this is the first time i'm posting in the display forums. i'm interested in getting a new tv, but i do have some space restrictions. i don't have enough room for a large CRT RP TV and an audio stand, so i need to keep the tv on a tv stand with everything underneath it, but yet i still want a CRT RP TV over an LCD/DLP/Plasma. i was originally just going to go with the 46" Sony, since i know it produces and excellent picture, but i found out that the matching Sony stand doesn't have enough room for my receiver. i can just use a different stand with it, but the TV itself is kinda high, and if i use say a 25" high stand it will sit too high.

then i decided to look into a good 34" widescreen TV, but thought that the picture would be just a bit too small, at least for a living room...

that's when i came upon the Samsung HC-R4755W on the Sears website. i looked into it, but the Sears stors don't normally stock them. then, i did a search last night, and noticed that they also make the Samsung HC-R4355W, which is the 43" version. it's only 35" tall, opposed to the 40" tall that the Sony is listed at, which would be better for my particular application. the only thing is that i can't find this TV anywhere locally, and can only order it online. i can get it for a little over $1000 shipped, but the thing is that i would really like to see it first, but since i can't do that i thought i would start this thread to maybe get some feedback on it. i'm not familiar with Samsung as far as TV's go, as far as picture quality and build quality, and i was just wondering what some people here that either have this TV or have seen this TV think about it...

http://etronics.resultspage.com/display.php?p=Q&ts=dynamic&w=samsung%20hp%20r4355w&pw=Samsung%20HC%2dR4355W&rt=spelling&store=

the only reason i'm asking this is because if i get it and don't like it, it's $60 to ship it to my house, and it would most likely cost more to ship it back, and i don't want to spend about $150 on shipping and have nothing to show for it...

thanks in advance for any help...

no one here has either heard anything about or viewed this particular model Samsung?

I think its so new that its not in stores yet...Im lookin at gettin the HC-R4755W but i need to see it in person first or at least have some more opinions on it.

oh ok, thanks. i actually figured it was kinda old, considering the price, it seems like it's lower than it should be. i haven't seen a single store in the area that sells it, let alone a store with one on display...

Yeah CRT Projections have hit rock bottom in terms of pricing because of all the DLP and LCD projection tech. Thats y i think this model is a perfect upgrade until those 1080P TVs come down in price in a couple years.

the only thing that i wasn't sure about, was if it converts 720p? according to the specs that i've seen for it, i know it uses 720p as an input resolution on the back of it, but i can't seem to find out if it shows 720p or if it converts 720p to 1080i?

Usually...if it lists 720P as an input it will display it....otherwise it would jus say 480i/480p/1080i...To the best of my knowledge

I just bought the 47" model from Sam's Club. And it does accept 720p through the component inputs. My local Sears was carrying it but didn't have any in stock yet, only a display model on the floor. They had a pricetag of $1199..so I went home and searched the sam's club website for the model number (HC-R4755W) and low and behold it showed up for $999. According the website none of the local Sam's had it in stock yet, but when I went to check, not only did they have it in stock but gave you the stand as well!

So I thought $999 for a new 47" model that accepts 720p, has a built in tuner, comes with a stand, and only weighs 87lbs is a heckuva deal. Not to mention that it's a much better looking TV than many others on the market - if you didn't know better you'd think it was a sammy DLP from the front...they look almost identical in design...

I'm not a videophile, but i'm very happy so far - DVD's look TERRIFIC with a cheap progressive scan player and HD has never looked better to me.

I just bought the 47" model from Sam's Club. And it does accept 720p through the component inputs. My local Sears was carrying it but didn't have any in stock yet, only a display model on the floor. They had a pricetag of $1199..so I went home and searched the sam's club website for the model number (HC-R4755W) and low and behold it showed up for $999. According the website none of the local Sam's had it in stock yet, but when I went to check, not only did they have it in stock but gave you the stand as well!

So I thought $999 for a new 47" model that accepts 720p, has a built in tuner, comes with a stand, and only weighs 87lbs is a heckuva deal. Not to mention that it's a much better looking TV than many others on the market - if you didn't know better you'd think it was a sammy DLP from the front...they look almost identical in design...

I'm not a videophile, but i'm very happy so far - DVD's look TERRIFIC with a cheap progressive scan player and HD has never looked better to me.

Ah ha Sams club got it on its website now...i gotta check out my local store to see it. Where are you located at? How is the screen in terms of reflectivity (meaning does it have a shiny/glossy screen that reflects alot of light like some RPTVs)?

Ah ha Sams club got it on its website now...i gotta check out my local store to see it. Where are you located at? How is the screen in terms of reflectivity (meaning does it have a shiny/glossy screen that reflects alot of light like some RPTVs)?

I'm in orlando FL...According to the website none of the local stores had any in stock...but it STILL says "not available for pickup" but they had 15 in stock last weekend when I bought it...So deffinately physically go in and check regardless of what the site says...

The screen is a low reflectivity, matte type style...which was another big plus for me.

That sounds very encouraging, i gotta see this set in person...for $1K you cant beat this TV..especially with all the new technology comin out this year...early adopters usually get the shaft...haha

Anybody else with some feedback on this TV? It sure looks like a very good value...

I bought this tv at sams on monday and absolutely love it. This is my first HDTV set so im not expert, but the screen resolution looks great. Watching OTA HD is awesome, I never wanted to see Jay Leno's face in such detail.

The stand the set comes with is very nice and sturdy as well.

Prior to buying this I was going to get a 30 inch direct view crt, but after I found this deal I was instantly sold.

How do SD channels look on this TV? Curious about how the upscaling circuitry works on this set.
Thx.

I'm in Orlando TOO!!!!

Gosh...come on people, tell me more! I thought this was a great deal also but I too was afraid of getting it. I would be using it along with my up and comming HTPC (which I will use to play PC games with also) so do you all think this will be OK for playing games on?

How would you connect to it...it does not have RGB? I thought (if I remember right) that I would use DVI for the HD receiver from Brighthouse and the RGB for my HTPC.

Please help!!!

THANKS!

The HC-R4755 has a built in tuner that works great.. I do not even have an outside antennae hooked up to it yet and it picks up the OTA channels great.. I hooked up the PS2 to it last night.. and at first I had an issue with using the Ant. 2 RF input (no or washed out color).. but when I hooked it into the Ant. 1 Output it worked great.. I am going out today to purchase RCA cables to hook it up to one of the other inputs.. I was playing a beta version of the new Ratchet Commando game online last night and had no lag and the picture looked great.. A word of caution tho.. as with any large TV's Rear project or other.. if you get to close the picture will not be that great.. when we sat back about 10 to 15 feet it was amazing.. I have nothing but love for this TV, and as a bridge HDTV between current and future technology I highly recommend this TV.. and remember.. the best deal I found was at Sam's Club for $999 and that included the stand!!!

Thanks for the help...

But, how about PC games? Also...what is the resolution of the TV (I cant' find it anywhere)?

DVI is gives the best quality so I would like to leave that for the HD but then how would I connect my PC to it?

Finally, to confirm there was no delay/lagg while playing games right?

The Burn-in FAQ really cleared my fear of it a good amount (contrast and brightness is the key) but I still don't know enough about this TV to pull the trigger.

Keep the information comming...please...THANKS!

OK...I'm about to pull the trigger on this TV myself...

(since I found a DVI to Component converter)

Here: DVI to Compt (http://sewelldirect.com/dvivideoadapter.asp?source=froogle)

Note: I'll use this method to connect my HTPC to the TV ***please let me know if I'm wrong about being able to connect the HTPC via this adapter*** :confused:

The reason I wont be using the DVI is because Brighthouse (my cable company) just told me that my HD STB will connect to my TV via the DVI cable so I'll have to use another method to connect the HTPC to my HDTV.

...BUT, I have yet to (and this might be newbish of me) see any information on the max resolution this TV supports. Can those who got this TV please let me know ASAP since I'm thinking of getting it this weekend.

Also, is there any maintenance (like DLP or LCD Projection lamp replacement issues with CRT projection TV's?)

Thanks in advance for your help!!! :D

I bought the HC-R4755W last week at Sams' Club. As the people above mentioned, it's a very nice TV! Work this week has been very hectic for me and it caused me to have to get the TV and other equipment hooked up over the entire week. :( I have had time only to pop in Chronicles of Riddick into my DVD player, I must say WOW, the picture quality was incredible, this is going from a 36" 4:3 TV to a 47" 16:9... I have an OTA HDTV antenna (silver sensor something) coming in on Monday, can't wait to see how the OTA stations look. This TV (HC-R4755W) was a incredible deal considering it comes with a TV stand (I guess a good $150+ value?) and a built-in tuner (I again guess a good $150+ value vs a STB?). Word of warning: the TV stand box is HEAVY, the TV itself was pretty lightweight compared to it. :p

PS, I have a Xbox and PS2, haven't had time yet to even plug them up and check them out, can't wait for that either!

Well...because of the ever growing knowledge of the HDTV/HTPC world, I'm pretty sure I'm back on the "WAIT" train for now. Enjoy your TV guys/gals!!!

I need a TV with VGA and DVI to make things easy.

After reading all the positive posts I will probably be buying this set. I'm moving way up from my 27'' JVC that is almost 10 years old. I have the standard Dish network reciever, not the HD one. My question is will the fact that the TV is a HDTV improve the picture ?
Thanks,
Tim

"My question is will the fact that the TV is a HDTV improve the picture ?"

yes, PROVIDING you are using an hd dish and viewing an hd program. if your are just viewing standard definition material as you are now, the picture will most likely be worse. moving up in screen size only magnifies the flaws in sd programs.

unfortunately, to get the most out of these big screen hdtv's you need to upgrade your service and equipment to hd level. i am in the market for a big screen hdtv as well and realize i will need to spend AT LEAST another $20 a month to upgrade to comcast digital cable with hd. i have a 9 year-old 32" analog crt that i will be replacing, so i am in the same boat you are in.

new technology is great.................................but it will always cost ya!:)

Yeah...so far everyone seems to love this TV.

Thanks for the reply, PT. That's what I was afraid of, hmmm I wonder how much more HD dish is? And how do I slip it past the wife? LOL

Tim

I went to Sam's and saw for myself the HC-R4355W...

At first I was not impressed with the video quality and then I got the remote and hit the auto focus option...and it helped it out a good amount. I didn't mess with any other settings but I still saw some grainyness while watching.

Do I blame the TV or the location? They said they connected it up right which made me think...

Can I even trust the HD/SD quality I see at a store?

So, my impression of the TV was mixed? I mitsu that was there (but was HUGE) looked the best but like I said...it was a huge beast.

I also saw a LCD TV and honestly it looked really good (better than all others) but I then noticed what happened when there was alot of movement on the screen. DO all LCD's have this problem...or just the cheaper ones?

If I can't trust the picture at a store...how can I even make a good choice then? I think the internet will be the only way (with customer reviews).

...and the HDTV merry-go-round continues... :(

Note: For those who got this TV...go to pricegrabber.com and put your reviews in, that REALLY helps those still looking to buy.

I was very disappointed out of the box with this TV.. The picture quality with Standard Def. stuff coming thru DishTV was bad and the regular RF Cable quality was even worse.. The OTA HD stuff looked great.. but there is not that much content available.. Yet..

However.. I did several things to try to improve the picture quality and am now quite happy with it.. even in standard def.. and so far I have not bought any new equipment (just a few new cables).

If you have standard def. DishTV use S-Video cables all the way to the TV.. the S-Video input is on the side of the TV, not in the back with everything else.. but it is still hidden from the front.. This dramatically improved the picture quality over composite or god forbid RF inputs (I tried them all).

For my DVD player and/or if your Sat. or Cable box has DVI, HDMI, or Component inputs.. the picture from my DVD player to the TV is wonderful..

The worst picture I get is when I played back a Tivoed program from my series 2 Tivo.. and that has as much to do with the crappy quality of the Series 2 Tivo as it does with anything else.. The DishTV PVR is MUCH better for picture quality, but it does not have even half the bells and whistles of the Tivo box..

Hope this helps, if anyone that is thinking of getting one of these sets has any questions or tests they want me to try just let me know.. I know the agony you are going thru and will be glad to do what I can to help.

Thanks for your opinion and sharing your experiance!

Can you test HD yet? It seems you only have DTV or SD but not HD. While I care about how SD looks...I care a little more about how HD looks.

Not: I emailed Samsung with a bunch of questions...I'll post their reply here if possible.

I have a Zenith antenna somewhere in town on a brown truck waiting to be delivered. :) Hopefully I can find a few minutes this evening to get it hooked up, I'm dying to see what the local OTA HD looks like. I also still need to hook up my Xbox -- I have the HD pack all hooked up (optical digital sound and component video), just need to plug the Xbox in a set it up. I'll let you know how it looks!

THANKS a bunch!

So, you are using your HD via component...just to be sure. What cable company do you have by chance?

I have brighthouse and they said that their HD STB/receiver will connect to my HDTV via DVI. If I could use component with my HD STB/receiver then that would free up the DVI for my HTPC (if it is even the type that PC's use)

Cool....keep me posted!

I`m considering going with this unit as well, however does anyone know why the screen is that "old school" textured style, insted of the current model units? I know that it makes the reflection very low, however I was under the impression that the newer screens produce a slightly more sharp image.

Also it does not include a protective shield, does adding one of those help with anything really? (sorry I`m kinda new to this).

Got the Zenith OTA antenna hooked up last night. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno was crystal clear in HD, the audio and video were out of this world, I am really hooked on the HD picture quality now, although seeing Jay Leno's big chin in hi-def was a bit shocking at first. :D . Halo 2 on the Xbox is also equally as jaw-dropping. The Dish Network SD stuff is OK for now, I am going to be moving from my SD PVR to their HD PVR and getting the HD package by the end of the year.

Do you have a HTPC? How did you connect your Xbox?

Since I'm building a HTPC I would need this TV to act as my PC monitor also. I'm still interested but I think I'll be going the flat panel LCD route.

Saw this at the local Sam's Club the other week. Seriously tempted if SD quality is acceptible. I do most of my TV viewing through ReplayTV. Not quite ready to opt for the cable companies STB for an additional $40 a month over what I am paying now.

Do you have a HTPC? How did you connect your Xbox?

Since I'm building a HTPC I would need this TV to act as my PC monitor also. I'm still interested but I think I'll be going the flat panel LCD route.
No HTPC at all hooked up to my TV. Using the component + optical digital connection box for the Xbox.

Ohhh OK...I need someone with a HTPC to give me input on this TV, while again...I think LCD is best suited for HTPC's. Especially in regards to PC gaming.

I went to the Sam's in Sioux City,IA and they didn't have it. Only Samsung LCD and plasma. I looked at a AKAI PT5299HD for the same price and the same features. After about 20 minutes of playing with it I bought it.

SD looks good with S-Video and DVD's great with component.

Tim

I went to the Sam's in Sioux City,IA and they didn't have it. Only Samsung LCD and plasma. I looked at a AKAI PT5299HD for the same price and the same features. After about 20 minutes of playing with it I bought it.

SD looks good with S-Video and DVD's great with component.

Tim

Here (tampa,fl) they have that TV too, the screen is pretty similar to the Samsung, but I just don`t know...I mean for the price the Samsung is a good TV, but even some of the other RP sets just look so much more sharp with text and small detail. I just don`t know if I should wait a couple months to buy something else... or just purchsde the samsung.

Gee whiz!

Gee whiz!

Sums it up perfectly for us...I wish it was alot easier but at times it feels like your head is spinning.

I visited Circuit City this weekend and confirmed that Plasma's and LCD's look the best in my opinion. Now...which one to get...lol

Here (tampa,fl) they have that TV too, the screen is pretty similar to the Samsung, but I just don`t know...I mean for the price the Samsung is a good TV, but even some of the other RP sets just look so much more sharp with text and small detail. I just don`t know if I should wait a couple months to buy something else... or just purchsde the samsung.

Gee whiz!

The Sam's here had the old model Samsung without a tuner, so I went to Sears and ordered the HC-R4355W using the price match (they take off 110% of the difference). They had a Toshiba 46in for $100 more with a better picture, but it didn't have a built-in tuner and I didn't like the look of it. Besides, the Samsung still had an excellent picture.

I want to use an antenna to watch a few HD channels instead of paying for monthly service, so that clinched it for me. You can't beat a built-in tuner with a 47in screen for $979.

If only...it had a VGA input....if only....sigh :(

Note: I'm a little disapointed, I'm a fan of Samsung but they have not replied to my email requesting more information on this HDTV. It's been over a week... :rolleyes:

"My question is will the fact that the TV is a HDTV improve the picture ?"

yes, PROVIDING you are using an hd dish and viewing an hd program. if your are just viewing standard definition material as you are now, the picture will most likely be worse. moving up in screen size only magnifies the flaws in sd programs.

unfortunately, to get the most out of these big screen hdtv's you need to upgrade your service and equipment to hd level. i am in the market for a big screen hdtv as well and realize i will need to spend AT LEAST another $20 a month to upgrade to comcast digital cable with hd. i have a 9 year-old 32" analog crt that i will be replacing, so i am in the same boat you are in.

new technology is great.................................but it will always cost ya!:)

A little off topic, but since it was mentioned...

*Disclaimer for a newbie question* :)
You need a HD dish to get HD signals? I thought just upgrading to a HD reciever was all that was needed. Thanks.

A little off topic, but since it was mentioned...

*Disclaimer for a newbie question* :)
You need a HD dish to get HD signals? I thought just upgrading to a HD reciever was all that was needed. Thanks.

