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GROUP TEST

FEATURES
Analogue and digital tuners; 10,000:1 quoted contrast ratio; 1,500 cd/m2 quoted brightness; picture-inpicture mode; EPG; common interface slot; 2 x 15W speaker output; SRS TruSurround XT CONNECTIONS HDMI in; Scart x2 (1 RGB); component video in; VGA PC in; S-video in; composite video in; stereo audio in; PC audio in; RF in CONTACT 0303 www.samsung.com/uk
Blacks are deep during dark scenes, and theres a nice sense of greyscale subtlety in backgrounds

Samsung PS-42S5SD

THE FLAT FACTS
I 42IN PLASMA I 1,700 I HD-READY: NO I RESOLUTION 852 X 480 I SPEAKERS: YES I TV TUNER: YES (DIGITAL) I SCARTS: 2 (1 RGB)
ew consumer electronics companies have raised their profile more effectively than Samsung has over the past few years. In the flat TV market in particular, its latest range of LCDs has produced some of the best-performing and best-value screens around. But can this plasma offer the same combination of affordability and quality?

What an entrance!

As with the other models in this roundup, the PS4S5SD is Samsungs entry-level plasma, and the cost-cutting is most evident in its non-HD-ready native resolution. The fact that theres only one RGB-capable Scart input is also a shame, but when it comes to other features the PS-42S5SD rivals the LG in this roundup. Aside from the Scart issue, connectivity is excellent, and theres both component video and an HDMI input. As on the LG, the latter is there to ensure future compatibility with HDMI-toting products, rather than having anything to do with actual high-definition material (the 852 x 480 resolution is too low to properly display HD), but its still a thoughtful inclusion on Samsungs part as is a built-in digital TV tuner. The PS4S5SDs speakers are located under its screen, which gives the set a slimmer, more compact look. It works well, and wed say that this is certainly the pick of the bunch when it comes to styling and build quality. Samsung has struck a bit of a
bum note with its choice of remote control, however a dull-looking bit of grey plastic with an odd button layout and an annoying sliding panel hiding some of the most useful controls. Another design decision that could prove annoying for some buyers is the shiny plate of glass covering the screen, although were happy to note that we didnt notice any irritating reflections where we had it set up. Hooking up an HDMI-outputting DVD player (although the TV will have to scale image to fit its screen) and adjusting the Samsungs default image settings a little, we managed to coax a superbly sharp, crisp picture from The Motorcycle Diaries. Whats more, like the LG in this test, this set claims an extravagant 10,000:1 contrast ratio, and it actually delivers much on this front. Blacks were deep during dark scenes from our test disc, and there was a nice sense of greyscale subtlety in backgrounds. Colours were vibrant, too, with the greens and browns of our test movies countryside well handled. There was a touch of colour banding and dot crawl in evidence, however.
this roundup coped slightly better with such low-quality broadcasts. Samsungs image processing technology (something called DNIe) doesnt seem to be as effective as LGs XD Engine in this respect. The PS4S5SDs audio performance is decent. As is usually the case with built-in speakers, things are a little limited in the bass department, but the set created a wide enough soundstage to cope with our test movies atmospheric soundtrack, and dialogue was clear. Despite a few flaws, the PS4S5SD delivers much more than the majority of budget plasma TVs can muster. Its every bit as good as the similarly-priced LG model in this roundup. Which of the two is more worthy of your money really depends on how important pictures from the Freeview tuner are to you. WP

RATINGS

PICTURE.####$ SOUND.####$ CONNECTIONS.####$ FEATURES.####$ EASE OF USE.####$ VALUE.##### A great budget plasma for DVD viewing, although Freeview footage isnt too hot

Tuner trouble

While it is easy to set up, the picture from the Samsungs digital tuner looked blocky and noisy during our test. Of course, this is partly due to the low bitrate of the Freeview services pictures (thats what happens when you waste tons of bandwidth on useless shopping channels!), but the LG in

