Samsung LN52A650 52-inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color
Tuesday, May 20th, 2008Samsung LN52A650 52-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV with Red Touch of Color
Manufacturer: Samsung
52" widescreen HDTV (16:9 aspect ratio) * Touch of Color high-gloss "rose black" finish * built-in digital (ATSC) and analog (NTSC) tuners for over-the-air TV broadcasts (antenna required) * built-in QAM cable TV tuner receives unscrambled programs without a set-top box (cable service required) * Ultra Clear LCD panel (1920 x 1080 pixels) *
Manufacturer's Description:
Samsung adds a Touch of Color to a blazing-fast 4ms response time and rich connectivity features to redefine the role HDTVs play in the home with its forward-looking Series 6 (A650) and Series 7 (A750) LCD HDTVs. Utilizing the award-winning technologies found in all Samsung HDTVs, Series 6 and 7 HDTVs deliver unparalleled picture quality and enhanced connectivity and networking capabilities that create a true entertainment hub for any home. Series 7 takes networking and multimedia management to a whole new level. Consumers can easily enjoy MPEG and JPEG files stored on external devices by connecting through a side-mounted USB 2.0, turning their LCD into a full-scale home viewing gallery, or connect their MP3 players for a dynamic audio experience.
Key Features
- New -- 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio: up from 25,000:1 on 2007 models (Learn more)
- New -- Blazing 4ms response time: down from 8ms on 2007 models thanks to a new high-speed liquid crystal
- New -- Transparent and Opaque Color (TOC) bezel with infused color creates an ultra-sleek shape and appearance (Learn more)
- New -- InfoLink: Get free RSS feeds of news, weather and sports right to your HDTV with a built-in Ethernet port (Learn more)
- New -- 4 HDMI 1.3 ports: Simplay compliant, and up from 3 on 2007 models (Learn more)
- New -- Sports and Game modes boost on-screen performance and interaction with the latest gaming systems
- New -- Side-mounted USB 2.0 port: connect USB devices directly to your HDTV to view JPEG photos or MPEG movies or easily listen to your MP3 player through your HDTV's audio system or your home theater system.
- New -- Compatible with Samsung's Home Digital Media Adapter (sold separately) for playback and navigation of Internet and stored PC multimedia
- Full 1080p HD (Learn more)
- Automotion Plus 120Hz image interpolation technology provides smoother motion (Learn more)
- 178-degree viewing angle from all four axes with Super Patterned Vertical Alignment (Learn more)
- Better clear panel technology for deeper blacks and more vibrant colors (Learn more)
- Hidden speakers with SRS TruSurround XT audio (Learn more)
- Cold Cathode Flourescent Lamp (CCFL) and Wide Color Enhancer technology offer a wider color range (Learn more)
- Picture-in-Picture (PIP) enables convenient simultaneous viewing of TV programs and video or PC sources
- V-Chip system1 allows blocking of rated TV and movie programs determined by the parent to contain objectionable content.
- Trilingual on-screen displays in English, Spanish or French.
- Variable sleep timer to turn the TV off in varying time intervals.
- Auto wall mount compatible: 3-dimensional operation via TV’s remote control; no external IR receiver required.
- Swivel stand included
- 1 year parts and 1 year labor warranty (90 days parts and labor for commercial use), with in-home service, backed by Samsung toll-free support.
Step-Up Features
- Series 7: Internal flash memory (1GB) with pre-loaded interactive content such as cooking recipes, children's entertainment, HD artwork and more, Integrated woofer for an enhanced audio experience, DLNA-Compatibility for better interopability with electronics, computers and mobile devices from many different manufacturers (Learn more)
- Comparison of Features for various Samsung LCD HDTV models
- What size TV should you get?
