Thursday, August 13, 2009

Samsung LNT4061F LCD HDTV

Samsung LNT4061F 40-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

Samsung LNT4061F 40-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV


Product Description

Samsung's 40" LN-T4061F LCD delivers the full brilliance of HDTV with d?cor-enhancing style - and industry-leading value. Enjoy the incredible detail of 1080p resolution, the endless color range of 16-bit processing, the finely nuanced tones of a 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, and the quick motion of an 8ms response time. With the amazing SRS TruSurround XT system, full-bodied sound comes from two bottom speakers.


Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #15427 in Consumer Electronics
  • Color: Black
  • Brand: Samsung
  • Model: LNT4061F
  • Dimensions: 24.70" h x 11.80" w x 38.20" l, 46.00 pounds
  • Display size: 40

Features

  • 1080P (Full HD)
  • 10,000:1 Contrast Ratio
  • 16x9 Aspectr Ratio w/ PIP
  • (3) HDMI, (2) Component Inputs
  • Swivel Stand

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Product Description
For people looking to step up to full 1080p resolution in a 40-inch flat-panel LCD, Samsung's 2007 model LNT4061FF is a good choice. Besides offering full 1080p resolution the LNT4061F also features a 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio for rich blacks and subltle texture display, an 8ms response time panel for smooth motion, hidden side speakers, an NTSC tuner, and 3 HDMI ports.

Compared to other Samsung Models
The primary differences between Samsung's LNT4061F and the LNT4065F LCD HDTV is in the contrast ratio and video processing power. The pricier LNT4065F offers a 15,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio compared to this model's 10,000:1 ratio, and also offers full 10bit video processing over this model's 8 bit system. The more expensive model should display finer gradients of shading making for more detail in darker scenes. The video processing difference should ensure smoother motion in fast moving scenes for the LNT4065F.

Video Processing
The Samsung Digital Natural Image engine (DNIe) Video Enhancer refines all analog NTSC and wideband video inputs for an overall improvement in picture quality. DNIe improves contrast, white level, picture detail and incorporates digital noise reduction to improve lower quality video inputs. The 3D Y/C digital comb filter constantly analyzes the three dimensions of picture height, picture width, and picture changes-over-time to dramatically reduce edge image artifacts while improving transition detail.

Connections

  • HDMI (version 1.3): 3 (1 CEC cabaple)
  • Component video: 2 (Y, Pb, Pr)
  • S-Video input: 1 side/1 rear
  • A/V inputs: 1 side/1 rear
  • PC inout: 1
  • Headphone Jack: 1
  • USB 2.0: 1

Audio Features
High-quality virtual surround sound can be experienced with just the speakers built into the TV. SRS TruSurround XT technology delivers an amazing, simulated 3D effect with clear dialog and powerful bass through hidden side speakers. TruSurround XT audio adds three audio enhancement technologies to produce an amazingly immersive sound experience.

  • Dialog Clarity brings movie dialog into Focus during the playback of any surround-encoded material to make speech much clearer and crisper.
  • TruBass creates incredible deep rich bass allowing a person to perceive significantly deeper, richer low bass tones that are far beyond the physical low frequency capabilities of the speaker itself.
  • The SRS WOW feature widens the soundstage by processing standard two-channel stereo material as well as multi-channel encoded material for a dramatic improvement in the playback of any stereo audio over a two-speaker system.

What's in the box: Samsung LNT4061F 40-inch 1080P LCD TV, remote control, 2 AAA batteries, Power Cord, cleaning cloth, owners manual, warranty card.

From the Manufacturer
Samsung's 40" LN-T4061F LCD delivers the full brilliance of HDTV with décor-enhancing style -and industry-leading value. Enjoy the incredible detail of 1080p resolution, the endless color range of 16-bit processing, the finely nuanced tones of a 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, and the quick motion of an 8ms response time. With the amazing SRS TruSurround XT™ system, full-bodied sound comes from two bottom speakers.

Three HDMI ports, USB 2.0 and full connectivity lets you add DVDs, camcorders, PCs and a range of other digital devices; HDMI-CEC capability lets you control all CEC-compatible devices with one remote.

Wide Color Enhancer
Wide Color Enhancer

Traditionally, blues and greens are weak colors, which are most affected by luminance. In bright scenes their color expression can appear bleak & weak. Hence with Wide Color Enhancer, experience the visualization of uncovered color domain such as spring sprout or summer sky blue.

