Discount Samsung LN40A650 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color

Let me start of by saying I also did a lot of research and though this may not be the best "bang for your buck tv" it certainly gets you into that 95% stratosphere (that extra 5% being the loss of the bang for buck). The picture is wonderful. Blacks are extremely improved over my HDTV of 2 gens ago. There are tons of options (and I haven't even been into the super technical menu you have to boot into) to adjust the picture to your liking. It shipped quickly and Amazon had the best price around and did the 30 day price match (dropped $65 in those 30 days) without complaint.

The only small annoyance I have found is that the TV will not pass 5.1 sound from HDMI inputs out of its optical output. It will give you 5.1 from the antenna/cable, but will not pass 5.1 (reverts to stereo) from anything else plugged in via HDMI. This seems to largely defeat the purpose of HDMI carrying both video and audio. So the only option you are left with is to: A. buy a HDMI receiver, which negates the benefit of having 4 HDMI ports on your TV, or B. Buy a whole bunch of ridcoulus wires and splitters and whatnot to send the video via HDMI to your TV and the Audio via optical or another HDMI to your current receiver. I am slightly buggered on that point, but I have read that it has something to do with the movie industry lobbying to have it that way for some odd reason, and it is not, technically, Samsungs fault. Still, it detracts from the experience for those of us who have older/simpler receivers without HDMI inputs, and for those of use that do, makes the four HDMI ports somewhat of a "Why am I paying for these?" quandary. Get more detail about Samsung LN40A650 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV with RED Touch of Color.