HDTV Reviews Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Samsung HDTV’

Samsung LN22B460 22 Inch 720p LCD HDTV

21.6″ screen (measured diagonally) * widescreen aspect ratio * high-gloss black finish * built-in digital (ATSC) and analog (NTSC) tuners for over-the-air TV broadcasts (antenna required) * built-in QAM cable TV tuner receives unscrambled programs without a set-top box (cable service required) * 1680 x 1050 pixels *

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars loyal Samsung purchaser
I began with a Samsung cell phone several years ago and have stayed with them. So. . . I chose a Samsung for my new TV. So far it’s great.

5 Stars beautiful television
I purchase this television two weeks ago and love the picture. I put it in my kitchen and it definitely serves its purpose. I’m usually a Sony purchaser-and still am-but I thought this would be a great looking television for my kitchen. It was definately worth the money for its purpose.

1 Star Worked through the 90 day warrenty, then…
This TV worked like a charm until about a week after its 90 day warranty. Then it began to randomly shut itself off (3-4 times in an hour) with the only method for turning it back on being to unplug it from the wall, wait 10sec, and replug. It might just be this one set but this ordeal has put a sour taste in my mouth. I won’t be buying a Samsung TV again.

5 Stars Just the right amount of TV for those who hardly watch
It was with reluctance that I moved into the 21st Century of TVs. Managed to do so just before June 12th. Now that we have this set we actually watch it more often than the old (13″) one. We use a roof-top antenna and finally can watch the local PBS station. All the old stations, with the exception of one, now come in very well. The pictures are very clear. Had to play around with the setup, but I managed quite well and am satisfied. We do not have cable TV.

4 Stars Samsung LN22B460
I just purchased the Samsung LN22B460 and am very pleased with this product. The previous reviews I read were very accurate. The picture is very clean and the colors are great, especially in HD. If not viewing HD channels it is very easy to adjust the colors to get the picture you’re looking for. The set up was very easy. Just open the box and plug it in. With not much reading you can figure out how to set up the colors, channel selection, sound, etc.

The sound is not terrible like some of the other reviews stated but it could have a little more bottom end to give it a boost. I’ll probably buy speakers to add on as I don’t have it set up through a sound system.

I’ve owned several Samsung’s over the years and feel that they put out a great product.

All in all I would highly recommend this t.v.

Buy/More Info

Samsung LN40B530 40 Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

39.9″ screen (measured diagonally) * widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio * high-gloss black finish * built-in digital (ATSC) and analog (NTSC) tuners for over-the-air TV broadcasts (antenna required) * built-in QAM cable TV tuner receives unscrambled programs without a set-top box (cable service required) * 1920 x 1080 pixels *

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Great HD picture and great service from Crutchfield
First I want to say how impressed I am with Crutchfield. When I purchased this unit through Amazon I really didn’t pay much attention to who the actual seller was since it received the standard free shipping. I purchased this on a Saturday morning. With in 2 hours I received a phone call from Crutchfield thanking me for my purchase and explaining how the unit would be shipped, etc. I was very impressed with this and would absolutely purchase from Crutchfield in the future.

As for the Samsung – The picture is great with HD. I got it primarily for sports and the HD channels look great. Some of the standard def channels are not so spectacular but I don’t necessarily think that is a fault of the Samsung, I think it is more a Directv issue. I have an issue giving anything 5 stars but if you are looking for an LCD in this size range you should take a look at this one.

2 Stars dissapointed
i guess my other samsung must be 120mhz cause the picture is not nearly as good as my two year old samsung. wonder if i can return this for a better model? I mean,it pic is ok but not even close to my 46 samsung from two years ago. i just assumed any new model would be better.

4 Stars Samsung 40 inch 1080p LCD HDTV
This is a great TV. The only thing that I found disappointing is the particular model I purchased did not come with the side inputs for hooking up my digital camera or camcorder etc. Getting to the back of the TV is an inconvenience and it also results in less input options.

