The Samsung 32UNC6500 offers consumers a truly watchable, yet somewhat less than spectacular viewing experience, though the wide range of streaming and integrated apps sure do make watching midlevel mediocrity fun. The picture quality of the UNC6500 is decent, maybe even good for a mid level edge lit LED-based LCD but this TV runs the gambit of known issues that tend to plague LCDs. Plus, the price point reflects a much better viewing experience than the consumer truly experiences.
Though not as impressive as several of its cousins (think: UNC8000), the UNC6500 was no lightweight when it came to producing an enjoyable TV watching experience. I had hoped that the black levels would have been deeper than there were, but to be honest, they were considerably better than most of the other edge lit LCD TVs I’ve tested recently. The colors looked true and real as long as the scenes were brightly lit, but once the lights were turned down their punch was significantly reduced.
Black level: The Samsung UNC6500 wasn’t as spectacular as I’d hoped in this department but it really wasn’t a slouch either. If you could just watch brightly lit, full action flicks this television did well in here, but darker movies tended to display the issues related to the blacks. The blacks appeared to be washed out and faded the darker the scene became. This really made watching movies such as the “Dark Knight” and “Harry Potter” tough to swallow.
Shadow details were good here, but they were a bit less realistic than I’d hoped for. Once again, this issue only occurred in darker scenes, so it really wasn’t a deal breaker for me.
Color accuracy: For the most part, primary and secondary color accuracy was generally good. There was, however, a bluish cast to everything on the screen. This was especially noticeable in the lighter colors such as skin tones as well as in shaded areas that neared black. This issue was readily visible; however it wasn’t as bothersome as I thought it might be. After a few minutes, it simply faded into the background.
Uniformity: I didn’t have a really high bar set in terms of screen uniformity for this TV and unfortunately I wasn’t disappointed. Like the other edge-lit LED-based LCDs I’ve sampled, the Samsung UNC6500 showed some brightening along the lower edge of the screen. This problem persisted throughout both dark and bright images. There was a noticeable brightening in all four corners as well as at the left vertical. This was really a problem for me as I found my eye drawn toward the brighter areas, especially during darker scenes, which was really distracting.
Off-angle viewing was bad. The blacks washed out pretty significantly and the colors lost what little punch they had. As a matter of fact, the color degradation is one of the worst I’ve seen so far, if not THE worst. This television does not lend itself to fitting into a number of furniture arrangements which will make it a tough buy for many.
Bright lighting: There was a big issue with ambient light glare and reflection thanks to the addition of the glossy screen. There may be some black level preservation, but the trade off is not a good one in my opinion.
Standard-definition: I truly enjoyed watching standard definition DVDs on this set. The details were a little softer than with high definition media but all in all, watching them was truly an enjoyable experience. I felt much the same way about watching broadcast TV as well. IN terms of viewability, this TV actually did better with standard def than it did with high def content.
Unless you never plan on watching this television above a whisper, I would definitely suggest adding an external speaker system to your buggy before you get to the check out counter. This television, while not any better or any worse than any other LCD on the market (unless you count a few of the Mitsubishis), is prone to significant sound distortion and vibration.
Samsung has never been cheap when it comes to adding the extras to its television line up and the UNC6500 is no exception in this category. First and foremost, let’s take a look at the impossibly slim panel. Look out Twiggy! This TV is super flat, meaning that it will look fabulous on your wall. There is really nothing to write home about in terms of the chassis, as it is gloss black just like all the others.
The remote included with the UNC6500 is not anything utterly amazing, but it gets the job done fairly well. The standard raised buttons are well placed and easy to use, but the finish on the remote itself fingerprinted every time I picked it up. It’s kind of like those early model stainless steel refrigerators. They always look dirty.
Streaming apps is the name of the game here and Samsung really packs in the popular ones. Hulu Plus is definitely a bonus in my book and Samsung is one of the only LCD TVs to offer it (Vizio and Sony are the others). DailyMotion, CinemaNow and Blockbuster are also included. You also get all of the regular video streaming services like Netflix, Amazon, Vudu and YouTube, all of which worked as expected. Audio streaming is made possible with the help of Pandora and Napster. All of the streaming services with the exception of Amazon and Synch TV are integrated apps
At around $1200, the UNC6500 is priced on the upper end of mid level. And, even though this TV is packed with plenty of extras, the primary function, picture quality, is lacking just enough that it makes me pause before calling it a good value. Don’t get me wrong, the picture is watchable, but I’ve seen several other units that leave out a few extras and produce a much better picture for less.
The Samsung UNC6500 is nothing spectacular, though it performs reasonably well among its peer group. It exhibits several of the same characteristic flaws of other LCD televisions including lighter black levels, typical bluing and poor off angle viewing. However, its wide array of integrated apps and sleek styling make it an attractive TV for many.
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