Samsung SP-R4212
Oct 25th, 2005 | By Archive
Samsung SP-R4212
Date
: 10/26/05 – 01:56:24 AM
Author
:
Category
: TV
Page 1 : Index
Manufacturer
: Samsung Canada
Price
: $2400 (Canadian)
Overclockers Online
has taken on a large number of Samsung products. We've got an abundance of LCD reviews, the latest being a 940B that Jody has worked on. We've even looked at a few MP3 players, a number of high end printers and to add to our collection, we're now holding on to the
Samsung SP-R4212
.
The SP-R4212 is Samsung's 42′ Plasma EDTV. While not ‘HDTV’, it sports the ability to view HD programs without the need for a set-top box. Since we're an enthusiast website at heart, we're going to focus on the basic TV view, some DVD action and then some gaming!
Page 2 : Package
This was really one
BIG
box. It was delivered to me in Samsung's truck. This one's far to risky to ship UPS. So, if you're buying it online, make sure it's coming directly from a distributor's truck and not through a courier; they'll only care so much about your screen.
When it finally does arrive, it comes in a pretty big box….
Also noted is the 42′ size.
For the price you pay, I'm sure you were aware of the size and the fact that it's plasma, but it's also noted on the box.
Printed in several areas, Samsung tells you how to handle the box. Mishandling a $2500 toy isn't all that wise. They also tell you how to unpack the contents!
Before we get to the actual contents, we'll go over the features and specifications.
Page 3 : Features & Specifications
There are many subtle differences when comparing HDTV to EDTV and even more when you factor in the possibility of there being LCD and Plasma displays! I suggest you Google up as much information as you can before making the purchase. There are a number of factors to consider. Some reference links: CNet, CNet follow up article and EDTV vs HDTV specificly for Plasma.
Once you know what type of device you need, it is then and only then should you consider looking at specific models. This is where the SP-R4212 from Samsung comes in. We'll provide you with the detailed look so you don't have to spend $2500 and decide it's not right!
There a number of features Samsung tries to sell you on when you visit their website: high contrast ratio, large color count, HD multimedia interface, PC compatible, home theatre system, long lasting life and surround sound.
10,000:1 Contrast Ratio
549,00 Million Colors
Only a 13-bit system makes this richness possible. And only Samsung Plasmas offer this visionary technology.[/quote]
High Definition Multimedia Interface
This is the beauty of our HDMITM-ready system. With a universal cable provided and corresponding jack mounted on each plasma unit, you can enjoy uncompressed audio and visual content arriving directly from its source, without the data loss associated with analog transmission. Specifically designed for consumer electronics applications, any system incorporating DVI (Digital Visual Interface) and original sources, such as DVD and HD video signals, are fully compatible. With HDMITM, Samsung gives you the future of multimedia entertainment (P5 series and S5 series).[/quote]
PC Compatible
Samsung Home Theatre System – Open Your Eyes and Ears
Samsung Home Theatre System equipped with latest digital technology and luxurious design surrounds you all around. So sit back, and enjoy the pleasure of pure satisfaction.[/quote]
60,000-Hour Lifetime
That's just under seven years if you kept this TV running 24/7.
SRS TruSurround XT
Now that we have all the details and specifications down, we can take a more detailed look at what we have on hand. It's time we open the box!
Page 4 : Package Contents
Despite the incredibly large size, setting up the 42′ Plasma TV is
not
all that much work. They've designed the box to make it reusable in the event something happens and it needs to be returned. The first step would be to open the top of the box and remove any contents you might find sitting atop the Styrofoam package. Once that box is open, there are four clips on the side of the box that you can twist out.
With those clips out, you can lift the top 90% of the box out. All that remains of the cardboard box is very manageable and will not get in the way of anything.
Pulling out the top Styrofoam bricks and removing the plastic bag, you're ready to lift the entire TV out. This
is
a two person job! After a few tense moments you'll have it out and sitting safely on the floor.
Apart from the large screen, there are some subtle features to note. Running across the base of the TV are the speakers and in the middle is a large circular power button.
Off to the sides of the base are some logos indicating the features presented.
The base of this unit measures just over a foot. While this may seem like a lot, it's necessary to have a large base to prevent the TV from tipping over.
