LN52A750 Menus and Features

Usually, I'm running through menu options to give you a quick look at where all the stuff is you'll need to adjust and calibrate your set. Honestly there's simply no need. This is basically a "plug and play" display - at least to get a great picture. Still, there are a few functions that you're going to want to know about, so we'll outline them briefly here. The Input menu lets you designate inputs by selecting a preconfigured name from a list. I'd have preferred either a more complete list ("Game" doesn't really allow for more than one game system) or the ability to rename them manually. The Sound menu has the one option I was interested in (Speakers: Off) plus other stuff like EQs, SRS, and Auto Volume. The Channel menu allows you to set up and utilize the internal tuners (great for those getting their content off the air) including a detailed channel list though there is no CableCARD support which means your premium channels will still be blocked. Those that have been looking forward to the "now approved" two-way CableCARDs are going to be out of luck with this display. There is even a "fine tuning" function for analogue channels which should help in getting the best picture possible.

Picture Menu

There are tons of options under the picture menu, very few of which you'll ever have to use. I would definitely suggest going into the Picture OptionsDetailed Settings submenu and play with the Auto Motion Plus 120Hz options. It defaults to Low but has a very nice "Demo" function has overlays on what you are actually watching with half the screen the 120Hz on and the other half off. The Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, Color and more are easily accessible. If you want more direction control, look under for Black Adjust, Dynamic Contrast, Gamma, and the all important White Balance. While all these controls are nice, for most installations, just set the Mode to "Movie" and Film Mode to "Auto" and you're good to go.

Setup Menu

There is not much to do under the Setup menu unless you have the internal decoders on the LN52A750 in use. If you do, you'll be able to set up the V-Chip (to keep your kids out) and Captioning. You'll also use this menu for the setup of your Cable network, your Wireless or Wired network, PiP, and software upgrades (easily performed through the USB port). There is an Energy Saving feature for those that can afford a $3500 display but not the power to run it. Or maybe it is just the guilt, I don't know. All it really does is lower the overall brightness of the display which isn't really needed to achieve great black definition. The Auto function reacts to the scene so that it lowers the output on the bright scenes but leaves the dark ones alone.

Application Menu

The Application menu allows you to configure and setup some of the network abilities of the LN52A750 such as the WISELink Pro and Anynet+. WISELINK Pro allows you to access and play content such as MP3s, JPG, AVI, and other movie formats off of a USB key. It also allows you to connect through an Ethernet connection to your router and access content off your computer with a program called DLNA. Of course, you'll have to install a program on your computer as well. The same connection can be configured to give you access to Samsung's InfoLink giving you onscreen access to news, stocks, weather, and more. Anynet+ allows you to control other Samsung Anynet+ capable devices with your Samsung remote. Lastly there is the oddly named "Content" which can be accessed directly from the remote as well. Here you can display cycling artwork or pictures (included with the display), play fairly lame games, and even get recipes and/or exercise advice. While you won't be spending days in this menu, the Gallery is nice for parties as the images are very high quality and really show off the abilities of the display.

Remote Control

The remote for the Samsung LN52A750 is very hit or miss for me - mostly hit. It sports a glossy black top to match the display with large, easy to read buttons. The power button is on the top left and is isolated so it is easy to identify and use. Just under it and to the right is the backlight button - which lights up every button on the remote except for the wheel and it's center button. This is probably one of the cooler aspects of the remote. If you turn the backlight on and let it time out, then the remote becomes motion sensitive and will light up at the slightest provocation. We've experienced remotes like these before and a generally annoyed by how reactive they are and how quickly they go through batteries. Luckily, if you turn off the backlight manually, the motion sensitive feature is disabled saving your batteries. Awesome.

The button layout is fairly well done, and though the buttons are a little too uniform, the backlight really negates this problem. There is a control wheel similar to something on the iPod though it doesn't work nearly as well. Fortunately, you can forgo the use of the wheel and just click on it in the cardinal directions. The only real problem I had with the button layout was the proximity of Menu and Source buttons. Changing sources is something that I'd have to do a lot and tended not to want to switch on the backlight. The proximity of the two buttons and the fact that the Menu button was larger meant that when I was trying to change sources I often engaged the menu. The switching of the location of the two buttons would have been fine in my book.

While most of the above is nitpicky at best, the one real problem with the remote isn't so much with the remote as it is with the display. It seems that Samsung just decided to put so much stuff into the LN52A750 that it wasn't responsive to commands. At the best of times, it took nearly a second to respond. On occasion, it would slow down (this seemed to happen if it was negotiating the HDCP handshake while I was in the Menu) to an absolute crawl. This was on of the reasons that the control wheel was pretty useless. By the time it reacted, you had rotated a full two or three times.