New Samsung 1080p Models?

[JasonInMelbourne]

Hi, Just got my 40" today and was watching Spiderman 2 in HD on CH90 Sydney. My wife thinks it is fantastic but Im not sure. Have you ever noticed the difference between movie & video? I don't know if I am just funny about motion but the movement just doesn't seem natural?. When I watched the movie it looked like video shot from my camera, the picture was fantastic but just didn't do it for me. Has anyone else noticed this?

An observation I have made of anyone complaining about the image quality of the Samsung is that they've been watching anything BUT blu ray or hd dvd or hi bit rate 1080p source.

My advise is DO NOT use FTA 1080i as your source/test image as the quality of the image will vary from place to place depending on signal strength, set top box used and cables and inputs used. And more importantly 1080i signal quality/strength in Aus seems to really suck (according to my friends from overseas).

The other thing to keep in mind (even when using SD DVD) is that this panel is really showing the flaws in the source material rather than flaws in the unit itself. I think if you were able to test drive it using nothing but blu ray or hd dvd you'll see what I mean as all the compliments I've seen posted here seem to be when either of these disc formats have been used. I've got both the HD DVD and SD versions of King Kong and the difference is absolutely astounding.

In the end, use the best source material to test these higest definition displays. Using anything else isn't really doing justice.

Just an observation...

[Shonky*]

An observation I have made of anyone complaining about the image quality of the Samsung is that they've been watching anything BUT blu ray or hd dvd or hi bit rate 1080p source.

My advise is DO NOT use FTA 1080i as your source/test image as the quality of the image will vary from place to place depending on signal strength, set top box used and cables and inputs used. And more importantly 1080i signal quality/strength in Aus seems to really suck (according to my friends from overseas).

The other thing to keep in mind (even when using SD DVD) is that this panel is really showing the flaws in the source material rather than flaws in the unit itself. I think if you were able to test drive it using nothing but blu ray or hd dvd you'll see what I mean as all the compliments I've seen posted here seem to be when either of these disc formats have been used. I've got both the HD DVD and SD versions of King Kong and the difference is absolutely astounding.

In the end, use the best source material to test these higest definition displays. Using anything else isn't really doing justice.

Just an observation...

Note that signal quality and/or strength thas no effect on picture quality when you are receiving digital TV. As long as the signal is good enough the picture will be the same regardless. If however the signal is so bad you will get drop outs, pauses etc which will be plainly visible and easy to differentiate over actual picture quality.

Our FTA digital is not great because they aren't using streams with enough bandwith e.g. the recent channel 7 HD going to 1080i topic.

Also these units have built in tuners so there's no need for external boxes or cabling.

Sure compare HDDVD or BR sources but TV doesn't come like that. People still watch TV regularly remember

[JasonInMelbourne]

Note that signal quality and/or strength thas no effect on picture quality when you are receiving digital TV. As long as the signal is good enough the picture will be the same regardless. If however the signal is so bad you will get drop outs, pauses etc which will be plainly visible and easy to differentiate over actual picture quality.

Our FTA digital is not great because they aren't using streams with enough bandwith e.g. the recent channel 7 HD going to 1080i topic.

Also these units have built in tuners so there's no need for external boxes or cabling.

Sure compare HDDVD or BR sources but TV doesn't come like that. People still watch TV regularly remember

Of course we all watch TV. But my point is to make an assessment by comparing not just the TV image but all image sources.

Then again, if a consumer's HD image source is going to be solely FTA then what I'm saying is that Australia's 1080i signals aren't the best and hence can make a 1080p TV look crap.

And the reason why I talk about set top boxes even though the new Sammys have built in HD tuners is that most people will want to record their TV programs at some stage. So they'll be using some sort of set top box or HTPC to achieve this, and some places may have a HDD STB (of varying quality) set up to demonstrate.

So don't go watching solely HD discs in-store and be amazed by that image, then get home and watch HD TV and wonder why it looks like rubbish. But also don't JUST watch FTA DTV and assume the unit is no good either.

[lego72]

Apart from whatever admin, interest etc they charge you, usually you'll get a better price upfront if paying cash. Credit card comes pretty close to cash too. There are lots of catches with interest free. Things like if you miss a payment then ALL the interest backdated to the sale date is added to the account.

A lot of interest free deals are for "marked price only", but would be subject to the salespersons/managers disgression I think. I've seen/heard people getting interest free for less than the marked price but it's unlikely to be as good as they could have got if they used folding stuff.

cheers for that.

