brad's Full Review: Samsung LN52A650 52 in. HDTV TV
Hey what's up folks.
This TV rocks the vote, much like the Dems did in '06 & '08.
This is my first HDTV. Although, I have been researching these TVs for years.
Up until this year (2008), I didn't think there was enough HD content to really justify buying one of these TVs. Now, through Directv, many of my favorite channels broadcast in mostly-HD. That is, most of the programs are in HD. It's still a big problem, but much less so than it was only two years ago.
I was set on the Toshiba Regza 46" that is comparable to this one, but when I went to a local TV superstore, the picture quality wasn't comparable. All of the Sonys and Samsungs looked awesome and everything else was a distant 3rd. Was I duped in the store? Maybe. Maybe this store conspired to make all Sonys and Samsungs look the best. Certainly with Sonys, the sales margins are much higher and the store makes more money. On the other hand, Samsung is price competitive with other note-worthy brands (LG, Pioneer, Sharp, Toshiba), so I'm not convinced that I was duped.
Ultimately, I could not ignore the store visit, so I went with the Samsung A650. I bought it online from Amazon for $1505 a couple of months ago. It is hooked up to a 5.1 Dolby receiver and a Directv HD DVR with an HD feed.
I'm not going to get into a lot of technical details here because mostly, I wanted to report back that I think this TV is awesome. The picture quality is stunning and without any noise. The Toshiba I saw in the store had noticable noise on the picture and I wanted to avoid that. You can also noticably see this on say, a Vizio at Best Buy if you go there.
For those considering LCD TVs, I'll just cover some of the basics that you should be looking for when buying one. You want 1080p resolution, you want 120hz refresh rate, and a 10-bit panel. Beyond that, anything is really a bonus. I would also look for a DVI connection as opposed to a VGA connection. I would make sure - for older models - that the HDMI connections are v1.3 compliant. Otherwise, obviously you want as many HDMI and other connections as possible, but HDMI is the most important and is the future, so other connections are far less relevant.
I utilize HDMI for only one connection right now. My HD DVR is connected with HDMI. But I plan on getting an upconverting DVD player and I'll use HDMI for that. I don't have a video game player. My current DVD player is connected by component cable and optical audio and my VCR is connected with composite cable.
HD TV looks the best out of all my sources. The image is again, just stunning. Absolutely amazing - the difference between HD and the widescreen ratio and SD and the 4:3 ratio. Watching sports on TV in particular, is a whole other experience. It is - pardon the pun - a game-changer.
Standard def TV looks great on the TV as well. I will note that I don't "stretch" standard def images to fit the screen; I think that is stupid but I know many people do it. I would much rather have the pillars and see the intended image. And of course, it is not distorted. But even compared to my old Sony WEGA 27" flatscreen TV, this Samsung A650 blows away the WEGA in terms of standard def picture quality. There just isn't a relative comparison to be made.
VHS also looks better on my new TV. It is still VHS, so a comparsion of movies watched on VHS to DVDs or high-def movies on HBO is, again, not a relative comparison. But VHS looks about as good as it is going to on any platform on this TV. Again, I leave the image at 4:3 with pillars and do not stretch it.
DVDs? They look quite good, although not as good as I had hoped. I am optimistic that an Oppo upconverting DVD player will make adjustments and the image will be much better. But let me be clear, we're at another level in terms of viewing experience. Watching DVD on a 4:3 standard def TV just isn't in the same league. With this Samsung A650, the TV set is so crisp that even a DVD can look noisy. The TV is clearly looking for more information to fill those pixels. I think the Oppo DVD player will help, but in the meantime, DVDs are leaps and bounds better on my new TV than they were on standard def. Once again here, I do not stretch images, so I still have letterbox bars on the top and bottom for most movies on DVD.
One thing that I didn't much care about but now do is the remote control device. Usually, these things are terribly designed and eventually, despised. The remote that Samsung engineered for this TV is awesome and it makes watching things on it so much easier. This is what a lot of people don't realize with HDTVs. There are many times were I need to adjust the image, change it from 16:9 back to 4:3, even within sources. I need to change the source, which means from the DVR to the DVD player to the VHS player and now with my iMac. So lots of connections, lots of different types of content coming into the TV, and a big need for making adjustments on the fly. Settling for a "one size fits all" TV setting for all images and sources is really stupid in my opinion. With this Samsung remote, you can easily make these adjustments with one hand and ease of mind. It's quite nifty.
