By Philip Wong, CNET Asia
15/05/2009
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/home_av/tvs/0,39037585,44694271p,00.htm

The Samsung B7000-series is one of the latest LED TVs from the Korean company. It sits right between the no-frills B6000- and flagship B8000-series, offering the best value within the lineup. For S$300 less than the UA46B8000XM, the UA46B7000WM packs all the features found in its higher-end equivalent sans an ultrafast 200Hz refresh rate. If you're in the market for an eco-friendly and ultraslim panel with strong audio-visual credentials, this "Samsung" is definitely worth considering.

Design

The UA46B7000WM is a stunning showpiece with fully integrated electronics and a sleek 29.9mm-wide bezel. The panel frame's Crystal Design based on a glossy rose accent with clear edges adds to the TV's charm, while a glowing red power indicator and matching glass swivel stand complete the finishing touches. To preserve its clean lines, Samsung has bought back its invisible speakers equipped with bottom-firing drivers and dual-rear subwoofers. Weighting just 17.7kg, this model can also be mounted via an optional steel wire kit like a portrait of a mere 15mm gap from the wall.

For an extra touch of class, the B7000-series panels have front touch-sensitive controls which sadly lack backlighting. We are not exactly convinced by the deeply recessed left A/V ports, either, although this is probably designed to offset protruding USB dongles and thumbdrives. Furthermore, it's difficult to nitpick when you've four HDMI ports and two USB inputs for quick connections to external devices. To conserve space, this TV employs three breakout cables for audio, composite- and component-video sockets. We'd advise against using thick Ethernet and VGA cords as well, due to their tight fittings.

There are two similarly styled remotes bundled. The ergonomic and responsive master controller scores well in our book with its orange backlighting and plentiful controls. These include hotkeys for all major functions, video playback and a Tool button which calls up a table of A/V settings. Input switching is greatly simplified, too, covered by dedicated TV and Source keys with smart filtering technology that toggles among the used ports. The pebble-shaped secondary remote, on the other hand, is loaded with a power button, plus a large volume and channel adjustment wheel.

Samsung has given its comprehensive software menu a makeover using graphics animation. More importantly, there're now embedded diagnostic functions and support information to help users resolve problems. For casual users, the UA46B7000WM has a game A/V mode and four picture presets optimized for different genres of programs. The latter four can also be further customized by experts, but lacks independent memory for each source. Nonetheless, there's an array of advanced settings such as edge enhancement, white balance, judder and motion blurring corrections, among others.

Features

The edge-lit UA46B7000WM is a new-generation LED TV that offers three distinct advantages. Besides the obvious bulk reduction, this model uses fewer bulbs along the four corners of its full-HD LCD panel. This makes it less costly to manufacture, which may explain its lower premium. There is also a substantial 40 percent power savings compared with conventional LCD TVs. We do have our reservations about its vague mega dynamic contrast rating under the new Samsung classification. That said, there's little doubt that its 100Hz frame rate-doubling engine will smoothen out fast motions.

The Korean chaebol is setting a new yardstick for connected TVs in Asia with the introduction of its Media@2.0 solution. A key highlight is Internet@TV powered by the Yahoo widgets. For our Singapore-based review unit, the Web service comprises YouTube and AccuWeather. The former downloads and displays standard-definition videos from the portal that can be played full-screen on the TV, while the latter provides live weather forecasts. Unfortunately, the YouTube menu has no search option, which undermines its appeal. Nevertheless, we were informed that more new widgets will be launched in the future.

Another two notable Media@2.0 components are USB 2.0 and DLNA multimedia playback. Both these functions are compatible with JPEG, MP3, DivX, MPEG-1/2/4, WMV, H.264 and VC1 encodings in numerous file formats. The files can be copied into the panel's 2GB (877MB free) onboard memory from USB storage devices and network servers for access locally. A Wi-Fi USB dongle is bundled to supplement its Ethernet port in order to facilitate wireless network streaming, though you'll need a good draft-N router such as the Linksys WRT610N which offers dual-band and ultra-long range.

