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Samsung LE-46 F 71 B
The Samsung LE-46 F 71 B TV is a 46" (116.8 cm) LCD flat-panel TV and was introduced to the market back in spring 2007 at a retail price of around 3,700 GBP.
Florian Friedrich, April 18, 2007
- Full HD resolution.
- The universal card reader is great for digital photographers.
- Comes with a swivel stand.
- The built-in receiver only accepts analog cable TV.
- The highly reflective casing.
- No S-Video compatible Scart sockets.
The big screen and full HD resolution will wow the audience, but conventional PAL image sources are reproduced on the LE-46 F 71 B's screen with only average results. LCD flat-panels are now mastering the size classes well beyond the 37" (94 cm) watershed that previously were exclusive to plasmas: But it's not just the size that counts...
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Screen Diagonal and Swivel Stand:
With its 46" screen diagonal, the LE-46 F 71 B is among the largest of flat-panel TVs. And the size is not to its detriment - with a full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, you can enjoy rich detail from as little as 2 meters away. The swivel stand comes shipped as standard.
Video Set-up:
The video set-up is, however, so-so. The receiver only accepts analog cable connections, and two Scart sockets (of which only one accepts RGB and neither of which accept S-Video) is a bit meager. You do, however, get a side mounted camcorder input, and an analog VGA input for PCs. The two HDMI contacts are sufficient by today's standards.
Picture Sources and External Devices:
The Samsung can display two picture sources simultaneously, either one inside the other (picture-in-picture) or side by side (picture-by-picture). Since it only has one built-in receiver, one of these pictures would have to come from an external source.
The main functions of various external devices, such as DVD players, video recorders or external satellite/cable receivers can be controlled using the Samsung's remote, even if they are produced by another company.
Multimedia Options and "Wiselink":
Multimedia fans will love the LE-46 F 71 B - it has a card reader compatible with Compact Flash, SD, MMC and XD Cards, as well as Sony Memory Stick PRO. You can also connect other storage media via the USB port, and from any of these sources, you can view photos in JPEG format or play MP3 music files. Even a photo printer can be attached, allowing you to put your holiday snaps on paper. Samsung calls this multimedia functionality "Wiselink".
Operation
Screen Menu and Remote Control:
The LE-46 F 71 B's screen menu is attractive and makes navigation really easy. The handy remote control is well laid out - important buttons like those for changing channel and volume are sufficiently sized and easy to lay your fingers on. Many of the other buttons are, on the downside, a bit small and too closely packed.
"P Size" Button:
One irritating point: The button for changing the picture format, which you need quite often on a 16:9 set, is tucked away in the second row to the far right and unhelpfully labeled "P Size". As such, it is very easy to miss.
TV and DVD Picture Quality
Well illuminated studio material in standard PAL - the news, for example - looks sharp and almost real enough to touch on this ultra-bright Samsung (maximum 360 Candela/m2). No matter how real it looks though, we do recommend four meters as the optimal viewing distance. Any closer and the aggressive picture processing will start to become visible - there is some shadowing around edges, and very fine text is a bit off, for example on shopping channels.
The Samsung is a lot more convincing if the images are fed from a DVD player. The factory setting 'Film' delivers realistic color. Even tricky shades such as Julia Roberts' skin complexion at the beginning of "The Mexican" are cleanly reproduced on the LE-46 F 71 B. With slightly adjusted settings (see "Best Settings" box), even better color reproduction and contrast can be achieved. Unfortunately though, no matter what you adjust, you cannot get rid of the slight lack of color depth. This leaves saturated green tones looking a bit synthetic, e.g. in the corn field in the first "Lord of the Rings" adventure.
The LE-46 F 71 B is at its best with modern DVD players fitted with HDMI. Here, the TV really picks up in terms of detail and consistency. Pictures fed from what is considered to be the best standard video input, Scart-RGB, are not processed that well by the Samsung. Edges become a bit over pronounced, so in critical scenes such as the numerous camera pans in "Six Days, Seven Nights," the de-interlacer produces unsightly jagged edges.
As well as with the Scart, some weaknesses are also present in the HDMI inputs. The LE-46 F 71 B distinctly magnifies the picture (overscan) when compared with the original, and mid range colors often appear too dark - most likely a result of the display's Gamma value of 2.5. Night scenes, such as those in the street race in "The Fast and the Furious" did, on the other hand, look rather good even in light settings. Overall, in terms of PAL playback, we would have to place this model in the upper mid range bracket.
HDTV Picture Quality
The Samsung does not handle the original picture frame rate of 24Hz very competently, and the viewer has to put up with a bit of judder. Nevertheless, it is on top form in demanding HD test sequences. Both horizontal and vertical fine details are shown regardless whether in progressive or interlaced 1080 format. The photos of the US space shuttle Atlantis from the "Digital Video Essentials Professional" test disk looked really impressive - the finely detailed image was truly delicious.
You hardly notice the very slight lack of sharpness in comparison to other full HD TVs. The reason for it may be that overscan is also active on HD inputs, where it is totally superfluous. The LE-46 F 71 B rescales 1920 x 1080 pixel images, even though this is the exact native resolution of the screen.
Computer Operation and Sound Quality
Computer Operation:
The LE-46 F 71 B is very flexible with PCs, and can accept signals up to 1920 x 1080 pixels via the analog VGA interface. According to the handbook though, it cannot be interfaced to a PC via an HDMI-DVI adapter.
Sound Quality:
The sound is shipshape from the Samsung's built-in mini horn loudspeakers - speech is easily understandable and, even at high volume, there is not a hint of rattle from the casing.
Settings for the best home-theatre performance*
Preset: Film
Contrast: 100
Brightness: 50
Color Saturation: 40
Sharpness: 36
DNIe: Off
Energy Saving: Medium
Color Temperature: Warm 2 (7,700 K) or custom setting at 6,800 K. You should then also use the following: R-Contrast: 57, G-Contrast: 50, B-Contrast: 43, R-Brightness: 38, G-Brightness: 54, B-Brightness: 52
* applied to realistic playback from HD DVD/Blu-ray material through the HDMI interface in a darkened environment. Manufacturing and HDMI playback device deviations may necessitate slight adjustment.
Quick Points Summary
High gloss finish: The reflective casing of the Samsung is not entirely a good thing - it can affect the image quality.
Thin on the ground: Only two Scart sockets (neither of which have S-Video) is a little meager. As compensation, Samsung has provided two HDMI inputs.
Hidden format: The remote is ergonomic, but the manufacturers have done a great job of hiding the format button.