Samsung LE40M86BD In Da House

samsung-m86

Really did not expect the Samsung LE40M86BD we ordered to be delivered until after the Easter bank holiday weekend, but to our pleasant surprise it arrived early today. We’re going to tie up some loose ends with regards to the 32C3030D and TX32LXD70 LCD TVs, but in the meantime, let the testing begin…

41 comments

  1. Yes! Can’t wait for this review. Did you order this from Dixons? (M86)

  2. Looking forward to the review. :)

  3. perhaps you can find out why they dont use 100-hz in these samsungs (no need for anymore ?) wish I had one already :)

  4. This is also the review i’m waiting for, can’t wait to hear the fantastic review from you guys if this is a good set or not. I think you will be inundated with views for this review, if you charged £1.00 for every view of the review I think you would make a mint!!!

    …But I didn’t suggest that!

  5. I’m looking forward to this review as it will help me decide on this over the KDL-40X2000U. Hope to see your review today :-)

  6. The German Samsung web site has a (relatively) detailed page about the technology used in this TV (in German):

    av.samsung.de/article.asp?artid=771071AA-E4C8-434B-B21D-920A0986B65D

  7. Igor Stankovic

    Samsung … well I just don’t know. They are manufacturers (and inventors) of the premium LCD matrices (PVA variants) used in latest Sony LCD sets for example, but still they are unable to compile the proper LCD TV. Colors are easily over saturated and off set, there is existence of more-then-average video noise and artifacts, limited set-up options, questionable design (all that gloss – may I say PVC hell :-) ) Their sets are attention grabbers, but that’s not the point. Who knows, maybe they will get their acts together with the new line.

    Looking forward for your review … :-)

  8. When you do get a chance to play with this TV, it would be wonderful if you could answer a question many people are gagging to know about:

    Will the set do JustScan/1:1 mapping on all HDMI ports when fed with a proper HDMI source (i.e. a PS3)?
    Someone has confirmed that a PC DVI source will only map 1:1 if fed to the TV via the HDMI2 socket, but this is a special case since DVI requires different handling to HDMI1.3.

    Is it possible to get a 1:1 mapping/JustScan on the others at all?
    If you cant get a 1:1 mapping with a PS3 in HDMI1, that would be a deal breaker for a lot of people.

  9. Robbie Razzler

    Please test watching football on it and whether there is any bad motion blurring, thank you!!

  10. Hi,

    Just come across this site from avforums.com, cannot wait for this review :)

    Please be as thorough as possible, I imagine my purchasing one will hinge on this, I just can’t wait any longer.

    Also I was wondering, how do you afford to continually buy the sets? I assume you return them, but don’t the stores get pissed?

  11. I’ve seen LE40M91 on internet. Do you have any idea about this model?

  12. I think they sell the sets secondhand and take a slight hit from them?

  13. Silver Serpent

    @korayus

    The M91 has been available for some time.

    Do some research on it and find out.

  14. What’s the difference between m86 and m87?
    Is it really just colour (stripes)? Usually Samsung adds a letter to the end of model number to show the color.

    I’ve compared both of the specifications in different languages all from Samsung’s official websites, but I found only bullshit like m87 does not have HDMI at all according to Finland’s Samsung website samsung.com/fi/products/tv/lcdtv/files/m87_series_fi.pdf

    I would really like to buy one, but which one?

  15. Please continue to review in detail SD performance. 95% of TV time is still spent on SD material, and if the set is a dream on Corrie, Eastenders and Footie then it’ll be fine on HD movies etc.

    So please please find us the perfect big screen for SD, knowing that it will then be superb for HD.

    I’m still looking for the perfect upgrade for my PW7 – but aint seen anything that touches it for SD in 3 years.

  16. I agree with what Banjo says above, and if its fast enough for soccer, F1, and the next tour de france :) . if not I keep my old CRT, if it is I buy one. good luck with your review, you lucky ….. :)

  17. I’d like to know how well it can handle games as what hifi magazine review says “Doesn’t handle motion as well as we’d like”

  18. Saw the 40M87 in Selfridges (Trafford Centre, Manchester) yesterday. They’ve got it on display hooked up to a 1080p demo source (usual show-off rubbish). Set looks impressive next to the Bravia – colours are much more vibrant and picture is subjectively sharper (difficult to compare exactly). Was unable to form an opinion on motion stability as the demo material was slow moving, and there was no SkySportsHD. The chasis is particularly attractive however – gloss black with silver strip looks great, and makes the Sony look a bit clunky.

