Samsung LN37A550 37-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

Samsung’s 550 Series is a perfect way to step up to Full HD 1080p resolution. A fast 5 ms response rate produces smooth-motion scenes for sports and action movies, and a dynamic contrast ratio of 30,000:1 makes for deep blacks and crisp lines (15,000:1 in 32-inch and 37-inch models). Superb connectivity and networking with a USB port and 3 HDMI 1.3 ports with Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) means these HDTVs play well with all of your other electronics. Easily enjoy MPEG and JPEG files stored on external devices by connecting through the side-mounted USB 2.0, turn your LCD into a full-scale home viewing gallery, or connect your MP3 player for a dynamic audio experience.

Customer Reviews

Excellent TV

Ordered the 37″ TV based on space limitations of our existing TV cabinent actually wanted a much larger version for our house and may still get another one around Christmas time. We received the TV sooner than expected! Very Nice Picture quality and sound. Great Value for the money! We have HD Cox Cable Service> One feature that I was interested in was the P.I.P. feature of this TV but apparently that feature is not able to work properly with digital feed cable???? Not sure Why? It will work if you want to use an auxillary feed such as a dvd player interfaced with cable TV. But if you are trying to view one cable channel and scan thru the rest of the cable channels or DVR to see what else is on, it won’t allow it. If I’m missing something on this, please let me know! I have read the manual on this feature and it appears somewhat nebulous. Other than that little bit of aggravation attempting to get that particular feature working properly….The TV works great…After playing around with the custom settings on the TV it seems to have a much better picture on “Cinema” setting rather than on Sports or Games setting. Currently watching the Bejing Olympic Games and watching a couple of Pre-season Football Games and Very Satisfied with the quality of the the Picture. Thinking about purchasing another Samsung for a different room of the house. Very Good Value $1025, You will be requiring an HDMI cable $60-$90 to connect DVR’s, surround sound or other Auxillary devices!!!!!!!Free Shipping>>>Amazon has done it again, Love you Guys!!!!!!!

Great TV at the best price, the time has come.

I’ve owned this for about two months and I’m satisfied in every way. I will make note though that I had to return two of these TVs (not through amazon) due to one having a speaker pop problem and the other having a stuck pixel in the center of the screen. That was a hassle and has to do with quality control, but the unit itself is great. It has all the features I want, all the inputs I need, looks great and fits in the space I need it to fit. It’s the perfect size for a smaller room or a room as big as a living room. Samsung finally came out with a 37″ and I know I’d be happy getting this. The price on amazon is an amazing deal and these TV’s have finally reached the somewhat affordable price of $1k.

Earns its five stars

This unit has far exceeded my expectations. The HD picture quality is superb, with Dish Network being my primary source, and deep blacks are so black it looks like the set is off. I also love getting full HD resolution when I plug my MacBook into the VGA input.

As others have said, though, the built-in speakers are poor. Since I don’t have room for a full surround sound system, my solution was to get Bose Companion 3 speakers which simply plug into the headphone jack. Although they’re technically “computer speakers,” they sound great with the TV and have plenty of volume.

The “white glove” delivery worked out well; they showed up when they said they would and set it up for me.

Outstanding, phenomenal 1080p set for the money

This is an outstanding, phenomenal set for the money. You will have to make sure that you grasp the interconnectedness of the various modes and picture adjustments so as to get the very best out of whatever you are playing through it. Well transferred DVDs, with a good upscaling 1080p DVD player, will look stunning. Mediocre DVDs will look at least much better than you thought possible.

Standard definition cable TV through the RF antenna input looks amazingly good, all things considered, if you take the time to tweak the display profiles to accommodate the very limited, narrow bandwidth palettes of those sources.

That said, it’s a real stunner with a good 1080p player. There is a noticeable quality difference between 1080i component video and 1080i or 1080p HDMI video. You should try and use the HDMI inputs whenever possible.

Samsung claims that the set has an almost 180 degree viewing range. If by that they mean that you can stand at extreme angles and still see a useable picture, that is correct. But if you assume that means that it will be as good as a plasma, or old style CRT, which has almost no loss at all at the most extreme angles, you will be disappointed. Although LCD manufacturers have made great strides in extending the viewable angle for LCDs, they are LCDs, not plasmas or CRTs. This set still has a noticeable “sweet spot” were the picture looks the very best. Standing up, or moving off the to side produces a noticeable loss of contrast.The difference is slight, but noticeable. It’s no where near as bad as earlier sets.

But there is a sweet spot. Viewing in bright environments where the contrast and lamp level of the set have been cranked up to compete with the ambient brightness will probably mask this effect. Viewing in subdued to dim lighting environments, like you would want for watching films, with the set adjusted to output subtle tones and the very best movie quality image, tends to call attention to it. That said, the set has robust but very subtle color and excellent blacks and contrast range if properly adjusted.

If anyone had suggested three years ago that you would be able to get this level of technology and sophistication at about one-thousand dollars, no one would have believed it possible.

It is a great set.

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