To all: Thanks for hearing my saga and for your replies. I’ve covered it all and will minimize further epic diatribes. Let me respond here to all recent responses …

Best of luck in your search ~ it's just a TV ~ life’s short ~ sets will be affordable in a yr or 2 Thanks. We hear you. For us, it’s our only home AV device, 6 years of very precious savings, and what we have to live with for hopefully another 8+ years. Our Sony XBR CRT died after 10 years.

When you had the CRT ~ you put up with the reflections/glare ~ plasma can't be worse ~ prob. btter ~screen door ~ not visible at normal ~ distances. Look at ~ Toshiba & Panny ~ Tosh ~ stretching SD pictures to fill the screen without making people look so fat as the other brands all do. Thanks. XBR CRT had cylindrical screen that bunched reflections into single vertical bar that was easy to adapt to. 42” plasmas are like windows that shows all reflections.

On your hint, we will revisit them. I take it you meant Zoom not Stretch re Toshiba plasma. Will see if either make a 1080. Read thread on Hitachi 1080. Seems flaky. After a year of waiting for LCD's, I've lost a lot of insight into plasma. We passed before due to burn, view angle, and screen door. Hitachi has 1080 plasma with reduced screen effect due to 1080 along with reduced inter-pixel gap. Doesn't angle remains a killer with plasma? We need 45 degrees with minimal degradation. Is plasma now better than LCD in that respect? Is burn no longer an issue? Do plasmas display the full tonal scale well? Especially the lower tones (shadow detail)?

~ pick up a 34" 1080i CRT in meantime ~ dig up ~ 34HS non-XBR Sony ~ some XBR's ~ as well. Toshiba made 34's, ~ Sony 34" CRT thread is massive. Could spend month's there AND be happy! Thanks. We found height of deceased 32” XBR CRT a bit small for my tired eyes. Need at least 42” 16:9 screen for same SD size as 32” 4:3. That’s why 46” 4696 was great in *that* respect. SD size is now a little larger and HD is wonderful. Weight of old 32” XBR was extreme. Can’t lift more than 10 lbs. Could not move XBR when I needed to. Couldn’t cope with an HD CRT. So, we had to move to flat panel sooner than we wanted to. And here I am :=)

p.s. to K4SMX: The 46231 doesn't have the motorized base. Mitsubishi manual and a call to Tweeter dealerhip both confirmed that. It's only on the smaller 37132 unit. Perhaps the larger size was too heavy for their standard swivel motor.


another review of 4096d ~ at CNET ~ compares it to Sony XBR2 and ~ others. ~ has picture settings under "Tips and Tricks" ~ for set in a darkened room. ~ praised black levels and off axis viewing. Thanks. It was a glowing review except for "inconsistent" color. However, they reviewed the 40" model which I think has the same electronics but a significantly different LCD panel so I am not sure of the review's value concerning angular degradation and overall PQ of the 4696. Due to smaller size, angular degradation would be at least be slightly reduced because the edges are at less of an angular displacement when viewing dead on. Thus, you can move more to the sides for the same angular deviation as a larger screen.

Also checked his settings. On our unit would they'd produce a very dark screen. We can't use Movie on anything but our DVD's which display very light. So Movie's heavy darkening corrects our DVD's well. Adding Energy Savings: High would make the screen almost toally dark. I guess the 4096 picture settings behave quite differently than those of the 4696.

===

What next?
- Wait for replacement 4696.
- Review and succinctly report findings here.
- Meanwhile, check out Mistubishi 46231.
- Start plasma research from scratch.
- Try to find/review 1080i plasma alternatives
- Conclude within 3-4 weeks.
- Increase migraine drug dosage!

Ciao.

And so maybe XOR42 should pick up a 34" 1080i CRT in the meantime. He could probably even dig up a 34HS non-XBR Sony from a year ago for<800. Should be some XBR's out there as well. Toshiba made 34's, too.......... The Sony 34" CRT settings thread is massive. He could spend month's there..........AND be happy!

Personally, I look forward to hearing more from XOR42. For me, his posts are among the best, most interesting and most useful I've read on several LCD threads. They are well-written, empirical and rigorously argued. They raise some of the questions we as consumers and video geeks need to consider if LCD technology -- and perhaps our own notions of picture quality -- are going to evolve and mature.

I suspect the "tonality" issue will eventually get addressed. It has it's own "name" and has a lot of folks complaining about it! Like I said, I suspect it was an over-reaction to the "LCDs cant do black" thing we hear so much about.

Looking forward, like 1080p was all the rage for LCDs in 06, I think LED backlights will be the 07 thing. I have no knowledge if this will or won't have an effect, but I don't think it's out of the question that it MAY have a good effect.

With my observation of black crush in 3 recent movies, we could also get into the "artistry" equation. From those experiences, it sure could be that directors are trying for that look. I have a friend who is an indie filmmaker and she totally oversaturates her films; she very specifically goes of the garish look (I understand the point but think she goes a tad too far). Put one of her films on a current HD display and a lot of folks would be reaching fro their controls and complaining about how the TV, the STB, the cable company "ruins" their experience!

Personally, I look forward to hearing more from XOR42. For me, his posts are among the best, most interesting and most useful I've read on several LCD threads. They are well-written, empirical and rigorously argued. They raise some of the questions we as consumers and video geeks need to consider if LCD technology -- and perhaps our own notions of picture quality -- are going to evolve and mature.

I am in 100% agreement. I just feel like he has nearly reached the end of the road and am trying to find him a temporary alternative. He and I have spent hours on the phone, and I have spent even more hours rigorously investigating his problems, including those in his original post, now re-edited. I wish him well!

Your new TV will be many years old before you see broadcast 1080p. What you need is an external video processor, or a new 1080p LCD TV that does a better job of de-interlacing. Please let me know when you find it.........

But a 1080p signal won't need to be deinterlaced, right? so it will have a great transfer of all 1080p content?

