ThinkPad X200 Tablet Save Extra 5%
- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 16 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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15 out of 15 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Best 40" Picture, good sound, great aesthetically"
Pros: Superb HD PQ, amazing contrast ratio, decent built-in speakers, sleek, attractive looking glossy-black finish.
Cons: Less-than-superb SD PQ
Summary: This is my first HDTV, but I did a great deal of research before I bought this TV, and I am convinced that Samsung's LN-Txx65F series provides the finest HD Picture Quality of any LCD currently on the market.
I considered the Samsung LN-T4061F, LN-T4065F, and the Sony KDL-40V2500 and KDL-40XBR2 models. My opinion was that the Sony KDL-40V2500 came with a similar price tag to the Samsung models, but didn't quite measure up PQ-wise. The XBR2 was in the same ballpark, in terms of PQ, but came with a significantly heftier price tag. Ultimately, I thought I liked the Samsung models better (signifacantly moreso than the V2500 model, slightly moreso than the XBR2 model), regardless of price, and once I factored price in, it was clear that my decision came down to the two new 40" Samsung models, the 4061F and 4065F models.
The 4065F has a "super clear panel" that allows it to really radiate at it's superior 15,000:1 contrast ratio. My fear was, though, that it would be *too shiny* and *reflective*, and this would be a problem for me. After having used the TV for more than 2 weeks, I can say that I have had virtually no problems with reflections while viewing.
The 4061F has a very nice picture as well, but it doesn't *pop* quite the way the 4065F does. Also, the 4065F speakers are well-positioned on the side, allowing for a much better built-in speaker system. For those that arn't aware, the 4061F has it's speakers located at the bottom of the TV, angled downward, and sound quality and volume suffers as a result. Granted, if you're ALWAYS going to use surround sound, than this doesn't factor into your decision. But if you're like me, and you like using your Surround Sound sometimes, but sometimes you want to keep the volume down a little and like having the option of getting quality sound out of the built-in speakers, this was a checkmark in the "plus" column for the 4065F.
As I said before, HD picture quality on this set is phenominal. I'm extremely pleased. I've never owned an HDTV before, but I have yet to notice any banding issues with this set, and it does a very nice job displaying a splendid array of colors, even during darker movie scenes. The 1080p resolution allows it to really shine, both for the 720p ESPN/ESPN2/ABC broadcasts, and for the CBS/TNT/Discovery 1080i broadcasts. It also looks terrific with my xbox 360. I don't have the VGA connection for 1080p connection (partially because I don't own any games yet rated for 1080p output), but the picture is fantastic, set to 720p, through the component cables that come with the system.
I also like the glossy black finish of the TV case and stand. It looks pretty sharp, and matches my TV Stand very nicely.
My only complaint would be this set's picture quality during Standard Definition broadcasts. It's not *poor*, mind you, but it's certainly not stellar. I believe my 2-year old 24" Sony Wega CRT had a more-attractive SD picture than the T4065F does. Again, I've never owned any other HDTV's, so I'm not sure how *common* it is for a decent, $300 SD TV to outperform an LCD HDTV for SD broadcasts... but when I don't have Comedy Central, TBS, or Fox Sports in HD, my days of watching SD TV are not *completely* over just because I know own an HDTV. The picture is certainly tolerable, mind you, and the amazing HDTV picture is well worth the hit to my SDTV viewing, but I think it's worth mentioning.
All in all, I'm very pleased with this purchase. I would recommend it to anyone that's looking to find a 40" set that will provide the highest HD PQ on the market. I believe that that is what this set is. I got it for a good price at Circuit City, and I found the staff at Circuit City to be considerably more helpful and less pushy/rude than the employees at Best Buy. I'd recomend this set to anyone who is looking for a 1080p 40" LCD tv.
- 1 reply to this review
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Hi psuKinger - have you tried sending SD content as 480p rather than 480i (if that is possible in your setup?). If you have a cable box most of them allow you to set upconvertion of 480i signals to 480p which apparently makes a huge difference on these new sets. I have been following the owners threads in AVS Forum as I wait for my 4061F set to arrive
Samsung LN-T4065F:
