Samsung HC-R4355W: good or bad? [Text View] - Page 2

austintx01

09-30-05, 04:42 PM

It really all depends on how much you are going to watch SD. If you watch it most of the time you will get burn in with the bars on the side. When you say it looks distorted do you mean it looks blocky or grainey? If so you may need to have your cable company come look at you signal strength

I mean the stretching distorts the image badly, and I can only do that with my STB since the Samsung won't do it with component inputs (the Sammy can do it with AV inputs, and it distorts badly, too). Even if it did do it, it would likely be distorted (making everything look wide/fat). Since we only have ~ 6 HD channels with our "HD pack" on time-warner here, and can't get ESPN2, ESPNC, ESPNNews, FoxSports and regional channels (~ 5 channels), CSTV, Tennis, or OLN in HD, I am forced to watch SD most of the time. It is sounding to me like if I REALLY want to watch sports, I need to go DLP or RP LCD so I can watch SD TV undistorted without fear of burn-in. I was really hoping to make this Samsung RP CRT work due to the GREAT price (three digits WITH stand), but this is a deal killer for me unless someone has a great idea to solve? thx!

tick221

09-30-05, 05:47 PM

I mean the stretching distorts the image badly, and I can only do that with my STB since the Samsung won't do it with component inputs (the Sammy can do it with AV inputs, and it distorts badly, too). Even if it did do it, it would likely be distorted (making everything look wide/fat). Since we only have ~ 6 HD channels with our "HD pack" on time-warner here, and can't get ESPN2, ESPNC, ESPNNews, FoxSports and regional channels (~ 5 channels), CSTV, Tennis, or OLN in HD, I am forced to watch SD most of the time. It is sounding to me like if I REALLY want to watch sports, I need to go DLP or RP LCD so I can watch SD TV undistorted without fear of burn-in. I was really hoping to make this Samsung RP CRT work due to the GREAT price (three digits WITH stand), but this is a deal killer for me unless someone has a great idea to solve? thx!

So what you saying is that the sammy can't zoom or stretch when using component inputs put will with say S-Video? If this is true this is a deal breaker for me.

austintx01

09-30-05, 07:01 PM

So what you saying is that the sammy can't zoom or stretch when using component inputs put will with say S-Video? If this is true this is a deal breaker for me.

correct. I don't have any S-video cables, only component (for HD from STB) and "composite" (aka AV). It WILL stretch with composite, but not component. I suppose I could switch back and forth between the two for SD and HD, but that is not real convenient. Even so, the stretching does NOT look good (distorted) in my opinion even when you can do it via AV cables.

Kevin O

09-30-05, 08:48 PM

Have you compared your SD over the antenna versus cable?

austintx01

10-01-05, 01:13 AM

Have you compared your SD over the antenna versus cable?

I live ~ 20 miles from "downtown" towers, so I get a poor Antenna signal. Furthermore it would not pick up cable channels, which is where most of the good college sports reside. The issue is not really the quality of the signal, but the quality of the stretching. I'd be happy with the unstretched image with bars on the side, but can't afford to get burn-in.

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

10-03-05, 12:22 AM

Kevin O, thanks for the heads up. O-K so i wind up returning my Samsung Slimfit for a full refund @ CC and bought this @ Sam's Club. Seriously, for $1k and a free stand(even w/out) u cant go wrong. And after setting it up in my living room, i can see why pretty much everyones luvz this TV. :p

I have a question though...I have iO cabelvision and while watching some of the HD stations, especially really dark scenes, im seeing the faintest vertically lines scrolling very quickly from left to right. It really doesnt bother me, but in a way it does b/c now i know its there. lol But yea i did some researching and found out it could be something called 'ground looping'? Anyone experience this & know of a fix? I've never seen this happen before on my 2 previous HDTVs though?

Oh and as far as the auto focus, is it good to let the TV do this or can i turn it off? I dont want it to be a reason for damage in the future. Thanks

HTPCnewbie

10-03-05, 09:45 AM

I'd be happy with the unstretched image with bars on the side, but can't afford to get burn-in.

Read the "Master Burn In Thread" and you will learn how to avoid it. On top of that this TV has active pixel shift to further reduce the chance of burn in.

Honestly, just make sure that when watching SD...that you give the TV the same amount of time on HD or 16:9 format.

But, with your comments it seems you won't be doing that...so maybe this is a deal breaker for you???

Also, let me tell you if your SD looks completely useless then maybe you need a new cable box. The first one I got made SD looks nasty but the new one made it look much better...while SD still looks only Good to OK to be honest.

HD on the other hand...and now that the tech guy did the convergence, I must say that HD really does in fact look better.

Remember...I've said that not all HD is "real HD" in my opinion from what I've seen, and others have said it also. So we all really have to make sure we are putting the blame where it's deserved.

As an example, Fox HD looks GREAT! ABC or was it CBS????....HD looks just as good BUT there is some strange background or movement based studder or a shaking of the picture that I NEVER see in any other HD.

I've seen this twice now and I blame the signal because like I said every other HD channel does not do this.

Oh and as far as the auto focus, is it good to let the TV do this or can i turn it off? I dont want it to be a reason for damage in the future. Thanks

In my opinion I'd say leave it on, but turning it off will not damage the TV...only might cause some issues with PQ.

The tech who came to my house, after fixing the major convergence issue I had, taught the TV what those settings where so now auto convergence takes about 1.5 sec so it's not a big deal at all.

Before, it took like 20-30 sec...

NOTE: Just as a "maybe" FYI...if your auto focus is taking more than 10 sec maybe you have to manually do convergence to setup the TV the right way. If it takes like mine did 20-30, you might have a BIG convergence problem...MAYBE..., just an FYI

nithos

10-03-05, 11:58 AM

Anyone experience this & know of a fix? I've never seen this happen before on my 2 previous HDTVs though?
If your two previous TVs where not CRTs, I don't think this would be a problem.

You will have to do some more research, but it might be as simple as putting the TV on it's own dedicated circuit from the fuse box.

HTPCnewbie

10-03-05, 12:25 PM

But yea i did some researching and found out it could be something called 'ground looping'?

I see that in SD sometimes....wow, let me know what you find out because I don't really trust my home's electrical system and I wonder if this could be our problem also.

But, my stuff....I THINK, is not exactly what you are explaining. A new cable box seemed to have taken care of it on SD...mostly that is.

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

10-03-05, 04:01 PM

Thanks for the replies. Ok i just got off the phone with Cablevision and they did a test signal and said mine is a lil low. I couldve told them that b/c the cable tech that was here 2 weeks ago showed me how and what to check. If the signals are in white, im fine..If they're orange, its weak. So i checked and the FDC 74.000mhz 11 dBmV is in orange. Now, i have no clue if that is the reason for those scrolling lines? Like i said, they are really faint and they aren't bothering me that much but i told them to send a tech Thursday anyway. ;)

My other 2 TV's were CRT's and i never saw this. Im probably going to try plugging the TV into its own outlet and see if that helps. I have the TV plugged into the cable box, so i can use 1 remote...Does that make a difference? Can i just plug the cable box into a seperate outlet to try & fix the problem or does it need to be the TV plug?

Anyways, im off to go buy a DVI cable and some RCA's. :)

nithos

10-03-05, 04:35 PM

Anyways, im off to go buy a DVI cable and some RCA's. :)
Don't get screwed on the price and buy the DVD-D version.

It just might be that the power supply on the Samsung is more susceptible to the dirty power.

Try this if you also have a "hum":
- take a 75-ohm to 300-ohm transformer
- connected to a second matching transformer with two screw terminals on the 300 ohm side
- put it inline with your cable TV feed

Don't do this downstream from a STB or a modem, it works as a low/high pass filter and will truncate the frequencies used for some of those applications.

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

10-03-05, 05:09 PM

I didnt leave yet & good thing you replied, cause i wasn't sure if i should get DVI-I or DVI-D? So DVI-D is the way to go? I wanna use the cable for my iO cable box. I asked cablevision & they said to ask the store im buying the cable & tell them what cable box i have. They said they dont know, they just put the DVI/HDMI connection for the customer to choose. *shrug*

Radioshack has a DVI-D cable for like $13...Is this adequate or i get what i pay for type of thing? I really dont wanna spend $50-100 for a cable right now. :(

austintx01

10-03-05, 05:18 PM

Read the "Master Burn In Thread" and you will learn how to avoid it. On top of that this TV has active pixel shift to further reduce the chance of burn in.

Honestly, just make sure that when watching SD...that you give the TV the same amount of time on HD or 16:9 format.

But, with your comments it seems you won't be doing that...so maybe this is a deal breaker for you???

Also, let me tell you if your SD looks completely useless then maybe you need a new cable box. The first one I got made SD looks nasty but the new one made it look much better...while SD still looks only Good to OK to be honest.

yeah, i decided it is a deal-breaker for me as I can't give equal time to SD/HD due to the lack of HD offerings in my area with Time Warner - so I took the SAmmy back and am back to square one :( I have to say after hooking my 32" Sharp CRT back up, I had forgotten just how GOOD CRTs look...MUCH clearer for SD (though I do miss HD already...). I think I'm going to wait a month or so and start looking for RP LCDs or DLPs since they don't get burn-in (much to the dislike of my wallet) and I can watch SD in unstretched mode. Thx to everyone for all your help, and happy viewing!

HTPCnewbie

10-04-05, 09:04 AM

Radioshack has a DVI-D cable for like $13...Is this adequate or i get what i pay for type of thing? I really dont wanna spend $50-100 for a cable right now.

Yes...don't waste money on those cables, it's freaken crazy what they want for some of the stuff out there that make little to no difference at all.

I think I'm going to wait a month or so and start looking for RP LCDs or DLPs since they don't get burn-in (much to the dislike of my wallet) and I can watch SD in unstretched mode.

Sorry to hear that, but I hope the best. I just got off the HDTV merry-go-round and I know how frustrating it is.

One thing I noticed yesterday, using my HTPC to view SD looks MUCH better. Do you have a HTPC?

I have a AVerMedia PVR 150 with the nVidia DVD decoder version 1.067 and it can even show HD in near HD quality...while I"m stuck in 4:3 for the moment and I'm not sure why???

Also...be weary with LCOS, DLP, and LCD rear projection TV's, they not only cost alot more but have a serious disadvantage with their lamps. They cost $200-300 and if you can't get a warranty for them the lamp might die on you within 4 months...or last 4 years, it's kind of unpredictable. That's what forced me away from those types of TV's...I'd check into a flat panel LCD or Plasma. Just remember, if we get a LCD to look for one with high contrast ratio's and low response time. Samsung makes one and Syntax makes some pretty good ones also.

I hope the best!

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

10-04-05, 09:25 PM

I bought the DVI-D cable for $13 @ Radioshack, hooked it up to the iO cable box & i must say it does look better. Even the analog channels look better but it sucks how i have to switch modes in order to view the hi-def channels using DVI. Im gonna check to see if the cable box & TV support DVI-I(read it supports both analog & digital). I really hope cablevision switches to all digital soon. :( It's something i can live with though, as the PQ seems better all around and ive freed up a component input.
Also, i've noticed those faint scrolling lines have disappeared. So i wonder if the component connections had anything to with it? Oh and i read somewhere else that while using DVI on an IO box someone got an error msg saying something about copyright, your DVI has been disabled. Well i got that msg once while viewing analog but it didnt have an effect on my switching to DVI and viewing HD channels....wierd :confused:

HTPCnewbie

10-05-05, 08:40 AM

Weird...that the heck is that DVI copyright thing????

nithos

10-05-05, 09:59 AM

Im gonna check to see if the cable box & TV support DVI-I(read it supports both analog & digital).
The R4755W only accepts DVI-D. You couldn't even plug a DVI-I cable into the TV.

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

10-05-05, 10:27 AM

After researching a lil more, it seems that the copyright error msg comes on when you turn the box on then the TV. But if you turn the TV on then the box, its fine. This is what i do anyways but i probably didnt by accident the one time i got the error? :o I havent seen that error since, so all is well i guess.

Thanks for the heads up about the DVI-I on the TV, nithos. I only checked the box last night & it too only has DVI-D. Its cool though, i can live with it. Especially after watching UFC on INHD last night!! :eek: :p

HTPCnewbie

10-05-05, 10:37 AM

after watching UFC on INHD last night!!

Yes, this sums up HD on this TV...it looks GRRRRRREAT!!!

Now, per my sig...if only all HD was the same...

Note: I'm not sure if it's CBS or ABC, but their NFL or College HD has an issue that no other HD has. Has anyone noticed?

When there is movement or stuff in the background it has this studder/shudder/shaking thing that is really annoying. I know it's not the TV because NO OTHER HD has this issue, what's up with CBS (I think that's the station more so than ABC)???

cdub998

10-05-05, 04:47 PM

Hey HTPC... just wanted to let you know the tech came to my house today and the code to get the grid is mute then 1 8 3 when the tv is on. Bad news is that my convergence board is bad or my blue projecter is going bad.... That sucks. I guess I will be doing my convergence every day then.

Kevin O

10-05-05, 07:03 PM

Found in another post:

http://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/636697/Main/630516

Mute, 1, 8, 3 = Brings up the service convergence grid
Arrow buttuns = Move cursor around grid
7 = Selects Red to be adjusted (a R should appear above the letters VGA)
8 = Selects Green to be adjusted (a G should appear above the letters VGA)
9 = Selects Blue to be adjusted (a B should appear above the letters VGA)
Press 4 once to select Line Adjustment; Press 4 twice to select entire Grid Adjustment
Channel up/down adjusts convergence up/down
Volume up/down adjusts convergenge left/right
Button under 7 = turns Red gun on/off
Button under 8 = turns Green gun on/off
Button under 9 = turns Blue gun on/off
When done press Add button to save adjustments

1 is the factory unconverged
2 is factory converged
3 is recall last saved setting...

or something like that anyway.

