Through a twist of fate, I can pull in all the analog and a few digital stations off of my Adelphia cable service with my HLR6168. I don't have cable, only broadband with them, but it seems they left off the filter when they burried a new service line a while back. Anyone know how to find out where the digital locals might be? When I do an auto scan it pulls in 333 channels, most of them report scrambled or low signal when I tune to them. A couple of successes so far are CBS-HD and ESPNHD, ABC-SD. I can't find FOX or NBC yet though. I know FOX is broadcasting in HD here (Colorado Springs); ABC is digital-SD only and NBC is not yet digital, so I don't expect to find them.

Sorry if it's been posted before - but how do I access the tech menu (if possible)? Is it a key combo on the remote or side of the unit?

Thanks in advance!
Jeff

I have a pretty new laptop (mac g4), with an internal cd, etc. I just don't know what else I need to make it function as a dvd player. It has dvi connection, there I could connect via dvi-hdmi, right? What else does one need to add?

Your PowerBook should have come with a DVI to VGA adapter. Use the adapter to connect to a VGA cable then to the VGA port of the Samsung. I haven't tried it yet, since I am still waiting for my TV from TVA.

Hdrevolution, my friend has a broken HD STB DVR and to make things worse it was sending a hum to the set, out the speakers. It sounds like it could be the wheel or fan? I would disconnect all of the cables as soon as you hear it and see. No way can it be from the electrical wires, he has a UPS even. Sounds more like the analog connections.

You might be able to physically connect any computer,however the manual lists the acceptable video card resolution specs that the computer has to have in order to be displayed correctly. The better the computer the more likely to have the better specs. Also you will be able to play HD on your computer if it meets the even higher required specs.

Just thought I would follow up on my earlier post. I had a very loud fan that was annoying as hell on my 6768. I called tv authority who informed me to call samsung directly. Samsung got me connected with my local samsung repair guy and promptly faxed them the work order. After talking to "Sam" we scheduled an appointment today to have him look at the tv. He showed up exactly on time and quickly diagnosed the problem and fixed it. The tv is now dead silent. How often do these things run that smoothly??? I'd say almost never.
He did say that samsungs are very easy to repair but I was still happy as hell he did such a quick and effective job. I am back to being a very happy samsung customer. Now my 6768 looks AND SOUNDS great!!!!!!!!!
This will most likely be my last sammy HLR6768 post (unless someone has a question). Take care all, Matt.

Hdrevolution, my friend has a broken HD STB DVR and to make things worse it was sending a hum to the set, out the speakers. It sounds like it could be the wheel or fan? I would disconnect all of the cables as soon as you hear it and see. No way can it be from the electrical wires, he has a UPS even. Sounds more like the analog connections.

Thanks for the reply. Though, the noise sounds electrical and its not that loud. It sounds as if its coming from the back near the power plug. I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't have been to the back of the TV while the set was on. Now my ears must be tuned to it cause I hear it even sitting by the couch. ANNOYING!!!

Psychdoc, its great that you got it fixed but what did they do? Was it a part, an adjustment? What caused the noise?

Hey guys, I know its been brought up before, but I just wanted to verify. It's has been said that hte 68 series we are discussing here doesn't take full 1080p inputs, except over the VGA input?

Can I ask why that would be? If I happen to get the DVDO VP30 unit that outputs up to 1080p images, would I be wasting the potential of this DVDO unit on a TV that won't accept that high of an input?

And for a technical reason, why would a TV with a 1920x1080 resolution NOT take 1080p signals??

When the 2005 series of displays were being designed the -7 speed grade
of the HDMI chip everyone uses was not available. HP looks like the only
model to have them and I believe they tested the chips themselves which
amounts to "hand selecting" those that would do 1080p. But even doing
this, they don't support 1080p60fps...

Very very few sets even take 1080p over VGA and this is something I don't
have any explanation other than they didn't want to spend the time testing
for it.

The DVDO iSCAN VP30 can output 1080p over VGA and the Sammy's can input
1080p over VGA so you should be good to go there...

Just thought I would follow up on my earlier post. I had a very loud fan that was annoying as hell on my 6768. I called tv authority who informed me to call samsung directly. Samsung got me connected with my local samsung repair guy and promptly faxed them the work order. After talking to "Sam" we scheduled an appointment today to have him look at the tv. He showed up exactly on time and quickly diagnosed the problem and fixed it. The tv is now dead silent. How often do these things run that smoothly??? I'd say almost never.
He did say that samsungs are very easy to repair but I was still happy as hell he did such a quick and effective job. I am back to being a very happy samsung customer. Now my 6768 looks AND SOUNDS great!!!!!!!!!
This will most likely be my last sammy HLR6768 post (unless someone has a question). Take care all, Matt.

I think I might have the same noise going on as you...What did the fan sound like?

Does anyone notice a slight buzzing noise when up close to the 68. I hear a quiet buzzing noise, (It sound electrical), and it annoys me to death. I tried to see if it was the internal speakers, I turned the mute on and its still there. I've heard this noise ever since I pluged in an S-Video cable to the AV3 part of the TV (the slots on the side). Anyway, could this be from all of the power cable entangled up behind my TV (causing electromagnetic radiation).

When I turn the TV off, the noise stays on until the standby light turns on. Any help would be appreciated...

Disconnect everything from the TV and see if the noise goes away. If it does, then you have a ground loop setup. This is when one of the items in your system is not grounded correctly.

If it is not a ground loop, than go behind your TV and find the exact location of the noise. Let us know.

Through a twist of fate, I can pull in all the analog and a few digital stations off of my Adelphia cable service with my HLR6168. I don't have cable, only broadband with them, but it seems they left off the filter when they burried a new service line a while back. Anyone know how to find out where the digital locals might be? When I do an auto scan it pulls in 333 channels, most of them report scrambled or low signal when I tune to them. A couple of successes so far are CBS-HD and ESPNHD, ABC-SD. I can't find FOX or NBC yet though. I know FOX is broadcasting in HD here (Colorado Springs); ABC is digital-SD only and NBC is not yet digital, so I don't expect to find them.

Did you search your local Colorado Springs thread?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=141193

The noise was a low toned rumble as if there were vibrations coming off an unbalanced fan. The noise itself was variable, sometimes it was slightly quiet and other times is was loud enough to be faintly heard 40 ft away (with all speakers turned off). The noise started to get loud about 10 minutes after startup and would disappear about 2 minutes after powering down.
I think the guy used a shot gun approach and replaced all moving parts (3 cooling fans and one color wheel). Whatever he did, it worked. My tv is dead silent now. It was, without a doubt, worth the effort to fix the problem. Spending this much on a tv is silly if it doesn't work as advertised. But, like I said, I love the 6768 now and it is a wonderful addition to my system that includes:

HLR6768w
DVDO VP30 (pending- should arrive in a few weeks)
Parasound Classic 7100
Parasound Classic 5250
Parasound Classic 2250 (pending-should ship in a couple of weeks)
Denon 2910 DVD player
Definitive Technology BP2000TL Main speakers
Definitive Technology CLR 3000 Center speaker
Definitive Technology BPVX Surround Speakers
Definitive Technology 1.2x Surround Speakers
Monster Power AVS 2000
Monster Power HTPS 7000

Does anyone know how to get a STB to output non-digital audio to a reciever using a digital wire. It's annoying to have to switch between analog wires and a digital wire between DTV and Analog TV.

Disconnect everything from the TV and see if the noise goes away. If it does, then you have a ground loop setup. This is when one of the items in your system is not grounded correctly.

If it is not a ground loop, than go behind your TV and find the exact location of the noise. Let us know.

Thanks, It's actually coming from the internal speakers, I assume it's the STB's fault. :mad: :mad: :mad: That's the first annoying noise, now I have to deal with the fainter one.

The noise was a low toned rumble as if there were vibrations coming off an unbalanced fan. The noise itself was variable, sometimes it was slightly quiet and other times is was loud enough to be faintly heard 40 ft away (with all speakers turned off). The noise started to get loud about 10 minutes after startup and would disappear about 2 minutes after powering down.
I think the guy used a shot gun approach and replaced all moving parts (3 cooling fans and one color wheel). Whatever he did, it worked. My tv is dead silent now. It was, without a doubt, worth the effort to fix the problem. Spending this much on a tv is silly if it doesn't work as advertised.


My noise sounds like industrial flauresent lights. Have you ever been sitting in an office and hear the electrical humm of the lights, thats what it sounds like.

I had just posted here on T2 with a 1080p PC. It is unbelievable on my friend's 5078. I then played it on a cheap DVD player and it took a huge drop in quality. Not that I'm surprised, but I don't see why people here are buying new DVD players that are already obsolete? It is better to upgrade a PC than get a DVD player.

But what good will a PC with a nice DVD player in it do if all of your DVDs are made at 480i? I think that when I buy an HDTV, I will purchase an upconverting DVD player.

Subwoofer, the idea is that there are and will be more WMV-HD, like T2 and QuickTime-HD DVDs and of course at some point I hope sooner than later, DVD-HD and or Blu-Ray, for your computer.

The computer will play all standard old DVD's and the pseudo-HD DVDs if that's what people want to call them. The other thing is like I mentioned, already a manufacturer that makes a STB DVD player that does the same thing, now JVC is selling it under their brand name if you don't want to use a PC.

Anything besides those options I think is silly to purchase right now since it will be obsolete real soon, well they really are already.

Subwoofer, I meant a HTPC or a better than average PC that can handle WMVHD or QuickTime HD. Most average or old computers can't. I had also said earlier that it is better to upgrade a computer than to waste money on one of these "old" DVD players you suggest.

But what good will a PC with a nice DVD player in it do if all of your DVDs are made at 480i? I think that when I buy an HDTV, I will purchase an upconverting DVD player.

Arguments on this subject are probably best served in the HTPC forums. But in my case, my HTPCs do much more than simply play DVD disks. I have a collection of 150 or so DVDs on a media server, that can be played from either of my HTPCs. They also contain PVR functionality like TIVO (One for SD and the other for HD). They also serve as scallers, one to a front projector at 768p (I don't know of any STB DVD player that can do that), as well as 1080p for the Sammy.

Okay, one more issue that I hope can be answered. I just hooked up my Toshiba 57H81 to the component output and continued to have the Samsung 5668W hooked up via the HDMI. This way I could output to both at the same time and compare PQ and such.

First, the added delay of the DLP TV is pretty apparent this way, as I can scene changes on the Toshiba happen must quicker. Watching Jay Leno on HD via the STB right now and can notice the lip sync problem on the Samsung but not on the Toshiba.

While PQ is genearlly MUCH better on the Samsung, there is one issue that is bothering me. I was watching The Italian Job on SD showtime and noticed that in the dark areas (during the ending chase scene in the subway) that I see some "blocking" or something where the darks aren't a solid color or shading correctly. This does NOT happen on the Toshiba and the dark areas (in shadows for example) looked much cleaner on it.

Is there a setting on the TV that is causing this? Is it just because the TV is inherintly brighter? My TV input picture setting is on Standard -- is that correct? Movie seems to look a bit better...what do you think? Are there settings for Custom that are generally perceived to be the best?

But what good will a PC with a nice DVD player in it do if all of your DVDs are made at 480i? I think that when I buy an HDTV, I will purchase an upconverting DVD player.

A PC with DVD-ROM, new graphics card (e.g., nVidia 6600GT or ATI x800) and recent MPEG decoder (e.g., nVidia PureVideo) will also deinterlace and scale DVD native 480i signal to 1080p (no less). The end result is a beatiful picture for less than $250 of investment assuming that your PC has no DVD-ROM, has an older graphics card, and no decoder. Check it out yourself. You may discover that $1000 you were planning to spend on that Denon player can safely stay in your pocket. Moreover, as other have pointed out, you get a lot more than just DVD movies, e.g., music server, home videos, digital pictures, etc.

A PC with DVD-ROM, new graphics card (e.g., nVidia 6600GT or ATI x800) and recent MPEG decoder (e.g., nVidia PureVideo) will also deinterlace and scale DVD native 480i signal to 1080p (no less).Is nVidia PureVideo a stand alone software product, or does it come with the 6600GT? What's the equivalent for the ATI x800?

I just received my 6768W last week and have just gotten around to watching some DVDs on it. I have a Samsung HD850 pushing a 1080i signal over HDMI. The first movie I tried was the Matrix. The green hue of that movie makes digital noise and "clay face" a big problem so I wanted to assess that immediately. It is certainly there. I was able to reduce some of the "clay face" effect by running through the Avia calibrations. However, I still get very splotchy, noisy colors in shadows and dark areas like Neo's coat or solid gray walls. I had this same issue a couple years ago with my HLM507W and was able to fix it by performing the recommended tweaks in the service menu. Has anyone posted information on service menu tweaks yet? I cannot find any through the searches.

Much thanks.

Is nVidia PureVideo a stand alone software product, or does it come with the 6600GT? What's the equivalent for the ATI x800?
PureVideo is just the name for NVIDIA's video technology and is "free" with 6-series and 7-series cards. The NVIDIA DVD Decoder is $20 though.

Here's an article I wrote on the technology a little while back, feel free to see if it helps: http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=102

Is nVidia PureVideo a stand alone software product, or does it come with the 6600GT? What's the equivalent for the ATI x800?

http://store.nvidia.com/

You should probably wait on the ATI stuff since they are getting ready to launch the Avivo line of goodies in a little over a week.

You should probably wait on the ATI stuff since they are getting ready to launch the Avivo line of goodies in a little over a week.Thanks for the information. I've got the x800 now with TheaterTek 2.0. Is a product like PureVideo a step between the card and the player software? Right now I'm getting good results with nothing more than the ATI driver and TT.

I need to learn more about what's going on. :rolleyes:

Thanks for the information. I've got the x800 now with TheaterTek 2.0. Is a product like PureVideo a step between the card and the player software? Right now I'm getting good results with nothing more than the ATI driver and TT.

I need to learn more about what's going on. :rolleyes:
PureVideo is an overall term from NVIDIA to encompass their video technologies in both hardware and software (via the drivers). The PureVideo decoder is the software that NVIDIA offers that works on NV and other hardware to enhance DVD playback. its meant to compete with other DVD playing software.

ATI's Avivo is similar to PureVideo, but I am not sure about the decoder that it will include/charge for.

Okay, one more issue that I hope can be answered. I just hooked up my Toshiba 57H81 to the component output and continued to have the Samsung 5668W hooked up via the HDMI. This way I could output to both at the same time and compare PQ and such.

First, the added delay of the DLP TV is pretty apparent this way, as I can scene changes on the Toshiba happen must quicker. Watching Jay Leno on HD via the STB right now and can notice the lip sync problem on the Samsung but not on the Toshiba.

While PQ is genearlly MUCH better on the Samsung, there is one issue that is bothering me. I was watching The Italian Job on SD showtime and noticed that in the dark areas (during the ending chase scene in the subway) that I see some "blocking" or something where the darks aren't a solid color or shading correctly. This does NOT happen on the Toshiba and the dark areas (in shadows for example) looked much cleaner on it.

Is there a setting on the TV that is causing this? Is it just because the TV is inherintly brighter? My TV input picture setting is on Standard -- is that correct? Movie seems to look a bit better...what do you think? Are there settings for Custom that are generally perceived to be the best?

In Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorow, the dark scenes are all messed up. This usually dissaperes though when I go into movie mode.

got the tv exchanged this morning new set seems fine, hopefully this one will be solid....thanks for the help along the way guys

Here is the link for Quick Time 7. I found info somewhere there on the requirements for a Mac and PC. I think like WMVHD it will work on older computers but not 1080, so the better the computer the better the PQ.
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/player/win.html

Here is the link for WMVHD. Here on the bottom of the page it will automatically test your PC, not Mac for the required specs. There are also a lot of samples to play including T2. Really amazing on the Sammy.

http://www.wmvhd.com/

Acting as the second set of hands, I helped the service tech remove the screen about 5 or 6 times. This should be your access to the lens. The Light Engine is removed from the back, and from what I saw, I would think you shouldn't touch it.

You probably need a second set of hands for this.

There are about 12-15 screws that hold the screen on. They are located directly behind the bezel pointing forward to the front of the set. The screen has a pop off attachment at its lower right edge. Once all the screws are out, you gently tug on the lower right part of the bezel. The screen has an electrical wire that attaches to the set in that same area. This wire is held in place by two or three plastic holders. You should try not to let the wire pop from its holder, because you'll want to get it back in later.

With the two sets of hands gently pull the screen away from the set. The lens is accessible directly at the bottom of the screen right near the front. Of course, the larger your set (or the shorter your arms), the more difficult it will be to reach the lens.

PLEASE BE CAREFUL cleaning the lens. My tech only used a cloth. NO LIQUID.

Replacing the screen is basically reversing the above steps.

Like I said, YOU DIDN'T HEAR THIS FROM ME.

J.