If you don't have one built-in, you can buy an HD tuner. Using this, you can receive HD signals using an antenna (to get local channels). If you want to pay for HD service, the service provider will often provide you with the tuner for a monthly fee. With my local service, you _have_ to use theirs since it decrypts the signal. That's my understanding at least - my tv comes in on Friday. I'll try the antenna and post the results.

Does Sears sell the matching stand for the Samsung 47"? It's important for price matching purposes. I don't have a truck to bring this thing home and as far as I know Sam's Club doesn't offer delivery.

If only...it had a VGA input....if only....sigh :(

Note: I'm a little disapointed, I'm a fan of Samsung but they have not replied to my email requesting more information on this HDTV. It's been over a week... :rolleyes:

Just got your pm! Sorry haven't logged in in a while - if you have any questions still left unanswered i'll be happy to help you out.

BTW, when I picked up my HD-DVR from bright house it came with a brand new set of component cables. It does have a DVI out though, which i'm using through a DVI/HDMI adapter cable. The compenent inputs are taken up by the xbox and the dvd player...DVD's look fantastic through the progressive scan player BTW.

Also, no video lag at all. I returned a sammy DLP (this saved me $1300 :) due to video lag - the CRT plays MVP 2005 with no lag issues at all (unlike the DLP )...If you have an xbox, Conker Live and Reloaded looks AMAZING - which has me even more excited for the 360 come november :)

Ask away with anything else and i'll try to keep up this time - LOL...i'm still VERY happy with my purchase though - all bout "bang for your buck" in this case, I feel this TV is really worth it...especially the sams club price...

Does Sears sell the matching stand for the Samsung 47"? It's important for price matching purposes. I don't have a truck to bring this thing home and as far as I know Sam's Club doesn't offer delivery.

They did not have the stand when I was there over a month ago - but they had JUST got the TV in - they only had one set and it was their display model. According to the sale's guy there wasn't a matching stand in their system, but again this was over a month ago.

Does Sears sell the matching stand for the Samsung 47"? It's important for price matching purposes. I don't have a truck to bring this thing home and as far as I know Sam's Club doesn't offer delivery.

Unfortunately no. It was $20 cheaper though, plus I want to pick my own stand.

tbzgn...

Thanks, don't worry we all have busy lives and sometimes we can't get to PM's...lol.

Everyone is talking about Xbox and I'm glad to hear there is no lag issues but since I'll be connecting a HTPC to my HDTV I need more information on PC connection experience.

I'm pretty much set to get a LCD or Plasma and sacrifice TV size for PC friendliness but I still have an open ear to this TV.

The HDTV I end up with will be for 70% TV and 30% PC use (but maybe 60/40 if I think about it) so PC (or HTPC) connection is very important since I'll be getting out of my home office room and into the living room.

If you don't have one built-in, you can buy an HD tuner. Using this, you can receive HD signals using an antenna (to get local channels). If you want to pay for HD service, the service provider will often provide you with the tuner for a monthly fee. With my local service, you _have_ to use theirs since it decrypts the signal. That's my understanding at least - my tv comes in on Friday. I'll try the antenna and post the results.

So if I bought a tv with a built-in HD tuner, I can pick up local HD channels at no extra cost?

Please let me know if this is correct... the only way to receive premium HD channels is to buy a HD receiver? Or would I need a HD receiver and HD dish?

sorry...

I'm a newbie...but this is my understanding of HD so far. You have two versions:

OTA HD
Cable/SAT HD (QAM)

OTA (Over The Air) comes in just like the old days with rabbit ears and it's FREE.

Cable/SAT carry other HD channels like Discovery HD, and ESPN HD...etc. Right now there aint many HD channels out there but the OTA HD just needs a good antenna connected to your HDTV. The HD signal is FREE...but if your HDTV does not have a ATSC tuner then you would have to buy one to pick up the FREE OTA HD.

Hello,

I just picked up one of these. (HCR4351W - no tuner) and so far love it!

Has anyone had one ISF'd, or ran DVE or AVIA? I'd be interested in the settings if so, while I wait for my own DVE to come in the mail.

Since Samsung doesn`t respond to emails...To those who have this TV, are you aware if this set has progessive scan doubling or 3:2 pulldown? Some websites list these as features, but nothing is mentioned on Samsung`s site.

I'm a newbie...but this is my understanding of HD so far. You have two versions:

OTA HD
Cable/SAT HD (QAM)

OTA (Over The Air) comes in just like the old days with rabbit ears and it's FREE.

Cable/SAT carry other HD channels like Discovery HD, and ESPN HD...etc. Right now there aint many HD channels out there but the OTA HD just needs a good antenna connected to your HDTV. The HD signal is FREE...but if your HDTV does not have a ATSC tuner then you would have to buy one to pick up the FREE OTA HD.

Thanks! I think you cleared everything up for me!

So to pick up OTA HD channels like ABC (or whatever), all I need is a HDTV with an ATSC tuner and a pair of rabit ears? I dont need an HDTV receiver because I'm only trying to pick up local HD channels... correct?

If I wanted to pick up premium HD channels like Discovery and ESPN, then I would need a new HD satelite dish and a new HD receiver?

I think I got it... :confused:

Thanks! I think you cleared everything up for me!....

...I think I got it...

Don’t worry…here is a little more detail since I’m a newb too and we all need as much help as possible.

If your HDTV has a ATSC tuner built in, then you just need to connect an antenna (not sure if they are special HD antenna or just standard antenna would work) to the RF antenna input on the back of the HDTV. This will allow you to pick up your local FREE OTA HD (ABC, NBC, CBS, etc).

If your HDTV does not have a built in ATSC tuner then you would need a “stand alone OTA HD tuner” and the antenna hooked up to it.

For, Discovery HD, ESPN HD…and frankly all the other cable channels (who will all be HD one day) you will need a cable or satellite company to provide the HD via their STB (set top box) connected to your HDTV via various types of input (DVI, HDMI, Component, etc). This…is NOT FREE and your ATSC tuner is not made to pick up these channels…only OTA channels.

For those who know a lot more about this than me…please correct me if I’m wrong because I don’t want to give a fellow newb bad advice.

Unfortunately no. It was $20 cheaper though, plus I want to pick my own stand.

I just put in my order at Sears. Saved $30 over the Sam's Club price.

I didn't much care for the stand at Sam's. Really cheap looking. My only hope is that my current stand doesn't place the TV too high above eye level for viewing.

No one has any settings advise, or service menu tweaks to offer for these sets?

First post to say thank you!

I have been glued to these forums for most of the last year reading over LOTS of great info... then getting in the car to visit what I THOUGHT was the TV I was setting out to buy... only to get to the stores and be disappointed over parting with 2000.00 due to bad video feeds, goofy salesmen etc.

Then I saw the post about the Sams TV & stand for under a grand.

Sams had it setup right next to a Panasonic 50DL54 DLP and it's 52 and 61 inch LCD counterparts 61LCX?? All three pretty well over 2000.00 each... and the Samsung blew it away!!! Mind you.. it's only 47inches. But after getting this home and extricating by crane my old Panasonic 35in CRT... this was a BIG set!

What amazes me is the OTA HD with my old no name rabbit ears is AWESOME!!! Preseason football in HD with no DISH!!!!

No lag, rainbows, sde... just bright edge to edge picture at almost ANY distance and ANY angle!

I have the following hooked up to it, all controlled by my harmony remote... wonderful!!!

Motorola 6412 dual tuner DVR box from Cox (Hampton Roads, VA)
Motorola DCT2200 for my Snapstream HTPC - till I can figure how to connect it to the above box and change channels
D-Link I2Eye videoconferencing
HTPC/Gaming PC
Pioneer DVD
Sony receiver for surround sound

also, rather than MONSTER cables.. I used monoprice- great quality at a tenth of the price!

great PQ... can't say enough about it.

I have the following hooked up to it, all controlled by my harmony remote... wonderful!!!

Motorola 6412 dual tuner DVR box from Cox (Hampton Roads, VA)
Motorola DCT2200 for my Snapstream HTPC - till I can figure how to connect it to the above box and change channels
D-Link I2Eye videoconferencing
HTPC/Gaming PC
Pioneer DVD
Sony receiver for surround sound

Finally....can you please tell me how it works with your HTPC? How did you hook it up to the TV since it does not have VGA input? Tell me more please!!!!

My ATI card has a DVI out... the TV has DVI in.

Since Samsung doesn`t respond to emails...To those who have this TV, are you aware if this set has progessive scan doubling or 3:2 pulldown? Some websites list these as features, but nothing is mentioned on Samsung`s site.

Yes I know it does 3:2 pulldown (it's listed on the spec sheet on samsung's website)...Not sure about progressive scan doubling..can't find it on the spec sheet though.

My ATI card has a DVI out... the TV has DVI in.

So, how do you connect your HD receiver to your TV? I called my cable company and they said they would use the DVI connection so that leaves me only the component connection which I then have to use a transcoder (transducer???) to convert the VGA signal to component ($100).

SO...how are you connecting your HD equipment?

I've heard DVI is not really better than HD Component but DVI allows more control of HD content (by the evil cable companies...lol, and Hollywood...yeah...Hollywood don't forget that...lol) so I wouldn't mind using the HD component input but I wonder if my tricky cable company wont allow that.

SO...let me know...THANKS!

I have connected my Motorola 6412 (Cox) via component. I tried a DVI to HDMI and saw no TRUE difference in perceptible PQ.... so I stayed with component.

Motorola DCT2200 is coax out to my HTPC Hauppage Coax in. The recording qulity is acceptable as it is SD as is most of the stuff on cable.

HTPC is connected DVI out from my PC to DVI in on the R4755W. So HTPC is not setup for HD.... just SD.

DVD is component

I2eye is composit

Ant in for OTAHD

Yes I know it does 3:2 pulldown (it's listed on the spec sheet on samsung's website)...Not sure about progressive scan doubling..can't find it on the spec sheet though.

Thanks. Normally I would assume that if the manufactuer`s website does not list a feature, then it shouldn`t have it...but on the SEARS site they list the Samsung with a few features that is not listed on the main site, and that didn`t make much sence.

I have connected my Motorola 6412 (Cox) via component....Ant in for OTAHD

How do you like it for PC work? What I mean is web surffing, working in Office programs, playing PC games, etc?

THANKS A BUNCH for your help...maybe you are the person to help me make the choice already!

Also...how is SD quality and HD (I know others have stated it looks great but what do you think?)

Finally, I emailed this to Samsung along with a BUNCH of other questions but they ignored me which dropped them a notch in my fav list...but anyway.

They say this TV is capable of: 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i but for CRT HDTV's how does this work actually? I heard CRT's can only go up to 800 lines of resolution (per Samsung's own HDTV flash show/learning center) so how can it show 1080i and 720p which have more reslution than that?

Has anyone attempted to do convergence alignment on their set yet?

How accurate is the "Auto Self Focus"?

At Sams I saw that the set looked crappy so I did the "Auto Focus" and it really helped the picture. I'll bet with more time I could have had that set looking great...but I felt strange messing with the controller at the store...lol.

Wow, the price on this set is amazing. Does anyone have a picture they can post of the Sam's stand that is included? I just bought a 50" Sony rear projection LCD set (A10) that cost me > 2,200 and I am having serious guilt (though it does look very good). This Samsung set would cure me of the guilt as long as the picture looks decent. Also, did anyone buy the Sam's extended warranty? I hear with CRT projections it is a good idea and Sam's has good deals on warranties?

Wow, the price on this set is amazing. Does anyone have a picture they can post of the Sam's stand that is included? I just bought a 50" Sony rear projection LCD set (A10) that cost me > 2,200 and I am having serious guilt (though it does look very good). This Samsung set would cure me of the guilt as long as the picture looks decent. Also, did anyone buy the Sam's extended warranty? I hear with CRT projections it is a good idea and Sam's has good deals on warranties?

First make sure that your Sam's actually has this model. I went to the one here and they had the old model. Not only did I not like the look compared to the new one, but it also didn't have a tuner.

I think the stand looks like the one in this spec sheet:

http://product.samsung.com/SamsungUSA/PRODUCT/20050509/hcr4755.pdf

I ordered the new one from Sear's using pricematch. No stand, but it was $20 cheaper. I'll post some pics of the TV in action within a day or two.

Response to HTPCnewbie:

For PC work, at least to me... it's great. I had my old 35 inch TV hooked to this computer previously... and it really was too fuzzy to read stuff like this forum on the TV screen. Now on the 4755... it's like using a PC monitor... just WAY bigger. Bright, clear & crisp lettering. Very nice. I use my wireless keyboard and mouse about 10 feet back on the couch and I love it. Couldn't say that before on my old CRT.

SD vs HD quality. - this question is a sourced based answer. SD from cable... varies from channel to channel... so I feel it the fault of the transmission. There are simply some channels that you want to set the screen to 4:3. Others in SD... when you stretch the picture... look great still. i.e. CNN is SD and looks great... while SD Discovery does not. But, understand... I am SO hooked on HD pictures... I get honked off that not ALL of the channels are HD. I'm getting spoiled.

As for what modes it can support... I have my cable set to 720p to match the TV native. I saw no better with 1080i.

Thanks!

Today I have an appointment so I took the day off of work so I'm going to Sears to check this TV out in action. But...please everyone (I know your enjoying your TV) but don't forget us people on the fence still trying to figure out if this HDTV is for us.

Also...can someone answer my question above about a CRT based HDTV being able to show 720p and 1080i.

Also...more information on PC use with this set please...THANKS!

First make sure that your Sam's actually has this model. I went to the one here and they had the old model. Not only did I not like the look compared to the new one, but it also didn't have a tuner.

I think the stand looks like the one in this spec sheet:

I ordered the new one from Sear's using pricematch. No stand, but it was $20 cheaper. I'll post some pics of the TV in action within a day or two.

Hey, thanks, Matt, very helpful. Did you get an extended warranty with it? If so, any particulars? All my research to date has been on DLP and RP LCD, so I'm kinda starting over on looking back at the RP CRTs - I think I remember hearing a warranty is a very good idea for RP CRTs because they need the guns "realigned" every few years and it is expensive (~ $300?)?

OK.. here is my update.. enjoy..

I love this TV.. especially the HD picture.. but I had DishTV with a stand alone Tivo and was not all that thrilled about the SD picture quality.. i felt like this was probably the Series 2 Tivo's fault tho since I have not heard good things about it.. I can't live without some kind of DVR tho.. so anyway.. I contacted Dish about upgrading the receivers that I lease from them.. and their prices were a joke for upgrading the equipment.. so after haggling for about 2 weeks I made the jump to Comcast for Digital Cable and HD.. they have a box that has 2 tuners and a 250 GB HD for the DVR.. let me just say.. the TV is even more impressive with better inputs..

I am using Component Inputs from both my Cable box and my progressive scan DVD player and could not be happier..

A couple of questions answered.. The TV autofocuses after 10 mins and 30 mins.. if the banner annoys you when it does it is easy to turn off.. once turned off all you see is the rainbow color bar on the edges while the TV does its thing (lasts about 30 seconds).

I bought my set from Sam's and got the stand with it.. you have to put it together yourself, but once it is together it is a nice looking stand.. and it puts the TV at a perfect height to watch it from a couch..

As far as 720p or 1080i I cannot answer for sure.. I know that my local channels broadcast their news programs in 720p and they look great.. but they are in the 4:3 format which I assume is native 720p. CSI, Lost, Desperate Housewifes, etc. are all broadcast in 1080i and fill the entire 16:9 picture perfectly. . and if you are a sports junkie like I am.. HD sports will totally blow you away.. you will watch Monday Night Football even if your team is not playing just to be amazed by the incredible picture..

Just my 2 cents worth.. hope someone finds it useful.

Hey, thanks, Matt, very helpful. Did you get an extended warranty with it? If so, any particulars? All my research to date has been on DLP and RP LCD, so I'm kinda starting over on looking back at the RP CRTs - I think I remember hearing a warranty is a very good idea for RP CRTs because they need the guns "realigned" every few years and it is expensive (~ $300?)?

I'm not too concerned with a realignment. Also, if the bulb goes, it'll cost what, the price of the warranty? I didn't pay too much attention - check out their website to get more info.

My order that was supposed to come into Sears today did not. When I called it hadn't arrived and wasn't listed on the truck. The next shipment doesn't arrive until Tuesday. I've already waited 8 days, now then want at least 4 more. I'm going to cancel my order. Sears can go bankrupt that much sooner.

I'm debating what to get instead. Sam's has the older model Samsung with the stand for $999. I might just get that. I'm also debating whether to spend another $200 to get the 51in Toshiba that just came out.

I'm pretty bummed right now

So, I cancelled my Sears order and just picked it up from Sam's. I figured the stand was worth the $30 since my current stand placed the TV too high (top edge at about 68").

- I haven't got the pleasure of checking out the HD content yet. I picked up a Terk HDTVi which didn't tune anything for me.

- SD is acceptable after a little tweeking. I have a ReplayTV hooked up via coax and S-video. Both are watchable, even at the lowest recorded settings. Much less distortion than the microdisplays that I have seen.

- My computer hooked up via S-video was blurry, but I expected that until I upgrade to a better video card and set up powerstrip.

- DVD viewing on a progressive scan JVC that is several years old looks very nice. Good color and balance, even in a room with moderate light. I will be able to tell more this weekend how it holds up to bright light.

