http://us.gizmodo.com/gadgets/images/TX-S2782H.jpg

The picture taken from us.gizmodo.com.

Well we just tried out a Samsung 30" slim and it is the absolute worst crt tv that I have ever seen . The picture is blurry (after calibration) and the geometry is terrible , there is so much bow in this image that no adjustment in the SM can correct it . This was my last attempt at owning a Samsung after having nothing but problems with 3 other Samsung sets in the past (one unit did not even power up straight out of the box) . Never again will I buy any Samsung TV (regardless of price) . I just bought it tonight so it goes right back to BB tomorrow morning .

--- Ah well .... ;)

----- Jason

I lurked around BB today...there were 2 Slimfits on display (27", 30") and 5 Openbox and used/returned Slimfits scattered around the TV section!

Wow.

I've had high hopes for these...then hopes for the new ones they announced for April, but geez, maybe I'll just get a cheap plasma (thinking about the Panny TH37PWDUK) for my general TV duties (Std cable, some HD...but viewing from 9ft away). I have a Projector for the real big screen action...

Anyway, that Panny Plasma is maybe about $300-$400 more, so it seems attractive to me at this point, even though I'm not a big Plasma fan...at the price, it seems to be convincing me....

Fleaman

I tried to submit my photo of the new Slimfit I snapped at CES but it was too large and was rejected. I didn't have time to scale it down and then just forgot about it. But today, I did see that Gizmodo has a shot of it in their CES section so I'll post that photo until I get the shots off my camera reduced.

Heres the photo and the link it came from...

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/ces/

What about the LG sets you mentioned? I couldn't find any info on them. Not even a press release.

I purchased the new one (TXR3081WH) and connected my Pioneer DVD recorder through the component inputs. I started by setting the Pioneer for progressive scan output, but I noticed the graphics from the Pioneer looked particularly bad - the black lettering was much thicker than usual, while the white lettering was thinner.

I pulled out my resolution test disc, and was shocked to see that the highest resolution which looked sharp was 240 lines. (This was in 4:3 mode on the TV). The 300 line segment was visible but very grey.

I switched the Pioneer to Interlace mode, and the resolution improved significantly to... 300 lines.

Of course, this was in "SD" mode, and I can't test the "HD" resolution until next Tuesday morning when HDNET broadcasts the test patterns. But has anyone else noticed this: that the set looks pretty horrible on DVDs in progressive scan, but better in regular interlaced mode?

Other problems with this set: lack of uniform brightness, vertical lines bending with brightness changes, way too much overscan, mediocre convergence, a green spot in the lower-left corner, poor black level, and a mild (but still unfortunate) green push.

On the bright side, I didn't see the "bowing" that is often mentioned in conjunction with these sets, but my initial reaction is: this set is going back to the store, and the quest for a decent HDTV under $1000 (or even slightly over) remains elusive.

--Gary

Do the new sets (Samsung or LG) have a CableCard slot?

I purchased the new one (TXR3081WH) and connected my Pioneer DVD recorder through the component inputs. I started by setting the Pioneer for progressive scan output, but I noticed the graphics from the Pioneer looked particularly bad - the black lettering was much thicker than usual, while the white lettering was thinner....

I switched the Pioneer to Interlace mode, and the resolution improved significantly to... 300 lines.

...But has anyone else noticed this: that the set looks pretty horrible on DVDs in progressive scan, but better in regular interlaced mode?
When you set the dvd player/recorder to PS, then all the video processing is done within the player. So, when the player is in its PS mode, you're getting to see the PQ provided by the player. When you set the player to interlaced, then it's the tv that does all the processing. So, when the player is in its interlaced mode the PQ you're getting to see belongs to the tv.

It sounds as if this player/recorder may have significant edge enhancement turned on, or by default, which would make black lines seem thicker and white lines appear thinner. I would dig deep into the set-up menus for the player and turn off ALL "enhancements" of every kind and try again.

what's up everybody? i'm new to the forum and i wish i had found this a month ago. i bought a 3079 in the beginning of december. it's nice and the bowing doesn't bother me much, but the decreased pixel density towards the outer edges of the screen are driving me nuts! i noticed in the manual that samsung instructs you to contact them and NOT the retailer you bought the set from if you have problems. would it be worth my while to call them and see about getting the tv replaced/exchanged? if i had known about these issues, i would not have bought the tv...

what's up everybody? i'm new to the forum and i wish i had found this a month ago. i bought a 3079 in the beginning of december. it's nice and the bowing doesn't bother me much, but the decreased pixel density towards the outer edges of the screen are driving me nuts! i noticed in the manual that samsung instructs you to contact them and NOT the retailer you bought the set from if you have problems. would it be worth my while to call them and see about getting the tv replaced/exchanged? if i had known about these issues, i would not have bought the tv...
My policy is "it never hurts to ask."

Do I think Samsung will go so far as to offer and exchange? Not really. If your set were around 2-3 weeks old I'd think Samsung might think about it, but at almost two months - probably not.

I have yet to see a Samsung set without this problem. Like you, I didn't really know enough about the problem and my options until it was too late. For me - I got used to it. The good points far outweighed the bad and I still really like the set.

But do give them a call - you never know...

I really cannot wait for the new models this March, I'm hoping the geometry issue will be a thing of the past.

One question though, with these 2 new 30" that are announced for March, what is the difference going to be between the TX-S3082WH and the TX-S3080WH if there both going to be the same price and size?

I also hope there still going to include a built in HD tuner, not planning on getting HD sattelite service but over the air would be very nice for late night conan and saturday night live in HD.

EDIT: Upon looking through google, I stumbled upon a link to an article which says that the difference between the two models is speakers on the side instead of the bottom.

They DO still have built in HD Tuners and this is a great piece of info I just found out: They include 2 HDMI inputs!

Now which would you pick, speakers on the side or on the bottom?

Now which would you pick, speakers on the side or on the bottom?

Speakers on the side are better for the stereo effect (they are spread further apart).

But if that won't fit (i.e., too wide for your cabinet), then speakers on the bottom would have to do.

Fleaman

Re: 240-line resolution in 480p, 300 in 480i - I was also concerned that my Pioneer DVD recorder/player might be at fault here (although I had never noticed the problem while testing other TVs), so I repeated the test with a Panasonic DVD recorder/player. Different model, different brand, different cables, same problem: Even the 240-line bars are greyer than they should be. This is an HDTV with VHS resolution!

But despite all of the problems I reported with this set, the latenight HD shows (Conan, Leno, Letterman) look quite good with the built-in ATSC tuner. Very sharp, nice color. SO this led me to compare the built-in tuner with the same HD shows from my STB (Sony DTV/over-the-air unit - watching over the air, with the same antenna). Surprise (or not): the same show from the STB going in through the component inputs, was distinctly less sharp and had a yellow-green color cast when compared to the built-in tuner. This was with the STB set to 1080i. I also wanted to try the STB at 480p, but I'm going to wait for the resolution charts to be broadcast on HDNET and not try to guess this one.

I haven't tried the set yet with HDMI (because my STB has DVI and I haven't found the right adaptor yet), but this may be an example of what we heard was possible: that HDMI/DVI would look better than an analog connection, not because digital is inherently that much better, but because of really crappy analog circuitry making its way into the lower-priced sets.

So in conclusion, I think this would make a great "kitchen" TV - casual viewing in the DTV age (if you have a very large kitchen). At least, if you like GMA over the Today show!

--Gary

...I also hope there still going to include a built in HD tuner, not planning on getting HD sattelite service but over the air would be very nice for late night conan and saturday night live in HD.

EDIT: ...They DO still have built in HD Tuners and this is a great piece of info I just found out: They include 2 HDMI inputs!

Now which would you pick, speakers on the side or on the bottom?
Knowing what you know now, this one's up to you. It usually boils down to how well a set will fit into one's surroundings and furniture. The audio shouldn't really be an issue. Most folks route their audio through receivers and external speaker systems anyway (eventually).

Samsung has been very aggressive with including digital tuners in their sets, and I don't think we'll see any more sets from Samsung w/o these tuners.

Hi all, I am brand new to this board. Well I bought this TV last night and could not be more dissapointed!!! I have not yet run HD through it, but my DTV TiVo looked horrible. I mean about as grainy as can be. I am getting HD next month, but I don't want this horrible picture until then. I live in an apartment that is fully inclosed, so pulling in OTA HD stations is impossible. I am using Monster S-Video from my TiVo unit, and my 27'' Toshiba non-hd tv looks 100% better than the Samsung. Is this the problem with all of them? Is there a fix? Or should I just go get the bigger Sony? Any advise at all would be helpful. Thank you so much.

Hi all, I am brand new to this board. Well I bought this TV last night and could not be more dissapointed!!! I have not yet run HD through it, but my DTV TiVo looked horrible. I mean about as grainy as can be. I am getting HD next month, but I don't want this horrible picture until then. I live in an apartment that is fully inclosed, so pulling in OTA HD stations is impossible. I am using Monster S-Video from my TiVo unit, and my 27'' Toshiba non-hd tv looks 100% better than the Samsung. Is this the problem with all of them? Is there a fix? Or should I just go get the bigger Sony? Any advise at all would be helpful. Thank you so much.
There is no good reason that non-HD (SD) should look worse on an HD set, including Samsung's HD sets.

However, if the signal going in is poor then the results will match. These HD sets are designed to accept and "clean-up" SD signals. I have a Samsung and it does an outstanding job. I have Comcast digital cable for HD, and it also provides SD as well. But the analog tuner in the Comcast box is terrible, and absolutely destroys analog signals. So I split the cable before the Comcast box, and send one split to the Comcast box and the other to the tv. This way I can select antenna/cable as my input for the non-digital channels and my tv can do its magic. For the digital channels I set my input to be the Comcast box, which does an excellent job with digital signals.

Is there any way to take your TiVo out of the loop? Being unfamiliar with D* and TiVo, I don't know about this.

The only problem is the signal is as clean as can be. It looks awesome on my non-hd Toshiba.

The only problem is the signal is as clean as can be. It looks awesome on my non-hd Toshiba.
OK.

Let's try a few other things. I would focus on the cabling and the tv's settings. Do you happen to have another S-Video cable to try? If that leads nowhere, I'd try a simple coax out to the tv if that's an option. Maybe even composite if you have that. At any rate, select the cable that delivers the best PQ.

Then the settings. For a Samsung set you should only be using the "Custom" picture mode. For sure, never use "Dynamic," as that will not only deliver awful PQ but will also shorten the life of the tube. Try these settings in "Custom" mode:

Contrast: 40ish
Brightness: 45
Sharpness: 27
Color: 39
Tint 50/50
Color Tone: Normal
Dnie: try both ways

I really think if you combine the right cable with the appropriate settings you'll be very satisfied with your picture quality. Keep in mind I arrived at these settings with one of the calibration dvds (Avia or DVE). That's the only way to assure you've got all the settings working together properly. Also, each crt tube set is unique. It's an analog technology and each tube gets calibrated (to some degree) at the factory. Because it's an analog device, each tv's "sweet spot" is different from the others. My settings may be different from what's right for you, ergo the calibration dvds.

Please let me know what happens.

Thank you so much, I will try it as soon as I get home!!!

okay, in my quest to decide whether or not i feel good about purchasing the 3079, i went out today and bought a uhf/vhf antenna so that i can view hi-def broadcasts. up until today, i've only used the set for gaming and viewing dvd's. i caught two shows on nbc (not sure what they were called as i wasn't "watching" them per se) and they actually looked great. the one show, set in an office with the guy from the 40-year old virgin, looked especially good. i'm thinking that the show is actually shot with hdtv cameras.

either way, when fed a proper source, i think the 3079 looks great! it certainly has it's problems (geometry), but some of the posts in this thread knocking it's picture quality seem to be harsh.

on a related note, i'm having problems picking up two vhf stations with my new antenna. they are extremely close to me and i have no problems picking up uhf broadcasts from much farther away. can anyone explain this to me? the antenna i purchased is for both vhf and uhf and i am having problems picking up one uhf channel as well (fox). any help is appreciated!

on a related note, i'm having problems picking up two vhf stations with my new antenna. they are extremely close to me and i have no problems picking up uhf broadcasts from much farther away.

how do you find out how close you are to a station? id like to know this incase i need to find out in the future...

how do you find out how close you are to a station? id like to know this incase i need to find out in the future...


http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

Well, after reading all 18 pages over the last 2 hours, all I can say is wow.
I ordered the TX-R2779H from CC today, sight unseen, it's being delivered tomorrow.
I have to admit after reading all of this, I'm a little nervous.
DirecTV HDTV is being installed after the weekend, so I'll be able to see how it handles that.
Here goes nothing (well, $550 before 3-year service plan and tax)!

I'll get my Slimfit TV tomorrow,I'll report the test soon.:-)
In Thailand and SE Asia, Slimfit TV is "WS-32Z30HE".

OK.

Let's try a few other things. I would focus on the cabling and the tv's settings. Do you happen to have another S-Video cable to try? If that leads nowhere, I'd try a simple coax out to the tv if that's an option. Maybe even composite if you have that. At any rate, select the cable that delivers the best PQ.

Then the settings. For a Samsung set you should only be using the "Custom" picture mode. For sure, never use "Dynamic," as that will not only deliver awful PQ but will also shorten the life of the tube. Try these settings in "Custom" mode:

Contrast: 40ish
Brightness: 45
Sharpness: 27
Color: 39
Tint 50/50
Color Tone: Normal
Dnie: try both ways

I really think if you combine the right cable with the appropriate settings you'll be very satisfied with your picture quality. Keep in mind I arrived at these settings with one of the calibration dvds (Avia or DVE). That's the only way to assure you've got all the settings working together properly. Also, each crt tube set is unique. It's an analog technology and each tube gets calibrated (to some degree) at the factory. Because it's an analog device, each tv's "sweet spot" is different from the others. My settings may be different from what's right for you, ergo the calibration dvds.

Please let me know what happens.

Well I did that, and was just not 100% sold. So I went and bought the Sony KV34HS420. I really apprecaite all of your help though.

Well I did that, and was just not 100% sold. So I went and bought the Sony KV34HS420. I really apprecaite all of your help though.
Excellent choice!

I've got the same set and I am fully satisfied.

Cheers! ;)

Well CC just set it up and so far the geometry looks fine, then again, I'm not an expert.
My regular DirecTV looks OK, there is some improvement over my old RCA. Kid's cartoons look very sharp.
I can hardly wait for DirecTV to set up the new HD box.

Well CC just set it up and so far the geometry looks fine, then again, I'm not an expert.
My regular DirecTV looks OK, there is some improvement over my old RCA. Kid's cartoons look very sharp.
I can hardly wait for DirecTV to set up the new HD box.
Great!

Now do yourself a favor and set the Picture Mode to "Custom" and set Contrast to about 40. This way your tube is protected from being overdriven. Take a look at one of my earlier posts in this thread for suggested settings. You can try them out and see if they work for you between now and the time you enhance your investment in the tv by getting either Avia or DVE to calibrate your set.

Great!

Now do yourself a favor and set the Picture Mode to "Custom" and set Contrast to about 40. This way your tube is protected from being overdriven. Take a look at one of my earlier posts in this thread for suggested settings. You can try them out and see if they work for you between now and the time you enhance your investment in the tv by getting either Avia or DVE to calibrate your set.

I'll give it a try tomorrow, thanks!

Also, the other big news from CES 2006 regarding Slimfits was the arival of the LG Electronics version. The LG Electronics Slimfit was surprisingly similar in styling to the 3079 which gave the illusion that maybe Samsung and LG are somehow partnered on these Slimfit TVs. I took pictures of both the new Samsung and LG slimfits and will post them to this group later.

Anyone have any evidence this LG set actually exists? The press releases from LG at CES made no mention of it.

Anyone have any evidence this LG set actually exists? The press releases from LG at CES made no mention of it.
The manaul for it (30FS4D) is online at the LG web site. It might show up at a BB near you without much fanfare.

Anyone have the TX-P3076WH?
A local outlet place has it for $569 and I was wondering if there's any downside? Although not advertised, has anyone got the QAM tuner on this to work?
Being a regular tube I figured this unit is less likely to have geometry issues like the slim fit. The same place has the 30" slim fit for $599.

...

Anyone have the TX-P3076WH?
A local outlet place has it for $569 and I was wondering if there's any downside? Although not advertised, has anyone got the QAM tuner on this to work?
Being a regular tube I figured this unit is less likely to have geometry issues like the slim fit. The same place has the 30" slim fit for $599.
I have a different model but I have read very good reviews from owners of the whole TX-P line of sets. I would be more comfortable with this one than a Slimit.

$569 sounds like a good price, if it's brand new (no open box either).

I have never read a user confirmation that QAM works on these sets.

Anyone know if the new 30 inch models that are coming out in March are HDCP compatible?

What about the current slimfits, are they hdcp compatible?

Anyone know if the new 30 inch models that are coming out in March are HDCP compatible?

What about the current slimfits, are they hdcp compatible?
All are HDCP compliant.

I've had my Slimfit for 3 weeks now, all in all no major complaints.
Picture quality on digital and HD signals is good to very good, HD more like
WOW. i do have a slight bowing problem, still debating with myself to take
it back or not. For the price and really no other problems or complaints, I'm not sure if it would be worth it to return for an LCD. I would give this a rating of
8 out of 10.

If you give this an 8 out of 10, then I say keep it. That's a pretty good score to give a new set. There are SM settings that can be adjusted for the bowing, but it may never be perfect. I'm very picky, but I've learned to live with the little bowing on my set.

Congrats on the new set!

i myself have not had any luck correcting the geometry issues via the service menu, yet some of the people in this post say it is possible. has anyone here had luck fixing the horizontal bowing issues via the service menu? if so, do you have any tips?

Since I own the 27-inch model, does it make sense to buy a HDMI cable for my DirecTV HDTV box?
Do the component cables provide the best picture on a 27-inch screen?

Since I own the 27-inch model, does it make sense to buy a HDMI cable for my DirecTV HDTV box?
Do the component cables provide the best picture on a 27-inch screen?
Not really.

I have found that I get better PQ via component cables. I have an Oppo DVD Player using my HDMI interface.

For a crt I don't believe HDMI provides any better PQ than component.

After 2 samsungs seeing "color" imperfections, I'm done with this slim-line >_<

I tried using an HDMI cable from a Samsung DVD player to the TXR3801. This created one new problem: every time the DVD player switches from one menu to another, the TV says "HDMI Audio Not Supported" (which I think is pretty self-explanatory).
--Gary

I tried using an HDMI cable from a Samsung DVD player to the TXR3801. This created one new problem: every time the DVD player switches from one menu to another, the TV says "HDMI Audio Not Supported" (which I think is pretty self-explanatory).
--Gary
I've heard this one before. Do you also have your set-up connected to a receiver, and if so how are you connecting and using it?

I suggest you post this in the DVD Player (standard def) forum here at AVS. I bet you can get your answer faqirly easy there.

I tried using an HDMI cable from a Samsung DVD player to the TXR3801. This created one new problem: every time the DVD player switches from one menu to another, the TV says "HDMI Audio Not Supported" (which I think is pretty self-explanatory).
--Gary
My SlimFit TV manual says the HDMI "source" must be turned ON BEFORE the TV or else HDMI is NOT recognized.....Are you turning the DVD player on FIRST? If not, try that before digging into the SM of the TV, etc.
I have to turn my H20 on BEFORE my SlimFit, or "HDMI" doesn't appear as an input on the TV menu....Good luck!

I'm just taking it at it's word, that this TV doesn't support HDMI audio.
But I have a call into Samsung, so maybe they will have a comment.
--Gary

I have my 3079 connected to my cable box via the HDMI and get audio to my TV through it (I am using a Motorola 6412).


