Samsung LN-R268W 26-Inch HD-Ready Widescreen Flat-Panel LCD TV

by Samsung

Product Details

• Item Weight: 38 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 35 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B0009612GQ
• Item model number: LNR268W
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,042 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description Slim, light, and beautiful, Samsung's 26-inch LN-R268W LCD TV combines sleek looks with high performance. This HDTV-ready set lets you enjoy not only regular TV, but HDTV images from any high- or enhanced-definition source, such as a DTV set-top box or a progressive-scan DVD player via a suite of state-of-the-art connections. Samsung's Patterned Vertical Alignment (PVA) screen provides high brightness and amazingly rich contrast for lifelike images and realistic colors. A mere 3.7 inches thick without its detachable stand, the TV produces exciting, perfectly flat, images while occupying minimal space in your office, living room, bedroom, or kitchen.

Samsung's DNIe™ Samsung's revolutionary DNle™ (click for demo) technology offers digital perfection in naturally presented, crystal-clear images that uncover even the most minute detail.

Motion Optimizer Fast-moving images are optimized to produce more natural-looking motion, thus reducing video noise or blurring.

Contrast Enhancer Brightness and contrast levels are enhanced for deeper, richer blacks with greater detail and more natural whites.

Color Optimizer Colors are reproduced with a more lifelike realism, whites are more accurate, and skin tones are given a more natural hue.

Detail Enhancer DNIe analyzes video signal elements to produce sharper detail, clearer image separation, and more natural edge transition.

The set boasts a 1,366 x 768 pixel resolution. Its widescreen, 16:9 aspect ratio matches the dimension of most movies and HDTV broadcasts, while its wide, 170-degree viewing angles (horizontal x vertical) ensures that everyone in the room will enjoy a great view, even when you've mounted the unit on a wall. A built-in brightness sensor automatically adjusts the TV's luminance for the ambient brightness of a given room.

Onboard 10-bit processing produces 3.2 billion lifelike colors and aids in video signal processing for your analog sources. And with its lightning-quick 12 ms response time, astronomical 3,000:1 contrast ratio, impressive 500 cd/m2 brightness rating, and onboard 3D Y/C digital comb filter (which separates the color signals to minimize dot crawl and blurred edges), you'll see sharp, focused images regardless of their source.

LCD screens offer a number of benefits over CRT monitors and televisions, including general ease of use, freedom from eye strain (no screen flickering or radiation emissions), quiet operation (no high-pitch "flyback" noise, an issue with CRT TVs), accurate image geometry (no curvature distortion or susceptibility to magnetic interference from, say, speakers), long screen life, space savings, and light weight/easy positioning. They also tend to be more affordable than their flat-panel plasma counterparts, which often (though not always) offer faster response times and higher contrast ratios.

The LN-R268W's DNIe (Samsung Digital Natural Image engine) offers a vision of digital perfection in natural, crystal-clear images that reveal even the most minute detail. The process involves 4 key enhancements: contrast and brightness (for deep, rich blacks and natural whites), motion (which optimizes fast-moving images to produce natural-looking motion, reducing video noise or blurring), color (for lifelike realism, accurate whites, and skin tones with natural hues), and detail (DNIe analyzes video signals to ensure sharp detail, clear image separation, and natural edge transitions).

Samsung's patented My Color Control technology lets you control specific colors without affecting the whole screen. Samsung provides 6-color control selections: white, red, pink, yellow, green, and blue. It's your picture--you decide how it looks.

The LN-R268W makes flexibility a top priority, giving you several preset picture and sound modes (and custom settings for each). The TV also permits color temperature adjustment for warm, cool, or neutral tones, along with 4 onscreen languages to choose from (English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese). Choose one of several preset sound modes (standard, music, movie, speech, and custom) for broadcast through the set's built-in speakers (5 watts per channel x 2).

Connections include 2 component-video inputs (480i/480p/720p/1080i), a direct-digital HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface), a PC input (15-pin D-Sub with minijack analog audio), 2 composite-video inputs, 1 S-video input, 1 RF input, 5 attendant sets of stereo (left/right) RCA audio inputs, and 1 stereo RCA audio output. The set's Anynet (RS-232C) control option simplifies use with other Samsung audio/video components.

Other features include single-tuner picture-in-picture (view 1 TV channel and 1 input source simultaneously), a sleep timer, V-Chip parental control, closed captioning, and an auto volume leveler to minimize jarring differences in loudness between, say, TV programs and their commercials.

What's in the Box
TV, detachable stand (with screws), a remote control, remote batteries, an RF video cable, a user's manual, an Anynet AV manual, an AC power cord, a cover bottom, an Anynet cable, a cleaning cloth, and warranty information.