- The Avia and DVE are on the way, so I plan on tweeking this bad boy next week in between coats of paint on the house and garage. (The tv was my "job well done" bonus a little early.)

- The stand weighs more than the TV. I should get around to putting it together this weekend.

As always...thanks a bunch for your thoughts on this TV.

I went to Sears and sadly they did not hae it hooked up to HD and their SD signal was very sucky so I really could not tell much of anything. One thing I did notice, this baby is light because the salesman moved it without much of any effort.

I then went to Comp USA since I"m also looking at some LCD HDTV's from Syntax Olevia and they had the best picture there...less a Samsung LCD HDTV that simply had better color production.

With that said...the Samsung's better color is not worth $1,000 more and I was happy with the PQ of the Syntax and impressed at how good it looks for such a cheap price.

I also decided that 32 is too small for my taste...37+ is what I'm looking for and I still think Plasma and LCD HDTV's have the best PQ. BUT...I have yet to see a RP CRT based HDTV's PQ.

...and around and around I go....lol :) :confused: :D :rolleyes: :o

....I'm debating what to get instead. Sam's has the older model Samsung with the stand for $999. I might just get that. I'm also debating whether to spend another $200 to get the 51in Toshiba that just came out.

I'm pretty bummed right now

Matt, if you don't mind paying a little more than the Samsung (probably ~ $300-400) and you have the space, from my research the Sony RP CRT is the way to go (KP-51WS520). I just don't have the space for this one, mainly the depth - 26" deep. However in all my research and review-reading, I came across nothing but great reviews on it. It seems like I did read quite a few negative reviews on the current (not new) Toshiba model and the pricing seems similar to the Sony. I'm a little concerned about the SS's quality, but for 999 with stand I can live with some faults.

[/QUOTE]I hear with CRT projections it is a good idea and Sam's has good deals on warranties?[QUOTE]

Actually its the other way around. I never buy EWs and would only consider one if buying a DLP or RPLCD. CRTS are bullet proof past the warranty period. The alignment issue is not an issue if the TV is not moved. The lenses and mirror should be cleaned but you can do that your self as I have on my 52 Toshiba for the past 8 years. Never had a tech look at it.

Yeah...I agree, the killer thing to me about DLP's or LCD RP is the freaken lamp replacement and that's why I'm going with either a Plasma, LCD, or CRT RP HDTV.

Matt, if you don't mind paying a little more than the Samsung (probably ~ $300-400) and you have the space, from my research the Sony RP CRT is the way to go (KP-51WS520). I just don't have the space for this one, mainly the depth - 26" deep. However in all my research and review-reading, I came across nothing but great reviews on it. It seems like I did read quite a few negative reviews on the current (not new) Toshiba model and the pricing seems similar to the Sony. I'm a little concerned about the SS's quality, but for 999 with stand I can live with some faults.

Thanks for the tip, but that particular Sony was the first TV I was thinking about buying. I looked at the dimensions and measured out where it would fit in my living room, it proved to be too big.

I went back to see the display model for the Samsung and it looks too good to pass up - I love the aesthetic, the picture quality is decent, and the price is unbeatable. If Sears doesn't get my order in by Tuesday (the next shipment), I'll have to figure out an alternative.

Sorry about your mess up with Sears...what's the deal? My local Sears already has one on the floor (but it looks crappy because of their cheap connection) so I don't understand what the problem is?

After having this TV a few weeks, I am still nothing but happy with my purchase. The one thing that was annoying me was the auto-focus starting up every 10/30 minutes after the TV was turned on. Even after turning off the option to have the little text window pop up while it is doing the auto-focus, it was still a bit annoying to have it happen. After several days of it doing the auto-focus, I did not notice any improvement in the picture quality, so I turned the feature off completely. I started to do a manual convergence via the menu, I still have a bit more to go - it's a bit slow and there are a lot of convergence points to deal with (not hundreds thankfully!). I've also been using the Avia and the other DVD I got to tweak the picture out a little bit. I watched about 5 minutes of some NFL (pre?) season game the other day in HD, I was blown away by the picture quality and the color quality, reflections were very shiny, etc. Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU in HD are also very impressive, although becuase the picture quality is so sharp, I can start to see some aging in the face of Mariska Hargitay, not that she is old and ugly by any means (she's quite a "babe").

I'll be getting a Xbox 360 at some point in time, perhaps a month or two after the launch. I expect it to blow my TV into the next dimension. :D

Sorry about your mess up with Sears...what's the deal? My local Sears already has one on the floor (but it looks crappy because of their cheap connection) so I don't understand what the problem is?

They have one on display here too, but their business plan seems to be to have zero stock, and order something whenever someone wants to buy it. I sure didn't want to try to buy the demo model.

Yeah...Sears sometimes does not function...let's say, very smart.

Ironwolf thanks again for your review. I"m still on the fence...but I'm glad that the top 3-5 set's I'm looking at all have great reviews from their owners.

Note: I'm on the fence because of the HTPC connection...

I am a newbie to this site and I saw this thread on the Samsung HC4755W, I just purchased one at Sears and picked it up three days after ordering. It is still boxed because I am enlargening the "in wall" entertainment niche I have to make room for it(the former occupant was a Zenith 36"crt). I would rather not subject it to all the dust, as soon as it finished(1 week max.) I'll fire it up and send a review. Oh I didn't get the stand with it, since with Sears its extra (didn't want it anyway). Prior to me buying it Sears said the price match was ok with Sams Club was ok and then when I went to buy it a different manager said they don'd match clubs. I made him go to the Sears website and show me where that is stated, after seeing nothing mentioned he gave in and I got the price match and 10% off. So make sure you check it out first.

Rick Bie

I sent Kevin O a message about the PC use on this TV...if I get a good report, I think I'm buying this HDTV.

For the price, features, screen size....it's hard to beat this deal. Also...my wife and I have a baby comming (with GOD's help) so I really need to save as much as I can.

BUT, if this set is not going to work with my HTPC...then I'll have to just stick to a smaller TV...sadly, lol.

If anyone else has PC connection, picture quality, resolution settings, etc etc etc and can help me with this last issue...I'll be buying this set ASAP!

Thanks Kevin O!!!!

OK...I've decided that I'm getting this HDTV. After researching the heck out of HD and spending alot of time here (with some great people helping me) this Samsung just gives you a great BANG FOR YOUR BUCK that no other TV can give you at this point.

So, I'm going to get this....soon I hope, hopefully this week.

Thank you all so much for comming here and posting your thoughts on the TV, and again thanks Kevin O!

Thanks Kevin O!!!!

OK...I've decided that I'm getting this HDTV. After researching the heck out of HD and spending alot of time here (with some great people helping me) this Samsung just gives you a great BANG FOR YOUR BUCK that no other TV can give you at this point.

So, I'm going to get this....soon I hope, hopefully this week.

Thank you all so much for comming here and posting your thoughts on the TV, and again thanks Kevin O!

Smart move. You can't beat the price for what you're getting.

Hopefully mine will come into Sears tomorrow. =\

Well I finally made it to Sam's yesterday and they had one on display running the same inputs as all other large screens. I have to say, MUCH to my disappointment, it was the worst-looking of the bunch (esp compared to the Sony A10 RP LCD that I am having guilt over purchasing and looking to return). I'm still hoping it was because it just was not "set up" properly, but I know it had "good" input. There were no remotes in Sam's of course to play with the picture at all. Fortunately Sam's has a 30-day, no restocking fee return policy, so I think I'm going to just buy it and try it with all the tweaks any way given the price. If y'all find some good tricks on how to tweak the PQ, pls let us all know. Thx

I'm also interested in this TV. Whenever someone gets this puppy running via HTPC/DVI please update us.

Thanks

Smart move. You can't beat the price for what you're getting.

Hopefully mine will come into Sears tomorrow. =\

Yeah....I hope the best, I know you have been waiting a while now.

I have to say, MUCH to my disappointment, it was the worst-looking of the bunch (esp compared to the Sony A10 RP LCD that I am having guilt over purchasing and looking to return).

I too was disapointed until I hit the "Auto Sharp" button and that helped a good deal. With that said I still saw some grainyness but from the people who own the TV and have messed with the settings, etc...they love it so I really blame the location more so than anything else.

Everyone loves HD on this TV and have been able to get SD to work alot better than it looked at first so I'm not worried about it.

To all...I'll make sure not to forget you all and post pic's or help you as best as I can. When people help you...you really have to share the knowledge because I know how you all feel. The HDTV world is kind of crazy and we all need all the help we can get.

When I get it I'm going to call my cable company so they can give me the HD receiver and I'll demand to use it with component so I can use the DVI for my HTPC.

mobius...according to Kevin O, the PC PQ is great and he is currently trying to fix the overscan thing (I'm not sure what that is) with powerstrip. So....I would not be worried about the HTPC connection...according to Kevin O.

Yeah....I hope the best, I know you have been waiting a while now.


Thanks. I noticed Circuit City just got in a Hitachi 51in for just under $1100. From what I gather it is a new model using old parts with a few features removed for sake of cost. If my TV doesn't arrive tomorrow I've decided to get this instead.

Is it a table top RPTV? Also...would you be getting it because your tired of waiting or because you think it's better?

Sorry again about your situation...

Is it a table top RPTV? Also...would you be getting it because your tired of waiting or because you think it's better?

Sorry again about your situation...

It's a floor-standing model. It isn't better than the Samsung, but I'm desperate for something to watch football on. My budget is only around $1000 and so this is one of my few alternatives. If the Samsung arrives tomorrow, then I'll certainly pick it up.

If it doesn't come in, then I'd go to CC to check this Hitachi out in person. Upon closer inspection of the features (no 3:2 pulldown), no SVGA, no DVI, it'd have to have great PQ for me to buy it after all.

No DVI is the worse part...my opinion of course, but I understand the desire to have your set before the football season starts...lol.

I can't go today, but hopefully tomorrow I'll be buying the set but I'll have to have it deliverd so I might have to wait to give it my review.

Well I finally made it to Sam's yesterday and they had one on display running the same inputs as all other large screens. I have to say, MUCH to my disappointment, it was the worst-looking of the bunch (esp compared to the Sony A10 RP LCD that I am having guilt over purchasing and looking to return). I'm still hoping it was because it just was not "set up" properly, but I know it had "good" input. There were no remotes in Sam's of course to play with the picture at all. Fortunately Sam's has a 30-day, no restocking fee return policy, so I think I'm going to just buy it and try it with all the tweaks any way given the price. If y'all find some good tricks on how to tweak the PQ, pls let us all know. Thx


At Sam`s I thought the display was pretty crappy too, however at Sears it looked ten times better...don`t know why but just an observation.

I've been looking at the HC-R4355W / HC-R4755W set as well, mostly due to the same advantages others have already noted: (Low cost, big screen, HDTV, no $pendy bulb replacements, etc...). I have 2 questions though regarding this set/technology.


(1) I'm in the process of returning a 32" Syntax Olevia LCD, mainly because the picture quality didn't justify the price / 32" is still too small for our living room / Very problematic to get a matching resolution from my HTPC.

In this regard, how do CRT Rear Projection sets handle DVI input resolutions? Is it simply going to be a cleaner looking 800x600 max resolution that I get from my current 27" Sony CRT set? I'm looking for a minimum 1024x768 (or widescreen variant of that), so that the television would be easily used for web surfing, office apps, minimal gaming. So what resolution will the Samsung HC-R4355W or HC-R4755W sets accept from a computer input?


(2) The 43" and 47" Sammy's appear to use the same 7" CRTs, and as such, is there a noticeable quality difference between the two sets? (I'd imagine the 47" is simply magnified more to fill the screen, thus having a lower quality finaly picture)

Thanks for the info! :)

From what I hear (cause I too am hooking up a HTPC to this TV) is that, for at least one person, the 720p resolution numbers are working great for him and he just has a slight overscan which he is trying to fix with Powerstrip.

So, 1280x720 is the resolution (if I remember right) numbers you are looking at.

From what I hear (cause I too am hooking up a HTPC to this TV) is that, for at least one person, the 720p resolution numbers are working great for him and he just has a slight overscan which he is trying to fix with Powerstrip.

So, 1280x720 is the resolution (if I remember right) numbers you are looking at.


That would be a usable resolution if so! :) The Syntax I had was running the same 1280x720 (couldn't get stable 1366x768), and it would have been usable at that resolution for web/office stuff, except that the text was just too small from 10 feet on the 32".

Can any of you that currently own the set and are running it with a computer signal via DVI input confirm your resolution capabilities?

Thanks again for the good info on these TV's!

I was on the verge of buying the Syntax 32 or 37 inch because I hear a bunch of good stuff about it but maybe your setup was not working well with the Syntax for some reason.

Again, from what I hear the PC looks great on this particular set so I think you will enjoy it.

Once I have it running at home I'll let everyone know as much as I can. I'll take pictures, etc but I'm still fighting with the local Sears store to pricematch the Sams price of $999.

If they don't want to work with me I'll just go and buy it at Sams.

Tell me, what do you all think is a better deal: (for the HC-R4755W)

(1) $1145 (with 3 year extended warranty but no delivery so I have to take it home) Samsclub

(2) $1005 (with delivery but no extended warranty) Sears

What do you all think?

Tell me, what do you all think is a better deal: (for the HC-R4755W)

(1) $1145 (with 3 year extended warranty but no delivery so I have to take it home) Samsclub

(2) $1005 (with delivery but no extended warranty) Sears

What do you all think?

It depends on whether you want the stand or not. Sam's includes the stand, which is AT LEAST a $200 value (more like $300). I've looked tirelessly for stands in stores and on the internet and you won't find a decent one for less than $300 IMO. So IMO, the Sam's deal is far better unless you just hate the stand (and some people don't like the silver look). Also regarding the warranty, most people will tell you don't place that bet for RP CRTs. CRTs are a proven technology that has been up the learning curve so the odds of you hitting problems within 3 years are very low. If you're talking one of the newer technologies (and you're not) such as DLP, plasma, or RPLCD, it is a different story. So in summary: if u like stand - go with Sam's; don't like stand- go with Sears (if you can actually get one there from what I've heard). I'm going to pick one up at Sam's later this week myself to see how the PQ looks after tweaking in my own living room. I don't want to pay $300 more for a stand, so I'll live with the one Sam's has.

It depends on whether you want the stand or not. Sam's includes the stand, which is AT LEAST a $200 value (more like $300). I've looked tirelessly for stands in stores and on the internet and you won't find a decent one for less than $300 IMO. So IMO, the Sam's deal is far better unless you just hate the stand (and some people don't like the silver look). Also regarding the warranty, most people will tell you don't place that bet for RP CRTs. CRTs are a proven technology that has been up the learning curve so the odds of you hitting problems within 3 years are very low. If you're talking one of the newer technologies (and you're not) such as DLP, plasma, or RPLCD, it is a different story. So in summary: if u like stand - go with Sam's; don't like stand- go with Sears (if you can actually get one there from what I've heard). I'm going to pick one up at Sam's later this week myself to see how the PQ looks after tweaking in my own living room. I don't want to pay $300 more for a stand, so I'll live with the one Sam's has.

I agree.

Yeah, I don't want the stand...I already have a stand at home. I hear that sucker is pretty heavy and I have no use for it. I'll probably sell it along with my current Sharp 32 inch TV and Kenwood 400watt 5.1 Surround Sound system.

The only thing is SO FAR I'm getting a big hassle from Sears about the pricematch thing (well, at least with the one employee in the Electronics department) so I almost feel like going with Sams Club even though I have a discount with Sears.

The good thing is I would have the TV today if I went with Sams Club (also if I take your advice and remove the warranty the price would come down from $1145 to 1065...but I still might get it since $80 for 3 years is a pretty good deal and investing over 1K on a TV has me a little worried anyway) but I would have to drive it home.

I'm going to call Sears in a little while and see what the store manager has to say, if he keeps up with the price match issue (which I will be sending a letter to complain about it) I'll go with Sams.

Do these TVs need to be transported "right side up"? I'm having trouble tracking down a pickup truck to transport it, but I could use an SUV if I could lay it down.

Mine was packaged pretty tight, and I got it home in my van.. but I did keep it right side up.. Also HTPCnewbie.. The stand sits lower than alot of other stands I looked at.. and it fits the 4755 perfectly.. so.. take a good long look at it before discarding it..

The longer you wait the more Monday Night Football in HD you miss.. lol.. my wife even watches more sports with me now just to see the amazing picture quality..

LOL...yeah I know, football is almost here so I don't want to miss any HD football.

I know the stand would fit this TV better than my current setup (which might be ever so slightly taller) but it would clash with my brand new entertainment senter and frankly my wife wont have it...lol.

Still trying to get a deal with Sears...

OK guys...well, DONE DEAL!!!

My price with shipping and taxes: (total OUT THE DOOR)

$PM me if you want the price :eek: :D :cool:

I'll have to wait for 2 weeks to get it but I think the deal I got was just great!

Once I get it running I'll post pic's and give my review, but I'm very happy with this already considering that NOTHING can touch this HDTV at this price...in my opinion!

OK guys...well, DONE DEAL!!!

My price with shipping and taxes: (total OUT THE DOOR)

$xxx :eek: :D :cool:

I'll have to wait for 2 weeks to get it but I think the deal I got was just great!



So was this deal at Sears? (I went ahead and xx'd out the price, since I'm sure the mods will be by shortly to edit your post, they frown upon price posting ;) )

For real...I didn't know but it's probably all over the rule book that I ummm...read carefully, I'll edit my post.

