Samsung HP-S4253 review

The Samsung's color reproduction fared well with the exception of green, which tended to look too bluish. Prior to calibration, the Samsung's grayscale came relatively close to the standard overall, although it varied more than we'd like at different light levels. Skin tones looked mostly accurate and not too reddish, so we were able to get solid saturation and rich colors. One issue we couldn't adjust, even after calibration, was the set's tendency to tinge near-black areas, such as space or the black letterbox bars, a bit too green.

The Samsung's actual depth of black was fine for a plasma, and dark areas looked demonstrably closer to black than on either of the two LCDs we had on hand to compare (the Sharp LC-37D40U and the Samsung LN-S4051D). The Samsung's depth of black measured comparably to other good-performing plasmas we've reviewed recently, including the Panasonic TH-42PX60U).

Unfortunately, the Samsung HP-S4253 exhibited more false-contouring artifacts than just about any display we've examined recently. In one typical instance, as the camera slowly zooms in on the hooded figure of the Sith Master's hologram, for example, we could see distinct steps in the blue light as it faded into the background; on other displays, they were less distinct or entirely invisible. The set had a difficult time in many areas that called for fine gradations; a pillar in Anakin's apartment, for example, had patches of color instead of smooth transitions, and the lamp light caused more discolored contours on the furniture than it should have.

When we turned up the lights, we noticed that the Samsung's screen reflected a bit less light than other plasma glass-screen displays we had on hand, although naturally, it reflected much more than the LCD's matte plastic screens.

Along with DVD, HDTV also looked better in brighter scenes, although we noticed a couple of the issues described above, such as the flat color patches on the walls of the White House during Nightcrawler's incursion in a Fox showing of X-Men 2. Details, such as the texture in the President's desktop as his adviser examines the knife hole and the wood grain in Xavier's school, looked as sharp as we expected. We also saw some signs of edge enhancement; the borders of the struts and bulwarks in Magneto's plastic prison, for example, appeared too sharp and somewhat artificial, and we couldn't adjust the controls to compensate. We suspect this has something to do with DNIe processing, although the menu indicated that it was turned off.

Finally, the Samsung HP-S4253's picture quality with standard-def sources was less impressive than that of many HDTVs. In particular, its component-video inputs evinced softness and artifacts with 480i sources. A set of stairs was marred by curved lines that shouldn't have been there, for example, and test patterns revealed an inability to resolve every detail of DVD sources. For that reason, we recommend using the S-Video inputs, which performed significantly better, for standard-def material, and hooking up the HP-S4253 to a quality progressive-scan or upconverting DVD player. In its favor, the set's noise reduction was able to clean up some problematic material; in a low-quality shot of a roller coaster against a blue sky, engaging noise reduction decreased the roiling, snowy noise slightly, although not as much as with some sets we've seen. It also passed our 2:3 pull-down tests, engaging quickly to eliminate some jagged lines and other artifacts but only when film mode is selected.