Samsung Series 6 LED 40"

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Samsung Series 6 LED 40" - which model

bigal_nz

635 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 32
Inactive user

#98697 4-Mar-2012 18:19

Hiya All,

Went to look at new TV's today - cool!

Did the usual big 4 and JB Hifi were happy to go the lowest on the model I am looking at which is UA40D6600. They also could do a full swing arm bracket for $150 (Bond n Bond wanted $499 for their arm bracket!!)

What I am not sure about is whether I need this model, I only have two main requirements:

1. I can watch media from a shared folder across LAN (or Wifi but I think Wifi too slow)

2. I can control the TV with my SGS phone

The built in web browser looks nice, but not sure if I will use it. There is a difference in scan rate, but not really sure if I will notice it....I am after all leaving the days of CRT here and this will be my first flat panel!

Thoughts?

-Al

1 | 2

355 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 102

#590271 4-Mar-2012 20:48

I just purchased a Samsung 40" D6600. I am happy with it BUT it doesn't do everything that my perfect TV can do.

Here are some observations...

It DOES display the PC at 1920*1080 on the VGA input.

Only one USB port can power a 2.5" HDD, but you can put a second HDD on a second USB if it is a powered 3.5" type.

Most but not all codecs supported. Some .VOB files say 'audio codec not supported" A .M4v (iPad video) wouldn't play.

If you use it to record Freeview to a HDD, the that HDD is formatted is a non standard way and can only be played back on that particular TV (Encryption locked to the motherboard!)

I have not found a USB thumbdrive compatible for recording to, but it will playback from any USB thumbdrive I have tried.

Really frustrating is that it will play back .VOB files but wont play the .IFO file. This means playing DVD files can be frustrating as you have to select the .VOB files yourself, and not all the VOB files play correctly.

All .AVI and . FLV files play OK for me.

Picture quality is very good.

It plays marginal FREEVIEW signals OK, where my previous Samsung would stutter on the same weak FREEVIEW signal. IE, the digital tuner is better than my previous Samsung.

I downloaded Samsung's ALLSHARE ( to allow the TV to connect to my PC for playback of video files kept on my PC) and installed it on my PC. It is awful software! My PC ( a 3Ghz single core) became very slow . Any shared folders took AGES to become available - unless you share a small number of files only - and it put a small additional file on my PC for every shared file. Some PC files played over ALLSHARE couldn't fast forward or rewind! I hated it so much I removed it, any opted to purchase an additional HDD to connect with my videos to the TV direct. And even that isn't a perfect solution due to limits playing .VOB files mentioned above.

I like the SmartHub which connects to my wireless direct.

I use the headphone output into my home theater for audio (So the TV volume controls the overall listening volume). This sounds fine, have not tried using the inbuilt speakers.

Hope the above helps.

All in all, I like the set. I got it for $1580, and you should be able to negotiate similar.

Hiamie

355 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 102

#590274 4-Mar-2012 20:50

Further to my last post...

I did download the iPad remote control for the TV - that works well via a common wireless network... IE the iPad talks to the TV via the wireless network.

Dunnersfella

4100 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 887

#590277 4-Mar-2012 20:56

A couple of other things to bare in mind.
The sound, on these, and a few other similarly specced LED lit LCD TV's will be sub-par.
Actually, scratch that, it'll be dismal. If you don't have a home theatre setup, you'll want one - and soon.
Just take a look at how small the speakers are... then prepare to be disappointed.
The TV can offer a 2D picture at full HD resolution, it cannot produce 1080p when having to work with a 3D image. There is a thread on here that notes this, and I can also verify, that upon testing one in a shop, it cannot produce 3D.
Having said that, the border around the TV (bezel) is very thin, making this a desperately pretty TV...
But as all the new TV's will be out very soon, it pays to bare in mind that they'll be just as nice to look at, if not better - including sets from Panasonic and LG that aren't a million miles different look wise.

richms

29098 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10207

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#593293 10-Mar-2012 18:04

heres my take on the 6000 which is prettymych the same as the 6600.

Lines on the image when showing saturated colours like simpsons yellow - it seems to only light half the pixel up if its a dimmer area, so there are black lines, or in the case of some colours you can see varied colour lines. Same for the default blue title of IE and other UI controls in windows.

Backlight keeps dimming out even when dynamic everything and motion LED everything is disabled. To the point where in a brightly lit room you cannot see the standard windows mouse pointer on a black background. Cant be defeated according to the samesung CS people, as its how it gets more stars for the energy saving bollux rating.

Smarthub is the biggest joke in usability ever made. All I use it for is to launch plex which will then play stuff over the network. The inbuilt DLNA client is ugly, slow, and chokes on most media, takes forever to find anything.

Samsung have _really_ dropped the ball on this one IMO, even with a samsung account logged in I have to enter my youtube details every time by visiting a URL on the phone/computer and putting in a code from the TV, it cant see your watch later playlist, it cant choose the quality so you can watch without buffering, and text entry in it isnt possible to use qwerty or anything from the smartphone remote. It was a nice novelty but the laptop with a busted screen was quickly redeployed as a media player/youtube player etc as the TV is just too bad at it.

Cant delete VGA or TV from the input list, so they are always there to cycle thru on the source button despite not being used.

Game mode is essential if you are using it from a PC as otherwise there is laaaaaaaaag on it making hitting buttons with the mouse really really difficult.