Product Description

Slim, light and beautiful, Samsung's LCD Flat Panel TVs combine sleek looks and high performance. These HDTV-ready and HDTV sets let you enjoy regular TV and display HDTV images from any High-Definition source. Samsung's Patterned Vertical Alignment (PVA) screens provide high contrast and brightness for lifelike images with realistic colors. Samsung's revolutionary DNle technology offers digital perfection in naturally presented, crystal-clear images that uncover even the most minute detail. Fast-moving images are optimized to produce more natural-looking motion, thus reducing video noise or blurring. Samsung's patented "My Color Control" technology allows you to control specific colors without affecting the whole screen. Now, Samsung provides six-color control selections: white, red, pink, yellow, green and blue. It's your picture - you decide. Connections - Antenna in / HDMI / Component (Y/Pb/Pr) in 2(480i/480p/720p/1080i) / S-Video in / A/V (RCA) in / PC input D-sub15 pin (VGA-WXGA) for use as a PC monitor / PC Audio in / Headphone out / Anynet RS232 Unit Dimensions - Monitor with stand 26.1(W) x 8.1(D) x 21.2(H) / Monitor without stand 26.1(W) x 3.7(D) x 19.6(H) / Monitor with stand weight 33.1 Lbs. Wall mountable when used with an optional VESA compatible wall mount Samsung USA 1 year parts and labor consumer warranty (90 Day warranty if used for commercial purposes)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

186 of 191 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent monitor with no compromises, May 14, 2005

By 

Daniel Appleman (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Samsung LN-R268W 26-Inch HD-Ready Widescreen Flat-Panel LCD TV (Electronics)

I spent several weeks researching monitors, both online and by viewing them in local stores. A few things became quickly apparant:

* Most stores demo monitors nowadays in HD mode. This is great if you've already switched to HD, but makes it difficult to judge a monitor's performance on an SVHS signal.
* The offbrand monitors really don't look as good as the name brands. Side by side it was clear that the Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, Sharp, Samsung looked better than the less familiar brands. This mostly in terms of contrast and color. The name brand monitors looked pretty much identical.</li>
* Many of the high end TV's (Sony, Toshiba) don't have PC input - a critical factor in my choice.
* Many of the high end monitors (such as Viewsonic), don't have the best quality or support on TV signals.

I decided to try the Samsung based on a number of key features:

* Speakers under the monitor saves space (I needed to fit into the space of a 27" TV)
* Seemed to emphasize TV features and quality.
* Consumer Reports for other Samsung LCD TV's indicated average standard TV performance (none of the sets they checked rated excellent, only a few above average).
* PC input

Hookup and setup were simple. Like most LCD monitors, it had a slight red bias out of the box, but it was easily adjusted. Samsung's DNIE enhancement is not a gimmick. They have a demo mode that shows you the corrected and uncorrected image. What's most interesting is not that the corrected image is better (you'd expect that) but that the uncorrected image is so familiar - it looks just like the display I saw on the off-brand monitors.

I don't yet have an HD signal, but was able to check a high resolution image using a PC and it looked excellent (as one would expect).

The really pleasant surprise is how good it looked on SVHS input (coming in from a DirectTV box). When using Zoom mode to watch a letterboxed movie, the quality of the image at normal viewing distance is stunning. You have to get up close (within 3-4 feet or so) to begin to see the digital scaling artifacts.

Another pleasant surprise was the effectiveness of the dynamic contrast system. I used the home THX adjustment system included on newer DVD's (like The Incredibles). On my plasma set, it took quite a bit of adjustment to get the brightness and contrast right. On this set, it was dead on right out of the box.

Component video off a DVD player looked as good as my plasma set. The four video modes (wide, panoramic [a smart stretch], zoom and 4:3) worked as expected. I don't have a standard cable connection, but tried out the tuner using a rabbit ear antenna and it looked like what you'd expect from a standard TV - great on strong signals, lousy on weak ones.

One of the results I was hoping for most was delivered in spades - the location of this set has very poor lighting and the TV it is replacing had horrific glare and reflection issues. I no longer notice any obvious glare or reflections (except off the shiny black bezel, which doesn't interfere with my viewing).

In terms of flaws, I haven't found anything significant yet. My only small gripe is that the picture mode setting is not on the main set of buttons on the remote but hidden under a plastic slide. That's a control you use all the time and it should be more prominent.

I also did a fair amount of research on where to purchase the set. There are lower cost places online, but be careful - many of them have terrible customer reviews. Others charge inflated shipping rates - one store wanted $140 to ship the set. At about $25, Amazon was the lowest cost shipper I found. Also, the extended warranty available from Amazon is much less expensive than that available from other vendors. But the final factor that led me to get it through Amazon was the return policy. Almost none of other vendors allow returns of this set. Amazon, if I read their policy correctly, allows return of sets below 27 inches, and this is a 26 inch set. Fortunately, this one's a keeper.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous picture., February 3, 2006

By 

Mark Lahren (Bismarck, North Dakota USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Samsung LN-R268W 26-Inch HD-Ready Widescreen Flat-Panel LCD TV (Electronics)

I'd had my eye on the Samsung LN-R**8W series for quite some time after starting to see them in various places used as monitors for PCs and as televisions hooked up to XBox 360s. Every time I saw one of these sets (the demo models were invariably the 23" version), I had to stop and stare. Usually the game playing was "Call of Duty 2", but it looked positively stunning. Finally I watched some high-def programming at a store on the 26" model and I was sold. Having read not a single on-line review and without doing any research whatsoever, I was sold by my eyes alone. The only 'research' I did was comparing this set to other brands, and this was the clear winner.

