The Samsung PN50A760 is a 50-inch Plasma television available for $2000. It’s a large television, with some nice styling including a subtle reddish edging to the bezel.
The PN50A760 supports full 1080p resolution, so it can handle the highest quality of HD content. The HDTV offers a good selection of input and output ports, including four HDMI ports, optical audio output and support for network connectivity via an Ethernet connection. The Ethernet port can be used to access media on your network and connect to Samsung’s InfoLink online service. You can also access media on USB devices using the available USB port.
The Samsung PN50A760’s remote is curved and fits easily into your hand. It is a bit long, however, which means you have to move your hand a lot to access all the buttons, especially if you have small hands. The menu system is a standard tabbed interface, but there are some inconsistencies in navigation that you need to get used to. Audio quality from the PN50A760’s built-in speakers is good, but nowhere near as good as what you will get from a dedicated set of speakers.
Performance (Read the full lab performance results at televisioninfo.com)
Like most Plasma televisions the Samsung PN50A760 produces a very deep black. This is one of the big benefits that Plasma televisions offer over LCD televisions. Unfortunately Plasma televisions don’t give you as bright a display as LCD televisions, and this is true for the PN50A760. Due to the excellent black level, however, the contrast ratio was good despite the unimpressive peak brightness.
The HDTV’s color performance was also very good. Color temperature was steady across the greyscale, which means you won’t get a bluish or reddish tinge as the television goes from deep greys to whites. Its ability to produce accurate colors was also good, and it did an above average job of sticking to the industry standard color gamut. This last means that you will see the same colors that the content producers want you to see.
The PN50A760 also did a good job with motion, with none of the blurring that you see on some HDTVs. We did notice a trailing greenish cast to bright objects, but this is the only issue we saw with moving objects on the screen. We were also quite impressed with the viewing angle the PN50A760 offers, the contrast ratio of the screen does not fall below 50% until you get out to 80 degrees from the center.
Conclusion
The Samsung PN50A760 is an impressive Plasma television. It performed admirably in almost every test that we threw at it, with the possible exception of peak brightness. This last is more about the limitations of Plasma technology than a deficit of the television itself and it’s more than made up for by the deep blacks. Available for around $2000 at a size of 50 inches we feel that the PN50A760 is an excellent value.
For a more in-depth review, visit the Samsung PN50A760 Review at our partner TelevisionInfo.com