Thanks for the advise. I took matters into my own hands last night. I removed the peep hole on the side and noticed several large specs of debris on the lense. Not being able to reach it from the hole and not having help to remove the screen cover, I just blew it off with canned air. A few pieces flew up and stuck to the screen (static) in which I had to blow off too. I am a little bothered that there was such a great deal of dust and debris in the compartment and I also noticed some greasy prints on the reflecting mirror. I also noted that one on the screw covers was missing on the side cover and I have a few small scratches on the backside of the TV stand. How can this unit already have some wear-and-tear?

I have the same black plastic on the screen, two smudges on the bottom center of the screen that I can tell so far and my picture looks a little like this ) ( when not full 16:9. My TVA rep didn't bother to call me yesterday like he said he would so I'm not happy either.

Just FYI the Quick Time 7 plays HD, I didn't mention it but hoped people realized that was why I posted the link.

Sigh,
I am having the same problem with my 6768. I was really wary of having a tech open it, as everything else (geometry, noise etc.) works perfectly.
But I have
1. an 'oily' smudge right in the middle of the screen (especially apparent at bright white scenes, or uniform colour)
2. a stip of slightly lighter 'black' on the top when displaying very dark scenes. That one, in total darkness, looks like a bunch of (very large!) pixels that are lit. Moving the screen a bit moves them, too....
3. Looks like a tiny black mark (scratch?!) on the inside of the screen

:-( I have tried to get service since last Wed (Los Angeles area) and they STILL Haven't called me back....

I'll report.

Cheers,
Dan

USACO service replaced my Light Engine this morning on what I initially reported as a smudge. Actually it turned out to be a scratch on the lens--the smudge being better described as a "smudgy line".


Once the LE was replaced, I watched a number of prerecorded shows from the Dish DVR and spotted a new roundish spot coming from the new Light Engine. The tech wiped the new lens with what I thought was a special cloth. (I thought it was special until he later started wiping down the exterior bezel with the same cloth.) The roundish smudge was almost gone. So I asked for another pass with the cloth. Also, I hit the lens with a couple of blasts from my DustOff can.

Now, best I can tell, the new lens is clean (no smudges) and the new Light Engine looks at least as good as the old one, if not better.

Keeping my fingers crossed,
jim

My answers to the xbox lag issue..

This might be old news to you, but here it is anyway!

If you set the caption of the input to "Game" - the input will act differently (you can read this in the manual too) . It will avoid the upscaler and display 480i natively. Most xbox 1 games look better this way too - no ghosting on the text captions etc.

You also have to set your xbox to output only 480i (ie turn off 480p, 720p and 1080i)

I am planning to run xbox 360 through the vga port to eliminate lag - I'll post my finding November 22!!!

I hope this helps

I've noticed intermittently that the corners (particularily the upper and lower left-hand corners) are darker than the rest of the screen on my 6168. It happens only occasionally and only during a specific "shot" for example, in a TV show or Movie. When it changes to another shot it goes away (sometimes). It's kind of a curved dark tint like the round light source isn't bright enough to cover the entire screen. Is this a source issue, or could there be a problem with my set?

Any ideas? Thanks!

Sigh,
I am having the same problem with my 6768. I was really wary of having a tech open it, as everything else (geometry, noise etc.) works perfectly.
But I have
1. an 'oily' smudge right in the middle of the screen (especially apparent at bright white scenes, or uniform colour)
2. a stip of slightly lighter 'black' on the top when displaying very dark scenes. That one, in total darkness, looks like a bunch of (very large!) pixels that are lit. Moving the screen a bit moves them, too....
3. Looks like a tiny black mark (scratch?!) on the inside of the screen

:-( I have tried to get service since last Wed (Los Angeles area) and they STILL Haven't called me back....

I'll report.

Cheers,
Dan

To get access to blow off the lense and screen I remove the side peep hole. Next I have TIVO so i paused the video on a bright/white scene. To find out if smudges or specs were coming from the lense or from the screen, I covered my finger with a cleaning cloth and lightly pressed on the front of the screen to see if the smudge moved or not. I noticed several of the smudge like areas would move while a couple of the black spots would not. Or better stated, the black spots would move with the screen where as the smudges would stay in the same place while the screen moved. The black spots were dust or debris that was on the back of the screen which is why they moved with the screen. The smudges would stay in the same place which means they were projected off the lense or mirror. I blew off both to remove the spots. I would try not to make any contact with anything inside or wear gloves to reduce the chance for oil from your skin being transfered.

Sigh,
I am having the same problem with my 6768. I was really wary of having a tech open it, as everything else (geometry, noise etc.) works perfectly.
But I have
1. an 'oily' smudge right in the middle of the screen (especially apparent at bright white scenes, or uniform colour)
2. a stip of slightly lighter 'black' on the top when displaying very dark scenes. That one, in total darkness, looks like a bunch of (very large!) pixels that are lit. Moving the screen a bit moves them, too....
3. Looks like a tiny black mark (scratch?!) on the inside of the screen

:-( I have tried to get service since last Wed (Los Angeles area) and they STILL Haven't called me back....

I'll report.

Cheers,
Dan
I requested a tech visit for this issue twice, but I was told it is not a smudge and his only explanation is that I'm seeing things because he could not see this "oily smudge". Now I don't know what to do, it does bother me quite a bit, since it is on the middle of the screen. Luckilly, I could ignore it at times but with much effort, which I am not very happy about. I might request another visit from a different techinician. I was a little suspicious of his expertise since he never even heard of rainbow effect or game lag on the current 1080p Samsungs. So, If anyone that have seen this "oily smudge" actually get a Samsung tech that recognizes this issue or if this is an issue at all, please let me know.

People have had tech visits about the smudges. I would put the order in now and see what the responses are to your post .

ATI's Avivo is similar to PureVideo, but I am not sure about the decoder that it will include/charge for.Thanks. :)

After my 5th service call on my HLP 6167W Tweeter has offered to swap it out with a HLR 6178W or credit me the cost of the HLR 6178W. I loved my HLP, is it safe to say that the HLR will be similar or better? Sorry for the post but I have to let Tweeter know soon.

Thanks

After my 5th service call on my HLP 6167W Tweeter has offered to swap it out with a HLR 6178W or credit me the cost of the HLR 6178W. I loved my HLP, is it safe to say that the HLR will be similar or better? Sorry for the post but I have to let Tweeter know soon.

Thanks

Go for it!!!! The HLR6178W is a real upgrade.

Just stop in another Tweeter and take a look. I think you will be amazed. If it is a free upgrade run and grab it before they change their mind.

Bill (UCSB)...I have the 6178w and I was wondering what you meant about it being a "real" upgrade. Besides the bezel face and non-floating screen, what's different from the 6168?
Thanks for all you do.

Bill (UCSB)...I have the 6178w and I was wondering what you meant about it being a "real" upgrade. Besides the bezel face and non-floating screen, what's different from the 6168?
Thanks for all you do.

Bill said a real upgrade from the the 6167 not the 6168...

:D oh...yeah...now I get it.

Just a word of caution to the guys cleaning their own lenses:
Canned air quickly becomes extremely cold, and could crack the lens.
Even a soft, fine-threaded cloth scratches the lens coating. The coating is not slippery-smooth... it has a squeaky-clean tack to it, that makes it really difficult to remove fingerprints. Do NOT touch the lens.Use cleaning equipment specifically designed for precision optics.

Gary

Just a word of caution to the guys cleaning their own lenses:
Canned air quickly becomes extremely cold, and could crack the lens.
Even a soft, fine-threaded cloth scratches the lens coating. The coating is not slippery-smooth... it has a squeaky-clean tack to it, that makes it really difficult to remove fingerprints. Do NOT touch the lens.Use cleaning equipment specifically designed for precision optics.

Gary

Just to drive home this excellant point: Even lens paper for SLR cameras SEVERELY SCRATCHES THIS LENS!

Cinema1, Cinema2 and manual are the only picture modes that pass BTB on the SOny975. When my set was calibrated, the DVD player picture mode was set to manual and +2or+3 and -2or-3, I don't remember off hand which one was the brightness or picture setting but I'll check again in the morning.(I just turned my set off so I don't want to turn it on again unless I plan on having it on for a while)
All I can say is after Eliab did his work , the DVD picture is outstanding. It was a big difference from the before calibration picture.

I was wondering if anyone had information like this for the Oppo DVD player as well. I have both it and the Sony now and would like to compare the two side by side with the best image settings possible.

Also, when watching DVDs through the HDMI, which is the best picture setting on the 5668W?

Thanks!

Is the lens not made of glass? Or, is it plastic? Remember the good old days when the lenses in "glasses" were actually made of glass!

Glass it is not. Unbelievable but true. I have seen the damage from lens paper firsthand (on an HLP6163) when a tech "cleaned" my lens (and then replaced the LE).

Is it right that there is not a 1080 ATSC calibration DVD yet? I guess it might not be since there isn't a 1080 DVD player, but what about on a HTPC? I wonder if there is something in video production that can be used? Someone should have something soon if there isn't anything already?

I hear a clicking sound too about every 2 or 3 minutes when the tv is on (sometimes when it is off). It's coming from the back of the tv. It sounds like a switch or relay...thought it might be the TV Guide feature. I called Samsung and they said it shouldn't be doing this. They are setting up a service call.


Hello, first post in this thread. I've had my 5078 for about 2 weeks now. Setup is Comcast with CableCard, also Zenith Silver Sensor for OTA HD channels that Comcast doesn't carry. I've noticed two issues:

1. Clicking sound every 2-3 minutes when TV is on. Sounds like the antenna switching relay from the rear of the TV, as described by xhoosier66. I think this only started occurring after I had the CableCard installed. As someone said, it is probably (maybe?) the TV Guide feature switching antenna inputs, however, I would like to know if this is "normal" or not. It is somewhat annoying.

2. Fan noise. Intermittant, sometimes entirely reasonable, sometimes a little more than I might prefer. Never at or above the volume level of the program I am watching, but in the background.

Other than that, I have no complaints. I've seen rainbows on a handfull of occasions, generally white text on black background, like rolling credits, but I haven't seen them on 99% of my viewing. No headaches or eyestrain. Outstanding PQ.

Glass it is not. Unbelievable but true. I have seen the damage from lens paper firsthand (on an HLP6163) when a tech "cleaned" my lens (and then replaced the LE).

Of course it isn't glass, that's what makes it so light and great.

You want an excellent piece of reference material to play on this great set -
Try Robots - it looks unbelievable!

I have the Panny S97 DVD player and I can't believe the quality!

Sorry to hear that - and that is crazy. If your smudge is anything like mine (and I bet it is), there is no way a TRAINED person can't see it. Most untrained eyes do, on the right background. I frankly would keep on them, and their boss. This is obviously not a rare issue. I will post whatever experience I get with my tech - if they ever call back already.

Good luck,
dan

I requested a tech visit for this issue twice, but I was told it is not a smudge and his only explanation is that I'm seeing things because he could not see this "oily smudge". Now I don't know what to do, it does bother me quite a bit, since it is on the middle of the screen. Luckilly, I could ignore it at times but with much effort, which I am not very happy about. I might request another visit from a different techinician. I was a little suspicious of his expertise since he never even heard of rainbow effect or game lag on the current 1080p Samsungs. So, If anyone that have seen this "oily smudge" actually get a Samsung tech that recognizes this issue or if this is an issue at all, please let me know.

Hi,
and thanks for the input.
I have complained to the 'supervisor' today (in LA, USACO is doing the tech calls apparently) and they are promising I will get a call back on Wed... We'll see.

How do you open the side ports? I can see that there is a 'latch' that slightly depresses, but never enough to open anything it seems (particular the round cover on either side :-) ). Is it a matter of force ? I'd like to at least peek at it, even if the tech comes by.


Suffice it to say, it's very frustrating, after all the hassle up doing such a big upgrade to now have to deal with tech coming by, probably more than once :-(

Dan


To get access to blow off the lense and screen I remove the side peep hole. Next I have TIVO so i paused the video on a bright/white scene. To find out if smudges or specs were coming from the lense or from the screen, I covered my finger with a cleaning cloth and lightly pressed on the front of the screen to see if the smudge moved or not. I noticed several of the smudge like areas would move while a couple of the black spots would not. Or better stated, the black spots would move with the screen where as the smudges would stay in the same place while the screen moved. The black spots were dust or debris that was on the back of the screen which is why they moved with the screen. The smudges would stay in the same place which means they were projected off the lense or mirror. I blew off both to remove the spots. I would try not to make any contact with anything inside or wear gloves to reduce the chance for oil from your skin being transfered.

Hi,
and thanks for the input.
I have complained to the 'supervisor' today (in LA, USACO is doing the tech calls apparently) and they are promising I will get a call back on Wed... We'll see.

Dan

My tech from USACO actually made three visits to resolve my smudge/scratch problem. Yes it was three visits, but I found the dispatcher, Phillip, and the service tech JC to be nice people and very accommodating. I, also, was impressed that JC actually rethought the problem on his own and came up with a unexpected source of the problem. Also, he arrived within minutes of the scheduled start time of his arrival window (2 hours.)

And on top of that, my replacement LE looks terrific.

Jim

Has anyone watched "the longest yard" on their DLP yet? I watched it last night on my two week old 6168, and it looked like absoulute crap! all the faces in the dark scenes looked like abstract art. the shadows shifting and crunching, and faces were like clay. i couldn't even watch it. i had to put it on my mitz crt rptv...then it looked fine. After that i threw in robots back on the SS and it looked amazing. i still get shifting in the shadow detail, though not as bad, but other wise it looked great. Does anyone have decent shadow detail on their ss?

Comcast DVR STB users: I'm trying to hook up both component and HDNI/DVI cables to the sammy to compare picture. I get sound through component but can't get sound over hdmi. Any ideas? Also, I tried the peephole latch (just to see what's in there) but couldn't get it open either.

Hookster,

Are you sure that you're not got it reversed?? HDMI carries sound, component doesn't. You'll need to wire audio between the DVR box and the TV.

Are you using any kind of external amplifier/preamp/audio receiver??

Comcast DVR STB users: I'm trying to hook up both component and HDNI/DVI cables to the sammy to compare picture. I get sound through component but can't get sound over hdmi. Any ideas? Also, I tried the peephole latch (just to see what's in there) but couldn't get it open either.
If you are hooking up DVI then you must use the second HDMI port which has a seperate set of analog audio cables. See the manual.

Comcast DVR STB users: I'm trying to hook up both component and HDNI/DVI cables to the sammy to compare picture. I get sound through component but can't get sound over hdmi. Any ideas?

Not too many Comcast STBs support HDMI yet (at least around here). Are you using a DVI-to-HDMI converter cable by any chance? If so, DVI doesn't pass audio information -- you'll have to also connect audio cables.

If you really have full HDMI to HDMI, then 1) I'm jealous, and 2) I can't help. Try separate audio cables anyway!

SpokaneDoug, I just got Comcast in Malden, MA, just minutes north of Boston less than two weeks ago. The installer went to grab the first STB on top of a pile in the back of his van. I checked and realized that the last two STBs on the bottom of the pile were HD DVRs with HDMI. He gave me one of those looks but since me and my friend got the 5078 and 5678 I wasn't about to not get the newest model. Someone here had mentioned they too got that STB somewhere in MA but when I first called Comcast to place the order they said they were not available in my area. I don't know how many there are but I don't think we got the last two either?

I would make a service call and see if they are now available in your area and if not I'd keep checking. No sense paying the same price for an older model. That's when I got ticked but we're keeping Comcast until Direct has a big promo in November. I hate Comcast but Dish can't do anything if you have more than one HDTV per account, not house..

This is my first post so I hope I'm doing it right.

First, thanks to everyone who has posted about these TVs. I have read many of the posts over the last few weeks and learned ALOT. Let me stress that I am NOT an audio/visual-phile. So some of the discussions like David Abrams on calibration:

"...The standard for gray, on a the 1931 CIE Chromaticity Chart, is x=.313, y=.329. Kelvin is measured on the x-axis, so the x coordinate could be at .313, but y may be at .350, which is plus green..."

...made my head spin ;) I am just a guy who when I invest in electronics likes to feel solidly ahead of the curve, but not on the bleeding edge. I suspect there are a lot of us reading these threads but that we may be to some extent under represented in actual posts so I am going to give my opinion from that point of view (not an A/V-phile but wanting the best I can afford, and if I can be a step or two ahead of my neighbors too I'm happy).

After a lot of research, I purchased a 6768 last friday from Circuit City. I didn't see this TV on their web site and they didn't have any 68s/78s in the store. But I asked a sales person there and he looked it up in their computer and they had them available for twelve hundred less than I saw at BB Magnolia's. And while some e-stores were a few hundred cheaper, after you add in their shipping costs and the headache of dealing with a virtual store AND the fact that Circuit City promised it to me in 4 days WITH a couple of hundred dollars in rewards dollars and a discount if I bought my stand there too, I went with CC.

TV arrived four days later. Delivery guys unpacked it in truck and brought it in. No damage to box or TV.