VERDICT ####$

78 WHAT PLASMA & LCD TV

ISSUE 20

50 SAMSUNG PS-63P76FD 3,800 Approx www.samsung.co.uk
Its heavy, man: Samsungs mighty behemoth weighs in at a whopping 87kg
HOME CINEMA CHOICE MARCH 2008

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REVIEWS 51

The King Kong of plasma screens?
Samsung wants to dominate largescreen plasma with this aggressively priced 63in TV. John Archer and the Tech Labs team take one to Skull island
amsung currently lays claim to a sizeable amount of atscreen territory. It has planted its ag in the super-continent that is mainstream LCD and has been a pragmatic supplier of populist plasmas. Now Samsung wants to carve out some of the superscreen market for itself as well but until it can produce monster-sized LCD substrates at reasonable cost, it seems content to proffer plasma enter the PS-63P76FD. Visually its every bit the hulking beast you might expect. The glossy, ultra-minimalist black bezel gives the set at least a modicum of predictable style, although it looks more
like an overweight version of one of the brands 32in LCDs than a genuinely-styled
63in panel. Connectivity is good. The 63P76 features three HDMI v1.3 inputs, compatible with DeepColor (the expanded colour palette from specic software, such as AVCHD format home movies and certain PlayStation 3 games), and automatic lip-syncing. The HDMIs are Anynet compliant too, permitting the TVs remote to control any connected sources enabled with the CEC industry communication standard. Quite why the industry at large has elected to call CEC by a plethora of different names eludes me (Viera link, Bravia Theatre Sync, etc), but there remains broad interoperability (in a try it and see kinda way).
The well-presented, if rather sluggish, onscreen menus provide an unusually wide selection of picture tweaks. These should be employed with a certain amount of caution. Some of these tweaks cause more problems than they solve. An Edge Enhancer tends to make images look harsh and articial as contours become too dominant. I also noted that a Movie Plus Mode designed to make motion more uid actually introduced distracting shimmering and icker around the edges of moving objects. Still, there are denite benets to be gleaned from careful tinkering with gamma, white balance and black level boosting controls. I was also rather impressed with the way Samsungs Digital Natural Image Engine processing option enhanced the appearance of standard-denition sources. This is signicant because a screen of this size is a ruthless canvas for anything less than high-denition and well worth noting if you have a large collection of DVDs.
Product: Eye-popping super-sized plasma TV Position: The top of Samsungs range of affordable big screens. The company will sell you an even larger LCD but youll pay considerably more for the privilege Peers: Panasonic TH-65PX600 (shortly to be replaced by the 700 series model) Fujitsu P63XHA51ES

Proof, pudding, etc

Image quality is high. The set is compatible with 1080p/24 source material, be it HD DVD or Blu-ray, meaning that pans are more-or-less judder-free on lm material. The screen also sports a 48Hz mode that enables it to process the video at a non-artefact inducing multiple of the standard 24fps.
Where plasma traditionally scores over LCD is contrast. In that respect, this set isnt too shabby at all. It claims a paper specication contrast ratio of 15,000:1. This falls only a fraction short of the industry-leading 16,000:1 gure quoted by Pioneers remarkable Kuro range. Of course, anyone can go around quoting big numbers; its another thing achieving them in reality. The Samsungs real-world contrast is more akin to 298:1, as measured by HCCs own independent Tech Labs, although this is not much less than that of Pioneers latest plasma panels. Samsungs high contrast claim, however, is a result of its Ultra FilterBright technology, whereby a lter built into the screen array is charged with removing up to 90 per cent of ambient screen reections. Improving colour gradations is an 18bit colour processing engine. Samsung says its silicon can deliver 18 quadrillion colour shades, resulting in a more expressive and natural colour palette. Given that 10- and 12bit colour processing is more the norm for a higher-end screen, it seems likely that the maths has been given a little marketing spin that doesnt make them directly comparable to rivals. In terms of sheer value for money, this baby certainly delivers. In some retail outlets it comes in at a full two grand cheaper than Panasonics Full HD 65in TH-65PX600, and nearly 4K cheaper than Fujitsus 63in P63XHA51ES (and thats not even Full HD!).

