Samsung PN58B560 58-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV

by Samsung

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 55.8 x 2.9 x 34.1 inches ; 84.7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 135 pounds
• Shipping: This item can only be shipped to the 48 contiguous states. We regret it cannot be shipped to APO/FPO, Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico.
• ASIN: B001XU8RQK
• Item model number: PN58B560T5FXZA
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,196 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Samsung’s new PN58B560 plasma flat panel HDTV redefines our commitment to design, performance, and cost of ownership. Its 58 inches of 1080p Full HD picture performance makes it the perfect living room centerpiece. The attractive Touch of ColorTM design adds a subtle clear-to-charcoal gray accent to the set’s bezel. Enjoy brilliant, film-like images in Full HD resolution. Samsung’s breakthrough mega dynamic contrast ratio offers a more accurate color tonal range, deeper blacks and shadow details. The new E-Panel technology featuring our innovative FilterBrightTM technology reduces glare in brighter rooms and our advanced Crystal Full HD Engine expands the picture viewing experience with less power consumption. Add 4 advanced HDMI inputs that feature Samsung’s Anynet+ (CEC standard) technology making system control of compatible A/V devices like a Blu-ray player or HTIB system a one-touch operation. Experience Full 1080p performance on Samsung’s new B560 series plasma HDTVs that are easy on the environment and easy on the wallet.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Value on the Market, PERIOD, June 24, 2009

By 

BVaria (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Samsung PN58B560 58-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV (Electronics)

The gentlemen who complained about the noise clearly has some other issue going on. I encourage him to try and get a full replacement from his reseller or Samsung. Mine makes no noticeable noise at all.

The B560 is an interesting animal in it carries all of the higher-end features that the 8 series carries at a lesser cost (TOC, CinemaSmooth, etc). It is in fact one of Samsung's best plasmas despite being a 5 series. The "B Series" Samsung plasmas are without doubt the best plasmas on the market. In a world consumed by LCDs and their over saturated, unrealistic brightness and color, plasmas just don't look as bright and noticeable on the showroom floor. The irony about this is that once you get any display home, inclduing a plasma, you'll have to turn the brightness down to achieve any realistic color space. It's a known fact that manufacturers create special default profiles that blow colors out of proportion which attracts the "dumb consumer". It's a shame that plasmas haven't done as well as LCDs as of late, but the B series plasmas are pound for pound the best TVs out there, and the B560 is the pinnacle of that value.

Don't get caught up in super-saturated colors and brightness levels. Black levels and realistic natural colors are what really matters, and plasma is still the best technology for that. Additionally, the off-angle viewing of plasmas is in a league of its own.

The motion is so natural, the colors are accurate, the black levels can't be beat. It's absolutely great. The power usage is significantly less than other plasmas including the "A series" Samsung plasmas. However, LCDs are still less power and heat consuming (the only negative of this TV compared to an LCD). That aside, you'd have to spend nearly twice as much for a comparable LED-based LCD display that still may not hold its own when it comes to naturalness and color space accuracy.

I consider myself an AV expert, and I work for a company that produces Blu-ray devices (no I don't work for Samsung, I work for a Japanese company actually) and this was the TV my hard earned money was spent on. I recommend it whole-heartedly, and I truly hope Samsung continues to produce plasmas as they've got a true winner in the "B Series" lineup, the B560 being my favorite of their line card.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great T V, August 11, 2009

By 

S. Owens "Steve In Colorado" (Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Samsung PN58B560 58-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV (Electronics)

I have had the 58B560 for about a month now, and agree with the posts above that it is the best value available today, and has an amazing picture. How amazing? We bought "Twister" to watch on it, and not only noticed that we could see each and every one of Helen Hunt's hairs blowing in the wind, we could see that the makeup artist left a few pancake lumps on her cheek! Now having noticed these little details, you can imagine how exciting it is when the tornado picks up the tanker truck and throws it at the camera!

The only thing you will be disappointed in is this: once you experience high-def 58" TV, you will really think that the standard def that is still the standard on most TV stations really looks bad. I understand that you can tweak this and make it better, but I haven't had the time or interest, since I don't watch much TV, the little I do watch is usually available in high-def and I bought this rig to watch high def sports and movies (both of which it excells at).

One tip: Samsung makes an amazing line of Blu Ray players that link automatically to the TV and really work great. They do such a great job of upconverting standard DVDs to 1080 high def that it is really hard to tell if you have a blu ray or a DVD in the player. I really like my "all Samsung" system--it really coordinates nicely and you can actually download all the movies you want from NetFlix for $9.95 per month (although the quality is somewhere between standard def TV and DVD--good enough, but not great--I understand that this is a NetFlix issue and they are working on it, and that my Samsung equipment will display the better quality when it becomes available).