Spork

I'm getting the same thing, I get a band like this on the left side of the screen and the right side of the screen. seems like the tube isn't made flat enough or something.

If I have to return this, I'm going to freak out, this would be crappy item #2 from Circuit City (First, it was a dead pixel in a magnavox 27 inch lcd tv, now its Geometry and ghosting/glow problems in a 30" Samsung Dynaflat TV with HD-Tuner...) :(

Update: Techinican came out with a new divergence/deflector board. Although it is better, the image isn't perfect or straight with the same overglow.. I wonder if there will be a lawsuit on this? This TV has the worst complaints on it by far, and for $850, I should have a TV free of Geometry/overglow issuies..

Just may be done with TV's altogether, Everytime I buy something, its defective :(

I'll get my Slimfit TV tomorrow,I'll report the test soon.:-)
In Thailand and SE Asia, Slimfit TV is "WS-32Z30HE".
I want to comment in a few words "not good enough for TV,but DVD" :cool:

Im getting bluish and yellowish colors on the left and right side of the screen, what is this due to, the disguessing coil does not work, to correct this problem.

I purchased this TV on December 18th. I noticed the bow at the bottom of the screen when tickers went by. Thought of returning it, but I wanted a set that I could fit in my car if I moved, the others just wouldn't quite do it.

UNFORTUNATELY, the tv decided to stop turning back on today. I get the delightful "melody" sound each time I press the power button, but no image on the screen.

This is very disappointing. My old sanyo 25" inch is still working despite having beer poured in it once, and this one craps out after 38 days.

Someone is coming out to look at it soon, however, I don't want to have recurring problems. Is there any kind of "lemon" law for this sort of thing? I really just want my money back so I can buy something different, but I'm sure it will be a cold day in hell before that ever happens.

I purchased this TV on December 18th. I noticed the bow at the bottom of the screen when tickers went by. Thought of returning it, but I wanted a set that I could fit in my car if I moved, the others just wouldn't quite do it.

UNFORTUNATELY, the tv decided to stop turning back on today. I get the delightful "melody" sound each time I press the power button, but no image on the screen.

This is very disappointing. My old sanyo 25" inch is still working despite having beer poured in it once, and this one craps out after 38 days.

Someone is coming out to look at it soon, however, I don't want to have recurring problems. Is there any kind of "lemon" law for this sort of thing? I really just want my money back so I can buy something different, but I'm sure it will be a cold day in hell before that ever happens.


which model did you buy and a another question for all ,as someone asked before does the 3080 have bowing or geometry issues or is that only for 3079?

I'm not an expert, just a recent owner of the same TV. I originally had the same colors
but by turning the set off and on several times, and then unplugging the set, it should be corrected the next time it is plugged back in and turned on. The color distortion may be caused by magnetic interference from a speaker or other producer of magnetic fields.
I had this same problem and did the above and haven't had any problem with this since.

I purchased this TV on December 18th. I noticed the bow at the bottom of the screen when tickers went by. Thought of returning it, but I wanted a set that I could fit in my car if I moved, the others just wouldn't quite do it.

UNFORTUNATELY, the tv decided to stop turning back on today. I get the delightful "melody" sound each time I press the power button, but no image on the screen.

This is very disappointing. My old sanyo 25" inch is still working despite having beer poured in it once, and this one craps out after 38 days.

Someone is coming out to look at it soon, however, I don't want to have recurring problems. Is there any kind of "lemon" law for this sort of thing? I really just want my money back so I can buy something different, but I'm sure it will be a cold day in hell before that ever happens.


i also had the same thing happen. My problem was that there is a delay from the time you push the on button, before the set turns on. I was thinking I did not push the button correctly and essentially turning the set back off before it turned on. Since I realized this I have had no problems with it turning on since. Hope this helps.

This may have been posted before, but I found alot of useful info at the Samsung web site. Under the FAQ area, they have answered quite a few questions that seem to be reoccurring here.

i also had the same thing happen. My problem was that there is a delay from the time you push the on button, before the set turns on. I was thinking I did not push the button correctly and essentially turning the set back off before it turned on. Since I realized this I have had no problems with it turning on since. Hope this helps.

In my case, when I press the power button, it makes the melody sound. Then nothing happens for about 25 seconds. Then I push it again, and I get the melody sound again. I've turned it on (melody sound) and then walked away. When I return, I am still disappointed.

which model did you buy and a another question for all ,as someone asked before does the 3080 have bowing or geometry issues or is that only for 3079?

I'm not sure, there are definetly two different models as the Samsung tech support person needed to know which one I had. I'll check tonight. Perhaps this is the key to getting a set where the reliablility and functionality match the aesthetics and price.

I figured if it was good enough for Dan Marino's closet (commercial), that it'd be good enough for me :)

I'm not sure, there are definetly two different models as the Samsung tech support person needed to know which one I had. I'll check tonight. Perhaps this is the key to getting a set where the reliablility and functionality match the aesthetics and price.

I figured if it was good enough for Dan Marino's closet (commercial), that it'd be good enough for me :)


are your speakers on the side or bottom

are your speakers on the side or bottom
Sides

does anyone have a pic of what these problems are , what does bowing or bad geometry look like ....is it like this in the pic (my poor drawing) Red line for bowing geometry

does anyone have a pic of what these problems are , what does bowing or bad geometry look like ....is it like this in the pic (my poor drawing) Red line for bowing geometry


It would be like drawing #1, not always noticable even with some horizontal graphics. But other times very annoying. It is the only complaint I have with my set.

which model did you buy and a another question for all ,as someone asked before does the 3080 have bowing or geometry issues or is that only for 3079?

I bought the 3080 around New Years, speakers at the bottom. It has some bowing at the bottom, most pronounced at the center, and only noticeable if there's a ticker or other reference making what should be a straight line. I plan to call for service and see if they can correct this. If not I'll still keep it as a Slimfit is the only 27 or 30 inch TV that will fit in my cabinet these days, and then maybe fool with the service menu controls myself. Otherwise I have no PQ complaints, progressive scan DVD over component vid cables is good and HDTV is very good, esp PBS-HD which seems superior to commercial network HDTV broadcasts.

BTW, I get my HDTV via a Motorola STB from Comcast, only $5 per month even if you have just Basic cable. I wrongly thought I would have to subscribe to digital cable to get this local HDTV service.

I bought the 3080 around New Years, speakers at the bottom. It has some bowing at the bottom, most pronounced at the center, and only noticeable if there's a ticker or other reference making what should be a straight line. I plan to call for service and see if they can correct this. If not I'll still keep it as a Slimfit is the only 27 or 30 inch TV that will fit in my cabinet these days, and then maybe fool with the service menu controls myself. Otherwise I have no PQ complaints, progressive scan DVD over component vid cables is good and HDTV is very good, esp PBS-HD which seems superior to commercial network HDTV broadcasts.

BTW, I get my HDTV via a Motorola STB from Comcast, only $5 per month even if you have just Basic cable. I wrongly thought I would have to subscribe to digital cable to get this local HDTV service.


hows the PQ on regular digital channels that are not hd.... is it clear like a good old regular tv or do you see any grainy blurry pixelated stuff

hows the PQ on regular digital channels that are not hd.... is it clear like a good old regular tv or do you see any grainy blurry pixelated stuff


Most of my DTV signals are pretty sharp. From what I have read, this can very
from broadcaster, as the signals and quality from them are not always the same.
With a little tweaking, my SD pictures are acceptable. Well most anyway. i get my HD thru Adelphia Cable and have no complaints with any of those channels.
have not tried the over the air HD signal, as the towers are approx 50 miles away
I don't think it would be very good anyway.

Hey guys, I'm new to this forum but I was intrigued enough to register. I, like many others here, bought the 30" Slimfit TV and I don't believe I have any of the problems mentioned (though that is likely due to the fact that I don't understand the terminology used [bowing?]) Anyways, I have noticed 2 distinct problems. The first is that on the bottom of the screen, the bottom right corner is slanting downwards. I tried adjusting the tilt but that helped very minimally. The other problem is that the bottom of the screen seems to be cut off. By that I mean when there is text on the very bottom of the screen, I can only see the top half of it. What can I do to fix this problem? Should I buy some sort of DVD or contact Samsung? Thanks in advance.

Hey guys, I'm new to this forum but I was intrigued enough to register. I, like many others here, bought the 30" Slimfit TV and I don't believe I have any of the problems mentioned (though that is likely due to the fact that I don't understand the terminology used [bowing?]) Anyways, I have noticed 2 distinct problems. The first is that on the bottom of the screen, the bottom right corner is slanting downwards. I tried adjusting the tilt but that helped very minimally. The other problem is that the bottom of the screen seems to be cut off. By that I mean when there is text on the very bottom of the screen, I can only see the top half of it. What can I do to fix this problem? Should I buy some sort of DVD or contact Samsung? Thanks in advance.

Have you tried to change the picture mode, either thru the settings or from the remote. Also on my cable remote I can change the veiwing Aspect of the incoming picture. It sounds like you may be in a Zoom mode, find the Normal or Stretch mode, and see if the problem is still happening.

No I'm definately in 16:9. The bottom is a little less cut off when I'm in 4:3 but it still exists. The tilt happens in all modes.

I bought a slimfit tv about 2 weeks ago. I originally bought a phillips 30wide crt hdtv but the thing didn't even turn on when i got home.

I have one question. Luckily i am in the minority with my tv because i only have minor geometry issues (need to look hard to see anything). My question is dealing with what appears to be magnatism. On the right side of my screen i have verticle bowing color lines (about half inch in width). They look slightly bowed. They are not always there, and can go away if i unplug the tv etc.....I see them mostly with my ps2 during black screens (startup b4 the disc starts). The only other time I see them is when it is an EDTV signal and i have the black boxes on the sides. They are barely noticeably in this case. i can get rid of them when viewing EDTV by switching to an analog channel and them back to the EDTV. It seems if i turn off the tv then back on with the ps2 on it helps, and after a few minutes the color goes almost away (with ps2).

Any help is appreciated. Do you guys think i need to buy a degaussing wand to degauss the tv? or is it soemtihng else. I used to have a bose waveradio next to the tv, but i moved that. Now i have my receiver for my home theater next to the right side of the tv, with the front right speaker on top of it (speaker and receiver are about a foot to right of tv and 6 inches down). Thanks.

Hey guys, I'm new to this forum but I was intrigued enough to register. I, like many others here, bought the 30" Slimfit TV and I don't believe I have any of the problems mentioned (though that is likely due to the fact that I don't understand the terminology used [bowing?]) Anyways, I have noticed 2 distinct problems. The first is that on the bottom of the screen, the bottom right corner is slanting downwards. I tried adjusting the tilt but that helped very minimally. The other problem is that the bottom of the screen seems to be cut off. By that I mean when there is text on the very bottom of the screen, I can only see the top half of it. What can I do to fix this problem? Should I buy some sort of DVD or contact Samsung? Thanks in advance.
I believe most of your troubles can be solved via the service menu (SM). But that's not a place for the uninitiated. It would certainly be good to invest in a calibration dvd like Avia or DVE. Even better for newcomers is Sound & Vision's Home Theater Tuneup, which walks you through every step slowly and easily. The adjustments are to the user menu settings like contrast and color, etc. It seems that it would be easy to play with these settings and get the right "mix," but actually it is nearly impossible without one of these discs. They are put out by the pros and when I was done the first time I felt like I had a new tv, and watched all my dvds over again to better appreciate them.

The calibration dvds also contain test patterns that can help mitigate the problems you're describing, specifically overscan (bottom cut off) and horizontal linearity (right side dropping off). My recommendation is that you give your tv a chance to settle, usually at least 100 viewing hours, before calibrating. During this time just be sure to use the "Custom" picture mode and keep Contrast no higher than 45%. For dark pictures adjust Brightness to taste.

During your break-in period, be studying the forum specifically for SM do's and don'ts and tips. This can seem daunting to newcomers, but just read and soak it up - don't try to memorize anything. Even though it's for Sony's, try to scan KenTech's thread on Sony Service Menu "THE SONY SERVICE CODES - Articles, Comments, Discoveries" Just scan the posts to get the flavor. Chances are you'll never dig as deeply as the guys posting to this thread, but you'll get the jist of things. Then, after you begin to get comfortable with the terminology post specific questions about your geometry and overscan issues. In the meantime just try to live with what sounds to be somewhat minor anomalies. My Samsung set still has a little bit of drooping, similar to your description of your lower right corner problem, and some minor overscan issues not unlike your bottom cutoff.

I bought a slimfit tv about 2 weeks ago. I originally bought a phillips 30wide crt hdtv but the thing didn't even turn on when i got home.

I have one question. Luckily i am in the minority with my tv because i only have minor geometry issues (need to look hard to see anything). My question is dealing with what appears to be magnatism. On the right side of my screen i have verticle bowing color lines (about half inch in width). They look slightly bowed. They are not always there, and can go away if i unplug the tv etc.....I see them mostly with my ps2 during black screens (startup b4 the disc starts). The only other time I see them is when it is an EDTV signal and i have the black boxes on the sides. They are barely noticeably in this case. i can get rid of them when viewing EDTV by switching to an analog channel and them back to the EDTV. It seems if i turn off the tv then back on with the ps2 on it helps, and after a few minutes the color goes almost away (with ps2).

Any help is appreciated. Do you guys think i need to buy a degaussing wand to degauss the tv? or is it soemtihng else. I used to have a bose waveradio next to the tv, but i moved that. Now i have my receiver for my home theater next to the right side of the tv, with the front right speaker on top of it (speaker and receiver are about a foot to right of tv and 6 inches down). Thanks.


TTT thanks.

Hiya guys - Long time reader, 1st post.

Guess what?! I bought this set last weekend on Saturday - and it's working perfectly for me! Not one of the problems mentioned have happened with mine. I don't know the specific model number, i'll check when I get home. I am pretty sure it's the 79 though.

HD ota with an amplified antennae and DVD's look simply incredible. It's my first dip into HD so maybe it's just the fact that it's my first time seeing HD, bud damn! It's simply breathtaking to watch stuff in HD!

I have analog cable (no box) and it's really not that bad looking either. Some channels look really bad but I assume it's the network broadcast quality more than my tv. I would say 90 percent of the stuff I watch on cable looks pretty good. I have to say - setting to 16x9 or Pana modes looks really weird and I don't like it, so I generally watch everything in 4x3 if it's not HD of course. :) Oddly enough, regular - non-hd stuff looked really bad when I first plugged it in, but it seems to have gotten better over the course of the last couple of days. Is this normal?

The first thing I did was go to "custom" and get the contrast, brightness, color, and sharpness settings under control. Since I did that, things started to sharpen up a little. It really looked bad when viewing analog cable for the first couple of days though. (Maybe setting the custom settings helped?) It's looking a lot better now.

I got a good deal on this Samsung DVD Player and have it connected to this set via HDMI. (sorry can't post links just yet but the model number is DVDHD755) It has HDMI and Component on it and does upconversion.

It upconverts, I don't know how high, but I notice a huge quality difference in DVD's now. They look much different, in an awesome way. :) If you can find a good one, this tv is really great for DVD viewing if you have a good player and good, quality connections.

Geometry issues appear to be non-existent. I have been looking at different news channels and sports center with news tickers and they fly right along the whole bottom of the screen the way they should. (This is in 16x9 and 4x3 mode only that I checked though) The zoom and pana settings just look weird so I don't really use them.

I'm thinking the next step is to invest in some calibration software. What do you guys think? I am really loving this set and while I hesitate to recommend given the problems everyone else seems to be having, I still have to. If you can find a good one, it's well worth it from a price/feature standpoint.

I seem to have gotten a good one so be aware that they are out there folks

Hiya guys - Long time reader, 1st post.

Guess what?! I bought this set last weekend on Saturday - and it's working perfectly for me! Not one of the problems mentioned have happened with mine. I don't know the specific model number, i'll check when I get home. I am pretty sure it's the 79 though.

HD ota with an amplified antennae and DVD's look simply incredible. It's my first dip into HD so maybe it's just the fact that it's my first time seeing HD, bud damn! It's simply breathtaking to watch stuff in HD!

I have analog cable (no box) and it's really not that bad looking either. Some channels look really bad but I assume it's the network broadcast quality more than my tv. I would say 90 percent of the stuff I watch on cable looks pretty good. I have to say - setting to 16x9 or Pana modes looks really weird and I don't like it, so I generally watch everything in 4x3 if it's not HD of course. :) Oddly enough, regular - non-hd stuff looked really bad when I first plugged it in, but it seems to have gotten better over the course of the last couple of days. Is this normal?

The first thing I did was go to "custom" and get the contrast, brightness, color, and sharpness settings under control. Since I did that, things started to sharpen up a little. It really looked bad when viewing analog cable for the first couple of days though. (Maybe setting the custom settings helped?) It's looking a lot better now.

I got a good deal on this Samsung DVD Player and have it connected to this set via HDMI. (sorry can't post links just yet but the model number is DVDHD755) It has HDMI and Component on it and does upconversion.

It upconverts, I don't know how high, but I notice a huge quality difference in DVD's now. They look much different, in an awesome way. :) If you can find a good one, this tv is really great for DVD viewing if you have a good player and good, quality connections.

Geometry issues appear to be non-existent. I have been looking at different news channels and sports center with news tickers and they fly right along the whole bottom of the screen the way they should. (This is in 16x9 and 4x3 mode only that I checked though) The zoom and pana settings just look weird so I don't really use them.

I'm thinking the next step is to invest in some calibration software. What do you guys think? I am really loving this set and while I hesitate to recommend given the problems everyone else seems to be having, I still have to. If you can find a good one, it's well worth it from a price/feature standpoint.

I seem to have gotten a good one so be aware that they are out there folks



great post. i agree with your analysis. I love thwe tv. I jsut have this nagging issue with what i stated above. you have any ideas? what setting did you use for custom?

In response to xcr2000 -

I can check the settings tonight when I get home from work for you and I will post them. I should tell you that I have a fairly dark living room in the middle of the house that I watch this tv in and so it may be brighter than what you would prefer. Not by much though, as I don't like to turn the contrast/brightness settings too high. (I generally don't set either of them over 50)

RE: Possible magnetism problems...

Like a true nerd, I read this entire thread, and I remember seeing something about a problem like this in which they unplugged the set for a couple of minutes and then plugged it back in. When they did this, it degaussed the set and fixed the problem. I think I also remember another instance in which they had to call a tech out who was able to fix the problem by replacing something I think. It's a big thread, so I could be confusing that problem with another one though. Man - I hope that helps, you are so close to have a good one like I do, from what it sounds like! :) If I see or hear anything regarding that issue and our tv - I will get in touch with you.

Hiya guys - Long time reader, 1st post.

Guess what?! I bought this set last weekend on Saturday - and it's working perfectly for me! Not one of the problems mentioned have happened with mine...

...It's simply breathtaking to watch stuff in HD!

...Oddly enough, regular - non-hd stuff looked really bad when I first plugged it in, but it seems to have gotten better over the course of the last couple of days. Is this normal?

The first thing I did was go to "custom" and get the contrast, brightness, color, and sharpness settings under control. Since I did that, things started to sharpen up a little. It really looked bad when viewing analog cable for the first couple of days though. (Maybe setting the custom settings helped?) It's looking a lot better now.

...I'm thinking the next step is to invest in some calibration software. What do you guys think?

...I am really loving this set and while I hesitate to recommend given the problems everyone else seems to be having, I still have to. If you can find a good one, it's well worth it from a price/feature standpoint.

I seem to have gotten a good one so be aware that they are out there folks
Using the Custom mode helps to improve picture quality. Adjusting the settings in Custom mode delivers even better picture quality.

