| Editorial Review :
Samsung 40-Inch LCD Widescreen HDTV
Customer Review :
this tv is about the best value i've come across. ever.
the display is beautiful, the setup was a bit tricky..
i just peered out from the crt world of tvs. five years ago, i had a twenty inch crt by apex. three years ago, we wanted a bigger one and settled on a used 26 inch dyno flat crt for $180. we wanted an lcd, and now, three years later, we could finally afford one. the issue, though, is that i came out of the crt-world knowing nothing about hdmi cables. id only ever set up using rca and s-video cables. what ive found is that when you have a tv with two hdmi ports, it will help if you get a little inventive:
i have uverse, a blu ray player, and my receiver [that doesnt have hdmi ports]
i connected an hdmi cable from my tv to my blu ray
from my tv to my uverse box
and ran an optical cable from my tv to my receiver
it works flawlessly, i have surround sound, and the switch from hdmi1 to hdmi2 is stress free; i just click "source" on the remote and scroll down one and hit the big middle button.
i have the uverse remote to change the channels and have the receiver audio set through the same remote. so unless we are changing to a dvd or going back to television, there is no need except for the one remote. we are pleased with this set up. the tv remote is huge and doesnt offer a lighted display, so though i like the size of it, i dislike using it. ergonomically, though, it is easy to function.
just to note: having 1080p is not all it's cracked up to be:
because nothing broadcasts in full 1080p. currently, at&t broadcasts in 720p. that will be changing over the next couple of years, but for now i have our uverse box set for 1080i. 1080i looks noticeably better than 720p. had i known this, i would have sought out a 720p tv. i originally did. had the deal not been as good on this tv, we would have settled on a 720, probably a 37" vizio. but as is, we are very happy. samsung is rated number two and for good reason. even with a very modest 40,000:1 contrast ratio, even with the 60 speed, this is a lot of television that was stripped down of just enough whistles to make it just barely affordable for us.
the upconversion of regular dvds through my blu ray player is very crisp on this display. even home movies that i transcode and burn to play like a dvd through my player comes alive, even though my camcorder is 480i and not hd. this tv is a remarkable buy.
Rating : 
this is what a value TV should be, and comparison with Sony 46W5150
In the last three months of this year (2009) I did hours worth of research deciding on which 2 LCD TV's to buy: a 46" for myself that I planned to do all kinds of crazy things with including hooking up my computer via DVI->HDMI, using a roof-mounted antenna for the over-the-air tuner, using with a HTPC, etc; and a 40" for my mom and dad that would simply offer great picture quality.
For myself, I bought the Sony 120hz 46W5150 Bravia Engine 3 1,000,000:1 contrast; and for mom and dad, this TV, ths Samsung 40b500.
The result is that this TV (Samsung) is perfect for mom and dad, and in truth probably would have satisfied me too.
Both are exceptionally vibrant and clear. My Sony TV offers a few shades deeper (almost perfectly pure) black level, but this Samsung is almost there with deep/rich blacks. If you are downgrading from a 120hz TV to the Samsung, you will notice the lack, but if you've only ever had a CRT or 60hz LCD I do not personally believe 120hz justifies a lot more money, but this is personal preference. Speakers are comparable. My Sony offers 8+ inputs including 4 HDMI, this Samsung only has 2 HDMI and 1 component/composite shared.
I could go on an on making technical comparisons, but I think the most helpful info I can share is that, having lived with and loved my Sony W-Series for a few months (a mid to top of the line unit), this Samsung offers 80-90% of the black level, contrast, and beautifully sharp image at about 50% of the price.
The low number of inputs is not an issue if you are aware of it beforehand. I hooked my parents cable box up to the component, their DVD player to the HDMI 1, and the Roku HD player to HDMI 2. If they get a blu-ray player, it will replace the DVD player on HDMI 1.
Rating :
awesome value
This was a gift for my sister's house. It came promptly, in excellent shape, and setup was easy. A great deal for the price.
Rating :
Great television for the price
I bought this television before Christmas Eve for about [...] from Sears with Bing Cashback. It was such a great deal. Out of the box, the picture quality is not great because you have to adjust the settings. I recommend going to [...] and looking up Samsung settings. I was able to use a setting for one of the Samsung televisions and the picture quality looked great. On the PS3, Modern Warfare 2 looks awesome. So does Dragons Age I might add. I think the people who are complaining about picture quality are not putting in the proper settings to show the true picture quality of the television.
