How would it be if a king sized smoked bacon burger smothered in Irish mature cheddar cheese and creamy mayonnaise with slices of crisp lettuce and onion is given to you after weeks of starvation? Wouldn't you just bite it apart like a savage? Well, we had the exact sentiments when the
Samsung UE40C7000 3D TV was brought in front of us. We wanted to just take it apart and treat our poor mortal eyes to some 3D glory. Finally, it's here. The UK's first 3D TV and are we glad it's a
Samsung. It's good that our trusty Korean electronics giant is holding our hands and leading us in to the world of 3D.
It's only when we were slapped in the face with an actual
3D TV in flesh and bone that we realised the enormity of Samsung's achievement. 3D has a lot of talk surrounding it – will it work for home entertainment? Will people be ready to incur the extra cost to don the bulky glasses? And 3D material – how much of it will be available? But Samsung has shushed all with its offering. In their 3D TVs, 3D is just a part of the works – it's not the sole attraction. You can prefer to don the glasses to experience 3D when you feel like and choose good old 2D when you don't– an aspect which we feel will take the TVs to a whole new level.
And so we began our first 3D expedition. The first thing we did was quickly locate the 3D functionality. Well, the fancy remote has an obvious 3D button at the centre which when pressed, displays a variety of options you can choose from. We were initially watching a 2D news broadcast and the pressing of the 3D button took us straight to the 2D-3D conversion mode. A few button presses and there we were, viewing 3D for the first time in the screens of the
Samsung UE40C7000. We were er.. a little disappointed.
The news broadcast looked a little odd, with a few objects appearing to have slight touches of depth and a few appearing merely 2D. But sports was pretty interesting – a cricket test match was on and we hung around a few minutes before trying out other channels. In the end, the 2D-3D conversion did not make us fall flat – it was merely a 3D appetizer that left us hungry for more.
A word on the active
LCD shuttered glasses – costing almost £100, it's mandatory that you wear them to experience 3D. However, Samsung does not give any pair to go with the TV, you're going to have to dish out more for one. Unfortunately, Samsung's active shutter glasses cannot work for other 3D TVs. There glasses are battery powered, you can also opt for rechargeable ones for a few pounds more.
Hoping for some real 3D action,
Samsung’s BD-C6900 Blu-ray player was brought out. Inserting the supplied disc Monsters Vs Aliens, we rubbed our palms in glee in anticipation of something jaw-dropping. And our jaws did drop. Now that was what we were talking about! Before us was the whole thing – 3D just like what we imagined. Initially though, one needs to get used to the glasses and the concept of 3D. After a few minor disquiets, we settled for some truly impressive 3D experience. The
Samsung UE40C7000 3D TV is also compliant with Sky's 3D broadcasts, which is good news.
Moving on to the other mundane specs of this 40” 3D TV, the first thing we realised was that they were definitely not mundane. The TV is backlit by LEDs placed at the edges, which explains why the set is so darn thin. Black levels are amazing and all other factors that define the picture performance as a whole, such as brightness, contrast, colors and motion all fall in place, doing the UE40C7000 proud. But it's not just the pictures that speak – this
3D-enabled LED TV is equipped with the PVR feature that lets you record your favourite shows to your USB drive, Neat. It lets you make
Skype™ video calls and comes with an enhanced
Internet@TV platform.
And finally the design. Well, it's a masterpiece. That's what it is. This time it's a dark grey with a metallic touch, the silver stand being the highlight. The few millimeters of glass that protrudes out from the frame is something that we've seen before. But this when presented in a grey and metallic combination is that which makes heads turn. The UE40C7000 is scarily thin at just 26.5mm, which makes matters a little difficult for connectivity. Samsung however overcomes this by providing adaptors for most of the connections.
Verdict:
So, we've come to the end of our rather long review of the
Samsung UE40C7000 3D TV. It's true that our initial impressions with 2D-3D conversion were not all that good; it's true the active shutter glasses made us a wee bit uncomfortable; it's true that one of our crew members suffered a minor head-ache after all the 3D merriment; it's true that it costs a bomb and most of us can only droll over it from shop windows. But the UE40C7000 simply made us fall in love with it.
