Customer Reviews
A great purchase and a good buying experience-First Impression
I ordered the Samsung 4254 on July 31st and it arrived on August 10th which matched the estimated delivery-time exactly. The TV was shipped from Harrisburg PA and sent to my home in central NH. The EGL ‘white-glove’ delivery was as advertised. The TV was brought into my house, the box was opened so I could check the condition of the TV. The set arrived in original packing and in perfect condition. The delivery men even offered to take the set down to my TV-room. EGL was great!
I had been wary of having such a large and fragile item shipped. I saved $200 below the lowest retail price buying this through Amazon. In fact, the item price dropped while the TV was in transit and Amazon refunded the difference within a day. In the end buying through Amazon saved me a chunk of change and eliminated the donkey-work involved in transporting such a large item from the box store. In exchange, I had to wait 10 days for the TV to arrive.
Plasma vs LCD:
I did a lot of research in the process of settling on the Samsung 4254. Going in, I was convinced that I wanted an LCD because of my concern that the plasma might suffer ‘burn-in’. I read in many places that this is not a real concern with current plasma sets. In the end, the decision to go with the plasma came down to the picture quality. I watch sports and movies and the plasma sets just produce a better image. There is far less motion-blur,the colors are more vivid and the viewing angle is wider.
The second disadvantage of plasma technology is that the screen is shiny (just like a standard CRT TV). The matte LCD screen is certainly less prone to problems with glare although the viewing angle can’t match what you get with a plasma set. My ‘Man-Cave’ is in the basement with very little ambient light so this was not a concern for me. Also, the Samsung 4254 comes with some form of anti-glare coating.
720P vs 180i and 1080p
More dots on the screen mean better clarity and finer detail. The newest plasma and LCD sets come with support for the highest 1080p resolution. The Samsung 4254 is a 720p set. Should you be concerned that you are buying old technology and that it might be better to pony-up the difference in price (about $400) for a 1080p set? A good question. There are two facts that I considered before going with the 720p set.
1. Broadcasts do not support 1080p as it takes up too much bandwidth so even if you buy a 1080p set, your TV viewing will not be improved. To use the potential of 1080p requires an HD DVD player ($500) and HD DVD’s. (about $30 apiece). Also, it is unclear which HD format for DVD’s will rule the market (HD or Blu-Ray).
2. Viewing a 42 inch screen, the difference between the 720p image and the 1080p image is not discernible. See for yourself. If you have the extra money and the space, consider spending the difference for a larger screen. As the screen size increases, the difference in image quality between a 720p set and a 1080p becomes more visible. Numbers aside, let your eyes be the judge.
A few facts about HDTV:
If you are buying an High Definition (HD) TV set (Plasma or LCD, you need to have an HD signal to see the full benefit of the HD set. In fact, if you don’t have or plan to get access to an HD signal and you plan to use the set for TV viewing, my advice would be to stick with a traditional CRT TV. Most broadcasting is done in standard definition (SD) and most programming is in SD although more and more content is being created and broadcast in HD. SD programing is formatted to fit the old 4:3 TV screen format. It is possible to stretch this content to fill your new HD screen but it comes with some distortion. Alternatively, you can view the SD image using less than the entire screen. You will not see those stunning images when the program you are watching is SD. SD content looks best on your old TV set but it shows well enough on an HD screen. The Samsung 4254 offers three options for viewing SD content.
Digital Cable is not HD:
Cable systems offer ‘Digital Cable’ while this is an improved signal, it is not High Definition. My cable company offers a tier of HD stations with their Tivo-like DVR. For $13 per month I get about 10 HD channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS etc)and I get the DVR (which is very cool). To receive the benefit of HDTV, my cable bill will be about $70. Even if you have subscribed to HD stations, you will find that some programming will be shown in SD. In a couple of years, all broadcasters will be required to support HD. New programming generally is done in HD. Just understand that you only get the full benefit of HD when the signal coming to the set is HD.
The Samsung 4254:
The picture using an HD source, is stunning, if anything better than what you see in the box store displays. The set was easy to set up, it has a swivel stand. I am not nuts about the shiny black bezel but it seems to be the rage these days and it is hard to avoid. If you have bright lights in the room, the bezel and the screen itself will both reflect. The solution is easy; turn off or move the light source. I like the plain low-key styling and the size is perfect for my viewing area.
The set virtually programs itself. It recognized and stored all of my cable channels. The color settings were easy to adjust using the remote. The speakers were a source of complaint. I didn’t notice any real problem but I connected the set to my surround-sound speakers which is what most people would do.
The manual is clear and complete.
I bought this set over others like the Panasonic 42 75U because of the picture, the available connections and the price. I have always had good experiences with Samsung products. Once you have decided between and LCD or a plasma set all you really need to do is look at the image quality. I did stay away from off-brand sets because I would be concerned with long-term reliability. Any TV is only as good as the parts it is made of. Generally, you get what you pay for. Manufacturers like Panasonic, Samsung and Sony have a lot invested in their brand-name.
