I've got a Samsung 46" LCD, LN-S4692, and notice on some HD programming that dark areas are blotchy and there's a "history" of previously displayed images that persist in the dark areas. It's predominantly an issue when the screen is mostly black/dark. For example, an HD movie opening where the screen is black with white opening credits - as text is replaced by newer text, the previous is still retained slightly in the image. One time, I even saw artifacts streak into the letter box black bars at top and bottom. It's a very distracting issue with a set that produces a very good image for all other circumstances. I chalked this up to "LCDs have poor" grey/black ability compared with plasma.

So then I started thinking I'm one of those people that should have chosen plasma rather than LCD. After a bit of digging, I found the CNET review of the recent 50" Samsung plasma HP-S5053 and it complains about false contouring and shadow artifacts too. So, I'm starting to think it may not be an LCD versus plasma issue at all.

I'm wondering if this is intrinsic to all recent Samsung sets? If I upgraded to an LN-S4696D am I likely to find the same issue?

HD programming that dark areas are blotchy and there's a "history" of previously displayed images that persist in the dark areas.

I'm wondering if this is intrinsic to all recent Samsung sets? If I upgraded to an LN-S4696D am I likely to find the same issue?


All of these models have DNIe in common, and I assume its the same chip.

Have you turned this off, or put in Movie Mode and experienced the same thing? I'm thinking DNIe is mainly for ATSC signals or for enhancing SD sources.

CadJoe

Yes it is still happened in movie mode. I'd be interested in knowing if this type of artifact is something the 4696D owners see. My issue could be 4692 specific, but it was suspicious to me that the CNET reviewer described something similar on the plasma.

I posed this question on the owner's forum, but I am not sure all the owners read that one yet so I will ask it again here.

Has anyone gotten the 4095D to accept 480i over HDMI? I have the Directv HD TiVo and 480i over HDMI doesn't work. I can't tell if the box won't output 480i over HDMI, the set won't accept it or both.

I can't find the answer in my manual, so if anyone does find it please let me know what page. The website only lists the supported resolutions on the component input, not the HDMI input. I know that a lot of devices have problems with 480i over HDMI because it's bandwidth is actually below the HDMI spec. This is why so few DVD players output 480i over HDMI.

The reason I ask is that I am going to have to return the Direct HD TiVo because of OTA issues and am thinking about getting a Series 3 TiVo. It has a native pass through option(480i, 720p and 1080i) and I want to make sure the 4095 accepts 480i over HDMI before I drop $800.

Any help is appreciated.

Has anyone gotten the 4095D to accept 480i over HDMI? I have the Directv HD TiVo and 480i over HDMI doesn't work. I can't tell if the box won't output 480i over HDMI, the set won't accept it or both.


I don't understand why you want to output 480i on an Direct HD box capable of exporting 1080i. Explain...

I don't understand why you want to output 480i on an Direct HD box capable of exporting 1080i. Explain...

The quick answer is if you think the de-interlacer and/or scaler in the television is superior to the de-interalcer and/or scaler in the set top box.

I am actually getting rid of the directv TiVo and am planning on getting the Series3 TiVo. It has the option to pass through the ntaive signal and that is what I want to use.

I would rather pass a native 720p broadcast like a Fox or ABC football game to my 4095D than have a set top box re-interlace it into 1080i. Why would you want to re-interlace 720p into 1080i?

I posed this question on the owner's forum, but I am not sure all the owners read that one yet so I will ask it again here.

Has anyone gotten the 4095D to accept 480i over HDMI? I have the Directv HD TiVo and 480i over HDMI doesn't work. I can't tell if the box won't output 480i over HDMI, the set won't accept it or both.

I can't find the answer in my manual, so if anyone does find it please let me know what page. The website only lists the supported resolutions on the component input, not the HDMI input. I know that a lot of devices have problems with 480i over HDMI because it's bandwidth is actually below the HDMI spec. This is why so few DVD players output 480i over HDMI.

The reason I ask is that I am going to have to return the Direct HD TiVo because of OTA issues and am thinking about getting a Series 3 TiVo. It has a native pass through option(480i, 720p and 1080i) and I want to make sure the 4095 accepts 480i over HDMI before I drop $800.

Any help is appreciated.

My 4051D over HDMI did not accept 480i but it accepted 480p, 720p and 1080i.

I am actually getting rid of the directv TiVo and am planning on getting the Series3 TiVo.

...and you're going to remember to private message me when you do, right?

I gotta hear about it. :)

Is it true that on the 4695 that you cannot adjust the tint when connected via hdmi or component?

Man, for three thousand dollars you would think that you'd be able to perform a simple function lke that.

...and you're going to remember to private message me when you do, right?

I gotta hear about it. :)

No need to wait on me Cocteau!

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=315892

I received my 4695d last Wednesday from Datavision. I have been fooling with it a fair bit this last several days and for the most part I am impressed. I have noticed a huge quality discrepancy in cable programming though. I use Comcast and have one of their newer HTDV tuners with the built in DVR. Some HD broadcasts look phenomenal, like the FOX Sunday NFL games and the free HD version of Terminator or pretty much all the Discovery channel programs (HD HBO and HD Starz look great as well). But some HD channels look like ass. The CBS HD NFL game came accross all pixelated and almost unwatchable, looking as bad or worse than SD and some other HD channels look fairly grainy. Some SD actually looks pretty good while other channels/programs look pretty bad. I have an older DVD player and the 480P feed from it looks decent, but not as good as I was hoping. I am thinking of getting a Samsung HD960 to upconvert the images to 1080P, so I can hold off for a while longer on the urge to go with HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. I have noticed some occasional blotchiness in random scenes (seems like mostly dark scenes), but since I do not have a HD source other than my cable feed, I cannot pinpoint if it is the TV or cable.

I'm wondering if this is intrinsic to all recent Samsung sets? If I upgraded to an LN-S4696D am I likely to find the same issue?

I don't think Samsung uses good processing a all. I've always disliked their DLP RPTVs, despite loving DLP. And I've now seen some LCDs that have *way* better motion, making me wonder if the deal with LCD just isn't laziness or cheapness on the part of the manufacturer.

Thanks.

I'm still not clear though about the bezel on the 4696. Is it flat black or gloss black?

It is gloss black. The audio deflector at the base is glass. Very nice piece of equipment.

The Pats game on CBS HD looked terrific and that was with cable plugged directly into the TV. I have noticed some qulity issues with sone sigs, but I believe that is a source issue - not the TV. There are a number of formats being used out there. This set (4696) is designed for the 1080 native HD sigs for sure. The digital sigs for the "analog" stations look much better than the analog broadcasts at the lower end of the cable spectrum. Looking forward to getting the cablecard installed later in the week.

I received my 4695d last Wednesday from Datavision. I have been fooling with it a fair bit this last several days and for the most part I am impressed. I have noticed a huge quality discrepancy in cable programming though. I use Comcast and have one of their newer HTDV tuners with the built in DVR. Some HD broadcasts look phenomenal, like the FOX Sunday NFL games and the free HD version of Terminator or pretty much all the Discovery channel programs (HD HBO and HD Starz look great as well). But some HD channels look like ass. The CBS HD NFL game came accross all pixelated and almost unwatchable, looking as bad or worse than SD and some other HD channels look fairly grainy. Some SD actually looks pretty good while other channels/programs look pretty bad. I have an older DVD player and the 480P feed from it looks decent, but not as good as I was hoping. I am thinking of getting a Samsung HD960 to upconvert the images to 1080P, so I can hold off for a while longer on the urge to go with HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. I have noticed some occasional blotchiness in random scenes (seems like mostly dark scenes), but since I do not have a HD source other than my cable feed, I cannot pinpoint if it is the TV or cable.

Why would you want to? I have an LG DVD player connected to the 4696 with an HDMI and when I push the resolution button, 480i won't display but 720 and 1080 do just fine. HDMI stands for High Definition Media Interface so a 480i by definition should not be accommodated.

I posed this question on the owner's forum, but I am not sure all the owners read that one yet so I will ask it again here.

Has anyone gotten the 4095D to accept 480i over HDMI? I have the Directv HD TiVo and 480i over HDMI doesn't work. I can't tell if the box won't output 480i over HDMI, the set won't accept it or both.

I can't find the answer in my manual, so if anyone does find it please let me know what page. The website only lists the supported resolutions on the component input, not the HDMI input. I know that a lot of devices have problems with 480i over HDMI because it's bandwidth is actually below the HDMI spec. This is why so few DVD players output 480i over HDMI.

The reason I ask is that I am going to have to return the Direct HD TiVo because of OTA issues and am thinking about getting a Series 3 TiVo. It has a native pass through option(480i, 720p and 1080i) and I want to make sure the 4095 accepts 480i over HDMI before I drop $800.

Any help is appreciated.

Why would you want to? I have an LG DVD player connected to the 4696 with an HDMI and when I push the resolution button, 480i won't display but 720 and 1080 do just fine. HDMI stands for High Definition Media Interface so a 480i by definition should not be accommodated.

Well, he does have a point. Why let a $50 player upconvert to 720 or 1080, when you can have a $2k high end chipset in the TV do the upconvert for you.

Only scenario I can see this being useful is when he wants to import an analog or Stand Def SD signal, and let the TV upconvert to 16x9.

Remember, 480 is 4:3, not widescreen, and if you don't want to use more than ONE cable, then it make sense not to have to change input to another cable.

Just because its an HD box, doesn't mean you will not watch SD channels on it.

Is this what you were referring to in wanting 480i ?? Also, if you have DirecTV HD, why are you gonna get the Tivo S3 ? The Tivo S3 has no sat inputs.

CadJoe

I know prices are all over the place for these sets, but thought I would mention that Best Buy Magnolia has the 46" LN-S4696D on sale (may have ended today) for a tad over $3600.

Has anyone tested their 4096D for video gaming lag? I'm all about the Xbox 360 and I'm planning on buying either the Samsung 4096D, a 40' Sony XBR2, or the 37' Sharp LC-37D90U. The Samsung looks like the best fit, but I'm very nervous as I know that the similar Samsung LN-S4051D has been listed as having serious issues on IGN.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Has anyone tested their 4096D for video gaming lag? I'm all about the Xbox 360 and I'm planning on buying either the Samsung 4096D, a 40' Sony XBR2, or the 37' Sharp LC-37D90U. The Samsung looks like the best fit, but I'm very nervous as I know that the similar Samsung LN-S4051D has been listed as having serious issues on IGN.

Any feedback would be appreciated.
\The Xbox360 on my 4696 is awesome!

Has anyone tested their 4096D for video gaming lag?

Samsung's website says is has a "game mode" that "speeds up the image processing response".

I'm thinking of getting a 4696D. I can't find a spec for its HDMI ports. Does anyone know if it supports HDMI 3.0? The PlayStation 3 will support HDMI 3.0. More to the point, is 1080P supported over HDMI? Some 1080P panels only support 1080i over HDMI.

Samsung's website says is has a "game mode" that "speeds up the image processing response".

I'm thinking of getting a 4696D. I can't find a spec for its HDMI ports. Does anyone know if it supports HDMI 3.0? The PlayStation 3 will support HDMI 3.0. More to the point, is 1080P supported over HDMI? Some 1080P panels only support 1080i over HDMI.

There is no "HDMI 3.0". There is HDMI 1.3, which yes, the PS3 will come with. The xx96D line however uses HDMI 1.2a I believe.

And yes, the Samsung does support 1080p over the HDMI port(s).

And yes, the Samsung does support 1080p over the HDMI port(s).

For sure verified? Thank you. I searched through this thread but I found some people saying yes, some saying no, and a lot of confusion.

p.s. sorry for confusing 1.3 with 3.0.

Samsung's website says is has a "game mode" that "speeds up the image processing response".

I'm thinking of getting a 4696D. I can't find a spec for its HDMI ports. Does anyone know if it supports HDMI 3.0? The PlayStation 3 will support HDMI 3.0. More to the point, is 1080P supported over HDMI? Some 1080P panels only support 1080i over HDMI.

My understanding is that the Samsung LN-S4051D experienced video gaming lag even when in "game mode".

Is that 1080P over HDMI at 30Hz or 60Hz?

The 4694D is everything I want except HDMI 1.3. Do you think it's worth waiting for an HDMI 1.3 panel? Samsung says it has a "10-bit processor with 12.8 billion colors", but I assume that's only inside its scaler and not its input.

Also, is $4250 (Canadian), including store's 5yr extended warrenty, a decent price? It's cheaper than I could find the Sony's 46" XBR2.

I hate to be a pest, but I've already had one sleepness night debating this purchase. Thanks.

After reading through this thread, one thing is confusing...

Is HDMI scaled or is it only VGA that's scaled?

On page 115 of the manual, "Changing the Picture Size (PC Mode)", says:
"16:9 : Scales the picture to 92% of the TV screen, regardless of the aspect ratio of the input source."

So VGA is shrunk to eliminate the overscan. But HDMI is displayed with overscan, so I'm hoping that it's displayed 1:1. If I buy a BluRay or HD-DVD player, I want that image to be displayed 1:1, without the tv doing any scaling on that signal. Overscan is stupid, but scaling an image by a couple percent would be even stupider.

Does anyone have measurements on the base of the 4095D? I'm curious if it will fit on a shelf I have.

Does anyone have measurements on the base of the 4095D? I'm curious if it will fit on a shelf I have.
The 4095D owner's manual shows the base as 22.8 inches wide and 11.3 inches deep.

Does anybody know if the Samsung LN-S5296D coming out soon has PIP?
I can't find it on their site
http://www.samsung.com/Products/TV/LCDTV/LNS5296DXXAA.asp

The Samsung 57" shows PIP feature
https://www.datavis.com/webapp/commerce/command/ExecMacro/proddisp.d2w/report?prrfnbr=463268&prmenbr=2000&tab=1

Check your PM box leisureg.

There is no "HDMI 3.0". There is HDMI 1.3, which yes, the PS3 will come with. The xx96D line however uses HDMI 1.2a I believe.

And yes, the Samsung does support 1080p over the HDMI port(s).

What about the soon to be released Samsung LN-S5296D 52"? HDMI 1.2 or 1.3?

What about the soon to be released Samsung LN-S5296D 52"? HDMI 1.2 or 1.3?

HDMI 1.2. HDMI 1.3 was just approved and started manufacturing a few weeks ago, when most of the TV lines coming to market had already been manufactured (including the 52" Sammy). Except for PS3 (and even that's in question) no CE will feature HDMI 1.3 until 2007, with the Sharp D92 line of TV's (scheduled for release in January of '07) in line to be the first HDTV's that offer HDMI 1.3 inputs.

Why do you like PIP so much leisureg? I love it and cannot think of owning an HDTV without PIP, but what's your deal? Just curious! :cool:

HDMI 1.2. HDMI 1.3 was just approved and started manufacturing a few weeks ago, when most of the TV lines coming to market had already been manufactured (including the 52" Sammy). Except for PS3 (and even that's in question) no CE will feature HDMI 1.3 until 2007, with the Sharp D92 line of TV's (scheduled for release in January of '07) in line to be the first HDTV's that offer HDMI 1.3 inputs.

Why do you like PIP so much leisureg? I love it and cannot think of owning an HDTV without PIP, but what's your deal? Just curious! :cool:


Sat & Sunday football games for starters!! :D

Does anybody know if the Samsung LN-S5296D coming out soon has PIP?
I can't find it on their site
http://www.samsung.com/Products/TV/LCDTV/LNS5296DXXAA.asp

The Samsung 57" shows PIP feature
https://www.datavis.com/webapp/commerce/command/ExecMacro/proddisp.d2w/report?prrfnbr=463268&prmenbr=2000&tab=1

Yes the 5296d has PIP. You can verify this by downloading the manual at samsung site.

The 4095D owner's manual shows the base as 22.8 inches wide and 11.3 inches deep.

Thanks.

Has any1 started to recieve or seen the 52" models anywhere? Have they been pushed back?

So although the PS3 features HDMI 1.3, does this mean it won't be able to transmit 1080p over HDMI 1.2 (on the 95d/96d series plasmas)? It HAS to, right? Otherwise there is no 1080p on the PS3 <on our tvs>!

The 52" was supposed to land at dealers late this week according to Samsung product manager. Given that they have posted the manual Id expect it shortly. My vendor shows delivery to him 9/22. I suspect that this may have slipped a week or so.

Has anyone tested their 4096D for video gaming lag? I'm all about the Xbox 360 and I'm planning on buying either the Samsung 4096D, a 40' Sony XBR2, or the 37' Sharp LC-37D90U. The Samsung looks like the best fit, but I'm very nervous as I know that the similar Samsung LN-S4051D has been listed as having serious issues on IGN.

Any feedback would be appreciated.


I had a friend bring over an xbox360 and we hooked it to my 4095 and there was no lag whatsoever ....

