Customer Reviews

Samsung LN40A450 40-Inch 720p LCD HDTV

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I am updating this review after one month, as my knowledge about the product has increased. Basically I think it offers one of the best picture quality available at under $1K. The features that in my opinion set this TV appart are: outstanding HD picture and black levels, anti-glare coating, 3 HDMI inputs, great picture adjustment controls and swivel stand. On the minus side, the sound is tiny and the speakers are prone to vibration if you turn the bass higher. It's not a real concern for me, since I use external speakers anyway. Also, with some older material (not re-mastered) the picture may look a bit grainy. Perhaps not the best choice if you're viewing mostly SD programming.

Here is the original review, with a few minor adjustments:

Colours are deep, rich and accurate when fed a good quality signal through an HDMI or DVI connection. Even dark scenes are beautiful: deep black levels and excellent contrast are better than many plasma TVs. The screen backlight is uniform. There is no noticeable glare from the screen, although the glossy black bezel will show some reflections.

HD material looks excellent. Vibrant colours and outstanding detail give a perception of depths that is very pleasing, especially when watching HD sports channels. I found that component cables provided from my cable company did not work nearly as well. With HDMI/DVI the picture looks much better than it did in the store. I tried three different cables and I settled for a Monster 300 HDMI cable (rated 1080i) which in my opinion works well for this TV and is probably worth the extra few dollars as opposed to lesser brand names.

The Samsung A450 does a good job with high quality SD material and some channels look much better than a CRT of comparable size. There are no banding issues or artifacts that I notice, except to say that old SD material tends to look blurry on a 40 inch set vs the typical 27 inch CRT, which is to be expected. Feeding the signal through an upconverting DVD player seemed to help a bit in this regard. You can also use the upconvert setting on your cable box, but I found it more useful to set it on Auto-DVI.

The 720/1080i display is adequate for this size TV and in HD the picture looks as sharp as I'd ever want. In fact, I set up my cable box to 1080i, rather than the slightly sharper 720p. To my eyes, this resolution seems to give a more natural picture.

The design is quite attractive and the swivel stand is very handy if you put the TV on a stand, rather than hanging it on the wall. These TV's really have only a +- 30 degrees viewing angle before colours start to fade and while this model does better than others that I saw in the store, the swivel feature is a definite plus.

User menus are friendly and provide a vast array of options for picture adjustment. You can store three custom settings for each input (for viewing in bright/normal/dark room). The factory setting are quite good for standard cable TV viewing, but I found that different sources do require adjustment and you will be happy with all the controls that this set provides. One adjustment that CNET recommends is Picture:Picture options: Film mode: auto (rather than off), which should engage the 3:2 pull down for optimum viewing of film based material.

With a picture so sharp and clear, some lower quality material shot in low light (such as concerts and movies) may appear a bit grainy. While the digital noise reduction is largely ineffective, reducing sharpness all the way to zero (if necessary) effectivelly cleans the picture with minimal loss of detail. This is also recommended by CNET for the movie setting. However, some TV's fair better in this regard (for example the PN50A450, which I also own, has excellent noise reduction and even with the larger size, SD channels look better. However, the HD material is sharper and the blacks are deeper on the LN40A450). If you plan to use cable TV, the SA 4250HD box gives a better SD picture than the older 3250, so I would recommend it.

DNIe seems more of an experimental technology at this point. I found it more useful on the larger plasma, and I almost never use it in this LCF. It is mostly useful for sports, giving exceptional sharp and bright picture but at the expense of colour accuracy (especially for the green colour). A little fiddling with the green/red balance (about 10% towards red) will produce a more natural effect. For the standard/movie settings, where colour accuracy is the main consideration and sharpness not as important, DNIe is disabled. All in all, with so many adjustment options, in the quest for that perfect picture, you will, at first, find yourself reaching for the remote control more often than you really want, which is why having three custom setting per input is so useful - a feature that most TV's in this price range lack.

Set-up is easy. The set is quite light (40 pounds) and can be handled by just one person. Once plugged in, it will find all available channels and external sources. You can customize the names for each source, which makes it easier to identify them.