One drawback for this TV is the VGA connection. It became clear to me after about a month that I really needed to take advantage of the set quality and mirror my iMac on it. Well, ideally I would like to do this digitally. I can if I use certain adapters. I might still do that. But VGA was the easiest route to go in terms of connections and adapters and what I had available on hand for cables. VGA clearly degrades the quality of the signal. I recommend for anybody wanting to connect a computer to this set to use the HDMI connection. You'll need a DVI-HDMI converter (adapter), but I imagine it is worth it. I'm sure that I will get to that at some point, but for now I have VGA connected. It would have been easier if the TV came with a DVI connection instead of VGA. VGA is very old technology and again, analog.
Otherwise, I am thrilled. I am very pleased with my choice of size. The 46" is quite large, but I read a lot of advice before buying and everybody said to buy as big as will fit in the allotted space (basically) and depending on how far I sit from the TV. I only sit about eight feet away from the set.
Samsung has a number of product lines, but they are all related and each includes incremental upgrades. There is the A450, the A550, the A650, A750, A850, and now the A950. I tried discerning a material difference between the A650 and the A750 and couldn't. I don't remember what the difference is between the A650 and the A950, but I know it doesn't change the fundamental underpinnings of the TV that make the image quality what it is: full 1080p resolution, the 120hz refresh rate, and the 10-bit panel.
The move to 1080p a couple of years ago (among the premium brands and recently across all brands) along with the 120hz refresh rate (as opposed to 60hz refresh) and 10-bit paneling are the key technological advances that have advanced picture quality over earlier high-def sets. For sets under 40 inches, it probably doesn't matter if the set is only 720p or 1080i, but I would still rather have the full 1080p. I suppose it would depend on where the TV is going and for what use. I would be willing to compromise on quality for a secondary set than with my primary set.
If you go by these standards, you're going to be in the ballpark for a great television. Each notable brand has its own artificial picture quality enhancing technology used to artificially enhance the image for a better picture. Some brands are more aggressive in applying this technology than others. Sony does it, Samsung does it, Toshiba does it, others do it. I know for Samsung it can be turned off, if so desired. But the bottom line is those specs I outlined above that will determine the quality of the set.
Here is a URL to Amazon's product page for this TV so you can see all of the specifications and information about the TV that is available:
Just copy and paste that into your browser's address bar.
I almost forgot about sound. I haven't used the sound from this TV much, but I have somewhat and it sounds terrific. It will never compare to a 5.1 setup with a receiver and good-quality speakers, but it's quite capable if that's the route you want to go. The sound is crisp and clear. One warning about this part of the TV though, is the optical output on the rear of the TV. That output is Stereo only! So you cannot connect all your HDMI devices and then just output the audio with one cable, because you will lose the Dolby surround sound. So be wise of that.
One other thing I need to mention is the non-matte display feature of this TV. A matte screen is just the LCD glass covering the display of the pixels. It is glare-resistant and common among older LCD displays. Most computer LCD screens are still matte LCD screens, although this is quickly changing. This TV is "semi-matte," although I still haven't figured out what the means. Probably to dispel fears that it is "glossy." Glossy is the term used to describe the type of display that this TV utilizes and that, for example, a MacBook computer uses. It has a thicker, "glossy" sheet of glass across the display. This TV comes with a shimmy to shine the glass. Some people claim they cannot tolerate the "glossy" aspect of the TV and choose to buy an alternative, if available. In this case, you can buy the same TV except the model is the A630, which has a matte screen. I don't know if Samsung continued this option through later models. But I had to bring it up. For me, it is not an issue. This TV is not in a sun room and sees little natural light. And I don't watch TV during the daylight much anyhow. I have not had a single instance of glare affecting my viewing experience in two months with this thing, including several afternoons with some football watching.
To finish up, I don't think you can go wrong if you buy a Sony or a Samsung HDTV. With some of the other brands, I am sure there are good TVs. You probably need to inspect a bit further. I recommend using the AVS Forum online to seek out advice on various TV models. Look at other places on the Web that review TVs. Remember, you are going to be looking at this thing a fair amount of the time, so don't just drop $1,500 on a TV that you think looks good. Make sure you know what you're getting.
Store About Us Shipping Policy Return Policy FAQs Contact Info Samsung LN52A650 52 inch High-Definition LCD TV Brand New Samsung LN52A650 Samsungs sle...More at eBay
Store About Us Shipping Policy Return Policy FAQs Contact Info Samsung LN52A650 52 inch High-Definition LCD TV Brand New Samsung LN52A650 Samsungs sle...More at eBay
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