Samsung 40" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV

...

quality and sharpness to pass as a computer monitor. At 1920x1080 text is very difficult to read for most people. To operate my computer I set the text DPI to 200dpi. This makes all the text and icons much larger while still running at 1920x1080. I am sitting about 10 feet away from the TV and it looks great. Additionally, HD content looks amazing but non-HD content doesn't look horrible like on some TVs. This may be because I am using a computer so upconverting is performed very well.

COLOR / CONTRAST 9/10:
The colors on this TV are very vibrant without being overpowering. Also, a few days before I received this TV, I had borrowed a budget LCD screen from a friend. I noticed a slight graininess in the color quality. This is NOT present on this LCD. The screen is also very bright and fairly evenly lit. No dead pixels that I could notice. Also, the dynamic contrast setting sometimes doesn't catch people's faces in low light. There are times when the screen actually seems a tad bit dark. This usually isn't a problem though.

SOUND 5/10:
Sound is certainly decent, but I am not particularly impressed either. I have seen 32 inch LCDs from other brands that had significantly stronger speakers. However, for general use, the speakers definitely do their job.

INPUTS 10/10:
I do not have the hardware to try every possible input on this TV, but the ones I have tried seem to perform very well. I am currently using a laptop computer with a stereo mini cable for audio and a 6ft analog VGA cable for video and computer. Honestly, the VGA seems to be the best! When I connected a computer using DVI (DVI to HDMI), the image was almost over-sharpened. Text became difficult to read and things seemed a little washed out. However, after some tweaking I got the DVI connection to look very nice. The standard composite inputs seem to do very well, and connecting an Xbox 360 at 1080p is a blast.

MENU / FIRMWARE 5/10:
The menus of the TV seem fairly complete. Not much to complain about other than the rather slow performance. The menu is laggy enough that I sometimes end up impatiently pressing a button multiple times and then it takes me a relatively long time to undo that action or get back to where I was. With such sophisticated technology, how much extra would it cost to get a super-fast overlay menu system? Doesn't seem like it should be an issue.

CONSTRUCTION 10/10:
The overall design of this TV is pretty good. It looks fantastic, and feels reasonably sturdy. It definitely wouldn't hold up to too much of a beating, but I am very careful with my electronics and I imagine the TV will last for years to come.

OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS:
If you plan to use this TV with a computer, I would recommend a Logitech's VX Nano laser mouse and MediaBoard Pro with a Bluetooth adapter. I set that up, and it all works really well.


PROS:
Looks, construction, inputs, sharpness and image quality

CONS:
Sound, laggy menu, oversharpening HDMI from DVI sources, contrast in low lighting


BOTTOM LINE:
If you want a sharp, color-accurate, large, high-resolution, amazing 1080p TV at an affordable price, look no further.

Samsung 40" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV

...

quality and sharpness to pass as a computer monitor. At 1920x1080 text is very difficult to read for most people. To operate my computer I set the text DPI to 200dpi. This makes all the text and icons much larger while still running at 1920x1080. I am sitting about 10 feet away from the TV and it looks great. Additionally, HD content looks amazing but non-HD content doesn't look horrible like on some TVs. This may be because I am using a computer so upconverting is performed very well.



COLOR / CONTRAST 9/10:

The colors on this TV are very vibrant without being overpowering. Also, a few days before I received this TV, I had borrowed a budget LCD screen from a friend. I noticed a slight graininess in the color quality. This is NOT present on this LCD. The screen is also very bright and fairly evenly lit. No dead pixels that I could notice. Also, the dynamic contrast setting sometimes doesn't catch people's faces in low light. There are times when the screen actually seems a tad bit dark. This usually isn't a problem though.



SOUND 5/10:

Sound is certainly decent, but I am not particularly impressed either. I have seen 32 inch LCDs from other brands that had significantly stronger speakers. However, for general use, the speakers definitely do their job.