Motion blur doesn't seem to be a problem with this set, at least so far. There was only one instance that I noticed and re-booting the STB eliminated the problem. However, plasma TV's still seem to have the edge here (at least on paper), but I decided to go with LCD, since I like the extra brightness and colour definition that it offers and black levels and contrast are excellent and comparable to the Panasonic TH42PX80 for example. Since I looked at this Panasonic set in detail, I can add that the colour accuracy on the Samsung is better. This is even more important since the Panasonic lacks some of the picture adjustment options. In the trade-off however, you give up a couple of inches of screen size and perhaps a higher quality cabinet.

I bought this tv on May 8, 2008.When i brought it home and searched for channels, it was not able to auto program any. I exchanged it for a new one. Amazingly, had the same problem. Called up Samsung and was told they could not fix it over the phone and had a nearby repair shop come out and work on it. The repair shop came out to my place (one thing I have found out is Samsung customer support is top notch, wish there TV's would work.) Repair man told me he was replacing at least one main board a day, and said it was a widespread issue. Said many people do not notice due to the fact they are using a cable box. Replaced my main board, still had the same problem. Just recently tried to use a dvd player through the s-video jack, and that doesn't work either.

This is a very condensed version of the actual situation, this has been going on for about three weeks. Unfortunately i will have to take it back and fully return it. Note that i am able to pull up channels by typing in there numbers but not able to "surf" using the up/down arrows. And from what I have seen the TV picture is amazing, and the tv's look and aesthetics awesome for this price point. I REALLY do not want to return it.

I am writing this review so that others know that they may want to wait a couple of weeks (longer?, not sure on how quickly these things are fixed)until this widespread issue is resolved, or they may want to buy it from a local store so they can easily take it back. If you plan on using a cable box though, you will be just fine.

Highly disappointed, but the video channels I did type in were great, and I think the price is so reasonable, I am amazing myself at the fact I may reconsider and repurchase this tv at a later date. So much for being an early adopter for a new product line!

So I got this tv around April and at the time it was a great value. It is difficult to impossible to tell the difference between 720p and 1080p at 40inch size when sittle more than a couple feet from the tv so why spend that extra cheese when you can't notice a difference in resolution? The colors are accurate and the black level is surprisingly good for an LCD. The anti glare screen is decent but not great, however the screen is plenty bright enough to make up for this weakness. Motion blur can occur like with any LCD, but I must say that unless I am being super critical of what ever fast moving content I am watching I don't notice it. Frankly I think 120hz is retarded when it comes to all the processing it does and I would rather have a slightly less crisp screen in a fast moving scene than some soap opera effect artifact injected 120hz over processed mess. But hey thats me.

Oh yeah I use mine with PS3 and 360 and suffer from no gaming lag what so ever. It is a solid TV all in all and a great size for the bedroom/office.

Hope that helps you guys out there in internet land.

By the way the sound quality is very flat and lacking in the low range. But I have a 2.1 system hooked up so its all good.

I bought this TV from an another store during a Mother's Day weekend sale and have not regretted it since. Awesome TV for the price. I paid about $50 more, and it works with virtually everything unless you're looking for 1080p with bluray, HDDVD, XBOX 360 or PS3. My Wii looks great on it even though that's only 480p. I have not tried running 1080i through this system yet although other reviews have said it's possible.

Basically, if you're looking for an impressive TV with an affordable price this is your TV. I spent about 4 months researching TV's and doing in-store comparisons and Samsung was the best everytime (and still is with their most recent releases). Side by side it was hard for me to differentiate between 1080p and 720p but considering what actually supports 1080p as of now this set performed just fine.

Some day I'll buy a 1080p with 120hz refresh, and make this set a bedroom TV :) but until more HD programming utilizes it or I buy an HD-DVD this TV is perfect. If you're in the same boat as me and don't need the top of the line right now, or in the next 2 years, this TV is should be something you consider.

UPDATE AS OF 9/13/2010: This TV no longer powers on -- when power is pressed on remote or the TV itself, the red "standby" LED just blinks. Apparently there is a widespread issue with Samsung using inferior power capacitors in their LCD TVs. Color me unimpressed. I called Samsung customer service and they offered to have a local repair technician come out to replace the capacitors free of charge. I guess they need to do this to avoid a class action law suit. Google "samsung lcd tv problems" and you'll see what I mean. Do yourself a favor and STAY AWAY FROM SAMSUNG LCD TVs! I really liked this TV when it worked, but a big black piece of plastic with no picture does you no good. It's just not acceptable for Samsung to put out products knowing they can malfunction due to their cost cutting using parts that can't handle the power flowing to and inside the TV.

