Samsung LE52F96BDX Review

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Samsung LE40F86BDX Review

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Samsung LE40F86BD/ LE52F96BD

Samsung’s exhibition stand covered the largest area among all the HDTV manufacturers I’d visited at IFA Berlin 2007. Strategically positioned near one of the main entrances, it was crawling with dealers, journalists and consumers… like they were holding a trade show of their own. This is probably a testament to the popularity (read: value-for-money) of their products, not to mention their financial clout as the world’s leading consumer electronics company.

Being someone who avidly follows all the advancements in the high-definition television industry, I naturally hustled and bustled my way through the crowd to home in on a pair of LED-powered LCD TVs, the 52″ Samsung LE52F96BD and the 70″ LE70F96BD. Armed with an array of local-dimming LED matrix, the backlight can – theoretically – be shut off totally to produce an absolute black level that’s even lower than the Pioneer Kuros, resulting in an extremely high contrast ratio (Samsung have quoted us a figure of 500,000:1).

While across the pond US consumers have been able to buy and enjoy these LED LCD TVs since 2 weeks ago, here in the UK I probably would still have to wait for a little while longer before getting my hands on a sample to review in the home environment. What I have received though is a Samsung LE40F86BD LCD TV, which is the next step up from the LE40M86BD with 100Hz Motion Plus technology and a higher claimed dynamic contrast ratio:

Initial tests looked promising: absolute black level on the LE40F86BD indeed measured slightly lower than the 40M86; and it successfully processed 1080p/24 signal from the PS3 without any telecine judder. Now that I’ve finished reporting on what I’d seen at the IFA, I can devote my time to calibrating and testing this television… hopefully the full review will be up over the weekend.

Philips 42PFL9900D/ 47PFL9732D

At their press conference, Philips used the occasion to great effect (light show and dance intro, fashion catwalk, and even a specially-commissioned film by esteemed director Wong Kar Wai) to drum up interest in their new Aurea 42PFL9900D LCD that could be best described as “Ambilight In Bezel”. Notice in the following video how the colour/ intensity of the light zones embedded within the bezel changed according to what was displayed on screen:

If you feel that the Aurea is too distracting for your taste, there’s always the conventional Ambilight models to fall back on. I am always very impressed with Philips televisions’ performance in showrooms, and this time was no different. They put up a few of their EISA-award-winning Philips 47PFL9732D LCD TVs side-by-side in on/ off mode to demonstrate their 100Hz Clear LCD, Perfect Pixel HD and HD Natural Motion technology. While I believe that the effects were exaggerated (for example, the judder on the “HD Natural Motion Off” screen was much worse than your usual telecine judder), these nevertheless gave a glimpse of what the new generation of Philips LCDs are capable of.

Philips 47PFL9732D Perfect Pixel HD demo

Philips 47PFL9732D HD Natural Motion & 100Hz Clear LCD demo

Panasonic

Overall the Panasonic booth was quite dark with the only significant light source coming from all their television screens, which of course showcased the already excellent blacks on their plasmas. Current full HD models like PZ700 and PF9, and the newer TH42PZ70 (which will have twice the quoted contrast ratio but cost £500 less than the outgoing TH42PZ700) were on show, but it was the 103-inch behemoth of a plasma TH103PF9 that grabbed the crowd’s attention (it was placed in a dedicated room with surround sound). Here’s a picture… if you look closely you may see someone standing to the left of the picture which gives you a scale of how humongous that screen is:

Panasonic will also – for the first time – venture beyond 32 inches in their LCD product lineup: the 37″ Panasonic TX37LZD70 LCD TV will feature a full HD 1920 x 1080 screen based on IPS-alpha panel complete with 100Hz Motion Picture Pro technology. Given the low ambient lighting condition, I couldn’t help but notice the average blacks, but hey, I’ll be the first to hold my hands up and admit that it was not calibrated (so black level could be brought down if Panasonic are considerate enough to introduce a long-overdue backlight control). Viewing angle, as always, is one of the best in the LCD business:

Sony KDL46X3500/ KDL46W3000

Sony announced their new range of Bravia LCD TVs at IFA Berlin 2007, including the W3000 and X3500/ X3000 series. These are full HD 1080p panels with 3 HDMI ports and 24p support.

I first stumbled upon the 46″ version in the Bravia W3000 range. The screen was framed by a minimalist-looking brushed black metal bezel. Backlight is based upon WCG-CCFL, and powered by Sony’s Bravia EX picture processing engine, generating a claimed contrast ratio of 16,000:1.

Sony KDL46W3000

Right next to the KDL46W3000 was a Sony KDL46X3000 distinguished by its chequered bezel which was in turn surrounded by a thin strip of glass to create a floating illusion that we’ve seen before on the Bravia X2000 series. Backlight will still be WCG-CCFL, but image processing should benefit from upgrades like Bravia Engine Pro and Motionflow +100Hz, resulting in a slightly increased claimed contrast ratio of 18,000:1.

Sony KDL46X3000

Although it shares the same panel and processing as the X3000, the Bravia X3500 range is aesthetically more appealing thanks to its exquisitely brushed metal bezel which is flanked by finely-pored speaker grille on both sides. Befitting a top-of-the-range model, the Sony KDL46X3500 was awarded its own floor space right in the centre of the room, and augmented by a surround sound system.

Sony KDL46X3500

Bravia inscription on glass; speaker grille; and brushed bezel in gunmetal

Pioneer

No surprises here, the theme for the Pioneer stand was Kuro. Since I’ve already reviewed the 508XD and 4280XD, I moved on to other booths pretty quickly, but not before I caught a glimpse of a 1080p full HD Kuro plasma – the Pioneer PDPLX608D – showing Wild Hogs Blu-ray in German. I”m not entirely sold on the benefits of the extra resolution, but will reserve judgement until I can do a side-by-side comparison at home.

Pioneer PDPLX608D

5 manufacturers down, 3 more to go…

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