Samsung LN40B750 40-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LCD HDTV with Charcoal Grey Touch of Color

Review by A. Koziol for Samsung LN40B750 40-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LCD HDTV with Charcoal Grey Touch of Color
Rating:
I received my LN40B750 this past Friday and have now had all weekend to kick the tires and be amazed at its capabilities. I had already submitted a review, but not sure where it went.

As I had stated in my now missing review, I am very impressed with this set’s image quality and ease of use. Setup was pretty easy and only required me to fasten 4 screws to mount and lock the base to the bottom of the set. Connected the optical out to my receiver (Yamama RX-V750) and ran my DVD player’s component cables right into the set. Now, I can finally enjoy progressive scan mode. What a HUGE difference that made! One thing I have to address is a negative comment made by another person who was complaining of stereo output from the optical out jack, instead of 5.1 surround sound. This is 100% contingent on what the broadcaster is pushing out, NOT the TV. Yes Jimmy, the evening news ONLY needs to be in plain vanilla stereo, not 5.1 surround sound. I can confirm that it does push out L/R stereo on the evening news and certain other broadcasts. Some broadcasts caused only my center channel to push out audio while others gave me L/C/R output so don’t blame Samsung at all if you’re getting stereo or 3-channel output. Watching ZOOM last night made all 5.1 channels on my receiver light up like a Christmas tree. I am so thrilled to watch some of my favorite shows in 5.1 now.

So, one of the main reasons I bought this was because of the 240Hz processing and 2ms response time, and, on my wife’s recommendation, the panel design. 240Hz processing it is both neat and surreal. Other reviewers have stated that it give the picture a sort of Soap Opera-like effect but I would have to say no to this assessment. When I think of Soap Opera, I think of very apparent action happening on a stage/set with poor or harsh lighting and shadows: sort of campy. I can see where people liken it to that but it’s not quite accurate. When enabled and set to its “Standard” mode, 240Hz processing makes certain fast-moving scenes seem very fluid, almost as if it were a live feed/broadcast not too dissimilar to reality TV. It gives motion a more smooth appearance as it is being displayed on screen. When I turned this Friday’s episode of Numb3rs on, there was a bus chase scene that looked like it was coming from a live TV broadcast. Turning off 240Hz processing made it seem like “produced” TV does. I am now convinced and a convert to what 240Hz processing can do for TV. I decided to try it out on a DVD: Princess Mononoke. Wow! Some scenes looked like real-time 3D without 3D glasses. I am impressed. It takes a bit of getting used to but even my wife commented on how 3D some scenes appeared and how almost TOO real it makes the image look. She admits she is now addicted to this set. Also, I happened to turn the channel to see an old episode of 1960s Batman and it looked like a live broadcast! Neat but a bit weird. Overall, I think 240Hz processing is just an augmentation to what is already there.

I also have to discuss blockiness with certain scenes and fast moving action: I have thus far encountered NONE. When I have watched football or some other fast-moving stuff on other people LCD panels, all I saw was blocks and digital artifacting and that always turned me off to LCD. I get none of that with this set so far. I put on a baseball game, Olympic re-run highlights, smooth as silk. Not sure if it’s because I am running RG6 cabling throughout my house but I am here to attest that the blockiness I hate on LCDs is not present on this set. A+ for that Samsung.

I was also worried about screen glare and reflection with this set as it DOES come with Ultra Clear Panel. I have a large window that faces opposite the set and when off, I can see a reflection. BUT! When the set it on, it’s all business and NO glare. Try as I might, I see no glare or reflection. That is impressive. Kudos to Samsung (and the 150000:1 contrast probably helps too!).

The Touch of Grey is cool, no more illuminated border. I was also happy to play around with the widgets and other little built-in goodies. The built-in Ethernet jacks lets you plug it into a router or whatever to perform firmware updates and download new stuff to the widgets section. My wife LOVES the Art widget that displays Monet images to serene piano music. Some think this is gimmicky stuff, I think it’s a GREAT example of convergence. A+ to Samsung for this stuff. I was also pleased to receive the full LN40B750 manual with my set. I wonder if people were upset by Samsung going green and putting the manual on a USB stick and built-in to the TV? I think it’s smart as opposed to trying to dig up where the manual went.

