Plasma Poseur

Within minutes of setting up Samsung’s top-line 46” LCD HDTV (they also offer a 55” version), I knew that this was no ordinary LCD flat-panel, as the picture quality, with just a few picture control adjustments, looked startlingly un-LCD-like and much more reminiscent of what I’m used to seeing with better plasma sets.

The LN46A950 isn’t Samsung’s first LCD flat-panel with LED backlighting, but this latest series improves upon earlier offerings by combining 120 Hz screen refresh with interpolation (Auto Motion Plus) and multi-zone LED backlighting (Smart LED).

It’s also packed with a variety of step-up features, including LAN connectivity, along with an optional Windows Media Extender box.

While the Samsung’s out-of-the-box Standard picture mode is neither overly bright nor terribly bluish, the set’s Movie mode is the go-to choice here, as that mode’s settings are dialed in at the factory to come closest to the recommended values for optimum high-def picture quality, and a check with the color analyzer shows a color temperature that is indeed quite close to the D65 ideal neutral white point.

Adjustments in the Detailed Settings menu allowed me to further tweak the grayscale to get the Samsung even closer, with a fairly consistent result over most of the range. Once done with the adjustments, I was rewarded with a very good looking picture, with natural flesh tones and very good deep blacks.

Samsung’s Auto Motion Plus 120 Hz feature, together with the LED Motion Plus function, seeks to eliminate motion blur, a traditional bugaboo of LCD sets. The set offers three levels of processing, and also provides a Demo mode that produces a split screen with one side processed, the other side not. Using test Blu-ray discs that feature slow lateral pans, I can clearly see marked improvement with the processed side, even from a normal viewing distance.

With the feature activated, blur is substantially reduced, if not outright eliminated, and I can clearly see details that are totally blurred out on the unprocessed side. I then watched a horse race in 1080i HD I had recorded on my DVR, and during slow pans, there was a noticeable sharpening of the picture. During fast-moving scenes, I noted little to no difference, but some motion blur is inevitable with every source (and will be visible on any type of display), and can’t really be fixed by post-processing.

If one doesn't like the motion interpolation caused by the Auto Motion Plus 120 Hz, LED Motion Plus can be used without it (and vice versa).

As with their Auto Motion Plus, Samsung provides a Demo split screen mode for the LED Motion Plus feature. When activated, the LED backlighting cycles on and off in horizontal groups, cycling at least once from screen top to screen bottom every 120th of a second.

This provides more of a visual separation between frames, reducing the sample-and-hold visual effect that contributes to LCD motion blur.

The variable LED backlighting (Smart LED) serves to stretch the visual dynamic range, making blacks blacker and bright whites brighter, and it works very well indeed, adding significant “pop” to the picture but without the objectionable artifacts I’m used to seeing with other contrast-enhancing picture processing schemes.

Samsung chose to go with "white" LED backlighting, as opposed to separate red, green and blue LEDs. The "white" LEDs employed here are actually blue LEDs with a yellow phosphor coating, and are filtered to balance the color spectrum more evenly between the red, green and blue areas of the spectrum. Samsung claims that this, along with increased energy efficiency, means the "white" LEDs use 20-30% less energy than RGB LEDs.

Because all the LEDs are the same color, there’s also less of a chance of color shift over time, a problem Samsung claims plagues RGB LED configurations.

What really impressed me about the Samsung was its very wide viewing angle. With other LCD sets, I always note at least some significant picture changes when moving off axis, but with the Samsung, I found I could go way off to either side with hardly any discernable change in the picture. While I did note some shift with very dark test patterns, I found that with real program material, including dimly lit scenes, there was little to no difference off axis.

While Samsung is in lock-step with other LCD set makers in claiming a ridiculous 178° viewing angle for their LCD models, I’ll note that with this set, one could indeed sit well off axis and enjoy virtually the same picture quality as if one sat front and center.

As a former product manager who’s had his hand on a number of remote control designs, I’m highly impressed with the Samsung’s remote—it’s an excellent design in all respects. The oft-used buttons are suitably large and well labeled, and in lieu of a traditional cursor keypad, the remote instead features an iPod-like scroll/click wheel which works very well. The backlighting is a soft amber for optimum contrast and legibility in a darkened room, and the remote features a highly sensitive motion detector—just touching the remote activates the backlighting feature automatically.

There is a backlight on/off button at the top of the remote, and that button is of the glow-in-the-dark variety.

For those who want to have the set professionally calibrated, the Samsung provides the full suite of adjustments to get the set tuned just right, including an effective color management system that lets me dial in the colorimetry so that the primary and secondary colors exactly match the HDTV standard (but I must also point out that when the Movie mode was chosen, the set’s color gamut did indeed measure close to the ideal points, and only very minor tweaking was needed afterward).

The combination of this set’s Auto Motion Plus, LED Motion Plus, and Smart LED features brings LCD flat-panel performance ever closer to the look of top-performing plasma models. There is markedly improved visual contrast, deep blacks, and an improved viewing angle all of which have long been failings of LCD technology.

Couple those with a great remote control design, a toolbox chock-full of picture adjustments and multimedia options for today’s connected home networks, and you’ve got a great HDTV that will appeal to a wide variety of buyers.

Samsung announced several new lines of LCDs at this year's CES. Click here for all the info.

DESCRIPTION    
46” diagonal 1080p widescreen LCD HDTV with LED backlighting. Equipped with fixed (non-swivel) tabletop stand that is removable for wall-mounting. Optional motorized swivel wall mount features auto positioning memories.

DISPLAY CAPABILITIES
Widescreen 1080p LCD operates in 4:3 and 16:9 modes. Accepts 720-line and 1080-line progressive HDTV, 1080-line interlaced HDTV, 480-line progressive and 480-line interlaced signals, plus RGB computer video up to 1920 by 1080.

RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080 pixels

CONNECTIONS
Two component video inputs, one S-video input, two composite video inputs (one uses the Y input on one of the component inputs), one RF input (NTSC/ATSC/ClearQAM), four HDMI digital video inputs, four stereo analog audio inputs, one PC audio input (3.5mm), one RGB D-sub-15 computer video input; one optical digital audio output, one stereo headphone output (3.5mm), one USB port, one Ethernet port, one control port for optional motorized swivel wall-mount.

DIMENSIONS
29.9 x 45.7 x 11.8 inches (hwd) (with stand)
            
PRICE:  $3,199.00
CONTACT: 800.726.7864, samsung.com