I'm torn between finding an LCD that de-interlaces better cause the 4696 is great with a lot of shows. I will say that I am very happy with HD content on the TV that is not sports. All pre-recorded shows look great to my eye. My xbox and pc look great as well.

I'm also torn cause I got a great deal and the new models coming out will be much more expensive. Probably double what I paid for this.

But a 1080p signal won't need to be deinterlaced, right? so it will have a great transfer of all 1080p content?

I'm torn between finding a better LCD that de-interlaces better cause the tv is great with a lot of signals. I will say that I am very happy with HD content on the TV that is not sports. All pre-recorded shows look great to my eye.

I'm also torn cause I got a great deal and the new models coming out will be much more expensive. Probably double what I paid for this.

I see your point, CrasMack. I am hoping that this TV actually falls a little bit more as the new models come out. There are so many things that some of the technophiles around here notice that neither I , nor my wife, will ever notice. Once, or if, I get this set, my wife has already said this is it for a good while.

But a 1080p signal won't need to be deinterlaced, right? so it will have a great transfer of all 1080p content?

I'm torn between finding an LCD that de-interlaces better cause the 4696 is great with a lot of shows. I will say that I am very happy with HD content on the TV that is not sports. All pre-recorded shows look great to my eye. My xbox and pc look great as well.

I'm also torn cause I got a great deal and the new models coming out will be much more expensive. Probably double what I paid for this.

Can someone point me to an english explaination of the deinterlacing issue? I understand the difference beteen interlaced and progressive, but I am wondering what the actual effect on PQ is for the 4x95/96, since I have read in a couple of places that it does not deinterlace well. I own a 4095D and I love the picture, but I read somewhere the its sub-standard deinterlacing makes it process information at a 50% rate of what it could. Does this mean the PQ could be twice as good!?

Any information on the actual effect on PQ caused by good or bad deinterlacing would be helpful. Thanks.

Also, CrasMack, my intuition is that the pixelation you are experiencing is much more likely to be caused by the source of your signal (cable or satellite) than it is the TV. But I may be wrong, depending on the answer to my question above.

Can someone point me to an english explaination of the deinterlacing issue? I understand the difference beteen interlaced and progressive, but I am wondering what the actual effect on PQ is for the 4x95/96, since I have read in a couple of places that it does not deinterlace well. I own a 4095D and I love the picture, but I read somewhere the its sub-standard deinterlacing makes it process information at a 50% rate of what it could. Does this mean the PQ could be twice as good!?

Any information on the actual effect on PQ caused by good or bad deinterlacing would be helpful. Thanks.

TV's that do a poor job of de-interlacing interlaced video signals will show "jaggies" on moving objects. Let's just call it "distortion." For a full discussion of this subject:

http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/viddoubl.htm#Top

If you would like to obtain a DVD that will thoroughly test your TV in this and many other respects:

http://www.hqv.com/

I am also pretty happy with my 4696D. This is a very rapidly evolving technology. This 1080p set is a tremendous improvement over my 2004 model, with it's 16ms display, and a substantial improvement over my 2005 model, with only 768 resolution. They will continue to get better. My average visitor says, "WOW!"

I just received my 4695 from Amazon and wanted to offer the following observations. I am upgrading from a Panasonic 42PX60U plasma. I am bit surprised, but the SD PQ is actually significantly better. The backlight on the 4695 is a bit milky and inconsistent. It is slightly noticeable in dark screens or when the screen is completely dark. The black detail is OK at best. However, the overall PQ in HD is phenomenal. I will continue to play with the settings to work on the black levels and detail. Overall I think the PQ is amazing on this set and can't wait for the HD DVD wars to be settled so I can get a 1080p source. The only 1080p XBox game I have checked so far was Sonic The Hedgehog (my kids' game) and it looked really good.

Does anyone think that I would be able to improve black levels by going into the service menu or having the set professionally calibrated? Or is it just that the backlight bleeds through a little bit and calibration won't help it.

Can we really expect a perfect display in the $1 - $3k price range?

.............. The backlight on the 4695 is a bit milky and inconsistent. It is slightly noticeable in dark screens or when the screen is completely dark.........

Does anyone think that I would be able to improve black levels by going into the service menu or having the set professionally calibrated? Or is it just that the backlight bleeds through a little bit and calibration won't help it.

Can we really expect a perfect display in the $1 - $3k price range?

We can sure expect a top-of-the-line Samsung/Sony S-PVA panel to have an even backlight. Mine (4696D) does. If you can live with it, fine, but this is a known issue. There are over 4,000 posts on the Sony XBR 40/46 thread about it, many here, and on the 5296D thread. If it were mine, I would exchange it. It will only bother you more and more, like a dent in your new car. Amazon is also aware of this issue, at least with respect to the XBR's; I have seen their correspondence....

I am glad you are happy with it otherwise. That 42PX60U was a pretty good panel itself., I understand.

Who sets the standard for what is a good or bad deinterlacer?

For months when I was in stores trying to decide which TV to buy, I closely compared Samsung's 1080p models next to the 1080p Sony's, Sharps, and other brands. Did my eyes deceive me? I chose the Samsung because I believed it had the least blurring, best blacks, and most pleasing picture. Maybe I can't trust my own judgement after all.

Nice info here. Thanks

I am upgrading from a Panasonic 42PX60U plasma. I am bit surprised, but the SD PQ is actually significantly better. The backlight on the 4695 is a bit milky and inconsistent. It is slightly noticeable in dark screens or when the screen is completely dark. The black detail is OK at best. However, the overall PQ in HD is phenomenal. Overall I think the PQ is amazing on this set and can't wait for the HD DVD wars to be settled so I can get a 1080p source. The only 1080p XBox game I have checked so far was Sonic The Hedgehog (my kids' game) and it looked really good.

Does anyone think that I would be able to improve black levels by going into the service menu or having the set professionally calibrated? Or is it just that the backlight bleeds through a little bit and calibration won't help it.

