Samsung LE40A786 Review
By David Mackenzie • Monday, 22 September 2008, 6:00 pm GMT
As one of the world leaders in LCD technology, it’s not surprising that Samsung’s range of LCD TVs contains an intimidating number of models. The company has so many flat screen televisions, sometimes with only small variations, that it can be difficult to keep track of, let alone choose between them.
The Samsung LE40A786 is special, however, as it features LED backlighting technology instead of the conventional CCFL fluorescent lamps. This means that this HDTV can produce a considerably superior contrast ratio. Whilst conventional LCD televisions have an array of backlight lamps which are constantly turned on behind the screen, the A786 series TVs feature clusters of smaller LEDs instead, which can be independently controlled. For a real world example, imagine a scene of a pitch black sky, with a full moon in the middle. A conventional LCD TV would have to light up the entire screen consistently, but an LED-backlit LCD display can dim the areas featuring the black sky, whilst keeping the approximate area surrounding the moon lit up.
It’s an exciting proposition, which really means that the Samsung LE40A786 should be able to give us whiter whites and blacker blacks. Let’s find out how it performs!
Design
Aesthetically, the Samsung LE40A786 HDTV at first appears to be nothing special. It features Samsung’s “Crystal Design”, but for over a week, we thought that it lacked the killer “Touch of Colour” design feature around the edges of the bezel. Only when we accidentally shone a light around the display did we notice that there actually is a barely visible blue tinge! It’s a shame this just isn’t a little more prominent, because it looks great when you can actually see it.
The thickness of the bezel might make the viewing area seem a little smaller if you’re used to the “Picture Frame” style LCDs being increasingly pushed by Toshiba and Sony, but on the whole, we don’t have any major complaints regarding the appearance of Samsung LE40A786.
Also, the touch panel is worth noting. To the bottom right of the screen is a series of vertically stacked blue lights, which illuminate the various pressure-sensitive buttons. These appear when you turn the Samsung LE40A786 on, and disappear shortly afterwards.
Connections
Connectivity is getting harder and harder to write about when it comes to HDTVs, purely because there are really no surprises anymore. Along with the usual SCART, VGA, Composite, S-Video, Component and RF connections, it’s notable that this display features no less than four HDMI inputs (one of which is on a recessed side panel).
Operation
On-Screen User Menu
No surprises here… the Samsung LE40A786 might feature the latest backlighting technology, but its menus are the same old - they’re not especially attractive, but they’re easy to navigate and better yet, they’re fast.
One unusual thing we noticed with these menus is that there is, in fact, a teeny-tiny amount of colour bleed visible when an option is highlighted in orange. This is very unusual, because flat panel TVs typically draw the on-screen menus at the very end of the display chain, before such quirks can occur. We noted this and decided to check later to see if any colour bleed was present in situations where it might actually matter (on actual content).
As usual, Samsung’s top-level picture adjustment is the [Mode] setting. This can be set to either [Dynamic], [Standard] or [Movie]. We selected [Movie], which immediately presented a considerably more watchable picture. As well as the typical basic calibration settings, there’s an adjustment for the overall [Backlight] intensity.
Moving on to [Detailed Settings], there’s a host of tweaks, the important ones being a very basic [Gamma] adjustment, a [Colour Space] setting which allows for some colour management, and last but certainly not least, a [White Balance] adjustment. Many manufacturers hide this setting deep within the engineer’s menu, so we’re absolutely delighted, as usual, to see Samsung present it in a user-accessible menu.
The tweaks don’t end there. There’s also [Picture Options], which allows selection of a [Colour Tone] (to switch between greyscale presets), [Size] and [Screen Mode] to control the aspect ratio, and [Digital NR] to apply a temporal blur to slightly reduce moving image noise. There’s also control over [100Hz Motion Plus], a [Blue Only Mode] to aid colour fine-tuning, and last but certainly not least, the [Smart LED] option, which allows you to turn the regional dimming feature on or off (useful for demonstrating the advantages of the LED backlighting technology). Oddly, turning this on or off would take us out of the “Movie” picture mode and send us back to the wacky-looking “Dynamic”, but this was easily corrected.
EPG (Electronic Programme Guide)
Again, the Samsung LE40A786 uses the same old Samsung EPG. It responds quickly to key presses, and shows all the information you could want to see. Pressing the middle navigation button sets a reminder for a programme, and pressing the Channel Up and Down keys jumps up and down a page of channels.
Remote Control
Once again, we have a sense of deja vu… if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Samsung’s remote, although being styled in the fingerprint-catching gloss black, features clearly labelled buttons which are logically placed and depress nicely. Better still, there’s a backlighting feature too, so you can use the remote in a darkened room.
