This tv has been discontinued.
The Samsung Plasma F5300 is a good budget plasma TV. The picture quality in a dark room is excellent. However, it isn't good for viewing in a bright living room. It doesn't get very bright and the screen reflects a lot of light.
- Good picture quality. It has good contrast and handles motion well.
- Average-high input lag. It is still playable though.
- This TV reflects a lot of light. You will not see the picture if you try watching this in a bright room with lots of windows.
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Design
The Samsung F5300 is a good choice for a dimly lit room. Its good contrast produces deep blacks.
The screen uniformity is perfect.
5.0
Dark scene in a bright room
When you turn the lights on, the screen becomes gray. It reflects a lot of light and it is hard to distinguish dark details in the picture. You definitely do not want this TV in a bright room.
5.0
Bright scene in a bright room
It performs slightly better when displaying a bright scene, but this is still a problem area for it.
The colors stays true even from the sides.
The F5300 has very little phosphor trailing and it also supports 24p without judder, which is good.
The input lag is a bit high, but it is still playable.
1 Component In
1 Composite In
1 RF In
1 Digital Audio Out (Optical)
Smart Features
The picture quality of the Samsung F5300 Plasma TV is excellent in a dark room. Do not turn on the lights, though, because the picture will get washed out by the amount of reflections.
Questions & Answers
46 ANSWERED QUESTIONS
Can you guys share the picture settings that you used during the review?
Our calibration settings for the
F5300:
Picture Mode: Movie
Color Tone: Warm2
Cell Light: 20
Contrast: 93
Brightness: 45
Color: 50
Tint: G50/R50
Gamma: 0
White Balance:
Red: Offset: 27 Gain: 25
Green: Offset: 26 Gain: 25
Blue: Offset: 24 Gain: 25
All processing settings turned off.
I just want to point out that the F5300B is not "just a refresh" over the 2013 A models. It is a completely new panel that is far superior to the A panels and is actually a tad better than even the
F8500 in terms of black levels. They also calibrate amazingly well. I have measured black levels as low as 0.002ftL, comparable to the F8500s, and it has less of a floating black issue with higher APL content. More details here: http://www.avsforum.com/forum/139-display-calibration/1415546-patterns-measure-mll-function-apl-3.html#post27672586.
Thanks for that info.
Does the plasma
F5300 produce a buzzing sound?
Yes, as does every plasma TV. It is only audible when you are near the television and the sound is off. You should not hear it with normal usage.
Would this be ok for a living room with moderate light? Say just an overhead light.
Yes, just an overhead light should be fine. Check out our viewing angle video, it was filmed with only an overhead light turned on. This should give you an idea of the reflection.
How bad is the lag on the
F5300? Is that 70ms poor, or is it not noticeable to the hand-eye?
Most people won't notice it, so I wouldn't call that a deal breaker.
My
F5300 will arrived in the next few days. What is the best way to break it in and for how long?
Whether or not it is necessary to do this is very controversial, especially if it won't be professionally calibrated after. If you still want to do it, though, you can just put a movie with a 16:9 aspect ratio (so no black bars) and no static logo on a loop for about 100 hours.
Does the pentile display (60") version have any problems the normal RGB wouldn't experience? I've read that few users dislike this type of display, I just can't see why (except maybe if you sit a meter in front of it).
Would be used for PS2(1%), XBOX360(9%), PC(10%), <720p/SD(40%), BD/720-1080p(40%).
It really only depends on the viewing distance, like you said. At normal viewing distance, you can't really tell the difference - especially for non 1080p content. Most of the hate comes from the feeling of being lied to.
I am an hardcore gamer and sports watcher. I am about to purchase a new TV set and I'm torn between the Samsung
F5300 and the Vizio
M series 50". Also, there is minimal light in the room its going to be in, and I don't need 3D, or 4 HDMI ports and stuff.
The
F5300 is definitely the best TV for your room and usage.
