Use with standard TV signal? I'm looking at this Samsung LNS3241D 32" LCD, but I plan to use it with a standard definition (SD) for the first several months. How does it perform with an SD signal? Will I see black bars on the side, or will it stretch the picture in an acceptable manner? Thanks! Use with standard TV signal? I'm looking at this Samsung LNS3241D 32" LCD, but I plan to use it with a standard definition (SD) for the first several months. How does it perform with an SD... » Read More Use with standard TV signal? I'm looking at this Samsung LNS3241D 32" LCD, but I plan to use it with a standard definition (SD) for the first several months. How does it perform with an SD signal? Will I see black bars on the side, or will it stretch the picture in an acceptable manner? Thanks! « Show Less
75492
You can adjust the aspect ratio so that it fills the entire screen, but that would distort the picture somewhat. I like to put it in 4:3 mode, so it looks like a normal picture. Burn-in warnings be damned! But you'll be watching the important stuff through the HD air antenna anyway.I think the SD picture is just okay. It's a bit pixelated (probably because of the size of the TV) and the colors don't seem as sharp as my 23-year old Sony Trinitron. Once you see the HD picture, SD will look that much worse.
1624767
To be honest, it really depends. Some channels that are SD look really great. Not HD great, but definitely better than on a CRT or a lower end HD TV. If the channel being broadcast is downright terribly quality, no TV no matter how great can improve the picture. I've often caught myself impressed with watching HBO movies where it looks incredible but when I get within 1 inch of the screen I can tell that the quality is standard def.Trust me though, it's not likely to disappoint you. If you're going to buy this TV though, I highly recommend picking up some HD channels. My eyes actually feel better watching HD chanels than SD channels because of how crisp the picture is. To be honest, it really depends. Some channels that are SD look really great. Not HD great, but definitely better than on a CRT or a lower end HD TV. If the channel being broadcast is downright terribly quality, no TV no matter how great can improve the picture. I've often caught myself impressed with watching HBO movies where it looks incredible but when I get within 1 inch of the screen I can tell that the quality is standard def.Trust me though, it's not likely to disappoint you. If you're going to buy this TV though, I highly recommend picking up some HD channels. My eyes... » Read More To be honest, it really depends. Some channels that are SD look really great. Not HD great, but definitely better than on a CRT or a lower end HD TV. If the channel being broadcast is downright terribly quality, no TV no matter how great can improve the picture. I've often caught myself impressed with watching HBO movies where it looks incredible but when I get within 1 inch of the screen I can tell that the quality is standard def.Trust me though, it's not likely to disappoint you. If you're going to buy this TV though, I highly recommend picking up some HD channels. My eyes actually feel better watching HD chanels than SD channels because of how crisp the picture is. « Show Less
1051381
I like mine so far. I only bought it for the price. I don't hear any buzz so far, but it's only been used about three or four times. I have a Samsung 46" lcd 1080p in my bedroom and I think the picture on this 50 inch holds up well against it. Someone in one of the reviews I read on this plasma tv says that there is a chip that prevents "burn in" on these newer plasmas. Well not on this one. The manual clearly states that burn in is an issue and to turn down brightness and contrast while playing video games or dvds. We'll see what happens I guess.
1470803
I'm having the same type of noise problem with a 26" Samsung. It was like that straight out of the box. The backlight was set on 10 (in the Dynamic picture mode) I have to keep the backlight setting at 5 or below and then it's masked by the TV volume. On mute I can still hear it. Very annoying. I'll be contacting Samsung very soon.
1591575
Hi Mike, Good question, I'll give you my "best guess" answer. I have had this great TV since April and searched the web for the same information. First, its not bad right out of the box. Second, seems the recommended settings vary for 2D and 3D, ambient light conditions and to some degree the signal source each of which can ALSO have a range of settings. I have left the settings on the signal source devices at default levels and made the suggested adjustments on the TV. I have the Spears & Munsil HD Benchmark Blu-ray DVD but have not used it with this TV, as yet. I have used the settings found at http://www.soundandvision.com/content/samsung-un75es9000-3d-lcd-hdtv-settings and just tweaked them a little bit for personal taste. Good place to start. Please advise if you find another source for useful settings. It's a great 2D TV and paired with a good 3D player, it does a good job of 3D as well, especially with little ambient light. Professional calibration is always an option as well. Best Regards, Marc
410289
I've heard this models great with HD. But I'm not planning on updating the box or getting a newer generation gaming system quite yet.I currently have no TV. My goal is to find the most cost efficient TV I'll be happy with for years. In other words, one that handles SD well for now, but handles HD good enough that when I switch to it I won't feel like I should buy a newer model.