Calibration S/W - a great investment. And not just for the initial calibration. Settings drift over time and re-calibrating at least once a year is recommended. For beginners I heartily recommend Sound & Vision's Home Theater Tuneup - it's easy to understand and follow. If you feel adventurous, try Avia or DVE. These discs are a bit more difficult to follow but go into much deeper detail, with more test patterns than the Home Theater Tuneup. Give your set a break-in period of about 100 viewing hours before calibrating. The tv "settles in" so to speak, and the PQ tends to improve over time.

I always say "when you get a good Samsung set you've got a real gem!" I've got an earlier model 27" set and I still enjoy watching this set, even though I use a Sony 34" most of the time.

Have Fun!

justsc - Thanks for the calibration advice. :) I suppose I have to order one of those discs now, since I want the best possible picture I can get. I doubt I could get the wifey to agree to professional calibration - but a disc would do the trick I guess, and would be the cheaper option for the moment.

The Custom setting issue:

I switched it to that and adjusted it from there just as you suggested should be done. I did this when I first fired her up. :) I hate the pre-set modes on most tv's, as most of the levels are set way too high, which causes eye strain and an unnatural picture. (At least for me it does!)

Oh yeah btw - you have that High Scan 34 inch Sony? God I drooled and drooled over that set for months! I was like this close to buying one of those but my common sense took over and made me realize that the size of that monstrosity would not work out well in my small living room. I think my viewing distance is at max - 6 to 7 foot. I don't think I would have seen the benefits of the high scan feature on that tv. As soon as I set up the Sammy 30 inch set, I knew that it was the right size for my room. I considered an addition to the house for like 10 seconds then realized my wife would kill me. :) heheh LOL :)

Supposedly the new 81 model clears up the geometry issues....accordng to the reviewers on the Circuit City website. Any one else know where I can get one of these other than Circuit City?

justsc - Thanks for the calibration advice. :) I suppose I have to order one of those discs now, since I want the best possible picture I can get. I doubt I could get the wifey to agree to professional calibration - but a disc would do the trick I guess, and would be the cheaper option for the moment.
It's a critical investment, and it made a big difference for me. But keep in mind it is in no way a substitute for a professional (ISF) calibration. I intend to get that done someday when I have $350 to throw around.

Oh yeah btw - you have that High Scan 34 inch Sony? God I drooled and drooled over that set for months! I was like this close to buying one of those but my common sense took over and made me realize that the size of that monstrosity would not work out well in my small living room. I think my viewing distance is at max - 6 to 7 foot. I don't think I would have seen the benefits of the high scan feature on that tv. As soon as I set up the Sammy 30 inch set, I knew that it was the right size for my room. I considered an addition to the house for like 10 seconds then realized my wife would kill me. :) heheh LOL :)
I have it in the master bedroom, about 12' X 10'. I was going to get either a 30" WS or a 32" 4:3, but when I saw the 34" set I was sold, and my wife agreed! I dread the day I have to move that thing, but it sure puts out a nice picture. The Samsung PQ gives the Sony a real good run for the money. When I decide to go bigger I will be looking closely at Samsung's large direct view LCD sets.

Cheers! ;)

I just recently bought the SAMSUNG TX-R3079WH

I can't seem to calibrate this thing correctly. Everytime I think I got it, something else is wrong on the screen. For those that calibrated their screen using the Service Menu, can you post your settings??

PLEASE?!?!?

Thanks!

I just recently bought the SAMSUNG TX-R3079WH

I can't seem to calibrate this thing correctly. Everytime I think I got it, something else is wrong on the screen. For those that calibrated their screen using the Service Menu, can you post your settings??

PLEASE?!?!?

Thanks!
sye46....
Please keep in mind EVERY set is different, so someone else's setting(s) may NOT be the same as yours; using them as a base reference is another story...
BE SURE to WRITE DOWN ALL SETTINGS PRIOR TO MAKING ADJUSTMENTS!! If you "goof", you won't have any "default" settings to go back to!! Good luck!
I'm just now starting to calibrate my 27" Slim-Fit with the Avia disc...I'm still a bit timid about scoping out the SM (hey, I still like to have someone over my shoulder when I "hack" my XP registry...! :D )

I just recently bought the SAMSUNG TX-R3079WH

I can't seem to calibrate this thing correctly. Everytime I think I got it, something else is wrong on the screen. For those that calibrated their screen using the Service Menu, can you post your settings??

PLEASE?!?!?

Thanks!
You need to give your set a break-in period before doing anything. About 100 hours of viewing time is good.

Then, use a calibration disc to get your user settings set appropriately. This is invaluable!

Then consider venturing into the SM. You may well find that once your set is properly calibrated with either Avia or DVE, that it looks fantastic just the way it is.

Take all of this very slowly.

Sharing & Using SM settings - your tv is an analog device. At the factory each and every tv is calibrated individually before shipping. And each set may be unique in the values entered to make it look correct to the tech. There are no default SM settings. Using someone's else's settings could easily make your set look worse. Before you do anything in the SM, record the values of every setting you intend to look into - before tweaking it. Don't become a statistic and be added to the list of folks who've totally messed-up their sets because they didn't record their SM values first.

You need to give your set a break-in period before doing anything. About 100 hours of viewing time is good.

Then, use a calibration disc to get your user settings set appropriately. This is invaluable!

Then consider venturing into the SM. You may well find that once your set is properly calibrated with either Avia or DVE, that it looks fantastic just the way it is.

Take all of this very slowly.

Sharing & Using SM settings - your tv is an analog device. At the factory each and every tv is calibrated individually before shipping. And each set may be unique in the values entered to make it look correct to the tech. There are no default SM settings. Using someone's else's settings could easily make your set look worse. Before you do anything in the SM, record the values of every setting you intend to look into - before tweaking it. Don't become a statistic and be added to the list of folks who've totally messed-up their sets because they didn't record their SM values first.

I'm one of the folks who didn't record the SM values... oh well... I'll pick up one of those discs and see what it can do.

thanks!!

I saw the 2779, 3079, and 3081 at CC tonight. Even though it was off a store feed, you could see the problems when it went 2.35:1 widescreen.


It seemed to me that the 3081 had the worst geometry problems of the three - ironic considering its the newest. The 3079 had some major problems too ... both had a slope up at the center-left.

The 2779 on the other hand was mostly problem-free. I was wondering if anyone else noticed this and if there's a reason why a 4:3 would have fewer problems.

Thanks,
Chris

Samsung is shipping me a TX-R3081WH to replace a TX-P2675WH (ATSC/QAM) that died (power supply) during its last month on warranty...long story trying to get on-site service in my area, but the folks I dealt with at Samsung are top-notch. Anyway, I looked over the spec sheet and noticed it has an ATSC tuner but it failed to mention anything about digital QAM support. Just checking to see if this set will also decode digital cable in-the-clear?

Thanks...

Samsung is shipping me a TX-R3081WH to replace a TX-P2675WH (ATSC/QAM) that died (power supply) during its last month on warranty...long story trying to get on-site service in my area, but the folks I dealt with at Samsung are top-notch. Anyway, I looked over the spec sheet and noticed it has an ATSC tuner but it failed to mention anything about digital QAM support. Just checking to see if this set will also decode digital cable in-the-clear?

Thanks...
The existence, or lack thereof, of a QAM tuner in these sets has been debated heatedly here. There has been no clear input from actual owners that have attempted to use a QAM tuner on these sets. I have been back and forth with a trusted Samsung insider who claims these sets have QAM, but this has been disputed by others who say there's no clear proof.

Did you say that your 26" set has a QAM tuner?

I am sorry that I can't give you a definitive answer on this. I guess it's "pay your quarter and take your chances..."

The existence, or lack thereof, of a QAM tuner in these sets has been debated heatedly here. There has been no clear input from actual owners that have attempted to use a QAM tuner on these sets. I have been back and forth with a trusted Samsung insider who claims these sets have QAM, but this has been disputed by others who say there's no clear proof.

Did you say that your 26" set has a QAM tuner?

I am sorry that I can't give you a definitive answer on this. I guess it's "pay your quarter and take your chances..."Thanks! I'll post after the set arrives. I purchased my last set, TX-P2675WH, after reading it supported ATSC and digital QAM from the spec sheet. However, when I got it home the digital QAM feature did not work and, in fact, there were no references to digital QAM anywhere in the owners manual. After a dozen calls into tech support, an engineer at Samsung finally e-mailed me the firmware fix and it worked like a charm.

All the hardware should be there to do QAM, it's just a matter of the software to arrange the 0s and 1s in the proper order when they come in QAM format vs. OTA HD.

I'm really trying to absorb some of the knowlege from this board about this particular TV, and HD in general. Please excuse a dumb question about the antennae.
This set has a built in HD tuner, and I will have to rent a set top box from the local cable company to receive HD broadcasts.
Will I now also have to buy some kind of antennae for my roof to go along with these tuners?
Thanks for helping a layman.

I'm really trying to absorb some of the knowlege from this board about this particular TV, and HD in general. Please excuse a dumb question about the antennae.
This set has a built in HD tuner, and I will have to rent a set top box from the local cable company to receive HD broadcasts.
Will I now also have to buy some kind of antennae for my roof to go along with these tuners?
Thanks for helping a layman.
You would only need the antenna and the built in tuner if you don't get what you want via the cable/STB connection. If the channel lineup and quality from the cable company is good enough for you, you need nothing else.

Many people, especially those within range of several TV markets, get an antenna and tune in OTA to get a better picture and get channels not offered anywhere else.

Biker19,

Thanks a lot for your response. I'm just about cross eyed trying to read each and every post so that I can keep my dumb questions to a minimum. There is an immense amount of knowledge on this forum, but sometimes I need a translation.

Obviously, the antennae option was something totally new to me. Having to buy and install an antennae and then lease the cable stb to compare which offers the most HD channels, and which offers better HD reception, sure seems like an awkward and expensive trial and error method to determine the best reception choice.

Really wanted to take the leap into HD, so I'm heading to CC to take a look at this set, but apparently the real proof lies in each individual's out of box experience vs what you see on the show room floor. For those of us not so technically gifted, we might be better served to wait until some of these issues are resolved.

Thanks again for your comments.
.

Obviously, the antennae option was something totally new to me. Having to buy and install an antennae and then lease the cable stb to compare which offers the most HD channels, and which offers better HD reception, sure seems like an awkward and expensive trial and error method to determine the best reception choice.

.
If you trust other people's opinion go to the HDTV section for your area and see what people say about OTA reception vs. cable offerings.

Some trial and error can be had free - if you are real close to a TV transmitter just stick a metal paper clip into the antenna input of the TV and see what you get. :cool:
You can always go to the nearest Radio Schack and get a simple indoor antenna. If that doesn't work out just return the antenna.

Thanks again Biker19. You've been a big help. By the way, you live in a beautiful part of the country. Was stationed near there many years ago.

I hate all of you I never noticed bowing on my hdtv until i read about it here and now I see some i never seen until someone pointed it out.

Went to CC yesterday to see the 30 " Samsung Slim Fit. They only had the 27" on display. Must admit that it is a fine looking piece of equipment, but the "bowing" of text at the bottom of the screen was worse than just plain old noticeable.

Probably going to shift gears any way, and look into an HD monitor only and use the cable set top box.

Went to CC yesterday to see the 30 " Samsung Slim Fit. They only had the 27" on display. Must admit that it is a fine looking piece of equipment, but the "bowing" of text at the bottom of the screen was worse than just plain old noticeable.

Probably going to shift gears any way, and look into an HD monitor only and use the cable set top box.

the bowing on my 30" slim fit is unbearable. i just got off the phone with samsung customer service and they have scheduled a technician to come out to look at the tv. i know the tec won't be able to fix the problem, so i'm hoping to get a new set out of the deal. i really wish i could get my money back and get a sony, but that's not going to happen... does samsung even have other 30" 16:9 hdtv's with hdmi inputs?

The regular tube Dynaflat 3075 and 3076 of 04 vintage have HDMI. It would be tough to get one of those new.

can anyone tell the best service menu settings for the 30 inch samsung slimfit?

first time here. good forum.

I need help to choose from Sony KV-30HS420 and samsung slimfit TX-R3079WH and toshiba 30" hf85 . sony and samsung are the same price, toshiba is $100 less.

The bowing on the samsung demo really shocked me---terrible!!!!! I gave up on the spot.

Later the salesperson promised me if I'd like to get one,he can open boxs for me to try and help me for the settings as well.

I went through this thread and not everyone has this geometric problem, and I profer build-in tuner.

Well, is it worth taking a chance? how do you choose from the 3 above? what kind of settings should be done there?

joice2006...
I have the 27" version of the Samsung...and LOVE it!! I ran the Avia calibration disc on it last week and found minimum geometry issues; they were easily corrected with proper contrast/brightness settings....I didn't even need to go into the SM for "touch-up"!! This....after literally dragging the boxed set over my snow-covered walkway (didn't have a handcart...and I can't lift over 40 lbs.) and "ker-chucking" it up a flight of stairs in my house (not roughly, just clumsily....one...step...at....a....time). End of the day...Aside from the fact it's not a 16:9 screen....I'm a very happy camper with the Sammy (BTW...I also have a Samsung 26" widescreen that's been keeping me happy for over a year.... :D ) Not having had any experiences with the Sony or Toshiba....my opinion is limited, to say the least....But good luck with whatever you decide.....

first time here. good forum.

I need help to choose from Sony KV-30HS420 and samsung slimfit TX-R3079WH and toshiba 30" hf85 . sony and samsung are the same price, toshiba is $100 less.

The bowing on the samsung demo really shocked me---terrible!!!!! I gave up on the spot.

Later the salesperson promised me if I'd like to get one,he can open boxs for me to try and help me for the settings as well.

I went through this thread and not everyone has this geometric problem, and I profer build-in tuner.

Well, is it worth taking a chance? how do you choose from the 3 above? what kind of settings should be done there?

Quite soon both Sony and Toshiba will have versions of those TVs with a tuner built in - it might be a good idea to wait for the Sony with the tuner.

first time here. good forum.

I need help to choose from Sony KV-30HS420 and samsung slimfit TX-R3079WH and toshiba 30" hf85 . sony and samsung are the same price, toshiba is $100 less.

...Later the salesperson promised me if I'd like to get one,he can open boxs for me to try and help me for the settings as well.

...Well, is it worth taking a chance? how do you choose from the 3 above? what kind of settings should be done there?
Having a salesperson willing to open boxes to find a good set puts you one step ahead of most shoppers already. However, I wouldn't promise to purchase before looking inside.

If the store is an authorized resellerand the sets are "new, in the box," I'd promise to buy if the salesperson and I together found a set to my liking. This kind of customer service is rare, and should be rewarded with a purchase if all works out.

Hello All,

Well, I bought this TV before I found this forum and yes, I did have some convergence and geometry issues. I went into the SM and was able to "tweak" away all but the slightest center bow that the DW can't seem to see. I also have small convergence issues on the side when regular cable is stretched but with a DVD player hooked up to the HDMI port, or when watching HD it's pretty much a non-issue.

I mentioned the DW because this is her TV and if momma's happy, everyone is happy. She watches mostly strecthed cable and says it looks fine. She says I'm too picky anywho. As far as the color of the side bars in 4:3, it changes from station to station. I always thought that this was a station setting. I heard that the blacks are easier on the eyes but the gray is easier on the TV.

I still have until the 22nd to return it but unless it totally craps out on me, I don't think I will. For the $810 I paid for it, it makes a great bedroom TV. BTW: the big game looked better on this then on my 52", I thought.

Samsung Slimfit 30" TX-R3079WH


I went into the service menu, and messed everything up can anyone here give me the default settings, (moslty the deflection option). If you dont know how to reach service menu

Turn of power, press mute 1-8-2 than power


It would make me feel really good.

thank you for your help

Is there a way to disable some of the inputs from the cycle when the "source" button is pressed?
we have something hooked up to hdmi and s-video and component, but cycling through 4 RCA inputs every time we switch around gets annoying.

on another note, after about a month of watching now, and a good session with avia and the service menu i was able to eliminate all geometry problems that i could see. overall i am very pleased with the set. and at little over 700 around xmas, it is a steal (the 3079wh).

Is there a way to disable some of the inputs from the cycle when the "source" button is pressed?
we have something hooked up to hdmi and s-video and component, but cycling through 4 RCA inputs every time we switch around gets annoying.

on another note, after about a month of watching now, and a good session with avia and the service menu i was able to eliminate all geometry problems that i could see. overall i am very pleased with the set. and at little over 700 around xmas, it is a steal (the 3079wh).

yup, press the "TV/COMP" button in the top center of the remote. That switches from component 1 to component 2 to HDMI. Unfortunately, looks like your hookup in s-video will only be accessed through source (unless there is a way to change this which i am unaware of). I love my slimfit too!

I heard that as of march 2006 all new HDTVs over 25" are required to have digital tuners.

Are the new slimfit models coming out in march going to have digital tuners? I could have swore I read an article somewhere that said so but I can't find it on google.

I think I am convinced about something with this tv now since I have had it for a couple of weeks.

It takes it a couple of days to "break in" or something. When I initially hooked it up and turned it on - It really looked bad. Not in a conventinal way - it just looked bad. Grainy and ugly you know. I immediately went to the custom setting and turned down some of the adjustments and it made an immediate difference. It didn't stop there though - It seemed to look better and better as the days went by. Now it looks outstanding in both HD and Non-HD format.

Here's what makes me think this:

I only had the standard cable to start off with. After a couple of days it was looking really great. Definitely better than my old 27 inch flat screen tv that I had. (Not HD)

I then purchased an HD amplified Antennae and hooked that up. HD didn't look that great to start out with to me. Then I played with the custom settings and it looked better. By the next day - it was simply incredible how good it looked in HD. I mean simply jaw-dropping amazing to view. :) It took a little while for it to dial in though.

Finally, after getting the HD bug, I went to Cox and signed up for pretty much everything they offered in HD and got an HD set top box. I took it home, plugged it in via Component (Sadly that is the only kind of receiver they had) and I must say, I was not blown away initially. I told my wife in fact that I wasn't going to pay for all of it if it wasn't going to look any better than my OTA channels. Then I decided to play with the custom settings and it looked better and by the weekend for the Superbowl party - it looked beyond incredible. People were raving about how great it looked and a few even were considering buying the set themselves. So again it seems to take a day or two for the tv to warm up and adjust to the new settings and set ups.

I am still really happy and satisfied with my set. It's been outstanding for me and I am thourghly enjoying my new HD quality programs. :)

You know, I have been thinking about this purchase over and over again. Now, I am two or three weeks out of my return period. I got it for a great price ($699), but this crap is not worth the amount of money that I saved.

At this point I would have gladly spent 1300 for a similar TV with no problems and ALL of the inputs. Video 2 and 3 (I think it's those two) are just diagrams as to where they should have been put on the back of the TV, yet they were programmed into the set, my optical out is really just a pretty red light that cannot transfer the HDMI audio to my home theater system. I have a friggin blotch of color in the lower left corner that even when trying their "standard form answer" fix, does not go away.

The design of the TV is beautiful... but that is the ONLY thing it has going for it at this point. It is my main TV in my living room, eventually would have become a bedroom TV as I would have purchased a larger screened LCD for the living room, it WOULD have been a samsung, but I am so disgusted by this product that I do not think I would purchase another Samsung set again.

I even went as far as to go in the service menu to try to correct the geometry using a DVE disc... it's not possible to get rid of the bowing.... sure, it can be cut down. But you cannot get rid of it if you have it.

The picture has been corrected (color/contrast) and even though the picture looks great, my eyes still wander to the corner blotch and to the bowing on the bottom.... this is causing me stress. :(

I need to call samsung and try to figure something out with them... but I do not want this TV anymore.

