Samsung UNB8000 firmware corrects black levels

As the most expensive horse in Samsung's stable of edge-lit LED-based LCD TVs, which the company calls "LED TVs" in most of its marketing materials, the UNB8000 series is differentiated from its cheaper herd mates by the addition of 240Hz processing.

If you're wondering whether that feature is worth the cash, wonder no more: in our opinion, it's not. Other than the extra hertz, Samsung's edge-lit sets share most of the same picture quality characteristics, including deep black levels, mostly accurate color, and some uniformity problems that might have something to do with its ultrathin panels. In the plus column, however, the UNB8000's picture is still pretty dang good--especially after a firmware update--and the styling of these Samsung sets just can't be beaten.

Read the full review of the Samsung UNB8000 series.

Samsung UNB8000 series--photos

[joefosho619]

Why are LED TV's much more expensive than LCD?? They look the same.

[dmcbride12]

Led Tv's are still Lcd's. They use Led light to back light the monitor, instead of fluorescent light. Led light consumes a lot less power and last considerably longer.

[lwos]

So where and how do you get this firmware update??? You write an article about a firmware update, yet provide no information as to where to get it.............. come on!!!

[Dustyn]

Well since this is a SAMSUNG monitor...did you try checking the "SAMSUNG.COM" website for that info?

[jpfalcone]

Click through to the review and read the "Firmware update information" section.

[katzmaier]

New FW available here (click on "firmware"):
http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/tv-video/televisions/led-tv/UN46B8000XFXZA/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=support

And here's the relevant section from the review, in case your scroll finger tires out:

Firmware update information The following performance observations were made after we updated the firmware on our UN46B8000 review sample. We went from the original firmware that shipped with the sample (firmware version 2009/03/30_001007) to the new firmware released in mid-September (version 2009/09/14_001013). At the time of this writing, however, the 001013 firmware was not available for download directly to the TV--instead, we had to go through the manual route of downloading it from the company's Web site, saving it to a USB thumbdrive, and uploading it to the TV from one of the side-panel USB ports. Samsung's reps say the 001013 firmware may soon be made available via direct connection, but at the moment only older firmware (version 2009/09/07_001012) appears when you utilize the TV's built-in download function. We also checked out that firmware and it did little to affect picture quality as far as we could discern.

According to Samsung, the 001013 firmware update is designed to address the fluctuating backlight we saw on the UNB7000 and UNB6000 reviews. To test this claim we had a UN46B7000, with its original firmware, set up next to the 8000 we reviewed. See Black Level below for the details on how the two compared. It's worth noting that a similar firmware update is also available for the 7000, but not the 6000--yet. We'll update the 7000 review when we have the chance to test it).

[mani_m]

David, i dont see the blacklevel comparison between 7000 (older firmware) and 8000 (new firmware) in your reply. Can you please give me the link to the page. Also did you guys get a chance to test 7000 on the newer firmware? what is the verdict does the firmware help fluctuating backlight problem?

[jonathanesten]

Please ask David Katzmaier if samsung has fixed the backlight issues on the Samsung un 32b 6000 tv or if it seems likely they will. Thank you [e-mail]