0306HCC02 Samsung Rear-TV P

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Rear-projectionTV
SAMSUNG SP-43J6HD N 2,300 N 0168 N www.samsungelectronics.co.uk
Without the stand, the set itself is quite compact

Pro-Logic pretender

SAMSUNG HAS COMBINED THE BENEFITS OF LCD WITH A REAR-PRO SYSTEM. MARCO BILELLO WONDERS IF IT ISNT PUTTING THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE
The remotes joystick controls are rather fiddlesome
amsung hopes to muscle in on Toshiba and Sonys dominance of the rear-projection market
includes a three-channel option, while there are also wide, phantom and hall DSP varieties. If you fancy fiddling with the settings theres a graphic equaliser to play with, while picture features are confined to noise reduction and black stretch, which boosts contrast. The operating system is easy on the eye and would be easy to navigate if it wasnt for the fiddly remote which relies too heavily on a nipple/joystick directional switch that I found almost impossible to master.

LAB REPORT

Colour separation: Good, but theres clear peaking and soft edges Convergence: Excellent Geometry: Excellent Frequency response: Excellent, with detail up to 5.8MHz
with its SP-43J6HD. While most popular models in this sector are CRT based, Samsungs offering uses LCD technology, giving it a unique selling point (slimmer, lighter). But will this be enough to wrestle the initiative away from the current rear-pro kings?

JUST A PRETTY FACE

With a clean fascia and unusual curved design, the SP-43J6HD is an attractive proposition. The screen sits on two dinky feet at the top of an angular yet eye-catching stand, making it look a bit like a plasma. A clever bit of design. The set measures 400mm in depth, making it as bulky as standard CRT or rear-projection sets. It sports an unadventurous range of sockets and, to our consternation, only one from three Scarts is RGB-capable. Around the front there are standard AV inputs along with an S-video option, while the rear panel sports terminals for rear speakers which are not included in the package. Unusually, the TV boasts a separate ultra-slim subwoofer which is fed via the TVs stereo output. Elsewhere, features are routine, with Pro-Logic

FADE TO GREY

The rather limited range of features would be forgivable if the set delivered the goods. But sadly, it doesnt. LCD bugbears are all too evident. The black level is merely average; dark tones are grey in colour, rendering the contrast mediocre. Colours themselves appear listless, washed and lacking in vibrancy, and altering the level settings only falsely over-enhances shades and tints, making the picture appear unnatural. There is also noticeable colour bleed, which is particularly prevalent around graphics and logos. Most distracting was the seeping dribble of red from the right side of the BBC News 24 logo. Bizarrely, the picture occasionally twitched, and now and then it was possible to see LCD panel structure
The TVs own control panel runs down the side

HCC Practical Tip

When buying any display, the range of socketry on offer is important. Anyone buying a rear-projection set will more than likely be using it as a main TV so its imperative that there are no less than two RGB capable Scart sockets. Component video inputs also brings the most out of compatible DVD players. Although the audio performance of the SP-43J6HD is very good, youll want to incorporate it within a surround sound home cinema system to enjoy the full impact of DVDs.
Front and centre speakers are built into the stand
decoding by far the most exotic. mandated Dolby surround processing
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in the form of vertical lines against brightly coloured backgrounds. A glitch in the Scart setup menu ensured that when watching widescreen broadcasts on Sky Digital in RGB the TV stretched a 4:3 image to fill the 16:9 screen, even if 4:3 was manually selected.

RATINGS

Highs: Looks, sound Lows: Fan noise; sub hum; one RGB Scart; Scart switching problem
Picture Sound Features Overall ### #### ### ###
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SILVER LINING

Fine detail performance, though, is good. Images are displayed crisply with excellent levels of detail. And the audio performance is excellent, with the SP-43J6HD delivering a wide and detailed soundstage. The subwoofer adds weight to DVD soundtracks played through the TV in Pro-Logic mode and adds extra meat when listening to any of the various music channels. However, in quiet scenes when not asked to boom out bass, the sub hums slightly. This is compounded by audible LCD panel-cooling fan noise from the TV itself. All things considered, the Samsung SP-43J6HD is something of a disappointment, and the Pro-Logic sound facilities seem antiquated now that we have 5.1 Dolby Digital. It may be considerably cheaper than other screens in this group test, but the picture niggles really rule it out of the running I

FEATURES

Specifications: 43in 16:9 LCD screen; NTSC playback; Dolby Pro Logic; noise reduction; black stretch; picture presets; multiple aspect ratios; AV-Link; picture freeze; test tone; rear channel delay; 3-channel sound mode; Hall, Phantom and Wide DSP modes; teletext; child lock Connections: 3 Scarts (1 RGB); S-video input; composite video input; stereo audio input; rear speaker terminals; headphone jack; stereo audio out; RF input Dimensions: 750(h) x 1,070(w) x 400(d)mm; Weight: 31kg
*0% INTEREST FREE CREDIT AVAILABLE
*(Written details available on request)
FREE DVD PLAYER WITH SELECTED LIFESTYLE SYSTEMS. PHONE FOR DETAILS
15 Charter Place, High St, Watford, Herts WD17 2RS www.hificity.co.uk