  19. To Gary above ^^^^^ I’ve also seen the M87 in Selfridges.

    When I arrived it was on a really bad feed so I asked them to change it, which they did.

    The only Samsung promo feed they had though was a young lad juggling a football. If that was the one you saw it was at 720p.

    I too found it impressive though even at that resolution.

  20. There are some rumours it doesn’t properly support 1080p24 – Can you check to see if there is any evidence of ‘judder’ on HD material?

  21. Alan,

    If it was at 720p (I’m more than happy to take your word for it as the assistant wasn’t that clued up!), then I’m pretty impressed with the upscale to 1080 lines. It was indeed the clip with the lad/footballs/girl in car etc. I did find the feed to be occasionally unstable – I was reasonably sure it wasn’t the M87 as all the sets showing the same material had similar problems (i.e. occasional hesitation).

    I’m back in London tonight and intend trying to find a set to look at again tomorrow. Hopefully there will be some broadcast HD material to evaluate.

  22. If I get this I would use it with my 360 and HDDVD player….. does this tv do 1:1 pixel mapping “just scanning” on the VGA or component inputs?

  23. This is absolutely great!

    I hope your review will help me clear up some questions.

    – Shadow details, great with better black level but will it show details in the shadows or will it display a big black hole?

    – Quality when viewing DVD, perhaps scaled to 720/1080.

    – Does this LCD come close to picture quality of a Plasma display?

    – As always, SD signals handling

    Cheers!

  24. Hi there,

    Just thought I’d say thanks for reviewing all of these TV sets. It’s the best review site for tvs (I work for a major tech review company and I actually prefer your reviews!). I’ve got an xbox 360. I’m hoping this is the solution to all of my problems!

    Cheers,

    Raj

  25. Just wondering when your review will be posted on the website
    as looking to get this or the Sony KDL40W2000.

    Which one would you say is the best?

    Thanks.

    PS. Very good site

  26. Funny. I could have sworn the pictures you guys took from the M86 are actually M87 pictures? The M86 is supposed to have a Blue/Black strip underneath the TV, not a Chrome one?

    Anyway, I’m looking forward to the outcome :)

  27. Sure is the best review site – any chance you guys could or would want to make yourselves more easily noticeable on the AV Forums site? I am sure most of your viewers come from there and that a lot more would to if you were more prominent or even part of the same family.

    PS. I’m associated in no way to either site other than as a reader.

    PPS. Do tell us the perfect large screen HD set for viewing SD material soon. And no I cant afford a Fujit.

  28. Think the set looks awful next to the Sony Bravia – personal preference, but I hate gloss black for all the reasons stated in this review. Matt black finishes are much more impressive.

  29. I am in the same situation as John B above, stuck between the KDL40W2000 and this set.

    I am awaiting your review in anticipation, Vincent.

  30. Vincent,

    I would appreciate if you could also test the tv (LE40M86BD) with 24p material (Blu-ray/HD-DVD) and analyse is there any noticable motion judder.

  31. Anyone one know when we will be likely to see the LE32M87BDX?

  32. Anyone knows if this the M86/87 models have a feature like the Philips Autoformat? Thanks in advance

  33. I am waiting for your review to decide wether to buy the Samsung or the sony 40W2000.
    Grtz, W

  34. I have just purchased the M87 and setup last night in my living room with an XBOX 360 and a 360 HD player. I ran a stream through the composite. King Kong went on and for the start to the end the effect on my family and I was jaw dropping. Luckily I got to compare the Samsung M87 and the Sony next to each other in a Currys in Leeds and the samsung sold it to me at that point.

    I have played a number of games from call of duty to Battlefield on my 360 and the advantage the resolution gives you in multiplayer is astonishing, I can nearly part a soldiers hair at 2 miles with a sniper rifle.

    Also Played Viva Pinyata and the colour on this was extreemly vibriant and clear.

