Among that tiny segment of the population that cares about the latest HDTV technology, and the even tinier segment that can afford it, the introduction of Samsung’s 81 series of flat-panel LCDs is kind of like early Christmas. The first widely distributed LCD HDTVs to incorporate LED backlights–Sony sold a few Qualia 005s a couple years ago at $8,000 to $15,000 a pop–the Samsungs promise amazing black levels, claiming a contrast ratio spec of 500,000:1. The subject of this review, the 46-inch LN-T4681F, does indeed offer the amazing ability to basically disappear in a dark room when displaying a dark scene. That’s a tremendous accomplishment for any display, but in the end it’s not quite enough to earn our highest praise, because the TV’s poor off-angle performance and shiny screen hobble its real-world picture quality in the face of stiff competition, especially given its premium price point. Those issues aside, there’s no doubt the Samsung LN-T4681F will make videophiles who can afford it grin with pleasure every time the screen fades to black.
Leave it to Samsung to put together yet another ultrasleek HDTV. The LN-T4681F continues the company’s trend of clothing its panels entirely in glossy black, although this model takes things a step further with a few noteworthy accents. The most noticeable consists of a pair of vertical clear acrylic strips running along either edge of the panel. Cupped to deflect sound from the side-mounted speakers into the room, they also serve to support another pair of vertical strips, these made of solid dark gray material that seems a bit out of place among all that gloss.
The overall effect, especially considering the rather wide expanse of glossy black frame between the screen and the clear strips, is of a very wide HDTV; an effect that’s further enhanced by the relatively narrow top and bottom sections of the frame around the screen. All told, the LN-T4681F measures 48.4 by 29.6 by 12.6 inches and weighs about 77 pounds including the swivel stand; sans stand, it measures 48.4 by 27 by 4.4 inches and weighs 66 pounds.
Unfortunately the LN-T4681F is saddled with the same shiny screen we complained about during our review of the LN-T4665F. While it catches the eye on the sales floor and lets you check your hair, those benefits are outweighed by its distracting reflectivity under normal room lighting (see Performance).
Samsung’s remote is almost the same as last year, and we generally found that the slender wand was easy to operate. Only the keys for volume, channel, and device control (the universal clicker can command four other pieces of gear) are illuminated, but that’s better than most TV remotes, which skip backlighting altogether. All of the buttons are nicely separated and differentiated, with the exception of the secondary controls clustered at the clicker’s base, which kind of blend together. We’d like to see dedicated buttons for each input, although because the set automatically senses and skips inactive inputs, cycling between sources is less arduous than usual.