Be careful... once you save it seems.. there's no going back!

nithos

10-05-05, 10:15 PM

Awesome info there Kevin. Worked great for me. Now I know why my HTPC look blurry in the lower right hand corner, the red was totally off.

Note: The Add Button = Add/Del which is under the sliding cover.

To add to the list:
Info = displays the video feed on the screen and allows you to shift the entire grid (RGB) at the same time.

Exit = quit without saving (I learned that the hard way.)

After 30 minutes of playing around, I seem to have a pretty good setup. The geometry is still off a little, but not much.

I will check out the HTPC tomorrow and see how much a difference that made.

I made sure the TV was on at least 30 minutes before attempting this.

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

10-06-05, 02:45 AM

Is messing with the convergence necessary? I haven't even touched the manual option on the TV out of fear i may mess something up. I haven't noticed any distortions or miscolorings besides the usual analog channels not being upto snuff. But everyone says analog will always look like crap on an HD, right?

nithos

10-06-05, 08:33 AM

Is messing with the convergence necessary?
Is it necessary? No.
Will it possibly improve your PQ? Definately.

That's the primary reason some people are willing to spend $250+ to have a certified technician calibrate there set. You don't have to do it, but it will help (though maybe not always noticably).

It would have taken me 15 minutes to adjust the convergence if I didn't hit the exit button instead of the add/del button.

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

10-06-05, 05:07 PM

nithos

10-06-05, 08:03 PM

Sounds like the brightness is too high and the red push isn't overcorrecting for it...

What calibration have you done? AVIA, DVE?

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

10-06-05, 08:52 PM

I used Avia the best i could, it was my 1st shot @ it. Everything on TV looks like it should except for really dark scenes where its supposed to be pitch black, its got a lil green tint to it. These are my settings:
MODE:Movie
CONTRAST:55
BRIGHTNESS:35
SHARPNESS:35
COLOR:53
TINT:G48-R52
COLOR TONE:Normal

These are what i felt looked best while using Avia. I dont have dim lights in my living room. Its either a yellowish light when i turn on my ceiling fan or the lights are off & my living room is really dark;black curtains, grey rug, grey & black furniture etc. Also ive noticed that when i turn on my TV before the cable box while the screen is still a light grey pic..I see green flash before the picture finally settles in from the cable.

I appreciate the response nithos & if anyone else wants to chime in, that would be great!

cdub998

10-07-05, 09:01 AM

HTPCnewbie

10-07-05, 11:38 AM

Quick question guys & maybe this has to do with the 'black level' but while watching widscreen DVD's with the black bars or especially during dark scenes, im noticing my black being a lil green. I tried fixing this through the pic options but to no avail. Could it be that the green in the SVM is too high? Or can this be fixed another way? Thanks

Go to Amazon.com and check the reviews on the TV, someone else complained about this but he said that he no longer noticed it as the TV broke in. So...I think this "might" be a break in thing...

GOSH, I love HD...how did we ever watch TV without it?

Also, Kevin, cdub998, and Nithos...thanks for the great information on the Service Menu stuff...just great! Now in the future...if I ever have issues, I can look in there myself.

If there are any other settings, key combo's, etc...please keep us posted.

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

10-07-05, 12:40 PM

The black bars during DVD viewing seem to be black now and i even watched Sin City and it seemed perfect. Where i noticed the green tint during dark scenes was while watching Fever Pitch yesterday. Im hoping this could just be a 'break in' period. cdub998, you said your convergence board was bad or going bad...Does that have anything to do with the green coming out like this?

cdub998

10-07-05, 12:51 PM

It shouldn't because I can get the convergence set and it will stay until I turn the TV off. I think it may be the programming also. I only notice it on certain shows and the bars for DVD's are nice and black and so was sin city.

nithos

10-07-05, 02:57 PM

MODE:Movie
CONTRAST:55
BRIGHTNESS:35
SHARPNESS:35
COLOR:53
TINT:G48-R52
COLOR TONE:Normal

Here are the settings that I listed earlier for a ambient light setting in my living room.
Contrast: 40
Brightness: 36
Sharpness: 10
Color: 60
Tint: G42 R58
Color Tone: Normal

I have since changed them to optimize them for nighttime viewing.

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

10-07-05, 03:03 PM

Im not sure if this matters or what exactly im looking for but this is what my settings were in the SVM:
Red cut off :17 Red drive :15
Green cut off :25 Green drive :32
Blue cut off :46 Blue drive :52

Now i know everyones settings are different but is it odd to have these colors so prominant to one another, particularly the green & blue? I also noticed, unlike the Samsung Slimfit i owned previously, this TV doesnt allow you to select a default mode that the TV can start in when its powered on? Like if i wanted to keep it in MOVIE instead of powering it on in DYNAMIC everytime. HmmM

cdub998

10-07-05, 03:21 PM

My tv starts in custom mode every time. It will always change to dynamic if you go into the service menu.

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

10-07-05, 03:34 PM

Interesting..Guess i didnt notice that? There's definately something wrong though, when i power the TV on & then the cable box(using DVI so this method keeps it in sync) im seeing blue then red then green flashes...then its fine during cable viewing. I dont think this was happening before i used Avia. Maybe changing the settings to what i listed above is making these colors visible? Before Avia i did not have the contrast,brightness etc so low. But having them this way seems better, so i guess Avia did help. *shrug*

cdub998

10-07-05, 04:38 PM

I wonder why my DVI doesn't have this problem. I run a DVI to HDMI cable and I can turn everything on in any order I want. Strange.

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

10-07-05, 05:36 PM

Packerfan

10-08-05, 06:00 PM

I'm considering this tv and was wondering if anyone who has directv could tell me what it looks like in sd mode. I was in sears today and they had it hooked up to dish network and it looked horrible.

tpaullin

10-09-05, 07:18 AM

I'm considering this tv and was wondering if anyone who has directv could tell me what it looks like in sd mode. I was in sears today and they had it hooked up to dish network and it looked horrible.

I have SD Dish network. Some channels look better than others. Encore and Speed channel looks very good where as TMC, ABC look really bad.

I have'nt done the manual convergance yet, but I'm getting the itch to try it!

Tim

ps-just how bad is the NFC North?lol, Vikings fan here.

HTPCnewbie

10-09-05, 12:57 PM

OK, I think someone mentioned this and there is a review some place that brought this up also...

I'm getting a popcorn crackling from the speakers and it's getting ANNOYING. I'm calling Samsung soon but have any of you had this issue?

I made sure the connection was correct, FYI....arrrr... :mad:

Packerfan

10-09-05, 10:24 PM

This tv does sound like a good value, but after reading about the 42 inch sony a10, I think I may end up going that route instead. It sounds like it is only about $500 more also. This will actually be my second hdtv and it will end up going in my basement, so I figure I might as well spend a little bit more and then not second guess my choice down the road. I think if I went with the samsung, I would always wonder how much better the picture on the sony would be.

cdub998

10-10-05, 08:52 AM

cdub998, what cable box do u have? Cause i have SA 4200HD from iO and it only has a DVI and the TV is only DVI if im mistaken? Can we run HDMI on these TV's b/c ill exchange my DVI cable for an HDMI and free myself of audio RCA's.

You are right the TV is only DVI. I have the SA 8300 HDDVR. I don't know how I ever lived without it. If you run a hdmi to dvi cable you willnot get sound though since the tv is only dvi. Why don't you like the RCA's? Or better yet why havent you hooked up an optical or some kind of digital audio cable?

Oysterhead00

10-10-05, 10:29 AM

I just picked up Samsung TV and stand at Sam's Club this weekend and LOVE it. My one friend has a brand new 60" DLP with the High Def Dish, another has a 55" (non widescreen) Toshiba with the HD Dish, and yet another has a 42" plasma. They paid several thousand for each of their TVs so I wasn't expecting a whole lot for under a grand (minus tax). I hooked it up and the picture was very good, but not nearly as sharp as theirs and I noticed a lot of pixelization even on the HD channels (I have HD Cable through TWC). After messing around with the settings, I saw that the contrast was at 100 so I started messing with it. After adjusting it down to 50 the difference was amazing. I was watching football and the grass seemed to get distorted with noise when it was at 100, when lowered way down to 50 the grass was clear as can be. The factory settings were also runnign a bit hot, so I lowered it down a bit (at the advice of a HDTV magazine I picked up) and the colors just came to life. These couple little changes made it go from "wow" to "AMAZING!". I'd honestly say that the picture was better than my friend's 60" DLP....but it's just so big in a relatively small room that I think the picture suffers from having to watch it so close up.

I was on the fence about getting the TV until I found this thread and read up on it, sooooooo glad I decided to go for it. The only bad thing is I skinned a couple knuckles putting together the stand...you need to get in some tight spaces with the screw driver and there are a couple of iffy directions so take your time installing it.

HTPCnewbie

10-10-05, 11:32 AM

Glad to hear your happy with your TV like almost all of us are, congrats.

My sound issue seems to have disappeared...not sure why it started, and why it stopped???

KBI

10-10-05, 10:31 PM

HTPCnewbie

10-11-05, 06:44 AM

nithos

10-11-05, 04:34 PM

Update, on my sound (popcorn noise):

OK, I heard it again yesterday and after a while of watching TV it went away. Also, I noticed that only the digital channels are making this noise but I doubt it has anything to do with the cable box...I'm still blaming the TV.

Has anyone had this experience?

How is the audio connected?
Have you tried RF vs. each of the different Composite/S-Video/Component/DVI audio inputs?
If you run it through a receiver, do you get the same issue?

HTPCnewbie

10-12-05, 05:56 AM

My video is connected through component, and the audio is connected via the standard RCA connections dedicated to the component output of the TV. I'm about to have it go through my surround sound system but I'm waiting on the optical cable.

Strange...???

Brad-Man

10-12-05, 09:57 PM

I know that someone stated that the Sears site stated that this has 3:2 pulldown, but I have looked all over and did not find that. The manual does not list it as a feature, and the Samsung site only specifies it in one place - not with the other features as you would think, but in the .pdf spec sheet on the product page.

Does anyone know about the quality of the crt's that this unit utilizes?

A neighbor of mine said he got his Mitsu 55" diamond series because it had glass lenses.

Looking at the plastic headlights on a lot of cars that discolor and get oxidized, I can see where glass would be a selling point. Of course, not being in the sun and rained on would probably mitigate a lot of that, but I believe glass is clearer.

HTPCnewbie

10-13-05, 07:38 AM

I would try calling Samsung and asking them about the glass lenses^, as far as I know it does have 3:2 pulldown.

Has anyone had similar experiances with the sound poping that I'm getting, it's on my last nerve. I'm going to call Samsung soon...

nithos

10-13-05, 03:11 PM

Has anyone had similar experiances with the sound poping that I'm getting, it's on my last nerve. I'm going to call Samsung soon...
Try going through the RF connection to see if the problem is the signal source.

I finally gave in to the presure from the woman and ordered cable. They hook me up tonight. I added the HD service while I was at it. I feel like I am getting robbed at $97 a month for HD and Broadband and that's a $20 discount for the first year.

From what I hear cable HD has compression artifacts compared to OTA. At least I have my antenna as a backup if it annoys me too much.

mkloharry

10-14-05, 01:19 AM

Anybody know service menu codes to set overscan, horizontal & vertical size?

HTPCnewbie

10-14-05, 08:05 AM

^yes, that would be very useful...

Try going through the RF connection to see if the problem is the signal source.

Yes, I now think it's my cable box. Why...because my HTPC also has the popcorn sounding sound issue. So...now I got to call my cable company AGAIN...and get yet ANOTHER receiver.

Also, I suspect it's the cable box becaus sometimes it will just die on me and I have to take out the power for it to work.

I'm connected via SPDIF (into my surround sound receiver without any problem, but I don't want any poping sound when I record via my HTPC.

Brad-Man

10-14-05, 09:57 AM

FWIW, I had digital cable for a while, and noticed that the picture (SD) wasn't as good as regular cable.

Since I don't get any premium channels, I'm just gonna get an OTA antenna and put it in the attic like my neighbor has (he has DSS, but does local HD OTA).

cdub998

10-14-05, 01:44 PM

Anybody know service menu codes to set overscan, horizontal & vertical size?

I think the only service menu code is mute 1 8 2 power when the tv is off.

I have been able to shift my grid using mute 1 8 3 while the tv is on though.

HTPCnewbie

10-14-05, 03:29 PM

OK, the above code works...but what do you do once you are there. Does anyone have any specifics of what buttons to press to do...so and so?

cdub998

10-14-05, 05:19 PM

What shifting the grid? It is one of the buttons on the hidden part of the remote. You know that stupid plate that I ripped off already.

HTPCnewbie

10-17-05, 02:54 PM

lol...you did, sorry to hear that...

I mean like overscan/underscan compensation, etc etc etc...the details in the menu.

nithos

10-20-05, 05:23 PM

Should be the standard Samsung interface.

Brad-Man

10-22-05, 01:45 PM

How long does this set take to switch between channels?

Thanks

Litning

10-22-05, 09:40 PM

alot faster than my tivo...

bigreese

10-23-05, 10:23 PM

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

10-24-05, 02:38 AM

You'll be fine man...MVP is known to lag in 720p regardless of the TV you have. As far as Live, i've only noticed the tiniest bit of stutter during foul shots. It's not the TV's fault but the sh*tty scaler of the Xbox & certain games even though they say they support 720p, they dont output it fluidly. I've played Ninja Gaiden, Soul Calibur 2 & a couple of other games in 720p with 480p & 1080i turned off in the dash(so i know its 720p) w/out a hitch. The X360 supposedly has an excellent scaler built into the graphics card, so no matter what resolution you set, it should play perfectly. MS isn't stupid, they're talking everything in "HD" this next gen and not everyone has an HDTV that can output 720p, only 480p & 1080i...So to exclude those people would be foolish.

