 | | |
| Samsung LN40A550 40-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV | 
 enlarge
| List Price: $1,399.99
Buy New: $1,062.89
You Save: $337.10 (24%)
Buy New/Used
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 154 reviews)
Sales Rank: 27
Category: CE
Publisher: Samsung
Studio: Samsung
Brand: Samsung
Label: Samsung
Color: Black
Media: Electronics
Batteries Included: 1
Display Size: 40
Warranty: 1 year warranty
Shipping Weight (lbs): 54.5
Dimensions (in): 39.2 x 3.6 x 24.7
MPN: LN-40A550
Model: LN-40A550
UPC: 036725228177
EAN: 0036725228177
ASIN: B001418W2C
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
|
| Features:
| • | Full HD 1080p Resolution | | • | Wide Color Enhancer | | • | 3 HDMI Inputs | | • | USB 2.0 | | • | HDMI-CDC |
|
| Accessories:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
40" widescreen HDTV (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 *
Manufacturer's Description--March 24, 2008
Samsung's 550 Series is a perfect way to step up to Full HD 1080p resolution. A fast 5 ms response rate produces smooth-motion scenes for sports and action movies, and a dynamic contrast ratio of 30,000:1 makes for deep blacks and crisp lines (15,000:1 in 32-inch and 37-inch models). Superb connectivity and networking with a USB port and 3 HDMI 1.3 ports with Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) means these HDTVs play well with all of your other electronics. Easily enjoy MPEG and JPEG files stored on external devices by connecting through the side-mounted USB 2.0, turn your LCD into a full-scale home viewing gallery, or connect your MP3 player for a dynamic audio experience.
 Key Features
- New -- 30,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio: up from 15,000:1 on 2007 models (15,000 on 32-inch and 37-inch models) (Learn more)
- New -- Fast 5ms response time: down from 8ms on 2007 models thanks to a new high-speed liquid crystal
- Full 1080p HD (Learn more)
- 178-degree viewing angle from all four axes with Super Patterned Vertical Alignment (Learn more)
- 3 HDMI 1.3 ports: Simplay compliant (Learn more)
- USB 2.0 port: connect devices directly to your HDTV--view JPEG photos or MPEG movies or easily listen to your MP3 player through your HDTV's audio system or your home theater system
- DNIe Digital Natural Image Engine improves the picture by enhancing the contrast, detail, and white balance (Learn more)
- Hidden speakers with SRS TruSurround XT audio (Learn more)
- Wide Color Enhancer technology and Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (CCFL) offer a wider color range (Learn more)
- Picture-in-Picture (PIP) enables convenient simultaneous viewing of TV programs and video or PC sources
- V-Chip system allows blocking of rated TV and movie programs determined by the parent to contain objectionable content.
- Trilingual on-screen displays in English, Spanish or French.
- Variable sleep timer to turn the TV off in varying time intervals.
- Auto wall mount compatible: 3-dimensional operation via TV?s remote control; no external IR receiver required.
- Swivel stand included
- 1 year parts and 1 year labor warranty (90 days parts and labor for commercial use), with in-home service, backed by Samsung toll-free support
Step Up Features
- Series 6: 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, AutoMotion Plus 120Hz image interpolation for smoother motion, 4ms response time, Transparent and Opaque Color (TOC) bezel, Clear Panel, Ethernet port with Infolink free RSS feeds, 4 HDMI 1.3 ports, Sports and Game modes, Compatible with Samsung's Home Digital Media Adapter for playback and navigation of Internet and stored PC multimedia
- Series 7: Internal flash memory (1GB) with pre-loaded interactive content such as cooking recipes, children's entertainment, HD artwork and more, Integrated woofer for an enhanced audio experience, DLNA-Compatible: for better interoperability with electronics, computers and mobile devices from many different manufacturers
What size TV should you get?
Learn More
Full HD 1080P  | Full HD, or 1080p, contains 1.5 times more scanning lines than conventional HD TVs. More scanning lines mean more pixels, more details and a better picture. The new Samsung LCD TV with resolution that is approximately 2 times greater than conventional HDTVs, creating the most perfect picture imaginable.
