Samsung LA32C530 - Quick Review
I recently bought the Samsung LA32C530 which is a 32'' HDTV and didn't find many reviews online. So, here is a quick review. I will post an extensive review after I've used it for a week.
In the Box
Design
Simple design with clean straight lines, except for a glass construction below the bottom bezel which I don't really like. Stand is firm and rectangular. The power and other function keys are "feather touch buttons". The power LED is on during stand-by and turns off when switched-on, so it doesn't obstruct your viewing. The speakers are hidden.
Overall, the design is kept fairly simple and most people should like it.
Input/Ouput
Refer the manual which has a plethora of information.
Panel
(Note: I'm not sure about this information, please research it yourself)
Apparently with Samsung, you can get three panels, in order of preference: SQ, AA and CN. I got the SQ panel, so, I think I'm lucky.
Picture
From what I've seen so far - brilliant. I had a lot of 1080p rips of movies lying around and tried Up(Bluray Rip, 1080p, x264) first. The color reproduction is top notch and black levels accurate. I had to calibrate it a little before I could get the best possible image. If you are looking for great image with a 32'' screen, I can easily recommend this.
Sound
You get two speakers, no woofers. The sound quality is passable. I would recommend hooking this up to a good 5.1 setup.
Media Play
One big factor responsible for me buying a Samsung was Media Play which allowing playing videos, audio and photos over USB. Its got an extensive support for different types of containers and codecs and good inteface. No need to go get a WDTV. Again refer the manual for the full list of supported file types. For me the requirements were simple - Containers: AVI, MKV, MP4; Codecs: H.264, XVid. All of these play flawlessly, without any lag or problems.
Some of the movies I tested and their mediainfo:
In the 'Pictures' section JPEG is recognized and in the 'Music' section MP3 and WMA are recognized.
Misc
Bought this from NEXT in Bangalore for 33K. I wanted to get the HDTV quickly so, I didn't go to too many stores, so visit a few stores for the best price.
I recently bought the Samsung LA32C530 which is a 32'' HDTV and didn't find many reviews online. So, here is a quick review. I will post an extensive review after I've used it for a week.
In the Box
- Remote Control - Plastic body with rubberized buttons, except for directional keys which are also plastic. Uses 2xAAA batteries.
- Cleaning Cloth - Microfiber, the type used to clean spectacles, nice touch.
- Stand and Screws - This needs to be setup.
- LCD - of course.
- Manuals - the usual.
- Antenna Shield Box - for antenna/cable input to "protect display from electric arc".
Design
Simple design with clean straight lines, except for a glass construction below the bottom bezel which I don't really like. Stand is firm and rectangular. The power and other function keys are "feather touch buttons". The power LED is on during stand-by and turns off when switched-on, so it doesn't obstruct your viewing. The speakers are hidden.
Overall, the design is kept fairly simple and most people should like it.
Input/Ouput
Refer the manual which has a plethora of information.
Panel
(Note: I'm not sure about this information, please research it yourself)
Apparently with Samsung, you can get three panels, in order of preference: SQ, AA and CN. I got the SQ panel, so, I think I'm lucky.
Picture
From what I've seen so far - brilliant. I had a lot of 1080p rips of movies lying around and tried Up(Bluray Rip, 1080p, x264) first. The color reproduction is top notch and black levels accurate. I had to calibrate it a little before I could get the best possible image. If you are looking for great image with a 32'' screen, I can easily recommend this.
Sound
You get two speakers, no woofers. The sound quality is passable. I would recommend hooking this up to a good 5.1 setup.
Media Play
One big factor responsible for me buying a Samsung was Media Play which allowing playing videos, audio and photos over USB. Its got an extensive support for different types of containers and codecs and good inteface. No need to go get a WDTV. Again refer the manual for the full list of supported file types. For me the requirements were simple - Containers: AVI, MKV, MP4; Codecs: H.264, XVid. All of these play flawlessly, without any lag or problems.
Some of the movies I tested and their mediainfo:
- Fight Club(15.3GB, MKV, x264, 1920x800@13.3Mbps, DTS@1510Kbps + 5 Commentary Tracks) - The commentary tracks are in AC3 format. You can choose the audio track that you want, pretty useful. The file also had a few subtitle tracks, but, unfortunately you can't choose them, they need to be a separate file such as a srt file.
- Up(7.51GB, MKV, x264, 1920x1080@9491Kbps, DTS@1510Kbps) - No issues, pure bliss.
- Office Space(700MB, AVI, XVid, 704x384@972Kbps, MPEG@110KBps) - No issues, but I would recommend you not to see such pathetic rips.
In the 'Pictures' section JPEG is recognized and in the 'Music' section MP3 and WMA are recognized.
Misc
Bought this from NEXT in Bangalore for 33K. I wanted to get the HDTV quickly so, I didn't go to too many stores, so visit a few stores for the best price.