Also PS2 has maybe a handful of games that support only 480p @ best, so personally i gave up using components on that system. It's kind of disappointing too b/c after playing Xbox in hi-res, it sucks to play PS2 in 480i. =[

nithos

10-24-05, 12:47 PM

It's not the TV's fault but the sh*tty scaler of the Xbox & certain games even though they say they support 720p, they dont output it fluidly.

What he said.

nithos

10-24-05, 12:49 PM

How long does this set take to switch between channels?

Thanks

Almost instantanious. Switching between antenna's and sources is 300ms, maybe.

It's a pretty fast TV compared to others I have used.

praniln

10-25-05, 01:35 PM

I was wondering if anyone had a solution to my problem. I have the Samsung HC-R4755W and I am having a hard time reading the text from my computer. I have a nvidia 6800 and am hooking it up via dvi to the tv. What resolution should I be using for it? I also have a monitor hooked up via the analog port.

Any help would be appreceited.

Thanks,
Pranil

DaveHolland

10-25-05, 01:39 PM

I've had the 4755 for a few weeks now & am pretty happy with it given the price. Has anybody been able to find discrete IR codes for all the inputs? I'm using the TV's cable tuner for the SD cable channels as they look better that way compared to my cable company's Motorola MOXI box. Not being able to discretely select the CATV Rf input makes it a pain. Also, flipping channels on the MOXI box takes long enough that the TV will briefly flash the input source on the screen. Any way to disable that in the service menu?

Thanks.

-Dave

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

10-26-05, 04:25 AM

Are u talking about the channels taking a while to load while watching HD programming through your cable box? If so, i have iO Cablevision & it does the same thing. It's b/c the cable box is set to 'bypass' & is selecting the best resolution for the program you're watching. For instance, the world series has been playing in 720p on FOXHD but HD movies on STRZ,HBO etc are 1080i. With my box i have to hit the settings button twice & there's a selection(forget the name off-hand) but they allow you to choose; FIXED,BYPASS,UPCONVERT1 & UPCONVERT2. I believe if you set to upconvert 1 or 2 it will bypass the resolutions quicker b/c you're cutting out the search of 480i/p. If you set it to 'fixed' then just select 1080i in the first settings menu of your box and all the HD channels will be automatically converted to 1080i.
Sorry i couldn't be more help as far as the IR codes & my descriptions might not pertain to your box but i feel ya pain @ the same time. Im using DVI from my cable box to the TV & i have to switch source's to view SD channels. Doesn't bother me that much but it would be kewl if i could just go from INHD to MTV by just changing channels. Damn, these cables companies need to get with the program!!! lol

cdub998

10-26-05, 09:14 AM

HTPCnewbie

10-26-05, 10:04 AM

Has anyone tried using a xbox or PS2 on the HCR4755? I have tried playing MVP 2006, NBA Live 2006 in 720p and this tv lags big time. I have 720p enabled on the microsoft dashboard and component cables are connected correctly on the back of T.V. 720p/1080i. One of the main reasons I purchased this T.V. is for the xbox 360. If anyone can give me some input on this matter I would appreciate it.

I play Battlefield 2 via my HTPC without any lagg at all, so like you have been told...it's the game/systems fault and not the TV.

Parnil...I just replied to your PM, sorry I could not be more helpful.

A question...why can we adjust blue and red convergence, but not green? My theory is that since it uses 3 lenses...the one in the middle is fixed, so you can't adjust it...am I right?

By the way, after the Samsung tech adjusted my TV the text looked the best it has since I got the TV...but stupid me, I had to do some adjustments and I let the guy leave so now my text looks the worst since I got the TV. All of the text is blurry and on the edges it REALLY get's blurry. It's my fault...I don't blame the TV, but if you fix convergence...shouldn't it STAY fixed?

I would understand having to set convergence if I move the TV around and stuff, but if it's not being moved shouldn't the convergence settings stay the same?

I really love this TV and I"m still very happy with it. Fox HD looks great and I've learned that "LIVE" HD is better than "recorded HD" for some reason. But, like I've stated before...and my new sig testifies to...not all HD is equal.

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

10-26-05, 03:52 PM

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

Were you the one having problems with your grays looking greenish? I figured it out if you would like to try it also.
In the SVM I upped the green drive about 3 notches and no more green. Looks absolutely beautiful now.

Yep, as a matter a fact...Everything was having a greenish tint. Avia fixed this a lil for me. But after using Avia, i noticed when i turned my TV to boot up first then turn on the cable box(i do this to keep sync) i was seein blooming flashes of blue,red & green. Like the guns were turning on & being able to be seen through the screen. This could be due to the fact that while calibrating with Avia, my contrast & brightness are around 35-40 mark? I was wondering if anyone else has seen this?
I probably shouldn't have but i went into the SVM & fixed some settings to my likings & i feel a lot better now. SD channels have marginally improved & HD still looks fantastic. I did write down all my default settings though. ;)

Just out of curiousity cdub, what is the settings of your RED,GREEN & BLUE_CUTOFF as well as your RED,GREEN & BLUE_DRIVE in the SVM? I noticed that on my set, the red on both accounts was considerably much lower compared to the green & blue.

mkloharry

10-27-05, 11:23 PM

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

Were you the one having problems with your grays looking greenish? I figured it out if you would like to try it also.
In the SVM I upped the green drive about 3 notches and no more green. Looks absolutely beautiful now.
I set my green drive from 27 to 30, no more green tint. Thanks for the tip. I would think turning the green drive up would make it more green, but it had the opposite effect.

thewooddogg

10-28-05, 04:23 PM

Think it's time for us to start a HC-Rxxx5W owners thread?

Packerfan

10-30-05, 05:03 PM

I'm wondering what those of you who own this tv think of it so far, now that you've had a couple of months to test it out.

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

10-31-05, 04:00 AM

I'm wondering what those of you who own this tv think of it so far, now that you've had a couple of months to test it out.

Personally, i love it now and i stress NOW. lol Only reason being is that its an adjustment coming from direct view CRTs. Before this i had the Samsung Slmifit, which was a great TV but wasn't quite big enough for me. :p I've since bought a DVI cable for my SA4200HD box and hi-def channels look awesome & used Avia to fix my settings.(contrast,brightness etc.) I even felt comfortable enough after a few weeks to go in the SVM and fix most settings to my likings and voila! SD channels are what they are unfortunately. There are some TVs which supposedly make these channels look a lil better but until EVERYTHING is hi-def...I shall never be satisfied. :D Dont get me wrong, after tinkering, my SD channels look a lot better than they did when i first got the TV..So dont let that throw you off. Anyways, IMO i just couldnt seen spending $2000 + on a TV right now. Especially since there seems to be nothing that is "perfect". They all seem to have their ups & downs unfortunately. I just couldnt live with having bulbs blow after 2 weeks, lag, rainbows, dead pixels etc. Now we have the videophiles going bananas over this 1080p stuff...Well ill humbly keep the extra $3000 in my pocket, thank you very much! hahahaha

Now, if only i could figure out how to get my Aiwa radio to play surround during everything im viewing. It used to work with my CRT the way i hooked it up but seems to not with this TV? Right now i have the RCA's running from my cable box but then i cant have surround during DVD playing or Xbox. Do i really have to buy seperate RCA's for every device? Any suggestions guys??

thewooddogg

10-31-05, 11:38 AM

I'm wondering what those of you who own this tv think of it so far, now that you've had a couple of months to test it out.

I just picked the HC-R4755W TV up two days ago, on the 29th, at Samsclub. So far, I think it's absolutely awesome. However, just so you know where I'm coming from, I've been watching TV for the last ten years on a 25 inch Zenith.

All of the below made it even better:
1.) I copied the settings down that other people had listed on this forum, and tested each of them, they all made it look quite nice, so I just picked the one I liked the most. Before I did this, the SD channels looked quite "grainy".
2.) Hooked up my first component video cables! (always wanted to do that)
2.) Upgraded to the HD cable box.. all I gotta say is WOW! I had never seen HD before, and it looks crazy good....
3.) I did the manual calibration through the service menu. Wasn't too hard, and it wasn't too far off to begin with.

So basically, it took a little setup, and anything would be better then my old zenith.

And, by the way, I feel that my current setup with this TV looks much better then it did at Samsclub. I don't pretend to be an expert, but I wasn't all that impressed when I saw it at Samsclub compared to the others sets next to it. Considering I couldn't afford the rest of them, I figured the worst case is I pay for the sammy, the wife and I hate it, and I take it back and wait for more money big a better one (yeah right!). Anyhow, I'm very happy! so it's a keeper!

cdub998

10-31-05, 03:23 PM

I'm wondering what those of you who own this tv think of it so far, now that you've had a couple of months to test it out.

Once I got the settings down this baby started to perform. after the break in the colors started getting better and better. For what I paid I couldn't be happier with the purchase.

Kevin O

11-01-05, 03:13 PM

I've had mine (from Sam's) for about 2+ months now. Seeing a little green in the grays on SD only... but HD NFL - geez!!!! I love this thing!!!

rick bie

11-02-05, 12:22 PM

Does anyone have any more info on the service mode you enter via "power-mute-1-8-2"? Most of the headings and settings appear to be a code of some kind and I really don't feel safe just changing them on the fly. I have used the menu driven convergence adjustment and Avia with small improvement. DVDs appear pretty good on the set, unluckily my sat box doesn't have outputs for HD so I am out of luck unless I upgrade my subscription. How good do HD transmission from over the air channels on a standard antenna look?

Rick

thewooddogg

11-02-05, 12:27 PM

I've had mine (from Sam's) for about 2+ months now. Seeing a little green in the grays on SD only... but HD NFL - geez!!!! I love this thing!!!

Look back a few pages, I swear someone mentioned a fix to the green thing... I didn't have the problem on my TV out of the box.

As to the information on the options, I have heard that this samsung is very similar to other sammy CRT's.. so you might search some of the others threads for the information. I plan to do that when I have time.

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

11-02-05, 02:13 PM

Ok CREDITgoes to BOCMIR..this was posted over in the Samsung Slimfit thread & i've used most of these settings & they made my TV look noticeably better.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

thewooddogg

11-03-05, 08:54 AM

Wow! Thanks for the info! I'll have to try this out, and check out the other thread when I have a chance.

cdub998

11-03-05, 09:20 AM

Now that is what I have been looking for! I am going to tweak the crap out of it now. Well as soon as the tech ever comes back to FIX my TV!

rick bie

11-03-05, 12:02 PM

Thanks alot for the info.
Rick

woodee

11-03-05, 02:39 PM

after pouring over this tread for about a month i went out to sam's and got me 1
after finally making the room rehooking all my a/v stuff up plus computer
i have a few questions i need help with as i did not really see these answered

i bought the dvi to composite adaptor to hook up my pc with would it really improve the picture if i switched to a dvi cable (just being cheap after 1150 spent i'm tapped)

next since i've seen alot of orlando,fl posts here i want to do OTA HD i have tried 32db to 50 db antenna with no luck getting a clear signal on any station for i live in a mobile home in cocoa serious trees or buildings i am trying to manually fine tune in the channels but no luck they look grainy any suggestions of an indoor antenna or do i have to get an outdoor 1
also the HD channels are broadcasts on the same channels right? fox 35 is 35-1 abc9 is 9-1 and so on or am i completely off

woodee

11-04-05, 01:30 PM

found out that mobile homes don't work well at all with hd antenna so ran long cable to porch for now and let me tell you what a difference plus i learned that you must do a scan to get hd channels in or it will default to the sd

still would like to know if dvi cable for computer gaming worth it or same as composite

epicbloodline

11-06-05, 01:17 AM

epicbloodline

11-06-05, 01:40 AM

why isnt this set on the sam's club website?

cdub998

11-07-05, 09:31 AM

Ok so I went into the SVM this weekend and set all of the stuff up like in the previous email. Everyone noticed after I recal'd with AVIA how much better it looked. My friends kept saying they didn't think my TV could look much better but once I fixed all of that stuff we were all amazed.

Epic do not change that stuff out of the box. Wait until the brak in period is over to start changing things or you will just have to keep doing it.

thewooddogg

11-07-05, 04:44 PM

why isnt this set on the sam's club website?

It's hit or miss... for couple days it was gone.. then for a couple days it was there. All the stores near me had it in stock though.

Question from me, how long is the "break-in" period on a RPCRT? I've been looking into purchasing DVE and Avia, when should I do it?

cdub998

11-07-05, 05:14 PM

It's hit or miss... for couple days it was gone.. then for a couple days it was there. All the stores near me had it in stock though.

Question from me, how long is the "break-in" period on a RPCRT? I've been looking into purchasing DVE and Avia, when should I do it?

I have been told 100-150 hrs. I used Avia at about 50 hrs though. I figured I would just do it again once the break in was up. It was off when I did it again too.

Jenkinsbball

11-09-05, 12:12 AM

Anyone with direct, and hopefully good, experience with hooking this up to a computer? I am getting my computer in on Friday or so and basically have to hook it up to my tv because I don't have the cash to dish out for a digital monitor. Anyone?

HTPCnewbie

11-09-05, 11:37 AM

Now that is what I have been looking for!

AMEN!!!!!

Ok CREDITgoes to BOCMIR...

Timetoplaydagame...WOW, just WOW...THANK YOU SO MUCH for your post!!!!! Now I can fix my PC text issue....THANKS!!!!!

BOCMIR...THANK YOU ALSO!!! I'll PM you later...WOW!!!!

Once my TV is broken in, it might be already...I forget, I'll make sure to try the stuff you posted. Gosh...I've been away fro a while, glad I came back.

THIS IS GREAT!!!

thewooddogg

11-09-05, 05:13 PM

I have a mystery I'm trying to solve.. I don't know if this is normal, or if there is some sort of option I have selected incorrectly on my DVD or TV.