I had a friend bring over an xbox360 and we hooked it to my 4095 and there was no lag whatsoever ....

I'm glad to hear that. Thank you for your reply.

ANY info on whether 1080p content will play on the 4095/6d through HDMI 1.2?

ANY info on whether 1080p content will play on the 4095/6d through HDMI 1.2 via the PS3?

1080p will be displayed on 4X95D and 4x96 Sammy LCD's regardless of HDMI version (1.1, 1.2 or 1.3). The Sammy TV's won't display the 1080p signal as passed through (2% overscan loss of picture due to the TV's internal processing) but it will accept it and display it through VGA (analog), component and HDMI.

HDMI was designed to be backwards compatible in transmitting the video signal; it's the audio codecs (Dolby True HD, DTS, etc.) and the way they're decoded that are improved by HDMI 1.3. HDMI 1.3 will also boost the colors/resolution/depth of video signals if (a) both the TV and the thing connected to it (like PS3) are HDMI 1.3 (if either end of the chain isn't 1.3 then there's no improvement), plus (b) the media (videogame, HD-DVD/BR movie) has been coded to take advantage of the improved color/signal of 1.3 (no movie/game that I'm aware of is coded with 1.3 in mind... yet). A PS3 hooked-up to a TV with HDMI 1.3 playing a game or movie coded from scratch to take full advantage of the improved processing of 1.3 should blow people's minds. Sadly there are (a) no TV's accepting HDMI 1.3 out right now (2007 at the earliest, maybe with the Sharp D92 line) or (b) any movies/games with 1.3 out right now. That doesn't mean 1080p on HDMI 1.2 or lower TV's won't be cool and impressive though. Remember that 99% of people will not have HDMI 1.3 TV's hooked-up to HDMI 1.3 players/game consoles, so developes/studios would be foolish to make 1.2 or lower sets/players/consoles look bad.

Thanks for the info. I've seen the PQ difference, it's not huge in my opinion.

Can someone comment on the 4095D PQ in dark scenes? I've heard some people say in dark scenes (in a dark room) it doesn't look too hot. Any opinions?

I have just ordered a Samsung LN-S4095 and am trying to get my ducks in line for its arrival. One of the many things I'm uncertain about is whether I should consider obtaining an upconverting DVD player with HDMI output. A few posts I have read here seem to imply that this set is capable of upconverting standard definition component signals to a higher resolution appropriate for the set--making an upconverting player superfluous. Can anyone confirm this to help me avoid wasting money on an upconverting player?

I'll be happy to eventually apply such savings toward Blu Ray or HD-DVD (whichever) at some point when these technologies are more affordable to me. In the meantime, I want to have maximum performance out of my new HDTV.

I have just ordered a Samsung LN-S4095 and am trying to get my ducks in line for its arrival. One of the many things I'm uncertain about is whether I should consider obtaining an upconverting DVD player with HDMI output. A few posts I have read here seem to imply that this set is capable of upconverting standard definition component signals to a higher resolution appropriate for the set--making an upconverting player superfluous. Can anyone confirm this to help me avoid wasting money on an upconverting player?

I'll be happy to eventually apply such savings toward Blu Ray or HD-DVD (whichever) at some point when these technologies are more affordable to me. In the meantime, I want to have maximum performance out of my new HDTV.
Please Note that any new owner that is using a decent upconvert will report good results. As they do not own an HD Player they won't know firsthand that the difference is dramatic between the HD DVD Player and the upconvert as I own the Oppo 971 and HD DVD. No comparisons between the two the HD DVD Player is crystal clear and it's challenging to put into words other than the upconvert = Good PQ whereas the HD DVD = WoW!

I've also seen the 46" version of your panel with a good BD Display with the same results - making that panel among the Tops in the CC Store. Perhaps you could deal with good for now while you wait for the next gen HD DVD either via Xbox or stand alone unit. Don't worry about source - A major Studio is working on a hybrid disk that will record both formats in different layers on the same disk and if the Hybrid works you end up with content for both on the same disk since the available space in layers should be able to handle it. What it comes down to is money - but there is no comparison between the upconvert and the HD DVD when displaying such content to maximize your panel's PQ even though the remote sucks and some bugs occur with HDMI audio through some AVR's what you see in the end on the panel makes it worth it to most owners.

Edit: Once the audio is worked out (HD DVD) the Sound presentation is also better than an upconvert. I'm waiting for 1.3 HDMI AVR's to upgrade my AVR and add the next gen HD DVD with lossless and TrueHD Sound which delivers precisely what the Master contains.:)

What I should have made a little more clear in my previous post is that I was trying to decide whether to purchase an upconverting DVD player in addition to my current standard DVD player. Will I reap any benefits from the upconverting player? Or does the Samsung LN-S4095 automatically upconvert signals from my standard DVD player? That's what I meant about not wasting money.

I have seen the Blu Ray HD-DVD demo with my 1080P panel and was absolutely sold on its improvement over upconverting standard DVD's. That's the main reason I bit the bullet and spent so much more money for a 1080P set. I know eventually I wouldn't be satisfied without being able to go to HD DVD on a 1080P set. If I bought anything less at this point, I would eventually face the cost of replacing it.

Can anyone offer more opinions on black level/shadow dark performance? Also - this is the same panel used in the 4096d, correct? Last question - as I'm struggling to decide between the 4092d and the 4095d, on OTA HD and upconverted discs, is there a difference in PQ? I know neither of these sources are 1080p, but do you see a difference? Thanks.

I have just ordered a Samsung LN-S4095 and am trying to get my ducks in line for its arrival. One of the many things I'm uncertain about is whether I should consider obtaining an upconverting DVD player with HDMI output. A few posts I have read here seem to imply that this set is capable of upconverting standard definition component signals to a higher resolution appropriate for the set--making an upconverting player superfluous. Can anyone confirm this to help me avoid wasting money on an upconverting player?



I have the 4095, and no, it doesn't have it's own video processor. You must have been reading about the Advo processor in the thread.

If you don't have the cash to plunk down on a HD DVD player today, then by all means get an upconverting player.

You do raise a good question though... Is running a video processor and an upconverting player a redundant act?

I'm pretty sure the Advo crowd would say the processor helps the signal, though i'm not sure.

I have the 4095, and no, it doesn't have it's own video processor. You must have been reading about the Advo processor in the thread.

If you don't have the cash to plunk down on a HD DVD player today, then by all means get an upconverting player.

You do raise a good question though... Is running a video processor and an upconverting player a redundant act?

I'm pretty sure the Advo crowd would say the processor helps the signal, though i'm not sure.

Actually, all HDTV's have a "video processor". They have to in order to even do the scaling of lower res SD signals to the native res of the panels.

While the Samsung might not have a well known one such as the Genesis or HQV, it certainly has some type of processor in it. Very frequently, if none is specifically advertised it is actually an ATI chip it seems.

Actually, all HDTV's have a "video processor". They have to in order to even do the scaling of lower res SD signals to the native res of the panels.

While the Samsung might not have a well known one such as the Genesis or HQV, it certainly has some type of processor in it. Very frequently, if none is specifically advertised it is actually an ATI chip it seems.

Excellent points and quite true.

However the poster was saying

"A few posts I have read here seem to imply that this set is capable of upconverting standard definition component signals to a higher resolution appropriate for the set--making an upconverting player superfluous."

In lay terms, the set doesn't take on the task of making SD signals look better, nor does it provide processing to make SD DVD look better either.

I'm afraid he's not going to be too happy about how his SD signals look when his set arrives. :eek:

The dude should get an upconverting DVD player.

In lay terms, the set doesn't take on the task of making SD signals look better, nor does it provide processing to make SD DVD look better either.


I thought that what the DNIe was doing, or does the DNIe only work on ATSC signals?

Does The Samsung LN-S4696D UPCONVERT 720p AND 1080i inputs to be displayed as 1080p images on this model?

It has to just to show the images Well, I suppose you could do 1080i natively, but that wouldn't make sense.

I've been reading this thread since page 30. Many of my questions have been answered so far. This TV's ability to handle the HTPC component is very important to me. I'm still on the fence as to whether I should drop the cash on a 4095D or just wait for a model that has all of the features I'm looking for without having to attempt workarounds to address its limitations

Rotkiv answered a lot of questions for me by indicating that an nVidia 6800 video card with DVI-HDMI conversion will work, althought it is not true 1:1 pixel mapping. So, I'm going to venture out and say that the newer nVidia video cards with HDMI outputs (MSI 7600GT, Leadtek PX7900GS) should address the PC connectivity through HDMI issue; hopefully to the degree of what's capable with the nVidia 6800, if not better.

I know that overscanning on the 95 series is significant to some and not so significant to others. Overscanning, based on what I've read in this forum, is not a totally bad thing. But, I'm still not sure as to whether I should buy this set based on its positive aspects or wait a little while based on what most people perceive as drawbacks.

Any information or feedback is appreciated.

I'm still on the fence as to whether I should drop the cash on a 4095D or just wait for a model that has all of the features I'm looking for without having to attempt workarounds to address its limitations.

I know that overscanning on the 95 series is significant to some and not so significant to others. Overscanning, based on what I've read in this forum, is not a totally bad thing. But, I'm still not sure as to whether I should buy this set based on its positive aspects or wait a little while based on what most people perceive as drawbacks.

Let me put it to you this way. If I were made out of money I would have crossed the 4X95D LCD's off my list completely and moved on to other 1080p LCD's that don't overscan. Yes, 2% lost picture and no 1:1 is a small sacrifice but it's the equivalent of dead pixels for somebody that can't stand dead pixels: just knowing they're there (just like I'd know I'm missing 2% of what I should be seeing) would be psychological torture for the years I'd expect to own the TV. But the truth is I'm not made of money, so it's hard to ignore how low the prices of the 4X95D LCD's are falling (check authorized dealer Datavision's eBay store) and that, for the price of 1:1 no overscan 1080p LCD's from Sharp, Sony and Mitsubishi I could buy a 46" 4X95D Sammy and have leftover money for hooking-up Dish, buy an HD-DVD player, etc. Picture quality is an entirely different kind of judgment criteria altogether (picture quality is an entirely different kind of judgment criteria :D) but, after eyeballing these sets for months now, I'm not convinced the Sammy is either as good or too much below where the picture from the big boys is right now. They're all pretty even, except Sammy offers PIP and style (something Sony apparently knows nothing about based on the XBR2/3 design).

So, if you have the means then look beyond the 4X95D, try to find a 1080p LCD that will not overscan and give you 1:1 pixel mapping. But if you're poor like me then try to mentally fool yourself into forgetting that it overscans 2% and doesn't pass 1080p unmolested, and you'll have both a decent-to-good LCD and a pretty sweet deal! Hope that confused you more than before! :confused:

Prices are indeed falling quickly. If you're searching around for the 409X series you may also want to check out your local Fry's (or outpost.com).

Overscan has been part of CRT TV's for years. OS levels of 5% or more with direct view and rear projection sets were not uncommon. It helped hide the interlacing on the sides and the switching signals on the top and bottom. Even movie theaters have OS; how often does part of a very wide projected picture end up on the side curtains? Is OS necessary with pixel TV's; no, but the amount of data presented in the outer 2% is really quite small. Just some random thoughts on this.

2% overscan doesn't sound like that big a deal until you see it in person side-by-side with HDTV's that don't have it. It might be peripheral images/data you're losing, but just the knowledge that you're losing that 2% with the Sammy sets while the Sony/Sharp/etc. owners are seeing the whole enchilada is too much for some picky HD freaks to handle. Worse than the 2% overscan though is knowing the Sammy 4X95D/4X96's are adding one layer of unnecessary processing to 1080p signals that should be permitted to pass through unmolested and 1:1. :(

Everyone here has raised some valid points. The price of the set is very attractive. And, I am really impressed with the picture.

I think I'll hold off until 2007. Perhaps Samsung will correct some of these issues in an upcoming model.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Let me put it to you this way. If I were made out of money I would have crossed the 4X95D LCD's off my list completely and moved on to other 1080p LCD's that don't overscan. Yes, 2% lost picture and no 1:1 is a small sacrifice but it's the equivalent of dead pixels for somebody that can't stand dead pixels: just knowing they're there (just like I'd know I'm missing 2% of what I should be seeing) would be psychological torture for the years I'd expect to own the TV. But the truth is I'm not made of money, so it's hard to ignore how low the prices of the 4X95D LCD's are falling (check authorized dealer Datavision's eBay store) and that, for the price of 1:1 no overscan 1080p LCD's from Sharp, Sony and Mitsubishi I could buy a 46" 4X95D Sammy and have leftover money for hooking-up Dish, buy an HD-DVD player, etc. Picture quality is an entirely different kind of judgment criteria altogether (picture quality is an entirely different kind of judgment criteria :D) but, after eyeballing these sets for months now, I'm not convinced the Sammy is either as good or too much below where the picture from the big boys is right now. They're all pretty even, except Sammy offers PIP and style (something Sony apparently knows nothing about based on the XBR2/3 design).

So, if you have the means then look beyond the 4X95D, try to find a 1080p LCD that will not overscan and give you 1:1 pixel mapping. But if you're poor like me then try to mentally fool yourself into forgetting that it overscans 2% and doesn't pass 1080p unmolested, and you'll have both a decent-to-good LCD and a pretty sweet deal! Hope that confused you more than before! :confused:

Look at the new The AQUOS LC-52D62U Sharp LCD coming out like I am

Look at the new The AQUOS LC-52D62U Sharp LCD coming out like I am

No PIP though! :(

Does The Samsung LN-S4696D UPCONVERT 720p AND 1080i inputs to be displayed as 1080p images on this model?

Don't know if the DNIe does any upconverting or not, seeing nobody wants to answer that question.

I did see the 4095 at BB today, watching D* NFL HD Ticket. They were running it at 1280 x 720p, and the pictures on the 4095 was equal to the 5296 right next to it.

I put both in DNIe DEMO mode, and the DNIe did make the colors much more vivid, and skin tones were much more life like. However, the grass on the field would become somewhat pixelated during high speed moving plays, but IMHO, was not a show stopper. Wondering if down the road when D* broadcasts 1080P, the small areas of pixelation would be resolved. With DNIe off, there was no pixelation that I could see, however the colors were somewhat dull (maybe this is how the grass really looked).

One thing I noticed, when the game went to commercial, the TV's switch back to a 4:3 format because the commercial was not HD.

I switched the 4095 to force the commercial to 16:9 and it looked pretty good. A LOT better than what I had heard some people say SD looks on an HDTV.

Were these commercials SD signals ?? If so, I was happy with the SD pictures stretched to 16x9.

you saw the 5296??? it's out??? :eek:

I did see the 4095 at BB today, watching D* NFL HD Ticket. They were running it at 1280 x 720p, and the pictures on the 4095 was equal to the 5296 right next to it.

Where was this? If true this the the first official sighting of the 5296 in the wild (i.e. B&M stores). Care to offer more specifics CadJoE?

Ok I started my own thread on the 4696 but figured this one is more popular then mine. I am getting the 4696 and the Sammy Blu-ray player and what ever home theater system I decide, after input from yall. What is the best cables I need to set up the 4696, the blu-ray and my direct tv? Be gentle people, the last time I was caught up on this stuff, the S-video was just coming out. :) So what say yall? Thanks

dad1153 did u decide what set you will get. u flirted with sammys for a while as you know, then the xbr2/3 now the sharps.

you are right, I am not made out of money either, hence why i want the most for it. hence why i am researching and comparing sets. The sharps for the size, pq ( if specs and early reports are true ) This october should be fun to shop for a set.

"This is a extremely bad reasoning to convince yourself that the Samsungs are worth buying. If the money is such a big deal for you, why would you spend it on a unit that crippled in such a way? Price is not going to be an issue for long. The new Sharp's are already priced significantly less than the Samsung's on some internet retailers, and will probably be less in B&M's as well. After that if price is still a problem, then simply wait, and wait some more until you can afford it.

There is ZERO reason why anyone on an HDTV specialty forum like AVS should even be considering these sets anymore. Samsung screwed up big time, and they deserve every negative comment. The 96D series should not be considered 1080p tv's because of the overscan. And people should be recommending these or convincing eachother to buy them."

Don't you think that's overreacting just a tad? The bottom line is that, if someone wants a set NOW, the Sharps aren't out yet. All speculation about how great the Sharps are are based solely on that... speculation. To say that you can't call the Samsung sets 1080P is ridiculous. So what if there's 2% overscan. My current SXRD RP set has between 3 and 4% overscan all around it, as do almost all RP sets (and many other flat panels). This is nothing new, and truly is NOT that big a deal. I'm only going to be hooking up my PC over VGA anyway (which IS 1:1 mapping), so I could honestly care less. The picture on the 96Ds is fantastic, and that's what really matters in all this... isn't it?

Don't you think that's overreacting just a tad? The bottom line is that, if someone wants a set NOW, the Sharps aren't out yet.

