Samsung LE40A656A Reviews: Series 6, 40" Screen LCD Full HD 1080p TV

+ Good performance for the money, in fact good performance for any LCD. Is brilliant for films from DVD. True 1080p. 100Hz picture is a big plus over many other LCDs. Good connectivity and good sound. Makes a great PC monitor (remember to use Picture Size setting True Scan for this).

- Like all LCDs, it needs a bit of setting up to get the best quality from the picture. A plasma can give slightly better picture performance but LCDs use less power, last longer and make better PC monitors.

+ Out of the box there is far too much backlighting and this single setting made Sky SD look awful. Took the time to play with picture settings after trying all the presets. There is also plenty of info on the net on picture settings for the series 6 and there is a lot to play with. When you get a usable result it's stunning for Blu Rays and PS3 games over HDMI. I haven't got HD but 1080i PS3 games look excellent. SD is now about as good as any big screen lcd i.e.We don't have to sit in the next county anymore for things to look OK!!!!! The design of the TV is stunning, modern but classy.

- Sound is a little light weight and at odds with the quality of the picture.I stream Itunes music over my network via the PS3 but can't find a setting on the eq where the bass would sound realistic at lower levels and not distort at higher levels. Its as if there was a big hole in the mid bass frequencies so you turn up the sub bass to suit and then it distorts. A high end TV like this should have decent woofer/mid/tweeter speakers with tri-amping!!!. this would muck up the excellent design though Until then it really needs a 2.1 speaker system to sort it. And as many people have said the bezel is a dust magnet. Samsung don't manufacture a matching crystal rose speaker system without a DVD player

+ 100hz captures action perfectly, 1080p is very clear, 18kg weight made chosing a smaller wall bracket possible, rose edge is so much better than conventional screen frames, lots of easy to use menu's, picture quality absolutely stunning through BluRay - buy this TV and you will not be dissapointed.

- None

+ Amazing picture. Seriously impressive stuff. Looks great design-wise also. Good, clear sound. Best TV I've ever owned by a mile.

- Image quality out of the box is not what it should be. Try the HD TV Test website for info on how to calibrate it. Also when you first turn it on it will ask if you want to constantly revert to Dynamic mode, which is dreadful. Normal and Movie are great, however.

+ Extremely smart looking TV. Very easy to set up. Picture and manoeverability excellent. Would definitely recommend it to anyone..

- The sound perhaps could be better. My husband is slightly deaf and commented that because the sound comes from the back of the set instead of the side fronts he found it harder to hear, although this point had not been noticed by myself.

+ Image quality is superb. Actually, at first I was using only freeview... and guess what... its pure digital image, better than standard DvD.
I am also using it as a PC monitor.. its great.

- Reviewer left no comment

+ Picture is great especially in HD if you have it. Set up easy too. Love the design just slightly disapointed no light underneath like the older modle. Can swivel TV too which is handy if you have different seating areas as we do. Overalll really pleased.

- Sound was awful to start with as speaker is located underneath which seems odd. Not as good as older modle we had so I would def recommend getting surround sound too. The volume is really quiet too and is often near to 90 when watching movies on sky. Shame as all other good.

+ Looks like a piece of art and also performs like a masterpiece

- Channel Switching is very slow.

+ Fantastic picture quality from any source, be it, terestrial tv, digital tv or sky. Where this tv really shows its class tho is when you connect a high def source up via one of the 3 HDMI sockets. Blurays look simply stunning as does gaming via a PS3. The only let down would be the in built speakers are a bit weedy, hook it up to a home theater system to get around this. The design factor with the rose black finish is simply superb

- As mentioned above the in built speakers are a bit on weedy side.