It’s my first flat screen so I wasn’t aware that this would be an issue.

4 Stars Fantastic Purchase!
I’ve had this tv for about a month now and it’s great. It has superb clarity and the colors are vibrant. Definitely on par with or better than Sony and LG, especially for the price. My only negative comment is the sound. Maybe I’m going deaf or my space is too large, but I have to turn the volume up much higher than I’m used to…I’ve added my Bose speakers out of fear of busting the tv’s. Overall, great tv!

5 Stars all around winner.
Great tv. great price for what you get. Picture is fantastic – colors crisp and bright, definition is sharp for all colors/shades. I have direcTV HD. Cant see how much better this picture will get but it definitely will bridge the game for several years. I don’t use other built in features like gaming to speak abt them. Sound is solid. normal viewing is at about 25% of limit. Tones are balanced and clear. for larger sound i go thru a stereo receiver. one sound quirk – the auto volume adjustment takes a couple of seconds to kick in; but that’s nit-picking.

Buy/More Info

Samsung PN50B560 50 Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV

49.9″ screen (measured diagonally) * 1920 x 1080 pixels * 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio * 600Hz Subfield Motion anti-blur technology * FilterBright anti-glare filter *

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars The B560 is an excellent value for the money.
I already knew I wanted Plasma over LCD. So I spent weeks reading reviews and comparing specs of everything from Panasonic G15/G10 & S1 to Samsungs B650, B560, and B550. I came to the conclusion that Samsung has better color accuracy and Panasonic has better black levels. However, Panasonic also has better customer service and a lower percentage of TV’s with issues. There has been numerous reports of the Samsung 2009 B series Plasma’s having a “buzzing” issue. While they scared me a little, I decided that the TV for me was the Samsung PN50B560.

If you are comparing Samsungs, the B560 has the Crystal Full HD Engine with Cinema Smooth, while the B550 does not. The B650 also has Crystal Full HD Engine with Cinema Smooth, but an with an added feature, an ethernet port for using widgets, like weather, sports, stocks, etc… Something I’ve read is very slow and not very impressive. The 650 also has the red touch of color bezel. The 550 and 560 both have charcoal blended in, which I preferred.

I am pleased with the colors and black levels of this TV. I also have a Panasonic 50PX80U and I can’t tell much of a difference. Physically, the TV is also very attractive, much nicer than Panasonic, and the swivel stand is also nice to have.

Defending the common CONS:

Buzz: My TV does not buzz

Speakers: They sound fine, my Panasonic sounds slightly better. But speakers in flat panel TV’s are not going to be impressive, I think people just expect to much out of them.

Glare: Yes, there will be some glare, its a Plasma. However, compared to other Plasma’s I looked at in the store, it’s not a big difference. I didn’t make it a factor.

In summary, if you are on a budget, I recommend the Samsung B560 or B550. If you can spare an extra few hundred more, go with a Panasonic G15 or G10. When it comes down to it, you’ll be happy with any of these choices, unless you are a videophile, you’ll never notice the difference.

5 Stars Far better than we imagined.
We bought this set back in late June 2009, and it’s our first HDTV so I can’t compare firsthand with other models. All I can say is, through HDMI connections it displays everything we feed it much better than I even imagined. I assumed standard-definition content would look grainy but this TV, in combination with a great Panasonic blu-ray player (the DMP-BD60) or even our old Samsung progressive-scan DVD player, somehow shows literally everything in its native mode, or at 720p (PS3 games and 720p TV content). Composite-video feed is as feared, somewhat grainy, so I don’t even use it.

There’s been a lot of buzz about Samsung plasmas being “buzzers.” Fortunately, we have been spared. Also, I’ve read comments about the CinemaSmooth feature (that displays 24p content at 96 Hz) disrupting black levels. We haven’t seen any of that, either, and I use CS 90% of the time (even with DVDS, thanks to the abilities of the Panasonic BD player!).

