Originally posted by Migaman
The repair guy was very nice & helpful. He had recently been to HLP training and was surprised to see the HLP because he thought it wasn't out until July.
If the repairman was surprised to see your HLP then which light engine did he put in your TV?

It sounds like he came to your house equipped with a HLP light engine but didn't realize that until he saw your set. :)

Originally posted by Migaman
He showed me his manual which had 4 typical problems and how to repair them. The vertical white stripes was #1, so obviously it's common enough to document.


What were the other 4 problems, If I may ask?

OK, here's my story--My new 5063, delivered last week on Thursday, experienced the dreaded three blinking lights problem when I tried to turn it on this Wednesday morning. No picture, nothing. I e-mailed TV Authority at 6:00 a.m. California time (8:00 my time) and then called them at 8:30 PDT. Got a sharp engineer, who gave me the Samsung 800 number (1-800-samsung). Called them, got a helpful person who contacted their service tech in Norman, OK, were I live. The service tech called me at noon and set up a time to come out that afternoon. He diagnosed it with a bad lamp, and should have it in two days.

He called this afternoon with the lamp in hand and came out. It did not fix the problem. Next, he's going to replace the engine, which is good news, because I was experiencing some audio/video sync problems on broadcast digital channels, and the new engine is supposed to fix that. My Sammy was manufactured in April, 2004.

The engine should be in by next Tuesday. In the meantime, I've been without since Wednesday, and will be until next week. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for giving me a place to vent. My wife is looking at me with raised eyebrows.

Originally posted by htwaits
If the repairman was surprised to see your HLP then which light engine did he put in your TV?

It sounds like he came to your house equipped with a HLP light engine but didn't realize that until he saw your set. :)

He was just surprised to see it in someones house so soon. He didn't know it had been released yet. We are probably the first owners anywhere due to the TVA's PB.

He knew it was HLP5063 before he got there. The repair call was initiated with Samsung who overnighted it directly to the TV repair company. I would assume there is only one light engine for the 63 series and it was the right one because the set works great now. He also observed the internal placement of parts and how the differed from the previous DLP models.

Originally posted by DanPackMan
What were the other 4 problems, If I may ask?

I'm sorry I wish I paid more attention when he showed me it or had a copier in the house. I do recall one was a blowup of the diamond that showed the diagonal lines jagged as oppose to straight & smooth.

I first got my new hlp 5063w about 2 wks ago it worked fine until tuesday when the light went out. I was wondering if anyone else had this happen to them if this has already been discussed i appoligize i am a new member. One other question i had is that my first set had the dcdi faroja logo on the front but the new one does not i was wondering what was up with that i did not exchange manuals i have everything from the first tv except the tv. I would also like to say that except for one channel i have had no audio sync problems(fox-dt) and no rainbow effect problems at all. I love this tv

Originally posted by Ice024
I first got my new hlp 5063w about 2 wks ago it worked fine until tuesday when the light went out. I was wondering if anyone else had this happen to them if this has already been discussed i appoligize i am a new member. One other question i had is that my first set had the dcdi faroja logo on the front but the new one does not i was wondering what was up with that i did not exchange manuals i have everything from the first tv except the tv. I would also like to say that except for one channel i have had no audio sync problems(fox-dt) and no rainbow effect problems at all. I love this tv

Yup, I had the same problem with mine. We picked up an HLP5063W last Sunday (6/20) in Salem, NH. It worked great for DVD and HD, but SD TV:( and TIVO:mad: were underwelming. Then on Thursday morning, the set wouldn't turn on and all three status lights blinked. Tweeter got us a replacement right away, but between the way SD and TiVo look (which we watch 80% of the time), and then the bulb issue, I'm concerned.

Does anyone have good experiences to report on viewing SD and TiVo'd TV on an HD set? My Samsung HLP replaces an early model Sony Wega XBR 32" that had/has a great picture.

One more thing, the HD and DVD on the Samsung look spectacular. Is it to much to ask for great SD and great HD??

-- Dave

Your first HLP5063 failed Tuesday and you already have a replacement? Your dealer is fast.

My HLP5063 has the DCDI decal and it was manufactured in Korea in April. I think you are just missing a decal but you can confirm that they didn't forget the Faroudja chip by looking in the SM. Item 4 on the main screen is "FLI2310" which is the Faroudja chip.

Originally posted by cdswindell
Yup, I had the same problem with mine. We picked up an HLP5063W last Sunday (6/20) in Salem, NH. It worked great for DVD and HD, but SD TV:( and TIVO:mad: were underwelming. Then on Thursday morning, the set wouldn't turn on and all three status lights blinked. Tweeter got us a replacement right away, but between the way SD and TiVo look (which we watch 80% of the time), and then the bulb issue, I'm concerned.

Does anyone have good experiences to report on viewing SD and TiVo'd TV on an HD set? My Samsung HLP replaces an early model Sony Wega XBR 32" that had/has a great picture.

One more thing, the HD and DVD on the Samsung look spectacular. Is it to much to ask for great SD and great HD??

-- Dave

For SD it all depends on the strength of your cable signal. SD on my Sci. Atlanta 8000 DVR through S-Video looks great. Some channels aren't as good as others but channels above 100 look as good as they did on my 32" Sony Wega. HD and DVDs look amazing as well. I have Tivo but haven't hooked it up yet (I primarily use my DVR now).

One thing to note. I find that SD on my SA 8000 (via S-Video) is much better than SD on my Pioneer 3510HD (via DVI). I have two separate boxes but others who are using a single STB have reported that if you use DVI for HD channels you should also run an S-Video feed for SD channels.

I also primarily watch SD in 4:3 mode on the Samsung. Sometimes I will use Wide or Zoom but I like the unaltered picture better most of the time.

Eric

Originally posted by Ice024
I first got my new hlp 5063w about 2 wks ago it worked fine until tuesday when the light went out. I was wondering if anyone else had this happen to them if this has already been discussed i appoligize i am a new member. One other question i had is that my first set had the dcdi faroja logo on the front but the new one does not i was wondering what was up with that i did not exchange manuals i have everything from the first tv except the tv. I would also like to say that except for one channel i have had no audio sync problems(fox-dt) and no rainbow effect problems at all. I love this tv

My HLP doesn't have a DCDi by Faroudja logo on it. The HLP I saw at the HE Show in NYC in May did, however. I'm sure they didn't remove the chip -in fact the brochure specifically says it has DCDi by Genesis (which owns Faroudja).

Originally posted by cdswindell
Does anyone have good experiences to report on viewing SD and TiVo'd TV on an HD set? -- Dave
I don't have a TiVo but from reading here I understand that it uses compression on input signals. That will degrade picture quality.

Our OTA DTV signal is very good with SD programming. The same channels, using their analog signals with the noise from interference and our very old antenna, are not as good but they are very watchable.

Try magnifying the image you receive on your direct view TV and it might not look so good.

Eighty percent of what I watch will be DVDs and everything else will be DTV. If I was watching eighty percent SD programming with a TiVo, I wouldn't get a HDTV.

Originally posted by cdswindell
Yup, I had the same problem with mine. We picked up an HLP5063W last Sunday (6/20) in Salem, NH. It worked great for DVD and HD, but SD TV:( and TIVO:mad: were underwelming. Then on Thursday morning, the set wouldn't turn on and all three status lights blinked. Tweeter got us a replacement right away, but between the way SD and TiVo look (which we watch 80% of the time), and then the bulb issue, I'm concerned.

Does anyone have good experiences to report on viewing SD and TiVo'd TV on an HD set? My Samsung HLP replaces an early model Sony Wega XBR 32" that had/has a great picture.

One more thing, the HD and DVD on the Samsung look spectacular. Is it to much to ask for great SD and great HD??

-- Dave

High Definition TVs were made to view High Definition/Enhanced Definition programing and DVDs, not Standard Definition programing. The junk you see on SD programing is there on your 32" XBR. Look closely, you'll see it. It's not as apparent because the screen is so much smaller - and analog. Digitally blow that image up to 50 inches or more on a micro-display (DLP, LCD, or LCOS), and you see the "true face" of SD. Your DLP is only showing you what is in the signal it is being fed (GIGO, and all that).

To solve this problem while we wait for SD broadcasters to transition to HD, you could buy an outboard scaler/de-interlacer (HDLeeza?) but...$$$!!! If this functionality was built into your set, up goes its MSRP--big time. You could also try viewing SD programing in a PIP window . This would give you the equivalent of viewing about a 36 or 38 inch 4:3 image. I guess you could also watch SD on the XBR, and save the Sammy for HD and DVD viewing.

Bottom line - I don't think any MD is going to give you great SD, but there are ways to make do until more HD programing is available. Try watching more DVDs on an up-scaling, DVI-out DVD player! That's a start, anyway.

I hope this helped! Good luck!

One other thing I've noticed is that sometimes facial features (particularly on close ups) have strange contrasting effects. The best way I can describe it is that sometimes people's cheeks or parts of their faces look too white and slightly dithered, like they're being viewed through fog. Since it only happens on parts of the face, it makes for a rather strange, surreal effect. It is particularly noticeable (and bothersome) on darker skin tones like african americans, and obviously most prominent on close ups.

A few questions for all:

1. Has anyone else experienced "queasiness" or headaches from the new HLPs? I'm the first person I've heard of, and I'm pretty confident it's not psychosomatic, but I hate the prospect of being the only guy on the planet with this problem.

2. Has anyone else noticed the "fog" problem?

3. If I can't get used to these problems, I've still got a couple of weeks to return the TV. Does anyone have an educated opinion on whether I should wait for HD2+ chip, or switch to LCD or CRT projection to eliminate the problem. I'd prefer DLP, but just can't watch it for too long without getting mildly "seasick" right now.

baylorgator, I've seen both the 'fast motion' dithering problem and the 'fog' problem you described on my HLN567W set. My girlfriend has noticed it as well, so I know it's not just my eyes.

I had thought the seven color segment wheel on the HLP sets would have corrected this, but I guess that's not the case.

If you're seeing both these problems and it's making you queasy just watching the set, I'd seriously think about returning it.

I returned the set yesterday for the Sony GWIII, despite my previous reservations about LCDs. All the problems mentioned above are now gone. I don't know if I got a bad DLP unit, or if those artifacts are just seen by some people. My company manufactures food products, and I know there are some extremely strong flavors/tastes that only select people can taste. Others can't taste them at all. It's a genetic thing with the taste buds. Maybe there's a similar issue with the eyes? Who knows.

Xzerion,

I just bought my HLP yesterday and the OOB experience was great. The picture was awesome with no additional adjustment. Must just be lucky:D. Only one problem, I too have the exact, and I mean exact, same smudges:(. I assume you have tried cleaning them. They almost look like they are sandwiched into the screen. I am calling Samsung today about this. I don't know if I will return it yet as the only time I notice it is when I am looking for it. Has Samsung said what the problem is? Keep us posted.

Originally posted by BruceOmega
jbarbbcuny,

FWIW, I have an HLN617W sitting on a Salamander Synergy Triple 20. I would love to have wheels on it, but was afraid they would raise the TV to too high a viewing level. I'm getting ready to consolidate all my electronics into the Triple20 stand, which will make it very heavy. I will need to move it away from the wall to get access to the wiring, and then back into viewing position, and don't relish the thought of that work.

A colleague told me about a product called Moving Men, which I found by Googling on "AS Seen on TV". They are round coaster like things with a smooth, slick bottom and a grippy top surface. The idea is you put the legs of the furniture on the top of the Moving Men, and then you can slide the whole thing around. My colleague says they do work. I plan to buy some myself, but am going to visit a local hardward store that says they have that type of product in stock, although they're not called Moving Men.

Thanks
Bruce

when will HD2+ models hit stores?

Originally posted by BruceOmega
jbarbbcuny,

FWIW, I have an HLN617W sitting on a Salamander Synergy Triple 20. I would love to have wheels on it, but was afraid they would raise the TV to too high a viewing level. I'm getting ready to consolidate all my electronics into the Triple20 stand, which will make it very heavy. I will need to move it away from the wall to get access to the wiring, and then back into viewing position, and don't relish the thought of that work.

A colleague told me about a product called Moving Men, which I found by Googling on "AS Seen on TV". They are round coaster like things with a smooth, slick bottom and a grippy top surface. The idea is you put the legs of the furniture on the top of the Moving Men, and then you can slide the whole thing around. My colleague says they do work. I plan to buy some myself, but am going to visit a local hardward store that says they have that type of product in stock, although they're not called Moving Men.

Thanks
Bruce

Bruce,

We use the "Moving Men" frequently since my wife's hobby is getting me to
move furniture. :mad: They work very well on carpet but are not suitable for hard surfaces. The bottom surface of the Moving Men is a soft plastic material, giving them a low coefficient of friction. If you use them on hardwood or hardwood-lifke laminate floors, you risk having grit embedded in the soft plastic scratch the floor. They are quite inexpensive to buy, so if you have carpeted floors they would be a good solution.

Richard

ncg8r2,

There is an "edit" button associated with each message. You can delete the whole post or edit any of your text.

Hi All:

Just recently found this forum prior to purchasing a HLN507 about two weeks ago. Found it very helpful in the decision process. For the most part, I'm happy with the purchase and am anxiously awaiting a new surrond set up to truly enjoy the thing. However, I'm hoping someone can help me out with an issue or two I'm having. CC and Comcast so far both seem to be clueless.

I have the set hooked up with Comcast HD through DVI (Dual link cable) and DVD through component. If I change from the DVI input to the DVD and the set loses the signal for whatever reason (no disc in player, player not on yet, etc.) when I try to go back to the DVI source, I get the "Searching for Signal" message for a few seconds then it says "No Signal". If the switch from inputs is made while there is a picture through both (i.e. movie is playing on DVD) then I can go back and forth without a problem. What is it about the action of changing inputs to a "dead" signal that causes the TV to lose track of all signals coming in? Shouldn't the set automatically recognize the DVI input whether there was signal from the Component or not? Interestingly, this happens both if the DVD player is completely off or if it's in 'screen saver' mode with no disc in the player. As mentioned, doesn't happen if there is actually a picture happening. Only way to get it back once I get "no signal" is turning off power or sometimes unplugging the DVI cable and plugging back in.

Second issue: When watching a SD picture through cable, if I cycle through the different aspect ratios, the picture becomes messed up (looks like two frames interlaced, with a bunch of lines across it). In my neo knowledge of all this, I understand this is because the input of SD can only be seen in the Wide TV ratio. (Correct me if I'm wrong please). That's fine and I can live with that. However, once I scroll back around to the original aspect where the picture looked fine, it's now screwed up as well. Shouldn't the set pick up on the fact that it's back in the correct aspect setting and display like it did before.

I'm trying to learn as fast as I can on all this so if I'm overlooking some blatanly obvious correction or setting, please clue me in to that. Also, if there's a good base knowledge site or post or other source of knowledge for someone looking to maximize their experience with this TV, please point me in that direction. The manual is no help and the things you guys talk about on here seem advanced (discreet codes, detailed settings, etc.) Apologies if this has been covered before but I haven't had time to make it through all the Sammy threads yet.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

Originally posted by newHDjunkie
Just recently found this forum prior to purchasing a HLN507 about two weeks ago.
You may have better luck getting help with your HLN here.

My Unofficial Guide V2.0 to Samsung HLN Series DLP Sets (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=2182824#post2182824)

Use the links at the bottom of Arun's first message to go to other related threads and his DLP web site.

For information about Arun Gupta please go here.

Arun Gupta - You will be missed- R.I.P. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=409681)

Best Wishes

Well now that I've had my HLP for about a week I'm ready to make a few more comments.

As I already mentioned, I previously had a 60" RPTV and was already used to watching a large screen and seeing all of the DirecTV compression artifacts. Oddly, with the HLP, sometimes the picture looks much better than it did on the 60" and sometimes it looks noticeably worse (during the same show). With the 60" set it was fairly consistent.

DVDs - This one has me puzzled too. I previously viewed DVDs with a projector (100" display) using an iScan Pro between my non-progressive player and the projector. I noticed very few motion/scaling artifacts etc. Now with the HLP, I am having mixed results. Some DVDs look just as good as they did before. However some that did not have artifact issues with my previous setup now do. So it seems that the Faroudja is not doing such a great job on every DVD (yes film mode is on). I'm not going to worry too much about this issue 'yet' because I am waiting for my new DVB318 and will see how well that works. If I still have issues though, this set might be going back.

A/V sync issues. I had noticed some sync issues but no more than I had with my iScan Pro processor. As mentioned many times, that is to be expected any time you do processing on the video. My receiver has an audio delay feature, so I use that to eliminate it.

Everything else is fine so far. No smudges or other anomalies.

Mark,

You mention that "film mode" is on. I had asked this question in another thread (see below)(I believe you responded about the DNR option) but haven't gotten a definitive answer - does Faroudja 3:2 pulldown only work if the "film mode" option is on? Is there any reason why I wouldn't want this option turned on?

What about non-DVD sources - i.e. SD TV via my Time Warner DVR?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=415815

Thanks,
Eric

Originally posted by Mark Lopez
So it seems that the Faroudja is not doing such a great job on every DVD (yes film mode is on).

Originally posted by Mark Lopez
DVDs - This one has me puzzled too. I previously viewed DVDs with a projector (100" display) using an iScan Pro between my non-progressive player and the projector. I noticed very few motion/scaling artifacts etc. Now with the HLP, I am having mixed results. Some DVDs look just as good as they did before. However some that did not have artifact issues with my previous setup now do. So it seems that the Faroudja is not doing such a great job on every DVD (yes film mode is on). I'm not going to worry too much about this issue 'yet' because I am waiting for my new DVB318 and will see how well that works. If I still have issues though, this set might be going back.

You might want to try and run your Samsung thru your iScan Pro with the DNI off and see if the problem is still there. I suspect that the problem will be eliminated if you do this. There seems to be different types of Faroudja chip and the one that Samsung uses is probably more cost effective than in other high end products. For example, if I run my Orion DVD player through my Samsung and use the DVD player's DCDi chip, the picture is better than just using the TV's.

Originally posted by htwaits
I don't have a TiVo but from reading here I understand that it uses compression on input signals. That will degrade picture quality.

Our OTA DTV signal is very good with SD programming. The same channels, using their analog signals with the noise from interference and our very old antenna, are not as good but they are very watchable.

Try magnifying the image you receive on your direct view TV and it might not look so good.

Eighty percent of what I watch will be DVDs and everything else will be DTV. If I was watching eighty percent SD programming with a TiVo, I wouldn't get a HDTV.

I would have to say that my HLP, which replaced my HLN, looks significantly better when displaying TIVO'd shows. The signal quality is good for digital channels and fair for analog channels.