+ Fantastic spec(100 hz,1080p,50000:1 contrast) and great picture quality
Plenty of connectivity options including 4xHDMI
Impressive HD performance but non HD sources also appear sharper and crisper

- Sound is a little disapointing and whilst the surround looks great it is easily scratched if not cleaned with care

+ The crystal red styling effect is very nice. But bewarned.....the whole tv is a dust magnet!.
The picture quality is very very good. The amount of customisability with colour, contrast..etc is very good.
4 HDMI ports is a great feature to have.
The remote is easy to use and is backlit.
Excellent black reproduction. Dark scenes in HD look black not grey.
SD upscaling to pretty good.
SRS sound processing really is not a substitute for a good 5.1 system. The TV when bought in October 2008 appears to have the latest firmware..fixing the previous blurring issues and HDMI handshaking problems reported earlier in the year.

- The backlights actually start to buzz if you select a backlight level other than 10 (only when a scene goes black). The built in sound is terrible. Hardly any base reproduction. 100hz motion plus is, as usual with most 100hz scanning fads, useless and adds an artificial video effect to most interlaced and progressive sources. Does not know which HDMI is active. So if you turn on your Blu ray player on HDMI 2 and you are currently on HDMI 1 with no signal present then the TV will stay on HDMI 1 waiting for a signal. Annoying. The backlights heat up the TV. So, when there is a very dark scene or you turn off the tv, you can hear the metal components inside it contracting and clicking. The menus are nice but they have appear to have been updated on models in the states (akin to the menus seen on the BD-P1500 and series 7 tv.

+ Great picture quality on Sky, Freeview and DVD. Fantastic design. Lots of connectivity. Was concerned about the sound quality after reading some reviews, but after fiddling with the settings it was much better than I expected - we don't have a home cinema system. Overall, this is an excellent product. Very pleased with the purchase.

- Not many - picture quality does take a bit of fiddling, but no more than other TV's. Manual doesn't say that you can have separate picture settings for each input source - DVD, Freeview and Sky. I found this good to adjust picture settings for different sources such as DVD's and TV. This may be obvious to some, but it wasn't to me.

+ Visually it's stunning. The 100htz refresh is incredible, i cant believe how much difference it makes. If you want a great TV buy this one. Trust me when i say this outshines all the other televisions by other manufactures. It even came with a few surprises, you can plug a flash drive into the side and look at pictures and listen to music from it.
The touch sensitive controls on the TV was a nice touch, wasn't expecting that, but i rarely use it. The remote is sleek but with big enough buttons, it even lights up if you are a fan of the dark.
A big reason also to buy this TV is the 4 HDMI slots, there are already a lot of HD consoles and Bluray players on the market but im sure more are coming, other TVs only give you 3 HDMI slots.

- It takes a second or two to switch between sources, this can result in pushing the button one too many times and missing the source you wanted, but you do get used to it.
Television speakers will allways suck, these arent bad but if you have a big screen TV i would suggest a big surround sound too.

+ The picture is excellent,and also the look of it.

- The only bad point is the sound, you do need a surround sound system.

+ DVD images are exceptional

- Some of the motion on standard TV output (Sky satellite) is not well defined.

+ Fully featured up with 1080p and 100hz. Lots of options to the adjust picture to get the best from whatever input you are using.

- The Picture in Picture only works when viewing an HDMI input first. So I can't watch something on digital and analogue at the same time unless I get an HDMI digibox or SKY HD (only really useful for euro 2008 when two games were on at the same time). Slow to scroll between different inputs, I can't select my PS3 input at the click of one button. Which is frustrating because it's the main reason I have it.

+ Fantastic Picture quality though - out of this world! Design & looks fab

- Dosen't Auto detect HDMI connections, so if you have a DVD player with a scart or Video with Scart you have to keep going into the settings, pressing a dozen buttons before getting back to the HDMI.

+ A great picture and everyone who has seen it says it's really clear. Overall I'm very pleased with product.

- The only thing I've found wrong is I thought it had picture in picture. It comes up on the menu but doesn't work.

+ This model has amazing picture quality...i would definitely recommend this if you have a playstation 3 and sky HD. Samsung has really created a masterpiece

- NONE!!! really there is none...Totally Satisfied with this product

+ Top spec for a cheap price. Crystal clear picture and smoother image with greatly reduced flicker compared to past samsung models when watching DVDs e.g. compred to the samsung le40m87 which I sent back due to fault.

