Samsung LN55C650 55-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV (Black)

Review by Adam Thompson for Samsung LN55C650 55-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV (Black)
Rating:
About me: First HDTV, but I am an Electrical/Software Engineer so I have a high level of technical ability, with a low expectations. I have been micro analysing which TV to buy for far to long. I attended CES in 2009 and 2010, and have seen all of the new TV that are coming out (probably why I kept waiting so long). This is the perception from which this review was written.

I received this TV yesterday and watched it for most of the evening. Very good picture! I was considering the LG55lh40 but after viewing the Samsung LN55B650 side by side with the LG at Best Buy my wife and I realized there was little competition. We had the tech at best buy let us mess with the settings for around half an hour (starting with the auto-calibration from LG) but just couldn’t get it to look right compared with the Samsung. I was rather upset, as I have read numerous great reviews about the LG and it was a considerably cheaper price. Logging into Amazon I noticed the LN55C650 was on sale for $1620 (even cheaper than last years B series) but had no reviews, so I was a little nervous to order it. Hindsight is 20/20 and I definitely made the right choice. The picture is very clear and has that crisp look that Samsung is famous for.

My surround sound system will not be delivered until today, so I was stuck using the built in speakers last night. I was very impressed with the sound this thing could pump out. I varied the sound between 25 and 50 (out of 100) and it was more than loud enough and filled the room nicely. This is by no means comparable to a nice sound system, but compared to any other TV I have heard, it is definitely up there in sound capabilities.

Looks wise, I think this is much better looking than last years B650. I didn’t care for the red touch of color that surrounded the whole TV. This model only seems to have the red at the bottom center, and it adds a really nice accent without being overpowering like I felt last years were. This is just a personal opinion.

Cons:

The 120HZ feature, which was heavily complained about in the LN55B650 still has problems. The first thing I did when I got the TV was watch The Dark Knight BD (1080P) on my PS3 using a V1.3 Cat2 HDMI cable. I thought something was wrong with the TV as it was doing very strange things with background motion, but after turning the 120HZ feature off the picture cleaned up perfectly and I no longer notice any problems while watching it. I tried all of the different 120HZ modes, and they all had the same problem. That said, I turned it back on while watching HDTV (720p obviously) and it seems very clean with the 120HZ.

It is 2010 and they still can’t put a wireless radio built into the television? I find this to be ridiculous that you have to purchase a separate module in order to get wireless. My router is very far away from my TV and it will be expensive to have network cables added.

I will update this if I notice any other issues.

Review by Samuel J. Hancock for Samsung LN55C650 55-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV (Black)
Rating:
I have had the TV now for a full weekend of March Madness, and I have generated a few thoughts so far.

First, the picture is phenomenal. It really stands up against almost anything out there at the moment. I chose the LCD tech over LED largely over price, I just couldn’t justify the extra 1000 for what I felt was a marginal increases in performance. The options and interface are intuitive, and tweeking the picture and sound settings was easy. After I “tuned” the picture I watched some basketball and was very impressed by the 120hz engine and software. The picture is smooth, rich, and a delight to watch.

Second, the connectivity is a fun addition. I have an instant uplink to netflix, blockbuster on demand, amazon on demand, and Vudu. I gave Vudu a try last night with a free trail rental of “Zombieland”. I have a 12mb/s broadband connection, and it was enough to enjoy full HD without any hiccups. Really a cool feature.

Third, I am less than impressed with the DNLA connectivity of Samsung. I have been struggling to set up a media server that is compatible with my new TV. I was looking forward to having a new way to show all of the internet content I have come to love, without the computer. However, I am just getting started with it, so I may be making a mistake. I guess the interface is a generation behind where it integrates without a problem. I thought about taking a star off for this, but I chose not to because the functionality of the TV as a TV is really what this review should be about.

Lastly, the delivery was prompt, easy, and professional. I was concerned with having a high dollar item shipped, but after this experience I don’t think I’ll have it any other way. The freight company (Pilot) called to schedule a drop off on a given day in a three hour window. I got a call one half hour before they would arrive to prepare. The delivery personnel were professional, respectful, thorough, and all together great. I preferred this over buying at a retail store because I had the opportunity to have Pilot unpack the TV, place it where I chose, turn it on and inspect it, then accept shipment. If there had been a problem I could have refused shipment and another TV would have come a few days later. If I had bought this SAME TV at a BIG RETAIL STORE for SEVERAL HUNDRED DOLLARS more, I would have had to bring home a box and hope I didn’t have to repack and take it back. All together a great experience.

Note: I had to unplug and replug my Comcast box to get a picture on the TV when I first connected. Not sure why but it has been working great since.

