Samsung LN-40B650

Samsung LN40B650

Thanks to its very good picture quality, Internet and home-network entertainment features, and general user-friendliness, the Samsung LN40B650 ranks as the best 40- to 42-inch HDTV we've tested this year. The Samsung LN40B650 produces great-looking on-screen images, and its Internet and home-networking capabilities will keep you entertained when there's nothing good on TV. You can find cheaper 40-inch HDTVs, but the image quality and the extras make the LN40B650 worth its $1200 (as of 9/21/09) price. The LN40B650 is, as of this review, tops in overall picture quality compared with other TVs we've tested. It earned a score of four out of five stars (Very Good). The set displays sharp and crisp images, and according to one judge in our testing panel, it looked "very pleasing overall." This TV's foremost weakness was its upconverting of 480p DVD movies to 1080p. In this area, most jurors put it slightly lower than its competition; two judges noted mediocre-to-poor contrast in scenes from the Phanton of the Opera DVD.