Perhaps, that's why I deleted the comment. But it ticks me off when I read people recommending these units with stupid reasonings when there are other units that are not crippled in this manner and priced in the same range. And yes, a tv that overscans cannot be 1080p capable. If it's only 980p capable it should say so on the front otherwise it's false advertising.

Perhaps, that's why I deleted the comment. But it ticks me off when I read people recommending these units with stupid reasonings when there are other units that are not crippled in this manner and priced in the same range. And yes, a tv that overscans cannot be 1080p capable. If it's only 980p capable it should say so on the front otherwise it's false advertising.


Get off your high horse and just wait for your sharp and stop bashing the people here who have their own opinions about this model.

Get off your high horse and just wait for your sharp and stop bashing the people here who have their own opinions about this model.

If it were a matter of opinion I'd relent, but it's not. I think this forum needs some basic ethics like not recommending a display to someone simply on the basis of "I own it and like it, oh don't worry about overscan, just go buy it anyways."

Look at the new The AQUOS LC-52D62U Sharp LCD coming out like I am

Good to hear that you are finally coming out!

Perhaps, that's why I deleted the comment. But it ticks me off when I read people recommending these units with stupid reasonings when there are other units that are not crippled in this manner and priced in the same range. And yes, a tv that overscans cannot be 1080p capable. If it's only 980p capable it should say so on the front otherwise it's false advertising.

You do realize that all these TV's (including the new Sharps and the XBR2/3s) only have the option of zero overscan in one special mode for HD content right? In ALL other modes, they too overscan the image, since overscan is still expected with television material. I think it gets overlooked a bit too often that these are in fact still televisions, and like it or not, overscan is an expected part of television broadcasts.

Also, most 720P sets also had overscan, because they are meant as TVs. So basically, we've been lied to for the past 5 years about all HDTVs? In reality we only have ~670P and ~1000P? :eek:

I WILL be buying one of these because the picture is fantastic, and the 2% overscan is material that is not expected to be seen anyway, and because IT'S A TV. I'm not buying it with the intent of ever hooking up a PC via HDMI... no reason to. So the overscan does not concern me in the least. Not like any poster couldn't find this out for themselves by looking at the specs, but you do fail to ever mention that the Sharp panels coming out do not incorporate a VGA input at all. This basically means that anyone trying hookup a laptop that isn't a Mac of some kind is SOL when it comes to using their TV as a monitor. That is something that should be pointed out, since these Sharp/Sony/Samsung 52" models are all being bountied about as being identical in feature-sets (when in reality only the Samsung and Sony have VGA input and Cablecard). There is a reason why the Sharp is cheaper after all.

I'm very happy for you that you want to buy the Sharp... great. Go buy it and be happy with it. I'll be happy with my purchase too.

Where was this? If true this the the first official sighting of the 5296 in the wild (i.e. B&M stores). Care to offer more specifics CadJoE?

Ok, I went back and checked again. Yes, LNS 5296. Next to it also was a 4096, so I stood at an angle w/ the remote and compared EVERY menu option. They were identical menus.

The bottom has the clear glass angled bezel piece that others were talking about earlier. The blue light even shines on the glass, and kinda glows blue along the bottom.

The sales guy at BB, an idiot tonight, told me they didn't make an 4696 when I asked where it was. Hey said they only make a 40 and a 52.

I even took some pictures of the front sticker, 6000:1 dynamic, 2 HDMI, etc, and a couple of pictures of the input jacks on the back. All I had was my 1mb phone cam, and room was dark.

CadJoe

Thanks CadJoe, that's pretty cool although the asking price in pic #1 is too high now that the Sharp D62's are priced closer to the $3,000 price range in some online stores (but the Sharps don't do PIP). How did the picture look compared to the 4096 next to it and the other TV's in the store? About the same, better, worse? How did the blacks look? Did you turn off the DNiE when testing the 52" with the remote, did it make any difference? Opinions man, opinions! :o

Well, I'm not really interested in the 52 for my bedroom, so I paid a LOT more attention to the 40.

However, the quality looked excellent on both. This was during the NFL 720p game on Saturday. Tonight, they has some crummy letterbox source, and the guy couldn't figure out how to change it.

I didn't play with DNIe on the 52, but I would assume it was equal to the 4096.

I would assume the 52, 46 & 40 have the same circuitry, although I'm still not sure if the 96 has better circuits or processors then the 95, and not just DCR etc.

Let me know if there is something specific you want me to check.

Overscan or not, this the 4095 is one of the best LCD TVs out right now. As was said, overscan is common and even expected in many "video" formats. In some cases it even hides the part of the image that the broadcasters don't expect/want you to see. So, as a PC monitor the 95 series may not be the way to go since the VGA input (which is has no overscan by the way) is not the greatest.

But as a TV/HDTV this TV performs and it performs well. Do some research and you will find than nearly all HDTVs overscan in most modes while some offer modes without any but its not all that common yet. Overscan is nothing new. TVs have had it since day 1 and getting rid of it takes time and there are technical reason to keep it. At only 2% its hardly an issue and it helps some sources. Yes, because you won't see the dotted lines or data noise on the edges of many TV signals.

Of course it would be better to have the option to turn it on/off on every single input but thats no reason to write the TV off because its doing something 99% of TVs still do and most overscan more than 2%.

I just finished reading through the thread and didn't find an answer ...

Has anyone confirmed the presence of overscan on the 4695 or 4696 via visual inspection? I was at Fry's (SJ Brokaw) on Sunday and clearly observed the reported overscan on a 4096 based on the 40XBR2 sitting right next to it. However, directly across the aisle was a 4696, and I could not detect any overscan based on the Toshiba next to it (sorry I am not familiar with the Toshiba models). Has anyone else looked into this themselves?

p.s. Thanks for all the great information in this thread!

The sales guy at BB, an idiot tonight, told me they didn't make an 4696 when I asked where it was. Hey said they only make a 40 and a 52.

I even took some pictures of the front sticker, 6000:1 dynamic, 2 HDMI, etc, and a couple of pictures of the input jacks on the back. All I had was my 1mb phone cam, and room was dark.

CadJoe


I had the same problem at BB. I was looking for the 4695D and BB told me Samsung didn't make a 1080p 46" LCD tv. And insisted on it too, saying where ever you saw it, they were lying.

I had the same problem at BB. I was looking for the 4695D and BB told me Samsung didn't make a 1080p 46" LCD tv. And insisted on it too, saying where ever you saw it, they were lying.

HA, good help is just SO hard to find. I would have fun playing w/ HDTV all day, learning the differences, and getting paid to do it, crummy pay I'm sure.

I don't understand why they don't have an HD-DVD hooked up, or at least get an OTA ATSC going, so you can REALLY see HD, and not NFL Sunday Ticket HD-Lite. You would think they would do this to make the TV look its best to sale more.

You would think there would be someone who works at BB in these forums learning.


I would LOVE to see someone from the MFG in here answering these questions about "What is the REAL reason the 96 cost $500 more than the 95 " ?? Does it overscan, does it not?

HA, good help is just SO hard to find. I would have fun playing w/ HDTV all day, learning the differences, and getting paid to do it, crummy pay I'm sure.

I don't understand why they don't have an HD-DVD hooked up, or at least get an OTA ATSC going, so you can REALLY see HD, and not NFL Sunday Ticket HD-Lite. You would think they would do this to make the TV look its best to sale more.

You would think there would be someone who works at BB in these forums learning.


I would LOVE to see someone from the MFG in here answering these questions about "What is the REAL reason the 96 cost $500 more than the 95 " ?? Does it overscan, does it not?


Needless to say, I had a few words with him and left. They lost the sale, I went across the street to CC and they price matched what I saw the same day at Brandsmart. Also beating the price, b/c the price match guarantee.

I wish the Samsung website was a little more helpful in this case as well. On the website the seem the same to the t, except for the contrast ratio. IIRC

Overscan or not, this the 4095 is one of the best LCD TVs out right now. As was said, overscan is common and even expected in many "video" formats. In some cases it even hides the part of the image that the broadcasters don't expect/want you to see. So, as a PC monitor the 95 series may not be the way to go since the VGA input (which is has no overscan by the way) is not the greatest.

But as a TV/HDTV this TV performs and it performs well. Do some research and you will find than nearly all HDTVs overscan in most modes while some offer modes without any but its not all that common yet. Overscan is nothing new. TVs have had it since day 1 and getting rid of it takes time and there are technical reason to keep it. At only 2% its hardly an issue and it helps some sources. Yes, because you won't see the dotted lines or data noise on the edges of many TV signals.

Of course it would be better to have the option to turn it on/off on every single input but thats no reason to write the TV off because its doing something 99% of TVs still do and most overscan more than 2%.

I agree. I have had the 4695D now for about 3 weeks and yes the set does have overscan, but it is minor imo. The XBR2/3 price does not warrant the reduction of the 2% overscan imo, especially since the set is used for bedroom viewing.

I find the picture stunning on the Sammy as it is on the XBR's. I am having a hard time watching my Sammy 61" HLN model DLP anymore, and I used to really be down on LCD, but not anymore.

I have my bedroom HTPC connected to the LCD via a DVI->HDMI cable. I was unhappy with the VGA input, even though I got full 1080p as there was some text ghosting and a dull picture. But, if you have a NVidia video card, their drivers have some great overscan adjustments for your desktop. I believe I am running 1881 X 1059 or something like that and I have a full desktop now and it still looks wonderful. 1080p wmv files look amazing.

I do understand that this is unacceptable for many, but not for me. The picture is just stunning on this set and I can live with the (what I view as) minor problems it has.

Having said this, Of course I would consider the XBR3 if the price were to come down to the same level of the Sammy.

Later

Thanks, liltalkm. I'm looking to go the same route with a DVI->HMDI cable and nvidia overscan compensation. Am I correct in assuming that the only disadvantage here is a lack of 1:1 pixel mapping? I'm not terribly concerned about that (ok, it bugs me a little, but not for practical reasons). I'm planning on doing some gaming, and PC games don't always take overscan into consideration when designing a HUD.

Thanks, liltalkm. I'm looking to go the same route with a DVI->HMDI cable and nvidia overscan compensation. Am I correct in assuming that the only disadvantage here is a lack of 1:1 pixel mapping? I'm not terribly concerned about that (ok, it bugs me a little, but not for practical reasons). I'm planning on doing some gaming, and PC games don't always take overscan into consideration when designing a HUD.


Let me say, I can afford the XBR, but it just did not make sense for me to spend the extra dough, and yes, the overscan bothers me a little too, but it becomes a non-issue once I start enjoying the set. Plus I love the look of the Sammy and it kept ringing in my ear that Sammy is making the panel for the Sony as well.

Same can be said for the rainbow effect on my DLP. I noticed it after reading so much about it on the boards, still purchsed it, figured out how to see it and would notice it constantly at first. But after spending time with it, I started to watch TV a little different and now I hardly notice it at all and never find myself *looking* for it anymore.

The lack of 1:1 is the only disadvantage that I know of and either you can live with it, or you can't. But without 1:1, my HTPC still looks excellent via HDMI. I have not tried any PC games on it, but my 360 looks excellent via component too.

Later

I'm sort of new to this board, but have been reading/learning as fast as can. Is it true that the new 46D62 Aquos series from Sharp will have a 4 millisecond refresh rate (via Crutchfield Electronics specs)? Will that make fast action sports even smoother than the Sony and Samsung at 8 milliseconds? That is the one holdup that I have right now in pulling the trigger on an LCD set. I had always been told be salesmen/"experts" that plasmas are much better for sports and action. I would love to combine the crisp picture of 1080p LCD with a high response rate of a plasma. Does this 4 millisecond rate point me in that direction?

p.s. - of course there is the Sharp D62 drawback of not having P&P.

p.s. - of course there is the Sharp D62 drawback of not having P&P.

As well as no VGA input or cablecard.

Be aware too that the 4ms refresh rate is only in "Fine Pitch Mode" according to Sharp. What that entails exactly no one really knows. Just check out the 4696d at CC or BB if you can and see if you notice any blurring. If not, I wouldn't worry too much.

p.s. - of course there is the Sharp D62 drawback of not having P&P.

I was told the Sharp LC 52D62U DOES have PIP

Does anyone have the Samsung LN-S4096D or LN-S4696D with the CableCard feature in use? If so, could you please share your experience regarding setup, usage, etc. of the CableCard in this set? Thanks.

Does anyone have the Samsung LN-S4096D or LN-S4696D with the CableCard feature in use? If so, could you please share your experience regarding setup, usage, etc. of the CableCard in this set? Thanks.

Nothing for you to setup. In my case, Comcast came by, plugged the card in (and proceeded to leave fingerprints on my screen) and pulled some numbers off the card to call into the central office. A few minutes later, I was watching channels according to the Comcast channel guide.

Thanks for the reply, PaulMD. That sounds pretty straightforward. I've read a bunch of horror stories about setting up a CableCard, but there doesn't seem to be very much information from people who are actually using it. I would like to use this feature in my upcoming HDTV purchase.

Two other quick questions for you, PaulMD:

1. With CableCard installed, does the Samsung provide any type of built in guide feature? Or is there another way to view channel info, jump between channels, etc.?

2. Have you had any problems with the service of the CableCard? I have heard of them being "reset" by the Cable company, during which time the channel lineup is out of order or otherwise unavailable. Do you mind if I ask what cable company you have?

Thanks.

Let me say, I can afford the XBR, but it just did not make sense for me to spend the extra dough, and yes, the overscan bothers me a little too, but it becomes a non-issue once I start enjoying the set. Plus I love the look of the Sammy and it kept ringing in my ear that Sammy is making the panel for the Sony as well.


Later

I'm in the same camp, but I'll add I did like the feeling of getting the HD DVD player "for free" by going with the Samsung. ;)

The overscan is actually less than 2%, and it's helpful to have when watching SD signals, as it clips out the twittering edge of the frame.

I'm quite certain I'm not missing much in HD either, but I can sympathize for those who wish to see a full toolbar.

I thought that what the DNIe was doing, or does the DNIe only work on ATSC signals?

DNIe is definately not supposed to replace a video processor, and if it professes to enhance SD signals into a better one, than I better make room on the floor to roll around laughing on. ;)

I tried it out on my set, and it just looked like a movie mode setting.

I'm in the same camp, but I'll add I did like the feeling of getting the HD DVD player "for free" by going with the Samsung. ;)

The overscan is actually less than 2%, and it's helpful to have when watching SD signals, as it clips out the twittering edge of the frame.

I'm quite certain I'm not missing much in HD either, but I can sympathize for those who wish to see a full toolbar.


Free HD DVD player? :eek:

Did I miss out on something?

Later

I think he is referring to the money he's "saving" by buying the Samsung instead of the Sony. It will pay for an HD-DVD player ;)

I think he is referring to the money he's "saving" by buying the Samsung instead of the Sony. It will pay for an HD-DVD player ;)


roflmao! :o

well duh, I guess I did not have enough caffine today to figure that one out.

I read for free and not "for free"

:o

Thanks

Any pros/cons for adding a Sammy Blu-ray to my Sammy LN-S4696? Are the camps divided for the HD-players and the Blu-ray players? Bare with me, I am new so be gentle on the comments...but the LN-S4696 is 1080P so the Blu-ray would be the better compliment? Thanks.

If you take a gander at the front page, reports are coming out saying HD DVD has better PQ... I"ve seen the Blu-Ray player at BB hooked up to the 4095D, the picture is pretty sweet but not stunning. I'd say go to BB/CC/Magnolia, ask them if they will move their HD DVD player to the sammy set and watch it. THey should do it for you if they think you're interested in purchasing the set - then pass your judgement.

does anyone have the XBOX 360 hooked up to their Samsung 4095d via the VGA port?

i got the vga cable but any of the HD settings doesnt work... it says "not supported"

Any pros/cons for adding a Sammy Blu-ray to my Sammy LN-S4696?

Just because they're both Samsung doesn't mean the best HD happens between them. HD-DVD or a good upconverting DVD player will bring smiles to your face as much as the Blue-Ray, but beware of the BR format's current batch of movies! BR is developing a reputation for inconsistent transfers that range from excellent ('Tears from the Sun,' 'Stealth,' etc.) to abominable ('The Fifth Element,' 'House of Flying Daggers,' etc.) with a lot of mediocrity in between. Go to this website's HD-DVD and Blue-Ray sections, read around for both formats' strenghts and weaknesses (neither is perfect but a clear winner is emerging and it ain't Sony's) and make sure you know what you're getting into if you decide to go BR. Good luck! :o

Free HD DVD player? :eek:

Did I miss out on something?

Later

Just saying by choosing the Samsung over the Sony, I was able to get the Toshiba HD player "for free"

Any pros/cons for adding a Sammy Blu-ray to my Sammy LN-S4696? Are the camps divided for the HD-players and the Blu-ray players? Bare with me, I am new so be gentle on the comments...but the LN-S4696 is 1080P so the Blu-ray would be the better compliment? Thanks.

