Spectacular HDTV Value

After debating when to buy a big screen HDTV for a couple of years, I finally noticed what I thought was a terrific deal on Amazon a couple of weeks ago. They were offering this 50" DLP Samsung rear projection unit for about $880 delivered to my living room. Although this was a 720P unit rather than one of the 1080's everything I had read indicated that picture quality with anything but HD-DVD or Blue Ray would be almost identical between the two resolutions. I made the decision to purchase, and at the same time ordered DirecTV HD along with a Digital Video Recorder.

The dish was installed before the TV arrived so I had time to get familiar with the channel line up and learn what was offered in HD. The TV arrived a day earlier than scheduled and the delivery company lived up to their commitments, helping place the TV on the stand and taking the packaging away with them. I got to plug it in and try it out before signing for the delivery.

The day it arrived was the opening night of the NFL 2007 season and I was able to watch the Colts and Saints in HD! The picture was fantastic and even my wife, who does not really like football, was amazed at the color and the clarity of the picture.

I have been watching mostly HD shows whenever I could since the TV arrived. I have to admit that I am hooked on HDTV and this Samsung. While the SD picture is good, it is the HD picture that really has grabbed me. I have hooked up my SD DVD player and find the picture very acceptable but not the same quality as the HD programming.

The TV has an easy to use menu system and a well designed remote control. Another feature that I really like is the very thin bezel around the screen. When displaying HD content the TV is almost all picture. I have noticed a very slight bowing in the edges of the SD image when it is pillarboxed (black bars on each side of the screen) and have not found a way to correct this, but it is minimal and not enough to affect my enjoyment of the set. The sound quality is very acceptable. The overall design of the set is appealing to my eye, and the slim depth makes it easy to position in the room. I know that the day will come when I need to replace the bulb but given the price I paid this is not a concern to me.

I have not owned LCD or Plasma sets but have looked at many in a variety of stores and feel that this TV has a picture that is easily the equal of the thin screen sets costing twice as much. I had no intention of wall mounting a TV and my main concern was finding excellent picture quality at a great price. I have succeeded with this set. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a set in this size range.