Samsung LE40M86BD Review

[shaggy]

Hello all. I have just discovered this site and it is absolutely fantastic-hopefully you can answer all of my questions before I part with some of my hard earned folding for an HD TV.
I also saw the Samsung LE40M86BD in Currys and it looked really good -price was £1049 with a package deal to include a stand and DVD recorder for £1179.
I went home to think about it and checked on the net where I found I some really good offers on the LEM87BDX and also on the LE M87BDX/XEU.
Can someone please tell me what the diference is between these 3 models?.

[Vincent]

Hello all. I have just discovered this site and it is absolutely fantastic-hopefully you can answer all of my questions before I part with some of my hard earned folding for an HD TV.
I also saw the Samsung LE40M86BD in Currys and it looked really good -price was £1049 with a package deal to include a stand and DVD recorder for £1179.
I went home to think about it and checked on the net where I found I some really good offers on the LEM87BDX and also on the LE M87BDX/XEU.
Can someone please tell me what the diference is between these 3 models?.

Hi

They are the same with only minor cosmetic difference.

Warmest regards
Vincent

[pasman]

Please discuss the LE40M86BD review article in this thread, including technical questions, personal opinions and price talks.

i have just purchased this tv, set it up, but the picture quality i believe is not quite right.
i have tried it on the house ariel and also through my ntl cable box(virgin media) but something is not right but its hard to explain. its as if the picture is not sharp enough but i have tried altering the sharpness but it makes no difference, can anyone help.

thanks

[icarusi]

Went to my local Comet store ready to but this TV. They told me that there was an inherent flaw in that Samsungs have a habit of flickering on and off every couple of minutes, which I have to say I did witness in the store. I asked them whether it was their multi-TV set up that was causing it but they denied that it was. Has anyone had this problem when they've got one home?

I've seen on-off flicker between picture and noise secreen a few times. Seems to be the HDMI cable not being fully 'home'. Both cases were 'cured' by this method. Makes you wonder about the the HDMI connector tolerences. BTW this was a once-per-second event rather than every couple of minutes (which I haven't seen). I think it may have been the input section 'hunting' between the analogue TV 'noise screen' and the HDMI input.

[PeteRock]

Hope the author of this excellent website will read this.... there is a whole massive discussion over at avforums about an 8/10bit panel issue... so onto my question...

Would the average 'joe' be able to tell the difference?? assuming both tv's setup the same, same source, same lighting conditions etc.

Dale

[animotions]

Hi there.

Just to let go of my thoughts on this forum.

I have the LE40M86BD with the latest Firmware / Motherboard update (thanks Samsung for this free update).

There is absolutly no problem anymore with the Movie Plus turning On/Off by itself and also there is full 1080/24p support.
Connected to a PS3 via a Onkyo TX-SR605 over HDMI, left in Movie Mode an properly calibrated by a X-Rite /MacBeth i1Display it is an outright joy to watch.

Sure it's a bitch to properly calibrate by hand but ok.

If you have any questions or doubts before buying it, let me know.

 

[billy]

 Hi I know this thread is a discussion of the M86/7 . but can anyone/ or Vincent would be better) shed any light on the Samsung LE40 N87BDX as I was just about to purchase M86 when I seen an add. for N87, Anyone know of an answer.
Billy

[crazyjim]

HI thanks to the HDTV TEST team for letting me make an excellent choice on my TV.

I do plan on making a donation some time soon!

I ordered my m86 on  the last bank holiday just gone, from currys got a terrific deal with dvd recorder and a matching black glass stand and a hdmi cable for my ps3 for just under £1200.

I was waiting for my tv to arrive the following Friday i took a day off work.

It didint come!!

Then they said they would deliver it on Monday, so i took another day off work,  i set my stand up and awaited the delivery guy, he came with a TV to the door and placed it inside and asked me to sign, i was just about to when i said let me just check the model number.

To my horror he was trying to offload me an R88.

The R88 had a sticker with someone elses name and address on it.

Then he tried to convince me that the R88 was a better model than the one i had ordered and i should take this,  i argued with him that it was not better than the r88 but also about £200 cheaper, he claimed he had done this for many years and he knew his tv sets and i was getting a better model.