Does the
F5300 need to be broken-in? I've heard of people running break-in slides for hours in order to help with image retention?
This is a controversial subject. The generally accepted view is that it doesn't help with image retention but does help for calibration. The colors tend to shift a little bit in the first hours of a plasma, so running slides will stabilize them before you do a real calibration.
I'm considering the 51"
F5300 and
F5500 plasma TVs from Samsung. I'm curious about whether both models will display 24p correctly, and with the same picture quality. And is this done at 48Hz, and if so, how does this affect viewability vs the higher refresh rates on some other plasmas (96Hz) and LED TVs (120Hz)?
Yes, both support 24p. This is what we used in our motion video test, and you can see that each frame gets exactly the same time without judder. With a plasma TV, 48Hz vs 96Hz means you will perceive less flickering with the 96Hz. Some people don't even see the screen flickering at 48Hz though, so you might not be susceptible to this. LED TVs are different because the LCD panel does not flicker at all, no matter the refresh rate. The backlight usually flickers though, to control the luminosity of it.
How would I set up PC mode for gaming with a PS4? Do I need a PC? Is PC mode the same as Game mode?
PC mode is usually better because there it has even less processing. To set the input to PC, press inputs on your remote, hover over the relevant HDMI input, and change the Type to PC (not by renaming it, but selecting it in the options).
Thanks a lot for everything you do for people. I really appreciate the information that I came across that you gave, seriously. I am going to BestBuy now to buy the Samsung
PN51F5300 with my hard-earned money. The Panasonic are nice but I am confident with Samsung. Love all the videos, tests and pics you did, man. I love the website and will recommend it to friends and family.
Thanks for the feedback. The
PN51F5300 is a great choice if you can control the lighting in your room. Enjoy your new TV!
How do I get rid of mosquito and grain noise from my Samsung plasma
F5300? It makes the picture look terrible on some Blu-ray movies and shows.
It depends what you are referring to. There are three types of noises: compression noise (which is very minimal on Blu-rays, so it is probably not this), film grain (present on the majority of movies, even the digital ones, for artistic purposes) and plasma dithering. I am assuming the last in your case, which happens for all plasma TVs. You can't get rid of it. Usually, people sit far enough away that it isn't an issue.
Both the
F5300 and the LG
LN5700 are within my budget, but which one you would buy if you were me?
I know the LN5700 has low black levels, which scares me a lot since I don't want low picture quality while watching my movies.
The plasma has nice black levels but works badly during daylight. I never watch movies in a 100% dark room - there is always some light.
It depends on how much light you have and how much you get distracted by reflections. As shown in our pictures, the
F5300 has many reflections and the picture gets grayish. It should be fine if you only have 1-2 lamps, but if you have an uncovered window during the day, forget about it.
I'm trying to decide between the Panasonic
S60 and Samsung
F5300 as a budget plasma TV for gaming and home theater use. Unfortunately, my living room is somewhat bright, and I'm concerned that the luminescence of the S60 is going to be an issue I wouldn't experience with the F5300. Can you comment on the relative brightness of these two panels from a viewer's perspective?
The
F5300 can get 54% brighter and it is noticeable. However, the picture appears grayish in a bright room, so it is a trade-off. Check out our pictures and you will see the difference. If you plan on using frequently using your TV in a bright room, you should opt instead for an LED, or at least a plasma with an anti glare filter (like the
ST60 or the
F8500). The better blacks of a plasma don't matter in a bright room anyway, thanks to the reflectiveness of the screen.
Is "Automatic Brightness Limiter" a problem on that set? Can you disable it or limit it with picture settings? How bad is the "Automatic Brightness Limiter" effect?
All plasma TVs have it, and it can't be turned off. As a rule of thumb, Samsung plasma TVs are not as bad as Panasonic for this. Unless you are watching a lot of white footage (like hockey games), it shouldn't bother you much.
In the review of the
F5300, it says that the input lag is 70.8 ms. However, in one of the answered questions it was mentioned that it was 45 ms. Which is the correct lag?
