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  • Tour & Design

  • Performance Features

  • Connectivity & Media

  • Controls, Menu & Remote

  • Conclusion

  • Tour & Design
  • Performance Features
  • Connectivity & Media
  • Controls, Menu & Remote
  • Conclusion

Tour & Design

The front of the LN52B750 has the same clean, simple design as the other models Samsung announced this year, with a stand made of aluminum and glass. One difference is a change in the styling of the bottom part of the bezel, though; a clear space separates the screen itself from the speaker bar at the bottom.

*The LN52B750 has a clean, stylish design
*

**Back**

We weren't able to get access to the back of the LN52B750 to take a photo.

**Sides**

The left side of the LN52B750 has no major features, but the right is the home to the side ports panel. The LN52B750 is slightly deeper than the high-end LED backlight models that Samsung has announced this year at about 2 to 3 inches thick, but it doesn't look or feel overweight.

The left and right sides of the LN52B750

 

**Stand/Mount**

The stand has the same styling as all of Samsung's 2009 line, with a large piece of aluminum forming the base plate, and a glass pillar holding up the main part of the screen. It's a very attractive look that makes the panel look rather like it is floating on air. Standard VESA mounting ports are located on the back of the LN52B750, and the entire stand can be removed for wall mounting.

The glass and aluminum stand of the LN53B750 

**Aesthetics**

Overall, the LN53B750 is a very good looking display, with the transparent bar between the display and the speakers giving it an extra design flourish. 

Performance Features

Display Size & Technology

The panel in the LN52B750 is a 52-inch LCD panel that has a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. uses CCFL (Cold Cathode Florescent Light) backlights. Although we are seeing an increasing trend for LED backlights, that's restricted to the higher end models, and middle of the range models like this one are still using the older technology. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though; CCFLs are a proven technology.

The LN52B750 is built around a 52-inch panel

Format & Resolution

Because this is a Full HD screen, it can handle any HDTV signal up to the current maximum of 1080p without having to downscale, crop or otherwise fiddle with the image. And that's a good thing. 

Brightness, Blacks & Contrast Ratio

Samsung didn't reveal the specifics of the specifications of the LN52B750; we don't have any information on black level, peak whiteness or the contrast ratio between the two. 

Refresh Rate & Motion

The major upgrade that this model includes is the addition of a 240Hz refresh rate and an update to Samsung's Auto Motion Plus motion processing. The increase in the refresh rate (last year's models only did 120Hz) should mean smoother motion, as the screen is updated more often and the TV attempts to smooth out fast movement between frames that can cause juddering or jerky motion. We'll have to wait and see how effective this (and the update to the Auto Motion Plus) will be until we can get in a review unit, but the demos that Samsung were showing certainly looked promising. 

Viewing Angle

We saw a wide viewing angle from the LN52B750; colors  started fading out at about 30 to 40 degrees from straight on, but they were still pretty viewable at wider angles. We did see that the edges of the screen seemed to get brighter at more extreme angles, but this may be related to the pre-production nature of the display. Samsung also claims to have improved the front of the screen with the addition of a polarizing filter that helps to block reflections

Color

Samsung offers something called Wide Color Enhancer 3, which they claim matches the colors of the video source more accurately to the colors that the display can actually reproduce. Samsung claim that this means more accurate but vibrant colors, but we weren't able to test this feature at the show. An additional viewing mode called Natural is also present, which aims for color accuracy rather than the exaggerated colors that some modes produce. 

Connectivity & Media

Audio & Video Ports

We were not able to get access to the back of the LN52B750 to determine which ports were on offer, but we were able to ascertain that there should be 4 HDMI ports in total, plus a selection of analog inputs on the back. On the side of the LN52B750 are a selection of ports designed for devices that need to be plugged in and removed on a more regular basis, shown in the photo below. These are (from the top) a USB port, a HDMI port, an additional USB port, and a combination of composite video and analog audio inputs. Noticeably absent here is a headphone port.

The side ports of the LN52B750

Media & Other Connectivity

There are a number of ways to connect the LN52B750 to the wider world of media; the two USB ports allow you to connect USB thumb drives or hard drives with video, music or photos on and view them. Samsung is also rolling out their Internet@TV feature on the Series 7 models, which allows the display to connect to  the Internet via an Ethernet port and display information such as stock quotes, news headlines, Flickr photographs, etc through small programs called Widgets. The LN52B750 also supports the DLNA standard, which allows compatible computers or other media devices to stream video and audio content to the device. Wireless Ethernet is not included, but can be added with an optional USB adapter. No information on pricing or availability on this is available at the moment,

Placement

The side ports are reasonably easy to access, but they are quite deeply recessed, so you will probably find yourself rotating the TV around or leaning around to make sure that the cables are properly inserted. 

Audio

Samsung didn't reveal the details of the speakers on the LN52B750, and we were unable to test them. 

Controls, Menu & Remote

Remote

The remote that will come with the LN52B750 was not available for testing.

Controls

Because the model we looked at was a pre-production unit, we were not able to access the controls. However, Samsung did tell us that they are planning on using their now-standard touch-screen controls on the bottom right corner of the front.

Menu

Because the model we looked at was a pre-production unit, we were not able to access the on-screen menus.

Conclusion

It's hard to draw too many conclusions about the LN52B750 without knowing one important thing; price. Samsung didn't release this information, so we can't speculate on if this display offers good value for money. But it does look to have a decent selection of features, with a 240Hz refresh rate and media streaming features. This is also an interesting point; some manufacturers are only offering Widgets and media streaming on their high-end models, but Samsung is offering them across most of their models, including the middle of the range LN52B750.

Meet the tester

Richard Baguley

Richard Baguley

Contributor

@@rbaguley

Richard Baguley is a veteran writer who has written about technology ranging from Alphabet to Zip file utilities. He has contributed to pretty much every major tech publication, including Amiga Format Magazine, PC World, Wired, CNET, Toms Guide, Forbes, and many others. He lives in the Boston metro area with his wife, dog, and an indeterminate number of cats.

See all of Richard Baguley's reviews

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