Volume 7, Issue 10 Consumer Electronics Newsletter Samsung Tech Talk The Option Byte lists for 2012 TVs are now available on GSPN. Search by Model number under Service Tip. Whenever you replace a main board or panel, always refer to the Option Byte list to verify that the settings are correct.
LCD stands for 'liquid crystal display'. There are two types of LCD panels used in LED-backlit TVs today: In-Plane Switching (IPS) and Vertical Alignment (VA). While they are both Liquid Crystal Display types, there are many differences between the performance of these two technologies.
IPS TV
What it is: LED TV with an In-Plane Switching type panel.
Who should buy it: People with a wide living room who might watch the TV while sitting at an angle.
VA TV
What it is: LED TV with a Vertically Aligned type panel.
Who should buy it: Those looking for good picture quality in a dark room, and who don't have a need for wider viewing angles.
IPS | VA | |
Viewing angle | ~36 ° | ~20 ° |
Contrast | ~1000:1 | >3000:1 |
Black Uniformity | Poor | Good |
Viewing angle
Viewing angle refers to the angle at which you can watch the TV without seeing a noticeable drop in picture quality. Some types of LCDs do this better than others.
IPS TVs are a clear winner here. This is one of their advantages over other types of LCD. Most VA TVs will have a sizable degradation in quality by 20° to the side, the way it can be seen is a dramatic loss of saturation. IPS TVs will lose luminosity instead. They generally go until around 36° before losing half their brightness, but we have seen some go over 50°. The narrow viewing angle of VA type TVs is also problematic when the TV is used as a PC monitor from up close since the edges of the display will end up losing picture quality.
Winner: IPS
Contrast
Contrast: 1306 : 1
Contrast: 5089 : 1
Contrast is the most important factor in picture quality. While neither of these LCD technologies will achieve the black levels of OLED, some are better than others.
VA technology is far beyond IPS panels when it comes to contrast. Blacks are far darker, and it shows. When in a dark environment, blacks will appear gray on IPS TVs, substantially diminishing the experience. VA contrast ratios usually range from 3000:1 to 6000:1, IPS typically have contrast ratios closer to 1000:1. Because of this, VA LCDs will always top our Movie ratings, only surpassed by OLEDs. This only impairs the dark room performance, though, since the difference is far less visible in a bright environment.
Winner: VA
Black uniformity
Std. Dev.: 2.343%
Std. Dev.: 0.923%
While neither technologies are inherently worse at it, almost every IPS type panel we've tested have been made by LG. These all come with the same flaw of having lesser than average black uniformity. VA panels tend to perform better on average in this metric when compared to IPS ones; in fact, IPS TVs dominate the bottom of our lists.
There's an additional type of clouding present on IPS TVs. It appears when you are off-angle vertically; this is what we call 'IPS Glow.' It is very similar visually to standard black uniformity issues, but it will normally have a yellow tint.
Winner: VA
Technical Differences
Liquid crystal displays (LCD) function by having, as the name suggests, liquid crystals in the little colored packets that form the pixels. These crystals react and change position when charged with electricity, and they block more or less light depending on their position.
IPS displays have their crystals aligned horizontally at all times. When charged, they only rotate to allow light out. VA displays have their crystals aligned vertically. When they are charged, they move to a horizontal position allowing light through, similar to IPS. When current isn't sent through them, however, their vertical alignment blocks light far more efficiently, thus creating better blacks and giving better contrast.
You can also find PLS type displays. These are fundamentally the same as IPS, except they're made by Samsung. They tend to have excellent response times but are otherwise no different. When you compare the pixels visually, IPS will look like chevrons, VA will look like very straight rectangles, and PLS will look like round edged capsules.
![Samsung D6500 Panel Type Samsung D6500 Panel Type](/uploads/1/2/5/7/125796062/689274661.jpg)
Wide Angle VA
VA panel manufacturers have tried different techniques to improve the viewing angles of their panels over the years, with the goal being a perfect LCD panel with wide viewing angles and deep blacks. While they have yet to achieve that goal, a few TVs have hit the market that try and combine the best of VA and IPS panels. The first of these TVs to hit the market was the Sony Z9F in 2018, followed by the Samsung Q900RB, also known as the Q950R in Europe, in 2019. These TVs behave somewhat strangely, delivering noticeably better viewing angles than their pure VA counterparts, but still worse than true IPS panels. This comes at the expense of the contrast ratio, as these TVs have much worse native contrast than most VA panels and in fact are only slightly better than IPS TVs.
Conclusion
Neither technology is inherently superior to the other, they both serve different purposes. In general, IPS TVs will have a wide viewing angle suitable for use in a bright living room for sports or TV shows. They also benefit PC monitor use, since edges darken with a low viewing angle. VA TVs will instead have better contrast rendering them better for use in a dark, home-theater type of environment. Choosing between the two is a series of trade-offs and qualities, so pick depending on your usage, as neither are the absolute best.