Yeah I got the deal at Sears and remember I had a 10% off...deal on top of the price match. I had to do some fighting...but I got a better deal than I predicted.

For real...I didn't know but it's probably all over the rule book that I ummm...read carefully, I'll edit my post.

Yeah I got the deal at Sears and remember I had a 10% off...deal on top of the price match. I had to do some fighting...but I got a better deal than I predicted.

When I price matched I got 110% of the difference, so it worked out to a bit over one thousand AFTER tax.

I got it home and set it up last night. This TV is awesome. Great features - everything you'd want in an HDTV. The best surprise for me was the excellent SDTV picture quality. It looks much better than the picture I saw on the 51in Sony.

HDTV is nice, but I think I need some tweaking. I want to do some manual calibration tonight to see if I can improve things. HDTV looks good, but I know it can get better.

I need some new cables for progressive scan to be used with my DVD player. Regular DVDs look like SDTV for the moment, but I'm expecting nice PQ once I get it setup properly.

Overall I'm impressed with this TV. It looks great and is the perfect size for my current stand. The worst part is having to sit at work all day while I'm dying to tweak the settings.

The worst part is having to sit at work all day while I'm dying to tweak the settings.

Friend, I know how you feel and just think that I'll have to wait (like you I think) another two weeks before I can even start to do my tweaking...lol. So, I'm not even at the tweaking level yet...lol.

With Sears pricematch you get 110% (or price match plus 10% of the difference in price), which I got, but I also had another 10% off so I got it under nine hundred with shipping/taxes.

Does writing it out change the rule? LOL...I'm not selling anything just saying what I got it for.

I'm very happy for you and glad that so many people with this HDTV are loving it, I can't wait!!!

I see that the service menu can be accessed with power-mute-1-8-2... and there's LOTS to fiddle with. Question is... is it worth tweaking?

Friend, I know how you feel and just think that I'll have to wait (like you I think) another two weeks before I can even start to do my tweaking...lol. So, I'm not even at the tweaking level yet...lol.

With Sears pricematch you get 110% (or price match plus 10% of the difference in price), which I got, but I also had another 10% off so I got it under nine hundred with shipping/taxes.

Does writing it out change the rule? LOL...I'm not selling anything just saying what I got it for.

I'm very happy for you and glad that so many people with this HDTV are loving it, I can't wait!!!

That's an unbelievable price. Sorry to hear about your wait.

That's an unbelievable price. Sorry to hear about your wait.

Yeah...I thought so, I was SO HAPPY with the deal I got.

Well...you know how I feel, but in the mean time at least I'll have one less product to research...lol.

While I wait I'll be putting my HTPC together....I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

Kevin O, well...how did you figure that out? Also...since I don't have the TV yet I can't help you much. Nice find...I wonder if some SUPER tweak can be found in the service menu screen.

Seems a lot of Samsungs are accessed this way... so I tried last night... and it worked! Just recorded all the settings... didn't change any. I am still VERY happy with the picture... but EVERYONE seems to want to calibrate or tweak their sets.. I at least wanted the option.

I've run it through the THX tests that come with a lot of DVDs... and found little to nothing needed changing. So I wonder if DVE or Avia is worth the trouble?

I've run it through the THX tests that come with a lot of DVDs... and found little to nothing needed changing. So I wonder if DVE or Avia is worth the trouble?

Details....details, my friend. What are those things you listed? THX test, DVE, or Avia....???

Are they some type of calibration tools?

Oh yeah, did you fix your HTPC overscan problem?

I only recorded the values that existed on the service menus... no changes were made.

My overscan issue (which is difficult for me to fix as I am trying to learn a lot about powerstrip and DVI).

When I lock in my 1280x720 resolution (which looks great mind you) via DVI... I lose about 5% of the bottom of my desktop (roughly the height of the taskbar) and about equal distance around the side and top. Powerstrip has the **ability** to resolve this... but it is work to the unlearned (me). If I go to lower rez... I get more desktop back, but I get odd scrolling. There's a happy medium to be had... I just havn't gotten there yet.

So, I thought perhaps the answer was to change the vert and horiz height of the PC input through the service menu... not sure if I am that brave yet.

I've run it through the THX tests that come with a lot of DVDs... and found little to nothing needed changing. So I wonder if DVE or Avia is worth the trouble?

I ran the AVIA video calibration on my set the other afternoon, while taking a break from painting the house. The only major adjustment I did was on Sharpness. All the rest I pretty much had right on just modifying by eye.

I will switch computers and post the settings I ended up with after calibration.

Remember: These are only good for my living room, with lots of ambient light in midafternoon.

Contrast: 40
Brightness: 36
Sharpness: 10
Color: 60
Tint: G42 R58
Color Tone: Normal

Thanks for posting your tips, how do you get AVIA?

Kevin O, since I'll be going down the same road as you please keep me updated on what you do to fix your overscan issue since I'll be right behind you on that.

I too know NOTHING about Powerstrip so I'll probably be annoying the AVS brains asking newbish questions once I get my TV.

After having this set for two days, I'll say that SDTV and progressive scan DVDs look great. HDTV is a little lacking. I suppose it's inevitable being on a big screen, but it just looks a little fuzzy. I was comparing baseball on ESPN last night in HD versus regular SD. ESPNHD definitely seemed to have a crisper picture with better colors, but it wasn't the incredibly sharp resolution I had been hoping for. I'll try a manual calibration and see if that helps at all.

I see...

Who is your cable company? Do you have digital service with HD or something different?

Also, how does OTA HD look...if it looks better than the cable HD, you might have to blame your cable company.

Finally, how do you have your set hooked up? DVI, component, etc?

You just got your TV...so I suspect you have some tweaking to do since everyone else states HD looks great, but maybe what you expected was not realistic...or maybe your right and it does not show HD that well...hmmmm....keep us updated...

You just got your TV...so I suspect you have some tweaking to do since everyone else states HD looks great, but maybe what you expected was not realistic...or maybe your right and it does not show HD that well...hmmmm....keep us updated...

Scratch what I said about HD not looking good. My cablebox had been set incorrectly. To cut a long story short, I have it setup properly now (through component cables) and the picture is great. I watched some college football on ESPN HD tonight and it looked fantastic. Cox Cable's two dedicated HD channels (INHD and INHD2) look even better. I'm really happy with the picture. I still haven't done a manual picture calibration, but I'm not sure it's even necessary. I'll probably give it a shot this weekend. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Sorry to worry you about the HD.

My only issue now is that tonight I got some crackling from the built-in speakers. I think some cables are loose at the back of the set. I've been meddling with the wiring too much (changing from AV to component for my DVD player), so I'm sure it is a mistake on my part. It has only been intermittent and I've been busy tonight, so I'll check it out tomorrow.

Ok, so I now have the SS 4755 (picked up from Sam's today) and the Sony A10 (RP LCD 50") in my living room both with 30-day return policies. I am really hoping to return the Sony since it cost > 2X the SS. However, so far the SS is nowhere NEAR the PQ of the Sony! This is so disappointing - it looks like a TV that cost 1/2 as much right now. The SS docs and remote are terrible, very user unfriendly. I've tried tweaking the picture per recommendations posted here and I have a component input from my Time Warner HD cable box. Unless I am doing something majorly wrong this one is a no-brainer - so someone pls help if you can! Another annoying thing about the SS is I can't get it to display SD signals in full screen 16:9 mode. I only have the 16:9 and 4:3 choices and it won't let me select panoramic or zoom modes (greyed out on menu). This was very easy to figure out on the Sony BTW - there's got to be a way to do it on the SS, but the docs and menus are doing a good job of hiding it. I had read in many posts in forums that RP CRT PQ is supposed to be as good or better than RP LCD or DLP - right now I am not a believer. Sorry for the negative report, but this is what is going on in my living room. And believe me, I want to make this SS work at this price. Help!

I see that the service menu can be accessed with power-mute-1-8-2... and there's LOTS to fiddle with. Question is... is it worth tweaking?

Has anyone been able to get this to work? I can't and I've trying pushing these buttons (power, mute, 1, 8, 2) in many different ways (all at once, in sequence, etc). is there a trick to this sequence? Also, what is the best calibration disc to get (AVIA?) and where is the best place to get it? Also, ~ how much does it cost? I really appreciate any help! Thx

Well I don`t have either TV, however I have looked at the hc-r4755w many times- over and over in different stores, I`ve compared to other sets and after going to a new Sears store I was convinced that if I want superb picture quality I must choose another TV, (I`m def going with either a plasma or rp LCD now).

Why? Ok for the first time I was directly able to compare PQ on this set verses something really different (non crt rp`s). The Samsung was catty corner to some plasmas...ED plasmas no less, and even the worst one there (the sylvania model) looked way better.

For the price the Samsung has a great feature set and price point. The area that it lacks in is what people should ultimately care about most...picture quality of course. And I know it would look better in my home than in the store as most people say - but think about it, the only reason that`s true is because you have nothing to compare it to side by side, so yes, it will look better at home. But don`t you think if you have a set at the store that is friggin fantastic, then at home it will be a super friggin awesome! I realize that some of the stores may not have the best inputs connected to maximize awesome PQ - but let`s be honest here, that is not going to make a sets PQ go from bad to 'badass'.

I`m not trying to rip on the Sammy, for it`s price, it`s decent set. Although for people like myself who are just too damn nit picky about PQ and don`t want to regret a purchase just do your research on sets you like, spend a little more, otherwise the buyers remorse may kick in.

Accessing the service menu... mine came up (after a few tries)... from powered off state... by pressing mute-1-8-2 then power. Mind you I did this a few times... and then it finally and surprisingly came on. Again, I'm not sure I need to or want to fool with it yet. I loaded the latest ATI Catalyst drivers for my card this morning and it allows me to define the desktop area. That's good news!

Scratch what I said about HD not looking good. My cablebox had been set incorrectly. To cut a long story short, I have it setup properly now (through component cables) and the picture is great.

Sorry to worry you about the HD.

Naaa, no worry…thanks for reporting back. I’m VERY happy you got your HD looking great…now does SD look bad…LOL. Naa, just messing with you…don’t go comparing SD with HD…lol.

Sorry for the negative report, but this is what is going on in my living room. And believe me, I want to make this SS work at this price. Help!

Don’t be sorry…you have an issue or the set in your opinion does not look good, so you report it. All of this stuff really helps everyone out so report your experience without hesitation. I know you would like to save money and get better PQ…so I hope you figure things out.

And I know it would look better in my home than in the store as most people say - but think about it, the only reason that`s true is because you have nothing to compare it to side by side, so yes, it will look better at home. But don`t you think if you have a set at the store that is friggin fantastic, then at home it will be a super friggin awesome! I realize that some of the stores may not have the best inputs connected to maximize awesome PQ - but let`s be honest here, that is not going to make a sets PQ go from bad to 'badass'.


Well, your making a BIG assumption there but I understand your point. It’s in the stores interest to show the cheaper HDTV with “cheaper PQ” so they can charge you 2-3x more for a HDTV that honestly (when connected correctly) would give only slightly better…IF THAT, PQ.

With that said I can understand your point also but you can spin that the other way and say…

What if stores are running HD DVD’s and connect them CORRECTLY to their higher end sets while leaving a lot of the other HDTV’s in less than ideal condition. So…when you got home you actually might see a reduction in PQ with the super high end while seeing a major improvement with the lower end HDTV’s.

Maybe your right…maybe your wrong, but I can agree that the PQ on the HCR4755 (at stores at least) was only satisfactory in my opinion but so many people got this TV and are loving it’s PQ that I tend to believe that you can’t trust PQ at stores. Also, I messed with just the sharpness settings and I saw a significant improvement so again…the stores can’t be trusted fully with PQ.

I honestly (with a growing family) can’t bring myself to spend anything over 1K for a TV and with the features of this set and reviews from owners I think it’s a GREAT deal.

When I get it…I’ll be tweaking and reporting back. I’ll do my best to help anyone who needs it but I’m new to the HDTV world and I might be asking more questions than I can answer.

Maybe your right, but I hope your wrong...LOL...I hope the best in your HDTV purchase. If I could afford a Plasma or LCD...I would have gotten one but they are just TOO pricy right now. Honestly they will only get better with time so in the next 5-10 years when the tech matures the question will be...did I blow 2-4K for slightly better HD or did I invest 1K for very good HD until the tech matured?

New and better is always around the corner...but great deals give you smiles for many years to come!

I loaded the latest ATI Catalyst drivers for my card this morning and it allows me to define the desktop area. That's good news!

Kevin O, can nVidia drivers do that? What do you mean "define the desktop area"? Like setting different resolutions (like we always did in the past on monitors) or using some type of scroll/selection function that allows you to exactly specify the area?

Let me know...

Setting the resolution to 1280x720... but then defining the desktop area to be within those dimensions to compensate for overscan.

I see...

I guess I need to stop yacking and simply wait until I setup my HTPC. I hope I don't have overscan but I probably will.

You both (Travebedaman and HTPCnewbie) make great points. I did a LOT of research on the Sony A10 before I bought it and it had nothing but rave reviews...and lots of them. One thing that bothers me about the SAmmy is there are so few reviews of it online - I've found a grand total of about THREE! The Sony had reviews pouring in the moment it was available. This forum has been the only real source of info on the Sammy. I think I just have to pick the remorse I want to live with for the next 5-10 years: paying 2x more or knowing the PQ is not as good. Since I am an extreme tightwad, I'm leaning towards living with subpar PQ of the Sammy. The thing tht is really bugging me about the RP LCD and DLPs are two things: bulb replacement cost of ~ 300 every couple of years and stand cost of $300-500. This really means the RP LCD and DLPs are more in the $3K range, ~ 3X! A buddy of mine at work got an RP LCD a year ago from BB and the bulb just went out on him recently. He has been without the tV for > SIX WEEKS waiting for the replacement via their warranty at BB. That is unacceptable entirely. I have a hunch from all my research that the microdisplays (RP LCD and DLPs) still have a lot of kinks to iron out on quality ove the long haul. NO ONE has had these sets very long because they are new technologies. CRTs are proven, they are rock solid. No bulb replacements - just cleaning and aligning (which Sammy has self tool for). Plus in 3-5 years, the RP LCDs and DLP's should easily be in the $1K range for a 50". Ok I'm rambling, but I think I'm talking myself into the Sammy. If anyone finds a good source of reviews on the Sammy 4755, pls let us all know. thx!

You both (Travebedaman and HTPCnewbie) make great points. I did a LOT of research on the Sony A10 before I bought it and it had nothing but rave reviews...and lots of them.

Yeah, I know…I wanted to buy that Sony but…

One thing that bothers me about the SAmmy is there are so few reviews of it online - I've found a grand total of about THREE!

Yeah I know, I guess people see it as old tech so they ignore it a bit. I’m still waiting for someone to review it properly but it seems this thread is the only place where more than one person is giving his/her personal review. I’ll do my best once I get it going…

The Sony had reviews pouring in the moment it was available. This forum has been the only real source of info on the Sammy. I think I just have to pick the remorse I want to live with for the next 5-10 years: paying 2x more or knowing the PQ is not as good. Since I am an extreme tightwad, I'm leaning towards living with subpar PQ of the Sammy. The thing tht is really bugging me about the RP LCD and DLPs are two things: bulb replacement cost of ~ 300 every couple of years and stand cost of $300-500.

…THE DANG LAMP ISSUE!!!! I have a stand for it so that was not a problem but THE DANG LAMP ISSUE is something that I refuse to deal with. You know I almost decided on getting the A10 but then I started hearing owners complain that the lamp died on them soon after they got the TV. If I spend over 1K and in less than a year I have to spend another $200 and then who knows how long that will last, that is not something I am willing to deal with. These set’s with the lamp replacement issue annoy the heck out of me because it kills the deal in my opinion.

That’s what kept me away from the DLP and LCD projection TV’s. If the lamp was $50 and it lasted 3 years at least then I would not care but selling lamps for $200-300 and then not giving it any type of guaranty is something I REFUSE to deal with.

I know, some lamps last a long time and some seem to die on you QUICK. I know I might be making too much of it but the last thing I wanted was a TV that required $200-300 every 1-3 years.

This really means the RP LCD and DLPs are more in the $3K range, ~ 3X! A buddy of mine at work got an RP LCD a year ago from BB and the bulb just went out on him recently. He has been without the tV for > SIX WEEKS waiting for the replacement via their warranty at BB. That is unacceptable entirely. I have a hunch from all my research that the microdisplays (RP LCD and DLPs) still have a lot of kinks to iron out on quality ove the long haul. NO ONE has had these sets very long because they are new technologies.

Yeah, and that’s the problem. I’ll say it again and again…paying 3x more and THEN having to deal with pricey replacement parts is something that I refuse to do. If TV X cost 3K…that thing better wash my car and cut the grass too…instead of demanding a new bulb every 1-3 years. LOL

CRTs are proven, they are rock solid. No bulb replacements - just cleaning and aligning (which Sammy has self tool for). Plus in 3-5 years, the RP LCDs and DLP's should easily be in the $1K range for a 50". Ok I'm rambling, but I think I'm talking myself into the Sammy. If anyone finds a good source of reviews on the Sammy 4755, pls let us all know. thx!

Also, this (now I know what you all mean by Sammy…lol) Samsung HCR4755W has pixel shift technology to reduce burn in. Sure…it’s bigger than a LCD or DLP projection TV, but there is NO lagg and NO LAMP that cost $200-300 (with a life span unknown).

Also, it has a smaller 43 inch version that is more compact...just an FYI...

