Samsung LE40A656 Review

[Psychotext]

Damn... this TV looked like it might finally be the one to tick all the boxes for me.  I'll be using it mostly for gaming though so the lag is a massive downer. 

[-M_J-]

Please discuss our Samsung LE40A656 review in this forum thread.

Warmest regards
Vincent

Hi Vincent.

Comparing the 656 with Sony's W4000. What would you say is the biggest pros and cons between these models. And for a normal movie freak that plays games rarely what would be your recommendation?

[MuLLe2005]

Really good review!

What tv do you recommend Vincent, Samsung LE40A656 or Sony KDL-40X3500/3000? I have those two in mind. Would be great if you can help me with this since I understand the Sony is a very good TV with deep black and good colours, and also the Samsung. The money doesnt matters, its the quality, functions, videoprocessing that matters. Wich would you choose if you were going to choose between these two?

Take care for now.
/MuLLe

[melmac]

Hi, Nice review on the Samsung A656. I currently have an LE40F71 from Samsung and am very happy with it, but, was thinking of upgrading. The input lag on the F71 is not too bad. I game a lot and while the F71 isn't too bad, I would like better. Is the A656 better or worse than the F71 for input lag? Or is the Sony W4000 the best screen out there for games? As in your review you state it's as good as a CRT.

thanks for your help

[Munkoli]

This Input Lag issue is being blown out of all proportion and nearly put me off buying my TV.

However, in avforums, people have commented that since the firmware update, the input lag is 30ms in normal (non -game) mode. Since the w4000 is supposed to be 30ms better than the F86 (F96?) reference, I would assume that the firmware upgrade brings it in line with the F86. You also have the option of renaming the HDMI2 input to PC which further reduces Lag to completely normal levels.

I luckily went ahead and made my purchase despite my fears. I am very sensitive to missing syncs and I have not noticed anything above what I used to experience with the CRT this TV is replacing.

If I were you I would look at the inclusion of a decent 100hz MCFI setting as a bigger attraction for games than the detraction of the 30ms lag, which can be massively reduced in PC mode.

[Vincent]

Post-calibration settings are now available at http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/Samsung-LE40A656/Settings.htm

Warmest regards
Vincent

[corum]

Thanks for the settings Vincent, much appreciated.

[Viper]

Hi everyone.

I have a question related to the settings. Suppose i have a ps3 and this samsung, if i put an SD movie on the ps3, and the ps3 is configured to output for example 1080p, which i believe would upscale the movie, wouldn't the settings to consider be the HD ones?   Because as far the tv is concerned the signal on the input would be 1080p...
I don't own any of these equipments, yet  , so i'm not sure if these assumptions are correct. Please tell if i'm wrong or not.

Best regards to everyone

[fonsocm]

Thanks for the settings.

[corum]

Viper. My interpretation would be that if you are upscaling SD material, use the SD settings. HD settings are for HD source material such as Blu-Ray discs (hence a lower sharpness setting needed).

[squallouh]

Hello everybody,

Firstly thanks Vincent for your settings!

But i wanted to know how do you configure your TV with both HD and SD settings? Is it possible to configure settings for each HDMI port,...?

If one HDMI cable is used for both SD and HD source how do you change from one setting to another?


Thanks for your answers...

[shirushi]

Hi vincent, just entered in your hd settings but i get a weird green push / haze when i have a white background. does this happen to anyone else when they try the settings?

[squallouh]

Hi vincent, just entered in your hd settings but i get a weird green push / haze when i have a white background. does this happen to anyone else when they try the settings?

Hello,

without testing i think that the problem comes from the settings : a bad copy / paste :

The green is a priary coor and in the original settings i think that you had for the 3 primary color (blue + green + red) approximately the same value for ONLY ONE parameter AND the 2 others values at 0. The Yellow, Cyan and magenta are secondary colors so they need 2 parameters different from zero and one at zero...

So, i think that the green settings are not : 33    |    38    |    0
But it should be:                                       0    |    38    |    0

Try this and tell me if it's better and then we will wait Vincent to correct it if that's not the good value

Best regards

Squallouh

[Geforce]

Great review Vincent.  Thank goodness we have you.

I think this might be the model that pushes me into taking the plunge.  I'd be looking at the 46" version when it's available in my area any day now.

There's a guy in a local forum who bought a LE40A656 and he says football on HD free-to-air looks vibrant and crisp.  I'm thinking maybe LCD is the way to go now instead of my first choice of a plasma, with the added bonus of lower power consumption and not much of a risk of image burn.

[rhaleuk]

Hi vincent, just entered in your hd settings but i get a weird green push / haze when i have a white background. does this happen to anyone else when they try the settings?

Hello,

without testing i think that the problem comes from the settings : a bad copy / paste :

The green is a priary coor and in the original settings i think that you had for the 3 primary color (blue + green + red) approximately the same value for ONLY ONE parameter AND the 2 others values at 0. The Yellow, Cyan and magenta are secondary colors so they need 2 parameters different from zero and one at zero...

So, i think that the green settings are not : 33    |    38    |    0
But it should be:                                       0    |    38    |    0

I think you are right "shirushi" - I used the published HD settings and everything looked very good except I thought things looked a little yellowy (the whites weren't quite bright white enough)  but I made the change you suggested above and I'm very happy with the settings.  I used a backlight of 7 though, 3 just looked dull!

The SD settings make torrents from my mac mini loook amazing too.  Better than ever, even the blockiness is reduced!  Top stuff HDTVTEST!