To anybody seriously reading this thread and still considering buying one of the Slimfit sets, stay away from this thing... it's not worth it, even if it were $499.

I heard that as of march 2006 all new HDTVs over 25" are required to have digital tuners.

Are the new slimfit models coming out in march going to have digital tuners? I could have swore I read an article somewhere that said so but I can't find it on google.
All the slim fits already have ATSC tuners - the only thing that might change is that Samsung might modify them to have them QAM capable also.

I don't know if this has been mentioned already, but Samsung provides free warrantee service for its TV's that are 27" and larger.

I bought a 27" last Friday but it wasted a lot of screen space as black borders in either 4:3 or 16:9 display mode, and so I exchanged it for one of the last 30" sets from Circuit City (Rockville, MD) on Saturday night for under $810 on sale, which fills up the screen for some local broadcasts and the latest DVD movies. As many have found, the 30" turned out to have a minor but irritating geometry distortion in the lower right corner (mostly to my wife). It may have been an older delivery held back due to box packing damage, which turned to be minor. (I later went back to the Rockville Circuit City and put their floor set on 4:3 display and found that it had even more obvious bend type of distortion across the entire lower quarter of their demo set, which was not obvious in 16:9 or panorama display -- possibly fixable by stretching the lower corners.)

After reading various posts across the web including much of this AVSForum thread, someone's comment led me to seek Samsung's customer service number (1-800-726-7864) for electronics/TVs on the web which I called on Monday afternoon. Circuit City had run out of replacements until I was next free on the following weekend, and I wanted to keep the set if it was potentially "fixable" as it appeared. Samsung gave me a local service place which we called (Samsung did not called as arranged). A technican (with an apprentice) who had training from Samsung came on Thursday night and made adjustments using the service menu (has a test pattern under "options") with me watching and taking notes that rendered the distortion inconspicuous.

Our set was the fifth worked on by the tech, and he was coming to Maryland (just over 7 mile drive from Falls Church, Virginia) because we didn't have a local Samsung affiliate service shop in the Washington, DC suburbs. Apparently, all crts seem to have geometry problems, but the Samsung "SlimFit" does tend to have more. It's a trade off for the smaller size.

I'm now very happy with the set, particularly as my wife did not want a larger or deeper (i.e., not "SlimFit" type Sony CRT) set in the same location. The picture is pretty nice. I was originally going to buy an analog Sony WEGA crt, but Samsung HDTV "Slimfit" looked better due to the high definition broadcast reception. My wife was sold immediately. As other manufacturers were not yet selling crt HDTVs with an integrated HD tuner, my best alternative would have been the larger and heavier Sony monitor with the additional HDTV tuner box, at additional expense and moving difficulty -- in addition to the opposition of my wife as it would rrequire more space in a crowded living room.

IIRC, the service menu commands used by the tech are as I found on the web:

For Samsung:

“With the set ON, press Power-Mute-1-8-2-Power in quick succession.
If the set is already off, press Mute-1-8-2-Power.

The service menu will appear for the input you were viewing before keying the above sequence in a minute or less.

Use the CH up the CH down and the select keys to navigate the Service Menu. Press MENU to return to the main Service Menu after viewing individual functions.

Later, you will use the VOL(+) and VOL(-) keys to change the Service Menu values.”

The tech's most important adjustments in my case involved the lower and upper corner and vertical amp (width?) and height settings under "deflection," after first using "options" to turn the test display on and off. You'll want to check the display out of service menu mode repeatedly to get an accurate idea of the adjustments' impact. Using the service menu may void warrantee, and if you do, you should write down the factory values before fiddling around.

Hope this post helps,

Ben Lin
Bethesda, MD

Thanks Ben, I second your thoughts on this TV. All mine needed was a little tweaking and it's now working great!

Is there a way to fix the bowing? I can see it on top of the screen and the sides.

...After reading various posts across the web including much of this AVSForum thread, someone's comment led me to seek Samsung's customer service number (1-800-726-7864) for electronics/TVs on the web which I called on Monday afternoon.

...Samsung gave me a local service place which we called (Samsung did not called as arranged). A technican (with an apprentice) who had training from Samsung came on Thursday night and made adjustments using the service menu (has a test pattern under "options") with me watching and taking notes that rendered the distortion inconspicuous.

...I'm now very happy with the set...

...The tech's most important adjustments in my case involved the lower and upper corner and vertical amp (width?) and height settings under "deflection," after first using "options" to turn the test display on and off. You'll want to check the display out of service menu mode repeatedly to get an accurate idea of the adjustments' impact. Using the service menu may void warrantee, and if you do, you should write down the factory values before fiddling around.

Hope this post helps,

Ben Lin
Bethesda, MD
Very good post!

I have tried so often to convince unhappy owners to call Samsung and make their issues known. I realize there are exceptions, but for the most part Samsung is a very responsive organization and sincerely desires satisfied customers.

I've also tried to help users know that nearly all of the reported geometry problems are fixable through the SM.

I hope your post encourages owners to call Samsung and that potential buyers will feel a little less fearful purchasing Samsung sets. For now, I cannot recommend SlimFit sets until Samsung gets its QC right, but Samsung makes non-SlimFit sets that are absolute gems.

When I go into menu what soul I focus on to fix these geometry issues?


Do you know what it's called when the image moves up and down on the bottom and and top of the screen, like when you move something over the the image it begins to shake or expands beyound its original size?

v-sc
v-lin
Can these be the problem.?

.


:confused:

okay, i'm getting mixed messages here. some people are claiming the geometry issues are fixable via the service menu and others say that the vertical bowing can be fixed, but there is nothing you can do about the horizontal bowing. which one is it?

okay, i'm getting mixed messages here. some people are claiming the geometry issues are fixable via the service menu and others say that the vertical bowing can be fixed, but there is nothing you can do about the horizontal bowing. which one is it?

The vertical geometry issues can be corrected with some patience and a calibration disc. If you wanted to go that route.

The horizontal bowing on the bottom of the screen can certainly be cleaned up, but I do not think it can be completely eliminated.

I am going to be having a technician associate with the store come in and look at my set. If they can not correct the set to my liking, I can either exchange it for a new one or take a store credit towards a different set. I most certainly will be choosing the latter of the two if they are unable to fix it.

The vertical geometry issues can be corrected with some patience and a calibration disc. If you wanted to go that route.

The horizontal bowing on the bottom of the screen can certainly be cleaned up, but I do not think it can be completely eliminated.

I am going to be having a technician associate with the store come in and look at my set. If they can not correct the set to my liking, I can either exchange it for a new one or take a store credit towards a different set. I most certainly will be choosing the latter of the two if they are unable to fix it.
This is a very good answer.

You'll never reach perfection with an analog device. Even if you get infinitessimally close, the settings will drift over time requiring re-calibration about once per year.

Oftentimes horizontal lines behaving badly can require a trained pro using special magnets under the hood.

Samsung is shipping me a TX-R3081WH to replace a TX-P2675WH (ATSC/QAM) that died (power supply) during its last month on warranty...The set is being delivered this Wednesday...can't wait! Thanks for all the good info in this thread! :cool:

Folks - I tried searching for my answer but search is not working this morning. I just bought the 27" slimfit. It's great, so far. I have solid OTA HD and digital channels. My one problem is this: How do I key-in digital channel numbers like 3.1 or 3-1. I can't find the separator button and nothing in the documentation helps. Also, is there a way to put up a channel list and pick the next channel to watch if the "guide" is empty? So far I'm only able to pick a channel from the guide screen if the guide contains some program information.

Heya all. First post!

Anyways, so I was in the market for a new TV after my previous started making a buzzsaw noise anytime any kind of white was on the screen. Problem is, I have a space requirement therefore I needed a tv that would fit my space. The Slimfit looked like the answer. After reading this thread I decided to check out the Slimfits at a store myself. The two on display at Best Buy were set to 100/100 contrast/brightness and looked terrible with the incredibles dvd they were looping. I started tweaking the display and soon enough I made it look great! Finally I said what the heck, I can always return it, and bought the 27" (the 30" was too wide for my space :( ).

Got it home and immediately started tweaking and adjusting the settings until I got a clean, sharp picture I was happy with. I flipped it to CNN and checked for "the bump" but could not detect it! Either I have horrible eye-sight or got a I got very lucky.

Either way I've had it for almost a week now and couldn't be happier. With everything hooked up via component (Charter cable was nice enough to disable DVI on my DVR cable box) everything looks great.

BTW, I noticed also the video inputs switching thing that can be annoying but the easiest solution I see is instead of cycling with the input button, simply hit the menu and choose your input that way. Not only is it faster but you can select the component inputs this way. Either way it is not a problem with me as I have an external switch for all my devices so the tv always stays on component.

Thanx to everyone that has posted!

I have been quietly monitoring this thread for the past 2.5 weeks and I won’t have to do it anymore. I bought my Slimfit exactly 2.5 weeks ago and have been fighting every urge in my body to take it back. Here’s how it went:

1. I take it out of the box…picture is ok but I’m not thrilled considering the price I paid. I do some tweaking, get better cables, etc. Picture looks a little better. :)
2. Read this forum and immediately notice the geometry issues everyone is talking about. It looks horrible when accessing any screen with horizontal lines. :mad: My TIVO menu was cut off and terribly bent. My wife and I decide we can live with this…not that bad. :(
3. Picture is still not making me do back flips so I start thinking about the 3 “open item” Slim fits that were available at BB the night I got this TV. I even asked myself that night, “Why would someone return this TV?”. :confused: Now I’m really starting to worry and strongly considering giving them another to sell.
4. AH HA I find a bad Svideo cable from my TIVO and picture improves greatly. I guess still not convinced. :D
5. We are now nearing 2.5 weeks with this TV. I now notice a blue blob in the upper right hand corner. Has that always been there? It’s really only noticeable on the orange TIVO menu. Check a DVD with a white menu…yup it’s still there. :eek:
6. OK now I’m done with this TV. I gave it too many chances. It’s going back! :mad:

Took the TV back to best buy and got the 32” Samsung LCD monitor. People there were super friendly as if they knew the pain this TV causes! Sure it cost’s about 800 bucks more, but with 36 months financing that pennies in the bucket. It doesn’t have build in HD, but WOW the screen looks awesome! :D Watched TV and a DVD last night and I was very impressed!. As you would expect no geometry issues and even my SD Direct TV signal looks sweet. I wish I could get that 2.5 weeks of my life back, but oh well guess not.

If anyone is out there like me is sitting on the fence with TV…just don’t do it. You know it’s not going to work and you are going to have to sacrifice the quality of the picture for “a great set of features on a HDTV at a tube price”. As many have already said this one is a loser. Just save your money until you can get a DLP, Plasma or LCD TV and pick up a cheap tube tv to get you by.

That’s my SlimFit rant…back to Wedding Crashers on my nice, light, awesome 32” LCD! (Deep sigh of relief!)

Being a committed Samsung fan, it grieves me to see so many having trouble with the SlimFit sets. While I cannot recommend them (yet), I have seen more than enough positive posts to know that not all SlimFits are bad.

If you live close to a reseller with a good return policy then it might not be a waste of time to try one out - especially if it's a size limitation thing. And don't be shy about returning it - that's why they have these return policies.

One thing I know first hand - if you get a good Samsung crt, you've got a real gem.

For me the 27" slimfit is the perfect bedroom tv. It fits my pre-existing tallboy ent. center to a "T" and slides back plenty far enough to close the doors. (High marks from the wife.)

I have no problems with geometry and "bowing" of vertical or horizontal lines yet (I did see evidence of this on the store display.)

I only wish to directly key-in digital sub-channels with the remote and can't do it. (No decimal or dash key.)

I think that Slimfit TV 27" version has no PQ problem as 30".
So if you guy want a slim tv ,choose 27" version.

Being a committed Samsung fan, it grieves me to see so many having trouble with the SlimFit sets. While I cannot recommend them (yet), I have seen more than enough positive posts to know that not all SlimFits are bad.

If you live close to a reseller with a good return policy then it might not be a waste of time to try one out - especially if it's a size limitation thing. And don't be shy about returning it - that's why they have these return policies.

One thing I know first hand - if you get a good Samsung crt, you've got a real gem.
Gotta agree with justsc on this one.....Maybe it's the luck of the draw....but my 27" SlimFit is performing without a hitch...I ran the Avia disc through all the video calibrations and found I had to do MINIMUM "tweaking" anywhere down the line....Compared to my 26" Sammy widescreen in my living room....it's impossible to detect any difference in PQ....
Like Paul Simon said (sang....): "One Man's Floor is Another Man's Ceiling"..... :D
Good luck to ALL who own a SlimFit....Remember...YOU might have that "diamond-in-the-rough" that just needs a bit of polishing..... ;)

Well, the replacement for my broken Dynaflat, a SlimFit TX-R3081WH, arrived a short while. My first impression: Wow! What a hunk of crap. I want my Dynaflat back! I have never seen a set with such terrible geometry problems! And the picture looks horrible. Offhand, this set is going to need a lot of tweaking and then some. Ugh! I'll post pictures when I have time.

Well, the replacement for my broken Dynaflat, a SlimFit TX-R3081WH, arrived a short while. My first impression: Wow! What a hunk of crap. I want my Dynaflat back! I have never seen a set with such terrible geometry problems! And the picture looks horrible. Offhand, this set is going to need a lot of tweaking and then some. Ugh! I'll post pictures when I have time.
Samsung is still selling a DynaFlat model, it's the TX-R3075WH. Built-in tuner and all.

You might consider exchanging that SlimFit for this one.

Samsung is still selling a DynaFlat model, it's the TX-R3075WH. Built-in tuner and all.

You might consider exchanging that SlimFit for this one.It won't fit in the custom entertainment centers/shelves/dressers the previous owners left...that's why I picked up a TX-P2675WH last year. I really liked that set (a bit small), but the power supply died during the last month of warranty and Samsung couldn't find anyone to repair the set in my area.

Ok, after letting the TV warm up a bit and changing a few menu setting the picture is much better, but I may have to hire a mathematician in order to correct the geometry problem.

Just added a couple pictures. I'll try and iron out the geometry issues this weekend... :(

friends bought one 30" about 3 weeks ago and have had zero problems with the picture.

riffjim4069, that looks pretty bad. Especially on the first and third pic.

It won't fit in the custom entertainment centers/shelves/dressers the previous owners left...that's why I picked up a TX-P2675WH last year. I really liked that set (a bit small), but the power supply died during the last month of warranty and Samsung couldn't find anyone to repair the set in my area.

Ok, after letting the TV warm up a bit and changing a few menu setting the picture is much better, but I may have to hire a mathematician in order to correct the geometry problem.

Just added a couple pictures. I'll try and iron out the geometry issues this weekend... :(
These pics show me at least two things. One is that you suffer from pincushion effect, and the other looks like overscan bounce.

Pincushion
I don't know what the SM adjustments are, but on my Sony I used PIN, VPIN, and MPIN to correct this.

Overscan Bounce
This is kinda two things. Overscan can be corrected in the SM with the help of a calibration DVD like Avia or DVE. The bounce part is usually resolved by getting Contrast under control. Your overscan shouldn't be more than about 5%, and Contrast should not be set higher than, say, about 45 on your set, and that would be with a high quality digital source like HD. For SD you don't want Contrast any higher than about 35-39. Be sure you're not using the "Vivid" picture mode - maybe it's not called that on a Samsung, but it's the mode where contrast and brightness, sharpness etc are all way overdriven for showing off the set on a bright showroom floor.

Samsung TX-R3079WH Slimfit.

I purchased the TV 3 months ago.

I had 30 days to decide whether to keep, or bring it back...I kept it!

I love the HDTV picture, and the size for my small living room, and I did not have to purchase a new entertainment center...which I would of had to do if I bought a heavier, clunkier Sony.

Paid $900.00 in Canada.

Yes, there is some bowing at the bottom of the screen (I only notice it with my onscreen TV guide...otherwise I can live with it, and never notice it when viewing TV programs)

Yes, the is some distortion on the right side of the screen...again I rarely notice this, and can live with it.

I wanted a CRT and did not look beyond CRT's.

I purchased the TV 3 months ago.

I had 30 days to decide whether to keep it, or bring it back...I kept it!

I love the HDTV picture, and the size for my small living room, and I did not have to purchase a new entertainment center...which I would of had to do if I bought a heavier, clunkier Sony.

Paid $900.00can in Canada.

Yes, there is some minor bowing at the bottom of the screen (I only notice it with my onscreen TV guide...otherwise I can live with it, and I never notice it when viewing TV programs).

Yes, there is some distortion on the right side of the screen...again I RARELY notice this, and can live with it.
I'm willing to bet that this type of experience is typical of the majority of SlimFit buyers. Most folks don't even know about forums like this one, let alone post to them.

I wish I had a better handle on how the SlimFits are faring customer service wise throughout the country. I wonder if the scrutiny they get here is isolated or if it reflects a broader experience?

Chiming in after about 2 months.
My set is still working wonderfully. I've had minor bowing problems when I got the set and again when I reset it, but they were easily fixable after spending some time in the SM. UNfortunately, this set is easily deceiving as I think Samsung dropped the ball on the factory settings. Out of the box, this TV will NOT impress, but tune it a little bit and it makes a world of a difference. I now have all 4 default picture modes set to different input controls.

On another issue, I think its gonna be too small for me now tho, lol. Im moving in a week and a half and I may need to purchase another tv. It will probably be a Sony LCD since i need a 40" or higher, but the Samsung will become the bedroom set. Im just too in love with it to get rid of it.

Chiming in after about 2 months.
My set is still working wonderfully. I've had minor bowing problems when I got the set and again when I reset it, but they were easily fixable after spending some time in the SM. UNfortunately, this set is easily deceiving as I think Samsung dropped the ball on the factory settings. Out of the box, this TV will NOT impress, but tune it a little bit and it makes a world of a difference. I now have all 4 default picture modes set to different input controls.

On another issue, I think its gonna be too small for me now tho, lol. Im moving in a week and a half and I may need to purchase another tv. It will probably be a Sony LCD since i need a 40" or higher, but the Samsung will become the bedroom set. Im just too in love with it to get rid of it.

This is a very good answer.

You'll never reach perfection with an analog device. Even if you get infinitessimally close, the settings will drift over time requiring re-calibration about once per year.

Oftentimes horizontal lines behaving badly can require a trained pro using special magnets under the hood.

i've called samsung to have an authorized tech come look at the tv. would they be able to use magnets to fix the horizontal bowing?

After all the bad stuff I read in this post I was hesitant to get this tv. I was especially so because I didn't wanna hassle with having to lug it backto the store. Got it home opened it up, Mario Kart looked great. HD tv GREAT! other stuff so so. Looked for geometry issues, and noticed em barely on the 3:4 ratio. A guy came out today and worked on it for about an hour. I'm quite a happy with it , and he fixed the colors to boot! Like many people I over saturate the image with color. having adjusted now though i'm very pleased. Good set to be sure, and it fits great in my apartment.

oh and I have the 81 by the way, I havent seen anyone else in this thread with that model yet. Maybe thats why mine is not nearly as bugged as some of the ones mentioned. My RESET in the SVC menu also restores the factory settings in deflection, incase I mess something up. The TV is designed completely different than the 79 and 80.
Just an FYI

oh and I have the 81 by the way, I havent seen anyone else in this thread with that model yet. Maybe thats why mine is not nearly as bugged as some of the ones mentioned. My RESET in the SVC menu also restores the factory settings in deflection, incase I mess something up. The TV is designed completely different than the 79 and 80.
Just an FYI

by "restores the factory settings in deflection" what do you mean by deflection? does that reset option put everything the tv was set to back to defaults incase someone calibrates it wrong? or just resets certain options and not all of them? sorry I don't know much about TV's

Lot's of good and bad feedback on these Slimfits. I took the time to read the whole topic. My dad is now ready to upgrade his 25" warehouse club SD CRT. I actually went through the HD route last year and now have a Tosh 34HFX84 w/ D* HR10-250. Love the combo! Tosh is not an option for him since the 85's are tunerless and pretty much hit or miss quality wise. He wants to buy B&M locally so mailorder Sony 30XS955 is out. Plus the shipping would be unreasonable. If he wanted to spend $1900, the 34XBR960 would be the set.