Having moved up from a 32″ full-screen Wega to this 50″ widescreen plasma, I have a lot more glass that catches lots of ambient glare and reflections from new angles, but it’s not nearly as bad a nuisance as I’d been led to believe, reading the AV forums, and we do use this TV in a fairly bright daytime setting as well as at night when we’re more “serious” about what we watch.

We didn’t break-in our TV and I haven’t had any calibration done, either, but the only image-retention I occasionally see is from those stationary news-channel logos. I have used the built-in anti-IR scrolling feature maybe once a month to remove those, and recall it took about 4-5 minutes in each case. Although calibration is something I have pondered, the intensity and balance of colors produced by this TV seem fine to us; I’ve seen a few of the Samsung and Panasonic demo models at local retailers that were calibrated and thought they weren’t any better than the set now in my living room. Not dissing calibration, just wondering if I’d really notice any improvement.

My review is that of just one owner, and I’m not really versed in the AV lingo or all the features available in the marketplace from different makes/models or technologies.

On a closing note, I am not really a football fan, but the HD game content leaves me drooling over the capabilities of this TV whenever one is showing, and I end up watching the whole game! I’ll have to be more careful in the future with this “feature” because it sometimes prevents me from getting other, more important things done.

5 Stars just what you expect from a samsung plasma (bang for the buck)
notes:

i’ve owned this television for 2 months

usage: 90% tv and 10% video games

#1 thing to remember when you buy a plasma…BREAK IT IN. avoid channels or video games with stationary logos or else you’ll get image retention (not permanent). fyi, typical break in time for a plasma is about 100-200 hours. what i love about this plasma, there’s a build in scrolling black to white screen which helps with break in of the plasma and with image retention. so every night for the past 2 months before i go to sleep, i would set sleep to 30 mins, turn on the picture mode to dynamic (for high contrast and high brightness), and use this screen of scrolling black to white. after about 2 months, image retention is almost non existant. any questions about break-in? go to [...] and look up their plasma break in thread.

picture quality is on par with panasonics in this price range. but if you have the money, go for the panasonic. slightly better picture quality. panasonics also have their break-in period built in. so you don’t have to worry about it.

didn’t test the speakers, since i use a home theatre setup.

glare is a slight problem for me (depends where you put it). my room is small. walls are white. so glare is expected, but it is not a deal breaker.

i have almost no complaints about this television. everything i expected. one complaint but it’s a small one. my set has a little buzz sound coming out of it, but it isn’t loud. my home theatre system easily drowns it out. but if you stand next to the plama, you can hear it.

the plasma is REALLY REALLY heavy. make sure you have a solid spot to mount it on your wall, not just dry wall. don’t go cheap on the mounting bracket!

5 Stars Stunning
We had bought the TV as an upgrade from our 720P 32 inch LCD, and the upgrade has put me at a loss for words.

The picture, clarity, and black levels from this set is the best I have seen after shopping around.

Very fast setup with the Plug and Play feature!

On top of that, aesthetically beautiful.

Buy/More Info

Samsung LN32B360 32 Inch 720p LCD HDTV

31.5″ screen (measured diagonally) * widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio * high-gloss black finish * built-in digital (ATSC) and analog (NTSC) tuners for over-the-air TV broadcasts (antenna required) * built-in QAM cable TV tuner receives unscrambled programs without a set-top box (cable service required) * 1366 x 768 pixels *

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star 1 year & 2 months later
This was the original review for the earlier model of this TV(LN32A330) however I feel it still applies as other Samsung models are known to have the same issues.