Originally posted by EricScott
You mention that "film mode" is on. I had asked this question in another thread (I believe you responded about the DNR option) but haven't gotten a definitive answer - does Faroudja 3:2 pulldown only work if the "film mode" option is on? Is there any reason why I wouldn't want this option turned on?

What about non-DVD sources - i.e. SD TV via my Time Warner DVR?


Well, I'm still not 100% sure but what I have read elsewhere would indicate that the film mode does indeed turn on the 3:2 pulldown, but of course it only works on 480i sources. I'm not sure what if anything it does for non-DVD sources. As I mentioned earlier I notice no difference at all with this setting on DirecTV (via s-video). I can't think of any reason why this wouldn't be left on all of the time since it's supposed to be automatic.

Originally posted by Fedreams
You might want to try and run your Samsung thru your iScan Pro with the DNI off and see if the problem is still there.

I had tried that briefly shortly after getting the HLP and noticed no real difference. However, the titles I tried happen to be the ones that play well on the HLP. After that I wasted no time putting the iScan on e-bay :) and now it's gone, so there will be no more testing with that. :( I'll report back after I get the new DVD player.

Originally posted by Mark Lopez
Well, I'm still not 100% sure but what I have read elsewhere would indicate that the film mode does indeed turn on the 3:2 pulldown, but of course it only works on 480i sources. I'm not sure what if anything it does for non-DVD sources. As I mentioned earlier I notice no difference at all with this setting on DirecTV (via s-video). I can't think of any reason why this wouldn't be left on all of the time since it's supposed to be automatic.

Thanks Mark - makes sense. I really wish the manual would explain these things. A simple "Film Mode" activates the Faroudja DCDi" is all it would take.

I have a 5063, which overall I'm VERY happy with! Great PQ & no major problems. There are 2 minor things I've noticed though:

Small, light gray (I think) squares appear randomly from time to time. They appear when there's a (mostly) solid color background - only 1 at a time usually - & just for a second. No big deal because I've never seen them in "normal" content - only on a solid background & only briefly. Wondering if anyone else has seen this & if anyone has any idea if this is caused by the TV or my HD tuner (Comcast - Moto 6200) or the broadcast or ???

The other thing I noticed is a very slight "pulsing" of color (or contrast) on SOME HD content. Specifically happens on landscape scenes as the camera is panning. Hard to explain much further - overall color or contrast changes in "steps" during the scene. Don't see it on all scenes or in all programs, so again - is it the content, the broadcast, the tuner or my TV???

Any comments are appreciated!

Thanks,

Barry

Originally posted by Cheapskate112
For those that own the HLP5063 already, where was your tv manufactured? I've gone through two of them and they both have been made in Mexico. Anyone received one made in Korea? Don't bash me on anything but I rather have it built in a country with higher quality control; like it's original manufacturing plant. Very good question............too bad it's not USA!
Thank Reagan/Bush for that (among others) for killing the blue collar jobs so the stock market can flourish!!

Originally posted by Mark Lopez
For those who have had smudge issues, I'm wondering if it might be some sort of condensation on the optics since it reportedly goes away after the set is on (warms up). Has anyone not had it go away totally after a few days? There are 2 parts of the screen. The Lenticular and the Fresnel as evident by the service manual and this parts list on the 'N' series. I'm sure the screens haven't changed much id any between models.

I would be willing to bet that those screens are 'sticking' together (or the opposite; separated), or as the posted said, moisture though I doubt that. The other poster that rubbed the screen with a cloth and the smudges dissappeared seems to indicate the 'sticking' theory.

See the attachment. Notice 1-10 and 1-11

Hi all, I'm new to these forums as well and yesterday I posted about having the 3 blinking light problems (more on that later), but here are my comments about owning the HLP 5063.

When the damn thing works, the picture is great. I got DVE and calibrated it as best I could and I'm very happy with the picture. HD channels look unbelievably good. I got the Sammy HD841 DVD player as well with DVI cables and every DVD I'm tried has looked wonderful. I do get the occasional rainbow effect, but that's only when I'm getting up or sitting down and moving my head very quickly in the process. It's no where near enough to bother me.

SD channels look so-so, very grainy, but I can live with it. The audio lip sync problem has been very low. I've only noticed it a few times and after a few seconds it seems to have caught up. We have a regular CRT TV next to the DLP and if we have the same channel on both, the CRT is like a split second faster and earlier than the DLP with both audio and video.

All my game systems (XBox, PS2, and Cube) are hooked up via component cables and look wonderful. No complaints here either. Played everything from racing, 1st person shooter, hockey, fighting, and action games and have had no problems with ghosting, motion trails, etc.

My only problem with the TV as I said before, the 3 blinking lights. I turn on the tv and get sound, but no picture. The TV resets itself like 3 times before giving up. I have to unplug it to stop the flashing, but when I plug it back in, same thing happens. I've had a service guy out, and when we turned it on, the picture worked just fine. He said he's never heard of this before and checked the lamp, but found no problems. So of course after he leaves, it happens again. So I unplug it overnight, and this morning I plug it back in and try it, and sonofa, it works just fine. I turned it on and off 3 times, and no problems. Well I'm gonna have them take it back anyways, cause I can't deal with not being able to watch tv whenever I want, and having to wait overnight to see the picture again.

Three blinking lights is a Samsung oldie but a good.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=190738

Its the bulb.

I also had the three blinking lights problem on my new 5063. (See post from a few days ago.) The Samsung repairman tried replacing the lamp and ballast with no results. He has now changed out the dlp engine and it's looking great, just like before the problem. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Just want to say I've had my HLP for about a week now and love it. I did have smudges but rubbed them away a few times, and now they seem to be gone for good. I think is a burn in thing.

I haven't noticed any A/V sync issues.

Games look great, I'm using every input (well I will be when I get my HDMI cable).

HD looks amazing, especially good content. I watched this thing on inHD about hot air ballooning for an hour... and I have no interest in it :)

Colors look awesome.

I have an HTPC hooked up via DVI and it works great.

I had an HLN for a few weeks before this and was very unhappy, the HLP is the opposite reaction. Only down side is the lack of sharpness, but then again thats a good thing for stuff like video games and SD so its a trade off. Windows desktop is certainly not as sharp, but then again I dont use the desktop (the HTPC is just for watching TV and DVDs).

Oh and no dithering on fast motion like the HLN had (which is the reason I sent back the HLN).

I'll post a more in-depth review in a bit more. I think I've put this TV through its paces though. :) HTPC, HD signals, SD, DVDs, and every game system (including gameboy advance through the gameboy player.... looks great! :)

Good review. Share more when you have the chance.

Specifically, are you watching cable or sat, and does component or DVI make a difference on either HD or SD?

Jayzen,

I'm glad to hear that the HLP doesn't have the dithering issue. I have been following your posts regarding the problem, and the dithering was one reason why I was hesitant to buy a Samsung DLP. I like my First person shooters on the xbox.

Anyway, congrats. I can't wait until I get one.

John

I am watching digital cable, it hooks up to my HTPC via s-video then the HTPC goes to the TV via DVI. The HTPC is Windows MCE.

When I watch HD it uses a component cable right now, but I have an HDMI cable coming in soon. I can't imagine it looking any better, but it just might. :)

All my consoles are hooked up via component, through a receiver that I use as a switcher (actually the xbox will be hooked up directly as soon as I get that HDMI cable).

If anyone has any questions bring them on, I think I've used this TV in nearly every way possible. ;)

Originally posted by bkushin
ISmall, light gray (I think) squares appear randomly from time to time. They appear when there's a (mostly) solid color background - only 1 at a time usually - & just for a second. No big deal because I've never seen them in "normal" content - only on a solid background & only briefly. Wondering if anyone else has seen this & if anyone has any idea if this is caused by the TV or my HD tuner (Comcast - Moto 6200) or the broadcast or ???
I see the same thing with my Comcast Moto 5100 and my 6208. I do not see them in any analog mode (standard cable, DVD, or TiVo). I think it's the Moto boxes. A bit annoying, eh?

Try freezing the picture on your DLP when one appears, then count the pixels. It looks to me that it's ALWAYS 10 pixels by 10 pixels, though sometimes there will be more than one square present at the same time.

I keep reading on other threads:

1. HLP makes SD look better, but HD suffers
2. Set isn't sharp enough
3. Colors inferior to GWIII
4. This set stinks compared to HD2+ that no one's seen yet
5. Scaler/Deinterlacer disappointing

I'm just wondering how I saw a set that looks so different from everyone else. This thing's supposed to have the latest Genesis/Faroudja technology, so I don't get it. I'm not doubting what others are saying about it's shortcomings, because I'm no technocrat and many of the contrarians a very level headed, valued members. I'm concerned that I didn't see these things but will end up with a set that I can't read text on, gives me interlacing artifacts, and has colors out of a Peter Max painting.

Not to say I'll be returning my set. I just don't understand how so many reasonable people can have wildly diverging opinions on this set.

Originally posted by flex727
I see the same thing with my Comcast Moto 5100 and my 6208. I do not see them in any analog mode (standard cable, DVD, or TiVo). I think it's the Moto boxes. A bit annoying, eh?

Try freezing the picture on your DLP when one appears, then count the pixels. It looks to me that it's ALWAYS 10 pixels by 10 pixels, though sometimes there will be more than one square present at the same time.

Most likely you are seeing compression artifacts from your digital cable or DirectTV.

I realized long ago the HBO SD looked better on the analog channels than on the digital channel because of this.

While I haven't paid attention or looked for them, I have a strong suspicion this has threads dedicated to it and has been discussed ad nausea...

squicken,

This forum is full of people who are sticklers for PQ. But you need to weigh even seemingly informed opinions with a grain of salt.

People who already have an HD2 or who have decided to wait for an HD2+ have reasons to want to find minor flaws in the HD3 to justify their own decisions.

Likewise, there are a lot of Sony GWIII owners around who like to think their sets top any DLP.

But you can find an equal number of people who think the HLP has great PQ and represents a good value. It does have a different look, but I there are far more plusses than minuses.

It all depends on what you like. IMHO, the LCDs are bland and the HLN has an exaggerated sharpness that I find unrealistic.

To my eyes, at least, the HLP is the best compromise of any set currently available. In the final analysis, what difference does it make what others think? It's your eyes you have to please, and your credit card that will carry the load.

Originally posted by wittangamo
squicken,

This forum is full of people who are sticklers for PQ. But you need to weigh even seemingly informed opinions with a grain of salt.

People who already have an HD2 or who have decided to wait for an HD2+ have reasons to want to find minor flaws in the HD3 to justify their own decisions.

Likewise, there are a lot of Sony GWIII owners around who like to think their sets top any DLP.

But you can find an equal number of people who think the HLP has great PQ and represents a good value. It does have a different look, but I there are far more plusses than minuses.

It all depends on what you like. IMHO, the LCDs are bland and the HLN has an exaggerated sharpness that I find unrealistic.

To my eyes, at least, the HLP is the best compromise of any set currently available. In the final analysis, what difference does it make what others think? It's your eyes you have to please, and your credit card that will carry the load. I'm comfortable with my purchase, but I'm also amazed at how polarizing this product is. I've read through the archived DLP vs. LCD thread, so I guess it's the nature of the beast.

As to questions, I don't understand how the Genesis/Faroudja deinterlacer plus its combined scaler can be anything but exemplary? The guys at www.hometheatrehifi.com give it very high marks. I guess I'll have to take it for a spin.

Originally posted by squicken
I'm comfortable with my purchase, but I'm also amazed at how polarizing this product is. I've read through the archived DLP vs. LCD thread, so I guess it's the nature of the beast.

As to questions, I don't understand how the Genesis/Fajourda deinterlacer plus its combined scaler can be anything but exemplary? The guys at www.hometheatrehifi.com give it very high marks. I guess I'll have to take it for a spin.

I think wittangamo hit the nail on the head - everyone is entitled to their opinion but most people are biased in some fashion - they feel the need to justify their purchase or their decision to wait. Couple that with the fact that most people are comparing these sets under less than ideal showroom conditions and you can see how the reviews can vary widely.

I too am biased. I have an HLP and love it so far. It kind of annoys me when people start bashing the HD3 in favor of an HD2+ chip that they haven't even seen yet, but I don't take it personally. I recongize that anyone who doesn't think the HD3 is the greatest HDTV ever invented either hasn't seen one or is just a moron :)

No seriously, what gives me comfort is that I know I got a good deal on the set and while another model may be even better, I doubt the performace/value characteristics will even out.

I have to stop reading these forums :)

Can't agree more, I'm sure the HD2+ will make HD content look incredible, probably far better than the HD3, but for everything else it'll show off the flaws and be all pixelated like the HD2. So I'll take the HD3 and the cheaper price and have all my stuff I watch now look better. When everything is in HD I'll buy a new set. :)

Note I'm just making guesses about the HD2+ based on my experience with the HD2's incredible sharpness and the HD3's much better colors/motion algos. I'd imagine the HD2+ will be a combination of those.

Originally posted by squicken
As to questions, I don't understand how the Genesis/Fajourda deinterlacer plus its combined scaler can be anything but exemplary? The guys at www.hometheatrehifi.com give it very high marks. I guess I'll have to take it for a spin.

I don't know either, but in this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=417779) I was having less then stellar DVD performance on my HLP with my non-progressive player. I was also seeing the same posterization artifacts on the HLN that I was comparing it with side by side. After receiving my DVB318 the artifacts went away when using any of the progressive modes but were right back again when using 480i (film mode on of course). Since 480p was ok, I think the problem may be with the doubler and not the scaler.

Well I have to say that using DVI over component for an HD signal provides a noticable improvement. Use it if you can. :)

I have a question though, has anyone tried HDMI with a digital cable box? On my box if I use HDMI it says my TV isn't HDCP compliant and won't display a picture. If I use the DVI port its fine.

Also it seems that 480i isn't supported over DVI. It says not supported mode whenever I switch to a "normal" channel. This may be my cable box, but I have no other way of checking for sure since I don't have any other devices that can display 480i over the DVI cable. Its not such a huge issue, I can just tell my cable box not to ever use 480i, but I thought I'd check to see if anyone else noticed this.

Mark

I've been reading all your posts on various issues with the HLP. My DVD player is just the cheapo DVB312, which probably isn't the best deinterlacer. I'm not planning on upgrading to the 318 or the Samsungs. I'm still hoping the set's well regarded technology will be good enough to last me until we get Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. Thanks for all you posts. I know a lot of us are very interested in your initial impressions.

Well...

I agree this is a polarizing set. I have been looking at the GWIII, and planning for some time to pull the trigger. Comparing the HLN to thw GWIII, I wanted the sony. Then yesterday I saw the HLP at BB, and today I bought it. Hands down the most impressive picture I have seen, so even if the HD2+ makes toast I will still be happy - its beautiful. My HLP5063 is on the way!

I was also planning to use the powerbuy, but negotiated a good BB deal - 10% off the set (signing up for DirectV - and yes I bought an HD box 10% off that too), $300 Best buy card rebate, BB "rewardzone" (essentially gives you 4% back as giftcards - $5 for every $125 you spend)- I nabbed about another $150 in giftcards with the rewardzone. I bought the warranty, and it covers the bulb.

I plan to go DirecTV to DLP via DVI, and eventual DVD (maybe Samsung 941) via the HDMI - all digital - all the time.

Need to decide about the OTA HD locals now - but for those who haven't seen the hlp - changed my mind on dlp in an instant....

I can't wait

L

Originally posted by flex727
I see the same thing with my Comcast Moto 5100 and my 6208. I do not see them in any analog mode (standard cable, DVD, or TiVo). I think it's the Moto boxes. A bit annoying, eh?

Try freezing the picture on your DLP when one appears, then count the pixels. It looks to me that it's ALWAYS 10 pixels by 10 pixels, though sometimes there will be more than one square present at the same time.

Thanks for the reply flex - yeah - after watching the set more, it's definitely a digital cable thing. I never see them on DVDs, & seldom, if ever, on SD content (i.e.: standard cable). It is a bit annoying, but I'm not worrying about it - seems to be primarily an HD issue - either generated by the Moto or possibly at the broadcast end - & so far it's pretty limited.

Anyway, love the TV - the PQ is awesome where it counts: DVDs, HD; and SD is OK - I can live with it...

Originally posted by Jayzen
Well I have to say that using DVI over component for an HD signal provides a noticable improvement. Use it if you can. :)

I have a question though, has anyone tried HDMI with a digital cable box? On my box if I use HDMI it says my TV isn't HDCP compliant and won't display a picture. If I use the DVI port its fine.

Also it seems that 480i isn't supported over DVI. It says not supported mode whenever I switch to a "normal" channel. This may be my cable box, but I have no other way of checking for sure since I don't have any other devices that can display 480i over the DVI cable. Its not such a huge issue, I can just tell my cable box not to ever use 480i, but I thought I'd check to see if anyone else noticed this.

I'm using a HDMI to DVI adapter with my HD cable box. Works fine. If I set it at pass I can get regular channels but my box'es manual says it scales 480i to 480p and info button on remote says it's 720x480.

This set overscans a ton more than my W1. 1248x698 isn't even close to fixing it. Can't get web pages to look near as good either thru DVI as the W1. Anyone have any powerstrip custom res settings to elimate overscan on the HLP's?

Audio/ Video Delay Update:

Just started playing with the new 5063. Audio sync issue is noticeable when I go optical to my sound system, but is absolutely fixed by the HLP if I run audio thru the TV (back to the sound system or on the TV speakers). This is great, only downside is losing the optical quality. So a home theater with an audio delay adjustment would be the optimal companion. (BTW, my set say manufactured in June 04 on the back)

All else is quite pleasing. I don't have any good source equipment right now, but progressive scan DVD is looooking gooooood!

I am happy.

Originally posted by DanPackMan
Audio/ Video Delay Update:

Just started playing with the new 5063. Audio sync issue is noticeable when I go optical to my sound system, but is absolutely fixed by the HLP if I run audio thru the TV (back to the sound system or on the TV speakers). This is great, only downside is losing the optical quality. So a home theater with an audio delay adjustment would be the optimal companion. (BTW, my set say manufactured in June 04 on the back)

All else is quite pleasing. I don't have any good source equipment right now, but progressive scan DVD is looooking gooooood!

I am happy.

I think the audio sync issue you are describing has to be source dependent. I have two cable boxes hooked up to my receiver (video direct to the Sammy - one DVI, one S-Video) - one w/ optical digital audio, the other with coaxial digital audio and a DVD player (via component to the sammy) with optical digital audio and haven't noticed any problems (yet knock knock).

