Samsung LN46C630 46-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV (Black)

Review by tbone for Samsung LN46C630 46-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV (Black)
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The picture on this TV was stunning right out of the box. After a few minor adjustments it was as close to perfect as I could imagine. It came with the SQ01 panel and it would be hard to differentiate the color depth and quality from some of the plasma sets I looked at. The TV is in a very bright room and the matte screen cuts out glare with no picture degradation. The viewing angle is very good, though we are never more than 25 to 30 degrees off center. The picture is very stable from channel to channel with no change in the back lighting that I can see, and the standard definition picture is almost HD quality when using the 16:9 picture format. It has separate settings for processing speed and anti-judder for motion blur when using the Custom view mode, unlike the majority of sets that combine both settings into one. I watch a lot of sports and really don’t notice motion blur at 60hz so its certainly not an issue at 120hz. I’m not a gamer, so for my viewing habits I see no need to spend more for a 240hz option. The sound is very good for normal TV viewing. It can be connected to a home network and I have also hooked it up to my laptop using the VGA connection to watch Netflix and even that produces an acceptable SD picture. There are multiple picture settings you can use to suit just about any programming source, including watching at 120hz without the “soap opera” effect that some people find so annoying. There are 4 HDMI and 2 USB connections, plus one for headphones. There is no S video so you may need cables to hook up older external equipment. UVerse is the programming source.

One thing about settings. The first evening the picture suddenly got much darker and even though I would reset the brightness, it would get dark again once I left the menu. I spoke with Samsung and they had no idea why this was happening. It turns out this set automatically adjusts the picture to your room brightness in the Standard viewing mode, which is the factory default. You can change this in the Eco portion of the picture menu to never go below a certain brightness level or you can turn it off completely. This is not an issue when using any other viewing mode.

The last time I bought a LCD I continued to look around in case I found something better. That will not be the case this time as I am completely satisfied. Pilot shipping through Amazon was great. They delivered on time, set up the TV and swivel stand, and had everything working in 5-10 minutes.

Added note on Warranty: If you purchase an item with your Amazon Visa, or pretty much any credit card from a major bank, it extends the manufacturer’s warranty 100% over the original duration (one year to two, etc.) at no cost. Amazon verified this but check with your bank if you use a non-Amazon card.

Review by J. Hopkins for Samsung LN46C630 46-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV (Black)
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Firstly, it’s important to point out that I was shopping strictly for a high quality 1080p display. I have a home theater with external speakers and an advanced learning remote so the TV’s audio quality and stock remote played an insignificant role in my decision to purchase this model. Now then, the LN46C630 was the best 46″ 1080p display I could find that had all the features I was looking for. My criteria were for a model with 120hz, an adequate amount of HDMI inputs (4), a pc input, largely tweakable picture controls, excellent black levels, an absence of motion blur, and a cost of under $1000. This TV possesses all of those things, and beat out the competition of similar LG and Sony models because of what I deemed to be the cleanest, most well defined image, along with superior black levels. The only thing I felt lacking on this TV was the screen texture which is more prone to glare. Though, because my room is quite dark that was of no real concern either, but could be to others with more ambient light in there viewing room.

Here are a couple features I learned about only after I had the set that may be useful in making a decision.:

-The TV has Eco Sensor which will automatically adjust the brightness of the TV based on the ambient light of the room. No worries, this CAN easily be turned off, and is definitely something to be aware of.

-In the Advanced settings menu there are 2 expert patterns that you can use to dial in your picture settings. One is a contrast / brightness pattern, the other a color pattern.

-If you’ll be using the TV’s speakers there is volume equalization which adjusts the volume automatically as you switch channel to channel.

-You can stream media to this TV through your wired LAN or from an external USB storage device. if you want to do wireless, you’ll need Samsung’s optional wireless adapter.

-The stock remote has a very narrow IR stream. You’ll want to point it not at the center of the screen as most people do, but at the bottom right corner. It works fantastic once you learn to do that.