I tortured myself for months, researching everything available, reading hours worth of blogs and threads, etc. Finally pulled the trigger on this one and got it from Amazon for an amazing price, including delivery, no sales tax. About $600 less than the big box store, when you take into account delivery charges and sales tax. Delivery was great, picture is great, energy consumption is pretty low (check it out on Crutchfield if you don't believe me) and the heat level is low for a plasma.

A word about "buzzing." If you read all the blogs, and this information is gleaned from about 30 hours of blog and thread following, it becomes apparent that about 5-10% of the sets sold have a very loud, annoying, buzzing problem--this is not due to extra sensitivity on the part of buyers, it is a real problem. This is actually a low percentage, other sets from Samsung and other makers have a higher percentage, it is a plasma issue, and the 58B560 is better than most. It is also apparent that there is absolutely nothing you can do if you get a "buzzer." People report that they call Samsung on the warranty, and Samsung does all kinds of things, including replacing the panel, and nothing ever works. The only real fix is that you should simply keep the box, and if you get a buzzer (you will find out right away--all of the reports indicate that a set either buzzes in the first week, or doesn't buzz at all) call Amazon and be persistant until they agree to exchange the unit. There is no other fix. That is why you want to buy from Amazon. In my case, I waited until Amazon itself had the better price to buy the unit (rather than one of its affiliates) since I was totally paranoid about the buzzing issue and I know that Amazon itself is easier to deal with than anyone else.

People say that the rate of buzzing increases with altitude in plasmas and that you should not even buy one if you live at altitude. It appears that this is not the case with the 58B560, a set may or may not buzz, but it appears that this is strictly related to which set you get and not your altitude. I live at 5,650 feet and mine is absolutely free of buzz.

Therefore, be aware of the situation, but don't let it discourage you from buying this excellent TV, just be sure to buy your set from Amazon or another retailer that guarantees that you can return a "buzzer" and be sure to keep your box and all packing material for at least a few weeks.

Finally, although my TV does not "buzz" it does make a "TV sound," about the same at the six year old 36" Sony Trinitron it replaced. All plasmas make this TV sound, they are not silent. If you want silent, get a LED TV, but it will cost more and the picture won't be as good. I can't even hear my TV sound if I am 5 feet away, and can't hear it at all unless the TV is on mute.

Five stars and two thumbs up on this TV.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It's a shame, January 1, 2010

By 

H. Lapo (Virginia, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Samsung PN58B560 58-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV (Electronics)

The picture on this set is simply amazing! It comes loaded with features and a level of adjustability found on sets costing hundreds more from other companies - definitely more bang for the buck with this set. Color out of the box was very accurate, rich and pleasing. The set does have noticeable image retention even with brightness and contrast turned way down to normal levels, but this should not be confused with "burn-in" that won't go away - a few minutes of normal watching makes the IR disappear. This set replaced a 7yo Sony RPTV in a room with a large bay window, so I was concerned how well the shiny reflective screen would fare with glare. As it turns out, there was no cause for concern as the reflections were minimal and practically non-existent compared to the previous set.

The internal speakers are "hollow" and seriously lack any depth and/or "liveliness", but IMO people interested in a set like this are likely to be using an external sound system anyway. To be fair, this is not limited to the Samsung - it was a common fault with every flat screen I listened to so I really don't take off points for this weakness.

So then...why only two stars? As amazing as the picture was on this set, the viewing experience was marred by a loud and constant buzz emanating from the front of the set. I'm talking loud, easily audible from over 15 ft. away and most notable when sitting directly front and center. Before I ordered, I was aware that some buzzing is normal with all plasma TV's so I didn't consider it odd when I first turned it on. Try as I might to live with it, after three weeks I had to send the set back as it was quite apparent even over normal volume levels. Samsung support did not acknowledge this as a problem, they pretty much dismissed it as par for the course among all plasma's and that there was nothing they could do to eliminate or even reduce the problematic buzz.

I'm here to tell you this was NOT normal - at least my sample wasn't. I ended up replacing it with a Panasonic V10 costing almost $1000 more (had to move to this level to match features, a testament to Samsungs offering) - and though it pinched the wallet painfully, I don't regret the switch. Is the picture on the V10 $1k better? No, not at all. Blacks are better, and after considerable tweaking the colors are at least as accurate and pleasing as the Samsung, and the sound system is horrible on this one too...but unless I put my head behind the set there is NO buzzing audible at all during normal viewing, even from 5ft in front of the set.