Originally posted by 1Mark1
This set overscans a ton more than my W1. 1248x698 isn't even close to fixing it. Can't get web pages to look near as good either thru DVI as the W1. Anyone have any powerstrip custom res settings to elimate overscan on the HLP's?

They have changed what the picture sizes mean on the HLP. Use "Expand" when your PC is set to 1280x720 and you'll get 1:1 mapping with the exact same overscan as the HLN.

I have no idea what Wide(PC) is now, its stretched and has insane overscan. What is the use of that?

Originally posted by Jayzen
They have changed what the picture sizes mean on the HLP. Use "Expand" when your PC is set to 1280x720 and you'll get 1:1 mapping with the exact same overscan as the HLN.

I have no idea what Wide(PC) is now, its stretched and has insane overscan. What is the use of that?

I still have just enough overscan at 1248x698 when set at expand so that I can't get to window bars on the right and bottom tool bar is cut off by 60%. I didn't know expand was 1:1. thanks.

Jayzen,
Have you tried this resolution and if so does it still apply:

Use Powerstrip to define a custom resolution 1248x702 and set your PC video card in this resolution. Select this setting from your Windows Display Properties, Settings. Most likely this would need a reboot. When your PC is operating on this setting, change the TV aspect to NORMAL. So now you have 1x1 pixel mapping without overscan. The downside – you have to hit the aspect 3 times to select Normal.

Thanks

Originally posted by EricScott
I think the audio sync issue you are describing has to be source dependent. I have two cable boxes hooked up to my receiver (video direct to the Sammy - one DVI, one S-Video) - one w/ optical digital audio, the other with coaxial digital audio and a DVD player (via component to the sammy) with optical digital audio and haven't noticed any problems (yet knock knock).

Yeah, It is less noticeable when I go analog audio to home theater instead of optical. It is very "bearable" that way. Wish there were such a thing as a cheap in-line optical signal delayer.....

I personally want the overscan since I use my HTPC fo just watching TV and DVDs. The overscan cuts off "garbage" that many channels transmit on the top of the screen. So I'm sticking with the default 1280x720. :)

But I did just want to mention that expand is 1:1 now instead of Wide(PC) so other people know. I have no idea why they made this change (it makes no sense!).

unfortuantely the bug bug has hit me... the TV has been great for the past 2 weeks adn today 3 little flashing lights greeted me... from the description i gave the service person he said it sounds like the ballast died. Although I am upset that it happened, and more upset its a holiday weekend so i probably wont get it fixed until tuesday... i must say that the samsung customer support is top notch, if i would have called about 30 minutes sooner i probably could have gotten someone out today if nothing had to be ordered. They said there is a possibility of someone coming tomorrow, but i am not holding my breath due to July 4th... so I am TVless until next tuesday at least...

This is the first i have heard a ballast problem... at least i am unique

Does anyone know why Samsung is not coming out with a 61" desk top DLP set using the HD2+ chip??

Originally posted by Larr
Does anyone know why Samsung is not coming out with a 61" desk top DLP set using the HD2+ chip??
Probably because that's what they will do with the xHD3 chip.

I mainly would like to get rid of the overscan for my games. Adjusting the sharpness to 0 while in expand mode helped out the text on web pages alot.

Originally posted by 1Mark1
I mainly would like to get rid of the overscan for my games. Adjusting the sharpness to 0 while in expand mode helped out the text on web pages alot.

I think you found something MAJOR here. If I set sharpness to 0 on either DVI or HDMI it improves the picture in a huge huge way, not only that but it seems to reduce any slight A/V sync issues I've seen (either that or NBC fixed something :))

I've found that the best settings to get the best picture for hi-def signals is sharpness 0, DNIe on and digital NR on (which removes some compression artifacts and gives a generally more natural picture). If you turn sharpness up at all it seems to actually do something wierd to the image, some sort of processing, which IMO makes everything look worse.

I was just watching HD baseball and the image was "ok", I thought it was a bad signal, then I turned the sharpness to 0 and digital NR on and it improved dramatically. It seems really really good HD signals don't get improved as much as "ok" signals.

Note that this also improved my SD picture quality, since I watch SD through an HTPC hooked up via HDMI. Thanks a ton 1Mark1. :)

Hmmm, the sharpness setting effects don't "keep" after a reboot. I must go back to the settings and change sharpness to 1 and, bamm, it kicks in again. Looks like it defaults to whatever the default is (or just never kicks in) but leaves the slidebar where ever you had it at. See if yours does that too Jayzen.

All my settings stay it seems, are you sure you aren't using a different input? Each input has its own settings, so maybe you were looking at hdmi instead of dvi and so it was different.

Note that this 0 sharpness trick doesn't work with component, it gets quite blurry at 0. ;) I'm guessing its just some sort of processing the TV does thats not necessary with a digital conneciton. I found a sharpness of 60 looks best for gaming over component (then again that depends on the game too).

Thanks for sharing, guys. There are a lot of people buying these sets, but the knowledge base here is still relatively small compared to the tweaks threads for the HLN and GWIII.

Yes using same input (DVI) it doesn't stay. I'm using DVI for PC and HDMI for TV.

Originally posted by Jayzen
I think you found something MAJOR here. If I set sharpness to 0 on either DVI or HDMI it improves the picture in a huge huge way, not only that but it seems to reduce any slight A/V sync issues I've seen (either that or NBC fixed something :))

I've found that the best settings to get the best picture for hi-def signals is sharpness 0, DNIe on and digital NR on (which removes some compression artifacts and gives a generally more natural picture). If you turn sharpness up at all it seems to actually do something wierd to the image, some sort of processing, which IMO makes everything look worse.

I was just watching HD baseball and the image was "ok", I thought it was a bad signal, then I turned the sharpness to 0 and digital NR on and it improved dramatically. It seems really really good HD signals don't get improved as much as "ok" signals.

Note that this also improved my SD picture quality, since I watch SD through an HTPC hooked up via HDMI. Thanks a ton 1Mark1. :)

Jason,

I tried you suggestion with my Pioneer HD3510 STB connected to my HLP via DVI - set DNR and DNIe to On, and turned sharpness all the way to 0 and so far I like the results. I'm assuming you are using "Standard" as your starting picture mode for HD? What about Color Tones? I have mine set to "Normal". Just a clarification, how are you watching HD? Is everything running through your HTPC, including HD (and to the Sammy via DVI) or just SD?

Also do you usually like to keep DNIe on? I found for DVDs (and I just have a regular progressive scan DVD player for the time being - I keep prog. scan off) I like the smoother picture without DNIe.

Do you keep DNR on for all of your inputs?

Right now I have HD via DVI; DVD via Component and watch SD on my SA 8000 DVR via S-Video - trying to figure out the best settings for DVD and SD (HD seems to be pretty good right now).

Thanks for your input - I find your suggestions very helpful.

Eric

I watch HDTV via a direct DVI connection, since my HTPC is just a media center edition, it can't do HD. Maybe I'll attempt that upgrade later. :)

All my other settings are basically defaults, I think I turned color down a bit. I usually leave DNIe on, it doesn't seem to increase sharpness too much with HD content but does make the colors look nicer. For DVDs it may be "overkill" with the sharpness, I haven't played with it much yet. I do leave DNR on for everything, unless the signal is truly "pure" like a video game. DNR does a decent job getting rid of compression artifacts and general "pixel fuzz" that you sometimes see in HD content. Again, for a good DVD it may not help much because you wouldn't see artifacts or fuzz anyway. For a low bitrate DVD it will probably help.

I really think the key here is sharpness of 0 when on a digital connection. It not only produces a more natural image (less blocky edges) but also seems to improve motion quality and possibly reduce A/V sync problems (although I'm not totally sure about that one, since I rarely see them anyway).

So I spent some time in CC and BB today in NYC. It is unbelieveable to me how poorly these stores have setup the TVs - it's almost as if they don't want you to buy them.

At Best Buy they have a 46" up on a shelf - about eye level, but about 3 ft. behind it is a huge pillar, making it impossible to watch the set from the proper viewing distance. Then, towards the back of the store they have an HLN50" and an HLP 50" right next to each other (although in a corner facing different directions towards each other). Unfortunately, while the HLN is at a viewable height, the HLP is way too low, making it impossible to do a comparison. I actually went up to a manager at Best Buy and pointed out how poorly the sets were laid out and that if he wanted to actually sell any of them, he should consider moving things around.

Circuit City's setup was much better. They had an HLP50" setup at a good height and in a good spot. I also noticed they had a Samsung 841 hooked up to it by DVI, so I decided to play around with it. First thing I noticed is they had the TV setup as 4:3 PanScan on the DVD player - unbelievable! Then they had the resolution set at 480i or 480p (can't remember which) as opposed to 720p - isn't that the whole point of using this player with this TV? I was able to demo ROTK (which I had just watched the other day on my regular Sony prog. scan player attached to my HLP via Component) and must say I wasn't overly impressed with the picture quality improvement (vs. my Sony) at 720p. I decided to definitely wait for the 941 as the scaler in the 841 didn't seem like it was doing any better of a job than the scaler in the TV.

One other thing that I noticed on the HLP, which was interesting - on the 50" at CC, there was a "DCDi by Faroudja" logo on the bezel. My TV (built in April) does not have this logo, which I found surprising b/c the HLP I saw at the HE show in NYC in May did have the logo. The CC set was built in May, so I wonder if the newer sets have the logo and the older ones don't or if it's totally random. I'm sure my set still has the Faroudja chip in it, but just interesting that the bezels would be different.

Originally posted by Jayzen

All my other settings are basically defaults, I think I turned color down a bit. I usually leave DNIe on, it doesn't seem to increase sharpness too much with HD content but does make the colors look nicer. For DVDs it may be "overkill" with the sharpness, I haven't played with it much yet. I do leave DNR on for everything, unless the signal is truly "pure" like a video game. DNR does a decent job getting rid of compression artifacts and general "pixel fuzz" that you sometimes see in HD content. Again, for a good DVD it may not help much because you wouldn't see artifacts or fuzz anyway. For a low bitrate DVD it will probably help.



Just noticed that the DNIe setting is not input specific - in other words if you turn DNIe on, it stays on for all inputs. This is kind of annoying b/c while I like it for HD, I don't really like it for DVD and have to keep switching. The other settings, including DNR appear to be input specific.

Originally posted by EricScott
One other thing that I noticed on the HLP, which was interesting - on the 50" at CC, there was a "DCDi by Faroudja" logo on the bezel. My TV (built in April) does not have this logo, which I found surprising b/c the HLP I saw at the HE show in NYC in May did have the logo. The CC set was built in May, so I wonder if the newer sets have the logo and the older ones don't or if it's totally random. I'm sure my set still has the Faroudja chip in it, but just interesting that the bezels would be different.

I just bought the HLP5063 from BB, and I noticed their floor model was also WAY too low - I had to crouch down to be eye level with it, and it did make a difference to me. Also, the bezel for the model on display also said DCDi by Faroudja.

I am also waiting for the Samsung 941 DVD player - but if the TV has the faroudja chip also, is there any benefit to waiting for an upscaling player? Why not send the set 480i via DVI (841 for example), and let the HLP deinterlace and scale?

Lee

Originally posted by LeeG23
Why not send the set 480i via DVI (841 for example), and let the HLP deinterlace and scale?

Lee
DVI accepts 480p, 1080i, and 720p not 480i.

I think that according to Rogo the choices that make a difference would be 480p and 720p.

If the Faroudja 2310 chip does both de-interlacing and scaling then it may turn out to be a good idea to have it in both units so you can let your eyes make the choice.

God must hate me.

My HD-TiVo dies the second day I have it and now my new HLP5063W has the vertical lines problem. See attached pix.

The lines problem is kinda weird. Sometimes the set powerrs on fine with no lines. Sometimes it has lines that disappear after about a minute. Then there are times when I have to power-down/up for the lines to disappear.

Guess I'll be calling Samsung and Onecall Tuesday after the holiday :)

I just got my HLP5663W two days ago and I see smudges when there is a black screen. For example, if I go to a station that I do not receive, the screen will become black and the "looking for signal" message will appear. On this screen I see numerous smudge marks (they are sort of white, but not really, it almost looks like a map). I tried cleaning the screen as one other poster said, but it didn't help. Also, the TV has been on about an hour this morning and the marks are still there. I don't notice them at all when there is a picture. I just want to know if this is normal and should I just ignore it or call Samsung.

I've never seen smudges on a black screen, sounds kinda different than what other people are seeing. Also the "usual" smudges are easily cleanable.

Has there been an "official" HLP tweaks thread? I can't find one. I am getting my set on the 12th, I will calibrate with DVE, and post the results. We should try to get a good set of recommended tweaks like the GWIII folks...

Lee

Originally posted by Jayzen
I've never seen smudges on a black screen, sounds kinda different than what other people are seeing. Also the "usual" smudges are easily cleanable.

It must be something similar because now the set has been on for about 2 hours and teh smudges have completely disappeared. It may be that people just don't typically view a black screen and therefore wouldn't notice the smudges. It does make sense that if the smudges are there on a white screen they could also be there on a black screen. I'm going to call Samsung, but hopefully this is a non-issue.

Well my smudges are in the area where the black borders would be, and I never see them (and I watch a lot of 4:3 material!). I'd certainly have noticed them... must be different smudges going on for different people. :) Good to hear they went away. If mine bug me I'll just call Samsung and try to get them to fix it, I'd imagine it would be easy for a tech to fix in-house. But so far they've been a non-issue.

this is exactly what I hope too.
just at this moment, no any sign this will happen in foreseeable future.

Originally posted by jwv651
I wish they made a 61" HD2+ model.
Joe V.

I saw something disturbing at BB. They had a 50" HLN on display that had a white spot about 2 mm square stuck on the screen. It was very obvious and stayed when I changed the input. Stuck mirrors?

A stuck mirror on an HLN or HLM set produces a spot the exact dimensions of a single pixel. If you move very close to the screen you can see the pixel boundaries. There are exacty 1080 columns of them with each column containing 720 pixels. Any thing you see that isn't exactly in the boundaries of each pixel is probably dirt or dust in the light path.

So far Samsung has replace sets or light engines when ever a stuck pixel has been reported in this forum.

On Friday, I finally got my HLP5063W. Got it from Circuit City here locally in Chicago for $2899. (I negotiated to get this price.) Anyway, out of the box, the thing was totally and completely awesome. The picture quality is great with my novice eyes and the DVDs over my Samsung 841 were excellent. My screen didn't have any smudges, thankfully, as has been mentioned in previous posts. Also, I don't have the vertical lines problems or the three-light problems - or have any fan noise to note. No rainbows. No green color issues.

But, sadly, I do have two problems:

(1) There's a high pitched, intermittant ringing noise that comes through the Samsung TV itself. I don't have a receiver surround setup as of yet, so I've been using the TV's speakers. Through both DVD and analog cable, the speakers emit a high-pitched noise from time to time. This stops when I mute the set. What's on the screen doesn't seem to affect the noise. My wife noticed this as well, so I am not totally insane. But get this: when I connected the TV to my Sony bookshelf system, the ringing/noise went away entirely. (Obviously the easy answer is to buy the surround system now, but I'd like to get this fixed.)

(2) This is the bad one, folks. About 8-10 times since unpacking the set, I get weird HORIZONTAL lines that appear for as little as a few seconds to as much as several minutes. Turning off the power doesn't always help. The lines first appeared when I was watching analog cable in 4:3, but the next time I quickly switched to the DVI and it's the same thing. In fact, even the menu itself was shifted in this odd horizontal pattern. I need to get a screen shot of this, so I've set up my digital camera in the living room for the next time it happens.

I plan to call up Circuit City for a swap here sometime later this week. Anyone have any insights?

How wide or thick are these 'lines'?
Where on the screen (top, middle, bottom or all over)?

Disconnect everything from the set. Is the noise still there?
What is near the set equipment wise? Try unplugging everything and see if that helps.

--->How wide or thick are these 'lines'? Where on the screen (top, middle, bottom or all over)?

The lines are across the entire screen, from top to bottom. They're relatively thin (say, 1/4 inch). It's kinda like someone smeared the screen from side to side. For example, when I was watching my analog cable in 4:3, the horizontal lines "smeared" across the black bars on the left and right sides of the screen that were unused. And then, after a brief time, all returns to normal. Note that the Samsung menu itself is affected when I pull it up in the middle of a horizontal line episode. I will post a photo of this when it happens again.

I'll try the unplugging technique again for the sound. I did disconnect the cable from the TV and still got the noise while using the DVD player. Any way the signal from my Linksys could be interfering? That doesn't make sense.

[i]
-snip-
I plan to call up Circuit City for a swap here sometime later this week. Anyone have any insights? [/B]

I would try the easy things first. For the noise, I would go into the TV menu and investigate the audio options and try out the various sound settings to see if there is an effect. I'm suspicious, that because the noise goes away when the set is jacked into a sound system, it just may require matching the sound option with the sound source.

Same thing with the lines. I would go through the menu and try all the display selections and source selections to make sure they match the source of the video.

Originally posted by chicagobadger
(2) This is the bad one, folks. About 8-10 times since unpacking the set, I get weird HORIZONTAL lines that appear for as little as a few seconds to as much as several minutes. Turning off the power doesn't always help. The lines first appeared when I was watching analog cable in 4:3, but the next time I quickly switched to the DVI and it's the same thing. In fact, even the menu itself was shifted in this odd horizontal pattern.

I got the same fine line grid on my brand-new NLP5063 (got it last week at Fry's in Anaheim, CA)... only the lines are VERTICAL! They appeared few times after the TV set was off for a while, and most of the time would get fixed by power cycling, sometimes not right away (took it few minutes and few on/off cycles to disappear)...

It's never easy with those new technologies... :(

Originally posted by Grolsch
It's never easy with those new technologies... :(
Are you exchanging it?

There appears to be a very slight hourglass shape to my 4:3 picture. Has anyone else noticed the same? It is slight enough that it doesn't bother me, but it would be nice to know how common it is.

Originally posted by DanPackMan
There appears to be a very slight hourglass shape to my 4:3 picture. Has anyone else noticed the same? It is slight enough that it doesn't bother me, but it would be nice to know how common it is.
How about practically universal in micro chip rear projection TV sets? I'm not sure of that assertion, but it's been there on all the micro chip sets that I've seen except one and I'm not sure of that one. :D

As mentioned above, here is a screen shots of the horizontal lines. Any thoughts? HELP!

Another screen shot - seen anythinglike this before?

Originally posted by chicagobadger
As mentioned above, here is a screen shots of the horizontal lines. Any thoughts? HELP!