Anynet Plus
Samsung Anynet Plus

As CEC means Consumer Electronic Control, CEC system intelligence carries device control functions between all connected HDMI (CEC enabled) A/V devices. When you connect A/V devices like BD Player, AV Receiver, Home theater with HDMI cable, you can control all of them with one-touch control and a single remote control.

Wider Viewing Angles (S-PVA)
178-degree viewing angle

Left side, right side or upside-down, whatever your LCD TV's location, SAMSUNG's new innovative S-PVA (Super Patterned Vertical Alignment) solution allows you to see any display clearly due to the 178° wide-viewing angle. Horizontally and vertically, your LCD TV will always be well placed to enjoy the entertainment no matter what your angle of view is.

8ms Response Time
8ms response time for smooth motion

The ultra-fast eight-millisecond response time means smooth, crisp fast-action video.

Built-in DACS speaker Systems
Built-in DACS speaker Systems.

Samsung's Directionalized Acoustic Chamber System technology (DACS) is a revolutionary, computer-simulated technology that enhances low range sound performance, sharpens mid-to-high-range sound quality and improves overall sound clarity. This overcomes the acoustic limitations of traditional speakers by projecting sound evenly throughout the room.

HDMI Connectivity
HDMI Connectivity

Dual connectivity allows users to experience the latest in pure digital quality. With two HDMI connections, you can connect your DVD player and digital cable/satellite to experience the best picture possible.

PC Compatible
PC Compatible

A Samsung LCD TV can function as a high-resolution PC monitor and a high-end TV without any sacrifice in picture quality. Outperforming PC monitors in brightness, response time, resolution, and of course, screen size, SAMSUNG lets you adapt to the expanding multi-media revolution.

10000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio
10000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio

While viewing either very bright or very dark scenes, it can be difficult to distinguish main images which blend into the background. Dynamic contrast dramatically mitigates this problem by adjusting the backlight intensity, providing up to a 10X improvement in contrast.

3 HDMI
3 HDMI Connections

High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) enables simple and easy connection of digital devices with a single cable that transfers uncompressed audio and visual contents without data loss. Samsung LCD TV offers three HDMI for AV enthusiasts to connect with various appliances, such as a home theater, DVDP, Game console, Blu Ray, and Digital Camera.

USB 2.0
HDMI Connectivity

The LN-T4061 provides USB 2.0 for your convenience in using many portable digital devices. Through USB connection, you can display photo/image files in your digital camera, USB memory stick or memory cards, and listen to mp3. Moreover, USB 2.0 support high speed of up to 480 Mbps which is 40 times faster than the speed of USB 1.1.

CCFL(Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp)
CCFL(Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp)

The NTSC (National Television Systems Committee) has established the color standards all TVs in America try to meet. And typical LCD TVs only meet about 72% of this standard. Certain SAMSUNG LCD HDTVs use Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp backlights to give you 92% coverage of the NTSC standard, ensuring truer, more breathlessly vivid colors.

Hidden Bottom Speakers
Hidden Bottom Speakers

Besides pleasing your senses with high quality audio, you will save space with our hidden bottom speakers.

Side AV Inputs
Side AV Inputs

Connect your LCD TV to the peripherals that add to your convenience.

VESA Compatible
VESA Compatible

With the VESA compatibility feature, Samsung has provided hole mounts on the back of the LCD TVs that are based on the VESA standards. This way you can set-up your TV on the wall the way you want it to look.


Customer Reviews

A great picture, with only minor drawbacks5
I have been putting this television through its paces since I got it a few weeks ago, and it is by far the best TV I have ever owned, and very difficult to beat. The image quality is really good, with bright, vivid colors and wonderful detail, especially for 1080i/p content, but even lower-resolution 720p content, which is what's more commonly-available on OTA HD broadcast, looks phenomenal. I also have an Apple TV hooked up to it, and even though most of my content is encoded at either 360p, 480p, or 720p, it still looks quite good.

It does take some time to get the image tuned to perfection, and the default settings are way too bright with too much color saturation boost, and the DNIe processing system actually seems to make some motion effects worse. However, it's very easy to change the settings and see immediately what effect they have.

Like all LCDs it does have some slight black point problems; these aren't noticeable for fullscreen 16:9 content, but for older 4:3 content it's pretty obvious that the black isn't pure black. However, this is again tunable.

The only thing I really notice which is pretty annoying is that it doesn't do a very good job of upscaling 480i content, such as the output from most video game systems, and for DVDs to look good you really need an upconverting player since even with a progressive-scan player there is a lot of visible pixelation when the 480p content is scaled up. It's really more a sad reflection on how the previous "next-generation" video looks downright primitive by today's standards.

