Compare Samsung UN55B8000 vs UN55B8500, UN55B7000, UN55B6000 (UN55B800)

Compare Samsung UN55B8000 vs UN55B8500 LED

Stepping Up To the UN55B8500: The new Samsung B8500 series is the new top of the line and flagship offering in 2009 and has what can only be described as breath taking picture quality, it is slightly different from all the other current LED Luxia models in that it has local-dimming led where the B6000, B7000 and B8000 series have an edge-lit led backlight. Major differences when you compare Samsung UN55B8500 vs UN55B8000 include the following:

• Local-dimming vs edge-lit LED Backlighting - This really the key difference and what you are paying extra for on the UN-55B8500, this allows the UNB8500 to have an astronomical 7,000,000:1 contrast ratio compared with 3,000,000:1 on the rest of the series, and the picture performance difference its quite large on the expensive UN55B8500 LED LCD TV.
• New widgets (Twitter, Facebook, Fantasy Sports, Instant messages) - New widgets and internet features are included on the more expensive B8500 series, allowing for access and interaction to facebook, twitter, instant messaging, fantasy sports leagues and more… Other new widgets like a cool tv guide and others also very useful.
• New style and design - The design has had to be redone a bit to allow for the new backlighting technology. Nothing major but it does measure in at 1.6 inches in depth as opposed to the Ultra-slim design style of the other 3 (1.2 inches in depth)

Compare Samsung UN55B8000 versus UN55B7000 LED

Stepping down to the UN55B7000: The Samsung Luxia B7000 series sits in the lower middle range of Samsungs current led driven televisions, with a reduction of some features and performance in favor of a more affordable price for those that don’t need the very best. Below are the major differences to understand when comparing Samsung’s UN55B800 versus UN55B7000 edge-lit LED LCD models:

• 120Hz refresh downgrade from 240Hz - This is the major difference that you are paying for when you choose the more expensive B8000 model. Auto Motion Plus refresh rate 240Hz is double that of what is found on the 55B7000 model, and the result is that the B7000 series doesn’t handle image problems, motion, and artifacting as smoothly or well as the more expensive counterparts.
• Response time of 4ms downgrade from 2ms - Alongside the refresh rate drop, the UNB8000 also has twice as fast refresh rate than the UNB7000
• Red touch of color as opposed to blue - Probably not a selling point for many, the Luxia B700 LED is style in a red touch of color where the Luxia B800 and Luxia B850 model are done in blue tints
• IF remote downgrade over RF remote - The UN55B8000 and UN55B8500 have an “RF remote” which allows it to work without having to have line of sight to the television, the cheaper UN55B7000 has a normal remote that will require sufficient line of site and pointing to the television

Compare UN55B8000 vs B6000 LED

The Samsung Luxia B6000 series LED is the extra level 2009 LED edge backlit television, and drops a lot of the multimedia, internet and content features to help make it the ideal choice for those that want the great picture quality, but don’t necessarily need the absolute or most demanding picture performance and all of the extra multimedia and content features found on the UN55B8000. The major differences then between the UN55B8000 vs B6000 series is:

• 120Hz, 4ms response, Red TOC, and IF remote downgrades mentioned above
• Internet TV and Medi@2.0 interactive suite - This is the major difference you are paying less for than the B7000 series… The UN55B6000 lacks all of the Yahoo widgets and InternetTV features found on all the other Luxia Samsung models and lots of capability to stream and play certain types of content both preloaded and elsewhere.
• Infolink - The internet feature popular on the expensive 2008 models is still included on the cheap B6000 models, and allows for some internet data to be displayed via rss feeds such as weather, sports scores and news