- Some very minor image flicker at times dependent on what settings the TV is set to when watching a standard DVD, please note though all tv's have their flaws and this is only a minor issue with this screen you have to be a perfectionist to notice (unfortunately like myself). You will not find a better tv for the price I paid.

+ Good looking tv - picture good - sound - good - I got what I was looking for
Easy setup - Auto power reduce consumption settings - help reduce running costs

- Switching channels a bit slower than normal TV but not that bad
Only way to switch power off is to unplug from socket
Possibly more information on the power usage when on standby

+ If considering buying this TV don't... Just go out and buy it!!! - It's excellent, you won't beat it for the money!

- None - Just wish i had bought it sooner!

+ Beautiful TV and looks very modern and stylish on my wall. Fabulous clear picture.

- Sound quality isnt great but may get a surround sound system to sort that out.

+ elelgant, sleek design, easy to use and install. Samsung Anynet fuction, allows one remote to control other compatable Samsung devices (ie. home cinema, dvplayer etc.)

- I found that the factory settings for picture quality were poor and needed a great deal of 'tweeking' to get a good picture. Typical of most LCD tvs the sound quality is lacking- but when purchased with the Samsung 2.1 home cinema kit, both the audio and visual experiences are awesome!

+ Fantastic TV, Picture is amazing even viewing non- HD programs. Viewing films makes you think you are actually part of the film - SAW IV was just out of this world, and linked up with SONY DAV260 surround sound just capped it off. Sport is also unbelievable !!! and I like the way you can adjust picture settings to suit the type of program you are watching.

- Non at all

+ this is an impressive television and the picture quality is amazing espically when watching films on dvd.
The TV takes you through a simple set up procedure where it searches for channels and the digital freeview. I wanted the series 6 because of the red rose edging and even though this isn't very noticable in low light I'm still pleased I went for this option. I can't wait to use the usb port to watch jpeg's through the tv, what a great design.

- The sound quality is disappointing and it isn't as rich as other tv's however this was easily fixed when we connected the surround sound.

+ The most beautiful design I have ever seen, just looking at my Samsung gives me great pleasure, in fact it is so nice I bought another smaller 22 inch version for another room. My wife's brother came to visit which resulted with him buying the 32 inch version.
The piano black finish looks really good on top of my black glass stand & this is all finished off with my Samsung 1080 DVD player .

- HD channels are too good & the result of this is me watching more & more TV, especially National Geographic & other similar programs.

+ I would highly recommend this tv especially for the money. The picture quality is excellent, the design is gorgeous and I've had no problems with the sound at all (I was a bit worried after reading some of the other reviews)

- None

+ Beautiful design, the touch sensitive buttons that are flush on the right side of the panel are very discreet and functional. Settings are easy to configure and it's useful to have the various preset picture settings such as Movie, Game and Standard which try to make the most of the imput source.
The remote control is effectively designed with large, unclustered buttons and in sensible colour-coding. The response time after pressing a button and activating that change on the set is improved from earlier Samsung models.
The 4 HDMI inputs are useful if you don't have an AV Receiver to hook up your peripherals.

- Poor quality sound, the speaker cannot handle anything at mid-level as it distorts. If your planning on watching DVDs/BluRays and playing games you MUST hook it up to a decent AV Receiver and speaker set to get the most from it. Having said that, the TV's own speaker is adequate for day-to-day television viewing.

+ Picture quality, design

- Reviewer left no comment

+ great value for money stylish good picture highly recomended

- no bad points

+ Appearance very smart
picture quality excellent
Amount of (4)HDMI/AVI/Sound connections Etc very good

- Sound quality leaves quite a lot to be desired

+ Fantastic design which will compliment any living space. The picture is truly amazing and packed with all the features for all of your home entertainment needs. This really is a great TV, you will not be disappointed.

- The remote control is badly designed and looks awful especially the light up orange keys.
As I am only using the HDMI connections you cannot select the extensions easially and have to cycle through the source selection which is quite annoying.

