Showing posts with label samsung lcd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label samsung lcd. Show all posts

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Samsung LN46A750 46-Inch 1080p DLNA LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color Review

Samsung LN46A750 46-Inch 1080p DLNA LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
I have only had this TV for a few days, so this is not a complete review, but I wanted to warn others about some issues that they may find important.
Picture quality is great - I have not run a calibration or tested various known sources for difficult to reproduce scenes or motion. The blacks are so good that the image color looks over saturated at the factory default setting when placed next to a panel with lower contrast ratio. (It should be kept in mind that the eye has a logarithmic response to light, and a 50,000:1 contrast ratio may not be that much more than a 30,000:1 ratio.) In the store I was comparing this panel to a 46a550 and 46a530 all at their factory default settings. The 550's image was more natural looking at the factory default setting.
Watching SD analog content on digital TVs can be annoying with various artifacts visible in the conversion of the analog signal to the native digital of the TV. This TV does a very respectable job of this - with the SD images mostly just looking fuzzy and soft compared to digital content - pretty much what one might expect.
The TOC feature seems like a waste of time and may introduce some issues with light bleeding in from the environment. Not a problem for me in my home environment.
So, if I was happy with the image on the 550 why did I get a 750? Two reasons - Motion blur: the 650 and 750 panels have higher response times and higher refresh rates thus reducing LCD motion blur artifacts, and reason two: DLNA... DNLA is a very nice feature - super nice - I hope it takes off.
DLNA takes advantage of networking and media stored on a PC to provide viewable content through the TV. What's really going on here is that the TV designers are taking advantage of the computer they have inside the TV to enable them to do more digital media things with the TV. The TV has an Ethernet network interface - wireless or wired. We're computer geeks, we have a fairly robust network and my family has a strong interest in Internet downloads of various media content - in particular video. I have various foreign video content that I cannot get on a DVD. Netflix and others (Amazon, Apple, etc) have downloadable video content, although the DRM on much of this content is a problem. The rub is you have to watch this downloaded content on a PC, or a PC hooked directly up to a TV display or some other media PC kludge. DLNA helps get around some of these issues. The DLNA capability of this model is remarkable, not perfect, but still great. You have to install a piece of software on the computer that provides a way for the PC to share content on the PC through the network interface for the TV to "see". On the TV, you use the W.link feature to access the shared content on the PC. Music, Images and Videos stored on the PC are all accessible through the TV. Remarkably easy to access and view on the TV. Fantastic. There are a few glitches - The software on the PC was not able to handle all the media I threw at it in the first go around - I backed off (why would I play music through a TV?) and the software was able to complete it's build of it's database of content on the PC. I hope this problem will get cured in future versions of the DLNA server software that runs on the PC. Another small glitch was that when I decided to end my watching of these shows stored on the PC and I exited the w.link feature it appeared to crash the TV's OS. I had older firmware (1004), so I updated to 1007 and I hope this might cure the problem, although I have no evidence of this yet.
So DLNA looks very promising but it is not perfect. I have not tried viewing content that is locked with DRM of some kind, but I strongly suspect this is not going to work. Further proof that DRM is seriously flawed. Legitimate users (paying customers) should not be restricted in their reasonable use of the content.
The remote seems sufficiently user friendly - some lettering is large enough for older eyes to read easily and the back lighting feature works the way it should making it easier to _read_ the keys in the dark.
The manual's content seems complete and readable but the manual has a major and very annoying flaw. The manual is large with many many pages so being able to refer to page numbers is crucial. It does have page numbers but I defy you to read them in anything other than bright sunlight! They are black numbers printed on a gray field. Strangest printing setup I've ever seen. In the grand scheme of things this is only a minor detail but it is strange - the company knows about the importance of contrast. If I can download the manual as a searchable and linked pdf I won't care.
I have not yet discovered a way to edit the channel description in the channel list. A few digital channels have the information on what their station ID is, but many do not. I have not found a way to add or edit a description that tells me that, for instance, cable channel 117-25 is actually broadcast 33-1 or WBFS or some other more identifiable name.
I also am not yet aware if one can apply individual optimizations to each input. If one can this would be ideal.
Another minor point - I'm not too sure how "green" this TV is in it's energy use. I was quite surprised to discover it was noticeably warm when standing next to it while on.
Finally, my two major disappointments with this TV are:
1) PIP feature - which is quite limited, more like a cheesy cheap faux PIP. First, access to the PIP feature is not at all easy - one has to navigate various menus and sub menus to get at it. But the real problem is that the TV does not have a second tuner of any sort - you cannot watch two channels and swap between them without a second tuner connected through one of the external sources. In fact the PIP limits you to only being able to watch the built in Tuner content in the sub window of the main display which must be using an external source of a specific variety. Strange.... for a high end flagship product to have this kind of limited functionality... A little disturbing and makes you wonder what other cost cutting decisions one might discover with this product in the future.
2) The fixed base - the base does not swivel despite what the specifications at various sites say. I'll have to get a turntable.
Overall - where it matters most - the picture is spectacular. LCDs have come a long way. The picture makes me smile - it's just fun to watch.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Samsung LN46A750 46-Inch 1080p DLNA LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color

