Samsung 46-inch D7000 3D LED TV - Smart Screen
We reviewed the Samsung flagship 55-inch D8000 back in May, one that's equipped with a Clear Motion Rate of 800Hz. Now it's time to see if its smaller 46-inch D7000 brother can match its 3D and HD expertise with a lesser 600Hz frame rate.
Samsung Series 7 3D LED TV - Sleek Styling
Design
In many ways, Samsung's 46-inch Series 7 D7000 looks much like a clone of its larger D8000 sibling we've reviewed sometime in May. They both tout a similar ultra slim "One Design" bezel, a freakishly thin profile, and the same metallic quad-leg stand. For these reasons, we won't delve too deeply into the D7000's design aspects, but rather, we'll just provide you with the main gist of this display's build and AV connectivity. If you'd like a more intimate look at this LED edge-lit model, check out the photos below before we touch on its Smart Hub and features, which again, is almost a direct replica of the D8000. You may also refer to our 55-inch Series 8 D8000 review if you'd like to make a comparison between the Series 8 and Series 7.
With its sleek profile and edge-to-edge design, this 46-inch D7000 can easily blend into any modern home's decor. The TV swivels, but you might want to take note of its reflective panel under brighter viewing environments.
The D7000 is framed by a thin and beautiful acrylic border, while the D8000 sports an aluminum bezel. We tend to favor the D7000's overall looks and translucent frame compared to the Series 8. But as they say, tastes can be subjective.
We've received mixed opinions for Samsung's quad-stand. Some like it, while others prefer a good old fashioned rectangular base such as those found in Series 5. Our verdict? We fancy its design but let's just say it isn't the most stable of all TV stands.
Contrary to Samsung's love for touch-sensitive buttons, this LED model comes fitted with hardware buttons instead. It's not entirely surprising when you think of it, given the slim bezel Samsung has to work with. Basic controls such as channel selection and volume control are planted just behind the right edge of the panel.
Samsung is still relying on breakout cables to retain their display's slim profile, mainly for the composite and component ports. Apart from three USB ports, the D7000 also carries four HDMI inlets with ARC incorporated on the second HDMI input. This model features both analog and DTV tuners.
Features
Samsung's Smart Hub platform is the nerve center for its "smart" applications (a key component of a Smart TV platform), with a home screen divided into various categories. For example, installed apps are stashed under the Recommended and lowermost 'windows'. Do note you'll require a Samsung SmartTV ID to access social media portals, such as Facebook or Twitter via the Social TV app. Samsung's online app store, otherwise known as Samsung Apps, can be found in the top right window. With Samsung's recently forged alliance with Singtel, you can now tap into the Singtel Video Search and Singtel Video Store services to watch Asian and international film content. The newly added Explore 3D service also enables you to watch trailers and documentaries in 3D for free. The web browser wasn't as responsive as we hoped it would be, and it appears that Flash support is still lacking.
Samsung has made little changes to its Smart Hub interface since we last reviewed the D8000. However, it now has a couple of new apps to relish such as Singtel Video Store and Singtel Video Search. Note that "Your Video" is not a VOD service, but more of an info-add service on film ratings and synopsis.
Singtel Video Store houses a mix of Asian and International content including Nikita, the American TV series starring Maggie Q. Most of the TV dramas are offered in SD formats based on what we've found.
Explore 3D is another new addition to Samsung's slew of online video services. While content is largely limited to free 3D trailers and educational clips at the moment, Samsung has plans to include feature films in the near future as well.
There are four picture presets on the D7000 - Standard, Dynamic, Natural and Movie. A quick look at the TV's Advanced Settings revealed additional configurations such as Shadow Detail, Skin Tone, 10-point White Balance (only in Movie mode) and Black Tone adjustments.
Calibration - Spyder3TV Report
To maintain a standard across our review units, we calibrated the Samsung D7000 with Datacolor's Spyder3TV Home Theater Color Calibration kit prior to our visual tests. This is to ensure we assess the HDTV based on optimal display settings, and not on visual estimation alone. Using the TV's Standard preset, we've also disabled all the necessary boosters such as color and dynamic lighting enhancement features.
Here are the recommended picture settings after a round of calibration - Brightness: 50, Contrast: 98, Color:56 and Tint:1. Black and white luminance values were given as 0.107cd/m2 and 227.778 cd/m2 respectively. The D7000 has an almost identical black luminance reading to the D8000, although the D8000's white luminance value was substantially higher at 356.656 cd/m2. With an average contrast ratio rating, let's see how the Series 7 fares in our visual tests.
