Samsung HP-S4253 42-Inch Plasma HDTV

Review by Robert E. Huebner for Samsung HP-S4253 42-Inch Plasma HDTV
Rating:
I was an early adopter of Plasma technology and have owned a Pioneer 50″ Plasma as my main display for a few years now. I love Plasma in general, so decided, now that prices are coming down from the stratosphere, to get a second plasma set for a bedroom TV. All I can say is things have really come a long way! Early plasmas had problems displaying detail in dark scenes, but new models such as this Samsung have come much closer to solving this problem.

I auditioned dozens of sets at multiple dealerships and did a lot of side-by-side comparisons and adjustments, and determined that these newest Samsung sets represent the best blend of performance, quality, and cost. My requirements were to have at least 2 HDMI slots, since this is the future for high-definition connectivity, be 37″ or 42″ in size, and have the best quality picture I could afford.

A lot of on-line advice pointed to the Panasonic as the one to get so I went into this fully expecting to end up with a Panny, but after much side-by-side between the Samsung 4253 and the newest Panasonics, there was no contest – the Samsung has more natural looking color gradiations, the Panasonic looked odd and banded in appearance. I verified this at multiple vendors and side-by-side.

Be careful however not to get re-directed to the previous generation Samsung models, many of which are still on the market and sold as new. Samsung seems to be replacing their lined up with these newer sets in a graudal manner. At least two other 42″ models ending in “2” instead of “3” can be found at various retailers. To me, these older sets did not measure up to the visual fidelity in the “3” series. Over time I’m sure Samsung will make “3” versions of their other sets, so if you need one with a CableCard tuner or something, I’d wait a while. Also I wish this set had more stretch options for dealing with 4:3 inputs. The only options for HD signals are 16:9 or 4:3 with bars, neither of which helps deal with HD signals that are letterboxed AND 4:3 (common for cable boxes that up-convert letterbox SDTV material). I’m not sure which sets do have these stretch modes, but I beleive some do.

Also, Plasmas are moving very fast right now, with Pioneer due to release new models any day, among others. Waiting a bit longer if you’re in no hurry may turn up a set even better than this at the same price. But as of Spring 2006, I am very confident this is the best 42″ plasma in the ~$2k range.

Review by Kevin Mccarthy Jr. for Samsung HP-S4253 42-Inch Plasma HDTV
Rating:
After spending 6 months researching HDTVs I got this Tv over Memorial Day weekend from Amazon for a great deal, $1899.99. No shipping and no tax can’t beat the price for one of the better plasmas on the market.

But there are a couple of issues with this tv. Don’t buy it over the panasonic because of its PIP option. The PIP can only be used when a HDMI tv feed is on or another hookup besides componenet for television viewing. This leads to the other problem.

There is a glitch with the HDMI. So if you are utilizing the AV ports for a playstation or DVD player the tv can’t understand which source to pick. So if you are watching tv, But then want to watch a DVD you can change the source to the DVD player (the AV input) but when the movie is done you can’t switch back to the HDMI input. The tv no longer recognizes the connection. This was a great pain for me. I purchased a HDMI/DVI wire for my cable box. And the first time a changed the source to the AV for my playstation and I was able to play it but when I was done the HDMI feed was no longer an option. So I spent the next day and a half going through my connections and calling the cable company which told me to contact my tv manufacturer. Samsung said that the tv has a glitch and the tv must be reset (there is no mention of how to reset the tv in the owner manual). So now everytime a change the source to the av port I must reset the tv whcih consists of unplugging the tv waiting 30 seconds, hitting the power button on the tv itself 10 times, plugging the tv back in, turning the tv on and switching the source.

This problem doesn’t occur if your cable is hooked up via component and the picture is basically as good as the HDMI feed(I will proably switch it back to component once a get over that a spent $100 on a Monster DVI to HDMI cable and won’t use it.

Other than that te tv is great. It has a much better appearance over the panasonic. HDTV is awesome. SD is ok; comes in better for some some stations than oters. Speakers are above average. Overall this is a very impressive tv if you can get beyond the glitch. Sports are amazing feels like you are there, nature shows are extremely impressive. The TV has great colors and true blacks.

Review by Ricky R. Dearstyne for Samsung HP-S4253 42-Inch Plasma HDTV
Rating:
I purchased this plasma via Amazon after extensive research in store and by reading many reviews on-line. The purchase and delivery process went smooth. That’s where my good comments stop and the problems began. The TV had a great picture, awesome in fact, but there was an audible buzzing sound as soon as the TV was hooked up. Time Warner came to my house 2x and gave their equipment a thumbs up. In fact they brought their own plasma, high def TV and hooked it up without a problem. This is when Samsung’s “authorized” service people came into the picture. After 2 trips to my house, they took the tv away for service, brought it back 11 days later, and it still buzzed. I refused to accept delivery. The service people are now trying to blame the wiring in my house or the cable equipment(again). Samsung has to this point refused to give me an exchange or refund my money. Seven weeks after purchasing this product in good faith, all that I have to show for it are an increased cable bill (for high def) and a mounting plate on the wall where the tv should be. I make these comments about service, because when you buy a product like this, the service is an important component; just as important as the product itself.

Review by Chris Caspen for Samsung HP-S4253 42-Inch Plasma HDTV
Rating:
The Samsung HP-S4253 42″ Plasma HDTV is definately a step up in all areas from it’s previous Samsung plasma TV models. It’s able to produce a 536 Billion color gamut. This sounds like a big number, and it is, but just for comparison an LCD generally produces about a 6 million color gamut (some are higher and some are lower) yes that’s million and not billion. A single chip DLP projection TV will produce even less then that. However, 536 billion is not a huge number when compared to other plasma TVs, infact it typical of most Plasma TVs (Another reason for Plasma over LCD). The 10000:1 contrast ratio is one reason this gamut is possible on a plasma.

The Samsung HP-S4253 42″ Plasma HDTV features two High-Definition-Multimedia-Interface inputs which is ideal for your next generation DVD players, your HDTV source (satalite/cable), or your 7.1 surround sound system. 2 inputs are better than 1 epecially when it comes to HDMI, where an HDMI splitter retails for over $100.

The television also is equipped with a built in ATSC-tuner so you’ll be ready for free over-the-air High definition or digital broadcasts.

The television looks brilliant from both a graphical stand point and also an aesthetic one. The HP-S4253 looks beautiful with a sleek piano black finish which can easily be mounted on a wall or set on any suitable surface. It has to be one of the most aesthetically pleasing plasma’s on the market, as long as you keep it dust free as it seems that dust is more noticable on this television than others.