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| Picture Quality | |
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Samsung LN32A450 Review
The Samsung LN32A450
Continuing the tradition of making excellent small-screen HDTVs, Samsung churned out another winner in the LN32A450. With solid performance in test and actual viewing conditions, this 32-inch HDTV certainly is on a class of its own and is perfect for people who are willing to spend a little more for outstanding performance.
Design
Glossy black never looked as gorgeous as with the LN32A450 – thick all-black frame with hidden speakers and subtle see-through accent at the curved bottom frame that highlights the equally elegant swivel pedestal. The sleek, handsome design and solid black colour certainly make this HDTV fit nicely with most modern home décors.
The remote shipped with the LN32A450 is definitely above average: large, curved design, with most of the buttons appropriately placed and organized. The keys are easy to differentiate, although there is no backlighting and the glossy finish – great for the TV itself but not so for the frequently hand-held remote – attracts more than its share of smudges. The menu, unchanged from the 2007 version, is user-friendly, easy to navigate and also has text explanations to help users.
Screen/picture clarity
This Samsung outclassed all other HDTVs with the same screen size in black levels, making images sharper and more realistic. Even shadow areas are impressed with details, making dark scenes look great and not eye-straining. Colour accuracy in the LN32A450 is superb, too, both off the box and after tweaking the colour settings using the white balance control, with the primary colours close enough to test reference materials. Hues are well saturated and crisp, which, combined with the dark blacks, make images seem lifelike.
The LCD’s video processing works best when used in the Film mode or setting the source as 720p (when available), as there is noticeable resolution loss in resolving 1080i sources otherwise. Standard-def sources, however, were impressively rendered in this Samsung TV. There is no discernible motion blur on some fast action test scenes, and the uniformity of screen brightness is excellent. As PC monitor, the LN32A450 works better when connected through the VGA input, as connecting via HDMI makes text and images less resonant.
Features
With three, input-independent adjustable picture modes, fixed Entertainment modes, five colour temperature and a slew of other controls that allow tweaking of most settings, the LN32A450 surely gives even the most finicky users enough adjustments to suit individual tastes. It has four aspect-ratio modes each for high-def and standard sources, and three energy-saver modes to minimize power consumption. The connectivity options includes three HDMI inputs, component video inputs, RGB input for PCs, headphone jack, USB port and other standard HDTV input/output connectors.
This top-selling LCD in the smaller-screen category certainly packs a power punch for its size. With its impressive showing in tests, consumers who value solid performance over the price tag should seriously consider this highly rated HDTV. Shelling out the extra bucks surely is worth it with the awesome LN32A450.
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This is a great tv! The picture quality is great and I’m so happy with my purchase. I’m really glad I bought this tv.
Purchased this TV in March 2009. Worked fine until September. 6 months.
Now, randomly, a grey / blank overlay screen is popping up and could stay there for hours.
Power off/on does not remove the blank screen.
Happens for any source (TV/DVD/etc).
I have seen this defect with other customers on the web.
So based on my experience i would NOT recommend this TV set to anyone.
I will post back to tell about Samsung customer service (if good or not).
UPDATED: After almost 3 weeks, still no news from Samsung customer service. I left 3 voice mails to their Houston representative (Complete Electronics Specialist, phone 281-477-3507) and these guys never answer their phone neither return voice mails.
In the meantime my issue is getting worse: the blank.grey screen is now always there. So I will not purchase a Samsung TV again and do not recommend this TV to anyone.
I had this TV for about 8 month. I bought it at Walmart for about $700, you could get cheaper now. This TV has the most beutiful image quality. Although it says 720p, but it feels like you are watching 1080p. The sound is good. The menus are easy to use. Watching football on this TV blows me every time I watch it. You won’t regret it for having this TV. I think This TV is great for bedroom. All I can say is “I love my samsung TV” period.
I’ve had this tv for over a year and for the most part it’s ok. The picture is excellent. The audio is problematic. At times it does not play well with digital channels. Samsung has replaced the motherboard once but that didn’t help. The problem occurs when there’s a power outage. The set needs to be factory reset to cure the problem. There’s a thread on this in the CNET forums and another one on the [...]. The key words to look for are “robotic sound”. I believe this to be the case with most of Samsung’s TV’s. There’s alot of unhappy people out there that think Samsung is not doing anything to resolve the issue.
