Samsung Series 7 LED TV Review

LED TVs are just starting to make an entry into the market and Samsung is one of the very first few ones that’s introducing them to consumers. Their entry-level model in the Series 7 is a 40-inch LED TV. This model uses light emitting diodes (LEDs) as its primary light source, rather than traditional cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) found in regular LCD TVs nowadays.

At just under 30mm (1.2 inches), the TV is so thin you can practically hang it on the wall (the set just weighs below 15 kg). It sports the classic design with a glossy black finish and transparent edges. Samsung intended this design so you can actually display digital paintings on the screen and really make the TV look like a regular wall-mounted painting in your room.

The Samsung LED Engine generates a mega contrast (1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio) so you get really nice vibrant colors while maintaining the darkest black level for much better contrast. It supports a resolution of full HD 1080p (1920×1080 pixels) so you get great results in movie playback. The biggest advantage of LED TVs from the non-LEDs is that you get superb color intensity and dynamic range. Problem though is that I didn’t see any huge difference in picture quality when I hooked it up to my HDX 1000 and played some 1080p video clips.

At the back are two 10-watt speakers that points downward for a better sound spread. It doesn’t have the volume you’ll need for watching some hidef or Blu-ray movies but is more than enough for regular TV viewing. You’ll have to hook this up to a separate sound system if you want to enjoy a full surround sound movie experience.

The TV also comes with a plethora of ports at the back panel – two USB 2.0 ports for importing and viewing photos and videos, 4 HDMI ports for connecting with HD players and gaming consoles, and an Ethernet port for connecting the TV to the internet (there’s option for wireless LAN support too), among others.

(I liked this separate small egg-shaped remote you can use just for channel surfing.)

The Series 7 features Picture-in-Picture display (although it can only do multiple video inputs and not two TV channels at the same time) as well as a Content Library and DLNA Wireless. And because of the low energy consumption of LEDs, there’s a 40 percent reduction on power when compared to regular LCDs.

Since LEDs are still a bit expensive, this Samsung LED TV will also reflect that cost. A Samsung Series 7 LED TV has a suggested retail price about twice the price of a regular LCD TV of similar size. If an ultra slim wall-mounted TV really fancies you, the Samsung Series 7 LED TV fits the bill. Expect to shell out about Php150,000USD 2,556INR 216,690EUR 2,435CNY 18,615 for one of these in stores and I must admit, this one is really for early adopters who has some money to burn.