TV picture is phenomonal. Again, to my amatuer eyes. The way I shop is to find a TV I like, that looks better than the others. If you're an amatuer and looking at 30 TVs at Best Buy, the high end ones all are in the same league. It comes down to personal preference. So after a lot of reading and looking, I eliminated Sony LCD's (DLPs did look slightly better). the 6768 was also one of the largest easily available, so that narrowed down my search too. My friends who have had multiple projection tvs all agreed that you should get the largest possible. Even if technically your room measurements say a tv might be too large for your room. No one on any of the thousands of RPTV sites I've read ever complained that a tv they bought was too big for their room ;)

I liked the design of the Samsung. Looks very plasma like. I liked the fact that it was 6th generation technology. I liked the input options in back. I liked that it won CES best of show and won JD Powers PQ rating. I liked that it had a PC connection in back (which the comparable Mitsubishi's don't). And in my personal opinion, I felt the picture quality (out of many good competitors) just looked better to me.

It's only been two days, but I just can't stop drooling. Sitting at 8 feet, since it is in a temporary space. 8 feet is the minimum, but even at that distance I still cant see any pixelization. The 3-D effect on HD channels is just awesome. I may have been on a new owner's high, but after watching stunning PQ on the TV I was out at a park during a beautiful sunset and was thinking it would look better on my Samsung!

Haven't played with the inputs and done anything that would cause lag/lip sync, but those issues are well documented and I plan on just buying the appropriate receiver.

Haven't messed with too many of the PQ settings, because I am one of those guys that loves the warm settings they have for retail display.

Hopefully some folks find this helpful. For those of you still shopping, good luck. I know mostly problems get posted here (and if I have any I will definitely post) but do know that most satisfied buyers don't post with any product so it always appears on any board that the problems outnumber the happy posts cause that's just how it is.

Good luck

Is there a FAQ on the HLRXXX8W series? Can someone post a link

This is a good link. I think you can get to the home page from here and the PDF manual.

http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/MM/200508/20050809080518218/um_hlr5678w_start_eng_051220.htm

Thanks responders. I have the converter cable...HDMI to dvi. The component out from the stb also has audio out so I hooked some rca jacks there. The DVI out doesn't seem to have audio associated with it. Not sure what was meant by the second port. I am going to run optical out to my amp in the next few days. Maybe this will carry the sound frim the DVI out.

Hookster, JimP, the second post I think misunderstood. DVI never has audio, only video and that is why HDMI replaced DVI. Component has analog video and audio. You could use an analog audio connection with the RCA cables you mentioned or optical, which is digital. I don't think anyone has had lag when audio is sent to the Sammy, either analog or digital?

I think HDMI 2 on the Sammy accepts a DVI input that is a video signal without the audio.

FROM THE LAG DEPT.
I have my STB outpuing RCA to the sammy and Optical to my reciever. When I'm on a digital channel, the STB outputs through both. There is an echo between the reciever and TV speakers. The revciever is faster. Do you think Samsung, made the internal speaker have a delay because they knew the TV lagged?

We have some good news for you guys. The HL-R5668s, and the HL-R6768s are now readily available! We have filled all the pre-orders for these two models and there is a surplus. The 6168 models are being rapidly fulfilled and those pre-orders should be all taken care of very soon.

Ok, I hooked up the dvi from the stb to the 2nd hdmi port on the sammy (like the manual says) but I'm not sure what it does different. Anyway, I see now that you can only get RCA audio from one source. Either component or HDMI. I get video from both (and I'm leaning towards thinking the component looks better). I would like to get sound from both into the TV. The optical will go to my AV amp. The whole point is I want the option of being able to to hear sound from all sources without having to turn on the amp. If I want to hear 5.1 I'll use the stb optical out>felston>av amp. Question. Is SPDIF the same as coax?

Ok, I hooked up the dvi from the stb to the 2nd hdmi port on the sammy (like the manual says) but I'm not sure what it does different. Anyway, I see now that you can only get RCA audio from one source. Either component or HDMI. I get video from both (and I'm leaning towards thinking the component looks better). I would like to get sound from both into the TV. The optical will go to my AV amp. The whole point is I want the option of being able to to hear sound from all sources without having to turn on the amp. If I want to hear 5.1 I'll use the stb optical out>felston>av amp. Question. Is SPDIF the same as coax?
Look at pg 24, bottom of page. There are only analog inputs for the DVI (2nd HDMI). The TV does not accept any pure digital audio, it only sends it out. You cannot unbundle the audio from HDMI.

The simplest thing, of course, is to mute the TV's speakers and send the audio from the stb (and the dvd player) directly to the AV receiver via a toslink or coax cable. Connect the stb (and dvd player) to the TV via hdmi, dvi, or component, for the video.

FROM THE LAG DEPT.
I have my STB outpuing RCA to the sammy and Optical to my reciever. When I'm on a digital channel, the STB outputs through both. There is an echo between the reciever and TV speakers. The revciever is faster. Do you think Samsung, made the internal speaker have a delay because they knew the TV lagged?

YES.

FROM THE LAG DEPT.
Do you think Samsung, made the internal speaker have a delay because they knew the TV lagged?


Seem like the right thing to do for the TV to keep the audio and vido in sync. If they are in sync then I don't know how you can say the TV lags. It just takes longer to process the video than audio and an external device has no way of knowing how long this will take. Probably why most of the new receivers have the A/V sync built in, I am sure they did not all do it for the new Samsung it is common with the new highr tecnology sets. The better the picture the more the processing.

Finally received the hdmi/dvi cable from Oppo (they'd sent the wrong one before) and when the Oppo is set to 1080i mode, the sound-sync troubles are gone I've noticed. I still think that these manufacturers are making a mistake by not including at least one or two digital inputs on their TV's.

On an unrelated note...I hooked up my DVD player to the 5668w with S-Video just for fun, and noticed that the quality was kinda bad...worse than the RCA video. (The S-video had a noticable "grid" effect like watching a video on an old EGA computer)

Is S-video really that bad?

SV

S-video is much better. I would check the cable or the connections. it separates the video signals instead of combining them like coax or RCA.

RAM sent me an email and said their 3' HDMI-HDMI cable is out of stock and is due in next week. I haven't seen any cable close to their price of $25.

The "grid" sounds like interference and or a bad connection.

RAM sent me an email and said their 3' HDMI-HDMI cable is out of stock and is due in next week. I haven't seen any cable close to their price of $25.

Try pacificcables; I have been very pleased with them.

Wow, they too have great prices, very close to Ram's Power Buy price. I think Ram is east coast though and Pacific is well... Not to start an east coast west coast thing though.

RAM sent me an email and said their 3' HDMI-HDMI cable is out of stock and is due in next week. I haven't seen any cable close to their price of $25.

Another place to try is monoprice.com I purchased a 15' HDMI cable from them but won't be able to try it until next week when my equipment arrives.

RAM sent me an email and said their 3' HDMI-HDMI cable is out of stock and is due in next week. I haven't seen any cable close to their price of $25.

Try your local Radio Shack. I know it sounds nuts.....but the local ones here have been going crazy with clearance items. I think they are getting away from private label stuff, but whatever. I picked up a 6ft HDMI-HDMI cable for about $12.50. This wasn't open box or returned...it was brand new. Not all sizes were on such incredible sale, as the same cable in 12 ft was near $80. Many items in store were clearanced (50%) then an additional 75% beyond that price.

RAM sent me an email and said their 3' HDMI-HDMI cable is out of stock and is due in next week. I haven't seen any cable close to their price of $25.

This supplier has had excellent reviews. Custom lengths too. (http://www.avcable.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=HDMI&Category_Code=DVI_CABLE_HDMI_CABLE)

help!

SA8300HD-component-HLR5668W

picture seems to be "locked" in Zoom 1 or Zoom 2 mode both of which are "grayed out"
in the menu ... all channels are zoomed (ie. both STD and HD channels are zoomed)
i've tried power off/unplug power cords for greater than 1 minute with both the TV and STB without success ...

what to do?

We have some good news for you guys. The HL-R5668s, and the HL-R6768s are now readily available! We have filled all the pre-orders for these two models and there is a surplus. The 6168 models are being rapidly fulfilled and those pre-orders should be all taken care of very soon.

Who cares? In reading these forums, I've heard many more complaints about your company than praises.

I bought mine from another company that matched your "special" pricing, and had my set delivered by FedEx in 2 days.

help!

SA8300HD-component-HLR5668W

picture seems to be "locked" in Zoom 1 or Zoom 2 mode both of which are "grayed out"
in the menu ... all channels are zoomed (ie. both STD and HD channels are zoomed)
i've tried power off/unplug power cords for greater than 1 minute with both the TV and STB without success ...

what to do?
Try changing the label for the input. Maybe from STB to DVD etc. Also try GAME which has other attributes. Have you also unplugged the component cables?

help!

SA8300HD-component-HLR5668W

picture seems to be "locked" in Zoom 1 or Zoom 2 mode both of which are "grayed out"
in the menu ... all channels are zoomed (ie. both STD and HD channels are zoomed)
i've tried power off/unplug power cords for greater than 1 minute with both the TV and STB without success ...

what to do?

I would check the basics on your DVR: 1) screen mode set to 16:9; 2) outputing 1080i; etc.

Who cares? In reading these forums, I've heard many more complaints about your company than praises.

I bought mine from another company that matched your "special" pricing, and had my set delivered by FedEx in 2 days.

Ouch. I've only heard great news from TVA. Where are these so called negative reports?

help!

SA8300HD-component-HLR5668W

picture seems to be "locked" in Zoom 1 or Zoom 2 mode both of which are "grayed out"
in the menu ... all channels are zoomed (ie. both STD and HD channels are zoomed)
i've tried power off/unplug power cords for greater than 1 minute with both the TV and STB without success ...

what to do?

on the cablevision remotes for the SA DVR, the # button cycles thru the various STB zooms, sounds like ur box is either on zoom 1 or 2

I would check the basics on your DVR: 1) screen mode set to 16:9; 2) outputing 1080i; etc.



resolution = 1920x1080i@60hz
zoom selection menu item grayed out both component1 and component2 inputs
zoom "stuck ON" in BOTH 16:9 and 4:3 modes

blah, blah,blah ......

my hero Lankyleo suggested the solution ...

the reprogrammed SA remote toggles thru the zoom settings using the # key ...
the only way out is to reset the zoom using the SA remote since the settings are
no longer accessible using the Sammy remote ...

on the cablevision remotes for the SA DVR, the # button cycles thru the various STB zooms, sounds like ur box is either on zoom 1 or 2

Eureka! You solved my problem! Many thanks

You can read some pages back my scathing review of TVA. It sounds like some other places like Worst Buy and Circuit Sucks to name a few. When things go right its great and when things go wrong it is really, really bad. My TVA rep has not returned my calls and I think after dropping $4k he should but maybe that is just me?

Who cares?

Most people who read this forum.

I just spoke with my rep, I called him of course. He was under the impression since we last spoke that I was all set with my 5678. I said how I have been leaving messages and he hasn't returned my calls. He said he never got them and that there was something wrong with the server. I wonder if he got other messages or thought it was strange that he didn't get any messages or for that matter wonder why I didn't call him back on Monday which I said I would and I did.

Now he tells me again that there aren't any in stock and he has no delivery date at all. I asked if it was a day, a week, a month, a year and he had no idea. He said they have been trickling in each week. Now I wonder if they will put me on the top or not? I'd say on the bottom but I hope not for their sake. It makes things interesting since the shipper smashed the set. The packing is all broken and I wonder how much of the damage is from shipping or if the set was already defective? The shipper should pay to pick up the set regardless.

^You get more with honey than vinegar.

Whenever I plan on getting an HDTV, I will most likely go with TVA over CC or BB due to the price difference.

That's just it though. Some here were able to get them to match the price. I also went with TVA for their extended warranty and what I thought was great service and yes price was a big factor. Since I have to now speak with someone else I hope to have professional service, the kind I expect for spending $4k. I don't expect any service at the chains. As a matter of fact I was shocked when Mag. in Worst Buy carried out my stand on a two wheeler to my car.

To all of those who think these TVs are not great- So many have been delivered and this is an extremely boring thread. I was hoping that when after three years of looking and finally buying, I would have an exciting thread to be on. Instead, everyone must just be enjoying their TV. I guess I just have to hope that the DVDO VP30 thread is more exciting.

Most people who read this forum.
Really? You know that for a fact?
TVA is just marketing thru this forum. Not that that's a bad idea, but you'd have to be naive to believe they're the best on the planet. Just go thru all the posts on the various threads and read the gripes. Poor communication, horrendous delays, excuses galore, long waiting lists with lots of false promises, and a shipping company with one tired mule.

Out of the blue, I called a rep at onecall.com. Not only did he match TVA's super-duper secret "deal", but they shipped the SAME DAY, via FedEx (not that podunk shipping firm TVA uses), and I had my set in 2 days. Add to that, great communication. And this was about 2 months ago when the TV's were still "hot".

I think most people who read this forum are great, and more intelligent than you give them credit for.

Hey UCSB-

I was shocked to hear the Mitsu dissappointed you compared to the Sammy
I say this because when I A/B'd the two I found some interesting things..
1.)sharpness on the Mitsu was RAZOR, a trend they have kept-sammy was NOT as sharp and revealed a noisy picture
2.) The 3-d depth in the Mitsu was lifelike, textures were too good. Watching the same scene with a watered down HD connection between the 2 and about 100 other sets I noticed the Mitsu showed each individual strand of grass on the baseball field, the SAMMY was clearly soft, and only showed me grass, no visible detailed depth nor the 3-d like picture from the Mtsu. Flesh tones were exaggerated on the Sammy but I suspect the saturation level was higher than normal.
One thing shocked the hell out of me! The 62 was just setup, stright out of the box without adjustment was SUPERB!!!!
I noticed the 62 looking the same as the 52.
Also, of they do use the same CHip for DLp then the smaller screen would, should theoretically look better. Magnolia has nice gear BUT how they use their signal feed is beyond the scope of reason!?##
I noticed the Magnolia by my house uses COX "digital" and EVERY TV in there looks like crap! Even this 9,000.00 Fujitsu they had looked bad, as did the Pioneer Elite!

MAn, if I get the cash flow I am for sure getting the Mitsu because CLEARLY it is the best set out there right now (excluding projector setups, high end applications etc)
What do you guys think?

Hey UCSB-

I was shocked to hear the Mitsu dissappointed you compared to the Sammy
I say this because when I A/B'd the two I found some interesting things..
1.)sharpness on the Mitsu was RAZOR, a trend they have kept-sammy was NOT as sharp and revealed a noisy picture
2.) The 3-d depth in the Mitsu was lifelike, textures were too good. Watching the same scene with a watered down HD connection between the 2 and about 100 other sets I noticed the Mitsu showed each individual strand of grass on the baseball field, the SAMMY was clearly soft, and only showed me grass, no visible detailed depth nor the 3-d like picture from the Mtsu. Flesh tones were exaggerated on the Sammy but I suspect the saturation level was higher than normal.
One thing shocked the hell out of me! The 62 was just setup, stright out of the box without adjustment was SUPERB!!!!
I noticed the 62 looking the same as the 52.
Also, of they do use the same CHip for DLp then the smaller screen would, should theoretically look better. Magnolia has nice gear BUT how they use their signal feed is beyond the scope of reason!?##
I noticed the Magnolia by my house uses COX "digital" and EVERY TV in there looks like crap! Even this 9,000.00 Fujitsu they had looked bad, as did the Pioneer Elite!

MAn, if I get the cash flow I am for sure getting the Mitsu because CLEARLY it is the best set out there right now (excluding projector setups, high end applications etc)
What do you guys think?

I am not sure what types of source or components you used but I have spent
some time with both the 52 in. Mits and the 61 in. Sammy and I would say they
are same ball park PQ BUT I would give a slight edge to sharpness to the Sammy
( even with 10 in. larger diagonal screen ). I would give a slight edge to the Mits
on handling poorly compressed material slightly better. But I have a tube I use
for SD satellite channels so my decision was easy :-)

The only sets I see that are noticably better than the Sammy is some areas are
the Sony SXRDs...

Hey UCSB-

I was shocked to hear the Mitsu dissappointed you compared to the Sammy
I say this because when I A/B'd the two I found some interesting things..
1.)sharpness on the Mitsu was RAZOR, a trend they have kept-sammy was NOT as sharp and revealed a noisy picture
2.) The 3-d depth in the Mitsu was lifelike, textures were too good. Watching the same scene with a watered down HD connection between the 2 and about 100 other sets I noticed the Mitsu showed each individual strand of grass on the baseball field, the SAMMY was clearly soft, and only showed me grass, no visible detailed depth nor the 3-d like picture from the Mtsu. Flesh tones were exaggerated on the Sammy but I suspect the saturation level was higher than normal.
One thing shocked the hell out of me! The 62 was just setup, stright out of the box without adjustment was SUPERB!!!!
I noticed the 62 looking the same as the 52.
Also, of they do use the same CHip for DLp then the smaller screen would, should theoretically look better. Magnolia has nice gear BUT how they use their signal feed is beyond the scope of reason!?##
I noticed the Magnolia by my house uses COX "digital" and EVERY TV in there looks like crap! Even this 9,000.00 Fujitsu they had looked bad, as did the Pioneer Elite!