This is what I would suggest, first…

The A10 does get great reviews and you know Sony is a great company. BUT, do not ignore the potential of premature lamp death. In regards to the Sony (after I did research) I found enough people complaining that their lamp died soon after purchase that I refused to take the risk.

LCD’s and Plasma’s have gotten a lot better and their prices are going down but they are still in the 1-3K range depending on size. Honestly, a 16:9 format HDTV at 32 inches is smaller or feels smaller (in my opinion) than a 32 inch 4:3. When I went to the store and saw the 32 inch 16:9 LCD TV that I was about to compromise (in size) for I thought it was too small. The 37 inches was fine but that brought the price up to at least 1.5K.

AND…that’s when I decided (thanks also to Kevin O’s review of HTPC use on the HCR4755W) that the “Sammy” at it’s price and screen size was just too good of a deal to pass up. It offers a lot for about 1K and again based on what I hear it’s owners say…the PQ is great, after some tweaking.

I hope you the best and again…I’ll give my review in about 2 weeks (sorry for the delay...) but try going to a store and having them hook up (via DVI or Component) HD to it, sit back and then play with the settings to see what you can get.

FYI, for best SDTV PQ, hook up AV cables from your box to your tv and change sources when you want to watch SD. If you leave it on the component source, the PQ for SDTV is much worse.

I mentioned a static problem with sound while watching TV. To update that, I found that it is only on my digital channels. My basic cable and DVDs have no problem, so it seems to be a cable box problem - the TV is not to blame.

For those wondering about the true nature of the PQ in-store, I'd recommend looking at a few places. Try both Sears and Sam's; one may have a good hook-up to give you a true idea of the PQ.

Matt.....any pic's? Heck...would that even show up on a picture (PQ that is)?

Nevermind if I"m talking crazy but I need something to keep me from going nuts until the 15th...LOL

Gosh, I think the SD PQ on my component is better than when it was on AV cables. I'm running Motorola 6412 from Cox Cable... and SD via component looks MUCH better than when I was AV on Cox's DCT22xx.

That said, I think HD is better from my OTA antenna than my cable box. Go figure.

Matt.....any pic's? Heck...would that even show up on a picture (PQ that is)?

Nevermind if I"m talking crazy but I need something to keep me from going nuts until the 15th...LOL

I've tried taking a few photos, but they keep coming out a little blurry. I need to increase the shutter speed I think. When I snap one that does the TV justice, I'll post it.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/UF_Matt/1.jpg

Note: this image doesn't do this TV justice. I had to up the ISO on my camera to prevent blurring. Unfortunately this gives the picture a grainy, washed-out look. The flash washes out the screen colors too. The image was taken on the INHD channel.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/UF_Matt/example.jpg

This photo has the same disclaimer as the first. I just wanted to give people an idea of the dimensions.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/UF_Matt/2.jpg

This one was taken WITHOUT the ISO increase and without a flash. It's blurry, but it shows the colors the TV is capable of. It looked great in person.

Edit: when I manage to take a better picture, I'll be sure to upload it. I'll try using a tripod with high ISO without flash I think.

Matt...U DA MAN!!! Thanks...I know it might be impossible to take a picture of the TV that does it justice, but thanks for holding me over...LOL.

I wonder if a vid would make it look better or worse? Hmmm...lol, but don't listen to me I'm reaching now.

But...THANKS a bunch for the pictures, I'll be wiping my chin daily looking at those pic's...

Matt...U DA MAN!!! Thanks...I know it might be impossible to take a picture of the TV that does it justice, but thanks for holding me over...LOL.

I wonder if a vid would make it look better or worse? Hmmm...lol, but don't listen to me I'm reaching now.

But...THANKS a bunch for the pictures, I'll be wiping my chin daily looking at those pic's...

I'll try taking a vid sometime this weekend.

Like I said before, the pics don't do the TV justice. The INHD channels look great. Definitely an amazing deal at the price.

I can't wait....I can't wait....I can't wait....I can't, wait a minute...I have to... :(

I can't wait....I can't wait....I can't wait....I can't, wait a minute...I have to... :(

Here are some more. This was the ESPN HD broadcast tonight. I managed to get my camera speed to increase and turned off the flash. I put a fluourescent light behind the TV to give it that ambient light look. It looks cool at night when you want it dark, but not dark like during a movie.

I think you're going to love this TV, HTPCnewbie.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/UF_Matt/one.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/UF_Matt/three.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/UF_Matt/four.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y129/UF_Matt/five.jpg

:eek: :eek:

The dark pictures look much better and while I know it can't show it perfectly, it looks pretty good alreaady.

Sweet sweet football....HURRY SEARS, HURRY!!

Thanks so much for the pic's...I will be drooling all over my keyboard for another 2 weeks...lol, THANKS A BUNCH!!! :D

oh...and that light does look cool, hmmmm....

Only 12 more days.....your pic's will help me survive until then.

Welp, I just got back from the Sears store here in Beaverton, Oregon, and I have to say I am sadly dissapointed with the Samsung. (I know, I know, you'll talk about how bad it looks in the store, and setting the autofocus, and adjusting it, and it just looks good at home). But quite frankly, I spent about 30 minutes changing settings, did the autofocus, hammered the brightness and contrast, and color, and set the hue correctly. No matter what adjustments were made, it just wouldn't come close to 3 other CRT Rear Projection units on either side of it.

Now Sears really did have this setup poorly, in so much as it was on a shelf AND a stand, so midline of the screen was about 2 feet above my head (about 8 feet off the floor, as the others were more between 5-6 feet off the floor. However, I recognized this, and used a step stool and moved way back, so that I saw the best viewing angle, AND STILL the picture was very poor. The Sammy didn't have near the color pop or overall brightness and contrast of the other 3 sets...(And it's not like the other 3 are top of the line models or anything: 51" Magnovox beheamoth had a surprisingly stunning picture, and the 2004 46" Toshiba looked nicer, as well as the 46F510 Hitachi. I even had the sales rep put in "Master and Commander DVD on a progressive scan hookup, and the picture was overly washed out and dark, and very dissapointing.

I really wanted to get this set, and even have my Wife talked into it, but we were both ver unimpressed by what we saw from the Samsung 47". I really don't know if this is caused by the antiglare screen (as the other 3 had the normal glassy screens)..but it was very poor. I really like the idea of the anti glare screen, and as far as that it was VERY effective. (Besides a fuzzy/blurry picture, glare is one of the things that just drives me crazy...and the other 3 sets certainly picked up the flourescent lights and glare was fairly harsh).

I hope the rest of you have a better experience with this set, but as no other retailers have these available in my area to compare against, I'm going to start looking into another option, as the Samsung that I saw tonight had an even poorer picture than the 32" Syntax LCD I returned to Target, and that set looked as good or better than the other ~$1000.00 sets I've seen. :(

Welp, I just got back from the Sears store here in Beaverton, Oregon, and I have to say I am sadly dissapointed with the Samsung. (I know, I know, you'll talk about how bad it looks in the store, and setting the autofocus, and adjusting it, and it just looks good at home). But quite frankly, I spent about 30 minutes changing settings, did the autofocus, hammered the brightness and contrast, and color, and set the hue correctly. No matter what adjustments were made, it just wouldn't come close to 3 other CRT Rear Projection units on either side of it.

:(


Exactly what I experienced as well. I really saw a difference when the stores feed on the TV`s has really small text... the Sam was the only set that looked fairly blurred while displaying it, honest there are a few other RP sets that are priced very similar and look much better than the Sam, however the cases are too friggin big, and that`s half the reason the Sam is cool, cuz it looks like a DLP, lol.

I think the smart thing for me to do is just wait a few months as LCD and Plasma prices are plummeting and maybe around christmas time just spend a few extra hundred dollars (and use a 10 percent of coupon at circuit city or something) at that time and then I`ll prolly be able to pick up something decent....sucks to wait but somethings are worth the wait - especally when yer broke.

While I cannot address the specific issues you all experienced while comparing side by side with other sets. My experience was the opposite. While shopping and comparing MANY LCD and DLP sets over the last 6 to 9 months... the Samsung actually had a BETTER PQ than every other comparative set... and it was never a set I had even considered. It's sad that it is SO HARD to compare sets in shops nowadays objectively. :(

Mind you I got this BEFORE the new Sonys came out. :eek:

In other news... I took the opportunity to stumble across the manual convergence setting on this TV... to tighten up a red shift I saw on some icons while using this as a PC monitor... and GOSH the picture's even better! This is not a service menu item... it's right there to be had on the regular menus. Learn something new every day!

This set continues to exceed my 2500 dollar desires at a sub 1000 dollar price point.

Sad to hear what the others said, but glad to hear what Kevin O said. I'll have to read up on manual settings since other than the basic...this looks better than that, I don't know what I'm doing.

Again with the two other people I too was disapointed when I saw the Samsung at the store, but I blame the location more than the TV. Just by looking at the pictures posted here (while they really can't show PQ) I think you can tell the potential of this TV.

Pay attention to the dark pictures (very clear and great colors)...and it's a "picture". I think I'll be very happy with it and after tweaking it...I'll be all smiles. Either way, I'll report back since the goal that we all want is to have a great looking and fairly priced HDTV.

In regards to this talk of Samsung having diminished PQ compared to similarly priced sets, I have to ask the question "what other sets?" The closest set I saw was a Toshiba 46" at Sears. The trouble was that it weighed twice as much, had a smaller screen, didn't have as nice a case, had a shiney screen cover, didn't have a built-in tuner, and has had very bad reviews online in terms of reliability. Even disregarding the reliability, those other points made the Samsung superior for me. I'll admit in-store the PQ on the Toshiba was slightly better, but overall I still prefer the Samsung, which still has excellent PQ. For some, PQ may be everything, but you end up losing out on all the other points I mentioned.

For those who are moving from SDTV and want a good HD PQ as well as solid progressive scan dvd and SDTV PQ, all for ~$1k, then this is a good choice. If someone can point me to a better set at this price that I've missed, please post a link.

As an aside, I want to try hooking up my PC to the DVI input. If I get around to it this weekend I'll post some pictures.

Hi all, I've been reading all your posts and I'm convinced my Akai is a rebadged Samsung. Every feature and tweak is there and worked very well. Thanks for all the help!

Tim

As an aside, I want to try hooking up my PC to the DVI input. If I get around to it this weekend I'll post some pictures.

YES PLEASE!

Tim...what model number? So, the tips here helped you with your set?

Hi all, I've been reading all your posts and I'm convinced my Akai is a rebadged Samsung. Every feature and tweak is there and worked very well. Thanks for all the help!

Tim

That 55in Akai at Sam's has the same buttons/inputs on the side of the TV as the Samsung. The fact that it is only $200 more made me nervous about the quality of the wiring/parts though. Perhaps my concern is unwarranted, but I wanted to stick a name brand.

In regards to this talk of Samsung having diminished PQ compared to similarly priced sets, I have to ask the question "what other sets?" The closest set I saw was a Toshiba 46" at Sears. The trouble was that it weighed twice as much, had a smaller screen, didn't have as nice a case, had a shiney screen cover, didn't have a built-in tuner, and has had very bad reviews online in terms of reliability. Even disregarding the reliability, those other points made the Samsung superior for me. I'll admit in-store the PQ on the Toshiba was slightly better, but overall I still prefer the Samsung, which still has excellent PQ. For some, PQ may be everything, but you end up losing out on all the other points I mentioned.
.

Um, just about every RP set at sears has a better picture..no one ever said anything similar features, small case etc. If the Samsung had better PQ, it honestly would be hands down the friggin best bang for your buck.

Like I was saying before about prices dropping, look at Best Buy (usually they are are high priced) they currently have the Sony Wega 3 LCD RP 42" for $1599 and with a 10 percent off coupon (I know someone who works there) it would be $1439. For that price this TV is a true bargain and I don`t think I could ask for more from a set.

So after much researching on the 5 CRT RPTV sets that are fairly comparable in price (47" Samsung, 51" Magnovox beheamoth, 46" Toshiba, 46F510 Hitachi, and Sony 520), I decided on the Hitachi 46F510.

-Magnavox 51": Looked good in store, but old model, and very large (kinda ugly case), not much for review info anywhere, and not too trustworthy a brand.

-Sony 520: Couldn't find available locally, reviews seemed pretty decent, though these are also older sets.

-Samsung 47": Great feature set, new model line, like the tabletop form factor, would have to buy/make a stand though, ultimately the PQ was very inferior when I saw it in person compared to the Magnavox/Toshiba/Hitachi RPTV's right next to it.

-Toshiba 46": This has been my second choice for a long time now, as there are some good reviews, and folks rave on the SD scaling (which I will be doing), but I found the 2 monster threads talking about the white line and jailbar issues with these sets, and just don't have it in me to roll the dice and take a chance I'll get a bum set. (The price at sears was very nice at just 1K though).

-Hitachi 46" (46F510): Great looking PQ in person, even at the store, compared it to other sets at both Sears and a local TV Store "Video Only. Has a great feature set and DVI inputs (which I'll be using from my HTPC for SD Cable/DVD/Internet). Only negative (which is with all the sets but the samsung is the highly reflective protective screen, so I'll have to manage glare, or look into removing the proctective screen if it's too much of an issue).

My wife and I just bought this set today at the Video Only store for 100 less than sears was selling it, 0% financing for a year, and it will be delivered on Wednesday. I'll post pics and info in another thread once I get it setup and dialed in with the HTPC, as I don't want to hijack this thread. I just wanted to post 1 person's opinion and information, as I too was stoked on the Sammy until I saw it in person, and after all...we're all trying to find that elusive "Best Deal" for our own personal setups and penny pinching money habits. :p

Thanks all for the great info and the great board. I'm lucky to have found this site and have all of these opinions to read through and compare against. Good luck and Good shopping! :)

All you Sammy haters get out of this thread....

J/K

LOL

So far, everyone that takes it home (minus one) has loved the Samsung. AND, that one person has not spent too much time tweaking things.

But, I hope I can confirm everyone's opinion on the Samsung (good) but only when I get it can I make an opinion.

YES PLEASE!

Tim...what model number? So, the tips here helped you with your set?

Akai PT5299HD, 52'' for the same price as the Samsung as my local Sam's didn't have the 47'' Sammy. The volume and channel buttons are on the side just like the Samsung. And all the options are the same. So all the tips you all have posted have really helped me tweak it.

Tim

Um, just about every RP set at sears has a better picture..no one ever said anything similar features, small case etc. If the Samsung had better PQ, it honestly would be hands down the friggin best bang for your buck.

I wasn't responding to anyone in particular; I was giving reasons why I decided to go for the Samsung.

It's all in the tweaking...I think at least.

There have been too many people who initially aint pleased with the PQ (on SD or HD) to then figure things out and say...

WOW, the picture looks great!

So, I still think it's all in the tweaking.

Matt_UF thanks again for the pic's...I keep looking at them and dreaming about a better day, lol.

Congrats on your gators win yesterday, I'm a Canes fan so I hope we start the year with a win also.

It's all in the tweaking...I think at least.

There have been too many people who initially aint pleased with the PQ (on SD or HD) to then figure things out and say...

WOW, the picture looks great!

So, I still think it's all in the tweaking.

Matt_UF thanks again for the pic's...I keep looking at them and dreaming about a better day, lol.

Congrats on your gators win yesterday, I'm a Canes fan so I hope we start the year with a win also.

If you end up not liking the picture, you can always return it. Might as well give it a shot, at that price.

Thanks. I was at the game. It started slow, but things got rolling by the end of the first quarter.

Best of luck against FSU. I hope you crush them.

I just caught the FSU-Miami game via antenna (my local cable doesn't have the ABC HD feed yet). The picture was amazing and definitely superior to most of what I've been getting via cable. Both ABC and PBS had sharper images, which makes me think that I can possibly improve my cable HD by playing around with my cables a bit.

PBS had a still shot with small text that was incredibly sharp, so it gives me hope for connecting my PC via DVI (sorry, still haven't tried it).

Well, I'm still struggling with my decision on whether to keep the 4755. I think I am going to send the Sony A10 back (only cost one hundred to do this with Crutchfield online) because regardless I just don't want to pay >2K (~ 3K with stand and extra lamp) for any TV. Just doesn't seem right to me to pay that much for a tv, even if I can afford it. I have been flipping the component cables back and forth all weekend and there is just no question the Sony has a much better picture, and better scaling options for SD. I think my problem is in comparing the Sony to the SS. If I had just bought the SS and set it up and had been comparing it to my standard tube TV on cable I think I would be in awe. However, the Sony just look incredible. I've been watching the US Open and college football all weekend and you feel like you can reach out and touch'em. If only I had never brought the Sony home. That said, the Sammy still looks pretty good to me. It is a HUGE step up from my 32" Sharp CRT tube, of course. However, I have 25 days still to decide on the Sammy - Sam's takes TVs back with NO restocking fee - unheard of to me, so I have nothing to lose at this point with it. A couple of questions for anyone out there:

1.) Has anyone checked out the Akai 46" DLP (PT46DL10)? I saw one this weekend at Conn's for ~ 1.2K. Even with another lamp that would be ~ 1.4-1.5K, not too much more than the Sammy. Also the picture had great color and contrast in person. However, I am very concerned about the quality with Akai, and like this Sammy, there are NO reviews online about it

2.) I noticed the scaling options on the Sammy are different if you use component or AV cables. If you use component, you can't scale SD pics to take the whole screen - which stinks IMO (the Sony allows this). It only allows 16:9 and 4:3 modes. The AV cable allows - 16:9 (makes everything "fat" and distorted), panarama (distorts edges horribly, unacceptable for sports), zoom 1 (cuts off bottom of screen, can't see scores of other games, zoom 2 (same as 1, but more cut off), and 4:3 (non-starter). So far the only option I see that fills the whole screen and looks good is when I actually receive an HD program signal. Is there some other mode I'm missing? thx

PBS had a still shot with small text that was incredibly sharp, so it gives me hope for connecting my PC via DVI (sorry, still haven't tried it).