I tried to get dad to buy a Sammy CRT last year from BB. There was an older non-Slimfit model that had a built in tuner for around $650. Justsc this could we one of the models you have. He wasn't ready at the time.

He has standard Comcast cable now and does not want to sub to D* or Comcast for HD. So a ATSC tuner is critical. I wish some of the newer CRT's had a workable QAM tuner but I can't seem to find any besides the Philips 30PW9100D and that seems to have more problems than the Slimfits.

Anyway, I've been reading about the 3079 for a couple days and thought it might be a good option for him with SD cable and UHF ant for OTA. We are roughly 30 miles from Boston towers and I get all Boston in great with just a Zenith Silver Sensor. Since CC is only two miles from us, I'm willing to give the 3079 a chance and return it if needed. I have DVE and all the SM items posted in this topic so I will certainly give this set some time and adjustments.

Dad called this morning actually asking me about this set and commenting that he really liked it. CC is now offering the Sammy 3079 with HTB38 for $999. He wants a new avr and he is interested in this combo. Not sure if this HTB would work for me.

So anyway, I'm off to CC now to check it out. If it looks good I'll bring Dad tomorrow to make a purchase. I would today but on Sunday his schedule is full NASCAR. ;)

Thanks for the great info here AVS members! :cool:

The whole missing QAM tuner out of the Sammy line is a bit weird. There's a Samsung outlet near me and I'd get a Dynaflat 3076 (the last non Slim version) but without QAM I'm hesitant. In the long run even if you only have analog cable now you'd want to have a QAM tuner so you can avoid having to rent an STB later (when eventually cable companies turn off the analog feed).

For the folks who are in the market now, wait till next month when a clearer picture should emerge of what models will be available - all of which should have a ATSC/QAM tuner.

BB and CC should have new models on order and in their systems by now, right?

These pics show me at least two things. One is that you suffer from pincushion effect, and the other looks like overscan bounce.

Pincushion
I don't know what the SM adjustments are, but on my Sony I used PIN, VPIN, and MPIN to correct this.

Overscan Bounce
This is kinda two things. Overscan can be corrected in the SM with the help of a calibration DVD like Avia or DVE. The bounce part is usually resolved by getting Contrast under control. Your overscan shouldn't be more than about 5%, and Contrast should not be set higher than, say, about 45 on your set, and that would be with a high quality digital source like HD. For SD you don't want Contrast any higher than about 35-39. Be sure you're not using the "Vivid" picture mode - maybe it's not called that on a Samsung, but it's the mode where contrast and brightness, sharpness etc are all way overdriven for showing off the set on a bright showroom floor.Samsung is shipping a replacement for my TX-R3081WH. Although the vertical bowing was quite bad, the horizontal geometry was almost perfect. I just hope I don't see these problems on the replacement set.

Those of you with some capability for displaying HD transport streams on your slimfit, I would be very interested in hearing your observations from playing two particular test clips.

http://www.w6rz.net/vertrez1080.zip 1,2,3, and 4 pixel strips at 1080i
http://www.w6rz.net/vertpix2.zip full screen 2 pixel strip at 1080i

These are from a collection avsforum member dr1394 made available here (http://www.w6rz.net/)

Thanks

I saw someone mention playing with the settings to get the TV looking its best. Does anyone have suggestions on what the best settings are?

First post here. I'm going to pick the SlimFit up at a future shop here tonight. I've read through this forum twice now and I guess we'll see. My last tv had terrible geometry problems so this may be an improvement. We'll see tonight and I'll post what a little review. Apparently the 79 model I'm getting is brand new per the sales person but who knows. BTW, this forums INSANE knowledge got me a job offer at a retailer in town here so regardless of the set thanks for all the help you guys diddn't know you were giving me.

643 posts in this thread, 93% of them are discussing the really bad geometry issues with the slimfit's and people reading this are still considering buying one. (For extremely high prices too!)

For anybody that does pick one up, I wish you the best of luck with the purchase. I truly hope you get one that you're happy with. If you feel any doubt about the set after you get it into your house, do yourself a favor and bring it back ASAP.

I was lucky to have a manager at the store that was understanding of my situation with my set (Color Blotches and HORRIBLE geometry on 3079WH). Even though I was over two weeks past the 30 day return policy, he agreed to take the set back. I ended up getting the full 699 back plus the tax (no restocking fees) as a refund and not a store credit.

After having a DVE disc on the TV, I realize how much the geometry could be screwed up on a tube. For that reason alone, I am going with a panel set.... if I buy an LCD, I will stress over the blurring issues and for that reason, I am going with a plasma.

It has been a bitter sweet relationship with the Samsung. The HD pictures through cable are wonderful, however if there are any kinds of straight lines in the picture, that's when the geometry rears it's ugly head. I couldn't sit through a tv show or a movie without looking for distortion somewhere in the picture, if it was not the geometry stressing me out, it was the color blotches in the corner. The sad part is that I had a store tech come to my home and tell me that mine was one of the best one's (slimfit) that he's seen.

If you can afford the extra depth, look into the Sony 30xs955, apparently they're highly recommended and can "probably" be obtained for the same price that I paid for my slimfit.

I saw someone mention playing with the settings to get the TV looking its best. Does anyone have suggestions on what the best settings are?
The settings depend on many, many factors. How bright is the room? What kind of signal are you watching (e.g. SD. HD, cable, OTA, Sat, etc)? What input and cable are you using?

If you take a stab at answering these then I can try to help.

Cheers! ;)

First post here. I'm going to pick the SlimFit up at a future shop here tonight. I've read through this forum twice now and I guess we'll see. My last tv had terrible geometry problems so this may be an improvement. We'll see tonight and I'll post what a little review. Apparently the 79 model I'm getting is brand new per the sales person but who knows. BTW, this forums INSANE knowledge got me a job offer at a retailer in town here so regardless of the set thanks for all the help you guys diddn't know you were giving me.
Congrats on your new set! ;)

I'm looking forward to hearing what you think.

Please don't despair if you see some of the problems addressed in this thread. Nearly all of them are correctable - some 100% some less.

Welcome fellow newbie! :) I have the same tv and had virtually no issues with my set at all. (79 series)

Give your tv like a week or so because I noticed, at least with my tv, that it looked better after a couple of days. Almost like it was breaking in or something. Everything looks fantastic on my tv now. (SD, HD, and DVD)

Enjoy your new set and pump these guys for information if you need help. They are good. :)

Welcome fellow newbie! :) I have the same tv and had virtually no issues with my set at all. (79 series)

Give your tv like a week or so because I noticed, at least with my tv, that it looked better after a couple of days. Almost like it was breaking in or something. Everything looks fantastic on my tv now. (SD, HD, and DVD)

Enjoy your new set and pump these guys for information if you need help. They are good. :)
This is excellent advice - wait a week or so.

I'm finding this to be the case with the majority of hd sets, especially Samsung. The other thing this helps with is getting familiar with the kinds of anomalies you can and cannot live with. My Samsung set has slight upward bowing on the very bottom of the tube, making "tickers" look awkward - but I find it just doesn't bother me enough to do anything. On the other hand, I found the set had a pincushion error and I did not like it - and ultimately fixed it in the service menu.

So, as deadzone says "give it a week."

As deadzone has mentioned, give it some time Adam1302.

My dad has had his 79 since Monday. I too see the horz bowing in the middle of the screen and it is not that bad. Played around with the overscan this morning a bit in the service menu. (Yes - I wrote down the original settings.) Still need to tweak more but had to get back home for a mtg. That and I didn't take my copy of DVE with me.

I'll be working on it again later today.

Well, looks like I will have to wait until Friday to get the set. Slight invintory problem but thats ok. On further investigation I have seen 4 different sets in my area since yesterday. I went on a pilgrimage to find every SlimFit I could find. Two were not very impressive, a lot of bowing and the picture was not great. The other two I saw both looked incredible. The first two bad ones were both at a Future Shop (Canadian Best Buy sort of) and had been on display since the set first came out. The last two I saw were both at Whacky Wheatleys wich is a smaller local chain and they just started carying them. They both looked outstanding. A little bit of bow on them but really not that bad. The picture was also far better. One thing about Wackys here in NB though, they keep their stores very dark and was told by the salesperson they do alot of tweaking on the sets to get them looking their best. Despite what has been said on this board, all very helpful by the way I feel very confident in my purchase. Future Shop has a return policy second to none and the service plan was too cheap to pass up. The No Lemmon policy is espeacialy nice in case I do get a bad one. I ordered Avia & DVE as well but I will take it slow. My dad has a dynaflat and it is outstanding, it was just too good a deal to pass up. (Also the wife was demanding LCD or plasma and I was not budging on crt) But again the good reviews on this set are outstanding so we know good sets are out there. Just gotta get my hands on one.

Also, disregard the horrid spelling, far to lazy to spell check.

I have one of these myself I got it at the end of January, haven't had a chance to calibrate the tv yet because I can not find a calibration disc in any store looks like I'm going to have to break down and order it online

I do have very slight bowing on the bottom and a tiny little bit on the one side, which i thought I could live with but my eye keeps going to them so I called up Samsung and they were really helpfull, they're going to be sending out a service technician to take care of it, and hopefully after that I will have a calibration disc to calibrate the tv with


stupid question here and kind of off topic but I've seen mention of calibrating each input? wouldn't changing the menus color and brightness and such settings apply those settings to every display?

on my 3079 slimfit on either component input:

When its being fed 480i there is very noticible rainbow splotches on the right side of screen and brightness across the screen is also all screwed up. The left side dark, but right side is bright gray with the color splotching.

When its being fed 480p the rainbow is still there on the right side, but its not as bad, and the brightness across the screen looks ok.

At 720p/1080i the rainbow splotching is gone and brightness across the screen is ok. Picture is fine except for the usual Slimfit geometric distortion.


Does anyone know what could cause that? At 480 input resolutions I have splotches, but then not at 1080i input resolution.

And this doesn't happen at 480i into the S-Video inputs. There it looks fine, just like at 1080i into the component inputs.

Well, I just got this set home and here are my quick thoughts:

First thing I did was bring up cnn to check on the bowing problem. When I finally opened my eyes I thought I might be dreaming. I was in many menus including the menu of a game that gave my Phillips an especially hard time, but no dice. Everything looked great. I put my nose right up against the screen and guess what? Barely noticable. Like, hardly at all. And I know how bad bowing can be. My Phillips was pretty bad.

Bowing aside, i messed with the custom settings per some instruction in this forum and was pleased with the pic I got. As I said I'm going to take it a little slow, and am eagerly awaiting a copy of DVE. SD looks really good, better than my Phillips did and I am getting an HD cable box next week so we'll see.(sweet deal with purchase of the set)

I put in LOTR ROTK and MY GOD. It. Was. Amazing. Looked VERY crisp.

And now for the XBOX360. COD2 looked 3 fricken D. I played a ton of this game on my phillips so I figured I would get the best comparison. I was very used to how this game was "supposed" to look. I can never go back now. I was a skeptic of not only this TV but of the merits of hd ass well. No longer will I doubt thee, HD.

It's like I've been reborn.

Now on to the cons.

I have noticed the purple splotches in the lower righthand corner but it is very faint and can only really be seen on a white background. People have had some success fixing this, or so I've read and it's not really something I'm worried about. Also, I fooled myself into thinking this thing may be a little lighter but as I knew deep in my heart it was not so. Still very heavy.

Now keep in mind I have only had this thing in my hands for about 3 hrs now, but my first impression is better than I could have hoped...the bowing is just not noticable. So basically I could not be happier.

I think I got a good one and I think this is probably the case most of the time. If you can find one from a place with a good return policy I think it would be very worthwile. But again, we'll see.

I will post again if anything changes for better or worse. Thanks again to everyone on this board for all your help.

What does CHECKSUM mean in the service menu? My tv is perfectly fine. I was just snooping around in the sm and was curious what it looked like and what was in it.

I just bought the 27" version yesterday. Geometry is fine, but convergence is lousy! Red is a full "pixel" off to the left, and considering this TV is already only 800 CRT-pixels across, poor convergence places image sharpness firmly below standard definition TV.

I looked in the service menu, and could find nothing about convergence! Is there such an option?


What do you guys suggest? Call samsung, or just return it and buy an LCD instead?
I bought it to use in my bedroom, since CRTs do much better than LCDs in dark rooms, tuned for very low brightness.

I did break the box while unpacking the TV (this TV is so heavy for its size), will CC take it back anyway if it comes to that?

I had the second SlimFit 3079 delivered today from Best Buy, The picture looks great like the other one, less geometry problem (first one was returned because of this), I am giving the set time to break in and I ordered AVIA on line, let's see what happens......noticed in this set a higher contrast than in the previous one...needed more time to adjust the image....in the service menu there is a date January 2006, I guess this set was manufactured or at least calibrated on that date

I have the 27" Slimfit. I've just added the H-20 HD box from D*. I'm really impressed with the picture on my local OTA digital channels. While those channels look really rough on my 42" Sony GW, they look almost HD-like on the Slimfit. This D* / LG tuner rocks with 1080i.

Well, looks like my honeymoon with this tv is over. I've noticed a few things.

1- This is the biggest problem I'm having and is absolutely driving me crazy. I am noticing a distortion in the middle of the set that runs from top to bottom. It's a grey/white line about half an inch thick. It is extremely noticable on black backgrounds but you can still see it on images with color. I thought I could live with it but I can't.

2-Those purple fricken blobs will not go away. I think they're getting bigger. I think they may hate me. It is something that is only really noticable on a white background but you can still see them on images with more colour.

It's disconcerting because the PQ was very good and I didn't have any geometry problems. I was so high on this set. Oh well, I'm going to give samsung a chance and will be exchanging this one for a new one at futureshop tomorrow. I will keep my hopes up but if it doesn't work out its on to the sony KV30HS420 for me. We'll se though.

Bill

...It's disconcerting because the PQ was very good and I didn't have any geometry problems. I was so high on this set. Oh well, I'm going to give samsung a chance and will be exchanging this one for a new one at futureshop tomorrow. I will keep my hopes up but if it doesn't work out its on to the sony KV30HS420 for me. We'll se though.

Bill
Just curious - did you change anything (other than picture mode away from Dynamic)?

Well, looks like my honeymoon with this tv is over. I've noticed a few things.

1- This is the biggest problem I'm having and is absolutely driving me crazy. I am noticing a distortion in the middle of the set that runs from top to bottom. It's a grey/white line about half an inch thick. It is extremely noticable on black backgrounds but you can still see it on images with color. I thought I could live with it but I can't.

2-Those purple fricken blobs will not go away. I think they're getting bigger. I think they may hate me. It is something that is only really noticable on a white background but you can still see them on images with more colour.

It's disconcerting because the PQ was very good and I didn't have any geometry problems. I was so high on this set. Oh well, I'm going to give samsung a chance and will be exchanging this one for a new one at futureshop tomorrow. I will keep my hopes up but if it doesn't work out its on to the sony KV30HS420 for me. We'll se though.

Bill

My dads set had a problem with blobs in the upper right hand corner. It happened just after I added a VCR to his Video 1 inputs. (Both TV and VCR were off.) Would not go away with just cycling power on the set.

I had to physically unplug the set from power before the blobs went away. Try unplugging the set for 30 seconds to see if it goes away. His set is only a week old and it's been running with no blobs for about 5 days now.

Sorry, no idea about problem -1.

My dads set had a problem with blobs in the upper right hand corner. It happened just after I added a VCR to his Video 1 inputs. (Both TV and VCR were off.) Would not go away with just cycling power on the set.

I had to physically unplug the set from power before the blobs went away. Try unplugging the set for 30 seconds to see if it goes away. His set is only a week old and it's been running with no blobs for about 5 days now.

Sorry, no idea about problem -1.

Yeah, I read that and tried it several times...no dice. It's back to the store for me but no big deal. It just means I get another new tv. I love opening boxes.

Question for those who actually did buy the tv...

what stand did you buy to go along with the tv? I was looking at Samsung's site yesterday and it doesn't seem like there is an official one.

I watched the online demo video for the Samsung Slimfit TX-R3079WH...I think from the samsung site....and the file is called slimdemo or something and I noticed in some shots they had the tv on a really cool stand/table...somewhat like a rectangle looking at it from the side hollowed out with curved rounded edge...anyone saw it? I've been trying to find this stand and dont know where go go about it...

I'm not sure I am satisfied yet, but I cannot say I am disappointed either. I am not as discriminating as others here may be since this my first digital television. I like the ability to switch the display to the different picture settings (4:3, 16:9, Movie, Panorama).

The panorma setting is curious to me. I suppose this is Samsung's method of dealing with distortion when you stretch a 4:3 to a 16:9 setting.

Since you posted about the different picture modes...do you watch a widescreen dvd on 16:9? I dont remember seeing a panorama mode on mine...is this the 16:9 you are talking about? I am having a problem with the widescreen issue...when I watch widescreen dvd on 16:9 I still get thick black bars on the top and bottom and the image is over stretched horizontally...(can this be calibrated)?
heres some pics I took showing star wars episode 2 widescreen in the different picture modes:

First photo shows 4:3 surrounded by black bars

Second photo shows 16:9 with THICK black bars on top/bottom...widescreen BUT image is stretched horizontally

Third photo shows my only solution now: to use ZOOM 1 to fill the screen, but this causes the pixels to be more noticeable( and the black bars are still visible). Theres a notice on the manual that these black bars can cause burn ins...and to cut down to 15% viewing of video with these bars...

I am using my ps2 to watch dvd right now (planning on getting the Samsung HD850 dvd player this week)...and I tried PS2 San Andreas in widescreen and it filled the screen nicely with no black bars...
So is this a problem with dvd aspect ratio formatting(filmmakers filming in format wider than 16:9) ?

Well, if you don't know already, to get into the service menu: with the set turned off, on the remote press MUTE, 1, 8, 2, POWER. That'll take you to the service menu. The menus you should be concerned with are DEFLECTION, VIDEO ADJUST 1 and VIDEO ADJUST 2.

Deflection handles geometry. To minimize overscan, you want to focus on the first four settings: V-AMP and H-AMP control how tall and wide the screen is (stretching, literally), V-SHIFT and H-SHIFT control the centering of the screen, vertically and horizontally. It works best to shrink the screen down quite a bit, on both planes, so that you have black borders all the way around. Then use V and H-SHIFT to center the screen. Once you're centered, use V and H-AMP to get your picture back to full screen. Be sure to go a few clicks over. Some feeds aren't quite as "big" resolution-wise as others. Make sure you test your settings with HD channels, standard channels, and any inputs you have like DVD, video games, etc. My settings are:

V-AMP: 26
V-SHIFT: 24
H-AMP: 20
H-SHIFT: 24

Once you have overscan eliminated, the other entries on this menu you might want to tweak are H-PAR, UP-COR, LOW-COR, H-TRA, BOW and ANGLE. Don't bother with the rest. I haven't seen them make any difference. I can't really explain to you what each of these does specifically, because honestly, I don't know. Just make sure to WRITE DOWN YOUR DEFAULT VALUES before messing with these, or anything. Set aside a couple of hours for tweaking and I'm sure you'll get good results. A copy of DVE and Avia running a geometry test pattern in the background helps. Just so you know, when in the service menu, your TV will still display the picture of whatever's connected to your selected input in the background, which definitely helps.