Can we really expect a perfect display in the $1 - $3k price range?

As many here have pointed out, everyone’s need and expectations are very different. If you are a sports fan and gaming enthusiast as your subtitle and text suggests, you may be very pleased with your 4696. It’s fantastic for live HD sports events and gaming because of very high brightness and resolution.

It’s ironic we are considering moving to a brand name plasma from our brand new 4696 while you are moving in the opposite direction. We’re also MA residents, btw, and use DirecTV and Comcast for our HD content. Unfortunately, we are not into either of your pastimes and mostly watch darker toned TV series and movies in subdued (not dark) lighting. So, for our specific needs, LCD’s are not a good match. It seems the more I read, the lower brightness levels and handling of darker scenes is better with plasma.

The backlighting of our 4696, which seems to be one of the best units, is, indeed, what you call “milky” and subtly inconsistent. That seems to be as good as LCD’s can get today. Since network TV and movies seldom have an all dark screen, we seldom notice the effect. Some PC and gaming users, however, seem to notice it more because solid dark tone screens are more common in those applications.

As for black detail, well, that is the weakest area of LCD’s. From our experience with this 4696 and comments here, it doesn’t get any darker and the rendering of darker tones won’t be as good as plasma (so I hear). Neither plasma nor LCD seems covers all the bases. They each play the game differently. Based on your stated use, you should be very happy with your 4696.

Based on our needs, we might possibly be a little happier with plasma. We actually want a darker screen. For us, LCD’s are terribly bright and it hurts our eyes and if we reduce the backlighting, it crushes the lower tones of the media we like to watch like shadowy TV series. But, again, for sports and gaming, especially in daylight, you many find the 4696 phenomenal.

Another area where we find the 4696 really good is when playing our DVD’s. For some reason, our DVD’s are very light in tonal scale with darkest tones only middle-dark gray. So, in that case only, we can lower the backlight all the way and crush the scale into a dark range. The screen then looks great! But that accounts for less than 2% of our viewing time. We watch mostly network TV series and movies which, with their dark tones, are displayed rather poorly. But that’s just us.

I hope you enjoy your 4696. It’s as good as LCD’s get today!

Since you are a recent plasma user I’d appreciate your thoughts on plasma’s handling of our specific needs such as:
- having good black levels
- handling of shadows and darker tones of moody movies and TV series
- need for lower brightness for use in the subdued lighting of a TV room
- need for viewing angle of 45 degrees – our 4696 is not good at that
- how offensive were the reflections on your plasma screen
- did you find the grainy screendoor effect a problem at 10 feet?

Thanks.

The black levels on the plasma are definitely better than the LCD. I think sometimes that the black is a little too black. I do watch a lot of network TV as well (Criminal Minds, 24, CSI, NCIS, etc.) and the plasma handles the blacks a bit better. However, the plasma does a terrible job with subtle color gradients. I have problems with color banding on gray and beige backgrounds and can even see it on faces as well. This seems to be a common problem to plasmas. As for viewing angles, the plasma seem a little better but it's not much of an issue for me. Reflections are a bit of an issue with the plasma and the set was in a fairly dark room. I would usually close all of the blinds when using the set. You ask about screendoor effect but have only seen that on RPTV's.

If black levels are that big of an issue for you, have looked at the Sony SXRD or JVC DILA sets. I love the SXRD, but have two major problems. The 17.6" depth of the set is too much for the room and viewing distance (6 - 10 feet) where the TV is located. Also, the sheen (for lack of a better term) on RPTV's is very noticeable to me. When I talked to salespeople about it they have no idea what I am talking about. But, you can definitely see the surface of the screen itself and has almost a sparling look to it. I know this would drive me nuts.

So, I guess the point of my original post is that I don't believe there is a perfect technology out there unless you want to go for a 34" CRT based set and that is way too bulky and the screen size is way too small for me. So, until a better technology comes along (SED???) we have to live with imperfect technologies that produce an unbelievable picture with a few flaws. The perfect "10" does not exist yet, but I can live with my 9.

Hey guys and gals,

I am new to the forum and I have a couple of questions. This has become a large thread and either I inadvertantly skipped over it, but here goes.

I am debating between the LN-S4696, and the LN-S4695. Besides the 4696 having a cable card and the 4695 does not. What are the differences and the pros and cons between the two.

A little about my situation to help:

I live in NC and have Time Warner Digital cable with DVR (so I need a set top box), and once a tv is purchased will get the HD box with DVR. Also upon purchasing a tv, I will also purchase a new DVD player. More than likely and upconverting player (oppo, sammy, etc) until the format wars come to a solution.

Programming we enjoy is just about everything, sports, movies of all types (chick flicks, action, comedy, sci-fi), tons of tv (greys anatomy, CSI, 24, Lost, Heros), and possibly thinking of moving my PS2 from the bedroom, to the living room.

If this quesiton has been asked over and over I appologize in advance.

Thank you for all your help.

Hey guys and gals,

I am new to the forum and I have a couple of questions. This has become a large thread and either I inadvertantly skipped over it, but here goes.

I am debating between the LN-S4696, and the LN-S4695. Besides the 4696 having a cable card and the 4695 does not. Since they are both 1080p sets, what are the differences and the pros and cons between the two.

A little about my situation to help:

I live in NC and have Time Warner Digital cable with DVR (so I need a set top box), and once a tv is purchased will get the HD box with DVR. Also upon purchasing a tv, I will also purchase a new DVD player. More than likely and upconverting player (oppo, sammy, etc) until the format wars come to a solution.

Programming we enjoy is just about everything, sports, movies of all types (chick flicks, action, comedy, sci-fi), tons of tv (greys anatomy, CSI, 24, Lost, Heros), and possibly thinking of moving my PS2 from the bedroom, to the living room.

If this quesiton has been asked over and over I appologize in advance.