Spend some time on the threads that discuss Blu-Ray vs. HD DVD

Many people returned their Blu-Ray players. The current encoding is weaker than HD DVD. That will change though.

Personally I went HD DVD, but I'll also have Blu-Ray when PS3 is launched. Then we'll have the dicsc coming out that play on both formats, and if that's a winner, I'll eBay the HD DVD player. :)

Thanks for the reply, PaulMD. That sounds pretty straightforward. I've read a bunch of horror stories about setting up a CableCard, but there doesn't seem to be very much information from people who are actually using it. I would like to use this feature in my upcoming HDTV purchase.

Two other quick questions for you, PaulMD:

1. With CableCard installed, does the Samsung provide any type of built in guide feature? Or is there another way to view channel info, jump between channels, etc.?

2. Have you had any problems with the service of the CableCard? I have heard of them being "reset" by the Cable company, during which time the channel lineup is out of order or otherwise unavailable. Do you mind if I ask what cable company you have?


Thanks.


The remote has a Channel Guide Button. You can surf through the channels, delete unused channels, or select to watch, etc.

Not aware of that, but there is a "reorg" selction on the CabelCard menu which is accessible after the CableCard is plugged in. Using Comcast here.

I have had my S4695D for 5 days now, and am still looking for a DVD player. I am considering Oppo 970HD, but am concerned by complaints that Samsung LCD does not take pure 480i over HDMI interface, a strong suite of 970HD whose upconvert capability is not as good as 971HD and others since it does not have the touted Fa****** processor. Can any 4x95/96 owner confirm the 480i input over HDMI problem? Even with this limitation, I am still hoping that 970HD can output good quality 480p signal for S4695D to upconvert to 1080p as I believe the upscaler inside S4695D is superior to Oppo. Appreciate if you can share your experience with Oppo and Samsung S4x95/96D.

On another note, my wife and I have been happy with SD signals from Dish receiver displayed on S4695D (HD upgrade was put on hold due to installation issues. Long story) We are sitting about 11-12 ft away from the TV.

Nothing for you to setup. In my case, Comcast came by, plugged the card in (and proceeded to leave fingerprints on my screen) and pulled some numbers off the card to call into the central office. A few minutes later, I was watching channels according to the Comcast channel guide.

My 4696D was just delivered. At UE, the salesman said this model no longer supports CableCard and I see a slot in the back labelled "Common Interface." I was not put off by the salesman's comment because I'm a D* subscriber and I guess this first gen' card technology is being phased out anyway. (???)

What are those functional slots on your sets called?

TIA.

I am looking for insight on which set to get. I've been waiting for BB to get in the Ln-S4692 I was told today that they will have the 4695 by the end of the month and that for the salesman said for the difference it was the really the way go. WHY other than 1080P and promise of a better picture, should I spend the difference. I have read the entire thread I am still confused

Thank you all for any help and knowledge

I am looking for insight on which set to get. I've been waiting for BB to get in the Ln-S4692 I was told today that they will have the 4695 by the end of the month and that for the salesman said for the difference it was the really the way go.

That's funny. I was told by BB salespeople that they would NEVER have the 46xx.

40 and 52 only.

rswmkw - I bought the 4692 originally and replaced it with the 4696 - which is working great. I experienced a number of dark screen artifacts and scene "memory" problems. Good example of the problem was that new iPod commercial that's all dark but has neon glowing ipods being whipped around the screen leaving neat glowing trails of light behind them. With the 4692 set, the trails from a previous scene lingered into the next (!) making it very difficult to see what was going on. This problem didn't happen on the 4696.

Search for my posts to get the whole story.

I agree. I have had the 4695D now for about 3 weeks and yes the set does have overscan

I have my bedroom HTPC connected to the LCD via a DVI->HDMI cable. I was unhappy with the VGA input, even though I got full 1080p as there was some text ghosting and a dull picture. But, if you have a NVidia video card, their drivers have some great overscan adjustments for your desktop. I believe I am running 1881 X 1059 or something like that and I have a full desktop now and it still looks wonderful. 1080p wmv files look amazing.

I do understand that this is unacceptable for many, but not for me. The picture is just stunning on this set and I can live with the (what I view as) minor problems it has.


Later

litalkm
Have you tried a svga cable? I read that it can make a big diff? I have never tried it but if you get a chance let us know if you see an improvement.
thanks Roy

necrolop,

Not sure I understand. You think any combination of video sources will be permitted:

A) a cable box input,
B) OTA HD using the internal tuner,
C) some future Blu-ray input
D) HTPC
etc, etc.

Or are you saying that the internal tuner has to be one of the inputs (i.e. what is a "TV program? Isn't it the same as a video source")?


I would advise just just download the pdf manual of the exact model you are interested in. I recall there is a box chart showing what combo of video sources are permitted.

The remote has a Channel Guide Button. You can surf through the channels, delete unused channels, or select to watch, etc.

Not aware of that, but there is a "reorg" selction on the CabelCard menu which is accessible after the CableCard is plugged in. Using Comcast here.

Thanks again for this info, PaulMD. Much appreciated.

Just ask the BB person to look it up the LN-S 4695 they showed me right on the screen that it was in there system. I think I might wait the extra few weeks after reading the a great post from ZyronEnder

Please forgive me for asking this question, but as much as I have tried, I could not find the answer. What is the difference between the 4695 and 4696? Thank you.

Does anyone know if the Omni Mount U3 will work well for the LN-S4695?

~Josh

rswmkw - I bought the 4692 originally and replaced it with the 4696 - which is working great. I experienced a number of dark screen artifacts and scene "memory" problems. Good example of the problem was that new iPod commercial that's all dark but has neon glowing ipods being whipped around the screen leaving neat glowing trails of light behind them. With the 4692 set, the trails from a previous scene lingered into the next (!) making it very difficult to see what was going on. This problem didn't happen on the 4696.

Search for my posts to get the whole story.
Thank you for the infomation I am going to look closely at this I watch a lot of hockey

Speaking of iPODs ... is everyone aware that the 4696 has an iPOD interface and UI built into the firmware .... other Samsungs may as well.

That's funny. I was told by BB salespeople that they would NEVER have the 46xx.

40 and 52 only.

Only available at thier Magnolia locations.

I have had my S4695D for 5 days now, and am still looking for a DVD player. I am considering Oppo 970HD, but am concerned by complaints that Samsung LCD does not take pure 480i over HDMI interface, a strong suite of 970HD whose upconvert capability is not as good as 971HD and others since it does not have the touted Fa****** processor. Can any 4x95/96 owner confirm the 480i input over HDMI problem? Even with this limitation, I am still hoping that 970HD can output good quality 480p signal for S4695D to upconvert to 1080p as I believe the upscaler inside S4695D is superior to Oppo. Appreciate if you can share your experience with Oppo and Samsung S4x95/96D.

On another note, my wife and I have been happy with SD signals from Dish receiver displayed on S4695D (HD upgrade was put on hold due to installation issues. Long story) We are sitting about 11-12 ft away from the TV.

I have the 4095D, I have not seen anyone who could get these Samsungs to accept 480i over HDMI.

Have you considered getting the matching Samsung HD-960 dvd player? It also uses the Faroudja processor and gives you the option of outputting 480p, 720p or 1080p. That way you can determine if the tv or the dvd player has a better scaler.

I plan on getting the HD 960 once the matching HDMI switching receiver is released(model HT-as710). That way I will have my HR20 directv box and Samsung dvd player both outputting HDMI to the Samsung receiver and 1 HDMI cable going into the 4095D.

I would only consider the 970HD if you have an external video processor.

My 4696D was just delivered. At UE, the salesman said this model no longer supports CableCard and I see a slot in the back labelled "Common Interface." I was not put off by the salesman's comment because I'm a D* subscriber and I guess this first gen' card technology is being phased out anyway. (???)

What are those functional slots on your sets called?

TIA.

Not sure what a UE is. However, the 4696 has a CableCard slot and the salesman obviously is lacking knowledge about the product and CableCards. The CableCard that the 4696 and 4096 and other manufacturers use is also what you will find in the Tivo Series 3 that just came out.

You will need a CableCard or a cable box from your cable provider to receive scrambled channels. You should be able to pick up some of the unscrambled high-def channels without either.

I wwent to Support and downloaded the spec sheet which was supposed to be for the 4096. What downloaded was for the 4095. I am stumped as to what the differences are between these two models except for the side inputs.
Anyone know whether there really is anything difference except for cosmetic which doesn't interest me. :confused:

I wwent to Support and downloaded the spec sheet which was supposed to be for the 4096. What downloaded was for the 4095. I am stumped as to what the differences are between these two models except for the side inputs.
Anyone know whether there really is anything difference except for cosmetic which doesn't interest me. :confused:


this question has been asked a billion times before on this thread! please SEARCH THIS THREAD! :(

Speaking of iPODs ... is everyone aware that the 4696 has an iPOD interface and UI built into the firmware .... other Samsungs may as well.


No I was not aware. Can you please verify this? Are you talking about the use wiselink interface?

this question has been asked a billion times before on this thread! please SEARCH THIS THREAD! :(
I have read pages and pages of this thread and the specs keep changing. Would it not be easier, as has been done on other forums, to place the specs on the first page and update them as the info becomes clearer? Then all us new users of the forum would have the info immediately.

Can someone post pictures of the 4095/96d displaying a dark picture in a dark room? I am extremely curious to see this panel's black/dark shadow performance.

I just got back from the Home Show in DT Toronto, Ont where I saw the Sammy 57" LCD. It looked great for such a big screen. The price was totally out of line for my budget though.

Does anyone have the Samsung LN-S4096D or LN-S4696D with the CableCard feature in use? If so, could you please share your experience regarding setup, usage, etc. of the CableCard in this set? Thanks.

I have the LN-S4696D. Comcast installed a motorola cable-card. Every time the TV is turned on the cable card updates and resets my channel settings.

(i.e. I turn on TV, after a minute or so the TV says updating complete, I go to the channel manager and remove the channels I do not subscribe to, when I turn the TV off and back on the TV updates again and the channel settings are lost. :mad: )

Called Samsung, they said it was comcast resetting the card :confused: .

Called Comcast, they said it was a Samsung software or hardware problem :confused: .

Has anyone else had this problem or a suggested solution?

I had this problem with a Sharp using a Scientific Atlanta CableCARD. I gave up and just live with direct dialing in channels or using the learning remote buttons that direct me to individual channels.

The daily remapping continually wiped out my "skipped" channels.

Since you do have the 4696:

What are your impressions ?
Have you tried the USB slot for displaying photos ?

I am trying to decide between the 5296 and the Sharp 52d62 coming.

No I was not aware. Can you please verify this? Are you talking about the use wiselink interface?

http://erms.samsungusa.com/customer/sea/jsp/faqs/faqs_view.jsp?isARS=Y

I have the LN-S4696D. Comcast installed a motorola cable-card. Every time the TV is turned on the cable card updates and resets my channel settings.

(i.e. I turn on TV, after a minute or so the TV says updating complete, I go to the channel manager and remove the channels I do not subscribe to, when I turn the TV off and back on the TV updates again and the channel settings are lost. :mad: )

Called Samsung, they said it was comcast resetting the card :confused: .

Called Comcast, they said it was a Samsung software or hardware problem :confused: .

Has anyone else had this problem or a suggested solution?

No problem here. My guess is that it is your cable provider. They may not have the card registered properly. You might try popping out the card and reinserting it.

Well, I'm picking a 4096 up today after lunch. I've seen the 4095 at BB a few times and it looks pretty darn good, and sounds like the 4096 should be just as good as the 4095. The guy I'm working with on it did not have the 4095s, so 4096 it is. How is the digital off-air tuner on these? I've read sever pages of this thread over the past few weeks and can't remember if I've read anything on the off-air or not. Thanks.

I was under the impression that the 96D could turn DNIe off, whereas this was not changable on the 95D. Is this true? Do either of these sets have QAM? I don't use cablecard and I probably won't use USB port for pictures, just trying to decide between the two. Styling is great on both, so that is not a factor.

DNIe can easily be turned off on the 95D. I have been enjoying my 46 inch 95D LCD for over a month now. Don't have cable so I can't answer anything about QAM. How is the weather in 'ol Tucson? Went to the U of A many years ago...

It's the 4692 that is unable to turn of DNie.

Well, I'm picking a 4096 up today after lunch. I've seen the 4095 at BB a few times and it looks pretty darn good, and sounds like the 4096 should be just as good as the 4095. The guy I'm working with on it did not have the 4095s, so 4096 it is. How is the digital off-air tuner on these? I've read sever pages of this thread over the past few weeks and can't remember if I've read anything on the off-air or not. Thanks.


Jonny, post as many findings and pics as you can when you get your Samsung
LN-S4096D. I cant seem to find any solid reviews for it. I am heavily considering a purchase this November, and so far this TV is at the top of the list. PM me and let me know how much BB was asking. Thanks ;)

^ Ditto!

On another note, my wife and I have been happy with SD signals from Dish receiver displayed on S4695D (HD upgrade was put on hold due to installation issues. Long story) We are sitting about 11-12 ft away from the TV.

I'm in the same boat as you are in. What TV did you switch from before watching SD on DISH with your new 4695D?

As for DVD players, I thought the 970HD has a pretty good scaler? Are there any comparisons between Samsung's and HD-upconverting DVD players in terms of scaling ability? I don't think any were mentioned on this thread so far.

Well, he does have a point. Why let a $50 player upconvert to 720 or 1080, when you can have a $2k high end chipset in the TV do the upconvert for you.

Only scenario I can see this being useful is when he wants to import an analog or Stand Def SD signal, and let the TV upconvert to 16x9.

Remember, 480 is 4:3, not widescreen, and if you don't want to use more than ONE cable, then it make sense not to have to change input to another cable.

CadJoe

How is it that DVD players are able to output 16:9 then? I'm talking about the non-HD upconverting DVD players.

Also, today's HDTV's don't have $2000 chipsets. Even the different "boards" inside the TV's are several hundreds or a few grand worth (for a Qualia) but the chipsets aren't that expensive. If it did, your TV would cost tens of thousands or else you'd waste good money on a nice chipset while everything else becomes the bottleneck.

I'm also not aware of any TV's with a Faroudja scaler that stand-alone video processors/scalers and Oppo 971 ship with. Just because a TV costs a few grand to 5 figures, it doesn't correlate to the chip set or scaler inside to be worth even 1/5 of the whole TV's cost.

so I'm finally inches away from pulling the trigger and replacing my tv which UPS lost. I may be driving up to delware to have 4695D without the time and costs of shipping. With any luck BB will price match, but even if they don't Id be more than happy with the online store I found.

Now the question is transporting the TV in the box. I have a station wagon, and of course ideally id like to just drive my car to DE. But having taken some measurements the tv will not fit standing up in the box, id have to be laid on its back. If need be I can rent a mini-van or what not. But I was wondering if anyone had a definitive answer as to wether or not its okay to transport this TV (or any lcd panel) on its back or side while in the original packaging. I've search around some, and haven't seemed to find an answer.

thanks in advance

Jonny, post as many findings and pics as you can when you get your Samsung
LN-S4096D. I cant seem to find any solid reviews for it. I am heavily considering a purchase this November, and so far this TV is at the top of the list. PM me and let me know how much BB was asking. Thanks ;)

Well, I have it up and running being fed an off-air signal for locals. It pulled in the usual suspects, but has a problem locking into Fox and CBS. Can't really blame the tuner as I live down in a valley somewhat. Caught a little bit of the Yanks game on Fox, and the picture looked pretty damn good out of the box. I made a few adjustments so far like turning the Dnlie (or whatever it is) off and setting the picture setting to Standard. Out of the box it came with Dynamic set which almost overcooked the colors. Right now I have it sitting on top of my 5 yr. old Toshiba CRT RPTV so we can watch at least locals. I just moved and Direct can't get out here until the 10th. So, it's current location is temporary, and then it will move into my office...a little overkill, but hey, why not??? This weekend I'll probably play with the custom settings to see if I can dial it in a little better. I do like the menu system so far (being and application development guy), and it has some drop-dead gorgeous looks.

Also, I did not buy it from Best Buy. They only have the 4095. This is the 4096, and I bought it off a custom installer here in St. Louis for a good price. More to come...

I may be driving up to delware to have 4695D without the time and costs of shipping. ... wether or not its okay to transport this TV (or any lcd panel) on its back or side while in the original packaging. I've search around some, and haven't seemed to find an answer.

thanks in advanceI did so with a Sharp 32 from Delaware to Maryland, without incident. I don't think I would do it with a 46, though. That is a big piece of glass. Why not do the rental or have it shipped ?

I may be getting the 5296 or a Sharp 52, but I'll definitely have it trucked in.