Video Adjust 1 deals with a few important settings. Only modify CTI_LEVEL, COL_AXIS, LTI_LEVEL and MELODY VOLUME in here. I haven't touched anything else. If you want to get rid of the annoying chimes that play when you turn your TV on or off, changed MELODY VOLUME all the way down to 0. COL_AXIS handles "red push". A setting of 1 (not 0 for some reason) turns it off. This is definitely recommended. CTI_LEVEL and LTI_LEVEL handle enhancement of chrominance and luminance; I turned them both down to 0 for a more natural picture.

Video Adjust 2 deals with the other very important stuff. Only modify GAMMA, DPIC_LEVEL, DC-TRANS, VM_LEVEL and SHP_CD. GAMMA, DPIC and DC-TRANS are all somewhat similar. Lower them. Turning them higher will make the picture darker and eliminate shadow detail. I recommended setting all three to zero and then using the basic "brightness" control in the regular menu to control everything else. SHP should also be set to 0 to prevent more artificial sharpening of bright colors. And of course, we come to VSM. Set VM_LEVEL to 0 to do away with the evil velocity scan modulation. You can even set it to 1, but I don't recommend any artificial effects.

When you're done tweaking, just hit power. When you turn your set back on, your settings will be reset, so be sure to take the TV off Dynamic picture mode and set it to custom or even movie. I suggest calibrating with DVE or Avia to get the best picture. Remember, though, ALWAYS record your original settings as there's no way to get them back. And a lot of this is trial and error. You'll probably be turning your TV on and off quite a few times to get to a picture you like best!

A properly calibrated set will probably look much different than factory settings. Let your eyes get used to it and they'll thank you. It will be more like looking through a window than watching TV.
I set COL_AXIS to 1 then within a few seconds of turning the set back on, it started making a scary high frequency whining noise. :eek: I quickly went back into the service menu and set it back to its default value of 2, then the high frequency whine stopped. Now I'm scared to mess with anything else.

Has anyone else here experienced the same thing on their Slimfit when setting COL_AXIS to 1?

Um just curious....

How the heck do you connect surround sound to the television? Like I have the red and white standard wires going from my receiver to the television and when I plug em in...nothing. Why?

It better allow the incoming sound.

Also if anyone has the color settings that they use for this telelvision could they PLEASE post em and save me the hastle. Im some what of a perfectionist when it comes to adjusting things.

I don't know about your audio problems, but as far as the color settings go I think they are probably unique to your particular slimfit. Experts in this thread have pointed out that we need to write down our default values in the Service Menu before we change anything, because they are unique to each individual TV.

Cable television ALSO doesnt work. What the heck? Is this television that big of a piece? And before someone thinks it, its not that I am dumb or anyone else around me trying to help me is dumb and your some kinda smart expert...it simply doesnt work..on any setting.

Experts in this thread have pointed out that we need to write down our default values in the Service Menu before we change anything, because they are unique to each individual TV.


Sorry to get off topic - but is the 960n the same way? Writing down the default values because they are unique to each individual TV

Again - sorry if this is out of place.

I have no idea about the above post...I am new to this HD crap and would appreciate any help.

I got the surround sound working on another signal mode, but not on the 360. I wonder why that is....

I am gonna guess that the only way to get that would be through an optical input...

Which means a new receiever...I dont think so.

Been a while since I posted here. I have been quite happy with my 3079 since purchasing last June.

I have discovered a problem that I have been meaning to post about. Occasionally, I like to turn on closed captioning. I do this by toggling captions on using the "Caption" button beneath the sliding cover on the Samsung remote.

The closed captioning on the display seems to work just fine when I have the input set to S-video and fed via my satellite receiver. But when I have the input switched to over the air (OTA) (usually because I want to watch an OTA HDTV broadcast), then the closed captioning does not work correctly. The symptoms are that it keeps displaying the same lines and moving them higher and higher on the screen as newer lines are added to the bottom. Pretty soon, there are enough rows of text that they are from top to bottom of the screen instead of the expected two or three lines of text. The lines also do not disappear if, for example, the program stops for a commercial.

Has anyone else seen this when trying close captioning with an OTA broadcast?

I guess NOBODY else is having a problem with connecting surround sound from their television to their receiver.

I got cable to work by tweaking a few things and getting a new cable wire. How friggen coincidental that it would die when I got a new television.

My surround sound works when I am running it on cable, but when I turn on the 360...nothing. It is the weirdest thing.

I am connecting my wires through the traditional red and white cables. My receiver is a pioneer receiver that runs Dolby Pro Logic.

Someone who knows a lot about this televison, or has used it for sometime I would assume would know some answers here.

I would appreciate any support.

I set COL_AXIS to 1 then within a few seconds of turning the set back on, it started making a scary high frequency whining noise. :eek: I quickly went back into the service menu and set it back to its default value of 2, then the high frequency whine stopped. Now I'm scared to mess with anything else.

Has anyone else here experienced the same thing on their Slimfit when setting COL_AXIS to 1?
Are you certain you didn't change any other values while you were in the SM? Did you play with any and neglect to return the vaule to its default setting? No adjustments to COL AXIS should give this kind of result.

I don't know about your audio problems, but as far as the color settings go I think they are probably unique to your particular slimfit. Experts in this thread have pointed out that we need to write down our default values in the Service Menu before we change anything, because they are unique to each individual TV.

Sorry to get off topic - but is the 960n the same way? Writing down the default values because they are unique to each individual TV

Again - sorry if this is out of place.
Never enter the SM unless you intend to record ALL default values of ALL the settings you intend to tweak or change. Never.

Direct View crt sets are analog devices and, as such, each and every set is unique. During manufacturing default values are written to each tv. Then in final test each set is individually calibrated against selected test patterns. It would be highly unusual to find two set of the same model with the exact same SM values.

This is why I don't make a habit of sharing my settings because they may well make another tv look worse. HD sets are a substantial investment. The first, best way to build on that investment is to get a calibration dvd (e.g. Avia, DVE) and calibrate your own set. This does not involve the SM - these adjustments are all found in the user menus.

I would really really really really (really x 20 ^ 20) appreciate any help about this audio. I really dont wanna go out and buy a new home theater system if I dont have to.

Does nobody just not know? I mean maybe I am missing something simple, like enabling it a source through the menu or not eyeballing a switch on the back of the television.

Like I said I am using the standard red and white audio cables and trying to connect em from my Samsung to my Pioneer receiver. I get surround sound when it is in tv mode(ie cable television) but not when playing any of my game systems.

I would really really really really (really x 20^20) appreciate any help. I mean even if it is simply it cannot be done.

I cant find an answer anywhere, I have googled and read peoples reviews. Nothing.

Are you certain you didn't change any other values while you were in the SM? Did you play with any and neglect to return the vaule to its default setting? No adjustments to COL AXIS should give this kind of result.
This is what I changed prior to changing COL_AXIS:

I went into the SM and set VM_LEVEL to 0.
Then I powered on and off. Everything was fine.

Then I powered off and went back into the SM and changed V_AMP, H_AMP, V_SHIFT, and H_SHIFT to reduce the overscan.
Then I powered on and off. Everything was fine.

Then I powered off and went back into the SM and set COL_AXIS to 1. Then powered off and on and within a few seconds had the scary high frequency whine.

Then I powered off and went back into the SM and set COL_AXIS back to its default value of 2. I powered off and on and the whine was gone.




p.s. - hey justsc, thanks for all the help and info you've given to us slimfit owners throughout the 20+ pages of this thread, even though you don't even a slimfit. :)

This is what I changed prior to changing COL_AXIS:

I went into the SM and set VM_LEVEL to 0.
Then I powered on and off. Everything was fine.

Then I powered off and went back into the SM and changed V_AMP, H_AMP, V_SHIFT, and H_SHIFT to reduce the overscan.
Then I powered on and off. Everything was fine.

Then I powered off and went back into the SM and set COL_AXIS to 1. Then powered off and on and within a few seconds had the scary high frequency whine.

Then I powered off and went back into the SM and set COL_AXIS back to its default value of 2. I powered off and on and the whine was gone.




p.s. - hey justsc, thanks for all the help and info you've given to us slimfit owners throughout the 20+ pages of this thread, even though you don't even a slimfit. :)

I'm gonna have to second that. Single most helpful person I've ever met on any forum.

Also, in response to my earlier post, i was able to get rid of the purple splotches by unplugging the set while at work today. Came home, plugged it in and everything was fine.

As for the white/grey line, I can only barley see it on black backgrounds (i think I was being a bit dramatic), so I've learned to live with it.

I am now very happy with my set and am anctiously awaiting my calibration dvd.

Whoa whoa whoa...

About my audio problems, that I am not so sure if anyone else even cares about. When I go into the service menu, for a SHORT SPLIT SECOND my surround sound will work when my 360 is running, but then it will stop again.

Is there a setting in this menu I am looking over?

Whoa whoa whoa...

About my audio problems, that I am not so sure if anyone else even cares about. When I go into the service menu, for a SHORT SPLIT SECOND my surround sound will work when my 360 is running, but then it will stop again.

Is there a setting in this menu I am looking over?


why dont you just connect the output of the 360 to the stereo directly? seems to make more sense to me.
It may be that the TV does not consider input audio in the same way as processed audio (from an antenna or cable) which it outputs through the audio out.

i do have 2 questions of my own though:

1. is there a way in the service menu to switch to a 4:3 ratio? no matter what input or picture mode i start off with when turning off the tv, the service menu comes up on a 16:9 full screen mode.

2. i am having a small issue with OTA HDTV. It used to work fine, at 8-9 bars of signal strength. now its at only 3-5 for some odd reason. So now it stutters every 10 seconds or so for a fraction of second, but still watchabale. The issue is that sometimes when the signal goes from commercials (normal stereo sound) to the acual show (dolby digital), the TV restarts by itself. I wonder if its something maybe connected to the weaker signal or if others are experiencing this with full signal.

Whoa whoa whoa...

About my audio problems, that I am not so sure if anyone else even cares about. When I go into the service menu, for a SHORT SPLIT SECOND my surround sound will work when my 360 is running, but then it will stop again.

Is there a setting in this menu I am looking over?

Plenty of us here care but I'm not sure many of us are using (or know about)XBox360's. Maybe you need to go to a specific XBox forum for help.

IMHO, I cannot see any reason why you would have to go into a service menu to get this setup correctly. Especially audio. I'm guessing you need to use an optical cable from the XBox directly to the receiver. If you do not have enough inputs then you need a new receiver.

Hope you get it resolved.

i do have 2 questions of my own though:

1. is there a way in the service menu to switch to a 4:3 ratio? no matter what input or picture mode i start off with when turning off the tv, the service menu comes up on a 16:9 full screen mode.

2. i am having a small issue with OTA HDTV. It used to work fine, at 8-9 bars of signal strength. now its at only 3-5 for some odd reason. So now it stutters every 10 seconds or so for a fraction of second, but still watchabale. The issue is that sometimes when the signal goes from commercials (normal stereo sound) to the acual show (dolby digital), the TV restarts by itself. I wonder if its something maybe connected to the weaker signal or if others are experiencing this with full signal.

1. I'm normally using a DVE disc when in the service menu so I would want 16:9 for overscan adjustments. I can't see why 4:3 or 16:9 while in the SM would make a difference. Can you elaborate?

2. Are you testing signal strength at different times of the day? Here on the east coast I find nightime signals are stronger than daytime. You might want to check out the HDTV Reception Forum for you specific area. The TV restarting by itself should not happen regardless of signal strength. Something is definately wrong.

1. I'm normally using a DVE disc when in the service menu so I would want 16:9 for overscan adjustments. I can't see why 4:3 or 16:9 while in the SM would make a difference. Can you elaborate?

2. Are you testing signal strength at different times of the day? Here on the east coast I find nightime signals are stronger than daytime. You might want to check out the HDTV Reception Forum for you specific area. The TV restarting by itself should not happen regardless of signal strength. Something is definately wrong.

I also used DVE disc in 16:9 and fixed all my geometry problems. I was just wondering about the 4:3, no real need, as i got the adjustmens done already.

The signal strength does get better at night, but i am about 30 miles from the source, and with an idoor antenna. Its not really a concern other than the restarts. I did experiment a bit just now and figured that it happens if i am turning the volume up or down as the signal type switches. Essentially, if i see that commericials are ending, i hit volume up and as the volume goes up and the signal type changes, it reboots. If i let it change over and only then change volume, no problems. Weird issue. I wonder what would happen with a HD signal from satelite or cable. We are moving this summer and we will get satellite, we'll see then.

I also used DVE disc in 16:9 and fixed all my geometry problems. I was just wondering about the 4:3, no real need, as i got the adjustmens done already.

The signal strength does get better at night, but i am about 30 miles from the source, and with an idoor antenna. Its not really a concern other than the restarts. I did experiment a bit just now and figured that it happens if i am turning the volume up or down as the signal type switches. Essentially, if i see that commericials are ending, i hit volume up and as the volume goes up and the signal type changes, it reboots. If i let it change over and only then change volume, no problems. Weird issue. I wonder what would happen with a HD signal from satelite or cable. We are moving this summer and we will get satellite, we'll see then.

My only guess with the reboot issue is to try another toslink cable from the set to the receiver. If this doesn't help you need to call Samsung and get some service. Good luck.

This is what I changed prior to changing COL_AXIS:

I went into the SM and set VM_LEVEL to 0.
Then I powered on and off. Everything was fine.

Then I powered off and went back into the SM and changed V_AMP, H_AMP, V_SHIFT, and H_SHIFT to reduce the overscan.
Then I powered on and off. Everything was fine.

Then I powered off and went back into the SM and set COL_AXIS to 1. Then powered off and on and within a few seconds had the scary high frequency whine.

Then I powered off and went back into the SM and set COL_AXIS back to its default value of 2. I powered off and on and the whine was gone.




p.s. - hey justsc, thanks for all the help and info you've given to us slimfit owners throughout the 20+ pages of this thread, even though you don't even a slimfit. :)
WOW!

Bill_4D & segask,

Thanks for the kind words. ;) I've got a circa '03 Samsung crt EDTV and I learned boatloads of good info on another forum. This is just my way of giving back, and it pleases me no end when a Samsung owner with a problem set hangs in there just a bit, shows some patience, and sees their problems resolved by either going into the SM, or by just letting the issues settle out over a week or two.

segask - I am stumped by this whine you get when adjusting red push. And it doesn't start until you restart the tv, correct? I may look into this on another forum and if I get anything useful I'll get back to you.

Cheers!

Guys, I'm glad I stumbled upon this site! I was headed to Best Buy tomorrow to check this same model out. From what I've gathered from reviewers and regular folks - 70% love the set and the other 30% hate it (not a scientific poll, mind you! :D)
With the information I've gotten from this thread I'll be able to make a better decision come tomorrow...

and only paying $700 for it is sure helping sway my decision!

I thought about plugging it directly into the stereo, but of course the only way to realy do that is to get an extension on to the audio cables considering they wont reach on their own.

I understand this maybe the wrong place, but I was just wondering if it had something to do with the television. For instance, does anyone else have a DVD player or any other device that they tried to connect indirectly from the television to their receiver? Did that not work and you had to connect it directly from the dvd player to the receiver. I dont wanna loose sound on my television also.

So perhaps there is some sort of audio cable that can split the connection to go both to the televison and the receiver? Unlikely...

So I shall as this. Has anyone used the audio optical output on the television do get all their things working.

I thought about plugging it directly into the stereo, but of course the only way to realy do that is to get an extension on to the audio cables considering they wont reach on their own.

I understand this maybe the wrong place, but I was just wondering if it had something to do with the television. For instance, does anyone else have a DVD player or any other device that they tried to connect indirectly from the television to their receiver? Did that not work and you had to connect it directly from the dvd player to the receiver. I dont wanna loose sound on my television also.

So perhaps there is some sort of audio cable that can split the connection to go both to the televison and the receiver? Unlikely...

So I shall as this. Has anyone used the audio optical output on the television do get all their things working.
You have a number of components that need to play nicely together. For home theater, including hdtv, the centerpiece for audio is the receiver, not the tv. The easiest, simplest and most efficient way to work it is to connect all "audio out" cables to the receiver. Trying to do this through the tv will cause unending headaches. I do recall reading that trying to manage audio through a Samsung HD set and a number of other components can be difficult - especially if an HDMI connection is part of the mix.

Your best opportunity for a useful answer is to go to the gaming and HTPC threads here at AVS, especially since your biggest challenge is a game console.

Good Luck! ;)

Thanks for the info and the help as I am still new to this community and still finding my way around in a matter of speaking.

What I have found out however from one source is that this television audio out will NOT accept an analog audio out. This does explain why only my cable television can produce surround sound, which I must add it probably isn't considered "true surround sound" considering its a pretty old receiver. Its a pioneer that has dolby pro logic.

I am going to assume my best bet with this is simply to get a new receiver that can accept digital optical audio and connect my stuff that way. So I guess the question still stands if the optical out on the samsung supports all the input sources(all componets, composites, s-videos) I will continue to browse, but if anyone else KNOWS for a fact because they have it setup that would be great.

Perhaps I am the wrong place for this final question I have. While browsing around I stumbled upon some settings, on this exact thread actually about some service menu options. I changed those to what was stated and I truely appreciate those values as I am sure many others do to.

But I have to ask, has anyone else messed with the subbrightness, subcolor, subtint, subcontrast? Those sorts of things? And if so I have read that the service menu settings are a universal value. Perhaps anyone with good values for those things mentioned above could post em. It feels like im so close to getting the picture I want.

Have you purchased a calibration dvd? Working to achieve better PQ by entering other's SM values is very bass ackwards.

The only way to achieve long-term high fidelity is to learn how your tv delivers picture quality and have the proper tools on hand to see for yourself what your tweaking is doing to the picture. People may provide you with settings but you may never know why these numbers did what they did.

Have you recorded ALL of the values of the settings you changed, BEFORE you changed them?

Your approach may best be described as an accident waiting to happen.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people in this thread want to use other people's calibration values on their sets, no matter how many times they've been warned. It just tells me that they're not reading previous posts. I know there are a lot of posts to wade through, but it's no excuse.

These TV's are analog electronic devices. It's been a long time since I've taken any electronics courses, but what I do remember is this: most consumer grade components have a plus or minus 10% tolerance factor. Multiply that times the number of components in a TV and you're starting to get the picture (yes, pun intended :rolleyes: ). Even "military grade" electronics, which are suppose to have closer tolerances, vary up to 5%. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, every TV that rolls off the assembly line can have drastically different values to get them to the same visual output. As Justsc points out, you're really gambling trying to use someone else's settings, especially if you didn't write down your factory settings first.

Paul

All I was saying is that I read somewhere that the system menu where they have all the goodies to adjust like subtint, color, etc etc, was universal. I do not know if that menu itself and its options are universal or the numbers start out at a universal value.

I have recorded all my settings before even thinking about changing anything and have done my research. I havn't thrown my television off course or anything. IF ANYTHING, the picture looks so much better now than it did before and it seems like I am only a tiny bit of minor tweaking before I feel perfectly comfortable with it.

And although I did write all the values down, my television for some reason offers a reset button anyways on everything. So I could easily restore it to factory default. Perhaps its a newer model? Perhaps not, who knows but it is there.

Personally, I am the kinda person who just wants a good looking picture. People on these forums seem way technically above me for the moment in terms of HDTV's, but the thing is I dont care about all the bells and whistles of a television, I just want the thing to look good.