Below is the rest of the review I originally wrote when I purchased this TV back in May of 2008:
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As of this writing, Samsung is in a dead heat in the North American LCD market, competing with Sony and Vizio for first position.

PICTURE QUALITY:

I receive both Standard Definition and High Definition programming through Time Warner Cable and a Motorola DCT6412 set-top box with dual-tuner DVR. The set-top box is connected to the LN40A450 via one set of component inputs on the back of the display (there are 2 sets of component inputs on this unit).

HD picture quality is brilliant and pleasing to my eyes. There are a total of six pre-set picture modes - I usually stick with "Standard" or "Dynamic" and tweak color, brightness and sharpness settings as necessary.

I still haven't figured out the ideal settings that work with all pictures sources (SD, HD, DVD etc.) and there probably isn't just one frankly, so you should get ready to read the manual and understand how the various picture settings can impact your viewing experience if you're not currently adjusting your TV's picture settings.
For example, there's a "Cinema" mode visual preset that is best for dark rooms, and it does work well for when you watch a movie at night in a dark room. Black levels are satisfactory to me - only annoyance in watching SD broadcasts occurs sometimes when the black bars at the left and right are too bright, but this can be adjusted with the "backlight" and "brightness" settings.


The maximum resolution I get from the DCT6412 over the component connection is 1080i. Even though this display is advertised as 720p it apparently can accept 1080p signals thru the HDMI inputs from a source like a Blu-Ray DVD player (and in fact I watched a BR DVD of "The Bourne Supremacy" in-store to see what kind of motion blur there might be during action sequences, and none was apparent to my eyes - this was enough to sell me on getting this particular model). See the product spec sheet at Samsung.com for the 1080p listing:

[...]

AUDIO QUALITY:

I like to tweak my bass and treble depending on the sound source, and this TV has a five-band equalizer built into the settings interface, as well as a balance setting.

I've tried the SRS TruSurround XT setting for fake surround, but frankly do not care for it -- if I want surround I pump sound from my video source into to my home audio receiver instead.

Sometimes if I crank up the low-end frequencies on the display, the enclosure can vibrate at the bottom very slightly, but that's rare. I have the Motorola set-top box connected to my home audio receiver via digital coax for movies and concerts, so this is not an issue for me. But when my wife and I watch regular TV programming (just voices over frequent music passages or TV news), the built-in speakers perform just fine. Across the board, you really shouldn't expect mind-blowing audio from any LCD TV regardless of brand - these speakers on this particular Samsung model only have 10 watts fed to them.

THE REMOTE:

It has all necessary functions to access the visual and audio settings, channels, inputs and also has a nice feature that allows you to press an "info" button to find out what resolution the current picture signal is being processed at. Overall, it's comfortable to hold. One minor design gripe: for some reason to me the remote is shaped to be picked up and held one way, when it should be held just the exact opposite way - very strange, but now I'm used to it. Also, the remote buttons are not illuminated in the dark - not a huge deal to me as I know the remote buttons by feeling and placement, but for some with poor eyesight in the dark this might be a negative.

DESIGN & AESTHETIC APPEAL:

I did not mount this on a wall, but instead chose to place it on the included swivel stand - and it's very sturdy and solid feeling to me.

The display frame is made of plastic but looks good - almost like polished wood if you didn't know better (and you won't until you touch it) and has a nice sheen to it, but not so much that it's distracting in regular lighting. I'm reading online that some models have a blue light that illuminates under the "Samsung" logo on front, but mine does not.

The display's controls for volume, input selection and power are easily accessible on the right side. There are a few video inputs on the left side of the display, while the majority of inputs and outputs are on the rear near the power cord. If you're putting this into a tight space as I did in a media center, it can be a pain getting all necessary cords put in place, but - and this was a HUGE reason for getting this display - you can rotate the display on its included stand about 20 degrees each way. This let me get my hands behind the TV to get the cords in the right place. The Sony Bravia KDL-40S3000, which was the other model I was considering, does not have a swivel stand - and because I was concerned about viewing angle issues as well as accessibility, this was one of the main reasons I chose the Samsung over the Sony.

