Samsung LN32B550 32" 1080p LCD HDTV Review

Design

Right out of the box, I was impressed with the Samsung LN32B550 HD 1080p TV. This TV was jet black with read trim around the bezel. I thought it looked pretty sleek. When you turn the TV to the side, you can see, it's a little bulky. The weight is a problem too, it's about 25 pounds with the stand. It's lighter than your conventional TV set, but for next gen TV, it's a bit large.

Picture quality

Samsung boasts about the 70,000: 1 dynamic contrast. I found the picture on this HD TV is sub par. I thought the colors looked very saturated, and almost cartoon-like. When the TV was in the full 1080p, I could still see jagged edges on people's faces. Samsung brags about the TOC (touch of color) system, but it just makes colors look fake. The reds on this TV were too intense, causing skin to look like a pinkish hue. I was really hoping this TV would be a winner, but it just fell short in my opinion.

Connectivity
There is a lot of connectivity on the Samsung LN32B550. There were four HDMI inputs, two components, a composite, one USB 2.0, and one PC input. I've hooked up this TV to a computer, and the picture was little to be desired. I like the fact there are so many inputs, but it doesn't help the picture quality.

Price

The price of this TV brand new was about $600. Now I found one on Amazon that's used for about $420, so it kept its value. I think the price is a bit steep because you're getting great connectivity, but the picture is a bit washed.

Gaming

If you're thinking about getting the Samsung LN32B550 for gaming, well think again. This TV has a response time of 6ms. This means when you plug in a Playstation 4 or an Xbox One, you're going to experience input lag. The positive thing is there's a setting for gaming mode. This removes some of the lag, but it's still present. When you turn on gaming mode, you lose the ability to adjust the picture. All the controls for fixing the picture are locked in gaming mode.

Final Thoughts
The size of the TV is nice, and I really like the bezel. The rest of the TV needs work. The side view is too big, and the picture quality should be true to life. There are power consumption options on this set, but if you use them you're sacrificing picture quality. The price is a bit too high in my opinion, and I expected more from Samsung. If you're a fan of Samsung products, then this TV might be for you, but I wansn't impressed by this TV. If I had to give it a rating, it would be a 6 out of 10.