Customer Reviews

Samsung LNT4669 46-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

After much research, we purchased the 4669 from Amazon. The TV is spectacular. We also considered the 4671 and the Sony XBR4. The 4669 was our choice because we have a window facing the TV and glare would be a serious issue. The matte screen does a good job of diffusing direct sunlight, and lights on in the room are not even noticeable on the screen. The XBR4 was simply not worth the extra money.

We have the TV attached to a Multidirectional HDTV Antenna, the "DB2" sold by Antennas direct on amazon. In the Washington DC area we get several 1080i HD channels over the air and a number of digital 720p and 480i channels. The 1080i content looks excellent on the 4669. The other channels that are digital look only good.

The TV is also attached to a Playstation 3. When playing 1080p Blu-ray HD movies or video games, the 4669 will simply knock your socks off. The colors, contrast, and black levels are superior to just about every other current HDTV on the market. Normal DVDs, when upconverted by the PS3 to 1080p, look almost as good as Blu-ray. As with most HDTVs, the higher quality feed you give the 4669, the better the image looks.

While there have been complaints about the 120Hz processing software in the 4671 and now 4669, i found that setting the feature to low or medium makes fast motion look good with no stutter or triple ball effect (TBE).

One aspect i didn't really understand about this TV before we bought it is the huge amount of flexibility one has in fine tuning the picture using the on-screen menu settings. There are a TON of tuning options. I found myself spending more time messing around with all the settings than actually enjoying the movies was watching. While all the settings make it possible to have total control over the image, i suggest looking on avsforum for some calibration suggestions.

The TV was delivered in 5 days by Eagle USA. The delivery folks were very helpful and polite. I did contact Eagle and scheduled a delivery time, and doing so knocked about 5 days off the scheduled delivery date per amazon.

The bottom line:
You will be very pleased with this TV. If you do not want the shiny screen of the 4671, and still want a high-end LCD for a reasonable price, get the 4669.

After weeks of sleepless nights trying to decide on which Samsung (the only choice) to buy, I finally settled on the 4669. Allow me to preface this review by stating that I had TWO open orders for the 4671 model. After reading countless negative reviews regarding the glare problem on the '71, my mind was finally made up. Remember...the 4669 has the same 120hz refresh rate (which you may or may not find useful, but the option is welcome) and a 20,000:1 contrast ratio. The difference between this and the 25,000:1 on the '71 is indiscernible by the naked eye, trust me. The icing on the cake? A few hundred dollars cheaper....always a good thing! HDMI quality is outstanding. Older DVDs look brand new. Standard def is better than expected. Sound quality was a nice suprise! And, by the way, there are endless tweaking options.

This TV is a real beauty, from a technical and stylistic standpoint. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPOINTED!!!!

p.s.
The TV arrived dead on time and the Eagle guys could not have been nicer. I even offered them a beer for their great work (which they politely declined). This was probably the smoothest online transaction I'll ever make. Bravo to Amazon and Eagle Shipping!!

UPDATE 2/3
PC gaming is incredible on this thing (provided you have a good video card). Crysis, Bioshock, Unreal Tournament 3...amazing. AND...the price just went down $75...I called Amazon, they processed my credit within 2 days. What more can I say??

First of all, you really need to see these things in a big box store side by side to appreciate the differences between the various models and manufacturers. In my opinion, it came down to the Sony and Samsung units. In my humble opinion, Sony usually is top tier for initial quality and features but usually overpriced. So I end up comparing how other units look and their feature set to the Sony's.

I found myself immediately drawn to the Samsung's picture quality and price points. If there was a difference between this TV and the comparable Sony, I couldn't see it, thus no reason to pay the premium price for the Sony.

The picture is FANTASTIC. This model has the matte screen and although it may not look quite as bright as the glass model (believe me, this set is plenty bright and crisp), you will not have any issues at all with glare or rogue fingerprints annoyingly visible.

It has bottom firing speakers that sound great with the full range of sound. There are even different sound settings to customize the sound. You won't miss your 5,6,or 7 channel entertainment receiver unless you really want to hear surround and sub-woofer sounds.

This has tons of inputs and customized features to it, just look at the specs and features literature. The 20,000 contrast ratio really makes the blacks black, making the colors that much more vibrant. The viewing angle is more than ample as well with no loss of picture viewing it from the side.

This has the new 120Hz video processing for smoother motion on the screen with 4 settings: low, med, high, off. Be advised however that when you are watching satellite, cable or off the air broadcast, even with the 120Hz set to low, you may see video "stutter". I'm told it's not a defect with the TV but rather that signal's inability to send the video information fast enough to the tv for the 120Hz not to be error free. So when I watch "TV" (I have satellite service), I set it to "off". I don't see the stutter when I play DVD's or my Xbox 360.