Calibration
Greyscale
We used the [Movie] and [Warm2] options as a starting point for calibration. These produced the following results:
 |
| [Colour Balance] “Warm2” CCT |
 |
| [Colour Balance] “Warm2” RGB tracking |
There’s a visible emphasis of both red and blue at different points, producing a colour temperature which manages to be both too high and too low at times. Why settle for this when Samsung provides such easily accessible Greyscale adjustments? Using these, we were able to bring things much closer to spec:
 |
| CCT after greyscale calibration in “Movie” [Picture Mode] |
 |
| RGB tracking and delta errors (dEs) after greyscale calibration |
We were extremely pleased with the results of this calibration. The irregularities at the lower end of the chart (left) result from the extreme levels of darkness provided by the LED-assisted display causing problems for our sensor, so feel free to ignore these.
As you can see from the pink line at the bottom of the RGB tracking chart, delta errors never rose above around 1.7, meaning slight inaccuracies in our calibrated example should be all but unnoticeable. It’s fantastic that Samsung provide this adjustment option in their user menus, and we wish all manufacturers took this initiative.
Colour
![Pre-calibration CIE [Auto]](http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/image/hdtv/Samsung-LE40A786/cie_auto.jpg) |
![Pre-calibration CIE [Native]](http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/image/hdtv/Samsung-LE40A786/cie_native.jpg) |
| Pre-calibration CIE [Auto] | Pre-calibration CIE [Native] |
Out of the box, Samsung provides a colour space called [Auto], which, as evidenced by the CIE chart, undersaturates colours somewhat. The [Native] mode appears to ramps colours up as high as the panel will allow, making things oversaturated instead. Finally, Samsung provide a [Custom] mode which allows the mix of Red, Green and Blue making up all six primary and secondary colours to be controlled. Using this feature, we were able to, once again, bring things very close to the desired Rec.709 HDTV standard:
 |
| CIE chart with reference to HD Rec. 709 after calibration with HD source |
Red and blue were a little hard to configure exactly, but both were still relatively close to the desired targets. The slight error in blue will probably be undetectable in real world situations.
Gamma
 |
| [Movie] mode with Gamma +1 |
Although none of the Gamma adjustments in the TV’s menu gave a completely flat line, setting Gamma to +1 gave the closest average match to a gamma of 2.2 (indicated by the blue line). Raising or lowering the Gamma option essentially only raised or lowered the yellow line.
Benchmark Test Results
| Dead pixels | 2, one dead pixel, one stuck green pixel |
| Screen uniformity | Some clouding visible off-angle, [Smart LED] mode and calibration help make this negligible |
| Overscanning on HDMI | 0% with [Display Area] set to “Full Pixel“ |
| Blacker than black | Passed |
| Black level | True black (0 cd/m2) possible with [Smart LED] on |
| Black level retention | Fluctuates if [Smart LED] on |
| Primary chromaticity | Excellent with [Colour Space] “Custom” tweaked |
| Scaling | Average |
| Video mode deinterlacing | Average; some jaggies reduction |
| Film mode deinterlacing | Good; passed the most common cadences (2-2 PAL and 3-2 NTSC) |
| Viewing angle | Horizontal good for an LCD TV (90°), black washout evident at Vertical angles |
| Motion resolution | 600 with [100hz Motion Plus] on Low, 250-300 off |
| Digital noise reduction | Acceptable at baseline |
| Sharpness | Defeatable edge enhancement |
| 1080p/24 capability (PS3) | Accepts 1080p/24 video signal; no telecine judder; but see notes on combing |
| Input lag | 30-70ms, depending on configuration; see dedicated section |
Power Consumption
| Default | 192 watts |
| Calibrated | 132 watts |
| Standby | 3 watts |
Black Level
And now, we get down to business. With the [Smart LED] option enabled, the Samsung LE40A786 struts its stuff and, unsurprisingly, shuts off LEDs as necessary. As a result, a completely black screen measures an unbeatable (literally!) 0 cd/m2 (yes, 0: nil, none, nada).
On its own, though, this is a little easy. We already knew that LED TVs can turn areas of the screen completely off. More appropriately, we fed an ANSI test pattern to the Samsung LE40A786 HDTV. This pattern features alternating black and white boxes in a chessboard-like structure. Due to the approximate nature of the LED backlighting, there was a very small amount of visible glowing around the white areas, which is to be expected, as the dimming is not controlled with per-pixel accuracy. The severity of the glow depended on the viewing angle, but was minimal in the most common positions. From higher angles, the glowing was a little distracting. That’s not really a problem, because a television will typically be placed at eye level, and we doubt this will raise its head in real world situations.
Detail & Resolution
Over HDMI, and with the [Full Pixel] mode turned on, the Samsung LE40A786 successfully resolved each nuance of the horizontal and vertical 1920×1080 line patterns.
