Samsung LE32C530 Review

A 1080p LCD TV for around £320? Fantasy not long ago, but the Samsung LE32C530 proves that this is very much reality today. As part of Samsung’s “Series 5” range, the LE32C530 is designed with low prices in mind, but the display still features a Full HD panel, 3 HDMI inputs, and some multimedia playback capabilities. You do miss out on 100hz/200hz motion clarity improvements, Samsung’s colour management controls, and the Freeview HD capable DVB-T2 tuner, but these omissions won’t necessarily prove lethal for everyone. Some true bargains have come out of Series 5 in the past, and Samsung’s 2010 mid-range LCD televisions have actually been superior in some ways to the high-end offerings, so we have high hopes for this budget LCD TV. Let’s see what the Samsung LE32C530 can achieve…

Note: The specific model we reviewed was the Samsung LE32C530F1WXXU, though it may be sold by retailers/ e-tailers as the Samsung LE32C530, Samsung LE32C530F1 or Samsung LE32C530F1W. While we did not review the 40-inch Samsung LE40C530, there shouldn’t be any significant differences in picture quality given their similar specifications.

Design

Unlike the mid-range Samsung displays, the LE32C530 doesn’t feature a fully “glass-like” finish, but instead has the cosmetically similar gloss black. However, there’s still a small area of transparent plastic at the bottom of the bezel which might fool a few people. The back panel, as usual for Samsung’s 2010 CCFL-backlit (non-LED) LCD TVs, is made out of light metal rather than plastic, something we normally only see on Plasma TVs. This seems to give a perception of higher build quality.

Samsung LE32C530

The supplied table-top stand is also finished in gloss black, and allows the Samsung LE32C530 panel to swivel left and right by a generous amount – a nice feature to see retained on a low-price model. The final assembled TV and stand both feel built to a high standard: the various connectors on the back panel feel locked tightly in place, and don’t recess inwards when you’re plugging cables in (something we noticed on older Samsung displays).

Connections

The back panel features 2 HDMI inputs, with the third and final input mounted on the nearby side panel. There’s also a PC “VGA” input, analogue Component inputs, a single SCART input (RGB capable), and one Composite video input with accompanying stereo audio jacks on the side. A USB input and Common Interface card slot complete this highly typical, but also highly serviceable selection of inputs.

Rear connections on Samsung LE32C530
Rear: 2 x HDMI, VGA, component, 1 x Scart, aerial, audio & headphone outs
Side: HDMI, Composite video, USB, Common Interface slot

Operation

When compared to higher-end Samsung displays, the LE32C530 still has a good amount of picture calibration controls. Naturally, control is given over basic image parameters such as Backlight, Brightness (Black Level), Contrast (White Level), Sharpness, Colour, and Tint. There are no 10-point Greyscale calibration controls (just the standard Low/High system with six controls for the entire Greyscale range) and no advanced Colour controls on the Samsung LE32C530, but there is still a [Colour Space] option which allows the user to select between two modes, one of which produces an exaggerated colour gamut and another which comes closer to HDTV (Rec.709) standard.

[Picture] menu [White Balance] menu
[Picture] menu [White Balance] menu

There is also a [Digital Noise] filter, which is effective in removing analogue video noise. Unfortunately, there is little use for it now that we (at least in the UK) are firmly in the era of Digital broadcasting: any older programmes originating on analogue video formats are typically heavily denoised by broadcasters, anyway. The effects of this control’s digital counterpart, the [MPEG Noise Filter], are much more difficult to discern.

Calibration

Note: Our Samsung LE32C530 review sample was calibrated using Calman Professional, the industry-leading video calibration software.

Greyscale

After unboxing our Samsung LE32C530 review unit (which had a good number of hours’ usage on it already) and letting it warm up, we selected the most accurate out-of-the-box preset mode (“Movie”) and made basic adjustments to the Backlight and Brightness settings, and observed the results. The on screen image already looked absolutely excellent, so we were eager to get out our Klein Instruments K-10 meter to get some hard data on just how well the LE32C530 was reproducing greyscale shades.

Pre-calibration CCT
Pre-calibration CCT in [Movie] mode
Pre-calibration RGB Tracking
Pre-calibration RGB tracking and delta errors (dEs)

The measurements above may be deceptive at first, but look at the scale to the left and you’ll see that there is typically only about 5% too little red and about 4% too much green making up the colour of Grey in the image. We imagine that a lot of smaller displays such as this one will end up in secondary viewing environments (bedrooms, perhaps even kitchens…) and are less likely to receive the full calibration treatment than a larger TV in a home cinema environment might, so we’re delighted to see this randomly picked unit performing so well without any additional calibration work. As a result of this, on-screen images don’t have any obvious incorrect colour bias to them, giving them a good sense of accuracy and depth.

The only real weakness of this performance is the common LCD issue of inaccuracies creeping into shadowed areas, in this case, the slightly blue-tinted blacks (visible on the chart at 10% stimulus). It’s not too jarring an issue, but it was slightly visible when watching the Samsung LE32C530 in a darker viewing environment. As a result, this is one thing we sought to remedy during calibration.

Post-calibration CCT in [Movie] mode
Post-calibration CCT in [Movie] mode
Post-calibration RGB Tracking in [Movie] mode
Post-calibration RGB tracking and dEs in [Movie] mode

The Samsung LE32C530 features easily accessible control over Greyscale tracking in its [White Balance] menu, so users who have measuring devices and software (or want to pay for the expertise of an ISF technician who does) can make the picture quality that little bit better. Our first calibration attempts didn’t completely remove the slight blue tint in dark areas of the image, so we went back and, while jumping back and forth between 10% and 20% grey test patterns, levelled out the slight inaccuracy to produce the final result seen above. This left a tiny excess of red (visible at 20-40% stimulus) as the Samsung LE32C530’s sole petty crime against perfectly accurate video. Calibrated or not, this aspect of the picture quality was excellent.

Gamma curve in [Movie] mode Gamma tracking in [Movie] mode
Gamma curve in [Movie] mode Corresponding gamma tracking

The default [Gamma] setting of “0” left us with good tonal distribution between dark and light. As is often the case with LCD TVs, the Gamma tracking chart on the Samsung LE32C530 revealed a bump upwards at 10% stimulus. In real-world viewing, this translates into a slight loss of shadow detail, but as is often the case with Gamma inaccuracies, we personally found this minor and not something that viewers would notice without a comparison display.

We tried adjusting a control called [Shadow Detail] on the Samsung LE32C530, to see if it would get us any closer to perfection. This adjustment actually controls the low-level Backlight intensity. Using this control, it’s possible to make shadow details less visible in order to gain marginally blacker blacks, but we left it in its default state since we found that the black level was already more than acceptable for a budget LCD TV. Raising the control did result in slightly brighter blacks, but didn’t remove the bump in the chart.

Colour

[Colour], [Tint], and [Colour Space] are the only controls on the Samsung LE32C530 which let us adjust colour reproduction, as there are no advanced Colour Management controls on this budget TV. We tried both of the [Colour Space] modes and found “Auto” to be the best of the two. For comparison, “Native” made little difference, but did slightly raise the Luminance levels of some of the colours, making them appear a little too bright, and offset the hue of Magenta by some amount.

Armed with the knowledge of the “Auto” mode’s superiority, we then used the two remaining controls to achieve the most accurate colour reproduction on the Samsung LE32C530.

Post-calibration CIE chart in [Movie] mode
Post-calibration CIE chart with reference to HD Rec.709
Post-calibration Luminance levels in [Movie] mode
Post-calibration colour luminance (coloured bars = targets; black bars = measured values)

We had to drop [Colour] to 43 from its default setting of 50 to avoid Luminance levels (above chart) being too high and making the colours appear slightly overbearing. Additionally, we were able to set [Tint] to “G53/R47” to bring Magenta and Cyan closer to their ideal hues. The end result is very good indeed and while more control would always be welcome, we don’t imagine any viewers objecting to the quality of the colours on the Samsung LE32C530.

Benchmark Test Results

Dead pixels None
Screen uniformity Very Good
Overscanning on HDMI 0% with Aspect Ratio set to “Screen Fit”
Blacker than black Passed
Calibrated black level 0.04 cd/m2
Black level retention Fully black video signal causes immediate auto-dimming
Primary chromaticity Very Good in [Movie] mode
Scaling Excellent
Video mode deinterlacing Very effective jaggies reduction
Film mode deinterlacing Failed 2:2 PAL (but passed 3:2 NTSC)
Viewing angle Acceptable for an LCD TV
Motion resolution 300 lines
Digital noise reduction Optional
Sharpness Defeatable edge enhancement
Luma/Chroma bandwidth Full Luma, slightly blurred Chroma
1080p/24 capability Accepts 1080p/24 video signal; no telecine judder
Input lag Only 14ms compared to lag-free CRT!
Full 4:4:4 reproduction No, 4:4:4 input subsampled

Power Consumption

Default [Standard] mode 106 watts
Calibrated [Movie] mode 84 watts
Standby 1 watt

Picture Performance

Black Level and Uniformity

For those keeping tabs on what panels Samsung is supplying in its TVs, the LE32C530 we reviewed was sourced from our partners at Multizone AV and is a retail model, not a “Golden Sample” cherry-picked by a PR department. The panel fitted to our review sample appeared to be one of Samsung’s own, as it carried the code LTF320HM01. The panel was manufactured in Slovakia.

Its performance was consistent with what we’ve come to expect from SPVA LCD panels, with blacks measuring a satisfyingly inky 0.04 cd/m2 – provided there’s at least a small amount of something other than pure black in the video signal, that is. The Samsung LE32C530 partakes in the common practice of auto-dimming, and as soon as you send an all-black video signal to the TV, its Backlighting will fade and then switch off, giving absolutely no light output from the TV at all (this might prove distracting to videophiles during movie watching). During the last couple of reviews, we’ve been investigating exactly how the Samsung displays control their Backlighting, and it appears that the situation is not as clear-cut as we had once thought. When we left our meter reading full-screen grey tones from the Samsung LE32C530, we found that the readings gradually rose over time (this was even after we’d left the TV on for several hours, making this a separate phenomenon to CCFL warmup). This change was so gradual (typically in increments of 0.001 cd/m2) that it was not visible to the eye, but it would appear that the range of black levels the Samsung LE32C530 reproduces is around 0.04 – 0.09cd/m2. Both of these are enough to give a reasonably deep, enveloping black, but the behaviour intrigues us to the extent that we’ll be trying to figure out exactly what the TV’s Backlighting controller is doing (and asking Samsung for input) in the future.

Panel uniformity was also very good. In the past, SPVA LCD panels often revealed huge amounts of patchy white “clouding” in dark areas, but this seems to be a thing of the past – on CCFL backlit LCD TVs, at least (Samsung’s ultra-slim LED LCD screens still show the issue more than we’d like). This leaves only the slight non-uniformity in darker grey tones (10-40 IRE), which we imagine most users will find much more tolerable. For example, when viewing a full 20 IRE screen from the centre position, the left and right edges appeared very slightly brighter than the rest of the screen, with the middle appearing a tiny bit more reddish. By contrast, a full (100 IRE) screen appeared much more consistent.

The Samsung LE32C530’s viewing angle is not exceptional. From the sides, gamma shift is visible and the on-screen image quickly loses contrast and “punch”. We imagine that anyone considering an LCD TV is sadly used to this by now, though, so it probably won’t factor into the purchasing decision much.

Motion Resolution

Regular readers won’t be surprised in the slightest to hear that the Samsung LE32C530 managed to resolve approximately 300 lines of resolution during motion, making it essentially the same as every other LCD TV without a 100hz/200hz system that we’ve reviewed. This is generally enough to make 24fps film material look watchable, but fast-paced video material will look blurred to anyone who’s used to seeing it on a higher-end LCD equipped with motion-compensated frame interpolation (MCFI), or better yet, a Plasma or CRT display. The acid test, of course, is televised sports material, where avid viewers typically find that LCDs can’t keep up with the action.

