Samsung LN-T4671F 46" LCD TV

Opening
After a year of dragging my feet and being cheap about upgrading my old television, I decided to "git er done." Most sets had reached my price-point of $2000 which I had been dutifully saving for a year. I had decided to go with an LCD over plasma and after a lot of online and in-store browsing, took the plunge with the Samsung LNT-4671. This was my first flat-screen purchase and probably a necessary one, as my television was 10 years old and broadcasting will change to all-digital in 2009.

I'm not a technology-writer and the specifications and comparisons on this set were nicely summed up in a review on CNET.com on 11/13/2007. I highly recommend that any purchaser review this piece as it compares the Samsung LNT-4671 to its closest competitors, including the top-end Samsung 81-series which I was considering. I like my electronics reviews to focus on the practicalities and intangibles of ordering, and hopefully there will be some helpful hints that will make others' purchases go as smoothly as mine.

Pre-purchase stalking at the local Bestbuy
I'd recommend that you go to a local electronics store and get a good look at the sets. I made several trips just to be sure and specifically focused on the Samsung 81-series, the cheaper 65-series, and the Sony KDL-46XBR4 which I have read is made in the same 8th-generation fabrication plant as the Samsung LNT-4671, with slightly different engineering tolerances.

While arguments go back and forth on the technical specifications and capabilities of these units, I decided that since it was my eyes that were going to have to look at the set for the next ten years, I would rely heavily on how they "liked" the picture when weighing the merits of each brand. This turned out to be an agonizing choice and I almost opted for the Sony, but was deterred by the higher cost and the fact that in a side-by-side comparison, my eyes perceived a lack of crispness that the Samsung had. I was also able to look at the 81-series, which uses LED-backlights (a new technology) to create contrast ratios into the 100,000:1 range. I decided against this set after reading reviews that said that the 25,000:1 of the Samsung LNT-4671 was about as good as any normal human eye could appreciate, unless the view was a hardcore videophile. The cost was also prohibitive. In a side-to-side comparison, the 81-series was impressive, but my eye didn't perceive much difference unless it was a fast-moving scene with a lot of black in the background (they were running a chase sequence from "Batman Returns" on the store demo).

So, it all came down to the Sony versus the Sammy. Both looked great, and the Sony actually did a bit better job in resolving greens, but the Sammy looked a lot crisper with motion shots (they used "Planet Earth"). When I factored in the cost, it went in the direction of the Sammy.

How I purchased
I had been tracking the on-line prices of the Samsung LNT-4671 on Amazon.com and after reading nothing but glowing reviews on the set and the delivery, decided to use them for my purchase. As a precaution, I also picked a few other random high-end HDTV LCD reviews and combed through them, looking for specific feedback on delivery, complaint resolution, and other logistical issues.

I saved $1000 dollars by purchasing from Amazon, and that price included delivery and partial set-up, which is something that Bestbuy could not even come close to matching. I also increased my savings by another $135 dollars by emailing Amazon about a price-drop in the set the week after I purchased it. My Visa was credited in less than 24 hours.

Amazon uses EGL Delivery and I have nothing but good things to say about them. Four days after I ordered the set, I received a call from their scheduler. Regrettably I was working on their next open delivery day so I had to wait a whole seven days between ordering and receiving my unit. On delivery day, they gave me a window of 9am – 1pm. I figured I could sleep in, but EGL showed up at 8:50am and cheerfully brought the television into my loft, unpacked it, and put it on my entertainment unit. The unit was already mounted on the stand and had the latest firmware (version 1013) installed.

The delivery service are not technicians and will only go as far as plugging the set in and making sure that it goes into set-up mode. After this, they are not responsible for things like bad pixels, faulty products, or other technical problems. If you are dissatisfied they will pack the set back up and ship it back to Amazon and they advise you to save the packing and the box for a couple of weeks during the break-in period which should be about 100 hours—this is also the time that is needed for screen to "burn-in" a bit and settle into a stable and consistent picture.

I can't say enough good things about how quickly and efficiently the set was brought to me and highly recommend the Amazon buying experience over the inexperienced teenage sales-reps, terrible service, retail pricing, and delivery-gouging from my local Bestbuy. I'd use the big-box retailers to see the sets first-hand and glean whatever tidbits you can from the commission-based sales reps, but when you are ready to purchase, consider Amazon.

Set-up
The first time you turn the Samsung LNT-4671 on, it will enter a set-up mode and pretty much walk you through everything, avoiding the hassles of the manual. Important note: put your remote batteries into the remote BEFORE you plug the set in because you will need it to control the set-up process. One of the nice things about the Sammy's menus is that each control element is labeled with a normal-speak description of what it adjusts. For example, the 120hz anti-judder Auto-Motion Plus feature has a heading that says "adjusts and enhances picture quality during fast-moving scenes."