The 3000:1 contrast ratio is misleading. They used 'dynamic' contrast ratio to come up with that figure. I've since learned the actual contrast ratio as used by most other manufacturers is around 800:1, which is still among the best of the current crop. The next generation will undoubtedly beat this figure. But for my purposes, this set is just fantastic. The blacks are black, and all shades of gray seem to come through as intended. To judge this, I'm replaying "Deus Ex", a PC game from back in 2000 (which runs fine in WinXP and supports 1360 x 768). This game takes place entirely at night, so there are a lot of dark areas along with many shades of gray. This game looks amazing, as does FarCry (2004) with its beautiful vivid tropical colors and water. Those are the only two games I've tried thus far. And I imagine games that natively support 1360 x 768 will naturally fare better on this set. For instance, a game that only supports 1024 x 768 will probably look kinda crappy because of scaling problems, a problem all LCD monitors share when not running in their native resolution.

I'm using it primarily as a huge monitor for my PC. I had to think hard about this, because using this set as a PC monitor, your screen resolution will max out at 1360 x 768, which is great for television, but hardly cutting-edge for a computer monitor. However, to find a PC monitor this BIG with ultra-high resolution would have set me back about double the dollars. And since my rig (An Athlon 2600+ with an NVidia 6600GT video card) isn't capable of playing games at ultra-high res anyway, I'm happy with this. Also, I've since learned that this series of sets is the easiest to configure for computer use. It's got a VGA port on the back, so just buy a VGA cable, hook it to your PC, and it's Plug-And-Play. Just remember before unhooking your old monitor to resize the screen in Windows to 1360 x 768 so it boots to the correct size after you hook this up.

Picture quality is excellent. The best I've ever seen in an LCD. They're all pretty decent these days, but this one stands out as brighter, sharper, crisper, clearer, at least to my eyes. Before buying anything this expensive though, I'd make sure you actually see various brands in action at various stores before you buy.

I don't have high-def service at home yet, so the only HD I've viewed on this has been at the store, but it looked awesome to me.

Picture-in-picture is really only useful if you're surfing the net and want to watch TV at the same time. For that, it's great, though you'll have to manually use the remote to activate sound in PIP each time. An annoyance. The speakers sound clear and crisp. Not huge, but nice-sounding.

And now, the only flaw I've found: Out of the box, the reds can be oversaturated when contrasted with black. I've only noticed this with text; graphics are fine. I might be able to adjust this in the set's menu, but haven't tried it yet, because otherwise it looks just absolutely perfect and I hate to mess with it.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This TV is everything I expected it to be!, February 22, 2006

By 

Gregory Bernard Banks ", author" (Atlanta area) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Samsung LN-R268W 26-Inch HD-Ready Widescreen Flat-Panel LCD TV (Electronics)

When I decided that I wanted to get a high def LCD for my XBox 360, I did much research. It was a very difficult decision, especially given that, unlike most electronic products I've bought in the past, the price ranges from brand to brand, and screen size to screen size, vary widely. I asked some advice, and read as many reviews online as I can find, the majority of which came from right here on Amazon.com.

After some time, I finally narrowed it down to the Samsung, and the Phillips, which also had great reviews. As I had also decided to purchase a DVD/VCR Recorder, and had decided upon the Philips DVDR3320 DVD Recorder/vcr Combo, I had settled on buying a Phillips brand LCD as well.

But then I had the opportunity to go to a local store just before making my purchase. Fortunately, they had a couple of Samsung's (though not this particular model) plus several other brands, including Phillips, on display. I was sold as soon as I laid eyes on the Samsung. All the televisions were lined up in a single row, and the Samsung models all stood out head and shoulders above all the others except perhaps one other brand (Panasonic, if memory serves). The televisions were showing a football game at the time, and while the Samsungs looked as if they were a direct window looking down on a live game, the most of the other LCDs made the broadcast look as if it was on film. The crispness, brightness and high contrast of the Samsung far surpassed the others. Once I added that with the rave reviews I've seen on this tv, my choice was made.

I've only had television hooked up for 3 days now as I type this, and it doesn't disappoint. The picture is super bright and clear, so much so that it makes old video taped programs look extremely dull. But when you play DVDs or the XBox 360 through the component video connections, the display is beyond outstanding!

The sound is even better than I expected, and the picture and sound adjustments are extensive. For my taste, the auto brightness sensor tends to be a little too dark, and seems to also lessen the contrast, giving the screen a grayish tint. But one can easily disable this feature.

One tip. If you want to adjust the colors properly, find a clear channel during a live or live-on-tape broadcast, or if possible, do the adjustments while playing a DVD through one of the video connections. Broadcast and cable channels tend to vary greatly in picture brightness, sharpness, and color, making it virtually impossible to find one setting that will accomodate all channels. So just make your adjustments on the highest quality picture you can get.

As far as I'm concerned, the Samsung is the best television I've ever had. I'm looking forward to getting years of pleasure from this tv, and if you buy this tv, I believe that there is no doubt that you will as well.