Samsung PN50B650
Samsung PN50B650
2:03

Samsung PN50B650

TVs
[ Music ] >> David Katzmaier: Hi. I'm David Katzmaier, Senior Editor at CNET, and this is the Samsung PN50B650. There's also a 58-inch member of the B650 series, and this review will apply to both models. This TV is kind of in the middle of Samsung's plasma lineup. It does have a sleek, kind of red styling around the edge here. You'll notice that there's a dark red tint around the frame of the screen as well as the glass base that also has a swivel on it. So that's kind of a unique styling feature. Most of the TV's out there are glossy black with no kind of color in them. The color does extend to the menu system itself, which offers a good range of adjustments. You can play with color temperature, color spacing, even choose this new cinema smooth mode for film. It actually allows the TV to properly reproduce 1080p 24 content from Blu-Ray, which is a nice new feature this year although in our testing it didn't work as well as it should have. The back panel does include a good selection of inputs. There are 3 HDMI's as well as a PC input in the back. The side panel adds a fourth HDMI input. This TV also has Yahoo widgets feature, which is, allows it to go out on the Internet and find things like weather reports and even advanced things like Flicker or interface with a Twitter widget. There's more widgets coming down the pipe, and our testings feature was a little less than advertised. However, it's really slow to use so if you're relatively inpatient, I would wait for an update for them to fix this kind of sluggish response time with Yahoo widgets. We took the Samsung into the lab, and we were very impressed by its picture quality. It does produce a very nice deep shade of black. Color accuracy, especially with all of the adjustments we mentioned, was excellent as well. The real hiccup, though, is when you try 1080p 24 content. It actually caused the picture settings to reset. So if you do laborious kind of picture setup in one setting and then you put it in 1080p 24 mode, it actually makes the picture look worse. So at the end of the day, we didn't really like that hitch, but otherwise, this TV is a very good performer for the money, and again, that's not a major knock against it. That's a quick look at the Samsung PN50B650, and I'm David Katzmaier. [ Music ]

Up Next

Samsung's 98-inch 8K TV Is Big, Bright and Really Expensive
samsung98in-2

Up Next

Samsung's 98-inch 8K TV Is Big, Bright and Really Expensive

TV Buying Guide: Sizes, Prices and When to Buy to Get a Good Deal
tv-buying-guide-cnet-seq-00-08-50-25-still008

TV Buying Guide: Sizes, Prices and When to Buy to Get a Good Deal

Vizio's New Quantum Pro TVs Could Be a Strong Value Play
new-vizio-tvs-cnet-00-00-41-11-still001.png

Vizio's New Quantum Pro TVs Could Be a Strong Value Play

Amazon Improves Its Fire TV Search
firetv

Amazon Improves Its Fire TV Search

LG C3 OLED TV: The Picture Quality Go-To Choice
230616-clean-lg-c3-oled-tv-2

LG C3 OLED TV: The Picture Quality Go-To Choice

Go Behind the Scenes at CNET's TV Testing Lab
how-we-test-seq-00-04-54-02-still001.png

Go Behind the Scenes at CNET's TV Testing Lab

Roku Plus Series Review: Roku's First TV Is Good, But Not Great
rokutv-00-00-17-17-still001

Roku Plus Series Review: Roku's First TV Is Good, But Not Great

Samsung's 2023 OLED TVs Challenge LG on Price, Picture
samsung-tv-event-cnet-00-01-22-10-still001.png

Samsung's 2023 OLED TVs Challenge LG on Price, Picture

LG G3 OLED TV Looks Brighter Than Ever
lg-thumb3

LG G3 OLED TV Looks Brighter Than Ever

Sony QD-OLED TV Is Now Brighter Than Ever
sony-tvs-00-07-25-18-still115

Sony QD-OLED TV Is Now Brighter Than Ever

Tech Shows

The Apple Core
apple-core-w

The Apple Core

Alphabet City
alphabet-city-w

Alphabet City

CNET Top 5
cnet-top-5-w

CNET Top 5

The Daily Charge
dc-site-1color-logo.png

The Daily Charge

What the Future
what-the-future-w

What the Future

Tech Today
tech-today-w

Tech Today

Latest News All latest news

First Impressions of Gemini: Google's Newest Major AI Upgrade
gemini-sb-v2-copy-01-00-01-19-02-still003.png

