In our image-quality tests, judges tended to give the LN37A550 middle-of-the-pack scores. Images were sometimes too bright, and Caucasian skin tones tended to be extremely pale. One judge noted a lack of image depth in two of our tests. Most troubling, we saw vibration artifacts in our NASCAR and Mission: Impossible III (Chapter 7) test clips--a symptom that the LN37A550 was struggling to handle complex motion, and a bad sign for sports or action movie fans. Even for a 60Hz LCD (which this is), this was disappointing.

While the picture had occasional problems, the sound had nothing but. For one thing, it wasn't loud enough. I could listen to the built-in speakers comfortably with the volume all the way up, leaving me nowhere to go from there. Nor did the audio have much dynamic range. At one point in Chapter 2 of The Phantom of the Opera Blu-ray disc, a man's quiet speech gives way to a sudden, loud chord from an organ. But the LN37A550 ruined the effect, because the organ was hardly louder than the man. The sound was strained and muddy, and the pseudo-surround effect was utterly unconvincing.

One thoughtful addition is a headphone jack for private listening. Even the best TV speakers can't do justice to the audio of a modern Hollywood movie--which is why every good home theater needs a separate sound system. But the LN37A550's speakers are notably worse than most built-in speakers.

Still, if convenience and ease-of-use are your top priorities, this TV makes a good choice. The input connections on the back face outward for easy access, and additional inputs on the side offer even more-convenient access. When you turn on the TV for the first time, a wizard walks you through the basic settings, helping you set the clock and scan for channels. It also asks whether the TV will be used as a store demo model or for home use. TVs leave the factory calibrated to look their best in a store, not in your home. By obtaining this information at the outset, the LN37A550 avoids the most common cause of poorly configured new televisions.

The on-screen menus and displays are well designed, easy to use, and trouble-free. The attractive main menu displays options clearly and with useful explanations. A smaller Tools menu gives you quicker access to such popular options as Picture Mode, Sound Mode, and Favorite Channels. The remote's Info button brings up information on the current program in a translucent box that obscures as little of the picture as possible. Switching between your various devices (Blu-ray player, DVR, and so on) is extremely easy thanks to a Source List that groups the inputs that are currently receiving a signal at the top of the list of options.