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By Philip Wong, CNET Asia
Apr 18, 2008

Fine wine no more and well into their third run, these aesthetic-driven flat panels are now rebranded simply as series-four HDTVs. Hardly glamorous, sales speak. But beyond this superficial tweak lies a new TV that looks and feels almost like its award-winning predecessor at rock-bottom pricing. Here's a quick rundown of the pros and cons between the LA40A450C1 and its Bordeaux Plus R8 equivalent.

Upside:

The single most significant overhaul for selected series-four models is their onboard HDMIs. For 32-inch and above sizes, not only will you get a quantity advantage with a trio of these digital A/V inputs, they also feature upgraded full 1080p signal compatibility. The latter means you can supply native film 24 frames-per-second (24fps) feeds, in addition to standard video-centric 50 and 60Hz variants. Favored by purists, 24fps capability eliminates unnecessary frame rate conversion, a redundant video-processing which may introduce potential visual artifacts.

As if that's not enough to sharpen the LA40A450C1's competitive edge, Samsung has slashed the price to an all-time low of S$2,899 (US$1,907.24). That's an amazing S$1,989 (US$1,308.55) off the Bordeaux Plus' initial list price within a mere short span of 12 months. Going into exact dollars and cents, you can probably bag yourself a Regza 42C3500E for less during one of the IT fairs. However, the 2007 Toshiba hardly stacks up against this 2008 Samsung in many areas, such as a unique all-round piano finish, matching glossy remote, unobtrusive stealth speakers, triple HDMIs.

While we're not particularly fans of fluff-laden proprietary technologies, it may be worth noting that this model sports enhanced DNIE+ and Wide Color Enhancer 2 video-processing. Whether they deliver any tangible advantage is anyone's guess, but what we do know is there're modest 25 percent improvements in dynamic contrast and response time, up to a factor of 10,000:1 and 6ms, respectively. These are not exactly spectacular by today's standards, but are nonetheless encouraging attempts by the Korean chaebol for an updated release.

Downside:

So far, Samsung has adequately addressed two of the major shortfalls of the Editors' Choice R8: 1080p-ready HDMI and affordability. In the midst of trimming "excess fats" to minimize cost, its designers have axed two of the original good-to-have luxurious touches. First on the chopping board were the touch-sensitive controls, now superseded by a bank of down-to-earth push buttons. Then there was the familiar decorative blue lighting effect which has been taken offline together with the higher-end A550s--definitely not something worth crying over in our humble opinion.

Outlook:

One of Samsung's many LCD TVs flooding the Asia market, the all-rounded LA40A450C1 is one step closer to perfection, thanks to the latest tweaks. Furthermore, judging by its predecessor's popularity, there're strong signs that this series may well be another possible winning formula. The remaining question is whether these panel will live up to our expectations in terms of picture quality.

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