Samsung is one of the “big three” television manufacturers which also includes Sharp and Sony. Of the three, Samsung is the only one to manufacture all television types including LCD, Rear Projection, Plasma, and Flat Tube.

In a few quick summary words, the Samsung LN-T4665F is a 46 inch, 1080p high definition format (1920(H) x 1080(V) pixels) LCD wide screen TV. For less distraction and more compact size it has a slim, black bezel. The twin 10W hidden speakers are side mounted. The LN-T4665F is suitable for wall mounting and has holes in the rear to VESA standards. The swivel stands +/-15° range of movement provides set-up flexibility. The wide viewing angle of 178º(H) / 178º(V) provided by Samsung’s S-PVA display technology makes it even easier.

You wont require a separate set-top box for the LN-T4665F as it comes with a digital ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) HDTV tuner. ATSC, a collaboration of broadcasters, consumer electronics manufacturers, semiconductor manufacturers and other ATSC member’s, publishes sensitivity specifications for televisions.

Dynamic Contrast Ratio

Samsungs S-PVA (super patterned vertical alignment) display technology which delivers a knockout dynamic contrast ratio of 15,000:1. Dynamic contrast levels are produced by adjustments on a scene by scene basis. This dynamic contrast ratio is well ahead of all of the competition including the 7,000:1 ratio for Sony BRAVIA LCDs and 3000:1 and 1,000:1 for Panasonic and JVC.

It’s not clear if Samsung use the more conservative ANSI test or the less conservative Full On/Full Off test to measure contrast ratio however, the contrast ratios are satisfactory in either case. Consumer should be careful not to base television choice on just the highest dynamic contrast ratio which seems to be a competition point between manufacturers. Read PTek’s technology guide to contrast ratio before making a decision.

LCD Backlight

The wider the color gamut a television has the more natural images will appear. Like most manufacturers now, Samsung uses a CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) backlight. CCFL backlighting is used for its comparatively low price, long 50,000 hour average lifetime, low power consumption, brightness efficiency and notable color uniformity.

Light-Emitting-Diode (LED) technology looks to be the next backlighting of choice with better power consumption, an even wider color gamut, and mercury-free construction. While CCFL backlight manufacturers have reduced the color gamut gap LEDs can provide 100+% of the NTSC (National Television Systems Committee) color standard compared to only 92% for CCFL. At the moment, only higher costs and excessive heat-generation problems seem to be holding back greater LED backlight use.

High Definition

The 1080p high definition format used by the Samsung LN-T4665F is the highest resolution of the six high definition Advanced Television Standards Committee (ATSC) formats. The 1080p format has twelve times the level of detail provided by conventional standard definition TV.

If you’re thinking that 1080p is the end of the line for high definition then you are wrong. A higher resolution format, 1440p, has already is already part of the new HDMI 1.3 specification. It will probably be a couple of years before you hear much about it though.

Apart from the obvious improved detail, HDTV has a couple of other advantages:

1. more scope to provide image shading and
2. larger screen pixels do not become unacceptably large – pushing back the recommended viewing distance.

Acceptable pixel sizes on larger screen sizes is the reason why manufacturers are able to constantly push display sizes upward. It won’t be long before they are pushing for higher resolutions.

10 bit Video Processing

It is often underestimated how much affect the video processing chip has on a televisions display quality.

A video processor performs a couple of important tasks; conversion of all incoming video signals to a displays native resolution and enhancement of images by removing any artifacts which may have arisen from resolution conversion or video transmission. Video processor performance is even more important with larger displays as image defects will be magnified on a larger screen. The Samsung N-T4665’s 10 bit video processor comparable with numerous other LCD TV product offerings. Judge video processor performance by viewing a television displaying differing format video sources.

HDMI-CEC

One not often seen feature (implementation is optional) of the LN-T4665F is HDMI-CEC (consumer electronics control) which allows global control all CEC-enabled peripherals using a single remote. Up to ten HDMI-CEC enabled devices can discover and communicate with one another through HDMI cabling across a system.

HDMI-CEC also allows individual CEC enabled AV devices to command and control each other without user intervention. For example; closing the DVD tray could trigger the DVD player to switch the TV on, select the correct video source on the TV and set the appropriate video and audio modes for playback.

SRS TruSurround XT

A surround sound system is often an unfulfilled wish for a new television because of cost. However, the Samsung LN-T4665F has what some consider the next best thing, SRS Lab’s TruSurround XT surround sound. TruSurround XT produces a surround sound effect using only two speakers

TruSurround XT is able to produce two channel stereo output from mono, stereo or multi-channel input signals. For more information on how SRS labs manages its surround sound from two speaker feat visit SRS Labs website.

Quick Response Time

For crisp reproduction of action scenes without motion artifacts a fast response time is necessary. The quoted response time for the LN-T4665 is 8ms which compares favorably with those for Sony and Panasonic LCD televisions but falls short of the blisteringly fast 4ms of the Sharp AQUOS.

Care should be taken in comparing display response times as there are different ways reporting and measuring them. The two most common measurement methods are “rise-and-fall” and “gray-to-gray”. A technical specification for rise-and-fall is available from VESA (the Video Electronics Standards Association) but, not for gray-to-gray. Rise-and-fall is measured as the time taken for a pixel to change from black to white (rise) and back to black again (fall). Gray-to-gray is the time to change from one shade of gray to another. Consumers should make sure they are comparing measurements to the same standards.

Useful Picture Controls

Useful picture control features of the Samsung LN-T4665F incude:

• Picture-in-Picture (PIP): two channels at once
• V-Chip System: block objectionable content
• Multi-lingual on-screen displays: English, Spanish and French
• Variable sleep timer: TV shut down after a set time
• Auto volume leveler: maintains the same audio volume across channel changes

Television Warranty

The Samsung LN-T4665F is backed by a 12 month parts and labor warranty (only 90 days for commercial use).

AV Connections

The Samsung LN-T4665F has three HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) which are the latest HDMI version 1.3. A full connection list is provided in the specification at the end of this review.

Comparing the Samsung LN-T4665F LCD TV

Other LCD, 1080p high definition TVs produced by Samsung include the LN-SXX96D series. The major differences between the LN-TXX65F series of which the LN-T4665F reviewed here belongs to and the LN-SXX96D series incude:

• three (3) HDMI connections as opposed to 2
• HDMI is the latest version 1.3
• Consumer Electronics Control (CES) is available
• 15,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio as compared to 4000:1 for LN-SXX96D series
• hidden twin side speakers rather than bottom speakers
• not digital cable ready (DCR)
• no CableCARD slot as with the LN-SXX96D series
• no clock on/off timer
• no auto channel search

User Reviews and Price Comparisons

Samsung LNT4665F 46″ 1080p LCD HDTV

Samsung LN-T4665F – 46 1080p LCD HDTV w/ Integrated ATSC Tuner – 15000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio – 8ms Response Time – Black

Further Reading

PTek has reviewed a similar size 1080p LCD TV from the LN-SXX96D series – the 46 inch LN-S4696D. Larger name brand competitors with the Samsung LCD TV range include Sharp’s AQUOS range and Sony’s BRAVIA range.

Other similar size LCD televisions which have been reviewed are the Sony Bravia XBR2 46 Inch KDL-46XBR2 LCD HDTV , Sony Bravia XBR3 46 Inch KDL-46XBR3 LCD HDTV and the Sharp AQUOS 42 inch 1080p LC-42D62U LCD TV .

Presentation Technology Reviews recently looked at newcomer NuVision’s 47 inch 1080p LCD television.

Specification Samsung LN-T4665F LCD TV