Munkey Boy
Distinguished Member
Its a funny thing writing a review like this when the reason Ive bought it for isnt out yet (the Xbox 360), so in some ways this may be an overly critical review. Ive had it for 5 days now, and Ive tried to test a number of different feeds to find its weakpoints. And it does have some weakpoints, so not everyone will be happy with a display like this.
Sorry for the quality of the pics through this review, but Im not naturally handy with a camera (and Ive got terrible wallpaper still! I know!), but I tried. Its worth remembering that some images really just do not come close to doing justice to the quality of the screen, you really should see it first hand to judge conclusively.
I should first off point out Ive got a 43 plasma screen as well (Pioneer 434-HDE), and this is downstairs and used almost exclusively to watch TV from Sky+. However, I have used my soft-modded Xbox set to display HiDef and so I know what a good quality plasma can offer.
I upgraded to the Samsung from a 36 Panasonic CRT, and so the first reaction on set-up (though I knew it was coming) was thinking how much smaller the screen is. But its all a case of getting used to it, but it certainly makes my room seem bigger now Ive got rid of the beast! The connectivity on the Samsung is superb really: 1xRGB scart, another scart, component, HDMI, VGA and s-video mean you really cover all your bases and are future-proofed.
So the first thing I did was get the Freeview going (I got the Freeview version, though you can save a couple of quid if you go for the analogue version, which doesnt have the DX suffix). When you switch on, the TV tuned analogue automatically, but you have to set the digital going manually. It picked up all the stations that I had going on my previous Freeview box. Its unfair to expect it to get them all as I havent got a good reception in the room Ive got the Samsung in, not much TV watching done here.
I was actually a bit miffed when I saw the image quality of Freeview, but maybe I was expecting too much. Its well documented how current tech LCDs and plasmas show up artifacting on present day digital sources, so I guess I wasnt too surprised here. I would be wary if you were looking to buy this set purely as a set to watch TV on, as IMHO CRTs handle the signal better. The menu system is excellent though; very intuitive and full of image control options.
Enough of that, lets get to the important bit games. First off I tried my RGB scart Xbox and put on Halo 2. Now this is more like it real depth to the colours, but woah! Where did those jaggies come from? Very noticeable. So I tried my HD Xbox (same resolution but in progressive) and it just gets better. The image is colourful (remember this is Halo 2 were talking here fluorescent all the rage) and it just strikes you in a way the CRT never did. I hope it doesnt sound too stupid to say, but there really is a new level of immersion here, realism cranked up so you dont think youre looking at a screen so much. I had a bit of a go on Forza too...
Theres a definite advantage to the clarity too you can really pick out enemies at a distance better and add a touch of accuracy. Still you get the jaggies though; it really is noticeable that this is current gen technology. So lets put on a HiDef title the only one I own is Amped 2. Now Ive played this before on the plasma, and while it was good, it didnt impress me like the Samsung did. I really noticed the depth-of-field and lack of jaggies was really quite impressive in 720p. Now were talking!
The last source I tried was my PC. Its a pretty good PC, so I thought Id try playing some games in the (near-enough) native 1360x768 through VGA. I was not prepared. It really is stunning (in fact Im writing this on the screen now!) and when you play the HiDef 360 trailers, or some of the HD showcase content, it really is pin-sharp to my eye. Real quality. The hairs on my neck stood up when I watched the HiDef trailer of Call of Duty 2 and saw the quality of the in-game textures Ill be seeing real-time come December 2nd. It is truly excellent.
Ive read reams and reams of stuff about tearing, but I really havent noticed it at all yet, though I should point out Ive probably only played about half an hour at 720p 60Hz. I believe the problem can be fixed now in any case with a firmware update provided by Samsung, so Ill do that if it ever crops up.
So did I make a good purchase? Undoubtedly for my purposes. This set does not do it all. In fact, Id go as far to say that Samsung have not really paid attention to current technologies (PAL analogue and Freeview or scart sources). If you just want current PAL TV output, through analogue or digital, I'd argue you should stick to CRT. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad by any means, but LCD and plasma tech is just not suited to displaying poor quality inputs.
Another inherent problem with back-lit technologies like LCD is that you're never going to get proper blacks. I must admit it doesn't spoil my experience, but I could well imagine it becoming noticeable when playing an intentionally dark game though. It's all about compromise however, and I'd counter the argument by saying that the Samsung displays colours with a vibrancy like I've not seen before.
All-in-all, everything Ive seen so far suggests Samsung have provided the ultimate in future tech here. I would be really shocked if this set produces anything less than a stunning Xbox 360 experience at 720p, and I for one, cannot wait. For Sky HiDef, Xbox 360, PS3 and so on, you can't go far wrong with this set.