[Owen]

Most displays look good with pristine source, it’s the ones that also do well with ordinary source that are exceptional.

[IMD]

Chatswood (Sydney) pricing update:

JB had no stock, didn't ask but they still had the old models on display. David Jones had no Samsung TV's at all so didn't bother asking & didn't check in on Myer.

Harvey Norman had a sticker price of $3,999, asked for a walk away cash price, and was told $3,700. When mentioning lower prices I was basically told to rack off. So I won't be doing any business there.

Dick Smith had no stock, gave a sticker price of $3,999 but under no pressure gave a cash walk away price of $3,400. They expect stock later in the week.

Hope that helps anyone searching. Lack of stock means i'll be waiting until next week I guess...

[NODDYPIPER]

Of course we all watch TV. But my point is to make an assessment by comparing not just the TV image but all image sources.

Then again, if a consumer's HD image source is going to be solely FTA then what I'm saying is that Australia's 1080i signals aren't the best and hence can make a 1080p TV look crap.

And the reason why I talk about set top boxes even though the new Sammys have built in HD tuners is that most people will want to record their TV programs at some stage. So they'll be using some sort of set top box or HTPC to achieve this, and some places may have a HDD STB (of varying quality) set up to demonstrate.

So don't go watching solely HD discs in-store and be amazed by that image, then get home and watch HD TV and wonder why it looks like rubbish. But also don't JUST watch FTA DTV and assume the unit is no good either.

Can anyone give me some idea of what contrast/colour/brightnees and all the other video settings they have had the TV set to? I have played around but can't decide what looks best. Also, is there any way to see the resolution that the program coming in is being shown at? On my old Teac STB it would display 1440x1080 (or something like that) and I have look through all the menus but can't find anything on resolution at all?

Noddy

[Owen]

I was wondering if a 46" would be overkill for my lounge room? It's only small and I sit roughly 3.4m away from the screen.

Anyone noticed any clouding issues?

If you have 3.4 meters you have plenty of room. Even the 52” is small at that distance, and your eyes wont be able to resolve 1080.

[supacheap1]

I'm pretty sure this is caused by MoviePlus being enabled. The European version of this tv has a bug where MoviePlus gets enabled all the time even when you've set it to off in the user menu.

Here's a link to details: http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/Samsung-LE40M86B...ure-Quality.php

Good find there Zeus, I think you're right. That site you got the quote from recommends turning off MoviePlus... Samsung really wasted their time with that feature. Should've made up some engine instead like Caviar Z to go head-to-head with Bravia X

I was wondering if a 46" would be overkill for my lounge room? It's only small and I sit roughly 3.4m away from the screen.

Anyone noticed any clouding issues?

I was wondering the same thing cos I sit about the same distance away, but i went for overkill as I normally do... got it at a good price today. I'll let you know tomorrow when it arrives Remind me if i forget. But I stood about 3.4m away and compared the 40" and 46" side by side... they both look the same, so 46" is no problem. I can justify the cost of paying abour $1000 more for 6" inches of viewing space... it looks like there's a big difference side by side... compare that to $4000 or whatever it is extra from 46" --> 52"... I heard clouding issues are a lot less of an issue than a Sony X and can be almost made unnoticeable through calibration...

didn't check in on Myer.

Harvey Norman had a sticker price of $3,999, asked for a walk away cash price, and was told $3,700. When mentioning lower prices I was basically told to rack off. So I won't be doing any business there.

I'm now an owner of a 46" M8 sammy.. waiting for it to arrive tomorrow

Just to add to this, someone here previously mentioned Harvey Norman at Auburn (Sydney). Thankyou because I went there today and yes they give an awesome price i.e. under $4000 for 46" for a quick price match. (Sorry not meant to tell exact price, I'll honour my agreement with the salesman, otherwise I might send them bankrupt ).. Didnt bother asking for "cash" price, cos I just paid with my AMEX lol... Also, Sony Bravia X series in 46" was $4500 no haggling.... Made it VERY tempting indeed... but I couldn't justify the extra price for such a short warranty and just for aesthetics... cos my eyes arent so attuned to tell the difference between the X and M8 panel... but the sony look is teh sex...