Compared to my old 36-inch television the Samsung LNT-4671 is very light (77lbs) and easily managed by a person that is reasonably fit. It was very easy to position the stand on my entertainment center, despite its non-slip rubber pads. The swiveling feature also means that it is very easy to reach the inputs that are on the rear of the set. There is also a full set of inputs on the left side of the set, including a USB port which allows you to view jpeg files, play mp3s, or (most importantly) install firmware updates. It took me a grand total of two minutes to plug in my upscaling HDMI DVD player, my Nintendo Wii, and my two powered simulated surround-sound speakers. If you have an HDTV decoder box and a true home-theater system, it might take you an additional couple of minutes due to the extra cables. My advice is to use the time lag between ordering and delivery, to lay out your cables.

I am not sure if this next segment will be of use to most people, but I thought I would mention the exact model and brand of entertainment center that I chose. I had particular space needs, in that I wanted my entire television and components to fit neatly inside of a light-wood unit. I don't like clutter and I felt that most of the cabinet options were a bit to 80's style unctuous, as they were mostly limited to black steel and glass. I opted for the Bonde television stand from Ikea which was only $219 dollars. I didn't like the height of the unit and wanted my electrical box (which protrudes from the wall of my loft since it is an old commercial-grade in-pipe wiring system) to neatly fit into the rear alcove, putting the entire thing flush with the wall. I solved the problem by buying six casters and some bolts, drilling some guide holes, and installing them with a powered screwdriver. It really made a difference once the wheels were on. The viewing height was improved, and it was much easier to roll the unit forward and adjust my cables.

Viewing experience
In addition to cost, one of the reasons I opted for the 71-series is because it incorporates a 120hz screen refresh rate, versus 60hz which is standard on most LCDs, including the higher-end 81-series televisions. I was also a bit leery of the new LED-technology in the 81-series. I am pretty much blown away by the LCD and HDTV experience as this is my first set. I imagine that I will become a bit spoiled at some point, but all of the stories that compare it to the VHS versus DVD experience are right on. I've only had the set for a week now, but am already enjoying my DVD collection in upscaled format. I can't wait to get a true HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player and begin exploring the 1080p experience.

One of the main selling points of the Samsung LNT-4671 is its Auto-Motion stabilization software which has low, medium, and high settings. This process essentially adds extra frames during fast-moving scenes, effectively smoothing out the picture. This anti-judder technology still has a few kinks, and required some firmware upgrades. As CNET has noted, there is still some spontaneous jerkiness that gets introduced into DVD movies if you are scanning through a scene. Some viewers also complain that at its highest setting, it produces significant artifacts and movement shadows during sporting events, and that during some movies, the anti-judder technology causes screen movements to gain an artificial feeling. I have experienced some of these and I typically leave the anti-judder off (the screen still refreshes at 120hz) unless I am watching sci-fi battle scenes. To be honest, most HDTV broadcasts need no further tweaking, and even upscaled DVDs look great. Samsung's latest firmware upgrade (1013) is supposed to be their last, but I suspect that we will see continued improvements on this still-evolving technology.

As I mentioned in the pre-purchase section, it's all about how happy the picture makes your eyes once you get it home. I have been perfectly satisfied with the standard television settings and find that the "movie-mode" picture setting introduces too much shading and sepia tones for my taste. One of the nice things about this set is that there is a lot of room for picture adjustment, but it is also very good at just running in default mode. The television remembers which settings you prefer at each individual input, so you don't have to keep adjusting screen-size, anti-judder, etc each time you change components. The set remembers my settings for my DVD and my Nintendo Wii, which is a real blessing since I am using the "game mode" setting. The menu has "smart" functions and if a certain option is not included in the viewing mode you are in, you cannot highlight or adjust it.

At this point I have not reached the 100-hour break-in point, but I'm happy with the depth of the blacks that the set can produce. I don't really detect any of the tendencies for them to become bluish. I find that the greens are a bit more vivid than real life, but I actually prefer this crispness to the greens that the Sony sets produce. I am re-watching the extended versions of "Fellowship of the Ring" as they diverse environments of New Zealand are a good test for the color-range, and the fast-paced battle scenes are a good test for the anti-judder software. I did a cursory viewing of "Shallow Seas" from the "Planet Earth" series and was very happy with the blue colors and vivid reproductions of the coral reefs.