Hey, thanks for even reporting back. Let me know...

Austin, I can understand you because I was in the same boat. While I was looking to max out at 1.5K...when I started thinking about how much money that was and that it was going to go towards a TV, I decided 1K was the max.

Sony makes great TV's and I would hate for you to sacrifice a PQ that you love. Spend as much time as you can before making your choice and hopefully people here will help you tweak the Samsung to it's best.

I decided against DLP, LCOS, or LCD projection because of the dang lamp. If you feel bad about spending 2K for the Sony just keep in mind that the lamp on those set's act like house lamps. The lamp might last you 4 years or it might last you 6 months so that's something to remember. They are priced between $200-300 and for an item with such sporatic lifespan that might be money down the drain.

I hope the best for you because I know how crazy the HDTV world can make you.

Note: One thing that is strange about the 4755 is that while most people love it, you will still find some people who think it stinks. Why is that? I could understand some people loving it and some people thinking it's good/fair/OK but going from I LOVE IT'S PQ to I HATE IT's PQ is strange to me.

(1) Those people who don't like it have not tweaked it correctly (it's a shame you even have to do that I admit)

(2) The PQ is only considered good by people who had bad signal or TV's before.

Honestly, I think the truth is found in the middle some place...

For those of you who have the TV and/or are testing it...what are your viewing distances? Also, post up your settings to help those people out there who might be still trying to tweak their set's. (enter ME here in the future)

Also, I'm thinking of buying that AVIA DVD does anyone have any experiance with it (is it worth the money). My brother and mother have CRT based rear projection TV's so I could help them tweak their set's also.

Note: One thing that is strange about the 4755 is that while most people love it, you will still find some people who think it stinks. Why is that? I could understand some people loving it and some people thinking it's good/fair/OK but going from I LOVE IT'S PQ to I HATE IT's PQ is strange to me.
To me DLPs and LCDs look overly sharp and the color reproduction looks artificial. This is great for a movie such as Finding Nemo. But I feel the CRTs provide a softer image which translates more accurately with film based media.

Mentioning Finding Nemo: Actually being able to see the color variations in the fish's scales and random floating particles in the movie blew away the people that were watching it at my house the other day. However, I should note than few have had much exposure to HD level PQ.

Avia definately made a difference in the level of details I can see over the preset settings. If you want to use it for audio, you will also need to pick up a $40 Radioshack Sound Meter.

Thanks...I'll be getting the AVIA then since I'll be able to help my brother and mom out with it. I'll skip the audio for "cheapness" reasons...lol.

Well, I just got my first ever new car last December (RX8), I'm about to finally start building my HTPC, and I got the Samsung HCR4755W....so, it's time to start saving if possible. Did AVIA make a difference in your sound also?

I can't wait...I can't wait...I can't wait...I can't wait...lol

I got my 4755 last week and got the HD cable setup on Saturday. I'm very impressed with the TV so far. My friend who owns a 3rd gen 46" Samsung DLP asked me again when he walked in the door to confirm it was, in fact, not a DLP. I connected my laptop via S-video and it didn't look very good. Not terrible, but not great (only 1024x768). Is there a way I can hook up the laptop and get the picture to be as crisp as it is using HDTV? Also, I'm planning on getting an Orb Audio home theatre setup including their entry-level JVC Progressive Scan DVD and 5.1 receiver combo. Are there any compelling reasons that I should get another DVD player such as an "up-scale" DVD player?

Thanks for your help.

Do you have a HTPC or are you connecting just a regular PC/Laptop? (I ask because you might not need a DVD player then just a PC with a DVD drive and software to make it work)

Anyway, with this TV you will need to use the DVI connection or Component to get good PQ. The DVI does not require anything other than a DVI cable and some tweaking with powerstrip. So I"m told...(I don't have mine yet)

The component connection will have to use your VGA connection with a transcoder (VGA to Component) adapter which cost about $110.

For me, I"ll be using component (if possible and my cable company does not give me a problem) for my HD receiver and DVI for my HTPC. Since my HTPC will be acting as my DVD player (if I get better quality than a normal DVD player which I'm told I can) I'll still have one set of component inputs open.

Please give us more details since some of our AVS friends seem to think this HDTV stinks or is disappointing.

Also, not to annoy you all but please rate this TV on websites like pricegrabber.com, Amazon.com, CNET, etc so that other buyers can see your feedback. I think we can all honestly say that user reviews are very important in making a HDTV choice.

Details friend...details...

Oh yeah, you might want to try resolutions that match 1080i, 720p, 480p/i etc instead of standard desktop resolutions. From what I hear S-Video can only go up to 640x480 or is it 800x600???

Just an FYI

Just to let you guys knowm - Sears website now has the HC-r4755W @ 999.99, so they have lowered it to match Sam`s Club, don`t know if this is just online or what, but also I know from time to time there are 10% off coupons that float around, so maybe you can get this set for 900.00 now.

Yeah, it's priced at the store for $999 also so this TV can be had at a great price. I had 10% off also and got it under $900 with shipping and taxes.

HTPCnewbie... what is this exactly? VGA connection with a transcoder (VGA to Component)

Are there any compelling reasons that I should get another DVD player such as an "up-scale" DVD player?
Just remember, most Up-Converting DVD players only up-convert on the DVI/HDMI connection out of the box (some have firmware workarounds). So if your STB from the cable company uses this connection, you will need a DVI switch.

I have yet to check out a up-scaling DVD player, I think I am going to opt for upgrading my video card in my HTPC to DVI and use that as my primary media player.

Kevin O...here it is:

Audio Authority 9A60 (http://www.digitalconnection.com/products/video/9a60.asp)

There are some others but this is the one that was recommended to me. If I can connect my HD STB via component HD then I'll keep the DVI for my computer but if the cable company gives me grief I'll have to get one of these.

Quality is not an issue since it can display 1080i or 720p. Hope this helps... :)

I just caught the FSU-Miami game via antenna (my local cable doesn't have the ABC HD feed yet). The picture was amazing and definitely superior to most of what I've been getting via cable. Both ABC and PBS had sharper images, which makes me think that I can possibly improve my cable HD by playing around with my cables a bit.

PBS had a still shot with small text that was incredibly sharp, so it gives me hope for connecting my PC via DVI (sorry, still haven't tried it).

Cable HD is compressed, so the PQ will be inferior to OTA broadcasts which are typically bit for bit retransmissions of the signals. OTA is the way to go if you can get a decent antenna setup and are satisfied with the reception.

About OTA...

I really don't want to go through the hassle of installing an outdoor antenna is there any indoor antennas that can do the job? I think I read some place that you can check how far the HD antenna is to your house...does anyone have a link to that website?

Also, is it true that with OTA HD you either have a signal or you don't? That is actually not that bad in my opinion. No questions or possible poor quality reception.

Since you say it's better HD than cable HD, I"m pretty interested in it now. I"ll have to read up on OTA HD.

About OTA...

I really don't want to go through the hassle of installing an outdoor antenna is there any indoor antennas that can do the job? I think I read some place that you can check how far the HD antenna is to your house...does anyone have a link to that website?

Also, is it true that with OTA HD you either have a signal or you don't? That is actually not that bad in my opinion. No questions or possible poor quality reception.

Since you say it's better HD than cable HD, I"m pretty interested in it now. I"ll have to read up on OTA HD.

http://www.antennaweb.org/

I didn't want to go to the trouble of an outdoor installations until I compaired it to the typical Indoor antennas available for me. I am about 25 miles from most of the transmission towers in my area (52403). Here are the results I had:

Zenith Silver Sensor ~ $25 - 0
Amplified RCA ~ $50 - PAX
Outdoor ~ $70 for the set-up - Everything plus some outlaying VHF channels (i.e. 4 SD FOX channels).

Really, it depends. I started with the cheap/easy and worked my way up until I found the solution I was happiest with.

Plus, getting HD cable would result in a $70 monthly increase to my cable bill. Not acceptible in my mind. And they don't have any HD boxes on hand, so it would be a month before they could come out.

Thanks, I just came back from that website and it seems I'm mostly just 10 miles away with some going to 20 miles. Not too bad...

I might do the same thing as you did, try the cheaper stuff first then move up if I'm not happy with it.

Off topic...but I wonder...

Standard Cable cost let's say $40 with Brighthouse in my area but digital cable cost $50 (not talking about HD). If you go from digital cable to HD there is no charge just a STB change.

As more and more TV is broadcast in HD (cable included...or are they excluded???), how can a cable company request $70 to upgrade from standard cable to HD cable when your only getting a handful of ACTUAL HD channels at this time?

If they told me I had to pay an extra $70 I would have told them to go...do something (lol), especially since OTA HD looks better anyway (while not giving you the cable channels HD). So, how can they justify a price increase of $70 when they are only giving you 5-10 new channels to begin with? AND...who would pay that?

Are cable channels (Discovery, ESPN, TLC, The History Channel, etc) excluded from going to HD?

So, how can they justify a price increase of $70 when they are only giving you 5-10 new channels to begin with? AND...who would pay that?

Right now I have "basic" (2-22) cable and cable internet. Runs me $53 a month or $40 for internet and $13 for cable (but if I didn't have the cable they would charge me $10 for not being a cable customer).

To get HD would require adding "standard" cable, then adding "digital" cable, then adding "digital silver" cable, then finally adding "HD Digital" cable. All said and done, the price I was quoted was $119+ tax and fees.

Sure, I wouldn't mind the ESPN HD and getting Comedy Central and the History channel back. But with my ReplayTV, I already have more shows queued up ready to watch that I can possibly get to just from the network channels by the time I work, lift, study, give the gf her required attention.

Apparently, a lot of people are willing to pay it, since they have a shortage of boxes in the area. But this is a relatively Middle Upper Class city.

About OTA...

I really don't want to go through the hassle of installing an outdoor antenna is there any indoor antennas that can do the job? I think I read some place that you can check how far the HD antenna is to your house...does anyone have a link to that website?

Also, is it true that with OTA HD you either have a signal or you don't? That is actually not that bad in my opinion. No questions or possible poor quality reception.

Since you say it's better HD than cable HD, I"m pretty interested in it now. I"ll have to read up on OTA HD.

I attached an old "bunny ear" antenna and got perfect reception from ABC for football. In over 2 hours it didn't lose signal once. The trick is orienting the antenna correctly for wherever the tower is located. It isn't too tricky.

Hey I am new here and have a quick question. I am picking up my hc-r4755 today and I wanted to know what kind of DVI I should get? DVI-I or DVI-D. Or should I get HDMI with adaptor for it? Thanks for the help.

nithos...when will someone stand up against the cable companies?

I have been hearing for a long time that their monopoly would end, it's been a decade now and I'm still waiting. It's unfair to the consumer and frankly it's UN-AMERICAN.

Matt...COOL, that's just great to hear. I'm thinking of buying the Zenith indoor multidirectional OTA HD antenna since it's only $20

cdub998, I'm pretty sure you want the one that can do digital and anolog (I think that's the DVI-I

about cables...

over at monoprice...

Product ID
1916 is the DVI to HDMI - 6 footer
2408 is the DVI-D male to DVI-D male 6 footer

both work perfectly for me. I am sure you can purchase elsewhere too.

Hey I am new here and have a quick question. I am picking up my hc-r4755 today and I wanted to know what kind of DVI I should get? DVI-I or DVI-D. Or should I get HDMI with adaptor for it? Thanks for the help.

You need a DVI-D which the "flat blade" has no contacts above and below it. The DVI-I has two contacts above and below the "flat blade." This are pretty much standard now for newer model LCD Monitors. So most local stores don't carry the version you need, which I found out this weekend.

Kevin O...did you fix your overscan problem yet?

Also...in general, do you all know of any good "moving" desktop wallpaper for MCE while on the desktop (aka looks like XP). I know you really can't change the wallpaper of MCE without registry hacks but once I get my HDTV I would like to avoid at all possible any type of burn in.

As you know our HC-R4755W has pixel shift which reducing burn in and I read up the tips here at AVS...but I wanted to add a third safety to avoid burn in. Thanks for any advice you can give...heck...maybe there is a free program that let's you make your own desktop wallpaper.

Overscan issue - yes, fixed. Installed newest ATI Catalyst driver.
About MCE - sorry can't help you there.. I run XP and SnapStream.

Great...I think my nVidia drivers will take care of overscan...it's only a few days away!!!

On the 15th I'll be living it up...lol.

about cables...

over at monoprice...

Product ID
1916 is the DVI to HDMI - 6 footer
2408 is the DVI-D male to DVI-D male 6 footer

both work perfectly for me. I am sure you can purchase elsewhere too.
Good prices on the cables, I picked up a couple spares.

Good prices on the cables, I picked up a couple spares.

Wow, those are cheap. I'm going to order one.

Watching SD, is it better over componenet or AV cables? I saw an earlier exchange on this where one person said AV was better, one said component. Any other opinions on this? I have tried both and can't tell much difference. The best part about AV is you can scale the input - component ONLY allows 16:9 or 4:3 (no panaromic, zoom1 or zoom2).

For CRT RPTVs -- Composite>DVI>S-Video>Component>RF

Depends on your source. There is a unanimous vote that ReplayTV looks best over S-Video.

The best part about AV is you can scale the input - component ONLY allows 16:9 or 4:3 (no panaromic, zoom1 or zoom2)

WHAT!!!!????

So, if I connect my HD receiver via component I wont be able to watch TV that is 4:3 in 16:9? That's just stupid...how are we supposed to keep the burn in problem of 4:3 on a 16:9 screen from happening with this limitation?

Gosh...is this an issue with DVI also? This news is upsetting...there goes my component option for my HD receiver.... :confused: :(

...still ranting...

I mean come on, how can this be...most TV is still in 4:3 format so how could they make component have this limitation? Say it ain't so...

It is not the component inputs per se, but rather a progressive/HD signal.
If I connect my DVD player to component, and turn off progressive scanning, the screen size options can be changed. With a progressive input, screen size changing is not available.

Not sure about other sources, but for HD, my cable box has settings for SD (480i) signals on what screen size to convert to, even though the box upconverts to progressive.

Well...this present a problem for me since this TV has only one DVI and 2 components. I wanted to use component for the HD receiver and DVI for my PC but I don't want to watch TV in 4:3 or play PC games in 4:3 either.

Dang it!

When I connected my dvd via compnent and had the progressive scan off I could still use 16:9 zoom 1 and 2 and pan as well as 4:3. I didn't notice any limitation.

WHAT!!!!????

So, if I connect my HD receiver via component I wont be able to watch TV that is 4:3 in 16:9? That's just stupid...how are we supposed to keep the burn in problem of 4:3 on a 16:9 screen from happening with this limitation?

Gosh...is this an issue with DVI also? This news is upsetting...there goes my component option for my HD receiver.... :confused: :(

You can watch 4:3 in 16:9 mode. It stretches it out.

What they were saying is that you can't use the other zoom modes, like panaroma (which stretches out the edges instead of the entire screen), zoom1, or zoom2.

My DVI cable comes in later week, so I'll check out what DVI is capable of ASAP.

You can watch 4:3 in 16:9 mode. It stretches it out.
And you will be thinking to yourself, damn Tony Gonzalez beefed up a little bit in the offseason.

I did find one way around the scaling - my Time Warner HD box (not sure of brand) allows you to scale to stretch/zoom 1 or Zoom 2 also (its own settings). However, they look terrrible IMO, not clear at all. That and the option is 3 menus deep, thus hard to find. I am convinced with component you are far better off watching the channels "unstretched" or "unzoomed." The distortion that occurs in sports (and I've watched a LOT of football, baseball, and tennis lately) is not acceptable. If someone finds a better way PLS let us know. I need to look into S-video, don't have those cables.

When I connected my dvd via compnent and had the progressive scan off I could still use 16:9 zoom 1 and 2 and pan as well as 4:3. I didn't notice any limitation.

So, progressive scan is what keeps it from doing the twist. That's what you are saying...and like Matt_UF said, your talking about Zoom 1,2 and panorama. Right?

Matt_UF, and everyone else...so what is Zoom 1,2 and panorama look like? Do you ever use it, if so, when and why?

Also, Matt_UF, let me know now that you got your DVI cable and thanks for checking it out and sharing it with us. My TV comes tomorrow...YES!

So, progressive scan is what keeps it from doing the twist. That's what you are saying...and like Matt_UF said, your talking about Zoom 1,2 and panorama. Right?

Matt_UF, and everyone else...so what is Zoom 1,2 and panorama look like? Do you ever use it, if so, when and why?

Also, Matt_UF, let me know now that you got your DVI cable and thanks for checking it out and sharing it with us. My TV comes tomorrow...YES!

Panorama is useless. It has obvious distortion around the edge of the screen, so I never used it. I never used zoom2 either, since it zooms in way too far. The only time I used zoom1 was using A/V cables for SDTV. I don't bother with this anymore and just leave it on component input for all my TV watching.