From the photo, it looks like the set is having trouble locking into the right mode.. Notice (at least form the photo) it looks like the picture is repeated a couple of times? (left to right).. or else there seems to be a heck of a reflection!

The set has an internal clock that it tries to synchronize with the input signal to decode the graphical data. If the clock does not synchronize properly, I would expect it to result in a display that looks like this..

What is the signal feeding the display? Does this happen if you switch to antenna so that there is no external feed? If it happens then, it proves that the set is at fault..

If indeed the picture is repeating.. that is a significant clue when describing the issue to Samsung..

Originally posted by chicagobadger
As mentioned above, here is a screen shots of the horizontal lines. Any thoughts? HELP!
Exchange or repair? -- That's the question. :D

Originally posted by htwaits
Are you exchanging it?
Will give it another try to "burn in"... Will keep you all posted.

I currently own a 42" HD CRT RPTV made by Toshiba that has a native res of 1080i. I am looking to upgrade to a unit priced around the $3,000 mark and the Samsung HLP DLPs look like a great option (no burn in, small foot print, decent viewing angle, decent blacks).
One of my main concerns is that these sets (using the HD3 chips) have a max vertical resolution of 720pixels, which leads me to believe that these sets cannot display in true HD (1080i) but merely in 720p.
My current HD set displays in true HD and it looks amazing and blows the 480p from my progressive scan dvd player out of the water.
I realize that 720p is much better than 480p, but it still is has 33% fewer lines than a true 1080 line resolution. (And progressive or not, the 1080i on my current set looks solid/stable enough for me and looks all around better than the 480 progressive dvd picture).
So I suppose my question is how does the 720 lines on the HLPs stack up against other true 1080 line displays? Does samsung pull some trickeration to make the have a comparably crisp and precise picture? Its just hard for me to put down 3K on a set that seemlingly can't display in true HD.


Also, a question of lesser importance to me is, if the Faroudja upconverts to all signal to 720p what is the point of the HD841 DVD player? Doesn't the HLP do all the upconversion automatically to 720p?

Thanks in advance for your replies!
david g.

Let's see. Where to begin.

1. 720p is true HD. 1080i, 720p, and 1080p all are considered HDTV.

2. Go to the the FAQ/Popular threads on this forum to see a debate on 720p vs. 1080i.

3. As far as upconversion, I'm also interested in that. I'm looking forward to taking delivery to see exactly how good it is. Your right, it should have the exact same technology. Bear in mind that the 841 comes with DVI, so at least one digital to analog conversion is avoided, which helps PQ.

My new set has video lag on PS2 games. I was playing MVP Baseball and when the pitchers meter gets in the "sweet spot" area, it's supposed to stop when I release the button. I'm going to check different cables and inputs, but I'm afraid this is my first problem with an HLP.

Originally posted by 1Mark1
Hmmm, the sharpness setting effects don't "keep" after a reboot. I must go back to the settings and change sharpness to 1 and, bamm, it kicks in again. Looks like it defaults to whatever the default is (or just never kicks in) but leaves the slidebar where ever you had it at. See if yours does that too Jayzen.

Well I finally figured out that when DNIe is enabled is when the sharpness setting won't stay. If I reboot PC via DVI or just change from DVI to HDMI and right back to DVI again with remote it is lost. Turn off DNIe and the sharpness setting effects stays.

I've attached another photo of my HLP5063 problem. I'm not certain that the picture is "repeating" as mentioned above. It's like bars are transferred to other parts of the screen. The pic should help explain this. And the source isn't the issue as far as I can tell. The problem occurs both with my Samsung 841 DVD player as well as the cable hookup. Those are the only two sources I have connected.

Originally posted by empire29
Also, a question of lesser importance to me is, if the Faroudja upconverts to all signal to 720p what is the point of the HD841 DVD player? Doesn't the HLP do all the upconversion automatically to 720p?


Yes the HLP will do the upconverting. However I found that that using a progressive player produced a better picture. In this (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=417779) thread, I posted the issues I had letting the HLP (and HLN) do the doubling. By no means a conclusive test, but I had the same results using 2 different DVD players. The problem only seemed to be with 480i input.

I first setup my HLP5063 and was VERY impressed. I really didn't notice a BIG issue with my SD.

I did some very rough and crude calibration just by adjusting settings by visual cues and having a little knowledge where the the settings "should" be. Lowered contrast, sharpness, balanced out color, tint, etc.

Well about three days ago, I noticed the SD was really bad. I got a little concerned as I thought that I was getting HD spoiled and that I started to visually notice that SD was in fact bad. HOWEVER, i got concerned enough to recheck my settings and "BINGO". The settings had gone back to factory settings. Contrast was 100, Sharpness was 80+, etc.

Very bad. So after again doing a very basic adjustment without a formal calibration the SD returned to more than acceptable. No more washed out colors, cleaner edges, crisper text, etc. I am satisfied with the SD the way it is now and I haven't even done an AVIA calibration. [I have the AVIA disk, but no DVD player yet. waiting for the 941].

The SD (in my opinion) is acceptable, in fact my wife even commented last night that the TV looked better when she was watching something she had TiVoed from D* and viewing via S-Vid.

Warren in MN

Just heard that the new HLP have a NEW Bosch motor to spin the Color wheel! New motor is quieter and should last longer!
Anyone can confirm if this true?

Originally posted by chicagobadger
I've attached another photo of my HLP5063 problem. I'm not certain that the picture is "repeating" as mentioned above. It's like bars are transferred to other parts of the screen. The pic should help explain this. And the source isn't the issue as far as I can tell. The problem occurs both with my Samsung 841 DVD player as well as the cable hookup. Those are the only two sources I have connected. They all look as classic multipath! But since this is digital, that can't be.

You get this on analog stations and off air?

----------> You get this on analog stations and off air?

I don't have an appropriate antenna to test off air signals (nor do I have an HDTV tuner). I get this screen mess using my Sammy 841 DVD player and via RCN analog cable,which is connected to the set through a TI set top box.

My 46" and HDTV Tivo arrive tomorrow. I'll also probably try out an HD841 too.

Which is better to help fine tune the set, the DVE or AVIA dvd?

Thanks!

Originally posted by chicagobadger
----------> You get this on analog stations and off air?

I don't have an appropriate antenna to test off air signals (nor do I have an HDTV tuner). I get this screen mess using my Sammy 841 DVD player and via RCN analog cable,which is connected to the set through a TI set top box. There are serious internal problems (as long as you know that the sources are ok)..........exchange it!

Originally posted by empire29

Also, a question of lesser importance to me is, if the Faroudja upconverts to all signal to 720p what is the point of the HD841 DVD player? Doesn't the HLP do all the upconversion automatically to 720p?

Thanks in advance for your replies!
david g.

I thought this too when I thought about getting the 841 vs the 941 (No Faroudja vs Faroudja). I was under the notion that you would get the Faroudja chip 'benefit' with the HLP and therefor NOT need it in the DVD player.

However, I have been corrected in that the Faroudja chip in the HLP is NOT used when the input source is via the DVI or HDMI. Therefore having the chip in the DVD would/should prove beneficial.

Warren in MN

Well, I had been enjoying my HLP5063 for about 2 1/2 weeks. Fantastic PQ in HD. Everything was working great . . . until last night when I tried to install the Sammy HD841 and then attempt to turn on the set.

I am now getting quick flashes of picture amidst longer periods of dark screen. The flashes that I do see (have to look quick) are sometimes actual picture, and sometimes distorted. I tried powering off and on several times (and even unplugging the set for a minute or two), to no avail.

I first figured the problem was tied to the HD841. So, I unplugged all the cables from the 841 to the HLP . . . and the symptoms persisted. I then noticed that when I power off, the flashes continue for a few seconds . . . until the color wheel stops spinning.

Once I noticed this, I went up to the set and listened to the internal sound. Immediately after powering on, the color wheel starts spinning at a constant pitch. However, after a few seconds, it sounds like it starts to slow down, then speed up, then slow down, etc. Methinks that there is a problem with the color wheel engine. It seems to be "revving", almost like someone revving a motorcycle (although of course much quieter).

VERY FRUSTRATING ...

Has anyone experienced anything like this with your HLP? (Hopefully not . . .).

Have already called Samsung and am awaiting a return call to schedule a service appointment. Based on the service tech assessment I have to determine whether to repair or exchange.

I posted this in my HLP4663 thread, but I'll share it here too. I'm experiencing rainbows during dark (black) scenes. They're minor and quick but they're present if I scan the screen. I never experienced this while viewing a HLN46 or HLN 50... I can live with it and I'm wondering if it will go away or lessen over time. Other than that, I am so far satisfied with what I've seen.

Originally posted by audioAPE
I posted this in my HLP4663 thread, but I'll share it here too. I'm experiencing rainbows during dark (black) scenes. They're minor and quick but they're present if I scan the screen...

Have you heard to old adage... "Hey Doc, it hurts when I do this..."
and the Doc responds... "Don't do that !"

Well MOST of the complaints I have seen about rainbows are from people saying they can see rainbows when they move their head quickly, or a little quickly side to side, etc.

I had never seen or noticed rainbows until the other night when I stood quickly while watching a baseball game. I "thought" I saw a rainbow out of the corner of my eye, so I looked quickly side to side and stood fast etc. and sure enough IF I looked hard, and TRIED to see a rainbow, I could in fact see them. But I had to TRY hard to see them.

Ignore them, and stop trying to see if you can see them and you won't notice them.

Warren in MN

Thanks Doc :p

Originally posted by Mach430
I've had my HLP 5063 for 3 days now, and while I have definitely been much happier with it than my 5065w (which is being bought back by Samsung), I am concerned about the event that happened yesterday afternoon.

Upon turning on the TV, there was no pause/warm-up; it was instantly on. Everything that was supposed to be white had a pink tint to it! I left it on for a few minutes, but the problem did not go away, so I shut it off. About 30 minutes later, I tried again and everything was normal. Any ideas? The TV was left on the 3 hour sleep mode earlier that day, but I do not see how that would effect it.

Also, and maybe this is normal, but when using the Audio outs on the TV to connect to a stereo (I don't a nice speaker setup yet), there is a delay between what you see on the TV and hear through the speakers. If both the TV and stereo speakers are on there is an echo to confirm this.

Thanks,

I have a 5663W and have the exact same problem, but I only have it through my DVI connection. Are you having the problem in DVI? Are you using an HDTiVo. I am and I'm wondering whether the problem may be with the TiVo. Let me know.

Got my HLP5063 two weeks ago (Samsung & BB took back my HLN5067)

I've got my 5063 set up as follows:

Comcast Motorola 6200 outputs 720P/840P to DVI.
Replay outputs to component
Sammy 931 DVD outputs to HDMI (DVI>HDMI cable)

Four nights ago I went to switch from (a) SDTV via DVI to (b) Replay via component. The screen locked up on the SDTV signal, but with the colors a "solarized, high-contrast infrared photography-looking" image. The 5063 would not switch to any of the other inputs. Had to unplug power to correct the problem. This occurred twice that evening, but not since.

Thurday Jul 08 - The new problem is the dreaded 3-flashing lights. I've got a call into Sammy's Digital Service Dept currently. On the lighter, ironic side, the CSR at 1-800-SAMSUNG had difficulty setting up my case file. He said, "I'm having difficulty getting the system to accept the model number; they don't tell us where to put the hyphens in the product code."

Saturday Jul 10 Update - Four calls in to Digital Service Dept (800-747-5618) two on Thursday, one on Friday, one this morning: each time I've been told that Samsung has forwarded an on-site repair request to a local Samsung technician "who's very good at contacting customers promptly". Needless to say "Speedy" hasn't contacted me yet to set up an appointment.

So, bottom line: Had 4 months of on-going unresolved problems with the HLN and the two-week-old HLP is down for the count.

Tuesday Jul 13 Update - Got a voicemail from the local Samsung-authorized service technician via his cellphone. The entire message is as follows: "Call me on my cellphone to set up an appointment; my phone number is [end of message]". Seems like he went thru the loss-of-cell-signal tunnel at just the right critical moment, so I'm hoping to guess his phone number telepathically.

Thurday Jul 15 Update - Called Samsung Wednesday and today. After 7 phone calls during the past 8 days I still have not been contacted by the service technician to set up an appointment to inspect/repair the 5063.

Friday Jul 16 Update - Called 1-800-747-5618, waited in the queue for 20 minutes and finally spoke with yet another Samsung Digital Service Coordinator named Mike, who promised to stay on top of my problem all day until it was resolved. Did not hear back from him.

Monday Jul 19 Update - Called 1-800-747-5618, waited in the queue for 15 minutes, then got DSCoord. Brian online. I asked to speak with Mike. Was told Mike was not there. Asked to speak to Caroline Segura, the department manager. She was "not available". Brian said that another supervisor said they could issue an RMA and have BB exchange the set. I said that (a) I hadn't run out BB's 30-day return policy but (b) BB had no HLP5063s in their warehouse and were not expecting a shipment until some time in August. Brian said he'd check into the matter further. Never heard from Brian again.

Tuesday Jul 20 Update - Finally got a call from the Samsung Field Service Engineer - he said he couldn't fix my problem because Samsung didn't have any HLP replacement lamps/ballast at their parts warehouse.

I contacted the Samsung Parts warehouse and spoke to a CSR who said they were expecting replacement lamps/ballast for the HLP5063s "today or tomorrow". I called the FSE and told him what I learned from the Sammy parts warehouse and gave both parties each others direct phone numbers.

Thursday Jul 22 Update - The Samsung Field Service Engineer called, said he was told by Samsung that my TV's serial number indicated it needed only the lamp and not the ballast. He received the lamp assembly today, and arranged to come install it in an hour. Really nice helpful, knowledgeable guy. Installed new lamp, reconnected power, and....
STILL NO PICTURE!!!.

Friday Jul 23 Update - The Samsung Field Service Engineer called today at 2pm - he had just received the ballast via FedEx. Again was here in an hour. Installed new ballast, reconnected power, and....
STILL NO PICTURE!!!..

He said that he'd submit his installation report to Samsung and see whether they would send a light engine assembly or a whole new TV.

Saturday Jul 24 Update - Went to BB to see whether any HLP5063 had arrived yet. No luck. Still claiming an early August delivery date.

Salt in the wound: this weekend I saw an HLP5063 at CC for $300 less than BB's price - but I'm outside the 30-day price guarantee policy window, since the original paperwork went thru on June 22 though the TV actually was delivered on June 25.


Observation regarding the Samsung Digital Service Coordinator Department: Not once during this entire month of July has any DSC ever called me back to provide any sort of update/status.

Wednesday Jul 28 Update - Called Samsung Digital Service Department and left a message this morning @ 4am. Shock of shocks: someone called me back for the very first time @ 8am.

They said they were surprised to hear from me since Samsung was shipping me a new TV. I said I was surprised inasmuch as this is the first I'd ever heard about that. Samsung reply: "Oops, well someone was supposed to call and tell you. Our trucking company will get in touch with you sometime in early August; it takes 10-14 days for an exchange to occur".


Moral: you won't get compensated for pain & suffering or a month's loss of use/access of a brand new TV; be grateful they're willing to replace a defective $3,500 TV at all! Oh yeh, and remember to smile.

Monday August 02 Update - Got a call last Friday from Samsung's trucking company advising us that they planned to deliver a new HLP5063 today. Arrived at noon. This one is built in Korea - Jun 2004, the dead TV was a May 2004 Mexico build.

I would swear that the PQ of the new set is better than the old dead one - but remember, I haven't seen the old set's PQ in a month - so memory could be deceiving me.

Appreciate all the info I found here... thought I would share my experience.

Purchased an HLP4663W from BB, delivered yesterday, after reading here about so many issues, I wanted to confirm what I have seen, looks great sitting in family room nook/built in shelf area,almost plasma like as far as asthetics ( if it weren't for the stupid speakers at the bottom which will likely never play a sound).

Rainbow effect: not here (but I keep my head still when i watch TV but now I am thinking of trying out shaking my head to see if I can see a rainbow)

Lip Synch: can't detect it on HD through cable with DVI to TV and optical to receiver, maybe a little bit on old DVD player w/ component video and digital coax audio but I thought I noticed it before on 31" CRT when watching Nemo (as was the test for HLP).

Smudges: nope just finger prints from install.

Lines, dots, stuck mirrors: nope

HD Cable: ______ (speechless)
SD Cable : some suck some OK (suck is relative to the HD channels)
Digital Cable: good (sure wish everything was HD though :D)
No panorama with DVI input on regular size images (going to try to use an additional video out of cable box to other input to allow me to stretch ESPN until TimeWarner gets an HD deal worked out) sort of sucks


IMHO this TV kicks ass....

OK OK I do have a problem though and the authorized serv. tech is coming out tomorrow... there is a piece of dust dirt debris lint, somewhere inside the TV blocking light onto the screen... not mirrors stuck b/c I can see strands or fibers on one end... you can see it when the tv is off also... I didn't notice it for an hour or so but when I did I cant stop seeing it from 9-10 feet away, from 15 - 20 feet one can not see it...

Later
DW

Originally posted by dwduck
Rainbow effect: not here (but I keep my head still when i watch TV but now I am thinking of trying out shaking my head to see if I can see a rainbow)

Why go looking for trouble? :D

Right now I have HD via DVI; DVD via Component and watch SD on my SA 8000 DVR via S-Video - trying to figure out the best settings for DVD and SD (HD seems to be pretty good right now).

Eric,
I'm sorry I missed this post the other day! I just received my SA 8000 yesterday and my DLP is shipping as of this morning. I'm curious why you use S-video for SD and not Component? I assume SD does not look good with DVI?
Clark

Originally posted by csimington
Eric,
I'm sorry I missed this post the other day! I just received my SA 8000 yesterday and my DLP is shipping as of this morning. I'm curious why you use S-video for SD and not Component? I assume SD does not look good with DVI?
Clark

If it is anything like my setup, my best option IS S-Video. I have the Hughes Series 2 DirectTV TiVo box and the best output is the S-Vid. Use the DVI for my VOOM box. LOVE Voom !!!

Warren in MN

Originally posted by dwduck
Appreciate all the info I found here... thought I would share my experience.

Purchased an HLP4663W from BB, delivered yesterday, after reading here about so many issues, I wanted to confirm what I have seen, looks great sitting in family room nook/built in shelf area,almost plasma like as far as asthetics ( if it weren't for the stupid speakers at the bottom which will likely never play a sound).

Rainbow effect: not here (but I keep my head still when i watch TV but now I am thinking of trying out shaking my head to see if I can see a rainbow)

Lip Synch: can't detect it on HD through cable with DVI to TV and optical to receiver, maybe a little bit on old DVD player w/ component video and digital coax audio but I thought I noticed it before on 31" CRT when watching Nemo (as was the test for HLP).

