Wednesday, December 5, 2007

SAMSUNG DNIE

Due to popular demand, after the Sony full HD review we've managed to get our hands on none other than a Samsung Mosel full-HD LCD TV. Sony and Samsung have become household names at the Tech2 stable, so I don’t think an introduction is needed. However I'll just mention that the Mosel series from Samsung include some high-end models that have received critical acclaim.

We called up Samung India, saying we want to add our (Tech) 2 bits, and they readily obliged with a brand new piece from their M-series Mosel. The F-series models are a little more expensive and may be a better choice, but this 46-incher will have to do for now.

Features and Design
The TV is pure elegance in terms of appearance. I can’t say much their lower-end models, but this has a smooth black finish that exudes confidence, and says ‘check me out’. It’s a piano-gloss finish, black all over, and the gloss is not overkill. It's actually pretty rich and smooth.

The swivel stand is oval, and bears the same finish as the bezel, which adds to the uniform good looks of the unit. There were some tacky stickers that I summarily tore off – I wonder if they will notice?

The typical Samsung 'on' button is present at the center of the bottom panel. The speaker too is a bit hidden and angled downwards, below the front panel. There's an HDMI at the side along with the retro suite, and an easily accessible squarish rack at the back. No aerobics required.

Before I forget, the HDMI inputs are HDMI 1.3, so you have many more colors, and 1440p compatibility (whenever that comes here!)

All expensive TVs these days have lots of features; some proprietary, others standard. For instance, the Samsung M8 conforms to the xvYCC (via HDMI 1.3) or extended gamut color space, just like the Sony, which means the color pallete is quite huge. These days the TVs I get for review never seem to have bad color, so I guess LCD technology is getting better.

Samsungs’s DNIe stuff is there, plus ‘Movie PLUS Mode’ for film cadence frames smoothening, and a few more minor tricks. The basic specs are in no way ordinary, as the contrast ratio is a whopping 15000:1, no prizes for guessing the quantum. The response time is faster than 8 ms, and the resolution is 1920 x 1080p.

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