For those who wish to mount the TV onto your wall via VESA wall mounts, the thickness of the panel and of the hardware underneath is less than four inches.
Going over to the side of the panel, there are a few buttons to control the display in the event you lose the remote control.
The backside of the TV isn't all that impressive, however it houses some of the most important features! The backside is also where all the connections are made.
For all us computer buffs, we know from the picture that the TV is powered off a standard power cable with no need for a power brick.
What's not so common is that this three prong cord has its fixture turned 90° for easy installation.
If you so happen to lose your cord or the wires get damaged, it's really not an issue to use a standard cord you find bundled with power supplies.
Moving over to the various connectors, the first set are for various audio and video inputs (PC & HDTV) and digital outputs.
Each of the connectors are clearly labeled and should you need further assistance, the manual will be of tremendous aid.
The last batch of connectors is for your cable line and A/V.
The left connector is a coaxial connector labeled ‘ANT 1 In (Cable In)’ and the one to the right is ‘ANT 2 In (Air In)’. You will most likely be using the ANT 1 In (Cable In) connector.
Take a look around the rest of the TV, there are a number of large vents to passively cool some of the internal components.
Elsewhere on the back of the TV are stickers indicating a variety of different things: technologies used, patents involved, and model numbers.
There are several screws scattered around the back of the TV. Some of these hold the case together, some hold the panel in place, others support the base and some cover the removable motherboard cover. You won't really want to mess around with these screws if you don't know what you're doing. You could seriously damage the TV!
A set of screws you may find yourself removing are the ones for the base, which is if you wish to mount your TV on the wall.
These three screws in the middle of the picture hold one leg of the base. There is another one you'll have to take out if you want to isolate the panel from the base.
As I mentioned, there are a number of screws you can remove to gain access to the motherboard. I won't tell you which ones these are as there are many and, to everyone's desire, it is best if you didn't mess around in the back since there's not a whole lot to do except cause damage.
Here's an overview of the motherboard:
The circuitry is very complex and while this information is unnecessary for most, for the curious….
DNIe stands for Digital Natural Image engine. It takes any given signal and processes it for display. It is capable of eliminating noise, boost light and shades, sharpen edges and show natural hues.
Here's a pretty big void:
If I had to guess, this would be a space for an additional tuner/decoder.
These ribbons head up to the display:
To the right is the TV Tuner:
This sums up everything about the SP-R4212 Plasma TV. Just before we head over to setting up the display, you may be wondering what type of additional components you will get. My package was a little empty as it shipped for evaluation purposes, so all I received was a remote control and an audio cable. You should also receive a manual which is also available online.
Now that we've really got everything set up, flip to the next page. There I go over how I set up the SP-R4212 and my first impressions.
Page 5 : Setup & Menu
There aren't very many steps in setting up a Plasma TV. The first step will be to find a suitable location. For me, it meant moving the TV to the living room. I connected only the basic inputs: Cable In and HDTV In from my computer.
Rogers Basic Cable – Not Digital
Computer:
Albatron PX915G4-Pro
Intel P4 3.0E
Ultra PC3200 Dual Channel DDR Kit
HIS X700 iCooler Dual DVI VIVO 256MB
Antec TX1088AMG
Antec TruePower 2.0 480 Watt
2*120GB WD 7200RPM 2MB Hard Drives
Cables:
TV: Coaxial Cable (ANT 1)
Computer: YPrPb for HDTV and Audio In (Component 1)[/quote]
Once everything was connected, it was time to turn on the TV. You're greeted with a series of beeps as the display fires up and a signal is located.
The first thing I did was flip around the menu to see what types of options I had. The menu is large with about 50 options!
The first option is the Input.
This section allows you to configure the source, edit the names of the sources or use AnyNet.
The section below the Input is the Display.
This is a pretty lengthy section and one I frequently visited while using the Plasma TV. This page, as you can see from the pictures, sets up how everything works. Hidden in the mode section, you can adjust the contrast, brightness, sharpness, color and tint of the display.
The most frequently visited section was definitely the size. Adjusting from 16:9 and 4:3, you're also giving the option to view in panorama or with two different zooms. Thumbnails of a flower show you how the images are adjusted.
