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
Samsung LN32A450
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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