Product Description 40" widescreen HDTV (16:9 aspect ratio) * high-gloss 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) * 1920 x 1080 pixels *
Manufacturer's Description--March 24, 2008 Samsung's 550 Series is a perfect way to step up to Full HD 1080presolution. A fast 5 ms response rate produces smooth-motion scenes for sports and action movies, and a dynamic contrast ratio of 30,000:1 makes for deep blacks and crisp lines (15,000:1 in 32-inch and 37-inch models). Superb connectivity and networking with a USB port and 3 HDMI 1.3 ports with Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) means these HDTVs play well with all of your other electronics. Easily enjoy MPEG and JPEG files stored on external devices by connecting through the side-mounted USB 2.0, turn your LCD into a full-scale home viewing gallery, or connect your MP3 player for a dynamic audio experience.
Key Features
New -- 30,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio: up from 15,000:1 on 2007 models (15,000 on 32-inch and 37-inch models) (Learn more)
New -- Fast 5ms response time: down from 8ms on 2007 models thanks to a new high-speed liquid crystal
Full 1080p HD (Learn more)
178-degree viewing angle from all four axes with Super Patterned Vertical Alignment (Learn more)
3 HDMI 1.3 ports: Simplay compliant (Learn more)
USB 2.0 port: connect devices directly to your HDTV--view JPEG photos or MPEG movies or easily listen to your MP3 player through your HDTV's audio system or your home theater system
DNIe Digital Natural Image Engine improves the picture by enhancing the contrast, detail, and white balance (Learn more)
Hidden speakers with SRS TruSurround XT audio (Learn more)
Wide Color Enhancer technology and Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp (CCFL) 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 system 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 6: 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, AutoMotion Plus 120Hz image interpolation for smoother motion, 4ms response time, Transparent and Opaque Color (TOC) bezel, Clear Panel, Ethernet port with Infolink free RSS feeds, 4 HDMI 1.3 ports, Sports and Game modes, Compatible with Samsung's Home Digital Media Adapter for playback and navigation of Internet and stored PC multimedia
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-Compatible: for better interoperability with electronics, computers and mobile devices from many different manufacturers
Series 8: super-slim 1.9-inch thick profile
What size TV should you get?
Learn More
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.
30,000:1 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.
DNIe The Samsung Digital Natural Image engine. This exclusive Samsung technology dramatically improves the picture by enhancing the contrast, detail, white balance and reduces.
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 back lights 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.
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 HDMI-CEC 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
3 HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) version 1.3: (2 rear/1 side)
Component video: 2 rear (Y, Pb, Pr)
Composite inputs: 1 rear (shared with component) / 1 side
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 sound stage 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.
Stereo broadcast reception is offered for MTS and SAP with 181-channel capacity. A sound leveler keeps audio volume consistent during channel changing.
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.
If you know the size of the room you have already, where you want to sit, and where your new HDTV should go once you get it, you can figure out the size HDTV you should get.
It's like a window to the worldDecember 2, 2008 Now I could sit here and talk your ear off about all the technical mumbo jumbo this t.v. got going on but odds are that 1. you don't understand it and 2. you don't really care. All you want to know is how it works, how it looks, is it dependable, and is it worth it. and the answers are easily, amazing, like wind in a hurricane, and duh.
This is not my first HDTV. It's my first 1080p t.v., and thanks to it I know now how much of an idiot I was 3 years earlier when I didn't wait for a 1080p. I've gone through sooooo maaaaany countless problems with my RCA DLP (if you have any knowledge of t.v's and their dependencies based on models i'd have to ask you to kindly shut up at the moment because I've figured out the mistake that I've made, thank you,) that I was actually skeptical about the way this Samsung looked in the store compared to how it was going to look in my bedroom. Well I bit the $1,100 big one and went for it and my god if I wasn't a couch potato before lord help me now.
This t.v. paired with the Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-Ray player I purchased with it (and also reviewed which you can read on my profile,) make one of the best teams since peanut butter and jelly. They compliment and communicate with eachother to a degree beyond my expectations. And the liquid crystal goodness doesn't stop there either. If it's available pick up an HD receiver from your cable provider(if it's not, switch providers because wow, you know it's 2008 right?) and the programs broadcasted in HD will also have you wondering why you bought that outdated RCA in the first place.. I mean.. nevermind.
