Samsung LN40B610

Value Comparison Summary

These two HDTVs are pretty identical from the specifications. But the Sharp is considerably cheaper; you can pick it up for about $750, while the Samsung costs over a thousand bucks. However, value is about more than just price, and the Samsung is the better value for money, with significantly better performance, and a wider set of features. So, if your budget can stretch to it, the Samsung is the better pick overall.

	Comparison Specifications
	Samsung LN40B610	Sharp LC-40E67UN
Size	40 inches	40 inches
Price	$1050	$750
Type	LCD	LCD
Format	1080p	1080p
Other	USB port	None

Blacks & Whites

The Sharp has a very slight edge when it comes to blacks, but the Samsung is the clear winner when it comes to whites; it has a much brighter screen.

Blacks & Whites Comparison Chart
Samsung LN40B610 Score: Black Level: 7.79 Peak Brightness: 9.33 Contrast: 8.44	Sharp LC-40E67UN Score: Black Level: 8.00 Peak Brightness: 7.20 Contrast: 7.38

Color Accuracy

The Sharp had a very slight edge in our color temperature test (which looks at the consistency of whites at various different intensities), but the differences were not huge; both had only very slight shifts in the color of the whites. Both also had very smooth RGB curve, but did have some issues in our color gamut test, where we look at the range of colors that the display can represent against the range of colors that a HDTV signal contains.

Color Temperature Comparison

Samsung LN40B610 Score: 8.05

Sharp LC-40E67UN Score: 9.22

RGB Comparison

Samsung LN40B610 Score: 8.03

Sharp LC-40E67UN Score: 8.80

Color Gamut Comparison

Samsung LN40B610 Score: 4.15

Sharp LC-40E67UN Score: 5.29

Motion

Motion is a huge part of the performance of a HDTV, and the Samsung was the clear winner here; we saw much smoother, more detailed and generally attractive motion from the LN-40B610 than from the LC-40E67UN. Both HDTVs had no issue displaying a 24 frames per second signal as well, so they would both work fine with a high-end Blu-ray player.

Viewing Effects

Both HDTVs shared the same curse as most cheap LCD displays; the curse of the poor viewing angle. For both displays, we found that the contrast ratio of the blacks and whites on screen fell below 50% of maximum at less than 20 degrees away from straight on, so those on the end of the couch will see a much dimmer, duller picture than those in the middle.

Viewing Angle Comparison
Samsung LN40B610 Score: 4.1	Sharp LC-40E67UN Score: 2.21

Connectivity

Both displays are pretty close when it comes to inputs and outputs: they have a similar number of HDMI ports and analog video inputs. The only real difference is that the Samsung includes a USB port, which can be used to play back music and photos from a USB device. Videos are not supported, though.

Other Models in the LNXX610 Series
This is a review of the LN40B610, specifically. The other TVs in this series should be broadly similar in terms of performance and usability. For details about any differences, click on the image to jump to the Series Comparison page.
LN46B610 46'	LN52B610 52'