I'm torn between 49" Sony X800D and Samsung KS8000.

P

pooshda

n00b
Joined
Sep 13, 2016
Messages
47
I put a hole in my 30" Dell IPS the other day (whoops) and after 10 years of great service I finally need a monitor without the luxury of just wanting one. I'm currently on a 19" UGEE drawing tablet right now and it's starting to drive me crazy.

FIRST AND FOREMOST

I do not want this for gaming, I might casually game on it here or there but I am not a gamer (I do have a GTX1070 though) I'm more of a creative professional, I understand this is not like a professional monitor for creative work but between those two options which do you think would best suit me. I'm an artist, designer, photography and video editor who MIGHT play a game someday but gaming performance is NOT important at all.

I've been trying to figure out a 4K TV I could use as a monitor for almost a year now and still haven't bought one, I've been on rtings.com a million times, checked out everything I could find but people only do this for gaming so there's literally no relevant information out there for me to research that I can find.

I know an IPS panel would be better for me (Sony) I don't think the Samsung is IPS? I want a TV that looks good on my desk though where I'm not sitting far from it at all, I honestly don't even want a 49" because 43" would be better but then it's no longer an IPS panel (for the Sony).

Color accuracy and such are the more important things, 100% sRGB coverage or even Adobe RGB are nice to have.


Anyone know which of these for NON GAMING purposes might be the better TV? I would honestly love to hear that Sony is the better option because it has a nicer stand (lol) and a way nicer price tag, I'll be purchasing on Amazon so returns are not going to be easy for me which is why I have not pulled the trigger on anything in what feels like a year. I keep thinking I should just buy a 28-34" monitor but I really want more real estate and size, not just crazy pixel density... Driving me nuts!

Any assistance would be great, especially if you have any experience beyond entertainment use.
 
Also PLEASE suggest alternatives if any exist, as far as I can tell these are my two best options (I know there's an 850D, 930D, etc for Sony but I won't go over 49" and saving money is nice.)
 
I was kind of afraid no one would really have a definitive answer for me on this one, I'll probably go with the Sony and just hope I don't hate it... Worse case I just have to buy a monitor too and I have two screens and a whole lot less money after the fact. I tried making a thread like this a ways back and I came to the conclusion I wanted the KS8000 back then but yeah, I think I'll try the Sony most likely but not ordering until tomorrow I don't think.
 
If you need off-axis color accuracy, then the Sony XBR-49X800D with the IPS panel is the only way to go. Otherwise the on-axis color accuracy of the UN49KS8000 is superior (you will have to sit further back to get a large enough viewable target area though).

If you'd rather have a 43", the 2015 XBR-43X830C is still available. The color accuracy and contrast ratio is slightly inferior to the 2016 X800D, but it and the LG 2015 43UF7600 are the only 43" IPS TV panels with full 4:4:4 RGB pixels (and the LG has way too high latency).

Since I work with text all day long, I vastly prefer IPS panels over VA. My 49X830C has been so much less eye-strainy than my previous el-cheapo 42" VA TV, so that may be another thing to consider.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
I did a lot of digging around to get the same questions your asking answered and then some. I'm a gamer. a video editor, music production, image editing and a very health does of web surfing. The one thing I do a lot of is watching movies and youtube. Also a lot of 4k content.

I went with the KS8000. Couldn't be happier. The Samsung is the only set from 2016 that was recommended for HDR. That was a selling point. The gaming latency was another ( yes I understand this is not as important ) but for the eventual resell of the set in the future, it could be. With the chrome ( real metal ) bezel and stand it looks fantastic on my desk. I calibrated the set myself and am very pleased with how fantastic it looks.
 
killerbobjr said:
If you need off-axis color accuracy, then the Sony XBR-49X800D with the IPS panel is the only way to go. Otherwise the on-axis color accuracy of the UN49KS8000 is superior (you will have to sit further back to get a large enough viewable target area though).

If you'd rather have a 43", the 2015 XBR-43X830C is still available. The color accuracy and contrast ratio is slightly inferior to the 2016 X800D, but it and the LG 2015 43UF7600 are the only 43" IPS TV panels with full 4:4:4 RGB pixels (and the LG has way too high latency).