My only gripe with the set is not being able to cycle through the inputs (Video 1, Video 2, Component 1, HDMI 1, etc.) by just depressing the button. While the TV’s GUI menu system is nice, I hate using a GUI to navigate to the input I want to use. I’m old-school and like to cycle through the inputs. It would be nice if changing input methods (GUI versus multiple button depressions) was an option in the settings somewhere. The remote is pretty standard and sleek and doesn’t have the dial that I have heard so many complain about. It may be that Samsung went back a bit and just kept things simple with a standard button layout you’d find on most any TV remote. On a scale of 1-10, this set is a solid 9.5 for me. You would be happy with its many options. 240Hz may not be for everyone but it is cool in my book. If you are considering the LN40B650, you will be happy spending the extra $ on this set for the 2ms response time and 240Hz processing.

Just a couple things I forgot to mention in the original review. Although Samsung’s web page says there are no USB ports, mine has two on the right side labeled USB 1 (HDD) and USB 2. It IS an Ultra Clear Panel but Samsung’s page says it is not. It was printed right on the box. Although the Samsung firmware upgrade guide says to download and extract firmware to a USB drive and plug it into the back of the TV, there is no USB on the back of the TV, only the right side. Someone asked if the remote is backlit and yes, it is. There’s a button on the top of the remote that illuminates the buttons in the dark.

UPDATE: 8/3/2009

After downloading and installing the 1008 firmware update (my model shipped with the 1006 version), I feel the TV is a bit more responsive for channel switching. The widgets and goodies load up a bit faster too. I cannot find any concrete info on what the new firmware contains. Updating to the new firmware does allow you to revert back to the old firmware in the TV setup. That’s VERY important in case of a firmware bug. Way to go Samsung! I will update this review if any future firmware updates improve this already great TV.

UPDATE: 9/8/2009

TV is still working great. I have to add that I do not experience the so called “blue-ish blacks” that some others have reported. I have properly calibrated my contrast and brightness levels so I get deep blacks on many of the shows I watch. Also, I have to add that when I did a channel scan, the NTSC tuner was still grabbing things out there. It picked up a couple of music channels broadcasting over NTSC so that was kind of a surprise. I guess the NTSC and ATSC tuners work in tandem.

UPDATE: 9/18/2009

Today I updated the firmware to revision 1011 and a few new features were added. The “HD Conection Guide” is new which shows you the inputs and connections. And there is a menu item called “Contact Samsung” which has web site info and phone numbers along with model code and software version. Sadly, this firmware erases all your settings so make sure and write them down before you update!

UPDATE: 9/22/2009

On 9/18 I updated to 1011 firmware via the Internet. I just went to the Samsung web site and saw that 1012.3 is available. Going to update and see what new stuff got added or fixed.

UPDATE: 9/25/2009

I have to say that when I updated to the 1011 firmware, I felt that the image quality somehow suffered or was reduced because I noticed a lot of jaggies and such when material was 480i, 720p, and sometimes 1080i material, whereas it used to be smooth or fairly sharp in general. After the update to 1012.3 firmware, I feel like the picture has returned to being very sharp all around no matter what the source material. Seems channel switching is also a tad bit faster with the 1012.3 update. It also didn’t reset my settings to factory default which is nice. I’ve written my settings down just in case. Glad Samsung continues to fine tune the performance of this TV. Keep it coming.

UPDATE: 10/14/2009: I successfully played an XVid movie using Media Play and it functions *almost* like a TiVo—not that I own one but have seen them. Very cool! I didn’t realize it but there are firmware release notes! Never noticed they were there before but if you visit Samsung’s site and find your model TV, click Support & Downloads, click Firmware, and then click the “Upgrade File” link under the description, it tells you what’s been fixed.

For 1012.3:

a. This Firmware will support some strange resolution or Codec.

. Resolution : DTV 320 x 240

. Codec : MPEG2 – TS (on Media Play)

b. Samsung launches new widgets for Internet@TV

. Blockbuster on Demand, Rally Cast, Ebay, and many more. To get more information, visit ”News & Alerts” on […]

c. Add some menu on Media Play

. ”Repeat” Menu (on Media Play)

d. This Firmware will correct the following phenomenons some units may experience.

. When viewing 1080i formatted signals through the Component Input, the picture is intermittently jumping up and down.

. Intermittent No Sound on 1080p when connecting with some Unit through HDMI.

. When viewing 720p or 1080i formatted signals through the Component Input, the picture is intermittently flickering.