Learn More
Touch of Color
 | Samsung’s Series 6 marks the first appearance of TOC (Touch of Color) design in the 2008 LCD HDTV line-up. Inspired by designs from the automotive and fashion industries, Samsung’s unique unique Transparent and Opaque Color molding process creates a clean, smooth finish infused with a hint of a translucent color during the manufacturing process for an ultra-sleek appearance. |
InfoLink
 | Up-to-the-minute access to weather, news, sports and stock information is just a cable and a click away through the HDTV’s Ethernet port and new InfoLink RSS service. An all-new user interface with digital contents management guide provides intuitive navigation and access to both internal and external content. |
Auto Motion Plus 120Hz
 | This technology doubles the frame rate from 60 to 120 frames per second (120Hz LCD panel) without repeating the same image to make more frames. Instead, the TV intelligently calculates the ‘middle’ image between frame A and frame B and inserts it in between (Auto Motion Plus 120Hz processor), making a fluid transition from one frame to the next. |  |
Super Clear Panel
  | Samsung enhances the clarity of select LCD HDTVs by replacing the light-diffusing plastic face of traditional LCD HDTVs with a natural black panel with a clear anti-glare shield. Reduced reflection of external light creates a new dimension in image clarity, highlighting black and darkened areas, enabling vibrant, more compelling colors and a brighter, clearer picture. Black will never again appear grayish. Black details will show in vivid black even in dark scenes. The latest version of Samsung’s breakthrough super clear panel technology makes colors appear more vibrant and blacks even deeper than ever. Enhanced films reduce glare and optimize off-angle viewing. | |
50,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio/500 nit Brightness
 | 50,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio will give you a picture better than you ever thought possible, with whiter whites, blacker blacks and a nearly infinite subtlety of gradations in between. As two of the most important determining factors in overall picture quality, contrast and brightness levels achieve new heights in this latest generation LCD panel. Samsung’s new LCD TV’s give the most stunning realistic picture quality ever. |
Full HD 1080P
 | Full HD, or 1080p, contains 1.5 times more scanning lines than conventional HD TVs. More scanning lines mean more pixels, more details and a better picture. The new Samsung LCD TV with resolution that is approximately 2 times greater than conventional HDTVs, creating the most perfect picture imaginable. Samsung’s 1080p panel uses a new high-speed liquid crystal to cut response time to 4ms. The fast response time, coupled with Samsung’s Auto Motion Plus 120Hz motion blur reduction technology dramatically reduces motion blur and judder. |  |
Digital Natural Image Engine
 | DNIe™ The Samsung Digital Natural Image engine. This exclusive Samsung technology dramatically improves the picture by enhancing the contrast, detail, white balance and reduces. |  |
Wide Color Enhancer/Cold Cathode Flourescent Lamp
| The NTSC (National Television Systems Committee) has established the color standards all TVs in America try to meet. And typical LCD TVs only meet about 72% of this standard. Samsung LCD HDTVs use Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp backlights to give you 92% coverage of the NTSC standard, ensuring truer, more breathlessly vivid colors. Samsung’s exclusive Wide Color Enhancer technology delivers more brilliant colors, even in bright areas of the picture where blues and greens are washed out on conventional screens. The system displays wider color reproduction, showing you truer colors – the fresh green of spring foliage, the intense blue of the summer sky. | |||
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Connectivity
 | To make the Series 6 a true entertainment hub for any home, Samsung has incorporated advanced HD connectivity and networking capabilities that expand the HDTV’s functionality. A wide variety of multimedia devices can be connected to the set through any one of the four Simplay compliant HDMI 1.3 inputs (including one on the side), and the handy HDMICEC feature lets you control all your CEC-enabled peripherals using just one remote. Connect HD digital devices like disc players, game consoles, and satellite dish components into the 2 rear connections and use the side-mounted input for cameras, camcorders, and laptops. HDMI is the best performing interface for displaying an HD source on an HDTV. Once connected, users can easily access device menus and manage and display content through the newly redesigned Wheel Key Remote control and the HDTV’s sophisticated content management interface. All Connections
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Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA)
  | You already know something about digital living. There’s the TV and digital video recorder in your family room. (And another set in your bedroom.) You have a PC and digital printer in your office, along with a network attached storage device. And you’ve copied all your music onto your portable music player and haven’t had to open a CD case for years. But getting them to talk to each other can be pretty tough. Why is it still so difficult to send digital content from one device to another? Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is a collaboration of the world’s leading consumer electronics, PC and mobile companies that has created design guidelines for a new generation of products that can work together — no matter the brand. Think for a moment about all of the photos "locked away" on your home PC that you wish you could access while entertaining your friends and family. Now, thanks to DLNA enabled devices, a DLNA-enabled PC can be accessed from the comfort of your living room or family room via a DLNA-enabled HDTV, where you can enjoy your memories with friends and family, without having to deal with the hassle and non-intuitive "PCexperience". Or, say you recently downloaded your daughter’s birthday party video from your digital camcorder to your PC. Now you want to share it with your parents who are visiting. Without DLNA, you probably have to burn a DVD of the video or hook up the camcorder to the TV. With DLNA, you can just use your TV’s remote to call up the video on your TV. That’s it. |
Super Patterned Vertical Alignment
 | Samsung’s Super Patterned Vertical Alignment (SPVA) panel provides a 178-degree viewing angle from all four axes |
Audio Features
TruSurround is a patented SRS technology that solves the problem of playing 5.1 multichannel content over two speakers. TruSurround delivers a compelling, virtual surround sound experience through any two-speaker playback system, including internal television speakers and headphones. It is fully compatible with all multichannel formats up to 5.1 channels. High-quality virtual surround sound can be experienced with just the two hidden, downward-firing side-mounted 2.2-channel dome speakers built into the TV.SRS TruSurround XT technology delivers an amazing, simulated 3D effect with clear dialog and powerful bass.