However, colour resolution took a very slight hit due to the aforementioned Y/C delay problem (”Y/C delay” being where the colour component(s) of a picture appear slightly out of horizontal alignment with the brightness component). In almost all cases, photo-realistic content and viewing distances should make the effects of the error unnoticeable, but colourful computer generated content or animation, and a pair of sharp eyes, can reveal it.
Motion Resolution
Using the FPD Benchmark Software Blu-ray Disc, we were able to determine that the Samsung LE40A786 can muster around 600 lines of motion resolution with the [100hz Motion Plus] mode on its [Low] setting. We recommend using on the [Low] setting; as the [Medium] or [High] settings will not increase the motion resolution, but will increase the amount of motion interpolation applied. [Low] gives us the benefits of 100hz but with a minimum of the distracting interpolation effect. This setup is completely suitable for most video programming, and should please sports fans.
Film users, however, might want to leave the system turned off, for a more cinematic look. As the 24fps (or 25fps for a 50hz source) rate of a film is not particularly high, LCD panel blur should not be a huge issue. In this case, losing the 100hz system (and its associated look) should be an overall improvement.
Input Lag
The input lag on this display is typically around 50-70ms. This is unusually high, and with a PC connected, you can feel the drop in speed as you drag a window around on the TV screen.
However, this can be improved a little, with some conditions. In the TV’s [Input] menu, labelling the HDMI input as “PC” (using the [Edit Name] function) will disable certain picture processing circuits and drop the level of lag to a more tolerable 30-40ms. As a result of bypassing certain circuits, some options in the Picture menu will be greyed out. Sadly, one of these is the [Smart LED] option, which is, presumably, a major selling point of this display since it holds the keys to the regional dimming option. And, the level of lag is still higher than several other displays on the market.
Additionally, there’s an [Entertainment Mode] setting called “Game” which also drop the level of lag to around 30ms, but as this forces unrealistically high brightness and sharpness settings (amongst others) on the viewer with no chance to alter them, it is effectively useless.
Video Processing
The LE40A786’s video processing is average. The diagonal interpolation (video jaggies reduction) is somewhat effective, although we’ve seen better. And, it correctly detects both 2-2 (PAL) and 3-2 (NTSC) film cadences. Scaling was rather blurry and undefined. We expect most people will have their own Upscaling DVD player to make all of these points moot, however.
Video Processing is probably the section where we should note an unusual problem with the Samsung LE40A786. Irritatingly, with any source except a 60hz input, combing would appear every so often, even with a fully Progressive source. We can only assume that this display routes these signals through a 1080i video processing circuit, which is unusual. Keep in mind that as the combing is at 1080i resolution, the misplaced lines are only one pixel high and may be unnoticeable at certain viewing distances. Nevertheless, the issue is here and is especially significant in the UK, where there is an abundance of affected 50hz video content.
Picture Quality
High Definition (Blu-ray)
Using the stunningly filmic Blu-ray Disc of The Godfather: Part III on the Samsung LE40A786, we were delighted by the richness of the picture. The Samsung LE40A786’s high contrast ratio and the glossy LCD panel meant that the black suits - and of course, the darker scenes - were all displayed with a pleasing depth. The film’s orangey-brown, sepia-like look was conveyed faithfully thanks to the greyscale calibration, made possible by the display’s user accessible menu. And, the film’s grain structure (thankfully untampered with on this disc) appeared pleasing and natural, rather than being sharpened excessively and brought into the foreground.
Sadly, the combing issue mentioned in the Video Processing section extends to 1080p/24 input. However, it would appear that, when fed 1080p/60, the TV can still recreate a proper, judder-free 24p signal. This is a very unusual situation.
Standard Definition Digital TV (Freeview)
In keeping with current HDTV trends, the Samsung LE40A786 would appear to include some sort of hard-coded MPEG Noise Reduction feature, which seems to do as best it can in cleaning up the mushy broadcasts that we receive over the air. We can’t say for sure, because we can’t turn it off, but the effect is probably one of a small improvement. The display does not appear to be making such broadcasts any worse, which is really just about all we can hope for given the rather dire circumstances.
Xbox 360 Video Gaming (HDMI)
Due to the aforementioned input lag, playing Halo 3 on Xbox Live was a little more difficult than usual. Often we’d find ourselves walking into walls and generally not being able to react on time. So klutzy was our playing that several of the less civilised Xbox Live players began commenting on our poor performance via the voice communication, in their own special way. At its worst, the input lag made the game feel considerably slower and almost impossible to play against those with faster displays. At best, it was marginally irritating and not particularly inspiring.