Also, not everything looks better with the HDMI cables. It all depends on how the video for that show, movie or game was processed. 100% digital to digital does not guarantee a superior picture in all cases. Some things look better using HDMI, others look better using the component cables. I recommend getting both HDMI and component (red, blue, green) cables and comparing them to see for yourself which sources look better to you.

See the other review I made for the mount I used for which I'm very happy with. I could go on and on about this TV but the other reviewers pretty much have it covered and I agree with one of them who said it's Samsung's best kept secret. Besides, it's about a thousand bones less here at Amazon than out in town. One other word of advice: don't buy the insanely overpriced cables in a retail store. Search online and you find them 50-75% cheaper at the same quality.

If you're looking for a quality, outstanding picture and sound 46 inch matte screen TV at a fair price, this is it.

After weeks of internet research and countless hours of mall comparison shopping of Samsung 46" LCD models, the 4669 stands out best to me. It has the non-reflective matte screen of the 4661 and the 120Hz LCD panel of the 4671. Its Contrast Ratio of 20,000:1 falls exactly in the middle between 15,000:1 of the 4661 and 25,000:1 of the 4671. It has bottom firing speakers like the 4661 which, in my opinion, makes for a much nicer looking frame and sounds good. I don't know if the side mount speakers of the 4671 sound better (hard to tell in the store) but if a surround sound system is used it doesn't matter. Amazon's price is far better than any local store could offer and to make it even better there were 3 price drops after my purchase which were promptly refunded. All you have to do is call Customer Service and ask for it. The delivery service is excellent and fast. I love this TV! The picture is so good, especially in HD, that it's addictive!

I want to start by saying that I had the set for 29 days before I returned it. I bought the XBR4 instead and will compare the 2 sets at times in this review. Have had the Sony for 30 days now.

Pros:
1. Very good overall picture although The XBR4 has slightly better color and depth.
2. Handles motion better than the XBR4 except for the triple football effect. Motion looks more realistic than the Sony. Lip syncs better than Sony from what I see.
3. Nonreflective screen.
4. Beutiful compact package.
5. Good side viewing in dim lighting.
6. The TV can pivot in the stand for more direct viewing.

Cons:
1. The matte screen is so nonreflective that bright side lighting will absorb into the screen instead of reflecting off like the Sony XBR4 and Samsung 71 series. This causes the picture to wash out somewhat when viewing at the opposite angle of the bright light. The Sony has better off-angle viewing. The more reflective Sony has not bothered me at all in my bright living room.
2. The speakers are pretty tin can sounding compared to my old JVC 40" LCD and the Sony XBR4. I did get used to them though and did not return the set because of the speakers.
3. The bottom 2 inches of the screen would "tear" once or twice per movie. It would look scrambled like pay stations on cable TV that you have not subscribed to. This was with HDMI cable and HD-DVD connections.
4. Slight flickering regardless of source. Hard for my wife to notice it but she did. Others have had issues with 3 and 4 too.

I just received the 4669 and had the opportunity to watch it a bit over the weekend. Mind-blowing picture quality on Blu-Ray and even standard DVD up-convert. HD cable is good, but limited by a somewhat weak signal from Comcast. I'm running component on cable TV and do see a better picture when I switch to HDMI. I am glad I chose the '69 vs the '71 as I have the TV in a well-lit and natural light living room. No reflection problem at all. Very good price from Amazon and a good experience from Eagle as well. Ordered the set Saturday morning from my cell phone when I was at Sears since they could not even get close to Amazon's price and was watching it Friday evening.

Just another vote for this terrific monitor. Amazon charged almost $500 less than local big box stores. Delivery was timely--about a week--and the deliverers (from Eagle) set it and and made sure it ran before they left. It was easy to plug in an HDMI cable from the DVR and another HDMI cable from our Samsung DVD recorder/VCR VR-357 (a great companion to this set). Image quality was stunning. The swivel base let me angle it a bit to avoid reflections from the big window next to our couch. My wife had been dubious about the whole HD TV thing but the first show we watched on Discovery Channels' HDTheater made a believer out of her.

While I was assembling a 5' tall media spinner next to this TV I slipped and let a sharp-edged 5' long particle board plank strike a glancing blow across the screen. I was afraid I'd ruined it but the matte surface is a lot tougher than the LCD screen on my laptop. You can see the scratch if the TV is off and you look closely but it's otherwise invisible.