MAn, if I get the cash flow I am for sure getting the Mitsu because CLEARLY it is the best set out there right now (excluding projector setups, high end applications etc)
What do you guys think?

I later saw a 52" Mitsu that looked good. So I don't know what the story was with the original 62" Mitsu that looked disappointing. After my recent HLR5668W purchase, I'm out of the HDTV market until next year's 2006 models ... so I haven't really spent any additional time with the Mitsu. I'm sure I will take a look at it again after the new Sony models are out.

If you reread your POST, you would realize that forming final conclusions about the performance of the Mitsu and Samsung in the store environment is not going to be reliable. I would not characterize the Samsung picture as being noisy ... that is just not accurate. It may have looked noisy in the store, but all you were seeing were problems with the store's video distribution system. It is not a good idea to form conclusions about sharpness without using a calibration DVD and actually checking the TV's settings.

It takes hours to calibrate one of these sets correctly. Magnolia will always allow staff and customers to alter TV settings and if you are not familiar with the TV you will not know what to check to make sure it is operating correctly. Typically, they have the Samsung TV's in the store running in Dynamic picture mode. This is a mode that you almost certainly will never use at home and will cause picture problems. Your observations could be accounted for very easily by just having the TV's in different default picture modes.

I respect your enthusiasm and believe that both the Mitsu and Samsung are great TV's. I'm sure either would be a good purchase.

If you reread your POST, you would realize that forming final conclusions about the performance of the Mitsu and Samsung in the store environment is not going to be reliable. I would not characterize the Samsung picture as being noisy ... that is just not accurate. It may have looked noisy in the store, but all you were seeing were problems with the store's video distribution sys.

Nobody on my end formed any conclusions. YOu misinterpret my "opinions" merely, A/B'ing two competitive DLP sets..... Mitsu Widescreen TV it's what they do.
Samsung I have liked over the years but forming opinions on a public forum such as this one it's my right to form any assumptions in relation to PQ..
I am smarter the average bear, no pride here-just what I see and hear most people cannot....
Not that this matters but I produce tracks in my part time makings as a producer/musician and I have a trained eye and ear for the subtlties.
If the PQ I lightly tested exhibited these display characteristics with a "WATERED DOWN Hd signal" no matter how you slice it, you are comparing an apple to an apple because the input source I previously mentioned was the cox digital ( :p)
HD baseball game on ESPN If I recall....

I did not compare DVI, HDMI, nor component inputs except the signal feed watered down after splitting the signal 100 fold.

Everyone likes what they like, but thank god I have the uncanny ability to see and hear not what I like but an unbiased point of view, although it does sound subjective because we all are different and so are our preceptions....

The current SONY TV does not suck but is NOT better nor comparable. After they cut 10,000 jobs I would love to see what they come out with next? If sony got ahold of a Levinson amp or Brystn they would chop it up into 20 pieces and sell 20 "high end" amplifiers, really, Sony lost me as a custmer long ago when they made great quality products. Sony, IMO became the MOnster of components and tv's. Just an opinion, it can't hurt can it?

If you reread your POST, you would realize that forming final conclusions about the performance of the Mitsu and Samsung in the store environment is not going to be reliable. I would not characterize the Samsung picture as being noisy ... that is just not accurate. It may have looked noisy in the store, but all you were seeing were problems with the store's video distribution system. It is not a good idea to form conclusions about sharpness without using a calibration DVD and actually checking the TV's settings.




I tend to agree with you UCSB. On the other hand, what seperates some of these displays isn't their ability to display a high quality signal, but their inability to clean up a noisy signal. :)

I spoke with the guy who calibrated my RPTV a few weeks ago and at that time I was telling him how I was interested in the new samsung DLP'S. I told him that I had read some good things about them and actually saw a couple after he did a little research he said that these sets for whatever reason can not be calibrated 100% and told me to wait until he got a chance to see the Toshiba and Mits sets. I guess this is more of an FYI to people looking to buy.

I spoke with the guy who calibrated my RPTV a few weeks ago and at that time I was telling him how I was interested in the new samsung DLP'S. I told him that I had read some good things about them and actually saw a couple after he did a little research he said that these sets for whatever reason can not be calibrated 100% and told me to wait until he got a chance to see the Toshiba and Mits sets. I guess this is more of an FYI to people looking to buy.


Translation................. he works mostly with Toshiba and Mits and not Samsung. :D

STB and DVD currently connected to TV via HDMI.

For surround sound to the receiver, do I need to only connect
sound out from the TV optical to the receiver (since TV has
the sound already); or do I need to connect DVD and STB
directly to the receiver to get 5.1?

Also, is only the optical connection from the TV or DVD or STB
needed to the receiver (i.e does it transmit all of the info needed for 5.1)?


Thanks.

I know everyone has problems with the big box retailers. I bought thru Circuit City and just thought I'd share the details with you for comparison purposes.

Bought 6768
Price was $4,199
Delivery was $40
4 year Warranty $599
$250 reward dollars for buying thru their credit card

Set was delivered as promised 4 days later

This was at the Circuit City in Sterling, VA.

All told, I thought this was a great deal, no run arounds, had tv in my hands very quickly and I have a throat to choke if I have any problems.

Hope that helps.

I know everyone has problems with the big box retailers. I bought thru Circuit City and just thought I'd share the details with you for comparison purposes.

Bought 6768
Price was $4,199
Delivery was $40
4 year Warranty $599
$250 reward dollars for buying thru their credit card

Set was delivered as promised 4 days later

This was at the Circuit City in Sterling, VA.

All told, I thought this was a great deal, no run arounds, had tv in my hands very quickly and I have a throat to choke if I have any problems.

Hope that helps.No Tax???

For surround sound to the receiver, do I need to only connect
sound out from the TV optical to the receiver (since TV has
the sound already); or do I need to connect DVD and STB
directly to the receiver to get 5.1?

Also, is only the optical connection from the TV or DVD or STB
needed to the receiver (i.e does it transmit all of the info needed for 5.1)?


Thanks.

Set the tv speakers to 'mute' and connect your stb and dvd directly to your avr via optical (or coax) audio cables. That's all you need to do.

Translation................. he works mostly with Toshiba and Mits and not Samsung. :D

Not sure that is the case at all like he said you can't judge a TV by brand name but by model #. He is actually along with several other calibraters putting together a white paper that will explain the pro's and con's of each set said he should have it to me in 3 weeks or so.

I saw the Mits at Mag along with a Sammy and I had posted this here a few pages back. Anytime anyone goes to compare models they need to confirm the sets have been properly adjusted. I don't think any of them are and anyone who reports an opinion here without confirming that they checked that the settings on both sets were correct, I would question. As a matter of fact I was really ticked at Mag. since I felt they were too lazy to adjust the Sammy and Mits correctly. He gave me one of those looks like hey, are you going to buy this Mits or are you just wasting my time, looks. The Sammy was way off and the Mits which was just installed was off. How could a set that was just installed be off? After he tried to set them correctly I couldn't see a noticeable difference but the Sammy had a sort of glow with a better color or something.

Todays LA Times ad said order 61 in 1080p Samsung and you will get a "free Hi-Def Up-converting DVD player" by mail in 10-12 weeks AND a DVD Box Set of "The Who performing live"

Does any one know what the model is and value?

After further research I find thet Samsung has two old models HD841 & HD941, and latest HD850 & HD950.

Is there a better unit that can convert to 1080p directly, or is the HDMI a problem that limits it to 1080i?

Ray

Anyone now which DLP chip the 6178w is supposed to have? My Tweeter invoice says I got the "1080P DRC XHD3 DLP." Sound right?

Anyone now which DLP chip the 6178w is supposed to have? My Tweeter invoice says I got the "1080P DRC XHD3 DLP." Sound right?

You can check the DLP chip spec and all of the TV's other specs in this post: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4954868#post4954868

Not sure that is the case at all like he said you can't judge a TV by brand name but by model #. He is actually along with several other calibraters putting together a white paper that will explain the pro's and con's of each set said he should have it to me in 3 weeks or so.

I would caution anyone against quoting calibrators or even having their set calibrated by people that are unfamiliar with (or still learning about) the 1080p Samsungs. Things can go wrong and several members have had bad experiences that have not been posted in the thread (but, discussed offline in PM's). I personally do not feel that experienced calibrators can just show up at your home and figure out how to calibrate one of these sets correctly. If you are going to be hiring someone ask them tough questions up front.

Samsung I have liked over the years but forming opinions on a public forum such as this one it's my right to form any assumptions in relation to PQ..
I am smarter the average bear, no pride here-just what I see and hear most people cannot....

Everyone likes what they like, but thank god I have the uncanny ability to see and hear not what I like but an unbiased point of view, although it does sound subjective because we all are different and so are our preceptions.... So you consider yourself "smarter than the average bear", and you "have the uncanny ability to see and hear... an unbiased point of view"?

In that case, why are you comparing two sets that have not been properly calibrated to the signal feed? That is not a fair or "unbiased" comparison at all.

Nobody wants to argue with your perceptions, but as UCSB correctly stated: "It is not a good idea to form conclusions... without using a calibration DVD and actually checking the TV's settings". In order to attract the "average bear", the default settings for mosts sets are designed for torch-mode vibrancy and inaccuracy, Besides, some salesman or customer could have messed with the settings, and WORSENED the PQ.

Although your perceptions may indeed have been "unbiased", what you were looking at, could have been severely biased.

Gary

I tend to agree with you UCSB. On the other hand, what seperates some of these displays isn't their ability to display a high quality signal, but their inability to clean up a noisy signal. :)

Cleaning up that noisy signal comes at an expense of sharpness.

The Mosquito has an m.s.r.p. of $3500 and I bet it reduces noise better
than any 1080p RP on the market and even it noticably softens the PQ.
Check out the pictures on the following web site:
http://www.algolith.com/index.php?id=mosquito_hdmi

I prefer my TV to not do any noise reduction or least allow me to completely
turn it off. I will worry about the quality of content I send it...

Cleaning up that noisy signal comes at an expense of sharpness.


I prefer my TV to not do any noise reduction or least allow me to completely
turn it off. I will worry about the quality of content I send it...

This is one of the (potentially) attractive features of the Mits 1080p's (that I'm planning on 'playing with' at some B&M's this weekend): their 'Sharp Edge' feature is switchable, as is a 'Video Noise Reduction' feature. I am very curious to see the extent to which Sharp Edge adds noise to the picture for poor signals, and how much the picture is smoothed when it is turned OFF. Similarly for the Noise Reduction feature. The inability to do this (i.e., switch it ON or OFF) for the DNIe with Samsung seems to be a significant complaint about them.

I just received my 15' VGA plain cable from Staples today. I plugged it in and everything worked right away. I wasn't sure if it would work at 15' but it does. The Sammy is amazing as a computer monitor. I did have my same computer connected to my friend's 5078, but my 5678 is just better! I played a HDV video clip from a video site using WMVHD. The video was amazing. Crystal clear and flawless. I'm that much closer to editing HD on the Sammy. My problem now is the issues I reported on my set are the same or probably worse on a static computer screen than from a TV source. The TVA guy didn't call me back. I'm not too upset though since I want to confirm with David Abram's I believe about using the set to edit HD, just to be sure. So far so good. Awesome.

So you consider yourself "smarter than the average bear", and you "have the uncanny ability to see and hear... an unbiased point of view"?

In that case, why are you comparing two sets that have not been properly calibrated to the signal feed? That is not a fair or "unbiased" comparison at all.

Nobody wants to argue with your perceptions, but as UCSB correctly stated: "It is not a good idea to form conclusions... without using a calibration DVD and actually checking the TV's settings". In order to attract the "average bear", the default settings for mosts sets are designed for torch-mode vibrancy and inaccuracy, Besides, some salesman or customer could have messed with the settings, and WORSENED the PQ.

Although your perceptions may indeed have been "unbiased", what you were looking at, could have been severely biased.

Gary

HOw correct you are G. I must have forgotton to include that every "basic" adjustment contrast, brightness, sharpness, hue etc; were set smack in the middle.... for both sets with the same feed....

The new features they both employ (their own proprietary features to enhance pictures like Definedge or whatever) were not adjusted. Maybe you can agree or not that tuning a color scheme such as COOL, USER or WARM will not change the basic fumdamental output of PQ, IF you think that then you believe any small adjustment will yield significantly better results which is untrue because YOU should be able to tell the difference between adjustments.

Because I am very interested in the DLP 1080P technology not Mitsubishi as this may come across I would like the best set for the best value period.

As of this moment I do not like Mitsu because of their "empty promise module" that never added DVI or HDMi connectivity for my set.

I firmly believe that ingenuity and intellect both surface when "certain" questions are asked and one others' perception or view is questioned... The ONLY purpose this serves is for people to come up with their own individual opinions, share reviews, and ask questions.
Who does it really bother when someone gives an opinion, regardless of detailed comparison, and simply does not satisfy the reader?
I mean if it does not satisfy you, why be so irritable?

Ask your question: and it will be answered.
YEs, I am smarter than the average person which does not say too much because most people live and die by the very words of heresay and unquestioned opinion.

I CAN tell if a Display looks great, good or poor.... I know what a picture should look like. It should be clear as day, contrast should be near perfect. I would call it dynamic contrast because if your set is set right you should see everything, very bright or very dark and EVERYTHING in between. WHat say you?

MY definition of that is the brights should be bright, not dull, darks or blacks should show every shade of black or dark colors. If a set is too dark or has a LOW contrast ratio then all you see is black, maybe 3-4 shades of it.
On my display I see everything, not perfect but very satisfactory.
Ask me about Daewoo or Akai or a lesser quality display that has not been perfecting their technology for years.

Every dislplay is different in relation to their brand name.
I would love to own a panasonic, a samsung, pioneer elite plasma, fujitsu.
I chose Mitsubishi because at that time the best RP TV was the Mitsu Diamond.
New technology is here so taking a closer look- I will because all I want is badass looking picture in that everytime I turn it on I cannot stop watching.
With my current display I have to watch the whole DVD because it looks so good I cannot take my eyes off of it!
:p but to each his own.

I bought the Mitsubishi 62628 and love it...zero problems

Surfengine, how great is it for component, or HDMI hookups?
I really want to get one, truly feel it is the one 2 get (for me)

I must have forgotton to include that every "basic" adjustment contrast, brightness, sharpness, hue etc; were set smack in the middle.... for both sets with the same feed....

Who does it really bother when someone gives an opinion, regardless of detailed comparison, and simply does not satisfy the reader? We are all here to help each other and share our collaborative experience. Your insight and opinions could be tremendously useful to us, particularly because you say you have an eye for detail. However, we noticed a common oversight that would have skewed the results of your comparison test.

If, as you said, every "basic" adjustment (including brightness and contrast) were set smack in the middle for both sets during the test, all the experts would agree that both sets were performing very poorly. It may have been purely coincidental that the Mits was a little closer to its optimum setting than the Samsung was.

If brightness, for example, is set just a few clicks off, it can cause a fantastic picture to look terrible (causing either washed-out and noisy darks, or severely crushed blacks). Calibrating both sets to the feed is essential to allow you to make the best choice (with no regrets) and for your feedback to be meaningful to us.

Gary

Regarding settings set "smack dab in the middle", remember that's only in the user menu. Over in the service menu, you usually have offsets that places the actual setting somewhere else.

For example, on Sony's, you usually have a range of 0 to 61. If contrast is set at 31 with an offset of 51, then it'll appear as "smack dab in the middle" on the user menu when in effect its really much higher.

I bought the Mitsubishi 62628 and love it...zero problems


I guess you have not ran into the slow channel changing and loud fan noise problems ...

This is one of the (potentially) attractive features of the Mits 1080p's (that I'm planning on 'playing with' at some B&M's this weekend): their 'Sharp Edge' feature is switchable, as is a 'Video Noise Reduction' feature. I am very curious to see the extent to which Sharp Edge adds noise to the picture for poor signals, and how much the picture is smoothed when it is turned OFF. Similarly for the Noise Reduction feature. The inability to do this (i.e., switch it ON or OFF) for the DNIe with Samsung seems to be a significant complaint about them.

Looks like you may have just added another Samsung to your collection! Congrats...

FAQ: HD DVD vs. Blu ray

http://msn-cnet.com.com/FAQ%3A+HD+DVD+vs.+Blu+ray/2100-1041_3-5886956.html?part=msn-cnet&subj=ns_2510&tag

Looks like you may have just added another Samsung to your collection! Congrats...

And also to you! This is crazy; I'm quite disconbopulated. Got to think about this a while. (But a nice quandry to be in.)

Maybe you can talk them into putting the cost of the 5668 towards the 7178???

I am extreemly glad for you since according to your sig, you were looking at getting another. I on the other hand only need one, so it worked out for the best for both of us. I have some thoughts on my approach since in effect they are getting off easy with two 5668s. :):):)

Congrats to both of you...Enjoy!!!

