Samsung FPT5884 58″ 1080p Plasma HDTV
One more time we review a high-end model, this time from Samsung. Oddly enough it is again a plasma screen with very high contrast of 15,000 to 1 and a brilliant color representation. FPT5884 is a 1080p model with a wide range of connectors (three HDMI, component video, svideo, pc input and even a headphone jack). All this for a quite good price of $2,488 from amazon (it saves $1,511 from the regular price).
Going further with the features, Samsung included in this HDTVs panel Ultra FilterBright™, it means that one can watch the screen from very wide angle and even in a brightly lighted room. It is achieved by attaching optical films on the front glass, as a side effect it exposed the light of the movies.
Great addition is a specialized video processor with 18 bit color processing, it means that one should see more natural and crisp colors, even for the standard definition signals. Bear in mind that the default factory settings are not as good, so if you walk into store and look at the TV ask if you could tune the settings.
FPT5884 also has a so called CEC (a short from Consumer Electronic Control) technology, which means that one can control all the HDMI connected (and CEC capable) devices with just one press of a button from just one remote control. So e.g. you could quickly turn on the Blu-ray player, set the volume level in the audio system and power on the HDTV very quickly. It’s probably a must with the large amounts of home theater equipment one can have nowadays.
If you have a console such as Plastation 3, Xbox or Wii you could connect it to the TV and turn on the GAME MODE. What it does? It adjust the visual and audio settings to the appropriate for game playing. The changes include: increasing the contrast of dark areas, the bass is amplified more and the screen response time is shortened.
This Samsung model is one of the best in it’s price and inch range, you get a clear and color rich screen, with great additional features (such as CEC) and a good power saving modes (important for watching your electrical bills), and all this with price lowered by more than $1,000.