Conclusion
Pros
- Quality LCD panel, Backlight control, and LED backlighting system allow for a contrast-rich, deep image
- Exquisite high-definition detail from “Full Pixel” 1:1 pixel mapping
- Decent video deinterlacing and film cadence detection
- Handles 1080p/60 (!) film signals correctly, without telecine judder
- Solid connectivity
- Settings can be saved independently per input
- User-accessible greyscale and colour management controls
- TV menus are fast, and remote is easy to use
- 100hz Motion Plus system effective at increasing motion resolution, and can be disabled if not desired
Cons
- Glossy LCD panel reflects ambient light and causes glare, and can be hard to clean without leaving smudges
- Combing/interlacing issue on virtually all types of input signal, even 1080p
- Unusually high level of input lag may be an issue for gamers
- Off-axis vertical viewing reveals noticeable black washout
Summary
The Samsung LE40A786 is an interesting display, not only because it features the still-elusive LED backlighting system, but also because it features some strange issues which we very rarely encounter on HDTV displays.
Certainly, the high contrast ratio afforded by this type of display is a killer feature. Going back to conventional LCD was incredibly difficult after watching the Samsung LE40A786. The fact that Samsung have added their usual comprehensive array of picture configuration and calibration options only sweetens the deal. Sadly, the aforementioned combing issue will irk hardcore videophiles, and the alarmingly high level of input lag may be a deal-breaker for video gamers. We can only assume that both of these issues – which do not appear on Samsung’s conventional LCD displays – are necessary evils included to support the LED backlighting. Users who desperately want an LCD with such a high contrast ratio would do well to give the LE40A786 a good look over; but the rest of us might want to wait until Samsung has worked out some of the quirks with its LED-based displays.
[...] Samsung LE40A786 Review M si jeg ble litt bekymret etter ha lest denne testen. Input-laggen virker jo vre helt horibel. Og det antas at det skyldes den nye LED teknologien. Selv vurderer jeg en 9 serie, da det forskes kjre et powerbuy p denne for tiden, men m si jeg ble skeptisk n. Dersom det er like ille i 9 serien, s str jeg over. Bruker TVen like mye til X360 som Film, og kan ikke leve med slik inputlag. Fr vente p tester av 9 serien, X serien til Sony, ellers s blir det TV uten LED [...]
Interesting to hear what you thought of the sound- a lot of us will only use these size tellys on the internal speakers- I’ve found several of the recent Samsung models (5 and 6 series) have very bad sound- resonant/rattly cases etc.
Also, you mention menu navigating was nippy, but what about the response time on freeview channel hopping- 6 series seemed very sluggish compared to others.
Hi Vincent
I did some calibration myself (46-A789 though) and I tested white balance and color space in the various presets and obtained similar results to yours.
I couldn’t test input lag because the digicam on my phone is too slow! I played 1080p Bluray material in 24p mode and did not notice any combing.
However, one issue that is typical for LED LCD’s was gamma retention.
Gamma would fluctuate based on the video material. I also found conventional test patterns overestimate gamma due to the increased dimming on uniformly grey content versus more contrasted material (which corresponds to real life viewing).
Your review is a bit elusive regarding the apparently high gamma and supposed black crush that would result.
But again, as I said, I tink HCFR overestimates gamma unless you use external test patterns that cancel out the adaptative nature of LED panels.
I purchased test patterns from Burosch( 8 GBP) , which can be used for LCDs with adaptative backlighting.
Here is a PDF that describes the approach with an example of those patterns:
http://www.burosch.de/images/Beschreibung-ConstantAPL-ContrastVariance.pdf
This will probably staighten your gamma curve, though I have yet to test is myself.
If you would like to see my review so far, here is the link:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=794082&page=17
Sorry, I just realized it was David who conducted the review!
Cons: “Black crush”, no?
Or does it, in practice, handle dark content better than the gamma-graph want us to believe?
Yes exactly what I am saying. The graphs indicates black crush, but in reality they overestimate gamma.
In order to measure gamma correctly on a local dimming LCD you need to use test patterns that account for adaptative backlighting. Essentially those are IRE boxes surrounded by the negative shade of grey. So for example for the 10% measure, the box should be surrounded by 90% luminance grey. This keeps the overall luminance constant between each testing frame while allowing local-dimming to play its part.
Where is the “scanning backlight” + “HD-Tuner” like the US-model???
Laurent>> Aha, excellent answer. Thanks.
Awesome review btw.
3 Watts in standby? What the hell is it doing?
As for LED backlighting, has anyone come up with a scheme whereby two LCD screens are used - one black and white one (with LED backlighting) to act as the backlight for the frontmost colour LCD screen? Individually backlit pixels — or is that idea rubbish?
So buy it or don’t buy it???