One trick: All consumer DVD recorders record at lower resolution than HD.
This shows up on the TV as a smaller image if you're looking at an HD program. But the Samsung scales it up beautifully if you switch inputs (to HDMI 1 in my case). In this mode you won't see messages from the recorder onscreen but it's easy to switch back.

I haven't even started to experiment with the color settings and whatnot. You can choose between 3 presets. I normally use "movie." Maybe I have even wonderfuller viewing ahead of me but as it stands it looks terrific as far as I can tell.

The factory default also chooses the 120hz Low speed. That seems to work fine, again.

So don't be daunted by the videophile reviews that might lead you to think you have to a degree in TVology to make this thing work. It's beautiful out of the box.

I'd have preferred the picture's frame to have a matte finish instead of glossy piano black, but even in my high-reflection room it's really not a problem. In fact seeing the reflections on the frame helps show how well the matte finish of the screen works, because you can see how the reflections disappear as your eye moves down or sideways onto the screen proper. It doesn't banish reflections entirely, but it transforms them from distracting images into a vague reduction in contract. And if you angle the screen a tad even that goes away.

We waited to buy this until last year's price reductions (through the post-Christmas sales) kicked in. I've read that we shouldn't expect much more in the way of price reductions this year, and I suspect that the sharp increase in oil prices and drop in the dollar may actually drive prices up for imported goods like this. And I notice that in the 1 1/2 months since we bought this the price has gone back up some $300. So it might not be a good idea to wait for any more substantial price drops.

And it's worth going in hock to get one of these, I'm kind of sorry to say. The increased sharpness and screen size has so much impact it makes the viewing experience qualitatively different.

As for the 120Hz refresh rate of this TV vs. comparable ones with a 60Hz refresh rate--you won't see a bit of difference unless something moves abruptly or quickly. Then you will. I spent a lot of time at Fry's watching demo shows on different big screens, and seeing a football game and a helicopter's blades whirring clinched it for me. This is one difference that's nontrivial. Spend the extra. You'll regret it if you don't.

Also, the 46" size was another choice we agonized about. a 40" screen would have been so much cheaper, and our viewing room is small--we sit 11 feet from the screen. With standard TV programming I don't think the bigger screen helps much. We replaced a 32" Sony Trinitron flat screen CRT TV and it looked really good for standard programming. And even with HDTV programming the 40" screen was pretty satisfying. However, wide screen movies on DVD typically use a wider form factor than HDTV, giving you fat black bars across top and bottom of the screen. And for seeing DVD movies I found that a 46" screen was the minimum needed to provide an immersive experience.

I've also read that the biggest regret flat screen TV buyers report is not having gotten a big enough screen size. I'm sure this is true.

There's also the issue of 720p vs. 1080p. I'm sure it's true that you won't see much if any difference with a sub-50" screen at normal viewing distances, as Consumer Reports states. However, I also wanted to be able to use the TV as a computer monitor, and for that you need a 1080p screen. So that tipped things for me. Plus I don't know of any 120Hz sets that aren't also 1080p, so it's probably academic.

Then there's the Sony vs. Samsung issue. Consumer Reports rates these two brands as having the best performance and very good reliability--same as Toshiba, second only, by a small margin, to Panasonic. We have a neighbor with a 46" Sony, and I like ours just as well if not better. And I don't think their screen swivels--and that's a feature you'll use if you have to deal with reflections. Also, I'd never buy a Sony DVD recorder due to Sony's fanaticism about copy protection and recording TV programs. On the other hand the Samsung VR-357 DVD recorder is easy to integrate with this TV--Samsung has a system of coordinating them, as I'm sure Sony has with comparable setups. And the Samsung has never refused to record any TV program I've looked at. And it works really well--only one coaster out of over 150 disks recorded so far.

Once upon a time "Made in Japan" meant lousy quality. Then they got their act together, Same with Korea. And who knows...could happen with China too, some day.

This Samsung TV has been superseded by a new model with 25,000:1 contrast instead of the 20,000:1 contrast this has. Contrast looks fine with this. I'm guessing you wouldn't notice a difference unless they were side by side and perhaps not even then.

Last point: normal TV shows. I've read many complaints about how awful this is on a big screen TV. Well, maybe to a videophile. My wife & I have found that normal shows look fine on the Samsung.

After much research and reading of various reviews we settled on this particular TV. It, plus HD DirecTV, and an upconverting Sony DVD player has produced excellent results. The 120Hz does work and is quite appreciated when watching Sunday Night Football (can't stand the Monday crew), the few HD hockey games, and even action movies on the DVD.

The only con I can think of right now is I don't necessarily need to see my news anchors in Hi Def.

