Samsung LT-P468W 46" HDTV-ready LCD TV with 1920 x 1080 resolution

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I found a great deal on this TV through an Amazon partner, and purchased it along with an extended warranty. I bought this TV, sight unseen, to replace a Sony 36" XBR tube television, so most of my comments will be relative to that TV, as well as against other TV's I cross-shopped against.

Pros:

1) It's the largest available (as of 11/04) LCD TV. Honestly, the 1" difference between this TV and the Sharp AQUOS 45" LCD TV is not a deal breaker, but it gave Samsung bragging rights. :-)

2) The display is incredibly bright. Even in a well lit room, this TV doesn't wilt under intense lighting. If you're looking at a flat panel, I have yet to see one that can compete with this unit when it comes to brightness.

3) The resolution (1080p) is amazing. When used as a computer monitor (not my original plan for it!) for my Powerbook G4, the display was stunning. Even non-geeks are amazed at the clarity of the display.

4) Colors are incredibly vibrant. Note that it does take some effort to dial-in a good setting where colors are strong while maintaining decent black-level response. Despite a so-so review on extremetech.com, I found that once I did some basic tweaking, I was pretty happy while watching movies like "Aliens", "Van Helsing" and "Minority Report", which have a lot of dark scenes.

5) Not a single dead pixel on this TV. Samsung's name has not been synonymous with great quality to most audio- or video-philes, but this unit really demonstrates their manufacturing abilities are as good as any other high-end brand.

Cons:

1) DNle is pretty much useless. Yes, it makes lines "edgier", but I find that I prefer disabling it for everything, including TV, games, and DVD. This screen is solid enough that I thing Samsung could have removed DNle and I'd still like the quality of the display.

2) Black levels can't match a tube TV. There are also some minor artifacts in the backlighting that are noticeable if you look closely, such as minor blooming near the corners and some (really minor) vertical bars that may bother a purist during calibration that are not noticeable when viewing content.

3) This unit is only as good as your input source. I can tell now that my DVD player (Onkyo Integra 7.4) is not a world-beater because this display can show every shortcoming of an input source. A bad over-the-air TV signal will drive you batty if you don't invest in a good antenna (preferably roof-mounted).

4) It's heavy (just shy of 100 lbs.), and...

5) ...the inputs are on the rear of the unit, and one set (for a camcorder) on the lower left. This means that if you plan to wall mount it, you'd better think carefully about how you will route wiring before you have it installed.

If you plan to buys this product, evaluate if an LCD can truly match your needs.

For example, if you're worried about black level performance, you may be better served with a direct-view (tube) television.

Compared against any rear projection technology, uniform brightness (vertical or horizontal) is always lacking on the projection TVs. While the sweet spot for viewing a projection TV has improved, it can't match the consistency this LCD provides.

Against a plasma, if I have to choose between the minor artifacts caused by backlighting versus the "screen door" effect of a plasma, this unit wins hands down (and I voted with my wallet on this issue :-) ).

All in all, make sure you know that this is what you want... because even though it is "king of the hill", there are tradeoffs to all of these technologies, and even at this price point, there WILL be trade-offs with any of these technologies.