Bang and Olufsen's 55-inch BeoVision 7 collects a review, much love
By Vlad Savov 
posted February 19th 2010 11:05AM
posted February 19th 2010 11:05AM
posted February 19th 2010 11:05AM
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Is 4000:1 static contrast ratio good?
I've only been used to the term dynamic contrast ratio.
@weeman Contrast ratios are messy, but the 0,0 cd/m2 black depth is good - the LED turned off, no light leaked through, so it's very black.
@YpoCaramel
Most monitors are 1000:1
@weeman
Samsung has 1, 5, 7,000,000:1. No it's not. Also the 6ms response is slow. Most displays have 3-2ms.
@(Unverified) thats dynamic contrast ratio not static
FlatpanelsHD pulled out the colorimeter and did their usual intensive thing - this is no lightweight lifestyle review.
No stereoscopic 3D, but I'm not too bored.
Give me that!
I'm pretty sure those aren't epithets.
So B&O has started selling good quality TVs again. I remember a couple years back, when I was checking out LCD tvs, and checked out B&O. Crappy, crappy, crappy picture quality. And it was fed from a bluray player.
@fabarati
B&O never sold good flatscreen tvs. They thought style and good sound would pull them through. Nice to see they've seen the light.
If you have the money to buy something like this, you don't have any clue what makes good picture quality....you just buy whatever it is someone tells you to get, mainly because it is expensive, therefore it has to be better then your Samsungs or Panasonics.
@(Unverified)
Are you saying rich people don't understand quality? You're kidding, right?
@LeJay No, rich people are allowed to buy Panasonics. Not Samsungs, though. Damn, you, Samsung!
That does *not* look like a 55" tv.. either that, or those tiles and speakers are very huge
People don't (only) buy a B&O TV for it's picture quality, but when you think about how expensive they are, it's good to see that B&O have focused on tech-quality and not only design.
Any chance for a recession antidote here? C'mon Engadget!
AKJ: The speakers are not small, yeah. You can see a comparison of the 55-inch to a 40-inch TV in the actual review. The difference is quite significant.
I must join YpoCaramel, that's a very comprehensive review. I love that it's not just another crappy lifestyle look at the b&o set that we see much too often.
Why does beauty cost sooooo much?
Smells like Samsung 7 or 8 series panel
I would prefer a Bluray player that doesn't open each time my cat walks past the TV.
@Thermos14
It's actually not motion-activated, I dont know why they said that. There's a little sensor bar that you have to physically touch, mounted up underneath the bezel, and to the side of the Blu-Ray's drive door.
18 stacks for a friggin' TV? Got to be outch yer friggin' mind. I don't care how "great" it is, it's just a TV, that will be obsolete about the time you get your next cable bill. I remember 10 years ago, top of the line Mitsubishi's were 4 grand. I guess if you can throw that kind of coin around, more power to you. I'll stick with my Samsung. Lot better value, but I can't brag, oh darn.
@Dank Dillweed
It's not just a TV, that price includes the motorized floor stand, a $4,000 speaker, a surround sound receiver, Blu-Ray drive, and a universal system controller. As well as a very high end video processing chip. So, when you deconstruct the price, the TV-portion actually only costs about $4k
@Churrasco9
OK, 4k tv
4k speaker
total 8 grand, so another 10g for a stand with a $100 motor, blu ray and remote. Sounds like a steal of a deal to me.
@Dank Dillweed
Yup. You are paying for a name, nothing more. I at least understand when rich people buy uber-expensive cars.....they at least perform better then your normal consumer line of sub $50k automobiles.
But when names like B&O get into the TV market, it makes me cringe. I've never seen such an overpriced, needless, wasteful monstrosity. I care not what any review says.
@(Unverified)
So wait...you can understand a car being expensive because it performs better than a cheaper car, but you cant understand a TV/Sound/Control System being more expensive because it performs better, and is an overall better product than a cheaper TV? Why do you even bother commenting on things?
@(Unverified)
Ya cuz cars are the only item where there can be a quality difference.
I bet you think all computer LCD monitors are equal too?
@Churrasco9
I see his point, cars don't depreciate like electronics will....oh, wait.