When I watch a widescreen movie on DVD, the top and bottom of my screen have about 3 or so inches of black space. My understanding is that the whole screen is supposed to be filled with the 16:9 widescreen output from the DVD player.

Keep in mind, I've got a piece of junk Lasonic DVD player, so it might be that. However, I have my DVD player set to 16:9, and on progressive scan output.

My TV is set to 16:9 also.

Any ideas? I'd be willing to try any suggestions.

cdub998

11-10-05, 09:59 AM

Misconception. Widescreen movies are not 16x9 so they will not fill up the screen. You will always have black bars on top and bottom. I was dissapointed also.

hiperco

11-10-05, 10:24 AM

Does anyone know if this TV can be transported on its back (for a short distance)? (Does the manual or box say anything about this?)

Thanks!

rick bie

11-10-05, 12:01 PM

Depending on the Aspect ratio of the movie there may or may not be bars at the sides or top and bottom.

Rick

HTPCnewbie

11-10-05, 12:12 PM

I really get ticked when I see black bars on the top and bottom, what da heck did we get the 16:9 TV for if not to avoid that and for future HD??????

GOSH....they waste perfectly good space, ARRRRRR!

thewooddogg

11-10-05, 05:05 PM

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

11-11-05, 04:06 AM

Wussup guys? No problem posting the info for ya...Glad to help. If i didnt own a slimfit before this TV, i probably would've never seen it myself either. Anyways, i've got a question...Im using DVI through my cable box, now does using the DVI make you lose one of your component inputs? B/c i have a progressive DVD player & when i hooked it up, Kingdom of Heaven showed up in black & white? I have my Xbox hooked up in component 2 and thats fine, so whats the deal here? I hope that by using DVI, u dont lose a component..Cause that would just SUCK! lol Any ideas? Could it possibly be my DVD player, like a setting im missing? Thanx

*EDIT* Nevermind guys, its cause my dumb ass forgot to set it up on the DVD player. lol :p

hiperco

11-11-05, 08:06 PM

Well, I DID IT!! :D

Welcome me to the owner's club ;)

Only just got it powered up, but so far I'm quite pleased. More to follow :cool:

hiperco

11-13-05, 12:19 AM

Spent the better part of the day today installling an outdoor antenna (tried the attic first, no joy :( ). Thank goodness the weather is uncharacteristically nice for November here in upstate NY :cool:

Spent the evening watching the only two HD OTA channels here at the moment (ABC and PBS). I have to say WOW, HD on this thing (HC-R4755, btw) surpasses my expectations. I find myself watching things I would never have watched otherwise, just to bask in the HD glow :D

cdub998

11-14-05, 03:16 PM

HTPCnewbie

11-15-05, 10:21 AM

^I can't wait to start the tweaking myself, right now I've done only a little but I can't wait to go into the SM to see what can be done.

Jenkinsbball

11-17-05, 03:56 AM

Thanks for answering guys.. at least I know it's normal. I thought all movies were 16:9, obviously i was wrong. Although, some movies must be... Jurassic park was at least.

As far as the shipping question, I really don't know. I wondered the same thing myself, and instead of trying it, I just had a relative with a truck pick it up for me.

From what i can tell:

Movies with 1.85:1 aspect ratio (flat) play fullscreen on the tv when in widescreen.

Movies with 2.35:1 ascpect ratio (scope) play with the black bars still, even 16:9 flims.

Kinda odd, considering that it is a 16:9 set. I figured all films made for 16:9 tvs would play fullscreen. But, I'm not that picky.

HTPCnewbie

11-17-05, 09:11 AM

I find myself watching things I would never have watched otherwise, just to bask in the HD glow

LOL, yes that's called the HD trance...lol

I've been so busy lately that I have been unable to go into the SM, but cdub998 keeps teasing me with his posts...lol. If the picture can get "alot" better...than OH MY GOD, this is the best dang HD TV out there.

cdub998

11-17-05, 09:22 AM

LOL, yes that's called the HD trance...lol

I've been so busy lately that I have been unable to go into the SM, but cdub998 keeps teasing me with his posts...lol. If the picture can get "alot" better...than OH MY GOD, this is the best dang HD TV out there.

I am telling you... I had a friend come over and say "did you do something to your tv? It looks better...I didn't think it could look better" LOL... All about the VSM off and gamma off and recalibration.

cloose

11-17-05, 11:30 AM

Thanks for the SM info! As stated by many already, this TV does look amazing with these tweeks.

Question on the overscan correction though.....maybe (most likely) I am just doing something wrong, but I cannot get the values to change in the SM to correct overscan. The buttons used to change gamma etc do not have any effect on the screen size and postitioning values......Can someone please post what buttons do what in the SM?

Thanks again.

littlebird

11-17-05, 02:07 PM

Hello everyone,

I've been following this thread a couple of days. Great info. I have recently purchased the hcr4351w which I believe is the Canadian version of the hcr4355w.
The Canadian model doesn't have the built in tuner or dvi port. I've adjusted my service menu according to the suggestions in this thread and have updated my convergence as well. After setting the convergence, I saved the data and pressed autofocus to save the data to the autofocus feature. Now when I try and use the autofocus feature on highdef material it works but when I try the autofocus feature on standard def 480i material the message check factory data appears. Seems odd that it works for high def but not standard def material. Any thoughts. I'm going to calibrate with DVE again tomorrow since I've made the service menu adjustments. Have any of you had problems getting warranty work done by Samsung after you've gone into the service menu ? Can they even tell if you have accessed the menu if you reset to factory setting ? Thanks again for the info.

hiperco

11-17-05, 03:56 PM

cloose

11-17-05, 04:53 PM

I did, prior to the calibration tweeks that I have done. It hasn't happened since then, so not sure what exactly caused it.
It was nice that it went away however.

Jiggady James

11-17-05, 08:29 PM

you know what i see them too, i just figured it was a curse of a rear projection similar to that of a DLP with the three colors and all. But it very well might be the convergence, ive noticed it lessen when i re-calobrate the convergence- which im told needs to be done time to time.

hiperco

11-18-05, 10:36 AM

RBE happens on a DLP because there is only one reflective element, and the colors are made with a spinning color wheel. In the case of a CRT RPTV, there are three separate tubes (red, green, blue) that make up the image, so I am surprised that I still see the RBE. I suspect some sort of processing is causing this. Could it be something like velocity scan modulation?

cdub998

11-18-05, 01:20 PM

Try tunring off VSM then and see what that does.

Jiggady James

11-18-05, 01:52 PM

sweet thanks Ill try that, is there any other artificially enhancer crap samsung fines convenient to turn on for me that i should turn off.

hiperco

11-19-05, 08:07 AM

magnumis

11-19-05, 04:14 PM

What is the best way to clean the screen on the TV? Is a damp lint free cloth ok to use?

cdub998

11-22-05, 01:29 PM

Ok Guys I really need some help/input on this. The repair place replaced the convergence board in the TV. Now the convergence stays put very well. No problem there. But now my guide on my cable box and all text like that shakes up and down... It can make you dizzy... ANy thoughts on what the problem is?

hiperco

11-23-05, 06:09 PM

Overscan:

Does anyone have their set connected through DVI with an NVIDIA board (6600gt in my case), and been sucessful in minimizing overscan? I'm pulling my hair out :mad:

azeker1

11-23-05, 08:36 PM

These seems like a great set for the money and is very reasonably priced, but I am concerned about the Picture Quality of the Standard Def content displayed on this TV through an s-video source. Can people who own it please comment?

I have *all* s-video devices at the moment.

Dish PVR 508
DVD Player
Xbox w/adapter

Eventually, I will upgrade all of these devices to component and I will hook up a HTPC via DVI, but I can't afford to do it all at once.

My old 27" TV isn't cutting it any more and I *really* want a large screen. It seems foolish not to buy a High Def at this point with everything going that direction, but I don't have limitless cash and am looking for something in the $1,000 - $1,500 range. My question is will all the SD stuff I am watching over the next couple of years look like complete rubbish on any HD set? Are some better than others? Is this one any better/worse than other comparably priced sets? Any help is appreciated as this is a really big purchase for me.

hiperco

11-23-05, 09:15 PM

I feel that a good quality signal through S-video (Dish, DVD, etc) looks quite good. A CRT based set can actually be better for various sources, since it does not have a fixed number of pixels (most/all other technologies do, which means that there is more conversion involved to rescale everything to the native resolution). You should be aware that there is only one S-video input on this set however.

I am very pleased at the value that this set provides.

azeker1

11-25-05, 04:06 AM

Thanks for the information, hiperco. That is what I was thinking -- a non "fixed pixel" display like CRT might scale SD better than the newer, fixed resolution microdisplay technologies.

I should also have mentioned my Panasonic receiver can send all of those s-video sources to the TV via its one input and then I can switch between them using my receiver, but thanks for the heads-up.

I am still torn, however. I think I need to go look at it. I don't think I will wait in line for the Black Friday deals, however, so this may be my best option right now, though I might wait until Super Bowl time and see if there are some good deals (if I can wait that long!).

hiperco

11-25-05, 10:48 PM

If you don't need a stand, Sears has it on sale Saturday for less than Sam's Club (but Sam's includes a stand) (although my local flyer has an obvious misprint). :cool:

wolverine5767

11-25-05, 11:23 PM

I just got this set on a Black Friday special online. I was just wondering if anyone knows the measurments of the TV, after it starts to go in towards the back of the tv. Like after the screen sets out.

Also if anyone knows the measurement of it from top to bottom without the stand.

Thanks,

wolverine5767.

hiperco

11-25-05, 11:52 PM

Math-Sux

11-26-05, 01:20 AM

hiperco, where did you see the sale? Was it a mailer? I don't see it on the website.

Does anyone use either of the Digital Audio outputs? I have a Comcast HD box (8000HD) & DVD player with optical outs but, only one input on my (cheapo) Sony amp. Right now I manually plug the toslink into the one I'm using to get surround sound. Is it possible to go out of these units via stereo into the TV then out via toslink to the amp and get 5.1? If not what is the purpose of the digital out on the TV?

Thanks,
Chris

bigsnyder

11-26-05, 09:10 AM

The purpose is so you can have your decoded OTA hi-def content playback in 5.1.
Otherwise if your not using the built-in tuner, then there is probably not much use
for it unless it will double for a standard audio output for analog programming.

C Snyder

bigsnyder

11-26-05, 11:35 AM

Any reason why I should go for the deal at Sears vs. Sam's Club which includes the
stand? I will be purchasing a service agreement when I get this television, at the
moment Sam's price for a 3yr ex warranty is a lot cheaper than Sears. Considering
this plus the free stand, I would still come out a lot cheaper. Again, any thoughts on
Sams vs Sears would be appreciated.

C Snyder

Math-Sux

11-26-05, 12:54 PM

hiperco, thanks for the tip...I just ordered one from Sears!

bigsnyder, I think the Comcast marketing worked on me; OTA - oh yeah. I went with Sears because I already have a stand, don't buy extended warranties, and the price today is incredible. The politics of Sams/Wal-Mart is another issue.

Chris

hiperco

11-26-05, 01:14 PM

The Sears item number is 54055, on sale today (no stand).

bigsnyder

11-27-05, 04:32 PM

Which dvd player seems to be a good match for R4755W? Do I need to stick with an
older player that has DVI or will the newer HDMI players work fine? The Samsung
HD841, HD941, HD950 seem good players for the money. I am also looking into the
Denon 1910 and 1920.

C Snyder

cloose

11-27-05, 06:12 PM

HTPCnewbie

11-27-05, 08:07 PM

^go back to page 12 on this tread and the explanation there is pretty much perfect.

OK guys, so I went into the service menu and did a similar tweaking as explained on page 12.

After getting my PC to look perfect (size wise no overscan issue) I can tell by my PC text and regular TV that my convergence is way off again.

Before calling Samsung to complain my convergence is off again (wink wink...lol), can someone help me do a manual convergence via the service menu (mute+1+8+3)?

PLEASE...

So, far I've learned that: (remember I'm a newbie myself)

After you get into the manual convergence service menu the buttons on the remote do the following:

Change color selected to
7 = RED
8 = GREEN
9 = BLUE

1= Convergence grid type 1 (seems to be geometry since the lines seem to be curved)
2, 3, & 6= Standard convergence grids (lines going from top to bottom side to side)
4 = Changes from "line correction" to "entire grid correction
5 = Some type of menu that I don't recognize or know how to use it

Control Arrows move around the line selector box (4 white boxes)

Vol +/- (moves selected grid (when not using entire grid, then it moves everything) right/left

Ch +/- (moves selected grid (when not using entire grid, then it moves everything) up/down

-, 0, & Pre-ch (turns the screen colors, I don't know what this does)

Info = White grid lines while viewing TV (I don't know how to use it)

FavCh = 1 large white plus sign (plus something else, I don't know?)

Add/Del = Save Date (YES, I found it...I guess it saves your changes)

Self Focus = What seems like a more advanced "self focus", not sure if it really works

MTS & Sleep = Move grid right or left (entire grid)

I might have forgotten something but as you can tell this is a newbie's view of the manual convergence menu. I wish I could find some documentation so I could setup my TV perfectly but there is no such thing.

Please, can someone help? How do I fix my convergence issue. Most of the time it's simple but when you fix one color/gird then it moves the edges messing them up. It's like you can't "bend" the grid to where you want it without messing it up on another spot.

HELP!!!

cloose

11-27-05, 08:43 PM

hiperco

11-27-05, 10:27 PM

While I am thankful for the post on page 12 describing what values to change, I am still at a loss as to how to change the overscan values.

When I enter the SM, I can change the GAMMA value for example, by selecting it with the right arrow key and then using the left and right arrow keys to change the value. When I try this with the H-AMP, etc, nothing happens......Is there a trick to these? I someone could describe the key strokes that they made to alter the overscan and postioning properties, I would be extremely grateful.