With a mix of real-world content, the subjective viewing tests on the FPD Benchmark Blu-ray test disc, and the freeware LCD image analysis program PixPerAn, we confirmed that the motion characteristics of the panel in our Samsung LE32C530 review sample was basically consistent with other SPVA panels. The most obvious motion related anomaly is with “dragging blacks”, where the pixels on the LCD panel cannot change from one extreme to another (in this case, black to white or even black to mid-grey) fast enough to avoid visible motion trails. Fortunately, the issue is no worse than on most other similar LCD screens and is certainly much better than the very obvious black streaking exhibited by some previous Sony implementations.

Standard Definition

We were expecting a cheaper Samsung display to lack the company’s acclaimed video processing, and perhaps fall back onto a less impressive solution from another OEM. Regardless of whose silicon is hiding in the back of the Samsung LE32C530, the Standard Definition to HD conversion performance holds up quite favourably when compared to the company’s more expensive sets.

We first tested the Diagonal Filtering capabilities of the Samsung LE32C530, to understand how well the video processor suppresses flickering on diagonal edges during the interlaced SD to HD conversion process. The result was very good, with tiny jaggies only just being noticeable. One interesting thing to note here is that the clearer the motion of the panel, the more prone the TV is to revealing this issue – this is an area where LCD panel blur can actually help to mask video processor shortcomings. We don’t think that’s what’s going on here, though, since the LE32C530’s performance in this area is noticeably better than comparable (and more expensive) Sony LCD TVs featuring similar panels. This great performance means that video material that’s usually challenging for an HDTV to show (such as a football game or the old classic “rippling striped American flag” pattern) will appear free of coarse diagonal edges, and look more natural as a result.

The first hitch came with SD Film material, which requires a different deinterlacing process in order for the best results to come through. The Samsung LE32C530 did seem to detect the PAL 2-2 film cadence, but it frequently fell back into Video deinterlacing mode during the HQV disc test sequence, creating occasional “hiccups” of jagged edges. For the sake of completeness, we also ran the US-centric NTSC tests and noted that only the most common 3-2 test passed, which is very different behaviour to higher-end Samsung TVs, lending some weight to the “different chipset provider” theory. Fortunately, this has basically no consequence to us in Europe. Since the Samsung LE32C530 doesn’t detect the PAL 2-2 cadence correctly, film material from standard-def sources (non-upscaling DVD players, digital TV, standard-def satellite TV decoders, etc.) has small jaggies visible in areas of fine detail.

Lastly, the scaling performance is excellent: all of the details from the source were reproduced in a crisp, clean manner, with very little ringing around transitions in the chart. In fact, the Samsung LE32C530’s scaling performance may actually look superficially sharper than Samsung’s top-end edge adaptive scaler found in TVs such as the UE46C8000, but both are of a very high standard. One other thing we confirmed while looking at these charts was that the Samsung LE32C530 overscans (crops the edges) of SD video slightly more than the other TVs we’ve seen from the company, although the effect is rarely detrimental.

High Definition

One of the first things we noticed after pulling out our usual stack of Blu-ray Disc movies was that the Samsung LE32C530 was reproducing them smoothly, without any motion judder. Our usual test (the gentle pans through space from Pixar’s Wall-e) were shown just how they should be, without any uneven motion and also without any additional data being generated via interpolation (since the LE32C530 doesn’t feature any motion compensated interpolation processing).

Unlike Sony’s TVs, Samsung’s don’t automatically disable overscan with 1080p video by default. This means that the user has to press the [P.SIZE] remote control button to select the “Screen Fit” mode in order to get the clearest image without the outer edges being cropped. We hope more manufacturers follow Sony’s lead and do away with overscan by default for HD material.

HD movie on Samsung LE32C530

When we reviewed some of the mid-range and high-end Samsungs, we complained that they were causing the natural film grain texture that’s inherent to faithful/high quality video transfers of films to become smeared, even with the TV’s Noise Reduction controls shut off. It seems that this is/was an intentional [mis]feature, and it has been addressed, for the most part, with firmware updates. There is no such issue with the Samsung LE32C530 – film grain is reproduced cleanly, without becoming smeared or “sticky”.

A minor issue was visible when we fed a Chroma test chart, which features very fine coloured details, to the Samsung LE32C530. We noted that the finest horizontal details (in this case, thin red and blue vertical lines) in the chart weren’t visible and were instead smudged into a dark purple tone. This means that some fine coloured details aren’t making it to the screen, quite a common issue with 2010 HDTVs. This is very minor, because the human visual system isn’t very sensitive to coloured details anyway. On a 32″ screen, it should never pose a visible problem.

Users can keep this information in mind and then also keep the deep black level, high quality Greyscale tracking, and very good colour reproduction in mind to get a good idea of what HD material looks like on the Samsung LE32C530. So long as the user complies with the “LCD rule” of avoiding sitting to the sides of the screen, the image the Samsung LE32C530 puts out is excellent for this price range.

Console Gaming

In our input lag and subjective gaming tests, the Samsung LE32C530 performed unbelievably well, lagging by only 14ms! Needless to say, this figure makes input lag completely irrelevant on this LCD TV, making it one of the best we’ve ever seen for fast, fluid gaming enjoyment.

In the past, we have attributed the large input lag typically seen on SPVA LCD TVs to response time compensation processing. The fact that this SPVA LCD TV has achieved responsiveness on par with (and marginally better than some) Plasma displays challenges this theory and suggests that other unwanted video processing may be to blame. Just for comparison, the best input lag figure we could squeeze out of the recently reviewed Samsung LE40C750 was 41ms, which made games requiring fast reflexes much less enjoyable. We’d love for manufacturers to begin commenting on the issue of input lag, because it is a serious problem on many HDTVs – but fortunately, not this one.

One other thing to note that is that the input lag here is this low even when “Game Mode” is not enabled. In fact, on the Samsung LE32C530, the “Game Mode” switch is in fact nothing more than a marketing feature. On most Samsung TVs, selecting “Game Mode” temporarily blacks the screen out as it adjusts to an alternate driving mode, but here it does nothing except for applying a separate custom picture mode with heightened colour temperature and colour brightness. We left if off and just used our calibrated “Movie” mode for playing games (the 14ms measurement was in fact taken in this mode).

This excellent state of affairs means that the Samsung LE32C530 is sure to be a hit with gamers looking for a smaller screen. We hope that its 40-inch equivalent performs as well.

Conclusion

Despite being cheap, the Samsung LE32C530 delivers a high quality experience across a wide range of sources. The LCD panel itself (the core component) is capable of high contrast pictures, and its motion clarity, while nowhere near Plasma levels, is acceptable by LCD TV standards. 24p material such as Blu-ray Disc movies are produced cleanly, clearly, and without judder. Video games are great fun to play on the Samsung LE32C530, because its video processor does not introduce any input lag worth mentioning. And high motion video content appears largely free of jaggedness thanks to the TV’s high quality Deinterlacing process.

The only minor issue is a lack of stable 2-2 film cadence detection, which can create small jaggies during Film material broadcast on SD TV – although given the blurred image typical of Digital TV broadcasts and the smaller size of this screen, this really doesn’t end up doing a lot of damage. Additionally, the colour accuracy is in the “very good” category rather than being excellent.

The Samsung LE32C530 is a bargain in just about anyone’s eyes. It can be had from many online stores for approximately £320, and in-depth testing has revealed that there’s more to be had for the money than we initially hoped for. We can’t think of any comparable displays at this end of the market and highly recommend this display to users who are happy to tolerate the viewing angle and motion limitations of LCD TVs. While it is not the equal of every other HDTV that we’ve rated “Highly Recommended”, the Samsung LE32C530 offers outstanding value for money that earns it a spot in this category.

Highly Recommended

256 comments

  1. Thanks for another great review!

    Keep up the good work.

    Gen

  2. Hey. Around these parts (Australia) there does’t seem to be a Samsung LE32C530. We’ve got the Samsung LA40C550 (in sizes 32 and 37 as well). Is this the same model? And where does the Samsung LE40C580 model (that you reviewed earlier) fit into all this?

    Jeepers. All these similarly named TV models are beginning to confuse me. Admittedly I’m easily confused.

    Nice low input lag on the c530 makes me very happy. Hoping you could review the Panasonic TX-L37V20B as this TV is said to be pretty great with lag as well. Also hoping the SONY EX600 will be low input lag despite knowing in my bones this wont be the case.

    For a direct comparison, would you rate the Samsung C530 over the Sony EX400?

    Thanks.

  3. The Samsung models are a nightmare to keep track of. I honestly don’t know how it fits in to the grand scheme of things, in fact thanks to the “panel lottery” it’s often hard enough to know what you’re buying with one model, let alone another one.

    We’ll see what we can do about those other reviews.

    As for vs Sony EX4xx series: Both have their strong points, but this offers such great value for money and low input lag.

  4. Thans again for this review!

    How does this TV handels 1080i content which tv stations use for broadcasting HD material?

    Thanks.

  5. David,

    Great review as always.
    Could you share your calibration settings?

    Thanks,
    Erik

  6. Jesper: 1080i was deinterlaced well. It didn’t detect 2:2 cadence for 50hz 1080i movies, but the jaggies are so small on a 32″ screen that you won’t really notice.

    Calibration settings:
    Mode: Movie
    Backlight – according to your room.
    Contrast: 90
    Brightness: 44
    Colour: 43
    Tint: G53/R47
    Sharpness: 0 for HD

    All other features/”enhancers” off. Colour Space: Auto.
    Leave the Greyscale/White Balance settings at their defaults. We only made very minor adjustments for this individual panel.

  7. Thanks for an interesting review.

    I`m after a new 32″ – hope you can also review the Samsung C650 & Sony EX503 which have Freeview HD & 100hz

  8. the samsung c550 is the same model??

  9. @ivan: No, Samsung C550 is like C580 without DVB-T2 tuner.

  10. Thanks for the nice review and also thanks for mentioning the panel used, despite TV was made in Hungary.

    In Bulgaria we have both C530 and C550. One of the differences is that the C550 HAS Lan port thus Internet connectivity while the C530 does not. C530 also has no wi-fi support (obviously), lesser inputs (-1 usb, -1 hdmi) and no headphone output.

    ^^ all this is according to specs, not real life experience.

  11. Hi
    Thanks for another great rewiev!

    This TV seems perfect for my use (primarely gaming).
    Here in norway, only c535 is sold, is it the same tv? (at least in terms of picturequality and input lag)

    I’m thinking of buying the 46`, but i remember reading somwhere that lcds at this size aren’t good for gaming, due to some issue connected to the refresh rate or something?

    My other option is a panasonic g20 46`. It costs quite a bit more, about 40%. And has more input lag, so is it actually worth it for a gaming TV?

    Realy apriciate the work you are doing!

  12. Both the Panasonic G20 and this TV have input lag below the threshold of really being noticeable. So they’d basically be about equally good in that regard.

    But, the G20 has better overall contrast and no viewing angle or big motion blur. I like the Panasonic Plasmas a lot so would say they’re worth the extra if you have the money.

  13. Hello David,
    thanks for the good work, this review is extremely useful to me, since I keep an eye on Samsung C530 for some time.
    I already own 32″ B650 and 40″ C650, respectively for the kitchen and for the living room and now I want one 37″ for my bedroom, which I will use as a monitor for my PC. So, I would like to ask, if you can give me any hint how C530 compares against B650(or maybe even B550), since it is a step down model, but it’s a newer one. I intend to use it primarily for gaming / HD movies. I am not 100% bound to Samsung TVs, but as I said, I already own two and I am happy with them.
    Thanks in advance.

  14. Hi
    How does this compare to the`panasonic s20, in terms of picturequality?

  15. @Jivko: It should be pretty comparable to the B550. There’s no colour management system so the colour is a bit less accurate, but the input lag is less.

    @Saggot: S20 LCD or Plasma range? The Panasonic S20 Plasmas are overall better than the Samsung LE32C530s because they have slightly better colour, and since they’re Plasmas, much better motion and no viewing angle issues.