TruSurround XT audio also adds three audio enhancement technologies to produce an amazingly immersive sound experience.
- Dialog Clarity brings movie dialog into Focus during the playback of any surround-encoded material to make speech much clearer and crisper.
- TruBass creates incredible deep rich bass allowing a person to perceive significantly deeper, richer low bass tones that are far beyond the physical low frequency capabilities of the speaker itself.
- The SRS WOW feature widens the soundstage by processing standard two-channel stereo material as well as multi-channel encoded material for a dramatic improvement in the playback of any stereo audio over a two-speaker system.
Which Size HDTV is Right for My Room?
 | With standard-definition TVs, the rule used to be that viewers would feel comfortable watching a set from a distance of 3 to 6 times the screen size in inches. With HDTV, the resolution is so much better that you can sit closer to a larger TV without noticing the pixels. So with HDTVs, the rule tends to be you can sit anywhere from 1.5 to 3 times the screen size (in inches) for the best experience.
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- Series 6 1080p LCD HDTVs are available in 19-inch, 22-inch, 32-inch, 40-inch, 46-inch, and 52-inch models
- Series 7 1080p LCD HDTVs are available in 40-inch, 46-inch, and 52-inch
Which Samsung LCD HDTV is Right for You?
Series 3Look at Series 3 LCD HDTVs | 19- and 22-inch Models
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26-inch Model Adds
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32-, 37- and 40-inch Models Add
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Series 4 AddsLook at Series 4 LCD HDTVs |
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Series 5 AddsLook at Series 5 LCD HDTVs |
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Series 6 AddsLook at Series 6 LCD HDTVs | 19- and 22-inch Models
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32-inch Model Adds
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40-, 46-, and 52-inch Models Add
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Series 7 AddsLook at Series 7 LCD HDTVs |
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Series 8 AddsLook at Series 8 LCD HDTVs | Coming Late 2009 |
Series 9 AddsLook at Series 8 LCD HDTVs | Coming Late 2009 |
- Touch of Color Bezel
- Full HD 1080p Resolution
- 120Hz Auto Motion Plus
- 4 HDMI Inputs
- Super Clear Panel
Color: Black
Model: LN-52A650
Resolved the Plasma vs LCD decision
Have been watching prices and technology for years. After lightning destroyed my 27" analog JVC and reading speculation about upward price pressures, decided to act. Had settled on Panasonic plasma when I discovered this model - what luck! The model has the best of both worlds - brilliant picture and pop of plasma, but with low-power consumption and freedom from burn-in worries of LCD. I no longer felt like I was compromising. And the extra dollars for 52 inches over 46 well spent.
Positives:
- Best designed remote I've ever used.
- Menus are well designed and transparent.
- Great speakers even though I normally use a 5.1 sound system for movies and extended viewing.
- Screen reflections a small fraction of the flat CRT it replaces, virtually unnoticeable in a room with only east windows.
- Delivery was timely and uneventful - I had prepared several solid color jpeg's on a USB flashdrive to verify zero pixel defects before the delivery guys left. Never thought I would order a large TV from an online merchant; now I would never do it any other way.
- Amazon quickly adjusted a few minor price decreases without question after delivery.