. When viewing some resolution (720 x 1440i) signals with Set-Top Box, ”Not Supported Message” may appear on the screen.

UPDATE: 10/16/2009: Updated to firmware 1013 today via Internet. No info about it yet on Samsung’s site. Will update if they post release notes.

UPDATE: 12/4/2009: Updated to firmware 1016 today via Internet. No info about it yet on Samsung’s site. Will update if they post release notes.

UPDATE: 1/12/2010: It seems all traces of the LN40B750 have been pulled from Samsung’s site. I was there last week and today gone. WTF? If you type in the keyword LN40B750 in the site search it down show a link to the Downloads section where you can find manuals and such. Not good Samsung, not good.

UPDATE: 1/21/2010: Updated to firmware 1017 today via Internet. No info about it yet on Samsung’s site. Will update if they post release notes.

UPDATE: 2/1/2010: Ok, in my original review I stated that glare was not a problem. In my case, this was in mid July and my red maple was providing shade behind my West-facing window so noon and setting sun were not so bad. Being that it is now midwinter and the tree is bare, I had the experience of the setting sun full on in my TV room and yes, there was glare IF I sat perpendicular to BOTH the TV and the window. However, when I sat a few feet to either side, the TV was more bright enough to overpower ANY glare (and I have my contrast and brightness turned much lower than factory settings). To be fair, if there is REALLY bright light, yes you may experience glare. The 32″ Sony that this TV replaced was unwatchable for us during this time of the year or at least until the sun set. Still very impressive.

UPDATE: 2/8/2010: Since the new Blu-Ray 3D standard (via HDMI 1.4) will be here shortly in the form of the Samsung BD-C6900 (HDMI 1.4!), you’ll want to know that Blu-Ray 3D REQUIRES a TV with, supposedly, a minimum of 120Hz processing for it to work but I read it was 240Hz. Can’t find the article now though. So even though the LN40B750 is HDMI 1.3 compliant and true Blu-Ray 3D requires HDMI 1.4, it WILL work with HDMI 1.3 but at 1080i (from what I can tell (high quality Category 2 cables are also a requirement)). Seems most Blu-Ray 2.0 players, if firmware upgradable, can support Blu-Ray 3D but at the HDMI 1.3 spec level. Can’t remember if response time helps though. The Samsung 3D Blu-Ray player is right around the corner and I would not be surprised if Avatar 3D (Director’s Cut?) comes out around the same time. Again, 100% glad I spent a few extra dollars on my set to be able to take advantage of this new standard! After all the years of 3D failing on lo-def analog TV, I think today’s HD TVs will finally get us over the hump. To be continued…

UPDATE: 3/9/2010: In response to a negative review of this TV with respect to audio sync issues, I for one have never experienced this issue and in all fairness, who knows what the person who wrote that comment had in terms of connections and hardware. The reviewer also references the A750 series, not B750 and this alleged audio sync would have been MUCH more widely reported. I have not heard of any such problem. It’s unclear if the person tried to update their firmware either.

UPDATE: 4/12/2010: Haven’t seen any firmware updates in a few months. I hope Samsung hasn’t stopped supporting this awesome set. You know why? Because last night I discovered yet ANOTHER amazing thing about this TV. I had been waiting for months to see a foreign film by a director I love and it was recently released but not subtitled in English. I found the subtitles online in the form of an SRT file. On a whim, I named the subtitle file and the movie file the same thing (minus the extension of course) and copied them to my USB drive and plugged it in to the TV. Guess what? I got to watch the movie and the subtitles were recognized and worked PERFECTLY. THAT is AMAZING! I wish I could give 6 stars because now I no longer have to waste blank DVDs! Yet another A+ to you Samsung.

UPDATE: 8/3/2010: I was very disappointed to see some idiot give the set a negative review because it didn’t have Netflix built into it. Jeez, do research much?

UPDATE: 8/28/2010 #2: Looks like firmware 1018 added MKV support. FINALLY! Another reason why this TV rocks, rocks, rock!

Review by Matt for Samsung LN40B750 40-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LCD HDTV with Charcoal Grey Touch of Color
Rating:
Wow! This panel is really amazing. I have been researching sets for several months. It came down to the Sony XBR6 and the Samsung A650. Quite frankly I loved the Samsung picture but could not really accept the red “Touch of Color” bezels… just a personal choice I guess. Anyways, I purchased the Sony a few weeks ago on clearance and thought I was getting a great deal. Unfortunately the picture on the Sony was a real let down. It seemed dull and dim (even after adjusting the settings several times per different recommendations online and turning off the auto-dimming setting). My old DLP set even seemed crisper when I compared them side by side which was just not acceptable. Perhaps I got a bunk panel but after googling “dim XBR6” it seems like several people noticed the same thing I did.

