Samsung LN40A550 40-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

I did a lot of research before settling on the Samsung LN40A550. Samsung is one of the top brands, and the only thing that worried me about this TV was the possibility that not being a 120hz machine would leave sports and action movies unwatchable.

I found a website called tweaktv that offers picture calibration settings, and these made a huge difference on the picture quality out of the box. Changing the sharpness down to 2 and setting the mode to "Movie" make for a huge improvement in picture quality. Jaggy text went away, and the picture got a lot cleaner. I used the tv for a week without HD, because I didn't have time to go get the box. Picture quality was OK with regular cable and component cables. Better than the old regular tv it replaced, and dvds played with S-Video from a standard DVD player looked crisp and good.

Today I finally got the HD box from my cable company, hooked up with HD cables. HD broadcasts are just stunning on this tv (keep in mind that when time you change input sources, the first time using that new source all the settings are back to the defaults. Each new input source will need the picture settings messed with the first time. HD looked pretty bad on the default settings until that sharpness got turned down)... Non HDTV channels look ok, but no better with the HDMI connection, and maybe slightly worse in a few cases.

ANYHOW, heres the skinny. Loving this TV. The menu's all make sense and are easy to navigate. The remote is also intuitive and easy to use( it is NOT a universal remote, btw). Sound is pretty good. Connecting to it is easy, and all the connections are well labeled and easy to use. It looks good, and seems much bigger in my living room than in the showrooms. We see a lot less glare on the screen when the sun comes in the window as well.

And, the thing that worried me- almost no problem with motion blurring. Sports and action movies are all very watchable on HD (somewhat less so on the regular cable). There is a slight amount of blurring during extremely fast action, but its not distracting at all.I was scared that this would be the dealbreaker, but like everything else on this tv, it exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend this tv! If you find a good price on it, buy it without fear.

Purchased this from Warehouse Deals by Amazon as re-boxed unit for a deeply discounted price and it arrived on time in like new condition. As we're new to High Def. we found the picture in HD stunningly great. Blades of grass on an ESPN HD college football game were plainly visible. Even though the refresh rate is only 60hz and we have no HDMI cable there is very little of the "smearing" that supposedly is a problem with LCD TV's. The non-glare screen on this model is also appreciated in our many-windowed living room. Although there is a website ([...] with tips to calibrate the picture we found it acceptably pleasing right out of the box on the brighter setting. Standard Def is mediocre, but after reading online and talking to the Comcast installers it's really not the TV's fault. The TV just accurately reproduces the faults in a low resolution broadcast. What is the TV's fault, and hence only 4 stars, is the subpar sound. Even after equalization the only two options seem to be boomy boxiness or grainy harshness. Still, since the picture is so good, better speakers can be hooked up, and the unit is fairly user friendly, it is enthusiastically recommended in the +/- [...] price range. Look for a deal in the Warehouse.

looks great ... love the glossy look and blue light underneath ...
sd looks fine, hd looks incredible ...

i did see a few reviews where sound was mentioned below par ... I found the sound to be just fine ... however i did buy an onkyo hometheater and it sounds much better

I had purchased this tv from 6th Avenue with high hopes and because I believed Samsung is a good brand. However when I recieved it today I was gutted as the picture would not display full screen. I went into the "menu --> Picture options --> size" and set it to 16:9 and yet the picture wouldnt display on the fullscreen. Only when I switched the size to wide display did it display full screen. I had a lengthy discussion with a customer service representative of samsung and somebody is going to come to my house on the 2nd of December to try and fix this issue. Unfortunately 6th Avenue doies not have a return policy for tv's 37" and above. I feel like I am stuck with a defective tv :( . Don't commit the same mistake.

I will update my review with how the repair experience goes...

1. Delivery--flawless and timely (ordered from Amazon). I connected it to our Comcast HD cable box, plugged in in, and haven't stopped watching since.

2. Hi definition channels look INCREDIBLE. The much-feared glare from the polished black frame turned out to be a non-factor. It doesn't get any better than this (of course, this is my first step up from conventional old fashioned TVs, so what do I know?).

3. BUT...non-HD stations pretty much look blah. Foggy, snowy, ghosted, continually refocusing, some better than others, but none of them up to par. With some adjusting of contrast, sharpness, and other options, I have been able to "thicken up" the display so the flaws are less obvious, but this isn't the way it's supposed to be.

So the question for those in the know is: What up? Is it a lemon (I doubt it)? Is it typical and we all have to live with it until all stations are HD (that would be suprising since I have been on digital cable for years with flawless display on regular TV)? Is it a bad cable box? Or is there a setting I have overlooked?