If something changes in the future I will update this review, but as it stands today, 5 Stars.

Update: This doesn’t have to do with the TV –

I noticed some good products getting a low star rating as a result of uneducated people giving products they don’t own bad reviews because “Amazon won’t show the price”. Get educated people, it is called Minimum Advertised Pricing (MAP) and it is beyond the control of Amazon. A manufacturer (Samsung) can place restrictions on the retailer (Amazon) dictating that they cannot advertise a product below a certain price, but they legally cannot stop the retailer from selling below that MAP price. So if Amazon wants to pass along a fantastic price on an item that is below MAP, they legally cannot show the price until the buyer makes some action that is not driven by a low advertised price (aka put it in your cart). Lil learning goes a long way.

Review by LCDTVBuyingGuide for Samsung LN55C650 55-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV (Black)
Rating:
The C650 series from Samsung contains some older upgrade technology features such as CFL backlighting, 3.4″ depth, Touch of Color bezel, 120Hz Auto Motion plus and the ultra clear panel. This model falls in the lower to mid range of Samsung’s LCD/LED lineup. We thoroughly enjoyed last years B650 series LCD so were happy to review the successor model. And as anticipated, we were very pleased with the results. We hope that Samsung will continue to offer/produce a value oriented CFL backlit LCD TV as their technology contained in these TVs offer exceptional value combined with excellent quality.

Calibration: The 55C650 was very calibration friendly without going into the service menu. In fact, from the movie mode setting, there were only minor tweaks needed here and there to close in on D6500K. There is an ample array of calibration controls including white balance and noise reduction. The standard setting continues to have a major blue push. The Movie setting allows adjustment of all picture setting options and brings the picture to life.

White Balance Settings

Red – Offset 28

Green – Offset 25

Blue – Offset 16

Red – Gain 17

Green – Gain 25

Blue – Gain 21

Picture Settings

Picture Mode: Movie

Color Temp: Warm 2

Brightness: 47

Contrast: 95

Color: 49

Tint: G49/R51

Sharpness: 0

Backlight: 7

Picture Settings

Black Tone: Off

Dynamic Contrast: Off

Gamma: -1

Flesh Tone: 0

Edge Enhancement: Off

Digital NR: Auto

HDMI Black Level: Low

Film Mode: Off

Auto Motion: Standard

Blue Only Mode: Off

This LCD TV has a tremendous CFL backlight. We needed only set the backlight at 7 from the 1 – 20 scale to achieve a desirable picture in a darkly lit room. The backlight strength could come in handy. Use it to control viewing in bright to dark rooms rather than change the contrast or brightness controls.

Processor Testing: The internal processing chip sets for the C650 series LCDs are stout. Edges from test material are clear and crisp with both 480i and 1080i material. Transitions are extremely smooth, even from side to side panning or fast moving objects.

720p/1080i/1080p Picture Quality: Black levels are awesome as is contrast and brightness. Images are crisp and the detail is amazing with HD sources. Here’s the big dilemna with HD content; whether to use the 120Hz AutoMotion feature or turn it off. It is not really needed. HD Blu Rays and Broadcast material are already very clear – and the feature can introduce some unwanted kitchy side effects with the background material – even though much improved from last year. I recommend turning it off for most HD content, though there will be some occasional judder effects. I would use it for animated HD content, sports programming HD content, or other HD content that has lots of fast motion. Other than that I would turn it off (see how below in features section).

After turning off the 120Hz feature, high definition content appears vibrant, realistic and extremely crisp. Blacks are rich for an LCD and contrast is a strength. One of the highlight features of the LN55C650 is its picture depth perception. Samsung has been unparalled in this area lately. I believe this is due to the companies Ultra Clear Panel technology which does allow for some glare on the screen but the tradeoff with great depth and rich colors is a winner.

Black Level/Contrast/Contrast Ratio: Black Levels on the C650 series LCD HDTV is super saturated, as black as the glossy black bezel surrounding the screen. We measured post calibration ANSI contrast at an unbelievable 5408:1 with the backlight at 7. We believe contrast is enhanced by the Ultra Clear Panel that Samsung uses for this LCD TV. The TV can get extremely bright and has exceptional range. Contrast appears superb on this TV, and we don’t say that about many – especially not LCD TVs.

Internet Options: There is an array of Internet options, some proprietary. Samsung has increased the options. The Youtube option was pretty good. We found the Yahoo! Widgets in finance and weather pretty weak and non-worthy. Some other options are Panadora, Vudu, Blockbuster, Netflix, USA today AP new ticker.

