If you’ve read my report on 720p vs 1080p HD TV’s (and why haven’t you??) you’ll know that I really don’t give 2 figs about the difference between the them.

We’re going HDTV Review the 1080p Samsung LE40M87BDX (or LE40M87BDXEU depending on your territory) which is ‘Full HD‘ in that it can display 1080p signals as they are rather than having to up scale them as opposed to 720p HD TV’s.

Despite this step up, this Samsung has the usual HD TV drawback in the SD (Standard) TV images can appear blocky and not fluid. Upon reviewing this TV we’ve decided to push the motto that if you have a HDTV, you should really invest in a HD source for it’s main use in order to reap the full benefits. The Samsung LE40M87BDX/XEU will show up any poor source glaringly and you’ll be saying to yourself ‘HD my ass…’.

Straight out of the box the picture can be a little disappointing as the blacks are less than perfect on even after you spend some time fiddling with the contrast and other picture options.

Another let down is that the sound on this box is a real let down. For such a big shiny machine the sound is more of a whimper than a roar. Plug it into your home cinema and you’ll be better of.

The Samsung LE40M87BDX/XEU has a trio of picture modes (note you will have to set these for each input device you have):

Dynamic – for brightly lit rooms with lots of light

Standard – for your regular lit rooms which is most of us

Movie – for darkened rooms (and those who can’t change a light bulb)

If you want an out the box, ready to use TV then this probably isn’t for you. You virtually have to have a degree in engineering to understand and set all your inputs and modes perfectly.

It’s an excellent TV once it’s all spanked and tweaked but you could save yourself a job and get another 40 inch which requires lesser set-up time and has better sound than the Samsung LE40M87BDX.

At the time of writing there is a known fault in that the optical audio out will drop from time to time. Now I know that nothing is perfect but why release a product with a known fault? Samsung LE40M87BDX/XEU must have been pressed for some 4th quarter results….Look out for my video review coming soon….in the meantime you can check out the store for some bargains.