  16. Thanks for your review!
    Could you tell me something about the integrated speakers?
    We have currently a Sony KDL-26U3000E and the sound is really god for integrated speakers.

    Thanks

  17. Hey.
    Good reveiw, thanks.
    Did you try the Chroma test chart with edgenhancement on???

  18. I did, but because that’s just a chroma sharpening filter, it didn’t make a lot of difference. The bottleneck / loss of horizontal resolution is further up the chain, so it didn’t bring any details back.

  19. @Phil: the sound is decent by TV standards. There’s an Equalizer you can use to increase bass and treble to make the sound feel a little punchier.

  20. Thanks David!

  21. Hello David,
    thank you for the wonderful review.
    I’m also planning on buying a new TV, especially for console gaming and Blu-Ray. As for this, I’m quite glad to hear about the low input lag of this model. Unfortunately, I think the 32-inch model seems to be a little too small for me, so I was wondering if the 40-inch model (LE40C530) will have a similar input lag as the 32? Is it possible to make a general statement about that or will there possibly be differences in the different sizes of the C530 models?
    Looking forward to your answer.

  22. I have a similar question.
    I found a shop which has the LE32C550 for almost the same price as LE32C530,
    The panel quality should be the same, right?
    Thanks

  23. I would hope that the 40″ version would be the same, but the possibility exists that it’s not. I think we’ll have to hope someone else can measure and tell us.

    If I had to take a guess, I’d say that it’ll be the same, but I wouldn’t want to advise you on it.

    @Phil: The panels are probably very similar or the same.

  24. Hi David. In India, we have the LA32C530. Is this the same TV?

  25. From having a quick look through the manual, it seems that yes, it’s the same one, only with one difference: the Indian (and Australia/New Zealand shared model) has better connectivity than the European one, since it has 2 Component inputs instead of the European versions’ 1 Component/1 SCART.

  26. Hi everyone, I’m bit confused between 40in of the same series reviewed here and Panasonic TH-L42S20.. which one is better for gaming? input lag and contrast ratio is the most important to me, it seems TH-L42S20 is better in picture aspects but I don’t know if its lag can keep up with the one reviewed here, so which one should I get?

  27. Based on the performance of previous IPS LCDs and previous Panasonic LCDs, it’s a safe assumption that the TH-L42S20 will have inferior contrast and input lag responsiveness to this Samsung, but it will have better viewing angle.

    Then again, if you’d asked me to guess this TV’s input lag before I reviewed it, I certainly wouldn’t have expected it to be only 14ms, so assumptions can only take you so far.

  28. thanks for the reply, I really appreciate it, but I still can’t decide without a sure answer :(

    so, one last question, if I had to choose between the LCD reviewed here, and Panasonic plasma TX-P42G10.. which one should I get? (according to the review on this site, the TH-P42G10 input lag is 21ms faster than F96, that makes it 11ms compared to a lag free CRT? since F96 lags about 30ms compared to lag free CRT..)

  29. I’m considering the 40 inch version. Could anyone please tell me the input lag on that version?

  30. @David – is this just the C580 without Freeview HD? If the electronics and screen were the same I’m surprised you didn’t get same results as Nielo on the 580.
    Also he went for Game mode in his calib settings even for BD but you specifically avoided it. Why would that be?

  31. jason: C580 without Freeview HD is C550. C530 is cheaper model with different electronics.

  32. Hello,
    Here, in spain, my shop sell this model SAMSUNG – LE 32 C 530 F 1 WXXC

    ¿Its the same model? For the input lag i mean. Im thinking to buy this tv because my number one preference is the lowest input lag, because this TV is 95% use for plaiyng on my PS3 (HDMI) XBox360 (¿VGA?), Wii (component) and sometimes PS2. I am a sensible person with that things and as a hardcore player, i need the maxium speed for Fighting and shooter games. Sorry my bad english and thanks for help :)

  33. @Jason: as Jirka said, they are quite different internally. Low input lag and different film deinterlacing performance are the big giveaways.

    @Kanbei: our model number ended in “WXXU”. The panel may be different but the performance is hopefully similar. Can you test a games console on it before buying?

  34. Maybe, but only with my PSP with component. ¿what tv got the lowest input LAG? Im searching for W4000 but its imposible to find. ¿C530 32-40″ alternatives? (angle vision and juggies scares me) . I don´t understand why when i use the HDTV selector with game play “very important” and the other 2 with “not important” give me results with 40 ms ¿its not a little bit much? anyway ¿some other models with the lowest input lag perfect for hardcore gamers like me?

  35. I had bought in following your advice on s20 panasonic plasma for blacks and especially the input lag ….

    I should not … you were not talking about floating blacks, and especially the European models are not the same as the English

    you calculated the input lag is 16 ms, the European models was a + -40 ms …

    I am very disappointed.

    Who tell me that it will not be the same for the input lag, plus it seems to me that this model suffers change black level (dynamic contrast ?)…

    it is more difficult to find a TV for the hardcore gamer to find the woman of his life.

    my respects to all the same ….

  36. hi,

    just got one of these from amazon.co.uk today and whilst im impressed with 1080p content on my ps3 and 360, 720p content on this tv looks quite blurry/soft in comparison to my old hd ready viera.

    certainly its nowhere near the pin sharp image of the 1080p mode. yes yes im aware not as many pixels, non-native blah blah, but it should be better i feel when a viera (tx-l32x15b) from 2009 can trump it.

    im guessing the scaler in the tv isnt up to much.

    havent noticed any input lag in movie mode. i cannot see a specific game mode at all.

    for ps3 and 360 gamers, this tv does support the full hdmi range (ps3) and expanded (360) when you switch hdmi black level to normal.

    sound isnt as good as my old viera. sounds tinny and lacks bass in all modes.

    i had a quick look in the back of the tv. i noticed a label on my panel saying Au Optrics and some other numbers. dunno what that means, but it might help someone if thats the panel manufacturer. label was upside down so its difficult to read.

  37. update :

    couple things i omitted in my last comments (wish i could edit instead of spamming another post :/ )

    hdmi cables used are 2 of the official sony hdmi cables for the ps3.

    viewing angles seem perfect for me personally. theres only me viewing the tv ever and im always face on, looking upwards towards the screen because its on a cainbet. (my eye line is level with the samsung logo on the base of the tv)
    no depreciation in colour when viewing at that angle. good stuff.

    power cable is quite short i feel. because the power outlet is on the left side of the tv i had difficulty getting it down to the floor to plug in.

    personally i dont like the inputs being on the right hand side of the tv. those are just where the wall is so its impossible for me to actually use the 3rd hdmi or the usb unless i move the tv out. :/

    there is no power button on the tv. so it will always be on standby unless you unplug it. never had a tv before that didnt have a power button on it.
    even my mother, who knows less than nothing about tv’s, said ‘wheres the power button?’

    nintendo wii through component (480p) doesnt look particularly good on this tv. (official nintendo component cable)
    its not a hd device i know, but my very old viera 32lmd70 does a better with the wii.

    question – is the reviewer really certain that Sharpness should be Zero?
    it defaults to 20 (scale from 0-100)
    would altering sharpness, in his opinion, solve this annoying blur/soft 720p input?

  38. Still no answer to my question. Has any one tested the lag on the 40 inch version? If so, could you please tell me the figure?

  39. @EVILid: sorry to hear that the European model was so different. The UK versions follow a different development path, but beyond last year’s gaffe where the UK versions were missing some calibration controls, that’s the first time I’ve heard of them using such different processing.

    We actually did make a brief mention of “Floating Blacks” in the review, but they were noticed quite late into the review process.

    Agree 100% on the last point, finding a good gaming TV is getting harder and harder!

    @deadjericho: The scaling was really good in the tests we did, just to clarify, what source are you using, and the TV is definitely scaling rather than another device?

    AUO is the panel maker, yes. How are the blacks? We reviewed a different version. The joys of the “panel lottery”…

    Sharpness set to 0 is definitely the “hands off” option. If you find what you’re watching soft, then turning it up a little could look better for you.

  40. That’s okay, thank you for your reply.
    I have 3 questions for you.

    Do you know the site dday.it and their famous list on the input lag 2010? What do you think? valid?

    http://www.dday.it/redazione/1637/DDay-The-Best-Gaming-TV-Test-edizione-2010.html # pagina-2

    Another thing here is a site that explains the diference between the English and European model 37s20(lcd so)

    Your opinion would be interesting ^ ^

    Finally, when you test the input lag and you enter (for example 42s20) 16 ms, is the average or the lowest rate?

    thank you very much, your site is read by thousands of players ^ ^ Continue to do good work

  41. Great review. Here in NZ we have the LA37C530. Do you think the 37″ version will be the same?

    Thanks

  42. Hi,

    Thanks for the review, it’s really great. And the only one I found so far! :)
    A question about the headphone jack: in the specs it sais that it doesn’t have one, but in your picture I see one. Are the specs wrong?

  43. @DavidMackenzie

    for the scaling issue, its a ps3 and it switches to 1280×720@60hz (listed in the source menu on the tv screen) when displaying certain games (burnout 3 and littlebigplanet tested ). just doesnt look right at all.
    decidedly blurry/smoothed, almost a washed out look, compared to my tx-l32x15b viera.

    as for blacks on the AUO panel. ive got no way to test scientifically, however they do look black.
    been playing dead space on the 360, with expanded colour range switched on, hdmi colour space set to RGB and the ship does look suitably dark.
    i do have some backlight bleed, there is a fist sized area at the bottom of the panel thats leaking through. maybe that will go as the tv gets used more??

    the brightness and contrast settings you gave are exactly the same as i found when i used the lagom.nl calibration test pages.
    seeing as i havent got the same panel you reviewed im not going to mess with tint, colour, flesh tone etc because ive got no idea if those settings will really apply to this panel now.
    backlight is set to 10 (the default), havent messed with it really. everything else is off (edge enhancement etc etc)
    hdmi black level is set to ‘normal’

    perhaps i could get better sound if i fiddled with the EQ settings, but ive got no idea what to set them to so ive left them at default and the sound on Standard.

  44. @ Gabi

    sorry forgot to answer your question – there is indeed a headphone jack at the back of my tv aswell.
    same as the picture on this site.
    mine was bought from amazon.co.uk – is listed as just the le32c530. £314

  45. Just bought one myself and find the viewing angles somewhat disappointing. I see you rated it as being acceptable for and LCD TV, but how does it compare to other screens in this price range? A friend of mine has a Samsung 32C350 which is noticeably better on viewing angles. This is odd to me, since the C350 is a lower-end model.

  46. By the way, I have an AU Optronics screen, can’t figure out if this is good or bad.

  47. Yes, the headphone jack is on the back, strangely.

    @DeadJericho:
    for the EQ, you might get a slightly better sound if you adjust the options into an inverse bell curve shape, for example:

    ——-|
    —–|
    –|
    –|
    —–|
    ——-|

    That is, boost the low frequencies (top of list) and the high frequencies (bottom of list). Don’t overdo it of course.

    @Kramer001: we reviewed the SPVA version, not the AUO. That will affect viewing angle.

  48. what sort of panel did you test ?

    spva (samsung
    auo
    cmo
    or other ?

  49. SPVA. The panel info’s in the review ^

  50. oh sorry , thx

  51. if ive got an AUO panel, then what pixel structure is it most likely using?
    (spva, ips etc. etc)

  52. edit – the model no. on the AUO panel is :

    T315HW04 V.2

    i cant actually find that listed on AUO’s site. certainly not in 32 inch variety.

  53. Thanks a lot to confirm that they re retail panels and no “Golden
    Units” that Samsung send to the site for a “magnificent” review

    Some had doubts cause of the performance later in shops . Thanks
    again, great job !

  54. To be fair, shop floor is not the ideal place to judge TVs. Usually they are feed via RF connection and the image mode if often set to Store or Dynamic, which will highlight compression artifacts, noise etc. The same applies even if the sets are connected via HDMI.