Maybe you can talk them into putting the cost of the 5668 towards the 7178???

I am extreemly glad for you since according to your sig, you were looking at getting another. I on the other hand only need one, so it worked out for the best for both of us. I have some thoughts on my approach since in effect they are getting off easy with two 5668s. :):):)

It's all so unexpected (as I'm sure it is for you too); will have to think through all the options. Weird thing is that I had just about come to the conclusion that I was going to get the MITS 70+" set!! But boy, the 5668 is a very sweet item.

I've read that a thin white line around the border when watching 4:3 material is not unusal, but I saw something very similar when watching ROTK:EE on DVD. This DVD is 2.35:1 (I think), so presents in a letterbox format. I watched on an Oppo DVD player connected to a 6168 via a DVI->HDMI cable.

It looked like there was a line about 1/2" above the bottom black bar, and 1/2" below the bottom black bar. I've tried a few letterboxed DVD's, and all exhibited this behavior. Also, I found a letterbox movie on TV and it had the same thing. It's not quite a white line, but definitely a band of pixels that is a different shade. It's not static, in that I can see the picture visible in this band, but it's definitely a different brightness/shading that the rest of the signal.

Is this something I can resolve, or is it a works-as-designed kind of thing? I don't see this problem when viewing material that takes up the entire screen.

It's all so unexpected (as I'm sure it is for you too); will have to think through all the options. Weird thing is that I had just about come to the conclusion that I was going to get the MITS 70+" set!! But boy, the 5668 is a very sweet item.

What the heck are you guys talking about?? What did I miss? Someone please update me. :-)

I just got an HLR5078W only had it for a couple of days, just wanted to share my initial impressions.

Great computer monitor. At 1280x800 (the native resolution of my widescreen Toshiba) there was lots of wasted screen space. At 1920x1080there was some overscan on the top and left. After trying all the manual adustments I could find, I enabled the auto adjust from the menu, and it corrected itself!

The problem now is figuring out the best way to use it from the couch. I went looking for a 15 foot VGA cord, could not find one at Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, and Office Max! Then I thought about just plugging the laptop in near the TV and using a wireless keyboard with a mouse built in. Great Idea, but cannot find such a keyboard, none of the major manufacturers seem to make keyboards with trackballs, touchpads, touchsticks, etc built in anymore! I do not want to have to mouse on my lap or have to set down and pick up a pointing object.

My Sony progressive scan DVD looked great, I watched Sin City, the whites were bright and the blacks were black with all the shades between. We also watched Robots, the colors were good and the lines sharp, there were no jaggies.

HD OTA looks good, and there have been no lip sync issues so far. SD could be better. It is very blocky at times and edges are jaggy, when things move fast they get fuzzy/noisy (I am not sure of the terms). It does depend on the source, some shows are better than others. The same broadcasts actually seemed sharper on my analog TV connected to a digital tuner. Thought it might be made worse by the TV resampling to fit the screen (upsampling?). There does not seem to be any settings to view broadcasts at their native resolution to see the difference.

I still do not have any info in the TV guide listing so I cannot evaluate its usefulness. Anybody using the Sony HD DVR (DHG-HDD) with this TV? Any links to discussions about it? It has its own tuner and Guide, just wondering how cumbersome it is using with a TV with its own tuner.

What the heck are you guys talking about?? What did I miss? Someone please update me. :-)

Check the TVA PB thread of yesterday.

Then I thought about just plugging the laptop in near the TV and using a wireless keyboard with a mouse built in. Great Idea, but cannot find such a keyboard, none of the major manufacturers seem to make keyboards with trackballs, touchpads, touchsticks, etc built in anymore! I do not want to have to mouse on my lap or have to set down and pick up a pointing object.


Seen http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/productdetails.aspx?pid=038 ???

Warning, the reviews about the builtin mouse haen't been very good. You might try http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=033 instead.

I have searched the thread and have come up with no definitive answer regarding lag. From my understanding, Samsung has "fixed" the lag issue in there 78 series models. Does anyone know for sure if there is any truth behind this statement. Also, if this statement is false, what is comparable to the 5078W DLP.

Thank you in advance.

Seen <URL> ???

Warning, the reviews about the builtin mouse haen't been very good. You might try <URL> instead.

I did see it. It is customized for Media Center and requires a Media Center receiver, but that is the idea I am looking for.

I am comfortable with trackballs, touchpads, and touchsticks, having used them in industrial applications and laptops for years. In addition to my remote, I do not want to have to find a mouse in the couch cusions!

Quick question for the owners of the 68/78 series - if you have a dvd player connected to the HDMI input on the tv and wanted to connect a surround receiver to it, will the optical output of the tv send the digital signal thru the tv to the receiver?

Quick question for the owners of the 68/78 series - if you have a dvd player connected to the HDMI input on the tv and wanted to connect a surround receiver to it, will the optical output of the tv send the digital signal thru the tv to the receiver?

The HDMI audio signal is only two channel. It can be sent through the TV, but if you want a 5.1 DD/DTS signal you need to go directly from the DVD player to your receiver.

I have searched the thread and have come up with no definitive answer regarding lag. From my understanding, Samsung has "fixed" the lag issue in there 78 series models. Does anyone know for sure if there is any truth behind this statement. Also, if this statement is false, what is comparable to the 5078W DLP.

Thank you in advance.

The 68/78 series TV experience gaming lag. Depending on your console, game, TV input, and resolution, you may be able to play the game on the set. But, games with precise timing will exhibit noticable lag.

Search the threads, the gaming question has been asked many times and their are many threads on which RPTV's handle it best.

What are you guys using to clean your new Sammy screens? The manual states that you should use a soft cloth only...no liquids. But will a little water or Windex really cause any harm to the screen?

The HDMI audio signal is only two channel. It can be sent through the TV, but if you want a 5.1 DD/DTS signal you need to go directly from the DVD player to your receiver.

HDMI actually supports 5.1 correct? It is the Samsung that does not support it (from anything other than broadcast). Theoretically if you had DD 5.1 AV Receiver with HDMI input, it would decode all the channels?

What are you guys using to clean your new Sammy screens? The manual states that you should use a soft cloth only...no liquids. But will a little water or Windex really cause any harm to the screen?

My TV came with a cloth and an sheet of paper indicating that water and only water can be used. I also recommend the 3M High Performance microfiber cloths, they are really good at picking up dust without using anything.

No, the 67, 68 and 78 series still have lag problems. The lag issues have been discussed a lot in this thread and others. This was one of the factors in my decision to return a 5078. I got a Sony 50A10 instead because it became apparent that there was questionable benefit to 1080 vs 720 resolution on a 50" screen at my viewing distance of 12'.

The 1080p Mitsubishi's do not have the lag issues with the gaming systems. It's too bad Samsung cannot come up with a solution.

CH MN, where is the Auto Adjust Menu? On the computer? What video card do you have? The best VGA cable I found, that is the longest, plain, cheap cable is at Staples online only. It is 15' Monitor cable, with male pins on both ends, not an extension cable and cost around $25 I think? You should find it since it is the only 15' that cheap.

CH MN, where is the Auto Adjust Menu? On the computer? What video card do you have? The best VGA cable I found, that is the longest, plain, cheap cable is at Staples online only. It is 15' Monitor cable, with male pins on both ends, not an extension cable and cost around $25 I think? You should find it since it is the only 15' that cheap.

Connect the computer display to the TV and switch source to PC, I also gave PC input name of PC (which seems silly, but who knows for sure what options or settings TV makes available based on name). Then with the computer display on screen, go to TV Menu, Setup, PC (More), Auto Adjustment.

You may also want to disable display on Laptop, which sometimes limits the options available for video card. For example, with LCD enabled, 1920x1080 is not an option, but if I disable the LCD, it is.

I recognize your seniority and expertise in this area, so I am not questioning your info. I was curious as to why the hdmi website faq says "Audio: HDMI supports multiple audio formats, from standard stereo to multi-channel surround-sound. " Are you saying that the tv limits it to 2 channels and that is why I would need an additional cable? Thanks in advance!

The HDMI audio signal is only two channel. It can be sent through the TV, but if you want a 5.1 DD/DTS signal you need to go directly from the DVD player to your receiver.

My TV came with a cloth and an sheet of paper indicating that water and only water can be used. I also recommend the 3M High Performance microfiber cloths, they are really good at picking up dust without using anything.
I too would recommend trying to stay with microfiber cloths and water if needed. I would not use Windex.

The best VGA cable I found, that is the longest, plain, cheap cable is at Staples online only. It is 15' Monitor cable, with male pins on both ends, not an extension cable and cost around $25 I think? You should find it since it is the only 15' that cheap.

I tried two cables that I bought at Fry's. One was 25' for about $30. The other was 50' for about $55. The 25' was two short and the 50' initially caused a "Weak Signal" error message on the TV.

I "settled" for the Gefen ExtendIt package (Gefen.com). It's expensive (around $200), but you can do a VGA run of up to 300'. The "extended" cable is actually CAT5 Ethernet, so it was actually much easier to handle and to fit into the conduit that I am using. Gefen also makes an ExtendIt package for FireWire over fiber which I will also probably have to install.

I got the same "Weak Signal" error when I first installed the Gefen VGA, but it seemed to find itself and the error went away.

Jim

HDMI actually supports 5.1 correct? It is the Samsung that does not support it (from anything other than broadcast). Theoretically if you had DD 5.1 AV Receiver with HDMI input, it would decode all the channels?

HDMI, as of yet supports only 2 channel OR

all software versions of any HDMI interface can ONLY decode 2 channel,

YOu realize that your receiver would need 1.) have an HDMI in (not for switching) then 2.) output dd or DTS 5.1,6.1 etc...

Theoretically you are correct BUT I don't think there is anyone with 1.0 or 1.1 decoding multi channel sources.....

Denon link uses firewire to do this but not for DVD's only SACD or DVD audio.....

Guaranteed NEXT generation devices WILL do this for TV's receivers and select higher end DVD players.....

I've read that a thin white line around the border when watching 4:3 material is not unusal, but I saw something very similar when watching ROTK:EE on DVD. This DVD is 2.35:1 (I think), so presents in a letterbox format. I watched on an Oppo DVD player connected to a 6168 via a DVI->HDMI cable.

It looked like there was a line about 1/2" above the bottom black bar, and 1/2" below the bottom black bar. I've tried a few letterboxed DVD's, and all exhibited this behavior. Also, I found a letterbox movie on TV and it had the same thing. It's not quite a white line, but definitely a band of pixels that is a different shade. It's not static, in that I can see the picture visible in this band, but it's definitely a different brightness/shading that the rest of the signal.

Is this something I can resolve, or is it a works-as-designed kind of thing? I don't see this problem when viewing material that takes up the entire screen.

Hey wizzy whats up?
Just wanted to ask you somethings....
Do you use a Widescreen TV and view it 4:3?? OR the material is stretched to 16:9 on your display?
2.35:1 is so wierd, because I have BLADE 2 and while it is 2.35:1 it fills the whole screen, LOTR movies are also shot in this format but have the black bars!!

Does your DVD player correct this white line or is it inherent to your display?
JUst trying to trouble shoot your encounter..

Something off topic here but what the hell, I bought an OLEVIA LT 26 hvE and I could not believe it was a 15:9 display??WTF is that??
Anyway returned it and special ordered the HVX modelt that has 16:9 but Iask you who would make a 15:9 display and why????

Does your DVD player correct this white line or is it inherent to your display?
JUst trying to trouble shoot your encounter..


The DVD player doesn't correct it. I also noticed something similar when watching football today. Fox had a banner at the top of the screen that had a black border. It appeared that the display had the same "off" line of pixels around that black border. I wonder if it's the TV having trouble going from black to some other color?

For those of you who have the D* HD Tivo, do any of you have problems with OTA HD showing on the Sammy thru the HD Tivo? I've heard that the tuners on the HR10-250 suck, and it would be better to 'split' the OTA 'in' to go to both the Sammy and the HR10-250. Then just watch OTA using the Sammy tuner.

Anyone have any comments on this idea? Pros/Cons?

Thanks.

For those of you who have the D* HD Tivo, do any of you have problems with OTA HD showing on the Sammy thru the HD Tivo? I've heard that the tuners on the HR10-250 suck, and it would be better to 'split' the OTA 'in' to go to both the Sammy and the HR10-250. Then just watch OTA using the Sammy tuner.

Anyone have any comments on this idea? Pros/Cons?

Thanks.

I have 2 HD Tivo's, and they both work perfectly. The only tuner issue is if you have too strong a signal, you might need an attenuator (for like $5 from Radio Shack).

And splitting the OTA signal would defeat like 90% of the purpose of the HD Tivo, i.e. recording/timeshifting HD programs (DirecTV HD is barely useful, except for HBO series and the occaisonal Discovery HD program).

thank you both for the clarification.

HDMI, as of yet supports only 2 channel OR

all software versions of any HDMI interface can ONLY decode 2 channel,

YOu realize that your receiver would need 1.) have an HDMI in (not for switching) then 2.) output dd or DTS 5.1,6.1 etc...

Theoretically you are correct BUT I don't think there is anyone with 1.0 or 1.1 decoding multi channel sources.....

Denon link uses firewire to do this but not for DVD's only SACD or DVD audio.....

Guaranteed NEXT generation devices WILL do this for TV's receivers and select higher end DVD players.....

I recognize your seniority and expertise in this area, so I am not questioning your info. I was curious as to why the hdmi website faq says "Audio: HDMI supports multiple audio formats, from standard stereo to multi-channel surround-sound. " Are you saying that the tv limits it to 2 channels and that is why I would need an additional cable? Thanks in advance!

Yes, that is what I am saying ... audio coming over the HDMI cable is downsampled to two channel audio by the time it leaves the digital optical output on the TV. I don't have any way of knowing if the TV requests only two channel audio from the DVD player or if it actually receives multichannel audio and then downsamples it internally. Either way the end result is the same, the TV will only output 2 channel audio.

Yes, that is what I am saying ... audio coming over the HDMI cable is downsampled to two channel audio by the time it leaves the digital optical output on the TV. I don't have any way of knowing if the TV requests only two channel audio from the DVD player or if it actually receives multichannel audio and then downsamples it internally. Either way the end result is the same, the TV will only output 2 channel audio.


The receiving end of HDMI determines the transport. So if the TV requests
dual channel, it will get dual channel. If it requests multi-channel, it gets
multi-channel. ( assuming the transmitting end can send both ... )

For those of you who have the D* HD Tivo, do any of you have problems with OTA HD showing on the Sammy thru the HD Tivo? I've heard that the tuners on the HR10-250 suck, and it would be better to 'split' the OTA 'in' to go to both the Sammy and the HR10-250. Then just watch OTA using the Sammy tuner.

Anyone have any comments on this idea? Pros/Cons?

Thanks.


I run mine to the TV and to the HD10-250. The TV seems to lock the channels better and the picture seems to be better on the TV tuner. But need the TIVO to record local HD channels until D*TV updates the satalites. I think I will try a line amp and see if that boosts the signal enough to help the TIVO.

UCSB did a great job reviewing several DVD players a while back. Now that I have a 5668 on the way, I'm about ready to order a DVD player. Given UCSB's conclusions, I thought I was between the Oppo and the Panasonic S97. Now I see that there is also a Panasonic S77.

Does anyone know what the differences are between the S97 and the S77?

I was leaning towards the Oppo because of price, but the S77 is comparable. Does anyone know how long the variable audio delay feature is on the S77? A mark against the Oppo is that it is limited to 50 ms. I was hoping for something closer to 120 ms.

Any thoughts, opinions, or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

UCSB did a great job reviewing several DVD players a while back. Now that I have a 5668 on the way, I'm about ready to order a DVD player. Given UCSB's conclusions, I thought I was between the Oppo and the Panasonic S97. Now I see that there is also a Panasonic S77.

Does anyone know what the differences are between the S97 and the S77?

I was leaning towards the Oppo because of price, but the S77 is comparable. Does anyone know how long the variable audio delay feature is on the S77? A mark against the Oppo is that it is limited to 50 ms. I was hoping for something closer to 120 ms.

Any thoughts, opinions, or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

You can read about the S77 here: http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all

I'm a new owner of the 5668. First DLP set, first HD set. All in all, considering the sources I have, I'm very impressed with the PQ. I have had an issue with getting HD channels over my cable service, though. Right now, they provide the local affialiates in HD format as well as SD. The problem I'm having is that they send the HD signals over channels 91, 92, 93, 94. When I set the TV to auto-program, these channels get skipped. The TV detects digital channels higher in the channel line-up, but no HD channels. I spoke with my provider's customer support and they indicated that some HD tuners can't handle the signals that high up in the channel line up. Specifically, they say that the Sony and Mits tuners work, and everything else won't. They are chaning their service to move the HD signals to lower channels which should fix the problem. Is there any validity to the HD tuner sensitivity for lower channels?