The majority of the remaining options had only two choices.
That wraps up the Display features, but we still have tons of sections to cover! Next up is the sound section…
Much like the Display picture, there are a number of adjustments available for the audio enthusiasts. While I personally prefer my home theatre set up with a central AV system, we'll be sticking with the built-in speakers for all of our analysis.
Following the Sound section is the channels tab, however we'll get to that after the basic setup menu.
There's really not too much to set up in this section. Most of it can be left to run under the default selection.
Now that we've covered all the features you can adjust prior to actually watching anything, we're going to flip over to the TV source and check out the last two menus: channel and guide.
The channel sections allows you to configure your TV input, pick the source, complete an auto program, give channel names and create favourites.
The last section is the guide. This is sort of like your TV guide, but scaled down. It's theoretically suppose to give you information about the channel you're currently watching and on other channels.
Done! Forty-Seven pictures later, you now have the entire guide in front of your eyes without having to even buy the TV. With all these pictures, this will probably be the longest page ever created on Overclockers Online! [ed. please forgive us]
Page 6 : First Impressions
Like most people given the chance to take home a 42′ Plasma TV, my first thought was ‘wow!’. I was in awe of the large, sleek look of the TV.
During my use of the TV, I have noticed a few things that could use some tweaking. It's Overclockers Online here, so nothing is ever fast enough. The start up of the TV could certainly be improved. It takes a good couple of seconds before it goes from Off to me watching something on TV. The second thing I noticed was the delay in changing channels, whether it was a manual input of numbers or just channel surfing. I found myself waiting for the channel to change rather than it being instantaneous on conventional CRT displays.
The remote provided by Samsung was narrow and fairly thin.
I certainly liked the fact that two AAA batteries were provided.
If you look at the above photo, you will notice a nice groove to the right side of the picture. When I was holding the remote, I found this to be a natural fit for my index finger. Your thumb will then be conveniently positioned over the volume and channel up and down buttons. From there, the actual numpad and menu buttons are too far to reach and you do need to move the remote. Not a big deal, but something I wanted to point out to everyone.
I also noticed that the buttons were fairly easy to press, which isn't a bad thing or a good thing. It was easy to hit some of the buttons that will change the source signal or control of the remote. You could tap on the MODE button and go from controlling your TV to STB, VCR, Cable or DVD. A red LED will indicate which device you are controlling, however, this could cause confusion to those who don't know what these devices do or how to actually change them back.
After turning on the TV with the remote and watching a movie or some TV and turning the TV off with the remote, I began to notice that the red LED to indicate that it was powered up never actually turns off. This makes me think that the TV doesn't actually shut off, possible only enter the stand by mode.
If you walk up to the TV and then hit the button, it then shuts off and the LED goes out. I do believe this can be changed in the menu, but by default this is what happens. I personally would have preferred the TV being completely shutdown when the power button on the remote was pressed.
I think that's enough chit-chat about the remote and everything not related to the display. Grab your favourite drink, get some popcorn as we're ready to watch some TV!
Page 7 : Visual Analysis
This is what it all comes down to. While I've been blessed with the opportunity to review this unit over the past month and a half, the quality of the display has been quite superb. Of course, since this is coming from Samsung, a leader in display products and technology, nothing but the best is required.
The only real way to gage the performance of a TV is to check it out for yourself. The SP-R2412 is available at a number of large electronic stores and is typically on display with a variety of inputs hooked up.
Using my Canon Digital Rebel, it still wasn't easy to produce quality shots that provided a fair representation of what I was seeing. I can assure you that the quality of the picture was stunning.
First up on the gauntlet is standard cable TV; no HDTV, no digital, just plain basic cable.
This 4:3 capture from CSI shows great detail. Yes, that is some guy holding on to a dead person's face. Switching the TV over to 16:9 mode, the faces are stretched and do not look normal. What this means is if you plan on watching a lot of regular (full screen) programs, you should leave the mode on 4:3.
The same effect is even greater when you work in Panorama, Zoom1 or Zoom2.
