Picture quality

Both my colleague David Katzmaier and I had great hopes for the Samsung UNES6500 after the very good performance of its predecessor, the D6400; alas, this particular TV was a minor letdown.

Picture settings:
Samsung ES6500 series

While color performance was generally excellent on both models, lighter black levels brought the newer UNES6500 down. It did get slightly darker than the more expensive ES8000, but there are plenty of TVs less expensive than the ES6500 that can perform the same feat. Shadow detail was very good, though; this means that even if the UNES6500 doesn't lead the way in absolute contrast, darker images did have a depth and stability that outdid the otherwise better Vizio M3D, for example.

In terms of image quality the UNES6500 fell almost exactly halfway between the Samsung ES8000 and the Vizio M3D550KD and it was initially difficult to determine on which side of the fence it should go, that is until I spotted a strange flaw (see video processing in the full review for more details).