Recommended Articles
Best TVs By Size
Sections
- Page 1Samsung BD-H6500 Review
- Page 2Performance and Verdict Review
Pros
- Excellent features, particularly online content
- Fast operation and attractive onscreen presentation
- Dazzling hi-def pictures
Cons
- Lightweight build quality
- Not a massive evolution from the F6500
Key Specifications
- Review Price: £149.99
- 3D playback and UHD upscaling
- Smart Hub online content portal
- Network file streaming
- Samsung multiroom support
- Screen mirroring and Wi-Fi Direct
What is the Samsung BD-H6500?
The Samsung BD-F6500 was one of the most popular Blu-ray players of 2013, primarily because it offered all the snazzy features of the flagship BD-F7500 for an irresistibly low price.
Such was the success of the F6500 in fact that its replacement, the BD-H6500, has been promoted to flagship status for 2014 – thankfully while retaining its budget price tag.
This standalone Blu-ray player sticks to the formula of its predecessors – a sleek, sexy design, tons of features and extensive online functionality – but throws in a couple of new frills to keep things fresh. It’s not luxurious or ‘high-end’ by any stretch of the imagination, but if you’re looking for an affordable HD disc spinner packed with all the latest tech then it could be another no-brainer.
READ MORE: Blu-ray Player Reviews
Samsung BD-H6500 – Design and Connections
There isn’t much of it, but the BD-H6500 is a handsome slip of a Blu-ray player. Samsung’s customary sleek gloss-black finish and clean lines give it maximum living room appeal, while the super slim dimensions (33mm high) are perfect for slotting in an AV cabinet or perching under a bedroom TV.
The most distinctive feature is the curved front corner, a pointless but attractive quirk introduced on last year’s range. On top, a circle of touch-sensitive controls sits inside the curve, including play, stop, open/close and power keys.
The most distinctive feature is the curved front corner, a pointless but attractive quirk introduced on last year’s range. On top, a circle of touch-sensitive controls sits inside the curve, including play, stop, open/close and power keys.
Samsung has squeezed an LED readout, disc tray and USB port onto the slender front panel. The display shows elapsed time and other choice words in large digits, which are comfortably legible from a typical viewing distance.
Our only design reservation concerns build quality – the bodywork has the light, plasticky feel of many budget Blu-ray decks and doesn’t inspire confidence in its long-term durability, but that’s no great surprise for the money.
On the rear panel is a typically sparse selection of sockets for a budget player. There’s an HDMI output (capable of handling 3D and upscaled 4K video signals), an optical digital audio output and an Ethernet port. Unlike most high-end players, there are no dual HDMI outputs, analogue outputs (stereo or multichannel) or other sockets for legacy amps – this deck’s target audience simply doesn’t need them.
Samsung BD-H6500 – Features
The BD-H6500’s slender frame is stuffed with features, reinforcing its position as one of the best-value Blu-ray players around. Heading the bill is Samsung’s selection of online content – accessed via the built-in Wi-Fi connection – which once again features the UK’s four main catch-up TV services: BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD and Demand 5. As far as we’re aware Samsung is still the only company to offer all four of these services.
They’re joined by a plethora of other video apps (56 at the time of writing), including YouTube, Viewster, BBC Sport and News, Vimeo, Netflix, LoveFilm and Dailymotion. Among the 36 ‘lifestyle’ apps are Napster, Twitter, Facebook and Picasa, alongside vTuner internet radio. Add the wealth of games, sports, information, education and kids’ apps to the mix – not to mention a built-in web browser – and you’ve got a formidable web line-up that offers something for everyone.
ROUND-UP: Best Blu-ray players
If you get bored of Samsung’s selection you can play your own content stored on PCs, phones or NAS drives connected to the same network as the BD-H6500. There’s also Wi-Fi Direct if you want to beam content from a mobile device without going through a network.
But there’s a nifty new twist to this deck’s network functionality. It’s also designed to work in tandem with Samsung’s new Sonos-challenging multiroom speaker system (WAM750 and WAM550), allowing you to play a CD on the H6500 and send it to multiple speakers around the house.
Format support is wide-ranging. On the music side it will play hi-res FLAC files (but converts them to 48kHz) as well as MP3, WMA, AAC and WAV, while supported video formats include DivX HD, WMV HD, MKV, AVI, 3GP and MP4.
Elsewhere you’ll find screen mirroring, which lets you view your Android phone or tablet on a TV over a network, 3D playback, 4K (UHD) upscaling, a DTS Neo:6 mode and support for HD audio formats. The Tools menu offers a range of picture presets (Standard, Movie and Dynamic) and a user-defined mode that allows you to adjust sharpness, noise reduction, contrast, brightness, colour and tint.
Unlike other sites, we thoroughly test every product we review. We use industry standard tests in order to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever accept money to review a product. Tell us what you think - send your emails to the Editor.