    Only the very high-end models set-up correctly and are situated within special demo rooms to simulate home environment. But it doesn’t come cheap. The cost is often passed on to the consumer and the manufacture.

  55. deadjericho: AUO panel is A-MVA

  56. Hi all
    I just got my LE32C530
    When my PC is connected to the TV via DVI cable with DVI to HDMI conector, picture is not exactly right :-( when I connect to the VGA port picture is much better.
    any idea why I get this problem with the HDMI connection?
    could you recommend picture setting when the TV is used as PC monitor over the HDMI.

    Thanks

  57. @Jirka

    thanks for that.

    it begs the question – is a-mva any good?

    ive never heard of it. is it something new?

  58. @Vito:
    Make sure the video card is outputting 1920×1080@60hz.
    Turn down Sharpness to 0 on the TV.
    Turn off all the crap like Auto Contrast, etc.
    And set the aspect ratio to “Screen Fit”.

  59. deadjericho: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TFT_LCD
    It’s quite good. Not as deep black as Samsung’s SPVA, but much better then IPS.

  60. Hello again David, I am few steps away from buying this TV, following your review. However, there’s something that worries me. What I know this far is that Samsung C550/580 are essentially one and the same model, with C550 lacking the freeview tuner. Right now, at the shop I am looking in, 37″ C550 and C530 are equally priced. If what I mentioned above is true, I should buy C550 following your “highly recommended” mark for the C580, the problem is that the feedback I was able to collect for C550 is on the negative side: not very good blacks, a lot of motion artifacting, poor view angles and so on. Could these two TVs (580/550) be THAT different in the UK and continental Europe?

  61. @Jivko:
    Where did you read the bad reviews about the C550?

    Regarding the C530: Anyone tried to perform an upgrade yet.
    Most users can’t update the latest firmware from the Samsung’s Homepage.

  62. I don’t know if it is right to post links here, so if it is, my apologies.

    @Phil: http://www.televisioninfo.com/content/Samsung-LN32C550-LN37C550-LN40C550-LN46C550-LCD-HDTV-Review-1711.htm

    While not entirely negative review, I feel that the pointed weaknesses are important for me and also the final verdict is not very flattering, especially when compared to the C580 review found here. Also the measured black level at 0.1 is not that bad, it’s just inferior to the 0.03 of the C580 I see here. Then again we may speak for the panel lottery…

  63. When you compare black levels of LCD TVs to those measured on other review sites, you need to remember that the black level will depend on the TV’s Backlight setting. I understand that TelevisionInfo.com prefer to set the Backlight to its *maximum* setting, which explains the poorer black level. See the site’s “How We Test” page: http://www.televisioninfo.com/content/How-We-Test.htm#blacklevel

    By comparison, at HDTVtest we set the Backlight with reference to a peak luminance reading so that there’s consistency between reviews.

    Also, the model reviewed there is the US version, which could be different.

  64. I see, thanks David.

  65. Can you poss review the LG LE8900 next?

  66. @ Jivko Lefterov: In addition to David’s comments, the C530 and C550 have different processor compared to C570 and C580.

    Also, the 37″ C530 I’ve tested did yield 0.01 cd/m2, but only when there’s no data (pure black). However, the ANSI value reviled the panel true black level @ 120 cd/m2 is 0.06 cd/m2.

    PS: The 37″ contains AUO’s A-MVA panel.

  67. For those who have AUO’s A-MVA panel, consider yourself lucky as it’s the most balanced panel on the market and excellent for gaming.

    PS: It take some time for the A-MVA panels to warm up. So you may notice slight streaking during the first 20 minutes or so.

  68. @ Jivko Lefterov: The C550 is C530 with C580 finish. Since you’re after the 37″, then the chances are you’ll end-up with AUO’s A-MVA (3rd Gen) panel, which has double the black level compared to the latest S-PVA. However, the A-MVA has better motion and no streaking. It also doesn’t suffer from inverse ghosting (not to mention low input lag).

    In addition, the C530/C550 can also accept and display 24p correctly where it’s a problem on the C570/C580.

  69. @Phil, users that were “luky” enough to buy a set with 1002 firmware on it are unable to upgrade; that wouldn’t be so bad, but it’s necessary to upgrade becouse this fw has a bug: when playing movies in media player, the subtitles cease to be displayed after about 40 minutes.
    Samsung doesn’t seem concerned at all about this. I’ve wrote to them this week but haven’t got an answer and I don’t think I’ll get one.
    Actually I’ve returned a 40C530 becouse of this issue and I’m now searching for one with a higher fw version :)
    From what I heard, the solution was to change the motherboard!

  70. @Phil, users that were “lucky” enough to buy a set with 1002 firmware on it are unable to upgrade; that wouldn’t be so bad, but it’s necessary to upgrade becouse this fw has a bug: when playing movies in media player, the subtitles cease to be displayed after about 40 minutes.
    Samsung doesn’t seem concerned at all about this. I’ve wrote to them this week but haven’t got an answer and I don’t think I’ll get one.
    Actually I’ve returned a 40C530 becouse of this issue and I’m now searching for one with a higher fw version :)
    From what I heard, the solution was to change the motherboard!

  71. hi, i’ve a samsung lcd 530 42” and i want to know if that tv have the option to add digital channels for itself

  72. @ Nielo TM or David Mackenzie
    Hi, I am looking for TV with lowest input lag as possible just for gaming.
    Would you pick a 2 year older Sony KDL40W4500 (0-10 ms game mode) or this new Samsung LE32C530 (14 ms) ?

    Sony is a beat cheaper and its “40!

    Please let me know!
    THANKS!

  73. @Nielo TM: thanks for the useful and detailed information.

  74. It’s concerning to read, as some posters here have noted, that there might be quite noticable differences with HDTV’s depending on regional locations, even though the model is the same. I can understand a difference in hardware between Europe and the US, but is it really common that there might be a significant difference in hardware between UK and Germany, which might lead to quite different performances?

    I understand that this website can not necessarily guarantee for the reviews to be valid outside of the UK. But I’m paying a lot of attention to the reviews on this site, since it’s the only site I know that also considers the gaming peformance very carefully.

    I’m not sure if I should just give it a try and order one from amazon (I live in Germany btw.), I don’t have the knowledge to actually test and confirm that it’d be the same TV.

    And that 40 inch review will probably never come, huh?

    (this is not a complaint. the review was great)

  75. Our local store got the LE32C550 for just 379 € today.
    Where I can see which panel is used and which one should I avoid?
    Thanks

  76. Avoid CMI/CMO panel. You can easily see the panel label through the top vent.

  77. Thank you!
    All devices were sold out ;-(

  78. I purchased this TV from Multizoneav based on your great review.
    I find it very unfortunate that Multizone have been the WORST store I have ever have ever purchased goods from.

  79. When will you review a tv that has an AUO panel.Is it that bad and not worht writing an article

  80. @Kanbei Have been able to check what panel does LE32C530 F1 WXXC , has ? Im from Portugal, and checking Worten site, they have the same model as you.

  81. Hi,

    I am torn between LE32c530 and Toshiba RV753DB – both of these have almost the same price on Amazon. Any advice on which one to buy will be much appreciated.

    I plan to connect the TV to my PC and watch youtube videos/movies, and I will be watching SD content (as HD freeview is not available in my area). Which one would be better?

    Thanks.

  82. how can this use more power than the 40″ samsung that was reviewed?

    LE32C530 Calibrated 84w
    LE40C580 Calibrated 68w

  83. I bought a LE32C550 in Austria.
    I couldn’t test it yet because no screws were included.

    In case anyone is interested. Here’s the info on the panel, which you can see when looking through the vent:
    LTF320HM01
    1013
    P7AF
    3N07-00808A 7XAC19204E A03
    E-PASS SSCZMSA39GTJ75K10412834 ZB

    I think it’s a Samsung panel. Right?

  84. I would also like to know the answer to Phil’s question. How does one tell the panel type from the sticker above.

  85. @Phil your panel is the same to the one reviewed

  86. Thank you Nunu!

    I’ve just connected the TV to our old Xbox with component cables and the picture is terrible.
    It’s very noisy. Like analog TV with a bad reception.
    I didn’t have the problem with the old Sony KDL-26U3000 and exactly the same cables.
    Anyone knows what can cause this?
    ===========================================================
    Okay, forget it. I’ve set the sharpness to 0 and the picture is much better now.
    Now and then there are still some glitches.
    ===========================================================
    The SD picture is worse than with the Sony.
    Anyone can recommend me SD settings?

    Another question:
    Is it somehow possible to save the audio volume individually for the used connections?

    Thank you

  87. I just went out and bought this model.

    The TV on display had same kind of panel of the reviewed one, Samsung, but the one i brought home, is AUO. Panel lottery at his best :)

  88. Hey BROS anyone know if the 46″ c530 has the same input lag result as this one? (14ms, hot damn!)

  89. Good Review.
    What is the setting for colour tone?

  90. @Samuel: Warm2 is the closest-to-accurate.

  91. Thank you for your answer.

  92. Hi David,

    Fantastic piece of research.

    I am also in same position as CJ above.

    Can you please tell me which you would advise either the LE32c530 or Toshiba RV753DB.

    Really interested on your reply!

    Good work and thank you

  93. Thanks Richard – and to CJ as well, sorry I didn’t reply before: I’ve never seen the Toshiba RV753DB and info on it is pretty hard to find. Toshiba has produced some great TVs before, and I’ll see if we can get one of those in to review.

  94. I’m about to buy a 46C579 (triple tuner) for a very hot price of just 799 €. The panel is a SQ02 according to the label. What do you think about this panel and hows about the input lag since I will use this TV basically for gaming.

  95. Hello everyone. So has anyone got THE perfect settings for xbox360 on this tv ? Sometimes settings the backlight to 3-4 during day seems too dark. Yet I’ve heard that setting backlight too high may cut ccfl tubes lifespan lol.
    Cheers.

  96. Hi, great review!

    I am thinking about buying one of these to use with my PC for gaming, but i have a quick question. Does the set come with a wall mounting bracket or would i have to buy that separately?

    The Samsung UK website says this under the ‘Accessory’ section in the Tech Specs:

    Vesa Wall Mount Support Yes (200 x 200)

    But i don’t know if that means a mounting bracket is supplied or not!

    Thanks for your help.

    But it doesn’t

  97. @Marco: wish I could help there, but I can’t really comment on the SQ02 without reviewing one.

    @John: it’s true, the backlight tubes will last longer if they’re not stressed as much. But if a low Backlight setting isn’t making the picture visible enough, then there’s really no alternative, so crank it up if you need to.

    Also, if this makes you feel better… it’s likely that the TV will still last longer than you will want to watch it for! By the time where the CCFL backlighting is getting ready to go south, you’ll likely have a different TV!

    @Neon: no, the TVs come with a table-top stand. The wallmounts are optional extras, they’re not supplied.

  98. Hi David Makenzie,

    I am very happy about the inputlag of this tv. I Want to buy this tv LE37C530, but do you know if the 37inch version haves the same panel as the one you reviewed? How can i see if this tv has the same panel, and th epanel number is LTF320HM01, does the 37inch version have to have LTF370HM01? Thnx

  99. The 37″ version won’t use one of Samsung’s own panels. The input lag will probably be the same, but there’s no way for me to know without measuring.

  100. Hi again from Spain

    The Spanish version of this tv can have a diferent input lag of yours UK tv? You reviewed model have Samsung Panel. if a model got a AUO or another type of panel can got a diferent input lag? The number 1 reason for im goingo to buy this tv is for the great input lag numbers of your review, that´s the reason of my questions

    thanks and sorry my bad english :)

  101. Hi Kanbei:
    it’s *possible* that the AUO version might have worse input lag. The best thing to do is ask to plug in your games console in the store and see if it’s fast enough for you.

  102. I cannot see in the shop with my consols, but i try to enter in the secret Menu in the shop and see what Type is. In Stand by press Info, Menu, Mute and Power ¿Right? ¿And for exit just turn off presing power again?