I'm in the same boat as you are in. What TV did you switch from before watching SD on DISH with your new 4695D?

As for DVD players, I thought the 970HD has a pretty good scaler? Are there any comparisons between Samsung's and HD-upconverting DVD players in terms of scaling ability? I don't think any were mentioned on this thread so far.

I came from a 9-year old Toshiba CRT that does not even accept componet input.

There has been very few postings about pairing DVD players with Samsung LCD TV, so it is sort of a gamble. I have read posting complaining upconverting DVD players making no improvement on picture quality compared with old 480p players, but some of them were pairing with either old or smaller-size TV where picture quality is not fully demostrated, so I am not fully convinced.

I like Oppo 970HD due to its ability to play Divx, its USB port/media reader, and good quality 480i/p video output though I am disappointed it outputs JPG pictures only in 480i/p. Why is output pictures in 1080p so hard that no player can do? This is the only regret I have on my 4695 purchase over 4696. The reason I feel I may skip 970HD's up-scaler is that Samsung will have to do another upscale anyway due to overscan (This needs to be confirmed though) Someones here also pointed out that Samsung LCD does not seem to take 480i via HDMI, but I figure 480p should be close.

Two other candidates are Samsung HD960 and Philips DVP5960. Both got mixed reviews. I may just try the latter from Circuit City, and return it if it is too bad.

Take some pictures of your DVD (oppo)s playing on the panel, we'd all love to see them!

so I'm finally inches away from pulling the trigger and replacing my tv which UPS lost. I may be driving up to delware to have 4695D without the time and costs of shipping. With any luck BB will price match, but even if they don't Id be more than happy with the online store I found.

Now the question is transporting the TV in the box. I have a station wagon, and of course ideally id like to just drive my car to DE. But having taken some measurements the tv will not fit standing up in the box, id have to be laid on its back. If need be I can rent a mini-van or what not. But I was wondering if anyone had a definitive answer as to wether or not its okay to transport this TV (or any lcd panel) on its back or side while in the original packaging. I've search around some, and haven't seemed to find an answer.

thanks in advance
I don't mean to be a wiseguy but . . . Are you kidding! :eek:

When you pick this up it'll be much larger than you realize and it will be boxed with either shock or tip meters at the base that are designed to inform you if anyone has tipped it in a horizontal manner. It is a huge sheet of GLASS and the physics of moving horizontal mean you expose stress points which is why all glass is moved vertical. Yes, you may get lucky but damn tell us the insurance that will cover an incident of breakage? The Store won't and I doubt any auto insurance company would and a shipper wouldn't without their's covering.

You are moving a $3,000 sheet of glass that one screw-up or pot hole or sudden stop would leave you with a piece of glass and no TV to view.

Don't judge the movement by the size of the TV on it's own - the boxed version will be much larger and I cannot imagine fitting into a station wagon in it's box and you'll be setting off the Tip meters and you'll have no insurance whatsoever. Why go on the cheap? At a minimum rent an appropriate Truck or van. You may get lucky but what will you do if one stress point is exposed and you have a cracked glass that is useless and not insured? You are assuming all risks of failure. :)

You could probably rent a U-haul vann for $ 50.00 dollars, and just as a side the other night I was in PC Richards a large NY metro chain, I observed an employee opening up a brand new box, I asked the saleperson if that was going on display, He said No, that the customer wants to take it home himself in his car and their policy now is It gets opened in front of the customer to show there is no broken glass and once he leaves the store they are on their own.

so I'm finally inches away from pulling the trigger and replacing my tv which UPS lost. I may be driving up to delware to have 4695D without the time and costs of shipping. With any luck BB will price match, but even if they don't Id be more than happy with the online store I found.

Now the question is transporting the TV in the box. I have a station wagon, and of course ideally id like to just drive my car to DE. But having taken some measurements the tv will not fit standing up in the box, id have to be laid on its back. If need be I can rent a mini-van or what not. But I was wondering if anyone had a definitive answer as to wether or not its okay to transport this TV (or any lcd panel) on its back or side while in the original packaging. I've search around some, and haven't seemed to find an answer.

thanks in advance

OMG....please stop....you're kidding us, right???

Please, do not skimp out now and think about saving on shipping!

You're purchasing a state of the art piece of equiptment that is designed to be kept vertical. If you lay it on its back, face up, a bad road bump could pop the glass clean free of the bezel!

Is your station wagon high enough to carry it vertically? Call Samsung and triple check the size of the box. Be sure it can slide through the tailgate mouth of the trunk, and for Kripes sake, be sure it can't topple over.

I don't mean to be a wiseguy but . . . Are you kidding! :eek:



Hi Westa,

I didn't see you had replied here, and so knowledgably at that. ;)

I don't remember what the box looked like, but I think it says "Carry Upright" with arrows all over it pointing up.

This does beg the question........ remember those first generation Phillips commercials with the plasma hung over the bed on the ceiling?

Is that even possible with a big LCD? I'd think the bezel seal could never carry the load. I could imagine the componentry might be screwed into the rear of the cabinet and be supported, but how could the manufacturer ever support the weight of that much glass upside down?

You could probably rent a U-haul vann for $ 50.00 dollars, and just as a side the other night I was in PC Richards a large NY metro chain, I observed an employee opening up a brand new box, I asked the saleperson if that was going on display, He said No, that the customer wants to take it home himself in his car and their policy now is It gets opened in front of the customer to show there is no broken glass and once he leaves the store they are on their own.

That's probably a smart policy.

Once again someone is trying to save a few bucks.....could you imagine someone saying "I'll just take the set, could you get rid of that big box for me?"

Then they pull away with the LCD on the rear seat! LOL

OMG....please stop....you're kidding us, right???

Please, do not skimp out now and think about saving on shipping!

You're purchasing a state of the art piece of equiptment that is designed to be kept vertical. If you lay it on its back, face up, a bad road bump could pop the glass clean free of the bezel!

Is your station wagon high enough to carry it vertically? Call Samsung and triple check the size of the box. Be sure it can slide through the tailgate mouth of the trunk, and for Kripes sake, be sure it can't topple over.
I appreciate the input and the facts, but could live without the editorializing. I realize that this is a "state of the art piece of equiptment" but I do not feel my question is a ridiculous one, or one that merits the contempt in your response. I moved and had to ship my last tv, which required getting UPS to build a crate for it. They lost my TV over two months ago, and I have been waiting patiently to receive the claim all that time. The check is allegedly on the way, and I wasn't about to count on UPS's word before pulling the trigger on a new TV. Forgive me if I’m a little anxious to have HDTV back in my home in time for the Broncos Ravens game on monday night, rather than wait the 10 to 14 days for ground shipping. Not to mention the fact I am a little gun shy of shipping anything at this point. I’ve spent several hours searching this thread and others regard some meaningful answer regarding transporting LCD flat panels on their backs or sides, and have found next to nothing so I decided to post my inquiry, only to receive this response.

One of the main reasons I ask this is it doesn’t strike me as unreasonable to assume that packages that say “this way up” routinely do not have “this side up” while in transit. Sure they are in pallet loads coming from Japan, or China or Mexico or what not. But it seems like it makes good sense for Samsung to thing about packaging their "state of the art piece of equiptment" well enough that they are not broken during shipping. But I guess they handle it by printing it on the box, trusting shippers to follow directions, and making us the end buyers liable. And also apparently making this a stupid question to ask.

I don't mean to be a wiseguy but . . . Are you kidding! :eek:

When you pick this up it'll be much larger than you realize and it will be boxed with either shock or tip meters at the base that are designed to inform you if anyone has tipped it in a horizontal manner. It is a huge sheet of GLASS and the physics of moving horizontal mean you expose stress points which is why all glass is moved vertical. Yes, you may get lucky but damn tell us the insurance that will cover an incident of breakage? The Store won't and I doubt any auto insurance company would and a shipper wouldn't without their's covering.

You are moving a $3,000 sheet of glass that one screw-up or pot hole or sudden stop would leave you with a piece of glass and no TV to view.

Don't judge the movement by the size of the TV on it's own - the boxed version will be much larger and I cannot imagine fitting into a station wagon in it's box and you'll be setting off the Tip meters and you'll have no insurance whatsoever. Why go on the cheap? At a minimum rent an appropriate Truck or van. You may get lucky but what will you do if one stress point is exposed and you have a cracked glass that is useless and not insured? You are assuming all risks of failure. :)
Thanks for the response; I know that the box dimensions are available on samsungs website, and most website retailers. I apparently didn’t do a good job with my first post as everyone seems to be reading it as though I am an idiot. I realize renting a van is an option and have always considered it one. The drive, at least on the way up, would be faster, and much more enjoyable in my car than a rental van. It’s not so much about saving money on shipping as it is about the timing of having the tv. And at the end of the day I may just be stuck waiting, or shelling out twice as much to have the shipping expedited. Additionally there was the appeal that BB may honor a price match if I show up saying “I can go down the street and buy it for XXX, can you match this, here’s a print out proving it.”

I appreciate the input and the facts, but could live without the editorializing. I realize that this is a "state of the art piece of equiptment" but I do not feel my question is a ridiculous one, or one that merits the contempt in your response. I moved and had to ship my last tv, which required getting UPS to build a crate for it. They lost my TV over two months ago, and I have been waiting patiently to receive the claim all that time. The check is allegedly on the way, and I wasn't about to count on UPS's word before pulling the trigger on a new TV. Forgive me if I’m a little anxious to have HDTV back in my home in time for the Broncos Ravens game on monday night, rather than wait the 10 to 14 days for ground shipping. Not to mention the fact I am a little gun shy of shipping anything at this point. I’ve spent several hours searching this thread and others regard some meaningful answer regarding transporting LCD flat panels on their backs or sides, and have found next to nothing so I decided to post my inquiry, only to receive this response.

One of the main reasons I ask this is it doesn’t strike me as unreasonable to assume that packages that say “this way up” routinely do not have “this side up” while in transit. Sure they are in pallet loads coming from Japan, or China or Mexico or what not. But it seems like it makes good sense for Samsung to thing about packaging their "state of the art piece of equiptment" well enough that they are not broken during shipping. But I guess they handle it by printing it on the box, trusting shippers to follow directions, and making us the end buyers liable. And also apparently making this a stupid question to ask.

Truth be told, I transported my 4095 in the trunk of a BMW 5 series with it partially hanging out the back of the trunk.... it was therefore on tilt for the 15 minute drive home. I'm an impulse buyer and couldn't wait for delivery :cool:

While I don't recomnend this to you, chances are that you can transport it in a flat position. Just be certain to check the box for any written instructions voiding your warranty.

BTW, Westa is absolutely correct.... the box which the 40 inch came in was HUGE!

Really though, if you can borrow a minivan from someone, that is the way to go (or have it delievered)

I have the 5296D coming this weekend, and this talk of not being able to lay the set down at all has me a little worried. So, when constructing the stand after they open the package, should I make sure that at no time the panel is layed down?

I appreciate the input and the facts, but could live without the editorializing. I realize that this is a "state of the art piece of equiptment" but I do not feel my question is a ridiculous one, or one that merits the contempt in your response.

One of the main reasons I ask this is it doesn’t strike me as unreasonable to assume that packages that say “this way up” routinely do not have “this side up” while in transit. Sure they are in pallet loads coming from Japan, or China or Mexico or what not. But it seems like it makes good sense for Samsung to thing about packaging their "state of the art piece of equiptment" well enough that they are not broken during shipping. But I guess they handle it by printing it on the box, trusting shippers to follow directions, and making us the end buyers liable. And also apparently making this a stupid question to ask.

Forgive me, these forums don't leave much room for people to see when someone is just fooling around, I had no contempt in my response or heart.

These sets are put in special containers in an upright postion, and remain that way until they arrive in the US or their country of destination.

It isn't a matter of whether Samsung packages them right, it's a matter of carrying the glass in a vertical position.

The end buyer is only liable in very rare circimstances, usually the leglect of said end buyer.

So no, it wasn't a stupid question. Enjoy the set, and take care. :)

I have the 5296D coming this weekend, and this talk of not being able to lay the set down at all has me a little worried. So, when constructing the stand after they open the package, should I make sure that at no time the panel is layed down?

Congrads, you must be psyched! :D

The TV comes with the stand on so that people don't lay the TV down flat and so it stays stable and vertical in the box for the reasons stated earlier.

If you need to remove the stand for wall mounting, you will need to set the TV on it's short side, keeping the glass vertical still, and unscrew the stand screws. You'll need 2 people.

Definitely psyched :)

Thanks for the clarification on the stand... appreciated.

Definitely psyched :)

Thanks for the clarification on the stand... appreciated.

The set comes ready to rock 'n roll if you're using the stand. You'll be up and running in a few minutes. :)

Yeah, box on my 4096 was enormous taking up half the cargo space on my '01 Pathfinder with the back seats down and the box standing up. That's how they loaded it in. Howeever, when I got there to do a quick lookover they had it laying flat so I could take a peek at the panel. And, you basically have to lay ti flat to unbox it, I didn't see any other way to get it unboxed.

Having just unboxed my new Sammy, I can comment on the removal of the set from the manufacturer's box. Leave the box vertical and upright. Cut and remove the two packing bands wrapped around the box. Grab and pinch the two white plastic devices, one on each lower side of the box. This will allow you remove the white locking devices and free the bottom support section from the large box that covers the set. Now just lift the box up, leaving the set standing on the bottom support section. Joila, the set is now ready for unpacking and removal from the box. It's as easy as that. There is absolutely no need to lay the box on its side to slide the TV out.

I came from a 9-year old Toshiba CRT that does not even accept componet input.

There has been very few postings about pairing DVD players with Samsung LCD TV, so it is sort of a gamble. I have read posting complaining upconverting DVD players making no improvement on picture quality compared with old 480p players, but some of them were pairing with either old or smaller-size TV where picture quality is not fully demostrated, so I am not fully convinced.

I like Oppo 970HD due to its ability to play Divx, its USB port/media reader, and good quality 480i/p video output though I am disappointed it outputs JPG pictures only in 480i/p. Why is output pictures in 1080p so hard that no player can do? This is the only regret I have on my 4695 purchase over 4696. The reason I feel I may skip 970HD's up-scaler is that Samsung will have to do another upscale anyway due to overscan (This needs to be confirmed though) Someones here also pointed out that Samsung LCD does not seem to take 480i via HDMI, but I figure 480p should be close.

Two other candidates are Samsung HD960 and Philips DVP5960. Both got mixed reviews. I may just try the latter from Circuit City, and return it if it is too bad.

I would like to suggest that another player feature I would like to see is an option to delay the audio by an adjustable amount of time to compensate for any processing delay the upconversion process may require. It's not absolutely critical, but if you are a stickler for detail you might be disturbed by any discrepancy in the timing between the audio and video, causing a slight lipsync problem. Even a small fraction of a second's difference is enough to make you realize something is wrong.

No problem here. My guess is that it is your cable provider. They may not have the card registered properly. You might try popping out the card and reinserting it.

Good to hear it's working for someone, maybe my 4696D is defective. Comcast was out here today again to try a new cable-card, same problem?

just got my HDBOX from Time warner cable.

trying to watch hockey but i am noticing blurriness when the camera moves. This blurriness lasts for a split second, but its getting pretty annoying.

Can somebody tell me if this is normal on LCD screens? I am not sure if i can handle this.....

thank you for any info u can provide.

I just bought a Samsung S4695

I had this problem with a Sharp using a Scientific Atlanta CableCARD. I gave up and just live with direct dialing in channels or using the learning remote buttons that direct me to individual channels.

The daily remapping continually wiped out my "skipped" channels.

Since you do have the 4696:

What are your impressions ?
Have you tried the USB slot for displaying photos ?

I am trying to decide between the 5296 and the Sharp 52d62 coming.

Great looking TV, menu system runs slow (to much delay), 3 second delay between channel changes, TV take a long time to turn on (10-15 seconds from when I turn on the TV to when I can do anything), with cable card installed skipped channels reset everytime the TV is turned off, speaker pop sometimes when turned on, makes cracking sound for a minute or two when turned on.

USB port works, once again the TV responds very slow.

Thanks, my Sharps are very slow changing channels and crash if you do so too quickly.
It seems to be cablecard related, the encrypted digitals take longer to change.

I have a 15-20 second turn on as well, I don't use the TVguide so the TV is truly off, saves power.

Can the backlight be turned down significantly? Really helps with blacks on the Sharp units.
Any detailed descriptions of the pq are much appreciated.

Thanks, my Sharps are very slow changing channels and crash if you do so too quickly.
It seems to be cablecard related, the encrypted digitals take longer to change.

I have a 15-20 second turn on as well, I don't use the TVguide so the TV is truly off, saves power.

Can the backlight be turned down significantly? Really helps with blacks on the Sharp units.
Any detailed descriptions of the pq are much appreciated.

