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Samsung’s LN52A650 dares to be different. In a world of me-too, glossy black flat-panel HDTVs, no few of which may bear the company’s own logo, this 52-inch LCD is dressed in red. Like many radical design choices, you’ll either love it or hate it, and we didn’t love it. But before you write off this red TV, we recommend you check it out in person–the product shots here and elsewhere on the Web just don’t capture the red tint of the frame properly. Aside from design, we found plenty to like about the higher-end LN52A650, and it produces arguably the best picture of any LCD TV we’ve tested so far, although it doesn’t quite beat the quality of the best plasma.

Design
Samsung’s LNA650 series incorporates the company’s Touch of Color design scheme. Instead of the standard glossy black frame, the LN52A650 sports dark-red accents that suffuse the entire frame, but are most prominent along the top and bottom edge and either side. Other eye-catching elements include a layer of transparent plastic, which is visible along the extreme edges on all sides, and Samsung’s trademark shiny screen (more on that below). The Touch definitely creates a unique look, but call us traditionalists: we didn’t really like it. The photos above just can’t capture how red the Touch makes the frame appear, especially in bright rooms, and if red isn’t your favorite color, you’re out of luck–no other colors have been confirmed for this year, despite the company touting a veritable rainbow at CES. In its favor, the red frame didn’t really detract from the color fidelity of the picture.

A close-up of the side-panel input jacks also shows the red tint of the frame better than the main product shots.

Including the standard-issue pedestal swivel stand, the LN52A650 measures 50.2 inches wide by 34.1 inches tall by 12.8 inches deep and weighs 76.7 pounds. Without the stand, it comes in at 50.2 inches wide by 31.7 inches tall by 4.1 inches deep and 64.6 pounds.

The remote differs from the one included on the Samsung PN50A550 because it uses a rotating, clickable wheel, similar to an iPod scroll wheel, for menu navigation, as opposed to the standard, four-way directional keys. The wheel would be a cool idea if it was more responsive, but with the brief delay between moving the wheel and seeing the results on the screen, we found ourselves more than a bit annoyed by it. The rest of the remote’s buttons are nice and big and backlit (the backlighting engages automatically when the remote is picked up, something we’ve never seen on a remote included with a TV), and we liked the dedicated “Tools” button that offered quick access to picture and sound modes, the sleep timer, and the picture-in-picture controls. We didn’t like the clicker’s glossy black finish, however, which picked up more than its share of dulling fingerprints after a few minutes.Click Here!

Tags: Samsung LN52A650