Photo gallery: Samsung UA46B7100Editor's Note: This First-Take is based on a pre-production Samsung unit, we have reviewed the smaller 40-inch 7100 series here.
Upside
We're glad that industrial design is now a prime consideration for the designers of flat-panel televisions. And the new series are perhaps the company's most glamorous-looking sets yet. The 7 series features the latest version of the Crystal Design, and it's very, very pretty. It features a mostly piano-black finish which "bleeds out" to a clear rim. The stand is quite striking as well, topped with a subtle red glow.
Samsung likes to think it's inventing a new category with these televisions — LED — but of course it isn't. LED-backlighting has been around for years, and these are still LCD screens. We think it will be confusing to some customers, who will mistake "LED" for "OLED". And not just the people we've overheard buying tuna with pictures of dolphins on it because they thought it had MORE dolphins in it.
Despite any confusion, there are benefits to be had with using LED — better blacks and colours, higher brightness and better off-axis viewing. In fact, Samsung claims the new screens have a three-million-to-one contrast ratio.
Other features include DLNA streaming and MSN widgets (coming in August 09) — as opposed to Yahoo ones. The TVs also feature four HDMI ports and an optional wireless dongle (AU$99) for making the internet work.
Downside
We have reservations about LED edge lighting, and not the least of which because we don't see the value in having a "thin" television. Especially if it affects picture quality. We had a sneak preview of the new series last week, and were a little nonplussed by what we saw. While Samsung told us the screens were pre-production, there was significant light leakage from the corners when the image was black. It almost looked like the LED was on top of, and not behind, the screen. While the company informs us this will be less evident on the production models, we look forward to trying it out for ourselves.
If you're looking at the FRONT of the thing why does it matter if it's 30mm thick or 100mm? We know that these televisions are designed to be wall-mounted, but at the company's own admission only about one in 10 Australians wall-mount their screens. But Samsung says the new series are different, and overseas the number is closer to 50 per cent — due to the company's new picture-frame mount.
Outlook
We think that Samsung's new range of televisions are attractive, and certainly appear to have the picture quality the company is renowned for. What gives us pause are the company's claims to have "invented" a new category, and the fact that LED "edge" lighting may actually turn out to be inferior to competitor LG's preferred method: "direct" lighting. The proof will be in the pudding when we put these TVs through their paces in the coming months.
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