Black Level
The Samsung UE40D5520 partakes in auto-dimming once the Average Picture Level (APL) on screen falls below a certain threshold, and this persists even in [Game Mode]. To make the auto-dimming less intrusive, we bumped [Shadow Detail] to the maximum value of “2“, which served to minimise the difference between the dimmed and undimmed black levels. Even so, on a full black screen (video black) the blacks would drop to 0.01 cd/m2 from a more “natural” 0.03 cd/m2 measured on an ANSI checkerboard test pattern.
All in all though, this is a seriously impressive black-level response – on par with the company’s D8000 LED LCD television higher up the ladder – which is surpassed only by Panasonic Neo Plasma displays among the HDTVs we’ve tested so far this year. The D5520′s undefeatable low-APL auto-dimming does frustrate, but its effects can be mitigated somewhat with the help of ambient lighting which renders our eyes less sensitive to minor fluctuation in black levels.