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Review 1 of 1
Price Paid:
$2599.00
from Best Buy Summary:
This TV is the official enemy of broadcast companies today. Think Norhrop's YB-49 Flying Wing concept of the 1940's or the A-12/SR-71 blackbird. These technologies were so ahead of their time, that they still are futuristic today. The Samsung LN-T4671F is the first television that is anologus to these types of technological advances.
To begin, my ex-fiance and I bought a Sony WEGA 4:3 CRT HDTV back in 2001, when you could barely find any HD programming, so I'm not unfamiliar with the image quality of 1080i. Several years ago, we ended our relationship. One of the items I let her take was the HD as I knew I wanted to upgrade at some point in not-so-distant future. So starting nearly then, I began my research on my next set...or at the very least the technology I'd go with as there were a plethora of options (Plasma, DLP, LCD Rear Projection, and LCD [which was very new]). Although DLP was nice, and Plasma was the hot new gig at the time, I felt that LCD technology (relatively new to TVs back then) had a lot of promise and I opted to watch the major manufactures (Sony, Samsung, Sharp, Panasonic) work out the kinks of LCD as it just wasn't quite there yet for TV.
Fast forward to today and Samsung has got it right. Sony also did an excellent job with the XBR4, but Sammy beat it in my eyes. To get back to my 1st paragraph, this TV is at least a generation ahead of most if not all LCDs today. It does have its flaws, which I will mention, but they do not stop this TV from being a great buy. (Just as the fact that the SR-71 leaks fuel on the ground doesn't keep it from being one of the greatest jets ever made.) Strengths:
The Samsung 71 has many great strengths. Toping the charts are the 25,000:1 contrast ratio and the panels 120hz refresh rate. The color contrast on this TV is, simply put, top notch. I've read many, many, many reviews on this set and it amazes me that anyone can complain about the color definition of this set. Even if you don't like the initial out-of-the-box look (which is a bit bright and very "in-your-face"), Samsung gives you a very large list of options you can customize. These include:
Mode (Dynamic, Standard, Movie, Game)
Contrast
Brightness
Sharpness
Color
Tint
Backlight (very handy)
Color Tone (2 cools, 2 warms, normal)
Size (16:9, 4:3, Just Scan, 2 zooms, and Wide Fit)
Digital NR
Active Color
DNie
Auto Motion Plus 120hz (more on this in a bit)
There is also a Detailed Settings optiopn which inlcudes:
Black Adjust
Dynamic Contrast
Gamma
Color Space
White Balance
My Color Control
Edge Enhancement
xvYCC
With that list, there is no way anyone can't configure the 4671F to suit their visual tastes. Granted, it may take time (I'm still really putting the final touches on my setup), but the end result is very worth it. The 4671 will remember your configuration for each mode, and for each input...don't like a bright high contrast for your movies, but you do for your games? This set will deliver.
Speaking of inputs, the 46 gives you 3 HDMI 1.3 inputs,1 PC (DB-15), two components, 2 s-video, and 2 composite. That is a lot of inputs, and if you have a high end A/V receiver with all these inputs, you're still not running a bunch of cables to your TV.
If you're not putting this TV into a very large room, the sound is great. Strong, depth, and has some meat to it. As with any set, a good external sound system is always a plus. Weaknesses:
The Samsung has three weaknesses. The first one is not a fault of the TVs. The LN-T4671F is so sharp, clear, and lifelike that it is VERY easy to discern the difference in quality from various HD stations. Most stations compress their HD heavily or don't film the original content with high quality 1080 cameras. If this is the case, you WILL see this on the 4671. However, this is balanced by the brilliant and flawless quality of a high quality signal. Discovery HD, ESPN HD, and NATGEO HD tend to do the best, with the movie networks coming second. When I first got Discovery up, I was blown away..and that is a 1080i signal. I've yet to view 1080p (Blu-ray).
The second is the AMP feature. This isn't really a weakness, but it does have a few issues. On medium or higher, you may get a small bit of stutter on movies are any low frame-rate source. I personally am not getting the triple-ball effect, so I must have a later firmware (bought mine in March for my bday). This feature can be turned off if it annoys you. I leave mine on low for TV, off for movies, and high for games.
Lastly, the "Just Scan" feature will give you a slightly bigger picture as it draws every line broadcast from the source. However, on standard def, some stations broadcast noise at the very edges of the screen, which you will see with the feature on. Also, some HD stations will be just slightly off center, causing a gap of a few millimeters or so on the right and/or top of the screen. Because the 4671 draws right up to the bazel, you will see this defect. I tend to leave mine off. The disadvantage of having it off is that most SDEF broadcasts will be cut of on the bottom...so this tends to get under my skin. However, I have my HD DVR cable box plugged in via HDMI only, so I'm thinking if I use the component inputs for SDEF, this will be solved. Similar Products Used:
** Model year for this TV is 2007, not 06.
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