Review: Samsung LE-32R74BDX : HDTV UK

The propaganda

Not every living room is at all suited to 50" plasma behemoths, so this week we're turning our attention to something a little smaller - the 32" LCD Samsung LE-32R74BDX. It offers a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, an integrated digital tuner with 7-day EPG and 10bit colour processing, which Samsung claims delivers up to 12.8 billion colours. All pretty standard stuff so far.

What sets it aside from its rivals is the contrast ratio of 5000:1 which is pretty phenomenal. Furthermore, the R74BDX uses Super Vertical Pattern Alignment technology to dramatically improve the colour and contrast at wide viewing angles, which is ideal for smaller rooms where you don't want to all crowd one tiny sweet spot.

The good

The 10bit colour processor performs well alongside Samsung's DNIe (Digital Natural Image engine) processing which improves motion, colours and, above all, sharpness. Colour tones produced by the set are pleasingly subtle and create a picture that enjoys rich, fine detail even in dark areas.

This is no doubt helped along by the excellent contrast ratio and this is used to fine effect producing wonderfully deep black levels along with some really satisfying greyscale graduations.

The bad

There are a few nits to pick in the R74BDX. The biggest problem is that the internal speakers are hidden away and fail to produce anything at all impressive. They lack the power or presence to do justice to a decent movie soundtrack. If you have a separate sound system in place, you probably won't worry about this factor at all, but if you don't it may be worth looking elsewhere for better sound performance.

We were also a bit disappointed by the 7-day EPG. Sure, it will tell you what's on seven days ahead, but to get there you must trawl through every day in between in two-hour increments. Very frustrating.

The only flaw we could find in the picture quality is that the reproduction of skin tones was left a bit behind other colours, thus giving skin a kind of plasticky sheen. And we're not best pleased by that one lonesome HDMI, accompanied by an equally lonesome Component input. If you've got a HD player, a SKY+ HD box and games console, you're going to seriously struggle.

Geek Sheet

Inputs: 1 x HDMI, 1 x Component, PC VGA jack, 2 x Scart, stereo audio inputs, CAM slot, composite video input, S-Video input

5000:1 claimed contrast

500cd/m2 brightness

HD Ready, 1366x768 native resolution

2 x 10W audio

Integrated digital tuner

7-day EPG support

Digital audio output

Overview

Although it started out at over a grand, prices are now down well below £700, even dropping as low as £580. This is a competitive, reasonable price compared with rival sets and the R74BDX offers sufficient picture quality to justify the investment. Just beware the poor speaker quality if you're going to rely on the set, rather than a separate sound system, for your audio needs.