I don't feel I'm qualified to give you a good review on PQ, though to me the picture quality is fantastic when I get a HD broadcast from comcast that hasn't been over compressed.

I went with 1080P LCD because I plan on hooking up a MCE PC to the TV. I hooked my laptop to it and played around a little bit, PQ was pretty good, there was some slight ghosting, though I was only sitting a few feet away and didn't try to tweak anything.

There is a energy saver mode (off, low, med, hi) which appears to dim the backlight, the movie mode setting seems to dim the backlight also. I'll have to run some tests to see how it effects the black levels.

I'm hearing a lot of negitive talk about the lack of 1:1 and overscanning on this set. I really like the features and look of this set (46"). Can some of you who have already purchased this set tell me about your experience so far.

I have a 4695 and I love it. I haven't tried to plug in my mac mini through hdmi, but plugged in through the vga connection there's no overscan--i'm seeing all 1920x1080 pixels.

just got my HDBOX from Time warner cable.

trying to watch hockey but i am noticing blurriness when the camera moves. This blurriness lasts for a split second, but its getting pretty annoying.

Can somebody tell me if this is normal on LCD screens? I am not sure if i can handle this.....

thank you for any info u can provide.

I just bought a Samsung S4695

Unfortunately, that blurring on very fast motion is an endemic problem with LCD screens. The current fastest are 8 ms. Evidently that is not fast enough for your tastes. You will have to go to a plasma display at this time. 4 ms response times for LCDs are just around the corner. But even that may not be fast enough to suit you. The sales person should have pointed out this characteristic when you were shopping.

thankfully the "blur" from quick pans on an LCD is MUCH less annoying to me than the horrible SSE effect that RP sets currently display. But yeah, this is an issue inherent with all LCDs.

Actually, Sharp has both a 6ms and now supposedly a 4ms model (62u series), but the 96D has never bothered me when I've watched in the store (at least football). Not really a sports fan other than NFL though, so can't say that I've seen such an effect on hockey shots.

I've had my 4696 for a month now and if there is a 'blur' issue watching sports I haven't noticed it.

Can someone post pictures of the 4095/96d displaying a dark picture in a dark room? I am extremely curious to see this panel's black/dark shadow performance.

Here's my brand new 4095d in my living room. It's pretty dark in this room for most of the day. Still tweaking, but I'm in love with it.

I'm not allowed to post image tags yet :(

Unfortunately, that blurring on very fast motion is an endemic problem with LCD screens. The current fastest are 8 ms. Evidently that is not fast enough for your tastes. You will have to go to a plasma display at this time. 4 ms response times for LCDs are just around the corner. But even that may not be fast enough to suit you. The sales person should have pointed out this characteristic when you were shopping.
Where did you get your info? The human eye needs less than 16ms to prevent motion and I have a 45" that's <12ms with almost zero motion and the current SHarps shipping right now are 4ms-6ms and the next gen will be 120Hz and a new TruD Microna Processor that'll make any thought of motion history for good yet we'll still have PDP fans voicing opinion based upon 2 yr old technology.

I enjoy my Sharp 45" with 99.9999% judder or motion free with the quickshoot chip Sharp employs - it's a rare event that i see any and none in gaming with X360. The last event I saw some was the winter olympics and that was brief as hell. Do you even own a recent LCD to make such a judgement? Don't judge in store viewing with the split feed a hundred ways because if you do the Panny PDP is the worst offenders in the store and it's one of your beloved PDP's. :cool:

Greetings From Denver

I've had my LN-S4096D for about 3 days now and it is awesome. It scans both cable analog and cable DTV channels as well as over the air digital channels. I have basic cable to the house as well as an attic antenna to get OTA. I was suprised after doing a channel search when a lot of unscrambled Digital Cable channels were found by this set. In fact, I get some On Demand Stuff that I guess people on my node must be watching.

Analog Cable TV looks like crap. VCR movies don't look much better. DVD movies look great. Digital content is where this TV shines. The picture in 1080i high definition is incredible. I watched the tonight show last night and it looked so damn perfect.

I had a little trouble at first trying to figure out why the heck my picture configurations kept resetting once the tv was turned off...I called Samsung's customer support line and the tier 1 moron told me it was the way the set was designed.... Knowing he was full of crap I insisted he forward me to the tier two support team...he did and the tech immediately knew it was in store mode and helped me to get it fixed easily. Other than that I haven't really had any issues. I don't really use the internal speakers much because I have a 5.1 surround setup which always sounds better anyway.

This was an upgrade to my Panasonic 32 inch HD Tau set that went bad after owning it for 5 years. It was going to cost 400 bucks to fix so I said screw that and paid $2800 for this new one...heh. Oh well, we only live once and interest free financing for 2 years was the clincher...hahahaha.

I'm not sure what the big deal is about setting the box on its side. That's how I slid it into my pickup bed to bring it home. It's packed awesome so unless you were to seriously bang it around or drop some weight on the box itself I'm sure you will be fine.

All in all I think this set was a good investment for now and for the future. I also paid for a 4 year extended warranty (probably a waste of money) but just in case of trouble especially since it is such an expensive piece of equipment.

I've heard people complaining of some clicking noises when the set is powered up but I have no clue what they are talking about...the only noise I hear is the little chime it plays when you power it on. That's it. One negative though is it is slow on changing digital channels.

I can't wait to see HD football on this baby come Sunday.

Nite,

Thouger

I'm with you Thouger. Had mine for a few days and stuff looks pretty amazing on it. I was watching the Dodgers / Mets game last night, and did notice some funky stuff going on with the pitcher for the Dodgers hat. It would get a little blurry around the edges, but not that bad and only on certain angles. Might have been the signal or a setting on the TV I need to adjust. I haven't really heard any clicking noises either (I think). Anyway, happy viewing!

Greetings From Denver

I've had my LN-S4096D for about 3 days now and it is awesome.

Any pictures of your set-up you'd like to share Thougher? We like pics around here! ;)

Any pics ? :) I should be buying in the next month or so, and am trying to decide between this or the new Sharp 42 incher that I can get for less than the sammy. Any one with an HD-DVD player using it with this (S4096) TV?

I've had my 4696 for a month now and if there is a 'blur' issue watching sports I haven't noticed it.

I suspect a good part of that is that you are really watching the game and not staring 2 feet from the screen intently to catch some minor blur! I have at times paid attention during various sports (i.e. shot video HD), especially fast motion stuff and rarely see it (even in boxing with close up shots of fists flying). I have seen some in NASCAR when the cars are flying by the camera at 180 MPH.

There are other factors at play than what most talk about... yes i was bothered by motion blur, but that was in several concerts on PBS where there just was almost no real motion going on (we're talking about talking heads). In those cases, it clearly was an issue with the signal my panel received, not any limitation in the panel.

I suspect a good part of that is that you are really watching the game and not staring 2 feet from the screen intently to catch some minor blur!

You mean that's how you're supposed to what TV now, just trying to find problems vs. watching the program. ;)

I don't mean to be a wiseguy but . . . Are you kidding! :eek:

When you pick this up it'll be much larger than you realize and it will be boxed with either shock or tip meters at the base that are designed to inform you if anyone has tipped it in a horizontal manner. It is a huge sheet of GLASS and the physics of moving horizontal mean you expose stress points which is why all glass is moved vertical. Yes, you may get lucky but damn tell us the insurance that will cover an incident of breakage? The Store won't and I doubt any auto insurance company would and a shipper wouldn't without their's covering.

You are moving a $3,000 sheet of glass that one screw-up or pot hole or sudden stop would leave you with a piece of glass and no TV to view.

Don't judge the movement by the size of the TV on it's own - the boxed version will be much larger and I cannot imagine fitting into a station wagon in it's box and you'll be setting off the Tip meters and you'll have no insurance whatsoever. Why go on the cheap? At a minimum rent an appropriate Truck or van. You may get lucky but what will you do if one stress point is exposed and you have a cracked glass that is useless and not insured? You are assuming all risks of failure. :)

First of all, LCD's don't have tip meters. Plasma TV's might but that is because they must be shipped vertically. LCD's can be laid down. I transported my 4696 in the back of my Explorer laying flat. I had no problem removing it and bringing it into the house, removing it from the box and setting it up. But that's me.

First of all, LCD's don't have tip meters. Plasma TV's might but that is because they must be shipped vertically. LCD's can be laid down. I transported my 4696 in the back of my Explorer laying flat. I had no problem removing it and bringing it into the house, removing it from the box and setting it up. But that's me.

Actually, the manual for my 4095d says you can lay it flat on the floor (face down) to prepare for mounting. It would seem Samsung has no issue with a horizontal orientation (when not in use, of course).

I have transported a 37" LG, Samsung 4092D, and Samsung 4095D horizontally in my car without problems.

I started with the 37" LG, then got the 4092D because I wanted something better, and now am almost completely happy with the 4095D. After the large price drop, the 4095D wasn't much more expensive than the 4092D. The increase in resolution is noticable at ~8 feet where I sit or lie while watching TV, and using it with a computer at 1080p is much better in terms of image quality compared to a 768p display. Moreover, the 4095D has more picture settings than the 4092D in terms of being able to turn off DNIe in all modes and adjust tint using HDMI. Out of the box, the 4095D is nearly perfect via component and DVI, whereas the 4092D required lots of adjustment and constant adjustment to get a good, natural-looking picture with natural-looking skin tones, and component actually looked better than HDMI.

My two complaints are that the menus are a little slow (not so much changing channels) and PIP only shows cable/air TV in a small box while watching another input, and can't be used while watching cable/air TV to show another input in the small box.

Here are some pics. In some of the pics, you have to ignore the vertical or diagonal moire lines running across the picture.

http://idisk.mac.com/pvta/Public/1.jpg

http://idisk.mac.com/pvta/Public/2.jpg

http://idisk.mac.com/pvta/Public/3.jpg

http://idisk.mac.com/pvta/Public/4.jpg

http://idisk.mac.com/pvta/Public/9.jpg

http://idisk.mac.com/pvta/Public/6.jpg
Cable TV via cable tuner.

http://idisk.mac.com/pvta/Public/5.jpg
Cable TV via Comcast digital cable box.

And here it is plugged into my MacBook Pro via VGA (hence 1:1 mapping)

http://idisk.mac.com/pvta/Public/10.jpg

Actually, the manual for my 4095d says you can lay it flat on the floor (face down) to prepare for mounting. It would seem Samsung has no issue with a horizontal orientation (when not in use, of course).

Nice pictures - I'm torn between the 57" Samsung and the 57" Sharp especially since the price has been dropped in half with the Sharp but it still costs more than the Samsung. I've yet to see a bad looking Samsung LCD and never seen anything bad about the Samsung 57" but it's hard to switch after having a positive ownership with Sharp. Aren't many folks on this forum buying 57" LCD's yet so feedback is spotty as hell.

There's a difference between preparing a panel in a room versus movement in a vehical across imperfect roadways and sudden stops. Huge Difference and BS - Tip Meters or Shock Meters do come with larger LCD Panels what the hell do I have to go take a picture from my box still in the basement? perhaps a smallish 37" won't but once you get to the large panels where weight tops 100+ lbs and your paying 200-350 for delivery the insurance carrier is going to demand it and Sharp for one builds it into their box on all it's large panels. I've had a 50" plasma - a 60" SXRD and a 45" LCD Sharp delivered in the past year and THEY ALL had them.

How do some folks equate temporarily laying a panel horizontal to install to transporting? That's simply ridiculous and if that cannot be understood that person is rolling dice and if you lose you have no one to cover the loss but you! There's this thing called the law of physics that says no otherwise they would not build in the meters or have restrictions on the shippers to transport vertical! :cool:

...PIP only shows cable/air TV in a small box while watching another input, and can't be used while watching cable/air TV to show another input in the small box.

So let me get this straight taphil. If I'm watching 'Lost' or Fox News Channel on the entire screen via OTA or cable/satellite box, the 4095D won't let me have a small screen in the corner (or the 50-50 split option) in which my game-in-progress of 'NBA Live' or my DVD playing 'Stargate' could be shown? And, if I were watching either 'Stargate' from the DVD or 'NBA Live' from the XBox, I could only see 'Lost' and Fox News Channel on the small screen in the corner and not 50-50? Sounds kind-of limiting which sucks because PIP variety is a must for my daily TV habits. :(

A better way to describe it is that the PIP (either a small box in the corner or 50/50 split) can only be cable/air TV. So in order for PIP to work, you must be viewing something other than cable/air TV. It doesn't work the other way around, where you can watch cable/air TV as the big picture and see another input in PIP. The 4092D I had allowed both, and there was a swap button on the remote to quickly switch between the two, but not so for the 4095D. I don't know why it's like this.

Thanks for the PIP info taphill. Hope you manage to watch the two things you want to watch at the same time with the 4095D's PIP limitations. I'm the type of guy that wants to play videogames on the big screen while the small screen has a movie/TV show that I can hear without having to look at (i.e. Conan, O'Reilly, a 'Doors' concert, etc.). But you mentioned there's no Swap command, and I'm guessing there's no option to switch the sound around from one screen to the other. Doesn't sound like the 4095D can accomodate these basic functions I want, correct? :(

Some of the hardest lessons in life come with a high pricetag. Even DTV City places a tip-meter on their LCD deliveries. I suspect that the folks who would transport a set in this manner may be the same folks likely to succomb to the type of accidental demise worthy of the Darwin Award. But you know, its not my cash, so go right ahead.

Hello. New here and wanted to share that I, too, am a proud new owner of a 4696. Spectacular set!

Hello. New here and wanted to share that I, too, am a proud new owner of a 4696. Spectacular set!

[EDIT]

It fit perfectly laying flat (horizontally) across the trunk of my Expedition with only the 3rd row of seats put down. Had a difficult time, though, attempting to get it to my second-floor loft by myself before I realized it was easier to remove the upper box and slide the set in it's box base, diagonally up the stairs.

So it's been sitting in the loft since Wednesday until I finally had the time today to completely unbox it and set it up. The 4696 is truely an attractive piece of furniture.

I have a Motorola CableCARD with TimeWarner of which I just re-activated over the phone. DiscoveryHD is seriously stunning. FYI - NO PIP when using CableCARD. So when the Moto 6416 (HD-DVR) comes out via TW, I'm losing that one-way pos, anyhow.

Considering that I've only had the set turned on for a couple of hours so far, I have yet to develop any complaints.

More to come...

.. Xbox 360 testing, photos and impressions
..Tosiba AD-H1 testing, photos and impressions (currently hooked up to my 57" Toshiba downstairs - AMAZING)
.. 2x Motorola DCT-6416 III (upstairs + downstairs, when TW gets them in)
.. Pioneer BDP-HD1 (upon release)
.. Sony PS3 (upon release)

You could say I'm a tech-junky

You could say I'm a tech-junky

No self-proclaimed tech-junkie would have a mere two posts on AVS Forum! :rolleyes: That said I'm jealous of your new TV and wish I were sitting in front of your new 4696 instead of my two-year old laptop that doesn't have 1920x1080 resolution right now! :(

No self-proclaimed tech-junkie would have a mere two posts on AVS Forum! :rolleyes: That said I'm jealous of your new TV and wish I were sitting in front of your new 4696 instead of my two-year old laptop that doesn't have 1920x1080 resolution right now! :(

To be completely honest, I've been coming to this forum for the last two months. For two months I've been shopping around for an LCD HDTV for HD-DVD and Xbox 360. I didn't register until today when I finally set up my TV of choice.

I guess I shouldn't tell you that I had a Toshiba G35-AV650 notebook?

I wish I were Kirk Douglas right now to tell you exactly how I feel! ;) :( :mad:

taphil.... you mention 1:1 mapping on the 4095, I didnt think it had it?

taphil.... you mention 1:1 mapping on the 4095, I didnt think it had it?

Read his answer and look at the picture again: that's VGA 1080p, which is the only input in the Sammy LCD's that has 1:1 (unlike component, HDMI, etc.).

To be completely honest, I've been coming to this forum for the last two months. (...)

OK, I'm going to come clean too: I've been glued to this tread the entire past summer! I've read the entire 90 odd pages of thread in detail and only now decided to finally register in the last couple of days.

original jayo, thanks for the 4696D report. dad1153, I'm with you, here reading from a very old thinkpad.

original jayo, it would be nice eventually if you could confirm more about PIP behavior in the xx96D for us to compare with taphil's xx95D PIP report. taphil and dad1153 really drew out some details that are hard to get.

nice pics

I've been glued to this tread the entire past summer! I've read the entire 90 odd pages of thread in detail... dad1153, I'm with you, here reading from a very old thinkpad.

original jayo, it would be nice eventually if you could confirm more about PIP behavior in the xx96D for us to compare with taphil's xx95D PIP report. taphil and dad1153 really drew out some details that are hard to get.