Im not asking anyone to come over to my house and calibrate it for me, I am simply asking should I even mess with all that crap, the subcolor, subtint etc etc.

I took advice from an earlier poster who offered a few changes to make the picture look more real and it worked.

None the less I appreciate the help given here and certainly have learned a ton along my way.

Fair enough. We all want the same thing - the best PQ possible.

And you've got a great set to work with.

One WARNING - DO NOT hit that reset button. It will NOT reset the values to what they were when you got the set. Once you hit that button you might as well throw the set away.

This is what I mean about approach - the SM is not to be toyed with.

All I was saying is that I read somewhere that the system menu where they have all the goodies to adjust like subtint, color, etc etc, was universal. I do not know if that menu itself and its options are universal or the numbers start out at a universal value.

I have recorded all my settings before even thinking about changing anything and have done my research. I havn't thrown my television off course or anything. IF ANYTHING, the picture looks so much better now than it did before and it seems like I am only a tiny bit of minor tweaking before I feel perfectly comfortable with it.

And although I did write all the values down, my television for some reason offers a reset button anyways on everything. So I could easily restore it to factory default. Perhaps its a newer model? Perhaps not, who knows but it is there.

Personally, I am the kinda person who just wants a good looking picture. People on these forums seem way technically above me for the moment in terms of HDTV's, but the thing is I dont care about all the bells and whistles of a television, I just want the thing to look good.

Im not asking anyone to come over to my house and calibrate it for me, I am simply asking should I even mess with all that crap, the subcolor, subtint etc etc.

I took advice from an earlier poster who offered a few changes to make the picture look more real and it worked.

None the less I appreciate the help given here and certainly have learned a ton along my way.

Please listen to what folks are saying here. Just because somebody else with a 3079 or other Samsung posts SM values, it doesn't mean they will positively effect your set for the better. It's great that you wrote down your original values. That's a start. Now go out and get Avia or DVE so you have the tools to actually see what the value changes do. To some extent alot of them play off one another so you will be going back and forth. So this will involve some time. And hopefully you'll have some fun along the way.

Meltdown. Here is what I used to start with. I found this in these forums somewhere. Sorry I'm not able to give credit where credit is due. It's not my stuff.

Well, if you don't know already, to get into the service menu: with the set turned off, on the remote press MUTE, 1, 8, 2, POWER. That'll take you to the service menu. The menus you should be concerned with are DEFLECTION, VIDEO ADJUST 1 and VIDEO ADJUST 2.

Deflection handles geometry. To minimize overscan, you want to focus on the first four settings: V-AMP and H-AMP control how tall and wide the screen is (stretching, literally), V-SHIFT and H-SHIFT control the centering of the screen, vertically and horizontally. It works best to shrink the screen down quite a bit, on both planes, so that you have black borders all the way around. Then use V and H-SHIFT to center the screen. Once you're centered, use V and H-AMP to get your picture back to full screen. Be sure to go a few clicks over. Some feeds aren't quite as "big" resolution-wise as others. Make sure you test your settings with HD channels, standard channels, and any inputs you have like DVD, video games, etc. My settings are:

V-AMP: 26
V-SHIFT: 24
H-AMP: 20
H-SHIFT: 24

Once you have overscan eliminated, the other entries on this menu you might want to tweak are H-PAR, UP-COR, LOW-COR, H-TRA, BOW and ANGLE. Don't bother with the rest. I haven't seen them make any difference. I can't really explain to you what each of these does specifically, because honestly, I don't know. Just make sure to WRITE DOWN YOUR DEFAULT VALUES before messing with these, or anything. Set aside a couple of hours for tweaking and I'm sure you'll get good results. A copy of DVE and Avia running a geometry test pattern in the background helps. Just so you know, when in the service menu, your TV will still display the picture of whatever's connected to your selected input in the background, which definitely helps.

Video Adjust 1 deals with a few important settings. Only modify CTI_LEVEL, COL_AXIS, LTI_LEVEL and MELODY VOLUME in here. I haven't touched anything else. If you want to get rid of the annoying chimes that play when you turn your TV on or off, changed MELODY VOLUME all the way down to 0. COL_AXIS handles "red push". A setting of 1 (not 0 for some reason) turns it off. This is definitely recommended. CTI_LEVEL and LTI_LEVEL handle enhancement of chrominance and luminance; I turned them both down to 0 for a more natural picture.

Video Adjust 2 deals with the other very important stuff. Only modify GAMMA, DPIC_LEVEL, DC-TRANS, VM_LEVEL and SHP_CD. GAMMA, DPIC and DC-TRANS are all somewhat similar. Lower them. Turning them higher will make the picture darker and eliminate shadow detail. I recommended setting all three to zero and then using the basic "brightness" control in the regular menu to control everything else. SHP should also be set to 0 to prevent more artificial sharpening of bright colors. And of course, we come to VSM. Set VM_LEVEL to 0 to do away with the evil velocity scan modulation. You can even set it to 1, but I don't recommend any artificial effects.

When you're done tweaking, just hit power. When you turn your set back on, your settings will be reset, so be sure to take the TV off Dynamic picture mode and set it to custom or even movie. I suggest calibrating with DVE or Avia to get the best picture. Remember, though, ALWAYS record your original settings as there's no way to get them back. And a lot of this is trial and error. You'll probably be turning your TV on and off quite a few times to get to a picture you like best!

A properly calibrated set will probably look much different than factory settings. Let your eyes get used to it and they'll thank you. It will be more like looking through a window than watching TV.

Thank you to the above poster. Now see was that so hard? That helped a ton! So screw the DVD. I really really appreciate all the information guys. I guess I will stay away from that reset button even though I had no intent to hit it. Not to be arrogant but its rare that I will do something so incredibly stupid that I would want to just start over.

Now if only I could have figured out a way to get my xbox360 to have surround sound without having to buy a whole new dang receiver and still getting sound on my television also.

I assume the best way to go about this is get the new receiver with the optical audio and connect it from my 360 directly to that while still leaving the normal audio cords into the television as well.

Alrighty, well heres something interesting but very very annoying.

Lower right hand corner of my screen there is a purpleish, moronish, yellowish blob of well crap. Just showed up when I powered on my television once. Stranger that when I move it back to the right, I only did that to pull the plug on it for 2 minutes it was gone. Then when I put the tv back into viewing position its back. Its like it hates me or doesnt want me to watch it. Its the strangest thing. I have never seen an electronic behave in this manner.

I removed all speakers and anything that could remotely cause a magnetic problem and still it only goes away if I move it back to that one position. Pretty messed up.

Any suggestions?

I am considering taking this back over the weekend because it has caused more of a hastle than anything with the surround sound, the discolorations in the corners. But before I get too hasty lemme throw out this idea.

Tell me which is better my television the Samsung TX-R3079WH http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7045397&type=product&productCategoryId=cat03002&id=1099396990967

OR

The Sony KV30HS420 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6494135&type=product&productCategoryId=cat03002&id=1077628885856

Honestlly now, what is going to give me more bang for my buck here. I am attempting to play 360 on a good HDTV, not to mention with my already put in surround sound. I would rather not have to go out and buy a whole new one. Plus does the sony have these discoloration issues too in the corner?

Educate me, I am open to ANY AND EVERY SUGGETION...um within that price range of course.

Alrighty, well heres something interesting but very very annoying.

Lower right hand corner of my screen there is a purpleish, moronish, yellowish blob of well crap. Just showed up when I powered on my television once. Stranger that when I move it back to the right, I only did that to pull the plug on it for 2 minutes it was gone. Then when I put the tv back into viewing position its back. Its like it hates me or doesnt want me to watch it. Its the strangest thing. I have never seen an electronic behave in this manner.

I removed all speakers and anything that could remotely cause a magnetic problem and still it only goes away if I move it back to that one position. Pretty messed up.

Any suggestions?

Try unplugging the set for a while then plugging it back in. I and a few other people had this same problem (mine were in all four corners). Doing this will deguass your set. I had to try it a few times but it worked like a charm

I have tired over and over. Even left it unplug over night. Unplugged it for 30 seconds, unplugged it for a min and 2 minutes. Nothing.

So having this problem and simply going to have to buy a new receiver for surround sound is making me debate if I should just take this television back for the sony.

Which television is truely the better television?

Have had both the 27" & 30" for months. The OTA HD is superb, but getting tired of not be able to see the bottom ticker on sports chans. Finally got the nerve to bring up the Deflection in the SM on both sets.
27" V-AMP 45, V-SHIFT 28, H-AMP 33, H-SHIFT 37
30" V-AMP 35, V-SHIFT 24, H-AMP 40, H-SHIFT 50
That tells me the factory defaults are not universal...I think. I'll not change any of the settings until the little wife approves. I post if I have success. If you don't hear from me again, it was the wife. Any suggestions how to do this slowly and which to bring down in value first?

Meltdown611186,
I had to register to respond to your post regarding the "blob" in the corner. I bought the 3079 about 7 weeks ago. I have the same exact mysterious blob problem. I called Samsung and they had someone come over to check it out. The service guy said it was magnetic interference, he rotated the set 6 inches and the blob disappeared. I thought I had a problem with that particular corner of the room, so I moved my entire entertainment set up to a different section of the room.
The blob is still there (lower left corner...baseball size) more noticable against a red background. But here is the strangest thing....if I rotate the set the same 6 inches, the blob goes away. It is maddening and I've become pre-occupied about looking in that little corner. Maybe the set is so sensitive to magnetism that is needs to be alligned with the magnetic field of the earth.

Same EXACT thing happens to me. If I push back the television on the right side where the blob is, it will go away. Otherwise its there and very annoying. And it should be annoying, after all paid tons of money for a television.

ok,, I´m from Mexico so.. my english is not very good but....
I have this TV and the PQ is very good.. the blotch in the corner (left side up) is very
slight. Only with white back is noticeable. (its a square around 1 inch)
I´m happy with tis TV.. in my country only 4 digital chanels are recibed but the quality is fine.
by the way,, here in Mexico the model is CL32Z30

Other than the blob, I have applied many of the Deflection tweaks and Video adjustment via the service menu that I found throughout this thread and I must say that the picture is stunning in HD. It's also awesome in SD. XBOX360 looks 3D, the detail is incredible.

Is everyone saying that this television ALWAYS has a color blob problem?

I gave up and returned my set. (poor convergence). Circuit city took it back without problems.

After reading everyone elses posts about all the various troubles such as geometry, magnetic discoloration (blobs) etc, i was again reminded why CRTs just aren't the way of the future :).

The only reason I wanted a CRT was because you can make them dark enough for a bedroom while still looking good (black level low enough), but ultimately I realized LCD was a safer bet.

I ended up buying a Samsung LN-R268W - 26" LCD, 16:9 ratio, 1366x768 resolution and 3000:1 stated contrast ratio, but no HDTV tuner.

Contrast is definitely nowhere near as good as the Slimfit CRT was, but everything else is MUCH better. So, while not an ideal solution, at least now I can watch HD in my bedroom :).

well, i just got off the phone with the tv tech who was assigned to me after i called samsung. he said that he did some research and that, according to samsung's internal documents/troubleshooting guide, the vertical and horizontal bowing issues CAN be fixed via the service menu. he stated that the settings were 'off' when the tv left the factory. i sure hope that he is right! i will post a response after he works his magic tomorrow afternoon.

and by the way, for anyone who is bothered by some of the issues with this tv, call samsung! it was absolutely painless to have them schedule this guy to come out to my place. the representative i spoke with was very nice. if the tech can actually fix my geometry issues, i'll be a repeat samsung customer.

stay tuned...

edit:

"Is everyone saying that this television ALWAYS has a color blob problem?"

i get purple blotches in my corners from time to time, but i only notice them when the screen is completely gray (like if you have input component 1 selected but there is no signal going to it). i have tried the unplugging method a few times just to see if it worked and it was a success every time...

Hi,
Im from the UK, I would like to share my expreience of the Slim fit tv, the model numbers may differ in the UK, but the tvs are basically the same ones.

Just got my Sammsung Ws32z306vb 32" Slimfit delivered today from Currys, (A large UK electrical retailer).

But I`m very upset with what they have done,
Due to only having a small car, and being disabled, I had the set delivered rather than taking it home with me, as its very heavy.
I paied for next day delivery, and it never turned up, phoned the shop, "oh there was a mix up, it wasnt put out to be collected", so they said it would be delivered today, and waived the delivery charge which I thought was ok.

Came today, the salesman said in the shop he had opened the box, to check the remote, was in the there, and had resealed it, fair enough, so when I opened the box, the remote was in a WH Smiths bag, batteries all ready in it, along with the manual which looked far from new, plus loads of screws plastic feet and bolts, which I presumed were from the stand, but when I opened the stand box, which had XD on the side, there was a bag of fittings in there.

I got the tv out the box, soon as I put it on, all the normal tv stations were all ready tuned in, and most of the settings had been changed from their defaults, there was finger prints all over the case.

So I phoned Currys up, talked the the bloke who sold me it, who was 1/2 soaked, put me onto a manager who offered a discount, as "Oh somet looks like its gone wrong there sir" no way, I want a NEW set, I paied for a NEW one, not a user returned one, or a ex display, there getting back to me.


First impressions of the set , its looks stunning, nice picture, I dont have Sky, but I`ve got Freeview, so I tried Sky Sports News, for the scrolling banners, and there is a small bow, hopefully that can be improved in the SM settings, dvds look great, and also me XBox, I presume it will need the odd tweak here and there, but who knows why it was returned, or how long its been out on the shop floor been poked and prodded, so I either want a new set, or a full refund.

How companies think they can get away with these types of tricks, do they think we are all so thick not to notice it, jezzuzz

Hi,
Im from the UK, I would like to share my expreience of the Slim fit tv, the model numbers may differ in the UK, but the tvs are basically the same ones.

Just got my Sammsung Ws32z306vb 32" Slimfit delivered today from Currys, (A large UK electrical retailer).

But I`m very upset with what they have done,
Due to only having a small car, and being disabled, I had the set delivered rather than taking it home with me, as its very heavy.
I paied for next day delivery, and it never turned up, phoned the shop, "oh there was a mix up, it wasnt put out to be collected", so they said it would be delivered today, and waived the delivery charge which I thought was ok....

How companies think they can get away with these types of tricks, do they think we are all so thick not to notice it, jezzuzz
This is unforgivable. Should never happen.

I have also found that my good buddy, paraplegic, gets taken advantage of quite often. His mind is as sharp as yours so he usually triumphs, but not w/o lots of hassles. I hope this is not your case.

I also hope you get a great "new" set as well. If possible, have them deliver the new set before taking away the used one. It could just be that the used one has better picture quality than the new one...

Best of Luck! ;)

Samsung is shipping a replacement for my TX-R3081WH. Although the vertical bowing was quite bad, the horizontal geometry was almost perfect. I just hope I don't see these problems on the replacement set.Replacement TX-R3081WH arrived today...overall, I'm much, much happier with this set: horizontal and vertical geometry issues are minor and there are no visible blob/blotch problems. However, the center screen geometry is off but it wasn't noticeable until I popped up a guide menu. Even so, the issue is slight and can be easily tweaked. The out of the box differences between set 1 and set 2 are night and day.

well, i just got off the phone with the tv tech who was assigned to me after i called samsung. he said that he did some research and that, according to samsung's internal documents/troubleshooting guide, the vertical and horizontal bowing issues CAN be fixed via the service menu. he stated that the settings were 'off' when the tv left the factory. i sure hope that he is right! i will post a response after he works his magic tomorrow afternoon.

and by the way, for anyone who is bothered by some of the issues with this tv, call samsung! it was absolutely painless to have them schedule this guy to come out to my place. the representative i spoke with was very nice. if the tech can actually fix my geometry issues, i'll be a repeat samsung customer.

stay tuned...



Looking forward to an update on this.

riffjim4069 where do you use your 81....and whats your seating distance.

thanks-

riffjim4069 where do you use your 81....and whats your seating distance.

thanks-It's a bedroom set and we're 12ft. away...which is around the same distance as we sit from our 50" Sony and 65" Mitsubishi. Yep, the set is too small IMO but it is much larger than the 26" Samsung it replaced. Unfortunately, the previous owner build a customer wall unit (dressers, shelves, entertainment center) when the home was constructed in '95 and this is largest moderately priced widescreen that will fit into the entertainment center. I opted for knocking out the wall unit and moving the Sony into the bedroom...however, my wife did not share my enthusiasm for this project.

Is everyone saying that this television ALWAYS has a color blob problem?
I believe I was first in the thread to report success in having the purple blob disappear after unplugging and replugging. Since that very first day when I bought it nearly a year ago, I have never seen one since. So, NO, would be the answer to your question.

The "turning it 6 inches" solution is a red flag to me. It would seem to me that something with a magnetic field is within those 6 inches. Finding what it is is key. Is it a piece of equipment? A power cord inducing a fiield? A light source? Magnets on a cabinet door? Sunlight? Pressure on the case during the 6 inch turn that affects something in the slimfit's case?

Have you tried a different electrical outlet on a different circuit?

alright, the tech just left my place. he was an incompetent twit. the vertical bowing is WORSE and the horizontal bowing is unchanged. i will be resetting all the sm values shortly (i have the factory ones written down).

i also just got off the phone with samsung. the customer service rep suggested i call back tomorrow so that i can speak with their tier-two service reps. one way or another, this will get resolved...

i'd at least like for someone at samsung to admit that the geometry issues are a flaw in the engineering. if they would do that, i will gladly give up this crazy pursuit and let things rest. until then, i'll be on the phone chewing their asses out!

alright, the tech just left my place. he was an incompetent twit. the vertical bowing is WORSE and the horizontal bowing is unchanged. i will be resetting all the sm values shortly (i have the factory ones written down).

i also just got off the phone with samsung. the customer service rep suggested i call back tomorrow so that i can speak with their tier-two service reps. one way or another, this will get resolved...

i'd at least like for someone at samsung to admit that the geometry issues are a flaw in the engineering. if they would do that, i will gladly give up this crazy pursuit and let things rest. until then, i'll be on the phone chewing their asses out!
I am SO sorry for this outcome. I was hoping for much better news.

You made a point earlier that needs to be repeated:

"and by the way, for anyone who is bothered by some of the issues with this tv, call samsung! it was absolutely painless to have them schedule this guy to come out to my place. the representative i spoke with was very nice."

Samsung must be made aware of these problems by all buyers. Make noise, do whatever it takes to get them to pay attention. Samsung can make outstanding tvs, and we need to hold them to the level of quality of which they are capable.

Never mind! The not-seeing-ticker was not a SlimFit problem. After a long while of comparing SM settings of both sets and changing, it hit me and problem fixed. Changing the DirecTV H-10 aspect ratio to 4:3 from 16:9 since we don't subscribe to HD solved the problem. Sorry. My little wife who was assisting me with the SM values even gave me a hi-five when I solved it. Now on to the next "It's always something".

........We are now five days into March..........Does anyone have an inside track into when (in March according to the press release from CES) Samsung will be releasing the new TX-S3082WH and TX-S3080WH? They haven't even posted the new stats on their website yet.

I am SO sorry for this outcome. I was hoping for much better news.

You made a point earlier that needs to be repeated:

"and by the way, for anyone who is bothered by some of the issues with this tv, call samsung! it was absolutely painless to have them schedule this guy to come out to my place. the representative i spoke with was very nice."

Samsung must be made aware of these problems by all buyers. Make noise, do whatever it takes to get them to pay attention. Samsung can make outstanding tvs, and we need to hold them to the level of quality of which they are capable.

i will continue to make noise with them, but i find it strange that NONE of the customer service reps i've spoken to have gotten calls about geometry issues on this tv (according to them). every store display set i've seen has these problems. hopefully, when i talk to the tier-2 tech tomorrow i can get him to be more forthcoming as i'm pretty sure all the reps i've dealt with this far have very limited technical knowledge of the tvs.