Thank you for all your help.

I am debating between the LN-S4696, and the LN-S4695. Besides the 4696 having a cable card and the 4695 does not. Since they are both 1080p sets, what are the differences and the pros and cons between the two.


Previous post listed this for 4695D vs. 4696D...

There are a few other minor differences. The 4096 has:

- an USB port on the side panel for displaying images (the 4095 has a USB port too, but it's on the back and only for service)
- a composite video port on the side panel (the 4095 has SVideo I believe)
- two Firewire (1394) ports (on back)
- a nicer (IMHO) clear 'sound deflector' at the bottom (the 4095's is silver)
- an oval foot instead of the 4095's rectangular one

Personally, I like the look of the 4696 better.

Has anyone here had their xx96D stop having picture but still have audio? This has happened to mine and I have a service call in. It seems like the backlight power supply may have gone out. Did the Rx carefully, finding the same symptoms from multiple source inputs and checking that there were not loose hdmi cables etc. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this.

Has anyone here had their xx96D stop having picture but still have audio? This has happened to mine and I have a service call in. It seems like the backlight power supply may have gone out. Did the Rx carefully, finding the same symptoms from multiple source inputs and checking that there were not loose hdmi cables etc. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this.

I've seen a couple of people experiencing this. I can't recall where the posts are, exactly, though. I believe one person unscrewed the rear of their set and "wiggled" a cable and his set now works fine.

Thanks for the input on this TV, great reading your guys comments.

I've been reading through this forum hoping to find an answer to the overscan over HDMI issue. I pretty much killed an entire day reading the whole thread so as not to miss anything.

Anyhow, I have a 4095D hooked up to my Vista HTPC ... and of course I can't deal with the overscan. Even worse ... neither ATI nor NVidia have Vista drivers capable of "fixing" the overscan like they had for XP ... at least not yet. I've also tried Powerstrip to "fix" the issue, but I can't seem to get settings that will eliminate the overscan while still sending an acceptable signal to my panel.

Have there been any updates on the Justscan firmware upgrade coming to the US? It's apparently available in Korea and in the UK ... what about us folks in the US ... what are we chopped liver?

For anyone interested ... my LCD is currently running firmware version 1012. The video cards that I have tried were (1) an NVidia 6600 Dual DVI with a DVI->HDMI converted and (2) a Sapphire X1600 Pro HDMI card. Below is a small list of the results that I've had with these cards.

6600 w/ built in Microsoft driver -> overscan
6600 w/ latest NVidia driver -> overscan
X1600 w/ built in Microsoft driver -> UNDERscan when set to 1920x1080@60Hz. It actually looks just like the 1776x1000 resolution of the other drivers I tried. Strange.
X1600 w/ latest ATI driver (beta from Dec.13.2006) -> overscan ... same as NVidia card.

When I try setting the MS driver for the X1600 to 1776x1000 (as opposed to 1920x1080) I actually get the same amount of underscan. However, my card only allows me to run at 30Hz under this resolution :-( Also, my panel reports that it is receiving a 1080i signal when I run this resolution at 30Hz.

I've been reading through this forum hoping to find an answer to the overscan over HDMI issue. I pretty much killed an entire day reading the whole thread so as not to miss anything..........

Do those cards have a standard VGA out, and have you tried the 1:1 VGA input which this TV supports for PC? I seem to remember that the early posts on this matter reported that it works perfectly.

Have there been any updates on the Justscan firmware upgrade coming to the US? It's apparently available in Korea and in the UK ... what about us folks in the US ... what are we chopped liver?


Not going to guarantee anything but earlier this month I e-mailed Samsung Canada customer service to see if a firmware update was coming out in North America. I mentioned that Korea has received an update to eliminate overscan via HDMI. The reply I got was that they were working on a new firmware but no date had been set yet. That was about two weeks ago. I might try again next week.

CrasMack,

Thanks for the reply. Are there any picture differences between the two, or setting options that is on one but not the other? The stand I am not overly concerned about, but like you, the clear vs. silver sound deflector, clear looks sharper.

But my main concern is PQ and setting options. I don't plan on hooking up a laptop/pc to the tv so the one USB for service, and lack of firewire should be fine.
What would the advantage be for having composite on the side vs. S-video.

I'm mystified by the fascination with the HDMI input for normal HD video signals, although it will certainly be necessary for handshaking HDCP DVD drives when playing copy protected material in most, but not all cases. LCD displays are analog devices. The only "digital" display devices are the 3LCD and DLP based RP & projector TV's.

CrasMack,

Thanks for the reply. Are there any picture differences between the two, or setting options that is on one but not the other? The stand I am not overly concerned about, but like you, the clear vs. silver sound deflector, clear looks sharper.

But my main concern is PQ and setting options. I don't plan on hooking up a laptop/pc to the tv so the one USB for service, and lack of firewire should be fine.
What would the advantage be for having composite on the side vs. S-video.

I can't really comment on picture quality differences. I assume they are the same but am not sure. I bought my 4696 special order without seeing it and the store didn't have a 4695 to check out.

As for composite vs. s-video on the side, I might get ripped for this, but my own feeling is that composite makes it easier to plug in home products like camcorders and stuff. I know my sister just bought a new JVC harddrive camcorder and it came with composite cables for plugging into a tv. Having composite on the side would make having a product like that easier to hook up to your tv. I am of the opinion that more products like this come with composite outputs then svideo outputs.

Previous post listed this for 4695D vs. 4696D...

There are a few other minor differences. The 4096 has:

- an USB port on the side panel for displaying images (the 4095 has a USB port too, but it's on the back and only for service)
- a composite video port on the side panel (the 4095 has SVideo I believe)
- two Firewire (1394) ports (on back)
- a nicer (IMHO) clear 'sound deflector' at the bottom (the 4095's is silver)
- an oval foot instead of the 4095's rectangular one

Personally, I like the look of the 4696 better.