    Thanks and again sorry my bad english

  103. Yes,that’ll get you into service mode.

  104. Hey David,
    first of all great review! This site is just awesome, keep this up! ;)
    I’m from Germany and I want to buy a tv soon but I just can’t decide if I should buy the Samsung LE46C530 or the Panaosnic P46S20E. I will use the tv for console gaming and normal SD television, I think the ratio is about 50:50. I just rarely watch DVD or BluRays. So it is important that the tv has a low input lag, but the picture performance is the most important thing I would say. Which one of the two would you suggest? Are there any other alternatives?
    I think that the models are not that different between Europe and Great Britain, can’t imagine the huge input lag difference which EVILid stated. There are lot of users in a German tv forum which are very pleased with the input lag of the Panasonic.

  105. Thanks

    And a final question. I dont know much of this things but ¿What native digital output got this tv? 2 or 5.1?

  106. Hey Philipp,

    I’m from Germany and i bought a Samsung 32 C530 from Amazon.de
    The TV is a model for the German market and has a AUO Optronics Panel build inside.

    I have tested the Inputlag on this page:
    http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/response_time.php#response_time_gif

    I took 4 pictures on each grey level, to compare the Inputlag with a Philips CRT.
    Here are the results:
    Greylevel: 0-192 = 28ms
    64-192= 27ms
    128-255= 21ms
    0-255= 27ms

    So there is a difference between the german an uk models concerning the inputlag.

    This TV is my 6th 2010 LCD model in 32 inch that I could examine.
    The colour reproduction is great, black level is good (black is nearly black and not grey), the sound is good, Blue Ray great, DVD great.
    I doesn’t like the motion blur, I detect it in all sources I’ve tested.
    Blue Ray, PC DVD Playback, HD & SD TV and on the Xbox360 slim.
    The Samsung 32 B550 had more blur with the Xbox 360 as this model, but in my opinion, there is more room above to have a watchable gaming experience.

    My best gaming experience this year was on the Philips 32 PFL 5405, but the picture had to much jaggies on all sources and the picture was over-sharpened.

    greets to all hdtvtest reader’s and the hdtvtest team – great work !

    cya

  107. The 32″ C530 has been in India for some time now. I have owned this model for about four months. Kudos to David for a very accurate and fair review of this TV. As a console gamer my biggest worry was about input lag. I have my PS3 hooked up to it and so far I’ve never experienced any input lag – I’ve played God of War 3, Uncharted 2, Fifa 10 and Midnight Club: Los Angeles. GoW 3 in particular requires some amount of button mashing and the game could have been ruined had there been input lag.
    If you are a gamer, I strongly recommend this TV. Picture quality is fantastic, input lag is not noticeable and it has plently of ports for easy connectivity.

  108. Has the 46 inch version of this model contain more input lag

  109. Hi
    Are these setting for warm 1 or warm 2 color tone?

    David Mackenzie??

    Thanks for all the help over the years with setting up TV’s.

    Chris

  110. just read the answer duh!!!

    thanks though all the same.

  111. Hi David

    GREAT REVIEW, FINALLY FOUND A WEBSITE FOR INPUT LAG TIMES !!!
    I’m currently looking for a HDTV that is great for gaming, which has
    no/un-noticeable input lag.
    I have been looking at this TV (LE32C530) but I am unsure, is 16ms noticeable?
    or are plasmas a better choice?
    I have also been looking at the panasonic 37X20B, but I can’t find any reviews regarding input lag, any help?
    Just one more thing, is the panasonic 37X20B and the panasonic P37C2B?

  112. Hi David…good review…

    Are you going to review Philips LED 32PFL5605?
    Well, i’m at dilenma over whether to get Sony 32Ex400 or Samsung LA32C530 (assuming its same model as what u reviewed) or even Philips LED325605…
    I intend to use for PS3 gaming mainly…since u mention its lag of 14ms attracts me..
    The pricing in my country is Sony 32Ex400 $1999, Samsung LA32C30 $2099 and the Philips LED 32PFL5605 $2099 also…which one i should go?

  113. oh…just like to add…are these models HDCP compliant?

  114. @Rhys:
    16ms will not be noticeable in the slightest.
    This LCD, and Panasonic’s Plasma TVs, are currently the fastest on the market.
    I’ve not reviewed the X20 or C2 TVs, sorry!

    @Petter: all modern TVs are HDCP complaint. We’ll see if we can get our hands on that Philips model, but it’s unlikely to be as fast as this.

  115. Hi Mackenzie, today i read that this Samsung LA32C530 has three types of panel, ie SQ, AA and CN…with SQ is the preferred, with CN the least. Which version is your test?

  116. Can we assume that 46″ modells will be having the equally low input-lag?
    Is the surround sound played by media player output as surround via optical out or is it downsampled to stereo?

  117. @Petter: ours will have been one of the SQ (SPVA) types.

    @MheAd: Sorry I can’t answer either of those – I’d HOPE the 46″ is as fast, but can’t guarantee it. I also didn’t test the Media Player.

  118. Hi David, cool review.

    Your tests were made with hdmi connection, right?
    Can the component cable cause more imput lag than the Hdmi?

    Thanks

  119. Can it? It could, yes.
    Does it? Probably not, but I didn’t test that. Sorry I can’t be more exact!

  120. Hi David,

    still thinking about the panel lottery thingy. is there a way we know the panel type by looking at the box itself? is there a sticker on the box too?

    obviously no shops will allow us to open up all the boxes to check the sticker/panel vent rite before buying.

  121. something off topic, are all LG lcd tv using IPS panel?

  122. No, sorry

  123. And what about Samsung LE32C630, is it like the C530 with some features added?

  124. LE32C530 — 50 Herz

    LE32C630 — 100 Herz

  125. Could someone explain which of Samsung’s C-line TVs are affected by the undefeatable noise-reduction?

    I was looking at the C650 but I never saw any confirmation that the problem had actually been fixed with firmware, and in the C750 review it was stated that the effect had been lessened but was still there (which is still a deal-breaker for me.)

    Do any of the 5-series models suffer from this “feature”?

  126. @German Guy:

    The German model indeed seems to have a higher input lag. Compared to my CRT TV, playing Wii feels slightly sluggisher. When I serve in a tennis game, I permanently fail to hit the ball at its highest position (being used to the CRT). Plus my reaction times on http://www.humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime/index.php are consistently around 40 to 50ms higher. Game mode doesn’t change anything.

    The fact that even the same model can have different input lags makes it even harder to find a good gaming TV….

  127. Great review David.

    I’ve been looking for a 32inch TV for a while now, been juggling with either a Samsung or a Panasonic. How does this compare with the VIERA TX-L32G20?

    Thanks,
    Steve

  128. Im confused now!

    great review on both this and the c580. Im after a 40″ screen to be used with PS3, XBox and a humax HD freeview PVR recorder / decoder.

    The 40c530 is £400 and the 40c580 is £460.

    I presumed i wouldnt need the C580’s built in freeviewHD so I would go for the C530 but in your update to the C580 review you mention about sending a C530 back and that the C580 is actually a much better TV?

    For my usage …. is it worth me spending an extra £60 on the C580 even though I wont use its built in freeviewHD at all.

    Thanks in advance (been putting off buying a tv for a year now because I cant decide but the time has come and I’m buying one of these this week as soon as you answer really! :) )

  129. Hi David.

    I am choosing between this TV you have reviewed, the Samsung LE32C530 and the LG32LD450 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/LG-32LD450-32-inch-Widescreen-Freeview/dp/B003FMSIQ8/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top).

    Can you explain if there are any major differences and which one of the two you would favour as a bedroom TV?

    Many thanks.

  130. For those of you that are interested in the differences between the AU Optronics A-MVA panel and the Samsung S-PVA panel, I’ve got this tv with the A-MVA panel and a friend just got it today and it has a Samsung S-PVA panel. The picture is almost identical, although there are some really small differences.

    The A-MVA panel has a brighter and most noticabely a sharper image, but the S-PVA panel has deeper blacks (still not that great in a dark room though). Both panels suffer from a little bit of motion blur (but that seems to be a common problem with LCD TV’s I guess). Other than that, they’re pretty much identical, both of them are really great. If the sticker on my friends C530 had said AU Optronics I would’ve definitely believed it. So you should be happy regardless of what panel the tv has.

    I’m from the Netherlands by the way, so you can get both a Samsung and and a AU Optronics here as well.

  131. Hey I recently bought myself the LE40C530 which is the same model just bigger screen? I have been pleased with my TV however when I connect it to my PC (HDMI > DVI) the max resolution I can have is 1080i @30Hz which makes it a bit blurry. If I force my PC to display 1080p @ 50hz I get a picture of my desktop but the colours are weird and I have flashing pixes everywhere… Do you know why this is?

    Many thanks,

    Scott.

  132. @Steve: this Samsung will have slightly worse viewing angle, but better black levels. I would go for the Samsung over a Panasonic LCD.

    @JohnnyG: I would again go for the Samsung. LG’s LCDs have consistently had poorer black levels. As it happens, we are about to review that LG model in the next few weeks, so keep reading!

    @Scott: it sounds like your HDMI cable can’t handle 1080p/50hz. Have you tried another cable?

  133. No I haven’t.. I’ll try that. It said on the site it was full HD cable :(

  134. Guys I have to buy a New LCD for my new TV Lounge.

    I am confused between the SONY Bravia BX400 and Samsung C530.

    Can you guys help me with it, making it easy for me by comparing both of them.

    Cheers

  135. Hi, thanks for great review.

    After couple of weeks of searching trough the net for my first HDTV, I finally decided to go for Samsung C530. Only thing is that I am considering 37 inch version, does it have your recommendation as well, since it should not be that much different from 32 version.
    Sorry if you already answered similar question.

    Thanks in advance.

  136. @Umair Khan

    The EX400 and LE32C530 are almost identical. both have full hd, 50Hz refresh rate. one key difference is the input lag which is only around 14-16ms for the C530 whereas its an average of 23ms for the bravia. although anything below 30ms is very good for gaming, as you can see, the samsung has the lower input lag of the two. samsung is also considered better for LCDs in general. I just ordered my C530 :D

  137. Does anybody know whether the C530 is able to display 60 Hz games like Gears of War?

  138. @Deepak

    Could you please tell me where you have the information about the EX400’s input lag from?

  139. how bad is c530 viewing angle? i read a revew that it has only 28 degrees of viewing angle before the image becomes bad versus sony ex400 66 degrees

  140. Bought it!

    Thanks for your review!

  141. I bought an LE-32C535 (Nordic model) with an AUO panel. I measured the input lag compared to a CRT with a DSLR and got 33 ms, the same with input name PC or without, the same with game mode on and off. Is there something else to be done in regards to get the lowest possible input lag?

    The interesting thing is that when I tested my reaction times (online reaction time test), I get an average of only 20 ms slower than with a CRT…

  142. I have a UK-bought Samsung LE40C530.

    To answer some concerns that the panel/electronics are the same on the 40″ model, are there any labels, menu items or stickers you want me to look at?

    I don’t care that much about how good or bad the screen is because I’m colourblind. I was just after deep blacks and low input lag – and this screen with it’s lack of image processing seems to offer fantastic response compared to my old Toshiba, as well as much better gamma/black levels.

  143. Great – 2 things. Can you look through the air vents on the back of the TV and read the code on the white sticker you see inside?

    Also, when you enable Game Mode, does the screen turn black and then reappear, or do you see the changed picture settings immediately?

  144. hello. I have the samsung c530 LCD. I would like to know a setting to have the least input lag as possible. I tested with game mode on and off, and apparently get the same results.
    Any help?
    Do you have the same input lag by connecting the HDMI xbox360 using VGA cable?
    Greetings!

  145. @ David Mackenzie:

    The only air vent with any code is top right (looking at the back of the unit) which is a brown circuit board that has the following sticker:
    TH08BN4400264CAM5RDCQ7135
    I don’t think this is the panel code, since it’s on a circuit board, but maybe that code makes more sense to you.

    Picture changes are immediate when switching between all modes. No blackout between modes at all.