Since I work with text all day long, I vastly prefer IPS panels over VA. My 49X830C has been so much less eye-strainy than my previous el-cheapo 42" VA TV, so that may be another thing to consider.
Click to expand...


X830C however does not have wide gamut which TS has expressed interest in.

However the DCI-P3 wide gamut is a cinema format and not the same as Adobe RGB. Not as huge in the greens but slightly bigger in the reds and blues, if I remember correctly. It should do a better job in showing adobe RGB picture better and more accurately than on sRGB display though, if you have the screen calibrated with ICC profile and the image viewer supports Perceptual rendering which tries to fit the AdobeRGB picture into the limits of DCI-P3 gamut without clipping.
One thing to keep in mind, in Samsungs there is no way to change between DCI-P3 and sRGB/Rec709 gamuts in PC mode. The option is greyed out and you are stuck in wide gamut mode. I dont know how Sony handles this and if you have the option to change it in 4:4:4 modes.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Thanks for the responses everyone, decision isn't really getting any easier but maybe I should just buy one and be happy with it... Sounds like the Samsung works for SixFootDuo who shares common computing activities with me even though it's not an IPS which I keep convincing myself I need, I think I could be happy with the Sony as well but I keep worrying about color accuracy and such. Funny thing is I get so worked up about it but I've used crappy monitors in the past and still did creative work on them, maybe I am really overthinking this and scrutinizing it more than necessary -- It's not like a monitor will be so bad that red shows green or something, I could always buy a smaller known to be accurate PC monitor and have it next to the TV as a reference when editing video/photos too but use the big one for the bulk of everything as a possible solution to my worries.

I stuck a tape measure to my face and figure I would be roughly 22" in from eyes to panel on the short end, if I buy a new desk like I am hoping to soon (mine is only 24" deep) I can probably make that 28-30" from eyes to panel and if I sit just a hair back maybe a little more but I do sit close to my desk, backing away from it is not an option really.

I'm starting to wonder if I waited if either of these sets would go on sale since the Super Bowl is approaching.
 
After thinking about this for months on end I finally just ordered the 49" Sony X800D since it's going to be 100% monitor use with less priority on entertainment more on productivity, every resource on choosing a monitor for photography basically says you should go with IPS so that weighed pretty heavily on my decision plus it was considerably less expensive than some other options. If I hate it, the living room will get it, I guess... We've got a nearly decade old Samsung 7 series HD LCD in there, then I'll be screwed and still need a monitor though.
 
Which of the above models has HDR?
And what about this Samsung UN49KS8500, why not consider it ?


When is the 2017 line up coming out?
 
Last edited:
StormClaw said:
Which of the above models has HDR?
And what about this Samsung UN49KS8500, why not consider it ?

When is the 2017 line up coming out?
Click to expand...

They both have HDR, I was dead set on an IPS panel so I went with the Sony, the KS8500 is the same as the KS8000 as far as I know the only difference is the curve and I wasn't so sure I would like the curve for my needs as it may slightly distort things, if I was editing architectural photography for example where distortion is an issue with wide angle lenses I was kind of worried that the curve might trick me into thinking the distortion was more than it actually was but otherwise I thought a curve would be cool, I only paid $790 for the Sony the KS8000 was $1000 and the KS8500 was almost $1200.

I'm aware the Samsung's have some advantages over the Sony but for my needs I think the Sony was a good choice after so much thinking about it, price did weigh on my decision too.
 
pooshda said:
They both have HDR, I was dead set on an IPS panel so I went with the Sony, the KS8500 is the same as the KS8000 as far as I know the only difference is the curve and I wasn't so sure I would like the curve for my needs as it may slightly distort things, if I was editing architectural photography for example where distortion is an issue with wide angle lenses I was kind of worried that the curve might trick me into thinking the distortion was more than it actually was but otherwise I thought a curve would be cool, I only paid $790 for the Sony the KS8000 was $1000 and the KS8500 was almost $1200.