Everytime I saw the HArvey Norman ads I was like YEAH RIGHT as if I'd pay that much and I have never EVER shopped there before.... until today. I was shocked that they could beat Bing Lee (Bondi) prices and even willing to match a small little retailer. The guy did a great deal on warranty for me, so I have 7 years warranty total. He was discounting the monster cables a lot too, but I need to do more research to figure out which one suits my needs before dropping over $100 on cables. Great thing is that they have that 110% price difference refund if some place happens to offer lower in 30 days.. I'm not sure if that applies in this case sinc ethey already discounted a fair bit. I never thought I'd say this, but GO HARVEY NORMAN, GO

On a sidenote, if you're closer to Bondi, go to Bing Lee there. I was offered $4000 for the 46" no haggling over the phone, so I'm sure there's room for movement there.... cos at bing lee, everything negotiable! :ph34r: Bing Lee in the city skygarden can only do about $4200 but have the 46" in sony and samsung on display.

Sidenote 2: Myer in the city don't have them in stock until next week, but I pressed one of the guys there for a price, and he said that under $4000 was do-able for 46".... just don't go on your lunch break when you're in office clothes I doubt they'd discount as much.

Just shoot me a message if you want to know who I've spoken to at HN and Bing Lee and Myer and I'd be happy to give you the details! Otherwise I'm sure you could find someone else on the floor who'd be willing to do you a good deal. I hope this helps you fellow bargain hunters (and fellow proud cheapies like me)

Edited May 6, 2007 by supacheap1

[Chairman7]

I went into Chermside (Brisbane) JB to see what I thought would be my future TV. Regretably I was disapointed. I hope everybody is happy with the new screens but I just wasn't impressed. To be fair it was the 46 inch model and they were running that 7HD loop that is burned into our retinas with the shots of Dubai and the Porsche Factory - but is was as grainy as anything - I mean it was handycam grainy.

The salesperson - who again insisted that 1080p is not possible through component (but that's another story) - showed me the 9 HD digital although seeing Laurie Oaks' liverspots in HD does nothing for the TV.

I have been very excited about this TV - but I wasn't going to race around looking for a best price based on that showing.

Of course if a 360 or PS3 was being shown my mouth probably would have dropped...

Now I am back to the drawing board - when I was wandering I picked up a catelouge and saw the 50 inch plasma (which I think is the PS50Q9HD) for $3,296. Maybe that will be worth a second look -

Still I hope everybody is enjoying their selection!

[mybrains]

Sydney

I bought the 40" today for 3150 inc free delivery. Hardley Normal moore park (ask for John). I have found that this shop will haggle better than most. Be prepared, John is a real wheeler dealer, but having dse powerhouse and a bing lee all in the same complex makes this harvey very aggressive on prices.

[BuDWiZe]

chairman do not base the TV quality on a 1080I low bitrate australian TV signal.

check out some of teh settings people have reccomended. go back down to teh shop. get them to stick a blu ray movei on so u have optimal quality ptogram running then see what you think.

its MUCH better than what is setup in store + a TV signal.

even with setup watching the footy last night i enhanced teh picture a fair bit ( and also stopped myself going blind with teh default ultra bright blacklight )

that sucker on default will roast a vampire on the spot.

I went into Chermside (Brisbane) JB to see what I thought would be my future TV. Regretably I was disapointed. I hope everybody is happy with the new screens but I just wasn't impressed. To be fair it was the 46 inch model and they were running that 7HD loop that is burned into our retinas with the shots of Dubai and the Porsche Factory - but is was as grainy as anything - I mean it was handycam grainy.

The salesperson - who again insisted that 1080p is not possible through component (but that's another story) - showed me the 9 HD digital although seeing Laurie Oaks' liverspots in HD does nothing for the TV.

I have been very excited about this TV - but I wasn't going to race around looking for a best price based on that showing.

Of course if a 360 or PS3 was being shown my mouth probably would have dropped...

Now I am back to the drawing board - when I was wandering I picked up a catelouge and saw the 50 inch plasma (which I think is the PS50Q9HD) for $3,296. Maybe that will be worth a second look -

Still I hope everybody is enjoying their selection!

[monkeu]

He was discounting the monster cables a lot too, but I need to do more research to figure out which one suits my needs before dropping over $100 on cables.

Here's all the research you need to do: don't buy monster cables unless you love wasting money for absolutely no reason.

