Samsung 3D Plasma PS43D490

The shipment of my new 3d td was late, as my dealer said that this model is becoming short in my region. Thanks to its affordable price tag with expensive features. Otherwise with this screen size & full HD 3D features LEDs wouldn’t be affordable.

Anyways the box was bulky but when it was opened, there comes slim bezel 43 inch plasma with mirror finished glossy black borders. While the transparent glassy stand speak of itself as a marvelous piece of decoration. Really speaking Electronic Appliance experts have become smarter! The hard copy brochure was thin packed together with magnetic clipper. Two leaf brochure means that set has been incorporated with built in E-menu. Power cable was quite short (not suitable if anybody willing to hang it Plasma). No VGA & HDMI cable at all. But when I plug it in, beautiful high def logo of Samsung appears & I forgot these small things.

After having tuned all my local cable channels, I found that the default picture setup is ‘Dynamic’ (which is a blow format for stores, and most of the consumers don’t like it). Then I turned it to customize & a bundle of picture setting was there to suite my choice. The picture & resolution was fantastic. On my previous TV (Sony Bravia LCD) cable channels appeared with broken pixels & gray tones (perhaps due to limitation of motion lagging & LCD light source effect) but since this one is Plasma, there are no such issues. Blacks were deep, fine gradation of colors, no broken pixel at all.

Ironically, TV channel sorting (rearranging) wasn’t there but this was compensated with ‘5 Favorite Categories where specific TV channels can be assigned. (This is good too, as sports, drama, actions; comedy etc. can be rearranged in different categories).

The next thing was checking HDMI sources which were 3 (2 rear, one side), I connected my Sony DZ340K Sony Home Theatre. Since this plasma only supports 720 / 1080i (but the result was great & breathtaking. Thanks to 600 Hz motion flow, action scenes were quite smooth, excellent viewing angle, as there is no issue in plasmas like typical LED, LCD TVs where viewing angels are poor because they are depending upon back light source & there is a gap behind picture & light source. But in plasmas, picture is right directly pops out from pixels with full strength & richness.

Here I would like to argue that most of the people let this set down by saying that it is not full HD. But they are completely ignoring one thing that ‘full HD (1080) can only be experienced from a short distance of 4-5 feet, while majority of people watches TV from 8-9 foot’ where 720p is more than enough’ & it is also applied for watching 3d full hd. But yes in case of mega screens from 50 onward full HD 3d is a must.

Then come sound settings, in cable. ‘Movie mode’ superseded all; ‘clear voice’ mode was like a radio, while ‘standard’ mode reflects surround / dolby Digital effects. But this was not in case of HDMI sources, when I connected my full HD Digital Satellite Receiver the sound quality; surround & stereo effect can be sensed. Picture looks better at ‘Fit to screen’ mode rather ‘16:9’ mode.

The set also equipped with optical Audio (in / out) which is a great idea to stream audio channels. Though it is no longer in vogue, after introduction of HDMI (as they both support high def audio / video streaming).

No 3D source is yet available to assess its performance so I keep it pending for a while, but the wonderful thing to experience on this TV is USB. As I inserted & switched to USB mode. I begins loading, a beautiful graphical display appears in 3 layers for Video, Audio & Pics. That means a USB with mixed media / multi format files can be enjoyed on this set. (It is not in case with some DVD Home Theatres). Further Remote control also possess ‘play’, ‘stop’, ‘rewind’, ‘forward’ etc. Video picture quality & playback was smooth. There was no freeze. USB mode also supports some picture setting & size etc.

This set also employed some ‘smart features’ like automatic sound mute in case cable goes off, i.e. even producing a single noise sound, it immediately displays ‘No signal / Cable’. Other smart features are smart connectivity indication of ‘Sources’ other than TV, i.e. when we aim from remote to access HDMI & other component ‘sources’, only device which turned on looks ‘active’ like in PC, where other inputs (in off mode) looks dim. This is really fantastic.

Other dedicated features in ‘picture setting’ is ‘Guidance mode’ where half split picture shows before & after affects.

E-manual was another ideal thing to look at. No doubt it compensated the two brochure manual. In E-manual direct jump to ‘actual settings’ is also available where one can immediately test.

Following are the main good points:
• Excellent picture quality
• Bundle of picture settings, not common in other sets, like motion lagging on / off, Gama setting, multiple filters, black level and tint control etc.
• 600 Hz picture Motion flow is awesome for watching rapid action scenes & sports
• Front touch panel for power switch, sound & channel change etc.
• 2 Active Shutter glasses are included (Bother TV shows connected indication & glasses with green lights).
• USB GUI & functions is awesome, quite quick to load, 3 separate layers for audio, video, picture (i.e. a mixed media can be watched easily), almost supports every video / audio formats
• Ultra slim bezel, much thin than other prevailing LCD/LEDs
• Back panel is made of solid black polished aluminum / metal, not plastic made like Sony Bravia.
• Burn protection is enable – however pixel shifting have been given ‘variable’ from minimum 10 min to 2 hrs. which is not good if someone sets it with longer duration of time.
• Optical in / out put
• ConnectShare™, Any net + support (for connecting other Samsung Audio/visual devices).
• In PIP function channels are variable (i.e. can be changed), including PIP picture sound can be emitted through options – this excellent PIP function is not found in other

Bad points:

• Power cord length is shorter
• No VGA Cable
• No HDMI Cable
• Direct Power switch is not available (TV always observes in standby mode unless unplugged)
• Channel sorting (rearranging ) is not found, except five favorite categories
• Brochure hard copy is not detailed
• 2D to 3D conversion is totally useless (not work in any source), except double images looks fine, while wearing 3d glasses, a 3d bluray player is must.
• Sound in Voice mode is not good at all, looks radio like sound
• In outdoor scenes white areas lacks gradation (details) & shines too much, I tried all ‘advance settings’ but failed to correct.
• Bass effect is not heavy, may be due to size of slim bezel (while in Sony Bravia models Bass effect is much higher), but if you have home theatre you can output audio to produce heavier bass.
• Screen is too much shiny (probably because of Plasma format), backside lights reflects on screen
• Remote is too large to handle
• Remote lacks direct ‘PIP button’ – though this can be achieved by purchasing similar Chinese remote from market which has this function embedded.
• Composite input is only one
• No audio L/R output (this would have been ideal for those, who don’t have home theatres with ‘optical in’).


I recommend this set has a high value & worth of money. A best 3d, interactive TV entertainment with low budget.