I'm aware the Samsung's have some advantages over the Sony but for my needs I think the Sony was a good choice after so much thinking about it, price did weigh on my decision too.
Click to expand...
The Sony X800D doesn't have the pwm flicker that Samsung models have, correct?

Could you please post your workstation with the 49" tv on it? I'm trying to figure out how big it is and if the size is uncomfortable for such a close range.
 
I'm extremely happy with the Samsung KS8500. I do a lot of Photoshop work, typing, browsing, gaming and everything else on it. I actually like the curve for larger displays as I think it makes the corners a little easier to see.
 
StormClaw said:
The Sony X800D doesn't have the pwm flicker that Samsung models have, correct?

Could you please post your workstation with the 49" tv on it? I'm trying to figure out how big it is and if the size is uncomfortable for such a close range.
Click to expand...

I will post a photo when it arrives, it won't get here until Friday according to Amazon although my HDMI cable is showing up tomorrow, I guess the processing time on a TV is longer than the HDMI cable even though I ordered the TV first lol, my desk is a small 24" deep 47" wide disaster of a desk that will be replaced in the near future so the photo will probably be sort of pathetic or ridiculous looking but I'll definitely try and remember to throw a photo up. I tried using a 43" TV (our terrible bedroom TV) for a day or two just to get a feel... 49" is only 3" taller and 6" wider so I think I'll be alright because I was comfortable with the 43".

I'm acknowledging the possibility that I will hate having such a huge monitor but really hoping I do not, I think once I get a 30" or deeper desk and can place it 6-8 inches further back than I can on this one it will also help, I am even considering wall mounting it to recover another several inches of distance since the stand has an 8" footprint.
 
Last edited:
Dan_D said:
I'm extremely happy with the Samsung KS8500. I do a lot of Photoshop work, typing, browsing, gaming and everything else on it. I actually like the curve for larger displays as I think it makes the corners a little easier to see.
Click to expand...

Nice! I definitely considered the Samsung and I am aware they have a little bit better picture from what I read but still felt like I should have an IPS for some reason, would have been thrilled to go with the Samsung I am sure but it would have cost me an extra $300-400 and my Fiance already gave me a hard time about this one (although she has no right to talk, I pay almost all the bills so she can shut it haha). The curve was appealing to me I was just worried about very specific things like architectural photography where I am trying to remove distortion in the straight lines, I didn't want to be tricked into thinking there was distortion that didn't exist (may have not been an issue anyway)
 
pooshda said:
Nice! I definitely considered the Samsung and I am aware they have a little bit better picture from what I read but still felt like I should have an IPS for some reason, would have been thrilled to go with the Samsung I am sure but it would have cost me an extra $300-400 and my Fiance already gave me a hard time about this one (although she has no right to talk, I pay almost all the bills so she can shut it haha). The curve was appealing to me I was just worried about very specific things like architectural photography where I am trying to remove distortion in the straight lines, I didn't want to be tricked into thinking there was distortion that didn't exist (may have not been an issue anyway)
Click to expand...

From a central sitting position there is no perceived distortion. Out of that position there is some image distortion which is minimal or major depending on your angle and distance to the display. Realistically, the only thing you might do with it while not sitting directly in front of it would be watching TV. In that case the distortion is minimal and you forget about it quickly.
 
I'm still just curious how good a TV like this looks sitting close to it like a computer monitor, with the amount of people who use them as computer displays I am feeling pretty confident that I won't mind it, I know it's only 89ppi and my Dell 30" IPS was 100ppi so it doesn't seem like a massive difference, if it looks as good as that monitor did I'll be happy enough... and that monitor was 10 years old a 3007WFP.
 
I also figured as a worst case scenario, if I'm not happy with this thing for whatever reason I can make it our new living room TV (our current one is an old Samsung 7 Series LCD) which is 3 inches smaller, my fiance already said "why not put this TV you ordered in the living room?" haha, because I need a damn computer monitor! I was originally going to do the typical 30'ish inch monitor or a 34" 21:9 but enormous seemed a lot more glorious to me.
 
