Samsung has been going in hard promoting its ever growing lineup of LED TVs. The Samsung UE40B8000 is the latest one we’ve laid our mitts on, with a 40-inch screen and stonking connectivity. So is this really worth that hefty price tag? Or is LED not worth your precious TV time? Read our Samsung UE40B8000 review and find out.
LED has been all the rage in TVs in 2009. The use of backlighting tech has seen boobtubes shrink down to insanely small sizes. And while they can’t quite match their OLED cousins, they’re still a joy to watch. And the Samsung UE40B8000 is no different.
The LEDs around the edge of the Samsung UE40B8000′s screen give it a lush and stunningly detailed picture that we found hard to fault. It gives excellent, deep blacks, bright and brash colours and whites that the makers of Daz would be proud of.
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The Korean tech titan has also chucked in 200Hz motion processing, which makes for extremely smooth viewing, although we do have to say that the Samsung UE40B8000 does not live up to its Sony and LG rivals in this department. But only the most eagle-eyed home cinema buffs will really notice.
Where the Samsung UE40B8000 does fall down, however, is sound. That 30mm bod’ might look ace but it means the speakers are about as quiet as an audience at a folk gig. We had to hook up some external speakers to get better noise from it. We’d have happily traded a few millimetres and not bothered.
The Samsung UE40B8000 comes with ace connectivity though, with Ethernet for hooking up to the web and DLNA for streaming goodies straight onto your TV without a wired connection. Each worked well for us and is something we want to see in more TVS in 2010.
There’s no doubting the Samsung UE40B8000 is a great TV. But be aware that at that price, you can pick up an equivalent Sony Bravia with an even better picture.
