Samsung LN-T5281F Review

Although $4500 may seem like a lot of money to spend on a HDTV, the amazing features that enhance the quality of this Samsung LCD might justify the amount of money you are about to spend.

During the video tests, this product managed to impress with its minimal pixelation in the background scenes. When it comes to high definition videos, the Samsung LN-T5281F managed to have an excellent score. Skin tone is amazing, and physical features make everything look so realistic; however, it doesn't manage to bring such natural skin colors like the Sony Bravia KDL-52XBR or the Vizio FV52LF do, but it managed to get a good score for natural looking skin colors.

The brightness and contrast levels are ok, nothing is wrong, and our Samsung managed to score above average. Details are really good, especially in the dark areas, even if you watch a movie with a poor quality. However, when switching on standard definition, like a football or baseball game, everything gets pixilated and has subpar color.

Another good advantage when testing this TV was backlighting, which made sure that the HDTV shows deeper and better quality blacks than the ones brought by a fluorescent backlight. You can test this by using the option in the on-screen menu which lets you set something on only half of the screen; you will surely notice the big difference between default settings and your current settings. However, make sure that you turn on the feature because its default setting is off.

There are various presets for you to choose from, like Dynamic or Movie mode; the DNIe setting, which means Digital Natural Image engine, reduces the background noise and makes images more detailed with its contrast enhancement. You will also find options like White Balance (with RGB settings for color temperature) and My Color Control with settings for each of the colors pink, blue, white, and green.

The audio quality is good but, unfortunately, not excellent. You cannot hear the lows very clear when comparing Samsung LN T5281F with Pioneer Kuro PDP-5010FD. It proved to be very disappointing because the sound is not as rich and full like the one brought by Pioneer Kuro PHP-5010FD. There are various inputs that you get: three HDMI, two composite and two sets of component. The USB port ensures that you can watch pictures or listen to music on your HDTV.

When analyzing the remote, most buttons are black; only few have back light and some of them are colored. The remote is black and has a wonderful and stylish design. Compared to other remotes, this one has smaller buttons but they have a well organized structure making any surfing smooth.

The Samsung LN-T5281F is incredibly similar to their T5265F model, but it is missing a key feature that is present in most HDTV's and that is the ability to operate in 120Hz. However, this newer model also sports features missing in the 65F models. One of those features is the local dimming capability. Using the dim option, Samsung hopes to recreate the CRT so that you can have great performance from this gadget, and while its good, its not as great as what the CRT could offer.

The HDTV's design is elegant and glossy with a narrow bezel, but not the thinnest available bezel. It also has a blue LED indicator for power which has the shape of an arc. Another great feature known as the LED Motion Plus, will allow you to reduce the lag on your screen. It does work well but if you're not careful, you will eventually be left with dull shades of color on your screen.

If you are looking for a good performance TV, this is one of the best products; however, the price may be too high for the average buyers, so this Samsung LCD TV may not have many fans at first. However, if you wish for something with a lower price and good performance the Samsung FP-T5084 might be the best solution for you.