Excellent TV

Evolution of a Big Screen Decision - 42" Plasma to 46" LCD
When I first started looking at big screens in early 2006, a 42" Panasonic EDTV Plasma was about $2,000 (Cdn), and the HD version (not full HD) was around $3,000 (Cdn). That was too much money, but then in January 2007, when the HD version was around $2,000, I started looking seriously. After a short while, with prices still going down, I decided I wanted a 50" as it seemed then that 42" was really a nice big TV, but a 46" or 50" was entering the "Big Screen" category, which I wanted to watch movies. In the end, I decided on the Samsung 46" LCD (LNT4661) for various reasons, and here is my review. The ranking no. is for the things I consider most important when buying. (for me) And I spent numerous hours researching for about 2 months before buying. I bought th e TV at Best Buy in May 2007 for $2,550 (Cdn).

No. 1 (consideration) - Picture Quality
I have had the TV for 1 month now and the picture quality is excellent in my opinion. I did my best to compare this TV side by side in the store with Sharp Aquos as well as the main plasma TVs (Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung), and I had difficulty noticing any differences in colour quality, even though some say the color quality on the plasmas is better. In terms of sharpness, I could definitely notice the sharper quality on LCD (full HD) at about 5 or 6 feet away, in comparison to the plasmas which are not full HD. In terms of viewing action on my LCD, it seems excellent to me. The Sharp 46" (not the 42") "quotes" a refresh rate of 4ms while this Samsung quotes 8ms, but I could not see any difference in the TVs in a side by side comparison in moving images. I am not a sports fan, but watched a bit of the Stanley Cup playoff this year in HD just to see how it looked, and it seemed fine to me. I could easily make out the puck and player movements. I found the Sony Bravio KDL40V2500 also had an excellent picture in the store, but I did not look at this one for too long, since the 40" Sony at that time cost about the same as the Samsung 46".

Some complain of problem with "pillaring" with the Samsung LCDs. While in general this is not a problem with my television, I noticed that the off angle viewing for some "SD tv shows only" exhibit some fading of black areas more so on the edges. I have no idea if plasmas have the same affect for SD. I would have to say that this has not bothered my viewing pleasure. I likely only noticed it because I was looking hard for such things. All the HD images look Excellent, even at large off angles.

The glare with plasmas was a considerable factor for me in deciding to buy LCD over plasma. I could definitely notice the glare with the plasma TVs in the store with any significant light in the background when the TV was showing a dark scene. For me, this factor outweighed the possible slightly better picture quality. Of course, if you have the perfectly lighted room for your TV then this will not be factor, but I put mine on the main floor. Note that the Samsung LNT4665 has a shiny coating which basically gives it the same glare as a plasma television. One review I read suggested this was to make the television look better on the store shelves. The sales clerk said it was to increase the contrast ratio, which makes a certain sense as the manufacturer gives this television a higher contrast ratio than the 4661, but I think it also has a larger color gamut so that would probably have an effect on the contrast ration as well. Note that the Samsung plasmas 5054 and 5064 are now out as well, and they have the anti-reflection coating which should reduce glare somewhat.

No. 2 - Burn-in: Risk or No Risk?
The other considerable factor for pushing me to choose LCD over Plasma was this ever debated burn-in risk for plasmas. Many reviews say this is no longer an issue. But...the thing for me that goes against this argument is as follows. For one, vendors tell buyers of plasmas to ensure you only view it on wide-screen for the first 100 hours...hardly something you say if "it is no longer an issue", and two, there are reviews I have read where persons have had burn-in problems. Not many reports of such, but with kids in the house, it would be hard to control when and how it is used.

No. 3 - Number and Type of Inputs
This TV has 3 HDMI which is more than the average (one of these also works with DVI I believe). In this regard, I wanted to have at least 2 HDMI inputs, and one AV input (regular cables) for my existing VCR. It has two regular AVI inputs and 2 component inputs. I wanted 1 HDMI for a new DVD player, one HDMI for my Digital Cable Box. The three HDMI on the LNT4661 is great as it leaves one spare for a future device such as a game system or my surround sound. Although, I originally planned to hook up all devices through my receiver, I later decided that the picture would be better if they were hooked up directly. I may yet change this though, at it is a bit cumbersome to go through each "source" to select the one you want...you have to press the button for source until you reach the device your want, and you have to wait a couple of seconds between each time you press the button. The TV has a VGA input, as well as a USB plug for a memory stick. Tried it out and it is not too hard to use but I found that when switching pictures, even with the slide show, there is a black screen shown for several seconds between each picture...very irritating. I have a 4 megapixel camera so each file is around 2MB. Perhaps this is a factor in the slowness to change images. See the Samsung site for a complete list of all inputs/outputs.

No. 4 - Extraneous Sounds (i.e buzzing)

The Samsung LNT4661 makes absolutely no extraneous sound which might be heard when there is a quiet scene, even with my head near the back of the television. I found with picture tube televisions, the background hum always bothered me. I found that I could easily here a buzz from Samsung plasma 5053 when near the back of the television, although in the store, I could not hear the buzz when standing 5 feet in front of the television. I still had the fear that I might hear a buzz when in the quieter environment of my family room. I also noticed quite a buzz, with my head behind the Aquos 46" (LC42D62U).



No. 5 - TV Speaker sound Quality.

While this is not a significant for those hooking up a surround sound system, like me, it is still worth mentioning. While I found the speakers for the LNT4661 sufficiently loud, I have noticed a significant base vibration with the speakers from time to time. It is sufficiently bad that I might consider returning this TV if I was not buying a surround sound system to go with it. I was able to reduce this problem significantly by reducing the 100mhz "bar" on the "equalizer" option in the menu, presumably, with some loss of bass in my sound.

Summary

In the end...while at one point I was tending towards a 50" plasma, I decided on the 46" LCD mainly for reasons of glare and burn-in risk with the plasma, but also because I thought the 46" would be a better fit for my room.

P.S.
To complete the home theatre system, I am buying the Mirage Nanosat 5.1 system, with two extra Nanosats, and the Onyxo 604 receiver. Still need to find an upconverting DVD player as well. :-)