Revolutionary design. Ready to make a statement in your home. The SAMSUNG LN46A750 HDTV offers a truly unique entertainment experience with new Touch of ColorTM. And InfoLinkTM RSS lets you stay connected. Instantly access news, weather, sports and stock information at the push of a button. Seeing is believing with Auto Motion Plus 120HzTM. It creates a crystal-clear picture and wonderfully realistic action scenes. Upgrade your home entertainment with the latest in HD technology

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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Samsung LN52A750 52-Inch 1080p DLNA LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color Review

Samsung LN52A750 52-Inch 1080p DLNA LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
[...]
Amazon tracking indicated it would take 2 weeks to arrive. CEVA tracking listed it at two days earlier. I received the call for delivery in less than a week - and this included the holiday period!
CEVA showed up with it yesterday. The heavy cardboard box had an 18" gash/tear in it and my heart sank. They removed the box and I noticed the screen was supported about 8" from the cardboard and there were no signs that whatever caused the gash had touched anything. We quickly plugged it into the wall and ran it thru some of the built-in menus. Relief - everything worked fine. With the 30-day return guarantee there was nothing more to worry about.
The previous day Amazon had delivered a new Onkyo receiver to replace my older Yamaha. I had already disconnected the Yamaha and wired all the components and speakers to this new receiver (to take advantage of its HDMI capabilities). It now only took a couple hours to make the final connections with the receiver, cable sysem, over-the-air antenna, HTPC and network.
Every single system worked perfectly, even though it sometimes took a few minutes to discover the correct input settings on each device to get everything communicating. The biggest surprise was the quality of the picture. After reading everything I could find on various forums I expected to have some tweaking to do before obtaining the best images. While critically inspecting the imagery for each type of input I could not see a need to adjust anything! Just for experimentation I did make a few selections of alternate settings, but always wound up returning to the original. I'll likely use an Avia program to verify adjustments later, but can't imagine any improvement.
The "halo effect" feature on the upper and lower bezel was obvious (albeit faint) to see, but it was not distracting. In fact, if there were a switch available to turn it on and off, I'd still leave it on - it's neat! The red bezel highlighting (the TOC) is so subtle that it is nearly invisible. If I didn't know it was there I'd likely not have even noticed it. Perhaps it would be more visible in a room with bright daylighting?
Another neat feature is the touch sensitive controls on the lower right bezel. They are invisible until you touch the area, causing them to temporarily sequentially illuminate. I haven't fully explored this feature yet.
Another nice feature was discovering that I could hook up the computer to HDMI connection #2 and play computer games without any special adjustments. There was no lag or any problem except that I'll need to upgrade the computer's video card in order to take the display all the way up to its full resolution. Nevertheless, the Samsung must have been upscaling the image since it was extremely sharp. (Same thing with the 480i DVDs we played on it - very sharp). When not in use we intend to leave the computer hooked up so the Samsung will continuously display it's screensaver which cross-fades family photos like a huge digital picture frame.
The Samsung has a TOSLINK out connection which I connected to the receiver. This vastly simplifies audio connections since all audio sent to the TV can be amplified from a single connection to the receiver. If you can connect everything via HDMI there will be significantly fewer wires and a much more simplified operation.
The only thing I would have preferred is if the base would swivel. I understand the 650 models swivel, can't imagine why Samsung wouldn't include that feature here.
We're very happy with this purchase.
EDIT- 6-18-08
After nearly 3 weeks of use we are even more impressed with this TV.
I have upgraded the video card on the attached computer so that it can now attain full 1080p resolution, only to find the text too small to be readable at a normal viewing distance of about 12 feet with my 60-yr-old eyes. Backing off the resolution makes the text large enough to read while retaining its razor-sharpness.
The attached computer is connected with a wireless hub to my home network, allowing it to stream pictures, music, or movies from any of the computers. The TV must be upconverting the movies to 1080p because they are displayed more clearly than when sent to a regular computer monitor.
The hub also provides a patch cable to the TVs' network port, which allows it to run all the InfoLink connection functions (weather, news, stocks) without the need to even configure that connection.
We added a PS3 a week ago to view blu-ray movies. What an incredible picture! Even though we are using inexpensive $3 HDMI cables, there was no flickering or other problem as reported on another Amazon review. My son tested out his new Metal Gear PS3 game and was impressed with the image and game play. We used the default settings and did not even switch to "game" mode.
We've now had time to run THX and TVBlink video calibration tests and were not surprised to find that all the default settings were already set to the optimum values for our personal tastes.
The set is now mounted on one of those entertainment center "stalks" which allows it to be easily rotated (for easier access to the rear connections). This mounting has taken care of the only complaint we had about this set - its' lack of a swivel base.
Edit - 7-16-08
After 6 weeks of use I must say that this has proven to be one awesome piece of electronics. I simply cannot believe how great this set has performed. The color and details have greatly exceeded my highest expectations. We have begun replaying our old DVD library because the upscaling capabilities built into this set appears to make them very comparable to the Blu-Ray movies we've viewed. It's like seeing a new movie!
It is quite a kick to be using the computer while watching the nightly news in HD via the PIP function.
A lot of people have calibrated their sets using the published settings on AVSforum.com. We tested all of those settings and found that they each resulted in a darker picture that has lost details in shadowy areas and the colors are dull, without the "pop" of the factory settings. Keep in mind that our entertainment area is in a dark, windowless room which should make viewing dimmer features easier. We tried compensating the calibration with various picture adjustments but were unable to attain comparable performance. After a week of trying to perceive any improvements we reverted our settings back to the original, tweaked, factory settings.
Several people have made similar observations, leading us to a conclusion that either there is a wide discrepancy between personal preferences and/or each of these sets have varying image displays. We have no doubt that many people do see improved performance after calibrating their sets - but before you spend a lot of money on professional calibration try the AVSforum settings first to verify if you see any improvement.The only complaint we have is that we've now been spoiled by what this set can do. We picked up a new Samsung T260HD computer monitor (which also includes an HDTV tuner). This is a 26" monitor that has a similar TOC bezel to match the LN52A750. You can read our review here on Amazon - in a nutshell, we are disappointed with it's performance.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Samsung LN52A750 52-Inch 1080p DLNA LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color