I have had this set for about a month and all seems well. It took the place of a 52 inch Mitsubishi DLP which now sits in my "man cave". This Samsung fits the room much better and the picture appears to be just as good as the Mitsu. Even when the tv set is off it looks good. Easy on screen set up and fine tuning. The remote is easy to use, however I have a harmony 659 controlling my complete home theather. This is a 720p but it looks as good as any 1080p I have seen. My eyes can not pick up any diffence at this size tv. Larger then 40 inch I can tell but not with this set. The cost of the set was very good and the "white glove" delivery was the best. They were at my house within the 4 hour window, unpacked the TV, put on the stand and sit it on the table I have in my room, plugged it in and turned it on, once the set was on they checked to color and offered to take away the box the set came in, all in twenty minutes! I will buy my next TV from Amazon just for this reason.

Wow! I picked this up from Amazon for $1004 shipped and they threw in a free HD Tivo unit. Doing some creative "man-math", I sold the Tivo and my old 36" Sony Wega XBR for $440.

Net price on this $564!!!

We have it hooked up to a Samsung upconvert DVD player, and I swear it makes my old DVD's look like full HD Blu-Ray!

Very very happy with this set.

Picked this up as the cheapest sub $1000 40" TV still in stock for my mom's birthday. Was not disappointed by the Samsung name. Football looks great on it in HD, as did a western movie and various HD channels. This set really has a stunning - literally stunning - picture. The promo videos in the store are interesting but for the first two hours we were simply slack jawed at how great the image on the screen was at home. I was not disappointed with getting the 720p over the 1080p and my mother was unable to tell the difference from the couch. We had no problem seeing the sweat drip off the football helmets on the line or turf being thrown up by cleats at 720p.

Setup was simple, three screws in the swivel base, and then four screws connect the TV to the base (though you can't use a 4-in-1 screwdriver, the holes are too deep and narrow for anything but a regular screwdriver. Base is very solidly built - steel covered in the "piano black" plastic that adorns all Samsung TVs - nothing to break or fracture over the years. Other than that the TV came on and simply pushing the enter button on the remote 5 or six times got the TV setup. This being my first time setting up HDMI I figured it would scan the HDMI cable for all the available cable channels when selecting the "auto scan cable channels" - apparently this feature is only available through the coax/RF connection. Pushing the "HDMI Line 1" button switched to the FiOS HDMI connection and everything worked fine after that. The sound is pretty good for a stand alone but hooked it up to the pre-existing sound system.

Considering how small the price difference is between a 32" and a 40" it's definitely worth the extra dough, especially if you have a larger living room. This set went in a corner of an 18'x18' room and it absolutely dominates that corner. 40" looks tiny next to the 52, 68 and 72" tvs at the store but when you get it home does it finally dawn on you what sort of monstrosity you've let into your home. 40" might be too large for all but the biggest apartment living rooms, but for a medium to large sized house this is a great size. College kids put your money towards your tuition and get a 32", 40" is way too big for your dorm room.

At the 40" mark, it's a waste to pick up 1080p resolution unless you're sitting within a couple feet of the screen. This TV is the best looking 720p set I've ever owned, both for SD and HD content. Works great when playing from my computer, my Wii and my 360 (and the ability to look good with the Wii and 360 is uncommon in my experience). Insignificant latency means rhythm games work fine; my previous DLP set was basically unusable for Guitar Hero and Rock Band, but this TV has no problems.

The only flaw is that the speakers are a bit weak; it theoretically supports volumes up to 100 or so, but past 30, the difference is virtually unnoticeable. It isn't usually a problem, but for audio sources with low native volume, it can be inaudible, particularly if there are fans or road noise nearby.

I have been looking for an LCD tv for a while. I decided on Samsung after reading Consumer Reports. I thought the 37 inch 720p would be fine for my bedroom. At best buy it was $999 and $858 on amazon; I was going to wait until Amazon had free shipping again. Last weekend I found this TV (40 inch 720p) on sale for $899 at best buy. I didn't even hesitate and brought it home. Set up was simple, the picture is great. I plan to have an HD DVR put in this weekend and can't wait to try it out. So far the TV is excellent and I'm very happy with the purchase.