As others have said, this TV is excellent. Forget the marketing talk of 150,000:1 contrast ratio etc. All you need to know is that as of August, 2009, there are very few TVs that beat this set in terms of black level. (local dimming LED LCD TVs, and a few high-end plasmas to be precise, and even then – only just!).
I’m going to focus more on what the issues are with this TV, bearing in mind that I think this is an excellent set.
1.) Gaming lag. For those that say there isn’t any – your standards may not be high enough. With Game Mode set to OFF, Call of Duty, Rock Band, Hot Shots Golf etc are simply unplayable. With Game Mode set to ON, these games are quite playable. How acceptable is very dependent on the person. I have no trouble, personally, with Game Mode ON, but Game Mode off was a nightmare. You lose the benefits of 240hz AMP with Game Mode ON, but this is a VERY acceptable trade-off, and I have no trouble playing games in an essential 60hz mode.
2.) Viewing angles. They’re NOT very good. At a little less than 10 feet away from my 46″ B750, the left side of my TV washes out if I scoot a little to the right, and the right side washes out if I scoot a little to the left of the TV. This is a definite issue, and is worse than my last year’s Samsung LN46A650. At Best Buy etc you will NOT see these defects as the ambient light overpowers any viewing angle discrepancies. At home, in a dimly-lit movie room, or showing darker material, these problems will become more apparent – glaring in fact.
3.) Clouding/flashlighting: This has been an issue for several generations of Samsung LCDs, and 2009 is no exception. Again, this is not something you’ll notice in a storefront because the lighting overpowers the problem, but at home, back in that very same dimly-lit room, especially showing darker material, you’ll notice the splotches of lighter colored areas on the screen. Some are worse than others. If you never watch TV in a darker environment with dark material, chances are you’ll never notice the problem. If your TV was delivered, like most people’s sets are, during the day, you will NOT see this issue until night closes in.
4.) While the see-through TV stand stalk is very pretty and gives the impression of a “floating” TV, it makes hiding the power cable and video/audio cables impossible, as they are normally hidden by a solid stalk. So yes, very pretty, but non-functional, as you can see the cables trailing down behind the see-through stem. A little annoying!
I know this sounds like doom and gloom, but it really isn’t. This is an excellent set. I love mine. Definitely the best CCFL LCD Samsung has put out to date, but still in need of a bit of work on their quality control. I simply won’t defend something just because I bought it – this is a great TV, but it does have some problems that Samsung should work hard to overcome.
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