CNET Reviews Samsung’s PN50C8000
I can’t say that CNET’s conclusion came as a surprise, but it was nice to see the VT25 maintain its crown as 2010’s best HDTV.
The PNC8000 is an excellent performer, and deserves the silver medal
among plasma TVs we’ve tested so far this year. In addition, we’d wager
no other as-yet-announced TV will outperform either one in 2010. But the
Samsung’s crucial reproduction of black can’t achieve the same inkiness
as the Panasonic, so it falls short. It beats the VT25 to a greater or
lesser extent in a few other areas, including overall color
reproduction, bright room performance and video processing, but none of
those margins of victory are convincing enough to close the gap. The
Samsung costs less, however, and its style and feature set will
certainly turn heads, although for this price we’d expect to get a pair
of those 3D glasses thrown in, too. The VT25 might be the better
performer, but the picture quality of the PNC8000 series will rightly
claim its share of videophile devotees.