55in LCD Picture Sound Features Usability Value A technological tour de force which points the way forward for LCD TV technology. HD Ready: yes Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Rating: 94%

Reviewed: 09 December 2008

Design

 

For good reason, Samsung have not embellished the LE55A956 with one of their innovative 'Crystallized' colour finishes, the bezel in this case hosting an array of bulbs which contribute to the panel's LED backlighting system.

At 55in and making no concessions to the current trend for ultra slim frames, the LE55A956 is an imposing presence. Samsung's leviathan LCD is nevertheless an attractive piece of kit. Through its sheer size and large frame it will never be described as anything approaching 'svelte' but the 'Platinum' black minimalist finish does create a quietly classy piece of audio visual kit.

Features

With a host of 'internet' enabled features the LE55A956 is set to usher in an exiting new period for flat panel TV's with the integration of our principle home entertainment medium with all the riches of the web.

	Screen: 55in 16:9 Tuner: Digital Sound System: Nicam Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Contrast Ratio: 2,000,000:1 Other Features: 100Hz 'Motion Plus', Ultra Clear Panel, Smart LED Lighting, WISELINK Pro. Sockets: 4 HDMI, 2 SCART, S-video, Component Video, Composite Video, PC input.

 

As with Samsung's recently introduced 7 series LCD TV's, 'WiseLink Pro' allows you to integrate digital video player functions and directly playback MP3s, JPEGs (including slideshows), DivX, XviD along with HD video files (H.264)through Plug & Play using a USB memory stick. The 956 also introduces  the streaming of this content over a home network from a PC.

DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) is the protocol which allows seamless integration between the A956 and your PC. The connection can be made through a USB wi-fi dongle (included in the TV package) or hard wired through the LAN port.

Working in partnership with Yahoo! Samsung has introduced 'InfoLive' which streams up-to-date information (news, weather and stock information) through RSS feeds, directly onto the TV in the form of 'widgets'. The InfoLive service is operated direct from the TV's remote control and has been designed so as not to 'swamp' the screen with content. A tickertape of news items, share prices or weather forecasts runs in tandem with the current TV programme.

A number of manufacturers believe that LED SmartLighting technology has the potential to elevate LCD to achieve plasma rivaling levels of black level ability. On the LE55A956D its implementation replaces the conventional bar-style fluorescent backlight with hundreds of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). This helps produce a claimed 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio along with a more natural color representation.

Designed to eliminate 'flicker' (the noticeable transition of picture 'frames' with faster on-screen action) Samsung's take on 100Hz processing, 'Motion Plus' inserts extra frames (from 50 frames per second to 100fps) to produce a smoother viewing experience. As the most advanced incarnation of 100Hz processing we have seen from Samsung, the feature offers 'High', 'Medium' and 'low' settings.

Almost lost within the technological fog is the latest incarnation of Samsung's picture processing technology, DNIe (Digital Natural Image engine), 'DNIe Pro'. With a Motion Optimizer, Contrast Enhancer, Detail enhancer and Colour Optimizer, DNIe Pro works to improve these four main aspects of the LE55956's performance and has a track record of producing impressive results on previous LCD and Plasma offerings from the Korean electronics manufacturer.

Elsewhere there are 4 HDMI inputs (v1.3) along with a 1920 x 1080 full HD resolution and the usual Composite, Component and S-video inputs, USB and LAN ports.

Performance

Judging by the black level ability of the LE55A956, LED lighting technology is fulfilling a fair amount of its promise. These are some of the deepest richest blacks we have seen on any LCD TV and the refinement of the technology could see plasma's advantage in this area finally overturned. We say refinement of the technology because rather surprisingly shadow detailing and in particular the graduated detail across 'murky' scenes is not quite as good as LCD rivals from the likes of Panasonic and Sony.

The supreme black level ability along with a Full HD resolution allied with Samsung's trusty DNIe picture processing technology produced a sublime High Definition picture. The fact that every nuance of picture detail is presented with pin sharp rendering on such a large screen makes for a truly involving experience. High Definition pictures are not just good, they compel you to reach out and touch the screen, the whole experience being so convincing.

It came as a slight disappointment then that Standard Definition (SD) pictures were a little below par. This is understandable given that the 576 lines or so of a Freeview source have to be presented on a massive 55in panel with 1080 lines of available detail. Nevertheless, pictures were softer than we had expected with a lack of detail when compared to some of the TV's competitors. This may not be an issue with those of you who prefer the 'softer' SD rendering which is more akin to plasma. Given that the LE55A956 is such a large panel, the SD performance is still reasonably convincing and would certainly not be a major issue for the majority of you considering this panel.

Whatever the resolution of the on screen material, the motion handling ability of the LE55A956 was excellent. Again we have to place the motion handling performance into the context of a 55in screen. Testament to the level of ability in this area the A956 compares well alongside smaller rivals which have the benefit of 'perceived' performance improvement in all areas of screen performance. Remarkable for such a large screen there were minimal traces of motion blur.

Colours on the LE55A956 are another strong point coming across as vibrant without falling into the trap of becoming too garish. Any shortcomings in this area would have been fully exposed by the large screen and Samsung has done a good job with a high level of colour 'accuracy'. The rendering of tricky areas such as skin tones are always wholly convincing.

As with most flat panels these days style wins out over acoustics with no trace of large protruding speakers. The LE55A956 has sonic abilities which are about average for this class of screen and do not detract to any great degree from the overall performance.

Conclusion

A tour de force of innovative and more importantly useable technology which works. With the LE55A956 Samsung has produced an LCD which is not perfect but which in many respects is quite remarkable.

Samsung LE50A956

 

You might also like to consider ...

Pioneer KRP-500A	Panasonic TH50PZ81
Read Review	Read Review