My 4695 has both composite and S-Video on the side.

I can't really comment on picture quality differences. I assume they are the same but am not sure. I bought my 4696 special order without seeing it and the store didn't have a 4695 to check out.

As for composite vs. s-video on the side, I might get ripped for this, but my own feeling is that composite makes it easier to plug in home products like camcorders and stuff. I know my sister just bought a new JVC harddrive camcorder and it came with composite cables for plugging into a tv. Having composite on the side would make having a product like that easier to hook up to your tv. I am of the opinion that more products like this come with composite outputs then svideo outputs.

Point of information: They make composite > S-video adapters for that.

For folsk who have the 4695/96 46 sammys and were not at all happy with the set, which model/ brand did did you end up with when you went back and exchanged it? Any are you happy with the new set?

I have had the 4695d for 2 weeks.

Point of information: They make composite > S-video adapters for that.
I think I can predict the results, if we had a poll on whether TVs should have every connection type used since the 1960s (like these seem to), or whether they should have just one and we should all have a drawer full of cables and converters to hook into that when friends and family come by and want to show you their pictures, video, etc. - it would be, more inputs is better

As far as the favorite question about the differences ---- The Samsung site states that the 95/96 models are identical except for the noted differences. Look in the FAQs. Unless you need the cablecard, or REALLY like the clear deflector by the speakers, you don't need the 96.

I just have a quick question. I got my TV a week ago and all is great. I have a PS2 that right now is hooked up via Composite cables. I tried to get gran turismo to output to 1080i and when I did that there was "no signal" to my TV...

This may be a dumb question, but does this TV (or any for that matter) not allow a HD signal over composite cables? is this even possible? It might be that my Ps2 is too old to do it too...just wondering before I go spend $ on component cables to get the 1080i output to work.

Do those cards have a standard VGA out, and have you tried the 1:1 VGA input which this TV supports for PC? I seem to remember that the early posts on this matter reported that it works perfectly.

The Nvidia 6600 doesn't. It's dual DVI output.

The X1600 HDMI Pro does have a VGA output, and I do get 1:1 on this output. However, the picture quality on the VGA output is horrible compared to the HDMI port.

Not going to guarantee anything but earlier this month I e-mailed Samsung Canada customer service to see if a firmware update was coming out in North America. I mentioned that Korea has received an update to eliminate overscan via HDMI. The reply I got was that they were working on a new firmware but no date had been set yet. That was about two weeks ago. I might try again next week.


That's excellent news. Please keep up updated on your findings. I called Samsung the other day (1-800-SAMSUNG) and asked about FW ... they knew nothing. :-( Maybe I just talked to the wrong guy.

I'm mystified by the fascination with the HDMI input for normal HD video signals, although it will certainly be necessary for handshaking HDCP DVD drives when playing copy protected material in most, but not all cases. LCD displays are analog devices. The only "digital" display devices are the 3LCD and DLP based RP & projector TV's.


K4SMX ... my HDMI card is HDCP enabled ... and I do plan to purchase an internal HD-DVD drive for my HTPC as soon as the prices come down a bit.

Regardless, I have overscan issues on both my HDMI card and the DVI card that I tried. When comparing the quality of the HDMI/DVI to standard VGA the difference is astounding and easily visible. After seeing how good my 4095 can look over HDMI, there is no way I can use the VGA.

I just have a quick question. I got my TV a week ago and all is great. I have a PS2 that right now is hooked up via Composite cables. I tried to get gran turismo to output to 1080i and when I did that there was "no signal" to my TV...

This may be a dumb question, but does this TV (or any for that matter) not allow a HD signal over composite cables? is this even possible? It might be that my Ps2 is too old to do it too...just wondering before I go spend $ on component cables to get the 1080i output to work.

You need at least component cables for any game system to output an HD signal. Component, VGA, DVI, HDMI all will take a 720p/1080i signal.

For folsk who have the 4695/96 46 sammys and were not at all happy with the set, which model/ brand did did you end up with when you went back and exchanged it? Any are you happy with the new set?

I have had the 4695d for 2 weeks.

I'm thinking of taking mine back right now and getting a 56 inch Samsung 1080p dlp projection set. Those have issues of their own though.

The Nvidia 6600 doesn't. It's dual DVI output.

The X1600 HDMI Pro does have a VGA output, and I do get 1:1 on this output. However, the picture quality on the VGA output is horrible compared to the HDMI port.

That's very interesting, because I am certain that way back in this thread there were several posters who reported excellent 1:1 1080p video quality over VGA input. I wonder why your results are so different? It probably has to do with the particular card they were using. I seem to remember it was an Nvidia 7800xxx(?). You could do a search on the thread and perhaps PM that member regarding his experience....

...........

.........As far as the favorite question about the differences ---- The Samsung site states that the 95/96 models are identical except for the noted differences. Look in the FAQs. Unless you need the cablecard, or REALLY like the clear deflector by the speakers, you don't need the 96.

There IS the matter of the left side USB input for display of photos & photo slide shows, MP3's , etc. The '96D's will do a full screen display of your individual photos in zoom mode, but not in photo slide show mode. It's one or the other.....

Also, if you have need of a clear QAM tuner for reception of all the (by-statute) unencrypted HD network basic tier channels, you must have a '96D, because Samsung does not provide a QAM tuner unless you get the CableCard model. You just don't actually use the CableCard in that case.

And finally, there's the D-Net (IEEE 1394/"firewire") feature. There's almost 20 pages devoted to this in the manual. I don't actually have 1394 ports on any of my current equipment, but I might in the future. Basically this feature allows you to chain together all your A/V equipment using single 1394 cables and input their signals directly to your TV no matter where they are in the chain, while controlling them with an on-screen display representation of them using your TV remote. I will probably like at least to try that out some day....

