Solid Performer

September 11th, 2008 -- by default
Source: The Perfect Vision

It seems like all LCD TV manufacturers have jumped on the 120Hz bandwagon to address the problem of motion blur, to which LCDs are particularly prone. In implementing 120Hz, which is twice as fast as the rate at which conventional TVs flash frames on the screen, the TV must insert a new frame between each of the real frames in the video signal. Most 120Hz TVs, including the Samsung LN-T4671F, do this by creating or “interpolating” new images that lie between the images in the real frames. This Samsung offers a system that lets users choose how aggressively the TV performs this task, but in my tests, it introduced more problems than it solved. Otherwise, this TV a solid performer with lots to recommend it.

Features

120Hz refresh rate is said to reduce motion blur; Samsung’s Auto Motion Plus interpolates between two adjacent frames to create new frame, which did reduce motion blur, but it also resulted in significant artifacts with certain types of content, so I left it off.
1:1 pixel-mapping mode avoids cropping pixels from edges of picture and softening due to overscanning.
USB port lets you connect storage device and display photos.

User Interface

Remote

Universal, able to control up to five devices.
No dedicated input-selection buttons; must cycle through inputs.
Only channel and volume up/down buttons are illuminated.

Menu System

Well-organized.
Picture controls appear first when you call up menu; yea!.

Recommended User Settings

Picture Menu

Mode: Movie
Contrast: 90
Brightness: 31
Sharpness: 20
Color: 48
Tint: G52/R48
Backlight: 4
Color Tone: Warm2
Size: Just Scan
Digital NR: Auto
Auto Motion Plus: Off

Detailed Settings

Black Adjust: Off
Dynamic Contrast: Off
Gamma: 3
Color Space: Auto
Edge Enhancement: Off
xvYCC: Off

Performance

	Detail	Color	Blacks	Shadow Detail	Artifacts/Noise
Blu-ray (Dave Matthews Live at Radio City)	Excellent; beard stubble crisp, pattern of Asian rug on stage sharp, wear on guitar strap clear.	Beautiful; skin tones, blonde wood of guitars right on the money.	Good differentiation between black T-shirts and black guitar strap.	Reasonably good, especially with gamma set to +3; some detail lost in audience long shots.	Pans very smooth; no noise.
DVD (Star Wars VI)	Very good; forest foliage sharp, hairs on Chewy and Ewoks well-defined.	Superb; skin tones, green forest, tan sand all natural.	Black of space pretty good, but letterbox bars don’t seem as dark somehow.	Okay, not great; details in Jabba’s dim lair somewhat lost, looked rather flat.	Quite a bit of shimmering in scrolling backstory text at beginning as it fades into distance, also in bright point lights; this is independent of Auto Motion Plus (AMP) setting; vertical stripes in entry bay on Death Star full of artifacts when AMP is on, so leave it off.
HDTV (Speed skating on Universal HD)	Exquisite; can see each audience member in long shots, tracks in ice clearly delineated.	Gorgeous; multi-colored racing suits and signs all excellent.	No opportunity to test.	No opportunity to test.	Smooth motion, no problems noted.
SDTV (Tyra Banks Show)	Slightly softer than other TVs with SD material.	Excellent; skin tones natural.	Black windowbox bars unobtrusive.	No opportunity to test.	Some shimmering in fine detail in guest necktie.

Ambient Light Tolerance: Reasonably good with backlight set to produce good peak light level and reasonable black level; can increase backlight for more room light.
Viewing Angle: Very good; better than many LCD TVs.
Audio: Better than many TVs.

Conclusion

I’ve been very impressed with all the Samsung displays I’ve reviewed recently, and the LN-T4671F is no exception. Its colors are spot on, detail is sharp and crisp, and blacks are reasonably deep. Shadow detail is only so-so, but that’s the case with most LCD TVs. My main complaint is that the Auto Motion Plus frame-interpolation function introduces lots of artifacts in certain types of images, even as it effectively reduces motion blur. And at $3700, this is the most expensive panel in this survey. Still, it does enough right to warrant a close look.

Samsung LN-T4671F LCD TV