Final took the dive and went HD and Flatscreen. This tv is awesome! I could never go back to regular tv now! cannot recommend highly enough!
If you connect directly to cable/antenna to pick up channels over the air a power interruption will cause what is being referred to as “robot audio.” Basically, choppy audio playback that can be fixed temporarily for a few minutes with a channel change. To truly “fix” the issue a factory reset is required to be performed. Thus, you lose all settings and ~20 minutes of your life every time there is power interruption.
This is being discussed on CNET forums. There is no known fix yet. Just a huge waste of your time having this repeatedly repaired to no avail. Consider your intentions for the TV (cable box/antenna) before purchase. It appears from reading CNET that Samsung will not acknowledge the problem.
My television has not been fixed.
Samsung LN32A450 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV
I have had success with Samsung products in the past and this is very good. The capabilities are quite amazing for a non-tech person but getting started is quite easy. Then you can find someone in the family or an MIT student to launch all the features. The only negative is it does not do the dishes.
I loved this TV from the second I got it. My first flat screen/wide screen/etc. Some initial headaches were brought on by the VGA (the thing the salesman talked me into getting it for), After plugging in the VGA from a laptop to watch netflix, the screen would go black after about 5 minutes, every single time. After hours on the internet, I gave up on that. After that, everything was fine for a year. Then, long story short, a few months after the warranty expired, the screen flickered after a few minutes and went black. The sound still worked, but no picture. Turning it on and off again worked, but again, the screen went black. I know have a wonderful black rectangle in my newly re-finished room. Thanks for nothing. I’m thinking maybe a Philips next time.
I reviewed all the 32″ HDTV on the market (CNET, Amazon, etc.)and this was one of two that ranked above average. It is not as good as my 52″ 1080P Samsung. However, it is a very sharp picture with very good color. The remote is horrible. It’s shaped like a canoe and you never know what side you are pointing. Its easy to drop too. The sound is typical of built in speakers. If you want high quality audio, run it through a receiver/amplifier to outside speakers. The antenna connector is in the back of the set. For wall mounting, a connector on the side near the other connectors would have been useful. It is at least 4″+ wide and it is likely these sets will get narrower in future generations.
We purchased our tv on 1/24/2009 and on 1/10/2010 the power supply failed. Talking to the repair man he stated that most flat screens fail within the first 1 to 3 years to get you to keep purchasing new tvs, not like the old days where you purchase one and it lasts for 10 years. Atho he did stated that Samsung is the cheapest flat screen to repair if something does go wrong… TV is nice but Repair man recommend getting the extended warranty. Ours was still under warranty thru Samsungs first year policy by 14 days. Repair man stated if it would have broke in 15 days it would have costed us about $400.00 to repair it, vs. Sony same problem would have costed us about $700.00. I gave this a 1 star because I feel that tvs should not be breaking within the first 5 years.
My son uses this TV to play video games with his xBox 360. The picture clarity is astounding! There is no discernible blur with motion. He uses an HDMI cable to attach the xBox to the TV. A coaxial cable is used to get cable TV. Even without a cable box or HDMI cable for TV shows, the picture is great. We got this for $400, including free shipping and no tax. Price couldn’t be beat. This a 720 dpi model, but at 32″ we couldn’t tell the difference in picture quality between it and our 46″ inch Samsung, 1080p 240 Hz TV. Review sites say that 720 is fine for a set this size and we agree. Highly recommend it!