That's very interesting, because I am certain that way back in this thread there were several posters who reported excellent 1:1 1080p video quality over VGA input. I wonder why your results are so different? It probably has to do with the particular card they were using. I seem to remember it was an Nvidia 7800xxx(?). You could do a search on the thread and perhaps PM that member regarding his experience....


It is possible that it was their card. The VGA video on my X1600 is okay ... but not nearly as good as the HDMI port. The biggest difference is in the picture sharpness. The HDMI is MUCH sharper ... the image just looks a lot cleaner (and brighter) than the VGA picture. I haven't yet tried messing around with the settings on my 4095 to see if I can make the picture over VGA more acceptable. I am very picky.

I currently have my X1600 in my HTPC with both VGA and HDMI ports hooked up. I can switch over to the 1:1 VGA connection anytime ... yet I leave it on the underscanned HDMI port. Even though it's underscanned, it still looks better to me.

....... I haven't yet tried messing around with the settings on my 4095 to see if I can make the picture over VGA more acceptable.......

Well then others will be interested in the results after you complete the "Adjusting (VGA PC input) Picture Quality" in the owner's manual. It's a full page on p.112 of the '96D manual, not sure about the p.# in the '95D...... Don't intend to hook up a PC myself, but I would like verification that it works like it's supposed to!

I bought a 1080p tv as a "future ready tv" so I don't have to upgrade again in a few years but so far I am finding that the HD signal plugged into my non-hd CRT is better picture quality.

that's probably because you're old tv is a lot smaller. it's cramming the same amount of information into a smaller space, which makes blemishes and inperfections less noticable. How are you connecting your "HD signal" into your non HD TV? That sounds interesting.

it sounds to me like you should have the signal checked out at your house. That's where i'd start.

zv

Well then others will be interested in the results after you complete the "Adjusting (VGA PC input) Picture Quality" in the owner's manual. It's a full page on p.112 of the '96D manual, not sure about the p.# in the '95D...... Don't intend to hook up a PC myself, but I would like verification that it works like it's supposed to!

K4SMX ... I took time away from writing my dissertation tonight so I could play with the VGA input ... just for you. :D I don't think I'll ever graduate anyway :(

Anyhow, my biggest complaint about the VGA input is definitely the sharpness. When viewing text everything is just a little bit more blurry than it is over the HDMI connection. Definitely noticeable though.

My second complaint is the color. I'm by no means an AV expert, so I don't know the correct terms for what's wrong with the color. However, everything just seems darker. For example, skin tones look too orange (i.e. everyone looks like Christina Aguilera). However, when increasing the brightness everything starts to wash out pretty quickly. Also, when using the VGA input, the settings for Sharpness and Tint on the 4095D cannot be changed. They are grayed out. I'm sure the color difference could probably be fixed by modifying the color profile on my PC ... but I'm currently just using the basic driver that came with Vista. I don't really have the time to mess around with the color profile of my machine right now anyhow.

My third complaint is distortion. When using the VGA connection, I sometimes get strange screen flickers and distortion. I've really only noticed it when minimizing and maximizing windows in Vista (using Aero) ... but I haven't really done much else to test it out. The flickering and distortion doesn't happen when using the HDMI connection. I suppose this could just be a problem with my video card ... and/or crappy VGA cable that I'm using. I'm tempted to say that it's probably my video card since the flickering and distortion appears to be localized to the window that is currently being animated, and not the entire screen.

Let me know if there is anything specific that you'd like me to test out ... and I'll give it a whirl. Just remember that I'm far from an AV expert.


(For anyone interested who hasn't read my previous posts ... the video card is a Sapphire X1600 Pro HDMI)

...if there's anything specific you'd like me to test out...

Ah ha! Now we know why it takes so long to complete the average Piled Higher and Deeper dissertation!

Seriously though, thanks for your effort. You didn't comment specifically about your experience using the PQ "fine tuning" adjustments, i.e., whether they made any difference at all. HTPC readers might like to know all about that.

This very well could be an OS/driver issue. If there's one area where there's sure to be initial problems with Vista, it'll be I/O device drivers. Also, I seem to remember a couple of posters owning Mac's that had no problems. If you are using the default, basic video driver of Windows Vista, and you have not installed a video card driver which is provided by the card manufacturer specifically for Windows Vista, then all bets are off. Under Control Panel>System>Hardware, check your Device Manager listings. Under "Display Adapters," see if your card has a proper driver installed. Under XP, if you did not, you would see a yellow "?" over the item. Not sure about Vista, but probably the same.

IF SAMSUNG WOULD JUST RELEASE THE 'JUSTSCAN' FIRMWARE UPDATE IN NORTH AMERICA , this would all be moot. (Anybody at Samsung lurking out there???)

I just have a quick question. I got my TV a week ago and all is great. I have a PS2 that right now is hooked up via Composite cables. I tried to get gran turismo to output to 1080i and when I did that there was "no signal" to my TV...

This may be a dumb question, but does this TV (or any for that matter) not allow a HD signal over composite cables? is this even possible? It might be that my Ps2 is too old to do it too...just wondering before I go spend $ on component cables to get the 1080i output to work.

thats a ps2 it wont do 1080i and over composite I think the highest you get is stndard 480 p.

I have a Samsung LN-S4696d. When I use the channel button to surf up the channels, when I get to, say, channels 46 and 47 they won't come in. 44 comes in, 45 comes in, 46 and 47 won't, 48 and on up are fine. When I then come back and try 46 and 47 they come in. Then, much later in the day when I turn on the set again, the same thing happens but with a different channel or two, that is some channel won't come in when I get to it with the channel up/down button, but when I come back to the problem channel, it will come in. Always a different channel, happens every day. I have reset the channel manager list several times, reset the cablecard channel list several times, all to no avail. Have any of you experienced anything like this? Am ready to return it to Best Buy.

I've had this set since nov. and have just run into a major problem.

I purchased a universal remote and had it automatically scan for the tv code. When it did find the code, it turned the set off, and when I turned it back on, the set was in shop mode so I had to reset the display. Now that I have it back in home mode, the TV will no longer tune HD channels, both over the antenna and the free HD channels on cable.