[sidesh0w]

Sydney

I bought the 40" today for 3150 inc free delivery. Hardley Normal moore park (ask for John). I have found that this shop will haggle better than most. Be prepared, John is a real wheeler dealer, but having dse powerhouse and a bing lee all in the same complex makes this harvey very aggressive on prices.

Nice, these guys are around the corner from me.

[Chairman7]

chairman do not base the TV quality on a 1080I low bitrate australian TV signal.

check out some of teh settings people have reccomended. go back down to teh shop. get them to stick a blu ray movei on so u have optimal quality ptogram running then see what you think.

its MUCH better than what is setup in store + a TV signal.

even with setup watching the footy last night i enhanced teh picture a fair bit ( and also stopped myself going blind with teh default ultra bright blacklight )

that sucker on default will roast a vampire on the spot.

Yeah, all that might be true. I wouldn't want to talk anyone out of purchase. I have been waiting for this TV for some time but now I don't think it suits my uses.

Blu-ray functionality would be very little use to me - I don't watch movies frequently to justify its purpose.

[CharlieB]

Hi all, greetings from NZ. I've been reading this thread with great interest as the Samsung M 40" is on my short list - its due for release here in NZ in the next week or so. From speaking with Samsung distributors here, though, the RRP for the 40" is 5999 and the 46" is 6999! This is compared to the Sony X 40" of 6999 and the 46" of 8999. Maybe these big numbers are because we don't yet have a JB over here?! (Rumours are we could be getting one by the end of this year, though.) Maybe if there are any other NZ readers we should also start one of the 'bulk buys' like someone had the great idea of starting previously in this thread (if any takers, I'm in Auckland!).

I auditioned the Sony X 40" here this weekend, while I wait for the Samsung M to be released, and while I was very impressed with its PQ, colour and viewing angle, I thought its up-scaling abilities from a DVD source were very poor. So I have to agree with Owen's comment (especially as he seems to know what he's talking about!) :

Most displays look good with pristine source, it’s the ones that also do well with ordinary source that are exceptional.

With that in mind, can any of the lucky Samsung purchasers over there give some feedback as to how their Samsung M81s perform when up-scaling a DVD source, or even a lower resolution source? Or are you all using your DVD/media centre/Blu-Ray/HD-DVD players to do the up-scaling? And does anyone have any other thoughts on direct comparisons between the Sony X and Samsung M, particularly colour and panning movement smoothness?

Any thoughts would really help with reducing my short-list - many thanks, all!

CB

[dvestate]

Went down to my local HN this afternoon to what the footy, wanted to check the motion blur. I thought the Sony X's colour was a little washed out and the Sammy was a bit to bright. Got the sales guy to adjust both of them and I liked the Sammy more than the Sony??????

I might have to give Moore Park HN a call about a price, C'Town didn't want to go below $3550........ So either Moore Park or Aurburn look like the places to go

Edit: Is it cool to lay these down in transport, I know that you can't for Plasma's but as far as I know LCD's should be OK.....

[supacheap1]

monkeu, I think you're right... being purely digital, I was thinking that cables shouldnt matter so much, especially over very short distances, like 1m.... if only I could try a monster vs say a crest cable on the same machine... i'll check the return policies somewhere

With that in mind, can any of the lucky Samsung purchasers over there give some feedback as to how their Samsung M81s perform when up-scaling a DVD source, or even a lower resolution source? Or are you all using your DVD/media centre/Blu-Ray/HD-DVD players to do the up-scaling? And does anyone have any other thoughts on direct comparisons between the Sony X and Samsung M, particularly colour and panning movement smoothness?

Any thoughts would really help with reducing my short-list - many thanks, all!

Side by side playing the same thing is always the best Had to call around a lot before I found a store which had the Sony X and Samsung M side by side. I brought Matrix and Lord of the Rings DVDs... (You should be familiar with the lovely lord of the rings backdrops from NZ ) and tried them on both. I couldn't really tell them apart, they both looked awesome to me... but that's me being used to like a 5 year old CRT 81cm TV Maybe the Sony looks slightly better... but this is using factory default settings... and maybe cos i just love the sexy glass....

My M81 is coming in tmr and I only have DVDs.. and will be playing DIVx's from my laptop... Let me know what tests you want me to do and I'll do my best to get you some answers... I'm no expert though, but I can try help cos I can understand how hard it is to make a decision on that!! Dont think u can really go wrong either way trhough, it's the samsung price that bought me...

