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Wide Color Enhancer/Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp
Connectivity
Super Patterned Vertical Alignment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Key Features
 | Samsung?s Super Patterned Vertical Alignment (SPVA) panel provides a 178-degree viewing angle from all four axes |
Audio Features
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.
Which Size HDTV is Right for My Room?
 | 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.
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Good deal, great picture September 3, 2008The 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.
Love the Samsung September 1, 2008Very 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, 2008I 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.
Some Surprises August 30, 2008Have had this TV for about a month now. Amazon delivery was great. They took it out of the box, hooked it up and tried it to make sure it worked with no problems. Could tell they were in a hurry but that is understandable. They did what was necessary and I am completely satisfied with the delivery.
The TV operates great no real problems. There seems to be a great variation in quality of signals coming in. I am hooked up with HDMI. HD channels are great but hard to watch SD after watching the HD. SD is nothing to brag about. My viewing distance is usually about 6 feet as I watch most of the time from my computer chair. Sitting a couple feet farther away does help with the SD. 6 feet is fine for HD.
I was pleasantly surprised by a couple things. The sound is much better than I thought it would be after reading all the negative reviews. A tip to others, there are 5 settings for audio you can try. They are Standard, Music, Movie,Speech and Custom. Check those out to find which one sounds the best to you. Check "Equalizer" and you will see what the settings are for each. Use the best settings as a starting point and use the "Custom" setting to fine tune. Worked for me. Also I am surprised at the quality of the video from a sharp angle. It is just as good as our 50 inch Plasma Panasonic. Overall I am very satisfied with this TV, it works great with my new compact Samsung DVD player and also flawlessly with my JVC VHS player. I give 4 stars because I think the SD should be better but it may be the quality of the signals. HD is Excellent with satellite signal and also Excellent with over-the-air local channels. The Olympics were fantastic with over-the air HD.
Great HD, Poor SD August 29, 2008This is a really nice TV, especially since right now the price is just over $1k.
Pros: Great HD picture - this includes HD television stations (for me output from a digital HD cable box at 1080i through an HDMI cable) and Blu-Ray. Standard DVDs upconverted to 1080p then sent through HDMI look pretty darn good - some pixelation and color variations here and there, but mostly looking good (also depends on how new the DVD is - newer looks better). The picture is near perfect. That's all that needs to be said there. Set-up is fast, the TV is not that heavy, and the swivel stand is great. Menus are fairly straight forward, although in my opinion there are too many menu options - great if you are a perfectionist and really know what you are doing when it comes to fine-tuning the color. I think there a good amount of inputs. Nintendo Wii through component cables looks fine.
Cons: Would be nice if there was a digital coax audio out - there is only an optical out, and it doesn't pump out 5.1 sound (i.e., you go from 7.1 or 5.1 to 2.1 if you run the sound through your TV to your audio system). Standard definition (non-HD) programming looks fairly bad. I bought a cable line power booster, set the HD cable box to output only 480i when on standard channels, set the sharpness to 0, and turned digital noise reduction off. This helped quite a bit, but it still is noticeably bad. There is a lot of pixelation, some channels are passable some are awful. That is my biggest complaint for this TV.
Final note - viewing distance means a lot. I sit about 6-7 feet away, and can see pixelation. If I step back another 2 feet, the image is much better. So, if you sit 6 feet away, I would go for the 37" instead.