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1,097 of 1,142 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great for mini home theater, May 17, 2009
This review is from: Samsung LN52B750 52-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LCD HDTV with Charcoal Grey Touch of Color (Electronics)
I've been an HDTV owner for six years and during that time, I've assisted about two dozen friends in their HDTV home theater setups. I've just upgraded to the Samsung LN52B750 and I couldn't be happier. For reference, I'm upgrading from a Samsung DLP and I own another Samsung LCD HDTV.
There's a lot that's misunderstood about this TV, so rather than the usual Pros and Cons, I'd like to share how I'm getting viewing value from this set.
First, if you're reading this, you're either already an LCD owner or have read about them - and have read about this new breed and if you're like I was, you're wondering what's what.
Color swirls - you never read about this, but if you've watched TV on an LCD set in the past, especially with standard def (SD) stations, you've seen it. The backgrounds look like compressed colors from jpg photo files. My earlier LCD HDTV (8ms response time) had it - this one simply does not. (I did have trouble watching compression artifacts in a movie from 1930 on TCM on this TV - but that movie was so hosed, I can't blame the TV only.)
Contrast - you've read by now that all LCD set makers lie about this. If you're confused and remember the old audio days, that works like this: You'd have a 35 watt RMS/channel amp (into 8 ohms). Some would lie and call it a 70 watt amp. Then lie some more and call it a 140 watt amp (how about 4 ohm speakers?). Then lie some more and refer to peak instead of RMS - and suddenly a 35 watt amp is legally lied about as a 200 watt amp. Now - I don't know the ins and outs of legal contrast lying, but I believe what I've read - it exists in this industry. This set is rated at a contrast of 150,000:1 - with every stretch of legal lying possible - the contrast on this set is amazing. I still cannot believe that it's an LCD. It's simply that good in terms of contrast. One plasma-owning friend insisted for a half hour that I was wrong, and had gotten a top line plasma.
Blur/response/lag - LCDs are noted for this weakness. Not this TV. Read on.
Quality of SD programs - some controversy exists. Not a problem on this TV. Read on.
240 Hz AMP - this is the most misunderstood feature I've read about on this TV. Nothing I've read in any review prepared me for what to expect. I was buying the TV partially for this feature, noting that depending upon whom you believe, you turn this feature on, off, on for movies but not sports, on for sports but not movies.
It's none of those on/off things. It's adjustable. Here are my simple recommendations based on my setup:
1. DirecTV.
I use a Dayton HDMI cable, also bought on Amazon (amazingly good cable - buy it), from my DirecTV HR20. I have the HR20 set up to display all resolutions in Native mode. The LN52B750 switches resolution so quickly that this is not a problem. Unlike earlier sets I've owned, the HDMI input on this TV accepts 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p - the HR20 outputs all of those on HDMI. In DirecTV circles, it's well-known to set your TV and your HR20 to the TV's native resolution and turn Native output off on the HR20. This is because the HR20 is purportedly better at 3:2 pulldown processing than the top of the line chipsets/firmware used only a few years ago, in that the pulldown is done between the steps of converting the satellite signal to TV frames - and my own experience agreed with that.
However, I offer this simple advice - set your HR20 output to Native, all resolutions, and set the B750's 240Hz processing to: Blur=5, Judder=3 - and you'll be exceptionally happy with the results from all program input. My Boston Legal reruns have never looked so good and they appear on some of the poorest-signal (highly compressed) stations in my lineup. So, with this setting, SD as well as satellite 720p and 1080i programs look great - not fake at all. (And all you have to do to see the controversy on this feature is to "turn it on" without customizing its adjustment - and wait for your eyes and stomach to turn.)
I played baseball as a kid - loved it. Still remember what a ball looks like going through the air. When you're at the right angle, you see a stobe of blur and clear, red stitches. With the Blur=5,Judder=3 adjustment, I have finally seen just that watching a dropping curve ball (720p source). Any higher or lower, the ball looks wrong - oh, yes, very exciting - but wrong.
So I strongly recommend this set for its 240 Hz processing - providing you are willing to change those two parameters slowly and study a lot of source material to dial in what's right. I contend that if you're a DirecTV HR20 owner, I've just given you the key to really great SD and HD viewing.
And don't fear about those great blurs being missed from movies that wanted it there - Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire looked really great in that regard.
BTW - resolution switching on this set is FAST - you'll experience little or NO extra delay when switching resolutions. (Not true on my older HDTVs.)