To receive HD broadcasts, the UA46B7000WM has integrated digital TV (IDTV) capability and an electronic program guide, courtesy of its built-in DVB-T digital tuner and MPEG-4 decoder. This frees up its four 24p-ready HDMI 1.3 terminals for Blu-ray players and game consoles. As for analog 1080p-enabled equipment, you'll have a single component-video socket--one less than normal--and a PC input. Rounding up the ensemble is an optical audio output that can route Dolby Digital soundtracks from DVB-T and HDMI sources for external decoding by the home theater systems.

Performance

To thoroughly evaluate this 46-incher's TV broadcast quality, we pitted it against a Pioneer PDP-LX508G and a Draco HD settop box. For analog channels, the visuals were generally clean and sharper than the Kuro with occasional hints of mosquito noise around the station logos. Switching over to digital programs brought the grains even lower coupled by overall stable reception. The UA46B7000WM had no problem resolving the extra details in native HD content. However, we did encounter issues when receiving the TV Mobile channel which showed up properly on the Draco.

We subsequently tried out Avia test patterns on our SpyderTV Pro-calibrated review unit. For the charts, the Samsung did exceptionally well differentiating various shades of blacks during grayscale tracking coupled with flawless color decoding. The HQV benchmark DVD further revealed effective video upscaling, noise and jaggie suppression. These observations were evident in the Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence and I,Robot DVDs. We could even identify the brands for small cans of beer in the superbly detailed anime and the fine facial stubs on Will Smith's battered face for the sci-fi flick.

It was another revelation for the razor-sharp and smoothly rendered The Dark Knight Blu-ray. In particular, the dark IMAX footages demonstrated the UA46B7000WM's excellent shadow detail and distinct 3D-like image depth. These were matched by relatively vibrant hues and natural skin tones, though the overall colors can be a little overly warm for some users. In terms of blacks, this model was right in between the 2008 Samsung Series 9 and the 2007 Pioneer LX Kuro (refer to image on the right) without the obvious local dimming drawback of the former that caused black crush, resulting in loss of details.

By setting Motion Plus and Film Mode to standard and Auto1, respectively, we were able to get almost perfect results in HD-HQV, including the usually critical Film Resolution Loss Test. This strong showing was also extended to 1080p gaming, characterized by fluid graphics and a similar clarity level compared with Blu-ray discs via PlayStation 3's HDMI and Xbox 360's component-video output. The Samsung handled the same high-resolution signal equally well for its PC input, displaying legible sharp small fronts and silky smooth color gradation on our banding test chart.

Multimedia playback-wise, it took the UA46B7000WM 3 and 5 seconds to display an 8-megapixel JPEG file faithfully in its original aspect ratio and print quality from USB and network inputs, respectively. While we managed to get most video formats recognized, there were others such as WMV-HDs which played without sound. The Samsung Wi-Fi dongle and Linksys WRT610N combination worked admirably, streaming mostly stutter-free videos wirelessly from a remote PC. These ranged from reasonably sharp regular DivX videos and ripped DVDs to pristine 1080p trailers in H.264 format.

Despite the panel's dual subwoofers (subs), the bass reproduction from MP3s, video files and Blu-rays was a little underwhelming. The subs also had the tendency to rattle when we set the low-frequency equalizer high. This problem aside, we're satisfied with the latest SRS TruSurround HD in recreating a sense of liveliness and crisp audio. Likewise for the speakers' transparent vocals, extended treble and fine stereo imaging. As for Dolby Digital sound through the TV's optical output, there was no audible lip synchronization issue, except that multimedia playback was limited to the stereo format.

At S$6,999, the Samsung UA46B7000WM may cost about 30 percent more than its regular LCD counterparts. Having said that, you're really getting quite a good deal considering it encompasses head-turning styling, wireless connected TV functions, brilliant picture quality, etc. Alternatively, you can check out the 2008 Sony Bravia X4, but that'll cost you S$1,000 extra. Taking everything into consideration, including the Korean panel's mild backlight uniformity imperfection, this LED TV gets our stamp of approval and an Editors' Choice for its all-round appeal.