Smudges: nope just finger prints from install.

Lines, dots, stuck mirrors: nope

HD Cable: ______ (speechless)
SD Cable : some suck some OK (suck is relative to the HD channels)
Digital Cable: good (sure wish everything was HD though :D)
No panorama with DVI input on regular size images (going to try to use an additional video out of cable box to other input to allow me to stretch ESPN until TimeWarner gets an HD deal worked out) sort of sucks


IMHO this TV kicks ass....

OK OK I do have a problem though and the authorized serv. tech is coming out tomorrow... there is a piece of dust dirt debris lint, somewhere inside the TV blocking light onto the screen... not mirrors stuck b/c I can see strands or fibers on one end... you can see it when the tv is off also... I didn't notice it for an hour or so but when I did I cant stop seeing it from 9-10 feet away, from 15 - 20 feet one can not see it...

Later
DW


I received my 46" from BB today as well. Bad luck, my HD Tivo from eBay got lost by FedEx.

I also have a new problem to report, or at least one I don't remember seeing being reported:

Since my HD Tivo didn't arrive, I setup my SD Tivo using AV3 & S-Video 3 i.e. the ports on the side. Thru these ports it would occasionaly drop the video totally. The audio was fine. The video would always come back when I changed inputs. This is interesting, and to me indicates a software issue, it would not drop the video after using PIP for any amount of time.

Anyone else see this?

Otherwise the set looks great on SD, or at least as good as the feed will allow. I am switching back and forth between Cinema & Standard as I can't decide which is best. I guess it will be dependent on the feed. Also, I've seen the rainbow maybe once this afternoon, no more. No smudges to report or any sync problems in this May manufactured unit.

Bob

Originally posted by RMSko
I have a 5663W and have the exact same problem, but I only have it through my DVI connection. Are you having the problem in DVI? Are you using an HDTiVo. I am and I'm wondering whether the problem may be with the TiVo. Let me know.

I don't have anything to use with the DVI input yet, but I am having this problem occur through ANT A (cable) input as well as my component (xbox) input. Samsung is supposed to be contacting me directly in order to send out a factory tech to address this. It has been 1 week since, and I have yet to hear from them. Jason @ TV Authority has been very helpful. In fact, he arranged for the factory techs to contact me directly (after I was originally contacted by a local repair center who was not only incompetent but also lied (stated that they had worked on several HLP's 1 week after the TV was out)).

Thumbs up to TV Authority, however the jury is still out on Samsung as I am waiting for not only this TV to be repaired/replaced but also my HLN to be picked up so that I can be reimbursed (a/v sync problems).

I was watching my new 5063 last night using rabbit ears to get local stations in SD while waiting for my D* hookup this weekend.

I noticed that after drinking a bottle of wine, the SD picture improved noticeably. I find this is much easier to do that adjusting picture settings, so I am relaying it to everyone as a time saving tip.

I plan to test this approach using beer tonight. I will report on the results.

Originally posted by DanPackMan
I was watching my new 5063 last night using rabbit ears to get local stations in SD while waiting for my D* hookup this weekend.

I noticed that after drinking a bottle of wine, the SD picture improved noticeably. I find this is much easier to do that adjusting picture settings, so I am relaying it to everyone as a time saving tip.

I plan to test this approach using beer tonight. I will report on the results.

Please let me know ASAP as I like wine but am not opposed to a beer.

If you notice any difference between cheese and pretzels, let us know as this could sway many an opinion!

I took the plunge yesterday and got the 46" HLP from BB. I had them match CC's 10% off sale price, and then used my rewards card, still more that TVA but ill live.

They really pushed hard for the service plan which I comfirmed, DOES cover bulbs as of July. Thats when they changed there policies and also made if more expensive... I didn't get it but still might, how much does one pay for peace of mind??????

The BB here in Lincoln NE had the 50' HLP, 50 HLN, 50 sony LCD all right next to each other, IMO I liked the HLP the best, Cleanest, no screen door, no jaggies. I also felt that the DNIe helped, but thats just me.

RGR that DanPackMan, I'll prob need some beer to ease my SD, and pocket book woes here too.:o

Does anyone have Powerstrip settings for the HLP series sets to help minimize overscan? I've tried the settings mentioned early on in this thread, but they don't seem to work. I'm using VGA out, but I am tempted to try DVI, as soon as the darn cables arrive :mad: .

-Tony

Originally posted by Mach430
I don't have anything to use with the DVI input yet, but I am having this problem occur through ANT A (cable) input as well as my component (xbox) input. Samsung is supposed to be contacting me directly in order to send out a factory tech to address this. It has been 1 week since, and I have yet to hear from them. Jason @ TV Authority has been very helpful. In fact, he arranged for the factory techs to contact me directly (after I was originally contacted by a local repair center who was not only incompetent but also lied (stated that they had worked on several HLP's 1 week after the TV was out)).

Thumbs up to TV Authority, however the jury is still out on Samsung as I am waiting for not only this TV to be repaired/replaced but also my HLN to be picked up so that I can be reimbursed (a/v sync problems).

Did the problem ever repeat itself or did it happen just that one time? I'm pretty sure mine was a TiVo problem since this is a known issue with the HDMI on TiVos. Also, I didn't have the "immediate startup" issue, I just had a pink screen, which went away as soon as I used component instead of DVI. BTW - When I first had the problem I also called Samsung and I too am waiting for a return call from them. I spoke with Samsung on Tuesday evening.

can anyone make suggestions for what settings worked well for their HLP5063Ws? i dont have a calibration CD and won't for a while. looking for a temporary fix, you know. be my dealer.

I've had my 4663 for two days now. Last night I was watching the Red Sox baseball game on NESN-HD via Adelphia Cable. For the most part the picture looked great. However, when they zoomed in very closely on the batter and panned the camera slightly, the entire background image of the crowd had almost a strobing effect while the camera panned. When it stopped the image was fine. I did notice that the background crowd was much darker than the face of the player, so I was wondering if some setting was set too high or too low. Any help would be appreciated.

That's not a TV problem, that's a source problem. For some reason, night games in HD just look off. I think it's probably b/c stadium lighting is designed to illuminate the field, not the fans. Don't worry about your TV on this issue.

Also, sometimes an overly dark screen can be the result of squeezed bandwidth. I currently have a 1080i fixed display and have seen it occur.

Thanks squicken,

Are you referring to the darkness or the strobing effect or both? I was most concerned with the strobing effect as it was very noticable and distracting.

I was referring to the darkness. I've yet to receive my hlp, and have never owned a DLP, so I can't say for sure what's with the strobing (possibly rainbow). In general, PQ problems are almost always a source problem. Try to watch a ESPN-HD game or INHD game to see if you notice strobing with quick pans. I am guessing it's a source problem. If it's there on some channels and not on others, then it's definitely source. Sorry for not being clearer.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_7_4/dvd-benchmark-part-5-progressive-10-2000.html

Is NESN 1080i? Both interlacing artifacts and rainbows can occur with quick pans. You can see interlacing artifacts even on a 720p fixed set. Read this for more info on various types of artifacts.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_7_4/dvd-benchmark-part-5-progressive-10-2000.html

Originally posted by dwduck


HD Cable: ______ (speechless)
SD Cable : some suck some OK (suck is relative to the HD channels)
Digital Cable: good (sure wish everything was HD though :D)
No panorama with DVI input on regular size images (going to try to use an additional video out of cable box to other input to allow me to stretch ESPN until TimeWarner gets an HD deal worked out) sort of sucks


DW

I have to agree. I got HD up today thru the HDMI from my HD Tivo. Just awesome!

rah

Originally posted by RMSko
Did the problem ever repeat itself or did it happen just that one time? I'm pretty sure mine was a TiVo problem since this is a known issue with the HDMI on TiVos. Also, I didn't have the "immediate startup" issue, I just had a pink screen, which went away as soon as I used component instead of DVI. BTW - When I first had the problem I also called Samsung and I too am waiting for a return call from them. I spoke with Samsung on Tuesday evening.

Did it ever repeat itself? How about, will it ever stop? It started as a temporary 5-10 minute annoyance that would occure occassionally upon startup. Now it happens everytime the TV is started, and stays on for about 30-60 minutes. It sure would be nice if someone at Samsung would actually follow through and call me back!

I am new to these forums, but have gotten a ton of information from here and pulled the trigger on a great deal on a hlp5063 last week. I am very happy with the set except for one thing. Whenever something is on a white or semi-white background (like names on the back of a baseball jersey) everything appears blurred together and VERY bright. There is no way to read the names from any distance hd or not. I am new to these types of sets and don't know anything about tweaking them. I have played with the contrast, brightness, etc. but to no avail. I do not feel comfortable editing the service menu with no guidance. Please help. Thanks.

Originally posted by likeautumn
I am new to these forums, but have gotten a ton of information from here and pulled the trigger on a great deal on a hlp5063 last week. I am very happy with the set except for one thing. Whenever something is on a white or semi-white background (like names on the back of a baseball jersey) everything appears blurred together and VERY bright. There is no way to read the names from any distance hd or not. I am new to these types of sets and don't know anything about tweaking them. I have played with the contrast, brightness, etc. but to no avail. I do not feel comfortable editing the service menu with no guidance. Please help. Thanks.

Try this: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=244193
Although it's for HLN and not HLP, it should apply to both.

Originally posted by jbarbbcuny
Try this: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=244193
Although it's for HLN and not HLP, it should apply to both.
There is a big difference between HLM and HLN service settings. The differences were represented by many firmware changes even though both model lines essentially had the same light engine and DLP chip.

Why wouldn't there be a significant difference between HLM/HLN and the new HLP sets? The HLP sets have a new light engine and a new DLP chip.

I think it's dangerous to recommend that people use information about the HLM/HLN service menu settings on their HLP sets -- maybe not life threatening but surely confusing. :D

Sorry about that.
Is there an HLP tweak thread yet?

Originally posted by jbarbbcuny
Sorry about that.
Is there an HLP tweak thread yet?
I'm too chicken to make changes on my own and start one. :rolleyes:

It will take a while to get HLPxx63 tweak threads started, especially with the HD2+ and xHD3 chips coming. There were only a few dedicated hobbyist who invested in the right equipment to do a real calibration on the HLM/HLN sets. We need someone like that to have access to a HLPxx63 set.

On of the problems is that all the tweak threads have a percentage of information in them that might be doubtful to use. It takes a village of "tweakers" to improve the PQ of any given model. :)

Originally posted by htwaits
I'm too chicken to make changes on my own and start one. :rolleyes:

It will take a while to get HLPxx63 tweak threads started, especially with the HD2+ and xHD3 chips coming. There were only a few dedicated hobbyist who invested in the right equipment to do a real calibration on the HLM/HLN sets. We need someone like that to have access to a HLPxx63 set.

On of the problems is that all the tweak threads have a percentage of information in them that might be doubtful to use. It takes a village of "tweakers" to improve the PQ of any given model. :) Although I never use the phrase "It takes a village", I agree with the sentiment. I'm none to eager to mess up my set, but am not afraid of messing around a little. I'm worried about the warranty. I thought I read Samsung could now see how often the SM was accessed, and may void warranties if you mess around. Any info. on this?

My idea if tweaking is pretty elementary, I guess. I've got someone lined up to do my calibration......wouldn't touch it myself. I was thinking more of how to do the cables and setup between cable box, tv, and receiver. Yamaha RX-v 2400 arrived yesterday along with boxes of cables from Cables to Go and surge suppressor from Brick Wall. Samsung on PB not here yet.

So here are several questions: (1) Is there any reason I should consider running the Cable box through the receiver instead of directly to the tv set?
(2) I bought 1 DVI-D cable to run from cable box (which will be installed after TV arrives). DVD progressive scan player does not have DVI output only component. So is there anything I'm overlooking which would require an additional DVI cable? For the time being I'm not attaching anything else other than an old cassette tape deck.
TIA

Originally posted by rah50
I have to agree. I got HD up today thru the HDMI from my HD Tivo. Just awesome!

rah

Looks like I've spoken too soon. In addition to the input dropout issue, my set has developed the vertical line problem. It's intermittant at the moment.

BB has setup a tech to come on Wednesday.

rah

Originally posted by squicken
I'm worried about the warranty. I thought I read Samsung could now see how often the SM was accessed, and may void warranties if you mess around. Any info. on this?
Here is what I've observed in following the Samsung DLP sets since September 2002.

1. I remember only one case where Samsung said they were canceling a warranty for SM changes. Samsung later relented.

The owner had not recorded his SM settings and then made some catastrophic change like setting the wrong bulb type. That change made it seem impossible to get back into the SM to correct the problem. The image was totally messed up.

He then called Samsung for help and told him what he had done. The low level CS person told him his warranty was canceled. Later he worked out something with them but I don't remember the details.

By the way, someone figured out a work around to allow you to get the bulb type back to the correct setting. Unfortunately I didn't keep a record of how to do it.

2. After the first power buy Samsung offered AVS members a low cost upgrade so that their HLM sets would have discrite commands like the newer HLN sets. At that time Samsung thanked the members for all their contributions (SM) toward improving the HLM/HLN PQ.

3. Regardless of the boiler plate or what a low level CS person might say, Samsung doesn't appear to have any interest in restricting reasonable access to the SM. Because of the normal bureaucracy at Samsung it is still wise not to ever call for warranty work and announce what you have been doing in the SM.

Thanks for the info htwaits. I was afraid I couldn't even check my bulb usage w/o voiding the warranty :)

Originally posted by squicken
Thanks for the info htwaits. I was afraid I couldn't even check my bulb usage w/o voiding the warranty :)
You're welcome. Don't forget to record everything before you start making changes. The SM is a big black box where all the rules of engagement are not published. :D

From Arun's site, the interview with Steve Panosian from Samsung:

"...Those who saw a need or desire to custom calibrate a W model, would also enjoy the benefits of custom calibrating a W1 model. Samsung recognizes that consumers with a more discerning eye either custom calibrate their DLP sets or seek the services of a qualified ISF calibrator. We encourage consumers to share their opinions with regard to our factory settings, which they’ve had in the past. This helps us determine what we may need to make during production."

I took a close look at my screen over the weekend and noticed 5 or 6 spots on the screen. They are all black and I would guess at least one of them is a stuck mirror, only because it looks very well defined. It is not visible from a viewing distance of 9 ft, but it is just disconcerting given the age of the set. I'm thinking the others might be dust, but I am not sure. Can the dust be cleaned? Does anyone know Samsung's policy on stuff like this?

Thanks,

-Tony

I'm trying to piece together the accessory components to compliment the HLP 56" set I'm planning to buy next month, and I'm in a bit of a quandary with regard to choosing a DVD player, etc. The DVD players that have the features I want only have component output. So I'm trying to decide whether the improvements of DVI/upscaling are really worth it (particularly since the 941 probably has the black crush problem.)

This is how I plan to use my inputs:
HDMI: HD DirecTivo
DVI: DVD player (or HTPC if I get a component DVD)
Component 1: X-Box
Component 2: PS2 (or DVD if I buy one without HDMI/DVI, in which case I'll put the PS2 on an S-Video input)
S-Video: My old NTSC Tivo (till we've watched all the old material, anyway)

Wish the HLPs still had three component inputs...

Anyway, I'm wondering how much the upconversion of DVD to 720P that the Samsung 841/941 will offer compares to just using 480P from a component input. Is the difference subtle, or dramatic? The family will be happier if I get a 5-disc DVD...

(And as an aside: Can component outputs send 720P and 1080i?)

Since the 56" HLP sets are starting to arrive via the PowerBuy, has anyone had any of the mentioned problems with a 56" set?

Just wondering? How hot do these DLPs TVs get? How much ventilation is necessary? I was looking at the diagrams and assembly photos in that other thread and some of these components almost look like computer parts. The main board with the DLP chip can almost pass for a computer video card. I know is not much of an issue for those whose TVs will be on a stand out in the open. I ordered a 56" through the PW and plan to have it sit inside a media niche. The niche is about 30" deep and I can vent it out the back.

King of Pain,

I have the 50" model in an enclosed cabinet with about 4" clearance in the rear, 2" clearance on the sides and 4" clearance on the top with no venting and have not noticed any appreciable heat within the enclosure. The cooling fans do a good job of circulating the air in/out of the enclosure.

Scott

Thanks for the info N9EQ. My HTPC and Denon 3803 generate noticable amounts of heat so I was just wondering if I need to add additional ventulation.

King of Pain,

I vent the heat (with the use of a small fan) from my receiver/DVD/STB that is located in a separate compartment from my DLP set. But the heat generated by the DLP in its separate compartment is negligible. So if you plan on putting all your goodies in one compartment/cabinet, I would definitely ventilate.

Scott

[QUOTE]Originally posted by dennya
(particularly since the 941 probably has the black crush problem.)

What is the "black crush" problem?

John

As I understand it, a few DVD players, like the Samsung 931 take the data from a DVD which has a video/cinema colorspace with values from 16-235, convert them to a PC colorspace (1-255), then either (a) feeds it to the TV as a video colorspace or (b) the [Samsung DLP] TV uses a video colorspace (Note: the explanation is either "A" or "B" depending who you talk to).

I may have the technical aspects above confused, but the bottom like is that consequently every shade from 1-15 is the same shade of black and every brightness from 236-255 comes out a single shade of white, so you lose tonality at both ends of the brightness spectrum.


This is one of the reasons that it is difficult to calibrate a Sammy DLP using the Samsung HD931 DVD player with Calibration DVDs that show "below black" bars. The Below Black, Black, and Slightly-Above-Black bars all blend into the black backbround of the test display image.

what do most of you guys have your tvs settings at?

I'm using

Picture setting - Cinema
Color Tone - Cool 1
Contrast - 68
Brightness - 65
Sharpness - 10
Color - 45
Tint (When available) - 40/60

On some DVDs, I get a horrible picture, I'm not sure if it's my cheesy Sony Progressive scan DVD player that isn't good, or my tv is bad. I was watching Armageddon and the PQ is nothing short of poor. Tons of "static" and noise. My player is a DVP-NS715SP with component and my DLP is the 4663.

Originally posted by dennya
I'm trying to piece together the accessory components to compliment the HLP 56" set I'm planning to buy next month, and I'm in a bit of a quandary with regard to choosing a DVD player, etc. The DVD players that have the features I want only have component output. So I'm trying to decide whether the improvements of DVI/upscaling are really worth it (particularly since the 941 probably has the black crush problem.)