And to wtbrowN; My set would occasionally not pick up ABC HD before noon, but I assumed this was because they wern't broadcasting. Now I wonder if this wasn't a sign of bigger problems.

thats a ps2 it wont do 1080i and over composite I think the highest you get is stndard 480 p.

The highest over composite is 480i. When playing GT you can get 1080i when using the component cable which also gets you 480p with the games that support progressive scan. A few including Gran Turismo support 1080i(I know the Matrix supports it too but maybe only on the Xbox).

I'm thinking of taking mine back right now and getting a 56 inch Samsung 1080p dlp projection set. Those have issues of their own though.

I'm also looking at the Westinghouse 42 inch 720p model that Best Buy has for a very cheap price. It won't be as nice as the Sammy but at least the frame is flat black and it cost a third as much.

I am thinking about getting a bigger LCD and giving my old one to my brother. I currently have the Samsung LN-S3251D. I am looking into gettting a 40" and was originally thinking the LN-S4051D, but am wondering if the LN-S4092D is any better. I am also wondering if the 1080p will even be noticeable on the Ln-S4096D/95D since the screen just is not that big. Any thoughts?

Ah ha! Now we know why it takes so long to complete the average Piled Higher and Deeper dissertation!

You have no idea how true this is. And Jorge's comics certainly don't help me get my work done any faster either. If there are any grad students on this board that are unfamiliar with Jorge's comic I'd highly recommend looking it up.


Seriously though, thanks for your effort. You didn't comment specifically about your experience using the PQ "fine tuning" adjustments, i.e., whether they made any difference at all. HTPC readers might like to know all about that.


As far as the tuning menu for the PC connection, well it's actually pretty weak. There are really only two options: Position and Image Lock.

Position does exactly what you think it should. It lets you move the image on the screen up/down/left/right.


Image Lock has two sliders you can adjust, coarse and fine.

The coarse adjustment allows you to adjust the amount of noise in the picture by shrinking/stretching the picture horizontally. you're fairly limited with the coarse adjustment with a range of about 20 or 30 if you still want your image to fill the full screen without too much of it getting cut off. Of course since the panel is 1920 pixels wide, your best image should theoretically be when your image is JUST at the edge of the screen (assuming your using 1920x1080). When you're JUST at the edge there shouldn't be any stretching of the image, thus resulting in the least amount of noise.

The fine adjustment is just that ... fine. In fact, it's sooo fine that I don't think I see any difference between a setting of 0 or 100.

Overall, the image over VGA is acceptable, but it still doesn't seem as sharp as the HDMI connection. And using VGA isn't going to an option for anyone who plans to upgrade their HTPC with an HD-DVD or BluRay player.

......... And using VGA isn't going to be an option for anyone who plans to upgrade their HTPC with an HD-DVD or BluRay player.

Actually, strange as it might seem, there's some question about how all of this is gonna work, at least for a couple of years:

"An unconfirmed report by German-language news-paper suggests that Hollywood studios, along with major consumer electronics makers, such as Microsoft Corp. and Sony Corp., have agreed not to implement image quality downgrades on hardware that does not support HDCP copy-protection and HDMI output. This means that Blu-ray and HD DVD movies will playback in full-quality on applications like personal computers.

Behind the scenes it was agreed that till, at least, 2010, if not even till 2012, signals from Blu-ray or HD DVD players should be transferred to televisions or displays in full resolution, even if certain components do not support HDCP or HDMI, a report on Spiegel Online web-site claims. Particularly, this may allow next-generation game consoles, such as PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as well as personal computers to playback Blu-ray and HD DVD movies in up to 1920x1080 resolution even on monitors that do not support high-bandwidth digital copyright protection (HDCP) technology or HDMI output. In fact, an ATI Technologies' specialist suggested that not all high-definition discs would support HDCP several months ago."

Full article:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/multimedia/display/20060522235206.html

Now posting with HTPC up. I'm using a DVI to HDMI cable, running 720p.

No overscan problems, because i'm using current NVIdia drivers, which kick arse (no powerstrip or anything either).

anyways, this TV is now officially the sh*t. i'm watching trailers on apple.com, and ripped episodes of Lost. Awesome.

zv

Anybody know how to install a newer version of firmware? I did a google search for the justscan firmware and I found the UK version of it but I don't know how to install it and a little scared to try it aswell. I'm sure somebody here would like to be the guinea pig :)

here is the link to the site that I found it on: http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=455836&page=3 it is on post #59. I hope this works on the U.S. model's :)

Okay I have my TV all set up now and my cable running via HDMI port.

One thing I noticed, and I am not sure if it's an issue with the TV or the cable signal itself. But when watching NBCHD today (hockey game) there seemed to be quite a bit of jump to the signal/picture on the screen...not smooth at all. I am wondering what could be causing this (my ty, my hdmi cable, the signal itself, my cable box?) and if there is anything I can try to alleviate this problem.

I didn't see it on any other HD channel I was watching today (including ABCHD basketball game).

Any help is appreciated.

Okay I have my TV all set up now and my cable running via HDMI port.

One thing I noticed, and I am not sure if it's an issue with the TV or the cable signal itself. But when watching NBCHD today (hockey game) there seemed to be quite a bit of jump to the signal/picture on the screen...not smooth at all. I am wondering what could be causing this (my ty, my hdmi cable, the signal itself, my cable box?) and if there is anything I can try to alleviate this problem.

I didn't see it on any other HD channel I was watching today (including ABCHD basketball game).

Any help is appreciated.

same thing here man, im running a sammy 4695d 46 , comcast connected though hdmi, lots of bumps

Was it just that channel for you too man? Just wondering if it's an issue with my TV or just something out of my control.