It works the same way (select with right arrow). I highly recommend the monitor test utility (freeware) from Nokia. This creates patterns on your screen that makes changes you make more obvious. (Warning, if you are happy with your set, you might not want to mess with this, as it will highlight all kinds of geometry problems ;) )
A google search found one place to download here: http://freepctech.com/rode/004.shtml

hiperco

11-27-05, 10:33 PM

nithos

11-28-05, 09:53 AM

I continue to be quite pleased with my HC-R4755.

However I am mystified by something.

How is it possible that I see the "rainbow effect" on this TV (RBE). I realize it shouldn't happen, but I definitely see flashes of color, most noticable on black & white images...

Hmm...
Your calibration is off (i.e. you can see a slight colored outline around the areas that are suppose to be pure black/white).

hiperco

11-28-05, 12:37 PM

Your calibration is off (i.e. you can see a slight colored outline around the areas that are suppose to be pure black/white).

Not really, actually. The rainbow effect is a dynamic one, in that I only see the flashes of color by darting my eyes around the screen. Perhaps there is some subtle misconvergence that is only apparent with rapid eye movement...

HTPCnewbie

11-28-05, 02:49 PM

While I am thankful for the post on page 12 describing what values to change, I am still at a loss as to how to change the overscan values.

I'm confused...??> Like already stated, you change the values the same way. Remember one tip that is important because at first I didn't notice I was making changes either is to make sure you first start with a black outline all around the picture your TV is showing.

THEN...start messing with the values to get it overscan fixed.

Get the green grid to look good, then individually adjust red and blue to match.

By...??? I need a gameplan regarding convergence. What am I trying to do other than line up the colors? I understand my goal is to have all the colors laying on top of each other basically so it's uniformed without any color smeering off the edges. The goal is to have the colors laying on top of the grid but when I adjust by line it messes up other lines, so how do I avoid this problem.

Is this "geometry"?

You might need to fool around with some of the other settings in the deflection SM to fix bow/angle, as well as the curvy problem at the top and bottom (use montest as described above to get a test pattern).

OK, so...I should first get into the "service menu" and then go into the convergence service menu...and finally, get the program so I can get a good test pattern. Right...?

By the way, can you explain bow/angle to me a bit? I think I know by their names what they do but a good explanation would be great! I ask because in the first convergence (button 1) grid there is massive bending of the lines. There is a round space above and below the grid. (NOTE: While the other grid patterns (the other buttons) seem about perfect.

GOSH, I wish the guy who came to my house would have left the book he was using to fix my convergence behind. I know if I had what he had...I could do the work he did for me.

I got really scared doing this, since I really had my set messed up for a while, but with persistence and patience you'll get it.

Thanks for the encouragement, so you think I should not call Samsung and just try some more on my own?

A question for you:

Are you using DVI or component? I can't for the life of me get rid of overscan even using the SM. (For example., the bottom of the image moves above the bottom of the screen, but the start menu is still chopped off...)

Yes, my PC is connected via DVI. Overscan while under the PC is annoying big time but I was able to do it with the intrusctions on page 12. Using V & H shift I fixed it. You see...it's not so much overscan, as it is the centering of the screen.

When I messed with V & H AMP I could not really get it right (I had the left side "just in PC mode" going either too far or not enough) but when I finalized my tweaking with V & H shift then I got it perfect...while the problem I'm asking for help on is still an issue.

More tweaking for me I guess before I give up and call Samsung!

mobius

11-28-05, 06:15 PM

Soooo, has anyone hooked up one of them thar' new-fangled Xbox 360's to their Sammy yet? If so, how good does it look?

hiperco

11-28-05, 11:48 PM

More tweaking for me I guess before I give up and call Samsung!

You'll need to know how to do this yourself anyways once the warranty expires, so I say "go for it", you can always still call service and claim ingnorance if you really mess it up ;)

The bow and angle settings are best experienced first hand. Do yourself a favor and write down all the numbers on the SM, then play around with them to see what they do.

The advanced convergence menu is also capable of correcting geometry. So what I found works for me is to get the green grid looking good (by itself) (i.e. straight lines and even squares), then turn on red or blue at a time and make them match.

I can post more tomorrow, stayed up too late already transferring my PC parts to my new HTPC case (Coolermaster Cavalier 2)...

cloose

11-29-05, 01:38 AM

[QUOTE=HTPCnewbie]I'm confused...??> Like already stated, you change the values the same way. Remember one tip that is important because at first I didn't notice I was making changes either is to make sure you first start with a black outline all around the picture your TV is showing.

THEN...start messing with the values to get it overscan fixed.

OK, I figured this out.........on my set, you cannot enter the SM and adjust deflection values unless you were not on a component input prior to accessing the SM.....makes it quite tricky, as I had to switch to OTA static, enter the SM, tweek a little, exit the SM, switch to component, check, and repeat.

I will try DVD through s-video or composite to make this easier, but I am glad that I can now change these values.

Not sure how everyone else's sets work, but recall that I (being in Calgary) have the Canadian version which does not have an ATSC tuner, or DVI.

Thanks again

HTPCnewbie

11-29-05, 09:51 AM

hiperco...thanks again for the encouragement, I'll keep taking a wack at it.

Thanks for the tips and please share freely...lol, I need to learn as much as possible.

cloose, glad to hear things are progressing and I hope you perfect your TV like you want it.

Again...anyone with some SM & Convergence SM tips, tricks, etc...please please share.

A question, under the Convergence SM how do I adjust bow and angle?

I know through the standard SM I can adjust the values but how do you do it through the convergence SM?

Also, how should the grid look under the convergence SM (button 1)? My girds does not span the whole screen (in boxes or grid) it shows the grid bending in the middle of the top and middle of the bottom of the screen.

hiperco

11-29-05, 11:51 AM

A question, under the Convergence SM how do I adjust bow and angle?

I know through the standard SM I can adjust the values but how do you do it through the convergence SM?

Also, how should the grid look under the convergence SM (button 1)? My girds does not span the whole screen (in boxes or grid) it shows the grid bending in the middle of the top and middle of the bottom of the screen.

All the settings are adjusted by using the right arrow to select, then left/right arrows to adjust.

By button one, do you mean this:

1 is the factory unconverged
2 is factory converged
3 is recall last saved setting...

If so, then Button 1 is completely useless, as it just shows you how bad the set is without corrections. I think the convergence grid comes up already as the last saved setting (which makes sense), so you only use button 3 if you want to start over (before a save, obviously).

thewooddogg

11-29-05, 02:53 PM

Regarding overscan, I'm having some issues. I just got a 6600gt and connected it through DVI. It seems that I am not able to eliminate overscan using the deflection menu.

(But I did scare the heck out of myself after fooling with the deflection menu, be warned that it really messes up the geometry when you fool around in there (V_Amp, H_Amp, etc). I didn't write down my initial settings, dumb on my part. I think the geometry is acceptable again after fiddling with the other geometry settings). As a second question, how is other people's geometry? Mine certainly isn't perfect, especially near the edges.

It seems that the overscan is "hard coded", in that I can move the bottom of the scan above the physical bottom of the screen, but it is still chopped off. I tried custom resolutions (instead of "native" 1280x720), but it appears that the TV goes out of native mode into interlace mode, which looks like crap.

Any suggestions?

Hmm.. your story and question has made me think of some questions.

1.) I messed around with my geometry, I think I'm gonna set it back though, it had about 5% overscan in all directions.. after trying to fix it, I have some feint black lines on the left side of the screen... kind of wierd.. maybe I'm doing it wrong or shouldn't be messing with it in the first place. Anyon else see this?

2.) Does our TV have a "native" resolution? Currently, I am forcing my cable box to output 1080i. Should I force it to 720p instead since it's native resolution is 1280x720?

thewooddogg

11-29-05, 03:12 PM

HTPCnewbie:
I'm not near done adjusting everything perfect (had to take a break from it because my wifes gets annoyed at me when I mess with it in the middle of her HD soap opera's..)

It worked well for me to:
1.) adjust the overscan (which wacked out the convergence I worked so hard on).
2.) Try to adjust basic geometry, like bowing and stuff.. ( I don't know the official name)
3.) Turn off the red and blue guns... try and make the green lines straight and even as possible.
4.) Then turn on the red gun and make it match the green... then turn off the red and do the blue on the green. I think it's very important to start in the middle and work out to the edges.

Regardless, I have some funky faded black lines on the left side of the screen now.. so maybe you don't wanna do what I did.. LOL

hiperco

11-29-05, 03:59 PM

Regardless, I have some funky faded black lines on the left side of the screen now.. so maybe you don't wanna do what I did.. LOL

I have them as well, although I really can't say for sure if they were there before I started messing around in the service menu...

reir

11-29-05, 08:53 PM

I bought this set today at Sams. Brought it home and set it up and I have red shadows on everything. Is this something I can fix by adjusting the set or do I need to have it repaired?

bigsnyder

11-29-05, 11:20 PM

Try adjusting the convergence manually, and turn off the automatic focus feature.
I have found that the self-focus often produces a poor picture, but YMMV. The
red cast should disappear after doing so.

C Snyder

reir

11-29-05, 11:22 PM

Now it won't even turn on. When I plug it in it makes a loud squealing noise and when I press power the standby light just flashes and nothing happens. Guess I'll be returning it for a new one.

johngebw

11-30-05, 07:07 AM

Newbee here, I have a pickup date for today from Sears. Purchased at $300.00 off to boot ! When I get this beast home I will take pictures for a blow by blow account. I hear 95% good and 5% bad on this set. Samsung has been known for great picture quality.

I'm very picky on PQ so we will see soon. I'll post pics.

John

HTPCnewbie

11-30-05, 10:40 AM

1 is the factory unconverged
2 is factory converged
3 is recall last saved setting...

If so, then Button 1 is completely useless, as it just shows you how bad the set is without corrections. I think the convergence grid comes up already as the last saved setting (which makes sense), so you only use button 3 if you want to start over (before a save, obviously).

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, how did you learn that #1 = factory unconverged???? You see…that’s the type of details I need to learn. Gosh…so I was wasting my time even looking at the convergence under button #1.

3 is almost perfect, so that’s the one I’ll have to adjust. Gosh…and I thought I had A LOT of work ahead of me.

THANKS A MILLION!

Reir…WOW, you have some serious issues there. I’d take it back and get another one.

Regardless, I have some funky faded black lines on the left side of the screen now.. so maybe you don't wanna do what I did..

Ohhh great, just when I was getting all happy inside…lol

Guys, we need details!!!

I know it’s a lot to ask but we need details on what each button does. Maybe one of the HC-R4755W owners who is more technical and has more experience with convergence, overscan, etc can explain “in detail” how to do this stuff.

If I had the “little” book that the Samsung tech had, I could do what he did and we all would have perfected TV’s.

Thanks to all of you who share and try to help everyone!

hiperco

11-30-05, 11:32 AM

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, how did you learn that #1 = factory unconverged???? You see…that’s the type of details I need to learn. Gosh…so I was wasting my time even looking at the convergence under button #1.

From an earlier post in this thread: ;)

Found in another post:

http://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/636697/Main/630516

Mute, 1, 8, 3 = Brings up the service convergence grid
Arrow buttuns = Move cursor around grid
7 = Selects Red to be adjusted (a R should appear above the letters VGA)
8 = Selects Green to be adjusted (a G should appear above the letters VGA)
9 = Selects Blue to be adjusted (a B should appear above the letters VGA)
Press 4 once to select Line Adjustment; Press 4 twice to select entire Grid Adjustment
Channel up/down adjusts convergence up/down
Volume up/down adjusts convergenge left/right
Button under 7 = turns Red gun on/off
Button under 8 = turns Green gun on/off
Button under 9 = turns Blue gun on/off
When done press Add button to save adjustments

1 is the factory unconverged
2 is factory converged
3 is recall last saved setting...

or something like that anyway.

Be careful... once you save it seems.. there's no going back!

cdub998

11-30-05, 04:42 PM

So I am back here again... Just a report on mine. I had a tech out after he already replaced the convergence board. He said the vibrating text was another board and I had faint lines on the left side of the screen that he said was the screen itsself. he was going to get me a new screen and a new set of boards.... I called sears and am getting a new one friday. Bunch of crap if you ask me.

wolverine5767

11-30-05, 10:44 PM

hiperco

11-30-05, 10:58 PM

Just wondering if anyone can tell me about what kind of Antenna I need to get for this unit.

Do I need a special HD antenna? Or will a uhf/vhf antenna work for HDchannels? Kind of a newb.

I definitely need an indoor option, as I live in a condo and they won't let me install anything outside. :(

I have a dvr w/ hd but my local cable comany doesn't carry ABD hd, so if I want to watch the BCS games and the Superbowl in HD this is the route I need to go.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

wolverine5767.

Digital TV uses the exact same antenna technology as "old" TV :) . Indoor reception may be a problem. I suggest buying an antenna at a place that has a liberal return policy, in case you don't get good results (Circuit City, Radio Shack, are two that come to mind). It has been my experience that the tuner in this set is not bad, but not great either...

PHD SAM

12-01-05, 12:55 AM

I know this is a 43" TV but is the dept very big? They give demsion of 40.7 x 35 x 20.1 inches (WxHxD) and weight of 98 pound but seems off for a TV I would expect to be huge. Can it easily fit on a dresser and does that weight sound right? Thanks in advance.

cloose

12-01-05, 01:54 AM

Sounds right by my guess from lifting it.
For a RPTV I was surprised by how "small" (subjective) it is.

bigsnyder

12-01-05, 09:32 AM

The weight of the 43" is about 80lbs and the 47" about 87lbs.

C Snyder

cdub998

12-05-05, 08:45 AM

Regardless, I have some funky faded black lines on the left side of the screen now.. so maybe you don't wanna do what I did.. LOL

So have you fixed the faded black lines yet? If so how. I have had 2 sets now and they both have the faded black lines on the left side.