MARCH 2008 HOME CINEMA CHOICE

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52 REVIEWS

Specifications
HD Ready: YES inc 1080p support Progressive scan: YES NTSC and PAL formats both work Digital TV tuner: YES digital and analogue Composite video: YES one input S-video: YES one four-pin input Scart: YES two, one RGB Component video: YES one input HDMI/DVI: YES three HDMI, v1.3 PC input: YES one VGA input Headphone: YES one output Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Brightness (claimed): 1000cd/m2 Contrast ratio (claimed): 15,000:1 Dimensions (on stand): 1528(w) x 1087(h) x 423(d)mm Weight: 87kg Also featuring: Ultra FilterBright system; Natural True Colour system; black adjust; dynamic contrast option; gamma adjust; white balance adjust; colour space adjustments; edge enhancement; digital noise reduction; DNIe; digital noise reduction; SRS XT audio processing; Game mode; home theatre PC settings; Anynet HDMI CEC; Nicam stereo (2x15W)
Bland beast: Although its a 63in monster, the design is akin to a 32in LCD TV
Despite its aggressive price, theres not too much evidence of cut corners. It makes its Full HD status count when it comes to image clarity. With a top HD source like the HD DVD release of Peter Jacksons King Kong, every leaf and branch within the jungles of Skull Island seems tangibly real. I felt as if I could step inside the action and take on the mighty ape myself. To make the most of the sets two-million-plus pixel count Id advise buyers to manually set the screens aspect ratio to Just Scan, which removes all overscanning from the picture to enable direct pixel-for-pixel HD image rendering. Toggling between this and the standard 16:9 option (which the TV annoyingly defaults to) clearly reveals extra sharpness and cleanliness in the image with the mode selected, providing an instant demonstration of just what a Full HD resolution can bring to the table with a television as vast as this. The screen is kind to challenging colour reproduction. There was no sign of colour banding during the entire test period. I did note that theres a gentle orange hue when there should be rich reds and occasionally, some blacks look fractionally green. But once calibrated I felt happy with the balance. Also undeniably impressive is the Samsungs black level response. The darkness of the Berlin Warehouse assault on the HD DVD of Mission:
Impossible: III looks rich and threedimensional; its genuinely cinematic. The Samsung easily outguns its rival Fujitsu 63in model in this area. Its very difcult to make a selfemitting technology like plasma look bright on such a large screen. While LCD utilises intense backlighting, a big plasma such as this can only rely on its gas-charged pixels. And I think it does a great job. In a brightly-lit room, I suspect the image would look a little dull, but lower the ambient light and the contrast and peak whites punch through. Motion resolution can be considered good, although perhaps not quite as accomplished as Pioneer and Panasonic rivals. If I had to nd any fault with the 63P76s pictures, Id say that really bright picture elements can cause a little image retention (though this will reduce over time). One bonus of a screen this big is that theres a good stereophonic spread to the audio, which also manages some decent mid-bass.

A: High pre-calibration colour temperature of 9,244K B: This was due to a 139% Blue reading. User adjustment resulted in a remarkably accurate reading of 6496K. Before calibration Colour temperature: 9,244K Contrast ratio: 274:1 Luminance: 16.13fL After calibration Colour temperature: 6,496K (user) Contrast ratio: 298:1 Luminance: 16.8fL

VERDICT

Samsung PS-63P76FD 3,800 Approx Highs: Impressive picture quality; good sound quality; bags of connections Lows: Image retention in TVs early use; orangey reds Performance: Design: Features:

Bigger is better

Those looking for high-impact Full HD are well advised to audition this Samsung. Its a strong performer with no weak suite. It is possible to get better performance from some of its rivals, but then youll almost certainly pay more for the privilege. As a home cinema monitor Id rate it above average and capable of an often thrilling performance

Overall:

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