1. For LCD panels the physical limit of 6-8 ms response will tend to always be present. 100Hz or more clever pre/post-processing might make up for it. But some minor motion artifacts will tend to be present.
LCD response time hit the brick wall long ago. There is nothing much more you can do with the technology nor you can over volt the liquid crystals much more at this stage. But this is not the only problem. Another, usually overseen, enemy of the LCD overdrive is ... picture noise and artifacts and that's not a pleasant scene. Also, each panel type has different characteristics when we consifer motion performance. I believe that at this stage, P-MVA and A-MVA (especially) TV panels are best for motion handling and less noise operation. Just look how Toshiba WLT68 done well in that department. 100Hz, Perfect Motion or however you may call it is nice add on (and it's nice to just be there), but that's just stop gap. Unfortunately, still nothing can touch plasma when we comment the motion performance.
2. The other issue for LCD's - that of black levels - seems to have been solved nicely by Samsung in this set ... albeit at the slight expense of shadow detail.
Somewhat, I believe that major and probably contributing factor for such nice black levels "perception" is panel coating, as S-PVA technology itself didn't evolved that much lately. As I don't remember that I noticed in the review itself min luminance measurement - I bet that hardware colorimeter will report something like 0.20 - 0.25 cd/m2 (after calibration) for the S-PVA panel of this type. Also, it's not surprise to me that S-PVA can hit raw ~1100:1 contrast rate, after careful calibration. It's very well known for this.
Personally, I'm huge fan of "Clear" (plasma/crt like) panel coatings ... even glass itself ... and I don't understand why such manufactures obsession with AR (anti reflective) coatings when we consider LCD panels. There is huge paranoia about the reflections too and again without any reason imho. Carefull arrangement of the lounge ambient light is simply a must anyway. Clear panel coating is improving the colour vibrancy & depth, image focus, purity and overall quality. It's maybe not measurable (and this is normal), but it's there and it's pleasant. With such coatings all you really see is just the image and not LCD surface. Image is just floating there, with a great sense that panel is just the window to another world outside. It's more immersive and it's really introducing that extra vibrance to the spectrum. Another advantage is that such coating is actually absorbing the portion of light hitting the screen and and at the same time allowing the screen image to be displayed without distortion. Sometimes, is really like there is no barrier between you and the liquid crystal. My major problem with AR coatings is that they are introducing the very fine layer of "myst" in the play, which is affecting image clarity. Simply put, you can easily see the panel surface and, as I already explained, light is not absorbed by the screen but refleceted in the form of huge white "blobs". No, thank you. Just give me the glass! I would encourage anyone to personally compare the LCD sets with and without such coatings (if they have a chance or shops near by). You will be surprised.
By the way, I have LCD monitor with NEC OptiClear coating and based on AS-IPS technology. IPS by nature doesn't offer great blacks (0.35 - 0.40 cd/m2 on average), but panel coating itself is doing wonders and nothing can (still) touch the black levels of this panel - perceptively. Then again, such panel coatings are usually introducing problems with shadow details, but that's somewhat controllable with careful calibration - but sometimes is not.
So, well done Samsung for such brave move to bring back the clear coatings! It was about time and I can only salute to such move.
But now the comparison draws to minor tweaks within the realms of acceptability.
3. Absolute 'natural' colour reproduction will still tend to be slightly better on tube/plasma sets. Again, the differences are a factor of how much of a videophile one is.
For those of us who cannot wait for better technologies or the price to fall down further, I would then agree with you that this LCD at a good price point is a very credible 40" full-HD set - for the price difference I would definitely chose this over the Sony. For plasma lovers the Pioneer is a king at close to the same price point. BTW - I saw a Pioneer 50" full HD set at a local store yesterday and it is simply stunning. I am not going to wait for the 5 grand price to drop to 1 anytime soon, so I will probably do a final trade off between the M-series Samsung and the bigger Sony LCOS soon..... I like the PC-friendly aspects of any LCD technology over and above plasmas despite their great cinematic reproduction qualities.
There is one problem. Because you can't make the LCD polarizers to shut down all the light from the fluorescent lamps, this is the reason why dynamic contrasts are introduced. When LCD monitor receives request to display dark image, backlight will be dimmed (underpowered) but it will intensify transmission through the panel. In practice, it's working OK ... but it's just stop gap solution imho. People shouldn't be fooled with the ridiculous contrast rate spec nowadays (Samsung is very well known for this). Perceptive, dynamic picture may seem more attractive (especially to the novice user), but there are many side effects (like almost "retina burning" over saturated colours, crushed blacks, banding because of the dynamic control, more picture noise and so on). Just give me the panel with rather nice raw contrast rate (and S-PVA is OK in that respect), improved panel coating (clear if possible), backlight control and fine colour tuning (including RGB gains & cuts) and I'm a happy camper. No need for dynamic fuss.
Also, marketed contrast ratio is always emissive (as opposed to reflective) and always measured under the optimum conditions and that includes room in total darkness. In practice, contrast ratio is probably lower because of the light reflection from the surface of the screen (or coating). This is the reason why CRT/Plasma will always triumph in the dark room (as there is no backlight), but on the other hand during daylight or with ambient light LCD is better because CRT/Plasma glass is reflecting the light and spoiling the blacks. Luminance of the display is directly responsible when contrast ratio is reduced because of the room light.
So all in all, this incarnation of Samsung appears to have hit many right notes and come closer to a great bargain especially when compared to the much more expensive X-series Sony.
Samsung raised the bar imho. Not only the quality, but price bar too. I didn't expected that they will improve the new series THAT much .... oh didn't I mentioned that Samsung is aesthetically just gorgeous and looks expensive! When you put Sony next to this set, it looks cheap and grumpy. Of course, function is more important than form ... but I don't mind little bit of effort in the design department. Sony is one sleepy giant who is just, well, asleep and expensive (sometimes without any reason). It's time for a wake up call!
Some of us might have dreamed on video heaven before the review in terms of 'having the complete quality cake and eating it'. Reality bites in the end and, as ever, most of these things are always a compromise.
Hmmmm ... do we need perfection or heaven in that sense ? I'm affraid that we are starting to be more and more obsessed with the PQ and especially quantity of all those pretty pixels. Well, heck, I want pleasant reproduction but at the same time I don't want to pick up every little imperfection or error detail in the content stream and forget about the CONTENT itself. You can get carried away, easily (noticed that many times on my end). Well, I'm still trilled to visit proper cinema ... and no LCD or Plasma wonder can replace that
For those of us who cannot wait for better technologies or the price to fall down further, I would then agree with you that this LCD at a good price point is a very credible 40" full-HD set - for the price difference I would definitely chose this over the Sony.
I believe that at this moment, Sammy is the finest 40" LCD TV set money can buy.
PS ... sorry for the long post and massive quoting. Your post is interesting and does bring some, again interesting, questions on board. I felt obliged to respond