+ Fabulous definition, lovely frame, looks very stylish

- The sound is not as good as the sony but great with a surround sound system. Difficult to access leads when it is on the wall, no slot to insert a memory card from a camera for example.

+ Absolutely fantastic picture quality, with all sources. Digital tv is good, and much sharper than I expected. DVD is sharp (even from a dvd player with no upscaling capabilities). PS3 games are breath takingly clear. Cannot recommend this tv enough.

- There are some bad points however, nothing to do with the TV but the switch to HDMI and Component video means my AV amp (no lipsync capabilities) must be replaced as there is time delay between the picture on the screen and the sound out of my AV system. If I was going to be picky about the TV it would be the basic imput selector, whereby you have to go through them 1 by 1 until you find the one your after, or access it from the menu, again a fairly long winded process (not as simple as it could be). Also the buttons on the remote feel cheap, but I guess this is to allow them to be illuminated by the back light more effectively.

+ Unique design and appearance with excellent picture quality & smooth motion.

- Sound quality could be improved

+ Once we had worked out how to set the picture (using internet reviews) it became fantastic, so don't be put off by the initial poor quality when you first turn it on, and spend time to get the settings right. An excellent TV for the price, an affordable version of the Sony Bravia. I bought this TV especially for watching the footy, and I was worried that as a mid priced LCD TV it would ghost, but the 100hz function really makes the difference, and there is no ghosting at all, it is perfect for sports.

- Sound is probably the only bit that lets it down, it doesn't have much power, but there are plenty of ways around that, picture is the most imprtant part, and that can be fantastic.

+ stylish, excellent picture

- sound not loud enough

+ Fantastic picture quality and a very good color setup menu. Very stylish design. Image quality is crisp and clear. I have not been able to spot any ghosting during fast action scenes. Contrast is excellent, blacks are rich and deep while whites are truly bright. All in all this set is a wonderful product and I don't think I would settle for anything else at present.

- The source button should have a menu system instead of scrolling uni-directionally across inputs. It quickly becomes tedious. Sound lacks a bit of bass, but on the other hand one can never expect decent bass from a TV without an additional sound system.

+ Image is superb once tweaked out of factory/shop settings.
Design and build quality are splendid.
4 x HDMI very useful

- Downfiring speakers adequate for TV viewing and gaming but not really good enough for blueray movies.
Factory Setup is dreadful - worth a trip to AV forums to look at settings and picture tweaking.

+ Innovative and stylish design. Intuitive EPG and menu system. Excellent image and build quality for good price.

- While understably placed to be discreet, the side ports (usb wiselink in particular) are not in the most accessible of places. Perhaps better underneath screen or in a more prominent side position. Shiny surfaces attract dust - prefer shiny and dust attractive to non-shiny though :)

+ Clear picture, nice and crisp colors. As they say, the 'black' is coming out in the contrast which makes the quality of the picture much better then others. It looks very good with the red/ dark red edge. The swivel base is very handy too. The remote control is very good, easy to read and large buttons, good for perhaps the older generation too.
Good product for the price.

- I am not to sure if I like the high gloss frame but I think I have got used to it all ready

+ The picture, once you've tweaked it a tiny bit, is awesome. Wihout a doubt the best TV I've owned since the CRT I had in the early 90s. It doesn't just feel like a box that shows pictures, it feels like something that adds to your living room. It also has more connections than anyone but the most radical cinema fanatic/gamer could ever need

- The sound isn't quite as rich as I'd like when compared to how amazing everything else about this TV is, but I've bought a home cinema system anyway, so that's not really an issue for me.

+ Easy to set up and use.
Picture quality excellent.
USB jack allows viewing of photos stored on memory stick.

- Have not found any.

+ Picture is pure liquid wonderment. You will see some complaints about sound...well, dont listen to them. The sound is fine unless you need it to deafen you! Im putting an AV amp through mine - digital output!!! Whoop, whoop!

- Switching through AV sources is a bit slow.

+ This is the ultimate HD TV for a great price, it is very elegant and produces the best picture I have ever experienced.

