Quirky DLNA, underwhelming documentation, but great picture and sound, April 15, 2011

I chose this model over other 32-inch LCDs because I’m a sucker for things like network streaming, a 5-band equalizer, picture-in-picture, and firmware updating. It also has a semi-documented headphone jack in the rear — just turn off the speakers for it to work. Also, the power cable detaches, so you can replace that yourself.

One might dismiss this TV altogether since it doesn’t have LED edge lighting, but that tech does not appear to be earning its price premium so far, considering a higher percentage of panel defects, and a black level so intense that detail often gets lost. 60Hz is also not a deal-breaker, since 120Hz tends to only show its strength with sports programming.

The picture quality is ultimately subjective, of course. But I found it well above average. Unfortunately, you can’t completely disable Dynamic Contrast. The TV will tell you that it’s off, but some enterprising Internet detectives at televisioninfo.com have determined that this is a ruse, which leads to some unavoidable light trailing and somewhat crushed blacks. DVDs look surprisingly good, and standard-definition signals look very solid but not outstanding.

Dynamic Contrast, Black Tone, Shadow Detail, Edge Enhancement and the noise filters should probably be turned off. Unfortunately, these features can create more problems than they solve; use them sparingly. Like Spider-Man once said, “With power comes responsibility.”

I have a Roku box connected through HDMI, an Xbox 360 via component, and clear QAM cable TV through the RF antenna jack in the rear. These hookups are going straight into the TV inputs — no receiver. I figure that this eliminates a testing variable or two. Picture quality and sound was great from all three sources. When I streamed Netflix over Xbox Live, the Xbox appeared to upscale to 1080i. I could not get my 720p Roku box to do this over HDMI.

(Edit: I have also now tried a third-party VGA adapter for the Xbox 360. It looks quite good using the console’s “Expanded” reference level; at least on par with component, and upscaled DVDs look quite good, but not as good as Blu-ray.)

Audio is in a better boat, since the SRS functions can actually be turned off (as far as we know). There’s also that 5-band equalizer. I thought the TV did surprisingly well for two downward-facing 10-watt speakers, but they won’t quite replace dedicated external audio.

The D550 doesn’t do Internet apps, but this feature is becoming increasingly redundant. As for network sharing, you are not limited to Samsung’s proprietary, Windows-only “PC Share Manager” software, either. There’s a variety of free, multi-platform software that handle networked media libraries. Unfortunately, Samsung appears to have not implemented DLNA according to spec, so you may have trouble getting third-party software to work properly. I had the best experience with TVMobili, which is thankfully free and compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. Serviio is also good.

In its promotional material, Samsung swears that its Wi-Fi “LinkStick” dongle is *required* for wireless networking (and it is not bundled with this TV). This is simply not the case. You can just use a wireless-N Ethernet “game adapter,” which can be had for as little as if you shop around. Dongles are also only compatible with a few devices from one manufacturer.

(Edit: It’s come to my attention that an Intellinet 523974 *might* also work in place of Samsung’s official dongle. I cannot directly confirm it, though. It is also reportedly 2.4Ghz, while the dual-band Samsung model adds a 5Ghz option.)

The “E-manual” built into the TV’s menu system isn’t very good and is difficult to navigate. The PDF version on their website is… a PDF version of the e-manual. Which is white text on a black background. So much for printing it out…

Also, the two-piece pedestal requires a Phillips screwdriver. That’s not bad, but the screws required quite a lot of torque to get them all the way in. Also, you need to attach the top part at a certain angle, or else it won’t be flush with the base.

A note about shipping: Amazon Prime does not currently provide 2-day or next-day shipping for this unit; “3-5 business days” is the official line. This is not unusual for products of this size and weight. However, the unit arrived at my door less than 48 hours after I ordered it. So I appreciate Amazon’s and UPS’s fast service! But your own experience will vary according to your distance from the warehouse and other factors.

(Update 4/25: This item is not currently shipped from and sold by Amazon, nor eligible for Amazon Prime. “Video & Audio Center” is handling the item instead. I am not familiar with their…

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Everything I was hoping for…, March 4, 2011

By 

J. A. Mullins “Adam” (USA) – See all my reviews

  

I ordered this product: Samsung LN32D550 32-Inch 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV (Black) around 1pm yesterday with One-Day Shipping and received it today around 1pm. Amazon always is the best for quality of service and working with the best package delivery companies. I have been looking to purchase a 32 inch TV for my computer room for the last 3 months. I waited for the 2011 models and I am glad that I did.