70.8ms is the input lag that we measured. It was a typo in one of the questions. Note that some people reported achieving a better input lag by setting the input type to PC, which we didn't.
Just got back from looking at the this TV at three different Best Buys. It looked horrible. Yes, I saw them in a well-lit store with the Eco feature turned off, and with the remote I tried the three different picture modes I could find and every adjustment I could and still the picture had a brownish/grey dull blurry haze on both the 51" and 60" at every store. Were there picture adjustments I could not access? Does the lighting washout the picture that much?
This is due to the lighting and awful reflections that turn the TV grayish. You really need a dark room for this TV to shine.
I had a 50" plasma TV in a room I call my 'movie room'. It has no windows, but I do watch with a three-way floor light on, the lowest light. I am going to move up to a 60", but all the plasmas at that size only have 2 HDMI inputs. I need to connect an Xbox, a Blu-ray player, and to connect to the internet so I can stream.
You could just buy an HDMI splitter. Some of them are 'automatic', meaning they detect which device is powered on and select that one.
OK I am thinking about buying a Samsung Plasma TV (Love Plasma). I would like to know whether there is a difference between the
F5300 and the
F8500, apart from the smart TV and 3D capabilities. Is there a difference in picture Quality? I mean, if you took all the Extras out of the 8500, would the TV be the same picture and sound quality, or am I getting something better with the F8500?
It is a completely different plasma. The
F8500's picture quality is much better. It can get twice as bright (so it has a higher contrast ratio). It has an anti-reflection filter, and it flickers less. If you can afford it, it is definitely worth it for the difference in picture quality alone.
Is burn-in a problem with the
F5300?
All plasmas can suffer from temporary burn-ins. They rarely occur, and they go away after a few minutes when they do. It is not something to worry about unless you plan on displaying a static image for a long period of time. It definitely occurs less frequently than a few years ago, and it is not permanent anymore.
Just setting mine up. Is it supposed to swivel on the stand or be firmly fixed to the stand?
It should swivel by about 20 degrees to each side.
I'm considering the Samsung
F5300 Plasma for a basement. My question is regarding the optical audio output. Does this TV passthrough Dolby 5.1 from external sources via HDMI to my optical out? I have a Vizio soundbar with true 5.1 surround. It only has one optical in, so I planned on connecting my devices to the TV with HDMI and using optical from TV to the soundbar. Will the soundbar still run 5.1 surround, or will it be cut down to stereo?
We haven't tested that, but I doubt it supports it, because most Samsung TVs don't.
We're planning to buy a plasma TV (Samsung brand in particular). We are going to put the TV in our living room with two big windows, which also have thick curtains. I want to ask if this will still affect the quality of viewing. Also, my kids love to watch TV, so most probably they watch for at least 7 hours/day. Can plasma TVs handle those long hours of usage?
With curtains, you should be fine. There will still be some reflections if you have the lights on, but it shouldn't be an issue. Watching TV this long on a plasma is fine. However, you should make sure they don't pause it and forget about it for hours. It is static images that cause image retention, not normal viewing.
Why are plasma TV colors not as vibrant as those of an LCD TV?
Plasma TVs cannot get as bright as LED TVs. This doesn't mean the colors aren't as good, though. In fact, they are usually better. In stores, LED TVs are not calibrated to have reference colors, but instead have pictures meant to sell more TVs. This means the TVs have their brightness set to the max. For more info, check out our full comparison
between plasma and led.
My remote is different from the one in the pic. Instead of a dedicated sleep button I have a guide button. Any thoughts?
Do not worry about this. Remotes vary by country, and sometimes even within the same country, depending on their stocks of remotes.
Regarding the Samsung
F5300 review comment, "How do I get rid of mosquito and grain noise from my Samsung plasma F5300? It makes the picture look terrible on some Blu-ray movies and shows.