I am new to this forum. Hello everyone! I want this T.V. Samsung TX-R3079WH. I am in love with the outward apperance but, there seems to be issues with it.

My needs are limited to viewing DVDs and PS2. I care not about cable nor satilite or broadcast T.V.

I plan on purchsing a new DVD HDMI output player with this T.V.

I have a question about the optical audio output on this set. Do I go from this to my reciever? does it retain the sound quality?

Thanks in advance for all of the communities help

I am new to this forum. Hello everyone! I want this T.V. Samsung TX-R3079WH. I am in love with the outward apperance but, there seems to be issues with it.

My needs are limited to viewing DVDs and PS2. I care not about cable nor satilite or broadcast T.V.

I plan on purchsing a new DVD HDMI output player with this T.V.

I have a question about the optical audio output on this set. Do I go from this to my reciever? does it retain the sound quality?

Thanks in advance for all of the communities help

i have the 3079 and i wouldn't recommend it. i've seen sony 30" crt hdtv's with hdmi in for $800 at circuit city and best buy. i recommend you pick one of those up. sony, hands down, makes the nicest hdtv's on the market.

the 3079 is definitely a nice looking tv, but the geometry issues with this thing are absolutely terrible. i didn't realize some of the issues with my tv until i was out of my 30-day return period from best buy or else i would have returned it. in fact, i didn't know that tv's could have geometry issues (i remember thinking almost immediately after purchasing the tv that the volume box and bar were shaped funny, but at the time i didn't know that 'bowing' even existed...). between my set and display units i've checked at numerous retailers, i'm even skeptical of the people here claiming their sets have no geometry issues whatsoever...

i have the 3079 and i wouldn't recommend it. i've seen sony 30" crt hdtv's with hdmi in for $800 at circuit city and best buy. i recommend you pick one of those up. sony, hands down, makes the nicest hdtv's on the market.

the 3079 is definitely a nice looking tv, but the geometry issues with this thing are absolutely terrible. i didn't realize some of the issues with my tv until i was out of my 30-day return period from best buy or else i would have returned it. in fact, i didn't know that tv's could have geometry issues (i remember thinking almost immediately after purchasing the tv that the volume box and bar were shaped funny, but at the time i didn't know that 'bowing' even existed...). between my set and display units i've checked at numerous retailers, i'm even skeptical of the people here claiming their sets have no geometry issues whatsoever...


How far are you out of your return period? I ended up returning mine to the store I purchased it from about two to three weeks past the return period. I had a store tech come out and look at mine, he ended up telling me it was one of the best slimfit's that he had seen and said that the geometry issues I was having were acceptable for a slimfit.

I went back to the store (without the TV) and spoke with a manager about my situation. Explained that I could not deal with having a TV with such extreme acceptable defects and that I would get another set through them, they agreed to take it back without any hesitation.

Personally, in your situation, I would do the same. Go to best buy, speak with the manager, explain that you had a tech come to look at it and he couldn't fix it and that you would like to exchange it for a different set. If that doesn't work to your advantage, then I would keep hassling samsung about it.

How far are you out of your return period? I ended up returning mine to the store I purchased it from about two to three weeks past the return period. I had a store tech come out and look at mine, he ended up telling me it was one of the best slimfit's that he had seen and said that the geometry issues I was having were acceptable for a slimfit.

I went back to the store (without the TV) and spoke with a manager about my situation. Explained that I could not deal with having a TV with such extreme acceptable defects and that I would get another set through them, they agreed to take it back without any hesitation.

Personally, in your situation, I would do the same. Go to best buy, speak with the manager, explain that you had a tech come to look at it and he couldn't fix it and that you would like to exchange it for a different set. If that doesn't work to your advantage, then I would keep hassling samsung about it.

i bought the tv in mid-december, so i'm approaching three months here. i doubt that best buy is going to take the tv back at this point. i think i'm better off fighting with samsung.

i bought the tv in mid-december, so i'm approaching three months here. i doubt that best buy is going to take the tv back at this point. i think i'm better off fighting with samsung.

Yeah, that's pretty far back. You're probably doing the right thing with samsung then. Hopefully they can help you out.

After my experience, I am staying far far away from Samsung.

Best of luck.

Smoke said:

i'm even skeptical of the people here claiming their sets have no geometry issues whatsoever...

So are you saying from one newbie to another that I am a liar? If you don't like the tv fine, keep your ranting that implies that I am knowingly deceiving this whole forum out of it at least. Thanks.

I'm a little skeptical of people who say these type of things that obviously didn't read the thread and try and fix the problems that they were having on their own through the service menu or with a Samsung tech through the warranty service. Guess what? Most tube tv's will have some type of geometry issues. None will be perfect - and perfection is very much subjective to the person who owns the item.

I would venture to say that "most" of the sets sold today have less problems that what we're reading about on the forums. Our forums represent a very small sub-set of the buying public. Besides those of us who are HD and HT hobbyists, I imagine the rest of those posting represent another sub-sub-set of buyers - those with problems looking for fixes.

I could be wrong, but I imagine most sets sold today are acceptable to their buyers. I realize the vast majority of buyers may not know what geometry problems are , and might not recognize such anomalies, but to them the sets are probably still acceptable.

I just bought what will be my first HDTV.
Did my research, both internet and store visits.

Checked out LCD and CRT, as they were the only ones in my price range.
I didn't want smaller than my current TV, 27", so 30-32" it had to be, any bigger was too much $$ at this time.

Viewing LCD and CRT side by side, at the viewing distance I would be at home, the CRT's were much sharper, and generally a couple $100 cheaper than the LCD's.

Whittled down my choiced to a Sony 30" CRT (I think it was the KV30HS420) and the Samsung TX-R3080WH slimfit.
I've read a lot of reports in this forum about the 3079, and now the 3081, but didn't see much about the 3080.

Saw in person the Sony and the 3079 side by side at Best Buy.
Gave each of them a forearm lift, and the Sony (167#'s) didn't budge, but the 3079(120#'s) I was able to lift off the shelf, pro #1.
The 3079 has the speakers (which I won't even be using) on the side, making it a bit wider, and odd looking with the picture not going to the edges of the set, the 3080 has them on the bottom, so the screen goes right to the edge of the set, which IMHO looks much better, pro #2.

I went with the 3080, which was only available online, so I couldn't pick it up in person, it will be delivered in a couple weeks.

After making my decision, I saw the 3081 being discussed here, but it doesn't seem to be available anywhere yet, and a day late.

Since I am joe average viewer, perhaps I won't even notice the little things wrong with the Samsungs, any good reports on the TX-R3080WH?
Of course, I did a search, and the few mentions of it were "when is it coming out, how much will it be", no "I have it and it's great", or "I have it and it sucks"

Oh, checked out Best Buy.com today, and the 3080 isn't even on there anymore, only the 3079? and the 3081 hasn't materialized yet.


thanx

Jerry

Smoke said:

i'm even skeptical of the people here claiming their sets have no geometry issues whatsoever...

So are you saying from one newbie to another that I am a liar? If you don't like the tv fine, keep your ranting that implies that I am knowingly deceiving this whole forum out of it at least. Thanks.

I'm a little skeptical of people who say these type of things that obviously didn't read the thread and try and fix the problems that they were having on their own through the service menu or with a Samsung tech through the warranty service. Guess what? Most tube tv's will have some type of geometry issues. None will be perfect - and perfection is very much subjective to the person who owns the item.

first of all, i've attempted to fix the geometry issues in the sm myself and have had a samsung service rep look at the tv. you are the one who has not read the thread.

second of all, i'm not calling anyone a liar. i simply have not seen a single slimfit anywhere that has been free of serious geometry issues. that's why i used the word skeptical.

lastly, i spoke with samsung tier-2 tech support today and he admitted to the geometry issues with these tv's. however, he claimed that he just bought one for his parents and it was free of geometry issues. i will remain skeptical about this until i see one with my own eyes...

Still no word yet on the 2006 Samsung models that I have found but I did spot the new slim LG at BestBuy. Hopefully this means the Samsung will be out before too much longer. I can't post links, but it shouldn't be hard to find the LG thread, where I'm having someone else post a picture.

Do we have good reason to believe some of the issues (magneto-blobs, perhaps even some geometry) will be fixed in the 2006 models?

Jpaul - just as I was purchasing my Sammy SlimFit last Friday, Best Buy had just put the LG Super Slim on display! I was tempted to give it a look over, but my buddy there couldn't budge on the price ($945, i think it was) So I ended up taking the Samsung at $750.
When I got it home I was expecting the worst due to all the geometry complaints, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! I did a little tweaking through the service menu and I think I've reached a happy medium. My girl loves the set, the kids think it's the best for playing consoles on (excellent color, black levels, and resolution) Did I mention only $750? :D

by the way, when you are in the service mode, there is a node that lists a date (mine says Jan. 2006) I would imagine that refers to the firmware/ mfg. date, am I correct in assuming so?

Yeah, $750 is a great price. I guess I figure the downward price pressure will continue as the 2006 models are rolled out, so I think I'll just wait and see what happens...either get the new model or get good savings on the old model. Anyway, good luck with the set. Let us know if you experience any annoyances in the next few days. Perhaps they have tweaked the manufacturing process for the better in the later builds of the television...I assume thats why you asked about the firmware date?

2006 Slimfit models should start showing up at retail in April

I am new to this forum. Hello everyone! I want this T.V. Samsung TX-R3079WH. I am in love with the outward apperance but, there seems to be issues with it.

My needs are limited to viewing DVDs and PS2. I care not about cable nor satilite or broadcast T.V.

I plan on purchsing a new DVD HDMI output player with this T.V.

I have a question about the optical audio output on this set. Do I go from this to my reciever? does it retain the sound quality?

Thanks in advance for all of the communities help

Lonerhino,
if all that you're gonna do with your Samsung set is play console games and watch DVDs through HDMI (i recommend the Samsung HD-850 dvd player!) then I'd reccomend buying it.

One amazing trait I see from this tv is that it makes even old games look great! I was playing Metal Slug 3 (which normally looks like a pixelly mess on my LCD monitor) but is dramatically improved on the SlimFit! Nothing beats a CRT for console gaming! ;)

As for audio, I run my optical cables (PS2, xbox) to A/V receiver, all the other consoles are routed to the Samsung.

2006 Slimfit models should start showing up at retail in April

April? Oh no! Ah well, I guess I've been without TV for six months, one more won't hurt. Where did you come by this information. Thanks, by the way, I've been scouring the internet every day so this news will at least save some time.

Lonerhino,
if all that you're gonna do with your Samsung set is play console games and watch DVDs through HDMI (i recommend the Samsung HD-850 dvd player!) then I'd reccomend buying it.

One amazing trait I see from this tv is that it makes even old games look great! I was playing Metal Slug 3 (which normally looks like a pixelly mess on my LCD monitor) but is dramatically improved on the SlimFit! Nothing beats a CRT for console gaming! ;)

As for audio, I run my optical cables (PS2, xbox) to A/V receiver, all the other consoles are routed to the Samsung.
I strongly urge folks to reconsider any HD-850 dvd player purchases. I purchased this player last May when it first came out and returned it quickly. It was pretty good for "resolution" but it crushed blacks badly, and you could see little to no detail in dim or dark scenes.

Just my opinion, but I'd aviod this player. I settled on the Oppo player and am more than satisfied. This is one outstanding player and the value is incredible. I ran the HQV Benchmark DVD on the Oppo player and found that it passed about 95% of the tests with flying colors. Standard PS players failed these tests miserably, as do the video processors in most tvs.

Hello Everyone. My nephew purchased the Model 79 SlimFit today at Circuit City. I had warned him about the very slight bowing on text crawls, in the lower center of the screen, but since he liked the quality of the picture better than any model Sony etc, he purchased it anyway. He lives 30 to 40 miles from town, with normal rabbit ears he gets great HDTV reception. We played 8 different XBox 360 games, COD2, DOA4, PGR4, Tiger Woods, Full Auto, Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero and Condeemed. The built in speakers are very good for TV ones. The SlimFit fit in the back seat of his car, we got it up the stairs and it fit on his small TV stand. A very good buy for HDTV and XBox 360 Gaming. My guess new technology, that there are simply a higher percentage of defective SlimFit tubes out there. We looked at about a dozen display models in difference stores. Some did look terrible but most had a bright, crystal clear beautiful HD picture. Non HD picture looked very good also. Worth trying to see if you like the SlimFit. Just get it from somewhere you can reture it if you get a Lemon.

All four corners. Mine to. It was a slight purpleish rainbow effects in all 4 corners. Like, I said. Extremely slight. But, heres the kicker. I thought my friend was nuts when he told me this. But, I would turn on the tv from the tv itself. He told me not to do that. It gets static electricity. I thought he was insane. Told me to unplug it and turn it on with the remote from now on. Problem solved. Weird. And, before this. I tried the unplugging deal. But, once again. It would come back. Because, I would never use the remote. Since using the remote. Its completely gone. I did get that big purple spot as well in the left bottom corner. Just a few days ago. It was from moving the tv. I moved it somewhere else and its gone. Other than these 2 little annoying problems. The tv is a gem. The picture is jaw dropping and its performed great.


Try unplugging the set for a while then plugging it back in. I and a few other people had this same problem (mine were in all four corners). Doing this will deguass your set. I had to try it a few times but it worked like a charm

[QUOTE=KoRn]I would turn on the tv from the tv itself. He told me not to do that. It gets static electricity. I thought he was insane. Told me to unplug it and turn it on with the remote from now on. Problem solved. I did get that big purple spot as well in the left bottom corner. Just a few days ago. It was from moving the tv.


So what do you suggest if I want to clean the dust off of the t.v.? Use the remote? Even the most gentle rubbing with a lint free cloth or using a can of compressed air, would create tons more static than simply touching the power button...I have always used the on the t.v. set power button to power it up or down, and that would be a hard habit for me to break.... Never touch the t.v. again. I am seriously looking to puchase this set and I know my friends will be attracted to it's sleek and unique design. They will simply want to touch it. I don't want to have to shout out, "DON'T TOUCH IT!" "Back away from the new t.v." I don't need to lose the few friends I have over this issue.

Just something to think about.

The Samsung 3079 is complete trash. It looks good on paper, with plenty of inputs, digital sound, and a tuner, but that's all it has going for it.

It seems completely incapbale of creating straight vertical or horizontal lines. I've tried resolving the geometry issues in the service menu (mute-1-8-2-power), but to no avail.

Standard 480i signals look particularly terrible on this tv, and surprisingly 1080i doesn't look that much better than a standard signal on a standard tv.

I tried cleaning the front of the TV with some alcohol, which is what I usually use with electronics because it evaporates quickly if spilled, usually not resulting in any damage. The paint on the front of the TV is so cheap, it actually started running.

The tv sometimes produces a burning smell if left on for too long.

Needless to say, I expected more from Samsung. Was this made using slave labor or something? The quality is horrible.

Unfortunately, I got this as an open box. I should have known better and done some research online first. Luckily it was for almost half MSRP ($600), but even still, I feel cheated.

Not sure what I'm going to do with the TV since it's heavy as hell and I can't take it back. Guess I'll probably sell it to some poor sap and try to get most of my money back. It's either that or the dumpster. This TV is just that crappy.

Finally after a month for J&R to restock the 3080 i finally was able to pick it up today....and no geometry issues at all...went to cnn and other ticker channels, all were straight and flat end to end beautiful.. sd channels had gray bars and i couldnt zoom more in 16:9 format but my hd cable box from cablevision has stretch options so i put the stretch option on and all sd channels now can fill the screen pretty nice....this tv is a beauty....my one boggle was when i had to pick this beast up and put it on my stand which is almost 4ft high and this thing wheighs a ton its hard to get a good handle for grip on this beast

Okay this is my first post here and I wish I had seen this b4 I had the misfortune of buying this t.v. I have the 3079 and I couldnt be more dissapointed. I got my first set on dec 20 and immediately noticed the worst geometry problem ive ever seen! I knew they all had a bit of this problem and had seen a few of the 3079 tvs with a slight problem but my first one was out by half an inch from middle of screen to the edge. I returned this one and had to wait for a new one which arrived on jan 8. This one was way better on the geometry issue but had a much worse problem that I didnt notice for a few weeks and therefore was after my 30 day return period. The problem was after about 2 hours of the tv being on the entire right side of the screen starts to yellow and looks like its nicotene stained. It looks worst with a white background i.e. hockey or skiing. Eventhough I bought the 5 year warranty from future shop they said after the first 30 days its samsungs problem for the first year. I contacted samsung who sent out a repair guy and he tells me instantly that I have a faulty tube. The repair guy and I spend 3 weeks trying to get samsung to give us a straight answer on what to do and they finally decided this week I have to send it back to them so they can look at it and "decide " if its bad enough to warrant a new one. So now I get to go 4-6 weeks without a tv and there is no guarantee they are gonna make me happy in the end. I made samsung aware that I will never buy any of there products again and that I will be sure to tell all of this horrible service.

2006 Slimfit models should start showing up at retail in April

so close yet so far :o

I can wait untill April too... hope they'll fix the geometry problems!

Hello, I just purchased the TX-R3080WH and it makes a loud noise on power-up, but only when it's been off for a while. It'll also do it if I unplug it, then plug it back in.

I've read through this thread and saw a few posts referring to this indirectly, impying it's normal degaussing on power-up, but nothing real specific. I also understand degaussing and that these TVs automaticaly degauss on power-up (according to Samsung's website), but is it supposed to be that loud? I mean it kind of scared me at first as I wasn't expecting it. My parents have the 27" slim fit and theirs did the same thing, they took it back and the new one isn't as loud. Otherwise the TV is great, no geometry issues, just this loud buzz.

I'm just trying to figure out if I should return it and get a new one or just live with it, any help is appreciated.

Hello, I just purchased the TX-R3080WH and it makes a loud noise on power-up, but only when it's been off for a while. It'll also do it if I unplug it, then plug it back in.

I've read through this thread and saw a few posts referring to this indirectly, impying it's normal degaussing on power-up, but nothing real specific. I also understand degaussing and that these TVs automaticaly degauss on power-up (according to Samsung's website), but is it supposed to be that loud? I mean it kind of scared me at first as I wasn't expecting it. My parents have the 27" slim fit and theirs did the same thing, they took it back and the new one isn't as loud. Otherwise the TV is great, no geometry issues, just this loud buzz.

I'm just trying to figure out if I should return it and get a new one or just live with it, any help is appreciated.



if i were you KEEP IT, dont risk it, you have no geometry issues ..if you exchange it and get one with no loud power up but geometry issues are visible you will kill yourself lol....the only thing i hear thats noticeable is the melody tone when powering on or off.......one thing do you have the a/v jacks on the left side of your 3080 like this
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-Jes5rdJomre/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=148350&id=morephotos&pi=3&i=305TXR3080&display=L#Tab

because i dont, i have it behind on that side though like this http://www.crutchfield.com/S-Jes5rdJomre/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=148350&id=morephotos&pi=9&i=305TXR3080&display=L#Tab

[QUOTE=qip]one thing do you have the a/v jacks on the left side of your 3080 like this because i dont, i have it behind on that side though like this[QUOTE]


Mine is the same as yours, on that side but more towards the back. Like the second picture.

I revise my previous statement, I do have geometry issues (I just bought the TV last night, so I'm still tinkering). I turned on ESPN and the bottom ticker does bow up slightly in the middle. It is very slight and I could live with it, but combine it with the loud power up noise and I've decided to return the TV.