This LCD was a steal for the kind of picture and sound quality it provided. We rarely had any issues with it until now. One day when we came home we were looking forward to just vegging on the couch to watch our program. Grabbed the remote and pressed the power button. The Direct TV console turned on followed by the familiar red light at the bottom center of the tv. This is usually followed by a distinct ringing beep that would indicate the power is turned on. There was no beep. No ring. No sound. No picture. Just pure black with the red power light winking at us. We tried everything to resurrect the picture including disconnecting the power cord and using different wall sockets. Nothing. I called Samsung worldwide and the service agent said that it is a service call issue however since we bought the TV on June 30 2008, we are no longer covered by the warranty as it is now August 2009. It amuses me how crap like this happens soon after the warranty runs out. I looked all over online and many Samsung owners of various models and sizes have experienced the same thing, a defective power supply and it will have to be replaced. I also looked to see if I could do it myself if I buy the part and save a little scratch. But it turns out that it involves using a soldering gun and having failed shop class, I figured I would call a professional. Repair will cost upwards of $250 including service call, parts and labor. Just when you think you’re getting a bargain, just be aware that it could cost you in the long run. Next time I don’t think I’ll worry about spending a little more if it means not having to go through this headache.

5 Stars Outshines LG and SONY
We looked and looked. Finally standing for almost an hour looking at the LG and SONY 32″ 720’s side by side. Can honestly say after looking at the 1080’s that in this size the 720 outshines the 1080. If you are looking at a 50″ set then it’s a different story. Color was fantastic and superior to the LG in my opinion. Ease of set up is great. Design and layout of the remote is intuitive, making tweaking to get your final settings of the flesh tones, contrast, and sharpness easily to your exact likings. Remote has some buttons allowing you direct adjustment of certain settings without going into the full menus to reset them. For a bedroom view of 8′ to 10′ the 32″ is just great. I’ve had this TV for just about one week and have been trying to decide if I really need to upgrade to HD but guess I’ll go all the way for the full experience. This TV really blows away your viewing experience. We purchased the 4 year extended warranty so reading the few negative reviews doesn’t bother me! There will always be those Monday morning fabrications that will throw a clunker into the works. But I am pleased to the maximum from this purchase and highly recommend the Samsung LN32B360 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV.

4 Stars TOO EARLY TO TELL…ONLY HAD IT 2 WEEKS…GOOD SO FAR
I WAS LOOKING FOR A TV ABOVE BAR AREA IN BASEMENT…ONLY HAD 2 WEEKS….DOING GREAT SO FAR…NO COMPLAINTS…..

4 Stars Great TV
Really love this TV. It arrived before schedule in great shape. Had no problems hooking it up. And have been pleased with the picture quality and color since we have been using it.

5 Stars For the price, great TV
For the price, this is a great TV. The sound isn’t the best, about the only complaint I have.

Buy/More Info

Samsung UN55B6000 55 Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV

Marketing description is not available.

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star buyer beware
After only 3 weeks of owning this TV, the TV randomly shut off on its own while we were watching TV. Now the TV constantly just turns on and turns off (with no actual image being displayed on the screen). The only way to shut it off is to disconnect it from the main power source. Called Samsung and apparently it’s an issue with the power supply, and they have to send a technician to repair. Turns out, this is a common issue with Samsung. I am not amused that after spending 2500$ on a brand new TV, it will need repair after only owning it for 3 weeks.

4 Stars Enjoying the Samsung UN55B6000 HDTV
Image Quality and Connectivity:

This Samsung UN55B6000 is excellent technology and priced to move. We’ve got it hooked up to a cable box (MOT DCT 6200) via the 1 component connection and the image is sharp and crispy and the colors are vivid and bright.

We have an older PC connected via the VGA connection and the 3.5mm mini audio connection. Internet browser windows come up real sharp in 1920×1280i resolution. Sidebar: I’m also using wi fi and wireless mouse and keyboard.

Hi-res images look fantastic. This TV was assembled with web-browsing and computing in mind (Net widget, USB, JPEG and mp3 friendly) and Samsung has nailed it.

Online Support and Configuring the Cable Box:

Initially, the cable box was sending 720×480i to the TV. Fortunately I was able to find forums online with posts from a Samsung HD Tech and a cable co. employee that outlined the solution — turn off the cable box, hit the menu button (cable remote) and here you can select the higher (or different) resolution.

Additionally, the cable box required two power cycles for this (resolution) change to take effect but when it did I was viewing cable tv in 1920×1080i.