It depends what you are referring to. There are three types of noises: compression noise (which is very minimal on Blu-rays, so it is probably not this), film grain (present on the majority of movies, even the digital ones, for artistic purposes) and plasma dithering. I am assuming the last in your case, which happens for all plasma TVs. You can't get rid of it. Usually, people sit far enough away that it isn't an issue."
One should insert a BD movie that has black bars on the top and bottom, and while watching the dithering in the black bars 6" away one should turn down the brightness until they just disappear.
Yes, but you risk crushing the shadow details when changing the brightness like this. The brightness setting is better calibrated using this kind of pattern:
brightness-pattern.png. The goal is to set it as low as possible, like you said, but the 17 gradation should still be visible. Alternatively, if your goal is to just decrease the luminosity, the Cell Light setting is the one to use.
I am thinking about upgrading the 46 inch Panasonic Viera G10 I bought in 2009 before the Samsung plasmas disappear. I am considering a 60 inch
F5300, but I am afraid of the glare. It was not really an issue for the G10: I can see some reflections on the screen during the day, but I can watch it with the blinds open unless the sun is shining on the window. I am not considering the 60 inch
F8500 because of the buzz and price, but maybe I should consider the 51 inch. We sit eight feet away and use the TV only to watch streaming and Blu-ray movies. Is the glare of an F5300 so much more than that of a five-year-old G10?
Your G10 has an anti-glare filter, which helps for managing reflections. The Samsung
F5300 plasma doesn't have that. It has a lot more glare, and it is really an issue during the day. You should either go for the 51"
F8500 (which does have an anti-glare filter), or go for an LED.
I just got the
f5300, which will be delivered tomorrow. Will glare be an issue if it is wall mounted/diagonal above the fireplace? I have one big window to the side of the TV.
You will probably need blinds.
I followed your calibration settings above but wanted to know if you leave color on auto or native, and for dark mode, do you have it off, or on bright room or dark room setting?
Leave it to Auto. For the other option, we had it to off, but you might prefer to select the value that matches your room type.
I currently have a PNF4500. I was looking at getting a
PN64F5300 or the
PN64F8500. Glare isn't a problem. I plan on calibrating the displays to 40 ftl. Would it make a difference if the PN64F8500 is brighter? Would the PN64F8500 be worth the extra money? Thanks for your time.
The
F5300 can't get up to 40 fL, or at least in the checkboard pattern that we use. It will be about as bright as your current
F4500. If that is enough for you, stick to the cheaper F5300. The
F8500 still has slightly better picture quality (less flickering, for example), but it isn't really worth twice the price in a complete dark room.
Thank you for the great info on this site. Can you describe what you consider a "dark" room? Is this a room with no external lighting and all room lights turned off, or is this a room with window treatments and an accent lamp or two? I am considering the
f5300 for a room with semi translucent window treatments and a couple of lamps. So it's darker than a normal living room, but not as dark as my home theater with zero ambient light.
A pitch black room. Your room is what we called 'Average Room' in our 2014 reviews and 'Bright Room' in 2013 (when we reviewed the
F5300). Therefore, the reflections/glare of the F5300 might cause a problem in your room. Some people are ok with this, but it is far from ideal.
I own the 5300. My recommendation to deal with the glare during the daytime is to wall mount it with a moderate (10-15 degree) tilt. This has really made a difference for me during the day with the natural light in the room, as well as in the evening when I have my ceiling lights turned on.
That's a good point. Something other
F5300 owners looking to cut down on glare should consider.
When the Samsung is in the 96hz movie mode, how does the 600hz subfield divide into that? Being 600 divides into 96 6.25 times, wouldn't some sort of pull down have to be used?
Also, if it does go down to 6.25 pulses in 96hz mode, wouldn't that mean less color variation than with 10 pulses in 60hz mode?
It doesn't work like that. The refresh rate in plasma is not the same as in LCD. It corresponds to the length of a pulse, not the number of pulses. That said, the movie mode does change the number of pulses. When you turn on movie mode, the screen appears to slightly flickers more.
