In my hands-on, informal tests, photos looked sharp with accurate colors. The densely packed sensor produced some noise in my low-light shots, but it has enough resolution that you're less likely to blow your photos up so much that you'll notice.

The camera scored well across the board in the more-formal PC World Test Center jury evaluations. It earned especially high marks for its low levels of distortion, which indicates a good match between the optics and the resolution of the sensor. On the other hand, it performed poorly in our battery tests, requiring a recharge of its lithium ion cell on average after just 195 shots--well short of the counts of 400-plus shots per charge that we've seen from many other point-and-shoots.

The camera's 14.7-megapixel resolution may seem like overkill, but if you're starting to use the HDTV in your living room for more than just watching TV, it could make sense. In addition to offering plenty of resolution for editing, cropped shots, and big prints, the 10-megapixel widescreen mode captures images that fit an HDTV just right.

If you don't have an SD Card media slot on your TV, Samsung's optional docking cradle may appeal to you, despite its $70 price tag. It comes with a tiny remote control (recent Samsung HDTV remotes also operate the docking cradle) for browsing your images, setting up slide shows, and watching videos directly from the camera. The cradle also charges the battery, and the dock's included HDMI cable means you'll get a top-quality connection. The TL34HD captures 720p video at up to 30 frames per second, which is plenty for most home movies. Unfortunately, automatic face detection isn't an option during video capture.

The Samsung TL34HD has a sturdy metal body that comes in your choice of all-black, silver and black, or an eye-catching silver and red. The touchscreen controls make it a good choice for anyone who wants to adjust quickly for each shot. It's also a good complement to your HDTV if you elect to fork over the $70 for the docking cradle.