Samsung UN40F6300 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz Smart LED HDTV

(((EDIT: The title said matte screen before. I guess it’s more of a semi-gloss, but definitely less glossy than a full gloss screen.)))

I’m using this as a computer monitor, not so much as a TV, but I do watch a lot of Blu-Rays and TV shows on Netflix.

I just upgraded to a larger living room, and my old Samsung 46″ CCFL-backlit LCD did not cut it. I couldn’t even read the text on the screen when browsing the web. So I drew up some diagrams, did some trigonometry, and decided that I needed at least a 60 or 65″ TV. Being out of the TV market for several years, I didn’t keep up with all the new features and marketing lingo, so I visited a few big box stores to get information on what all of this new “Smart” features, CMR, micro-dimming, etc. Turns out CMR is just a combined rating of processor speed, micro-dimming, dynamic contrast, and other various stuff. Apparently micro-dimming on Samsungs is all software. Why? Because these babies are all edge-lit. They don’t have “real” local dimming, only “fake” local dimming. That guy working at best buy telling me he could tell the difference between the non-fake microdimming and fake microdimming screen? Ridiculous. All that fancier faster processor does to get you the higher CMRs is make the fake microdimming and automotion plus feature work better. I’m the type of guy who turns this stuff off completely.

The 6300 doesn’t come with the smart remote, which is a bummer because I rather liked that feature. But I wasn’t going to pay 400 extra to get the next model up just to have the remote. In fact, I like the 6300 model more than the 6400, 7100, 7500, or 8000 because of the matte screen. I have a window right behind me, and from various angles other windows coming from the sides, so not having nasty reflections on black screens (or anything that happens to be black on the screen) is a big deal to me. I just don’t like seeing my own face in the middle of a movie.

The menus are very slow, and you have to point the remote directly at the TV, or it will not register your button pressing.

From consumer reports, I’m told that these LED-backlit models don’t have great viewing angle. I disagree. There seems to be very little distortion at 45 degrees away from center.

I don’t like my color settings to be vivid, natural, dark, bright, contrasty, dim, or anything other than “accurate.” So, I googled some calibration settings to 6500K, and after going through that process the picture was… pretty darn good. In case anyone was interested, they are posted below. “Movie mode” apparently changes the color temperature model / white balance mode to 6500K, and from there you can adjust the other settings.

Compared to the high end Panasonic Viera plasmas, this LED-backlit model seems much brighter. Compared to the Sonys, it seemed to have fewer artifacts. Compared to the LGs, it didn’t have as much reflection. Or maybe I’m just biased.

Oh, also apparently this 65″ model only uses about 82 watts. I haven’t verified this with my meter yet, but my old 46″ used about 150 watts. Wow…

Picture Mode Movie
Backlight 16
Contrast 95
Brightness 45
Sharpness 15
Color 50
Tint G50/R50
Advance Settings
Dynamic Contrast Off
Black Tone Off
Flesh Tone 0
RGB Only Mode Off
Color Space Auto
10pt White Balance On
Gamma +1
Expert Pattern Off
xvYCC Off
Picture Options
Color Tone Warm2
Digital Noise Filter Off
MPEG Noise Filter Off
HDMI Black Level Normal (Low if available)
Film Mode Off
Auto Motion Plus Off
LED Motion Plus Off

10pt White Balance

On
Interval Red Green Blue
1 0 0 1
2 -1 0 -1
3 0 0 1
4 -1 0 0
5 -1 0 +1
6 0 -1 -1
7 -1 -1 -2
8 0 2 1
9 +1 0 0
10 +2 0 0

White Balance
Setting Value
R-Offset 25
G-Offset 25
B-Offset 27
R-Gain 19
G-Gain 22
B-Gain 21
Screen Adjustment
Picture Size Screen Fit

Samsung makes great TV’s that surpass every other manufacturer in their class. I have two Samsung’s in my house and I can tell you the image is beautiful. This TV has an LED screen and in my opinion this the way to go (LED is similar to LCD its back-lit better so that they are no dark spots on the screen).

Now add in that this TV can directly connect to the internet and I’m sold. TV’s of this class have never been cheaper.

One thing that I have found with TV’s that its very important to actually look at the TV in person. Now when you look at the TV’s, go to a place like Walmart to see them, because many times specialty stores like Best Buy play with the lighting controls on the TV and in the store to skew the image to there advantage. Once you look at the TV simply look and decide which one looks better to you.

The next step to take into consideration is features. Here are a few that come with this TV:

This Samsung comes with Auto Volume which automatically adjusts the volume of the desired channel, lowering the sound output when the modulation signal is high or raising the sound output when the modulation signal is low. This reduces the difference in volume when changing channels. The Auto Volume feature can be set to Normal, Night or Off.

