Customer Reviews

Samsung LN40A630 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I picked up this TV from Circuit City just before Labor Day. It is basically the same spec-wise as the 650 series. The only differences are 1 less HDMI port (3 instead of 4), a contrast ration of 40,000:1 rather than 50,000:1 and no infolink. For those who don't know, Infolink allows you to hook up the internet to the back of your tv via an ethernet jack. You are then able to pull up news, weather, and stock info from USA Today. This is all it lets you do though. Infolink does not allow you to download firmware, view web pages or anything like that. This is a great TV. 120Hz is amazing. It almost make it seem like the characters are right there in the room with you when you are watching blu-ray movies. The quality picture is great, the menu system looks nice and is easy to use, and for those who like lots of control over picture settings, to get their picture just right, this tv has a ton of different adjustable setting options, allowing you to adjust the backlight level, the black level, 120Hz processing level, gamma, white space, color space, color, contrast, brighness, sharpness, defeatable edge enhancement, and more

Wow. This is a beautiful set - image quality is stellar - off-air and dvd source, 480, 720, 1080 all great. D-TV signals are amazing. Even stronger analog (i.e. old style NTSC) off-air signals look great. Audio clear and accurate. I've had it about a week and first impressions are really strong. Matte finish really helps if placement is near windows. This is a technological marvel. Menu's are clear, features are great, beautiful looking - I have to say touch of color is realllllly subtle, you can pretty much ignore this - it is classy without needing any extra gimmicks like this. Fast action/sports look great. Lots of tweaks to get a picture you will be happy with.

It is reasonably light weight, has swivel stand, viewing angle is excellent. It is like a jewel! Extremely well engineered. As of today, I think this set is at a price performance sweet spot. Samsung seems to really understands LCD video. If you are average person trying to find a good panel, you should be very happy with this one.

I originally bought the LN40A550 but after a few weeks I realized I wanted something a little better. I then went with the LN40A630 and I could not be happier. The quality of this tv is top notch. Standard television looks wonderful on it and High Def...well...it takes my breath away. I especially like the AMP feature that helps to eliminate the blur in fast scenes.

If you're worried about the touch of color don't even worry...they have all but eliminated the color. I think though it was pretty a lot of people didn't like how pronounced it was. If you're unsure about rather you should buy it or not...I say go for it. Its a quality set and the image it gives off is top notch. I also play Xbox 360 and games look wonderful (only one suggestion...in certain games its best to turn the AMP feature off to help eliminate any lag in controls).

Sound has never been HDTV's stronger quality but I have to say that the sound of this set compared to the 550 is much better. You might still want to get external speakers to help when watching tv and movies.

I couldn't wait any longer to buy an HDTV and after looking around for the "right" tv after a month I settled on this one as it was on sale at bestbuy for $1399 (cdn). My goal was to find a TV that could keep up with the industry standard for the next few years (5 at least). It has the 120hz, the 40,000:1 contrast ratio, 1080p, 3 hdmi's, etc etc. This TV also has a lightning quick response time compared to other lcds at this price.

I am extremely happy with this TV. Anyone who has seen a movie on it is shocked as to how clear and realistic the picture is. Actually, my brother said the TV ruins movies because they are presented entirely different with this TV. The TV is so good that it pinpoints the flaws in the CGI of the lord of the rings movies when I play the dvd on my xbox.

At the time I am writing this review, this TV has the specs worthy of a $2000 LCD in its class. In fact, the Samsung 650 is almost $400 more and the specs are almost entirely the same (the screen is made from a different material). Samsung is also the industry leader in LCD technology. I highly recommend this TV, and I agree with the earlier reviewer that it is set at an optimal price/performance position. For what you get and what you pay, this TV can not be beat at this time.

To be clear, if there were the opportunity to give this Samsung LN40A630 a four and a half star, that's what I would have chosen. I really debated about getting this Samsung versus the Sony Bravia XBR KDL-40XBR6 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV. We already own the Sony Bravia XBR 46" model KDL-46XBR4 and are THRILLED with that TV. Since I was already a fan of Sony, I tried to research whether the few hundred $$ in savings would be worth it if the picture didn't compare to what I was used to with the Sony, and now they are up to XBR6 versus 4. Side by side in a brick and mortar store, the Samsung and the Sony 40XBR6 were practically identical. Of course real world testing is impossible when they are playing a specific video and you are limited to what they are showing you. I went ahead and bought the Samsung LN40A630 from Amazon (great delivery, no problems whatsoever). I performed some color correction with the Samsung's vast amount of color controls. I perform graphic color correction for a living so it is with a highly critical eye that I was judging picture quality and color. Once I was happy with the correction I DVR recorded "LOST" on both TVs. Then in I viewed various scenes on both TVs. For the most part the picture was pretty comparable. I will describe a few differences in my opinion: Our Sony has more of a cinematic feel in the picture most likely because of deeper blacks and it handles banding (abrupt change in shades of the same color) better. In various scenes, the Samsung almost took on a video effect. The clarity and sharpness is profound, but that sometimes gave it a more stark effect. This happened in only some scenes. For the most part the pictures were very comparable. I would imagine for those of you who enjoy football games, this may be an asset. Lest you think I am not pleased with the TV, I am really happy with it. It's got wonderful quality and richness in the picture. The sound is not as good as our Sony because the speakers are on the bottom of the TV as opposed to front facing. But the sound is good enough for sure. I would find it hard to believe anyone would regret this TV. I am a harsh critic. I think most people (and they have) would review this as a 5 star TV. I think I still prefer the Sony, but this Samsung sure gives it a run for it's money. As far as the "touch of red", it is far less red than the glossy screened version of this TV. I happened to like the red, so I was a little disappointed to see it basically looks black. Again, that may be a positive to someone else. Even in bright sunlight, this TV frame pretty much looks black. On the plus side, I think this set is far more attractive than the Sony I was thinking of purchasing. Clean lines, attractive finish. This set is also far less expensive to mount on the wall. We purchased the Peerless PA740 Articulating Wall Mount for 22-inch to 40 inch flat panel displays (Amazon). Only $68 with free shipping and it can move in pretty much any direction. To mount the Sony we would have had to buy a different kind of mount with an adapter, all adding up to more than quadruple the mounting costs.