I started doing more research and noticed that Amazon started carrying this television within the last week or two. Samsung must have caught on that they were losing sales due to their red color fetish as this panel is a beautiful dark shade of gray. Anyways, the XBR was returned and this panel replaced it. It’s as clean crisp and clear as you could imagine from a non LED backlit panel. Its like night and day between this set and the Sony. The action is clear and crisp and the picture is just impressive. I highly recommend this panel, it is absolutely the clearest picture around without paying the huge premium for an LED set. You will not regret going with this TV. The only negative I would mention is that the panel is fairly reflective compared to the Sony. Definitely not an issue when the set is on but when turned off its definitely noticable.

Review by Numberwang for Samsung LN40B750 40-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LCD HDTV with Charcoal Grey Touch of Color
Rating:
I shopped around quite a bit before deciding on this set, and now that it’s in the house, I would most certainly purchase again. I’ll keep this short and sweet:

THE GOOD

– Absolutely stunning picture quality, with a wide array of picture adjustment options. As with any LCD/Plasma, though, be prepared to spend some time adjusting these settings depending on input source, room conditions, and personal preference.

– User menu is well organized, easy to understand, and overall responds quickly to input commands.

– The set itself is very attractive. The glossy black finish and charcoal grey ToC compliment my other equipment nicely – much more appealing than the red ToC found on other Samsung sets. Also, the stand allows the TV to rotate, which is a plus.

– The 240 Hz refresh rate is nice, but not as big of an improvement as 120 Hz is over 60 Hz.

THE BAD

– Almost useless network connectivity. With the notable exception of being able to connect to the internet for product updates and support, I find few good things to say about Samsung’s networking interface. Being able to view pictures/listen to music/watch movies over a home network is nice, but having this capability built into a TV set is redundant at present. In my case, I have my computer connected through a long DVI -> HDMI cable, so using Samsung’s clunky networking interface to access a limited amount of my media is pointless. Several other companies have this same technology in their TV sets, but it seems not a one of them has figured out how to implement a truly useful product for accessing media content on a home network (largely due to paranoia over content rights). Ho hum.

– Internet widgets are slow. As there exist other ways of accessing the same content/services that aren’t nearly as slow, I can’t see really using them. Good idea, poor execution….but could get better in time through firmware updates.

As I stated earlier, I would definitely purchase this set again. I did travel to my local BB to compare, and to my eye, I found the LNB750 series a cut above most of the others on display. I did not have high expectations for the networking capabilities, and unfortunately you are paying for it (most other similar Samsung series seem to have the same networking capabilities, so no luck there). It is somewhat irksome to have to pay for features that are either useless or poorly designed, but the picture quality and overall performance of the LN40B750 make it a worthy purchase.

Review by DeeJaye6 for Samsung LN40B750 40-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LCD HDTV with Charcoal Grey Touch of Color
Rating:
I researched HD TVs for several months before finally deciding on the LN40B750, and I am very, very glad that I waited and got such a good television. Many factors went into this decision:

1. The TV is for my bedroom, so I didn’t want one larger than 40″.

– This requirement took the Samsung LED 240Hz TVs out of the running, since they only offer those in 46″ and 55″ at this time

2. I had gone to many, many retail stores to see the screens with my own eyes. I went to so many stores because one store may have the Sony set up to be superior while another might favor the Vizio, while yet a third may favor Samsung. I found the Samsung to have a very clear, crisp picture very comparable to the Sony, but with a lower price point. I also found the Samsung to have a better picture than the Visio. (I also preferred the layout of Samsung’s remote over that of the Visio.)

3. I wanted a 1080P, 240Hz, 100K+:1 contrast ratio with lots of HDMI and component inputs.

The LN40B750 hit the money on all marks. It is a very pretty TV, with a shiny, easy-to-clean finish (it even comes with a micro-fiber cleaning cloth), and a gorgeous stand, if you don’t want to drill holes in your wall. The 240Hz picture (as others have said) takes a little getting used to. I tuned into USA HD once I had the TV on the stand I bought and hooked it up to my FiOS box and started watching “U-571” in HD. Funny thing: it didn’t look right. In fact, it looked as if someone was putting on a live production of the movie. Everything was so crisp and clear, and the movements were so smooth, the entire movie ended up looking as if it were live! Two days later, I visited my father who has an older Sony HD TV (60Hz) and he put his HDDVD copy of U-571 in for me to compare. There was no comparison. As clear as his TV is, it didn’t hold a candle to the quality of the picture on the Samsung.

