TEST BENCH

Color temperature (Movie mode/Warm2 color temperature before/after calibration): 20-IRE: 6,728 K/6,713 K 30-IRE: 6,880 K/6,512 K 40-IRE: 6,978 K/6,572 K 50-IRE: 6,851 K/6,505 K 60-IRE: 6,932 K/6,625 K 70-IRE: 7,014 K/6,365 K 80-IRE: 6,997 K/6,504 K 90-IRE: 7,069 K/6,556 K 100-IRE: 7,139 K/6,606 K

Brightness (100-IRE window): 35.0/37.8 ftL

Primary Color Point Accuracy vs. SMPTE HD Standard

With the "Movie" and " Warm 2" options selected, the Samsung's grayscale was slightly bluer than standard, measuring +569 K off the 6,500K benchmark from 20 to 90 IRE. User menu calibration brought this to within +/- 140K, a very good result. The TV's measured color points fell somewhat outside the SMPTE HD standard, although these could also be adjusted with the user menu controls. The color decoder showed a slight -2.5% pull for red and green, although this was not adjustable within the user menu.

Screen uniformity was the best I've encountered with an LCD display, although the very best plasmas still deliver a slightly more uniform field at very low light levels. Off-axis viewers will note a loss of contrast, with deep blacks getting washed out, but this set did somewhat better than previous Samsung LED-backlit models that we tested on that point. (There is little degradation in picture contrast up to about 40 degrees from center, and even beyond that angle, off-axis color shift is minimal.) Still, this is an area where plasma clearly does better. The set's glossy screen was designed to enhance its contrast, so care should be taken to avoid bright objects near the seating area, as they will show up reflected on screen.

Video processing was superb. The film pulldown mode worked very well, and the set could display full-resolution 1080p signals even with moving images -but only when the Auto Motion Plus circuit was turned off. On the plus side, Auto Motion Plus did noticeably reduce judder on slow panning shots, while LED Smart Motion was effective at minimizing motion blur. The sets upscaling made standard-definition sources look natural and clear, while noise reduction was effective at the lowest setting.