I bought my TV about a year and two months ago, just before Christmas 2008. Since then it’s been a good TV – picture quality is good, sound quality is good (it’s my first HDTV, so I don’t have anything to compare it to; everything about it seemed amazing compared to the 19″ tube TV I’d been using). However, yesterday when I turned it on I found that all of the on-screen menu displays (channel number and description, volume number, all TV setting options under the menu option, etc.) had turned into scrambled gibberish. What this means is that you can’t read the number of the channel you’re on, can’t read the information about the channel, can’t read the menu to change settings on the TV, etc. While the TV continues to work, it’s a frustrating experience to not be able to use every function, especially since I’ve only had it for a year and two months. Sure, it’s possible to open up the manual and guide my way through the menus that way, and I don’t have cable so it’s not hard to find the channels I need, but it’d be better if the TV just worked the way it’s supposed to. I called Samsung about it and they confirmed that it’s out of warranty so I’ll have to pay for repair, and so now it’s a matter of deciding whether or not I want to drop money on fixing this thing. Most likely I’ll just save my money, keep using it in its current condition, and buy another brand when this one dies completely (which may not be too far in the future if what I’m reading about these TV’s power systems is true). *Insert concluding rant about planned obsolescence here*
We own 2 of these TV’s, they were purchased 6+ months apart – they’re easy to set up and light in weight. There are enough options for picture control/color control, etc. – you can easily tailor the picture to a dark room or for viewing in daylight, which I like. However, the sound quality on both of them is not good at all. At higher volumes, or when there is a lot of bass in music onscreen or in a deep voice onscreen, there is a lot of distortion and buzzing. We’ve tried every sound adjustment that’s offered on the menu and nothing solves the problem. Hopefully, these 2 TV’s will last a while, because we don’t plan on purchasing another one anytime soon, but when we do, it will definitely be a different brand, even if we have to pay more, simply due to the sound quality. We also own a larger, Pioneer flatscreen, and have had zero issues with the quality of picture OR sound, so I’m thinking you truly DO get what you pay for.
After owning this tv for a year (just after the warranty ended), it started turning on and off by itself. Now it can take a 1/2 hour to turn on at all. The speakers are so horrible, I had to hook the sound up to my stereo and I have never done that with any other TV before. My tv prior to this one was made in 1984 by an off-brand I had never heard of. Thank goodness I didn’t throw it away because this piece of junk Samsung LN32A450 is going in the junk pile.
I did a lot of research before buying, but honestly am NOT overly proud of this TV. The picture is good but the SOUND is pitiful. I had to buy a surround system to get anything remotely decent in the sound department from it. If you buy this (or probably many other models) check out the sound and PLAN on also having to buy a surround system with it.
I bought this model in Jan 2009 for its apparent picture quality. For an year I had no issues with the picture/sound quality. It worked like a charm. The picture was crisp and colors were vibrant.
Just after over an year it I started seeing issues with the display where I kept seeing photo-negative like images on the screen. Its as if the TV knew to wait till the warranty expires
This started as a temporary issue and used to go away after shaking the screen every time I start the TV. As if that was annoying enough one day even the shaking stopped working. Now my TV screen looks like a photo negative image. I contacted Samsung and they would fix it for a hefty sum. I am really disappointed by the quality especially since I bought it for the same reason. This really reduces my trust in the Samsung brand. I would stay away from this model. Heck, youtube even has a video of the exact same problem someone else is facing for the same model. Search for “samsung lcd tv photo negative”.
We’re having this issue: [...] Google and youtube turn up others who also have this problem.
Local repair guy reports that the problem is a circuit board that is internal to the panel (i.e. the screen) touching a metal part of the inside of the panel. Other HDTVs have spacers around the circuit board to keep this from happening. This TV does not.
I would strongly advise against buying this TV.
Sound was always horrible–had to add speakers. The picture was good, but now there is no picture. Just a white screen.
If reviews were written down the line, instead of right after purchase, it would help more people. A $700 TV, garbage after 18 months! Ironically, I researched like mad before buying this.
When it comes to electronics, I guess a one-year warranty is standard but it shouldn’t be. We live in an expensive, disposable world. Now, I’ll have to pay to bring it to a recycling center, to add injury to insult.
I purchased this TV on 11/24/2008, Amazon shipped it on 11/25/2008, and Samsung said the TV was manufactured on 11/30/2008. I was happily using this TV for 584 days, until the screen suddenly washed out and went photo-negative. There are SEVERAL other commentators who have also had this problem, yet Samsung doesn’t acknowledge it as a “known issue”. There is a video on youtube describing and documenting this issue.
To sum up why you should avoid this TV (if not this brand):
Here’s a list of others experiencing the same issue:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R24FSO8X9GFL83/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
http://www.amazon.com/review/RF457ADE5OTBV/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
http://www.amazon.com/review/R1P2NBXAOH9E7C/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
YouTube documenting this issue:
[...]
Avoid this TV, and after attempting to deal with Samsung I’d recommend avoiding them as well.
We’ve had this TV for about 18 months, conveniently just outside the warranty. All of the sudden we started having the negative image problem. We’ve taken excellent care of it – never leave it on for extended periods of time. The repair quote was $200. Called customer service and they didn’t help at all – terrible. Spend your money on a better brand with that offers better customer service.