2. HTPC (Home Theater PC)
I use a Mac mini. I know, people hate them, you pay too much for Macs, yadda, yadda, yadda. The Mac mini is THE correct form-factor for a HTPC. You can find duplicates of this form-factor - and directly comparable features - in the Windows world for **exactly** the same price as a Mac mini - so, 'nuff said on price.
But - so far as a I know, only the built-in Apple DVD Player plays movies at 24 frames/second. Last I checked (and this may have changed by now), all other software (Win) does playback at TV rates: 60 frames/sec, with progressive scanning, etc.
Now - I'm not explaining all of this to brag about Macs - this is all about Blu-Ray vs. DVDs.
The de-judder tech being targeted by the 240 Hz processing is all about reconciling Blu-Ray 24 fps (read: real theater) vs. 30/60 fps (read: TV signals).
I don't own a Blu-Ray player - my gut, after all of these years, is still telling me to wait for the right features and prices.
But, I do use a Mac mini for my HTPC and if you do - or are considering one - here is my recommendation (based on Leopard 10.5.7): set the DVD Player to Best Quality Deinterlacing, set the Mac Display preferences to 1920x1080 at 24 Hz (it's progressive by default), and feed that into your LN52B750 with the 240 Hz options set to Blur=5 or 6, Judder=6 or 7 - and your jaw will drop. If you have a copy of Moulin Rouge - use it as your reference for the settings. I particularly recommend noting that you'll actually see the dust kitties on the floor in the Tango Roxanne chapter (among other things) and also suggest that you'll really love the depth and details of the stars, lace and glitter in Your Song.
With those settings you'll not only get a great HTPC, but you'll get possibly the best standard DVD player you've ever owned. Before the LN52B750, it was very good - now it's really incredible. Ghost Dog and Moulin Rouge on DVD are now completely three dimensional (not exaggerated foreground fakey - actually 3-D looking) - I didn't even know that this sort of picture was possible from a DVD.
I think my setup shows how well this TV works with a 1080p/24 fps source - I can only imagine that Blu-ray looks even better.
(edited 5-26-09)
3. Sound
People complain about the sound quality of the LN52B750. I don't know. I haven't used a TV for sound in 8 years. I don't wish to sound snobbish, but really - you're spending a boatload on your TV and input sources, why listen to TV speakers?
I don't go for surround sound. I'm an audio purest that prefers the highest fidelity stereo. To each his own, but if you're like me, here's the secret on that: route the optical audio out from the LN52B750 into the Mac mini, not from the DirecTV's optical port. This routing is surprisingly better. Use Rogue Amoeba's free LineIn software, set all buffers to default values except for output - use a buffer size of 2048 - convert the optical to copper stereo and pipe that into your stereo system. This is the best TV-to-stereo sound I've gotten in 8 years.
I'm using large electrostatic panels, driven by a 400 watt (peak)/channel amp and a 2 kW servo-controlled subwoofer. You hear sound from all over the room and the depth and spacial qualities are great. I recommend more money into a better stereo and less room wiring over surround sound, but that's just me. To each, his own.
4. Miscellaneous Adjustments
Next, some words on clouding, screen adjustment and glare.
Glare - I don't have any. Yeah - I can see some reflection in the screen at various times of the day. The picture quality is so deep - as is the contrast - that I don't even notice glare, if it is there. And the screen is neither glossy nor matte. It feels glossy, but is low-glare like matte, but sharp and clear like glossy. They're telling the truth on that improvement.
Clouding - let the set burn in for a few days before looking. This is great advice for any large LCD, by the way. Clouding - I don't have any.
Adjustments: Go. Very. Slow. I'd recommend not touching a thing for a full 24 hours of viewing. So far, I've turned down the backlight and the contrast and turned up the brightness. I'm not going to suggest numbers here, though - there are too many factors, such as your room, that will dictate what's right. I will say that out of the box, the contrast is too high, as is the backlight (but not the brightness) - so, as I said: Adjust. Each. Parameter. Slowly. You'll be pleased.
5-26-09: Three things - absolutely *turn off* Dynamic Contrast and Edge Enhancement...
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89 of 101 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Almost perfect, April 30, 2009
This review is from: Samsung LN52B750 52-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LCD HDTV with Charcoal Grey Touch of Color (Electronics)
Got this from Amazon at a good price,though I'm sure it will drop a little more as the year goes on.
This tv is spectacular! Absolutely stunning,jaw dropping picture. I can't say enough about it. Excellent blacks,infinitely tweakable to your liking.
