Samsung LA46A950 (46-inch LCD)

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By Ty Pendlebury, CNET.com.au
Oct 23, 2008

Are you craving for deep luscious blacks that are on par or even better than the legendary Pioneer Kuro? If what we've witnessed during Samsung's recent product launch is a good yardstick for its Series 9 LCDs, these HDTVs may just be your gateway to home entertainment nirvana. Expect to cough out good money for these full-HD panels, but rest assured their impressive feature-set will keep your family "glued" onscreen for quite a long while.

Editors' note:

This review is based on evaluations conducted by our sister site CNET.com.au. Review ratings on similar products may differ due to differences in regional market trends and competing product lineups.

The model in questioned is an Australian version. The Asian model goes by LA46A950D1MXXS.

Design

Television design has been getting a little silly of late, what with the LG Scarlet's "love hole" and the Sony ZX1's wall-mount bracket in a fetching, scratchy piano black that no one will ever see. So it's refreshing to find a TV as understated as Samsung's Series 9. After all, people visit the Louvre for the pictures, not the frames.

But that's not to say that design has come last in the construction of this TV--it's actually quite a stunner, with a faux carbon-fiber finish and a clear plastic trim. While it's not as slim as the Series 8, it's certainly sturdier with a solid, non-swiveling glass stand.

Our only gripe is with the onboard controls. They are impossible to see under most lighting conditions. Unless you have a light shining directly on them--which is a no-no for TV viewing--you won't be able to find them. They are of the capacitive type, but will light up when you touch the buttons.

The remote is quite chunky. With a decent smattering of friendly buttons. While controlling some of the network and streaming functions isn't always that obvious it's quite useful in most respects. We especially like the Previous Channel button for cycling easily between two channels.

Tags: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., TV, Sony Corp., LG Electronics Inc., network

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