Setup (putting the stand) on this TV was very simple and the user interface is very easy to understand. I have tested input lag with video games as well as quality on a Blu-ray. You need to adjust your setting when hooking up an Xbox 360 to completely get rid of all input lag noticeable to the human eye (I had to label the HDMI port as PC). The PS3 on the other-hand has no noticeable input lag tested with multiple settings. I watched a few minutes of I am Legend on Blu-ray and the video and audio quality is amazing.

The LN32D550 has more settings and options (except internet apps) than other current 2011 32 inch LCDs.

Video: black tone, dynamic contrast, shadow detail, edge enhancement, motion lighting, digital noise filter, mpeg noise filter, etc.

Audio: SRS TruSurround HD and SRS TruDialog

Vs my other TV Samsung LN40A650 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color this TV has a better interface, more settings, better sound quality, and very similar picture quality but lacks 120Hz motion technology.

This TV is all around a great purchase and product.

Input lag test were done playing Call of Duty: Black Ops on the 360 and Uncharted 2 on the PS3.

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Great Buy!, July 15, 2011

By 

D. Acree “Casual Reveiwer” (Fort Wayne, IN) – See all my reviews

  

I bought this item a few days ago after doing a multitude of research on flat screen TV’s. Frankly, I was ready to be done! Our focus was finding a TV with an external width no larger than 37 5/8″. We were faced with a limited selection of 37″ TV’s or some barely close 40″ TV’s. The 40″ TV’s that we had to choose from were LED and cost roughly 00 or more. Rather than being faced with a close fit of an expensive TV, we decided 37″ would suffice. Then we were caught between buying a Samsung or a Sony and whether to get LED or LCD. In my opinion, the Sony brand commands a brand premium in price. Nice TV’s though. I read a lot about LED v. LCD. The LCD is still energy efficient and is energy star qualified. After seeing the picture difference of the LCD and LED. My wife and I were both okay with LCD. Then I researched the difference of 60 hz versus 120 hz refresh rates. Okay, I understand the technical mumbo jumbo of this, but after comparing in a store the difference I couldn’t tell. Maybe my eyes are not good enough anymore. We also bought the Samsung USB wireless adapter. I thought from all my reading that this TV had some Internet functionality i.e. Netflix etc. It DOES NOT. If you have a Wii or some other game platform that allows internet access – use it and save your money. The wireless adapter will work with some Samsung Blu-Ray players as well. The only thing the wireless adapter will do is connect with your pc network and play movies, music, and pictures from your pc. If this for you – great buy the wireless. Note: it has a network interface for wired applications on the back as well.

The nitty gritty of the TV. It works fantastic. Exceeded expectations on standard definition movies and TV broadcasts. No dark “halo” effects when the picture is dark. HD works fantastic…almost too clear and crisp to tell the truth. Works great in the game mode with the Wii. I know other’s have said the sound/speakers were issues, but my family thinks it works just fine. The PIP(picture in a picture) function only works when viewing programs from two sources i.e. broadcast and DVD. Not a big user of PIP. Set up is easy. Remote is easy and intuitive to use. The enclosed manual is “light” on info. TV does have a manual you access through TV – it is more in-depth. For 9 and our first upgrade from a CRT TV – I have no regrets. TV is great for everyday use – watching broadcast, movies, games, and PC use. But then again, we didn’t need all the bells and whistles of higher end models. Hope this helps your decision.

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Excellent value, December 28, 2010

By 

Dick Oliver (Wilton, NH United States) – See all my reviews

  

I bought twelve of these for my digital arts studio. Overall, I’m very happy with them and even more happy with the excellent sale price I got at Amazon.com.

Pros:

* Rock-solid, beautifully saturated and bright image quality.

* Easy to use controls and driver disk (which you may need for optimum resolution on some computers)

* Kinda sexy multi-colored indicator light below the screen changes from blue (on) to amber (sleep) to off.

* Sturdy, adjustable stand which attaches easily.

* Just the right amount of “matte” finish to avoid the annoying glare and “mirror” effect that some screens have, without any sacrifice of brightness or clarity.

Cons:

* As with most LCD screens, colors shift somewhat with viewing angle. If you are a graphics design or video editing shop with exacting color calibration requirements, buy a (much) more expensive IPS screen if you can. (I couldn’t afford a decent IPS screen, and this inexpensive monitor reproduces color BETTER than many “bargain” IPS screens.)

* I find the (permanent) large white lettering on the lower bevel rather annoying, even though you stop noticing it after a while.

* The screen is actually TOO bright for most environments even in daylight. I turned the brightness down to zero and it’s acceptable, but only because I never use the units at night or in a dimly lit room. You may want to use gamma correction software (such as adobe gamma or the Windows 7 settings) to dim the screen more than the monitor controls alone will achieve.