  146. This review helped me chosing my tv, and i buyed this one. I have the same panel as the one reviewed above.

    But please can the reviewer share his white balance settings? it would be very nice of him, i’m desperately looking for the good ones…

  147. Yes. Can David Mackenzie put your white balance settings and other settings after using Calman Professional ?

    If you rename HDM1 source to PC (PC MODE), is there any chance to lower the input lag?
    Greetings!

  148. @ David Mackenzie

    Yes, would you be kind enough to share your calibrated White Balance Settings please?I need it too ^^

  149. @David Mackenzie

    I want them too

  150. Yes, please share the white balance settings

  151. I would be very interested in the way you measure chroma subsampling when the display is driven through HDMI from a PC, showing RGB signal as a monitor would do.
    In the 32C580 review it is mentioned that “that the majority of Samsung models can indeed accept and display 4:4:4. But in order to do so, the user must connect the source to HDMI 1 (HDMI/DVI) and rename it to PC via the user menu. Since the PC Mode locks out color and hue, the display must be profiled, so it’s only suitable for PC use.”
    and “By labeling HDMI/DVI to PC, the signal bypasses processing and retains its full 4:4:4 data.”
    Yet in the C530 it is stated that ” 4:4:4 input subsampled”.
    As I am going to use the tv as a pc monitor, is there a way to test it for accurate 4:4:4 reproduction?
    And could this TV do this if the procedure above is followed?
    Thanks in advance

  152. Great review, but there’s one thing I didn’t notice: what kind of file formats does C530 support over USB? There’s nothing specific even on the official site, just “movies and pictures”.

    Thanks in advance

  153. One other thing: which Samsung is on par with Sony EX500?

  154. No White Balance settings?

  155. Thanks for this review, i’ll buy this tv on the strenght of itand reconmend this site to friends.. keep up the good work.

  156. Thanks for this review, bought the 37inch C530 after reading this!!

  157. hello

    the panel is equal to 32C530 40C530?

  158. I think that you (hdtvtest) should clearly specify whether the panel has a glossy filter or a matte one .
    Samsung tv are often glossy , and while it helps achieving a better contrast, it’s a giant pain in the ass if you have windows nearby.

    Is this model very reflective ?

  159. Addendum :

    anyway great job ! :)
    Love your reviews !

  160. it is true that LE40C530 has 35 ms of input lag?

    Tnks

  161. @Andrew: good point. This one is mildly glossy. Almost all LCDs are now.
    @Luis: the input lag we measured from our review sample is listed in the review. It’s possible there is another model version which brings a different result.

  162. Please give us your White Balance settings

  163. Yes David please give us your White Balance settings

  164. Hey could u tell if this set supports a wireless LAN adapter to connect to my home network to stream Internet etc
    Thanks

  165. I didn’t save the white balance settings and they’re unlikely to work properly on other units, sorry.

  166. hello again,
    could you please shed light on my previous posts question on 4:4:4 reproduction?

  167. Hey,

    Great review, very detailed and in-depth.

    Any idea how this compares with the recent UE32C4000 model? I just wonder because I’ve had 2 of those with build quality issues so far and both have been exceptional for SD viewing but seem unable to keep from washing out the colours (despite DVE colour calibration, basic I know) when using my Xbox 360. So, I’m planning on swapping the UE32C4000 for the LE32C530 instead (it’s even cheaper by about £20, which is money I can put towards a Pantone Eye One to begin learning proper calibration).

    Is that a good swapout in your view?

  168. Hello, I posted this in the C580 review, bur the author hasn’t responded to comments for nearly a month so I thought I’d have better luck here.

    My original thought was to get a 32″, since my puny CRT was only 22″ and the 10″ upgrade would make a big difference to me. I could go 37″ but I’ve read about buzzing problems which I am very sensitive too, is this still an issue or should I just forget it? I don’t think I could consider a 40″ as I’ll be sitting around 5.5/6ft away from the screen, and my brother’s 42″ plasma at that distance looks way too huge. Would a 40″ be just as bad at that distance?

    As I’ve said, gaming is my top priority, and the Wii will be connected to it, so it’s good to know that both LCD’s have great up-scaling (Another reason for the 32. I might not notice artefacts on Wii games as much as I would on the 40, if at all. (They would REALLY bother me if I could see any). And, if it’s good enough, I’ll even hook up the 360. I’m used to having my face really close to the U2311 though as it helps with sniping, so I’m hoping the 32 or 40 will enable me to sit back and still play as well due to larger screen area.

    I don’t plan to watch much TV on it, if at all, so that’s not a concern. However, I DO want to start watching Bluray’s – and this – is where the C580 worries me. Is there any updates from Samsung at all regarding the 24p playback issue? Is it fixed in newer models? For all intents are purposes, the C580 sounds IDEAL. Except, of course, for the 24p issue. For a test, I do have an MKV file of Advent Children at 24p, and I watched some of it on my U2311 (Displaying at 60p). From what I could see, it seemed fine to me. I did notice some ‘jitter’, but I don’t even know if that was jitter at all, or just something intended. What exactly is jitter?

    I have heard that the C530 takes a lot more calibrating than the C580, that’s fine. I plan to get a colorimeter anyway to help me calibrate the U2311H’s. What meter and software do you (Nielo) use to calibrate the TV? Will it work for both the TV and monitor too? I don’t find the calibrating issue that much of a deal-breaker since I plan to properly calibrate either of the LCD’s I eventually buy.

    Finally, I’ve read that you can determine what panel type you have by looking through the vent. What serial numbers should I be on the look out for? I’m reading that the S-PVA panel has better quality, and the MVA is more advanced (Slightly lesser quality but no ghosting) which would make the MVA the most desirable option. Am I correct in thinking that? Also, is it possible to get the MVA panel in either the 32 or the 40, in the UK?

    I know this is a long comment, but I’m hoping that it can help others by grouping all the necessary info into one place for others with the same questions as me. Sorry for being such an AV noob, please forgive me. :P

    Thanks.

  169. You can’t control Color saturation in PC Mode (HDMI1 renamed to PC)? What about VGA?! Can you?

    Also can you set Game Mode in VGA or it isn’t necessary?

    Thanks

  170. Just when I decided to buy this TV I noticed the auto-dimming thing that doesn’t sound too promising. Is there any way to deactivate this (in service mode) or is there a firmware on its way? In more practical sense, how does this dimming kick in? Totaly pitch-black screen only (like no signal AV-channel) or is it also occuring on not entirely black screen – eg. darker scenes, movie credits etc?

  171. I bought a UE32C5100 tv set and I bet the calibtation value could resemble the ones you got with LE32C540. could it be possible either to get such calibration data available or to suggest a UE32C5xxx test, but realsing the calibration data?

  172. Does anybody know a way to ascertain which panel is in the TV BEFORE purchase? i.e. model number on the box

  173. Hello Sir
    I would like to ask you what is better for my bedroom LE32C530 or LE37C530 my bedroom not big ,,, thanks

  174. Does anyone know what settings are best for this tv?
    According to the hdtv test site its movie but i find that far to dark.

    I have mine on Natural but the sharpness is at 55 and backlight on maximum and they have 0 for sharpness.

    That wont effect lifespan so much will it? like it will die in 2 years?

    Ive got it set to Standard for TV and Movies and Natural for PS3.

  175. Someone please advise how this auto-dimming is effecting visually the picture. Is it something it can be noticed? And above all – can you turn it off in service mode (please state the step-by-step-info). Thanks.

  176. Yea like MheAd is asking I also would like to know more about the auto-dimming issue. Also is it true PC Mode adds input lag or not? Same for the C550?

    Thanks.

  177. Well I just got a SQ03 LE46C530 and I notice no auto-dimming whatsoever. All Eco options off. However I do have seem to have clouding/backlight bleed on all 4 corners, but more on the bottom left corner. In the first hours of use it seems to have been getting worse, I’m not sure. I’ve read it will be less noticeable with use, is that right? Should I ask for a replacement? Thanks.

  178. Does movie files especially .mkv work ???

    if u put it on a usb and plug it in

  179. is this tv good with ps3 hdmi any lag a tall ?

  180. Only 14ms, it’s in the review :)

  181. Does movie files especially .mkv work ???
    if u put it on a usb and plug it in

  182. Hello,

    From Spain,

    Could you share your calibration settings to see mkv (hd) via usb?

    Thanks

  183. Hi and thanks for all the great reviews,

    Could you verify which processor was used in your review sample. Samsung lists two different firmwares for this model
    T-TDT5DEUC-1023.0 -> trident
    T-MSX5DEUC-2005.4 -> mstar

    I’d just like to know this because I think that the low input lag is mostly dependant on the processor and firmware used, and if I don’t get the same processor the input lag may be worse.

  184. I bought a Samsung LE32C530. When I watch iptv image-colors are perfect. Also when I watch movies on usb flash. When I switch to HDMI when we connected the Xbox 360, the picture is to shiny. It seems to me that the colors bright and shiny.

    ?

  185. @ mare

    I think you may need to change your 360 display reference levels. I had to change mine from Expanded to Standard or i would loss detail. This i believe is to do with colour range – 0-255 as Expanded and 16-235 as standard which most TVs are.

    On my PS3 i had to change from Full (0-255) to Limited (16-235) to retain detail

    Cheers

  186. anyone having an audio sync issue? whenever i watch a digital transmission the audio sounds a alittle bit out of sync. is it a problem with my set or a the problem is with the digital broadcasting?

  187. hi everyone

    i keep seeing on the net that you can’t tell the difference between 720 and 1080p on 32″, the people on here who’ve got this model did you know this before you purchased?

  188. First of all I’d like to thank David Mackenzie for this thorough review. Also, I’d like to thank all you guys who have contributed to this very informative page, and for all the comments that put some light on these subjects.
    I’m writing here to ask for some advice:
    Two days ago I bought a LE32C550 which was delivered to me today. I had checked in 3 different stores for this model, and checked the processor and the LCD panel that came with the units. All the 3 monitors I checked at the stores were made in Hungrary, came with Trident processors, and had SQ0# on the side sticker which made me think that they all come with a SPVA panel (Samsung). At the store I bought mine from, I even checked the panel code in the service menu to see if it had a Samsung panel, and indeed the code was “32A6AF0C”.
    The problem is that the unit I got:

    a) Has a MStar processor instead of a Trident processor (the firmware says T-MSX5DEU….)
    b) The panel doens’t seem to be the SPVA from Samsung, dispite the code in the service menu is “32A6AF0C”. I say this because the sticker on the right of the panel says BN64… the one on the back (in the vent) says BN07… (although the one in the vent says made in Korea). The sticker with the serial number says it’s made in Hungrary.

    I feel like I’ve been fooled… These specs are nothing like the ones from the sets I saw at the stores…

    Please, could anyone with true knowledge on this issue please answer me these questions:

    -Does this mean I got the SMVA panel from CMO!? Is it really much inferior to the SPVA from Samsung or the AMVAs from AUO?
    -Is this MStar processor inferior to the Trident? I wont be using this set for gamming, but for my home theatre (for HD stuff) and also watching TV (HD and SD).

    I would ask for a replacement right away, the problem is that this monitor disapeared from most stores in Portugal (I’m from Portugal and bought the TV here). So, do you guys think I should go through all the trouble just to try to get a better unit? It’s gonna be a tough fight…

    I would be very much obliged for your answers and advices =). Thank you guys!

    PS:I posted this comment also on the LE40C580 review, hope you don’t mind, it’s just that I really need an answer…

  189. I have pictures of the service menu and the stickers I just mentioned from my TV set. I can post them online if anyone needs to take a look in order to give a better answer, or if a prospective buyer wants to know how they look like…

  190. Hi David,
    In the review it says that the this TV may be sold as LE32C530F1WXXU, Samsung LE32C530F1 or Samsung LE32C530F1W…are there any differences between these models?

    Thanks,
    F.A.

