Samsung LN-T4665F 46" LCD TV

My review is my attempt to capture the key points on the Samsung 4665 HDTV, and how I went about selecting this product for purchase. I have organized my review by the following topics:

Research: The best source for research is cnet.com, which does a thorough review of the product and rates HDTVs on a scale of 1 to 10. Both the 4661 and 4665 models fared very well, with the higher end models, namely the 4671 and 4681 scoring slightly higher. I also checked out Consumer Reports, which recommended the 4661 model (the non glossy sibling to the 4665; CR did not test the 4665 specifically).

Plasma Vs LCDs: You may not want to hear it but when it comes solely to "picture quality", plasmas offer a better picture quality than LCDs. It is a plain fact! However, plasmas have their set of "issues" such as higher risk of burn-in, heavier weight, etc. If only the benefits of an LCD could be combined with the picture quality of plasmas! Fortunately the 4665 does bridge that gap with its super clear gloss panel.

4661 Vs 4665: These two models are siblings. The 4661 has a matte finish whereas the 4665 has a "super clear panel" or gloss screen and a higher contrast ratio. The gloss finish is intended to bridge the gap in picture quality between LCDs and plasmas. Therefore, like plasmas, the 4665 will have some reflections but to me it is quite trivial compared to the richer colors you obtain from the 4665 compared to the 4661. Also, I think cnet, in its review, overstated the effect of the gloss coating and thereby needlessly scares those who are considering choosing between the 4661 and 4665. To further my point on why the gloss coat is better, note that the high end Samsung models, namely the 4671 and 4681, both have a gloss coat, and have obtained excellent reviews at cnet and amazon. If Samsung chooses to put a gloss coat on its best models, it surely means that Samsung and its customers know that the coating is better than one without it!

Picture Quality: The HDTV comes with three standard settings – vivid, standard and movie. The settings within these options, regrettably do NOT bring out the best in the HDTV and in many cases you may wonder why everyone rates this product so highly when the picture, right off the box, is not that great. The key is to change the settings, and fortunately you can do it yourself in less than 5 minutes by changing the settings to those recommended by audio/video calibration experts over at the avs forums. I used their recommended settings, and viola, the picture quality suddenly turned stunning. Here is the web link for the expert calibration settings: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=11287410&postcount=1499

Extra 3 Months Warranty: In addition to the standard 1 year warranty, I was pleasantly surprised to note that you could get a free 3 month extended warranty directly from Samsung just by registering the product with Samsung. Further, many credit card companies double the warranty of the manufacturer's original warranty. So a standard one year warranty doubles to 2 years with most credit cards. It doesn't make any sense to buy extended warranties – even Consumer Reports agrees with that!

In short, the 4665 is a great HDTV because it offers an excellent price to quality, value proposition.