Samsung LN52A580 52″ 1080p LCD HDTV – Observations


Image by Gerald_Oh
So, Best Buy just delivered this today. I don’t think I’m leaving my home again

Probably a sign of recession that there are still Black Friday deals to be had a week before Christmas. This is replacing my 3 year old, 42" 480p Panasonic Plasma, which I’m selling to my buddy. I can’t turn it on yet, since it was about 16 degrees this morning in Chicago, and this was sitting in a delivery truck. Now that it’s actually in my home though — and looking at it from my sofa 12′ away — I kinda get the feeling I may have overdone it a little — this thing is HUGE!

My old Panasonic also had a sliver frame, and the screen was a dark gray when turned off, so visually it just didn’t stand out as much as the 52" LCD, which is very _black_.

Update: mid-Jan 2009.
So, after nearly a month with this, I like it a lot. The size doesn’t bother me anymore. I do find that I’m now clearly seeing the difference between Blu-ray (PS3) and upscaled DVDs (Oppo 980H). IMHO, anyone who can’t see the difference between blu-ray and DVD at this distance (12′) and screen res (52" 1080p) needs their eyes checked! Blu-ray just pops, while upscaled DVD is OK, and just looks softer. I do hear a lot of people who say they can’t see the difference, and to some extent I understand. For example, on my old 42" 480p Panasonic plasma, there was only a slight difference from 12′ away. Now, OTOH, will I pay -30 for a Blu-ray movie? Absolutely not.

One thing I was concerned about was the visual ‘stuttering’ effect due to LCD being ‘slower’ to refresh than plasma. Honestly, I don’t know if I see this or not. Sometimes I think I do, but OTOH, without a plasma side-by-side, I can’t tell if the scene would be identical on a plasma. Bottom line is that if it’s there, it’s not objectionable. I don’t seem to notice it as much on broadcast HD, as I do on Blu-ray or DVD, which makes me wonder if the reason is that a lot of film is shot at 24 frames per second. I dunno, and more informed minds will probably give a better explanation than mine.

Things I don’t like so much:
(1) I didn’t anticipate that watching at 52" from this close would make me so picky about wanting blu-ray now.
(2) The glossy black finish is a dust magnet! But at least they give you a chamois-like cloth to clean — funny how the small things companies do can make a difference
(3) The shiny screen surface is really reflective, but I later found out that the 650 series Samsung I originally had my eyes on (way more expensive) has a similar glossy screen.

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