Lcd and Plasma Reviews

Today we are looking at Samsung Flagship LCD TV, the LE55A956D1M. Boy these TV makers think up some sexy names for their models.

This top of the range HD LCD TV is a beast of a set in size alone; at 55 inches it needs a suitably sized room, or a very forgiving spouse or partner.
One good thing here is that if you are running out of space, the box would probably suit a small family of 3.

The first standout feature of this LCD TV is its LED backlighting and Smart LED technology.
This makes it possible to produce a true cd/m2(candelas per square meter) value of zero. It can in fact get very close to Pioneers fabulous Kuro plasmas, the benchmark of all domestic TV screens.
What this means to the average viewer is that blacks really are black, giving great depth and contrast, i.e. sharpness. This means whatever your watching looks better, especially movies.
This LED technology, now 2nd generation, has had the earlier models problems ironed out and looks to become the new standard in premium quality TV viewing.

One thing to note is that if you purchase this set for yourself, switch the Smart LED on and leave it on, I for one could not find a situation where it needed turning off and it turning it on does make for a noticeable difference.

The colour range out of the box is a little washed out, I have also heard of reports of them being set too high, but with a little tuning this can be corrected to display livid and really amazing colours that rival any other LCD TV on the market.
These glorious colours alongside the deep blacks really give the best of LCD and plasma combined.
It produces the sort of feel and quality you would expect from the cinema. To quote a term banded around a lot recently, the Samsung LE55A956 lets you see your movies like the director intended, plus your football matches, gardening programs, video games and soaps too.

As is becoming standard today, this set is 100hz, but uses Samsungs 100hz motion plus which really helps with fast moving images removing blur and flicker without introducing artefacts and distortion to the image.

The Samsung LE55A956D1M is of course a full HD ready set with a native resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. On a screen this size you can really notice the difference between HD and full HD. Full HD images are incredibly sharp and give a depth unseen on a standard resolution TV.
This is of course if you have the full HD source such as a blu-ray or games console to connect to it.
Surely when you’re spending this much on a TV you’re not going to be plugging a VCR into it? (Andy, yes this is a dig at you!!)

Connection wise you are unsurprisingly well covered. With 3 hdmis at the rear and one on the side for easy access for HD camcorders you are unlikely to have to get off the couch much to switch anything over.
With twin scart, component, composite, usb, VGA, aerial, s-video, network and audio outs it looks like all boxes are ticked.
Well except there is NO headphone socket!!
Now I appreciate a lot of people will be mounting this on a wall and most of you will be quite sitting far back, this seems like a bit of an oversight on a TV costing over £2000. Especially if you have neighbours like mine.

Sound is a feature that is often overlooked when buying a new LCD or plasma and there can be a great deal of variation on the various sets out there.
The LE55A956D1M fortunately makes all the right noises, utilising that large cabinet and implementing the tried and tested SRS Trusurround XT system.
Of course as I would say to anyone buying a TV for the home, a cinema sound system, whether that is from separates or an out of the box package, will still produce much better sound and give the benefit of true surround sound for that home cinema experience.

The finish is up to Samsungs usual standard with their ultra clear panel and what looks to be a glossy black-grey surround. On closer inspection this actually contains a honeycomb effect that becomes visible in bright light.

Finally to touch on the connections again, the Samsung LE55A956 comes equipped with Samsungs Infolive, which with an internet connection provides news, weather and well whatever Samsung want you to see.
This is all well and good but I do have to question its relevance. With the internet becoming available on so many medias and with the excellent digital text service (the red button) is addition really necessary?
This will be an interesting one to watch, will Samsung update and improve on this service or will it just fall by the wayside as the internet, as I’m sure it will do, comes straight into our TVs.

In summary, the Samsung LE55A956D1M is a really high performer with only a few, fairly minor faults.
This should be expected of the flagship, top of the range model but it’s nice to know Samsung have not let us down.

For the best price on the Samsung LE55A956 visit Cheap LCD and Plasmas

For Samsungs info and spec please see page 2

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Filed under: 55 Inch, HD Ready, LCD TV, Samsung by TVMan