This is how I plan to use my inputs:
HDMI: HD DirecTivo
DVI: DVD player (or HTPC if I get a component DVD)
Component 1: X-Box
Component 2: PS2 (or DVD if I buy one without HDMI/DVI, in which case I'll put the PS2 on an S-Video input)
S-Video: My old NTSC Tivo (till we've watched all the old material, anyway)

Wish the HLPs still had three component inputs...

Anyway, I'm wondering how much the upconversion of DVD to 720P that the Samsung 841/941 will offer compares to just using 480P from a component input. Is the difference subtle, or dramatic? The family will be happier if I get a 5-disc DVD...

(And as an aside: Can component outputs send 720P and 1080i?)

dennya:

The HDMI from the HD DirecTivo can be a problem. If you select recording & passing DD5.1 on the Tivo, anything in DD will not pass to the HLP over the HDMI. I switched to the DVI port + audio inputs to overcome this. If you are planning not to use the HLP internal speakers this may not be a problem for you.

rah, waiting for my Sammy technician tomorrow to fix many problems:mad:

Thanks for the tip, Rah. I'd planned to run audio through a home theater receiver, so hopefully that won't affect me.

Sorry to hear you're having problems with your Samsung. :-( It's reports like that that are making me lean towards finding a local dealer vs. going for the Powerbuy...

Originally posted by dennya
Thanks for the tip, Rah. I'd planned to run audio through a home theater receiver, so hopefully that won't affect me.

Sorry to hear you're having problems with your Samsung. :-( It's reports like that that are making me lean towards finding a local dealer vs. going for the Powerbuy...


Sometimes you just don't want to turn on the home theater or the wife doesn't know how.

Regardless of where you buy it, when working, the HD picture is awesome! I bought mine at BB w/ the extended warranty and very glad I did. Hopefully, the tech will make everything right for me.

rah

Originally posted by HDKing

On some DVDs, I get a horrible picture, I'm not sure if it's my cheesy Sony Progressive scan DVD player that isn't good, or my tv is bad. I was watching Armageddon and the PQ is nothing short of poor. Tons of "static" and noise. My player is a DVP-NS715SP with component and my DLP is the 4663. [/B]

Don't use Sony progressive setting. It sucks compared to Samsung's Faroudja processing. Set your Sony to interlaced output and let the TV do the processing.

I already posted this somewhere else but this seems like a more appropriate place for it. I had my 46" hlp delivered by TVA last Thurs and everything was working great until last night. After turning the set on I got a flashing message that read CHECK THE FAN 1 2 3 and then the set shut itself off.
Has anyone else have this problem I don't remember reading anything like this on any other thread. I have waited over a year for this TV to come out and it doesn't even last the week. This makes me wonder if I made the right choice buying from Samsung and not some other company. Does anyone know if this problem can easily be fixed?

Originally posted by davige
Don't use Sony progressive setting. It sucks compared to Samsung's Faroudja processing. Set your Sony to interlaced output and let the TV do the processing.

I received my 4663 last week and also have a Sony DVD player (725 as opposed to 715). Haven't done a lot testing, but my first observations are that the Sony progressive setting looked better than the interlaced setting. I only looked at it once, but I didn't like the Cinema setting on the 4663. I use Standard setting with contrast =82, brightness around 55 (can't quite remember), sharpness = 44 and color = 52. I did this using a quick pass of the Digital Video Essentials DVD.

That said, I believe the original Armeggedan DVD wasn't the best transfer and is a very difficult movie for a DLP to handle (lots of blacks). I popped it in last night and while it wasn't terrible, I wouldn't use it to show off the TV.

Again, I haven't done a lot of testing and these are very prelimary thoughts. I'd like to check Armagedden on my Runco and see how it compares to see if I'm remembering it correctly.

Using the settings above, I initially tested with Fifth Element and the quality was spectacular. The settings may need to be tweaked for darker movies.

I'll post again after more findings.

Originally posted by pbiondo
I received my 4663 last week and also have a Sony DVD player (725 as opposed to 715). Haven't done a lot testing, but my first observations are that the Sony progressive setting looked better than the interlaced setting. I only looked at it once, but I didn't like the Cinema setting on the 4663. I use Standard setting with contrast =82, brightness around 55 (can't quite remember), sharpness = 44 and color = 52. I did this using a quick pass of the Digital Video Essentials DVD.

That said, I believe the original Armeggedan DVD wasn't the best transfer and is a very difficult movie for a DLP to handle (lots of blacks). I popped it in last night and while it wasn't terrible, I wouldn't use it to show off the TV.

Again, I haven't done a lot of testing and these are very prelimary thoughts. I'd like to check Armagedden on my Runco and see how it compares to see if I'm remembering it correctly.

Using the settings above, I initially tested with Fifth Element and the quality was spectacular. The settings may need to be tweaked for darker movies.

I'll post again after more findings.

I have the Sony 725 DVD hooked up to my 50" HLP and find that the picture is defeinitely better w/o progressive scan (i.e. passing the 480i signal to the TV). I also prefer Cinema mode with brightness around 44 and contrast around 95 I think; sharpness didn't do much). I set "Film Mode" to On (don't think the 3:2 pulldown works without it) and sometimes leave DNIe on, sometimes turn it off.

Definitely going to purchase an upscaling DVD player (probably the 941) when they are more readily available.

I have a question that I have not found an answer too. I was wondering how much do bulbs cost and how long do they typically last?

I am currently an owner of an NEC HT1000 projector, but may be moving soon (to an apartment and from what I can tell won't have enough room to throw a decent image nor control lighting well enough). So, I was looking in to one of these Samsung DLP RPTVs. I was just wondering also about the maintence and everyday use of these sets. Are there any special things to note about taking care of these sets? Do I need to be just as careful with these sets as I do with my projector (not turning it on/off many times throughout the day, eco mode, cleaning, etc)?

I am thinking one of these sets would suit me very well (don't take too much space, don't weigh much, no burn in, etc). Although, I would like to wait for one with a Digital Tuner and perhaps the HD2+ Chip. I am hoping to stay right at or around $3000 with my purchase (is this realistic or am I dreaming?).

Thanks,
Chris

Originally posted by FLAPIANO
I already posted this somewhere else but this seems like a more appropriate place for it. I had my 46" hlp delivered by TVA last Thurs and everything was working great until last night. After turning the set on I got a flashing message that read CHECK THE FAN 1 2 3 and then the set shut itself off.
Has anyone else have this problem I don't remember reading anything like this on any other thread. I have waited over a year for this TV to come out and it doesn't even last the week. This makes me wonder if I made the right choice buying from Samsung and not some other company. Does anyone know if this problem can easily be fixed?
It can be fixed and/or TVA will have a replacement set sent to you. They will pick up the defective set too. Have you contacted them?

No not yet I will call them once I get home this evening. Thanks.

48 hours after buying the Samsung HLP4663W DLP TV, it started giving me
problems.
At first, the display would have evenly spaced vertical (white) lines
for around 5-10 minutes after turning on the TV. It would then
disappear. I have called Samsung for this and have been kept in waiting
for a call from the local technician (Service Agent) for the past 2
days.

Last night I turned on the TV and it came up with the usual vertical
lines but a few minutes later, the TV went dark but, the audio was OK.
I called Samsung about this and they said the lamp may be faulty.
And I continue to wait for the local service agent to call and set up an
appointment.

I called the 800-747-5618 line and they assured me that someone would be calling me tomorrow. :rolleyes:

If I ask BB for an exchange, will I be using their extended Warranty?
The reason I ask this is, I would like to wipe my hands of this TV and the extended warranty from BB if the replacement does not work either.

Can't you just return the set to BB within 30 days for an exchange or your money? I wouldn't think the extended warranty has nothing to do with it at this point.

Wow, I really need a poll on how many of you are happy with this set, there's so many negative posts in this thread. I can't believe how unbelievably complicated (and expensive) it has become to buy a decent TV set...

Originally posted by htwaits
Can't you just return the set to BB within 30 days for an exchange or your money? I wouldn't think the extended warranty has nothing to do with it at this point.

Thanks ht.

For every negative post there are probably thousands of people with a set thats perfectly fine (like mine). Keep it in perspective folks. :)

Originally posted by magaggie
Wow, I really need a poll on how many of you are happy with this set, there's so many negative posts in this thread. I can't believe how unbelievably complicated (and expensive) it has become to buy a decent TV set...
Before you do a poll it would be a good idea to look into theories of skewed small sample analysis. :)

I have placed my HLP4663W in a media enclosure with about 15" of room at the back and about 1" on the top and sides.
Is cooling an issue with this model? And is this why I am facing the problems that I have been.

thanks

I have a poll allready started. try a search.
It shows very positive results
search hlp.

I just got my Samsung HLP5663 today. I can see the rainbow effect. I see it constantly, but I will have to live with it. 20% restocking fee and 300.00 to ship back will hurt me significantly. I can also see scan lines. these are diamond shaped and I can see them when I shift my eyes. I have very sensitive eyes. For example, If my computer monitor (CRT) is set at 60hz refresh rate, I can see it flicker. I purchased this tv before finding this forum and not really looking at DLP tvs at a showroom floor. I can live with my mistake, but I want others to learn from mine. This tv is not a bad tv, it is just that I am sensitive to these things. If I had the chance, I would have probably bought and LCD based RPTV. I know this technology is only going to get better and I will try to get used to these issues. Do your research, Go to several showroom floors, and then decide.

If your eyes are that sensitive you might not have been that much better off with an LCD either. They have their own little visual idiosyncrasies.

I am getting my 5063 TV in two weeks. I have a question after reading through this thread.

Will my BOSE 321 DVD player work with the DVI? It does have a Digital output/input in the rear. Also, is that a progressive scan DVD player? How can i find out?

Thanks.

Hello All!

OK 1st things 1st Im a huge noob to this stuff and realized that after reading multiple threads :)

I have to purchase a new TV for my new home and the only space avail. in the family room is above the mantel(56 inches off the ground). It is 65 wide 15 1/2 deep and 35 tall.
My question to all of you, is the HLP5063W a good buy and appropriate for this space as I DONT want a plasma.

any comments, or questions r appreciated!

Thanks, Chris

Hello Everyone,

I just finished my long quest of trying out the Samsung 43" HLN, LG 44" DLP with the HD2 chip, and finally, the HLP 46" DLP with the new HD3 chip. I have to say that it was a close running, but my final resting point was with the Samsung 46" DLP with the new chip. My wife is about to kill me if I destroy the entertainment center any more and if I take one more television back.

My findings were as follows:

First I started with the Samsung 43" DLP HLN model. This one sucked because of the lip synch issue that I've seen so many of you talk about. I never experienced the green tinting issue, but I quickly took it back after one week of watching Wang Chung movies.

Next, I traded it in for the LG 44" DLP. This was great. The cabinet facing was black, it was an inch larger than the Samsung, and the blacks seemed darker but wasn't so eyeball scorching bright in colors. Thanks to reading this forum, I started wondering about rainbows and finally saw them one night which I probably wouldn't have seen in the first place. I've learned to look around them so to speak because the quality in picture of these televisions is too hard to pass up. Anyway, the LG began to develop a high pitched whiz out of the back, probably the color wheel, and I couldn't stop hearing it so I took it back as well. I almost got another one of these but glad that I held out.

Finally, in the same day, Circuit City just got their batch of Samsung 46" HLP's and I couldn't help myself. At first, wasn't impressed at all. I almost took it back too. However, I did get into the service menu and made a few minor adjustments to brightness and contrast with a quick tweak to the reception quality for normal television and I have to say that I'm the happiest with this set and its going to stay. I was watching Star Trek Nemesis tonight and the blacks on this set are fantastic. Not as grey as the others. The speakers are much better in terms of bass and treble sound and on screen adjustment. The remote is not as good as the LG, as it had a lot more options such as seperate buttons for input select where the Samsung only has one that you have to push a few times to scroll through the inputs. Out of the box the skin tones were a bit red on the HLP, but I did fix that in the SM as well.

I got the 2 year warranty from CC to cover against lightning, as we have a lot of that here in Florida. No worries guys in terms of PQ and dark colors as I am very satisfied. The rainbows are still annoying at times but I've learned to look past them for the most part which everyone can do if you don't focus on anything but the great quality and resolution of the set. I was fixated on them for a while but you have to condition yourself to look past them. They don't bother me as much anymore and probably won't at all in a few more weeks.

That's It. Thanks for the advice in the forum over the last few weeks as it has been invaluable in making a selection.

cmvsm:

What tweaks did you make in the SM?

Badbenz,

I love DLP PQ, but it may not be the best choice for mounting that high on a wall. While DLP sets have a wider horizontal viewing area than most other rear projectors, they do not have a tall vertical viewing area. Brightness drops off noticeably when your eyes are higher or lower than the screen. See for yourself in a showroom by squatting or standing tiptoe in front of one.

ironmlh,

The digital connection on your Bose is most likely an audio-only output and won't match up with the DVI input on your new TV set. If the player has component video, that's probably the best hookup for you. The set will deinterlace and upconvert the signal from the player to 720p regardless, so it will work whether or not it is progressive scan, but you might try it both ways to see if you can see a PQ difference.

wittangamo,

Thanks for the reply, I tried looking up and down by doing what you did and did see a difference in brightness. So at the store I played with the brightness to adjust to my level and it seemed to work. Anyway I got a great deal @ CC for 3100 on it with 2yr free financing and 30 day money back, so Im going to have it delivered and set it up and see if I can make it work.

If the DLP isnt the "1", what other sets would you recommend?

Thanks, Chris

I've turned off the progressive scan on my DVD player and am letting the DLP do the processing. My picture on DVDs is horrible. In every DVD, there is mosquito noise and the picture almost looks like there's a thin sheet of cotton over the screen. If I'm watching a movie of where it shows a string of white buildings, it almost looks like they're dancing. The same thing happens if it shows bright white or darks such as billboards or clothes. I'm not sure if this is because of the DVD player or my set is a POS. I'm going to try out a Samsung 841 and if this doesn't help, my DLP will be going back. For $3,000, I shouldn't be having these problems.

Originally posted by HDKing
I've turned off the progressive scan on my DVD player and am letting the DLP do the processing. My picture on DVDs is horrible. In every DVD, there is mosquito noise and the picture almost looks like there's a thin sheet of cotton over the screen. If I'm watching a movie of where it shows a string of white buildings, it almost looks like they're dancing. The same thing happens if it shows bright white or darks such as billboards or clothes. I'm not sure if this is because of the DVD player or my set is a POS. I'm going to try out a Samsung 841 and if this doesn't help, my DLP will be going back. For $3,000, I shouldn't be having these problems.
Which model TV do you have?

How is your DVD player connected to the TV?

What aspect mode have you selected on the TV?

What did the PQ look like with progressive mode on?

Originally posted by htwaits
Which model TV do you have?

How is your DVD player connected to the TV?

What aspect mode have you selected on the TV?

What did the PQ look like with progressive mode on?

And here's an obvious one - do you have your DVD player's TV Format setting set to 16:9 or 4:3?

HLP4663, I've got the player hooked in with component cables, in 16:9, and the picture with progressive looks pretty much the same as if I let the DLP run in 720p. I've tried messing around with the DVD players picture settings to see if a "dynamic" mode was running and if changing the DLPs picture settings would work. No DVD that I've tried looks good. Not any of the Star Wars DVDs, X-men, Private Ryan, or Matrix films.

And yes, the DVD is set to 16:9. The picture isn't scrunched and tall, the aspect is fine, the PQ just looks like garbage. I guess the best way that I can describe it is if you had one large cotton ball and stretched it across the screen. It's got a grainy, fuzzy, non-sharp PQ.

Originally posted by HDKing
I'm not sure if this is because of the DVD player or my set is a POS. I'm going to try out a Samsung 841 and if this doesn't help, my DLP will be going back. For $3,000, I shouldn't be having these problems.

I bet it's your DVD player. I've got my 4663 hooked up to an old Sony DVD player (S-Video is the best connection on the back, no progressive scan) and the picture looks very nice. Maybe not as good as the HD broadcasts, but still very nice.

Just another opinion here on the HLP-5063W.

I just looked at one that was setup at a BB in Cambridge, MA. Horrible. Terrible dithering problem. I'm not sure how they had it hooked up or what feed they were showing (SD, HD or some other) but it looked bad. The other sets around it (a Sony LCD next to it) did not have the dithering problem at all.

On the other hand, I looked at this same TV at a Tweeter in Framingham, MA and it looked amazing. I viewed this one on HD, STD and a CD (ROTK), and all three were spectacular.

So what does this say? It depends on the individual TV and how the store has it setup. Make sure you see the TV for yourself and try to view it at more then one store.

Just my humble opinion.

FYI: I'm still on the fence on buying this or the Mits 52725 or the new Panny that comes out soon (PT-50DL54). Anyone know when the Panny will be out?

Originally posted by HDKing
HLP4663, I've got the player hooked in with component cables, in 16:9, and the picture with progressive looks pretty much the same as if I let the DLP run in 720p.

Sorry to keep asking questions, but without seeing your setup I can't help myself.

When you say "in 16x9" does that mean the aspect mode your selected in the HLP4663 is "Wide"?

When you say "the picture with progressive looks pretty much the same as if I let the DLP run in 720p" what do you mean by that. It doesn't sound like your DVD player upscales to 720p. Are you referring to another connection?

I have two DVD players connected to my HLP5063.

One is an older Sony that can't do progressive mode. Like yours it is connected to component 1. It seems to work fine without a progressive mode and the PQ is good.

For "Anamorphic Enhanced for Widescreen" films I have the TV aspect mode set to "Wide".

For "Letterbox" wide-screen older films I have the TV aspect mode set to "Zoom1".

For "Academy Standard 4x3 films I have the TV set to 4x3.

The other DVD player is the LG LST3510A and it is set to scale all DVI output to 720p. I use this DVD player all the time now because the PQ is better than the other one.

For "Anamorphic Enhanced for Widescreen" films I have the TV aspect mode set to "Wide TV".

For "Letterbox" wide-screen older films I have the TV aspect mode set to "Expand".

For "Academy Standard 4x3 films I have the TV set to 4x3.

If you use the wrong aspect mode for the film that you are watching the PQ will not be as good.

The films you listed are all "Anamorphic Enhanced for Widescreen" DVDs so through either component input you should use "Wide" and through DVI input you should use Wide (TV).

There are four areas where the problem could be coming from. They are (in what I think is the most likely order) the DVD player, the component cables, the TV, and the DVDs.

If you can get hold of another DVD player try swapping.

If you can swap your component cables try that. Make sure all three cables are plugged all the way in and that the green and blue coded cables are in the matching holes.

Try using the other component input on your TV.

A 480i (interleaved) input into either component 1 or component 2 should look better than most inexpensive progressive mode DVD players. It should not look bad.