I want it for watching cabel digital TV and DVD’s.
Laurent,
a good respüonsive adaptive LED backlit should be able to produce a flat gamma as it only switches on where the window is. I’ve seen the ‘7 and it deos have blackcrush.
Nice review David.
The input lag would be a big concern for me though.
[...] Esatto parliamo di questa serie please.. prima recensione da hdtv del Samsung LE40A786: Samsung LE40A786 Review voi che siete pi ferrati in inglese magari postate una [...]
I would imagine the LED backlighting is the reason for the input lag. The display will surely have to have a slight additional buffer so it can analyse the image and light / dim the appropriate LEDs in the backlight array.
Nice review, although it doesn’t address the exciting feature (local dimming) in great depth. The combing on 1080p content’s and possibly even lack of true 24Hz is unfortunately a show stopper, even though the panel is dirt cheap for what it is. Please follow up with more analysis of the local dimming performance, and information from Samsung about fixing the combing problem!
Thanks!
I believe the black level should be measured using a black and white chessboard pattern, not with an all-black screen, and this s true not only for LED backlit LCDs, but for all TV’s, including plasmas. Also the contrast should be measured based on a chessboard, simple white to black ratio = contrast.
Saying that LED backlit TV has black level of 0 is really not true at all, I believe, unless all you watch is black screen.
BTW, information about the LCD panel type, and contrast performance without dynamic backlight switched on (local or global), would also be very useful!
I have the series 9 Samsung and would be interested in the settings you used for the review.
Cheers
[...] ci si mettesse a guardare il TV da un angolazione assurda, senza senso, inusuale !!!!!!!!!!!! Samsung LE40A786 Review Horizontal good for an LCD TV (90), black washout evident at Vertical angles Ops, i did it [...]
Hi Mark
I am not disputing the fact that a good LCD (or plasma for that matter) should have a flat gamma, I am just saying that before you can assess whether gamma is flat or not, you need to use the right type of measurement, i.e. one that measures gamma as it is in film material rather than on uniform grey scales (for conventional LCD’s this doesn’t make a huge difference but for LEDs and plasma it does).
Taking plasmas as an example, measuring levels of grey within the same frame does not yield the same result as measuring them on successive frames (for example white surrounded by black will be whiter than full screen white due to power limitations).
Just as people find ANSI contrast to be a better reflection of contrast during actual film viewing (intra-frame contrast rather than frame to frame contrast), gamma can be measured more accurately if total screen luminance is kept constant from one frame to the next through luminance compensation around the testing area (emulates intra-frame measurement).
When I tested this set using conventional test patterns, achieving a flat gamma (ti was perfectly possible) yielded an impossibly bright picture. On a regular LCD Auto-Dimming is usually off for the purpose of calibration and flat gamma is the right setting.
But on this set, you either want a not so flat gamma, or you want to measure gamma a bit differently.
I haven’t had a chance to observe actual video material into much detail (limited time testing at my retailer) so I can’t comment on black crush. I am pretty sure Dynamic Mode will show you any amount of black crush you want.
To me the calibrated result is more interesting and finding the right balance between black level and gamma is what my suggested approach is about.
I will receive my 46-A956 tomorrow morning and will be able to do that kind of testing.
@ Martin
Totally agree with you. And my approach to testing gamma extends what you are saying: black, white or any level of grey in between is best tested with a surrounding area that uses the negative shade of grey.
For example:
Frame 1: 0% luminance (black) rectangle surrounded by white
Frame 2: 10% luminance grey rectangle surrounded by 90% luminance grey
…
Frame 6: Full screen 50% luminance grey
…
Frame 11: 100% luminance (white) surrounded by black
This has the advantage of measuring 0% and 100% luminance and inbetween values more in line with actual film content the way ANSI contrast does with just black and white.
Having more modest 0% and 100% luminance measurements means luminance won’t appear to increase as steeply between 0% and 20% and between 80% and 100% and gamma will be flatter.
Dead / stuck pixels issue it´s possible to fix?
Laurent,
i do calibrate tvs with a Spectroradiometer and don’t evaluate TV’s in dynamic mode. Thank you for the Insult!
I do know blackcrush when i see it. And yes a flat gamma must be achievable if only a single point is illuminated !! Windows or not windows ist not really relevant for an LCD with adaptive LED’s or not. It deosn’t matter how many zones are active, but on how well they are being controlled in respect to how the LCD crystals are being controlled.
Now with strobed LEDs for better motion resolution we have a different situation but OT here.
Guys I really appreciate the technical discussions here… mark I’m sure Laurent didn’t mean to insult you, so please do not take offense.
Warmest regards
Vincent
Laurent: thanks for the Gamma suggestions, we hope to do similar tests in the future.
