kyuushu's Full Review: Samsung LN-T4665F 46 in. TV
The Samsung LNT4665F TV represents the new line of LCD TVs from Samsung for 2007. It features stunning picture quality with its 1080p maximim resolution, and a bevy of settings and connections to choose from. Samsung did a great job with this TV - putting more expensive LCD TVs to shame with its excellent performance. The picture quality is top-notch, and you would be hard-pressed to find a better LCD HDTV at the same price range.
It must be said that the technology of TVs today is so good that the difference between "good" and "great" comes down to subtle variations in color, contrast, sharpness, and brightness. Among many TVs, the differences are so subtle that what is deemed as "great" picture quality really varies from one person to the next. And let's face it - most people base their decision on what they see in a show room. Unfortunately, the show room of a large electronics store can often be the worse place to base your buying decision. For whatever reason, many stores have terrible video feeds to look at, and not all of the video feeds are very helpful. So with such subtle differences in picture quality, and the fact that video feeds are often inaccurate at a showroom; it's really hard to discern what is truly the best TV out there.
The Samsung LNT4665F however is a TV that often does stand out even among the bad video feeds of an electronics retailer. I personally saw the TV at 2 seperate stores before setting out to buy it. Compared to other TVs, the LNT4665F truly has a picture quality that is both brighter than most other TVs, and much higher in contrast. Simply put, the picture quality of this High Definition LCD TV is among the best available as of mid 2007. The Sony KDL-46XBR3 has slightly better picture quality, but not by much; and the Sony costs $500-$800 more. I looked around and found the LNT4665F around $2400 online and about $2700 at a local Best Buy (on sale at the time). I also found the LN-S4695D (another 46" 1080p LCD TV from Samsung) selling for $2000, but its contrast is lower at 6000:1 (the LNT4665 has a contrast ratio of 15000: 1) So after considering all these choices, it was clear to me that the LNT4665F was really the best bet for my hard-earned money.
Let me say that I didnt judge the LNT4665F soley on its performance in the electronics stores I visited. I also did some research online. Many websites and message boards pointed to the LNT4665F as one of the best values out there with one of the best pictures available on an LCD. So my eyes weren't fooling me when I had gone to see the TV in person. I later purchased the TV from Amazon.com and put it through my own tests.
This TV measures just a little over 46" from side to side with a screen that measures 46" diagonally. It weighs about 60lbs, and is about the "medium" size when compared to the full range of TV sizes available today. The package comes with the TV itself, some manuals, a remote control, a power cable, and 2 AA batteries (for the remote). (You provide any needed video cables yourself.) The LNT4665 is made up of a black, shiney plastic. Fingerprints will defintiely be left behind should you touch it. The TV rests on a single "foot" centered at its underbelly. When turned on, a subtle light can be seen on the center of the lower panel. (It can be turned off if you so desire.) As is the case for most LCD TVs, it does not come with a wall mounting kit.
I should point out that while other LCD TVs often use a matte finish on their screens; the LNT4665F uses a glossy finish. This effectively means that you should keep it away from light sources because glare is a major issue with a glossy screen. Depending on your point-of-view, a glossy screen can be a good thing. I personally find it attractive - I just have to make sure that the lamp nearby the TV is turned off when I watch it at night - otherwise I'll definitely get glare.
Resolution capability is as follows: 1080p, 1080i, 720p, and of course standard definition. In short, this TV will easily work with DVDs, HD DVDs, Blu Ray, Standard Cable TV, HDTV, over-the-air TV, PC, and just about anything else. It has a built-in HD tuner, but no cable card slot. So for HD broadcasts, you'll have to either use over-the-air antenna and/or a seperate cable box.
Older LCD TVs suffer from poor viewing angle. This means that if you are off to one side, the backlighting of the TV would not line up, and therefore you would get inconsistent picture quality. But this is never an issue with the LNT4665F with its increased 178 degree viewing angle rating. Unless you are watching the TV from an extreme angle off to the side, then you will never notice any issues with the picture quality. And even if you could notice, it would mean you are viewing the TV at such an extreme angle that you should move anyway. Rest assured, as long as you watch this TV as you normally would any other, you will not have an issue with viewing angles.
I watched the HD DVD version of Peter Jackson's King Kong on the TV at full 1080p resolution (1920 x 1080). Every scene of the movie is rendered in perfect high definition detail on the LNT4665F. And it does this with smooth clarity throughout. In the dark scenes of the movie (the night scene where Naomi Watts is asleep in Kong's hand) you can discern Kong's deep, dark fur against the darkened night sky and the shadowy jungle. That of course is the 15000:1 contrast ratio at work. Every level of black is discernable on the LNT4665F - from light greys to the deepest blacks. And the fast 8 millisecond resonse time eliminates ghosting issues (blurring effects of pixels that can occur with LCD TVs). During the fast and turbulant fight against the T-rexes, there is no ghosting whatsoever. Further testing with the Xbox 360 game, Gears of War proves this. During the intense battles of the game, ghosting was never seen.
If you're a PC gamer, you will love this TV, as you can use it just like a huge monitor. Just make sure that your video card or laptop has an extra VGA out jack. Then connect to the TV via its VGA plug. You can also connect the audio output of your PC to the TV's audio-in miniplug. (Just make sure your PC's sound card has the appropriate audio out jack.) When you're all connected, just fire-up your favorite PC game and watch it in 46-inch HD glory!
