According to a recent report, in the last year Samsung finally managed to snag the largest share of the worldwide flat-panel LCD market. Taking a look at the new Samsung LN-T5265F 52-inch LCD HDTV, that's easy to understand. Not only does this TV have future-ready HDMI 1.3 connectivity and Deep Color compatibility, it offers a very impressive range of picture tweaks, including an auto-contrast mode that delivers some of the deepest blacks I've seen yet on an LCD. And the best part of the story is that Samsung delivers all this at an extremely competitive $3,000 street price ($4,800 list).

With a uniform black bezel and a tabletop stand, this set seems designed to disappear into any space it's placed in. The glossy and glassy front is a departure from other LCD TVs (which typically use a nonreflective matte surface for the screen), and though it looks good, it also reflects room light like crazy. Suffice to say, this Samsung will perform best in a room where you can exercise tight control over ambient light. Fortunately, its stand swivels left or right up to 45° - a feature that could come in handy for reducing glare. Some basic control buttons are tucked away on the top surface, while a convenience jackpack with an HDMI input and a USB port for viewing digital photos are on the side.

With Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD players fast becoming standard weapons in the high-def arsenal alongside cable and satellite set-tops, a total of three HDMI inputs has become the minimum for new HDTVs. Samsung's got you covered here, along with a pair of component-video jacks and a VGA computer input on the back panel. However, the TV's remote is similar to those that come with the company's Blu-ray players - skinny, wandlike, and packed with buttons, most of which aren't backlit. I probably don't have to add that, in a dark room, I had trouble finding specific buttons without using a flashlight. To switch sources, you press the Source button repeatedly to toggle through the set's active inputs. Pressing the P.Size button cycles through the aspect-ratio options; high-def options include Just Scan (displays 16:9 HDMI signals with no overscan), 16:9 (16:9 format images with modest overscan), 4:3, and Wide Fit. With standard-def programs, two additional picture-zoom modes are available.

SETUP The LN-T5265F offers three picture presets: Movie, Standard, and Dynamic. Individual settings for each preset can be customized for any one of the TV's inputs, and the set will store your adjustments. The Color Tone option provides five color-temperature presets, with Warm2 being the most accurate. And a user-accessible White Balance adjustment gives you all the tools required to more precisely tweak grayscale - something I took advantage of (see Test Bench).