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We at Smarthouse Magazine pride ourselves on not being shallow when it comes to TVs. It takes more than a few fancy design flourishes for a screen to win us over. But even we have to admit that it's hard to think of a TV with more instant ‘shop window' appeal than Samsung's 50in PS50Q7HD.
For starters there are its truly sumptuous looks. The black, high gloss, finish used for most of the fascia smacks of luxury; while the inclusion of an angled-back sliver of grained silver along the bottom edge is truly inspired. What's more, this sliver is there for reasons of function as well as form, since the resulting ledge created above it is used to accommodate a pair of ‘hidden' down-firing speakers.
The screen's specification is also eye-catching. For instance, it's HD Ready (with a native resolution of 1366 x 768), it's got an almost frighteningly high claimed contrast ratio of 10000:1, and it claims to deliver an outlandish 549 billion colours thanks to 13-bit video processing.
But the PS50Q7HD's most remarkable instant attraction kicks in when you drag your eyes away from its sumptuous bodywork and clock its price: typically $5499. This really is almost absurdly cheap for a 50in TV – especially one with the sort of specifications we've described.
The first sign of anything less than spectacular comes with the PS50Q7HD's connections, which have no Scarts when really we'd hope for at least one Scart.
Still, there are two HDMI inputs and you do get a dedicated PC input, a set of component jacks, plus a CI slot and digital audio output to support the digital tuner. The CI slot, of course, is for adding subscription services to the channel roster, while the digital audio jack makes it easy to treat radio services as a viable hi-fi source, or just route TV audio into an AV system.
The PS50Q7HD's digital tuner is also supported by a 7-day EPG. You can set recording timer events from this EPG too, with the only weakness being that you can only scroll through it in maximum two-hour steps – hardly ideal if you're looking for something seven days ahead!
High on the PS50Q7HD's features list is Samsung's DNIe picture processing system, designed to improve colour tones/vibrancy, fine detailing, black levels and motion.
DNIe isn't the only trick on hand for motion either, as the PS50Q7HD also boasts Samsung's new Smooth Motion Driver. This reputedly integrates as many as 10 extra frames a second into the source picture, to reduce the impact of false contouring and motion judder.
The 50Q7HD is also the first screen we've seen to boast Samsung's FilterBright technology for reducing the ambient reflections. This introduces a filter layer into the plasma panel's construction that apparently soaks up as much as 90 per cent of the light that hits the screen, leaving only 10 per cent to bounce back into your living room.
So – the build quality and features count just doesn't tally with the puny price tag. Surely there's got to be something seriously wrong with its performance?
Performance
In a bid to catch the PS50Q7HD out early, we started off watching standard-def fodder from its own digital tuner. But we really didn't find anything like as much to complain about as expected. Skin tones occasionally ‘glow' a fraction, heavily saturated colours can become a touch dominant at times, and DNIe doesn't do as canny a job of sharpening up standard-definition sources as some rival systems. But that's really all.
There's lots more to be said about all the good stuff the TV does. Black level, for instance, is outstanding, reaching impressive depths while also clinging on to far more greyscale subtleties than is common on a ‘budget' plasma.
The colour tone, too, is pleasingly natural, except for those occasional overcooked full saturations we mentioned. Skin tones look noticeably more authentic than they do on Samsung's LCD TVs. And whether it's down to the 13-bit processing or not, there's no doubt that there's a greater range to the Samsung's palette than we would have expected for $5499.
The picture is also bright for such a large plasma display, and there's no problem with pixel noise in dark areas, or colour banding.
For the most part we applaud the Smooth Motion Driver too. It's not perfect; really rapid motion, such as the passage of a long goal kick during some footie, can judder a bit as the processing struggles to keep up (oddly, this seems especially true during HD viewing). But during most ‘normal' TV viewing the Driver adds a subtle extra degree of smoothness to proceedings. And, if you don't like it, there's always the option to turn it off.
We'd expect a screen as large as this to burst into life with high-definition, and, happily, that's precisely what the PS50Q7HD does. While we've seen slightly sharper HD performances from premium plasma sets, the Samsung's efforts still look more detailed and textured than we would expect for its money – a fact which combines with the outstanding black level and expansive colour palette to create a delightfully cinematic feel.
Rather less cinematic, alas, are the PS50Q7HD's sonics. Hiding speakers away like this is all well and good, provided they make their presence known sonically. But, sadly, the ones used here lack the range and power to open up at all convincingly when required by even a fairly restrained soundtrack.
Conclusion
Most people reading this will already have some sort of separate home cinema sound system, making the PS50Q7HD's audio deficiencies relatively unimportant. And once you take those out of the equation, you're left with a plasma that delivers far finer 50in picture thrills and way more features than you've any right to expect for the price. A genuine bargain.
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Samsung PS50Q7HD ¦ $5499 ¦ 
¦ www.samsung.com.au
For: General performance, price, design, and value.
Against: Slightly weedy sound.
Verdict: Great features for a bargain price.
