Amazing LCD: Picture Quality, Semi-Matte Screen, September 17, 2008

Background:

After doing extensive research across the board, I ended up deciding I would probably like the Samsung A650 series. I went into BB to try and take a look for myself, the Full Gloss screen threw reflections all over the place, and bothered me quite a bit.

Now take the guts of the A650 and put it into the same package, with a semi-matte screen. Now you have a killer combination that looks amazing on the eyes.

Don’t take my word for it, More Reviews:

-Consumer Reports loves Samsung LCD’s, which are ranked #1

-Go to http://www.avsforum.com/ , check out the Forums->LCD, you can waste your life on this site, I’d say go for the Pro reviews of the A650, and you’ll see why people love this TV

-Check out the reviews for the A650′s here on amazon, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001413D94/

-Cnet’s review of the A650, you will notice the only drawbacks they listed were “relatively expensive” amazon helps here, and “shiny screen reflects ambient room lighting” and the A630′s semi-matte screen works to solve that issue, http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/samsung-ln52a650/4505-6482_7-32887597.html?tag=mncol;lst

Recommendation:

I’m very happy with the TV: the back light is even across the TV, the blacks are crisp, picture quality can’t be beat, the 120hz+auto motion result in smooth images and the semi-matte screen doesn’t act like a mirror for the room like the A650′s do. Finally, the surrounding frame is leaner and not nearly as noticeable as the A650s.

Highly recommended. 5 Stars.

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630 or 650 or 550?, October 24, 2008

By 

Comdet – See all my reviews

  

After reading reviews in Cnet and Consumer Reports, and feedback from owners on the AVS board, I knew I wanted to get a Samsung LCD. But which one? The 550, 630 and 650 are all highly rated, and all fell within my price range.

I first looked at the 550. Great TV and the lowest price. The picture quality was top-notch, but it did not have the 120hz technology and Samsung’s smoothing system (called AMP) to reduce motion judder. In side-by-side viewing, I could see a difference in the picture with those features, and, since the price difference was not much, decided to move up to the 6-series.

Keep in mind that 120hz and AMP are two different things. You can turn AMP off (or set it to low, medium or high); you can’t turn off 120hz unless you are in game mode. I like AMP set at low — to my eye, that improves the picture without making it too smooth and video-like.

Both the 650 and 630 are fantastic TVs, and either one would be a great choice. The major difference between the two is the glassiness of the screen – the 650 has a high gloss screen; the 630 has a matte screen (basically the same as the 550, but with a tiny bit more gloss). I have a very bright living room with lots of windows. The 650 acted like a mirror, reflecting everything to the point of being seriously distracting — you can see yourself in the screen in dark scenes. The 630 was the perfect compromise — better quality picture than the 550, but far less gloss than the 650.

The advantage of the glossy screen is that it give more “pop” and saturation to the picture. Colors are deeper, blacks are richer, and the overall picture quality is a bit better. If I was using the TV in a darker environment (such as a basement), I’d go for the 650. But given the brightness of the room, the 630 was (for me) the better choice.

I’ve been told the sound quality in the 6-series is a bit better than the 5-series. That was not an issue for me since I turn off the TV speakers and run the sound through a receiver. If you plan on using the TV speakers you may want to listen to both sets to see if you hear a difference.

Very pleased with the set so far. You need to do a bit of tweaking to get the picture perfect, but the menus make it easy to do so. You can find configuration setups on several boards that will help point you in the right direction.

Other pluses of the 630 are the more muted Touch of Red in the bezel. I’m not a big fan of the red color, so having it less visible is a plus. Very nice remote with easy to find buttons.

I’m using the set with a Denon 1909 receiver, an Oppo 983H DVD player, and KEF 3000 series speakers. Everything works great together and I’m continually wowed by how great it looks and sounds.

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This is the 46 inch you want, at the best price, October 6, 2008

I have been watching LCD prices for 2 years. 40 inch LCDs have been dropping per month for the last 6 months and it seems to have reached a plateau and may drop only a month for the next 6 months. 46 inch has been dropping 0 per month the past 6 months and will drop to per month for the next 6 months. With the recession, they may still drop 0 per month.

I just bought this one, but i recommend waiting 6 more months if 46 inch is “your size” because losing to per month is a lot just to have a bigger TV. Samsung and Sony are the best LCDs and this is (was?) the best price on a 46 inch Samsung and is as good as any other 46 inch LCD Samsung makes, but 0 less. The “better” 46 inch Samsungs are thinner, a little better contrast (“brighter”), about 8% less weight, and have something called “infolink” that brings in active content like sports scores and stock prices. The 60% increase in price for the other 46 inch Samsungs is too much difference for too little improvement. They will come down in price 0 per month until getting to this price. This 630 model is a smaller number than the 850 or 950, but the 630 is only 2 months old.

This 630 model is a “matte” screen. It’s for our den where there is a lot of light everywhere, so i prefer the 630 matte. The 650 is a “glossy” screen which means it can be more of stunning contrast and sharpness, but with possibly more reflection off the screen.

This at 70 is the lowest price on the internet right now, 10/6/2008 with free shipping and no tax. Circuit city is selling it for 00 plus tax. Some are saying that the economic downturn is causing prices to drop faster than expected. I expect this model to be 00 in less than 6 months. February might be the time to get a 46 inch LCD if that’s the size and type of TV you’ve been waiting for.

I have turned off the Auto-Motion Plus 120 Hz feature because it makes it look like I’m watching a 50 Hz BBC program. I have “fast” eyes and i can see the flicker when there is movement due to the greater sharpness that Auto-Motion Plus gives. There’s something fishy about the “120 Hz” spec because the flicker feels about like 70 to 80 Hz on an old computer CRT. I suspect that with AMP “on” it’s not really 120 Hz in order to give it better sharpness. So with 120 Hz turned off, there is just a little more blur on movement, but at least it doesn’t feel like I’m watching an old episode of Dr Who. In hindsight, i would have bought one of the older models that doesn’t have the Auto-Motion Plus 120 Hz just to save a few bucks even if there was less contrast. Samsung is really pushing this new feature, but I prefer it off. Others prefer it set to “low”.

The blur during movement on these new Samsungs (with or without the Auto-Motion Plus 120 Hz) is much better than the old LCDs, but it still is not as good as a CRT, plasma, or rear-projection.

The contrast (“birghtness”) on this is way way more than we need. The brightness needs increasing during daytime because we have a lot of sunlight coming in, and then decreased again at night.

A 46 inch LCD uses 250 Watt verses 500 W for a plasma. This is the reason I choose LCD over plasma. A 500 watt plasma “heater” in the room is good for winter, but not cool for summer. 500 W costs 5 cents per hour for electricity.

Now that we’re not even using it on a wall, I wonder if i should have got a rear-projection.

I recently saw a 00 LCD 46 inch Sony at a target (new edit 10/12/2008). I was surprised to see Sony at a competitive price. These prices are still dropping fast.

=== UPDATE ===

I am a little less happy with LCD technology. In comparing the LCD to my CRT and home theatre, the LCD easily wins on sharpness and contrast (at least over the projector). But still there is something “sharper” about CRT and projection over LCD, and I prefer them over this LCD. What I have found out is this: the pixels in an LCD may be flashing at least as fast, but they do not have a “dark period” between frames so that our eyes see more blur even though in reality the screen is not blurring more. Apparently, our eyes really need the dark time between frames to eliminate the perception of a blur. Phillips ClearLCD fixes this and samsung and others are working on it. Here’s more info on this:

http://hometheatermag.com/gearworks/707gear/

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