Given that Samsung has now become the UK's number one TV brand without sacrificing a hard-won reputation for innovation, it's fair to say that the arrival on our test benches of the first TV from a new Samsung range feels like some sort of 'event'.
So it momentarily feels a bit disappointing to discover that the first set we've been sent from Samsung's latest telly range is actually only a mid-range model, rather than something 'statementy' and flagship-waving.
The LE40B651 is one of several Samsung models featuring the “touch of colour” design. In this case, a red tinge highlights the edges of the glossy black/transparent acrylic frame, and I have to say that, to these eyes, it looks fairly nice: not quite as much as the considerably more expensive but similar Sony X-Series displays, but nice all the same.
The gloss doesn't stop with the bezel, though: this LCD TV features Samsung's “Ultra Clear Panel” coating, which means that the whole thing looks especially vibrant and glossy. It's clear that some anti-reflective process has been used, but it's still going to shine more than a matte panel, and as such this TV is best kept out of brighter environments.
The remote control fits nicely in your hand, too, and all of the buttons are well placed, accessible, and better yet, can be lit up by an optional backlight. The remote control is easy to use, partly thanks to its large buttons that are easy to spot; it's also backlit. Again, the remote continues Samsung's love affair with gloss black, which, given its ability to pick up scratches and fingerprints, has to be one of the strangest design decisions I've seen lately.
As we'd expect, the LE40B651's mid-range nature is reflected in some of its picture processing, too - particularly the presence of a 100Hz engine and frame interpolation system for improving motion reproduction. It's extremely flexible with its set-up, too.
The best thing of all about the LE40B651 though, is that provided you're careful with its settings, it can produce truly outstanding picture quality. Colours, for instance, are extraordinarily rich and bright yet also very natural, especially with HD.
It produces black levels, too, that are in a different league to those of most LCD TVs; deep, rich and credible. Also, HD pictures are superbly sharp and crisp, and this crispness remains mostly intact when things get moving.
Occasionally the 100Hz system creates a flickery processing artefact, but these moments can be minimised by careful tweaking of the 100Hz engine using the ample tools provided.
The remote control is large and cluttered but the onscreen interface is coherent. Connectivity is respectable: four HDMI inputs and two USB ports. One of these can be used with Samsung's £50 optional wireless 'dongle' if you are unable to plug in an Ethernet cable.
The TV also has about 200MB of storage for preloaded content including pictures and miscellaneous information, which can be added to via USB. The best thing about the Samsung is the picture quality – after a bit of tweaking. You get the kind of control over judder and blur reduction that's missed on the Philips and Panasonic, which overcook the image when the processing is unleashed.
Samsung's term for net tellies is Internet TV, available in many of its newer sets. It's a well laid out system, mostly populated with Yahoo! widgets for webmail, news and other information. A better fit for TV browsing is the Flickr photo-sharing site and a Twitter application.
It stores one Twitter account but switching users means typing logins from scratch. Writing Twitter updates, even those under the 140-character limit, is slow, owing to the sluggish onscreen keyboard; mobile phone style via number keys would be better. For this reason Twitter on TV is fine for passive following rather than participation but it will not access web links in messages.
Finally, using the B651 with a PC shouldn't be a problem if you use a HDMI cable carrying a video signal at 1920 x 1080 pixels. The display won't half any resizing or cropping. The input lag is around 40 ms, which is a rather reasonable value for a TV.
Author Resource:
Asli Mana writes articles about different subjects, including LCD TV . To read her articles see her Sony Bravia LCD TV website.
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