Samsung UN40B6000 40-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV Review

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(More customer reviews)I originally ordered the Samsung LN40B650 and was fairly certain that I had made a good choice. I don't know why but I starting second guessing my decision, which led me to review the Samsung LED LCD televisions. While the reviews were not extremely glowing, the Samsung UN40B6000 looked like it could better the picture of the CCFL LN40B650 and I canceled the order for CCFL and went with the 6000 series LED television. One of the "cons" of the edge-placed LED televisions is a noted lack of screen uniformity but that is for larger screen sizes and I thought the 40 inch screen would not be as prone to that problem.
Some thoughts and observations:
1. The clear screen is very good - I have 3 windows, and a bright ceiling light; there are no reflection problems. In some of my earlier posted Amazon photos, a window reflection was evident on the screen, but not really noticeable in real-life viewing. I found, however, if I looked for the reflection, I could see it. I reshot the photos in lower light to better illustrate the performance of the UN40b6000. The first photo shows how good the screen image is when viewed directly on; this quality remains solid to 15 - 20 degrees of center. The image does lighten but I disagree that it rapidly deteriorates to poor quality even up to a viewing angle of 45 degrees; it's still a good image.
2. Out of the box the picture is good, but after using the settings recommended by CNET, with some slight personal adjustments, the picture for many Blu Ray pictures are as good as I've seen.
3. Despite the stated mega contrast ratio of 3,000,000:1, the gamma setting needed to be adjusted to at least +2 or +3 (highest) values to keep dark scenes properly contrasted. One interesting fact regarding the off-center viewing is that contrast for dark lit scenes actually improves.
4. The sound is NOT bad; the two UN40B6000 rear/downward firing speakers in custom mode produces respectable sound for a television set. Now, if you want theater-quality surround sound, then this TV is going to fall far short of such expectation, but what set would not? My suggestion is to go into sound mode; select custom, select graphic equalizer (set 100HZ to max; 300HZ to 3/4 range); set SRS Trusurround HD to "On" and give a listen. If you're still not happy, buy a sound bar.
5. The backlit remote is nice for nighttime viewing and is fairly user friendly.
6. The Samsung Blu Ray and UN40B6000 automatically recognize one another which may play a role in the exceptional picture that is produced.
The bottom line is that UN40B6000 produces a very good to excellent picture, and the sound is decent for a television set - is it worth the couple of hundred dollars more than its CCFL counterpart? I cannot say with certainty, but my hunch is that it is. However, where its performance may exceed say the LN40B650 is most likely limited to direct viewing +/- 20 degrees off center. After that the CCFL set may hold an advantage.

Update 9/25: I have read the reviews regarding limited viewing angles, but I have not noticed the dramatic degradation that has been observed by others. For comparison, I have placed 3 images under typical dark viewing conditions (note all camera settings are in static manual mode, no photo editing performed). The series of photos uploaded on Amazon do not come close to the actual picture on the screen in terms of quality, but they do demonstrate relative difference in picture color and contrast as the viewing angle is moved from center - please note photo placement captions. Overall, I am VERY happy with the UN40B6000 performance and have every intention of keeping it. The picture is outstanding when viewed directly, and may diminish with increased viewing angle, but it's more of an excellent to good, than a good to terrible. My wife keeps complaining that the picture is too good - that it's like watching a movie being made instead of viewing a movie - it does not make sense to me either.
UPDATE 1/22/10: In the comment section I was asked the set's height with stand. When I performed the required action by using a metal measuring tape positioned on the right side of the TV, the set went into store demo mode that displayed features of the TV - I needed Samsung technical support to get me out of the stored program. On the plus side - at 23:00, Friday night, I had a technician within minutes. Samsung did not understand why it happened but it did, and they directed me out of the program. FYI, I measured over the front buttons on the right side of the TV and I now believe the metal tape simultaneously contacted two buttons which initiated the store demo program - do not take a measurement in that fashion! If for some reason the store display comes on, from menu, go to "plug and play" and advance to section that has choices "store demo" or "home use" select "home use" to exit the program.

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Samsung UN55B6000 55-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LED HDTV Review

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(More customer reviews)My family and I just love this TV, particularly for watching sports. We looked at a lot of LCD and Plasmas but saw none that gave us the sense of depth this one does. It is like 3D. Moreover, our family room is also a sun room during the day but the picture is just as strong in the day time as it is when the room is dark. The viewing angle is comparatively wide. We see no appreciable drop off when it is viewed at an angle. It is large enough that my wife can view it from the adjacent kitchen with ease.
Learning how to use its features and to set it up is another matter and that is the one gripe I have with the TV. Samsung only provides a four page manual which tells the owner nothing. Instead it includes a flash drive which contains a manual for its use but it took me over three weeks to realize what the flash drive was for. The manual does not show the available ports or how things are to be connected to the TV. I finally figured it out by trial and error and got the flash drive connected. Finding out how to use it however, was again a lot of trial and error. Once I was able to read the pages, it was hard to read, mostly grey on black (I hate black-you can't see where anything is on black). Figuring how to page the manual on the TV isn't easy. Samsung provides numerous steps to take but the user has to leave the Manual screen to go through the steps and unless the user writes out all the steps, it is a tiresome process to follow the steps.
So I tried using the flash drive on my computer. Well the manual is in a strange format so it will not open normally. Windows searched for a driver that would allow viewing the manual and found one which I downloaded and installed The one I found that worked was from IrFanView but one must also download all the plugins before it will work. However, when I opened the Manual, it was unprintable except with a screen capture utility.
That was more trouble than it was worth and it then dawned on me to go to the Samsung Support Center and see if there was a Manual that could be downloaded. Voila, the Manual was available in both PDF and Word formats but because the Manual is in three languages, it is 273 pages long. Just print the first 75 pages.
What I found is that with no difficulty I could run picture shows directly from either my camera or from a card reader. They come out beautifully. If I tried to print pictures that big, they would be grainy as all get out. But the pictures show in full size on the big screen in terrific detail and color and they have depth.
But I wish the USB ports were either on the side or the front where they are easily accessible. I intend to wall mount the screen but if I do I won't be able to get to the connections which are on the back. And even then it is difficult to insert USB cords because the recess is so narrow.
We love this TV however, because of the lack of a printed manual and the location of the USB ports, I can only give it 4 stars.

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