Enjoy pre-loaded HD content, including cooking, fitness, children's entertainment, and a photo gallery on the LN52A750 52" Full High Definition TV with 1080p Resolution. Full 1080p HD resolution and 50,000:1 dynamic-contrast ratio offer stunning image detail and vivid colors. Auto Motion Plus 120Hz and Ultra Clear Panel technology work together to offer the smoothest motion and boldest bright and dark tones. Stay connected to your home network via the DLNA networking feature. The InfoLink feature provides RSS web content from USA Today. The WiseLink USB 2.0 input and user-friendly interface gives you access to pictures and playlists from a specially designed Wheel Remote. Ultra clear panel allows you to enjoy crisp image details, natural skin tones, excellent shadow detail and vibrant colors. SRS TruSurround XT is a patented SRS technology that solves the problem of playing 5.1 multichannel content over two speakers. TruSurround delivers a compelling, virtual surround sound experience through any two-speaker playback system, including internal television speakers and headphones. It is fully compatible with all multichannel formats up to 5.1 channels. High-resolution HD-Grade 1920x1080 pixel resolution has built-in image scaler to handle inputs from a variety of digital and analog audio/video sources. Wide Color Enhancer optimizes a color's hue resulting in more natural colors. Fast 4ms response time minimizes blurring of moving video. Entertainment Mode allows customized picture settings, optimized for different content. SRS TruSurround XT Down firing speakers CATV/VHF/UFH 75-ohm, F-type Antenna Connections - 4 HDMI High Definition Multimedia Interface, 2 Component video inputs (rear), 1 S-video input (side), side and rear composite inputs, PC input (rear), Wiselink Pro (USB 2.0), RF antenna inputs, and Headphone Dimensions -52.0 x 33.9 x 13.3 / 52.0 x 31.7 x 4.2 without stand Weight -66.4 pounds.

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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Samsung P2570HD 24.6-Inch Full 1080p HDTV LCD Monitor - Black Rose Review

