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Samsung LN46C550

First Impressions Review

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Tour & Design
Samsung LN46C550
Page 2

Performance Features

Display Size & Technology

The Samsung LN46C550 is a 46-inch 1080p CCFL-backlit LCD television, and the technology driving it has not really changed since last year. All the time and money has since been shifted to developing better LED-backlit LCDs, which can achieve much thinner frames. You can expect the prices on 2010 and 2011 models to continue dropping slowly until they become completely commoditized goods.

A 1080p CCFL-backlit LCD with no real advances in technology.


Formats & Resolution

The Samsung LN46C550 is a native 1080p television.


Brightness, Blacks and Contrast Ratio

Samsung made a vaguish reference to improved black level performance on its C550 series of TVs, but was unable to elaborate on how exactly this was achieved. We're hoping that it's not something as ham-handed as a more aggressive auto-dimming feature. On previous reviews, we noticed that auto-dimming—which dims the whole screen when a shot is particularly dark—has the effect of killing details in shadows.


Color

There was no mention of color performance improvements on the Samsung LN46C550.


Motion & Refresh Rate

The Samsung LN46C550 is stuck with a 60hz refresh rate. The C650 series has an upgraded 120Hz, and the C750 series has a 240Hz refresh. Of course, refresh rate still has a merely speculative improvement on image quality. We've heard arguments from experts on both sides, and have yet to see any major improvements in performance with our own eyes.


Viewing Angle

The viewing angle on the previous Samsung CCFL LCDs was about 25-30 degrees. We expect this to be about the same.

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Samsung LN46C550
First Impressions Review

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Tour & Design

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