Why do not evaluate the new Philips 9803 (EISA award 2008) with the same LED backlighting technology , please ?
This combing thing, do you think it will/can be fixed in a software update?
When will de new Pioneer KRL-32/37/46V LCD-series be reviewed?
I have been a lot aroused curiosity, as how they will perform compared with the other LCD TVs. I believe Pioneers LCD’s will mark the 0.03 cd/m2 black level just like de Pioneer G8 plamas, altought they have the Sharp panels!!
I thought LED back lights were supposed to use less power?
On paper comparing the 6 series to the new 7 series, the 7 series uses less power.
But once HDTVTest had calibrated the screens, the 6 series was drawing 99w while the new LED backlit 7 series was drawing 132w
That’s not really an improvement…
Yeah I remember the marketing hype too Chris.
LED back lighting was supposedly going to reduce power consumption even further for an LCD.
Btw, good review David.
Without reviews like this one how would we know this model suffers from combing issues and gaming lag? Oh well, I’m sure Samsung has a new replacement model just around the corner.
I receive one of these on Monday morning. Could you please post the settings you finalised for both SD and HD? Thks.
Antonio: There is apparently some incongruity between Philips and hdtvtest.co.uk. See e.g. on results of the latest pool prior holidays (the huge request for Philips 9603/9703) and list of TV’s reviewed here during holidays (2X Pan, 2x Sam, …)
That’s a shame (re the Philips reviews) as I’d LOVE hdtvtest to review the new Philips 9603/9703 series.
[...] Klik her for at læse hele anmeldelsen af Samsung LE40A786 på HDTVtest.co.uk [...]
I tested the Kuro LCD’s
The black levels are not so good (0,16 in spite of a very high gamma). Video processing is very good, but the blacks remain Sharp-level.
SO when, when, when… can we get a detailed review of the a w4500 or x4500, this has to be the best among few places to read a proper well done review. HDTV,co,uk seems to have such a high and grand standard, i can’t buy a tv for my company with finding out your views,..so please an email or review and i would be gratful. coz i need to know if i should buy four kdl40×3500 or five kdl40w4500?????? it seems like the only upside on the 40×3000 is the s-force sound but what of the picture, eh? i need to hear it from the best online
Philips tests please Eisa award
Lewis: We’ll do our best to get those models. Historically, the X-Series has had detail enhancement functions which make the standard definition quality subjectively better. And there are usually more picture customization options too. Usually, the key picture quality elements have been much the same between the W and X Series.
Great review as per normal!
I am looking to get the Samsung 9 series LED tv’s or the Sony KDL46×4500 so I was very intrested to read your review on it’s little brother. Do you think you will be reviewing the Sony any time soon as I will not spend money on my first flat screen without reading your review of it.
DAVID THANKS FOR THE SPEEDY REPLY … BUT.. In my rage and lack of sleep, i meant which should I buy between the KDL40×3500 and KDL40W4500, it’s like picking between a low range mac book and a powerbook. the 40w4500 from sony this year seems to have a weaker sound system. but what of the picture, the delay in video games, THE REVIEW?????AHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHH
Dear all,
I have a question for this LED LCD TV specialist community. I intend to buy a Samsung LE40A789 in Germany, where the used TV System is “PAL”. But because I come from Brazil, I would like to know, if the Samsung will also work properly there, when I bring it to Brazil, which has another TV System “PAL-M”?
Thank you lot
I just to join in on the guys, who request measuring “true black levels”, meaning the black level when there acutally IS content on screen. So please turn off the local dimming feature in the future and also measure the black level so one can get an idea of how good the black level really is. To me the 0 cd/m² is just fake, sorry.
But I always enjoy your most excellent reviews, which to me still have no competition, neither web nor print. Thanks for your hard work!
Lars
Lewis: same applies. Is your primary usage going to be HD? If so, the W-Series TV is what I’d go for.
Kleber: No, it will work for 50hz PAL only. PAL-M runs at 60hz so would likely cause problems.
Lars and others: great idea. Will do so on future reviews. I didn’t think many people would buy an Local Dimming TV and then turn that function off personally, but it won’t hurt to measure both!
David: Thanky ou for your feedback. The problem that you discribe is a big issue, but do you think that it could be solved by any modification on the TV later in Brazil (even by Samsung), or it is impossible to get it done?
Great review! As always! I’m in the process of buying a TV at the moment. I will use it mainly for PS3 gaming and bluray movies. i would say 70% PS3 and 30% Bluray.
How bad is this set in game mode? Cuz, I need lower input lag, and setting this in game mode, should help me some right? But is the picture really bad then, or equal to lets say the Sony W4000 in image quality/blackness?