Samsung P2570HD 24.6-Inch Full 1080p HDTV LCD Monitor - Black Rose
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(More customer reviews)
UPDATE; July 2010: It has been nine months since I have been using the monitor and thought it was time for an update. The monitor has been used heavily; an average of 18 hours per day for work and recreation. Several things have changed; the computer that drives the display was substituted for a new one running at 64 bits with the new Intel I-5 (3.2 GHz) processor. The new graphic cards is a NVIDIA GT 260 with 1.8 GBs of memory and the RAM installed in the computer is 8GBs. The VGA cable was substituted for a DVI and said changes result in a total Windows Experience Index; WEI of 5.9. The limiting factor for such a relatively low number is the HDD since the video card WEI is 7.1. The resolution that the monitor currently has is 1370 x 768 (which is the optimum for my needs of side by side screens). The SyncMaster has not had any problems in spite of such heavy use and it is regularly enjoyed as a second TV. The current price for this device on Amazon is $271.00.
The comments received on the original review have been greatly appreciated and hope that this & other reviews continue being useful to all consumers.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: Samsung's SyncMaster P2570HD offers plenty of inputs, a descent HD-TV monitor, basic speakers, and a remote control with all necessary features. Also, great style and very good performance are included in a panel less than 2" deep. But, no VGA cable included, no height or tilt adjustment and Samsung's website does not have an updated driver for Windows 7. Best for those of us that need (or want) a new big screen monitor that might be also be used as a TV.
It is an LCD Display with 24.6 diagonal inches of screen and I paid $339.00 On Line. After searching on the Internet for reviews on the new Samsung's (not many found), decided on giving a try to this new product. Has multiple inputs; from VGA to HDMI that and an integrated TV tuner, speakers and even the power supply (connects directly to an outlet) in a fairly light device.
Is an attractive device with lots of shine, transparent surfaces and a matte screen. The base is a glossy black oval with hues of red on the perimeter. A transparent glass bluish neck anchors the monitor [pic1]. The aspect ratio is 16:9 which makes it very modern looking when compared to the Apple products. The borders of the screen have a 5/16" clear area [pic4] and on the rear, all input jacks are recessed about one inch and face backwards, not downwards like other monitors/TVs [pic6]. This can make hard flush wall mounting the device. Two small speakers face downward and there is an 18" area on the rear upper part for heat dissipation (remember that the power supply is inside the device).
I tested the monitor with a 2002 Dell XPS running Windows 7 [pic3]. Tried to get an updated driver for the new OS but none yet available. Refresh rate was awesome, colors were bright, blacks were not seen and no distortion or bleeding of the screen was noted. In order to "stress" the video card to its limits (plus the shared RAM), was able to work with eight screens at the same time and even play a DVD trough the WMP-11 and at the same time, play that same movie stored on an External HDD trough VLC [pic5]; no problems!
Then decided to customize the settings for the display and used the remote control for this (instead of the touch sensing buttons on the lower R front area). The Remote [pic5] is quite intuitive and settings were very easy to adjust for optimum viewing. Brightness and contrast had to be decreased to 67% compared with the factory settings which were 80% for both. Something unexpected, when switching from a regular 17 inch LCD monitor to this big screen, the mouse needs more area to properly work. Otherwise, adjustments need to be made for said device but I'll try that later.
After one month of using my Samsung P2570HD solely as a Computer Monitor, I connected it to the cable TV and DVP player to evaluate its performance. Because neither the DVR nor DVD player had more than one HDMI outputs, the comparison needed to be done by stages. The cable from my Cable TV provider [not the DVR/descrambler] was directly connected to the TV input of the Samsung and auto scan was programmed [pic7]. Then, searched for a TV transmission in High Definition [pic9].
Connected the Philips DVD player to the Samsung and to my 40" Sony Bravia LCD. First trough Composite [pic3] and later trough HDMI [pic 10]. Compared picture quality and trough the "custom" setting, tried to make the image of the Samsung as close as possible to the Bravia [pic 11]. The screen adjustments were made using a specific scene from Zefirelli's Traviatta because the only illumination for Violetta's party scene is by candles. On the second configuration [pic12] adjustments were not necessary since the Samsung had been connected through its HDMI input.
Results:
1. As a stand along TV set, the television picture quality is great with plenty of adjustments for us to customize to specific room/ambience[s].
2. The TV itself took about seven minutes to scan the 900 channels of my Cable TV provider and classify them as High Definition or "normal". Worth to mention that the auto scan did not select any inactive or scrambled channels; great!
3. The audio is not the best on the lower frequencies since the speakers are fairly small and face downwards. But, this device is intended to be used mainly as a TV/Monitor with external speakers and supplemental bass boost. So the bass module or subwoofer of your computer's audio devices compensates those modest integrated speakers.
4. Having so many input alternatives, users can select the one (or the best one) for the source device(s) be HDMI, Composite, S-VHS or even the regular three prongs A/V [pic6].
Compared with the LCD Sony Bravia:
1. The screen of this 25 inch (24.6 actually) monitor/TV is almost 2/3 the size of the 40 inch Bravia.
2. As expected, trough Composite, picture quality of the Samsung is lower than the Sony [pic10]but thanks to the many adjustable settings, I was able to almost have the same display in both devices [pic11].
3. Trough HDMI, the Bravia picture is still better [pic12] because of its size and Sony markets the Bravia as a TV, not a TV/computer monitor.
Conclusions:
As a stand along TV, the p2570HD is a great device and will not disappoint anyone as long as they do the proper connections and setting adjustments. As a video playing device it performs excellently especially through its HDMI input. Composite is almost as good but you have to see what output capabilities your specific equipment has. As a computer monitor has been performing in an excellent way, especially with a new inexpensive EVGA GeForce card that increased the WEP from 3.5 to 4.9
Having stated all this I would recommend this device to be used for anyone who wants a great Computer Monitor to be used in a home office that occasionally will become a guest room. Have not mentioned but the Remote is quite handy allowing users to switch between devices and even adjusting picture, contrast and so many other features that will take users to the optimum viewing situation. If you are looking for a TV that can be used as a monitor or hooked to your computer, perhaps, there are some other better alternatives but that was not my need. Pic2 shows you a size comparison with a 10" NetBook and the I-Phone.
In September, read that a specific warehouse was selling this device for $350.00. I called all of them within a 50 mile radius of downtown Seattle and none had it. While you decide on which monitor/TV is best for your needs, here are some photos of the monitor so you can see what it looks like since obviously, you are considering it. As a monitor and DVD playback device, I would give it five stars. As a TV, would give it only four because of the speakers.
Overall, the Samsung p2570HD is a great device and most of the consumers will find a place/setting for its optimum use. And also, works perfectly with Windows 7. Have fun searching for your next Monitor/TV and hope that this review was useful for your selection.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Samsung P2570HD 24.6-Inch Full 1080p HDTV LCD Monitor - Black Rose