I just went through the last 10 or so pages of the "show us your LCD setup" thread and I feel soooooo much better now seeing that many 49" screens on desks, they're pretty much all Samsung but that's irrelevant... I was worried about the usability at that seating distance but this many users can't be wrong IMO. I also downloaded about 30 photos to show my Fiance so she can see I'm not the idiot she thinks I am for getting such a big screen, it's like she thinks I'm the only person that would do this lol.

When she sees quad monitor setups or a TV plus 2-3 extra monitors surrounding it she'll realize I'm quite tame by comparison.
 
pooshda said:
I just went through the last 10 or so pages of the "show us your LCD setup" thread and I feel soooooo much better now seeing that many 49" screens on desks, they're pretty much all Samsung but that's irrelevant... I was worried about the usability at that seating distance but this many users can't be wrong IMO. I also downloaded about 30 photos to show my Fiance so she can see I'm not the idiot she thinks I am for getting such a big screen, it's like she thinks I'm the only person that would do this lol.

When she sees quad monitor setups or a TV plus 2-3 extra monitors surrounding it she'll realize I'm quite tame by comparison.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what that thread is for ;)
 
I'm so pissed off right now... I ordered this TV on the 10th, Prime, guaranteed delivery by today (amazon still says it's coming today before 8pm but tracking info hasn't updated) I check UPS website, same thing, once I go into Support Chat and put my tracking number in there it says scheduled delivery is Monday the 16th... ugh, this was sold and shipped from Amazon, not a third party, I don't understand why they had to wait 2 days to ship it and now it's delayed 3 days... I cleaned up my whole office area, re-arranged, been excited and eagerly waiting all day and find that out.

I'm like a little kid who didn't get Christmas presents.
 
pooshda said:
I'm so pissed off right now... I ordered this TV on the 10th, Prime, guaranteed delivery by today (amazon still says it's coming today before 8pm but tracking info hasn't updated) I check UPS website, same thing, once I go into Support Chat and put my tracking number in there it says scheduled delivery is Monday the 16th... ugh, this was sold and shipped from Amazon, not a third party, I don't understand why they had to wait 2 days to ship it and now it's delayed 3 days... I cleaned up my whole office area, re-arranged, been excited and eagerly waiting all day and find that out.

I'm like a little kid who didn't get Christmas presents.
Click to expand...
Don't worry, you'll get it today or tomorrow.

Amazon is often slow to update tracking. I got a few very "last minute" deliveries from Amazon when all hope was gone. (although it was "same day" or "next day" service so they tried real hard to not fuck up)
 
StormClaw said:
Don't worry, you'll get it today or tomorrow.

Amazon is often slow to update tracking. I got a few very "last minute" deliveries from Amazon when all hope was gone. (although it was "same day" or "next day" service so they tried real hard to not fuck up)
Click to expand...

It got rescheduled for Monday unfortunately but I'll have it after tomorrow, It's currently at the facility about 25 minutes from where I live but they don't do the weekends unless it was pre-scheduled for a weekend delivery, I'm eager to receive it and try it out though! I've got some photos to edit and some work to do, this 1440x900 display is driving me nuts lol.
 
pooshda, which one did you end up getting? And since you'll likely read this tomorrow, what are your first impressions?
 
Well I have it setup but I am pretty sure I don't have it configured quite right yet, I have Windows display properties set to 4K resolution, scaling at 100% but things aren't quite right yet (looks pretty great though, this text I am typing right now is smooth as butter and I'm sitting normal distance you'd sit from a monitor) however my start menu still takes up half of the screen, it should be rather small in the bottom corner I would imagine and this website (and all others) still take up the same percentage of the screen they did in lower resolutions so something is not right.

The computer thinks the native resolution of the TV is 1080p so that's "recommended" however it definitely let me set it to 4K, I can't quite figure out why it looks like it's 1080p'ish with the amount of space I have for everything though which has me thinking I need to fix something but I'm not sure which, certain command prompts/windows/etc. look extremely bad text wise like if I go into my Nvidia control panel or go into the clear type options but most of the re-designed Windows10 menus, windows, etc. look tack sharp... like gorgeously sharp, seems like certain apps are horrible and some are fantastic so I'm certain I can figure out a workaround, I'm pleased so far just have a lot of strange things to take care of.