WATFORD

0212WHC25 Samsung RP TV

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43in Rear-projection TV

Samsung SP-43J6 HD 2,300

Samsung has made a brave attempt to reinvent the rear-projection TV with its new 43in LCD model. But was it worth the effort?
heres an old adage that goes: if it aint broke, dont fix it. But this truism doesnt seem to mean much to Samsung. In spite of the fact that there are some rip-roaring cathode ray tube (CRT) rear-projection TVs already out there, Samsung has decided rear-projection needs an overhaul. The result is the SP-43J6HD a rear-pro TV, using LCD rather than CRT technology. But does the world really need it? The 43J6HD isnt actually Samsungs first LCD rear-pro TV. Samsung has tried and failed to impress us with this technology before. But the 43J6HD tries to make us forget this by looking about as stylish as it is possible for a 43in hunk of plastic to appear. The design is replete with curves and flourishes, and also Test Scenes

Magnolia

Although reckoned to be cutting-edge, its not overburdened with features
sneakily fools the eye into thinking the TV is only a couple of inches thick, when, in fact, its only a few centimetres less round its rear end than a CRT rear-projection TV. The 43J6HD has a few very interesting connections. Disappointingly, only one of its three Scarts can take high-quality RGB, but you do get spring-clip connectors for rear speakers and a connection for an external subwoofer. A sub is also included in the basic package, but rear speakers are not, meaning youll have to add your own if you want to fully exploit the sets onboard Pro-Logic decoding.

Grey is the new black

Lack of contrast is noticeable in this scene when the blacks look grey, and theres little or no definition

Cutting-edge quality?

Considering the 43J6HD is reckoned to be cutting-edge, its not exactly overburdened with features. In fact, aside from the Pro-Logic audio, the only things even worth mentioning in passing are noise reduction and a contrast booster. Yawn. With nothing else to keep us busy, we switched the 43J6HD on and. thought it had gone wrong. For a good few seconds, the picture was so muted and dark, it was practically impossible to make out what we were watching. But then, thankfully, it suddenly sparked into life as the LCD panels

Sharp-edged clouds

Faint vertical bands can be seen running down the image, and there is a jagged look to the clouds

A question of colour

Vibrant scenes, like the quiz show, betray a certain amount of colour seepage
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Rival Buys

Toshiba 42PW23, 1,500
42in CRT rear-pro TV with only Nicam sound but far superior pictures. Nice price, too

Sony KP44PS2, 2,800

Stunning aesthetics and high-end pictures as youd expect from Sonys flagship 44in CRT rear-pro contender
warmed up (they have to warm down when you turn it off, too!). Fed Paul Thomas Andersons Magnolia, the 43J6HD failed to float our boat. A particularly troubling problem is lack of contrast. Really low-lit scenes, such as Tom Cruises first onstage appearance for Seduce and Destroy, look grey where they should be black, reducing the power of Andersons imagery, muting colours, and making subtle background details impossible to distinguish. Colours arent especially precise, either. Relatively vibrant scenes like the quiz-show footage show definite traces of both seepage and peaking. This is not down, though, to the CRT rear-projection problem of poor convergence between the red, blue and green image components. In fact, the only real benefit we could see of the LCD approach to rear projection is that there are no convergence issues whatsoever.

Thomson 44JW611, 1,600

Supremely elegant and well-built 44in CRT rear-pro model with awesome sound, but only average pictures

The jagged edge

From here on in, though, its mostly just more bad news. Our sample of the 43J6HD kept twitching in a most aggravating fashion, and we sometimes saw traces of its LCD panel structure in the picture. For instance, during the shots of blue skies with weather reports Anderson uses to punctuate Magnolia, we could see faint vertical bands down the image, as well as jaggedness around
cloud formations. These shots also showed that the corners of the picture were darker than the middle. Although it probably seems academic at this point, it should be mentioned that the 43J6HDs sound is excellent. Magnolias famous frog-rain scene is given added ookiness (for want of a better word.) by a widely dispersed soundstage thats packed with accurate effects and bags of bass, courtesy of the included subwoofer. Adding rear speakers just makes things even better. The only flies in the ointment are that the subwoofer hums annoyingly away to itself when its not being pushed by a bassline, and that the fans the TV needs to keep its LCD panels cool can be heard during Magnolias quieter moments. Samsung can perhaps be applauded for its bravery in trying to be different. But at the same time, on the evidence of the 43J6HD, its hard to see why they bothered.

Good Points

Stylish design, decent sound and a big screen

Bad Points

A lack of features, colour seepage and noisy subwoofer Poor contrast

Overall

Disappointing picture quality, although sound is good if youre happy with Pro-Logic

Ratings

Style Ease of use Features Picture Sound Value Overall

Further Info

Call or visit www.samsungelectronics.co.uk
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