What was most mind-blowing was the very effective pseudo-surround from almost any stereo or multichannel source. I at first thought I had enabled the SRS TruSurround in the Samsung, but discovered that the particular option was off (using either the menu or just pressing the SRS button on the remote) and what I was hearing was the generic Virtual Surround circuit built into the Oppo DVD player. The most enveloping surround - with imaging on the sides and even behind in some cases - came unexpectedly on the original soundtrack music in stereo for some of the silent films in the Kino DVD set I just reviewed. I later turned off the surround option in the Oppo and tried the one provided in the Samsung - which wasn’t quite as noticeable.

I’m not suggesting that anyone going for this display should forego the usual addition of a complete six-speaker home theater speaker system including subwoofer. That is always going to be the ultimate accompaniment to the HDTV display, whether it is a large or small one. However, if space/decor/money/time considerations rear their ugly heads, you could do worse than investing in a pair of the tiny Orb speakers and accompanying subwoofer plus a simple stereo amp, and use the pseudo-surround feature to fill out the HT soundfield.