I want to replace my LCOS JVC 55" TV, which heats up my living room in the summer. Would the Samsung plasma
F5300 be less of a heater?
Most likely not. Plasma TVs consume more electricity than LCD TVs, and thus radiate more heat.
Regarding the input lag on the
F5300: a few sites have this down in the 40ms range. Why would that be? Is there an additional input setting to further reduce the lag?
For our measurement, we didn't set it to PC mode, which should reduce the input lag to the mid 40ms range.
I just purchased the 51" model and overall the picture is great, however I notice quite a bit of what I am assuming is dithering in the background of black and grey scenes. I am sitting about eight feet from the screen. Is there anything I can do about this or is there another model you recommend?
Yes, this is probably dithering. Every plasma TV has this and unfortunately it cannot be fixed/reduced unfortunately. Most people don't notice it at a normal viewing distance, or they get used to it.
I have been searching for input lag results for the new pn51f5300b, and just what differences are there between the pn51f5300a and the pn51f5300b? I've searched everywhere and it's not turning up anything. I am a gamer who plays a lot of first person shooter games, but I am also a Blu-ray movie fan. I need low input lag, but this new TV seems like a good choice just for movies.
Looks like it is just a refresh, so you can consider them the same. Note that you can achieve lower input lag than we did (in the mid 40s) by turning on PC mode (which we didn't do with this model). This should bring the input lag down low enough for fast FPS games.
When watching movies, should 24p be activated with Cinema Smooth? You mentioned it makes the film darker and more flickery.
Yes, you should activate it. Otherwise, you will notice some juddering when watching movies.
Does the
F8500 have better blacks than the
F5300, or are they about the same? If it's better, is it noticeable?
Slightly better, but not by much. It can get brighter though, so the contrast ratio is higher.
I just bought a Samsung
f5300 and a Samsung sound bar, and I want to connect a wireless headset to it. Can I use a digital to analog converter through the optical output and have it work?
Yes, that should work fine.
Do you know the response time with PC mode on vs with Game mode?
Unfortunately, we haven't tested both of them to compare. Note that only Samsung usually has a PC mode (hidden as an input type).
I was wondering if I can hook up my surround to it and if it has external audio?
Yes, it has an Digital Optical Audio Output, which is supported by most surround system.
Will the Samsung
pn60f5300 accommodate 5.1 surround sound? I read elsewhere that this was not possible.
If you mean via optical output, no, it can't.
I recently bought the Vizio E 55" TV. I hated the uniformity, and the colors are off by a good margin. Tempted to take it back and getg the 60"
f5300 instead. Good move? Wanted to get the 51"
f8500, but they seem to be in short supply. We have a dark painted room, the sun never hits that side of the house and we have cellular blinds that remove most the light from the room.
If you can control the lights, then yes, it is a good move to go for the
F5300. The uniformity is perfect - way better than the Vizio E.
Hi,
I just bought an
F5300 (Sears Outlet actually had one new, and still in box, believe it or not) as I wanted a larger Plasma to replace my current seven-year-old Sanyo Plasma (it's been a trooper) for various reasons.
After viewing your site though, I'm a bit confused. It appears that the Vizio
E-series LCDs (both 2014 and 2015 models) actually have better blacks than the F5300, and you have even rated them as having better motion blur handling.
However, in some of your comments (obviously on the 2014 models given the timestamp) you claim this is still a better TV. Why is that? It's not that I regret my purchase as we have a semi-circle setup in the living room and viewing angle is VERY important, just VERY curious. Thanks!
You're right that the
E-series has deeper blacks, but that's just one element of the picture. The
F5300 has perfect uniformity and a wider viewing angle, and combined with the decent contrast, those are reason enough for us to consider the F5300 a better overall TV.
We have also changed our method for scoring motion blur, so the numbers for the F5300 and the E-series are not properly comparable.
We are not taking any more questions for this product because we no longer have it in our lab.
: Not at the latest test bench
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