I'm still not sure what people were getting upset about. From what I recall (I'm at work at the moment), I can use ALL possible modes even using progressive scan. FYI, component 1 input is for 480p (i.e. progressive scan), and component 2 inputs are for 1080i/720p (i.e. HD cable). Component 1 isn't limited to 16:9 and 4:3, but component 2 is (but this isn't a problem since HD is in 16:9 and looks great).

Like someone else said, the HD cable box has a zoom option in the menu. If you're using component 2 input (i.e. for HD/SD TV) and want it to zoom in more, just set it to do so using your cable box.

Great...I think my nVidia drivers will take care of overscan...it's only a few days away!!!

On the 15th I'll be living it up...lol.
I just popped in a 6600GT, only had time to mess with it for ~30 minutes after soccer. Looked crisp over DVI, with the exception of the lower right corner. But that might have been because of the angle I was sitting.

The nVidia drivers have a built in Underscan/Overscan adjustment. Worked rather well, but didn't give perfect alignment.

I tried to go with the ?x1080 and then adjust for the overscan. That's about as far as I got before the "When are you going to be done so I can finish watching my show" stares started coming from the girlfriend.

That's about as far as I got before the "When are you going to be done so I can finish watching my show" stares started coming from the girlfriend.

LOL

Thanks for letting me know, I"m very happy this TV is working great with PC's.

TODAY IS THE DAY GUYS!!!

It should be at my house between 4:30-6:30 and sleeping tonight is not an option, LOL!

I just popped in a 6600GT, only had time to mess with it for ~30 minutes after soccer. Looked crisp over DVI, with the exception of the lower right corner. But that might have been because of the angle I was sitting.

The nVidia drivers have a built in Underscan/Overscan adjustment. Worked rather well, but didn't give perfect alignment.

I tried to go with the ?x1080 and then adjust for the overscan. That's about as far as I got before the "When are you going to be done so I can finish watching my show" stares started coming from the girlfriend.

That's good to hear. I have the same video card on my PC. My DVI cable should be arriving tomorrow (or hopefully today). Can't wait to try it out.

Congrats in advance, HTPCNewbie. Hope it arrives on time.

Thanks....it better, or it's their asssssssssssssss...lol

OK...no, no first impression yet since my HD receiver won't get here till tomorrow and I'm using SD with a spliter and the RF. Right now (with the spliter and RF) SD looks OK but not great and the digital channels look...well, DVD like...very nice but I have no HD review yet.

Here is my issue....HELP!!!!!!

Everyone said that using DVI the PC looked great but mine is not looking good at all. Are there any settings I'm missing, are you guys/gals using powerstrip?

I have my Hz at 60 (the only setting I can pick) but the text looks as bad as on my standard TV I replaced with this set. I can't really read (without hurting my brain and eyes) the text. Don't get me wrong...it's usable for gamming and writing or reading something in a pinch but NOTHING like my PC monitor.

I need help guys...I just need to fix the text and I'm begining to suspect the DVI cable.

Help!!!

OK...no, no first impression yet since my HD receiver won't get here till tomorrow and I'm using SD with a spliter and the RF. Right now (with the spliter and RF) SD looks OK but not great and the digital channels look...well, DVD like...very nice but I have no HD review yet.

Here is my issue....HELP!!!!!!

Everyone said that using DVI the PC looked great but mine is not looking good at all. Are there any settings I'm missing, are you guys/gals using powerstrip?

I have my Hz at 60 (the only setting I can pick) but the text looks as bad as on my standard TV I replaced with this set. I can't really read (without hurting my brain and eyes) the text. Don't get me wrong...it's usable for gamming and writing or reading something in a pinch but NOTHING like my PC monitor.

I need help guys...I just need to fix the text and I'm begining to suspect the DVI cable.

Help!!!

What card and setup are you using? I can only speak of Nvidia, and they have very nice drivers. With my Nvidia card and latest drivers, my Hitachi RP CRT was auto detected, and I had the option to treat the monitor as an HDTV. I selected that option and then send it a 720p signal. Finally I use underscan from within the nvidia drivers to fit the desktop to the screen.

I wouldn't say my desktop is pretty, or text super easy to read....I have to run through a focus session, as my sides and top/bottom are soft focused, but with this setup, it's much easier to view than on my 27" Sony CRT, and is definately usable.

If you have an nvidia and need more info, I can probably help...if not, then hopefully others have experience to share.

With my Nvidia card and latest drivers, my Hitachi RP CRT was auto detected, and I had the option to treat the monitor as an HDTV. I selected that option and then send it a 720p signal. Finally I use underscan from within the nvidia drivers to fit the desktop to the screen.

Note: Yeah I did that...but it's not overscan or underscan problems, that was easy to figure out but it's the poor quality of text that has my eyes crying...lol.

Here is my spec:

MCE 2005
MCE nVidia Drivers 72.14
BFG nVidia 6800 OC (AGP)

I messed around with those settings but my text looks crappy. It looks as bad as with my SDTV but since it's bigger I can see it better.

Right now the PC (in regards to text) part of the HTPC experience (while early so don't get me wrong) is looking like crap. Sure, I can read it but with extended use I'd probably go blind.

I set the signal to 720p and fined tuned it so I could see basically all of the desktop (it ends up something like 1100somthing X 680something but with all my tweaks the text never changes. I know I could play games on it and use the MCE function but I still want to surf the net and use word...I don't want the PC part to die.

Text is important...and I did not get alot of time to mess around but I'm very frustrated considering others have connected to their DVI and said they loved it, either it's my DVI cable or they failed to tell me that text will look like crap.

Forgive me rant...I'm a PC guy and it's like I'm a PC baby again with all the HTPC stuff. I just don't understand how a HDTV (so far) can't show text any better than my SDTV Tube TV did. It's just bigger...that's all I notice right now.

Arrrrr....

Note: I know it wont be like my PC monitor but it shouldn't be that ugly either. When I get home today I'll hopefully have a chance to post a pic of what I'm looking at. The cable guy is coming with my HD receiver so I might post a pic late but I need your opinions on what I'm seeing.

Well.... it shouldn't be your DVI cable. Unless you've got some grand-daddy 30 foot DVI cable, or your cable is physically damaged, it shouldn't matter. I bought a 99.99 Monster DVI cable ('cause I had to waste a gift card), and it made no noticible difference from the old DVI cable I got with my cheapo CMV monitor. The signal is digital, so interference or degredation isn't an issue unless you start running 30-50 foot lengths.

Last thing I can really think of would be trying the latest normal Forceware drivers. (It shouldn't break any usability of MCE...the MCE drivers are a few months old now). I'm using the latest forcewares (88.xx or something) with MCE and everything is peachy. Otherwise it's TV settings or TV geometry/sharpness/convergence.

Don't waste your money on a new DVI cable unless you're sure...cause it's likely not the culprit.

[QUOTE=Matt_UF]

I'm still not sure what people were getting upset about. From what I recall (I'm at work at the moment), I can use ALL possible modes even using progressive scan. FYI, component 1 input is for 480p (i.e. progressive scan), and component 2 inputs are for 1080i/720p (i.e. HD cable). Component 1 isn't limited to 16:9 and 4:3, but component 2 is (but this isn't a problem since HD is in 16:9 and looks great).

Matt, are you sure you can use zoom modes with component 1? I see no difference between comp 1 and 2 on my set - both only offer 16:9 and 4:3 (makes it way too thin) which leaves bars on the side. also SD over HD channels look fuzzy, especially when viewing football. Anyone else see this? Maybe I just got a dud. Matt or anyone, which type of connection will/should give the best quality from the HD box - Svideo, component, HDMI?

Well.... it shouldn't be your DVI cable. Unless you've got some grand-daddy 30 foot DVI cable, or your cable is physically damaged, it shouldn't matter. I bought a 99.99 Monster DVI cable ('cause I had to waste a gift card), and it made no noticible difference from the old DVI cable I got with my cheapo CMV monitor. The signal is digital, so interference or degredation isn't an issue unless you start running 30-50 foot lengths.

Yeah, no...it's a 12 foot cable and I didn't think it was the cable to be honest but I'm running out of possibilities.

Last thing I can really think of would be trying the latest normal Forceware drivers. (It shouldn't break any usability of MCE...the MCE drivers are a few months old now). I'm using the latest forcewares (88.xx or something) with MCE and everything is peachy. Otherwise it's TV settings or TV geometry/sharpness/convergence.

Yeah, I've been meaning to ask...is it OK to use the normal drivers instead of the MCE drivers?

Don't waste your money on a new DVI cable unless you're sure...cause it's likely not the culprit.

The cable guy is coming today so I'll try his cable just in case. I'll post pic's (if that will even work...in a bit)...I doubt it will work...

Silly me...why did I think that would work?

Matt, are you sure you can use zoom modes with component 1? I see no difference between comp 1 and 2 on my set - both only offer 16:9 and 4:3 (makes it way too thin) which leaves bars on the side. also SD over HD channels look fuzzy, especially when viewing football. Anyone else see this? Maybe I just got a dud. Matt or anyone, which type of connection will/should give the best quality from the HD box - Svideo, component, HDMI?[/COLOR]

Absolutely sure. I connect my DVD player using component cables to the Component 1 inputs on the TV. I was watching The Two Towers earlier. In 16:9 I have black bars on top and bottom of the picture, so I used zoom1 to stretch the image to full screen. The DVD is set to progressive scan. I don't know why your TV won't do this.

From my HD box, I use component cables. That seems to be the standard choice. S-video won't give you an HD picture. Component 2 inputs will (1080i/720p). I'm not sure about HDMI since I have no experience with it.

When you say "SD over HD channels look fuzzy," do you mean SD looks fuzzy or do you mean HD is fuzzy? SD channels don't look good on any HDTV and definitely will pale in comparison to their HD counterparts. HD shouldn't be fuzzy assuming you're using component cables and not A/V cables.

Ok, I called Sears and they gave me no hassles about PM'ing to Sam's Club. They'll have to order it but it should be there in 2-3 days. I'll be going in to order it tomorrow, hopefully.

Currently I just have SDTV, with the following inputs:

ReplayTV
DVD Player (currently a cheapo Toshiba progressive scan)
XBox
Denon 3802 AVR (for a setup monitor)

I think I'll buy a HD Pack for the XBox. Any recommendations on what inputs/cables I should use for it? I'd like to get it setup without having to take multiple trips to the store, so I'm going to get the cables all at the same time.

I'm very new to all this multiple input, HDTV-type stuff so hopefully this will be a good experience for me. :)

Rob

Text is important...and I did not get alot of time to mess around but I'm very frustrated considering others have connected to their DVI and said they loved it, either it's my DVI cable or they failed to tell me that text will look like crap.

Forgive me rant...I'm a PC guy and it's like I'm a PC baby again with all the HTPC stuff. I just don't understand how a HDTV (so far) can't show text any better than my SDTV Tube TV did. It's just bigger...that's all I notice right now.

im looking at the specs of the US model HC-R4355W and comparing it to its sister model in australia: the SP-43Q5HL [seems ours lacks a DVI Input but otherwise the same] and over here they dont claim it to be a HDTV but "HDTV Ready" meaning that yes you can feed it 480p/720p/1080i [and in PAL's case 576p] through various inputs and it will display a picture. however it downscales these pictures to SD. it's still a CRT based display like your old "SDTV Tube TV" only BIGGER as the image is projected to a much larger size.

Most CRT sets are capable of about 600 lines of resolution. which compared to your pc monitor is not much at all. this is why your text looks fuzzy. its just not capable of displaying a much higher resolution. you can feed it 1280x720 or *x1080 and it will always scale it and show as best as possible. most ppl using a htpc for web browsing or any kind of text are forced to bump up the size of the font to something a bit more readable.

the only other suggestion i have is to run the "manual convergance" and make sure your set is displaying as sharp as it can. i found this made a HUGE difference to the way these things come out of the box. even with the "self focus" feature the convergance was pretty far out on the display models i have played with. good luck.

cray-

cray...thank you so much for taking the time to help me out.

Here is the thing:

Our set's do have DVI, that's how my HTPC is connected and I"m on it right now as I type this.

This set can do 1080i, 720p, 480p, and 480i (PAL also) but I know that it takes the 720p and converts it to 1080i. I just expected a better text picture than this...

I downloaded the latest nVidia drivers and did some more tweaking but it still hurts the brains...lol.

I would love to try the manual convergance but I don't know how to mess with that stuff. If anyone can give me the basicas, a link, or come to my house I"ll have some hispanic food waiting...LOL.

Anyway, I'm going to keep tweaking and waiting on all the help you all can give me. Please let me know if you have some links for the manuel convergence stuff or can explain to me how to use it.

I'm going to get DVE to help set the TV to it's best but that will have to wait. Also, I'll be reviewing the TV here once I have everything to my satisfaction. So far...I'm very pleased with the HD picture but I have a faulty cable box so I'm holding back on the SD since I just can't tell yet. I want to be fair to the TV first...

Absolutely sure. I connect my DVD player using component cables to the Component 1 inputs on the TV. I was watching The Two Towers earlier. In 16:9 I have black bars on top and bottom of the picture, so I used zoom1 to stretch the image to full screen. The DVD is set to progressive scan. I don't know why your TV won't do this.

From my HD box, I use component cables. That seems to be the standard choice. S-video won't give you an HD picture. Component 2 inputs will (1080i/720p). I'm not sure about HDMI since I have no experience with it.

When you say "SD over HD channels look fuzzy," do you mean SD looks fuzzy or do you mean HD is fuzzy? SD channels don't look good on any HDTV and definitely will pale in comparison to their HD counterparts. HD shouldn't be fuzzy assuming you're using component cables and not A/V cables.

Matt, sorry I wasn't clear on my description - I meant the SD channels (esp football) look a little fuzzy. They are digital SD channels (ie ESPN1/2, FoxSports, etc), but not HD digital. I realize SD will never look as sharp as HD (not as much data to display), but when comparing to the Sony A10 50" I still have (but am returning) the A10 is much sharper displaying SD channels - which are the bulk of what I watch for sports since only ESPN1 has HD on Time Warner in my area. Also, I read the 4755 "user's manual" (and I use this term loosely as it is a lousy excuse for documentation, WAY too basic and lean) and it does not show ANY difference between Component 1 and 2 inputs. Both are capable of 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i. Where did you see/read that Comp1 and 2 are different? I see difference in zoom capabilites between the two.

ONe other question, how much difference will a progressive scan DVD player make vs the std one I have now in PQ? Do you recommend one that upconverts, or just let the TV do it? Thx for the info!

sorry i havent edited my profile yet. i am australian. so when i said "our" sets dont have DVI i meant the australian version. obviously yours does. anyway...

manual convergance isnt as scary as it sounds. select it from the menu and it will give u an option of changing the red or blue channel. select red and the screen will change to a bunch of yellow + symbols. the aim is to get the red perfectly centred and the + symbol as sharp as possible by selecting each arrow and then using cursos keys. on parts of the screen that are poorly converged u will see a distinct red outline. u need to move this back into the middle so that it basically dissapears. due to the nature of crt rear pro the middle of the screen will be much sharper than the outside. you will see how much blurrier the arrows are and wont be able to get the red to centre as well.

thats about as clear an explination as i can give in text. a walkthrough of this proccess with pictures would probably help more. give google a shot i guess.

this whole process is only going to help if your convergence is out in the first place. of the 3 sets i have seen in showrooms all of them have been out. and for some reason the self/auto focus feature isnt available when using certain inputs. so it had to be fixed manually. there is also a "reset" option inside the manual convergance menu in case you totally fudge it.

unfortunately down in aus we dont have the luxury of 30day money back test periods as the market is so much smaller and the industry cant suck up the kind of losses that it would entail. so all testing needs to be done in the showroom. im hoping to test out this set a bit further before deciding if it will do a good enough job or if i should just spend 2x as much and get a 42" SD plasma. descisions descisions.....

cray-

Matt, sorry I wasn't clear on my description - I meant the SD channels (esp football) look a little fuzzy. They are digital SD channels (ie ESPN1/2, FoxSports, etc), but not HD digital. I realize SD will never look as sharp as HD (not as much data to display), but when comparing to the Sony A10 50" I still have (but am returning) the A10 is much sharper displaying SD channels - which are the bulk of what I watch for sports since only ESPN1 has HD on Time Warner in my area. Also, I read the 4755 "user's manual" (and I use this term loosely as it is a lousy excuse for documentation, WAY too basic and lean) and it does not show ANY difference between Component 1 and 2 inputs. Both are capable of 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i. Where did you see/read that Comp1 and 2 are different? I see difference in zoom capabilites between the two.

ONe other question, how much difference will a progressive scan DVD player make vs the std one I have now in PQ? Do you recommend one that upconverts, or just let the TV do it? Thx for the info!

I believe on the actual inputs, it says 480p above component 1, and 1080i above component 2. Check out the back of the tv.

Progressive scan made a big difference in PQ for me. I picked up a cheap $50 DVD player with progressive scan. Just hook it up to Component 1 using component cables, go to the DVD player settings and set it up to have an output of 16:9 and progressive.

OK...I'm still tweaking but I'm very happy with the HD quality and I have a bad or defective HD receiver that mixes sounds, does not show certain channels, etc...so I'm very impressed with the HD.

So far...I'm not even done tweaking but HD looks great.

Now, for those people with a HTPC...can you please let me know your experience with text PQ? I really need help fixing my text so I don't go blind.

I played BF2 today for the first time (quickly since I know I have to take it easy on the TV until it breaks in) and my jaw hit the floor! It's like VR...I'm IN THE GAME...very cool!

