After unwrapping the heavily padded box, I stand with one of the best looking TV's on the market before me. Like most Samsung TVs, the M8 comes with a beautiful piano black finish and a high gloss screen. The finish on the television is something special and not only is it a great TV, but fits into even the most styled of environments. The chrome lip that finishes the bottom edge adds a touch of elegance to this tribute to craftsmanship.
The Samsung M8 is the flagship model of the LCD television range. This is mainly due to the amazing contrast ratio of 15,000:1 and of course, the most important factor to us, 1080P capability. The 1080P provides an unparalleled picture quality with amazing colour depths and streak free movement. The P stands for progressive and what this means is that the picture is progressively changed as the images on the screen change so the end result is a smoother transition between images. To take advantage of the full 1080P capabilities we tested Blu-Ray movies and also a Playstation 3 on the M8.
First things first though, why all the hype and why the ridiculous big price tag? This is quickly answered because:
1. The 1080P is worth every penny.
2. Samsung's great 3 year warrenty
3. Looks are great
4. Has 3 HMDI inputs
5. PC Connectivity
6. Built in HD TV tuner
Most manufacturers are now joining the trend of having 3 HDMI inputs on their televisions but it was Samsung who pioneered the idea. HDMI means High Definition Multimedia Interface and in a nutshell means that instead of having the old red, white and yellow RCA connectors for devices, it can now all be done in one cable at a much higher quality. If you are going to connect a Blu-Ray device to a 1080P television such as the M8, HDMI is a must.
Upon connecting a computer to the M8, we began to see our first downfall. There was an annoying purple line along the bottom of the screen and we couldn't get the TV's resolution to go full screen at 1080. After some fiddling though, this was achieved and the purple bar tured to 3 tiny green dots that were barely distracting. This could have been due to our hardware but we have spoken to other owners who have had similar issues. Despite this, the replication of our desktop, videoes and images was all above average. The M8 was also clear enough to read a word document or PDF off - often a problem found with CRT televisions.
When switching to TV and making use of the HD tuner, the picture quality is amazing and most images are upscaled to 1080. The inbuilt tuner scans and detects all channels both analogue and digital. This is great as it saves you money by not needing a set-top box. The downside that we were now beginning to see though was the sound quality. Samsung has placed the speakers on the bottom of the set and they are facing downwards. The sound is clear but doesn't present much depth. However, most people do say, if you are going to buy a television of a quality like the M8, you have to buy the home theatre to go with it. The M8 does have optical out for audio as well as your standard RCA jacks.
If you are planning on buying this television, it is advised that you have the correct size room for it. It is recommended that you sit roughly 2-2.5 times the size of the television away. In the case of the 40"(approx. 101cm) we sat at about 2.5m away and found this to be the perfect distance. The image was clear and not overwhelming.
In conclusion the M8 is great television for the price. Comparative to its competitors like the Sony Bravia X-Series, we found the Samsung to have superior quality for the price paid. With a television such as the M8 you are garunteed satisfaction, especially if you are upgrading from a CRT. The picture quality was great and we found no blurring when watching sports - a problem that some LCDs do have.
The Samsung M8 comes highly recommended from TeeVee.com.au and at the end of the day, we ended up buying one for ourselves!
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