I should see a LOT more space on my desktop than I am though, that's for certain... Scaling is indeed at 100% though so I'm confused.

I'm sure I'll have this all sorted out today I just need to start digging, beautiful TV though I haven't even attempted to try out any 4K content yet, I'm thinking the fact that Windows thinks it's a 1080p native display is causing some kind of issue but I certainly have it set to 4K, I also changed the advanced input settings to "Enhanced" for HDMI so it should be 4:4:4 Chroma as well, I didn't honestly see anything change when I updated that setting but the fact that most things look incredibly smooth and sharp has me assuming it's working.
 
It's enormous though, I love it... once I get the kinks worked out, assuming these are kinks that can be worked out, I have seen other people's displays with the start menu showing and it took up just a small fraction of the lower left area of the screen though so something is wrong since mine takes up the entire left side of the screen and reaches nearly to the top and past the mid point... gotta be some kind of scaling issue even though it's at 100%. I'm also using HDMI 2 (my understanding is HDMI 2 and 3 are the ones I want to use).

Still got a big cheesy smile on my face though but don't figure I should share any photos until it's all proper.
 
I FIXED IT, now it's absolutely insane... LOL, holy shit I have so much space. There was another setting that had everything set to 300% that I totally did not notice, even at 49" and 100% scaling the text is tiny, basically just like everything was on my 2560x1600 I just have way more space... I do have an overscan issue at the top though so hopefully that's adjustable, just a little bit of the top of windows is cut off, I can't see the entire [H] logo for example, about 90% of it but the top is cut off, same with tabs and such.
 
Ok, this should give you an idea of how big it is with my scruffy ass in front of it.... it's glorious, I am so happy as long as I can get that slight overscan at the top fixed, I assume there's a screen/picture position adjustment somewhere and if not I can probably do it via software, I remember back in the day (15 years ago) using a utility that allowed you to set custom resolutions which allowed me to fix those issues.
monitor.jpg
 
I found the settings to adjust the picture size and position but all of the options are disabled when the input is in use so that's kind of silly, I guess I'd probably need to turn off my PC or put it to sleep so there's no signal but that'll make it kind of tricky to adjust for the overscan I would imagine, I think I just need to decrease the height about 10 pixels or less, i'd just nudge it down a little but then the bottom would be affected, only other complaint I can see so far is that Google Chrome's scrollbars have become wider for some reason and overlap text, also when I look at facebook notifications I cannot click the x to mark them as read because the scrollbar is overlapping but I know that's something I can adjust, I do find it strange that things like that were affected though... overall I'm very pleased, 4K & HDR content look beautiful too, even just streaming but I bet physical media would be even better, I'm not sure if its a realistic expectation but I might try gaming too yet I don't think a single GTX1070 is going to give much 4K performance so I'm wondering if I can do something like 2560x1440'ish on this TV or if that won't display properly.

Pretty damn happy though, my eyes feel a little strained is all.
 
Holy hell, this thing is huge!

Can you post desktop photo to see how big the icons are?

Hope you work out the overscan issues. Keep us posed!
 
Yep, I'll take a few screenshots I will also screenshot all of the issues I am having (software side scaling issues and such... some of them are annoying but overall I am extremely happy, once I get everything worked out bug wise it should be glorious), I feel like I'm using a giant PC monitor and not a TV, I expected to see visible pixelation or other things that would make me feel like I was using a TV but in all honestly it "feels like" a monitor to me.
 
Alright here we go, I am just going to link these images right in here, some of them are Native 4K I didn't resize anything but the camera shot of the overscan (also don't take that as how the screen looks, my camera did not flatter the image it looks beautiful in reality).

DESKTOP ELEMENTS SIZE (100%)
desktop_4K.jpg


OVERSCAN (only area is the top)
monitor.jpg


Scaling Issues, this is Photoshop's file menu... lol.
Scaling_Issues01.jpg


Scaling issues, this is an explorer window when I "open" a file.
Scaling_Issues02.jpg


Scaling issues, Chrome's scrollbars are massive and overlap impacting usability, this applies to Microsoft Edge, etc. as well... obvious software issues, not the TV.
Scaling_Issues03.jpg



Those are my only issues right now, not sure how to address them Windows scaling is set to 100% and so is scaling in Photoshop, I even have font size set to "tiny" but you can see it's not tiny.