I am awaiting delivery of my new 6768 from Tweeter. Its been almost a month since I ordered it! Anyway, I want to configure a computer to play DVD via the vga input at 1080p. I'm not a big "gamer" so I shouldn't need that high a performance. I understand that it produces better results than any upscaling DVD player. If so, what is the best configuration I'll need to accomplish this. I'm looking at a Shuttle XPC series that Frys has on sale.

It isn't the PC but the video card in the PC has to have 1920x1080 @60hz screen resolution. Most average or old computers can't handle that. If you already have a computer see if it is possible to upgrade, otherwise look for that video card spec in a new computer. You will see all gaming computers have it like you said but you might be able to get it on a lower end model/

I am using a Pentium 3 - 1GHz with an ATI Radeon 9600 (not pro so it doesn't have a fan) and it plays just fine at 1920 x 1080.

BTW Hal - call here is K9WI.

My set is a HLR6168 and I would like to know if anyone knows how to unlock channels above 115 without using a cable card. It is strange that after 7pm many channels open including pay per view movies and some HBO. they are very unpredictable as to the position and time they open up. please help me . Thank you in advance

I'm having PQ issues with my new 6168 and have three questions I'm hoping someone can help me with:

1) I connected my Comcast Motorola HD STB to my new 6168 via DMI-HDMI cable. While the picture usually looks outstanding, I occassionally get tiling/blocking/digitizing (maybe this is what people mean by macroblocking). It's worse with darker scenes, where images sometimes take on a completely unrealistic, digitized look. It also occurs in scenes when color transitions from bright and intense to much darker or lighter shade. Instead of a smooth transition, it looks stepped.

I changed the connection from DMI-HDMI to component cables and verified with several paused pictures, that this blocking effect was minimized. I'm confused, however, as everything I've read says DMI-HDMI and HDMI is the best connection. The DMI-HDMI cable I was using brand new and of very good quality. Anyone else experience this or have a suggestion as to why it is?

2) Is there any way to verify that naming an input source on the TV changes the way it handles the signal? I've read in this forum that selecting Game on an input changes the way it is handled. The techs who set up the TV for me said this was not true. I also have not noticed any difference in the PQ of my Xbox when givng the input names other than Game. Though it does lag, changing these names seems to have no effect.

3) I have a two-year old Dennon 1815 DVD player, with Forujda (sp?) chipset. When the player is set to output at 480p (its best resolution), the picture looks horrible. The picture is much, much better when I set the DVD output to 480i. Can someone please explain this? Is there a better setting I should be using to maximize my PQ?

I've read through most of this thread, but didn't find answers to these specific questions, so forgive me if there might be a repeat. Thank you in advance for any responses.

I'm having PQ issues with my new 6168 and have three questions I'm hoping someone can help me with:


2) Is there any way to verify that naming an input source on the TV changes the way it handles the signal? I've read in this forum that selecting Game on an input changes the way it is handled. The techs who set up the TV for me said this was not true. I also have not noticed any difference in the PQ of my Xbox when givng the input names other than Game. Though it does lag, changing these names seems to have no effect.



I've read through most of this thread, but didn't find answers to these specific questions, so forgive me if there might be a repeat. Thank you in advance for any responses.

Changing the input name to game only affects 480i sources. The vast majority of xbox games are 480p so changing the input to game won’t have any affect. If you want to see what game mode does, go to the xbox dashboard and turn off all the resolution options (480p/720p/1080i). This will force the xbox to output 480i. You should notice that the lag has improved but at the expense of PQ. Now change the name from game to something else and the lag should get worse.

What is the best strategy for power UP and power DOWN of the various AV devices.
Is frequent power cycling of the TV deleterious to important components?

Background - I own the samsung TV and rent the SA8300HD from the cable company.
I probably watch 2-6 hours of programming daily, more on weekends.

Hi Guys. My service tech changed the digital board and now I have a picture but I notice that the quality is just not there. SD PQ is very blocky and even some of the HD looks horrible. The tech said that the new digital board already has the settings as they should be and that since I had absolutely no picture he was unable to write down my previous settings. What is causing all the splotchiness?

Question about PIP function. Manual says PIP cannot be digital broadcast but can be analog broadcast. Fine, but when I change the PIP channel, it goes through all possible channels 2-64 or whatever. Is there a way to configure what channels PIP should use? It does not seem to use the channel list I set up for the TV.

Is there a way to switch to the PIP audio without swapping the picture? I believe the manual says if the source is digital broadcast, the picture cannot be swapped.

Question about PIP function. Manual says PIP cannot be digital broadcast but can be analog broadcast. Fine, but when I change the PIP channel, it goes through all possible channels 2-64 or whatever. Is there a way to configure what channels PIP should use? It does not seem to use the channel list I set up for the TV.

Is there a way to switch to the PIP audio without swapping the picture? I believe the manual says if the source is digital broadcast, the picture cannot be swapped.
One approach is to swap the picture and go through your favorites and then swap back. The discrete IR command for PIP swap is HEX C4.

Has anybody posted some screen capture pictures?

I'm having PQ issues with my new 6168 and have three questions I'm hoping someone can help me with:

1) I connected my Comcast Motorola HD STB to my new 6168 via DMI-HDMI cable. While the picture usually looks outstanding, I occassionally get tiling/blocking/digitizing (maybe this is what people mean by macroblocking). It's worse with darker scenes, where images sometimes take on a completely unrealistic, digitized look. It also occurs in scenes when color transitions from bright and intense to much darker or lighter shade. Instead of a smooth transition, it looks stepped.

I changed the connection from DMI-HDMI to component cables and verified with several paused pictures, that this blocking effect was minimized. I'm confused, however, as everything I've read says DMI-HDMI and HDMI is the best connection. The DMI-HDMI cable I was using brand new and of very good quality. Anyone else experience this or have a suggestion as to why it is?
What you are seeing is not macroblocking, but just a bad signal. When Comcast implements support for the DVI port, it is through a custom firmware release to the DVR. DVI performance is very dependent on this firmware. Since you have not updated your location, we don't know where you are, but there are a few possible explanations. 1) Your local Comcast group has not done a good job in their network of supporting the DVI port. 2) Your DVR is working correctly and you are just noticing a broadcast problem that Comcast has no control over. 3) You need to update your DVR with the latest firmware. 4) Your DVR is having problems and needs to be exchanged. 5) The wiring between your TV and Comcast is not working well and you have a degraded signal (call Comcast).

2) Is there any way to verify that naming an input source on the TV changes the way it handles the signal? I've read in this forum that selecting Game on an input changes the way it is handled. The techs who set up the TV for me said this was not true. I also have not noticed any difference in the PQ of my Xbox when givng the input names other than Game. Though it does lag, changing these names seems to have no effect.
As already pointed out, the GAME label changes (less lag) are only activated in 480i mode. Try and use the right labels for each input.

3) I have a two-year old Dennon 1815 DVD player, with Forujda (sp?) chipset. When the player is set to output at 480p (its best resolution), the picture looks horrible. The picture is much, much better when I set the DVD output to 480i. Can someone please explain this? Is there a better setting I should be using to maximize my PQ?
You should consider upgrading your DVD player, see POST #4 of this thread for my comments on the four most popular options. The horrible picture you are seeing is probably macroblocking (looks like video noise). Denon's lower end players have been suffering from this problem.

Has anybody posted some screen capture pictures?

Try the High Resolution gallery in this post: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4954868#post4954868

But, better yet, just go down and take a look at your local store.

ok. One last question.

For those that have the Oppo, do you find the 50 ms audio delay option sufficient for eliminating (or nearly so) perceived video lag with your HLRXXX8?

I'm expecting my 5668 at the end of the week, and need to upgrade from my first generation Sony DVP-S3000 (limited to s-video output). All features taken together, the Oppo seems like the best choice. But that dang 50 ms limit to the audio delay function seems like the only drawback.

Thanks.

Hi Guys. My service tech changed the digital board and now I have a picture but I notice that the quality is just not there. SD PQ is very blocky and even some of the HD looks horrible. The tech said that the new digital board already has the settings as they should be and that since I had absolutely no picture he was unable to write down my previous settings. What is causing all the splotchiness?
Index delay setting possibly or just crummy DMD. Same thing happened to me so I got my old LE back. There was a huge difference.

I did not try to change the ID first as the only thing I did not like on my old LE was the location of the DMD which caused alignment issues.

ok. One last question.

For those that have the Oppo, do you find the 50 ms audio delay option sufficient for eliminating (or nearly so) perceived video lag with your HLRXXX8?

I'm expecting my 5668 at the end of the week, and need to upgrade from my first generation Sony DVP-S3000 (limited to s-video output). All features taken together, the Oppo seems like the best choice. But that dang 50 ms limit to the audio delay function seems like the only drawback.

Thanks.
You might call OPPO support and see when the next firmware release is going to be coming out and if that release will have an increase in the delay. I'm hopeful that it will. If you call, please give us an update here.

50ms is a little short, but you can find my full review of the OPPO in POST #4 of this thread.

I did see it. It is customized for Media Center and requires a Media Center receiver, but that is the idea I am looking for.

I am comfortable with trackballs, touchpads, and touchsticks, having used them in industrial applications and laptops for years. In addition to my remote, I do not want to have to find a mouse in the couch cusions!

Perhaps, but you've certainly never used a mouse that resembles the one built into the new MCE keyboard. Why is this? Because no one in the world has ever attempted to design a mouse in that manner. It defies all logic and violates 25 years of end user experience and expectations. The design is fatally flawed, and it will take only 15 seconds for you to return the keyboard. You must press down hard on the mouse to use it. The force needed to activate the mouse makes it very imprecise. You need to slow down mouse movements to make it usable. Some people will even conclude that the mouse does not work at all because no one expects to press on a trackpoint style mouse to make it work. It's too bad because the rest of the keyboard is very, very nice.

I am not sure whether this has been asked before or not. The thread is getting too long and I cannot seem to find the answer. So here is the question.

My default setting is 16x9 on TV, and it does display 16x9 for all the HD channels, but for SD channels, no matter how I tweak it it will cut off on both sides, make it like a 4x3. Anybody know what can I do to make it full screen?

Thanks a lot.

Perhaps, but you've certainly never used a mouse that resembles the one built into the new MCE keyboard. Why is this? Because no one in the world has ever attempted to design a mouse in that manner. It defies all logic and violates 25 years of end user experience and expectations. The design is fatally flawed, and it will take only 15 seconds for you to return the keyboard. You must press down hard on the mouse to use it. The force needed to activate the mouse makes it very imprecise. You need to slow down mouse movements to make it usable. Some people will even conclude that the mouse does not work at all because no one expects to press on a trackpoint style mouse to make it work. It's too bad because the rest of the keyboard is very, very nice.

Like I said that is the IDEA I am looking for (a mousing device built into the keyboard). Since I do not have Media Center Edition, I did not look into that keyboard any farther, but it is good to know I shouldn't.

Well here is an update. Now that I contacted TVA and explained how my 5678 was damaged in shipping they contacted the shipper. Pilot just called me and said that they were going to send someone over from MTI Inspections and that they would confirm the set is damaged. I already posted the problems with the set. I explained to them how anyone would notice the damage after viewing the set. Keep in mind the damage is inside the set and the cabinet I think is fine. I dont know how reputable this company is? Has anyone heard of them before? I'm not too keen on having someone like that in my house. I thought Pilot was going to pick up the set, inspect it and replace it. Now they say they want to see the set before it is moved again. I guess it makes sense but I would rather not have someone in my house.

My father has an old full size keyboard with a touchpad below the spacebar. He claims you won't get carpal tunnel using it? He needs a new one though as some of the keys are loose. P)lease let us know what you find for keyboards and if I have time and find one I'll report back.

Hi,

From my 10 foot viewing distance from an HLR 6168 on a 22.5 inch stand (holding all my equipment); the (vertical) centre of the TV is a touch too high for me.

I have options here. The legs of the stand could be removed, lowering the height of the stand to 18 inches. This would solve my problem, but my wife would prefer the legs stay on the stand, and this stand actually has ventilation slots on the bottom. I’m sure I could add some kind of silent fan set-up, so this is still an option.

The other option I thought about would be to tilt the TV forward slightly on its’ base. The TV would still physically be at the same level, however the problem associated with the loss of clarity as one moves away from the “vertical sweet spot” would be solved.

So, my question is, can the TV be damaged if it doesn’t operate on a perfectly flat and level base?

I’d certainly support the base properly, and not just put a spacer at the back of the base. The weight across the entire base would be distributed evenly.

Does the light engine/color wheel or anything else need to be perfectly flat to avoid damage, and operate properly?

Thanks
Peter

I am not sure whether this has been asked before or not. The thread is getting too long and I cannot seem to find the answer. So here is the question.

My default setting is 16x9 on TV, and it does display 16x9 for all the HD channels, but for SD channels, no matter how I tweak it it will cut off on both sides, make it like a 4x3. Anybody know what can I do to make it full screen?

Thanks a lot.

Are you inputting from a STB via the HDMI port? If this is the case you cannot stretch the SD channels (there are a couple of stretch modes). This is only supported using an analog input (ie component, S-Video). I think it also works if you are using a cable card.

lexx, I think UCSB has been doing what you propose for quite some time. As long as the set is supported, I see no problem with this solution.

Hi,

From my 10 foot viewing distance from an HLR 6168 on a 22.5 inch stand (holding all my equipment); the (vertical) centre of the TV is a touch too high for me.

I have options here. The legs of the stand could be removed, lowering the height of the stand to 18 inches. This would solve my problem, but my wife would prefer the legs stay on the stand, and this stand actually has ventilation slots on the bottom. I’m sure I could add some kind of silent fan set-up, so this is still an option.

The other option I thought about would be to tilt the TV forward slight on its’ base. The TV would still physically be at the same level, however the problem associated with the loss of clarity as one moves away from the “vertical sweet spot” would be solved.

So, my question is, can the TV be damaged if it doesn’t operate on a perfectly flat and level base?

I’d certainly support the base properly, and not just put a spacer at the back of the base. The weight across the entire base would be distributed evenly.

Does the light engine/color wheel or anything else need to be perfectly flat to avoid damage, and operate properly?

Thanks
Peter

I think many people do tilt their sets forward a bit (for the reasons you describe), so I think there is no problem. And at your distance and stand height, the amount of 'tip' necessary is VERY small; I calculate that the rear of your set needs to be raised about 0.5" to make your eye level equivalent to lowering the stand height by 4".

[QUOTE=UCSB]What you are seeing is not macroblocking, but just a bad signal. /QUOTE]

Bill... would this be why when I watch HD movies (from HBO or HDnet) like Sharktales and I Robot, that I see similar pixelation(?) or blocking with quick bright/dark transitions or in dark areas in general? Is that signal related? While the PQ seems to be better/sharper in broadcast HD than with my DVDs of the same movies, I don't seem to get the same pixelation/blocking issues with the DVDs. I have Time Warner SA8300 running across HDMI, and overall very pleased with PQ.

Thanks!

[QUOTE=cgm8870]I'm having PQ issues with my new 6168 and have three questions I'm hoping someone can help me with:

I also noticed the pic quality was better via component. I leave them both hooked up and usually watch component

If you split the cable and run one to the STB and one to the ANT input on the TV, then you can watch non HD tv and there you will be able to expand the picture. Zoom1 works pretty good

Hi,

From my 10 foot viewing distance from an HLR 6168 on a 22.5 inch stand (holding all my equipment); the (vertical) centre of the TV is a touch too high for me.

I have options here. The legs of the stand could be removed, lowering the height of the stand to 18 inches. This would solve my problem, but my wife would prefer the legs stay on the stand, and this stand actually has ventilation slots on the bottom. I’m sure I could add some kind of silent fan set-up, so this is still an option.

The other option I thought about would be to tilt the TV forward slightly on its’ base. The TV would still physically be at the same level, however the problem associated with the loss of clarity as one moves away from the “vertical sweet spot” would be solved.

So, my question is, can the TV be damaged if it doesn’t operate on a perfectly flat and level base?

I’d certainly support the base properly, and not just put a spacer at the back of the base. The weight across the entire base would be distributed evenly.

Does the light engine/color wheel or anything else need to be perfectly flat to avoid damage, and operate properly?

Thanks
Peter

I replaced the legs on my sofa with some that were a few inches higher. The skirt around the base of the sofa concealed the "tweak". I'd rather do that than take a chance on my TV falling over.

If you do decide to tilt the set, be sure to attach something to the back to keep it from flipping over.

What is the best strategy for power UP and power DOWN of the various AV devices.
Is frequent power cycling of the TV deleterious to important components?

Background - I own the samsung TV and rent the SA8300HD from the cable company.
I probably watch 2-6 hours of programming daily, more on weekends.
FWIW, I have had one problem with cycling my 5668. I had been watching for several hours and shut the tv down with no problem. I returned 20 minutes later, turned on the tv and then, reconsidered and shut it off. The TV was on for maybe 20 seconds the second time so the lamp never got to full brightness. The next morning, when I started it up, absolutely no screen illumination. I checked the back of the set and the lamp appeared to be on. After several on and off cycles over the next 20 minutes (letting it go 5 minutes or more between cycles), the screen illumination came back and it has been fine ever since. My guess is that the short cycle from the previous evening had caused a hang in the actual DLP chip. Cycling eventually cleared/reset the chip. Unplugging might have accomplished the same thing but I had not gotten to the point of trying that.