The D7000's Spyder3TV calibration results are as follows: Brightness: 50, Contrast: 98, Color:56 and Tint:1. Please note that a Tint value of 1 here translates into R51 (or Red 51) on the Samsung D7000. Black and white luminance were recorded at 0.107cd/m2 and 227.778cd/m2 respectively.
DisplayMate Tests
DisplayMate is an application which generates a sequence of test patterns to determine the capabilities of imaging devices, like color and gray-scale accuracies for example. For our tests, we've hooked up the Samsung D7000 to our display test-bed PC using an HDMI connection. To be fair across the board, we have also disabled all visual enhancements on the TV in order to reduce the variables involved. Here are some findings based on the relevant and critical test patterns:-
Screen Uniformity
Samsung's D7000 is plagued by uneven display issues similar to the D8000 model, such as brighter patches along the edges. Like most edge-lit LED sets, this discrepancy is less obvious on brighter backgrounds but becomes apparent with darker test patterns. This may also lead to a degradation of black levels around the panel's perimeter.
Dark Gray Scale
Slightly mismatched gray hues were noted on the test pattern. Deviations along the screen's edges and mid-portions of the panel were also evident as caused by the backlights' uneven uniformity.
Color Scales
Relatively accurate color reproductions for both primary and secondary colors. Viewing angles on the horizontal axis were commendable as well. However, gradients were visibly less linear on this model. For example, the darker blue band faded to black almost instantly, while the same applies to the rest of the remaining colors.
256-Intensity Level Color Ramp
Heavy and irregular compression was detected on the darker end of the spectrum. Similar to results derived from the Color Scales evaluation, gradients were far from ideal on the 256-Intensity Level Color Ramp test.
DisplayMate's Color Scales Test - Samsung's D7000 has the potential to deliver pristine whites and vivid colors. While it isn't very obvious in this picture, deeper shades tend to fade to black a little too abruptly.
IDT HQV Tests
IDT's HQV Tests are designed to assess image quality of digital displays through a variety of video signal processing tasks which includes decoding, de-interlacing, motion correction, noise reduction and film cadence detection. We've programmed the Blu-ray player to playback in 1080i in order to stress the TV's video processor. This compels the TV's processor to convert interlaced signals into progressive to accommodate the HDTV's panel. Here are the results we noted on three crucial tests:-
Digital Noise Filtering
Samsung's D7000 is equipped with two noise filters - a Digital Noise Filter for weaker broadcast signals, and an MPEG Noise Filter to reduce MPEG noise. The latter didn't remove noise grains by much, although the digital filter was more effective when set to High. One caveat is the slight loss of picture detail in the process.
Diagonal Filter Test
Stable video de-interlacing, which improved by a notch after enabling the TV's LED Motion Plus and Motion Plus frame interpolation features. However, movement on the rotating bar appeared excessively smooth as a result, despite the jaggies-free performance.
Film Resolution Loss Test
Samsung has two cadence algorithms - Auto1 and Auto2. We found that the Auto1 selection worked best, since it identifies the source cadence before applying the appropriate inverse pulldown on the entire image. Auto2 should only be used when 3:2 pulldown has been applied to portions of the picture.
HQV's HD Noise Reduction Test - Samsung's noise filter impressed with an image that's almost rid of noise grains, such as the sample image on the right, Some degrees of picture detail were sacrificed as a result though when the Digital Noise Filter was pumped to High.
Video Playback Tests
HD Tests
Corpse Bride (Blu-ray) - On the upside, Samsung's D7000 is clearly capable of lively details and lifelike images during HD playback. Its attention to detail is quite astounding. We also noticed that judder has been reduced on this model but not emphatically. Still, the panel remained as a victim to its backlights' inconsistencies. For example, shadow details were apparently compromised in some instances, especially on darker backdrops such as an early scene involving Victor and Victoria shown below. Samsung's new Motion Lighting feature didn't alleviate the situation, although enabling its Dynamic Contrast and reducing its backlights down to 10 did help improve black levels on the whole.
Samsung's D7000 has a knack for vivid pictures with candid highlights of the picture's finer details. Black crush isn't an issue with this set, but black levels could be deeper while darker scenes or subjects may suffer from a mildly washed-out effect.
Vantage Point (Blu-ray) - Without its picture enhancements, the D7000 has the tenacity for pin-sharp pictures which makes it easy to identify onscreen details. On the flip side, the overall picture quality possessed a "hazy" treatment with generally murky blacks. In short, the overall image was bright but distinctly lacked a visual punch. Enabling some of Samsung's enhancements helped improved things by a bit, such as pushing the TV's Black Tone up to Darker and Dynamic Contrast to Low. This model has a native frame rate of 200Hz, and the good news is enabling its LED Motion Plus (600Hz) backlight scanning and frame interpolation feature did not create any motion artifacts which Vantage Point is infamous for.