Samsung?s 1080p panel uses a new high-speed liquid crystal to cut response time to 4ms. The fast response time, coupled with Samsung?s Auto Motion Plus 120Hz motion blur reduction technology dramatically reduces motion blur and judder.
| 
|
30,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio/500 nit Brightness
 | 30,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio will give you a picture better than you ever thought possible, with whiter whites, blacker blacks and a nearly infinite subtlety of gradations in between. As two of the most important determining factors in overall picture quality, contrast and brightness levels achieve new heights in this latest generation LCD panel. Samsung?s new LCD TV?s give the most stunning realistic picture quality ever.
|
 | DNIe The Samsung Digital Natural Image engine. This exclusive Samsung technology dramatically improves the picture by enhancing the contrast, detail, white balance and reduces.
| 
|
The NTSC (National Television Systems Committee) has established the color standards all TVs in America try to meet. And typical LCD TVs only meet about 72% of this standard. Samsung LCD HDTVs use Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp back lights to give you 92% coverage of the NTSC standard, ensuring truer, more breathlessly vivid colors.
Samsung?s exclusive Wide Color Enhancer technology delivers more brilliant colors, even in bright areas of the picture where blues and greens are washed out on conventional screens. The system displays wider color reproduction, showing you truer colors ? the fresh green of spring foliage, the intense blue of the summer sky. |  |  |  |  |
| To make the Series 6 a true entertainment hub for any home, Samsung has incorporated advanced HD connectivity and networking capabilities that expand the HDTV?s functionality. A wide variety of multimedia devices can be connected to the set through any one of the four Simplay compliant HDMI 1.3 inputs (including one on the side), and the handy HDMI-CEC feature lets you control all your CEC-enabled peripherals using just one remote.
Connect HD digital devices like disc players, game consoles, and satellite dish components into the 2 rear connections and use the side-mounted input for cameras, camcorders, and laptops. HDMI is the best performing interface for displaying an HD source on an HDTV.
Once connected, users can easily access device menus and manage and display content through the newly redesigned Wheel Key Remote control and the HDTV?s sophisticated content management interface.
All Connections
- 3 HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) version 1.3: (2 rear/1 side)
- Component video: 2 rear (Y, Pb, Pr)
- Composite inputs: 1 rear (shared with component) / 1 side
- S-Video: 1 side
- PC input: 1 rear
- Wiselink (USB 2.0)
- RF antenna inputs
- Headphone jack: side
|
| Samsung?s Super Patterned Vertical Alignment (SPVA) panel provides a 178-degree viewing angle from all four axes |
TruSurround is a patented SRS technology that solves the problem of playing 5.1 multichannel content over two speakers. TruSurround delivers a compelling, virtual surround sound experience through any two-speaker playback system, including internal television speakers and headphones. It is fully compatible with all multichannel formats up to 5.1 channels. High-quality virtual surround sound can be experienced with just the two hidden, downward-firing side-mounted 2.2-channel dome speakers built into the TV.
SRS TruSurround XT technology delivers an amazing, simulated 3D effect with clear dialog and powerful bass.
TruSurround XT audio also adds three audio enhancement technologies to produce an amazingly immersive sound experience.
- Dialog Clarity brings movie dialog into Focus during the playback of any surround-encoded material to make speech much clearer and crisper.
- TruBass creates incredible deep rich bass allowing a person to perceive significantly deeper, richer low bass tones that are far beyond the physical low frequency capabilities of the speaker itself.
- The SRS WOW feature widens the sound stage by processing standard two-channel stereo material as well as multi-channel encoded material for a dramatic improvement in the playback of any stereo audio over a two-speaker system.
Stereo broadcast reception is offered for MTS and SAP with 181-channel capacity. A sound leveler keeps audio volume consistent during channel changing.
| With standard-definition TVs, the rule used to be that viewers would feel comfortable watching a set from a distance of 3 to 6 times the screen size in inches. With HDTV, the resolution is so much better that you can sit closer to a larger TV without noticing the pixels. So with HDTVs, the rule tends to be you can sit anywhere from 1.5 to 3 times the screen size (in inches) for the best experience. If you know the size of the room you have already, where you want to sit, and where your new HDTV should go once you get it, you can figure out the size HDTV you should get. - Minimum size = Viewing distance/3
- Maximum size=Viewing distance/1.5
|
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 149 more reviews...
 Very Slow Delivery September 6, 2008
The item took too long to be delivered (8 Days even though it was in stock)). Very good otherwise.