Anyone interested in a 1080p LCD that passes signals 1:1 w/o processing with PIP options up the whazoo (none of this Samsung limitation nonsense) should seriously consider the new Mitsubishi LT-37131/132 & LT-46131/231 models. These sets, unlike the HDTV's of other manufacturers (who clearly threw PIP as an afterthought) were obviously designed with PIP-loving fellows in mind. Check pages 54-55 on this online manual for the Mitsu LT-37132/LT-46231 (the same PIP features are also available on the "lesser" LT-37131/LT-46131 models): http://www.mitsubishi-tv.com/img/287665. Now tell me you wouldn't pay what the Mitsu's cost (MSRP for the Mitsu is insanely high but online it can be found much cheaper) if you had all those beautiful PIP screen variations at your disposal. The Mitsu's even allow for PIP with a 1080p input for heaven's sake (although with limitations)! :eek:

Read his answer and look at the picture again: that's VGA 1080p, which is the only input in the Sammy LCD's that has 1:1 (unlike component, HDMI, etc.).

Isn't there a problem with VGA on this set though?

The only complaint is that VGA is an analog input as opposed to digital. So the Samsung LCD's, which are digital displays by their very nature, overscan and process all signals through its digital inputs (component, HDMI, etc.) but only the analog VGA input accepts a 1080p signal without processing or overscan. The complaints are with Samsung for not letting its digital 1080p inputs do what they allow the VGA input to do: display 1:1 at 1920x1080.

A few more thoughts on my 57 Sammy. The picture quality far supasses the Sharp 45GD5U it replaced. Uncalibrated contrast ratio (Warm 2) is almost double (>800/1) the Sharp. Gamma tracking is outstanding and color tracking is good above 20IRE. SD upsamples better than the Sharp. The sharp has better HD stretch modes though. The service menu allows full cal and for all inputs and resolutions and even allows the ability to seperately cal two presets (Movie and cool1). Lost of nifty DNIE adjustments and black extenders which have I not played with (yet). Hope to do a full cal in the next week or so. Im generally very pleased as it cost the same as the Sharp 1 yr ago (3.7K). IMHO the overscan issue is completely blown out of proportion as most of use grew up watching TV's with overscan. VGA 1080p does not look any better (to me) than HDMI 1080P on this set. Im sure the new Sharp 57 is very good but it does lack the input flexibility of the Sammy and the 45 was very hard to cal. The service menu was / is a nightmare on the Sharp. I dont think you will go wrong either way. I think it comes down mostly to cosmetics and features. I will say Sharp handled my buy-back very well. First class customer service.

just picked up LN-S4695D
and I run into small problem
I connected it to my HTPC via D-SUB Cable
running it at 1920x1200
everything looks great until I start watching video in FULL SCREEN mode
I get these jittering short white lines
when I switch to window view it's fine
have no idea how to get rid of it

also when screen is black I can see that parts of it are backlighted more then other parts
is this normal?

Unfortunately, that blurring on very fast motion is an endemic problem with LCD screens. The current fastest are 8 ms. Evidently that is not fast enough for your tastes. You will have to go to a plasma display at this time. 4 ms response times for LCDs are just around the corner. But even that may not be fast enough to suit you. The sales person should have pointed out this characteristic when you were shopping.


DO DLP projectors have the same delay response times?

this is becoming a big problem to me......

i only bought this tv to watch hockey....

A few more thoughts on my 57 Sammy. The picture quality far supasses the Sharp 45GD5U it replaced. Uncalibrated contrast ratio (Warm 2) is almost double (>800/1) the Sharp. Im sure the new Sharp 57 is very good but it does lack the input flexibility of the Sammy and the 45 was very hard to cal. The service menu was / is a nightmare on the Sharp. I dont think you will go wrong either way. I think it comes down mostly to cosmetics and features. I will say Sharp handled my buy-back very well. First class customer service.
Doug is this a typo? how did you get a 57" for the price of a 52"? Please tell me where I can get one. I'll take a dozen and resell 11 on EBay.:)

DO DLP projectors have the same delay response times?

this is becoming a big problem to me......

i only bought this tv to watch hockey....
Hockey is my last test to help me decide which tv to get. Were you able to compare this tv to the Sony LCD XBR2/3 or the new Sharp Aquos D62U before choosing the Samsung? I was able to view (for a short time) a hockey game at CC from Directv on the 46XBR2 & Samsung 4695. For me it was a draw. Not perfect, but not horrible either. I hoping to check out the Sharp this week, I think I read that it's supposed to be faster, 4-6ms response times.

Hockey is such a fast-paced sport that even a quality HDTV with low-response time (like the Sharp D62U's, which boast 4m or 6m response times that are better than the Sammy & Sony sets' 8m response time) couldn't help IF the broadcasting stations' encoder isn't perfect. If the cameras and HD technology of the host station are weak or average not even a zero-lag TV set (and there are a few out there) will still give hockey game fans something to cry about besides the low-viewership of the sport these days. ;)

Hockey is such a fast-paced sport that even a quality HDTV with low-response time (like the Sharp D62U's, which boast 4m or 6m response times that are better than the Sammy & Sony sets' 8m response time) couldn't help IF the broadcasting stations' encoder isn't perfect. If the cameras and HD technology of the host station are weak or average not even a zero-lag TV set (and there are a few out there) will still give hockey game fans something to cry about besides the low-viewership of the sport these days. ;)
:(
That's pretty much what I've summed up from reading in these threads here and the rptv forum. I've kinda given up finding the 'perfect' set for my viewing habits, hockey and dvds. The 4695/96 Samsung is still on my list of 3 possible choices. The others being the Sony & Sharp.

The 4695/96 Samsung is still on my list of 3 possible choices. The others being the Sony & Sharp.

Those are the top LCD's on the market right now (as far as 1080p is concerned) so it comes down to features, price and sex appeal. The Sony, for example, has sex appeal (YMMV) but costs more than the other two; the Sammy has decent picture and much lower price than the other two but overscans and doesn't do 1:1 until you upgrade to 52" (ouch); Sharp is cutting-edge, priced lower than Sony and has specs to die for (2,000:1 contrast rati, 4m response time, etc.) but it's still new and lacks VGA or component inputs that accept 1080p (guessing here).

The perfect set? Ha, I've been in this forum since last March looking for such mythical thing! No luck yet, but sure is fun to be on the quest with all you wonderful people as company! :(

I have been playing with my 4695 for about a week now, and like many on this thread (and the other Sammy 4x9x thread) I keep tweaking the settings depending on the source material (mostly HD channels and standard channels through my SA 8300HD box/dvr from Cox cable). In general, I'm pretty happy with this panel. However, one thing that has bothered me is that I seem to have slightly better picture quality over the component input as opposed to the HDMI input. Has anyone else experienced this, or is it a matter of adjusting settings differently for the HDMI input? I had really hoped that the one HDMI cable hooked to an HDMI-switching receiver would be the answer for cabling, but now I'm not so sure. Does any other 4x95 owner have an opinion on HDMI versus component inputs?

(...)the Sammy has decent picture and much lower price than the other two but overscans and doesn't do 1:1 until you upgrade to 52" (ouch);(...)

How did you decide that the 52" (I presume LN-S5296D) will do 1:1 over HDMI?

Also, as long as the 5296 is being mentioned, any sightings in the wild yet by anybody?

It doesn't do 1:1 over HDMI. I have the 52", and confirming with AVIA, there is an approx 2% overscan on the HDMI ports.

It doesn't do 1:1 over HDMI. I have the 52", and confirming with AVIA, there is an approx 2% overscan on the HDMI ports.

:eek: :eek: I stand corrected!
:( :( :(

:eek: :eek: I stand corrected!
:( :( :(

Crap! My trigger finger was getting itchy.... but no 1:1 is a deal-breaker, like no PIP for dad1153.

Can someone explain whether or not 2% overscan applies to the sides of the screen or just the bottom?

Assume 46" 1080 screen (40 7/8 " wide x 23" high )

2% of 1080 = 11 pixels missing at the top, 11 pixels at bottom
2% of 1920 = 19 pixels missing on each side

2% of width = 3/8" on each side
2% of height = 1/4" at top and bottom

Also, reading alot of posts a person get the impression that overscan is bad period. I wanted to clarify that overscan is sometimes desirable and sometimes not. I've summarized my understanding of the situation below, and please correct me if what I've written below has misstated anything.

My understanding of overscan is that its been done by every TV until recently to crop the top/bottom of the image which may contain signal "glitches". This is due to analog signal problems caused by noise that can give the TV difficulty locking onto the frame in the signal. The absense of overscan when viewing standard def could cause me to see these issues?

However, the LCD panel on my computer does not do overscan because it can trust that its always connected to a reliable high integrity computer signal.

So overscan is becoming an issue now due to convergence of these two roles: recent hi-def sets being used both as a computer monitor and as a TV set.

Overscan seems like it should not be necessary with digital hi-def signals nor with HD-DVD or BluRay. These signals should be much more comparable to a computer's output than an old analog TV signal.

Lastly, what about std def programming, viewed on an HD channel? The tv station producing the HD channel, upscales the std def show - performing it's own overscanning (usually 2-5%) - and the resulting signal recieved by your HDTV should need no further overscanning. If it does, then the signal has been overscanned TWICE. Again this doubling is for standard def over an HD channel only.

How did you decide that the 52" (I presume LN-S5296D) will do 1:1 over HDMI?

Also, as long as the 5296 is being mentioned, any sightings in the wild yet by anybody?

Yeah, I saw it at BB two weeks ago, they wanted an AWEFUL high price for it. I posted and put some pics up also. Was basically identical to the 4096, just larger.

However, one thing that has bothered me is that I seem to have slightly better picture quality over the component input as opposed to the HDMI input.

Could be a low quality HDMI cable.

Yeah, I saw it at BB two weeks ago, they wanted an AWEFUL high price for it. I posted and put some pics up also. Was basically identical to the 4096, just larger.

As posted earlier, I just picked up the 4096 last week, and my buddy at work is picking up the 5296 here in a couple of weeks through a local custom installer at a helluva price.

Hockey is my last test to help me decide which tv to get. Were you able to compare this tv to the Sony LCD XBR2/3 or the new Sharp Aquos D62U before choosing the Samsung? I was able to view (for a short time) a hockey game at CC from Directv on the 46XBR2 & Samsung 4695. For me it was a draw. Not perfect, but not horrible either. I hoping to check out the Sharp this week, I think I read that it's supposed to be faster, 4-6ms response times.

i didnt really compare tv sets when viewing hockey. Is tough to get the sales men to find a hockey game on HD at the times i went to purchase the set.

The HD pic is simply amazing. However, the delay response is a tad bit bothersome.....i did recently put it into "game" mode and it seems to have helped a lot. The blurriness is not as noticeable now.

Having said that, most NHL games are not even broadcasted in HD (in my area), so normal cable viewing is the best i will get watching my Bruins. The bluriness is a non factor when not viewing HD.

Anybody experience video source detection problems with HDMI on a 4x9xD? Specifically, I have the Toshiba HD-A1 that I just tested on my 4696 and through trial and error I came to the conclusion that I need to have the tv set to HDMI, the DVD player in "off/standby," then power on the player. If the player is powered on before the source is set to HDMI, the set won't detect the signal?

Photos to follow my 5th post

Anybody experience video source detection problems with HDMI on a 4x9xD? Specifically, I have the Toshiba HD-A1 that I just tested on my 4696 and through trial and error I came to the conclusion that I need to have the tv set to HDMI, the DVD player in "off/standby," then power on the player. If the player is powered on before the source is set to HDMI, the set won't detect the signal?

Photos to follow my 5th post

Nonetheless, picture and sound with HD-DVD is simply spectacular and marvelous!
(HD-DVD photos coming soon)

Photos to follow my 5th post

Discovery HD
http://images.rdefined.com/albums/Samsung-LNS4696D/IMG_0441_5.sized.jpg
http://images.rdefined.com/albums/Samsung-LNS4696D/IMG_0442_5.sized.jpg

KCET HD
http://images.rdefined.com/albums/Samsung-LNS4696D/IMG_0443_5.sized.jpg
http://images.rdefined.com/albums/Samsung-LNS4696D/IMG_0444_5.sized.jpg

TNT HD
http://images.rdefined.com/albums/Samsung-LNS4696D/IMG_0446_5.sized.jpg

Xbox 360 G.R.A.W.
http://images.rdefined.com/albums/Samsung-LNS4696D/IMG_0448_5.sized.jpg
http://images.rdefined.com/albums/Samsung-LNS4696D/IMG_0451_5_001.sized.jpg
http://images.rdefined.com/albums/Samsung-LNS4696D/IMG_0452_5.sized.jpg

No PIP with Cable (digital, CableCARD - no air antenna attached)
http://images.rdefined.com/albums/Samsung-LNS4696D/IMG_0453_5.sized.jpg
http://images.rdefined.com/albums/Samsung-LNS4696D/IMG_0454_5.sized.jpg

Larger photos available by clicking here (http://images.rdefined.com/Samsung-LNS4696D)

Xbox 360 G.R.A.W.
http://images.rdefined.com/albums/Samsung-LNS4696D/IMG_0451_5_001.sized.jpg
http://images.rdefined.com/albums/Samsung-LNS4696D/IMG_0452_5.sized.jpg

No PIP with Cable (digital, CableCARD - no air antenna attached)
http://images.rdefined.com/albums/Samsung-LNS4696D/IMG_0453_5.sized.jpg
http://images.rdefined.com/albums/Samsung-LNS4696D/IMG_0454_5.sized.jpg

You know, for the longest time I thought this would be my first HDTV. The picture was fine for an HDTV (not the best but also not the worst) and the prices were reasonable (now they're much lower and hard to ignore for budget-minded consumers). Twice I walked into stores ready to buy it (after spending weeks/months here doing research) and twice that little voice in the back of my head that talks to me into doing stupid things this time told me to hold on. Good thing because, as the 'G.R.A.W.' and PIP pictures above conclusively prove (backing up other users' experiences) the Sammy LCD's (a) have overscan (check out that HUD wireframe around the screen getting lost) and (b) its PIP options are funky (what if I want to watch cable in one of my PIP windows?). Hope you like and get the most from your new TV original jayo. I'm just glad I didn't pull the trigger when I almost did or I'd be one regretful mofo these days. Not saying this is a bad TV (it's a great 1080p LCD for the plummeting asking prices), just not the HDTV for my 1:1 overscan free, PIP-loving lifestyle. :(

You know, for the longest time I thought this would be my first HDTV. The picture was fine for an HDTV (not the best but also not the worst) and the prices were reasonable (now they're much lower and hard to ignore for budget-minded consumers). Twice I walked into stores ready to buy it (after spending weeks/months here doing research) and twice that little voice in the back of my head that talks to me into doing stupid things this time told me to hold on. Good thing because, as the 'G.R.A.W.' and PIP pictures above conclusively prove (backing up other users' experiences) the Sammy LCD's (a) have overscan (check out that HUD wireframe around the screen getting lost) and (b) its PIP options are funky (what if I want to watch cable in one of my PIP windows?). Hope you like and get the most from your new TV original jayo. I'm just glad I didn't pull the trigger when I almost did or I'd be one regretful mofo these days. Not saying this is a bad TV (it's a great 1080p LCD for the plummeting asking prices), just not the HDTV for my 1:1 overscan free, PIP-loving lifestyle. :(

Honestly, we get it, you don't like overscan. Is it really necessary to keep reiterating that in every thread that talks about these TVs? How did overscan become this big a deal anyway... how? If you are planning on hooking up a PC via HDMI, okay, I can understand that, but if not, what is the big deal? ALL TV shows are designed with overscan in mind (yes, even the HD ones) since every single television on the entire planet overscanned until about 5 months ago when a few LCDs started not to. This is not some horrid phenomenon that is the bane of televisions... it's a normal practice that is only recently even being considered an antiquated one. As for the GRAW "proof"... it's been mentioned by some interviews with their developers that that HUD is sorta a mistake on their part. They did most of their design exclusively with PC monitors (which never overscan), and never planned accordingly for how virtually the entire world will be seeing their game. This isn't the first time that a 360 dev has F'ed up (see Capcom's Dead Rising for another example of horrible planning by the developer).

So yeah, I'll give you the usefulness of a non-overscan mode in the case of connecting your PC via HDMI... but honestly man, if you aren't doing that, I think it's ridiculous for you to limit your choices the way you seem to be, instead of actually buying an enjoying an HD TV. You're limiting yourself by a fact that you will NEVER notice during regular TV viewing.