Using Samsung’s P.Size (Picture) Button:

When watching cable programming broadcast in HD, the 16:9 (aspect ratio) mode looks the best to me. For standard definition programming the Wide-Fit mode stretches the image a bit to fill the screen.

I’ve noticed some adjusting is required when flipping between channels, for example, sometimes CNN ticker text is below the screen and other times the Fox Sports Net FSN graphic is a bit above the screen. Perhaps this issue is addressed in the screen-fit mode, I’m not sure yet, I’ll have to mash a few more buttons. Overall, I give it 4.5 stars.

4 Stars Great TV if one can figure out how to use it.
My family and I just love this TV, particularly for watching sports. We looked at a lot of LCD and Plasmas but saw none that gave us the sense of depth this one does. It is like 3D. Moreover, our family room is also a sun room during the day but the picture is just as strong in the day time as it is when the room is dark. The viewing angle is comparatively wide. We see no appreciable drop off when it is viewed at an angle. It is large enough that my wife can view it from the adjacent kitchen with ease.

Learning how to use its features and to set it up is another matter and that is the one gripe I have with the TV. Samsung only provides a four page manual which tells the owner nothing. Instead it includes a flash drive which contains a manual for its use but it took me over three weeks to realize what the flash drive was for. The manual does not show the available ports or how things are to be connected to the TV. I finally figured it out by trial and error and got the flash drive connected. Finding out how to use it however, was again a lot of trial and error. Once I was able to read the pages, it was hard to read, mostly grey on black (I hate black-you can’t see where anything is on black). Figuring how to page the manual on the TV isn’t easy. Samsung provides numerous steps to take but the user has to leave the Manual screen to go through the steps and unless the user writes out all the steps, it is a tiresome process to follow the steps.

So I tried using the flash drive on my computer. Well the manual is in a strange format so it will not open normally. Windows searched for a driver that would allow viewing the manual and found one which I downloaded and installed The one I found that worked was from IrFanView but one must also download all the plugins before it will work. However, when I opened the Manual, it was unprintable except with a screen capture utility.

That was more trouble than it was worth and it then dawned on me to go to the Samsung Support Center and see if there was a Manual that could be downloaded. Voila, the Manual was available in both PDF and Word formats but because the Manual is in three languages, it is 273 pages long. Just print the first 75 pages.

What I found is that with no difficulty I could run picture shows directly from either my camera or from a card reader. They come out beautifully. If I tried to print pictures that big, they would be grainy as all get out. But the pictures show in full size on the big screen in terrific detail and color and they have depth.

But I wish the USB ports were either on the side or the front where they are easily accessible. I intend to wall mount the screen but if I do I won’t be able to get to the connections which are on the back. And even then it is difficult to insert USB cords because the recess is so narrow.

We love this TV however, because of the lack of a printed manual and the location of the USB ports, I can only give it 4 stars.

3 Stars Good but not great
I got this Samsung UN55B6000 to replace a dead Sony KDL52W3000 that was just shy of 20 months old.

For the price, it came down to this or the 52XBR9. I took the Samsung cause the picture looked sharper at the store and while still smarting from a Sony reliability issue.

Once set up at home, I started to reconsider my choice. While the dark levels are definitly darker, the glossy screen is a nuissance during low lit scenes.

The bezel design is such that the speakers have nowhere to go but behind the TV which relies purely on the condition and distance of the wall behind it. Compared to the Sony, the sound coming out of this TV sucked.

Samsung defaults their screen with 95% contrast level. So there’s not much room for increased contrasts if you ever need to. I believe this is how Samsung obtains their contrast advantage, raise it to max then cover it with a glossy screen.

The slim design also limits source input options. It comes with 4 HDMIs and only either a component or composite source. With the Sony I can connect all my sources redundantly so no need to boot up the power hungry receiver 100% of the time.

So if you hook up all your components into the TV via HDMI, the sound going into your A/V receiver depends on how well the TV can pass it through.

Buy/More Info