Although it'd be easy to take one of our reader's
word for it,
Sound and Vision Magazine set out to see if Samsung's sleek LN-T4681F really was the best home theater display on the market. The 46-inch LED-backlit display is a proud member of Sammy's
81 series, and while the glossy motif sure boosted the sexiness, reviewers did note that a "fair amount of reflected light pooled up on the screen during daytime viewing." The crew didn't have much trouble tweaking the settings to get the image just right, but it did exhibit a few problems deinterlacing film-sourced 1080i-format programs. Nevertheless, LED SmartLighting / LED Motion Plus both proved extremely beneficial, color rendition was deemed "excellent" and picture uniformity was satisfactory save for the slightly lackluster off-axis performance. Overall, those in charge of critiquing this here set were mighty impressed, and while a few niggles may annoy those looking for reasons to nitpick, most everyone else will likely walk away quite pleased with its performance.
posted November 20th 2007 3:12AM
Technical benchmark results:
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/hdtvs/2584/test-bench-samsung-ln-t4681f-46-inch-led-backlit-lcd-hdtv.html
Why is it a progress when those damn shiny fronts of good old plasma displays are comong back? It has been awfull with notebooks already. One of the biggest pluses of LCDs is gone, if the reflect as much as Plasma TVs.
I was kinda dumbstruck that Samsung would make the screen glossy when most LCD manufacturers were touting the non-reflective nature of LCD screens as a benefit and the glossy screens of plasma as a minus. Admittedly, the contrast usually goes up as a result of using glossy coatings; rear-projection TVs began to use them years back for the same reasons.
Kinda negates the plus of the local dimming feature they added to the 81 series. It seems that this set was made to compete head to head with plasma in their stronghold: ambient light controlled locations, with viewing typically at night (home theaters).
I think this might be referring to the shiny bezel on the unit, not the screen itself...hard to tell though.
jth:
No its the screen. Had a 71 series and it had the same problems. Like a mirror.
This would go perfect in my dungeon. It's really dark down there.
Skol, Vikings...
So, you are telling me that the technology is STILL not there yet?
I have to modify my lifestyle to accommodate technology design flaws. Um. No.
Does the tv come with the hot japanese gi.. wait a minute! this isn't right at all!
Shiny screens have the advantage of better color saturation portrayed to the eye. The disadvantage, as pointed out, is of course higher reflectivity of ambient light. In an optimal environment (basement, dimly lit bedroom or den), I would choose gloss screens anyday of the week over anti-reflect coated screens.
In an "optimal" environment you would be far better off with a projector.
-kpluck
"it did exhibit a few problems deinterlacing film-sourced 1080i-format programs"
Oh, I thought 1080i and 1080p is the same for film-sourced programs. Isn't that what the HD-DVD fanboys keep telling us?
With the light pooling up in daytime viewing I guess you could just clear that up by pulling down some blinds?
I guess it does have its flaws, but it looks like a real improvement. Should I start having buyer's remorse over my 2 year old samsung?