On a side note, I have yet to watch an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray DVD. But I would be very hard pressed to purchase both the pricey players or the disks themselves after seeing the upconverting on standard 480i DVDs.

Oh and I saw a noticable difference between RCA connectors and HDMI on the DVD player. They are pricey but worth the $$.

Was overwhelmed with the choices. Relied on Consumer Reports for most of the information and they seem to done a great job with this one. The picture is beautiful. Am also pleased with the picture quality for the standard non HD channels. TV is in brightly lit room and glare had always been a problem. The matte screen completely eliminates any glare! The only issue seemed to be the factory settings were not the greatest. I am currently using a component connection and used the settings in post 1500 which I think was posted on [...]. The colors are fantastic. Overall I am very pleased!!

The matte screen (versus the shiny/glossy screen that Samsung is using on some newer panels) is very important to me. I realize that the glossy screen carries some benefit but for my purposes and preferences its not what I want. My viewing area has a substantial amount of light and at times from directly behind the viewer.

I used to have a Samsung 4661 but it was stolen. When I went about replacing it I got this 4669 and have been very happy with it, and I must say that for my purposes it was worth the increase in price over the current cost of the 4661.

Someone correct me if I am wrong but I personally believe that the on-board scaler on the 4669 is superior to the one on the 4661. To the degree that SDTV and DVD look noticeably better.

I was watching DVD on an Oppo DV-981HD Oppo DV-981HD Universal DVD Player with HDMI, 1080p Up-Converting, DivX & SACD player on the 4661, and was pretty happy with it. I had tried several 'upconverting' DVD players and the Oppo was the only one that I had been truly happy with. (Great product for the price!) Unfortunately it was stolen with my 4661.

When I initially replaced the 4661 I had yet to replace the Oppo and was simply watching DVDs on my Playstation 3. It 'upconverts' as well but does not do so (IMHO) nearly as well as the Oppo. This was evident on the 4661. Bottom line: I was only happy with DVD on the 4661 if I had the Oppo, and had found nothing else that approached it.

I wound up returning the replaced 4661 because of an unrelated technical issue and went ahead and spent the extra money for the 4669.

I noticed, surprisingly, that upscaled DVDs on the PS3 looked better on the 4669 than the 4661. Note they were not playing simultaneously but both of these screens were sitting in my living room and I was hooking the PS3 up to each of them alternatively. Perhaps its not the on-board scaler, perhaps Im completely crazy, but Im convinced in my mind that the 4669 displays 'mediocre-ly-scaled'DVDs much better than the 4661. To the degree that I have not found reason to replace the Oppo upscaler at all.
Note I am indeed talking about DVD and not Blu-Ray. When I was observing this I had yet to even watch a Blu-Ray on either screen.

Contrast: Great contrast... 20,000:1 is Samsung's figure for this thing. Note that not all contrasts are created equally. Its kind of like how different amplifier companies measure 'watts' differently... Same with panel makers and contrast. Be aware of that. Still... it is useful when comparing two Samsung models. Does that 4669 (20,000:1) get TWICE as black as the 4661 (10,000:1)??? No... but it is noticeably blacker.

A WORD OF WARNING ABOUT THE 120hz THING:

It is not IMHO all its cracked up to be. You can set it to 'off, low, medium, high' and honestly I NEVER USE IT. The TV is a great set without it but I have problems with the way it predicts movement. I have read a number of reviews about it with people trying to describe it and problems that they have perceived about it but none of them really make it clear to someone who has never seen it. This review will probably make you scratch your head wondering 'what is this guy talking about?' as well.

The TV basically takes the 60 frames per second coming in from the cable or satelite or DVD or whatever and 'produces' frames itself to stick between the original frames. The goal of this naturally is to make motion appear smoother. In fact it does IMHO seem to do this.

The problem that I have with it is mostly with human movement. In landscape/scenery type shows its not so much of a problem for me. It just seems to make human movement unnatural. Since humans move with gestures, and these gestures are often jerky with sharper movements weighted on one end or the other of the gesture, I think the 120hz processor is smoothing these gestures out unnaturally.

Maybe Im over-analyzing it. The point is I dont like it. My wife isnt very picky about the picture on the TV. She is less likely to notice when something doesnt look quite right. Her comment about the 120hz thing was that it made the people's movements look almost 'computer generated' like on beowulf or polar express.

BOTTOM LINE: One of the best matte-screened LCDs out there for the price (maybe THE best) but make sure you've demo'd the 120hz feature in a store and are ok with it if thats why you are buying this TV. Im giving the TV 5 stars because its a great panel, but you can take the 120hz out and I wouldnt mind.