The other noticeable issue is that unlike many televisions with digital tuners, it doesn't have an on-screen program guide. My previous TV (also a Samsung) had an on-screen program guide, but it was rather cumbersome to use and took several minutes of scanning every channel to see what was on, and most local channels are pretty inconsistent about providing the EPG information anyway, so it's not really that big of a deal. You can still see the detailed information for the program that's currently showing, so it makes use of EPG, just not as much as it could.

This television's tuner is also quite phenomenal. My previous TV required a very carefully-positioned powered antenna which was very sensitive to every little nearby fluctuation, while with this one I only have a piece of wire jammed into the antenna port and I get perfect reception of every local digital station.

Another nice improvement over Samsung's older HDTVs is that it has a wide variety of zoom modes which allow you to counteract some of the stupider things that TV stations do (for example, pillboxing a letterboxed 16:9 show, which is very common for widescreen non-HD programming). Also, analog TV stations and source inputs get their audio signals upconverted to digital, so you only need to run a single optical audio connection to your stereo (while previous Samsungs required running both analog and digital cables and switching between the two inputs based on source material).

As a PC monitor this is also quite nice. I have a Mac mini hooked up via SVGA cable, and even with an analog signal it looks perfectly sharp and crystal-clear, and of course you can hook it up via HDMI (with a DVI to HDMI adaptor) as well. The only gripe there is that the supported resolutions are a bit quaint - at least on analog SVGA the only 16:9 resolution it supports is 1920x1080, which can be difficult for some older systems to handle. However, on HDMI it should support all the standard HD resolutions.

This television may be more expensive than others in its size class, but it also far outshines every other TV I have seen, aside from the newer LN-T4065, which is nearly identical aside from providing a higher dynamic contrast ratio. If you want to only buy one TV which will last for a long time, it would be hard to go wrong with this one.

Exceptional5
I've had the LN-T4061 for a week now and am still very impressed. The picture quality is excellent, build quality is solid, and ease-of-use is very good too. I am using it with an HD cable box, a Media Center PC, and a home theater receiver. In all cases, connecting and configuring the various inputs was completely obvious and pain free.

General Image: The colors are absolutely amazing. I've looked at a LOT of LCDs over the past few months and I can't recall any of them looking this vibrant. The 10,000-to-1 contrast ratio really makes for a stunning image. The black level is very good for an LCD too, but not quite pitch-black. Since I like to watch movies at night in a dark room, I can pick out a tiny amount of dark grey if I'm looking for it. Still, it's much better than most LCDs and the high contrast ratio makes dark scenes look much better. If you look at LCDs in a store, you'll notice they always play bright, contrasty video. That's because most LCDs have a problem showing the difference between dark colors, like in shadows and night scenes. The Samsung isn't perfect, but it doesn't wash out nearly as bad as the others I sampled.

Image Settings: You can fine tune picture settings (Color, Contract, Brightness, etc.) or use one of the built-in presets. The default setting was a little "over driven" for my eyes, so I stepped it back to the next level and haven't had to touch it since. All settings are stored per-input, which is how it should be.

High Definition: Both of my sources output in HD, the cable box at 1080i and the HTPC at 1080p. I give it 5 stars each in image quality, color fidelity, lack of pixilation, and lack of motion tear.

Standard Definition: I don't really have an SD source anymore as my cable box and HTPC up-convert the content to HD. I did connect an S-Video cable just to try it out though, and was generally satisfied with the picture. There were definitely artifacts of scaling and de-interlacing, but they mostly disappeared to my eye at couch distance (about 12 feet). I didn't give it the close scrutiny I did with the HDMI and component connections though.

HDMI Inputs: I am using only one of the three HDMI jacks, and that for connecting the cable box. In the past I would leave the TV volume at 100% and use the PVR's internal volume control to set the final level. Over HDMI though, you always have full volume going to the TV. The easy work-around for this was to train the cable remote to use the TV codes for volume. This works great and the picture quality is excellent. I also read a forum post about the TV "handshaking" intermittently over an HDMI connection, but I haven't experienced it. Also, on a side note, do NOT buy expensive HDMI cables. The signal is 100% digital and doesn't benefit in any significant way from a $150 "OFC" or "directional" cable. If you need a run of 50' or more it's a different story, but at 6' it's a non-issue.

Component Inputs: Before I got the HDMI cable, I used the component jacks for a few days and I can't say that I noticed any difference when I went to HDMI. It's nice having a single cable instead of the 5 for component, but I couldn't tell one way or another.