* One out of twelve units I ordered was dead on arrival. (Amazon promptly refunded my money.)

* Because the touch controls are on the corner of the screen, the screen wiggles when you use them. Not a big problem (how often do you use them anyway?) but mildly irritating.

* Be aware that some older video cards may not support 1920×1080 resolution. That’s not a problem with the screen, but be sure you have an appropriate driver before you upgrade to any new screen!

Overall, I did a lot of shopping around and this is a terrific deal if you can get it for under 0. I couldn’t find anything comparable in quality for that price.

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Impressive!, September 18, 2010

I purchased two of the ViewSonic VX2450WM-LED monitors and received them this past Tuesday. Absolutely impressive!

Amazon should be commended for their great packaging of the monitor boxes. The boxes were huge, and I am impressed that Amazon took their time to package something properly before shipping it to me.

These LED-backlit monitors replaced two SAMSUNG 226BW CCFL-backlit monitors that I got from Amazon over three years ago. One of them broke down after the warranty expired. The other one is fine, and I am selling that one. Once you have a dual monitor setup it is very difficult to go back to using only one monitor.

This is my first time purchasing a ViewSonic LCD monitor. I am so glad I got these LED-backlit monitors, because the picture on them is quite beautiful. What a difference from CCFL-backlit monitors! The colors are more vivid and the text is much more clear IMO.

The best thing is that they both use the same amount of electricity as one of my old SAMSUNG monitors. Can’t go wrong there!

The resolution is nice step up at 1920 x 1080 instead of the 1680 x 1050 that I had on my SAMSUNG monitors.

In short, I’m impressed with this new ViewSonic monitor.

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This is a very good choice oh yeah Finally someone!Wrote a review, September 14, 2010

By 

D. Gust – See all my reviews

  

Ok let me first say that I was looking for any review a user would have on this monitor.

I searched for hours w/ reviews but never owners until I found 3 reviews on Egghead that’s it.

I wondered why not any owner reviews? I still don’t know.

Here’s what I know so far I have used this monitor for 2 days with great results.

I just went into the menu and set it to MEMORY RECALL (1# is Exit)(#2 is Select) low and behold the whites looked whiter and the dark’s were

dark. The back-lit L.E.D. seems to make images sharper then my cold cathode florescent lights (old technology)do.

Good:

The colors and lighting are fine , No Heat from this screen, and it has a sharp image, also easier on the eyes.

This monitor saves you money because the VX2450WM 24″ only uses about 28-30Watts. My older 24″Gateway uses 125Watts.

This monitor DOES have vesa screw holes in back for mounting an monitor arm -

Bad:

This monitor is very light(8)lbs so the plastic base makes the monitor jiggle when typing, that’s it.

Lastly just see if you can find many LED monitors that still have Vesa mounts screw holes in back apparently many don’t.

The Ergotron LX is my choice http://www.amazon.com/Ergotron-Desk-Mount-LCD-45-241-026/dp/B00358RIRC/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1284522367&sr=8-3-fkmr1 has many high reviews plus I watched some you-tube movies of the monitor arm in action it’s an extra I know 9.xx for but worth it I hope for the freedom it gives you.

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Terrific product!, February 18, 2009

I just used this to mount a 32″ lcd to the wall. I wanted the smaller mount for it (the one that only goes to 37″) so the ends don’t stick out, etc. The harware pack was complete, and everything went together very nice. The mount itself is extremely sturdy, and the metal is nice and thick too. The black finish is nice also.

I will definitely recommend Cheetah Mounts to everyone I know that needs to mount a lcd or plasma.

Shipping was fast. They shipped this product the same day I ordered it.

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Great for a 32 inch LCD, March 13, 2009

By 

Eric Chapman “Chappy” (San Francisco, CA) – See all my reviews

  

I receieved this product fast. I opened it up and was very pleased with all parts and HW in tact.

Set it up on my wall in a short time, and tilted it perfectly for viewing on my bed.

Very legit!! I am happy with the low low price and very sturdy construction.

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Great Product For the Money, March 17, 2009

By 

SethDennis (NC) – See all my reviews

  

I just bought a 32″ Samsung LCD and decided on this mount for it.

Pros: For the price, this is a great deal. I have no experience with other brands of mounts, but I’ve found this one to be very sturdy and feel comfortable hanging a 30lb TV on it.

Cons: While this was a great purchase for the money, here are the negatives I’ve found about this mount.

1) The reason I took a star off was because of the design of this mount. Adjusting the screws is very difficult once the TV is hanging. In addition, I needed to get an extra long screwdriver to adjust the bottom-locking screws. I do not have experience with other mounts though, so this may be standard. Still though, it could be a little better designed to be user friendly.