Extra features:
- The Wiselink support for MP3 and JPG viewing is interesting but very basic and will be used minimally. I tried a 8GB USB flash drive full of photos and waited 20+ minutes while it was creating thumbnails of all the pictures. Probably useable for a few hundred photos at a time.
- The RSS news/weather feed doesn't seem compelling enough to hunt down the WiFi dongle required for wireless use.
- The picture-in-picture facility is limited to an analog feed in the window. As an over-the-air viewer this feature becomes irrelevant in 6 months. Seems like an odd feature to bother including.
Negatives
- none
Awesome LCD!
I've been mesmerized by this beautiful LCD TV for the past month! I'm SO glad that I got it just before the Summer Olympics - what a treat to watch all the glory in HD splendor. The SD content is decent - and can be somewhat tweaked with the pic settings. I've been reading through the AVS Forum pages for recommended adjustments, etc. Watching Bluray via my PS3 may keep me out of the movie theaters from now on - spectacular clarity (and probably a bit cheaper in the long run). The slight red in the bezel is elegant and I really like the curved lines of the 650 model. Thank you Samsung!
BTW: The delivery company was excellent - on time and helpful.
Outstanding TV
Pros: Big picture, readable even in direct light
Cons: Slow warm up, attracts dust, remote compatibility, HDMI switching a bit slow
Overall: Outstanding value!
The TV I replaced with this was a 27" CRT, so I really don't have much to compare it with, but all I can say is WOW I can see faces, read the TV guide channel from across the room - a huge improvement, literally. I've not seen any HD format material on it yet, so I've no way to verify that except what I saw in the store on the 46" version of this set. They were showing a Bluray disc on it. I have only regular format cable and regular DVD material I've seen on it (oh, and a Wii using component inputs) and I can see details I've never seen before. We'll see what happens in Feb 09 when the formats switch.
OK, the cons - the CRT TV was pretty much instant on, instant off. This one blinks about 2 sec, plays a little sound, then about 8 sec later you get a "searching for signal" screen, then your show pops up about 2 sec later. Power off takes a bit less time, about 5 sec. The "auto" power save feature is pretty worthless as it is driven by the material played, not by the ambient light in the room - if they had a lux sensor on the tv then you might actually save some power when the room is dark. I've seen some folks complain about the screen as being too reflective. Yes, it is reflective, not exactly matte finish, but I've not seen any interference from light shining through the window about 10 feet away. The odd thing about the remote isn't the remote so much as it's compatibility with other remotes - I've tried setting up my DVD and DVR and receiver remote to operate it, and it is hit or miss whether I'll find a code that will not only turn the tv on and off (the ability to switch channels and the built in tuner are fairly useless for me since I have cable) but control the volume. That is, just about all of the codes will allow you to press the volume up or down one step, but if you hold the volume button in one direction or the other, you only get one step of movement from the TV. So you have to keep pushing the volume button. A bit annoying. Of course, this isn't an issue with the TV's remote, but it doesn't control any other components, so I rarely use it except to control the backlighting. Finally, it seems to be a bit "smart" in that it knows when I turn on the DVD player (which is piped into the HDMI2 port) and will switch to that signal from the cable signal (which is piped into the HDMI1 port). However, the source selection screen just sits there for about 30 sec before it goes away - a little too long if you ask me.
This television ROCKS!
Growing weary of the upselling pressure at my local Best Buy, I walked out and decided to purchase this set from Amazon. My product decision was based on CNET and other reviews. The Amazon price was excellent as was the delivery service.
I want to add that I was concerned about the high gloss screen in my large-windowed family room but that hasn't been a problem, the brightness of the set makes the ambient light a non issue.
Awesome picture !!
TV is wonderful - great picture right out of the box. Remote control needs improvement because the flywheel is difficult to maneuver. This is the best LCD you can buy for the money.
I must comment on the shipping company. The TV did arrive on the promised date but it would have been here days earlier if it had not been accidentally rerouted to a city hundreds of miles out of the way. One of the two guys that delivered it was a total jerk and acted like he was doing us a favor. The other man was nice though and they did set it up and made sure it worked before leaving. Also, do not rely on the tracking info on their website as it is not accurate and they are slow in updating. I saw that the TV went to the wrong city at about midnight and I decided to call them in the morning to find out what was going on. By that time the tracking had been deleted from the website (I think they tried to cover up their error).
Anyway, alls well that ends well and I love the new TV.