- Reviewer left no comment

+ Just love it. I would highly recommend buying a Samsung home cinema system to compliment it. I bought both and it makes even standard DVD's look unbelievable! Next step is Sky HD!

- None that I've found so far

+ easy to use and set up. great picture quality

- None

+ fits in well in my house very modern and great sound and vision

- none as yet

+ Thoroughly recommend it. The TV looks great, it has a superb picture, and sound is fine (although if you're after the full movie experience I recommend also purchasing a home entertainment system).

-

+ Looks incredibly stylish, easy to set up and performs.

- Doesn't have a independent on/off switch, so unit remains on standby unless you turn off at the plug socket.

+ Fantastics looking TV, easy to use, pretty much plugged it in and about 20 minutes later figured out how to hook up Sky and DVD player. Picture and sound is good, I looked up optimum settings on the internet for this model for SD and HD as it doesn't come setup with the best settings.

- The on off button isn't really on off, it only puts it on standby which I find a bit annoying.

+ VERY EASY TO SETUP AND LOOKS GREAT WITH A PICTURE OF EQUAL QUALITY

- NONE , PEOPLE GO ON ABOUT THE SOUND QUALITY , BUT PERSONALLY I THINKS IT IS FINE FOR EVERY DAY FAMILY USE

+ Clarity of the screen, brilliant for HD.

- Sound isn't great, its good but not great...

+ At first was not too impressed but it grows on you and then you love it. Make sure you can sit far enough away from the screen (3metres is good) then the pixels in standard def are not too noticable. Have hooked up Blueray and thats very good (depending on film) not tried HD broadcasts yet. TV is beautiful.

- Screen can still be a bit dark even with 50,000:1. Need to tweek the settings to get it right. Takes a bit of getting used to. Speed of switching between inputs is slow.
Connected my HD PC via HDMI at 1920x1080 and was surprised that the image is squashed so you end up with a black border all around the screen/screen not usable.This is down to overscanning. Best to use a normal PC VGA lead. The quality is excellent anyway.
Sound is better with the Virtual Surround 'ON' for most programs but not good for music channels.

+ Excellent Electronic Programme Guide with immediate info display and visual display showing how much of the programme is left to run. Very good picture with lots of options to tune it. Number of Connections on the back.

- Selecting non-TV sources manually takes a long time. Scrolling through sources take 5 seconds per source, the menu selection is difficult to find and there is no quick select screen.
Programme name not shown when changing channel in Digital TV

+ looks good picture is poor for a 1080P,

- the tv crashes some times whilst in the program guide and needs turning off and then back on again, the guide is often slow to respond.

+ The picture quality and overall design is oustanding. Connectivity is also great. For the high level of specification the TV definitely offers great value for money. My greatest purchase for a long time.

- The only negative points are the sound quality in comparison to equivelant brands but a good sound system can make up for this. The biggest disapointment for me is the only way you can get a full 50/50 picture in picture is between the HDMI inputs and the TV. The RGB/Component and AV will only do a allow a small PIP window in the corner of the screen.

+ This TV has brilliant picture quality at both its full 1080p and 720p resolutions. Its crisp and clear with sharp blacks and bright whites. Aesthetically with the deep red (almost black) surrond bleeding to clear this TV looks amazing. With 4 HDMI sockets (and a whole host of other standard definition sockets) you can connect just about anything you want to it. It also has both analogue and digital Freeview tuners. Overall a very good TV, and I would recommend it to anyone.

- Sound quality is tinny and lacks bass, but I have found that this is common with all thin cabinet TVs such as this, I suppose you can only put small speakers into such small spaces. I have a good quality surround sound system and that makes all the difference when watching Hi Def movies. I was also disappointed that the optical out on this TV only gives you two channel stereo and not the 5.1 surround sound that I was expecting. This means that at the back of my TV, I have several extra optical cables to connect my Blu-ray / Xbox etc to my surround sound amplifier (having said this, according to the manual the HDMI out on this TV will give you Dolby True-HD surround sound - its just a pitty my amp doesn't support HDMI)

+ All round excellent very pleased with it

- None what so ever

+ Great quality picture, sound and design. In fact the best TV we've ever owned.