1341299
Is this TV capable of "24p"? I'm not sure what that is, but it supposedly improves the picture quality, so, and Panasonic just introduced this kick-ass BD player, which I would sooo consider buying after I get a new TV, since my 3-year old LCD (Dynex) totally stopped working about a month ago...(I'm using my gramma's 14" DTV for now, would upgrade yesterday, but I'll be w/o the necessary cash probably for another 8+ months...). Thanks.
1482304
the picture quality is purely based on what signal it is getting. SD channels look like garbage, HD channels look pretty good, Blu rays will blow you away. No fault of the TV, it is a slave to what signal it is getting
2036271
The Samsung plasmas can display either SD or HD content in their original size or stretched. If you want to leave a 4:3 program in its original form, you can: it appears square with pillars on the side (which you can make gray). I prefer stretched. The reason there is no distortion in that ratio is that the 42 inch version uses rectangular pixels while a 50 inch model uses square ones. So true 16:9 images are shown as-is without stretching if you want, despite the math you intuitively and understandable used. In other words, do not worry about aspect ratio on the Samsung plasmas or most TVs. Still, I also own a Sharp LCD that does not allow stretching of HD images, and I wish it would. Look for that feature rather than calculating (reducing down) the ratio. Samsung plasmas certainly allow such changes. I have not hooked it up to a computer, but I understand that it makes a nice monitor (and ease of hook-up is a plus of the Sammy over a Panasonic, which is not so good as a monitor). But I doubt it can show any image more than 1024 x 768. That seems to be a mechanical limit and I doubt anything in the computer can change that. Still, I hear it is an easy hookup to computers, using VGA (and try HDMI but in HDMI 2 not 1).
1947743
Thanks. I will check out that issue. I have had the Samsung LN-T5265F for LESS THEN 4 MONTHS and have had 3 problems already. No picture, only sound. Lasts for a day then it seems fine again. Got a frimware update last time. Now, its wait a week for service man to show again and hope it works again tomorrow. Now I know why I have stayed away from anything Samsung for the last 30 years....
34295
On mine, what is "normal" is that there are black LCD segment digits on a blue background for about 15 seconds. IMO, seeing nothing at all on the display is not normal.
1008400
One of the posters talks about the picture quality while using non-HDTV. I think he said he has it in a trailer, so no HDTV. Also, this unit doesn't have an S-Video connection, which is what is needed to get the best quality standard def. picture (at least that's my understanding). Which tells me that this unit is really not intended mainly for standard def viewing. Vizio, Sharp, and Philips make some units still with S-video connections. Maybe some others do, too, but so far I've found only those three brands. And if I had to guess, I would guess that eventually they'll all stop putting in S-Video connections, as more and more people start subscribing to HDTV.
1119115
I think we're experiencing image burn-in on our 2 1/2-year-old 1080p LCD TV. When an HD show is on, there are now visible vertical lines marking where the sidebars of standard definition programs would be, almost as if a standard size screen were placed over the widescreen. There's also some shadowing in the top half of the standard screen area. This is most noticeable when the picture background is light colored. We had no idea this would happen. We were considering buying the Samsung model you've got, but we spend more than 5% of our TV time watching standard definition programs, and many of our DVD/Bluray movies have black bars on top and bottom. Maybe we'll just get by with our current set until the image burn-in problem is eliminated.
1682503
I have been tweaking my new set's picture for 3 days now. The high def is terrific but I only get 12 channels of HD. Since 50% of my viewing will be standard def cable channels, I am very disappointed that I can't get the SD picture to a level of acceptability. (I feel compelled to go to another room and watch non-HD programs on my old 36" CRT.) Any suggestions on setting changes for SD programs? A lot of the screen is blurry and pixelated (with or without the 120-Hz on).
1720293
I'm not sure on your tv but I just picked up a Samsung Combo HDTV/Monitor and had nasty issues getting the picture right until I stumbled across an easter egg in their setup. My Mac Mini is connected via a DVI -> HDMI cable to my Samsung. The colors were way off and it was obvious that the signal was not digital going to the monitor until I labeled my HDMI input "PC". That fixed the colors. Setting the option for "Overscan" fixed the resolution. Now I get a picture that looks as good as the DVI -> DVI input from my laptop.-- Chris
1259423
I have a Samsung ln40b610 and I hate the dejudder processing. It makes motion look so unrealistic and completely ruins the magic of movies for me. There is also still a lot of blur and ghosting, even with the anti-blur setting turned all the way up. I think LCDs are just inherently poor at handling motion. 120Hz and 240Hz does help a little bit, but not really that much.
379059
My tv looks great, Please try to play something from amazon instant video or netflix, sometime cable signal is not as good as it should and image quality became bad. Believe me this is one of the best inversion I ever did, this tv looks so goodThat a lot of friend ask me where did I buy this tv because it looks so amazing. I have a 47" LG and you can note the quality difference. I think if you can see the pixel problem with netflix or amazon instant video then the tv it is not working properly