I really like the low input lag of the Sony sets you’ve tested. How is the input lag on the W4500? Any indication without reviewing it? The W4000 was great, as well as the V4000, but the W4500 is 100 Hz which should mess with the input lag some right?
In regards to what I have posted here, could you give me a recommendation wheather or not to go for this Samsung set, buy an old W4000 or get the W4500 “Blind” (without a review from you)…
Thanks for the best site online, get some bloody sponsors and get on with some more reviews!
Cheers mate.
Kleber: It could be as simple as swapping the tuner board out in theory - but any big company like Samsung will probably not help you. Is it not possible to buy a similar TV in Brazil?
Clarence: You can get the input lag as low as 30ms without using the poor quality “Game” mode. Just label the input as “PC”.
I’m not sure about input lag on the W4500. Hopefully there will be none or almost none. If I were you, I would go out and give the W4500 a look. I’ve not seen or reviewed one, but Sony’s displays are usually very predictable. It doesn’t have an LED system, though.
Hi everybody!
I am from Czech Republic and on the czech forum man that has this tv he’s saying there ain’t no input lag at all!!! He tested GRID and CRYSIS through VGA and HDMI and nothing! Everything is going right. And he’s saying that the picture quality is outstanding!!!
I’m buyin’ it!!!
I just ordered myself a Sony 52W4500. Let’s hope your upcoming review wont make me look like a fool! =) Again, thanks alot for fast responses, the great site and quality reviews.
Cheers.
Hi guys
I’d love to wait for a review from this site of the W4500 before I buy, but I’m not sure I can hold on! I’ve identified a pretty good review site but the downside is it is American. They review a BRAVIA labelled the W4100 which seems to be equivalent. Does anyone know how significantly this Yank version differs from the W4500?
Ta in advance.
[...] meant with the best intentions, for your viewing pleasure! You might want to have a read of; Samsung LE40A786 Review In principle, I like the idea of LED backlighting, but very much still an early technology… [...]
Hello. There´s on thing i want to tell you. My friend has LE40A786 and no input lag at all. He played GRID and Crysis through HDMI and VGA and nothing!!!
And you have written that you played Halo 3 on-line!!! Not off-line like another games in another tests! So i think that problem wasn´t in the tv but problem was in internet connection. But that´s just a guess.
Hi KajaCZE:
With regards to Halo 3, we played it online and off. The lag we describe is lag on the TV’s video processor; not on the internet connection. These are two very different issues which have a similar name.
Has your friend done timed tests, or does he perceive there to be no lag? Ask him to visit http://tft.vanity.dk/ and to clone his video card output over a PC monitor (preferably a CRT) and his Samsung TV. Then, start the test and take a picture of both displays in the same frame; you should see a difference in the numbers on both displays.
The VGA input is likely to reduce or even bypass the lag, yes.
Please, I need the Philips 9803 review.
I would like buy it to my houses in Liverpool and Madrid.
Philips, you’ll never walk alone…
so finally what would you suggest: LE40A786 (highly recommended) or LE40A656?
generally is 786 better of 656 or not? i’m a bit lost…
sorry - it should be LE40A786 (no recommendation) or LE40A656 (highly recommended)?
David Mackenzie
The A950 got an update (software and hardware). Do you know if the 786 got the same update? And what extractly the update was about? Maybe it fixes some of the issues you had ?!
See:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10066772-1.html?tag=mncol;txt
[...] rispetto al Sony? Io ho letto una recensione di HDVTest non proprio lusinghiera del 40 pollici: Samsung LE40A786 Review E poi dice che ha un input lag insolitamente alto… Che differenze in pi ha l’A856 inoltre? [...]
[...] ho letto una recensione di HDVTest non proprio lusinghiera del 40 pollici, ma 786, cambiano molto? Samsung LE40A786 Review E poi dice che ha un input lag insolitamente alto… Che differenze in pi ha l’A856 inoltre? [...]
[...] input lag Sam A786, scandaloso: Samsung LE40A786 Review Input Lag The input lag on this display is typically around 50-70ms. This is unusually high, and [...]
Hello David!
Thanks for great reviews. Im a proud Oppo DV-980 because of you:)
Now Im looking for a good tv to match it to. Was almost set on the Sony 46W4500 until the horrible reviews on two of them on trustedreviews.com
I would really like to hear your opinion, and if these perhaps were bad units that they happened to get.
Best Regards
Thanks for the test.
I do miss a comparison with other benchmark HDTVs like HDTVTEST usually do, like with a PZ80, 40W4500 and a Pioneer Kuro. So its not apparent how this HDTV actually is positioned in the market, and the description is a bit difficult to interprete.
I also miss - again - how this set performs with 1080i.