Television Viewing: The Samsung LNT-4671 has a "Just Scan" feature that will automatically adjust the picture-size based on broadcast signal or input. For DVDs it sets itself up in a widescreen format with the black bar headers and footers. For 1080i broadcasts the set goes into glorious full screen picture. For 480i and standard broadcasts, it goes into the old 4:3 square screen. Oddly enough, some shows that are shot in wide-screen format don't quite fit into the screen area and the set displays them with a large area of black around the image. It is possible to zoom the image to 1080i-size using the Zoom 1 function, but you lose a bit of the frame above and below and start to see artifacts pop up. I would say that this is the biggest disappointment about the set, but it is more a fault in how television programs are shot and broadcast, than an inherent flaw in how the Sammy operates.

Regrettably, my Nintendo Wii does not have HDMI output, but the Samsung LNT-4671's Game Mode still makes a big difference in how well the games are displayed. I have HDMI-outputs on my computer's motherboard and when I get the time to test the VGA versus HDMI outputs for PC use, I will update this review. CNET had already tested both and concluded that HDMI had less artifact but VGA was still useful. I have talked to a friend of mine that gets paid to be a geek and he told me that some motherboards with HDMI outputs will run inconsistently with large LCD monitors, either shutting them off or changing their settings, randomly, and not to expect an easy mating of the two.

When taking into account the fact that this is my first LCD HDTV, I may still be a bit star-struck, but I'd like to think that I purchased a very good television. The viewing experience is consistently good and I've been very happy with this purchase.


Speakers
I have a couple of low-grade Sony simulated surround-sound powered speakers that I am currently using, but the 15-watt speakers on the unit produce adequate sound. They are far from 5.1 or 7.1 quality, but as I live in a high-rise and don't want to upset my neighbors with crashing bass, I have currently refrained from buying the Bose system that I have had my eye on for a couple years now.

The bass is obviously lacking, but the trebles are adequate and the XRT-Surround engine does a fairly good job in simulating surround-sound. For a layperson like myself, it will be fine for normal viewing, but for special occasions or to really get the most of this unit in a home theater, a true surround-sound system is must.

Remote
The Samsung remote is slender and curved. When it is sitting on the table, the beam transmitter is actually facing downwards but my set still detects the signal easily. The remote is also supposed to have some universal functions, but when I tried to input codes for my Philips DVP5960, I did not gain full functionality. I consider this a minor weakness. The remote does not have any "learning" functions, so if their default codes don't work, you are out of luck. As CNET have observed, the picture adjust buttons at the bottom are tightly grouped, but the rest of the buttons are logically placed and they can be backlit.

Looks and other features
These are minor, but cool: Right below the "Samsung" logo at the base of the television is a touch-sensitive power switch with an adjustable volume greeting trill. The right side of the television has touch sensitive volume, channel, and menu controls which admittedly are a bit redundant, but useful should the price of AAA batteries hit $100 per barrel.

The Sammy has also gotten mixed reviews for its sleekness and use of a glossy frame. Some people love it, but some people who put the television in a brightly-lit room complain that the reflections from the gloss can detract from the overall viewing quality. I find that the looks of the Sammy are much sleeker and modern looking than its stodgier cousins in a side-by-side comparison.

Intangibles
HDMI cables: NOT INCLUDED with this set, and at most retailers, a 6-foot HDMI cable will cost upwards of $50. After reading a ton of reviews on cables, all of which concluded that an 88-cent cable will do the same job as its more expensive brother, I opted to save my cash.

The television may have problems with el-cheapo cables that are not HDMI 1.3 or with older video players that are not HDMI 1.3 compatible (like mine). I have a Philips DVP 5960 upscaling DVD player and the 88-cent cable does not output sound to the television. Instead, I am running the sound (via the old red and white coax cables) to my powered Sony speakers.

CLEANING: DO NOT USE ANY DETERGENTS OR ABRASIVES ON THE TELEVISION! It has several coats of anti-glare coating that will be abraded off by anything other than the micro-fiber cleaning rag (included). I have read of one horror story where a person used Windex to clean the screen and was left with a huge foggy blotch.

HDTV: I don't want to comment too much on HDTV providers, but you should make note that there is quite a bit of OTA (over-the-air) HDTV signals that are free. A lot of extended cable channels are beginning to broadcast in HDTV as well. I live in downtown Portland, OR and supposedly have LOS (line-of-sight) to all the OTA transmitters just up the hill, yet even with a powered Terk antenna (which I returned to Bestbuy the next day) could not pick up any free HDTV signals. Oddly enough, however, my Comcast cable was piping in a few of the local HDTV channels. I'm opting to wait before upgrading my cable package since I mainly watch movies and it seems like everybody is slowly moving to HDTV programming, anyway.

Am I satisfied with the Samsung LNT-4671?
Absolutely yes. It's a great unit and ranks very high on just about every technical website and electronics websites. The few negative comments that I have seen have been related to one person experiencing random shut-downs (which needed a repair under warranty), and a few complaining about the Auto-Motion feature creating artifact around footballs. This was fixed with new firmware and you should plan on watching events with this feature turned off.