One other issue I have in Photoshop is when I open documents they don't have UI elements like the title bar so I can't drag them around unless I resize the window then they appear, has to be a redraw issue with Photoshop I assume.

Otherwise this thing is awesome, I am sure all of these bugs can be fixed I just don't know how yet.
 
It's almost like Windows is setup w/ accessibility options for blind people right now, once I figure out how to fix the huge scrollbars, UI text size, etc. I think it will be good to go... ALSO, I cannot adjust the picture size in the Sony setup menu because all options are "currently disabled" or something like that, I tried putting the PC to sleep then trying w/o a signal and they still aren't available. I was going to try and decrease the picture size down a percentage or two then nudge it down and see if that fixed the overscan but all of those options are not usable for whatever reason, maybe it's because i'm in HDMI enhanced mode or some other settings I have enabled (I have no clue) I am sure it'll all get sorted though.
 
Whoa, whoa, whoa... FALSE ALARM on the scaling issues, I guess i had never rebooted after I changed that 300% to 100% option a couple hours ago and just did so now and everything is perfect... no more huge UI items.

The Overscan is corrected too, EVERYTHING is perfect!
 
Desktop Icons look small :(

Kind of like on my Asus 34" widescreen (1440p)

I don't understand why, since this screen is so much bigger. Seriously, WTF?

Pooshda, could you please post update photo after you fixed all issues?
 
StormClaw said:
Desktop Icons look small :(

Kind of like on my Asus 34" widescreen (1440p)

I don't understand why, since this screen is so much bigger. Seriously, WTF?
Click to expand...

Did you view the image full-size or just inline with the thread? Honestly these icons look to be the same size as I am used to on every monitor I've ever had which makes me wonder if you're viewing the resized image. I have always had my icons setup this size, they look nearly identifical to how they looked on a 1440x900 and 2560x1600 display for me, I think they're perfect to be honest. I have them set to "Medium Icons"right now for what it's worth.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by what size they appeared as, they can be set to larger though, I wonder if you've always had yours set to "large icons" w/ your desktop settings and that's why they seem small to you?
 
Here I cropped it down so it would display at 100% size.
 

Attachments

  • icons.jpg
    icons.jpg
    15.5 KB · Views: 50
Just for the record I haven't calibrated it or done anything to it yet either, straight out of the box and I'm happy with it so that's quite a statement, can't imagine how much I'll like it once calibrated.
 
pooshda said:
Honestly these icons look to be the same size as I am used to on every monitor I've ever had
Click to expand...
That's the problem. I though that they would look bigger on a bigger screen.

There's not point for me in getting a big TV if the icons/text are gonna look same size like on an 34" monitor. I'd still need to squint and strain my eyes.

I completely don't get how all that resolution/size/dpi shit works.
 
pooshda said:
Ok, this should give you an idea of how big it is with my scruffy ass in front of it.... it's glorious, I am so happy as long as I can get that slight overscan at the top fixed, I assume there's a screen/picture position adjustment somewhere and if not I can probably do it via software, I remember back in the day (15 years ago) using a utility that allowed you to set custom resolutions which allowed me to fix those issues.
monitor.jpg
Click to expand...

StormClaw said:
Holy hell, this thing is huge!

Can you post desktop photo to see how big the icons are?

Hope you work out the overscan issues. Keep us posed!
Click to expand...

pooshda said:
The Overscan is corrected too, EVERYTHING is perfect!
Click to expand...
I'm extremely glad to hear that all is working right! I'm going to hold out until mid-2017 to buy a TV, since I'm hoping that Sony will have something just like this, but with HDMI 2.1 and 120Hz as well. Also, I know that this particular screen is IPS, so can you comment on the backlight bleed? Is it noticeable? And can you post a picture of a black background in a dark room?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top