Televisions

It’s almost impossible to start a plasma TV review without first mentioning the L word. In other words, the seemingly relentless march of LED into the showrooms and living rooms of the nation. If plasma was only just being invented it probably wouldn’t reach production, but thankfully for discerning AV enthusiasts, Samsung, LG and Panasonic have long-established factories that continue to keep cooking on gas.

For a cinematic, bigscreen viewing experience a giant plasma is hard to beat. The technology has always had its fans, not least because it’s simply more cinematic than LED LCD TVs. But if you’re on the hunt for a big PDP, one brand that might not spring immediately to mind is Samsung. This isn’t exactly surprising. The LCD market leader tends to treat the technology like the proverbial evil twin locked in the attic. This is undoubtedly a shame.

The first new Samsung TV for 2019, the QE65Q90R [see HCC #298], was a stunner. It combined new backlight and viewing angle technology with improved processing, helping to blend the brightness and colour volume traits of LCD with the black level and contrast benefits more usually expected of OLED. But that set is £3,800. The QE65Q85R, a UK/Europe-only model, retains much of the Q90R's skillset but retails for £3,000.