Full Review
Features and Design Besides shrinking the PN50A450's display down to just 1365 x 768 resolution, Samsung hasn't done all that much to skimp on this display. It gets many of the technologies found in the company's higher-end sets, including FilterBright anti-glare technology, the ACE silhouette editor that smooths facial colors, and Natural True Color with 18-bit color processing. It also has a built-in NTSC/ATSC tuner with Clear QAM for picking up over-the-air HD broadcasts. On the audio side, the PN50A450 features down-firing 10-watt speakers and support for SRS TruSurround XT. Aesthetics Like most of Samsung's flat-screen televisions, the PN50A450 adopts a classy (if not terribly unique) glossy black bezel. While this finish typically collect fingerprints easily on manhandled devices like MP3 players and laptops, we can't find much to complain about on a television, which shouldn't be getting touched too often. The lower right-hand side sports a discrete red LED that lights up when the set is off, along with embossed buttons for basic functions like changing channels, adjusting volume, switching inputs, and bringing up the TV menu. When powered on, the silver Samsung logo below the screen gets a gentle white glow from below, but not nearly enough to be distracting. Overall, the clean styling on the PN50A450 was right up to par with Samsung's pricier sets, and guests would never know from viewing it while turned off that it occupies the lower end of the company's line-up. Ports and Connectors Since Samsung has targeted budget buyers who may not have accessories that are completely up to snuff with the latest high-def input standard, we found it wise that the company included two component video inputs in addition to three HDMI inputs on the PN50A450. These, combined with dual composite A/V inputs, plus S-video and VGA, should be more than sufficient for the array of components most buyers will connect to a TV like this. It's not the most complete rear panel we've ever seen, but we wouldn't anticipate needing many more connections when looking in this price range. USB inputs would be nice, but that's clearly a premium feature outside the scope of this unit. 
Image Courtesy of Samsung
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by StevenInGCA on December 5, 2008:
“I TOTALLY disagree with the review here on DT. Maybe they got a bad unit because my review would be completely opposite. The VIDEO is VERY GOOD- even EXCELLENT considering the price (I paid $899 at Fry's plus free ship). But the AUDIO is HORRIBLE. The...” More...