2) The built in level seemed to be off. However, Cheetah includes a free level with this model and I used another one I had just to double check.

3) The directions were straight forward, however, they recommend an 3/16″ drill bit for the pilot hole. I found this to be way to small to fit the anchors in and had to use a 3/8″ drill bit to get them to fit. Don’t try to hammer and force them in, you will just damage the anchor. It should be snug though. 3/8″ bit worked.

Overall this was a great product for the price, and I would definitely buy it again.

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I love this wall mount!!, September 13, 2008

By 

Mark D. Patton (Strasburg, VA) – See all my reviews

  

I bought a 50″ Plasma and decided it would be best on my wall. I went looking through stores and found higher prices than this one and bulkier designs.

I love the articulating arms!! I can pull it away from the wall to access the wires, etc. and adjust the left to right tilt for best viewing. It seems very sturdy and has worked great for me the last six months.

It was easy enough to mount to the wall but if you are not good with tools seek experienced assistance. You will need someone to hold it up for you unless you are good at this sort of thing. The hardest part was hanging the TV and that was only due to the weight of it.

Note: Make sure you have wall studs with 16″ centers if mounting to drywall!! I bought it not realizing I had 24″ centers on that one wall. This caused me to mount it to a steel plate so it could get anchored to the studs (The 50″ TV weighed 125lbs!!)

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I will support Cheetah Mounts FOREVER!!, September 4, 2009

By 

W. Fox (Charlotte, NC) – See all my reviews

  

Load testing it (215 lbs!) – {…]

WOW. I bought a cheetah mount that only tilts for my 52″ SAMSUNG LCD TV. But the configuration of my living room/kitchen area had me thinking I’d rather go with an articulating wall mount, so I can turn it if I’m cooking or if I have people over on the sectional sofa I can turn it that (the opposite) way. So I bought this puppy (I kept the other tilting-only mount for my bedroom LCD TV which I haven’t purchased yet). After taxes and S&H, it came out to 6. A similar product at BestBuy and hhgregg costs well over 0 (bestbuy has some that articulate and tilt that are up to 0!!!)

I’m a civil engineer, I work on designing things as a career. When I opened the box and saw the structural bulk of this thing, I was very impressed. I knew my brand new TV would be secure hanging from this thing. It came with a BUNCH of extra hardware in case you needed to use it (I ended up using the screws they supplied for the connection to the TV, since mine were too short). I also used their spacers to help ensure full thread engagement.

I wanted to install the TV on the wall and run the cables through the wall, so I had a lot of work cut out for me. Also, I live on a first floor condo unit, so my studs were in groups of 3 and only 12″ apart. So I had to cut a whole in the drywall and add another adjacent stud to it. The lag screws they supplied are more than efficient. Just be sure to have the right sized screwdriver head to avoid stripping the heads.

Once I got the TV up I load tested it. I brought it out about 3/4 the total extension distance and first pulled down on it a bit. Then I slowly transferred all my weight to the mount. I heard a little bit of stress in the wood, but after all 215lbs of me was hanging from it, I knew that my 66 lb tv would be just fine. It’s only upon writing this review that I see it’s rated for 180 lbs. so it’s a good thing that I didn’t see that before load-testing it. even though, being an engineer and all) I know things are derated all the time. The instructions were a little fuzzy, but it’s still pretty easy to not screw up.

Feel free to ask me any questions about the TV or the wall mount, i’d be glad to answer.

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Stout Wall Mount, October 18, 2008

By 

F. Zuma “Habanero” (Buda, TX) – See all my reviews

  

Bought this mount for a Samsung LN46A750 46-Inch 1080p DLNA LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color also purchased at Amazon.

I was impressed with the sheer weight of this mount as it weighs nearly as much as the TV I mounted to it. It left me with the impression it could hold what it claims (165 lbs.). I weigh around 260 lbs. and leaned heavily on the empty mount after I put it on the wall (before attaching TV) and it didn’t budge.

Its appearance is somewhat stylish for what it is. I have it tilted out fairly well so there is quite a bit showing to any who enter the room, yet it blends w/ the back of the TV and looks professional.

The instructions were a bit flaky, but it got the point across as I was able to mount it and this was the first time I have installed a wall mount. Although, I do consider myself fairly intelligent and do DIY stuff all the time so I’m not new to such things.

The range of movement is awesome…this thing will move any which way you try and with a fair amount of ease. I didn’t mess with any “settings” as the instructions didn’t say much about any of the levers on it. It did what I wanted by default.

Altogether a good buy and I recommend this mount to anyone.