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Monday, October 8, 2012

True Depth 3D glasses for Samsung and Mitsubishi 3-D TVs (2 Pack) Review

True Depth 3D glasses for Samsung and Mitsubishi 3-D TVs (2 Pack)
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I have a mitsubishi 65738 and also purchased the mits starte kit these glasses r good they just r a little darker than the ones in the kit and don't look quite as good but for a cheaper alternative they work really good

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Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Samsung LN40B550 40-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color Review

Samsung LN40B550 40-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color
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I was undecided between this 2009 model and last year's LN40A550.
The features are substantially identical, but after figuring that the difference between best prices for the two, which I could find after extensive shopping around, was only $50, I went for newer one for its updated look and lighter weight.
In the reviews, one of the principal complaints for 2008 was the sound quality. I can't directly compare 2009 and 2008, but found 2009's LN40B550 to have perfectly adequate, if not excellent speakers, as far as TVs go.
Picture quality, menus, setup are excellent as expected.
One aspect that I did find puzzling is Wiselink not being able to recognize my old trustworthy USB Flash Drive. I even tried formatting the drive in various ways, unfortunately none of the tricks worked.
Perhaps, it's the ancient drive not being comparable in some way, but it had never let me down before. Anyhow, I ordered a few different flash drives, and will try again, and then post an update.
====================================
Tried four various flash drives, all of them work just fine in computers, all four freshly formatted same way (FAT32). Two of the drives are read by the TV with no problems, the two others are not recognized at all... Go figure... The slideshow functionality is nice, quite limited, but does the job.
Just for the reference, one of the drives that does work in this TV is Kingston Data Traveler 4GB.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Samsung LN40B550 40-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color

It features a 39.9" screen (measured diagonally) with widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio, 1920 x 1080 pixels, and Touch of Color high-gloss finish--black with red accents. There are built-in digital (ATSC) and analog (NTSC) tuners for over-the-air TV broadcasts (antenna required) and a built-in QAM cable TV tuner receives unscrambled programs without a set-top box (cable service required).

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Friday, August 10, 2012

GSI High Grade Sturdy Steel Articulating Full-Motion Dual Arm Wall TV Mount with Tilt and Swivel Functions - for Plasma/LCD/LED/TV/DVD/Combo/Blu-Ray Flat-Panel Monitors/Screens/Displays, Mounting Brackets Fits 32-Inch to 55-Inch Screens Review

GSI High Grade Sturdy Steel Articulating Full-Motion Dual Arm Wall TV Mount with Tilt and Swivel Functions - for Plasma/LCD/LED/TV/DVD/Combo/Blu-Ray Flat-Panel Monitors/Screens/Displays, Mounting Brackets Fits 32-Inch to 55-Inch Screens
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i used this mount for my 50" samsung and am sooo happy. it holds it securely but i can move it up, down, left or righ. there are so many different positions i can put my tv in. the install was fairly simple. i just took my time and had it done within 1 hour. very straight forward...drill holes in wall (stud or anchor) and screw in bracket with lugs, attach brackets to back of tv and hang...done
i would be pleased to answer any questions, just email me...
definetly will buy another for my other tv...