@(Unverified)
"But when names like B&O get into the TV market, it makes me cringe."
They got into it TV market some 20 years before Samsung...
http://www.beoworld.org/prod_details.asp?pid=1175
there is no such thing as $100 motorized stand. Even static stands usually priced around $1k for the very good ones. A cheap motorized stand starts at around $1.5k, the good ones around $2.5k.
So 4k speakers, 4k TV, 3k stand, 1k BD player, decent video processor usually cost around $3k, so $15k total, plus the B&O styling and branding. $18k is expensive but not bad for a B&O product.
@David Susilo
You're forgetting a built in high-end preamp/processor for audio duties, and the fact you will not need a custom remote to control all your sources...the TV's processor does that for you as well.
@David Susilo
Actually, what I said was a stand with a $100 motor. I work in the print production biz, and we build conveyer belts, pumps with solenoids, etc, and I can assure you, the motor in this stand at max is $200, maybe 300 with a Siemens PLC, but it won't have that kind of tech. It's going to be a simple motor, had from China for $68. Mark up on things that make you go WOW is SO funny. And include the gearing for that motor onto the table. I can make a rotating table probably in 30 minutes from left over parts.
@Dank Dillweed
Wow dude, how can you mention actual part cost. Consumer cost is something completely different. High end electronics are always marked up significantly because of small volume. Also, does it have a B&O nameplate? I'm sure B&O is not using a cheap motor for their stand. Usually high end products use expensive parts. Eg. A Nokia 8800 is a high end world phone. People assume it's just a simple slide phone. However, it uses Porsche bearings for its slide mechanism. The motion may be the same, but will operate and feel completely different.
Imagine a BeoWulf cluster of these!
lol my father has buy that ting 3 weeks ago verry nice man best tv we ever had
@Jorn Jelmer He should of bought you a better eduacation. Holy grammar fail!!!
@Mtmrob should have*
@Mtmrob sorry I'm not good in english because I'm a Dutchman i thought for my age is 17 years is pretty good english want jij kan ook geen nederlands lol niet zomaar dingen zeggen over iemand ander gozer lekker voor je!
Anyone know what panel is used in this tv?
@Zoogoober It's actually a panel made by Samsung.
Overpriced TV is overpriced.
B&O LCD are made by samsung. they tweak it a bit but mostly do the audio.
@jaffreywali
Panel is from Samsung, the electronics that make up the rest the tv is not. In other words it's not just a tweaked Samsung model with a custom speaker.
@slipstream
Panel is same, but video processing (equally as important) is different.
jaffreywali
Yes the panels are from mostly pana (previous Pioneer) and samsung, then B&O does the rest, and thats a lot. They use the best panels and then do the lighting, control etc etc. This is why B&O have always made some of the best televisions, simple actually, take the best, make it better ;)
Why do people think B&O is overpriced?
Does everybody drive old Russian cars? Because they will bring you from A to B as any other car. Anybody get the logic? A nice Bentley may not be more of a car than a VW, but heck I want the Bentley, dont you?
When it comes to video processing it's mostly the chip. B&O don't design the core processors. It's tweaking off the shelf stuff. Similar to someone who took an Oppo BD player slapped on a case and raised the price. I think it was Lexicon.
These are essentially samsung panels and core processing. Audio is theirs....
I my many years of installation, when a client wants B&O and I have to show them that it's just a name that carries a chi-chi attitude and they can have many more and better toys for the price. I have yet to loose in my arguments. And my clients are more than grateful in the end. A client just the other day a client had to have McIntosh audio gear. I installed and then he went to a friends house and his system (mine) sounded twice as good, did ten times more and cost half. We're loosing the MacIntosh gear next week. These days there are too many good players out there that are easily crowding out the old audiophile standards. Personally I have had 7.1 Surround for over ten years, and it's just now hitting the market as a standard. 7.2 and 9.2 are the gotta haves. As they should be. Too bad the media is not there yet.
@(Unverified) *lose. You can let loose your knowledge in a discussion about over priced items, but you can only win or lose an argument. :)
@mcjedi
My apologies the "O" sticks on my keyboard and I missed it when rereading. Such a small thing to lose sleep over.