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Quirky DLNA, underwhelming documentation, but great picture and sound, April 15, 2011

I chose this model over other 32-inch LCDs because I’m a sucker for things like network streaming, a 5-band equalizer, picture-in-picture, and firmware updating. It also has a semi-documented headphone jack in the rear — just turn off the speakers for it to work. Also, the power cable detaches, so you can replace that yourself.

One might dismiss this TV altogether since it doesn’t have LED edge lighting, but that tech does not appear to be earning its price premium so far, considering a higher percentage of panel defects, and a black level so intense that detail often gets lost. 60Hz is also not a deal-breaker, since 120Hz tends to only show its strength with sports programming.

The picture quality is ultimately subjective, of course. But I found it well above average. Unfortunately, you can’t completely disable Dynamic Contrast. The TV will tell you that it’s off, but some enterprising Internet detectives at televisioninfo.com have determined that this is a ruse, which leads to some unavoidable light trailing and somewhat crushed blacks. DVDs look surprisingly good, and standard-definition signals look very solid but not outstanding.

Dynamic Contrast, Black Tone, Shadow Detail, Edge Enhancement and the noise filters should probably be turned off. Unfortunately, these features can create more problems than they solve; use them sparingly. Like Spider-Man once said, “With power comes responsibility.”

I have a Roku box connected through HDMI, an Xbox 360 via component, and clear QAM cable TV through the RF antenna jack in the rear. These hookups are going straight into the TV inputs — no receiver. I figure that this eliminates a testing variable or two. Picture quality and sound was great from all three sources. When I streamed Netflix over Xbox Live, the Xbox appeared to upscale to 1080i. I could not get my 720p Roku box to do this over HDMI.

(Edit: I have also now tried a third-party VGA adapter for the Xbox 360. It looks quite good using the console’s “Expanded” reference level; at least on par with component, and upscaled DVDs look quite good, but not as good as Blu-ray.)

Audio is in a better boat, since the SRS functions can actually be turned off (as far as we know). There’s also that 5-band equalizer. I thought the TV did surprisingly well for two downward-facing 10-watt speakers, but they won’t quite replace dedicated external audio.

The D550 doesn’t do Internet apps, but this feature is becoming increasingly redundant. As for network sharing, you are not limited to Samsung’s proprietary, Windows-only “PC Share Manager” software, either. There’s a variety of free, multi-platform software that handle networked media libraries. Unfortunately, Samsung appears to have not implemented DLNA according to spec, so you may have trouble getting third-party software to work properly. I had the best experience with TVMobili, which is thankfully free and compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. Serviio is also good.

In its promotional material, Samsung swears that its Wi-Fi “LinkStick” dongle is *required* for wireless networking (and it is not bundled with this TV). This is simply not the case. You can just use a wireless-N Ethernet “game adapter,” which can be had for as little as if you shop around. Dongles are also only compatible with a few devices from one manufacturer.

(Edit: It’s come to my attention that an Intellinet 523974 *might* also work in place of Samsung’s official dongle. I cannot directly confirm it, though. It is also reportedly 2.4Ghz, while the dual-band Samsung model adds a 5Ghz option.)

The “E-manual” built into the TV’s menu system isn’t very good and is difficult to navigate. The PDF version on their website is… a PDF version of the e-manual. Which is white text on a black background. So much for printing it out…

Also, the two-piece pedestal requires a Phillips screwdriver. That’s not bad, but the screws required quite a lot of torque to get them all the way in. Also, you need to attach the top part at a certain angle, or else it won’t be flush with the base.

A note about shipping: Amazon Prime does not currently provide 2-day or next-day shipping for this unit; “3-5 business days” is the official line. This is not unusual for products of this size and weight. However, the unit arrived at my door less than 48 hours after I ordered it. So I appreciate Amazon’s and UPS’s fast service! But your own experience will vary according to your distance from the warehouse and other factors.

(Update 4/25: This item is not currently shipped from and sold by Amazon, nor eligible for Amazon Prime. “Video & Audio Center” is handling the item instead. I am not familiar with their…

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Everything I was hoping for…, March 4, 2011

By 

J. A. Mullins “Adam” (USA) – See all my reviews

  

I ordered this product: Samsung LN32D550 32-Inch 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV (Black) around 1pm yesterday with One-Day Shipping and received it today around 1pm. Amazon always is the best for quality of service and working with the best package delivery companies. I have been looking to purchase a 32 inch TV for my computer room for the last 3 months. I waited for the 2011 models and I am glad that I did.

Setup (putting the stand) on this TV was very simple and the user interface is very easy to understand. I have tested input lag with video games as well as quality on a Blu-ray. You need to adjust your setting when hooking up an Xbox 360 to completely get rid of all input lag noticeable to the human eye (I had to label the HDMI port as PC). The PS3 on the other-hand has no noticeable input lag tested with multiple settings. I watched a few minutes of I am Legend on Blu-ray and the video and audio quality is amazing.