It's not just that the overscan obscures and loses 2% of the resolution/picture I'm paying for (i.e. Samsung isn't selling this as 1890x990 or some other cackeyed resolution, they're selling these as 1920x1080 LCD's). It also means that the 1080 signal, rather than being shown 'as is,' is subject to Samsung internal processors that then convert it back to its odd resolution in order to fit the screen. Is it too much to ask for the 1080p signals I'll be getting from my sources (PC -if I ever choose to go that route-, PS3, XBox 360, eventually BR and HD-DVD, etc.) to be allowed unmolested to my HDTV rather than processed and re-shaped by the company's processors? If every other TV manufacturer were doing this (as in the days of CRT when every set overscanned) then it wouldn't stand out, but Samsung is the only big screen TV manufacturer doing this. Why? The Sony's don't ovescan (and their XBR2/3-V2500 lines even share the same glass with the Sammy 4X95D/4X96 lines), neither do the Sharps or Mitsubishi's or JVC's or a number of other 1080p displays. Why is Samsung choosing to go the forced overscan route when everybody else (including budget brand Westinghouse) is at least making this an option rather a nuisance to live with? :mad:

It also means that the 1080 signal, rather than being shown 'as is,' is subject to Samsung internal processors that then convert it back to its odd resolution in order to fit the screen.

I think it *is* possible to overstate/overvalue the importance of some features, relative to the needs of general HDTV buying population. Overscan is simply one of many, many tradeoffs that people have to make when selecting a set. (For me, it's a relatively small one.) I think that a newbie coming into this forum, could read the back posts here and develop an unjustified view that overscan and 1:1 pixel mapping are issues that should dominate all other considerations. Certainly, it appears that no HDTV available today meets the needs of all people. Plasma burn in. Screen reflections. Colour reproduction. Resolution. Pixel response times. Per-input video settings. Ability to scale SD. etc. etc.

A case in point, for example, the Pioneer 5070 considered by many on avsforums and magazine reviews to be the best of the current generation HDTVs overscan somewhere around 1%. Further, that panel - while accepting various input resolutions such as 480P, 720P, 1080i and 1080p/24 - shows a native resolution of 1366x768. This conforms to none of those inputs and means that the lion's share of signals you feed this TV are scaled by the TVs internal processors. Some of the processing this set does (I believe upscaling 480 signals) will even cause it set to hang onto a video frame for multiple frames before its "done". Of course, this is done to make the image *better*.

All this to say, a TV can be "good" while still overscanning and scaling.

I think it *is* possible to overstate/overvalue the importance of some features, relative to the needs of general HDTV buying population. Overscan is simply one of many, many tradeoffs that people have to make when selecting a set. (For me, it's a relatively small one.) I think that a newbie coming into this forum, can read the back posts here and develop and unjustified view that overscan and 1:1 pixel mapping are issues that should dominate all other considerations. Certainly, it appears that no HDTV available today meets the needs of all people. Plasma burn in. Screen reflections. Colour reproduction. Resolution. Pixel response times. Per-input video settings. Ability to scale SD. etc. etc.

A case in point, for example, the Pioneer 5070 considered by many on avsforums and magazine reviews to be the best of the current generation HDTVs overscan (somewhere around 1% apparently). Further with that panel - while accepting various input resolutions such as 480P, 720P, 1080i and 1080p/24 - shows a native resolution of 1366x768. This conforms to none of those inputs and means that the lion's share of signals you feed this TV are scaled by the TVs internal processors. Some of the processing this set does (I believe upscaling 480 signals) cause this set to hang onto a video frame for multiple frames before its "done".

All this to say, a TV can be "good" while still overscanning and scaling.

Very well put, and what I was trying to get across. It's very easy to get caught up in these raging debates on AVS Forum that tend to blow things out of proportion. Instead, people should be going and looking at the sets in person and telling if they can see any difference between 1:1 mapping vs SLIGHT overscan (anything 2% and below is very small compared to most sets) on regular TV/DVD/etc. If you can't, then there's no reason to discard the set from your choices over theoretical limitations (theoretical because they aren't applicable to you if you can't see them). Now, if you are trying to get a PC input with zero overscan over HDMI, of course that's a different story entirely.

Can someone explain whether or not 2% overscan applies to the sides of the screen or just the bottom?



My understanding is that it's both, and that it's less than 2%.

My understanding is that it's both, and that it's less than 2%.


WTF!!! .... I'm not getting up to 2% of the picture on my 4095????? :mad:
Good thing I bought it at BB. I'm returning it this weekend and purchasing the XBR.

Can anyone loan me about $900 for the difference? ;)

New member question: I own a 4096D and do not have compatible firewire components to use the "D-Net" feature. What products are compatible with this "D-Net" feature?

ALL TV shows are designed with overscan in mind (yes, even the HD ones) since every single television on the entire planet overscanned until about 5 months ago when a few LCDs started not to.

I have a 36" HD Sony Tube that is 6 years old.

Somehow, I can see the whole HUD in Ghost Recon.

The overscan that is outlined in the above pictures of Ghost Recon is absolutely unacceptable. That would just drive me INSANE. That's not even overscan. Its overoverscan.

To each his own I guess.

Can anyone confirm that this overscan is in the 52 inch sammy as well? I'm dying for someone to post pics of the Ghost Recon HUD running on the 52.

If you have an HD tube that has zero overscan, consider yourself very lucky indeed. You are the exception, not the norm. The 52" does have it as well, and it has been verified that it is only about 2%.

For purposes of comparison, the Sony 1080P A2000 (rear projection LCOS) set that my 52" Sammy just replaced has overscan slightly over 4%.

What still baffles me is how the developers of these 360 games can be so short sighted as to never test their games on REGULAR TVs. How does that happen?? Ghost Recon is the third case of this. The first was King Kong, where the contrast/brightness were WAY out of whack unless you were running in HD, and then Dead Rising where the text in the game (which you have to read in some cases) is also unreadable on anything but an HD set.

In GRAWs case it was just a stupid decision of putting unnecessary "flair" up on the screen which causes 95% of those playing it to think there's something wrong with their TV.

If you have an HD tube that has zero overscan, consider yourself very lucky indeed.

I just fired up my 360 to snap a shot of GRAW... before realizing I formated it last month and lost the GRAW demo I had on there.

I'm redownloading it as I write this... it'll probably take an hour or so (i get real slow downloads off Xbox live).

I'm not saying my TV doesn't have ANY overscan, I'm just saying I can see the whole HUD. From those pictures of GRAW running on the sammy, to me it almost looks like it's overscaning more than 2%.

Here's a picture of what it SHOULD look like.

http://www.1up.com/do/slideshow?pager.offset=10&mt=0&cId=3140425&mId=2907958


So you have the 52 inch sammy? I might have to pick your brain a little bit. Have you talked about it on any threads on here?

I will say that the 2% is via HDMI (that's all I've tested). Perhaps component overscans more, I don't know (but I have no component sources with test patterns in which to test this).

I will say that the 2% is via HDMI (that's all I've tested). Perhaps component overscans more, I don't know (but I have no component sources with test patterns in which to test this).

This is heartbreaking...

A few days ago, rumors were flying that the 52" might have been 1:1 because an owner says he could see all of the ABD HD logo during a football game (or something like that).

The thread was here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=733588

If you've confirmed that the overscan is still there over HDMI, you might want to update that thread and put the issue to rest. I know that there are others waiting to hear one way or the other.

really, I just don't get why this is heartbreaking... but I'm happy to confirm it for you.

Ok. Um. It takes a big man to admit when he's wrong... and honestly... well... if I woke up tomorrow with my ass stapled to the carpet I couldn't be anymore suprised than I am right now.

Here's a picture of GRAW on my 36 inch CRT.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f298/isucamper/STA_0054.jpg

Not only does my old Sony overscan over component... but there is considerably MORE overscan than in the Sammy pictures.

I honestly can't believe it. What is most shocking is that in my minds eye... I remembered a perfect picture. I've been gaming for YEARS on this thing and haven't noticed the overscan.

I guess that, for my needs, I've got nothing to worry about with these Sammy sets as far as the whole overscan thing goes.

I can still see why people want 1:1 for PC use though.

You're a good man Charlie Bro... I mean, isucamper! :(

just posted a couple more pics of HD cable here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8629599#post8629599)

I have a 36" HD Sony Tube that is 6 years old.

Somehow, I can see the whole HUD in Ghost Recon.

The overscan that is outlined in the above pictures of Ghost Recon is absolutely unacceptable. That would just drive me INSANE. That's not even overscan. Its overoverscan.

There are other variables though. What's the difference if you ouput 720p vs. 1080i from the 360? Maybe the overscan is game enduced as well at 1080i or at 720p? It could be a combination of both.

On another note...does anyone have access to the service settings for the 4x95/4x96? Perhaps you can shift/adjust overscan in that. I know my Panny AE700 projector allows me to do that as well as shift the picture in the regular menu.

Also...my 4095 arrives TODAY! Can't wait!

Not only does my old Sony overscan over component... but there is considerably MORE overscan than in the Sammy pictures.

I honestly can't believe it. What is most shocking is that in my minds eye... I remembered a perfect picture. I've been gaming for YEARS on this thing and haven't noticed the overscan.

I guess that, for my needs, I've got nothing to worry about with these Sammy sets as far as the whole overscan thing goes.

I can still see why people want 1:1 for PC use though.

The Sammy does a pretty small overscan, but I wish it could be disabled in the SM.

No big deal though, as I'm not hooking up a PC to the thing. I've already got dual Sammys on the PC rig. :)

Also...my 4095 arrives TODAY! Can't wait!

The thing rocks!

I watched some HD ice hockey last night. No artifacts at high speeds, nothing!

If the player is powered on before the source is set to HDMI, the set won't detect the signal?

Photos to follow my 5th post

Ya think!?! ;P

Seriously, the HD DVD player is seriously buggy. Be sure you register it and they will keep sending firmware updates in the mail to you.

Damn Linux is teh suXors.

Deal with it, as we're paving the way for adoption and better and cheaper players.

Regarding the overscan issue, it looks like they have some information on Samsung's TV support FAQ website. One of the FAQ replies mentions that the overscan can be "adjusted by a qualified technician". This makes me wonder if there is a menu that can be accessed on the LN-S4x96D where the overscan can be changed - possibly even down to 0%? Does anyone have any more information about the possibility of this? Here is the verbatim message from Samsung's site...

--
The overscan on your LCD TV can only be adjusted by a qualified technician. To arrange a service appointment to get the overscan adjusted, call Samsung Customer Care at 1-800-Samsung (1-800-726-7864) any day between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Have the model number and serial number of your TV on hand when you call.
--

I have had my LN-S4695 for over 6 weeks and the overscan "problem" is very overblown in my opinion. I run all inputs on the set, except for the composite, and there is no picture issue at all. If 1-2% of the picture is being lost, its impact is NOTHING as far as I am concerned. A HTPC user since 1998, I do not have any computer image gripes with my Samsung. But if I could adjust the overscan to zero, via a service menu, I probably would just do it for the principal of the thing.

I LOVE this LCD set. I got tired of waiting for Westinghouse to resolve the issues with their LCD sets (after 6 months of waiting) and bought the Samsung after seeing the Sony and Samsungs in brick and mortar stores. These sets outpaced all others that I saw and the Samsung was so much cheaper than the Sony.

Any pics ? :) I should be buying in the next month or so, and am trying to decide between this or the new Sharp 42 incher that I can get for less than the sammy. Any one with an HD-DVD player using it with this (S4096) TV?

Don't go with the Sharp 42". The image washes out when viewing this set at angles greater than 35 degrees. I took mine back to Circuit City because of that.

I hear that the 46" and 52" sharps have much better viewing angle performance. After evaluating the 52" Sharp in the store, I have to give the nod to Samsung and Sony on viewing angle picture quality in their panels.

Help...

I have a few questions about my new Samsung Ln-s4096D. I like the set but I've noticed a few things that I want to get your views on. The pictures are very crisp and especially in HD they look great. But, the brightness of the white shots are EXTREMELY bright...crisp...but bright. I've tried to tone down the contrast and the brightness but it doesn't really help much. Is this just the way LCDs are? Also I've noticed that when watching the screen straight on or a bit to the right or left the colors seem normal but once you move off to the sides they seem to brighten (lighten with a reddish hue on the edges) up a bit...is this what the previous post was referring to as "Washing out"? It's not too bad...but you do notice it though. Other than those two issues I like the set. If anyone has the same set and has some manual configurations for the 4 different display settings (dynamic, standard, movie, & custom) that are working for you please let me know. It seems like I constantly fiddle with the brightness and contrast all the time to suit what I'm watching...I shouldn't have to do this.

Any ideas...suggestions...etc would be appreciated.

Steve in Denver
Go Broncos!

Great info!

No HDMI at $499?

Fuggetaboutit!

Looks like you're right, 600 bucks. Ouch. :mad:



Sony just announced that th $499 model *will* have HDMI.

I currently have a 42" Westinghouse and it's fantastic for viewing PC input (my primary source). However, I have noticed that darker movies and games have slightly gray-ish blacks, and the whole screen gets washed out at anything above 30 degrees.

I've seen the 40" Samsung @ BB and the black levels appear much better, with no wash out at the sides. The 46" version of this set sounds *very* appealing to me, but I'm concerned about this overscan issue?

Am I going to be missing pixels with my PC input? What about if I use a DVI -> HDMI adapter instead of VGA input? (I currently use DVI on my Westinghouse).

Any help is much appreciated... I have about a week left that I can return my Westinghouse.

Thanks!

And I have 5 PS3 pre-orders (don't ask how). Anyone wanna buy one off of me? They're all for the 60GB version. PM me.

I need to pay off my Sharp 46d62u off which has 1:1 which everyone seems to be clamoring over. But I guess 1:1 is good. I'm on my couch using my bluetooth mouse & keyboard and it looks just like how it looks on my 20" Viewsonic LCD: amazing.

JERSEY IN THE HOUSE!

What do you think of the picture quality when viewing your 46D62 at angles? Does the image appear to wash out to you?

What do you think of the picture quality when viewing your 46D62 at angles? Does the image appear to wash out to you?

At angles, it looks fine. I just did a quick test, and if I know my geometry right, it seems as if the colors change a bit once you go past 120 degrees viewing angle. HOWEVER, they are hardly washed out even when I'm all the way to the side. I don't think it's an issue with this panel.

Consider it a non-issue.

--
The overscan on your LCD TV can only be adjusted by a qualified technician. To arrange a service appointment to get the overscan adjusted, call Samsung Customer Care at 1-800-Samsung (1-800-726-7864) any day between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Have the model number and serial number of your TV on hand when you call.
--

Great info. I'll call tonight, though I', not sure it applies to my lowly 4095 series set.

Help...

I have a few questions about my new Samsung Ln-s4096D. I like the set but I've noticed a few things that I want to get your views on. The pictures are very crisp and especially in HD they look great. But, the brightness of the white shots are EXTREMELY bright...crisp...but bright. I've tried to tone down the contrast and the brightness but it doesn't really help much. Is this just the way LCDs are? Also I've noticed that when watching the screen straight on or a bit to the right or left the colors seem normal but once you move off to the sides they seem to brighten (lighten with a reddish hue on the edges) up a bit...is this what the previous post was referring to as "Washing out"? It's not too bad...but you do notice it though. Other than those two issues I like the set. If anyone has the same set and has some manual configurations for the 4 different display settings (dynamic, standard, movie, & custom) that are working for you please let me know. It seems like I constantly fiddle with the brightness and contrast all the time to suit what I'm watching...I shouldn't have to do this.

Any ideas...suggestions...etc would be appreciated.

Steve in Denver
Go Broncos!


Did you try lowering the backlight? I believe that it's called energy savings or something like that. I have mine at the first lowered setting and the whites are not at all washed out. Watching the US Open was great in HD and the white outfits had great detail.

Help...

I have a few questions about my new Samsung Ln-s4096D. I like the set but I've noticed a few things that I want to get your views on. The pictures are very crisp and especially in HD they look great. But, the brightness of the white shots are EXTREMELY bright...crisp...but bright. I've tried to tone down the contrast and the brightness but it doesn't really help much. Is this just the way LCDs are? Also I've noticed that when watching the screen straight on or a bit to the right or left the colors seem normal but once you move off to the sides they seem to brighten (lighten with a reddish hue on the edges) up a bit...is this what the previous post was referring to as "Washing out"? It's not too bad...but you do notice it though. Other than those two issues I like the set. If anyone has the same set and has some manual configurations for the 4 different display settings (dynamic, standard, movie, & custom) that are working for you please let me know. It seems like I constantly fiddle with the brightness and contrast all the time to suit what I'm watching...I shouldn't have to do this.

Any ideas...suggestions...etc would be appreciated.

Steve in Denver
Go Broncos!

Get the AVIA disc.

Great info. I'll call tonight, though I', not sure it applies to my lowly 4095 series set.

Let us know how this turns out if you get a chance to try it tonight. Thanks.

Get the AVIA disc.
Forgive me not knowing...but what is the AVIA disk? Again my last TV was the 32 inch HD Panasonic Tau Tube set..so having an LCD is a little new to me. But don't get me wrong this set displaying a program in HD is incredible...can't wait until most things are in HD...

Steve in Denver