Samsung 46" 1080p 120Hz Flat-Panel LCD HDTV

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Samsung 46" 1080p 120Hz Flat-Panel LCD HDTV

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trick: All consumer DVD recorders record at lower resolution than HD.
This shows up on the TV as a smaller image if you're looking at an HD program. But the Samsung scales it up beautifully if you switch inputs (to HDMI 1 in my case). In this mode you won't see messages from the recorder onscreen but it's easy to switch back.

I haven't even started to experiment with the color settings and whatnot. You can choose between 3 presets. I normally use "movie." Maybe I have even wonderfuller viewing ahead of me but as it stands it looks terrific as far as I can tell.

The factory default also chooses the 120hz Low speed. That seems to work fine, again.

So don't be daunted by the videophile reviews that might lead you to think you have to a degree in TVology to make this thing work. It's beautiful out of the box.

I'd have preferred the picture's frame to have a matte finish instead of glossy piano black, but even in my high-reflection room it's really not a problem. In fact seeing the reflections on the frame helps show how well the matte finish of the screen works, because you can see how the reflections disappear as your eye moves down or sideways onto the screen proper. It doesn't banish reflections entirely, but it transforms them from distracting images into a vague reduction in contract. And if you angle the screen a tad even that goes away.

We waited to buy this until last year's price reductions (through the post-Christmas sales) kicked in. I've read that we shouldn't expect much more in the way of price reductions this year, and I suspect that the sharp increase in oil prices and drop in the dollar may actually drive prices up for imported goods like this. And I notice that in the 1 1/2 months since we bought this the price has gone back up some $300. So it might not be a good idea to wait for any more substantial price drops.

And it's worth going in hock to get one of these, I'm kind of sorry to say. The increased sharpness and screen size has so much impact it makes the viewing experience qualitatively different.

As for the 120Hz refresh rate of this TV vs. comparable ones with a 60Hz refresh rate--you won't see a bit of difference unless something moves abruptly or quickly. Then you will. I spent a lot of time at Fry's watching demo shows on different big screens, and seeing a football game and a helicopter's blades whirring clinched it for me. This is one difference that's nontrivial. Spend the extra. You'll regret it if you don't.

Also, the 46" size was another choice we agonized about. a 40" screen would have been so much cheaper, and our viewing room is small--we sit 11 feet from the screen. With standard TV programming I don't think the bigger screen helps much. We replaced a 32" Sony Trinitron flat screen CRT TV and it looked really good for standard programming. And even with HDTV programming the 40" screen was pretty satisfying. However, wide screen movies on DVD typically use a wider form factor than HDTV, giving you fat black bars across top and bottom of the screen. And for seeing DVD movies I found that a 46" screen was the minimum needed to provide an immersive experience.

I've also read that the biggest regret flat screen TV buyers report is not having gotten a big enough screen size. I'm sure this is true.

There's also the issue of 720p vs. 1080p. I'm sure it's true that you won't see much if any difference with a sub-50" screen at normal viewing distances, as Consumer Reports states. However, I also wanted to be able to use the TV as a computer monitor, and for that you need a 1080p screen. So that tipped things for me. Plus I don't know of any 120Hz sets that aren't also 1080p, so it's probably academic.

Then there's the Sony vs. Samsung issue. Consumer Reports rates these two brands as having the best performance and very good reliability--same as Toshiba, second only, by a small margin, to Panasonic. We have a neighbor with a 46" Sony, and I like ours just as well if not better. And I don't think their screen swivels--and that's a feature you'll use if you have to deal with reflections. Also, I'd never buy a Sony DVD recorder due to Sony's fanaticism about copy protection and recording TV programs. On the other hand the Samsung VR-357 DVD recorder is easy to integrate with this TV--Samsung has a system of coordinating them, as I'm sure Sony has with comparable setups. And the Samsung has never refused to record any TV program I've looked at. And it works really well--only one coaster out of over 150 disks recorded so far.

Once upon a time "Made in Japan" meant lousy quality. Then they got their act together, Same with Korea. And who knows...could happen with China too, some day.

This Samsung TV has been superseded by a new model with 25,000:1 contrast instead of the 20,000:1 contrast this has. Contrast looks fine with this. I'm guessing you wouldn't notice a difference unless they were side by side and perhaps not even then.

Last point: normal TV shows. I've read many complaints about how awful this is on a big screen TV. Well, maybe to a videophile. My wife & I have found that normal shows look fine on the Samsung.

Samsung 46" 1080p 120Hz Flat-Panel LCD HDTV

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I had been truly happy with. (Great product for the price!) Unfortunately it was stolen with my 4661.

When I initially replaced the 4661 I had yet to replace the Oppo and was simply watching DVDs on my Playstation 3. It 'upconverts' as well but does not do so (IMHO) nearly as well as the Oppo. This was evident on the 4661. Bottom line: I was only happy with DVD on the 4661 if I had the Oppo, and had found nothing else that approached it.

I wound up returning the replaced 4661 because of an unrelated technical issue and went ahead and spent the extra money for the 4669.

I noticed, surprisingly, that upscaled DVDs on the PS3 looked better on the 4669 than the 4661. Note they were not playing simultaneously but both of these screens were sitting in my living room and I was hooking the PS3 up to each of them alternatively. Perhaps its not the on-board scaler, perhaps Im completely crazy, but Im convinced in my mind that the 4669 displays 'mediocre-ly-scaled'DVDs much better than the 4661. To the degree that I have not found reason to replace the Oppo upscaler at all.
Note I am indeed talking about DVD and not Blu-Ray. When I was observing this I had yet to even watch a Blu-Ray on either screen.

Contrast: Great contrast... 20,000:1 is Samsung's figure for this thing. Note that not all contrasts are created equally. Its kind of like how different amplifier companies measure 'watts' differently... Same with panel makers and contrast. Be aware of that. Still... it is useful when comparing two Samsung models. Does that 4669 (20,000:1) get TWICE as black as the 4661 (10,000:1)??? No... but it is noticeably blacker.

A WORD OF WARNING ABOUT THE 120hz THING:

It is not IMHO all its cracked up to be. You can set it to 'off, low, medium, high' and honestly I NEVER USE IT. The TV is a great set without it but I have problems with the way it predicts movement. I have read a number of reviews about it with people trying to describe it and problems that they have perceived about it but none of them really make it clear to someone who has never seen it. This review will probably make you scratch your head wondering 'what is this guy talking about?' as well.

The TV basically takes the 60 frames per second coming in from the cable or satelite or DVD or whatever and 'produces' frames itself to stick between the original frames. The goal of this naturally is to make motion appear smoother. In fact it does IMHO seem to do this.

The problem that I have with it is mostly with human movement. In landscape/scenery type shows its not so much of a problem for me. It just seems to make human movement unnatural. Since humans move with gestures, and these gestures are often jerky with sharper movements weighted on one end or the other of the gesture, I think the 120hz processor is smoothing these gestures out unnaturally.

Maybe Im over-analyzing it. The point is I dont like it. My wife isnt very picky about the picture on the TV. She is less likely to notice when something doesnt look quite right. Her comment about the 120hz thing was that it made the people's movements look almost 'computer generated' like on beowulf or polar express.

BOTTOM LINE: One of the best matte-screened LCDs out there for the price (maybe THE best) but make sure you've demo'd the 120hz feature in a store and are ok with it if thats why you are buying this TV. Im giving the TV 5 stars because its a great panel, but you can take the 120hz out and I wouldnt mind.