Math-Sux

12-05-05, 08:17 PM

I've been looking everywhere trying to find any type of service manual to help with the adjustments in the service menu. Unfortunately I have yet to locate one, but I did find some other partial Samsung service manuals that have helped quite a bit.

Math-Sux

12-05-05, 08:19 PM

Hopefully, someone else can also make use of these.

Math-Sux

12-05-05, 08:19 PM

Here are the links:

Math-Sux

12-05-05, 08:20 PM

http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/SM/200507/20050708154431015_S62A-aadj-3.pdf

http://www.nesda-ohio.com/pdf/sbsc.pdf

Sorry for the multiple posts in a row. The board wouldn't allow me to post a link until I had made 5 posts and I thought the docs could be useful.

cdub998

12-06-05, 10:09 AM

That was really helpful... It talked about ghost lines and voltage. Does anyoone else think thats what these lines on the left side of the screen are?

wolverine5767

12-06-05, 02:51 PM

Does anyone know where the stand for this TV can be purchased? I just bought it from a local furniture store and it's just the TV.

Thanks,

wolverine5767.

bigsnyder

12-06-05, 04:07 PM

Stand for HC-R4755 (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&Q=&is=REG&O=productlist&sku=384872)

I think the stand is a great buy. Very strudy compared to most stands for the
micro projections. Lots of room on the shelves.

C Snyder

wolverine5767

12-06-05, 05:56 PM

Thanks, I ll thing about it.

I just got my TV delivered about an hour ago. This is my first dip into HD, especially a big screen.

The guys that delivered it said I should wait for the TV to get to room temperature before I plug it in.

They pulling a fast one on me, or is this true. It's been in the house for about an hour so far. Haven't plugged it in yet.

wolverine5767.

bigsnyder

12-06-05, 08:57 PM

That doesn't sound to far fetched. CRTs do need to warm up to give the best
possible picture quality. Make sure it is turned on for at least 30 min before trying
any manual convergence.

C Snyder

hiperco

12-06-05, 10:38 PM

Does anyone know where the stand for this TV can be purchased? I just bought it from a local furniture store and it's just the TV.

Thanks,

wolverine5767.

http://www.samsungparts.com/part_detail.asp?catalog_name=Parts+and+Accessories&%20category_name=&product_id=TR4755&search_model=HCR4755W

shipping looks painful however...

bigsnyder

12-07-05, 09:34 AM

Shipping costs (based on my zip code) are about half that cost from B&H photo.
That is standard UPS 3-5 day shipping.

C Snyder

hiperco

12-11-05, 10:52 PM

Sure has gotten quiet in here, must be everyone is enjoying their sets :cool:

(Man, football in HD is so BEAUTIFUL on my HC-R4755 :D )

bigsnyder

12-11-05, 11:21 PM

ChristmasGT

12-12-05, 12:38 AM

I'm pondering on getting this bad boy soon, anyone know how it does with the 360? Right now Its between this and a 34 Inch Sony CRT, but I love the 47 Inches w/ DVI, Im eager.

hiperco

12-12-05, 11:34 AM

I'm debating whether or not to keep this set. As long as the source is in HD and
good quality at that, the picture is great. Any other OTA source and basic cable
including digital broadcasts have been only fair. However, it does a good job with
DVDs. For the money it certainly is a good set, but I might just save up and get
exactly what I want.

C Snyder

Out of curiosity, what are you considering that would do better with non-HD sources? I'd wager that fixed pixel technologies (basically anything non-CRT based) might be even worse with SD material...

skilzygw

12-12-05, 12:22 PM

I just bought the Samsung HC-R4755W. I pick it up on saturday. I can't wait to see some glorious HD movies on this set.

Now how to find an xbox 360?

bigsnyder

12-12-05, 02:39 PM

Believe it or not, but I have seen some SD content on the Sony A10s that look
pretty decent. I think the quality of the tuners is a factor here. Theoretically the CRT
projection should do better with SD vs the Sony A10, but so far this doesn't seem
to be the case. Maybe there is some tweaks for the HC-R4755 that will improve the
picture quality (other than the manual convergence)?

C Snyder

ChristmasGT

12-12-05, 07:35 PM

I'm hoping to pick this bad boy up this weekend, I really am excited to see what it'll do with my 360, I hope it works out well to where I can get it!

bigsnyder

12-12-05, 08:40 PM

Here is info concerning DVD players that might be of interest. I have just recently
bought the Samsung HD941. So far the the 480i picture is better than the 480p
through the component outputs. I haven't calibrated by DVI input yet, so I can't
really make a comparision there. I did notice that there were no difference in PQ (at
least from what I can tell) between 480p/720p/1080i over the HDMI to DVI cable.
Anyone else like to share their DVD player experiences?

C Snyder

Math-Sux

12-14-05, 11:25 AM

Since I got the HC-R4755W my Philips DVP-642 isn't quite cutting it any more. I've been looking at the upscaling DVD players, but Divx is an absolute must for me and the less I have to spend the better. I've searched this forum extensively and although there are many players that get raved about, I'm not looking to spend hundreds of dollars. The OPPO looked like it could be a good choice, but it's still more than I want to spend. I was at Costco yesterday and saw a Toshiba SD-K850 for under a hundred bucks. I grabbed one just to see if it made any difference. 480i vs. anything else there is a huge difference, but at this point I totally agree that:

"I did notice that there were no difference in PQ (at
least from what I can tell) between 480p/720p/1080i over the HDMI to DVI cable."

They all look the same to me. The main thing that’s taking some time to get used to is film grain. I thought that DVD's would look as clear and sharp as Discovery HD Theater; Not so. We watched some b-rate horror movie last night and the picture looked good, but nothing that blew my socks off. I plan on looking for a movie that wasn’t shot with film (maybe an animated movie) to hopefully get a better feel for the 480p/720p/1080i PQ differences.

The Toshiba SD-K850 (for the price) seems pretty good so far. The included HDMI cable is a saver, but having to buy a 30.00 HDMI-DVI adapter at Radio Shack sucks. If I decide to keep the player, I'm going to order a DVI-HDMI cable from MonoPrice and return the adapter to save some money. The blue light across the disk tray really is annoying. Even more annoying is that the players setup menu can only be accessed while the disk is stopped (not paused or playing - stopped) and if I disable the light I resets next time the player is turned off/on.

I'll play with it more this week and post more impressions.

warhawk40e

12-14-05, 04:50 PM

Thought I would add my experience to this thread. I was looking for a big screen TV a few weeks ago. I scoured the internet, I watched for ads in the paper, I went to Best Buy, Sears, Circuit City or any other place that had big screens on sale to compare PQ. After a few weeks I found myself in Sams club and saw this Samsung for $999. I thought to myself this thing must be junk to be so cheap. The screen was not very pretty but it did not have a good signal the way the store had it set up.

I looked this up on the internet to find reviews and at first could not find many. Then I stumbled across this forum and this thread. I found a few other sites that said some nice things about it too but not as informational as here. Last week I took the plunge and bought it. So far I am very happy with it.

I will tell you when I sat down to watch football on this last Sunday I was just amazed at how beautiful the picture was. That was my first real experience with HDTV and now I love it. My DVD's look great on this TV as well.

I dont regret buying this TV at all.

wolverine5767

12-14-05, 10:33 PM

I dont regret buying this TV at all.

My sentiments exactly. You guys are a big help here.

One quick question. What's this anynet stuff all about?

wolverine5767

hiperco

12-15-05, 10:19 AM

Look what I found. Who's your daddy :cool: :D

Math-Sux

12-15-05, 10:33 AM

hiperco,

WOW! Where did you get that?

dt4211

12-15-05, 11:29 AM

First, lots of thanks to all those who posted in this thread. The advice and reviews were a big help to me when I was trying to decide whether to get this TV. I decided to go for it and picked one up a couple of weeks ago on sale at Sears for $899. Finally got the basement finished and set up yesterday and got the TV in place. A few first impressions:

The picture quality was pretty poor at first (I only have SD), but after a little work on the standard manual convergence screen and a couple of auto-focus cycles, it's now quite good. And this is connected using old-style component cables (2 audio, 1 video). I haven't tried connecting it with an S-video cable yet, which according to the DirecTV box instructions should give better picture quality.

Granted I'm not a big video-phile, but it's as good or better in picture quality than I'd expected (and as good as our basic-level old CRT TV), so I'm very happy with it. If you're really picky then maybe you'll want something better. BUt if you're really picky, then your budget is probably a lot higher than $1000, so you can afford something better. But I don't think this unit can be beat for the price.

I looked around a fair amount and this was just about the only TV in its class--I wanted a widescreen HD-ready TV that would fit on a stand (need someplace to put the DVD player, cable box, etc.) and be under $1200 or so. DLPs and LCDs are a lot more expensive, and CRT's only get up to 32 inches or so.

For those looking for a stand, depending on what you want, I'd recommend the Norrebo TV stand from IKEA. It's perfectly sized for the TV, is the right height, and has plenty of storage space. I don't really like the steel/glass stands that are more typical, and those would have looked out of place in our room. If you want a wood-look stand but don't want to break the bank (it's only $99), you can't beat this.

hiperco

12-15-05, 03:32 PM

Some important info I've gathered so far from the SM regarding the deflection menu. It appears that you aren't supposed to fool with most of the settings in there (specified as "fix" versus "var"). I'm going to set them back to the defaults and see what happens.

In the spirit of the holidays, here are the defaults, in case you didn't write them down before messing up your set (like I did :o )

DEFLECTION MENU

No, Item, Initial Data, Var/Fix, Range, Adjust Data

1 V Amp, 31, Var, 0 ~ 63, 31
2 V Shift, 32, Fix, 0 ~ 63, 32
3 H EW, 31, Var, 0 ~ 63, 31
4 H Shift, 34, Fix, 0 ~ 63, 34
5 V LIN, 7, Fix, 0 ~ 15, 7
6 Up_ Lin, 0, Fix, 0 ~ 15, 0
7 Low_Low, 0, Fix, 0 ~ 15, 0
8 V SC, 7, Fix, 0 ~ 15 7
9 H Par, 20, Fix, 0 ~ 63, 20
10 Up_ Cor, 31, Fix, 0 ~ 63, 31
11 Low_ Cor, 31, Fix, 0 ~ 63, 31
12 H Tra, 31, Fix, 0 ~ 63,31
13 Bow, 31, Fix, 0 ~ 63, 31
14 Angle, 31, Fix, 0 ~ 63, 31
15 V Position, 31, Fix, 0 ~ 63, 31
16 Up UCG, 0, Fix, 0 ~ 3, 0
17 Lo UCG, 0, Fix, 0 ~ 3, 0
18 CXA Left Blk, 55, Fix, 0 ~ 63, 55
19 CXA Right Blk, 15, Fix, 0 ~ 63, 15

Math-Sux

12-15-05, 03:45 PM

hiperco, is there a pdf that you can post?

Here's a worksheet with all the options in the service menu. I also entered the defaults that hiperco just posted.

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

12-16-05, 02:08 AM

Wussup guys? I havent been here since i posted the SVM settings and it seems this thread is really moving along. I've been really busy & haven't been watching too much TV when im free, most of time is going to my X360 =]
Oh i saw a few people asking how it looks? OMG get Kameo or PGR3 and set the dash to 1080i...It is freakin amazing!! PDZ looks really good as well, so get your asses on LIVE! hahaha
Anyways, im sorry to see how many people are having problems with overscanning & convergeance issues. Personally, i dealt with the deflection options using my own eyes and fixed what was stated in my previous post and honestly im just not seeing any problems with my set? Whether it be standard,HD,DVDs,games etc. All seems to look fine to me, unless im just not a huge anal videophile? *shrug*

Well back to LIVE...Good luck to everyone and enjoy your excellent purchase. :) ~ciao

hiperco

12-16-05, 01:06 PM

OVERSCAN - PLEASE HELP

Can somebody please explain the process to improve overscan using the 6600gt drivers? I just can't seem to figure out what to do...

(Plus I have my geometry as messed up as its ever been after restoring the "defaults" from the service manual, but that is another story :o )

hiperco

12-17-05, 02:09 PM

OK, thank you all for your help ;)

I got the overscan fixed with the 6600gt drivers, I was trying to get it fixed by manually changing resolutions, which is obviously not how to do it. :rolleyes:
(For those still wondering how, it is in the area where the display properties are listed, you get there by right clicking and selecting the display you want to adjust).

I got the geometry much improved. Not sure how much longer the wife will let me play with it however :o The convergence adjustments have a lot to do with horizontal and vertical shift...

bgillyjcu

12-18-05, 07:41 PM

hiperco

12-18-05, 11:36 PM

Hey OWNERS....how are the side viewing angles on this set? I know RP CRT suffers from limited viewing angles and I'm interested in this set. I want to avoid a set that is really limited. I love RP LCD but $2000 is a little much for me right now. Esp considering this tv is just under a grand....

Side viewing angles are ok, but could be an issue depending on your room layout. This set really can't be beat for the money, however.