Accessories to Consider:
If you watch DVD’s and don’t want to spend $250-500 on an HD DVD player, get an upconverting DVD player (around $100). It will play standard DVD’d and process the signal so that the picture quality is nearly HD. I have too many DVD’s to consider re-buying in HD format. I would bet that the price of HD players wwill drop as the technology becomes more common.
Also purchase an HDMI cable to connect the player to the 4254. You DO NOT need to buy the $100 cable. Cable prices at retail are absurdly expensive. Cables are not made of caviar. I bought a $10 cable from an Amazon link and the picture is fine. The HDMI cable is the high end HD connection. It carries both audio and video signals. Use HDMI cables between your components that support this standard. My surround sound receiver does not have an HDMI input so I used an optical cable to carry the audio from the TV to the receiver. Always buy the best connection type that your equipment supports.
I will revise this review if needed. I hope this is of some help for those entering the world of High Definition.
Long story short, I am absolutely happy with the Samsung 4254 and with the purchase experience from Amazon.
Added 8/22 Burn-In:
Salesmen and manufacturers will tell you that plasma screens don’t have a problem with burn-in. This happens when a still image is left of the screen over a period of time. Well, burn in is not a thing of the past. I know this because I left my Samsurng on with the DVD source screen (that blue screen you see as the DVD player is started-up) The image was on the screen for about 12 hours. I now have a “No Disk” message burned in the upper right part of the screen. The stupid is always possible.
The manual has a section on burn-in and there are three levels of burn-healing technology built into the set so obviously this is not a problem that has been completely eliminated.
I ran the ‘wipe’ mode for about an hour and the image has faded. Whether in time it will be completely gone, I know not. I did have the anti-burn pixel shift enabled.
On the other hand, when I am watching programming/DVD, I can’t see ANY trace of the burn. It can only be seen when the screen is entirely black. Since I can’t see it when I am watching, I am not that concerned. I would buy the Samsung again but I thought that this information should be added.
If Plasma burn is a deal-breaker, take a look at the Toshiba Regaza 42 inch LCD. I liked that set but the picture on the Samsung was visibly better. Plasma and LCD technologies have their pros and cons. It comes down to what fits your situation.
After 2 weeks, my original impression is unchanged. If I could actually see the results of the burn-in while watching, I would feel differently but I can’t, so I don’t.
8/31 The burn in mentioned in the last segment is gone. Or at least I can no longer see it. I ran the ‘wipe’ mode for a couple of hours and then as I continued to watch my usual assortment of Red Sox baseball and DVD’s, the burn-in just faded away. I have had this TV for three weeks and could not be happier.
Great picture and great value—what you expect from Samsung
This is brand new from Samsung. Two features enticed me to choose this over LCD:
* 15,000:1 contrast ratio—this is as high as you’ll currently get in a set that goes for around $1500
* Anti-glare technology
I’ve seen friends’ plasmas for years. They all had serious glare issues, greater than what were present in a tube tv. The family room in my new house has 20′ high ceilings and south-facing 20′ high windows. But I see no glare even with the blinds open!
I’m thrilled with the picture. HD looks stellar. DVDs look incredible on my up-converting player.
The sound isn’t exceptional, though it’s better than on my 4 year-old tube tv. I have surround sound, so that issue is overcome. The sound is good, though. My advice would be to not let that sway you from buying this. Many brick and mortar retailers have deals for getting a surround-sound system with a new flat-panel tv.
Television choices are hard these days. Rear projection DLT offers great price, but you’ve got to replace the bulbs and the viewing angle is limited. LCDs just might win out in the future, but I still notice slow response (latency) when watching action films or sports. I think plasma still produces the best picture.
Samsung’s HPT4254 looks to me to be the best value in plasma televisions.
This TV is AWESOME. Think twice before you buy an LCD.
We had two LCDs out of the box and hooked up at home. It’s a long story, but we ended up taking both of them back for different issues, one of which turned out to be a bad cable. CC was so great to take them back and we hadn’t considered a plasma because of the glare issue. Well, I started reading about this Samsung plasma and how that had implemented some sort of anti glare system. We went back and I realized how much more vivid the colors are on this TV than an LCD. Plus, I thought the picture on this new model was quite a bit better than any other plasma models on the floor. We got it home and running and after having the other two LCDs to compare with, this thing ROCKS!!!!! Even in our bright room, the glare is not a problem for us. There is definitely more glare than an LCD, but it is so much better. There is this blurry thing that happens with motion on an LCD. And, I had read about it, but people were saying it’s not so much of an issue anymore with recent models. I don’t buy that after experiencing both kinds of TVs, the plasma is so much more clear with fast motion, and there is so much more depth to the colors. I’m extremely happy.
The only issue I have is with the sound. It’s terrible. The sound was much better on the LCDs I had here at home. I have external speakers, so the sound quality is not important to me, but if you care even a little bit about the sound quality, I would consider buying even some low-end bookshelf speakers. Anything will sound better than the speakers built in to this thing. The speakers on my 5 year old 27″ tube TV were better. I still gave it 5 stars, even with this sound issue because if you’re in the market for this type of TV, you’ll likely have some sort of surround setup and the speakers won’t matter. Buy this TV for the picture and the price.
Go see for yourself…. the depth of color and clarity are unmatched in my opinion.