The LNT4665F has a bevy of inputs. They consist of: 3 HDMI (HDMI version 1.3), 2 component, 2 s-video, 1 vga (PC), 2 antenna (coaxial), 2 A/V (RCA), 1 audio miniplug in (for PC), 1 headphone jack (miniplug type), and 2 USB ports (for displaying digital photos, and to upload any firmware updates). While most of the connections are on the back, there is a side panel where some of these connections can easily be accessed (1 HDMI, 1 s-video, 1 A/V, and the headphone jack). The TV also has an optical digital audio output for 5.1 surround sound. With so many ports, the LNT4665F allows you to connect your collection of video devices easily and chances are you'll have extra ports to spare (I certainly did).
One of the best things about the TV is that you can set each video input to display differently than the next. For instance, you can set one input to display in widesceen mode with high contrast and brightness. Then for another input, you can set the display to be 4:3 (standard TV format) with a lower contrast but higher color saturation. This means you can customize each video input for the video device you have connected. In my case, I have a 4:3 display for my cable box, while a widscreen display with a much higher contrast for my HD DVD player. As is the case with most new LCD TVs these days, the LNT4665F has many choices for setting the aspect ratio of each video source. Aspect ratio choices are: 16:9 Widescreen, 4:3, Zoom 1, Zoom 2 (twice the degree of Zoom 1), and Just Scan.
The LNT4665F has special macro settings for the TV's general display. The first macro setting is the "Dynamic" mode where the picture is set to high contrast and brightness. "Standard" displays at a slightly lower brightness. And then "Movie" is set to a warmer, smoother look. From each of these settings, you can further adjust the picture to your liking. There is also a "game mode" where the TV is instantly set to a higher contrast with increased brightness. You can even set the general color of the display from warm to cool with adjustments inbetween for a more neutral look.
Picture-in-Picture (PIP) is another nice feature of the TV. This allows you to watch two video sources (you have to do some set-up for this before it actually works). Unfortunately, the PIP does not work with the same video source. This means you can't set the PIP to a different cable channel if you're already watching another cable channel. You can, however, watch whats running in your DVD player while watching a cable channel at the same time.
If you're a parent you will appreciate the V-chip feature. This locks out the TV from unwanted use on certain channels and during certain times.
The TV comes with is own simulated surround sound, but true audiophiles will of course connect the TV to their reciever. Still, if you intend to just use the TV without a surround sound system, the quality is more than adequate for most users. The LNT4665F comes with two hidden speakers. They are actually part of the outside lower panel, and are imbedded so that they are unseen. The effect is a minimalist look and feel - which I personally like. Despite being hidden, and only 10 watts of power, the speakers can definitely get loud if you so desire.
The LNT4665F is not without flaws however. This TV, and other Samsungs made for 2007 are allegedly suffering from a faulty internal board. The most annoying symptom is signal loss - in other words when watching a video source coming through 1 of the 3 HDMI ports, the TV will sometimes go black - giving you an on-screen error message saying "no signal detected." At this point you simply turn off the TV and turn it on again to fix the problem. While this isn't as bad as other LCD woes found on other TVs (it seems other TVs have their own imperfections), it is defnitely an annoying problem. (For more information on this, go to the avs forums, a website where enthusiasts of all things electronic post discussions.) Still, I have gathered that this issue doesn't affect all owners of the LNT4665F. As is the case with most things, people who have the problem are the ones who post most in the forums that I have researched. And it's theoretically possible that people who don't have this problem don't complain, and are never heard from. I myself, haven't expereinced this issue and I've watched several movies already with no problems.
Another less-than-stellar feature is the TV's remote. The first thing that I don't like is the awkward looking design. It looks oddly-shaped with a flaring underbelly that comes to an abrupt end. The buttons do light up, but its still somewhat difficult to remember where certain buttons are. I personally use the "screen-resize" button (it changes the aspect ratio) a lot. This is one of the buttons that is very small compared to the rest. And having it at the buttom of the remote where it's hard to press is just annoying. Also, I wish there were buttons for each of the video inputs - so that you could switch to the one you wanted instantly. Users will have to settle for cycling through all the inputs until the desired one comes up - which can often get tiresome. Lastly, the TV responds slowly to what you tell it to do - whether this is an issue with the remote, or just a case of the TV itself, I don't know. But if you press a button on the remote, it takes about a full second for the TV to respond.
The HDMI issue can certainly be a major one should it rear its ugly head, but for now I haven't seen any problems with my TV. Despite this, the TV is one of the best out there. And to to be honest, there are a lot of issues with many existing TVs from other manufacturers such as inconsistent backlighting, flickering, artifacts, etc. (I was actually going to buy the higher priced Sony, but even that has issues.) It seems every manufacturer has its own set of problems to deal with. While not all TVs are affected by this, a few are, and that's unfortunate. Still, if you buy an LCD TV from a reputable company, chances are they will take it back if you are not satisfied. (I bought mine from Amazon, who shipped it free and has a great return policy.) So if you're looking for a great 46" HD LCD TV, check out the LNT4665F. Its great picture quality will definitely impress you. And while its not cheap, it does give you a better value compared to some of its higher-priced competitors.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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