Click Here to see more reviews about: GSI High Grade Sturdy Steel Articulating Full-Motion Dual Arm Wall TV Mount with Tilt and Swivel Functions - for Plasma/LCD/LED/TV/DVD/Combo/Blu-Ray Flat-Panel Monitors/Screens/Displays, Mounting Brackets Fits 32-Inch to 55-Inch Screens



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Monday, May 28, 2012

Samsung LN46B750 46-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LCD HDTV with Charcoal Grey Touch of Color Review

Samsung LN46B750 46-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LCD HDTV with Charcoal Grey Touch of Color
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If you are seriously consider purchasing this tv, please read this review completely. This is a bit critical in nature, but I hope to provide a balanced review based on my experience with this unit. Depending on what you are looking for, this set may or may not work out well for you.
Just for background context, I mainly watch HD content hooked up via hdmi on my PS3. This includes bluray movies, hd content and some gaming. Regular tv and sd viewing were not as much of a concern to me. I own a 3 year old 26 inch sony lcd, and have also more recently owned a vizio 42 inch xvt, and samsung's latest 40 inch b550, which is the non 120 or 240hz model of their current lineup, and most recently the 50 inch Panasonic G10, which I purchased after returning this B750 that I am reviewing. I may refer to some of these in the review.
As you will read there are a few major issues I found that made me return. If you feel these wont be a problem for you, this model should work great for you. After all if you are going to pay a little under $1,700 for a tv, one should be completely satisfied with it.
Design
This tv looks beautiful, understated, elegant and simple. It has a very slight touch of gray at the bottom that you can barely notice, and it should complement pretty much any decor in your home. The unit is quite thin at around 3 inches, and I was able to lift and set up the tv myself. Cheaply made screws, almost as bad as ikea used to setup the stand were a bit of a pain to put in and remove when I decided to return the unit. After a correct assembly, the tv still sort of wobbles around and generally doesn't feel like it is solid on the stand, though it shouldn't pose any problems. I noticed the same thing on the Samsung B550 by the way. The swivel design works smoothly and easily, and though I didn't use it at all, I could see how it would come in handy.
Picture Quality and Viewing Experience
The picture quality in general on this unit is gorgeous. Nicely saturated colors and comfortably deep blacks for an lcd. I tested several blurays and they all looked excellent. You will definitely need to dial back the setting to get a more realistic picture, as much of the regular setting have over-cranked saturation, brightness and contrast to impress in stores like best buy. Overall, I can say even the most discerning movie goers and enthusiasts will find it hard to really put down the picture quality itself, though there are definitely better sets out there for the money. The picture was definitely an improvement over the cheaper Samsung B550, but wasn't drastically better. i think much of the sense of better picture over the b550 was the glossy screen and better motion processing. It supposedly has a better/newer panel (10-bit vs 8-bit) over the b550 and other cheaper model lcd's. I guess the difference between very good and very very good is a subtle one.
You are given a bevy of picture tweaking options to adjust the picture to your particular room and your eyes. If you are like me, you will fiddle at least a little bit with these, and will switch between settings depending on what you are watching.
The 240hz processing to my eye, and many other reviewers will not provide any visible difference from 120hz. But the manner in which it is implemented is really nice. You can adjust judder and blur separately to get the picture to the way you like it. I felt this worked well, and really helped in the overalls smoothness and motion intense scenes. I had blur at 10 and judder between 3 and 6 depending on what I was watching.
However, this was all marred by a few issues, the worst of which was auto dimming. I had read about this on the led side lit samsungs 6 & 7000 series (which you can also find at your local best buy and amazon as well), but did not know this was included with the b750. Gizmodo did a feature on this for the b7000 with the phrase "avoid!" in the title. Basically, anytime the scene gets dark, the tv will sense that and automatically drop or dim the backlight dramatically to get deeper blacks. The problem is that is happens usually a split second after the scene has already started and it is extremely distracting. It also darkens many bright spots in the picture somewhat, like city lights over a dark sky, or stars in a dark sky. This is very noticeable for example on the Dark Knight bluray. The more I watched, the more annoying it got. The fact that the lcd already does a good job of getting very black without the dimming is what makes it really unnecessary. It also does this while flipping