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Samsung UE40EH5000 review

Review: November 2012

Last updated June 2013

Rating:

In a nutshell: This Samsung Series 5 is a good compromise if you're looking for a cheap 40 inch TV, but be warned that picture quality isn't the best.

Design & looks

When it comes to looks, the UE40EH5000 is a story of two halves. From the front it looks fantastic, with a narrow glossy black bezel and a convenient round stand. But peer round the side and you'll notice unattractive bulges at the back, making it look dated. This is in fact one of the thickest TVs currently in the shops, measuring 93mm deep.

The reason for the bulges is that this is an LED TV with direct LED backlighting. It makes the TV deeper than others, but unless you go looking for it, you probably won't notice.

Picture quality

This TV uses a PVA LCD panel with poor viewing angles and poor response times. The poor viewing angles mean that you'll get notice colour distortion and milkiness in the picture unless you're sitting right in front of it.

The poor response time manifests itself when there's any fast action on screen, such as in a movie or sport.

These factors are also present in the 32 inch version, but they are more noticeable in the 40 inch model.

Audio quality

The TV has stereo speakers with 2 x 10W power. In common with most other Samsung TVs it features SRS TheatreSound, which helps to avoid volume fluctuations and dynamically adjusts dialogue to ensure it can be clearly understood. This may sound good in theory, but in practice the small size of the speakers mean that bass is absent, making movies sound dull.

Connectivity

For a TV at this price, we'd expect better connectivity, though as it's not a Smart TV, there's no need for an internet connection. With only 2 HDMI ports, there could be problems if you plan to use this TV with satellite, a DVD player and a games console. But there is support for component input, composite input, digital audio out and a headphone.

Freeview HD is present, and also a handy USB port.

Conclusion - good value

To be honest, we preferred the 32 inch version of the EH5000 series. With a smaller screen the picture defects were less apparent, and the keen pricing put us in a forgiving mood. Still, there aren't many 40 inch screens available for under £400, so if that's what you're looking for, you could certainly do worse than the Samsung UE40EH5000.

Samsung UE40EH5000 features include:

40 inch LED-backlit screen
1920 x 1080 resolution
Wide Colour Enhancer Plus
Digital Noise Filter available
50 Clear Motion Rate
Game Mode available
1 Tuner PIP available
Freeview HD tuner
Audio: Digital Dolby Plus, Dolby Pulse, SRS TheatreSound, Dts 2.0+Digital Out available, 10W x 2 sound output (RMS), down firing + full range stereo speakers
Connectivity: HDMI x 2, USB x 1, headphone x 1, component in (Y/Pb/Pr) x 1, composite in (AV) x 1, digital audio out (optical) x 1, PC in (via HDMI), Scart x 1, RF In (Terrestrial / Cable input) x 1
TM1240 remote controller included
Energy efficiency class: A
Typical power consumption: 55W
Size without stand (WxHxD): 927.6 x 551 x 93 mm
Size with stand (WxHxD): 927.6 x 606.5 x 227.6 mm

User questions

Sorry - questions and comments on this page are now closed.

Weight of this Tv?

Asked by Ollie from U.K. on 3rd Jan 2018
Hi there. Any ideas where I can get the total weight of this tv? It's for postage and packaging purposes
Many thanks
Ollie

How to set up wireless headphones?

Asked by bill from united kingdom on 17th Feb 2017
my tv is a Samsung ue40h5000 model