The menus are very, very easy to follow and comprehend. I do not care for the melody the TV makes when I turn it on or off, nor did I want that little light on the bottom to be on while I watch TV. Both were incredibly easy to disable. It is also child’s play to bring up the menu for adjusting the video settings such as judder, though I have not yet found reason to adjust them.

So far, I have watched several HD movies, 4 football games in HD, and about a dozen shows filmed in HD. Only the CBS HD broadcast gave me any reason to complain, and I understand that is because of their 1080i cameras. Fox, NBC, and ESPN apparently all use 720P cameras which are vastly superior. (Every time CBS switched to their on-the-field cameras, the entire picture ended up artifacted for a few seconds. Also, whereas I could have counted the blades of grass on the field on the other three channels, CBS’ picture was too fuzzy to make out that kind of detail.)

Lastly are the inputs. Ho-lee! *Four* HDMI inputs (three on the back, one on the right side as you face the TV)!! Four! Also, two dedicated component inputs, 1 dedicated composite input, and 1 component/composite input! Add to that the RF and PC (VGA) inputs, and its ability to display pics or videos off a USB drive and there is nothing you cannot play on this TV!

I will update this review later after I have hooked up my X-Box 360 and tried out some of the 1080P games, and after I get a wireless LAN antenna and update the TV.

Oh, one last point: I’d read in a few reviews here about the manual coming on a flash drive. Well, I bought my TV directly from Amazon (not a third party) and I got an actual book for my manual. Not sure what to make of that.

===UPDATE – 2 December 2009===

Okay! The X-Box 360 cinches it! It is be-a-utiful! The 1080p is evident in everything I do on the system that supports that resolution, from the menus to simple games like “Castle Crashers,” to more complex games like Forza Motorsports. Clean, crisp, and smoooooth!

I also have purchased a Samsung BD-P3600 Blu-ray player. This was a good purchase to go with the TV, as the remote for the player (of course) also works on the TV, and the BD-Wise enables the TV to automatically detect that the BD has turned on, and it switches the input! Niiice! The TV also turns on automatically if I turn on the BD. The picture is out of this world, I don’t mind telling you! (I’ll probably post a review of the player on that unit’s page in a few weeks.)

Now, I have noticed that the reflective screen will show *very* bright lights even with the TV on, but they have to be pretty darn bright. Even then, it’s not too bad. I also found out that the video processor on this TV is a 10-bit processor, which is fairly good. It’s not the best one out there, but then again, I’m not seeing any pixelization aside from the NFL on CBS, so I’m not sure if the 14-bit TVs I’ve read about are all that much better or not. I leave it to you to decide that. I’m happy with the LN40B750, myself, and I hope this review has helped you!

===UPDATE – 5 March 2010===

Still loving the TV, but I have discovered one negative and I’m hoping Samsung will provide a way to turn this off. The screen auto-dims on dark scenes, presumably to get the super blacks that LED sets give. Where this falls short is when I’m watching a show or a movie with a dark scene (say, “Planet Earth” showing a cave scene). Invariably, the TV drops the brightness, and now I can’t even see what the show is trying to show me.

I wish there were an option to turn this off. I’ve had techs out to my house twice regarding this issue, and they were kind enough to humor me and replace my main board, and the problem is still there.

So, in the middle of this disappointment, I find that Samsung’s customer service is truly great!

Review by Steven Maye for Samsung LN40B750 40-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LCD HDTV with Charcoal Grey Touch of Color
Rating:
Five stars for this great unit! Samsung hit another winner with this product. Picture perfect, easy set up and really decent sound. Easy to use lighted remote. No motion worries with the latest 240hz setup.

Grey touch of color is very attractive. Swivel base works great for viewing at different locations in my family room with no problems viewing at any angle. No problems with screen reflections either.

Menus are easy to walk through for any user adjustments.

I also purchased and installed the wireless USB device. Easy to install and set up also.

I would highly recommend this set to anyone.