CONCLUSION – The Samsung ES6300 is a good LCD-based HDTV. Having reviewed countless LCD panels over the years, its performance is not really surprising. Its out-of-the-box performance in the best preset, the “Movie” mode, is adequate but leaves room for improvement (our review sample had a blue tint, but this will vary from panel to panel). For users with access to calibration devices, or for users who are going down the professional calibration route, the ES6300 has a great selection of controls which allow quirks like this to be eradicated, with all the controls for performance finetuning by an ISF/THX calibrator included. On top of this, it has a good selection of internet-based Smart TV features.
Speaking bluntly, every different type of LCD display (VA, IPS, TN) on the market today has problems of one sort or another, while competing display technologies (for example, Plasma) also have their quirks. Plasma is where Samsung are really exciting us lately, though, with year-on-year improvements – in comparison, we don't feel LCD's picture quality has improved much at all over the last few years. So we can end on a high note, though, input lag for video gaming has been decreased from last year, allowing a better sense of immersion with fast-paced games (for example, online first person shooters). The charges levied against the UE40ES6300 consist of less-than-perfect screen uniformity, and the usual VA-LCD problem of poor contrast and colour saturation when the screen is viewed off-axis. Commonly for LCDs operating in 3D mode, there is some motion stuttering with 24p (blu-ray 3D) and 50hz (European broadcast) 3D material.
On the positive side, the 3D display mode is full resolution (unlike a Series 6 LCD we saw last year!), motion performance is good (although not top-tier), and the same goes for the panel’s contrast performance. Provided you comply with the usual LCD rule of only sitting face-on with the display, the 40ES6300 is capable of putting out high quality video, and as such, comes recommended for anyone looking for an LCD TV in this price range.
SUMMARY – The Samsung ES6540 looks like a beefed up version of the ES7000 with a slightly chunkier bezel but it still fits in to the 'sleek 'n' chic' category. Control is provided by an equally sleek remote that sits comfortably in the hand thanks to the recess for the index figure to the rear. The menu systems that the remote helps slide around are reasonably well planned, if a little convoluted, but their general presentation is typically excellent. So packed are the Samsung TVs with features, we decided to write a separate review entirely devoted to them - you can find it here.
The out-of-the-box Movie mode provided very accurate pictures even before we'd set about the calibration, and afterwards the graphs were a picture of perfection thanks to the comprehensive and excellent controls on board. The ES6540 showed some different processing characteristics to those we've seen on other 2012 Samsung LED TVs and the ability to pick up on the 2:2 film cadence was a plus, even if the slightly inferior standard definition scaling detracted somewhat.
On paper, contrast performance and black levels are impressive but each was seriously let down by extremely poor screen uniformity. The review sample was noticeably brighter in two large bands on either side of the panel and had large patches of light pooling dotted across the screen, which completely ruined the immersion in darker scenes; whilst panel array banding undid much that the accurate colour palette provided when large patches of single colour were on screen; a situation that occurs probably more times than you think, especially for sports fans. Native motion resolution wasn't particularly impressive, either, although some conservative use of the Motion Plus processing can come in handy with fast moving video. The anomalies with Samsung's Clear Motion Rate (CMR) technology find their way down the ladder from the higher-end TVs, unfortunately, and we encountered quite frequent stuttering and pauses as a result.
The saving graces of the ES6540 lay in its ability to go very bright – whilst staying accurate – and in the very creditable 3D performance, although the fairly mediocre panel response does mean the odd bit of crosstalk can be seen. Those that like to game in 3D should be fairly impressed by an input lag of around 62 milliseconds and, in 2D, gamers should be reasonably well catered for with a latency of around 45 milliseconds; although this can only be achieved by renaming the HDMI 1 input to PC or DVI PC.
We won't beat around the bush, the Samsung ES6540 came as something of a disappointment after what has come before from the Koreans and serious uniformity problems, in particular, prevent it gaining our recommendation.
PICTURE QUALITY (2D) – Despite the Samsung ES6540's impressive results in the Black Level and Contrast tests, they don't really tell the whole story and both are seriously hampered by poor screen uniformity, which generally ruins the immersion in darker scenes. The review sample was noticeably brighter in two large bands on either side of the panel and had large patches of light pooling dotted across the screen. Contrast didn't hold up as well as expected in brighter viewing environments, either, and it would seem that both the 7 and 8 Series Samsung LED TVs hold a serious advantage over the 6540 in the quality of light rejecting filters deployed. The uniformity issues weren't limited to darker scenes unfortunately and on solid patches of (almost any) colour it was easy to spot the panel array behind the picture, manifesting as alternating strips of varying light intensity right across the screen; meaning content with a lot of grass, sea or sky etc displayed a good deal of panel banding.
It's a pity that we've had to so greatly highlight these issues with the ES6540, both the ES7000 and ES8000 we reviewed were far better in this regard; and that’s forgetting the eminently less expensive 46ES5500, which was also possessed of far better uniformity. If you can look past or, better still, can't see these issues then the Samsung ES6540 offers some very absorbing pictures thanks to some excellent video processing and spot-on colour reproduction. Viewing angles aren't particularly generous - although the stand swivels to the extent where that's unlikely to cause an issue. We noted motion resolution didn't get much above 250 lines for 1080p content, which means those prone to noticing LCD blur won’t be particularly satisfied but the ES6540 puts out crisp, detailed and lifelike pictures when on-screen action isn't too frantic.
As ever, we'll be honest, we were expecting better from this 6 Series and Samsung needs to maintain the uniformity standards set by the higher-tier TVs throughout the ranges.