This is my first TV over 32 inches and It seems I have to get use to the size of the picture. It's almost like a dizzy feeling but not really dizzy. It's like I'm looking at a shaky camera or something. Is this common? I know the screen size jump was HUGE but I did not expect this weird feeling while watching TV.

BUT AGAIN...please let me know how the text looks using this TV with your PC and give me all the tips you can.

OK...I'm still tweaking but I'm very happy with the HD quality and I have a bad or defective HD receiver that mixes sounds, does not show certain channels, etc...so I'm very impressed with the HD.

So far...I'm not even done tweaking but HD looks great.

Now, for those people with a HTPC...can you please let me know your experience with text PQ? I really need help fixing my text so I don't go blind.

I played BF2 today for the first time (quickly since I know I have to take it easy on the TV until it breaks in) and my jaw hit the floor! It's like VR...I'm IN THE GAME...very cool!

This is my first TV over 32 inches and It seems I have to get use to the size of the picture. It's almost like a dizzy feeling but not really dizzy. It's like I'm looking at a shaky camera or something. Is this common? I know the screen size jump was HUGE but I did not expect this weird feeling while watching TV.

BUT AGAIN...please let me know how the text looks using this TV with your PC and give me all the tips you can.

How far away from the TV are you sitting? I sit around 8 feet away. After a day or two of watching it, I got used to it. It gave me a headache at first, but maybe it was because I was watching too much.

I'm 10 feet away (10-10.5) but I noticed that it did not happen when I watched HD. Maybe it's the screen stretch of SD added with the huge size difference from my other TV.

Matt_UF...so how does your PC look on it?

Keven_O how does your text look connected to the PC?

Thanks to Battlefield 2 I can now better explain what the text is doing. It has a significant red **** moving towards the right side of the screen on text. Normal TV does not show this only text so it makes me think that it's happening to the video also but I just don't notice it...maybe.

Anyway, here is a pic (I did in paint trying to explain the issue) of what I saw and suspect is a problem. I already called Samsung and on Monday I hope they can help me fix it.

Text (to me) looks good... I'll try to take a picture. But from your jpg... it looks like your convergence is off for red. Which depending on my source at the time (ant,cable,pc) I do have to readjust manually. but once set it seems to stay.

Additionally, any confirmation on the component 1 being 480 and comp 2 being 720/1080? I see it's written on the back... but it look slike this on mine

480i/480p/720p/1080i - like both comp 1 and 2 could do... not necessarily like it's meant for seperate?

Thoughts?

definitely a convergance problem. your gonna have to go through with the process i outlines above. or better yet get an isf certified calibrator to come into your home and do an even better job from the service menu. from what everyone tells me. its worth the money and u will get an even better picture in every way. but if budget is a concern and ur still sitting on the fence about returning the unit or not. then u must give the manual convergance a shot like i suggested. good luck

cray-

The TV looks great in HD and movies look great also so the TV is a keeper. SD does not look very good right now BUT since I have a defective cable box and still have tweaking to do I don't blame the TV.

I've messed with the convergance and made things better...but not perfect yet, I'll have to continue trying.

PC games on this TV look just great...ohhh mama...lol. Once I tweak some more, get a new cable box, and then tweak some more I'll give my final review.

Thanks for the help everyone!

i say if ur happy with all of the above...then just forget about the text. bump up the font size if u MUST use it and enjoy the rest of ur big screen viewing. sounds like ur on a winner.

cray-

Yup...this TV is definitely a keeper, WHAT A DEAL!!!

To all...like all TV's, it's only as clear...or PQ is only as good as the source, NEVER forget that.

I have had my HC-R4755W for a couple weeks now and overall the picture appears pretty good(still need to fine tune it abit). I have a couple questions though, heres my setup:

1.)I have DVD video feeding via component direct to the tv, DVD audio feeding to Denon 1803 receiver via digital RCA.

2.)Dish Satellite feeding S-video direct to TV and audio to amp via right and left RCA cables.

3.) VHS tape feed direct to TV via RCA video, RCA right and left audio to amp.

4.) local channels feed to VCR via coax from standard antenna.


Questions:
A.) Is this the best setup, because Sat and locals don't look the best and I'm not sure how good High definition should look?

B.) This is my first Rear projection, so is this front screen easily removable for interior cleaning? Samsung said the service manual is not available.

Overall I like this TV except for the silver cabinet, my Zenith 36" direct view was black(less obtrusive).
Thanks,
Rick

The only thing I would suggest is changing the connection on yous satellite receiver. You want to use compnent or DVI if possible. That should make the picture much better and you wont get HD from the S-video anyway.

I have had my HC-R4755W for a couple weeks now and overall the picture appears pretty good(still need to fine tune it abit). I have a couple questions though, heres my setup:

1.)I have DVD video feeding via component direct to the tv, DVD audio feeding to Denon 1803 receiver via digital RCA.

2.)Dish Satellite feeding S-video direct to TV and audio to amp via right and left RCA cables.

3.) VHS tape feed direct to TV via RCA video, RCA right and left audio to amp.

4.) local channels feed to VCR via coax from standard antenna.


Questions:
A.) Is this the best setup, because Sat and locals don't look the best and I'm not sure how good High definition should look?

B.) This is my first Rear projection, so is this front screen easily removable for interior cleaning? Samsung said the service manual is not available.

Overall I like this TV except for the silver cabinet, my Zenith 36" direct view was black(less obtrusive).
Thanks,
Rick

I 2nd that...S-Video can not take HD, you will need DVI or component to get HD to look HD.

composite--->RF-->S-Video-->SD Component-->(HD Component, DVI, HDMI)

Note: It's questionable if DVI/HDMI is any better vs DVI and per me, my wife, and mother in law Component looked the same as DVI.

HD needs in the very least HD Component/DVI/HDMI (VGA is an option but not as good for HD...so I hear)

My GOD...if you have been watching HD via S-Video...you are going to be blown away once you get on DVI or Component.

Has anyone played mvp 2006 on the hcr4755? I purchased this T.V. recently and tried playing mvp 2006. This game skips bad particularly when viewing the entire field on a pop up or base hit. When the camera zooms in it's a thing of beauty. I know this game supports 720p but it seems my T.V. is not handling it well. Im using monster cables in component 2 which supports 720p/1080i. What I need to know is does mvp have framerate problems like nba live 2005, or could it be this tv?

Has anyone played mvp 2006 on the hcr4755? I purchased this T.V. recently and tried playing mvp 2006. This game skips bad particularly when viewing the entire field on a pop up or base hit. When the camera zooms in it's a thing of beauty. I know this game supports 720p but it seems my T.V. is not handling it well. Im using monster cables in component 2 which supports 720p/1080i. What I need to know is does mvp have framerate problems like nba live 2005, or could it be this tv?


I bought this tv today myself. I had a chance to try out mvp 2006 before work and was very disappointed. It lagged beyond belief. I had to tap my pitch (for the pitch meter) way outside of the zone to get a good pitch in. Same as batting, I had to swing way before hand just to make contact. Big lag issue here, fixable?

Also, I don't have HD hooked up yet, but the picture is sickening to look at. Will all regular tv from my directtv stb look like crap no matter what?

Last thing. I have a progressive scan dvd player. I hooked it up with my $90 component cables into the hd hookups and the picture still looks insanely grainy. I played the incredibles on it and it looked terrible. I went through the settings and let it focus, but that didn't do anything. Any suggestions?

Update on my issue: I've made text look better but I think it still can look better. I reset convergence and messed with it myself again and I still have some tweaking to do because I have blue convergence problems now. I'll have to try to perfect it some more today.

BUT, I decided on calling Samsung and I got transferred to a tech 2 (higher up the ladder) who decided that they needed to send out a tech to my house to check it out for themselves. So, I'm going to contact the tech company and make an appointment so they can come out to check out my TV. Maybe they can fix the text or make it look even better...I'll keep you all updated once they come over.

I play Battlefield 2 via my PC and I have not seen any TV related lag. Battlefield 2 can get laggy at times but that's the servers fault so I can't really say this TV lags. I'll have to test in single player mode and see what happens.

Note: My PC is connected via DVI...so maybe it's the component connection??? Hmmm...

HD on this TV looks very good but I've noticed that not all HD is the same. It's like some HD looks amazing and some looks like it's upscaled HD or something. What I mean is that while Discovery HD looks very nice...NFL football looks amazing in HD. I then saw a Marlins game in HD and it looked like Discovery HD but not as nice as NFL HD. All my HD at the moment comes from my cable company which I'm slowly getting tired of. I'm thinking of looking into Zoom.

I do see some graininess in HD but again I blame the source HD because some HD looks just amazing!

SD looks only OK but I'm going to try connection different ways and I'll have to get back to you on that.

Last thing. I have a progressive scan dvd player. I hooked it up with my $90 component cables into the hd hookups and the picture still looks insanely grainy. I played the incredibles on it and it looked terrible. I went through the settings and let it focus, but that didn't do anything. Any suggestions?
Have you run Avia or DVE yet? Did you change the settings on your DVD player to output progressive?

I can watch highly compressed SD signals through my ReplayTV without issues (just slightly blocky). Progressive output through my $6 component cables looks great. Upscaled DVDs through my HTPC look amazing (just a little dark, but I haven't tweeked it too much yet).

Upscaled DVDs through my HTPC look amazing (just a little dark, but I haven't tweeked it too much yet).

Without upscaling (no software yet) my DVD also looked great (just a little dark also) so I think there might be some setup issues. Ice Age looked great...but again, just a little dark also.

Have you run Avia or DVE yet? Did you change the settings on your DVD player to output progressive?

What is Avia and DVE? I went into the options for my dvd player and set everything the best I could to match my tv, but there wasn't an option to set "progressive" or anything like that in there.

I came home last night and the picture really isn't that bad considering it is just SD. I'm getting my mom to check into the pricing for upgrading to HD through dTV today, so hopefully I'll have that hooked up soon and have a great friggin picture.

What is Avia and DVE?

Both of them are DVD based TV picture quality tweaking (perfecting) software. You put it into your DVD player and run their test/patterns which allow you to setup the picture (contrast/brightness/etc) to the best levels possible without forking over $300 for a ISF tech.

DVE is not as easy as AVIA but it has a few more test than AVIA while AVIA is easier to use and has better sound test...so I hear. Google them...and you will learn more.

I'm actually going to buy them to perfect my picture...hopefully, by next month.

Without upscaling (no software yet) my DVD also looked great (just a little dark also) so I think there might be some setup issues. Ice Age looked great...but again, just a little dark also.
Simply by playing your DVD through your HTPC you are upconverting to the resolution you have your video card outputting. The nVidia drivers handle most of the load.

It's applying various filters and trying different DVD decoders that seems to make or break the HTPC over a stand alone DVD player.

I am hoping to get some decoders and filters set up this weekend. Hopefully, my 2.8GHz machine with a 6600GT can handle the load.

Ohhh, I didn't know that...

I'm really lost when it comes to picking a mpeg decoder. I really like Theartek but that sucker is pricy and I'm not sure I want to rely on Windows Media Player since it seems to do a sucky job.

I really would like to get the pure video decoder since I hear good things about it but that would leave me stuck with Windows Media Player or the pricy Thearterk dvd software.

I need some direction in regards to this stuff...

Both of them are DVD based TV picture quality tweaking (perfecting) software. You put it into your DVD player and run their test/patterns which allow you to setup the picture (contrast/brightness/etc) to the best levels possible without forking over $300 for a ISF tech.

DVE is not as easy as AVIA but it has a few more test than AVIA while AVIA is easier to use and has better sound test...so I hear. Google them...and you will learn more.

I'm actually going to buy them to perfect my picture...hopefully, by next month.

I'll try getting that Avia thing and see how it works out.

I got DVE first...it's comming in the mail as I type this...

I got DVE first...it's comming in the mail as I type this...

So DVE or Avia will actually program my progressive scan dvd player to play a better picture or just give me tip on how I should setup my tv?

It's ment for your TV, your DVD's settings...as far as I know...are preset and can't be changed. What AVIA and DVE do is tweak your TV for best picture.

Finally got a lazy Sunday where I was able to just sit around and watch football while doing little things around the house.

Yeah, HD Football in dolby digital kicks some serious butt.

Several close games this weekend too...

Finally got a lazy Sunday where I was able to just sit around and watch football while doing little things around the house.

Yeah, HD Football in dolby digital kicks some serious butt.

Several close games this weekend too...

Nithos (or anyone), agree HD football rocks, but have you found a "good" way to watch SD football? Any good way to scale the pic to fill the whole screen that doesn't look ugly distorted or grainy? Only way i've found to do it is via the set-top box zoom options and none of them look very good. Only acceptable way I've found to watch SD is to leave the bars on the side, and I believe this will cause burn-in, right?? Especially for me since I watch a lot of ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNC, FoxSports (multiple regional channels), and CSTV. Help! I have one more week before decision time (= 30 day return window to Sam's). Thx!

SD is watchable from my end. 90% of the TV I watch is SD that has been compressed to the lowest quality by a ReplayTV. College Football and some NFL is the only thing I typically watch "live" in HD.

Maybe check my AVIA settings in an earlier post, and see if those help anything, your sharpness may be set too high.

SD is watchable from my end. 90% of the TV I watch is SD that has been compressed to the lowest quality by a ReplayTV. College Football and some NFL is the only thing I typically watch "live" in HD.

Maybe check my AVIA settings in an earlier post, and see if those help anything, your sharpness may be set too high.

Yeah I did the setting thing, even bought the AVIA disc myself. Also last night I tried tweaking my manual convergence settings, but I'm not sure I'm doing that right. Any trick/pointers you know of on convergence? I was doing it at 2:00 AM, so I could barely see straight and boy am I tired at work today...

Also, which SD screen mode do you use for your 90% viewing (that is my problem, too), with bars on the side? or stretch via the set-top box?

An update...

The Samsung tech came out (remember I complained to Samsung that my PC text or other text had a convergence issue) and he said my convergence was WAY OFF. He went into the service menu (GOD I wish I knew how...I think someone said they found it???) and did a manual convergence there.

In the service menu they have a MUCH better convergence pattern and I saw that on the edge of the screen the blue, red, green was REAL bad and in the middle it was pretty good but still needed tweaking.

He also said that if I ever do manual convergence to make sue the TV is on for 30 minutes so it can be warmed up. If you try to do convergence before that 30 minutes has passed the TV convergence will shift on you.

This is why I thought (I think someone else did also) that the convergence kept shifting on me. So...wait 30 minutes before you start trying to tweak you TV.

My computer text looks better but I tweaked (via nVidia and powerstrip) and messed up the focus on the edge. I'll have check my settings...

Anyway, I'm almost ready to give my full and detailed review...but not yet since I have not even begun to mess with SD.

HD...looks just GREAT!

An update...

The Samsung tech came out (remember I complained to Samsung that my PC text or other text had a convergence issue) and he said my convergence was WAY OFF. He went into the service menu (GOD I wish I knew how...I think someone said they found it???) and did a manual convergence there.

In the service menu they have a MUCH better convergence pattern and I saw that on the edge of the screen the blue, red, green was REAL bad and in the middle it was pretty good but still needed tweaking.

He also said that if I ever do manual convergence to make sue the TV is on for 30 minutes so it can be warmed up. If you try to do convergence before that 30 minutes has passed the TV convergence will shift on you.

This is why I thought (I think someone else did also) that the convergence kept shifting on me. So...wait 30 minutes before you start trying to tweak you TV.

My computer text looks better but I tweaked (via nVidia and powerstrip) and messed up the focus on the edge. I'll have check my settings...

Anyway, I'm almost ready to give my full and detailed review...but not yet since I have not even begun to mess with SD.

HD...looks just GREAT!

Now you have me anxious for the tech to come out to my house. I know my convergence is probably terrible. Its got to be from it being taken to my house. No matter how smooth you try to go there are always bumps. Did you notice that HD looked better after he set the convergence on the service menu?

Also, which SD screen mode do you use for your 90% viewing (that is my problem, too), with bars on the side? or stretch via the set-top box?
I let the Samsung stretch it to 16:9.

Now you have me anxious for the tech to come out to my house. I know my convergence is probably terrible. Its got to be from it being taken to my house. No matter how smooth you try to go there are always bumps. Did you notice that HD looked better after he set the convergence on the service menu?

Me too...I think when they delivered it (I saw them give it a slight bumb on the ground) they messed up the convergence. Just sit there and watch the guy work...I really think it's MUCH easier through the service menu convergence pattern than our yellow plus signs.

HD did look better but one thing about HD...

It seems not all HD is the same. Some of it looks clear and nice....but some of it looks SUPER CLEAR AND LIFELIKE!!! What's up with that? It's like some HD is really not HD but just scaled to be "like" HD while some HD is ture HD.

Football in HD looks really great but "some" of the Discovery HD looks just good. Again, some...because most of Discovery HD looks really good also.

I didn't get a chance to view too much HD after he was done (I was watching SD) but it did look like it improved...just don't expect a HUGE difference.

I really would like to see what the service menu looks like because VSM can't be turned off and I would like to see how it looks with it...and without it.

My wife told me (I did not get home on time) that he opened my TV to do something but I don't know what it was.

Finally, fyi...when he sets the convergence correctly he teaches the TV basically what those settings are. SO...the auto focus feature remembers those settings and should now really do a better job when it does the "auto focus" thing.

After I had the TV on for a while the auto focus went off and instead of takingabout 20 sec...it did it in less than 2.