The LN32D550 has more settings and options (except internet apps) than other current 2011 32 inch LCDs.

Video: black tone, dynamic contrast, shadow detail, edge enhancement, motion lighting, digital noise filter, mpeg noise filter, etc.

Audio: SRS TruSurround HD and SRS TruDialog

Vs my other TV Samsung LN40A650 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color this TV has a better interface, more settings, better sound quality, and very similar picture quality but lacks 120Hz motion technology.

This TV is all around a great purchase and product.

Input lag test were done playing Call of Duty: Black Ops on the 360 and Uncharted 2 on the PS3.

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Best TV I’ve personally seen in 2010 and 2011, April 2, 2011

By 

Eric Berg (Wilmington. MA) – See all my reviews

  

For the last year I’ve been looking for a TV to replace my 2009 Samsung 26″ LCD. It had what some people call “smudging” or “smearing” where if two really dark images move near one another, the black area would leave a trail. It looks sort of like when you make a dark circle with a pencil and run your finger over it. It made night scenes in movies and games really distracting. I even saw it in people with black hair watching 720p Lost episodes.

From what I can tell so far, this set has none of it. I went through a Sony, a Toshiba, an LG, and another Samsung. All but the LG had this issue, and the LG had atrocious black levels due to it being a technically “better” IPS panel. I love my LG IPS monitors, but for TV it looks awful. So I stuck with Samsung’s PVA panels, and boy am I glad I did.

I immediately turned off all the video processing options and turned the backlight down from 14 to 8. IMPECCABLE picture as far as I’m concerned. Looks incredible even at 1080i. It’s no plasma, but hey, 32-inch plasmas don’t exist, so I’m content with LCD.

I have no idea how the input lag is for video games since I play relatively slowly paced games. No fighters, competitive FPS, or other twitch reflex games in my library. I’d be a bit leery if that’s super critical for you until more accurate tests are out there. It seems fine to me, but I’m not very sensitive to lag, so take it with a grain of salt.

Bottom line, great picture quality, great black levels (for an LCD), decent motion handling (it IS only 60Hz), lots of options to mess with, plenty of inputs, a sleek design. I would buy this TV again in a heartbeat, personally. As the first reviewer said, JUST what I was looking for.

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Quirky DLNA, underwhelming documentation, but great picture and sound, April 15, 2011

I chose this model over other 32-inch LCDs because I’m a sucker for things like network streaming, a 5-band equalizer, picture-in-picture, and firmware updating. It also has a semi-documented headphone jack in the rear — just turn off the speakers for it to work. Also, the power cable detaches, so you can replace that yourself.

One might dismiss this TV altogether since it doesn’t have LED edge lighting, but that tech does not appear to be earning its price premium so far, considering a higher percentage of panel defects, and a black level so intense that detail often gets lost. 60Hz is also not a deal-breaker, since 120Hz tends to only show its strength with sports programming.

The picture quality is ultimately subjective, of course. But I found it well above average. Unfortunately, you can’t completely disable Dynamic Contrast. The TV will tell you that it’s off, but some enterprising Internet detectives at televisioninfo.com have determined that this is a ruse, which leads to some unavoidable light trailing and somewhat crushed blacks. DVDs look surprisingly good, and standard-definition signals look very solid but not outstanding.

Dynamic Contrast, Black Tone, Shadow Detail, Edge Enhancement and the noise filters should probably be turned off. Unfortunately, these features can create more problems than they solve; use them sparingly. Like Spider-Man once said, “With power comes responsibility.”

I have a Roku box connected through HDMI, an Xbox 360 via component, and clear QAM cable TV through the RF antenna jack in the rear. These hookups are going straight into the TV inputs — no receiver. I figure that this eliminates a testing variable or two. Picture quality and sound was great from all three sources. When I streamed Netflix over Xbox Live, the Xbox appeared to upscale to 1080i. I could not get my 720p Roku box to do this over HDMI.

(Edit: I have also now tried a third-party VGA adapter for the Xbox 360. It looks quite good using the console’s “Expanded” reference level; at least on par with component, and upscaled DVDs look quite good, but not as good as Blu-ray.)

Audio is in a better boat, since the SRS functions can actually be turned off (as far as we know). There’s also that 5-band equalizer. I thought the TV did surprisingly well for two downward-facing 10-watt speakers, but they won’t quite replace dedicated external audio.