When I first turned it on I had the "The Office" come on and I swear my mouth stayed open for a few minutes as it looked like Michael was in the same room as me! Lots of inputs and features to this set,internet connectivity,DLNA,home networking,wonderful subdued TOC which is grey instead of the red on last years 750. Very high gloss bezel,crystal neck stand which pivots. Screen is glossy,reflections are not an issue for me as I tend to watch in a darker room,but even with the drapes open, I don't see myself! AMP seems to work better in this set,as I also have an 4071 Samsung which has a slight problem with AMP,which has been well documented over at the AVSForums.
Just like anything else it is not perfect,hence the 4 stars instead of 5.
Sound is bad. I mean,you'll want to hook this up to a nice stereo system,or at the very least,a couple of powered computer speakers or some such set.
This tv attracts dust like nobodies business.Either that or my house is really dirty. Front panel controls (which would be rarely used anyway) are hard to tell where they are (lower right). Yahoo widgets,which are kind of cool when you first see them,are eh,no big deal. Maybe as more become available I'd be more excited.
There is no printed manual,it's on a usb drive,called an e-manual,and no it's not Spanish! There's some uneven lighting when screen is dark,(no signal)not sure if that's an issue for me yet,doesn't seem to affect any picture quality,but something to keep an eye on.
It is a 5 star tv,but the sound is what drops it 1. All other issues are no big deal.
Amazon delivery was good,no issues.Overall,I am extremely happy with it!
Now,for a good blu-ray player!
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55 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Pictures !!!!, September 14, 2009
This review is from: Samsung LN52B750 52-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LCD HDTV with Charcoal Grey Touch of Color (Electronics)
A caution about this LCD before the praises.....
1. It is wide...you need a second pair of hands to help you get it out of the box and mount it, if you are like me who was eager to mount it all by myself, you will end up with acute low back pain..oooh.
2. Do not dispose of the large box it came in,it will be hard to find a box this large just in case you got a faulty set and have to send it back.
3.Prices are coming down, shop around and buy from a retailer that will price match for you.
4.Samsung has an awful customer service buy from a retailer with a reliable warranty history.
Now to the review.......
Like most reviewers, I had spent months researching into LCDS and came out impressed with Sony V100, XBR6, XBR8(LED),Samsung B750 and B8000(LED).The Samsung B750 came out tops in all categories combininig the strengths from each one into one beautiful TV ....
I will not go into much technicalities as one of the reviewers here "EarlyMon" did a fantastic job and is more techsavvy.I will only say that I am more than happy with my purchase.
However, I shall add that the future of HDTV will be either LED or OLED.The technology on LED/OLED TV has not been perfected and will not be until 3 to 5 years down the road.So, why did I go for a SAMSUNG B750 CCRT LCD TV rather than for a LED TV?
Very simple.It is the best LCD in the market as of today Sept14th,2009 and might be for a long time to come.A point supported by both professional reviewers and users.
The Samsung B750 beats the LED Sony XBR8 (too pricey) and Samsung B8000 (uneven pixation). It compares very well with black scenes in both LED TVs, the white may not be as white as the LED TVs, but IT does not give the unnatural blue hue the LED TVs add to white color, perhaps that is why they seem to produce a whiter white.Just like the LED tv, the Samsung LN52B750 does not produce harsh pictures nor are the pictures scrabby.
The B750 has a practical wider viewing angle than both LED TVs mentioned above. It also has a better uniformity of colours.Do not get me wrong the LED TVs give very impressive pictures but since they are still in what I shall call beta stages, the prices on them are rather high for their current performances compared to what they are capable of doing.Just Like when Plasmas came out some years back, they were pricey, average cost was $4000.00 for the low end models.Inspite of their high prices then, yesterday's Plasmas in terms of performance are not as good as today's Plasmas which cost far less. They went through a period of fine tuning during which time their prices came down.Could you imagine buying a 46in Plasma for $900:00 in 2004.Yet today you could get one for that amount with little issue of burn in and better performance. A similar scenario will be played out with the LED TVs of today. So while waiting for LED technology to be perfected, it makes reasonable sense to buy an excellent TV at a "reasonable cost" to enjoy for the next 5 or so many years before the LED TVs get perfected or near "perfection".
To be honest, as much as Samsung tried to eliminate glare, this TV does have a minimum of glare compared to older Samsung LCDs but it is very minimal.If you have not noticed the glare on your laptop, desktop or your old CRT tv, then you will not be bothered by glare on this TV with the improved anti-glare technology.