  191. Happy New Year to all!

  192. Happy New year to all! =D

  193. Hi David,
    can you suggest more “advanced settings” for TV view in SD and HD

    You wrote this:
    “Calibration settings:
    Backlight – according to your room.
    Contrast: 90
    Brightness: 44
    Colour: 43
    Tint: G53/R47
    Sharpness: 0 for HD”

    Is there any advanced thing to enable/disable or value to change? like “all the extra features” normally on as default…
    Regards

  194. I have just purchased the LE40C530F1WXXU. Great picture, very pleased. Should there be a red light in the small area of transparent plastic at the bottom of the bezel on the front of the TV? If so, mine doesn’t work… Thoughts??
    Regards,
    G

  195. the namibian one

    up for the red bottom light issue.
    thanks for this great review

  196. Hi I bought a 37 ” c530. I’m quite happy with it because it’s my first HD TV.

    I tried your settings but I’m not quite satisfied yet. I’ve played a bit with the advanced settings “Black Tone & Dynamic Contrast but I can’t find a suitable setting.

    Also you’ve said Backlight according to my room. What does this mean? I like a bright picture so I’ve set it to maximum. I watch in a dark room. Is this bad for my eyes? I also feel that the other settings are affected by this and I should change them accordingly.

    I’ve got no experience with those types of TVs and I am quite lost.

    Regards

  197. hello
    i want new lcd : LCD samsung LE40C530 .
    what’s Caractéristiques and what format video ready in USB ?
    thnx

  198. Hi!

    I am thinking of buying this hdtv, but would defenetly want to check what panel it has before buying…i primarly need it for xbox 360, so gaming and for movies. In this case it has to be samsung panel that it would be a good buy right? How do i check that in a store? thank you

  199. http://img440.imageshack.us/i/12012011088.jpg/

    I took a picture in a shop, its not very good quality…but if i could read it well its the same as from the picture in this test…does that mean its samsung spva panel, or do i have to check somewhere else for panel?? Please help…thanx

  200. should i use the ‘ screen fit ‘ funtion in picture mode when playing xbox 360 at 1080p resolution?
    or just leave it on 16:9 ratio, ive got the tv set to game mode aswell.

    Just a bit confused about screen fit, and if it affects the gaming experience in any way.

    Thanks

  201. Hi writer, I have bought this tv just yesterday and today I notcied, while standing at an angle to the right of the tv, and looking at the tvs left hand edge, I can see a line about 2cm thick running down the edge of the screen, it is as if the backlight is stronger in that area, it is very subtle and barely noticeable face on but when u stand at this angle, and infact when you stand at the opposite side of the tv you see the same thing on the other respectful side, and bottom, top etc, I’d just like to know, is this normal? If it is not, is it a worthy reason of replacement? does this worsen? After only a day I have noticed this and I really more than anything would like to know if I’m just noticing things or if there is a problem here, Thanks very much.

  202. To tony, ive got the same problem on the first set i had looking at the screen the right hand side has a band running down it but not on the left it goes away when you look directly at the screen burt i sent mine back for a replacement as i wasnt happy think they call it banding it wont go away fault in manufacture of screen if your not happy i would get a replacement unit as said before its ” a screen lottery when you buy a tv ”

    good luck

  203. Just bought Nordic version of this tv, a C535, 46-inch. I experience small audio-sync problems with mkv files in media player. I was hoping that a new firmware (there is one from 12th December 2010) would fix the problem. It didn’t. It also made some new problems, for instance adding 2 more functions to media players picture settings – Dynamic Contrast and Black Level. The problem is that these two are preset (‘Medium’ and ‘Dark’) with no possibility to change / turn them off (they are “greyed out”). I don’t know even if the picture is being altered by these functions. Don’t know but their presence bothers me + the forementioned audiosync problems that are noticable sometimes. I’m seriously considering returning this TV and not buying one ever again…so tired of looking for a decent tv-set…it’s always something. I miss the good old CRT-days, seriously.

  204. I just bought this model a few days ago and i am so far satisfied with it. To the writer of this excellent review: could you PLEASE tell me (if they are available) any specifications for the file types that this TV can play? My set won’t recognize Quicktime AT ALL, and in avi and mp4 sometimes (mainly in internet-claimed files) it does not support the audio codecs, occasionally even the video codec.

    I would also like to ask, is there a way i can install a Card Reader at the Common Interface slot? I believe it is used around the world for extra codecs, but i have no goddamn idea. Again, any help is deeply appreciated. (and btw thank you for making me feel so good about my television!)

    A final note…my son grabbed a DVD and THREW it at the tv, and the impact killed a pixel. Some might scoff “a pixel, big deal”, but i was shattered. Is there a way of protecting the LCD screen, or make it more durable to damage?

  205. Anyone tried displaying a completely black image in a pitch dark room? I tried but the screen is not black, but is very very very dark gray almost black-ish. Is it normal ? I have the samsung s-pva panel. Tried different settings, also backlight was set to 3.

  206. “In our input lag and subjective gaming tests, the Samsung LE32C530 performed unbelievably well, lagging by only 14ms! ”

    I thought that a good response time was about 5ms! Can you tell me more about it?

    Any remarkable difference with the SAMSUNG LE32C550?

  207. “Response time” refers to the time it takes the liquid crystals on the panel to change. “Input lag time” refers to how long it takes for the video processor to send frames to the panel.

  208. You didn’t mention that there is no phono line out, only optical. Despite being a budget model, this is just money saving gone mad.

  209. ^ Noted. However, you can still use the Headphone output jack with a 3.5mm->Phono adapter.

  210. I am thinking of purchasing the LE40C530 from amazon, but want to take it back to new zealand with me in a couple of months. I want to make sure it is going to work in nz and have found out the following: “If your TV is multi-standard compatible, you will be able to pick up New Zealand TV audio by changing from PAL I to PAL B/G”. is this an option with the LE40C530? thanks

  211. I bought this TV for the bedroom, and just wanted a Samsung, because I also have in the living room and am very satisfied.
    Got 2 questions about the C530.

    1. at the lower edge in the middle, because it lights red when you?
    on the box it’s like this TV does not open.

    2. you can not turn the TV? So are the bottom of the foot and is just the image turns?

    and you can see best price for this TV at http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003EEM1M4?ie=UTF8&tag=othersitecomment-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B003EEM1M4

  212. Hi. I need a small size TV, good for gaming. I saw this new SAMSUNG UE26C4000. It’s EDGE LED. I’ve heard that this kind of technology is not good for games due to an high response time value. Is it true? I cannot find any serious review about this television on the net, especially from gamers. Can you say something about smaller size TV’s?

  213. Hello there. I’m planning on buying a Samsung le40c550. Does anyone know what the input lag on that model is? (i want to use it for gaming). In other words; should i buy the le40c530 or the le40c550?

    Cheerz

  214. I just got this TV and find the lack of phono out annoying. This still should be standard in all TVs. Not everyone has a sorround receiver or amp with optical in. i tried using a headphone to stereo adaptor and it believe me, it sounds crap.

    Compared to my old TV LE40A656A (probably a better set) gaming does feel much more responsive, and I don’t have to use that TVs awful game mode or worry about renaming HDMI to PC for the 360. That said There is some pretty bad ghosting/trailing with blacks can can be off putting. Trade off I suppose.

    A decent set in spite of some annoying quirks.

  215. I got this tv, bought a USB stick, plays AVI files fine, but others are saying it will play MKV, i’ve tried and its not working, any help advice would be much welcome!

  216. Two more things somebody may be able to help me with.

    1. Connecting my Virgin HD box via HDMI the ‘HDMI black level’ option is greyed out and fixed at normal. On my previous samsung I could set this to ‘low’, maybe something im missing?

    2. On a pure white screen, the left hand side white temperature seems warmer than the right. It seems to go ever so slightly cool the nearer the right of the picture. is this a fault or normal behaviour?

    Maybe im OCD lol, but would be grateful for any input.

  217. 1. That only needs to be selected for an RGB signal. The Virgin HD box will be sending Digital Component. In this case, the “HDMI Black Level” doesn’t need to be set, which is why it’s greyed out.
    2. That’s common, unfortunately. It’s not desirable, but is “normal” for many LCD TVs.

  218. ^^ Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.

  219. David and all the staff, really compliments for these wonderful reviews.
    After reading some info on this website I decided to go for this model (I was also taking into account to buy a LE32c450), but I think I did the right decision.
    I bought it from Amazon.it and I payed it 329€.
    It has a T-MSXSDEUC firmware and the panel is from AU Optronics.
    So from what I understand I should be happy, but what’s ok is that the tv looks really ok.
    Thanks a lot for the precious help! :)

  220. answer for Emanuel: LE32C550 doesn’t have the SMVA panel from CMO, this model comes only with SPVA from Samsung or the AMVAs from AUO.
    I prefer SPVA, but both are ok and very good.
    I think you have a smasung panel because the label in the vent says made in Korea and AUO panels are not made in Korea, but if you want to be sure look on the back (in the vent) :

    BN07-00808A –>SAMSUNG
    BN07-00826A –> AUO

  221. I have my C530 connected to my PC via HDMI to HDMI which is connected to my ATI video card via the official ATI dongle. Can someone give me any help about settings for video playback via my PC. At the moment I have Pixel Format (in the Catalyst Control Center) set to Full RGB. I have Media Player Centers output range set to 0-255 and I have the Samsung HDMI Black Level set to Normal. Is this all correct? I’m pretty sure it is but I’m finding the blacks when playing back video don’t look quite correct. They just seem a little too faded for my liking. If I set the HDMI Black Level to Low the picture looks fantastic but with the result that blacks are a little crushed. Any tips? Just one more query can someone confirm that the Samsung HDMI Black Level settings are Low equals 16-235 and Normal equals 0-255. Thanks.

  222. HOW TO FIX THE SUBTITLE BUG?
    AFTER A BIT SUBTITLES DISAPPEAR

  223. I have bought the C530 here and have a Pioneer DV-696AV.
    The display is not good during DVD playback, any tips on a good new DVD Player…I’ll go for HD this time.

  224. Hello David,

    I just bought this 32c530 TV couple of days ago and as i’m not very skilled regarding tv’s i would like to ask you for the correct video configuration as i didn’t touched this menu until now ;)

    Regards,

  225. I have a question regarding the Full 4:4:4 reproduction on this model. The test came out as no support for 4:4:4 and it’s subsampled.

    Does this mean it’s not good if connected to a PC via HDMI? and is this related to 0-250 / 16-235 colour ranges?

    Thank you

  226. Does anyone now if there are any disadvantages to using a 30″ monitor instead of a 32″ HDTV? (except price and 2″s).

  227. Hi,
    I have purchased the LE40C530F1WXXU. Great picture, very pleased. Still wondering if there should be a red light in the small area of transparent plastic at the bottom of the bezel on the front of the TV? If so, mine doesn’t work… Thoughts??
    Regards,
    G

  228. @MheAd

    The audio sync issue when playing files from USB is annoying me too. Luckily I haven’t tried the new firmware, that sounds awful.

    I can’t imagine it’s a huge effort to add in an audio sync control in the media play menu. If you’ve ever played files in VLC media player then you’ll know what I mean; there’s a really simple control for adjusting the audio that works very well.

    As far as I know, the sync is affected by the time it takes to decode the file to video data vs the same for audio (two separate codecs). Of course there will still be bad movies where the sound drifts regardless, but it would be nice to control things when it does.

    We should lobby Samsung!

  229. hey bro.

    1. I’m in NL, so no 37 c580 for me. It’s gotta be the c530 (same as 550). Any code a store clerk can tell if it has the trident or mstar processor? Like a serial number or something on the box or sticker?

    2. I already have a 32c530 spva. The lag is great i.e. None.. Any idea if the 37c530 will lag more?

    3. Any idea if the 37c530 will buzz more than the 32c530?

    Thx bro

  230. Hi,

    Great review.

    I’ve just bought a UK spec LE40C530.

    I have been researching calibration and setup.

