Producer of one of the first 40in LCD screens, Samsung has a reputation for being a pioneer in the LCD market. That TV started the whole plasma vs LCD battle for top billing in the big-screen stakes. And with the LW40A23WDX - which we found heavily discounted online - Samsung sets its stall out as a home cinema fan's dream.

This is largely down to the Samsung's rear connections. There are not one but two sets of high-definition and progressive scancompatible component video inputs. And that's just for starters. A DVI input is another highlight, because as well as being HDCPcompatible (and therefore able to show Sky's planned HDTV transmissions) it means an all-digital feed from a PC or compatible DVD player will result in stunning picture. Two Scarts (1 RGB), S-video, composite video, coaxial and optical digital audio inputs, and three stereo audio inputs complete an impressive range of connections.

Scart attack

Ideally, however, we'd like to see more than a solitary RGB Scart, because if you want to connect both a PlayStation and Freeview box they'll be Scart-swapping nonsense, but the performance from the lone Scart is exemplary. So often LCD screens can crumble when faced with the challenge of a Freeview feed, with motion blur being the main culprit, but the response time of the display was good enough to combat this old bugbear. Dip below the RGB Scart connection to a regular composite input and the inadequacies are spread across a large screen for all to see - but it would be an insult to a screen of this size and price to feed it such a poor input.

Nice and natural

With better-quality inputs, Samsung's Digital Natural Image (DNIe) improves the picture's verve and sharpness no end. With DVI sources the LW40A23WDX doesn't sweat over producing top-notch results, with particularly notable brightness levels bringing out the best from our often muted Lost in Translation test disc. Fine details were ably represented, awash with good colour variations that didn't bleed. But results like these are to expected at this level, and the set still has to perform with analogue sources...