channels on tv, and pretty much anything you watch. There is no way for the consumer to switch this off, as far as I know. I tried everything in the menu, from dynamic contrast to eco mode etc. There might be a more techie way, but I am pretty well versed in tech, and was not able to turn off this distracting feature. It is possible the autodimming wont bother you, but if it sounds like it might, please take note. This was a bit hard to swallow for me, because almost none of the reviews mentioned this on the b750, including cnet. This also may be solved by a future firmware update from samsung, but don't hold your breath for it. (UPDATE: Apparently this can be fixed from the service menu. However the average consumer should understand that this could potentially void your warranty and mess up your tv. If you are confident though, search some forums online and try to fix this yourself.)
The next issue was what appeared to be slight "clouding" or patches of grey-whitish color on the panel. I didn't notice at first, but once a few black screens or dark scenes came on, it was both noticeable and distracting. This could be just my specific unit, or a defect. I had read that the b750 was very good in this respect and had a uniform screen, but the whitish patches became very noticeable, and in dark scenes, it looks like there were subtle hints of cloudy patches on top of the screen. I have read that this is a common issue with many lcd's, so it depends on what you end up with. But you do run the risk of this problem with the b750 or maybe any lcd. Still, my old sony, and the samsung b550 never had this problem, so it was a little disappointing.
Another issue was a thin flickering white/silver line that would flicker on top of the screen right under the bezel during many dark scenes. It was not too noticeable, but enough to become a slight nuisance. This was really obvious on dark knight, and also the Planet Earth bluray during the immersive underwater scenes.
I know the issues of glare on lcd's has been addressed ad nauseam, but I just thought I should chime in. The screen is pitch black and VERY reflective, to the point of acting like a mirror. I have a room that gets ambient, not direct, sunlight and it was quite distracting during the day. It is rather difficult to see, so you need to crank up the brightness, which helps a bit. The display definitely gets as bright as you need. In the evening, with very dim lighting, it is still possible to see yourself reflected in the tv when it goes black in between scenes. The Samsung B550 (a cheaper tv), has a sort of matte-glossy hybrid display that I thought worked much better when compared to this one. But, the glossy display is partly responsible for the richer color and deeper blacks you get on this unit. Always tradeoffs. If you are ok with glossy screens on tv's, you will be ok with this one too. P.S. best buy is not a good place to figure out if you are ok with glossy screens. They don't look the same at home.
Off angle viewing on this unit is just not very good. The moment you move even a little bit away from the sweet spot of the couch right in the center, the blacks start to wash out, and the whole picture starts to look different. Not necessarily terrible, but different. The cheaper B550 had much more consistent viewing angle experience for some reason, I'm not sure why. Basically, if you have 3 or 4 people over for a movie, some will probably be seeing a slightly different picture.
Gaming
Reading several reviews of the b750, some said gaming was too laggy (ie: when you press a button it doesn't register right away) on the it, some said it was fine, so I had to give it a shot. I felt it was far too much lag to play games well. In other words, you will die or miss more often. You wont know why, you just will. The lag is on a millisecond level, but much of the twitch response in gaming is that way. Your eyes wont really notice that it is lagging, but it is definitely there, and significantly I might add. The "Game" mode does a little to remedy this, but it is still not perfect and the picture a bit harsh in game mode, since you can't adjust any picture settings. If you are a very casual gamer and are playing games that don't really require good timing, then the lag wont really bother you. For me, I can't really recommend it for gaming. For reference, I was playing games like Resistance 2, Little big planet, Street Fighter 2 hd remix, guitar hero etc for testing. The lag is much better, almost nonexistent on the Panasonic G10, which is a plasma. For lcd, I believe the Samsung B750 gives average or maybe below average performance. Strangely, the Samsung B550 for comparison was a little better in my experience and so was my old sony lcd.
User Experience, Menus and extra features
Going with the theme of lag, I have to say Samsung's menus are extremely slow to respond and laggy. They look ok I suppose, with a blue graphical touch. All menu navigation has extra animations and movements that make them less responsive (reminds me of a Samsung cell phone I used to own). Compared to other tv's I have used, Samsung menus tend to cover more of the screen, which I feel is also a...Read more›

