be fairly good. You do get a good sense of depth. I found that with the higher display panel the 3D image looked a lot nicer than on the PN50C7000 I reviewed last year. I will say up front that if you think the 3D quality is as good as what you get in IMAX then you will be disappointed. The pictures pop out of the screen but not nearly as well as in the theatre. Part of this will be related to the fact that the theatre screen is much bigger and you sit further back making the depth of the 3D image feel deeper than in a living room environment. The biggest pitfall with the 3D display is that no 3D glasses are included. This isn’t specific to Samsung, but still rather disappointing given the cost of the TV. I would have happily traded the Ultra Slim wallmount for a pair of 3D glasses!
Testing a TV is subjective, what you interpret will be different than what I interpret. I always recommend to friends that when you’re shopping for a TV you find a retailer that has them all out on display. This way you can stand in front of a few different models and see if your eyes like it. To take away from some of the subjectivity, I like to have a look at two technical subjects you’ll read about on the next page.
