Posts
First, it should be noted that I was shopping for a 1080p quality strictly. I have a home theater system with external speakers and advanced distance learning, if the sound quality of the component remote control TV and played a small role in my decision to buy this model. LN46C630 but it was better for 46 "1080 I found that had all the qualities I was looking for. My criteria were for a model with 120 Hz, enough HDMI inputs (4), PC input, a large proportion of editable controls the image, the better black level, the lack of motion blur and costs are less than $1000.
This HDTV has all these things, and beat the competition of similar models from LG and Sony for what they thought was clearer, more explicit pictures, like a great black level. The only thing I felt was missing on the TV screen, that the structure is more prone to flare. Well, because my room is pretty dark, which is not a real interest, it may be different from the more ambient light viewing room.
Here are a couple features I learned about only after I had the set that may be useful in making a decision.:
-The TV has Eco Sensor which will automatically adjust the brightness of the TV based on the ambient light of the room. No worries, this CAN easily be turned off, and is definitely something to be aware of.
-In the Advanced settings menu there are 2 expert patterns that you can use to dial in your picture settings. One is a contrast / brightness pattern, the other a color pattern.
-If you'll be using the TV's speakers there is volume equalization which adjusts the volume automatically as you switch channel to channel.
-You can stream media to this TV through your wired LAN or from an external USB storage device. if you want to do wireless, you'll need Samsung's optional wireless adapter.
-The stock remote has a very narrow IR stream. You'll want to point it not at the center of the screen as most people do, but at the bottom right corner. It works fantastic once you learn to do that.
Some other important notes I'd mention to those that purchase this model:
-At default levels the contrast is maxed out to 100 for every input. I and many others refer to this as "torch mode". That setting will shorten the life of your TV immensely and it needs to be adjusted first thing for each input. While properly calibrating your TV is more than I care to get into here (and pointless since every display is different as well as every input), a setting of 50 contrast and 50 brightness is good place to start for those that don't have any other means of calibrating it more precisely. I also lowered the back light from a default 14 to 10.
-Under the picture options there is a setting called Auto Motion Plus. This is what controls motion blur. Familiarize yourself with the effects of this control. If you are like me it's going be disturbing to have this control on "Standard' to view bluray movies because it removes the natural blur of the camera moving and panning which to me is an annoyance. I use the "Clear" mode or just turn it off for movies.
-Also the effects of the sharpness control only add noise to your image, use the sharpness control very judiciously. I have mine all the way down to a setting of 9.
All in all this is a fantastic set for the price. The very minor issues it has are far outweighed by the price, the amazing picture quality, and the tremendous control you have over adjusting the image to your liking.
By J. Hopkins "hopjohn" (Dallas, TX)
Read more Samsung LN46C630 46-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV (Black)