With such a clear and brilliant picture when going in full 1080p it's hard to say anything bad about this t.v., which is why I can't right now. Sure the sound may not be up to par with the standards of the picture but if you have a small 2 speaker sound system laying around somewhere then it's a breeze to hook it up. It's what I did and I haven't thought twice about it. But if you're going to put this screen as the main attraction in your living room (which it can totally handle) then I would go for a nice surround sound system(which I've also reviewed.) It's the least you could do, trust me, when you see this t.v in action you'll understand. (Heck, when you see this t.v. in all it's glory you'd probably want to bring it flowers on a weekly basis.)
So go ahead splurge on yourself and get it. You can't go wrong with the quality for it's price. Until then I'll be watching enough of it for the both of us.
Samsung LCD Picture in Picture doesn't work for composite video sourceDecember 1, 2008 My parents bought the Samsung LN40A550, which has good reviews in consumer reports. This TV has only 1 tuner, so picture in picture (PIP) requires another source. In the manual it does states: You can view Analog TV broadcasts on the PIP screen (sub-picture) when the main picture is from an external device connected to HDMI 1,HDMI/DVI 2, HDMI 3, Component1, 2 or PC.
So if you are expecting to use an external device, which is composite video (the yellow video RCA jack on a VCR) to supply a 2nd TV tuner source you will still not be able to do picture in picture.
When I got my Samsung 50" DLP years ago it had dual tuners and PIP was a simple PIP button on the remote. However the current Samsung LCD and DLPs along with many other tvs appear to have this limiting ability to perform PIP. Even if you do have the required source (componet/HDMI/PC) the process to active the PIP is not just a PIP button click on the remote. Other than the PIP issues the Samsung LN40A550 is a fine tv.
terrible televisionNovember 30, 2008 0 out of 7 found this review helpful
I've owned a 1080p samsung television (LNS4041) for approximately 2 years now. After fifteen months of operation the thing went on the fritz (turn it on and purple and green vertical lines appear with a black background - no pic.). Samsung claims I'm a few days outside my warranty and won't back up the product. I've called to have it repaired and it will cost $130 just to have somebody look at it. I'm thinking about smashing it into tiny bits an posting the video on YouTube. Overall, I'm very disappointed in samsung and regret the purchase. If you must have this television, buy the extended warranty. As for me, I'm getting my next lcd at Wal-Mart - perhaps a sanyo.
I LOVE THIS TV!!!!November 30, 2008 awsome tv. i have owned for about a month awsome picture, i love it all!!!!
shipping was fast, it was awsome, i love this tv.
the only thing is if its in a small room it will make the room hot quick...
very pleasedNovember 29, 2008 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I did a lot of research before settling on the Samsung LN40A550. Samsung is one of the top brands, and the only thing that worried me about this TV was the possibility that not being a 120hz machine would leave sports and action movies unwatchable.
I found a website called tweaktv that offers picture calibration settings, and these made a huge difference on the picture quality out of the box. Changing the sharpness down to 2 and setting the mode to "Movie" make for a huge improvement in picture quality. Jaggy text went away, and the picture got a lot cleaner. I used the tv for a week without HD, because I didn't have time to go get the box. Picture quality was OK with regular cable and component cables. Better than the old regular tv it replaced, and dvds played with S-Video from a standard DVD player looked crisp and good.
Today I finally got the HD box from my cable company, hooked up with HD cables. HD broadcasts are just stunning on this tv (keep in mind that when time you change input sources, the first time using that new source all the settings are back to the defaults. Each new input source will need the picture settings messed with the first time. HD looked pretty bad on the default settings until that sharpness got turned down)... Non HDTV channels look ok, but no better with the HDMI connection, and maybe slightly worse in a few cases.
ANYHOW, heres the skinny. Loving this TV. The menu's all make sense and are easy to navigate. The remote is also intuitive and easy to use( it is NOT a universal remote, btw). Sound is pretty good. Connecting to it is easy, and all the connections are well labeled and easy to use. It looks good, and seems much bigger in my living room than in the showrooms. We see a lot less glare on the screen when the sun comes in the window as well.
And, the thing that worried me- almost no problem with motion blurring. Sports and action movies are all very watchable on HD (somewhat less so on the regular cable). There is a slight amount of blurring during extremely fast action, but its not distracting at all.I was scared that this would be the dealbreaker, but like everything else on this tv, it exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend this tv! If you find a good price on it, buy it without fear.