[...] Sam A786 scandaloso Motion resolution 600 with [100hz Motion Plus] on Low, 250-300 off Samsung LE40A786 Review "La Verit ha bisogno di tempo" Irina Derevko. [...]
Ordered one of these yesterday. A bit worried about the input lag, as I’m coming straight from an SD CRT, which was lag free. I told the sales guy I would be using it for gaming primarily, and he said it wouldn’t be a problem. He demoed the game mode for me, and it looked good enough for some online matches where you really need to be fast, but I’m hoping I can enjoy the full feature set for single player games.
I went for it primarily, because he had a rack of LCD TV’s set against each other, and the quality of the blacks on this screen shone out like you wouldn’t believe. After seeing that, my mind was made up on the spot.
Is it possible to create your own game mode? I mean, can you choose to disable certain features yourself, which will result in less lag, and then save those settings and use that as your default game mode?
Hello, caution for anyone who has this telly!
the new update for cpu and scaler will affect
-Combing on all sources.
-Takes color chroma near to 9series
-Somewhat more precise led scanning, (this could be only placebo but I noticed some diffrence)
these updates can be obtained from samsungs own regional websites, mine model 796 which is nordic model, had the following updates
Scaler S/W Version : T-RBYDEUM-1007.1
CPU S/W Version : T-AMBDNDC-1007.2
before these I was running on 1004.x,
If anyone confirms my findings it would be nice to add these results to review.
[...] on the LCD section about that set’s considerable pros and relatively minor cons and a review here Samsung LE40A786 Review I think the next gen will make another improvement on LED backlighting and surpass all but the very [...]
[...] on the LCD section about that set’s considerable pros and relatively minor cons and a review here Samsung LE40A786 Review I think the next gen will make another improvement on LED backlighting and surpass all but the very [...]
[...] Re: LE40A786R2 Review? Here’s a review, hope it helps. Samsung LE40A786 Review [...]
Does anyone know what the difference is between the Samsung LE40A786 and the LE40A756. The LE40A786 doesn’t seem to be listed on Samsung’s website, and it says that the 756 is CCFL backlight and not the LED backlight as the A786 seems to be.
Just wanted to say I got this TV last week, and I couldn’t be happier. Playing UT3 on my PS3, I haven’t even switched the display to Gaming or PC mode yet. If there’s lag there, normal people aren’t going to notice it. Considering I’m coming from 20 years of CRT gaming, I was expecting this to be a huge problem, but it’s not, any lag there is, is completely negligible.
The picture itself is fantastic. Everything is pin sharp, the blacks are simply amazing and Samsung let you do so much with the picture settings, that you can get the picture just to your liking.
No dead pixels on my set either, so as I say, I couldn’t be happier with my purchase
Does the 786 model have a MPEG4 or a MPEG2 DVB decoder? At my place (Slovakia) there is a plan to start the digital terestrial broadcast in MPEG4. Well and maybe one more question, is an MPEG4 decoder compatible with MPEG2? Thanks!
[...] Samsung le40a856 settings help the setting is available at hdtv test. Samsung LE40A786 Review You can use any series 7 setting, its [...]
Help, please ! I am trying to work out which is the better of the two tv’s and unfortunately am a bit of a technophobe. I want to run blu-ray and am looking at the LE40A786R OR LE40A756. I am not sure what the benefit is of the backlighting. Will I be able to connect my camera to the LE40A786R - I cant find if it have a usb connection. I also can’t find any info on the samsung site.
Any info would be great thanks - there seems to be a really good deal on Dixon for LE40A786 (+-£860) where as at Comet and Currys they it is around £1174.
thanks
[...] that may be at the expense of other areas. Alright. Maybe you can achieve something like this. Samsung LE40A786 Review You have to scroll down to the greyscale calibration. Delta errors from 20% gray upwards remain [...]
[...] it would seem its deinterlacing and scaling abilities are average… Here’s a review of the 786: http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/samsu…0080922131.htm It does look like a fairly good panel though! Paul Last edited by youngsyp; Today at 2:49 [...]
[...] what I have read I would avoid it if you want to game on it. Check the full HDTV Test review here :Samsung LE40A786 Review. for more info on it. Dont know about the 8,9 series sorry. also take a look at the Samsung [...]
[...] LED LE46A956 Have you considered A786? Its also LED and available at 40". Review here: Samsung LE40A786 Review __________________ IR is not a plasma-only feature - [...]
hello i’m not to good with English, but from the review, i can see that the TV is not very good to game on?? i have a PS3 and i’m looking for a good tv, but i really can’t find one
[...] buy it, but I and many others love it and I would recommend you include it in any shortlist. See http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/samsu…0080922131.htm for a review. There’s mention of lag and combing but nobody else appears to have had any issues [...]