The D7000 relies a great deal on its picture enhancements in order to reproduce a richer and more satisfying result. Here is a screenshot of Vantage Point after making the necessary adjustments to the TV's Black Tone, Backlights and Dynamic Contrast options.
The Movie preset carries more configuration tweaks such as the 10-point White Balance option which the Standard preset lacks. It also yields a warmer (or yellowish) hue and softer picture definitions for those who prefer a more organic touch for Blu-ray playbacks.
Function | Recommended Settings |
Black Tone | Darker |
Dynamic Contrast | Low |
Shadow Detail | -2 |
Gamma | 0 |
Expert Pattern | Off |
RGB Only Mode | Off |
Color Space | Native |
Gamma | Medium |
Flesh Tone | 1 |
Edge Enhancement | Off |
Motion Lighting | Off |
LED Motion Plus | Off |
SD Test
X-Men: The Last Stand (DVD) - As anticipated, the D7000 came up tops when handling SD material. The TV's video processor coped well with de-interlacing and scaling tasks without giving rise to unwanted artifacts. Noise and pixaltion were also nicely evened out. As noted in our Blu-ray tests, however, we'd advise you to retain certain enhancements such as Black Tone and Dynamic Contrast to improve black levels against the backlight bleeds. Even so, it was almost impossible to attain pitch black letterbox bars without reducing the image to a an incoherent black mess. There was also minimal judder occurrences without resorting to using its LED Motion Plus perk.
There was the occasional stutter during panning camera movements, but other than that, Samsung's fourth-generation LED TV was able to deliver appreciable SD pictures on its 1080p screen.
3D Test
Monsters vs Aliens (Blu-ray) - Samsung has made minor changes to this year's 3D hardware, and that includes accessories such as its SSG-3700CR active-shutter glasses. Embedded with RF and Bluetooth capabilities, the new designer 3D glasses are notably lighter, more chic, and can be recharged via USB as well. As for the TV's 3D performance, it is without a doubt Samsung has made vast improvements to their 3D technology since last year's line-up. Crosstalk is almost banished for good on the D7000, although minor judder may prevail with certain fast moving scenes. Picture quality is crisp for the most part, with a fair amount of depth and generous viewing angle to boot. Most picture settings are disabled when in 3D mode, such as LED Motion Plus. Brightness is also automatically boosted (to 100) to compensate for the shutter-glasses' dimming effect.
Samsung's latest SSG-3700CR active-shutter glasses offers a wrap-around design which makes it suitable for different head sizes. It is light, and can be recharged via a micro-USB port too. However, it did take us a few tries to sync it with the TV though.
This scene from Monsters vs Aliens used to produce a fair amount of crosstalk on older (C-series) Samsung 3D TVs. Captured here in 2D, crosstalk or ghosting effects are almost a thing of the past although they still manifest themselves if the viewing distance is reduced to less than a meter or so.
The Final Word
The odd thing about televisions is they all seem alike at the onset. But once you start to investigate their picture quality and features, that's also when their true mettle (or flaws) begin to manifest. This is mostly true with the 46-inch Samsung D7000. On the up side, this TV is extremely slim, beautiful, and a simple joy to gawk at even without any images onscreen. The Smart Hub platform is also one of the most impressive by far, with Samsung's (and Singtel's) arsenal of online video streaming services as well as social applications too. Then again, this Smart TV is not without its kinks. We would have preferred a more responsive web browser for starters, while Samsung might want to consider a point-and-click remote with the next iteration.
It will be hard for competitors to match Samsung's "smart" content and sexy styling as delivered by their Full-HD D7000 model. However, its inconsistent illumination and high price point may dent its otherwise respectable reputation among the LED brethren.
Real-world performance was above average, given the D7000's finesse for detailed and vibrant images as witnessed during our playback tests. But as DisplayMate would concur, Samsung will have to improve on their backlights uniformity in order to preserve black levels performance in future. The D7000 was also able to handle the increased framerate (LED Motion Plus) without introducing judders or anomalies. Then again, it's best to do without it to avoid surreal-like movements during film playback. Samsung's endeavors in 3D tech has paid off too. Crosstalk was evidently reduced, and a 3D movie was actually tolerable (we won't say enjoyable as yet) on the Series 7. As with most active-shutter breeds, we can't deny experiencing this faint sense of eye fatigue after prolonged viewing. Still, there's that price hurdle to overcome, for the TV's steep $4429 asking price may invariably cause consumers on a tighter budget to shy away.
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