So, from now on, I am very conscious of never short cycling (start and stopping tv before full screen illumination is achieved). I generally leave the set on if I plan on being away from it 30 minutes or less. No real science here but that seems reasonable in my mind. I also shut down my Yamaha AVR and TWC 8300 DVR whenever I shut down the TV. I use the programmed System button on the 8300's remote to accomplish power on and off for all 3 components.

UCSB did a great job reviewing several DVD players a while back. Now that I have a 5668 on the way, I'm about ready to order a DVD player. Given UCSB's conclusions, I thought I was between the Oppo and the Panasonic S97. Now I see that there is also a Panasonic S77.

Does anyone know what the differences are between the S97 and the S77?

I was leaning towards the Oppo because of price, but the S77 is comparable. Does anyone know how long the variable audio delay feature is on the S77? A mark against the Oppo is that it is limited to 50 ms. I was hoping for something closer to 120 ms.

Any thoughts, opinions, or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Attached below is the link to the S77's owner's manual. The delay is up to 100ms in 20ms increments.

http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPERMANPDF/DVDS77.PDF

I originally purchased the Samsung 950 and swapped it for the Panasonic's S97S. So far, I have been very happy with the S97S.

Just FYI on video lag. I just noticed Sunday that the local HD NBC station in Boston got lag in the middle of their newscast. I never saw any lag on the set although I just got the set about a week ago. So far that is the only channel and like i said it was fine before. I am using the Sammy speakers until I get a HD-DVD player and then a avr. I don't think in this case it is the Sammy and now I wonder if it is the channel or Comcast? Anyone else get this?

I run STB to HDMI and Component (as well as ANT). I usually set it at Component which is connected to my Receiver, I am not able to strech it out. :( Didn't try S-Video though. I am on DishN so I don't have a cable card. Zoom 1/Zoom 2 are both disabled.

Are you inputting from a STB via the HDMI port? If this is the case you cannot stretch the SD channels (there are a couple of stretch modes). This is only supported using an analog input (ie component, S-Video). I think it also works if you are using a cable card.

:) I've had my 5668 for a month and it is awesome! Only complaint is pixelation in background and dark colors. I made an appointment with a caibration technician, but he cancelled and won't be available for a few weeks. In the meantime, I've ordered a calibration DVD. Is there any qick and dirty way to eliminate/reduce the pixelation on darks?

Hi,

From my 10 foot viewing distance from an HLR 6168 on a 22.5 inch stand (holding all my equipment); the (vertical) centre of the TV is a touch too high for me.

I have options here. The legs of the stand could be removed, lowering the height of the stand to 18 inches. This would solve my problem, but my wife would prefer the legs stay on the stand, and this stand actually has ventilation slots on the bottom. I’m sure I could add some kind of silent fan set-up, so this is still an option.

The other option I thought about would be to tilt the TV forward slightly on its’ base. The TV would still physically be at the same level, however the problem associated with the loss of clarity as one moves away from the “vertical sweet spot” would be solved.

So, my question is, can the TV be damaged if it doesn’t operate on a perfectly flat and level base?

I’d certainly support the base properly, and not just put a spacer at the back of the base. The weight across the entire base would be distributed evenly.

Does the light engine/color wheel or anything else need to be perfectly flat to avoid damage, and operate properly?

Thanks
Peter

I have experimented with angling the TV to improve the viewing angle. I think it is a safe and easy solution. But, 22.5" doesn't seem too high to me. If you want to lower the TV, I would cut your legs in half and just take 2" off the height. That way you still have some ventilation, your wife still has some of the stands legs, and the height is probably OK.

I’m very annoyed at the moment.

I’ve had my 5668 since around July or so and haven’t had any issues except that the screen is tilted about ¼” or so. Strangely I didn’t notice it for over a month but when I entered the SM to adjust the screen up slightly I easily noticed the screen tilt. Now I see it easily and it makes me wonder how I didn’t notice it before.

I was debating whether to call Samsung, since my 30 days with TVA had expired or just live with it. It may seem like an easy decision but with the numerous horror stories I’ve read about subsequent light engine replacements, I was concerned that I would exchange one problem for anther.

Well I finally decided to contact Samsung and they put me in contact with the local repair center. They were scheduled to come and inspect the TV between 11-12 AM. I’m at work so my wife was waiting for them. They finally show up around 2:30 but not until after my wife gave them a call. That was annoying but unfortunately not completely unexpected.

My big issue is that they took the TV and said that if all goes well I should have it back on Friday afternoon. They told my wife that a part is on order (light engine, I assume?) and that they need to take the TV back to the shop because the need to calibrate it once they install the new part.

From the reports I’ve read on this forum, light engine replacements are usually done in house. Does a replacement usually require recalibration with equipment that can’t easily be brought over to my house? I’m not concerned about being without TV for a few days but I thought taking the TV to the shop, especially since the part is on order and not even in stock was completely unnecessary. Plus I’m not too thrilled with the prospects of the potential damage that may happen from taking the TV back and forth. This scenario just strikes me as odd, given my relatively simple problem.

Am I being overly concerned about them taking the TV to the shop?

[QUOTE=UCSB]What you are seeing is not macroblocking, but just a bad signal. /QUOTE]

Bill... would this be why when I watch HD movies (from HBO or HDnet) like Sharktales and I Robot, that I see similar pixelation(?) or blocking with quick bright/dark transitions or in dark areas in general? Is that signal related? While the PQ seems to be better/sharper in broadcast HD than with my DVDs of the same movies, I don't seem to get the same pixelation/blocking issues with the DVDs. I have Time Warner SA8300 running across HDMI, and overall very pleased with PQ.

Thanks!

Yes, that is correct, it is just signal related. It is not a problem with the TV.

:) I've had my 5668 for a month and it is awesome! Only complaint is pixelation in background and dark colors. I made an appointment with a caibration technician, but he cancelled and won't be available for a few weeks. In the meantime, I've ordered a calibration DVD. Is there any qick and dirty way to eliminate/reduce the pixelation on darks?

You didn't give us enough information to help you solve your problem. Are you seeing the pixelation with DVD's or cable/sat broadcasts (HD or SD broadcasts)? What equipment or carrier are you using? How is the equipment connected to your TV? I'm asking because pixelation is almost certainly being cause by your source.

I’m very annoyed at the moment.

I’ve had my 5668 since around July or so and haven’t had any issues except that the screen is tilted about ¼” or so. Strangely I didn’t notice it for over a month but when I entered the SM to adjust the screen up slightly I easily noticed the screen tilt. Now I see it easily and it makes me wonder how I didn’t notice it before.

I was debating whether to call Samsung, since my 30 days with TVA had expired or just live with it. It may seem like an easy decision but with the numerous horror stories I’ve read about subsequent light engine replacements, I was concerned that I would exchange one problem for anther.

Well I finally decided to contact Samsung and they put me in contact with the local repair center. They were scheduled to come and inspect the TV between 11-12 AM. I’m at work so my wife was waiting for them. They finally show up around 2:30 but not until after my wife gave them a call. That was annoying but unfortunately not completely unexpected.

My big issue is that they took the TV and said that if all goes well I should have it back on Friday afternoon. They told my wife that a part is on order (light engine, I assume?) and that they need to take the TV back to the shop because the need to calibrate it once they install the new part.

From the reports I’ve read on this forum, light engine replacements are usually done in house. Does a replacement usually require recalibration with equipment that can’t easily be brought over to my house? I’m not concerned about being without TV for a few days but I thought taking the TV to the shop, especially since the part is on order and not even in stock was completely unnecessary. Plus I’m not too thrilled with the prospects of the potential damage that may happen from taking the TV back and forth. This scenario just strikes me as odd, given my relatively simple problem.

Am I being overly concerned about them taking the TV to the shop?

:eek: Yikes ... since it has already been taken to the shop, your best bet is just to relax and wait for it to be returned. There is no way for any of us to know if the repair shop has the required expertise. The calibration could be a very good thing ... I have often wondered if some of the problems people are seeing after parts replacement were being caused by a lack of recalibration. Let us know how it goes.

Bill:

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and answering our questions. With regard to the pixelation/blocking that comes from the cable company's signal, why would it be better with component cables versus DMI/HDMI? If it helps, I live in St. Paul, Minn., and Comcast is my provider.

Many thanks.

Any news omn a firmware update or anything? Seems to me if people are having their sets picked up they should do more than just replace a part which could be done on location?

I emailed OPPO on Monday. They were to release a new firmware on 9/30 that included a longer delay. 50MS is just not cutting it on my 6768. However a bug was discovered in the firmware and it has been delayed. It's coming soon hopefully.

Has anyone been able to record from the 1394(dnet) to a winxp using the instructions fron the hdrecording thread. Once back on 9/17/05 I made 2 recordings and thought I had it licked ,but never again since. Ihave done it so many times I have it memorized. i however, am demoralized

I emailed OPPO on Monday. They were to release a new firmware on 9/30 that included a longer delay. 50MS is just not cutting it on my 6768. However a bug was discovered in the firmware and it has been delayed. It's coming soon hopefully.
Thanks for the update ... I'm also interested in this new firmware.

Bill:

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and answering our questions. With regard to the pixelation/blocking that comes from the cable company's signal, why would it be better with component cables versus DMI/HDMI? If it helps, I live in St. Paul, Minn., and Comcast is my provider.

Many thanks.
I am assuming that you are using a Motorola 6412 DVR or similar Comcast device. When you use the component cables, the signal is converted to analog. This means the signal will be processed in a different way than when you are using the digital HDMI output. The difference in this processing usually doesn't matter, but if the signal is borderline, then it is possible the analog processing is working better with the signal.

Other factors might include: your DVI-HDMI cable, make sure it is plugged in securely; your STB firmware, make sure it is up-to-date; your STB, consider swapping it out; your cable wiring in your house, it may not be good and need work or replacement; the signal from Comcast, it may not be up to spec, have a tech check for service (it should be free).

Thanks for the update ... I'm also interested in this new firmware.

I also called Oppo today to inquire specifically about an increase to the audio delay function. No new news, but I was told that yes indeed, they are working on trying to increase the delay to 120 ms (no promises) via software. He would not comment on when such a firmware update might be available.

Bill:

My DMI/HDMI cable is brand new and of good quality. Also, I had my signal tested a few weeks ago and it is sufficiently strong. Most of the time, the picture looks fantastic, but the pixelization on dark colors -- even viewing HD content -- really starts to become distracting.

You mentioned I should make sure my Motorola STB has the latest firmware. Can you advise as to how I do this? Sorry for all of the questions, but I greatly appreciate the help. Hopefully this is helping others who seem to have the same issues I do.

Has anyone been able to record from the 1394(dnet) to a winxp using the instructions fron the hdrecording thread. Once back on 9/17/05 I made 2 recordings and thought I had it licked ,but never again since. Ihave done it so many times I have it memorized. i however, am demoralized

I tried hooking up my firewire to WinXP,but it says it needs a driver althought the puter reconizes its a Sammy TV.I talked to Samsung and puter manufacture but each other says ask the other ,sigh!!!!So here I am holding a $30 firewire.

Ok about to purchase my first Samsung. Im stuck between three models Samsung HL-R5667W and Samsung HL-R5668W/ HLR5677W about $600 price difference between both. Is it worth spending that extra for the latter 2 models, or is it just a waste of money? Main purpose of my purchase is for HDTV quality picture, through Time Warner Cable NYC.. Probably minimal if at all video gaming.. Any suggestions owners? So i can make the purchase tommorow.. thanks

Ok about to purchase my first Samsung. Im stuck between two models Samsung HL-R5667W and Samsung HL-R5668W about $600 price difference between both. Is it worth spending that extra for the latter model, or is it just a waste of money? Main purpose of my purchase is for HDTV quality picture, through Time Warner Cable NYC.. Probably minimal if at all video gaming.. Any suggestions owners? So i can make the purchase tommorow.. thanks

In my opinion, that $600 will be the best $600 you ever spent!

ecwlukeny, go with the 68. What about the 78? What is the going price on it?

Ok about to purchase my first Samsung. Im stuck between three models Samsung HL-R5667W and Samsung HL-R5668W/ HLR5677W about $600 price difference between both. Is it worth spending that extra for the latter 2 models, or is it just a waste of money? Main purpose of my purchase is for HDTV quality picture, through Time Warner Cable NYC.. Probably minimal if at all video gaming.. Any suggestions owners? So i can make the purchase tommorow.. thanks

I have a 5668W (and an older 720p model, the HLN507W) and am, coincidentally, a TWCNYC customer. In my opinion, one would have to be insane to select either of the 720p sets you mention instead of the 1080p 5668W -- it really is that good.

Ok about to purchase my first Samsung. Im stuck between three models Samsung HL-R5667W and Samsung HL-R5668W/ HLR5677W about $600 price difference between both. Is it worth spending that extra for the latter 2 models, or is it just a waste of money? Main purpose of my purchase is for HDTV quality picture, through Time Warner Cable NYC.. Probably minimal if at all video gaming.. Any suggestions owners? So i can make the purchase tommorow.. thanks

Go see both for yourself. Only you can decide if it is worth it to you. With that caveat, I am expecting my 5668 today ;-) In addition to the higher resolution chip (albeit wobulated), the contrast ratio of the 68 series is much higher than the 720p sets; >5000:1. When I compare sets at various retailers, I can readily see the difference between the 67 (or earlier) series and the 68 series.

Go see both for yourself. Only you can decide if it is worth it to you. With that caveat, I am expecting my 5668 today ;-) In addition to the higher resolution chip (albeit wobulated), the contrast ratio of the 68 series is much higher than the 720p sets; >5000:1. When I compare sets at various retailers, I can readily see the difference between the 67 (or earlier) series and the 68 series.
I have had my 5668 for about a month a half now. This is my first HDTV and large screen TV (previously using a 27" Sony XBR2). Overall, I am extremely happy I took the plunge on this model. I am extremely pleased with TWC's HD pictures. Additionally, DVDs, especially recent ones with good tranfers, are quite nice but not up to HD standards (as would be expected).

While it is nice to see these models in person, be careful. I ordered mine based on seeing previous models and their reviews as well as the specifications for the new 1080p models . When I was still waiting for the pre-order, the new 1080p models started showing up at the local Tweeters. I went to 3 separate locations and each time came away only moderately impressed. I would have not purchased one of these TVs if the only datapoint had been the showroom demo. Whether it was poor set up and/or source, they simply were not that impressive. Despite that, I decided to continue with the order and the knowledge that if the in-home performance was similar to the store demo's I could return within 30 days. If I had been serious about making a purchase at Tweeters instead of doing TVAs PB, I probably would have insisted that they move the set to a dedicated feed.

Personally, I like the xx68 series with the matte black bezel and floating screen. IMHO, The xx78 series looks more classy but I would think that the glossy black bezel could create some reflection issues depending on your situation. In my case, the 68 series was running a couple hundred less than equivalent 78 series so that helped me to nail down the decision.

Good luck!

Bill:

My DMI/HDMI cable is brand new and of good quality. Also, I had my signal tested a few weeks ago and it is sufficiently strong. Most of the time, the picture looks fantastic, but the pixelization on dark colors -- even viewing HD content -- really starts to become distracting.

You mentioned I should make sure my Motorola STB has the latest firmware. Can you advise as to how I do this? Sorry for all of the questions, but I greatly appreciate the help. Hopefully this is helping others who seem to have the same issues I do.

If you go to the setup menu item on the STB main menu, you will be able to see both the firmware version and software version. You can call Comcast to see if these are the lastest versions. If not, they can refresh your unit.

Bill
Have you heard anything from SS about DNie?

Bill
Have you heard anything from SS about DNie?
No, nothing new. I am not expecting Samsung to allow user upgrades of firmware this year, so I think that the status quo is what we will be seeing for this model year.

I run STB to HDMI and Component (as well as ANT). I usually set it at Component which is connected to my Receiver, I am not able to strech it out. :( Didn't try S-Video though. I am on DishN so I don't have a cable card. Zoom 1/Zoom 2 are both disabled.


Actually, you can use the zoom modes from any input including HDMI. You just have to set your STB output to 480 resolution. You cannot use zoom modes with 720P or 1080i output from the STB (or DVD).

Ok about to purchase my first Samsung. Im stuck between three models Samsung HL-R5667W and Samsung HL-R5668W/ HLR5677W about $600 price difference between both. Is it worth spending that extra for the latter 2 models, or is it just a waste of money? Main purpose of my purchase is for HDTV quality picture, through Time Warner Cable NYC.. Probably minimal if at all video gaming.. Any suggestions owners? So i can make the purchase tommorow.. thanks

I went from a 32" SD XBR to a HL-R6168W and the difference is unbelievable. Was watching the SS and went and saw the old Sony and felt like "how could I watch tv like that all these years". My wife agrees... I used to think my Sony was the bomb, but 1080P blows it away...

