Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsOverall Great TV!!!
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2011
First, let me caveat by saying I reviewed dozens of TV's and relied heavily on reviews prior to purchasing this TV. I think it's important to actually read the reviews, rather than relying on average ratings. Albeit there are defective products sold from time to time, many negative reviews are obviously effects from operator error, improper installation/use, etc. Enough said.
To begin, this TV is part of a home theater system which comprises a pair of Bose 301 V5 bookshelf speakers, a Sony SDRDH520 7.1CH 3D receiver, a Yamaha NS-C210BR center speaker and Klipsch in-wall speakers. Primary input source is HD Directv. Again, going to back to other reviews, it kills me when reading a review about a 1.2" thick TV where the reviewer complains about the sound. Really? If you're not setting this TV up as part of a home theater system, you're buying the wrong TV. Also, please splurge a little and don't buy the cheapest HDMI cables on the rack. No need to spend $200 on cables, but you get my point.
Looks: Killer... this has to be near the top of the list and primarily driving my 5-star review. The screen goes almost completely to the edge and the thin silver frame looks like a work of art mounted above the fireplace. There are just no comparisons with other plasma TV's out there and most other LED TV's fall way short in the "looks" department. For you married folks out there, my wife loves the appearance; it is super-sleek.
Performance: After mounting and hooking everything up, I used the specs posted by CrazyShopper918 on 5/28/11 (Thanks, by the way!). The picture quality is phenomenal and I've had no issues with bleeding, distortion, backlight effects, or anything of the like. One difference: most calibration recommendations I read pointed to "Movie" picture mode. I guess it is the lighting in our den, but I found "Dynamic" picture mode produced the most vibrant colors. Small caveat: when the TV is receiving an input and the screen is black (i.e. just before a movie/show or in between commercials) there are some minor differences between the blacks. Again, if you want to sit in front of this gorgeous TV and look at a black screen and post a negative review, feel free. For the rest of us (those who actually desire to view moving images), the image quality is impressive. I ran several tests via Directv with various HD sports, nature shows and the original Transformers movie (all in 1080i), and saw no lag, blurring, etc. The screen performed above and beyond. From a normal sitting distance, even 720p/i resolution looks good, but you need 1080p/i to fully appreciate this TV. In summary, I highly recommend the settings mentioned above, but you might need to tweak them a little in order to get the best picture for your room. I have not viewed an on-demand movie in 1080p yet, but I'm confident it will render flawlessly.
Other: Wireless connected to home WAN on 2nd attempt. The AnyNet feature is great, as it lets you control multiple components of a home theater system via one remote through the TV (I'm using my stock Directv remote for everything). Why does this matter? This means you don't have to buy an expensive all-in-one remote and program it or keep multiple remotes handy. Also, my receiver (non-Samsung, by the way) is hidden in a cabinet, so it is nice to close the cabinet door immediately after turning it on. I do not have to keep the receiver out on a shelf or in a glass-front cabinet. I've fooled around with the apps a bit, and most seem to load quickly. The browser did take a while to load, but I did not buy this TV to peruse the Internet. Mounting was easy, as the TV weighs only ~35 lbs... sure as hell beats trying to mount an 80 lb plasma. I used one of the compatible ~$20 ultra-slim mounts found on Amazon... no need to buy the expensive Samsung mount. Quick note on programmable remotes: the Samsung "D" series was not available in the Directv menu, so I selected the "C" equivalent and everything works fine.
Summary: I am one of those "middle of the road" guys who wanted a nice TV to anchor a home theater system, but did not want to spend $3 - $5K. So far, this TV has exceeded my expectations from a performance standpoint and it looks phenomenal even when turned off. I would have purchased the 60" model, but the frame above our fireplace limited me to the 55" model. So glad football season is right around the corner.
Hope this helps!