Samsung LN-R408D 40-Inch Widescreen Flat-Panel LCD HDTV
Great Flat Panel for Today and the Future
After spending WAY too much time researching all of the various televisions in the market between 37 and 45 inches, I finally decided on this beautiful looking Samsung 40\\" LCD HDTV.  I wanted a set that would work great now but also in the future; because Tivo has yet to produce an HDTV capable DVR (and I'm NOT giving up Tivo), I knew that I would only be using this TV for Digital Cable and DVDs in the meantime, so I was concerned about non-HDTV signals and how they would look.  Well, let me just say that I'm pleasantly surprised.  Sure, regular cable channels are a bit grainy if you sit too close to the screen, but to be honest they look better than I expected, even when I put it in \\"panoramic\\" mode and it's technically stretching a 4:3 picture to fill the screen ... and I know in a year or so many more channels will be in HD and they'll all look spectacular then.  And of course DVDs are already amazing.    Some of the reasons I opted for this LCD over some of the popular Plasma flat panels such as the 42\\" Panasonic or Pioneer, or an LCD rear projection:    - I have an XBOX, and with plasmas the burn-in effect is definitely a concern.  This isn't to say that LCD screens aren't susceptable to burn-in, but it's far less likely.    - Plasmas start out as bright as they'll ever be and the screen pixels slowly dim over time, until eventually they die.  LCDs have a much, much longer lifespan.    - LCD Rear Projections are nice (Sony offers a new one that looks pretty good), but this flat panel LCD has a much better viewing angle, the picture is a little brighter and more vibrant, and you'll NEVER see any digital pixelation when objects are moving quickly on screen.  This TV was over $650 more than the aforementioned Sony, but to me it was worth the difference.    Samsung offers a nice variety of viewing modes, and while the 16:9 setting almost always makes people look \\"wide\\" when viewing television (not the case with DVDs, just remember to change your DVD player's settings to 16:9 and not 4:3, otherwise it will stretch), the panoramic and Zoom1 settings are great... especially for people who always want to fill up the whole screen.    To ease some general concerns about LCDS, this Samsung utilizes new technology to offer a 3000:1 contrast, matching most plasmas.  What this means is you don't see the same \\"ghosting\\" effect that LCD screens are notorious for.  There is some slight ghosting when there are bright objects over a dark black background, but I've only seen this during production company intros (such as Miramax) and not during an actual movie, even in darkly-lit scenes.  However, if you watch movies in brighter (dynamic) viewing modes and not the richer, warmer \\"movie\\" mode, you may see some occasional ghosting in dark scenes, such as people sitting around a fire in a dark forest.  This isn't a problem, though, because I feel movies look best in the movie mode anyway.    As for the built-in speakers, they're nothing special, but I wanted a TV where I could at least have sound when just clicking through cable channels and I don't feel like turning on the stereo speakers.  Having the speakers at the bottom instead of the sides is also nice because it wastes less space, especially if you have large speakers to the side of the TV anyway.    Overall I'm very pleased with this TV and I highly recommend it.  And remember, a 40\\" screen is a heck of a lot larger in your living room than it is on display at Best Buy.