Good luck with your decision.

BTW, I am a very satisfied customer with TVA and their powerbuy. Thought I'd mention that since there is probably more satisified customers that are enjoying their tv's instead of singing the praise of TVA and Samsung...

I am hopefully going to pay off the Sony KDFE50A10 50" HDTV in about a week and a half. I was going to get the Samsung HLR5078W 1080p 50" HDTV but after hearing about lip sync issues and the fact I could not input 1080p from something like Bluray. I ended up setteling for the Sony LCD 50" 720p set. I keep hoping that this was not a huge mistake and that I should have just down graded the 1080p Samsung to a 720p Samsung dlp? I am saving about 1k getting the Sony and I am planning on getting a projector for movies in a year or two? Hopefully a 120" Stewert Firehawk screen then I can get some theater seating and really enjoy. Ether way now I need to find a place that sells the dvd's to tweek the picture and dial the tv in. Its a nice looking tv for lcd and its alot better than the Hitachi IMHO, am just wondering if I am making a huge mistake with the Sony?

I tried hooking up my firewire to WinXP,but it says it needs a driver althought the puter reconizes its a Sammy TV.I talked to Samsung and puter manufacture but each other says ask the other ,sigh!!!!So here I am holding a $30 firewire.
thank you for your replyy I suspect it was an "upgrade" from M$. Incidently I hooked up a usb 400G drive that had been formated by an nstu unint and it would work for uploading jpegs and coudld navigate thr drive (dvr 942) but, told me that down loading was not yet available if I coud down saves I wouldn't care I would jus hook it to the nstu transfer to my regular drive and make wmvs but alas another dead end. Let me know if you can find another work around, I woud really to save some of the Discover channels they were gorgeous.

Hi there, Has anybody notice screen blemishes / faded spots on their screens with the power off? I don't know if blemish is the correct word. I just received my 6768 and have it resting on a dolly in a temporary room. This room has a full wall of floor to ceiling glass on 1 side facing the Ocean. There are no scratches or any visible surface imperfections.

I've noticed that when I angle the TV (power turned off), so that the face of the TV is perpendicular to the wall of glass, I can see what look like cloudy / faded spots on the TV screen. They are anywhere from the size of a wallet to the size of a notebook. They are very peculiar in that each spot only shows when you are looking at the screen at a certain angle and the TV is rotated at a certain angle to the l glass side of the room.

ie. when I close the blinds in the room and use the room overhead electrical lighting, I can't see these cloudy spots no matter what angle I look at the screen. When I open the blinds up and rotate the TV so it is perpendicular to the glass wall, I can see a spot or 2. If I rotate the TV another 10 degrees, they disappear and another cloudy spot shows up in a different location. If I rotate the TV all the way so that the back of it is facing the glass wall (ie. Room is still illuminated due to the glass wall but the TV is not getting any direct light reflection), I can not see any cloudy spots. It’s really odd… I wonder what I am seeing. These cloudy spots / fading look like what could happen when you use a detergent on a film coated screen. However, As I mentioned before, what I am seeing is happening underneath the surface and shows itself only under unique lighting conditions.

I wonder if it’s anything to worry about or just something that I’m only noticing under these weird conditions. When I went to wipe the areas that I initially thought were surface smudges, I did notice that the screen does have what seems like flex… is it a glass distortion artifact? Inspecting the screen from the side, It seems to me the glass has “waves” here and there. Are these front screens really glass or some type of glass/plastics composite? --- John

Thanks again, Bill. Well, I've now tried everything, including ensuring I have the latest firmware. Comcast confirmed my HD STB/DVR is the latest and greatest with the most up-to-date software/firmware. I'm a bit upset that I can't use this expensive DMI-HDMI cable, but more disappointed that even component cables don't entirely clear up the occassional pixelation/digitized effect I see with HD content. It never happened on my 42" CRT.

I also included below a question that was asked on the other Sammy 1080p thread, but hasn't been answered. I'm curious to the answer myself.

How can I turn off/deactivate the cable/air input? I've got my hd-dvr connected via component and dvd via hdmi. I am not using the cable/air input. Is there a way to turn it off so I do not have to "see" it when I changing inputs? All the other inputs are 'off' unless something is actively inputting.

Dave Moritz, nothing compares to the Sammy's. I think your decision was based on price? There is a bigger difference in PQ than price. If you are able to exchange it for the Sammy and can spend more for the Sammy than that would be a better decision, however money is an object for most people so get the best you can for the price which I think you did. I assume the one you have is 720p though right? Right now I'd say a 720 DLP is better than a LCD regardless of brand or price. I've started to take a closer look and compare these sets since it is an important decision.

gjockey, those are smudge marks I think although yours seem to be enormous. See if you can do a search here for that topic?

My Mitts update here from Worst Buy Mag. is that first the salesman was pushing the Mitts. I thought It would be fun to see how much he knows compared to the little I have. It turns out the only "fact" he had when comparing the Sammy to the Mitts was that the Mitts had "better blacks" I learned here BTB. I questioned him on that and he really didn't have anything to back it up. I can say after seeing the Mitts for the third time that it doesn't compare to the Sammy afa PQ and I don't think on $ either? I'm really surprised at least two people here I think said the Mitts were better? I don't see how unless as has been discussed that the Sammy wasn't set correctly? I pressed the salesman some more I figured since I spent about a half hour driving to see the Mitts and Tos, which they didn't have yet. I asked about a computer connection. He said the Sammy didn't have one but the Mitts did. Well that I knew was wrong since I've helped people here with it, that's one thing I do know for a fact at least. I said really because the Sammy doesn't scale the 1080p and it has a VGA. The Mitts is only SVGA max I think, what is that 1020 or something and it uses up one of the two HDMI ports. In other words don't get the Mitts if you plan on connecting a HTPC or similar PC to it,, which more and more people will be doing when Vista is out, if not sooner. Oh and the salesman said the Sammy only had one HDMI. I really went there to confirm that the Sammy was still leading the pack in PQ and $ and I guess features, something I didn't think was going to be an issue.

How can I turn off/deactivate the cable/air input? I've got my hd-dvr connected via component and dvd via hdmi. I am not using the cable/air input. Is there a way to turn it off so I do not have to "see" it when I changing inputs? All the other inputs are 'off' unless something is actively inputting.

It can't be deactivated. But, there are several ways to avoid it. Best way, instead of using the SOURCE button on the remote, use MENU->INPUT and select the input that you want. Better yet, buy a nice remote that uses discrete IR commands to go directly between inputs.

Hi there, Has anybody notice screen blemishes / faded spots on their screens with the power off? I don't know if blemish is the correct word. I just received my 6768 and have it resting on a dolly in a temporary room. This room has a full wall of floor to ceiling glass on 1 side facing the Ocean. There are no scratches or any visible surface imperfections.

I've noticed that when I angle the TV (power turned off), so that the face of the TV is perpendicular to the wall of glass, I can see what look like cloudy / faded spots on the TV screen. They are anywhere from the size of a wallet to the size of a notebook. They are very peculiar in that each spot only shows when you are looking at the screen at a certain angle and the TV is rotated at a certain angle to the l glass side of the room.

ie. when I close the blinds in the room and use the room overhead electrical lighting, I can't see these cloudy spots no matter what angle I look at the screen. When I open the blinds up and rotate the TV so it is perpendicular to the glass wall, I can see a spot or 2. If I rotate the TV another 10 degrees, they disappear and another cloudy spot shows up in a different location. If I rotate the TV all the way so that the back of it is facing the glass wall (ie. Room is still illuminated due to the glass wall but the TV is not getting any direct light reflection), I can not see any cloudy spots. It’s really odd… I wonder what I am seeing. These cloudy spots / fading look like what could happen when you use a detergent on a film coated screen. However, As I mentioned before, what I am seeing is happening underneath the surface and shows itself only under unique lighting conditions.

I wonder if it’s anything to worry about or just something that I’m only noticing under these weird conditions. When I went to wipe the areas that I initially thought were surface smudges, I did notice that the screen does have what seems like flex… is it a glass distortion artifact? Inspecting the screen from the side, It seems to me the glass has “waves” here and there. Are these front screens really glass or some type of glass/plastics composite? --- John

They are just internal light reflections being picked up by the internal components of your TV in the bright room. Nothing to be concerned about. The reason they look cloudy is because they are not in focus.

Thanks bcvp, "smudge" is the keyword I should have been using in searches.

Thanks bcvp, "smudge" is the keyword I should have been using in searches.

I really DOUBT that they are smudges. Smudges are caused when the layers that make up the screen separate internally. They would be visible on the screen when you are watching something that is a uniform light color (like a INHD ad screen). They wouldn't move because they are a manufacturing defect.

Although, if screen problems do develop, we will probably see them in the 67" and 71" sets.

Re the 7178: I not even hearing any RUMORS about when it's going to appear! I'm beginning to lean toward the Mits 73" 1080p dlp, but I'm trying to keep an open mind until I see them and the Sammy 7178. The Mits 73''er's are beginning to trickle out--WHERE IS THE 7178!?

thought I would give an update with my experiance calibrating the 6768. I called Audio Video Calibrations here in Houston. John Polk and another guy came out and spent about four hours doing the set. Wow! what an improvement! I would highly suggest getting this done.

Just received my 6168W today, plugged the regular cable line into the back of the tv, turned it on, and the pictures from the different channels were covered with blotches - screen seemed stretched. Is this the horrible SD junk I can expect from watching regular TV or am I just jumping the gun. I didn't have time to do much, but take a quick look as I had to go to work. The Cable Guy will be out Friday to hookup STB - should I be looking at some type of filter to clean this up, better cables, etc. Thanks for any replies.

thought I would give an update with my experiance calibrating the 6768. I called Audio Video Calibrations here in Houston. John Polk and another guy came out and spent about four hours doing the set. Wow! what an improvement! I would highly suggest getting this done.
Cool, thanks, I've been looking for a good calibrationist in the H-bomb. Did you just get the $300 basic calibration package, or did you splurge for some of the extras they offer?

thought I would give an update with my experiance calibrating the 6768. I called Audio Video Calibrations here in Houston. John Polk and another guy came out and spent about four hours doing the set. Wow! what an improvement! I would highly suggest getting this done.


I am just waiting on my DVDO VP30 to get my calibration done. I wish they would get them out soon. I have to admit my DVDO HD makes all of the SD channels more than watchable. Can't wait to see the improvement calibration makes. :D

Just received my 6168W today, plugged the regular cable line into the back of the tv, turned it on, and the pictures from the different channels were covered with blotches - screen seemed stretched. Is this the horrible SD junk I can expect from watching regular TV or am I just jumping the gun. I didn't have time to do much, but take a quick look as I had to go to work. The Cable Guy will be out Friday to hookup STB - should I be looking at some type of filter to clean this up, better cables, etc. Thanks for any replies.

Were these HDTV channels or analog? I just got the Sony SXRD and I hooked it up the same way as my old Sony Wega which had the cable daisy chained going from a VCR to a DVD-R to the tv; I know this isn;t the best but I had a pretty good picture on the tv and for recording on both vcr & dvd-r. When I replaced the Wega with the SXRD, all the HD channels were constantly breaking up with big blotches. I disconnected the tv from the antenna out of the dvd-r and added a splitter to feed the tv on one output and the recorders on the other and the hdtv channels were then perfect.

Were these HDTV channels or analog? I just got the Sony SXRD and I hooked it up the same way as my old Sony Wega which had the cable daisy chained going from a VCR to a DVD-R to the tv; I know this isn;t the best but I had a pretty good picture on the tv and for recording on both vcr & dvd-r. When I replaced the Wega with the SXRD, all the HD channels were constantly breaking up with big blotches. I disconnected the tv from the antenna out of the dvd-r and added a splitter to feed the tv on one output and the recorders on the other and the hdtv channels were then perfect.

The channels were analog - The pictures was almost unwatchable. Hopefully, I'll get a better idea Friday after the cable guy comes. I sure hope it improves some. Thanks for your reply.

Here's the deal. I got a 5678 at TVA and my friend did not. He has a price guarantee on his 5078 but I can't find anyone that sells it in order to compare prices. I would like to compare my PB to the current price on my 5678 for that matter. Please let me know here or PM me if you beat a price for a 5078 at $3,100 or a 5678 at $3,500. He got his 5078 at Tweeter. Thanks.

My worst fears were realized. I decided to mail order the HLR6168W last week and just received it today. I try never to mail order TVs but this model isn't availably locally so I took a chance.
When I set up the TV, everything looked normal. I hooked up my 8300HD DVR via HDMI and was very happy with the picture I saw, especially in HD.
After about an hour, I stepped away to take care of some things, when I got back, the screen had a frozen image on it but the audio was still live with the program.
I turned the set off and on and now I never get a picture anymore.
The lamp in the back is showing light through the grate so it looks like that is ok.
I have changed all my connections to direct cable, DVD, etc, but I'm not getting any video no matter what button I press. I can hear the audio though.
The indicator light on the front isn't displaying any of the lights in the manual that it would show if there was a problem.
As you can imagine, I am very frustrated now.
Is there anything I can do? Is there a way to reset the TV back to factory conditions?
Anyone else with this problem?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks.

My worst fears were realized. I decided to mail order the HLR6168W last week and just received it today. I try never to mail order TVs but this model isn't availably locally so I took a chance.
When I set up the TV, everything looked normal. I hooked up my 8300HD DVR via HDMI and was very happy with the picture I saw, especially in HD.
After about an hour, I stepped away to take care of some things, when I got back, the screen had a frozen image on it but the audio was still live with the program.
I turned the set off and on and now I never get a picture anymore.
The lamp in the back is showing light through the grate so it looks like that is ok.
I have changed all my connections to direct cable, DVD, etc, but I'm not getting any video no matter what button I press. I can hear the audio though.
The indicator light on the front isn't displaying any of the lights in the manual that it would show if there was a problem.
As you can imagine, I am very frustrated now.
Is there anything I can do? Is there a way to reset the TV back to factory conditions?
Anyone else with this problem?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks.

First step is to unplug the TV for a few minutes ... let us know if that works. Second step, make sure you are on the input that you think that you are using (ie. DVD, DVR, TV, etc.).

First step is to unplug the TV for a few minutes ... let us know if that works. Second step, make sure you are on the input that you think that you are using (ie. DVD, DVR, TV, etc.).

I have unplugged it for 10 minutes.
Hooked a cable directly to the cable input (I can hear the audio).
I have hooked a DVD player via HDMI.

There seems to be some brightness in the black when it is on but that is it.

I can't imagine the bulb going after only being on for a few minutes, plus I see the light from the back.
It almost seems like something got locked up.

I'm going to try to keep unplugged for an hour, see if that helps.

I have unplugged it for 10 minutes.
Hooked a cable directly to the cable input (I can hear the audio).
I have hooked a DVD player via HDMI.

There seems to be some brightness in the black when it is on but that is it.

I can't imagine the bulb going after only being on for a few minutes, plus I see the light from the back.
It almost seems like something got locked up.

I'm going to try to keep unplugged for an hour, see if that helps.

If you know for sure that you are on the right input (ie, MENU->INPUT->xxxx), then I would call Samsung at 1-800-Samsung. The sooner you call, the sooner they can dispatch a tech. Let's hope it is only the lamp.

I have a second lamp on hand for times like this ... good luck.

Does anyone know if Best Buy or Circuit City will be selling the 68 series tvs any time soon (or at all)? Not that it would be my choice to purchase there, but living in a small town limits my options right now. I need to see before I buy.

If you know for sure that you are on the right input (ie, MENU->INPUT->xxxx), then I would call Samsung at 1-800-Samsung. The sooner you call, the sooner they can dispatch a tech. Let's hope it is only the lamp.

I have a second lamp on hand for times like this ... good luck.

Well, I called Samsung and going through some tips, the guy was pretty sure it was the lamp. They are going to send out a tech. I was suprised how helpful they were.

He said unplugging it for 60seconds basically resets it to factory settings.

I'm suprised it is the lamp because I first noticed the problem when the screen froze, the image was still a HD picture with full brightness.

Man, it was tough waiting for a week for the TV, now I got to stare at this beast until a Tech comes out (probably next week).
I got a deal online, I guess you get what you pay for.

I had another question that I was thinking about the short time I had a working TV...

When watching HiDef cable via HDMI, when I pressed Info, the resolution would say something like 1920x1080i (which is correct for the channel).
When do I see 1080p? Am I already seeing it and that is just the native resolution of the channel?
I thought the TV would upscale everything to 1080p.

I noticed that the info button displays information about the channel you are watching on the over the air tuner. Some of the program content show a brief description of the show and there is a line a couple lines below with a more detailed description when the Info Button is pressed twice. Many times the more detailed description ends with "..." to show that there is more of a description. Is there anyway to expand the "..." to see the rest of the detail description of the program? I thought maybe a particular key on the remote might expand this description.