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We were generallly pleased with the Samsung LN32A450's performance in our testing. The black level was reasonable for an LCD and the peak brightness was good, producing a solid contrast ratio. We were particularly impressed by the greyscale gamma curve, which was almost perfect, and the solid color performance. This isn't to say it was perfect, for example there were innacuracies in the color gamut and the viewing angle was unimpressive. Compared to the JVC LT-32P679, however, the Samsung LN32A450 performed markedly better in most areas.
Calibration
Few HDTVs come out of the box ready to give you the best picture possible. You can pay for someone to come out to your home and calibrate your Samsung LN32A450, or you can use the settings we used below for free! For our calibration purposes we use a program called DisplayMate, which is the same professional software used by many television manufacturers.
| Setting |
Default (standard mode) |
Calibrated (custom mode) |
| Mode |
Movie |
Movie |
| Backlight |
5 |
10 |
| Contrast |
95 |
90 |
| Brightness |
45 |
30 |
Digital NR
|
Auto |
Off |
HDMI Black Level
|
Low |
Normal |
Video Modes
As with most HDTVs there are a variety of picture mode presets available for you. On the Samsung LN32A450 there are only three, Dynamic, Standard and Movie. Below you can see what each of these settings does.
| Mode |
What it Does |
| Dynamic |
Backlight 10, Contrast 100, Brightness 45, Sharpness 75, Color 55, Color Tone: Cool1, Digital NR: Auto, DNIe: On, HDMI Black Level: Low
|
| Standard |
Backlight 7, Contrast 95, Brightness 45, Sharpness 50, Black Adjust: Off, Dynamic Contrast: Medium, Edge Enhancement: On, Color Tone: Normal, Digital NR: Auto, HDMI Black Level: Low
|
| Movie |
Backlight 5, Contrast 95, Brightness 45, Sharpness 20, Color Tone: Warm2, Digital NR: Auto, HDMI Black Level: Low
|
 Dot Pattern
LCD HDTVS like the Samsung LN32A450 have pixels made up of three elements, Red, Green and Blue. Just because we can we took a photo of the Samsung LN32A450's elements using a 20x microscope, you can see the picture of the HDTV showing white to the right there. As you can see white is actually made up of equal parts Red, Green and Blue. Each pixel on the Samsung LN32A450 can create any color by varying the intensity of each of these three colors.
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