Good luck.

Looked at the new HLP 50" at my local BB last night, and found it to have the same awful dithering as the HLN they'd had on display previously. I confronted the salesguy about it, who explained that it was low signal quality (they have a DVD split about 49 ways). Now, other TVs weren't having such problems, but I'm willing to entertain the idea that the DLPs handle low signal quality more poorly than some of the other CRTs and LCDs. I'm imagining it was the same thing BostonNole saw, bright areas of the screen actually appeared to go to static...

I wanna get over there during the day and make them hook up either the HD cable or at least a DVD player to see it for real. But all in all, I think I just need to buy it. If I don't like it, I'll bring it back in 30 and switch back to a widescreen direct view.

I'm having problems using a universal remote with my HLP. I'm trying to program macros but I can't figure out how to get the HLP to start with the right input. The HLP is set to the input used when it was turned off. But to "cycle" to the correct input I need to have it start at a set input. Anyone have any luck with macros and the HLP?

It's amazing how sources, showrooms and opinions differ. I've been to three CCs and a BB in my area to compare, and I've seen dithering on an HLN and Sony GWIII, but not on the HLPs. I also spent a few happy hours watching a friend's calibrated HLN with a variety of Voom HD channels and upconverted DVDs and it looked spectacular with no dithering in sight. YMMV, but I think taking it home is really the only way to know for sure.

My HLP5063W should be here Tuesday. Can't wait.

Originally posted by GSOgymrat
I'm having problems using a universal remote with my HLP. I'm trying to program macros but I can't figure out how to get the HLP to start with the right input. The HLP is set to the input used when it was turned off. But to "cycle" to the correct input I need to have it start at a set input. Anyone have any luck with macros and the HLP?

Check out this thread (and this post in particular):

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=3947284#post3947284

These are the only discrete codes (that I know of) that people have gotten to work. You can teach any cheapo One For All or Radio Shack remote (read through the thread is shows you how) to access the inputs individually so you don't need to cycle.

Not sure what remote you are trying to program but my MX 500 works great with these.

Well I just got back from BB and I picked up a HD-841 and I hooked it up with DVI and component. After getting a snow screen on DVI, I decided to try it with component and setup the player through that. Definitely like the PQ with it on component. Holy "black crush" on DVI Batman. It was my POS Sony progressive scan that was the problem.

DLP sets certainly aren't your dad's tv that's for sure. There is one heck of a lot of tweeking that can/should be done for every given signal/input. And potentially worse is that it seems that inferior equipment/cables/sources do make more of a pronounced difference on this type of tv than a good ole' crt. As we all know, this translates into spending more money on other pieces of the puzzle to get the best PQ out of the set.

As far as some Sammy's looking great at one store and others looking terrible at a different store, I do seriously wonder about the quality control from Samsung. I have read alot of posts about the service menu and more than not you get people that have settings all over the map. They never seem to be the same. I wonder why on earth this would be? I'm starting to believe that just because you get a bad one doesnt mean that the 'HLP' series sucks, it means you may have gotten one of the 5% that slip through and didn't meet the highest quality control standards but rather just 'slipped by'. In those cases, I'd just exchange it out (of course easier said than done) because these sets CAN look better than anything out there with the right tweaking and the proper source/cable. My theory can be further evidenced by the a/v sync threads out there. Many people have HLN/HLP sets that have a/v sync issues and many people don't. It seems that the line of TV's either HAS a problem or doesn't. Course' thats not the case....

I couldn't agree with you more Witt. The best way for anyone to judge a TV is to take it home, hook it up and see if you like it. Just make sure you can return it if you don't.

Magaggie,

It's very likely BB's video system. I saw an HLN 61 at the local BB with a TERRIBLE case of dithering -- it all just looked bad and weird. Same exact TV at CC looked fantastic.

Finally received my HLP5063W yesterday. This will post will run long, so feel free to skip it. I'll try to keep it organized for skimmers.

Overall, I haven't done much tweaking other than setting everything to 50 and standard or normal. I'm using a receiver so I can't comment on set's sound quality.

I am upgrading from a Toshiba 30" Tube HDTV. It really had great PQ, but was too small. Since it was small, SD looked very good on it.

Absolutely no a/v lagging of any kind on Sammy. Big sigh of relief.

HDTV: My satellite provider is Voom. HDTV PQ very good, just as good as the Toshiba's was. I have it connected via DVI. I was hoping to pass through all the channels and let the TV do the processing. When trying a 480i signal, TV said "video mode not supported" or something to that affect. So I set the STB to push all channels at 720p. Things look good, but Voom's STB has an issue that causes vertical white lines to appear on screen. Luckily, line is outside of picture since I have STB set to show 4x3 to be pillar-boxed. I would have liked to let 480i be processing to have been done by TV. When watching HDTV channels, I'm leaving DNIe and DNR off. 480i through DVI isn't big deal now, but will be when I ditch cable. Only bad thing I saw was on TNTHD last night. During The Score, a scene in a bar had horribly displayed dark areas. The dithering was awful. It was the only instance, and set performed well in other dark scenes, so I guess it is something that will creep up every now and then. No problem with too soft or not sharp enough.

SDTV: I use Tivo for watching SDTV channels through cable. Connected with composite video to TV. PQ is OK. Display is set to 4x3. Main problems are that all the flaws have been blown up on big screen, so now more visible. For Tivo owners: if you use one of the lower recording qualities, you'll notice. Extra compression from Tivo plus analog noise was very noticeable. I personally don't care, because SD already looks like crap after having had HDTV for a few months now. Lack of sharpness was an issue. I had blurry letters on the crawlers of ESPN and FNC. I'm still tweaking with various UM stuff, but for now I'm using DNIe and DNR because it helps with PQ. Trying to figure out sharpness issues. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I put sharpness to 65 and it didn't look much different.

Gaming: No lag at all. I tried both Max Payne and Halo because both are 480p and are twitch games that have very dark scenes. Seriously, NO LAG!! Performed perfect in dark areas. For Halo, I played level 3 where you have the night-time assault on the desert plateau, and it was great. Sharpness was not a problem. However, DNIe and DNR were off.

[/B]DVD:[/B] Didn't really test too much. Watched final battle of LOTR T2T. Looked great. Pushing 480i, letting TV process, film mode on. DNIe and DNR off. Great PQ. No lag.

Questions/Issues:

Upon intial viewing, there were 2 big smears/smudges on screen. Used damp and very soft cloth to wipe. Cleaned right up. If I tandan inch away, their are two microscopic white sopts that are oddly shapped. I'm assuming it's dust. It's not noticeable at 12 inches, nor at 7 feet (seating distance).

Can I turn off red LED when set is in standby?

I'm thinking I must choose between DNIe and sharpness for SD. Anyone have similar experiences or suggestions?

How do I find when it was manufactured?

Thanks for any help.

Do you plan on any sort of calibration?

I plan on using Avia here pretty soon. Right now I'm trying to get familiar with the set and get a few hours on it before I begin really tweaking it. Professional calibration isn't an option in my area, because there are no independent ISF guys in my town or even near.

Many ISFer's "tour". Keep an eye out on this forum, or even start a thread to see if anyone gets by your part of the world. Ya' never know!

Steve Martin from Dallas will travel, but I have to pay airfare. I checked around in the past to organize a tour for Lubbock, but couldn't find anyone else to go in. It's hard to tour through Lubbock because all other decent sized cities are at least 120 miles away.

Squicken- My SD picture looks better with the sharpness turned way down to 15.

Originally posted by ricksm3
cmvsm:

What tweaks did you make in the SM?

Some of the tweaks that I did revolved mainly around the Gamma, subcontrast and subbrightness. The Gamma is set at 8, but I tried 1 and 5 which had richer, but darker effects. 6 looks great for DVD, but is a complete wash out with regular television. I ended up staying on 8, but it was a toss up with 1 as well. The subcontrast I set higher by a few points and the subbrightness I set lower a few points to balance out the contrast without being too white.

I also adjusted the Red Scale as well, and it seemed to eliminate the additional redness in skin tone.

Outside of the service menu, I did an adjustment to the signal reception and it worked wonders for some of my local channels that were coming in a little too grainy.

I can't be more pleased with the settings I currently have. I am waiting on the Digital Video DVD to do some final adjustments.

I havent seen any lag video problems, but also bear in mind that most dvds have sync problems, private ryan. Ive never seen private ryan run smoothly on any dvd player or tv, my 28 inch jvc, my prothers toshiba 56 inch hdtv and my hlp samsung. Most of the times it the dvd's and not the tv. Cable is even worse so don't bother. I think the best test for video audio sync would d-vhs, Ive never seen any problems with this format, try it for the ultimate lip sync test.

I have a few novice questions:

1) Does the HLP5063 have an integrated ATSC tuner?

2) To get HD local channels do you turn the TV to same channel as the regular analong channel or do you turn it to the "frequency" channel listed on the antennaweb site?

Originally posted by sld98
48 hours after buying the Samsung HLP4663W DLP TV, it started giving me
problems.
At first, the display would have evenly spaced vertical (white) lines
for around 5-10 minutes after turning on the TV. It would then
disappear. I have called Samsung for this and have been kept in waiting
for a call from the local technician (Service Agent) for the past 2
days.

Last night I turned on the TV and it came up with the usual vertical
lines but a few minutes later, the TV went dark but, the audio was OK.
I called Samsung about this and they said the lamp may be faulty.
And I continue to wait for the local service agent to call and set up an
appointment.

I called the 800-747-5618 line and they assured me that someone would be calling me tomorrow. :rolleyes:

If I ask BB for an exchange, will I be using their extended Warranty?
The reason I ask this is, I would like to wipe my hands of this TV and the extended warranty from BB if the replacement does not work either.

Good luck waiting on Samsung to help. Their general customer service is great, but when it comes to getting someone to actually fix your problem, you're on your own. It has been 5 weeks since they began the process to pick up my HLN and 2 weeks since they promised to have a technician contact me directly to fix my HLP. I hope that they are reading this, as well as the complaint I sent to them.

If you have vertical lines on your screen, it does not fix itself over time. In fact, they become more frequent, and change from black to white. Eventually, you will be in my position and have a $3,000 paperweight (I NOW HAVE NO PICTURE AND SAMSUNG WILL NOT DO ANYTHING TO HELP). Samsung is lucky to have vendors like TV Authority to do all of the legwork for them, as Samsung themselves seem to be overly incompetent in regards to support.

GSOgymrat, I tried your suggestion and it looked much better. Thanks.

Magoo, not ATSC tuner included. To get your HD locals you'll need a seperate box, either cable, satellite, or atsc external tuner. Channel changing will occur within these boxes, not the TV.

ABOUT THE SMUDGES: I awoke this morning to again see the smudges in the same place. Again, they went away with rubbing. I called Samsung hoping maybe more information had come in on this issue, as others have reported a similar problem. The CSR I spoke with had never heard of the problem, he put me on hold so he could talk with a technician. The CSR said the tech. hadn't heard of the issue either, and said I should arrange a service call.

I'm not sure what good a service call will do. I was hoping Samsung would have gathered more informaion on this problem, since others seem to have them. It seems frivolous to have a technician for this issue, but I also don't want to have to wipe down my set every morning. Any thoughts on the smudges or the usefulness of a technician for this issue?

Also, how do I find out build date? Can I make red led during standby go away?

I saw mention in an earlier post referring to a "green issue".
I have the 50" HLP (<week old) and often see green highlights in standard analog cable and Direct TV programs.
This is not an apparent overall green cast, just in the highlights.
Not there when watching DVDs through the PC input.
I don't have a component or DVI source to try yet.
Anyone heard of this?

Thanks.

I have a PowerBuy HLP (6163W) on pre-order, and I have a (odd and/or dumb) scan rate question.

In reading the product manual (p. 82), I see that, as a "PC Display" the HLP supports vertical frequency refresh of up to 85.1hz, which would have the color wheel hauling a**, I imagine.

So my question is: Will an HLP display a 1280 x 720 signal @ 72hz vertical refresh rate sent via an external scaler (iScan HD) over DVI? It seems within the ~physical~ capabilities of the design, but I don't know if is supported.

It would be a lovely thing if it did, of course, since that would allow the iScan to do 3:3 pulldown (pullup?) and would eliminate motion judder from film-sourced DVDs.

Is anyone using an external scaler with their new HLPs?

-John

Is there a scratch resistant/glare reducing screen on the HLP? If so, can this be removed?

Originally posted by HDKing
Is there a scratch resistant/glare reducing screen on the HLP? If so, can this be removed?
Yes. Not easily.

You want your HLP to have greater glare and be more open to being scratched? 8-o

Have noticed smudges will go away when TV left on for about 45 minutes. SD PQ is bad through Tivo. Faces look like clay. Will begin very extensive tweaking throughout weekend.

Obviously, I will be picky, but I have had the 5063 for about a week, and here are my thoughts:

HDTV-

This is where the set shines. I have OTA digital locals, and Directv HBOHD. Watching anything not in HD looks terrible compared to how great HD looks. PBS HD (Philadelphia) is really impressive, as is Jay Leno.

SD-

Not too bad, not great, but not bad. I see HUGE differences in sources. Some SD looks terrible, some looks so good, crystal clear. I think the digital OTA SD looks better than the directv SD.

HLP Problems:

1. Smudges

I guess this is what I have. There are 2 areas on the left of the screen and the right that look really blotchy, especially on white backgrounds. My wife actually said something last night - "what is that??" Gently rubbing the screen made them disappear. Hopefully this won't be a big problem.

2. AV Sync

Watching a DVD last night (once upon a time in mexico) over component, and the voices and faces were completely misaligned. Multiple words came out that had not corresponding lip movements. Disappointing. Not the whole film, more prominent in some parts, but definitely there. I have not noticed this with television - Directv over DVI.

In general, the set is beautiful, and the HD is incredible. I would recommend the set - but I am a little worried about the AV issues - I plan to get an upscaling DVI DVD player soon, maybe that will help-


Lee

I am mostly loving ths set with HD sources and XBOX games. After spending yesterday doing day and night work with AVIA, I still have a set that does DVD and SD poorly. I can live with poor SD, but DVD too? Granted, it's a $60 Zenith model. But it's less than a year old and is hooked up via component. My problem is clay faces and black-level performance. I've seen LCDs and DLPs before, so I know what type of black levels to expect. I think I'm just going to have to spring for a calibration. I don't want to wait for the wizards of the HLP to figure all out the must-do tweaks.

Originally posted by squicken
... I still have a set that does DVD and SD poorly. I can live with poor SD, but DVD too? Granted, it's a $60 Zenith model. But it's less than a year old and is hooked up via component.

You don't think it's a problem to use a $60 DVD player connected with analog cables to a ~$3,000 "digital" TV? Hmmm.

Analog signals are easy to mess up. Unlike DVI and HDMI, the quality of the cables you use can cause PQ problems. The TV/DVD setup can also cause problems.

Even when the analog processing is high quality ($$$) the fact that you are taking the 480i digital information on a DVD and converting it to analog and then back to digital will affect PQ. Then, you are asking the DVD/TV combination to also convert that 480i information to 720p in order to display it using a 720p DLP chip. The whole analog process can be eliminated with a DVI/HDMI DVD player.

My problem is clay faces and black-level performance. I've seen LCDs and DLPs before, so I know what type of black levels to expect. I think I'm just going to have to spring for a calibration. I don't want to wait for the wizards of the HLP to figure all out the must-do tweaks.

I doubt you could convince an ISF Certified technician to calibrate your set using your DVD player.

This thread is full of Samsung DLP owners who believe their TVs work much better using the DVI/HDMI ports. I wouldn't recommend getting a calibration until you get a DVD player with either DVI or HDMI output.

There is a new generation of up-scaling DVI/HDMI enabled DVD players coming into the market. Check out the DVD Player forum for evaluations, features and glitches.

Also check out this information.

DVI, HDMI and HDCP ? a Practical Guide (http://www.digiupdate.com/G002_DVI_HDMI_and_HDCP.html#_Toc62776218)

I'd be interested to hear a solution to the "clay faces" problem. I saw that on a 61" HLN at Best Buy. The same TV at CC looked great, so I assumed it was either a signal or adjustment thing.

Originally posted by dennya
I'd be interested to hear a solution to the "clay faces" problem. I saw that on a 61" HLN at Best Buy. The same TV at CC looked great, so I assumed it was either a signal or adjustment thing.
With the HLN sets it can be both adjustment, source material, or setup. It's much less likely with the HLP sets and probably would be hard to achive using a DVI/HDMI source. Of course, if you are watching the restored DVD of Singin' In The Rain you are going to see clay faces no matter what you do. They called it "pancake makeup" in those days. ;)

Originally posted by squicken
I am mostly loving ths set with HD sources and XBOX games. After spending yesterday doing day and night work with AVIA, I still have a set that does DVD and SD poorly. I can live with poor SD, but DVD too? Granted, it's a $60 Zenith model. But it's less than a year old and is hooked up via component. My problem is clay faces and black-level performance. I've seen LCDs and DLPs before, so I know what type of black levels to expect. I think I'm just going to have to spring for a calibration. I don't want to wait for the wizards of the HLP to figure all out the must-do tweaks.

Get a Good DVI or HDMI DVD player and be done with it.

Since htwaits brought it up, I wanted to mention the subject of inputs...

I'm going to be connecting, among other things, an HD Tivo, a DVD player, and an HTPC.

Maintaining a 5-disc DVD player is a key aspect of the WAF for this setup, even though that puts me into a $450 Onkyo DV-CP802 to get the SACD and DVD-A support I want. But the Onkyo only has componenent output, no DVI.

I figured, however, that this wasn't really a bad thing, as I really want to hook the HTPC up via DVI rather than VGA, and I don't want to deal with a switcher box.

My impression is that the component output of a high-quality DVD player is going to approach the quality of a DVI output in quality, with fairly subtle differences, right? Seems to me that, if the degradation is slight, then the tradoff isn't that bad if you avoid the black crush problem of the Samsung 841. (Dunno yet if the 941 will suffer from this, but seems likely given the rest of the series.)

I can't see upconverting being that big of a deal -- the source material only has 480 lines of information.

So I'm not really losing much if I use the DVI for the HTPC and go component with a good DVD player/cables, right? Or am I really going to be missing out?

Well, I've had my Samsung 56" HLP for about 1-1/2 weeks now and thought I'd share my experiences / thoughts. Not sure if this really is best thread (is there an owner's thread somewhere?).