I might have to give Moore Park HN a call about a price, C'Town didn't want to go below $3550........ So either Moore Park or Aurburn look like the places to go

It's worth the trip... you should be looking to get something around $3000... I'd even aim for a bit under, considering there are some online retailers selling around the $2800 already... Print it out if you can find it and bring it into the store... Bing Lee Hurstville were $3400 with free HDMI cable... I'm sure Auburn HN will be closer to the $3k mark... Also try Bing Lee Bondi

[IMD]

Had to call around a lot before I found a store which had the Sony X and Samsung M side by side.

Forgot to mention Harvey Norman Chatswood had these two next to each other. Bravia X looked washed out compared to the Sammy - kinda cemented it for me. Appreciate this is heavily settings dependent but it kinda helped confirm my thought process. If only HN Chatswood were as aggresive as HN Moore Park... maybe i'll wait until mid week and give the HN guy a real hard time...

[googlevich]

Has anyone in Melbourne managed to get a good price on the 46' or even the 40'

I tried JB chaddy and they were absolute jerks.

If someone can gimme a headsup on where to go get a 46' for sub 4k I'll be very grateful.

Thanks.

[alistair85]

Has anyone in Melbourne managed to get a good price on the 46' or even the 40'

I tried JB chaddy and they were absolute jerks.

If someone can gimme a headsup on where to go get a 46' for sub 4k I'll be very grateful.

Thanks.

I put a deposit down on a 40" at Harvey Norman at QV for $3250 but am thinking of going up to a 46" depending on price - however I think I'm just getting greedy

[g_dba]

Has anyone in Melbourne managed to get a good price on the 46' or even the 40'

I tried JB chaddy and they were absolute jerks.

If someone can gimme a headsup on where to go get a 46' for sub 4k I'll be very grateful.

Thanks.

Can't help you with price but you can try Aaron @ Knox JB. He's quite knowledgeable and friendly and hopefully he'll be able to give you a good deal too.

There's a reason why I don't go to Chaddy JB and you've kind of stated that above!

[JasonInMelbourne]

chairman do not base the TV quality on a 1080I low bitrate australian TV signal.

check out some of teh settings people have reccomended. go back down to teh shop. get them to stick a blu ray movei on so u have optimal quality ptogram running then see what you think.

its MUCH better than what is setup in store + a TV signal.

even with setup watching the footy last night i enhanced teh picture a fair bit ( and also stopped myself going blind with teh default ultra bright blacklight )

that sucker on default will roast a vampire on the spot.

Chairman7

Have a read of my previous post and listen to BudWize.

If you mainly intend on watching TV, consider how much will be live and how much will be recorded. If the majority will be recorded, then don't base your opinion of the Samsung's on the built-in tuner. Consider the STV you'll be using.

Or, if you don't want a separate STB HD recorder, perhaps consider one of the LGs with built-in HDD recorder.

But remember, Aussie DTV is pretty crap.

[supacheap1]

Forgot to mention Harvey Norman Chatswood had these two next to each other. Bravia X looked washed out compared to the Sammy - kinda cemented it for me. Appreciate this is heavily settings dependent but it kinda helped confirm my thought process. If only HN Chatswood were as aggresive as HN Moore Park... maybe i'll wait until mid week and give the HN guy a real hard time...

Other places which have them side by side include Hurstville Bing Lee in 40" and Auburn HN which has both 40" and 46" compared. On these, Auburn plays continuous images of bikini chicks doing weird things with fruit, crystal glasses, water and empty picture frames... LOL, but gives you an idea of the clarity, the splashing water looks awesome Unfortunately, they have a different demo playing on the Sony vs Samsung! But they're happy to help and play your discs/DVDs etc..

I'm sure you could probably work out something over the phone with the HN dude I spoke to at Auburn if you know what you're after if Chatswood arent going to budge on price, it's worth a trip to moore park too if u like to haggle in person.

[PanaSung]

, I thought its up-scaling abilities from a DVD source were very poor. So I have to agree with Owen's comment (especially as he seems to know what he's talking about!) :

But was the DVD being upscaled to 1080?.....did you see if the DVD player was connected via HDMI?

As for the grain on the C7 HD loop.....I can see it on my 19in CRT{also on Alias HD}, I also saw it on every LCD that WOW had displaying it and I wrote the grain off as a function of abysmal 576p....but the very best CH9/CH10/ABC 1080i and 720p should impress.