I told him to get me my tv the M86, he had obviously just delivered my set to the person expecting the R88!! He rang the guy who he had just delivered my M86 to and that guy said that he had the right TV and prompltly hung up on the delivery guy!!

Anyway 2 weeks on i am still waiting for my M86  No delivery date nothing... you just dont expect that from a store like currys.


Thanks to this website i wasnt duped by the TV delivery Guy,

Thank you Colin and Vincent.

Just make sure you are getting the right TV from the delivery guy, once you sign theres no going back!!!

The exact same thing happened to me last Sunday.... they are still at it..... it was Dixon's but I think the shops/delivery dudes are the same.... I bet there is some massive blag going on and they are selling the 1080 version elsewhere and making money.....  I would not of noticed but I looked round the back to get the model number in order to look up how to calibrate it and realised that I had been given the wrong set.... it was even in the right box and the sticker on the side had the right details.... glad I noticed!

I have phone Dixon's and told them they delivered the wrong set.... at the moment they say they have none in stock so I guess I will have to wait and use the R88..... bit rubbish really!

[eliashan]

Hi Vincent,

Thanks for all the site's excellent in-depth test (and not just reviews from the specs). One feature I don't recall mentioned in any test I've read here is the Auto 16:9 function (or WSS) by means of Line 23 broadcast. In countries where some channels are broadcasting in 4:3 and other in 16:9 it is absolutely irritating having to switch through 4-5 different modes (4:3, 16:9, 14:9 and others) just to get the picture aspect right for a channel, and then having to switch all though all these modes again for another channel that has a different aspect ratio (I don't know if this is an issue at all in the UK, but it sure is in Greece).

Sony make it clear in their specs which TVs do or don't support Line 23 auto-aspect setting. Samsung don't. Do you know if it's supported on some/none/all models? (Strange as it might sound, you can't always even test-drive the TV you're willing to buy in a shop!!! .

Thanks for any help with this!

[Sb1939]

Hi All,

Sorry, I'm a bit new to this but I wanted to ask - I'm thinking of buying an M86 and I have read a few posts here and elsewhere about a Freeview motion judder - has this now been fixed and is there a way of checking if any new set I buy has the most recent firmware/fixes already installed?

Cheers.

BTW, thanks for the reviews Vincent, they're really useful!

[Syphon]

Went to my local Comet store ready to but this TV. They told me that there was an inherent flaw in that Samsungs have a habit of flickering on and off every couple of minutes, which I have to say I did witness in the store. I asked them whether it was their multi-TV set up that was causing it but they denied that it was. Has anyone had this problem when they've got one home?

I know this post was a while ago, but that is a definite fault on the M8* series. We have two M86s in our faulty bay at the moment with that exact fault.

[evang]

 Hello,
I got the LE32M86BDX last week in Greece. I am very dissapointed on the TV's performance when handling motion. The motion blur is very evident on an SD signal through RF or when using DTV (terrestial), when watching soccer or other athletic events.  Sometimes I see the blur, even on regular programs on mild motion. I have not used an HD signal yet. I know that HDTV can have motion blurs, however, I have not noticed this kind of blur even on much cheaper sets that my friends have. The local samsung tech that visited, said that's the way it is and to reduce the sharpness in order to reduce the blur. He did not seem much of an expert in the field.
Are there any settings that can be used to reduce the blur? I know about movie plus, but it seems to be making matters worse. Finnaly, how can i tell whether this particular set is faulty or just inefficient in handling motion? Thanks a lot.

[ginopilotino]

Anyone have had any buzzing problem with this panel?
Mine have a little buzzing noise when lighting is below 10 or power manager is on.
I can hear it even at 3-4m with mute on.

[coendeurloo]

I'm thinking about buying a M86, and now the 37 inch version is at a very nice price, I would like to know: are there any notable differences between the 40 and 37 inch versions other than the size?

[coendeurloo]

Well, I have checked both in a shop, and I can confirm that the 37" version does NOT have a super clear panel...