And I dont think I have a headphone socket? At least I couldnt find one when sticking my head up against the wall and swinging it out on the bracket as far as I can. It has an optical out which I could run into my bedroom stereo if it had an optical in, but it doesnt so I am for the moment stuck on the craptastic internal speakers.

3d is a joke on it, way too much crosstalk sometimes, and its acceptable at other times. Scene dependant so I think it has something to do with the ever changing backlight brightness problem.

Richard rich.ms

bigal_nz

635 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 32
Inactive user

#594107 12-Mar-2012 13:09

Were you using Wifi or Ethernet for the DLNA?

richms

29098 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10207

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#594125 12-Mar-2012 13:37

ethernet, it seems that it just refused to touch mkv files and many mp4s that play fine thru plex would go all jumpy etc in the dlna client. I dont think there was any transcoding happening on the server as the CPU was low as, whereas if it tried to transcode it would peg the CPU and stutter rather than just have juddery playback.

Richard rich.ms

AliExpress

Shop now on AliExpress (affiliate link).

GregV

932 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 304

#594126 12-Mar-2012 13:41

Can confirm that the 6000 does have a headphone socket. I plugged my PC speakers into my 6000 the last time Bathurst was on, for a bit more oomph.

Hiamie

355 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 102

#594142 12-Mar-2012 14:02

GregV: Can confirm that the 6000 does have a headphone socket. I plugged my PC speakers into my 6000 the last time Bathurst was on, for a bit more oomph.

My 6600 has a software bug(?) however as it intermittently (maybe 1 time in 50) comes up at a very high volume from the headphone output socket. Touching the volume control on the remote instantly re-sets the volume to where it was last left, and where normally it should default back to.

As I connect my amp to the headphone output (I leave the amp at a fixed volume, and adjust the TV volume to suit), this is going to annoy the whole household when it happens during the middle of the night, when I sometimes watch a bit of telly if I cant sleep! I use a learning remote for all functions, so the amp starts up at the same time as the TV.

vinnieg

2260 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#594158 12-Mar-2012 14:27

GregV: Can confirm that the 6000 does have a headphone socket. I plugged my PC speakers into my 6000 the last time Bathurst was on, for a bit more oomph.

Does your TV do the backlight flickering up, and down thing?

Mine doesn't, unless I put it on energy saving mode, under the Tools/Options menu

Apart from that I don't have a problem with mine

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

GregV

932 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 304

#594171 12-Mar-2012 14:53

It did the backlight flickery thing, but I disabled something in the menu (can't remember exactly what now), and it stays the same now. Used to annoy the hell out of me.

Dunnersfella

4100 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 887

#594281 12-Mar-2012 18:20

Hiamie:
GregV: Can confirm that the 6000 does have a headphone socket. I plugged my PC speakers into my 6000 the last time Bathurst was on, for a bit more oomph.

My 6600 has a software bug(?) however as it intermittently (maybe 1 time in 50) comes up at a very high volume from the headphone output socket. Touching the volume control on the remote instantly re-sets the volume to where it was last left, and where normally it should default back to.

As I connect my amp to the headphone output (I leave the amp at a fixed volume, and adjust the TV volume to suit), this is going to annoy the whole household when it happens during the middle of the night, when I sometimes watch a bit of telly if I cant sleep! I use a learning remote for all functions, so the amp starts up at the same time as the TV.

As an aside, does your amp have an optical port on the back?
It could help bypass this issue - if not, maybe look for a cheaper DAC with an optical input.

Mighty Ape

Shop now at Mighty Ape (affiliate link).

richms

29098 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10207

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#594331 12-Mar-2012 21:21

Found the headphone out. way too noisy. I can even hear hiss on headphones clear as anything. worse than my vintage CRT.

Also its a lame switching jack.so I will have to stuff around moving the tv everytime. ugh.

Richard rich.ms

Hiamie

355 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 102

#594349 12-Mar-2012 21:55

richms: Found the headphone out. way too noisy. I can even hear hiss on headphones clear as anything. worse than my vintage CRT.

Also its a lame switching jack.so I will have to stuff around moving the tv everytime. ugh.

I don't notice any noise at all feeding the headphone out to the amp. But, yes, I do have optical on my amp, and even have an optical cable. I'll have a play with that in the next day or two.

As an aside, I was unable to delkete several series scheduled recordings, using the scheduler. The option was there to delete scheduled recordings, but when I selected the scheduled recordings, and tried to delete them, it just didn't happen! I found I had to find each recording in the FreeView guide and delete from there. Another bug perhaps?

This all takes me back to an old Samsung CDMA cellphone I once owned.... Once you typed a TXT message into it, you couldn't then access the address book to select the recipient! Makes me think that Samsung don't properly test their software before releasing to the public!

richms

29098 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10207

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#594354 12-Mar-2012 21:58

Its shocking that the released this abortion of software.

At least the last update removed the videos I dont have from the top of the smart hub screen.

Richard rich.ms

Dunnersfella

4100 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 887

#594700 13-Mar-2012 18:19

Hiamie: Makes me think that Samsung don't properly test their software before releasing to the public!

I do not believe you'd be the first to say that...

Sound is typically the last thing Samsung LED's are designed to deliver - so an optical cable directly into the amp should give you a massive boost in sound quality. The sales person who sold you the TV should have brought that up.
The 'smart TV' functionality of any current TV is a joke, so I'd just ignore it and hope that Samsung will update it.
However - I sincerely doubt they will.
The new generation will be upgradable though, with the purchase of a new upgrade module (chip)... bugger huh?

1 | 2