Samsung 46" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV

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Samsung 46" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV

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and I found that distracting. Fortunately it's an easy thing to turn off -- and when it's off, the set has ZERO lights aside from the picture when turned on. This is a great feature, as I don't want any little points of light distracting me from the picture! On my old set, there was a little "power on" light that always bugged me.

Tuning between inputs is fast, and makes switching from one input to another no big deal. (On my old set, it took several seconds for each switch, so going through the list felt laborious....)

Be sure to go through the onscreen menus and enable the optional features, particularly the dynamic LED backlighting (some of these features require you to change the picture mode to MOVIE, which I've done on every input...). The default VIVID setting is garish, but it's very easy to switch (and of course the setting is saved, on a per input basis, so it's a one time setup).

Bad stuff:

The three HDMI ports are adequate for me (HD TiVo, AppleTV, and Samsung Blu-ray player), though I wish there were more, and I wish they were all on the back rather than one on the side. As it is I'm using the side port for a Blu-ray player, and having the cable sticking out the side isn't exactly ideal. I still haven't found a decent right-angle adapter.

The speakers aren't great. I guess they're fine for a TV set, but they're nothing to write home about.

The remote is adequate but not great. I wish the backlight extended to more of the buttons. The remote is also rather long. Note that if you have a Samsung Blu-ray player, you can use the Blu-ray remote instead to control most/all of the TV functions...but the Blu-ray remote (at least the one with the BD-1500 series player) isn't backlit. Oh well.

The glossy screen definitely shows light sources in the room: windows, lamps, etc. In many cases you'll want to move stuff around (or simply turn off/block out any light sources) if you're watching anything serious. But I guess that's true of any movie viewing experience.

Anyway, overall I'm extremely satisfied with this purchase. My other candidate was a Sony XBR4 set, but I'm glad I went with the Samsung...it's cheaper, has a better picture, and uses less energy due to the LED backlight. The Sony's design is arguably a little better, and it doesn't have the extreme gloss factor. But for my money, this is the set to get.

Samsung 46" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV

...

and I found that distracting. Fortunately it's an easy thing to turn off -- and when it's off, the set has ZERO lights aside from the picture when turned on. This is a great feature, as I don't want any little points of light distracting me from the picture! On my old set, there was a little "power on" light that always bugged me.



Tuning between inputs is fast, and makes switching from one input to another no big deal. (On my old set, it took several seconds for each switch, so going through the list felt laborious....)



Be sure to go through the onscreen menus and enable the optional features, particularly the dynamic LED backlighting (some of these features require you to change the picture mode to MOVIE, which I've done on every input...). The default VIVID setting is garish, but it's very easy to switch (and of course the setting is saved, on a per input basis, so it's a one time setup).



Bad stuff:



The three HDMI ports are adequate for me (HD TiVo, AppleTV, and Samsung Blu-ray player), though I wish there were more, and I wish they were all on the back rather than one on the side. As it is I'm using the side port for a Blu-ray player, and having the cable sticking out the side isn't exactly ideal. I still haven't found a decent right-angle adapter.



The speakers aren't great. I guess they're fine for a TV set, but they're nothing to write home about.



The remote is adequate but not great. I wish the backlight extended to more of the buttons. The remote is also rather long. Note that if you have a Samsung Blu-ray player, you can use the Blu-ray remote instead to control most/all of the TV functions...but the Blu-ray remote (at least the one with the BD-1500 series player) isn't backlit. Oh well.



The glossy screen definitely shows light sources in the room: windows, lamps, etc. In many cases you'll want to move stuff around (or simply turn off/block out any light sources) if you're watching anything serious. But I guess that's true of any movie viewing experience.



Anyway, overall I'm extremely satisfied with this purchase. My other candidate was a Sony XBR4 set, but I'm glad I went with the Samsung...it's cheaper, has a better picture, and uses less energy due to the LED backlight. The Sony's design is arguably a little better, and it doesn't have the extreme gloss factor. But for my money, this is the set to get.