Samsung UN46B6000

Ease of Use (8.0)

The Samsung UN46B6000's menu system is the same that we've seen on other recent model Samsung HDTVs. There is a tabbed interface that takes up the left side of the display with the tabs arranged at the far left. Most of the interface is taken up with a list of menu options, with various controls like sliders, pop-up menus and sub menus. These are consistent, so you won't have to figure out how to use multiple types of sliders.

The main menu is separated into tabs along the left.

There's a very helpful information box at the bottom of th menu that gives you a clear idea what the selected function will do. The menu is navigated using the directional pad on the remote. Overall the interface is simple and easy to use. Most of the more obscure and advanced functions are hidden in sub-menus, so the average user won't be overwhelmed by them.

Picture Controls (8.0)

The Samsung UN46B6000 divides options into the main menu and two separate sub menus At the top level you have the standard features like mode, backlight, brightness and contrast. This is usually enough for the novice user and it's nice that Samsung hasn't confused them with more advanced features they won't care about.

The picture menu gives you access to the basic controls.

For those who do want more control, however, there are two sub-menus that give you a plethora of options. The Advanced Settings menu let's you adjust dynamic contrast, black tone, gamma, color space and white balance, amongst others.

The advanced and options menus give you access to a wide variety of picture controls.

The Picture Options menu let's you select a color tone, HDMI black level, use a blue only mode for calibration and also has advanced controls of the 120Hz refresh rate, with individual control over blur reduction and judder reduction. All in all it's a quite complete set of picture options.

Audio Controls (6.0)

The Samsung UN46B6000 offers a reasonable selection of audio options. There are five audio modes available: standard, music, movie, clear voice and custom. We like that there's also a full equilizer on board, with the ability to tweak each of these presets to your own liking.There's also speaker selection, a volume equalizer feature and of course the simulated surround sound option.

The audio menu on the UN46B6000.

Other Controls (10.0)

In addition to the picture and sound menus there are five other top-level menus on the Samsung UN46B6000. These are Channel, Setup, Input, Application and Support. The Channel menu let's you manage the channels that the receiver picks up. The Input menu let's you label your various inputs. The Application menu gives you access to media playback features, the Anynet+ feature for controlling other Samsung devices and the InfoLink system, which gives you access to the internet via various widgets.

The setup menu on the UN46B6000.

The setup menu let's you adjust language, do network setup, access V-chip settings for parental controls and a couple of other miscellaneous options. The support menu is perhaps the most interesting, with a self diagnosis options, software upgrade and information about contacting samsung. It's nice to have this information built into the television.

Manual (1.0)

Like the Samsung LN40B650 the UN46B6000 has a manual loaded onto a USB drive. The information on the USB drive can only be accessed by plugging it into one of the USB ports on the HDTV. There's also a more traditional quick setup guide, which walks you through connections, but there's no paper version of the full manual. The problem with a USB manual that only works with the HDTV is that if the television isn't working neither is your manual. We recommend you download the PDF version from Samsung's website.