Aesthetic Considerations: The C650 has lots of looks. The 55C650 is 3.4″ deep while the smaller units are 3.2″ deep. A nice wall mount or table top depth (without having to pay up for the super thin TVs). The framing bezel is a nice width about 2″. It’s black with a plexiglass overlay that goes just past the edges to give the appearance of glass. I like the effect. Under the center bottom frame there is a unique wide V shape and subtle silver gray and red Touch of Color. A nice little accent to a design that might be slightly boring with it. The sturdy swiveling table top stand must weight 12 pounds. It has an attractive glass surface with a clear neck. The stands allow for about 20 degrees of swivel.

See LCD TV Buying Guide for the complete review

Review by H. Nguyen for Samsung LN55C650 55-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV (Black)
Rating:
It just arrived yesterday afternoon. The first thing I would like to comment is the design. It’s simple but elegant. Compare to last year model LN55B650, it has a much better design in my opinion. The metal back cover feels more sturdy. The TV stand is not assembled as it was in last year models. It may take more time and effort for people who want to put the TV on a media console but it really help for who want to hang it on a wall.

I owned a Sharp 37″ and Sony 52″ HDTV and I’d say this TV has the best picture I have seen in LCD HDTV line. Picture is very sharp, bright and rich color. I read a review mentioned about narrow view angle and rainbow effect. But I haven’t seen any rainbow effect yet. I have tried to see the TV from different angles but haven’t found any problem. 120 Hz refresh rate wasn’t improved. I just turn it off.

Samsung applications feature is great. I have tried YouTube, Picasa, Netflix. It took time to create main account and sign in all other application’s accounts due to using remote control for typing. But it worked very well. It required an firmware upgrade to play Netflix. One thing I was noticed while streaming movie via Netflix that it was dropped several times. I’m using Sony blue-ray player BDP-N460 to watch online movies in Netflix and haven’t had any problems. My internet connection is AT&T DSL Pro, 3 MB/512 KB and both TV and blue-ray player are connected to the same router (D-Link DIR-655). I tried to play the same movie in the blue-ray player and have no problem. I’m not sure what is going on but I’ll update when I figure it out.

DNLA feature worked great. I just plugged in a network cable and it automatically connected to my laptops. Content shared folders are organized in a better way and more detail compare to last year models. I haven’t tried sound quality since I’m using a home theater system. The remote control feels more sensitive than previous models.

I had purchased Samsung LN55B650 and returned it due to firmware update problem with streaming movies. For some reasons, this model is cheaper than last year model LN55B650. I don’t get it. It is way better than LN55B650 in many aspects. I was hesitate to purchase this TV since I had bad experience with Samsung TV LN55B650 and a blue-ray player BD-P1590 (completely fail within a week of use). But I’m very pleased with this model.

In addition, I’d like to mention about a great experience with Amazon customer service. It was very trustful and responsive. I’m very confident in shopping at Amazon. Only one thing bothered me is CEVA shipping service. I have read many reviews complain about this company and I wonder why Amazon is still using them. If you ever see an over thousand dollars, sensitive electronic item was beaten up, you will feel how painful I was. If I don’t call them a day prior to delivery schedule, I’ll need to wait for another day. They are always behind schedule. It’s very costly to wait during working hours.

I’ll update my review if I find something else.

Update:

Netflix has worked fine in this TV. I guest the issue was internet traffic. I’ve tried to play Ninja Assassin via VUDU. It was able to play HD mode (1080p) but not HDX (?)due to low internet speed. I don’t know the difference but picture and sound in HD mode is just the same as blue-ray disk. It was included subtitle feature.

Review by Joseph Ko for Samsung LN55C650 55-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD HDTV (Black)
Rating:
I looked for about six months. I waited for the 3D TV to come out knowing that there would be a sweet spot, where a product would just make it worth buying without burning a hole in your wallet. This TV is the best one for the value. It is imposing, gorgeous, and absolutely awesome!

I compared this TV to the Sony 55 Inch, and the new Samsung LED 55 3D. What I saw was that the Samsung LED and the LCD were exactly the same…except the price tag. The SONY TV picture was great…but the TV itself looked terrible. This TV is simple yet elegant.

If you are planning to spend between $1200 to $1700, this is the TV for you. For the money you get a product that has great value, appealing when even when it is off, and absolutely mindblowing when it is on.

This TV has taken our movie experience to another level. Coupled with a great sound system, you could feel like you are in the movie. The picture clarity will remind you of a sunny spring morning. You will finally experience the movie environement in a whole different way. You will see the breeze flowing through the leaves, the charred skin of the bbq chicken, or even the pimples on their faces. It is so clear that you will be blinking 2x just to make sure you are not seeing things.

buy it..