OTB:
I have the 56" and view at 12 feet. My previous TV was a 27" CRT. First impression: man this thing is huge! Too big, I thought, but as many have suggested, I got used to it real fast and now it doesn't seem too big at all. My 27" is still sitting on the floor nearby and I wonder how I ever watched it...."oh, look, it's so cute". :D

OTB picture was good but too warm / red. I switched the color mode from the default (Warm1) to Normal and found the picture much more pleasing. I later ran through an Avia calibration which further reduced the reds to a more realistic setting and I'm now extremely happy with the colors, shadow detail, and black levels.


DVD:
I have my HLP connected to a Panasonic XP50 progressive scan DVD player. This player has a Faroudja de-interlacer but only component out (no DVI/HDMI). The picture quality is much better when setting the DVD player to 480p. With 480i, I see an artifact that looks like false outlines on high contrast material...like white borders along the black lines in the Avia sharpness calibration screen (sort of like what you see when sharpness is set way too high on a CRT). There's probably a proper name for this artifact, but I don't know what it is. Adjusting sharpness on the HLP had no effect, turning DNIe off helped but did not fix it completely, but setting the DVD output to 480p fixed the problem. So in my case, having the DVD player do the de-interlacing defintely gives a better result and the overall picture quality is much improved.

After the Avia calibration and setting the DVD out to 480p, DVDs look great. The only thing I keep flipping back and forth on is the DNIe setting. Sometimes I like it better on and sometimes off...in general I like the added sharpness but sometimes when there is a lot of detail in the scene DNie tends to do too much and the effect is artificial looking.

I've used LotR FotR and Stargate SG1 for a lot of my evaluation / adjustments. I find the Shire scenes at the beginning of FotR are great for color evaluation...skin tones, green grass, blue sky and there are many darker scenes available in later chapters for evaluating contrast and shadow detail. There is also a particular Stargate scene that has a good mixture of all of these elements. After my adjustments, I'm very happy with how DVDs look.


HD:
HD is just gorgeous. I'm connected to a Motorola HD settop via component and DVI. I've watched Leno, Las Vegas, Law and Order, and parts of CSI in HD and they all look great. Component is currently set to 1080i due to a problem with syncing to 720p on the Motorola STB (there's another thread about this somewhere). I've haven't done a lot of Component / DVI comparisons yet. With HD, the DNIe setting is more subtle than with DVD and I haven't settled on an on/off choice yet.


SD:
SD is better than I expected. Not good, but not unwatchable. I've spent very little time with SD so far and just have my STB upconverting at the moment. Most content I watch is HD or DVD with a little SD mixed in, so SD is not too important to me.


Problems:
I have none of the defects that have been reported on this board...no smudges, no vertical lines, no lamp issues. I also have not seen any AV Sync problems that aren't attributable to the source, no dithering problems that I've noticed, and no mosquito noise that I've noticed. The set was manufactured May '04 in Korea.

The problem that I do have is Rainbows :(. I easily see them when looking away from the TV (which doesn't bother me) but I also see them just watching, especially with high contrast content, such as a bright light on a black background. They seem less pronounced after my Avia calibration but they are still there. They do seem to be bothering me less and less over time but I'm not sure if I will ever be able to completely ignore them. I do watch with ambient light and I don't "try" to see them when I'm watching. Luckily, the wife can't see them so it's only me.


Overall:
Overall I love this set except for the rainbows. If it weren't for rainbows, I would never look back. As it is, I'm trying to decide if I can live with them / get used to them or if I need to consider LCD or LCOS.

Sorry for the long post, I guess I had a lot to say!

Originally posted by dennya
I'm going to be connecting, among other things, an HD Tivo, a DVD player, and an HTPC.

Maintaining a 5-disc DVD player is a key aspect of the WAF for this setup, even though that puts me into a $450 Onkyo DV-CP802 to get the SACD and DVD-A support I want. But the Onkyo only has componenent output, no DVI.

I've never understood 5-disc DVD players. I can only deal with one DVD at a time. :D

I figured, however, that this wasn't really a bad thing, as I really want to hook the HTPC up via DVI rather than VGA, and I don't want to deal with a switcher box.

How are you going to use your HTPC?

Everyone seems to love the PQ they get from DVD movies using a PC for DVI input.

I plan to also use mine to time shift rentals. Since I'm paying a flat rate per month for as many movies as I can get through the mails, queuing them up in my PC seems like a good idea.

My impression is that the component output of a high-quality DVD player is going to approach the quality of a DVI output in quality, with fairly subtle differences, right?

Sure but that depends on the "high-quality" DVD player and cables that you use.

Seems to me that, if the degradation is slight, then the tradoff isn't that bad if you avoid the black crush problem of the Samsung 841. (Dunno yet if the 941 will suffer from this, but seems likely given the rest of the series.)

It's in the eye of the beholder. :) Or better yet it's what the eye of the beholder misses.

Even if Samsung never catches onto the color space problem their DVI enabled DVD players have, other companies are not making the same mistake.

I can't see upconverting being that big of a deal -- the source material only has 480 lines of information.

That's why it is a big deal to preserve as much of the original information as possible. The unnecessary trip through digital to analog and then analog to digital will add errors which will then be added to the scaling from 480p to 720p -- errors piled on top of errors.

So I'm not really losing much if I use the DVI for the HTPC and go component with a good DVD player/cables, right? Or am I really going to be missing out?

Not if you use the HTPC for movies where you want the best PQ possible.

Does your wife plan to watch the entire Lord of the Rings without ever getting up from her movie seat? ;)

A few things to clear up and some questions.

1) My component cables are top shelf. Belden with Canare connectors. Interference may be an issue, since it is somewhat of a hornets nest back there.

2) If component is such a bad thing, then why does my XBOX look good? Is it just the nature of games already being fake looking anyway?

3) I realize that a $60 DVD isn't great. However, it was just fine with my Toshiba 30" HDTV CRT. I know that the smaller size hides some flaws, but it looked great. Progressive scan setting on/off makes no difference. I'm guessing that since set, source, and cables were analog it just worked better.

4) SD through DVI (when converted by STB) looks just fine. No clay faces.

So is it the learned opinion of this forum that most analog connections and sources will be bad?

I'm thinking about getting a DVB318. I'll need a DVI to HDMI adapter also. It is sort of a choice now between new gear or a calibration.

batf, I don't think their is a fix for getting rid of rainbows for those that see them except to change your room lighting. And that doesn't always work.

Originally posted by batf
Overall I love this set except for the rainbows. If it weren't for rainbows, I would never look back. As it is, I'm trying to decide if I can live with them / get used to them or if I need to consider LCD or LCOS.
That's a tough one and there is no real solution. There have been people report that they stop noticing rainbows but I sure wouldn't go past my return period based on that "hope".

Good luck.

Originally posted by squicken
So is it the learned opinion of this forum that most analog connections and sources will be bad?

That's going too far. :) What I've read indicates that the most pleasure from Samsung DLP sets come through the DVI port. :D

I'm thinking about getting a DVB318. I'll need a DVI to HDMI adapter also. It is sort of a choice now between new gear or a calibration.

At the moment I'm using the LG LST-3510A DVD/STB combo with the HLP5063 and it's doing a good job. The Zenith is an LG brand so it may be similar.

There is a strong consensus that an ISF calibration should be done with the best components you have available -- you are charged by the input. I would also make sure I didn't have a bad TV by testing it with a DVI/HDMI DVD player before my return period expired.

The most likely explanation, if there is nothing wrong with your DVD/TV setup, is that the Samsung is showing you how well your DVD player does de-interlacing and digital to analog conversions.

I've just read about another "gotcha". Some DVD players have to be configured to output DVI as well as set for a 16x9 display because their default settings are for 4x3 displays and no DVI output. That means you have to connect them using composite or S-Video first so you can enable DVI out.

Good luck.

Originally posted by batf


The problem that I do have is Rainbows :(. I easily see them when looking away from the TV (which doesn't bother me) but I also see them just watching, especially with high contrast content, such as a bright light on a black background. They seem less pronounced after my Avia calibration but they are still there. They do seem to be bothering me less and less over time but I'm not sure if I will ever be able to completely ignore them. I do watch with ambient light and I don't "try" to see them when I'm watching. Luckily, the wife can't see them so it's only me.

I find that if I make the effort not to shift my eyes around on the screen too much I don't notice them. Also, after watching the tv for a while they go away.

It can be tough with fps games, though.

I've pretty much done all the tweaking I can without entering the serice menu. I've run into a somewhat annoying problem.

When I set any input or device into 4x3 mode, the left pillar box extends 5.25" on the screen at the top and bottom, and 5.5" at the middle.

The right pillar box extends 4.5" at the top and bottom and 4.75" from the middle.

Is the picture supposed to bow like this in the center?

Why is the picture scolled like this? This sounds like a SM adjustment. It's not a problem in 4x3 because the only thing that's cut off is part of the right pillar box. But I'm afrais for 16X9 material I'm losing part of the picture. However, when in Wide mode for 16x9 source material, the left side does fill all the way to the edge.

Not trying to complain. I'm just trying to learn how to make this $3500 investment look its best. Any ideas?

Yes. All the sets bow in 4:3. It's the lens, not the electronics.

Mark

Originally posted by Mark@Ct
Yes. All the sets bow in 4:3. It's the lens, not the electronics.

Mark Thanks mark. Anyone know how to scroll the screen back to the left a little. Looking at the ESPN-HD pillar boxes, I can tell I'm losing info on the right side of the screen, and am getting the normally cropped portions of the left side of the screen. Corner of the screen that is normally in upper left with static scoreboard is towards upper-middle of screen.

Originally posted by squicken
Anyone know how to scroll the screen back to the left a little.

In the SM if you open the DDP1011 sub menu there are two controls that "might" do what you want. I have NOT tried them myself.

They are V-Position and H-Position.

I would try to find someone who has tried them first.

Originally posted by htwaits
I've never understood 5-disc DVD players. I can only deal with one DVD at a time.
Music on shuffle play. The 5-disc player will also be used for DVD-A, SACD, and old-fashioned CDs.

How are you going to use your HTPC?

Everyone seems to love the PQ they get from DVD movies using a PC for DVI input.
The HTPC will be used for MP3, as a host for streaming MP3 to a media player downstairs, for gaming, and as a PVR that will let me burn stuff I record to DVD, transfer them to a Pocket PC, etc -- all the stuff my Tivo won't let me do.

It's tempting to just use the HTPC for DVDs, but I'm looking for "really easy to use." Plus I'd imagine the HTPC won't match the dedicated player for audio.
Not if you use the HTPC for movies where you want the best PQ possible.
I hadn't really realized that the HTPC would give the best quality. Then why am I looking at a $500 player? Hmm....

Okay, here's a question: Anyone here tried the same DVD player (such as an 841 or 931) on both component and DVI ports?

How dramatic would you say the improvement is on DVI? Subtle, or "whoah!"?

htwaits. Score. I decided I'd be intrepid and adjust H-position. I worked. I started at 63 and went to 74. Got it within a couple centimeters of being totally equal. I guess I can live :) Thanks for your help. I guess when the tweaks thread is started we now know what v-position and h-position do.

Originally posted by squicken
Thanks for your help. I guess when the tweaks thread is started we now know what v-position and h-position do.
You are welcome and you are now the expert on the HLP service menu controls. :D

Dennya-- I have a 841 connected with both component and DVI and have been experimenting switching back and forth. I find the difference subtle. The component has more artifacts and is slightly less sharp. The DVI looks slightly more detailed and vibrant but has the "black crush" problem people have reported. I didn't really notice the black crush until I started switching back and forth while watching "Chicago", which has a lot of dark scenes. Overall I prefer the DVI connection but a properly calibrated component connection would be almost indistinguishable.

Thanks, GSOgymrat. That's a huge help. I think I'll let the PC have the DVI input...

Got a couple of weeks of viewing in on the HLP4663W and figured I would share some more.

Previously posted about dark spots that were not mirror shaped; technician came out and took the screen off which by the way has two pieces of industrial strengh velcro on the bottome corners (in addition to several screws from the back and front). Static electricity or something similar is on the fresno (sp?) lens and there were a few small pieces of torn paper or debris that were preventing light from coming through and made dark spots on the screen. He was able to clean all of those and the dust/hairs that got on the lens during cleaning.

One important thing I wanted to share was that the large reflection mirror had smudges on it!!! I had not noticed these with the TV in operation but the technician and I found them with the set apart and it really looks like the assembly/quality people just didn't clean the mirror well. He was able to clean this with a cloth and I was very satisfied. All black spots gone.

I have been able to see the rainbow effect and it is without shaking my head from side to side! It is not when I am looking directly at the screen but whenever I turn away from the TV to look at someone or something else. I don't seem to notice it on HD channels and it appears to be more often with white images on the screen.

Also on cooling and heat issues, I have my 46 in a family room in wall nook whatever you call it thing. It is 43 wide, 40 tall, and about 40 deep; so the TV has to sit with the screen overlapping the sides (looks very plasma like; even my wife's friends have commented the TV looks really cool!) The technician told me it may be too hot in there and cause decreased component life... I did a little experiement, let the TV run for an hour or so and got an indoor outdoor thermometer and ran the outdoor wire down the back and watched the temperature... maxed out at 81 deg F...turned my ceiling fan on to see if that improved air circulation and got down to 79 deg F... have a receiver, dvd, center channel spkr and cable box above the TV, about 1/4" clearance on the sides and probably 5" above the TV since the audio/video equipment is on a shelf offset behind the TV... I am not worried about it running at 81 deg F... now this winter when my wife wants to turn the fireplace on below the TV I may be rerunning this expirement with much different results???

Later

Originally posted by chicagobadger

But, sadly, I do have two problems:
(2) This is the bad one, folks. About 8-10 times since unpacking the set, I get weird HORIZONTAL lines that appear for as little as a few seconds to as much as several minutes. Turning off the power doesn't always help. The lines first appeared when I was watching analog cable in 4:3, but the next time I quickly switched to the DVI and it's the same thing. In fact, even the menu itself was shifted in this odd horizontal pattern. I need to get a screen shot of this, so I've set up my digital camera in the living room for the next time it happens.

I plan to call up Circuit City for a swap here sometime later this week. Anyone have any insights?


This problem just started up on my HLP4663.

First small blocks of the screen at the top start to go, then thin horizontal lines grow across the midsection of the display, and finally the right side of the 4:3 image gets ghosted over the left black bar. The first time it lasted 5 minutes after the set had been on for about 5 minutes. Yesterday it was more like 10 minutes of distortion.

I just got mine through the Powerbuy, maybe I can get TVA to send me a new one rather than dealing with warranty service?

Arrival date for the 61" HLP (for the Alexandria, VA Tweeter) is August 6.

I'll keep you updated if there are changes...

Chas.

A quick update on mine: Samsung is going to have a "field engineer" contact me in the next 24 hours. Apparently there are only ~10 of these in the country, and he ought to have a good idea of how to deal with this problem.

I did have to wait on hold for over an hour (thank God for speaker phones at work), but other than that I'd call it pretty good service from Samsung so far...

coati858 - did you contact TVA about the problem yet? Was contacting Samsung their suggestion?

(waiting on 4663 myself so want to know your experience w/TVA)

Yes and yes. :)

I have used the very controls on an HLN617W1 to correctly center my image on my screen. I now have roughly 1%-2% overscan in all directions with DVi input via PC in EXPAND pic mode. You should be fairly safe adjusting those two menu items... just don't get trigger happy and move your whole image off the screen or something. Also, make sure that you are using DVE's overscan images or Avia's when trying to set this... it's easier than most ofhte standard geometry test images since it has lines with dashes and numbers on it to match up top to bottom and side to side.

Good luck,
Jeff

After two weeks, my HLP5063 displayed the dreaded triple flashing lights (Lamp, Standby, & Timing).

I have been pursuing this problem with Samsung.

Yesterday, in a remarkably unguarded moment, a Samsung employee told me "You don't want to know how many [Sammy 5063s] have had problems with the lamp/ballast; the parts warehouse is currently out-of-stock on replacement lamp/ballast".

I wonder how they can keep making new sets without those parts?

Maybe they just use hamsters to hold it up?
Thats why Samsung is also the worlds largest distributor of Hamster products....

WTF?

Yesterday, in a remarkably unguarded moment, a Samsung employee told me "You don't want to know how many [Sammy 5063s] have had problems with the lamp/ballast; the parts warehouse is currently out-of-stock on replacement lamp/ballast".

This doesn't surprise me. I've been waiting for a lamp/ballast replacement for 2 weeks. The engineer (one of the "ten" in the country) who is working with me said he ordered the part, but the part came with a bad ballast so he is having to reorder the part.

Seems like Sammy is having a quality control issue with these.

Hello All

Well after several delays , On Samsungs and TVA's part my 56 incher arrived yesterday.Thats one day before the original promise date and 14 days after it shipped?
Don't have HDTV yet so hooked unit to Sat and DVD via component.

SD viewing , decent picture on most channels , not as clean as I would like ,but clean enough to watch.

DVD viewing.Through component(Waiting on Samsung HD-941) Good clean picture.

All in all the OTB experience was very good , hook up no problem , picture good to great.TVA delivered on their promise , I just wish their communication and been better and a little more accurate.It seems clear communication with us and their CSR's would help a great deal on future power buys.
I'll post another review after I have had a few weeks to spend with this creature.
Thanks to AVS and TVA for the opportunity.

Shakatak

Originally posted by Iceblade
I have used the very controls on an HLN617W1 to correctly center my image on my screen. I now have roughly 1%-2% overscan in all directions with DVi input via PC in EXPAND pic mode. You should be fairly safe adjusting those two menu items... just don't get trigger happy and move your whole image off the screen or something. Also, make sure that you are using DVE's overscan images or Avia's when trying to set this... it's easier than most ofhte standard geometry test images since it has lines with dashes and numbers on it to match up top to bottom and side to side.

Good luck,
Jeff Thanks for the info. I have couple questions for you, if you don't mind.

1) AVIA isn't widescreen is it? Does that matter when using it to set overscan since I'll have to use the TV to stretch the signal?

2) Since the set's came OTB poorly set, is there a chance that there are internal misalignments within the set's innards? Are the SM fixes or just band-aids for a deeper problem?

Thanks again.

Originally posted by CraigSharrow
After two weeks, my HLP5063 displayed the dreaded triple flashing lights (Lamp, Standby, & Timing).

I have been pursuing this problem with Samsung.

Yesterday, in a remarkably unguarded moment, a Samsung employee told me "You don't want to know how many [Sammy 5063s] have had problems with the lamp/ballast; the parts warehouse is currently out-of-stock on replacement lamp/ballast".

I had this problem with my 50" but it come back to life after replugging it after several hours (and a loud pop). Are there differences with the 56"? Or, more likely, the 56" hasn't been out long enough and purchased by enough people yet.