Audio: The built in 10-watt speakers are not enough for immersive movie watching, but they do just fine for regular TV shows. Coupled with a home theater sound system, you've got the best of both worlds; easy operation for normal stuff and theater sound for movies.

On-Screen Menus: It has a nicely polished translucent on-screen menu system. The layout is simple, features that don't apply are grayed out, and the hierarchy is logical. What more can you ask for.

Remote Control: I use the cable PVR's remote most of the time, and had no trouble adding Samsung's codes to it. The Samsung remote is actually quite nice, but there are enough special features built into the cable remote (PVR, guide, A B & C buttons, etc) that I prefer to make that the normal clicker. I still keep the TV remote handy though as there are a few features the other remote won't do when watching movies. I wish I could do it all with just one, but I guess that's where remotes like the Logitech Harmony come in.

Cabinet: Personally, I don't like "shiny" media equipment; they just cause glare and distract from what you are really watching. The frame is somewhat shiny but the screen it totally matte. In my opinion, it's a nice mix and looks quite professional. I was worried about the WAF, but the first words out of her mouth were "wow, its pretty". That's good enough for me.

Other: I played around with the "digital picture frame" mode some and it is kind of neat. You plug a USB stick into the side and it does a slide show of the photos and music on it. I probably won't use it as I have a media center PC, but those that don't might find it useful. That same USB slot is also used to do firmware upgrades, which is a lot better than shipping it off to a service center if an incompatibility ever crops up.


All in all I am extremely pleased with this TV. I waited a long time for 1080p prices to fall to levels that would fit my budget and I'm really happy I chose this one. There aren't many reviews out there for this year's model yet, but I expect this one to take off big time.

Excellent picture quality for TV, PC, gaming, movies4
There are some really good reviews of this TV already, and I will add to them my own good (and bad) experiences.

PROS: Excellent picture quality. Plenty of input sources, including VGA (for computers/laptops.) Sexy design and good value.

CONS: Some minor design issues. Remote control is laggy.

SUMMARY: You can't go wrong with this unit. I like it a lot.

DETAILED REVIEW:
Like Phil, I also had in mind to use this TV for all my multimedia needs: computer, Playstation 2 Slim, Over-the-Air (OTA) HD TV, and of course, movies. I live in a 2-bedroom apartment and didn't want anything less than 1080p. I also do not subscribe to cable or satellite TV due to the fact that I do not (yet) see the necessity to pay $50/month for something I don't really use.

The television brands I was primarily considering were the Sharp Aquos and Samsung units. I settled for this TV due to the number of input options, good value (price), and sexy looks. I chose LCD over Plasma because of what I intended to primarily use the TV for: computer use, gaming, and lower chances of picture "burn-ins" that older-generation Plasma is known for.

Keep in mind that this review is written with the TV brightness set at 70%, as running it at 100% would shorten the lifespan of the LCD. At full 100% brightness, the television definitely is a stunner! The unit has also been configured to detect changes in room lighting and automatically adjust the brightness accordingly.

COMPUTER USE:
This is what I use this unit for primarily. Excellent image quality despite connecting a 1920x1080 resolution laptop to the Samsung with a regular VGA-to-VGA cable. My next laptop will likely have a DVI video port -- when that happens, I definitely recommend a DVI-to-HDMI cable. Text is sharp and images are bright and vivid. Playing recorded HD television programs is bliss, and playing BBC's/Discovery Channel's Planet Earth mini-series at 780p has blown away the mind of every single person who wanted to see what this TV is capable of. My laptop could not smoothly handle the 1080p version, but that has nothing to do with the TV.

Computer games looked excellent and no blurring was noticeable. Games included Command and Conquer: Tiberium Wars, Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault, Need for Speed: Carbon, and many more.

I agree with one of the reviewers who mentioned how amazingly bad DVD movies look when compared to today's available HD programs. But again, this has nothing to do with this TV at all as DVD video is becoming an outdated standard. The DVD movies were played through the laptop with no upscaling whatsoever. Blu-Ray simply looks amazing on this unit when my friend fired up his Playstation 3 with a Blu-Ray movie! The same can be said about HD-DVD when my brother hooked up his Xbox360 and a HD-DVD movie.

PHOTOGRAPHY USE:
When viewing my images, they look absolutely amazing! I am a hobbyist photographer (with ambitions to go pro) with a Canon EOS 30D digital SLR (see some examples of these images posted on Amazon.com by searching for the Canon 30D and going through the customer-supplied photos. The camera itself is astonishing.)