I did a painstaking search for bad pixels with a white-screen background and found none (whew!), and the most painful part of the purchasing experience was actually having to move my old television out of my place (it weighed about 200+ lbs). While I burned a lot of gasoline going to Bestbuy to compare these sets, it was a lot of fun and I recommend that you do the same.

I'd say this set is a good purchase for the user who has a budget, but wants a few more high-end features and 1080p capability. The set has 120hz refresh which will probably become standard on most LCD HDTV's and avoids delving too deeply into the promising, but still new, LED back-lighting technology on the 81-series.

CNET.com's Review:
http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/samsung-ln-t4671f-46/4505-6482_7-32514512.html?tag=prod.txt.1

UPDATE 11/22/2007 - BAD PIXELS:
I should mention that I went over the screen with a fine-toothed comb, looking for bad pixels.
I found two. They aren't dead, but one cannot display reds and one cannot display deep shades of blue. Neither affects picture quality or is visible unless I freeze the picture and get about 10 inches from the screen. Most current information indicates that it is pretty normal to have a few bad or stuck pixels, or even dead pixels. Samsung's current policy on bad pixels states that they won't replace the set unless you meet certain criteria (like more than 20 dead pixels, or areas of adjacent dead pixels).
I spoke with a friend who is a manager at Planar, a local manufacturer of LCD panels and he said that a few defects are normal, but some panels are 100% perfect. He also said that the worst thing to do is to actively look for them as there is nothing you can do about a couple bad pixels and the knowledge that you have no options and only a 99.9999% perfect set bothers some people.
When you put into perspective that: 1) you don't see individual bad pixels unless your nose is against the screen, 2) out of a couple million pixels, just a couple may be bad, 3) generally bad pixels don't grow in number unless you have a very defective set, 4) there are warranty policies, it's best to just monitor the situation and not get too upset.
Not that I'm an apologist for a few very minor flaws.


UPDATE 11/24/2007:
I got to watch my first sports broadcast in HDTV. WOW! I was flipping between a standard broadcast and the Hi-Definition and I can honestly say that it was night and day. In fact, I'm pretty much spoiled on HD. I specifically tested the Auto-Motion Plus (AMP) to look for what has been called the Triple-Ball-Effect (TBE) that has plagued sets with earlier firmware. I did not see it and at the advice of AVS Forums, left the AMP in the Low and Off positions.

Right now the set is pushing the 100-hour mark and I have seen no more dead or stuck pixels upon viewing full red, green, and blue screens.

UPDATE 12/17/2007:
How to get free cable and scrambled channels with the Samsung LNT-4671. This is for Comcast subscribers.

A friend of mine clued me into the fact that these sets (with QAM tuners) are able to pick up on-demand channels for free. Now, you have no control over what you see, and often times the person that has ordered it from your local Comcast node will fast-forward or pause the action.

This is more of a cutesy quirk about these sets that you can exploit for fun.

Here's how you do it:
Run an Auto-Program during prime-time, when most people will be ordering or watching scrambled channels. This gives your set the best chance to pick-up the free HD local channels, and the the pay-per-view.

At 75% completion, the set will begin to automatically remove scrambled channels. Halt the auto-program at this point and it should tell you how many channels you've grabbed. Then it's just a simple matter of surfing through the channels until you find shows to watch.

You can repeat this process as many times as you want.

It's not very practical, but every so often you will pick-up a nice 1080i broadcast of pay-per-view movies.

This is a link to a nice write-up on why this phenomena exists.

http://www.slate.com/id/2167389

UPDATE 3/6/08

A month ago, I decided to move my PC from my bedroom into my living room as part of an attempt to consolidate my entertainment and media options. I was pretty much running all of my music into my stereo and it just made sense to upgrade to a massive monitor over the 2 19-inch LCD panels I was using.

The upside is that I have a huge picture and this is great for games and watching video clips. The downside is that this fellow runs in its native mode of 1920x1080 resolution, so you have to sit fairly close to it (about 3 to 4 feet) to see your desktop.

Having run the Samsung LNT-4671 as a computer monitor has been a very good experience so far. The only game I really play is Warcraft (hangs head in shame) via my rather outdated nVidia 6600 GT video card. I had no installation and detection issues other than when I first made the change. Windows XP gets along with the monitor just fine and there are no quirks with the nVidia software.

I have also taken advantage of the USB port and the television's WiseLink software to view slideshows of my vacation photos. This feature works very well and is intuitively simple to use--no manuals needed. The unit will detect and read your USB drive (I used a thumb drive) and start an automatic slide show.