For info, I purchased from Homecinematv for £844 delivered and wouldn't fault their service at all. Mortgage the cat!
Sorry for the quality of the pics through this review, but Im not naturally handy with a camera (and Ive got terrible wallpaper still! I know!), but I tried. Its worth remembering that some images really just do not come close to doing justice to the quality of the screen, you really should see it first hand to judge conclusively.
I should first off point out Ive got a 43 plasma screen as well (Pioneer 434-HDE), and this is downstairs and used almost exclusively to watch TV from Sky+. However, I have used my soft-modded Xbox set to display HiDef and so I know what a good quality plasma can offer.
I upgraded to the Samsung from a 36 Panasonic CRT, and so the first reaction on set-up (though I knew it was coming) was thinking how much smaller the screen is. But its all a case of getting used to it, but it certainly makes my room seem bigger now Ive got rid of the beast! The connectivity on the Samsung is superb really: 1xRGB scart, another scart, component, HDMI, VGA and s-video mean you really cover all your bases and are future-proofed.
So the first thing I did was get the Freeview going (I got the Freeview version, though you can save a couple of quid if you go for the analogue version, which doesnt have the DX suffix). When you switch on, the TV tuned analogue automatically, but you have to set the digital going manually. It picked up all the stations that I had going on my previous Freeview box. Its unfair to expect it to get them all as I havent got a good reception in the room Ive got the Samsung in, not much TV watching done here.
I was actually a bit miffed when I saw the image quality of Freeview, but maybe I was expecting too much. Its well documented how current tech LCDs and plasmas show up artifacting on present day digital sources, so I guess I wasnt too surprised here. I would be wary if you were looking to buy this set purely as a set to watch TV on, as IMHO CRTs handle the signal better. The menu system is excellent though; very intuitive and full of image control options.
Enough of that, lets get to the important bit games. First off I tried my RGB scart Xbox and put on Halo 2. Now this is more like it real depth to the colours, but woah! Where did those jaggies come from? Very noticeable. So I tried my HD Xbox (same resolution but in progressive) and it just gets better. The image is colourful (remember this is Halo 2 were talking here fluorescent all the rage) and it just strikes you in a way the CRT never did. I hope it doesnt sound too stupid to say, but there really is a new level of immersion here, realism cranked up so you dont think youre looking at a screen so much. I had a bit of a go on Forza too...
Theres a definite advantage to the clarity too you can really pick out enemies at a distance better and add a touch of accuracy. Still you get the jaggies though; it really is noticeable that this is current gen technology. So lets put on a HiDef title the only one I own is Amped 2. Now Ive played this before on the plasma, and while it was good, it didnt impress me like the Samsung did. I really noticed the depth-of-field and lack of jaggies was really quite impressive in 720p. Now were talking!
The last source I tried was my PC. Its a pretty good PC, so I thought Id try playing some games in the (near-enough) native 1360x768 through VGA. I was not prepared. It really is stunning (in fact Im writing this on the screen now!) and when you play the HiDef 360 trailers, or some of the HD showcase content, it really is pin-sharp to my eye. Real quality. The hairs on my neck stood up when I watched the HiDef trailer of Call of Duty 2 and saw the quality of the in-game textures Ill be seeing real-time come December 2nd. It is truly excellent.
Ive read reams and reams of stuff about tearing, but I really havent noticed it at all yet, though I should point out Ive probably only played about half an hour at 720p 60Hz. I believe the problem can be fixed now in any case with a firmware update provided by Samsung, so Ill do that if it ever crops up.
So did I make a good purchase? Undoubtedly for my purposes. This set does not do it all. In fact, Id go as far to say that Samsung have not really paid attention to current technologies (PAL analogue and Freeview or scart sources). If you just want current PAL TV output, through analogue or digital, I'd argue you should stick to CRT. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad by any means, but LCD and plasma tech is just not suited to displaying poor quality inputs.
Another inherent problem with back-lit technologies like LCD is that you're never going to get proper blacks. I must admit it doesn't spoil my experience, but I could well imagine it becoming noticeable when playing an intentionally dark game though. It's all about compromise however, and I'd counter the argument by saying that the Samsung displays colours with a vibrancy like I've not seen before.
All-in-all, everything Ive seen so far suggests Samsung have provided the ultimate in future tech here. I would be really shocked if this set produces anything less than a stunning Xbox 360 experience at 720p, and I for one, cannot wait. For Sky HiDef, Xbox 360, PS3 and so on, you can't go far wrong with this set.
For info, I purchased from Homecinematv for £844 delivered and wouldn't fault their service at all. Mortgage the cat!