The D550 doesn’t do Internet apps, but this feature is becoming increasingly redundant. As for network sharing, you are not limited to Samsung’s proprietary, Windows-only “PC Share Manager” software, either. There’s a variety of free, multi-platform software that handle networked media libraries. Unfortunately, Samsung appears to have not implemented DLNA according to spec, so you may have trouble getting third-party software to work properly. I had the best experience with TVMobili, which is thankfully free and compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. Serviio is also good.

In its promotional material, Samsung swears that its Wi-Fi “LinkStick” dongle is *required* for wireless networking (and it is not bundled with this TV). This is simply not the case. You can just use a wireless-N Ethernet “game adapter,” which can be had for as little as if you shop around. Dongles are also only compatible with a few devices from one manufacturer.

(Edit: It’s come to my attention that an Intellinet 523974 *might* also work in place of Samsung’s official dongle. I cannot directly confirm it, though. It is also reportedly 2.4Ghz, while the dual-band Samsung model adds a 5Ghz option.)

The “E-manual” built into the TV’s menu system isn’t very good and is difficult to navigate. The PDF version on their website is… a PDF version of the e-manual. Which is white text on a black background. So much for printing it out…

Also, the two-piece pedestal requires a Phillips screwdriver. That’s not bad, but the screws required quite a lot of torque to get them all the way in. Also, you need to attach the top part at a certain angle, or else it won’t be flush with the base.

A note about shipping: Amazon Prime does not currently provide 2-day or next-day shipping for this unit; “3-5 business days” is the official line. This is not unusual for products of this size and weight. However, the unit arrived at my door less than 48 hours after I ordered it. So I appreciate Amazon’s and UPS’s fast service! But your own experience will vary according to your distance from the warehouse and other factors.

(Update 4/25: This item is not currently shipped from and sold by Amazon, nor eligible for Amazon Prime. “Video & Audio Center” is handling the item instead. I am not familiar with their…

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Everything I was hoping for…, March 4, 2011

By 

J. A. Mullins “Adam” (USA) – See all my reviews

  

I ordered this product: Samsung LN32D550 32-Inch 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV (Black) around 1pm yesterday with One-Day Shipping and received it today around 1pm. Amazon always is the best for quality of service and working with the best package delivery companies. I have been looking to purchase a 32 inch TV for my computer room for the last 3 months. I waited for the 2011 models and I am glad that I did.

Setup (putting the stand) on this TV was very simple and the user interface is very easy to understand. I have tested input lag with video games as well as quality on a Blu-ray. You need to adjust your setting when hooking up an Xbox 360 to completely get rid of all input lag noticeable to the human eye (I had to label the HDMI port as PC). The PS3 on the other-hand has no noticeable input lag tested with multiple settings. I watched a few minutes of I am Legend on Blu-ray and the video and audio quality is amazing.

The LN32D550 has more settings and options (except internet apps) than other current 2011 32 inch LCDs.

Video: black tone, dynamic contrast, shadow detail, edge enhancement, motion lighting, digital noise filter, mpeg noise filter, etc.

Audio: SRS TruSurround HD and SRS TruDialog

Vs my other TV Samsung LN40A650 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color this TV has a better interface, more settings, better sound quality, and very similar picture quality but lacks 120Hz motion technology.

This TV is all around a great purchase and product.

Input lag test were done playing Call of Duty: Black Ops on the 360 and Uncharted 2 on the PS3.

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Best TV I’ve personally seen in 2010 and 2011, April 2, 2011

By 

Eric Berg (Wilmington. MA) – See all my reviews

  

For the last year I’ve been looking for a TV to replace my 2009 Samsung 26″ LCD. It had what some people call “smudging” or “smearing” where if two really dark images move near one another, the black area would leave a trail. It looks sort of like when you make a dark circle with a pencil and run your finger over it. It made night scenes in movies and games really distracting. I even saw it in people with black hair watching 720p Lost episodes.

From what I can tell so far, this set has none of it. I went through a Sony, a Toshiba, an LG, and another Samsung. All but the LG had this issue, and the LG had atrocious black levels due to it being a technically “better” IPS panel. I love my LG IPS monitors, but for TV it looks awful. So I stuck with Samsung’s PVA panels, and boy am I glad I did.

I immediately turned off all the video processing options and turned the backlight down from 14 to 8. IMPECCABLE picture as far as I’m concerned. Looks incredible even at 1080i. It’s no plasma, but hey, 32-inch plasmas don’t exist, so I’m content with LCD.

I have no idea how the input lag is for video games since I play relatively slowly paced games. No fighters, competitive FPS, or other twitch reflex games in my library. I’d be a bit leery if that’s super critical for you until more accurate tests are out there. It seems fine to me, but I’m not very sensitive to lag, so take it with a grain of salt.