Some other important notes I’d mention to those that purchase this model:

-At default levels the contrast is maxed out to 100 for every input. I and many others refer to this as “torch mode”. That setting will shorten the life of your TV immensely and it needs to be adjusted first thing for each input. While properly calibrating your TV is more than I care to get into here (and pointless since every display is different as well as every input), a setting of 50 contrast and 50 brightness is good place to start for those that don’t have any other means of calibrating it more precisely. I also lowered the back light from a default 14 to 10.

-Under the picture options there is a setting called Auto Motion Plus. This is what controls motion blur. Familiarize yourself with the effects of this control. If you are like me it’s going be disturbing to have this control on “Standard’ to view bluray movies because it removes the natural blur of the camera moving and panning which to me is an annoyance. I use the “Clear” mode or just turn it off for movies.

-Also the effects of the sharpness control only add noise to your image, use the sharpness control very judiciously. I have mine all the way down to a setting of 9.

All in all this is a fantastic set for the price. The very minor issues it has are far outweighed by the price, the amazing picture quality, and the tremendous control you have over adjusting the image to your liking.

Review by Techie for Samsung LN46C630 46-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV (Black)
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I have been using this TV for over a month now and everything is good about it so far.

The only thing that I would have loved in this TV was to have the Samsung Internet@TV feature, where I could directly watch You Tube videos, Netflix etc, but this TV does not have this feature, unlike some other high-end Samsung HDTVs. That was dissapointing. I wish I had spend a couple of hundered dollars more and got a model with Internet@TV feature.

But, you can still hook up this TV to your wireless router at home and stream videos and pictures from your PC/Laptop wirelessly.

Also, the sound quality is not so good. That is because the speakers are located in the rear.

I am planning to buy the Samsung Blue-Ray 5.1 channel home theatre system with the Internet@TV feature, and that would take care of everything that is lacking in this TV that I would like to have.

If you are not looking for advanced features, but a very good reliable TV with great picture quality, this is a very good buy for the money.

Review by Josh Saul for Samsung LN46C630 46-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV (Black)
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This was a great TV for about 3 or 4 days. After that, the screen started to display red pixelated vertical stripes. Once I determined with absolute certainty that this was NOT caused by the source material, I simply turned the TV off and back on again, and the problem went away. My heart sunk though, because from my experience, problems with electronics never just “go away.” They only get worse. And that’s what happened. The red pixelated stripes are now a flickering grid, and it’s permanent, regardless of the source (or even no source at all). The TV is unwatchable. I understand that someone is going to get dud every once in a while. I was just hoping it wasn’t going to be me.

Needless to say, I wasted no time arranging for a replacement. But that turned out to be a little more complicated than Amazon advertises. After calling the customer service number, the first representative I spoke with proceeded to tell me in broken English that I needed to “contact the manufacturer first” to see if the problem “can be fixed.” I explained to him that you don’t FIX and brand new TV, you REPLACE it with one that isn’t defective. Nevertheless, he insisted that this is Amazon’s policy. I could tell that something was amiss with this guy, so instead of arguing I ended the phone call and tried again. It was like night and day. The second person I spoke with was helpful and understanding of her company’s 30-day return policy. I guess you get a dud customer service rep every once in a while too.

I can honestly say that the money I saved by ordering through Amazon instead of going to a brick and mortar retailer was not worth it. After more than 2 weeks and nearly $1000, I am still without a TV. And thanks to the glacially slow “freight” method Amazon uses to ship TV’s, it will likely be another week or more before I get what I paid for — I guess it all depends on how long the carrier decides to leave it on the loading dock. Even though it wasn’t Amazon’s fault, they still sold me a defective product, and I feel as if the least I am entitled to is expedited shipping. And defective TV or not, I think that Amazon should partner with a reputable PARCEL shipper so that we customers receive our merchandise more timely manner, and can track it more reliably. I feel like it’s the 1940’s, and I’m waiting on a shipment of spices to arrive via steamer ship for the Orient or something.

If you’re willing to risk this, then go ahead, order from Amazon. Chances are everything will be fine for you. But I thought it was going to be fine for me too. Next time, I’m going local. The savings simply aren’t worth the cost.