INPUTS 10/10:

I do not have the hardware to try every possible input on this TV, but the ones I have tried seem to perform very well. I am currently using a laptop computer with a stereo mini cable for audio and a 6ft analog VGA cable for video and computer. Honestly, the VGA seems to be the best! When I connected a computer using DVI (DVI to HDMI), the image was almost over-sharpened. Text became difficult to read and things seemed a little washed out. However, after some tweaking I got the DVI connection to look very nice. The standard composite inputs seem to do very well, and connecting an Xbox 360 at 1080p is a blast.



MENU / FIRMWARE 5/10:

The menus of the TV seem fairly complete. Not much to complain about other than the rather slow performance. The menu is laggy enough that I sometimes end up impatiently pressing a button multiple times and then it takes me a relatively long time to undo that action or get back to where I was. With such sophisticated technology, how much extra would it cost to get a super-fast overlay menu system? Doesn't seem like it should be an issue.



CONSTRUCTION 10/10:

The overall design of this TV is pretty good. It looks fantastic, and feels reasonably sturdy. It definitely wouldn't hold up to too much of a beating, but I am very careful with my electronics and I imagine the TV will last for years to come.



OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS:

If you plan to use this TV with a computer, I would recommend a Logitech's VX Nano laser mouse and MediaBoard Pro with a Bluetooth adapter. I set that up, and it all works really well.





PROS:

Looks, construction, inputs, sharpness and image quality



CONS:

Sound, laggy menu, oversharpening HDMI from DVI sources, contrast in low lighting





BOTTOM LINE:

If you want a sharp, color-accurate, large, high-resolution, amazing 1080p TV at an affordable price, look no further.

Samsung 40" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV

...

the standard Eagle Shipping service. The delivery man was most helpful, and opened the merchandise with care. He powered up the LCD, and made sure all the pixels and systems were functional. A++++++++

Next I began the process of connecting all my toys together...

XBOX360:
Make sure you switch the button to "HDTV" on your XBOX360. The picture is beautiful and full of color. Of course I had to fiddle with the color settings a bit, but it was easy and straight forward. The refresh rate is excellent, and gameplay has quadrupled in fun factor. All I can say is WOW!

Cable TV:
I have normal digital Cable service, and most channels come in at normal 480i resolution. These channels are definitely "watch-able" on a daily basis. There are about a dozen free channels that are in High Definition 1080i resolution. I have placed these channels in my "Favorites" section, and watch them religiously just to get the full effect of the LCD. When you can see the most intricate of details that you never thought possible, the content of the show begin to lose its relevance, and you start to watch shows just for the heck of it. But for those of you who demand content, I absolutely love the ESPN-HD channel, and Universal-HD shows many great movies in full 1080i.

DVD:
Its like going to the movies. Great picture quality and production despite the 480i native resolution of all DVD movies. I find myself watching old movies I had already seen many times over.

PC:
A bit tricky...
First off, if you do not have a DVI or HDMI slot on your PC, USE THE VGA CONNECTION. DO NOT USE THE S-VIDEO CONNECTION!!! The reason for this is that the S-Video cable is limited to 800x600 resolution. The VGA cable allows you to go much higher in resolution.
Next...
Make sure your video card on your PC is decent. The video card in my laptop cannot support 1920x1080. Instead, it is limited to 1600x1200. Make no mistake, this is a great resolution and makes everyday computing a great experience. However, if you want to use the full effect of the LCD, make sure your PC video card supports the 1920x1080 resolution. The bottom line with PCs is that the better quality PC you have, the better quality picture you will see on your Samsung. If your PC or laptop is able to support only 1200x800, that is what you will see on your LCD. My current setup is at 1600x1200 with the LCD setup to display 4:3 ratio. This setup leaves the sides of my LCD unused, but diplays everything in correct proportions. Even with the sides unused, the picture is gigantic!


Bottom Line:
Nice BIG picture, and great color and quality. To top that off, the price is the best ANYWHERE. Go ahead and scourge the Internet to find a better price for the quality, and you wont find it anywhere. And finally, the experience is just awesome... games and movies become an immersive experience :)