Click Here to see more reviews about: Samsung LN46B750 46-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LCD HDTV with Charcoal Grey Touch of Color

Make the move to the smoothest LCD action ever, with Samsung's LN46B750 LCD HDTV. Start with the incredible color and rich clarity of Full HD 1080p resolution, all on a 46-inch screen. Add the power of Samsung's newest Auto Motion Plus240Hz technology, for a new level of the most lifelike LCD action on the market. Samsung's Medi@2.0 feature puts customizable widgets, with content from partners like Flickr and Yahoo!, under your control via yourremote. A pre-loaded Content Library offers hours of built-in digital entertainment and information, from games to yoga routines. Four HDMI inputs make DVD, cable or satellite HD box, or Blu-ray Disc connectivity a snap. And with the attractive Touch of Color design, the subtle charcoal grey accent at the bezel's edge underscores this LCD HDTV's elegance.

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Thursday, April 5, 2012

Samsung LN32B550 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color Review

Samsung LN32B550 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color
Average Reviews:

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2 months after receiving this TV the screen has gone black. Samsung instructed us to ship it to a service repair center and shipping is the responsibility of the customer. I called UPS and the cost to custom-pack a 32" televisions is 120 $. I called Samsung to request a box to ship it in and they re-iterated, shipping is the responsibility of the customer - but would send me a return label. So now we have an 800 $ television that's going to cost 120 $ to pack for warranty. We've only had it two months. I see from another reviewer that sending it Samsung is no guarantee the television will come back any time soon.
On a related note - up until 2008 Samsung's 32" televisions received free in-home repair service. As of 2009 32" is now considered "small" and must be shipped to the manufacturer for service.
Great TV just don't throw away the box and if it breaks take a deep breath and don't bother calling Samsung for sympathy.
Update September 17, 2009: It's been a month and we still don't have our TV back. We've called Samsung every week since they received it. Today we were told the replacement part would take too long to arrive and they would begin the process of approving a replacement television. This process entails Samsung repair shipping the TV to Samsung corporate. Once corporate receives the TV they can can process the replacement. If our TV is no longer available they will offer us something "comparable". This new phase should take "less than a month".

Click Here to see more reviews about: Samsung LN32B550 32-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color

With the Samsung 32-inch LN32B550 HDTV, you're investing in ahigh-quality LCD TV that offers top-of-the-line picture quality with 1080p high definition resolution. Enjoy the sharpest details and vivid color with 70,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio for more realistic images and a 6ms (millisecond) response time--virtually eliminating any blurring and providing smooth motion while watching fast-paced sports and action movies. Superb connectivity and networking with a USB port and four HDMI 1.3 ports with Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) means this HDTV plays well with all of your other electronics.

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Sunday, February 19, 2012

Samsung B2430HD 24-Inch WideScreen LCD Monitor Review

Samsung B2430HD 24-Inch WideScreen LCD Monitor
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
The specs, price, and graphics quality in particular are excellent for this model.
But there are some serious disadvantages, exacerbated by Samsung's lack of support and unusually hostile response to those who are complaining about it.
The driver disk that comes with this product doesn't load in Windows 7 64-bit, which is now the standard for newer computers. You can find drivers that work, but not easily from the official Samsung site. There are actually two drivers, one for VGA and one for HDMI connections. In VGA mode, the monitor's native resolution of 1920x1080 is not supported; it deforms horizontally and clips off 3/4" on either side of the screen, thus converting squares into rectangles and circles into ovals, a fact that even level 2 Samsung support defiantly insists is OK.
In HDMI mode, they have written a fix (as of this writing) which allows a hardware option to 'fit screen' instead of the usual '16x9', which of course never should have been necessary, since the monitor itself is shaped as a 16x9 to naturally match the 16x9 standard. Also, the default mode for use in HDMI is AV, not PC, and if you don't override that, the type quality in particular is smeared and virtually unusable.
Worse yet, the front panel controls, which are both critical and extremely difficult to use, except in very bright light, can be overridden by software (convenient), but again ONLY if you are not using Windows 7 64-bit, a limitation you can find buried in their Web site.
Of the three reviews submitted to their site, it got one five star and two one-star reviews, and Samsung deleted the initial one-star and refused to publish mine. A company that makes a lot of fine products can get in serious trouble treating users as the enemy and failing to support those products. Be forewarned.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Samsung B2430HD 24-Inch WideScreen LCD Monitor



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Thursday, February 2, 2012

Samsung LN37B550 37-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color Review

Samsung LN37B550 37-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
I am agreeing with other reviewers that this is an excellent product with only two attributes that were not as expected:
- Touch of color really is only a "touch". Without light shining directly on it the frame looks completely black
- Sound quality is poor. The right speaker has a tendency to ring at certain frequency even at low volume.
Picture quality is excellent; the TV set is not too heavy and looks good.
Please note that amazon ships this product via "Pilot" freight services. They will call you 24 hours before delivery is due to set up a time window for delivery. Shipping time was significantly faster than quoted during checkout.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Samsung LN37B550 37-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color

Step up to the power of Full HD on a 37-inch LCD screen, with Samsungs LN37B550. The amazing 1080p resolution, the highest available, with Wide Color Enhancer renders the most crisp vivid tones, in every frame for the most realistic picture quality. Black tones and shadows are strikingly superb, thanks to the 70,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. The attractive Touch of Color design, a red accent at the bezels edge, lights up any room. A fast 6ms response time offers smooth, clear action. Watch or listen to files from your favorite media player, using the USB 2.0 input. Connecting your DVD, cable or satellite HD box, or Blu-ray Disc player is a snap, with four HDMI inputs. And thanks to SRS TruSurround HD technology, all the HD excitement sounds as incredible as it looks.

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