Samsung 40-Inch LED HDTV
Samsung UN40B6000 40 Inch 1080p 120Hz LED HDTV
39.9″ screen (measured diagonally) * widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio * Touch of Color high-gloss finish — black with red accents * LED edge backlight for high contrast and natural colors * Auto Motion Plus 120Hz anti-blur technology for clearer motion *
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Good to Excellent, Significantly better than CCFL?
I originally ordered the Samsung LN40B650 and was fairly certain that I had made a good choice. I don’t know why but I starting second guessing my decision, which led me to review the Samsung LED LCD televisions. While the reviews were not extremely glowing, the Samsung LN40B6000 looked like it could better the picture of the CCFL LN40B650 and I canceled the order for CCFL and went with the 6000 series LED television. One of the “cons” of the edge-placed LED televisions is a noted lack of screen uniformity but that is for larger screen sizes and I thought the 40 inch screen would not be as prone to that problem.
Okay, how does it look? Well, the first indication was offered by the delivery person that stayed to help me set it up, i.e., “that sure is better than the plasma unit I just dropped off.” The second was my wife’s take on the picture – I had just replaced a Sony Bravia 32 inch LCD that was about 4 years old – “that picture is ridiculous, I feel like those people are in my bedroom.” Honestly, I thought the picture was excellent, but I think she was being a little too generous. Some of my own personal thoughts:
1. The clear screen is very good – I have 3 windows, and a bright ceiling light; there are no reflection problems.
2. The colors are good, but I would not rate them any better than my Sony SXRD television, which I just learned has a pending class action suit against it for a problem called optical block – that’s not encouraging!
3. Out of the box the picture is good, but after using the settings recommended by CNET, the picture for Blu Ray (Gladiator) was about as good as I’ve seen.
4. Despite the stated mega contrast ratio of 3,000,000:1, the gamma setting needed to be adjusted to at least +2 or +3 (highest) values to keep dark scenes properly contrasted.
5. The sound is NOT bad, I have a very expensive 7.1 surround system in the Theater Room and the two LN40B6000 rear/downward firing speakers in custom mode with the graphic equalizer bass frequency pushed toward their maximum limits produces respectable sound for a television set, which is certainly satisfactory for bedroom use. Now, if this is meant to be be your primary television and you want theater-quality surround sound, then this TV is going to fall far short of such expectation, but what set would not? My suggestion is to go into sound mode; select custom, select graphic equalizer (set 100HZ to max; 300HZ to 3/4 range); set SRS Trusurround HD to “On” and give a listen. If you’re still not happy, buy a sound system, but I cannot see “audio” quality being the decision factor for this set.
6. The backlit remote is nice for nighttime viewing and is fairly user friendly.
7. The Samsung Blu Ray and UB40B6000 automatically recognize one another which may play a role in the exceptional picture that is produced.
The bottom line is that LN40B6000 produces a very good picture, and the sound is decent for a television set – is it worth the couple of hundred dollars more than its CCFL counterpart? I cannot say with certainty, but my hunch is that it is.
5 Stars Great picture and easy to set up
I looked around for quite some time before taking the plunge on this TV. We have had the TV connected to both a HD DirectTV box and an SD DirectTV box. The picture was obviously better when connected to the HD box but I was quite surprised at how well it did displaying SD(480). When comparing the image to other HD lcd tv’s in the house the Samsung was far better at displaying SD tv. The sound isn’t the best and I think is sounds better if you turn the SRS off, but I plan on connecting to a surround sound system anyway. One thing to consider is the lack of connections for devices that do not have a HDMI port.
Pros: Incredible HD display and excellent SD picture quality. Very thin along with a narrow bezel allows for placement in spots some 40 inch TV’s can’t fit. Easy to setup, the menus are intuitive and the remote is easy to use.
Cons: Average sound from the built in speakers but it is OK just not up to par with the display. Lack of connections for devices without HDMI ports.
3 Stars tinny sounds
I currently own a samsung 40″ lcd…and i love the Tv. But as i read your reviews,i also seem to agree that on most samsungs,the sound just doesnt “cut it” so to speak. I quickly purchased a Samsung Sound bar,which is fantastic. Ive been looking at the new led that samsung is now promoting,but again ive heard issues with the tinny sound. Hopefully samsung can work out this minor problem,cause they do make a great looking tv.