Rating :
Samsung is Fantastic
I wanted a HDTV during black Friday, so I got out the ads on Thursday and began looking. I looked over many of the televisions, but I always seem to fall for Samsung or Vizio when it comes to LCD or LED HDTV's. This occasion was no exception. Now, some of the Sony Bravia's are beautiful too, but they tend to be a little expensive because of the name. Nonetheless, I found myself liking the $600 deal that was available at Walmart with this model, so I made the final decision this TV.
I haven't had much "first hand" experience with Plasma televisions, but of what I did experience, I liked Panasonic and Pioneer the most. However, plasmas are good for dark rooms, but there really aren't that many people (as far as I know) who have very dark living (tv) rooms and no windows. So, I tend to go with LCD. Here we go w/ specs:
FORMAT:
This model has the current 1.3b hdmi format, and so do almost all hdtvs, but there really isn't much of a difference between the a and b format (my opinion).
LIGHTING:
This TV is a CCFL display, which is understandable for the price, because LED-lit TV's tend to be more expensive. Basically, CCFL is fluorescent lighting, so you have bar-like lights behind the LCD crystals to light them up, whereas LED would have lots of little lights spread all across the back of the TV (local dimming) unless it's edge-lit (leds only on the edges of the tv to make the tv thinner). This television is plenty bright enough after I had a look at the picture.
PICTURE QUALITY:
The quality of the picture, after I adjusted it, is fantastic! I believe it's also because it's a Samsung. But, you MUST adjust it in order for it not to look pretty "run of the mill". All HDTV's are like this, and no matter how many thousands you pull out of your pocket, if you don't adjust the picture, your tv probably won't look as good as it could. The default settings always seem to make the tv too bright, and the sharpness is usually up too high. But, that's what you see when you go to the store to get one. The tvs are all set to look "bright" and "vivid" so that it sells. Now, I'm not a professional when it comes to adjusting picture quality, but I do know what I need to do to make it look good on the eyes. This tv refreshes at 60 times a sec. (60hz refresh rate), and for some, that is a good thing. If you start getting tvs at up to 180hz and 260hz, it begins to look a bit like "plastic" or "fake" to me, so 60hz is fine.
1080p....highest picture quality available right now, but you can't really experience it until the cable providers decide to make the switch from 720p to 1080p, or if you've got a blu-ray player.
ADJUSTING THE PICTURE:
I did lots of research online, but just couldn't find any forums that have had the pros set this tv yet. I finally decided that the best one to go with was the LN40B530. But, I still wasn't happy. The picture looked too dark to me. Although, I do have a living room that tends to get pretty bright when the drapes are pulled back, so I decided to do the adjusting myself. I did the settings based on 720p quality, so it may look somewhat different to you if you do it while watching something in 1080i or p. Nevertheless, you can try the settings I found and made and choose which one you like the most or tweak it to how you like. Here are the 2 sets of settings for your convenience.
MINE:
Mode: Standard
Backlight: 8
Contrast: 80
Brightness: 49
Sharpness: 50 or lower (find what
you like)
Color: 50
Tint: G51/R49
Black tone: off
Dyn Contr: Medium
Gamma: 0
Color Space: Native
White Balance: Default
Flesh Tone: 0
Edge Enhancement: On
Color Tone: Normal
Size: 16:9
Digital NR: Off
LN40B530 (set by pros)
Mode: Movie
Backlight: 4
Contrast: 100
Brightness: 37
Sharpness: 0
Color: 46
Tint: G51/R49
Black Tone: off
Dyn Contr: off
Gamma: -3
Color Space: Auto
White Balance: Default
Flesh Tone: 0
Edge Enhancement: off
Color Tone: Normal
Size: 16:9
Digital NR: off
-If you do have settings that you think are better, let me know.
CONVENIENCE:
There are buttons on the right side of the TV, which is fine, and works for me. The lettering for what each button does is not extremely easy to see, but it's not a big deal. The ports are all behind the TV, and on the right side, so it's better that it's not in the middle, but it's still somewhat inconvenient for me because I hang my TV's on the wall, and I have to feel around to find a port. However, what really frustrates me is the lack of HDMI ports. You get 2. 1st of all, you already have one taken up for cable. Then, you have a dvd player, all of your gaming consoles, and anything else you'd like to hook in. It's not just this tv I'm frustrated with, it's most tv's. Why can't they add more HDMI ports? I guess I should go out an buy a switcher. Other ports include a cable out, optical cable output for audio, a VGA port, Audio line in, and your typical composite and component connections (red, white, yellow, blue, green, etc.). Overall, the tv is pretty convenient aside from things I mentioned.
Overall, I was very happy with this choice on a tv, and I would recommend this to anyone that is on a budget and looking for a great tv. I give this TV 5 Stars.
Rating :
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