    I have a Spyder2 Pro (used in the past for my iMac screen calibration), and have downloaded and installed ColorHCFR using this helpful guide
    http://www.curtpalme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10457

    I also have a Digital Video Essentials DVD (not the HD version, just standard DVD)

    I am currently enjoying HD pictures from BBC-HD via HDMI from my Humax FoxSat HDR, but I’ve not yet got a blu-ray player so am using my Pioneer DV565A DVD player over Component RGB.

    I was trying to piece together what adjustment would be available to me with the 530, but from reading your review it would appear that I can use the settings in your comments, and basically leave most of it to default. As stated, any reference media I would be using would be from standard DVD via component RGB, not HD. Finally, the LCD is only ‘a few hours’ old.

    Have I answered my own question, is the calibration effort not really worth me doing (at least until I have blu-ray, HDMI and a panel with more hours on it)?

    Thanks, Chris

  231. To add to my above comment, I tried the settings

    Calibration settings:
    Backlight – according to your room.
    Contrast: 90
    Brightness: 44
    Colour: 43
    Tint: G53/R47
    Sharpness: 0 for HD

    All other features/”enhancers” off. Colour Space: Auto.
    Leave the Greyscale/White Balance settings at their defaults. We only made very minor adjustments for this individual panel

    On movie mode.

    The picture looked lifeless and washed out? I went back to ‘Standard’ mode and felt that the picture was excellent? Slightly confused – perhaps the backlight setting wasn’t correct for the ambiant light conditions, but it seemed more fundamental than that.

  232. Hey guys!

    Nice review! I really need to know if the 37″ model is on par with the 32″ one as far as lag is concerned. I will try to test it in-store… but i don’t really know how David Mackenzie tested the 32″ model. I would appreciate some help :)

  233. Hi there!

    I’m thinking about buying this TV, but I have one question:
    What’s the difference between this Samsung LE32C530 and the Samsung LE32C535?

  234. does this tv (samsungLE32C530) have built in freeview tuner ?

  235. To anyone that cares, the 37 had the same nonexistant lag as the 32. Unfortunately the 37 buzzed and had a AA02 (AUO) screen with not so good blacks. . So I returned it (primarily for the buzz at brightness levels under 20)… Am going for a 40 now, will report back..

  236. Just got my Samsung 46 C530. Bought it as a temporary solution, till there will be a LCD/LED with good black results (no clouding >>> no edge LED), good 3D (no ghosting) and a input lag <= 30 ms. This is the 4th TV I´m testing and also the cheapest one.

    First thing I did today is testing the Input Lag with my Lag free CRT and a SLR Cam because till there will be a good LCD/LED TV which i mentioned above, thats the only thing that matters to me.

    The input lag results I got with the C530 are good and bad for gamers. I figured out, that testing input lag has to be done with different screen resolutions, because there are different results. So if you do a input lag test with 1080p resolution, it´s not sure if there will be the same input lag with 720p. And thats the problem:
    I play offline with my xbox 360 (so input lag isn´t that important) which alway has an output with 1080p
    and I play online with my PS3 (input lag has to be >> out of 10 times there are 5 times 16 ms and 5 times 31 ms.
    720p >>> out of 10 times there are 5 times 31ms and 5 times 47 ms.

    Tested with 50Hz and 60Hz.

    So till there is no new console generation out there with only 1080p output, I think the Input Lag tests should be made with both screen resolutions 1080 p and 720p.

  237. Sry, somehow my comment got cut, here´s the original:

    Just got my Samsung 46 C530. Bought it as a temporary solution, till there will be a LCD/LED with good black results (no clouding >>> no edge LED), good 3D (no ghosting) and a input lag <= 30 ms. This is the 4th TV I´m testing and also the cheapest one.

    First thing I did today is testing the Input Lag with my Lag free CRT and a SLR Cam because till there will be a good LCD/LED TV which i mentioned above, thats the only thing that matters to me.

    The input lag results I got with the C530 are good and bad for gamers. I figured out, that testing input lag has to be done with different screen resolutions, because there are different results. So if you do a input lag test with 1080p resolution, it´s not sure if there will be the same input lag with 720p. And thats the problem:
    I play offline with my xbox 360 (so input lag isn´t that important) which alway has an output with 1080p
    and I play online with my PS3 (input lag has to be >> out of 10 times there are 5 times 16 ms and 5 times 31 ms.
    720p >>> out of 10 times there are 5 times 31ms and 5 times 47 ms.

    Tested with 50Hz and 60Hz.

    So till there is no new console generation out there with only 1080p output, I think the Input Lag tests should be made with both screen resolutions 1080 p and 720p.

  238. hmmm, again the comment was cut:

    I wanted to post:

    I play online with my PS3 (input lag has to be under 30 ms to stand a chance online!!)

    @ 1080p: out of 10 times there are 5 times 16 ms and 5 times 31 ms.
    @720p: out of 10 times there are 5 times 31ms and 5 times 47 ms.

  239. Hey all! Was just wondering, though this TV says 50hz, does it support 60hz? I’ve got a few games that’ll only run in 60hz mode, so if anybody could give me a shout and tell me I’d much appreciate it. Cheers!

  240. I have this set as a kitchen/dining room third TV (so only occasionally used). However after 3 months use I moved it off the wall and on to its stand as I find the viewing angle terrible at anything over 20% either side of the perpendicular (line straight out at 90% from screen). It drops brightness horrendously.
    I have the 37″ B530 and it is lovely, great picture in Movie mode/Game mode (adjusted) and no probs with viewing angle.
    Is it possible to have a faulty set on with viewing angle issues or is this really the worst viewing angle TV ever?

    I did consider selling it (sorry if you considered buying it from me) but I couldn’t see this with such a poor viewing angle.
    J.

  241. @Joe I just got the 46″ version and can confirm it supports 60hz mode no problem.

  242. @Ed cheers! happy viewing!

  243. Just recently purchased this set, my first HDTV, from Amazon UK. Having a hard time getting a good setting for my 360 and Wii.

    I’m not really surprised about how shocking the Wii looks, but the Xbox just looks disappointing. I have it hooked up with an amazon basic HDMI cable, and there’s quite a lot of jaggies on various titles. The Amazon cable was recommended purely on information from a relative, who stated it doesn’t really matter what cable you use (now wondering if that’s true or not).

    I have the Xbox currently setup at the resolution of 1280×720, seems to reduce said jaggies but not entirely. There’s also an issue with flickering on certain resolutions, hard to explain, but whenever there’s black screen with writing on it, the screen tends to go dim and then brighten up very quickly, this is constant. This happens when changing the mode of the TV (I find anything that isn’t dynamic mode to be unwatchable and frankly irritating).

    PC manages to look really great despite all this. Cannot grumble with this feature at all, possibly the best thing about the set, for me.

    I’ve looked at articles on Anti Aliasing in games and I assume that’s the main issue. Might possibly be how far I sit from the screen as well, I don’t sit super close but it’s not living room distance. Again seeing as this is my first HD set, I don’t know an awful lot about the technology. I would be happy if a fellow gamer posted the settings they use so I can compare and get the best possible picture. Thanks in advance and apologies for my extreme lack of knowledge on this.

  244. @Adam
    I have used the settings posted on this site, i.e.
    Calibration settings:
    Backlight – according to your room.
    Contrast: 90
    Brightness: 44
    Colour: 43
    Tint: G53/R47
    Sharpness: 0 for HD

    This is in Movie mode and gives the “best picture”.

    The TV is a 1080p tv and so the Xbox should be set to this as well (1920x1080p) or do the auto detect if it has the option like the PS3.

    The darkening and brightening you mention is due to the tv being in Dynamic mode as it dynamically changing the backlight to give the brightest picture possible. Turning off the backlight dynamicy in the options will help.

  245. Cheers Ed, I seem to be having the same problems despite changing the settings. To be honest, I’m starting to think that the backlight maybe defective. Changing to movie/standard/natural mode makes the ‘blinking’ much worse. The Wii is just terrible, I tested it on Saturday past and it’s barely playable because of this (headache inducing is not the word). I’ve got around the problem for the xbox, I just keep it set at 1280×720 and it seems to get rid of the blinking.

    Altering the backlight settings to anything below 20 on every mode makes the screen blink like crazy, not sure if this is to be expected, I’ve tried turning off the eco friendly setting for the sensor but there’s no effect. The possibility of it being defective is pretty annoying, I have no idea if I can get it returned now (the original packaging has been dumped and it was bought from an online retailer).

    Again, thanks for all your help.

  246. i got the 40lec530 in germany and there is no game mode.
    it wont make much of a difference but as i want to use it mainly for ps3 and wii gaming i was kind of surprised.

  247. “There is no such issue with the Samsung LE32C530 – film grain is reproduced cleanly, without becoming smeared or “sticky”.”

    Samsung LE32C530
    AUO Panel T315HW04 V2
    MStar firmware 2011

    That’s what happens when playing movies (HD and Full HD mkv or avi) from the media player there is to much loss in details – when i press fast forward x1 the image is perfect and when i return to normal play the image is smeared.
    Also there’s to much ghosting/bluring to movement which is maybe related to the loss of detail (i read AUO panels don’t really have such problems and i haven’t noticed any on Wii via component)
    I tried the same movies from my laptop via Tv’s VGA port (which is analog) and the result is much better in both areas detail and motion.

    Is this a Mstar problem or the latest firmware related to motion,cause otherwise the panel seem capable to reproduce great detail?

    thanks.

  248. i have the samsung le40a656, but considering a trade in for this model. is this a good or bad move? gaming and watching movies is a priority, while sports isnt. whats got my attention is the very low input lag. i know this a series lower than the model ive got, but thats all i know. please help!!!

  249. Hi there

    Great review! persuaded me to buy one in the end. Just have a quick question that I was hoping someone could help me out with. I have my OC connected via a vga cable and the maximum resolution I seem to be able to have is 1280 x 768. If i set it to 1920 x 1080 which is apparently the optimal resolution, as said in the manual, the tv goes black and states that it cant support this resolution.

    Any ideas why this is? is it to do with my pc or the cable or something else entirely?

  250. hello David! can u plz give me the full configuration of White Balance in Game Mode.thx

  251. @ raekwon

    Personally I would say no. I had a 2 year old LE40A656A and was always biching about the input lag, even tho it was, and still is a stunning set. My parents recently got a LE40C530. After trying the PS3 out on their set I was impressed with the low lag, and actually convinced my parents to swap TV’s. They now have my old 656 and I have the C530. Bit of a bad decision on my part i’d say.

    Apart from lower lag and a better user interface, everything else about the TV is inferiour compared to my old 656. It has less HDMI inputs, 1 less scart, no phono out, lower quality finish to the screen (I liked the gloss look), cheaper remote, uneven colour temperature on whites from one end of the screen to the other, and worst of all horrible dragging blacks. Panning left and right on some games, the dark areas seem to move at a slower speed to the lighter areas creating a really weird offputting ‘wobby’ effect.

    If low input lag really is a priority, then yeah I have to say this TV has hardly any, as like you, it was something that bothered me, probably unnecessarily.

    At the end of the day, you have a great TV in the 656A and trading it in just for the sake of lower input lag (like I did) might be a decision you’d live to regret!

  252. answer for Emanuel: LE32C550 doesn’t have the SMVA panel from CMO, this model comes only with SPVA from Samsung or the AMVAs from AUO.
    I prefer SPVA, but both are ok and very good.
    I think you have a smasung panel because the label in the vent says made in Korea and AUO panels are not made in Korea, but if you want to be sure look on the back (in the vent) :

    http://gabya.net/blogs/entry/Samsung-LE32C530-1080p-LCD-TV-nceleme

    BN07-00808A –>SAMSUNG
    BN07-00826A –> AUO

  253. I have the AUO panel, now ive seen it its less scary.Its actually excelent.I use the calibration settings posted here but i see too much green, and the picture is quite dead.How do i modify the white balance to fix this?
    Reducing green? or adding red and blue? what is the harmless solution?

  254. does anyone know if the input lag on newer model (Samsung LE32D550) is the same as this one ?

  255. We need someone with qualifications

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