First Impressions of Gemini: Google's Newest Major AI Upgrade

These Are the Best Wireless Earbuds for 2023
broll-00-02-39-17-still001.png

These Are the Best Wireless Earbuds for 2023

AMD's AI Chip Event: Everything Revealed in 8 Minutes
amd-ai-event-clean

AMD's AI Chip Event: Everything Revealed in 8 Minutes

Can the Samsung Gaming Hub Replace An Xbox?
p1005566

Can the Samsung Gaming Hub Replace An Xbox?

2023's Top Smartwatches and Wearables of the Year
231129-yt-best-wearable-v03

2023's Top Smartwatches and Wearables of the Year

Best Tech Gifts (All Under $50)
best-gifts-under-50-bucks-00-00-22-17-still001.png

Best Tech Gifts (All Under $50)

Most Popular All most popular

Sony Pulse Explore Earbuds: Setup and Hands-On
cnet

Sony Pulse Explore Earbuds: Setup and Hands-On

Lomi Makes Composting Faster and Cleaner at Home
lomi-thumb-site

Lomi Makes Composting Faster and Cleaner at Home

Microsoft's AI Ignite Event: Everything Revealed in 8 Minutes
231115-site-microsoft-ignite-keynote-supercut

Microsoft's AI Ignite Event: Everything Revealed in 8 Minutes

Bose QC Ultra vs. Sony WH-1000XM5: Kings of ANC
qc-ultra-vs-xm5-cnetthumb

Bose QC Ultra vs. Sony WH-1000XM5: Kings of ANC

AMD's AI Chip Event: Everything Revealed in 8 Minutes
amd-ai-event-clean

AMD's AI Chip Event: Everything Revealed in 8 Minutes

What I Learned Using Apple's Journal App
231129-site-apples-latest-app-to-fix-you-v2

What I Learned Using Apple's Journal App

Latest Products All latest products

Sony Pulse Explore Earbuds: Setup and Hands-On
cnet

Sony Pulse Explore Earbuds: Setup and Hands-On

The PlayStation 5 Slim: Hands-On
p1019822

The PlayStation 5 Slim: Hands-On

CNET Editor Reacts to Vision Pro Spatial Video
04-viewing-spatial-videos-in-apple-vision-pro

CNET Editor Reacts to Vision Pro Spatial Video

Samsung's 98-inch 8K TV Is Big, Bright and Really Expensive
samsung98in-2

Samsung's 98-inch 8K TV Is Big, Bright and Really Expensive

300-Mile Honda Prologue EV Hits the Road Next Year
hondapic2

300-Mile Honda Prologue EV Hits the Road Next Year

Meta's Ray-Bans, Hands-On: These Glasses Now Stream to Instagram
raybanglassescnet

Meta's Ray-Bans, Hands-On: These Glasses Now Stream to Instagram

Latest How To All how to videos

Tips and Tricks for the Galaxy Watch 6
231120-site-tips-tricks-and-hidden-features-v2

Tips and Tricks for the Galaxy Watch 6

How to Use ChatGPT's New Voice Conversations
how-to-use-chatgpt-voice-chat-00-03-01-13-still003

How to Use ChatGPT's New Voice Conversations

How to Add Multiple Accounts and Set Up a Parent-Supervised Account on the Quest 3
add-accounts-on-quest-3-00-02-59-11-still005

How to Add Multiple Accounts and Set Up a Parent-Supervised Account on the Quest 3

How to Take Screenshots in Windows 11
p1022383-00-00-00-06-still003

How to Take Screenshots in Windows 11

10 Must-Try Hidden iOS 17 Features on Your iPhone
230921-site-ios-17-hidden-features

10 Must-Try Hidden iOS 17 Features on Your iPhone

How to Record Your Screen in Windows 11
how-to-record-your-screen-in-windows-11-00-00-48-13-still002

How to Record Your Screen in Windows 11