 Good deal, great picture September 3, 2008
The price for this TV on Amazon seemed to be reasonable, so I went to a local electronics store to check it out in person. The picture was by far the best of any similar sized TV in the store, and the price was about $300 higher than on Amazon. So I went home and ordered it from Amazon. The only problem I've had with it is that the sensor for the remote is on the far right side of the TV and is blocked by the cabinet into which I set the TV. I fixed that problem with a remote extender, but for an additional $40. If you don't have the TV in a cabinet or enclosure, then that won't be a problem. Overall, a great TV for a great price.
Excellent tv, very minor drawbacks September 3, 2008
The picture on this tv is absolutely amazing. The anti-glare surface means ambient light doesn't really affect the picture at all (although it can be distracting when reflecting off the shiny frame). Easy solution - close the curtains. Not only are the colors rich and sharp, but the blacks are true, deep blacks. Setup was a breeze, and it has really more inputs that I will ever use. The remote and on-screen menus are very easy to navigate, and everything is fairly intuitive. I've only had to go to the manual once to fix a setup option I screwed up the first time around.
My complaints are very minor and don't really detract from my enjoyment of the tv. 1) The sound is very mediocre. My living room is small, so I have to sit relatively close. From about 6 feet away, it seems as though the sound is pointed directly down or back and I'm hearing it reflected off either the tv stand or the back wall. It's just kind of stifled and tinny. For some reason, this problem seems to lessen as I get further away from the tv. It doesn't really matter as I have a surround sound system on order anyway. 2) The remote is kind of cranky. It will not work unless it's pointed directly at the center of the tv. After years of operating on the magical tivo remote, this one feels like target practice...gets a little frustrating. As I said, these are minor inconveniences overall in relation to the value and quality of the television.
Love the Samsung September 1, 2008
Very happy with the TV. Great picture especially in HD. Non-HD channels actually look worse than a regular tv. Not sure why. It's not this tv's fault, I think they're all like that. Nice looking set. Works great with plugging in a laptop computer and surfing the net etc. hooking up a digital camera and viewing pics in high res, also easy to hook up games etc. PS2 games don't take advantage of the 1080 res, so they actually don't look that great, like regular tv broadcast. I think a PS3 or Xbox 360 would need to be used to get the full effect. Took the stand off and mounted it to a wall, which was pretty easy. Bought a Sony HTCT 100 which improved the sound greatly. I don't use the internal speakers. Not that great. Try the Sony. Amazon had an excellent price and the unit was delivered quickly and taken out of the box by the delivery men.
Highly recommended! Will buy more Samsungs in the future.
Excellent television at its price point August 31, 2008
I spent a few weeks looking at various LCD and plasma television sets in my local BB and CC to get a feel for what was out there. I followed that up with another couple of weeks of research online into the models I was considering. After looking at the feature sets on various models, I decided to go with the LN40A550 and ordered one from Amazon. The delivery service was polite and fast and they were willing to work around my schedule to arrange a drop off time.
The television itself is pretty awesome, overall. The picture quality, from my unprofessional perspective, is at least on par with a large number of the plasma sets I looked at. The blacks are as black as I've seen on an LCD and there is no perceptible motion blur. The matte surface is excellent at handling the glare from windows opposite the telivision, which has been a blessing for me as I cannot rearrange the room. I will agree with some of the other reviewers, though, that the sound quality from this television leaves MUCH to be desired. The speakers aren't too bad, actually, but they are aimed downward and this causes significant muffling of the sound. I'm lucky enough to have also purchased a set of speakers and an audio/video receiver, allowing me to avoid using the television's speakers entirely.
I am a pretty avid gamer and this screen is excellent for gaming. In game mode there is no perceptible input lag and almost no motion blur at all (some can be detected on occasion but still much better than my older LCD television). I do wish that the different modes didn't gray out most of the configuration options, though. Game mode is required to reduce input lag but the lack of tweaking that can be done to the picture in this mode is irritating. It gives one the option of either enjoying no input lag and putting up with oversaturated colors or putting up with input lag in order to gain control over the color settings.
All in all this is an excellent television and I would purchase it again. The new Samsung models are pretty appetizing, though, and I'd recommend anyone looking at this model to also take a look at their most recent offerings.
|
|
|
Review and shop Cameras, Cars Accessories, Sporting Goods, Electronics, Computers, Software, Tools, Office Products, Books, DVD, Music, Kitchen, Apparel, and much more at discount prices! You find the Best Bargains right here! | | |