Friends and family marvel at how sharp and vibrant the photos look on this set.

PLAYSTATION 2 SLIM USE:
Picture quality was horrible when connecting the PS2Slim to the TV set with the included PS2 RCA cables. I read that buying the optional PS2 S-Video cable would improve picture quality, and so I went out to get one. It sure did help, but the games still look bad (but playable.) Suffice to say, the PS2 was never designed for HD. Get the PS3 or Xbox360 instead.

OVER-THE-AIR TELEVISION USE:
There wasn't true 1080p content available for me to receive over the air. The closest was 1080i, and although most people said that it looked amazing, I'm a picky computer professional when it comes to picture quality. Nonetheless, it definitely played analog broadcast channels better than my dad's Philips set. Those channels that I am able to receive (mostly 720p) looks pretty stunning.

One qualm I have about this unit is that it doesn't seem to have an auto-resize functionality that would turn everything into widescreen. The manual recommends that full-screen content not be played for too long on ANY television set (not just this Samsung), as the difference between the actual video content and the black bars on the side may become a problem over time. You can force any video (except for the computer feed) into widescreen by using the included remote. I like how my dad's Philips unit resizes everything into widescreen, though I don't like how fullscreen content looks stretched when forced to widescreen.

Personally, I leave fullscreen content at fullscreen and take my chances. I did not know that LCDs could have "burn-in" problems, but hey, never say never.

MOVIE USE:
Video quality looks STUNNING. The blacks are, of course, not as black as Plasma televisions, but it's really not that noticeable. There's no noticeable ghosting and action sequences look quite good. Colors are vibrant. I watch my movies with the lights on.

SOUND:
The built-in speakers are not bad, but when compared to the THX-certified Logitech Z-5500 Digital speakers I use with my computer, it's like comparing a Honda with a BMW. I like both car makers. I have hooked up the television unit to the Logitech speakers with an optical audio cable, and you can definitely notice the difference in optical vs standard RCA-type cables. Surround sound comes from the right places, and some of the television shows actually provide engaging surround sound! The problem with optical cables is that audio is always sent at full volume to the speakers. So, you'll have to control the sound volume with the speaker remote instead.

The unit boasts a feature that would auto-level sound coming from each TV channel so that while you're flipping through the channels, the difference in volumes of those channels would not be so noticeable. In other words, as you're flipping through a more silent channel to a loud one, the loud one should automatically be adjusted by the TV to match the quieter one. I was not able to get this feature to work even though it's turned on in the setup. Perhaps it's because I'm having the sound go through the optical audio cables. Remember, optical cables always sent the full volume to the speakers. I haven't had a chance to try it without the optical audio cable yet. I like optical audio too much to let go of it :-)

VISUAL DESIGN OF THE TV:
It's sexy and gets compliments from everyone who has seen it. The glossy piano finish definitely gives it a high-class edge. I chose not to buy the 4065F model because the 4061F one does a better job of minimizing glare. The television does work like a dust magnet. Dust collects easily as another reviewer pointed out. Keep your feather duster handy for once-every-2-week use.

The swivel base is nice. It allows you to turn the TV into a desired position.

MISC:
- This unit allows you to label the various input sources so that when you switch between them, it shows what you're looking at. It does not, however, allow you to completely customize the names of the predefined labels.

- There's a feature in the setup that shows you the signal strength of the TV source. This has helped me optimally position my antenna.

- The remote control doesn't feel as nice as it looks, and pushing the buttons shows noticeable lag between then they were pushed and when the TV responds. Somebody else pointed out this minor flaw too.

- Another reviewer also pointed out that there is a lag between the power button is pushed and when the display shows something. He/she shared that his/her mother kept turning on/off the TV while thinking that it wasn't working. Indeed there is such a lag while the television "readies" itself. You can tell whether the TV is responding or not by looking at the red LED of the power button: when you push to turn on the set, it starts blinking, followed by a sound after a couple seconds. When you turn off the set, a sound is played to indicate that it has been turned off. This lag is true with most LCDs, however, including computer LCDs.

I do wish that instead of utilizing a blinking status indicator that the TV is turning on, that they would transition the solid red (off) into solid blue (on), for example. I think the 4065F model does that.

All said and done, I highly recommend this television and would give it 5 stars if it weren't for some of the minor design issues.

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EDIT 11/7/2007: TV's still functioning beautifully and I am still very happy with the purchase.

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