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512 of 527 people found the following review helpful.
Many DON'T HAVE SAMSUNG PANELS - HUGE quality difference
By HopefullyThoughtful
Many of these TVs don't have a Samsung panel (the screen/the part that has/makes the image!)! I cannot believe this has not been mentioned. It makes a SUBSTANTIAL difference, because some panels they use should be in TV's that cost $100 less.[...]Can you imagine buying a car because you know its manufacturer uses great, reliable engines, only to find out that they use completely different engines without telling you, all of which are of lower quality? Samsung does this with their TVs, and some of them don't EVER have Samsung panels (e.g., the 37" model will NEVER have a Samsung panel because they don't make 37" panels). Samsung uses 4 different panel types from four different manufacturers - each with a substantially different technology.You can tell which panel YOUR TV has by the "Version" on the sticker outside of the box. There's also a sticker on the back of the TV; the "Version" code is below the Model number and above the S/N. BTW, reviews can't be interpreted without the four-digit Version code because they are quite simply different TV's. Here's how to interpret them:("x" means a number, probably from 1-4, that represents the version of that panel - higher means newer but not always better).TH0x or TS0x: Samsung S-PVA panel (possibly just a PVA, if you're less lucky): This is what you thought you were buying. Best color, best black, best viewing angles.HS0x: Sharp ASV panel: Lower contrast ratio, more narrow viewing angle. I read HS02 in particular has terrible ghosting.A_0X: AOU A-MVA panel: Even lower contrast ratio.CH0x or CM0x or CS0x: Chimea S-MVA panel: You lost the lottery. Markedly worse in every way - way worse viewing angle, color reproduction, etc. Just a terrible rip-off.Mine, from Amazon, is an HS03, so a Sharp panel. I will be testing it tomorrow (DVD and watching football - no Blu-ray). There is a decent chance I return it, because it is not a Samsung. Also? Sony and Panasonic do much less "panel lottery" and are vowing to stop entirely. LG does not do a panel lottery. Samsung has absolutely no plans to stop, and they only use "standards" that won't reveal a difference between the different panels.I will update after doing more testing. I just simply could not believe that this was not mentioned. Nothing like finding out you paid $500 (40" model) for a $400 TV when that extra $100 could have been used for sound, Blu-Ray, etc.**Other reviewers, please, update your reviews to give your version code!**More reading:[...]UPDATED 10/24/12: Added info on how to find version number without the box.
516 of 537 people found the following review helpful.
Great TV after a lot of tweaking
By Gordon
If you're anything like me you see that this TV is labeled as LED; then you look at the picture and see a lot of fat for the usual Samsung LED depth. Make no mistake this is an LED TV. I got this for my bedroom to replace my 23 inch Samsung Syncmaster. I use this TV mostly for 1080 mp4 movies and blurays (I download what I want to watch instead of waiting for it on cable), and my Xbox and PS3.I learned 2 things about the TV right off the bat. If you have Comcast, you cannot fully customize the TV's picture. An essential feature called HDMI black levels actually looks much better when its set to low. I have 2 different Comcast HD boxes and since neither of them broadcast at 1080, this feature is locked out. Long story short, Comcast had me thinking I purchased my first dud from Samsung. Seriously, the colors look washed out and none of the channels really had that crisp clear picture I was hoping for. If you plan to use this solely for Comcast, I can't really recommend it. In fact, I've always found blu ray quality to be so much better than cable that I've stopped using cable for anything but football and cartoons. Movies MUST be in my PS3's blu ray player or my own 1080p files.The second thing I learned about is what the depth is for. Samsung didn't advertise this (or maybe its just my TV), but I have absolutely NO BACKLIGHT BLEED. When Black Ops goes to the loading screen on my Xbox, it gets so dark that I think the TV is off! The only indication that it is on is the Black Ops logo in the corner spinning. There isn't even the SLIGHTEST inkling of white anywhere! I'm not exaggerating. The obvious second reason why this TV is fat for an LED is that Samsung made an effort to improve the sound. When I turn on the HD surround coupled with the movie option, there is much more bass than I thought it would be. THe explosions in my games and the soundtracks in movies sound vastly better than I thought they would. Granted, I am not the type to go out and spend 600 on some Bose speakers, but the sound is NOT a con for me this time around.NOW ON TO THE PICTUREAs I said, I was not exactly thrilled with the picture RIGHT off the bat. It looked like my old 23 inch Syncmaster, just a lot bigger. Let me tell you, this is not one of those TV's that look great right out of the box. You have to toy around with the settings a bit to get the optimal picture. I wanted sharpness coupled with colors that pop like crazy.....and I got it. Dynamic is the brightest setting, but I coupled this with the HDMI black levels set to low (option not available for Comcast cable box) and voila, moving photographs! I'm not a pro but this is my setup:Mode: DynamicBacklight: 18Contrast: 85Brightness: 50Sharpness: 80Color: 70TInt: G/R 50/50Standard color tone with screen fit in the additional options, with HDMI black level set to low.My games and blurays look AMAZING. The picture is easily better than my mom's 46 inch Samsung up front. REMEMBER that some of the good options are cut off from Comcast and the use of component cables. In games, I do have to up the brightness or gamma a little, but it ends up looking BRILLIANT. I am going through my entire library of games and they feel like entirely new experiences! There is a 32 inch 720p option as well, but I just was not comfortable with 720p max. The new game consoles are gojng to have native 1080 so that's what I wanted. BTW did I mention I'm a big gamer?THE CONSWell I saw this TV up on Amazon before it was on Samsung's website. Yeah, WOW. Sometimes I wanted to see the TVs specs from Samsung directly before I made my buy. Make no mistake this is NOT a 120 HZ tv although it is labeled as one. I have no idea what clearmotion 120 is, but it makes my TV much darker. The feature is entirely useless and does nothing to the picture or add the "soap opera" effect like I had hoped (it looks great for games).WITH A COMCAST CABLE BOX I could see no difference between HDMI and component. I kept switching back and fourth, but since the max output is 1080i, there were no differences in picture.The last iteration of this TV had 4 HDMIs. What happened?VERDICTWith a lot of tweaking, I got the picture to look beautiful. I will use my Comcast box sparingly, but I might move to FIOS if the support full 1080. Watching movies on my PS3 and playing games on my Xbox stopped me from returning the TV. I will not be surprised if this set gets bad reviews from Comcast users (even though Its not Samsung's fault). I'm a "videophile" and this passed my personal test with vibrant colors.FEEL FREE TO ASK ME ANYTHING!
151 of 156 people found the following review helpful.
Very pleased
By wfc
As a grandmother who is not as technologically advanced as the younger generation, I did have concerns about buying a television that had to be programmed and the stand installed before using. However, my fears were unwarranted. As soon as I turned it on, I was stepped through the programming and the stand or base was very simple to install. With the weight only being less than 15 pounds, I was also easily able to manuever it by myself. I was watching programs within an hour although younger people would have managed all of this in fifteen minutes.My initial reason for wanting a newer television was due to my waning vision so had been looking into the 1080p with a 32" screen for some time. I can't believe how much I can read on that screen now that wasn't clear to me before. I had been advised that Samsung was one of most trustworthy brands, but found them locally to be out of my price range. This one was reasonably priced and with my Amazon Prime membership was shipped to me free and quickly I might add.I am very pleased with the color and the sound plus the ease of use with the remote in case I do have to change the color or sound in the future. I'm not thrilled with having to adjust the size of the picture when going from watching a news program with written information at the bottom of the screen to watching a movie, but it is easy to do so will just have to adjust to that feature.
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