Bottom line, great picture quality, great black levels (for an LCD), decent motion handling (it IS only 60Hz), lots of options to mess with, plenty of inputs, a sleek design. I would buy this TV again in a heartbeat, personally. As the first reviewer said, JUST what I was looking for.

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About that base . . ., May 19, 2011

By 

Christopher Grant (Salem, UT USA) – See all my reviews

  

Putting together the base was fairly straightforward for me. At no point did I feel that I had to overtighten the screws in order to keep things from wobbling. The one glitch is that (in English, French, and Spanish) the instructions for assembling the base have the labels for the front and the rear switched, so that the pedestal is alleged to be closer to the front of the base than the rear, contrary to what published photos of the assembled product indicate. I don’t know if this mislabeling is what has given people problems with the base, or if Samsung used to ship worse-fitting hardware than it does now. In any case, I’m glad I didn’t let the complaints about the base hold me back from purchasing this item.

I’ve owned this set for less than 24 hours, but perhaps some initial impressions will be helpful to other shoppers:

1) I spent over half an hour wandering through an electronics megastore comparing pictures and I have to say that I couldn’t detect any advantage of 1080p over 720p for sets of this size. (I assume that a store this big was feeding in some 1080p content, but I could be wrong.) At home, over-the-air 720p and 1080i content looks great on this set.

2) While the LED sets are sleeker than the LCD sets, I didn’t think that the LED picture was any better. Both I and one other customer in the store were vacillating between the Samsung UN32D4000N and this set, and we both ended up opting for this one.

3) Some review sites represent these LCD sets as having narrow viewing angles. To my eyes, that was far from true, as almost every set in the store had a picture that was easily viewable from far to the side.

4) Buyers’ guides imply that we all now need sets that are twice as big as the sets we were buying a few years ago. In particular, a 32-inch set is all of a sudden considered far too small for a living room. Well, I think this set looks good in my living room. It’s nice not to have my house look like my life revolves around television viewing.

5) If there’s a way to have this set memorize channels from two different antenna positions, it wasn’t obvious to me. Fortunately, on my 3rd or 4th try I was able to orient my antenna so that the set located all my local channels on one scan.

6) At this set’s current price, you run very little risk of buyers’ remorse.

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Excellent picture quality, mediocre audio at best, May 11, 2011

Cons:

1) As noted in other reviews attaching the stand to the television is challenging and will require much more force than you would believe necessary.

2) Owners manual is not very thorough nor are instructions very clear

3) Attaching the securing strap(not included) on the back of the televsion to your stand involves creativity & parts of your choosing, as there are no instruction.

Pros:

1) Excellent video quality for 720P/60Hz

2) Attractive / aesthetically pleasing appearance

3) Nice menu layout and features

4) (2)HDMI’s & (1)USB

For anyone experiencing problems with the picture quality this television has a built in picture & audio test. To implement the test(s) you will need

to press;

1)The Green Menu Button near the center of the remote

2)Use the UP arrow to scroll UP one to where “Support” is displayed vertically along the left edge of the set

3)Arrow to the RIGHT Once

4)Arrow DOWN once to “Self Diagnosis”

5)Press Enter or the button in the middle of the four arrow keys

6)Select Either “Picture Test” or “Sound Test”

The picture test displays two children on a beach surrounded by some beach toys, it displays very vibrant colors, blues, oranges, yellow as well as strong sunlight contrast

to check the black and white balance of the set. My test image appears incredible.

The sound test plays some type of theme song music that I personally find annoying yet it also provides very clear, stereo sound and does so at the volume level your set is

set to at the time of the test.

Unfortunately because the owners manual is so lacking it takes time to learn all the settings and adjust them appropriately. Yet once you have the picture quality of this television

rivals any 32″ television I have ever seen, bar none.

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Another great Samsung., April 17, 2011

Coming from an LNT4061, LNT4069, and, most recently, an LN40A650, I’d happy to say that this TV has yet to disappoint. The Samsung quality is all there and it feels considerably evolved from the previous generations I’ve owned. I’m using this as an office monitor and television – for both occasions, it’s a terrific set. The colors are vivid, the sound is crisp, and I have yet to experience any issues with it. I’d also note that this television, while considered the entry level for 2011, is slightly thinner and substantially lighter than other 32″ models within the Samsung product lineup and other companies’ models within the same price range. There ARE thinner and lighter 32″ TV’s, but you’ll spend an additional 0+ just for the size difference. This was a deciding factor in my case, since I wanted an easily wall-mounted TV without breaking the bank. I’d highly recommend this particular model for anyone looking for a bedroom/office television. It’s just the right quality and size at just the right price.

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