Sam Sunk (Samsung LE-26R74BDX)

Name: Zmugzy

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Product:	Samsung LE-26R74BDX
Date:	24.11.06 (762 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks great when it's switched off

Disadvantages: Not so good when it's switched on

The Samsung LE26R74BDX – 26 inch looks good and the slim build is no doubt an excellent space saver but I didn’t buy this tv to look at when it was switched off.

Product Features:
26in Widescreen LCD Television
High Definition Ready
Integrated Freeview receiver (IDTV)
1366 x 768 resolution
3000:1 contrast ratio


Style
The exterior styling of the TV is sleek and looks the part. The screen has a black gloss frame that gives it a real touch of class but I still wonder how dated these sets might look in five years or so.


Installation
There were no major problems with setting up the set - even a two year old child would find it easy to install – all the tuning is done automatically.


Freeview
It was important to me to have a tv with built in Freeview. Anything that reduces the amount of boxes and wires that you seem to need around your tv set nowadays is a major plus factor. Freeview allows you to view the 40+ digital channels that are now on offer. The set however still has an inbuilt analogue tuner which is useful for those still suffering from weaker digital signal reception.


Connectivity
To cut a long story short…
The tv is said to be multi-purpose TV compatible for your PC and Gaming use. Once you plug in your PC to the tv it will be conveniently auto-scanned to the correct resolution and size. I didn’t test it personally but as a PC monitor the brightness and clarity of text and pictures is supposed to be sharper and clearer than a conventional tv. I did briefly have a look at a PS2 Game and the image did appear to be sharper than on a normal CRT tv. You can also connect up the Xbox 360.


Energy Usage
I had originally had the idea of using this tv as a PC monitor and thereby save energy use when compared with my old CRT monitor but the operational energy usage of this tv is 120 watts whereas you can buy far cheaper flat screen pc monitors that only have an operational output of less than 40 watts. Size for size however LCD tv sets use far less energy than CRT sets and Plasma tvs.


HD Ready
This is a bit of an irrelevance to me. HD programming is not going to be around for ages – don’t forget that 2 years is a life time for tv sets these days. The technology is still developing and people buying the latest LSD and Plasma sets today will be buying something better in two or three years time. Rumour has it that a new breed of tv technology – SED - is on the way and it will outdo both plasma and LCD in terms of performance, picture quality and energy use. Make no mistake – all the rant about the need to have an HD ready set is one of the biggest consumer cons currently doing the rounds... and I don't care if you do have a Sky box - your still in the minority.


Sound
I wasn’t too impressed with the sound. This seems to be a common complaint with a lot of Samsung tv models. However, this is not something that would bother me too much because you can always attach your own speakers or surround sound system.


Picture
This was the major problem for me. Call me a perfectionist but… although the picture produced by this set was one of the better ones that I saw in the Comet store where I bought it, once you get it home you realise that you will have to put up with all the image problems associated with such technology.

According to Samsung pictures should be ‘exceptionally quick and sharp, with a speed of up to 8 ms (millisecond), users will be able to see the remarkable difference in the response time of Samsung LCD TVs. The LCD TV ensures that each image is just as good as the real thing’. Let me tell you 8ms does not impress me and the tv image produced is nowhere near the real thing. Furthermore, Samsung sell pc monitors for less than £200 with response times of 2ms so why not a tv that costs over £500?

On this tv close up to the screen you will still notice the slight blur that occurs during rapid motion and the picture has that irritating grainy texture usually associated with LCDs and Plasma screens. You might be able to improve things a bit by reducing the sharpness and contrast or if you sit four or five feet from then you might find the image acceptable but why should you have to keep your distance from the screen so as not to notice the bad quality of the image?

In truth the picture produced by this tv possesses nowhere near the quality of my previous wide screen 28 inch CRT Panasonic. This factor alone was enough for me to take the tv back to the shop for a refund. Just think about it… what do most people want a tv for? Forget all the gimmicks of style, technology and connectivity. I want to be able to watch the odd movie, I want access to Freeview, to watch the odd footy match and keep up with what’s happening in Corry. Why should we pay over £500 for a tv with a degraded image where a football match looks blurred and where dark scenes in movies are so dark you can’t see anything at all? It is on the poor quality of the image that I cannot recommend this tv or any LSD/Plasma tv for that matter.


Conclusion
You can stick your LCDs and Plasma Screens I’m sticking with my good old CRT until the technology advances enough to provide consumers with a tv that provides a truly improved image.

I paid nearly £700 at Comet but I have recently seen it being sold on line for nearer £500 – not surprising.

Summary: Not worth the Money

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