Samsung LE40B651 (television brand) LCD TV: A New HDTV
No commentsBy Yasin Resif
While most manufacturers are still wrestling with their debut online TV services, Samsung is already on to its second online generation.
And to underline this fact, Samsung has equipped its latest online TVs as represented today by the 40in LE40B651 with Yahoo Widget capability.
Already widely embraced by the PC community, the Yahoo Widget Javascript runtime engine makes it easy to generate online applications to make your browsing easier, more entertaining and more practical. And Samsung has exclusive access to Widgets for TVs until around September.
Predictably, the LE40B651 offers a uniquely expansive and satisfying online experience. Highlights include access to YouTube videos and the Flickr photography storage site, plus interactive news, weather and finance reports. All presented quite beautifully. Of course, the ring-fenced content Samsung lets you access via the LE40B651s Ethernet port or optional USB wireless dongle is extremely limited versus the internet as a whole, but it’s. But it sure beats teletext into a cocked hat.
The Widget-driven online interface isnt the LE40B651s only claim to fame, mind. It looks very pretty, for instance, thanks to its beautifully polished finish and the unusual honeycomb effect that appears when the light catches the TV the right way.
Samsung’s LE40B651 Series 6 LCD TV is gorgeous. The bezel around the screen has a distinctive crystal effect with a red tint.
Its fair to say that the LE40B651 has already delivered more features than most mid-range TVs. But a trawl through the extremely elegant if fractionally sluggish onscreen menus reveals plenty more going on, too.
For a start, the set has 100Hz Motion Plus processing - with knobs on. For unlike most 100Hz systems, the one on this Samsung allows you to subtly adjust its machinations, with a gentle ‘Clear’ option, slightly stronger ’standard’ option, strong (processing heavy) Smooth option, and best of all a Custom mode that lets you tweak the system’s blur and judder reduction elements to suit your tastes using two separate sliding scales.
Although this level of flexibility doesn’t wholly solve all of the TV’s processing/motion issues, it’s still a great touch that gives a genuine sense of control sorely missing from many other processing-heavy TVs.
The set also lets you adjust black and flesh tones, noise reduction levels, the white balance, the gamma levels, and the colour space, as well as providing the option to turn off the set’s dynamic contrast system. Impressive.
As you’d expect, the TV ships with the Widget Gallery ‘browser’ installed as standard, so that you have a means of tracking down any Widgets you fancy using. But the catch is that for now, at least, the only Widgets I could track down were the ones already installed on the TV. The thousands of others available to PC users just didn’t show up, reminding me again that for better or for worse, Samsung is trying to craft a controlled, ring-fenced TV experience more like an ultra-sophisticated teletext service rather than a free-form Internet experience.
But even with this in mind, the extent of what’s on offer with the LE40B651 really is a far - and welcome - cry from the simple news, finance and local weather reports that marked the sum total of what was possible with Samsung’s previous Internet TV generation. And it’s nice to know, too, that the architecture now in place with the LE40B651 opens the door to more service providers and features being added over time.
On the downside, I experienced a few connection hiccups with some of the content - YouTube, in particular. And there’s a part of me that still yearns for full Internet access, despite all the numerous navigation and presentation issues that this inevitably presents for a TV as opposed to a PC. But in the end, the draw represented by the online system’s slick presentation and user experience keeps you coming back for more.
Another interesting step-up feature of the LE40B651 is its Content Library; a collection of multimedia files, such as recipes, children’s stories, screen saver photos and art work stored on internal flash memory.
In an ideal world the picture would hold up over a wider viewing angle, standard definition pictures would look crisper, and the rather flat audio would have more punch. But the 40B651’s design prowess, huge feature count and mostly superb pictures ultimately carry the day.
Yasin Resif writes articles about different things, including LCD TV. For more information about Yasin Resif’s work visit this LCD TV webpage.
Your Online Guide To The TV Business
Is a DRTV Infomercial Right for your Product?
By Jamie Hanson
You have an amazing new product, but how will you market it? You might be wondering how you will let the public know about your new amazing product and have probably thought about an infomercial, or a DRTV infomercial. Direct response television marketing is great for some products, incredible for others, and a flop for still others. So, where does your product fall into this group? The following questions will help you determine whether or not a DRTV infomercial is right for your particular product.
Customers
The first thing you will want to consider before deciding on a DRTV infomercial is your customer. Do you have a large potential customer base or is it quite small? DRTV advertising is affordable as far as TV advertising goes, but it’s not affordable in general. What makes it affordable is the large number of individuals who can be reached at one time. There may be a few exceptions, but in general you must have a large target audience in order to consider DRTV for your product. The customer base and finances must work out right before deciding to go ahead with a DRTV infomercial.
Offers
Before you consider DRTV you need to have a complete plan. This plan should include what you plan on selling, how you will create an emotional response in the consumers to have them act and buy as well as what other products or special offers you will offer to your customers for making a purchase. You should also have outlined the products you could sell to your customer once they visit your website.
Costs
A DRTV infomercial might get the word out about your product, but can you afford it. The entire process is expensive and should be honestly evaluated to determine whether it makes sense to go ahead or whether it makes sense to stop altogether. You should have a product P&L to help you determine whether a particular product will be able to be marketed through DRTV and still make money.
Plan
It’s also important to have a marketing plan. The 28 1/2 minutes that are included in the paid programming infomercial are considered long form while the 30 second to 2 minute forms are called short form. To determine the length that will work best for your product means you must do some research to find out whether your product will work best for a short or long form infomercial.
To see how a DRTV Infomercial can grow your business, contact DRTV Agency A. Eicoff & Co.
