Samsung LE40A6

The LE40A6 that I'm standing next to attempts to redress the boring colour of televisions with a finish that Samsung is referring to as "Rose black". Basically, Samsung has injected some red into this plastic. It's an interesting effect, because the red seems to float in the plastic. The question is, do you want a red TV? The good news is that it's not really that obvious, unless the TV is in a bright room. The remote control is a departure from the usual Samsung design too. It's now curvy, has a backlight, large coloured buttons and is in every way different to the older model. It's also a bit ugly, but it does seem responsive, and that's what counts. The down-side is that the menu system is still the same old design, and we think in light of LGs recent menu renovation, that Samsung should be trying a bit harder in this department. In terms of the spec, the LE40A6 is actually pretty decent. There are four HDMI sockets, three of which are at the rear, with one at the side, a formidable number of digital inputs, I'm sure you'll agree. The TV also has a pair of Scart sockets, in case you've got boring old standard definition stuff to connect to it. You'll also find both VGA and component inputs for computers, games consoles and any older HD equipment you might have. So, enough talking about the case, what about the performance? Let's start with the standard definition performance, which is pretty average. We really weren't blown away by the ability of this TV to disguise the shortcomings of our nations over-the-air digital TV system. That said, up-scaled DVDs did look good, which indicates that higher bit-rates make the Samsung happy. It goes almost without saying that HD material looks great, games from our PS3 looked fantastic and movies on Blu-ray look sharp and appealing. There is an abundance of colour and the screen coating really helps to improve the contrast of the picture enormously. Sound quality is also pretty good for a TV with no visible speakers, it's fairly impressive that it manages such a powerful sound but don't throw away the surround sound system yet, because bass is still very lacking. All-in-all the Samsung is a good TV for HD material, we're a bit disappointed by the Freeview performance but if you're all about gaming and HD content, this TV won't disappoint you. I've been Ian Morris, and this is the Samsung LE40A6.