As far as outputs most of these TV’s will come with more than enough Inputs and Outputs. This TV comes with 4 HDMI Audio/Video In, 1 Ethernet LAN In/Out, 1 RCA Component Audio/Video In amd 1 Digital Coaxial Audio Out.

Next thing when shopping for a TV is in box technology. Here are some of the features of this TV:

With this Smart HDTV there is a full web browser with WiFi built-in apps made for TV. Some of the apps this TV features is Hulu Plus, YouTube, Netflix, Facebook, and Twitter. Browse the web while you watch movies and TV shows, and enjoy TV while you chat with friends and family online, all on one screen with this Samsung.

Thank you for reading my review, if you have any questions feel free to email me, I would be happy to help you with any questions you have.

This is my first review on Amazon and I normally dont do this, but I feel compelled to write one because most of the reviews on this fabulous TV are missing a key Demographic…GAMERS!!! Skip down to the 2nd paragraph for gaming if you dont want to real this background paragraph. To start off, I purchased the Samsung UN46F6300 46 inch LED TV solely for the purpose of Video gaming, but also for streaming Netflix and Cable TV. With the new XBOX One coming out I knew I had to upgrade from my Dynex 40 Inch LCD TV I purchased before I went away to school in 2009. I did a lot of research and was split on buying an LED TV that was either 120 HZ refresh rate or 240 HZ. After learning that the human eye can barely tell the difference between 120 HZ and 240 HZ I decided to go with 120 HZ because its cheaper and the technology is better developed than 240 HZ. Long story short, I researched brands endlessly looking for that “flawless” TV, and came to the conclusion that my first LED TV is going to be a Samsung. I was then split between the Samsung UN46F6300 (this model) and the Samsung UN46F6400 which is the 3D version with 480 Clear motion rate. After consulting on CNET, my most trusted electronic website, there is no difference between 240 CMR and 480 CMR because they both have an 120 HZ refresh panel. Thus, the decision was made, and Ive been mind blown ever since.

GAMERS, This is dedicated for you since no other review gives a good description for gaming and this is what I was looking for when researching for TVs. Let me start off to say that this TV does require some fine tuning with the picture to give you that perfect clear, crisp look Let me also point out that there is NO MOTION BLUR which fascinates me because it gives you that lifelike realistic picture. Everyone is different so I suggest you play with the vast amount of picture options to best suit your needs. I highly, highly! recommend turning the game mode on if you plan on playing online multiplayer because the input lag is right at 30 millaseconds (MS), which is top tier. Why does this matter? Say your playing Call of Duty Black Ops 2 and all the sudden you see a guy and you pull the trigger. you unload endless rounds of your Lsat into him but he shoots two rounds from his MP7 and kills you….HUH?? this is because of input lag. While your gaming console instantly registered the trigger pull (shots), it took the TV MS to recieve the game’s actions, IE: you being shot at. so even though it seemed like he only shot 2 rounds he actually shot more, but since your tv is running difference processes it slows down its processing speed, thus causing input lag. so ideally you want a TV with low MS as possible for gaming. with game mode turned OFF, this TV is running at about 120 MS so, you only need to turn the game mode on when your playing online. TO ACCESS GAME MODE: press the MENU button, select setup, then select GENERAL. Game mode will be on the top and you can turn it ON/OFF. Then adjust your Picture settings accordingly! When I am playing a single player game on xbox 360, (skyrim, mass effect) I am truly amazed by the graphics this TV produces. This picture is on par with the graphics of games shown at E3. I expected it to be good, but not this good! Again it does require some fine tuning.

I have read some reviews on the smart features and have noticed a slightly unhappy trend with the functionality. My wireless router is the next room so I havent had a single problem connecting or bad picture quality when streaming on Netflix and Youtube.

In Summary, if your looking for a great all around LED TV specifically for gaming, this is your winner. you will not be disappointed. Please read the other great reviews for better detail on the picture, sound, smart tv functions. Thanks!

*12/6/13 UPDATE*

Ok now that I have the Xbox one (the reason I purchased this tv), playing battlefield 4 on this tv is visually Breath taking. The graphics fantastic. I have spent a couple months tweaking my display settings on this tv so If you would like my calibration settings for this tv on game mode let me know! It’s been about 4 months now and not a single issue with this tv! The wifi connection still works great, the apps function properly (netflix), and I cannot repeat enough about the fantastic picture quality! I would recommend to Samsung a better TV remote though, the numbers/letters on the buttons are beginning to fade. Please feel free to ask questions, I’ll try to respond quickly!