ADDENDUM 5/23/09: We have had this TV for several months now. Changed my review from 4 stars to 5. I may only buy Samsungs moving forward. Just as great as Sony, lower cost than Sony.

I've been an avid gamer since I was 8 years old. I've been wanting a new HDTV for about a year now, but I wanted to make sure to get one that could handle all my consoles, as well a kick-butt movie machine. This TV has blown me away.

Both my 360 and PS3 are hooked up via HDMI and the picture is drop-dead GORGEOUS. Games can really take full advantage of the optimal picture quality, plus the 120hz motion plus makes them run like butter. One thing I notice in particular is the HUD on all my games, which is clear as day. On my previous HDTV (an LG tube) it was very difficult to read any kind of corner maps, see how much ammo I had left, or even tell how much life I had left. Now that I have this television, there is no way I can go back.

This TV has wowed us ever since we brought it home, and it continues to surprise us. If you're on the fence about this particular television, let me assure you that there is nothing to worry about. You will be amazed!

After conducting exhaustive research for my new 1080p TV to watch Blu-Rays on, I found the 630 to be the best value for money out there (as of feb-2009). Image quality is every bit as good as others say, DVDs look crisp and bright. The 630 series has the semi-matte finish which works great for me because the room is brightly lit and would be impossible to watch on the reflective screens on the 650 series and the like. Strongly recommend this feature if your room has lots of light.

As an image panel, it works beautifully. The only reason I'm not awarding it 5 stars is because it lacks some basic TV functionality:
1. It doesn't have a Sleep feature, which I sorely miss.
2. It takes about 2-3 seconds to turn on/off and has a little sound effect, which is also disturbing when someone in the room is sleeping.
3. The remote must be pointed exactly at the "eye" at the correct angle or it won't respond. Very annoying.
4. When the unit is off, it has a red light next to the on/off button which is annoying if you have the TV in your room.

Overall I still consider the image quality to be worth putting up with the hindrances. But if I had paid attention to the problems with the TV functionality itself, I might have picked another TV.

For years I didn't understand the big deal regarding HD. I finally decided to get an HDTV in December. In 3 weeks time I had two 1080p LCDs without 120hz. The picture quality of those sets on HD were good but not worth shelling out $1K for a TV. And standard def was horrible. So after not being satisfied I decided to spend a little more since i figured I would be keeping this tv for 3-5 years. My choice was the Vizio 42" with 120hz and Samsung A500. Both had similar picture quality and the price was the same. Luckily I noticed that the A630 was on sale at circuit city for under $1K. I decided to give it a try. SD looks good. HD looks great. Blu ray looks breathtaking. I bought dark knight on blu ray and the scenes shot in HD (i.e. the first scene with the bank robbers) the buildings looks like your actually there. 120hz takes awhile to get used to because it takes the grainy look from film and makes the picture clear. Luckily you can adjust the 120hz to off, low, medium,high. The only problem I have is the PIP. While the split screen effect is a great feature you cant watch two digital signals. The PIP is angalog. I realize another tuner would be required for that function. But at least the PIP could handle DVD or PS3.

I spent about 3 weeks shopping and researching before I bought this TV. I narrowed it down to the Samsung and the Sony Bravia "W" series, but after watching the two side by side at a store decided I liked the Samsung picture better. I've now had the 630 for two weeks, and it's terrific. Very easy to set up -- it takes a couple of days with the remote to figure everything out but it's all intuitive so you eventually get there. The picture is fantastic. At first, my wife complained that it could be too good, making some shows look overly detailed and thus artificial, but this problem went away when I figured out that you can change the picture on the remote from "cool" to "warm." Overall I've been extremely pleased with the picture -- the HD is fantastic and regular TV also looks better. Watching basketball in particular is a whole new experience. The sound quality is good, but you'll need to add a sound system for it to match the picture quality. My only complaint is that sometimes I need to re punch in the input source on the remote after I turn it on (i.e., from TV to satellite), which only takes a second but is irritating nonetheless. Overall, though, I highly recommend this set.

I am an avid video guru who is obsessed with quality. I have been actively searching for the perfect flat panel LCD to replace a 5 year old tube Sony CRT.

The Samsung LN40A630 is by far one of the best LCD TV's on the market. The 120Hz at first was a bit distracting. After bumping it down to the 'low' setting, I was very impressed. The richness of the color and the quality of the blacks is just right.

The TV has a very aesthetically pleasing bezel around the border which allows for your eyes to focus in on the TV.

3 HDMI inputs is more than enough for our home. We have a Cable Set Top Box which is outputting HDMI via 720p and 1080i. The quality is very clean. We also have an XBOX 360 and PS3 outputting 1080p. I can say that the 1080p makes a huge difference.

Blu ray on this TV takes the movie watching experience to a whole other level.

The only thing I would recommend in addition is a 5.1 surround sound system. The sound quality on any LCD is not going to be that great.

I am so pleased with this TV. I bought it from HHGREGG for $1099 which is $100 less than what Amazon is selling it for. Great deal!

If you are in the market for a flat panel LCD that is not too big, this is the TV for you. Samsung makes the best LCD's out there.