Samsung LE40A656A

Samsung LE40A656A 40" HD Ready 1080p Digital 100hz LCD TV

With a smorgasbord of top of the range televisions on offer today, it's often hard for the average buyer to know which one to choose. Luckily for them, the Samsung LCD LE40A656A is a perfect example of value for money and one of the best in the contemporary range.

This TV might have a complicated name but it's certainly not a complicated set and it's well equipped to give buyers just what they're looking for; great quality at a reasonable price. The LE40A656A has a 1080p LCD screen (Liquid Crystal Display) which enables it to display around 10 times more pixels on its screen than a standard television, so there's a lot more space for fine detail. This capability is otherwise known as High Definition or 'HD'. What's more, the Samsung LE40A656A scans the picture 'progressively' i.e. each horizontal line of pixels is scanned one after the other. This scanning mode allows a much better picture than other modes when it comes to movement, so shows such as wildlife documentaries and football matches are much more enjoyable to watch. The LE40A656A is the perfect television for those of you who have a keen eye for detail and especially for those of you who are fed up with seeing motion blur on standard sets.

So what about its dimensions? This TV has a 40 inch screen, meaning that it measures 40 inches diagonally across, rather than from left to right. Also in total the Samsung LE40A656A weighs just 17kg (about the weight of a 3 to 4 year old child) so moving it around shouldn't be a problem. The screen also slides off the stand when you lift it.

Aesthetically, the le40a656a is beautiful. Its sleek and shiny black frame curved ever so slight on the top and bottom is perfectly offset by the silver logo under the screen. The stand has an oval base to match the frame and the whole thing is wonderfully simple; just what you want from a TV set so that the focus is on the actual display.

Perhaps the greatest feature of the Samsung LE40A656A is that it has the ability to upscale non HD images to HD. Once the original non-HD image has been stretched onto its larger screen, it uses an 'interpolation algorithm' to essentially guess which pixels should fit in between the original ones, creating finer 'High Definition' detail.

With those little extra features like the ability to link the screen up to your PC, HD upscaling and great speakers so that you don't need to invest a surround sound system make the Samsung LE40A656A 40" TV a joy to own. If you're excited to watch your favourite programmes in high definition or to see how realistic animations look on Blu-Ray DVDs then this is your ideal first HD TV.