    I cannot reccomend this screen enough and I bought it primarily for 360. I did not notice any problems with motion blur playing games, only reccomendation is sit back a bit from the screen as it is so bright that long games sessions can make your eyes water.

  35. @ Tom Burnett

    Do you get a 1080p res when using the standard 360 composite lead on this TV when gaming and watching dvds on the standard drive and also HD DVD??? I have heard conflicting news on this!!!! Are you using 1080i???

    The 360 standard drive am i right in thinking it only upscales standard dvds to 1080p when using the VGA lead and with all released 360 updates???

    Can anyone explain and set me straight on this… I have both VGA and comp leads for the 360 but need to know that this tv can display what i am giving it….

  36. Regarding Xbox 360 video output……

    MS states 1080p over VGA:

    http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360vgahdcable/

    This site states:

    Over Component:
    1080p – Games
    1080i – HD DVD
    480p – DVD

    Over VGA:
    1080p – For All

    coldforged.org/archives/2006/11/10/xbox-360-high-definition-and-hd-dvd-faq/

    Similar here: http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/09/21/xbox-360-hd-dvd-playback-maximum-1080i-via-component-1080p-vga/

    So it seems for HD DVD: 1080p over VGA only, not over component.

    Now coming to the Samsung M86……

    “A quick glance at the specification sheet of Samsung LE40M86BD would make most HDTV enthusiasts’ hearts flutter: dynamic contrast ratio of 15,000:1, three HDMI 1.3 ports, xvYCC colour space, and ability to accept 1080p input across component, VGA and HDMI.

    Pasted from

    So this seems to say that using the VGA lead we would get 1080p from the HD DVD player.

    However I called Samsung, and annoyingly they have stated:

    The set accepts the following input signals:

    HDMI – 1080p
    Component – 1080i
    VGA – 720p (?!)

    Now I don’t know if this is mis-information or correct, but is annoying as I purchased a 40” M86, HD DVD player and VGA lead, with a view to watching 1080p movies.

    I downloaded the manual for the M86 (12MB): samsung.com/uk/support/productsupport/download/Model_Select2.aspx?type=Television&subtype=TFT+LCD&model=LE40M86BD&fileType=UM&LSSI=%2Fuk%2Fmodule%2Fssi%2Fleft%2Flmenu%5Ftelevision%5Ftftlcd%2Esec&RSSI=%2Fuk%2Fmodule%2Fssi%2Fright%2Frmenu%5Ftelevision%2Esec

    And that states a VESA d-sub resolution of 1920×1080, and not interlaced. So does that make it 1080p?

    And that’s all I can find so far, anyone else’s help / input appreciated.

  37. If the output from 360 is 1080i it is not noticeable on playing King Kong on HD DVD through 360. The 360 is set to 1080p on the console. The picture quality on King Kong is astonishing also Serenity but this is not as impressive cinematically as Kong.

  38. In the manual found on samsungs website it states it does 1080p through vga, im ordering my LE40M86BD tomorrow! Im also in the same boat, got my 360 & hd-dvd player & wanna get 1080p through vga.. Worst comes to it il run on component till the 360 elite comes out in the uk later in the year with hdmi

  39. my LE40M86BD turned up & i am getting 1080p through the vga cable & looks amazing compared to the component lead.. the tv also adjusts the colours too so the picure doesn’t look washed out! simply amazing

  40. I don’t get how people prefer VGA over component for the box!

    I have the same TV and I prefer component… also did that on my old plasma.

    I can’t do anything about the sharpness as well as a couple of other settings with VGA. With HDMI you can do everything, but with component and VGA you are limited. IMO especially with VGA. For me component is the best.

    However I can’t really seem to notice any difference from 720p to 1080p with my xbox. Can u guys? For the 40″ version I mean. I guess the TV upscales itself if not through the box?

  41. I guess Im a little late in my reply, but the reason why you dont see much difference between 720p and 1080p from XBox is because even today most games is produced at 720p. Get Call of Duty 4 cause it renders at 1080p and believe me you can see a difference. If you dont see a difference then it might be because you have XBox, cause I went the PS3 route (friendly console wars:)

    Also a minute of silence for HD-DVD since it died.