We bought the Samsung LN55A950 and the LN46A650 at the same time - one for the family room and the other for the bedroom. Side-by-side, the difference is very noticeable. Even though I set the image parameters the same on both sets, the colors on the 950 are definitely more vivid. You need not be a videophile to see the difference. Even when I view the 650 by itself in our bedroom, I can tell the subtle difference. It's still a great picture, but it just lacks the "pop" of the 950. Also, when viewing the two sets in total darkness but still powered-up and in the absence of any video signal, the 650 screen is a dark navy or gray, while the 950 is nearly (but not entirely) invisible. Granted, no one ever watches a blank screen in the dark - but there really is a difference in the black levels between these sets.

Both sets have the "glossy" screen, but to my delight and great relief, they pose absolutely no problem whatsoever. Both our sets are located in rooms with windows and overhead lighting. Can I see any reflections? Sure, if you look hard, you can see them - as I could on my old CRT TV. Before I turned-on the sets, my wife commented on the reflections, but no one has ever commented about reflections when the set is on.

As other reviewers have noted for the 650, the 950 also takes 3-4 seconds to pick-up the video signal on start-up. Images do not instantaneously appear as soon as you turn-on the set. This is a very minor issue.

I looked over the games, recipes, and other content that you can access with the 950. I actually found a good recipe for beef kabobs, but the material is mostly forgettable and this content would not be a deciding factor in my purchase.

I paid $4200 for the 55" 950 and $1600 for the 46" 650. Is it worth the difference? Of course, the screen sizes are quite different, but if I were to do it again, adjusting for the different sizes, would I pay $1000 - $1500 more for the better picture? Hmmm, that's a tough one. If you can afford it, I would go for the 950. The 950 made our holiday houseguests all wonder what was so different between our HDTV setup and theirs. That satisfaction is certainly worth something. However, I would definitely be very happy with the 650 and if I had not seen the 950 first, I would not be dissatisfied or wanting in the least.

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I actually own one. It is hard to imagine how a picture on a TV based on the current ATSC encoding could look any better. The blacks are "black-black". The colors are intense. The picture is bright. The only limitation I can see has more to do with the source material than with the TV itself.

I have DirectTV HD and Sony blu-ray, I also have rabbit ears for local TV. I will for the purposes of this review, ignore Analog TV and VCR, both of which are beyond obsolete.

With standard 480 source, the mosquito filtering is poor or non-existant. I am not sure if this is because of the TV, because of the upscaling of the DirectTV HD-DVR or because of the original network processing. However with true HD source (either 720P or 1080i), the results are stunning. The 3-D processing (two dimensions of the picture and one dimension of time) to interpolate intermediate frames is just stunning. With any other TV, I have learned how to see the macro blocking when the compression is running at the limit, but this TV does an incredible job of not only smoothing out the inter-frame judder, but it remarkably sharpens the picture for those interpolated frames as well. When I pause a picture with the DVR, you can see macro blocks, but as soon as you press "play", you can actually see the motion processor cutting in.

The results with a good blu-ray disk are, well, get your popcorn and 64 oz cup of soda because it is better than a movie theater since it is brighter.

I have two complaints, both of them "nits". The first is that it takes way too much effort to set the sleep timer. Obviously Sony did not anticipate that a lot of users would use this TV to fall asleep on the couch with. Its not a big deal, but other TVs have a one button sleep button - the height of lazy, I'll admit. The other thing is that the "universal" remote doesn't know how to control the DirectTV HD-DVR. Like all other universal remotes, you still need a remote caddy in your La-Z-Boy to keep all of your other ones...

Of course the obvious down side is the $7,000 price, but YGWYPF.

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After reading a recommendation from Consumer Reports, I shopped this unit around and purchased it off the internet for $2,000 (freight incl.) and am very happy with the quality of the picture- although as with most high-tech electronics; my lack of understanding of all of the ways to connect to your cable box, DVD recorder, surround-sound, etc. made set-up a very confusing and time-consuming ordeal. If you are not an audio-video technophile, you may want to consider hiring a professional to come in and do it right.

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After reading a recommendation from Consumer Reports, I shopped this unit around and purchased it off the internet for $2,000 (freight incl.) and am very happy with the quality of the picture- although as with most high-tech electronics; my lack of understanding of all of the ways to connect to your cable box, DVD recorder, surround-sound, etc. made set-up a very confusing and time-consuming ordeal. If you are not an audio-video technophile, you may want to consider hiring a professional to come in and do it right.

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I have had my Hitachi for a year and a half it went out and now I have a 55" piece of junk sitting in my floor,I also bought a protection plan and it's been sitting in my floor for the past 60 Plus days since Oct.22 past contract limits and looks like I'm getting a lawyer, the protection plan and Hitachi makes excuses and lies and breaks contracts Please be warned.

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I have had my Hitachi for a year and a half it went out and now I have a 55" piece of junk sitting in my floor,I also bought a protection plan and it's been sitting in my floor for the past 60 Plus days since Oct.22 past contract limits and looks like I'm getting a lawyer, the protection plan and Hitachi makes excuses and lies and breaks contracts Please be warned.

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I am now on my third order of this model, the first two were delivered with shattered screens, now on the third delivery the TV body is damaged. I can understand that sometimes a product comes from the manufacturer damaged - but three times in a row. Not only that it has been more than a month of trying to get this TV and Amazon can't or want offer any discounts for the trouble I have been through.



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