Don't buy a RP LCD, the SSE and SDE will probably drive you nuts ;)

tailsock

12-19-05, 01:04 AM

Hi everyone.....like some of the others on here, i have been following this thread for about 2 weeks. Here's my story:

After much research, repeated trips to Sears, CC, BB etc., & about a $1,300 budget I had purchased a 34" Sony Vega CRT (KV-34HS420)
http://img452.imageshack.us/img452/4313/tv17qk.th.jpg (http://img452.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tv17qk.jpg)

It retails for about 11 - 14k but i got an open box special at CC for $999. I absolutely loved the set. It was my first HDTV.. the blacks were deep, colors rich, and the HD sharpness and clarity was that of a plasma. I loved watching the Discovery Channel & ESPN in HD. (Monday Night Football arial views of the stadiums were jaw dropping)

The CRT was great but I just couldn't get over the fact that it was only 34". (especially after a buddy commented that he wish it were a little bigger) I would drop by the usual places after work time to time and then saw the $999 special on the 47" Samsung HC-R4775. I scoured the web like many of you for feedback, but came up short. Luckily i ran across this forum and particular thread. I found out that Sam's had the stand for the same price, so on my 29th day of owning the Sony, i called CC and scheduled a pickup for the set & stand. It took them 4 agonizing days to refund the money on my visa but that night, i made it to Sam's 4 minutes before they closed and got the set.

http://img436.imageshack.us/img436/3928/10075634wt.th.jpg (http://img436.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10075634wt.jpg)

Upon getting it home and whippin the stand together, my initial impression was one of mixed feelings. I certainly appreciated the size aspect but from the moment i tuned in to the first station, i could tell a painfully obvious difference in the PQ scanning thru SD stations. HD quality was okay.....not great.......certainly nothing like the 200 lb. Sony. I was patient for the TV to break in and gave it about 60-70 hours. I constantly checked the HD channels for that "WOW" factor that used to keep me up til 3am in the morning watching some monkey documentary. It would happen only sporatically. I have an HD box from Time Warner and was able to go back to some college games i had recorded on the DVR previously. I learned alot about the contrast between the TV i briefly owned and the Samsung i have now watching the Florida State/ Florida game. For those of you wondering im using component cables. I had an HDMI cable but the Samsung only offers component and DVI so i bought a DVI to HDMI adapter (my box has HDMI & component only) Didnt work.

I noticed that the high definition factor was at it's best when it showed a large close up of the players. However, when it showed a panoramic of "the swamp" all of the fans looked a bit muddy/blurry. I used the the manual convergence but it still ended up lookin a bit flat/blurry. Aerial views of stadiums were breathtaking on the other set.....you could actually make out individual people in sharp detail. This is a sacrifice i'm having to endure with the Samsung currently, and i think it has to do w/ the manual convergence (which im having to do constantly) I was able to get into the mute 1 8 2 menu and fiddle around w/ some settings but now the geometry is off and even w/ default settings, i cant get a perfect rectangle anymore. The borders are slightly curved, sometimes in 3 different places and nothing works. I'm having to either auto focus or adjust the man. conv. once every half hour or so. It's soooooooo annoying. Quality is lost in either of the 4 corners... it's like the fur ther you get from the center of the screen, it goes from sharp to blurry. I learned that the sony i had was a direct view/draw or whatever and didnt have to be manually converged or have the colors aligned. Im taking this set back to sam's tommorow. I'll try one more before deciding to just refund it and go w/ somethin else :(

tailsock

12-19-05, 01:13 AM

Hey OWNERS....how are the side viewing angles on this set? I know RP CRT suffers from limited viewing angles and I'm interested in this set. I want to avoid a set that is really limited. I love RP LCD but $2000 is a little much for me right now. Esp considering this tv is just under a grand....

see for yourself

http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/4154/10075598in.th.jpg (http://img372.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10075598in.jpg)

KBI

12-19-05, 01:17 AM

Hi everyone.....like some of the others on here, i have been following this thread for about 2 weeks. Here's my story:

After much research, repeated trips to Sears, CC, BB etc., & about a $1,300 budget I had purchased a 34" Sony Vega CRT (KV-34HS420)
http://img452.imageshack.us/img452/4313/tv17qk.th.jpg (http://img452.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tv17qk.jpg)

It retails for about 11 - 14k but i got an open box special at CC for $999. I absolutely loved the set. It was my first HDTV.. the blacks were deep, colors rich, and the HD sharpness and clarity was that of a plasma. I loved watching the Discovery Channel & ESPN in HD. (Monday Night Football arial views of the stadiums were jaw dropping)

The CRT was great but I just couldn't get over the fact that it was only 34". (especially after a buddy commented that he wish it were a little bigger) I would drop by the usual places after work time to time and then saw the $999 special on the 47" Samsung HC-R4775. I scoured the web like many of you for feedback, but came up short. Luckily i ran across this forum and particular thread. I found out that Sam's had the stand for the same price, so on my 29th day of owning the Sony, i called CC and scheduled a pickup for the set & stand. It took them 4 agonizing days to refund the money on my visa but that night, i made it to Sam's 4 minutes before they closed and got the set.

http://img436.imageshack.us/img436/3928/10075634wt.th.jpg (http://img436.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10075634wt.jpg)

Upon getting it home and whippin the stand together, my initial impression was one of mixed feelings. I certainly appreciated the size aspect but from the moment i tuned in to the first station, i could tell a painfully obvious difference in the PQ scanning thru SD stations. HD quality was okay.....not great.......certainly nothing like the 200 lb. Sony. I was patient for the TV to break in and gave it about 60-70 hours. I constantly checked the HD channels for that "WOW" factor that used to keep me up til 3am in the morning watching some monkey documentary. It would happen only sporatically. I have an HD box from Time Warner and was able to go back to some college games i had recorded on the DVR previously. I learned alot about the contrast between the TV i briefly owned and the Samsung i have now watching the Florida State/ Florida game.

I noticed that the high definition factor was at it's best when it showed a large close up of the players. However, when it showed a panoramic of "the swamp" all of the fans looked a bit muddy/blurry. I used the the manual convergence but it still ended up lookin a bit flat/blurry. Aerial views of stadiums were breathtaking on the other set.....you could actually make out individual people in sharp detail. This is a sacrifice i'm having to endure with the Samsung currently, and i think it has to do w/ the manual convergence (which im having to do constantly) I was able to get into the mute 1 8 2 menu and fiddle around w/ some settings but now the geometry is off and even w/ default settings, i cant get a perfect rectangle anymore. The borders are slightly curved, sometimes in 3 different places and nothing works. I'm having to either auto focus or adjust the man. conv. once every half hour or so. It's soooooooo annoying. I learned that the sony i had was a direct view/draw or whatever and didnt have to be manually converged or have the colors aligned. Im taking this set back to sam's tommorow. I'll try one more before deciding to just refund it and go w/ somethin else :(

The Sony is much better then the Samsung.. I was going to get the Samsung 47inch, but got the Sony 42inch instead.. Wish I could compare the Sony LCD RP TV side by side with the Samsung.. I still believe CRTS still deliver the best picture quality. But like you, I wanted somthing bigger..

thewooddogg

12-19-05, 10:45 AM

hiperco

12-19-05, 11:37 AM

Hey guys... I haven't had time to try and fix the black lines on the TV... although I'm determined to make this the week to try! I'm gonna start with hiperco's information and reset the sizing stuff. I didn't see the black lines before I did the size adjustments trying to get rid of overscan. I'll let you know what happens.

I have fixed the black lines. I am puzzled somewhat by what I am seeing however. With the defaults set in the SM, I used the advanced convergence screen to center the image. (I just use a 4:3 source and look at the eveness of the bars on each side.) The strange thing is that I have the convergence grid set so far to the left that I can't even see the convergence cursor when it is moved over there. You would think that I would be losing a lot of (16:9) screen over there, but my PC desktop has pretty much uniform overscan on each side. Hmmm...

I can make the black lines come back by moving the leftmost line of the convergence grid to the right (making it visible). You can try this yourself, just don't hit the "save" button for the convergence ;)

thewooddogg

12-19-05, 12:35 PM

I have fixed the black lines. I am puzzled somewhat by what I am seeing however. With the defaults set in the SM, I used the advanced convergence screen to center the image. (I just use a 4:3 source and look at the eveness of the bars on each side.) The strange thing is that I have the convergence grid set so far to the left that I can't even see the convergence cursor when it is moved over there. You would think that I would be losing a lot of (16:9) screen over there, but my PC desktop has pretty much uniform overscan on each side. Hmmm...

I can make the black lines come back by moving the leftmost line of the convergence grid to the right (making it visible). You can try this yourself, just don't hit the "save" button for the convergence ;)

Sweet! I'm glad to hear you fixed the black lines... I can't wait to try it tonight.. Before I messed with trying to fix overscan... Avia Home Theatre was showing me at about 5% overscan on each side through the DVD input... but.. I'd rather deal with overscan then the black bars... they really annoy me....

I'm wondering if this TV is even meant to show the whole screen... anyway.. I'll let you know what happens! Thanks for your help!

Where'd you get the service manual by the way? I'd like to pick one up myself.

9mileskid

12-19-05, 03:20 PM

Can I get some feedback on setting up OTA HD. I had OTA connected to my old DishNetork HDtuner and had to choose the transmitter codes for it to work thru the box.

The OTA Antenna would be connected to Ant 1 and the mode would be "Air" - correct?

Fox in my area is Ch. 40, do I simply add Ch.40 to my "Air" stations or just let it do a search for stations? Does it choose both the SD and HD OTA stations?

Trying to understand before I go and buy an Antenna - thanks

btw, SD from my PVR thru composite blows :( and I hated losing the OTA HD channels due to reception. If a box is not HD the best you can do is S-vid and my 501 doesn't even have that! May have to switch to Comcast to get all the HD content, locals and a DVI/HDMI connection.

hiperco

12-19-05, 04:08 PM

Can I get some feedback on setting up OTA HD. I had OTA connected to my old DishNetork HDtuner and had to choose the transmitter codes for it to work thru the box.

The OTA Antenna would be connected to Ant 1 and the mode would be "Air" - correct?

Fox in my area is Ch. 40, do I simply add Ch.40 to my "Air" stations or just let it do a search for stations? Does it choose both the SD and HD OTA stations?

Trying to understand before I go and buy an Antenna - thanks

Just let it scan for the channels, no setup required. It will find all the stations, both analog and digital.

9mileskid

12-19-05, 04:17 PM

jltbravo

12-19-05, 04:18 PM

The hc-r4755w is my second Samsung RP. Last year I got the hc-p4241w, and was so impressed with the value, I got this year's model for the larger screen.
For the price, there is no better large screen HD picture. I also use the upconvert feature on my cable box to show all SD content in 480p - that helps a lot.

These TV's take a few months to break in. You will always find yourself playing with the convergence, contrast, brightness and color until it's fully broken in. I notice that I do not need to adjust my 4241w anymore, it's only the convergence that needs adjustment from time to time.

Things I noticed after owning the HC-R4755w a month now:

"Blurriness" comes with displaying low resolution content, and depends on the channel you're watching. For me, turning down the sharpness & contrast down to the 50, the VM Level & VM Coring to 0, and the Gamma to 1, helps tone down this a lot.

The overscan appears to be that way on purpose. I use a DVD with a test pattern for 16x9 content. For the Geomtery menu, I leave them at the defaults, only changing the V Shift and H Shift to center the picture, I found it easier to adjust the V Comp & H Comp in the Video Adjust 3 menu. There is only so much you can squeeze the picture before it gets distorted. I don't think you can ever get the full 16x9 content on this screen.

hiperco

12-19-05, 05:03 PM

thanks,

So there is a difference between OTA SD signals and OTA HD? Will they wind up being 2 different channel designations?

Are those of you out there doing OTA with this set, are you using an inside or outside antenna?

They will show up as separate channels. I am using an outside antenna (the biggest, baddest, one I could find at Lowes), since I live on the back side of a hill relative to the TV towers. If you haven't already, go here and enter your info: http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx

A word of caution however, I found that antennaweb recommended a smaller antenna than what works for me...

hiperco

12-21-05, 01:17 PM

Sweet! I'm glad to hear you fixed the black lines... I can't wait to try it tonight.. Before I messed with trying to fix overscan... Avia Home Theatre was showing me at about 5% overscan on each side through the DVD input... but.. I'd rather deal with overscan then the black bars... they really annoy me....

I'm wondering if this TV is even meant to show the whole screen... anyway.. I'll let you know what happens! Thanks for your help!

Regarding overscan, here is an excerpt from an informative post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4934284&&#post4934284)

No, you're right, I hate overlays - used one once years ago and immediately swore them off. You can have it cheap if you wish, it's the factory Philips for the 55" Marantz. I use strictly external info for sizing and placement, and external grids for convergence, unless I am forced to use internal ones. I use the internal ones for linearity settings at times, comparing the results to the outside material.

4-4.5% is the lowest overscan that RPTVs are usually capable of without massive, distracting fraying of the convergence at the edges. Even at 4-4.5% there is some fraying, but it is innocuous.

So it sounds like 4-5% overscan is the best we can hope for with our RPTV's. I wish I had left mine alone now, its still messed up...

hiperco

12-21-05, 11:19 PM

EDIT: I've basically fixed this problem so I've made the text below italics for historical purposes. I'll follow up with more details ;)

Well, I've reached a point of desperation here. I will probably be returning this set. Check out the attached pictures (more in the next post)

hiperco

12-21-05, 11:22 PM

EDIT : Ditto (see above, problem fixed)

More pictures showing a new set at Sams Club. Note that my 4:3 picture is off badly to the right, yet my convergence pattern is off badly to the left. Also my convergence pattern has only 12 vertical lines, the correct one seems to have 13. I have carefully checked all the settings in the service menu and made sure that they are set to factory settings. It is either broken, or beyond my ability to correct :(

Math-Sux

12-22-05, 09:07 AM

Here are all my current deflection settings:

V_AMP 14
V_SHIFT 34
H_AMP 14
H_SHIFT 57
V_LIN 5
UP_LIN 2
LOW_LOW 1
V_SC 0
H_PAR 16
UP_COR 33
LOW_COR 32
H_TRA 31
BOW 33
ANGLE 30
V_POSITION 34
UP_UCG 0
LO_UCG 1
CXA_LEFT_BLK 44
CXA_RIGHT_BLK 17

The Avia Center Cross, Circle Hatch, and Overscan test patterns helped me considerably. I also taped string horizontally and vertically across the screen to create my own grid pattern. There are also little bumps on the inside of the bezel that indicate horz, and vert. center. I pulled the screen in all the way around about an inch, straightened the geometry, pushed it back out to correct overscan then fine tuned the geometry again.