The SP-R4212 is capable of 1080i resolution (1920×1080), sadly my system wasn't very cooperative at that state. I had set the display to be 1280*720 on my monitor and 1280*720 on the plasma TV. Which is effectively 16:9 but it's no 1920*1080. At 1280*720, I was still capable of 60Hz on the TV, but 1920*1080 was only 30Hz output, not all that great.
First up on HDTV display was Lost, episode 2 from season 2.
Immediately you can see a great difference when going over to HDTV. The colors are far better and were not washed out. This capture of two characters trudging through the mud certainly shows the quality of the colors.
The picture looks very vivid; makes it feel like you're watching the two of them walk up from the sea. Even the color of blood dripping down the actor on the right can be clearly seen.
Moving over to The Matrix Revolutions, this full screen DVD tests how well the SP-R4212 takes on fast moving action. Once again, the quality was great with no signs of blurring or ghosting.
In this 16:9 view, things are not in proportion, but scenes like this don't really feel the affects as much.
When we watch the movie in 4:3, the picture looks perfect.
Every bit of detail is clearly portrayed in this shot.
One thing I was able to test while watching The Matrix Revolutions was the audio speakers on the SP-R4212. While they can't compare to a nice 5.1 surround sound setup, for built-in speakers, they did a great job of offering very rich and full sound. The bass was where I liked it most and the sound was very rich. There were no odd frequency noises when I set the volume to the max and at 0 volume, it's like it is muted. If you like your TV to be loud, these speakers can pack a decent punch.
When you've got a 42′ TV and you've hooked up your computer to it, you're probably tempted to try and surf the net or chat on your favourite IM program. Unfortunately for me, I found the quality of the text not yet good enough to read off of. It's certainly no LCD monitor.
The words are fuzzy, but if you raised the font you would be able to use this for basic chatting. But really, why would you use a $2500 TV for MSN?!
Here's a close up shot of a few words from Jody's Samsung 940B review.
You can clearly see each pixel, and it doesn't take very many to create a letter, hence why the text is a bit blurry. Raising it to 36 font would solve the problem, and with 42 inches at 1280*720 or 1900*1080, you'd have the real estate space to do so!
As you probably could have guessed, this review
would not
be complete without some gaming action. I fired up GTA: San Andreas, Command and Conquer: Ground Zero and Counter-Strike Source to test out the gaming abilities.
Some games are limited to a 4:3 image regardless of what resolution I set it on and what setting I had the TV on; that really sucked, but bigger is still better.
This close up shot shows you the individual pixels making up a building. The buildings looked great, but from the other Command and Conquer photo, it's the small little units that show up slightly blurry.
Running the CS:Source video card stress test, I was able to check out how well this TV performs with various textures being displayed. I was quite impressed by the clarity and quality of the images.
One of the beauties about playing CS:Source was that it actually supported the widescreen resolution. This meant I could see more things and point out the enemies as their head was actually a lot bigger on the 42′ TV than on my 19′ LCD!
Once again, the limited pixel dimensions made the dialogue a bit blurry. It was still readable, though not easily.
This last photo shows the details and clarity of the blood and bullets without any ghosting effects.
Flip over to the next page where we wrap everything up.
Page 8 : Conclusion
Samsung's
SP-R4212
has certainly been able to change my experience in watching movies and playing video games. I certainly enjoyed the incredibly large display and clear picture produced by the technology under the surface. While all Plasma TVs operate under the same fundamentals of physics, the additional bit of engineering Samsung has put behind this product makes it stand out among the crowd of other TVs.
While it's not truly HDTV, for the price you pay, it certainly gives you a great bang for the buck. Those who are looking for an HDTV, Samsung has the model up from the SP-R4212 and it has native support.
The colors were certainly crisp and made any picture look nice, whether it was a hockey game, a DVD or a video game. There was never a problem with ghosting or losing the picture when watching from an extreme angle. As a matter of fact, the only real problems encountered with the device were the delay during starup, channel changes and trying to read text from a distance.
Advantages
⢠Bigger is better
⢠High picture quality
⢠Easy to find if you can afford it
Disadvantages
⢠Slow on changing channels
⢠Only goes into stand by when pressing power off button
Overclockers Online would like to thank Samsung Canada for providing this sample for review.
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