Samsung LN46B650 46" 1080p LCD TV

Comments about Samsung LN46B650 46" 1080p LCD TV:

Use product daily for movies and shows. Color is fantastic. Menu settings is easy to change. Samsung Website is well set up to answer questions. This is our second Samsung. DVD movies show excellently. Nothing negative to report.

Comments about Samsung LN46B650 46" 1080p LCD TV:

This TV has a great picture and great features.

Comments about Samsung LN46B650 46" 1080p LCD TV:

Unlike most reviews, I am going to get straight to the point and list the cons first, and be a little less technical in the beginning: this LCD panel is an excellent choice for any purpose, be it watching Blu-ray movies in full 1080p glory, OTA programming, Netflix, PC or console gaming, or for cable, BUT: if your video source is of less than ideal quality, every flaw will be revealed. This is not the fault of the LN46B650; it is the fault of bad feeds.

Cons:

(NOTE: I have not calibrated the panel yet; I am still using the unit as calibrated at the factory aside from sharpness settings)

TOC (Touch of Color): Samsung, either give me a choice or leave out the TOC, and go with a neutral "color" like charcoal or black or silver. The color does not go with my living room. Being very familiar with Samsung's line and with the quality of the picture and the input availability being my highest priorities, I decided I can live with the red TOC, but I'd rather either have a choice of color, or have it simply be neutral, or just black. Fortunately it doesn't clash but it can clash with many decors. I chose this panel for function, not fashion. Most nontechnical consumers won't make their decision that way; they choose form over function (and wonder why their systems don't work as well as engineer friends' systems).

Screen quality: The clarity, contrast, and resolution are so good that every single problem with the source equipment or media is immediately noticeable. Netflix streams (received with a Samsung blu-ray player) are stunning in slow streams, but the heavy MPEG4 compression becomes readily apparant in scenes with movement, or when bandwidth is lower than optimal.

For cable, I have it connected to a Motorola DCX3400. Comcast's heavy MPEG compression negates almost any benefit of their HDTV offerings; the channels are over-compressed, and to offset that I went into the STB's setup menu to decrease sharpness, which somewhat diminishes the MPEG artifacts. Some HDTV channels are so heavily compressed that the upscaled standard-def feeds are sometimes more watchable. These flaws are noticeable but not distracting on my 720P set, but are very annoying on this panel. It may be partly due to my "pixel peeping" that I find it so distracting, but when compared to blu-ray or less compressed HDTV feeds, I'm tempted to suggest that folks with lousy cable companies who have a fetish for over-compressing HDTV offerings should choose 720P sets instead of 1080.

Component vs. HDMI: Connecting to some sources (such as my Toshiba DVD player which offers upscaling) results in an excellent picture only slightly less clear than HDMI. Connecting to the Motorola cable box via component results in a picture with heavy fringing (regardless of whatever quality component cable I try), indicative of less than quality attention given to the STB design. Again, this is not Samsung's fault, but Comcast's.

Youtube and Yahoo Video widgets: the video quality is easily as good as viewing the HD feeds via a PC. The Internet widgets however, are slow and it is impossible to bookmark or save search queries or user channels. This is highly annoying.

S-video: There is not a single S-video input to be found on this panel; this will force me to purchase more S-video converters for my "legacy" NTSC/Standard-Def components, or upgrade my AV receiver to upscale all the NTSC sources.

120Hz: the benefit is barely discernible for most video sources. Don't make a purchase decision of the lack or inclusion of this feature, and certainly do NOT pass up on this set because another panel offers 240Hz. The frame doubling feature works as advertised, and anything more than 120Hz is just a marketing gimmick. The 120Hz vs. 240Hz rating is similar to the megapixel race in point-and-shoot cameras, and delivers little (if any) real benefit to the consumer.

Cons summary: This set is so good it makes the weak points of your video system readily apparent. Also: it would have been nice for the composite inputs to also include S-video jacks. It's disheartening that composite is going to outlive the slightly-clearer S-video standard.

SRS Audio: this is supposed to be simulated surround using psychoacoustics to 'trick' the brain into believing there are rear channels. I have never heard any SRS-equipped set or two-channel receiver which convinced me of this.
The only "simulated" surround I have heard which was convincing was a "Qsound"-encoded music album (Roger Waters' Amused to Death). To me "SRS" audio systems always sound like "simulated stereo" or "stereo expansion." Leave it on if you'll be happy with a "widened" sound stage, but don't expect convincing front vs. rear audio cues.