Once that was fairly good, I started on the convergence. My convergence grid was also way off center. In the convergence menu the Sleep button moves the grid to the right and the MTS button moves it to the left BUT, it wont save the setting after exit. Instead, for each color:

Press 4 once to select Line Adjustment; Press 4 twice to select entire Grid Adjustment

This is how I got my grid to center. I also repeated these steps a few times (in this order to get it right). Without Avia and the string grid I created, I never would have got it right.

On a side note, my convergence seems to be drifting from day to day. I'm still in the 30 day return period and called Sears to come out and take a look at it next week.

jmzjmz

12-22-05, 10:08 AM

Is there any way for them to be able to tell that you were in service menu when they come out to look at it? I am just curious, because I don't want to do it and find out that I screwed my self when they come out. Thanks everyone.

hiperco

12-22-05, 10:43 AM

Math-Sux:

I tried everything, and I mean EVERYTHING to correct the shifted image. I maximized the horizontal shift, I minimized the horizontal shift, I messed with the H_POS (which theoretically you don't need to), etc. Nothing will get the grid back to 13 vertical lines. (Do you have 13 vertical lines visible?), and nothing will fix the centering (and size) of a 4:3 image. If you notice in the "user" convergence area I posted, the menu is way to the right and the convergence pattern is way to the left :confused:

jmzjmz:

I really don't know if there is a secret "flag" that indicates entry into the service menu, I don't see anything in the service manual about it. As long as all your "FIX" settings are at the factory defaults, you should be fine.

skilzygw

12-22-05, 12:13 PM

hiperco

12-22-05, 12:51 PM

I tried to work with the convergence in the user menu. It has the crosshairs as posted. I download a test pattern to have in the background. However it only shows the crosshairs, Do I need to use the "hidden" convergence menu to use the avia disk patterns?

My problem is that left side of the screen is blurry while the middle and right are great. With my pc hooked up if i drag an icon or a text document from right to left its clear on the right, clear in the middle. But when I get to the left bam blurry and hard to read.

The crosshairs also show this blurryness but it's impossible to correct with that simple user menu.

Anyone notice this on this set?

By the way movies don't seem to be affected by this blur, why is that? Mainly pc use and text.

You may need to enter the "advanced" convergence menu. (See one of my pictures above, it shows the grid automatically, no test pattern required. WARNING - DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Mute, 1, 8, 3 = Brings up the service convergence grid
Arrow buttuns = Move cursor around grid
7 = Selects Red to be adjusted (a R should appear above the letters VGA)
8 = Selects Green to be adjusted (a G should appear above the letters VGA)
9 = Selects Blue to be adjusted (a B should appear above the letters VGA)
Press 4 once to select Line Adjustment; Press 4 twice to select entire Grid Adjustment
Channel up/down adjusts convergence up/down
Volume up/down adjusts convergenge left/right
Button under 7 = turns Red gun on/off
Button under 8 = turns Green gun on/off
Button under 9 = turns Blue gun on/off
When done press Add button to save adjustments

Regarding your question about PC text, it has to do with the detail required to display text. Misconvergence will be more noticeable on fine details.

skilzygw

12-22-05, 02:08 PM

You think it sounds like a convergence issue?

How should I go about starting, should I do blue then red then green etc....?

What's the proper order.

Thanks.

hiperco

12-22-05, 02:49 PM

Get green to look good (lines straight etc), then individual align red and blue to green. You can look at the convergence screen, as long as you don't push "Add" any changes you've made aren't saved. If all lines on the grid aren't white (but instead have fringes of red or green or blue) then you should probably adjust it.

jmzjmz

12-22-05, 04:34 PM

Thanks for the help Hiperco! I have 2 more questions:

1) When I play my Playstation 2 the screen has a black bar on the right hand side of it, about an inch thick. It is on one of the composite inputs. What would be the setting in the menu that could fix this?

2) Whenever I play my XBOX 360, particularly Kameo, the bottom corners seem really fuzzy. The right one gives off red and the left gives off blue. Also when playing the game has a white line going accross the bottom of the screen and it seems to curve up in both the corners also. It is quite annoying, so I was just wondering what you think that it could be?

Thanks for the help.

hiperco

12-22-05, 05:44 PM

Have you looked at the convergence screen yet? It will likely provide answers to many of your questions ;)

jmzjmz

12-22-05, 05:48 PM

No, not yet. I am still at work. I will check it out within the hour when I am home.

mbarland

12-22-05, 06:17 PM

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I bought this set a couple months ago and followed this thread eagerly as it unfolded. Thanks for all the great info guys, it's been a big help.

First, the good. I love the picture this set makes. When watching HD or DVD it has a gorgeous film-like quality. The blacks are black, the colors are rich, and no microdisplay artifacts. I've been happy with this TV, especially considering the price.

I haven't tried gaming with it yet, but when hooked up to a computer via DVI it looks nice (fine print can be hard to read, but getting the convergence spot on helped immensely). I expect gaming to be fantastic (I'm holding out for the PS3), but haven't hooked the PS2 up yet. I use the computer for HTPC stuff, but web surfing is possible on this TV, but I suspect there would be some eye strain unless you boosted the font size. The text is a little hard to read at normal sizes.

Now the bad, SD could look a lot better, but that may be due in large to the Comcast 6412. I also am having a problem with faint black lines on the left side of my screen. I thought that it was the cable box but then noticed them on DVDs as well. So I thought it might be the Pioneer receiver (I run all the component video through the receiver). But I see the lines on DVI and OTA as well, so they are coming from the set. I had previously tried to eliminate overscan and thought that this is where it was coming from, so today I went back in the service menu to play again. I've gotten the lines minimized, but they are still there. My H_Pos is maxed out to the left and I am close enough to centered to be happy, although it could stand to go a few clicks left still. I've tried stretching the horizontal, but in order to remove the lines I have to unnaturally stretch the picture. Any ideas here? I've gotten them so that they aren't obnoxiously noticeable, I could live with it. They mainly show up in blue or grey scenes.

And of course, after playing with the geometry, I'm now blind from playing with the convergence menu again. ;-)

jmzjmz

12-23-05, 07:29 AM

I'm having trouble getting into the actual service menu. How exactly do you put the tv in standby mode? Is that when the little red light on the tv is red? I have tried it about 50 times (not an exageration). I am at my wits end. Please somebody help me.

jmzjmz

12-23-05, 08:02 AM

Can someone point me in the direction of the original factory settings? I changed some of the values but the menus seem to be different than what was in the pdf file. Please help. All that I messed with are the first deflection because that's all that I have, and video adjust 1. Thanks guys.

hiperco

12-23-05, 10:45 AM

The pdf from post 451 in this thread should be accurate-what are you seeing that is different?

To get into the serivice menu, turn the TV off (using the remote), then press MUTE-1-8-2-POWER.

jmzjmz

12-23-05, 10:55 AM

HTPCnewbie

12-23-05, 01:09 PM

Have been away for a while...

Well, I decided to call Samsung and have them come out. My TV has been making a crack sound after you turn it off and while it could be due to the temp (heating up and cooling) I thought that was about all I was going to take.

Note: Well, my wife got tired of me messing with it especially since I made things worse.

So, I'm going to set everything back to the factory setting and wait for the Samsung guy to set it up perfectly. THEN...I will never mess with the "service menu" again. I understand it gave us more tools to tweak the TV but I think it also made us greedy and half the time we ended up messing things up.

So...I'm done with the service menu and I just hope I can have my HC-R4755W back to the way it was.

I don't want to discourage anyone...it's your TV, but if your happy with the picture...don't be greedy and start messing with settings. I think we can all admit we don't know enough about the service menu to be tweaking things.

Well, that's my sad and defeated post. I'm glad I came back since I read it's best that I turn everything back to the factory setting so Samsung does not give me beef.

I'll come back once the tech is done and thanks for all the help, newbies...stay away from the service menu for the sake of your TV!

jmzjmz

12-23-05, 01:27 PM

Let me know how it turns out and if they actually give you call to setup the appointment. They were supposed to call me last Thursday or Friday and they never did. I also live in central Florida. But it's ok that they never gave me the call because my Playstation 2 died and that's what they were coming out to fix. There was a problem with there being a 1 inch bar on the right hand side of the screen.

HTPCnewbie

12-23-05, 03:25 PM

They already called and they are comming over early next week. He said they "might" change my deflection board (I hope so, maybe it's better??).

I got your PM, the defaults are actually on this thread but I'll find them and send them over via PM.

hiperco

12-23-05, 04:30 PM

Thanks Hiperco! After looking just now I found it. Does anyone happen to know what the defaults are for video 1? I'm am about ready to pull my hair out. Which menu has the convergence grid? I don't know if my TV has a newer board or SVM in it but I don't get all the options that are in that pdf that has the different video adjust screens. I don't get video 6. There also aren't any options for the HD portion.

To enter the deflection menu press MUTE-1-8-3

I've updated Max-Sux's spreadsheet with the defaults for Video 1. Unfortunately many of them are variable (meaning tuned for your set). I entered my settings in the spreadsheet for your reference.

Video 6 isn't active. And I don't know what you mean about the HD options?

hiperco

12-23-05, 04:41 PM

OK, an update regarding my problems I posted about. I've managed to fix my set, and it is the best its ever been now. Here is what I learned:

-ALWAYS WRITE DOWN ALL YOUR NUMBERS BEFORE CHANGING ANYTHING.

- You can't adjust horizontal/vertical shift with the convergence menu. REPEAT: You can't adjust horizontal/vertical shift with the convergence menu!

- The convergence screen is mostly disconnected from the deflection settings (although deflection settings can adversely affect convergence). In my situation, I had moved the convergence grid way to the left, and yet my deflection was way to the right.

- When on the convergence screen, using the '4' key to move the entire grid is NOT the same as using the MTS and SLEEP keys to move the grid left/right.

- You should have 13 vertical lines on the convergence grid.

- The value for HOR_SHIFT, although specified as "FIX", needed to be significantly modified for my set. This appears to also be the case for Math-Sux's TV.

I am once again in a happy place regarding my HC-R4755 :cool:

jmzjmz

12-23-05, 04:50 PM

hiperco

12-23-05, 05:39 PM

What if I don't have 13 lines on the grid? Should I screw around with the horizontal and vertical shift? Thanks for all of your help Hiperco.

How many lines horizontally?

I am also loosing like 1/2 in to inch off the bottom and top of the screen.

If you are close to having 13 lines (see where the cursor is at the left and right sides), and you are happy with the convergence, then don't mess with it. Regarding losing the picture on the top and bottom, this is known as overscan. This can be minimized but not eliminated. The thing we all have to remember is that CRT based sets will never be perfect, but 95% (or more) of the imperfections are not noticable when watching TV (assuming convergence is acceptable etc). And having a set that can natively display 1080i, and doesn't have SDE and SSE, and costs hundreds (or even thousands less), puts this set ahead of other RPTV technologies (IMHO). :cool:

hiperco

12-23-05, 06:55 PM

I guess If I was buying now, I would get the latest HL-R model sets. THey were best of show at the last CES.

I see rainbows on DLP sets, so not an option for me ;)

bongju

12-23-05, 08:29 PM

I just picked up the HC-R4755W today, and I love the picture. I am in the Los Angeles area, any I can get all the digital stations with a simple indoor antenna.

Is there any way to display the resolution of the over-the-air signal? I would like to know what the local stations are broadcasting? Also, I would like to see the resolution of the signal from my DVD player. It is supposed to be a progressive scan, but I would like to confirm that it is outputting 480p.

tpaullin

12-23-05, 08:38 PM

The weight of the 43" is about 80lbs and the 47" about 87lbs.

C Snyder

the 52'' is 103 lbs.

Tim

TIME2PLAYDAGAME

12-24-05, 02:24 AM

Wussup guys? Making a random stop off again. =] Ok it seems that during dark scenes using my X360 im seeing quick, vague, scrolling lines from left to right using the component cables that came with the system. If i recall, this is a weak signal problem right or some type of interference? Is there an easy fix for this or do i have to by Monster cables for better shielding? Or can i buy a signal booster? Would that even help a game system?

Another quickie...Im using DVI for my cable box and when i go into my settings for the box & switch to upconvert 2, i can watch SD channels using the DVI instead of switching source. But the problem is when i do this, im seeing a light, white, flicker towards the top of the screen. Anyone know why this happens?

hiperco

12-24-05, 08:46 AM

Is there any way to display the resolution of the over-the-air signal? I would like to know what the local stations are broadcasting? Also, I would like to see the resolution of the signal from my DVD player. It is supposed to be a progressive scan, but I would like to confirm that it is outputting 480p.

If there is, I haven't found it yet.

jasonwhitener

12-24-05, 02:23 PM

weatherfan

12-28-05, 05:47 PM

I went to Sears today to buy this tv and after waiting for 30 minutes, I left. There was only 2 people working that store with at least a dozen people waiting for help. This is a satillite store that sells appliances, tv's, and tools. Will try again tomorrow and if I get no help will make the 40 minute drive to Sams club, open a membership and get it there. Would rather get it from sears since it is closer.. I know that sears EW's are good but not sure about Sams clubs EW. Anyone have any feedback about Sams EW.

hiperco

12-28-05, 07:15 PM

My SD dish signal looks kinda fuzzy on this set, yet OTA HD and DVD's look wonderful, I tried hooking up my dish 508 pvr via s-video but it didnt look any better than the composite input. What are some settings I can change that might help the picture?

Jason

I find that playing with the video settings makes a big difference depending on what I'm watching (in your case, try playing with the sharpness setting, for example). Try cycling through the settings (using the P.MODE button on the remote). You might try changing the one that says "CUSTOM", starting from the settings on one of the others that looks the best to you (you can also change the factory presets (Dynamic, Standard, Movie) if you want, and you can always reset them to the factory defaults later if needed).