Although it'd be easy to take one of our reader's
word for it,
Sound and Vision Magazine set out to see if Samsung's sleek LN-T4681F really was the best home theater display on the market. The 46-inch LED-backlit display is a proud member of Sammy's
81 series, and while the glossy motif sure boosted the sexiness, reviewers did note that a "fair amount of reflected light pooled up on the screen during daytime viewing." The crew didn't have much trouble tweaking the settings to get the image just right, but it did exhibit a few problems deinterlacing film-sourced 1080i-format programs. Nevertheless, LED SmartLighting / LED Motion Plus both proved extremely beneficial, color rendition was deemed "excellent" and picture uniformity was satisfactory save for the slightly lackluster off-axis performance. Overall, those in charge of critiquing this here set were mighty impressed, and while a few niggles may annoy those looking for reasons to nitpick, most everyone else will likely walk away quite pleased with its performance.
posted Nov 20th 2007 3:12AM
I really do not like it. If the screen is dark and there is a bright object in the middle, it 'glows' well into the dark area.
I am not impressed for the price - seems more like a gimmick than a real improvement.
From what I've seen/heard, the set's on-angle viewing is very nice; the panel can blacken almost as effectively as backlight dimming. But off-angle, those areas being dimmed by the panel will be glowing compared to the areas dimmed by backlight reduction. IMHO, I prefer how my 71 handles off-angle viewing.
I got my 52" LED-LCD last Friday and it's just briliant! Now if the darn Tosh ep35 would arrive, then i'd be more than happy!:)
LCD TVs are garbage for film viewing or home theater - it's a flawed technology that simply can't produce accurate shadows and blacks. However, I would consider LED LCD for computer and video game applications. Otherwise, I'm sticking with Pioneer's Kuro Plasma displays which does everything a LEAP above all LED LCD and any LCD TVs for that matter. As for the 81 series, it's first gen garbage. However, looking forward to seeing Samsung's next generation of LED LCD that should be considerably improved.
Seems people just don't understand LED backlighting technology. Yes it's new, in fact the Samsung is the first and only brand available in Canada, I didnt expect to see them til next xmas.
The matrix of LED's in the backlight panel are individually brightened or dimmed (or turned off) to suit the image. The contrast ratio is amazing. This is far superior to previous backlight dimming methods where backlight brightness could only be controlled in relatively large zones of the screen, where the dimmed backlights could not be turned completely off.
I intended on buying a 46" Sony Bravia today, but after seeing the Samsung and looking at everything else at BestBuy, I bought the Samsung. Being able to turn off the LED's gives it a contrast ratio of 500,000:1 ... as listed in the store, but the number didn't matter, the blacks on all the other TV's were distinctly grey in comparison, even when standing a few TV's down the line, comparing other brands while looking back at an angle to the Samsung.
The black band above and below a wide format movie was indistinguishable from the black of the frame, while the same band was clearly glowing on all the other TV's.
To say this TV can't produce accurate shadows or blacks is to expose your total ignorance. Go see for yourself, then come back and apologize for embarassing yourself here.
In case you can't believe the amazing 500,000:1 contrast ratio, here it is on Samsung's website:
http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/spec.do?group=televisions&type=televisions&subtype=lcdtv&model_cd=LNT4681FX/XAA&fullspec=F