USB drives: connected hard drives must be FAT formatted. Who uses FAT for hard drives anymore? Now it's NTFS, HFS+, or EXT3. FAT exists today mainly for floppy disks (which are also going the way of the dodo) and camera memory cards.

PROS:

Picture quality: This panel is stunning when given a clear video feed, and by customizing some of the picture profiles (such as standard, dynamic, movie, etc) you can mitigate the artifacts found in poor-quality video sources (such as Comcast's heavily-compressed HDTV channels). Contrast is excellent, as is off-axis viewing.

Audio: Audio quality and sound levels are very good for speakers built into a TV set. For a home theater you will still prefer to use an A/V receiver and surround speakers, but the sound quality is still very good; not audiophile quality but still very listenable. The built-in graphic EQ (found in the audio setup menu) can make up for some deficiencies you will invariably find in your listening environment.

I/O: There is a plethora of video inputs, including component, VGA, HDMI, S/PDIF, composite ("AV"), and an S/PDIF output for those who wish to use the television as their HDMI splitter but still use an external receiver (or preamp and amps) for audio reproduction. "DVI mode" is offered for HDMI#1, which is paired with a separate line-level audio input. This is for use with a DVI->HDMI cable, usually for connecting a PC or Mac, but retains audio through the separate audio jacks (standard DVI doesn't do audio). Also available are two USB ports for accessing devices such as the "e-manual" (see my rant about that below), hard drives, and so forth.

Convergence: The unit will also access music and videos on CIFS/SMB/Windows shares through your home or office network, and comes with a CD containing Windows software to make sharing media with your TV very easy. Also, many "internet widgets" are available to access select online video, photo, and music sources, the functionality is very slow compared to an HTPC, and "typing" search queries into the Yahoo widget is a chore. Conspicuously absent is a "Hulu" widget.

Thoughts: if you want responsive Internet functionality, build a MythTV-based or Windows Media-based HTPC with a wireless keyboard and mouse and gain full access to Yahoo, Hulu, and countless other media services.

Manual, "green" and other random stuff: This panel was easy to set up, but nontechnical consumers will definitely find the lack of a printed manual daunting; the manual is included on a USB flash drive. In other words: how the (explitive) do I read the 'fine' manual if I don't know how to mount it, plug it in, and access the USB stick? To add insult to injury, the troubleshooting section of the manual requires the set to be running. I'm all for personal responsibility when it comes to the environment, but come on: kill a tree and print a paper manual; a printed manual requires fewer resources than is required to manufacture a silicon flash chip. My gut tells me this decision results in more rather than fewer support calls.

Remote control: Like most Samsung panel remotes, this is not a universal remote. It DOES control Samsung "Anynet" devices, but not other devices such as third-party DVD or blu-ray players, VCRs, Cable/Sat STBs, and so on.

Conclusion: Excellent video quality, preferable to many current so-called "LED" panels. A much better choice than any plasma panel because LCD does not suffer from burn-in. The set is lightweight and easy to mount. The back light is bright enough for almost any situation, and the black level is almost as close to true black that a back lighted display can get. Integration is easy, including the networking features.

Comments about Samsung LN46B650 46" 1080p LCD TV:

the crispness is amazing. There are very few refresh delays. It has internet capability that seems useful. Everyone else who has bought an LCD recently is jealous of ours.

Comments about Samsung LN46B650 46" 1080p LCD TV:

-absolutely beautiful picture
-easy to set up
-the touch of color on the frame enhances the decor or the room.
-could have better sound

Comments about Samsung LN46B650 46" 1080p LCD TV:

Me and my boy Israel hooked up the PS3 to this beast and fired up Grand Theft Auto . .WOW!!
It was intense dude!! I almost got dizzy.

Comments about Samsung LN46B650 46" 1080p LCD TV:

I set it up myself. Normally I can't do these things. It was so easy I was finished in 10 minutes. The picture is clear, the contrast is great. I got a deal of a price from B&H [...] I can use the remote easily and the instructions for moving between components are clear and easy to follow.