- I have yet to find one!

+ Beautiful system. Glad I bought it.

- None

+ fantastic picture
fantastic looks

- medeocre sound
needed some tweaking to avoid screen flicker on hi def games via ps3 and 360

+ great picture and sound. nice sleek design, we love it!

- Reviewer left no comment

+ looks great, picture quality great as i have hi -def v+ box

- none

+ Fabulous picture. Great Design. Quality product that looks asgood as it performs.

- Non really.

+ most things

- No connection supplied to give surround sound from the television fron cinema system

+ Great design
Tons of features
Games do look amazing on it

- Had to buy an extra cable to use the surround sound when not watching DVD's
Picture at times can be a bit poor though this rare.

+ Looks drop dead gorgeous, Hi def is very impressive, Freeview tuner built in does what its supposed to well also i believe it has a card slot for top up tv but haven't tried that. Picture and sound are great after carefull setting up. Lots of HDMI connections and DV in. No dead lcd spots on this tv which is superb. Sound from tv sounds quiet after you have been listening through the home cinema system, solution get the optical cable to run all tv sound through home cinema system. Watch saving private ryan on this set and be prepared to be blown away on the opening beach scene.

- You do need the 2 cleaning cloths provided as the black does show up and collect the dust. Wish the optical cable was packaged with this kit as you definitely need it. Some of the menus or switching freeview channels are a bit sluggish but they do ok. No real bad points just niggles.

+ Great looking TV with performance to match. Linked up with Freesat to get Olympics and home Champions League games in HD. Wow, was not dissapointed. Ideally needs Home Cinema to get full effect. Easy set up and number of HDMi connections a plus. Easy to follow menus.

- None as yet just wish I'd bought it sooner!!

+ Can't beleive the quality of this TV. It still amazes me every time I switch it on. SD upscaling is excellent and when I put on a Blu-Ray I am blown away, the picture quality is just fantastic.

- None really.

+ It 's all we wanted in a tv

- Can't find a way of switching it off, it's either on standby or you have to unplug it and we can't reach our plug so always on standby, which is not good when we are supposed to be saving the planet, and also when you change channels i would like to see the title of what you are watching as you turn over, you have to put info or guide on, i would just like to see as you are using channel up/down

+ Excellent picture when connected with HDMI cable (even without sky plus HD)

- Sound has been better with other makes of TV.

+ Picture quality, design and build quality.

- Expensive, speakers need to be louder.

+ Design, style, ease of set up, PC input, screen colours are fantastic and blacks are black, full HD 1080p

- None

+ Amazing picture, especially with PS3 / Hi Def signals. Amazing colours and black levels... a worthy upgrade to my 2 year old 32" Samsung.

- A little deep. The screen is awful to clean.

+ Stunning picture quality and I haven't tried anything high definition..... yet!

- Sound quality isn't anything special. Needs a cinema sound system to go with it.
Unable to switch T.V. off. Only able to put into a standby mode. Not very good for your carbon footprint.

+ Picture quality - clarity, colour balance and in particular contrast - black is very black compared to some lcd tvs I'd seen.

- Sound is okay, but might benefit from an external system being added.

+ The best picture quality I could find and even the freeview picture quality is excellent

- Can't see the touch sensitive controls on the right side but never use them anyway. Also no power off switch on the television.

+ Love the amount of devices you can connect - we have a PC, 2 games consoles, DVD player so far and it hasn't had a problem.
Screen in Screen (DTV) is great feature and the way the TV swivels is ace!

- it collects dust a little too easily.

+ It looks of a high quality and the slight tinge of red adds appeal

- the wise link can be tempremental with some usb connections

+ Amazing picture quality when all the settings have been adjusted correctly

- Sound isn't as strong as conventional CRT TVs

+ Great looking TV with a very good picture quality even in SD. Easy to use

- Sound quality not up to the spec of the picture.

+ Easy to use and set up.

- No bad points

+ Looks fantastic,excellent picture.

- None so far.