If you are an enthusiast of Nature,fast action movies or sports, this is the TV for you. This TV shows leaves in a tree distinctively not just a bunch or cluster of green like most TVs do.You see clearly the individual droplets of water, as a wave breaks not just a splash of whitishblue.With fast movies or sports, no blurr or motion artifacts are seen.Colors are naturally vivid.No leaking of colors.
Do you need calibration? Yes, you do. Out of the box, the picture it gives is very impressive.Bear in mind that the manufacturers do not know anything about your living room light condition but they have a fairly good knowledge of what the light condition of a retailer's electronic dept is like.An since, the manufacturers do not know which of their TVs will be displayed by a particular retailer, they adjust the settings on all of their TVs coming out of the production line to meet the light conditions of a retailer which most time is a very bright light condition.They want their TV to look brighter,sharper and more crisp than their competitors'. This might mean less than an optimal picture quality for your room and more energy cost for you. Calibration has also been touted to prolong the life of the pixels.So if you can afford the 2 grand on this TV why can't you pick up a calibrating disc for $30.00 or less, to get an optimal performance, lower energy cost and prolong the life span of your TV?
If you decide to calibrate your TV,it is adviced to let your new TV break in, like a new car before making the adjustment.Some suggest as few as 24 hrs of regular TV watching others have suggested 1 month.I calibrated mine after 45 hrs of regular TV watching.The difference in picture quality after calibration is like NIGHT and DAY.
There are quite some good calibrating discs out there but the best for video is "High Deifinition Benchamrk by Spears & Munsil". This is very simple to use, the instructions are very elementary.I recommend the Blu-ray edition, if you have a Blu-ray player. For audiophiles, "AIX RECORDS" audio calibration disc is a winner. It has HD music sampler.For those with surround system, it will test the output and locate the positions of each of your speakers one by one for you.Both discs can be purchased online and for those who purchase the OPPO-BD 83 Blu-ray player,it is an added bonus.
However, for those who do not want to buy a calibration disc or pay for a professionl calibration service, here is an ABC of do it yourself calibration.
The primary features involved in calibration are, brightness,contrast,sharpness,color and hue.
Brightness:
This controls the depth of the blackness.Slot in a DVD movie into your DVD player and look for a night scene with someone wearing a black suit.Adjust the brightness control until you can make out clearly the edges of the suit lapel and the breast pocket of the black suit.
Contrast:
Controls the white. Look for a scene of someone wearing a white shirt.Adjust the contrast control until you can make out clearly the white buttons on the white shirt.
Sharpness:
Slot in a sports DVD e.g football,athletes meet, lawn tennis match etc.Look for a scene with line markings.Play with the adjust control from minimum to maximum and watch the line markings as you do so, the lines will have doubles or ghost images.Adjust the control slowly until the double or triple lines become one line or the ghost images of the line dissappears, leaving you with a single line.
Color:
Hopefully, you are not color blind.If you are,ask a friend to help you with this adjustment.This adjustment depends on what you appreciate of skin tone.Focus on the color of the skin of the actors, usually the face.Play with the control up and down and see how the skin color changes.Adjust the control more slowly until you get a match close to what the person's color would look like to you,were the person standing close to you.Hopefully, you are not in the habit of looking for aliens or martians.
Hue:
Also refers to color.Look for a color like red, blue or green and adjust the control to get the nearest match of that color in real life.
These tips are to help you make a decision between the best available HDTV to date.And if you are like me who was debating between a CCRT LCD OR LED LCD, I hope that I have provided sufficient reasons why I went for a CCRT LCD rather than a LED LCD for now. I might upgrade to a LED TV in five years from now.
Happy viewing on your new TV. You can not go wrong on Samsung LN52B750 !
Addendum (01/29/2010):
AESTHETICS:We have had this TV for about 5 months now. No problems with it.And we have never been bored looking at it, either when it is turned ON or OFF.It is a beautiful piece and blends very well with other pieces of furniture in our family room.The black screen overlaps beautifully with the black frame.The design remains ever sleek and unobtrusive.
SOUND:I have often wondered at the comments people have made about the sound quality not being loud enough. We have our TV hooked up to a Phillips 6 piece surround system that was already in place before the TV arrived.But without the surround system the TV Sound is fine.Our son prefers to play his game without the surround system and finds the inbuilt TV speakers more than adequate for him and neither have his friends complained when they come arround.For a TV this size and varying on the size of your room, a soundbar or an external surround system should be a fitting addition to the TV.Caution, if you do use an external speaker source with the TV remember to turn off the TV volume so that you do not get an echoing effect. Happy listening!
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