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Onkyo HT-SR800 Black Home Theater System $335.96 - $499.00 from 2 stores. User rating:4.0 out of 5.
Neatly Covering All A/V Formats, Precisely Tailored for Your Home
When it comes to all-in-one home theater, the HT-SR800 has made a clean break from the pack. You're looking at packaged home theater that neatly integrates your high-definition entertainment and your HDTV through an HDMI channel that transports video with a resolution all the way up to 1080p. Ably supported by component video switching, the HT-SR800 will handle most of the A/V components or formats currently available, as well as the spectacular quality of high-definition discs. Also, reinforcing the convenience of matched components, this package is the first to use an Audyssey room-correction technology specifically designed for integrated systems. The options - XM Radio (including 5.1 surround sound radio with Neural Surround decoding) and iPod integration-can really extend your reach, making the HT-SR800 one of the more complete home theater packages available.
Special Features-
HDMI Pass Through (2in/1out , 1080P compatible) - A separate audio connection is necessary
"Audyssey 2EQ" Auto room calibration w/Microphone
XM and Sirius satellite radio ready
Sony HT-7100DH Home Theater System $349.95 - $378.08 from 2 stores. User rating:3.0 out of 5. Grab your popcorn and revel in the intense movie-watching experience that is the HT-7100DH home theater system. Take your entertainment to new aural heights as 900 watts of surround sound fill your room while you watch high definition DVD media or listen to XM satellite radio. For fast and easy setup, the HT-7100DH automatically calibrates the included speakers for an optimal sound field and the most dramatic effects. The Digital Media Port (DMP) is also great for when you want to listen to external sources like Bluetooth devices or Walkman music players in powerful 5.1 channel digital surround sound.
Bose 3-2-1 Home Theater System $958.24 - $999.98 from 2 stores. User rating:3.1 out of 5. If you've been looking for a surround sound solution that doesn't require hours of setup and creative ways to hide the wires, the search is over. Introducing the Bose 3-2-1 system, a revolutionary advancement in home entertainment that's much easier to live with. Designed to provide performance and simplicity unmatched by conventional component or all-in-one solutions, this system delights the ears and the eyes.
Five speakers are replaced by two. A stack of electronics is replaced by a single media center that includes an integrated DVD/CD player, AM/FM tuner, amplification and signal processing. A patented Acoustimass module hides easily in a corner or behind your furniture. And everything is easily connected with just three wires and a power cord, making setup a snap. The 3-2-1 system combines an Articulated Array speaker design with proprietary signal processing to give you much of that same performance. Hear the roar of a train from left to right from just two visible speakers positioned in the front of your room. Enjoy a spacious soundstage and lifelike surround effects whether you're watching the game, listening to a favorite CD or enjoying the latest on DVD.
Sony DAV-IS10 Home Theater System $399.97 - $558.99 from 5 stores. User rating:0.0 out of 5.
The 5.1 channel home-theater-in-a-box system features five tiny speakers - each about the size of a golf ball. The system, matched with a compact, single disc DVD/CD player/receiver, includes a unique subwoofer that helps the tiny speakers create sounds typically reserved for full size speakers.
While the system features small speakers, it packs all the power of conventional home theater-in-a-box systems with 450 watts of total system power (satellite speakers 50W x 5, plus 2-way subwoofer 100W x 2). The system is specially tuned to deliver a natural sound field that takes the focus off the subwoofer while supplementing mid range and lower frequencies.
Philips HTS3555 Home Theater System $250.81 from 1 store. User rating:4.9 out of 5. This state-of-the-art digital home entertainment system delivers powerful surround sounds and a theater-like audio/video experience. The ultimate in both style and performance.PRODUCT FEATURES:Dock included for GoGear and iPod;USB Direct plays photos and music from USB flash drives;MP3 Line-in for music playback from Portable Media Players;1080i HDMI with high definition video upconversion;DTS, Dolby Digital and Pro Logic II surround sound;12-bit/108MHz video processing for sharp, natural images;DivX Ultra for enhanced playback of DivX media files;Plays CD, (S)VCD, DVD, DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R DL;Plays DivX, MP3, WMA and JPEG digital camera photos.
It's like a window to the world December 2, 2008
Samsung LCD Picture in Picture doesn't work for composite video source December 1, 2008
terrible television November 30, 2008
Key Features