Anybody know how to install a newer version of firmware? I did a google search for the justscan firmware and I found the UK version of it but I don't know how to install it and a little scared to try it aswell. I'm sure somebody here would like to be the guinea pig :)

evoaccident,

If you use the UK version of the firmware you will totally screw up your new Samsung.

Their video format(PAL) is completely different from ours(NTSC, ATSC).

Their tvs run at 50hz and our run at 60hz.

Anyhow, my biggest complaint about the VGA input is definitely the sharpness. When viewing text everything is just a little bit more blurry than it is over the HDMI connection. Definitely noticeable though.

My second complaint is the color. I'm by no means an AV expert, so I don't know the correct terms for what's wrong with the color. However, everything just seems darker. For example, skin tones look too orange (i.e. everyone looks like Christina Aguilera). However, when increasing the brightness everything starts to wash out pretty quickly. Also, when using the VGA input, the settings for Sharpness and Tint on the 4095D cannot be changed. They are grayed out. I'm sure the color difference could probably be fixed by modifying the color profile on my PC ... but I'm currently just using the basic driver that came with Vista. I don't really have the time to mess around with the color profile of my machine right now anyhow.

My third complaint is distortion. When using the VGA connection, I sometimes get strange screen flickers and distortion. I've really only noticed it when minimizing and maximizing windows in Vista (using Aero) ... but I haven't really done much else to test it out. The flickering and distortion doesn't happen when using the HDMI connection. I suppose this could just be a problem with my video card ... and/or crappy VGA cable that I'm using. I'm tempted to say that it's probably my video card since the flickering and distortion appears to be localized to the window that is currently being animated, and not the entire screen.

(For anyone interested who hasn't read my previous posts ... the video card is a Sapphire X1600 Pro HDMI)

jmos1277,

Your findings are quite interesting. I hooked up a laptop to the VGA port of my samsung 4096 at 120 x 1024 and it looked pretty good. The internal video card did not support 1920 x 1080. Are you sure that the VGA output of the Sapphire is set to output an RGB signal vs. a YPbPr signal?

I have done quite a bit of research and would like everyone's opinion on my own little "dissertation" below.

The purpose of this post is to share, to ask and to get feedback from the people in this forum. I will edit and correct as people hopefully respond to this post.

This whole saga began as a simple quest to improve the SD picture on my new 40" Samsung S4095D 1080p LCD that I purchased a few months ago. It has turned into a multi-month journey trying to understand color spaces, de-interlacing, scaling, digital compression noise reduction, the difference between a film source and a video source, pixel mapping, and HDMI with HDCP. I cannot believe how complex this stuff is and understand why there are so many misconceptions.

As I stated earlier this whole process started because I was not satisfied with the SD picture of my LCD. I stumbled across the Samsung 4096/4696 and Video Processors threads here at AVS forum and have been reading them quite extensively ever since. I have learned an immense amount on information and appreciate all that everyone has shared.

As I understand it, a video processor performs many functions, but 3 of the most important are de-interlacing, scaling and reduction of compression artifacts.

For background, de-interlacing is the process of turning an interlaced image into a progressive one. Film(movies) and video(sports) require two different types of de-interlacing. Film de-interlacing is relatively easy because the source(movies) is shot in a progressive format. In order to de-interlace the source the two interlaced fields simply have to be combined. I am going to avoid discussion of 24fps, 3:2 pulldown and cadence detection for now. Video de-interlacing is different because the source is shot in an interlaced format. As a result, video fields have to be analyzed to interpret motion that occurred between the fields. This is referred to as motion adaptive de-interlacing and most displays do not work in this manner. Instead most of them perform something called “bob” de-interlacing that simply stretches each field effectively turning 1080i video into 540p on most progressive displays. In fact external video processors that perform motion adapted de-interlacing of HD sources like the DVDO VP50, Crystalio II and Vantage HD just recently came on the market and cost in excess of $2000.

Scaling is pretty self explanatory. Sources of different resolutions(480, 720,1080) have to be scaled to the display’s native resolution.

Compression noise reduction is important because most broadcast digital signals do not receive the bandwidth they require resulting in mosquito noise and block artifacts. Block artifacts are commonly called “pixilation” here on AVS because during fast motion on an interlaced station like CBS or NBC the block artifacts look like big pixels.

It is the opinion of most on these boards that an external video processor that can address the 3 issues above is severely limited if the processing that occurs in the display cannot be turned off. Specifically most people refer to this as 1:1 pixel mapping. 1:1 pixel mapping occurs when each pixel in a source matches to each pixel in the display. An example would be a 1080p display that accepts a 1080p signal from an HD DVD or Blu Ray source.

My display accepts a 1080p signal over HDMI, but it overscans the source approximately 3% meaning that the display clips part of the incoming image and scales is it to fill the screen. In other words, even though I have a 1080p display that accepts a 1080p input it does not properly display a 1080p image.

My display does, however, have 1:1 pixel mapping on the VGA/RGB/D-SUB input. It is the opinion of most people that the VGA/RGB/D-SUB input is inferior because it is analog and for best results the signal should be kept in digital form all the way to the display.

I have come to disagree with that assessment, but am open to debate, because the HDMI input works in the YPbPr color space and the VGA//RGB/D-SUB input works in the RGB color space. This is important because the native color space of an LCD is the RGB color space, not the YPbPr colorspace. This is confirmed at wikipedia and makes sense because every pixel in an LCD has 3 sub pixels: red, green and blue(RGB).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RGB_color_model

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_crystal_display

I am confident that my display uses the RGB color space on the VGA/RGB/D-SUB input because owners of the XBOX 360 report that the picture over VGA is washed out. The reason the picture appears washed out is because the XBOX outputs the image in the YPbPr color space rather than the expected RGB color space.

My display is also a 10-bit RGB display rather than an 8-bit display. 8-bit processing permits 16.8 million colors. The formula for this is 2 to the 8th power times 3(reg, green, blue). 10-bit displays, however, are capable of displaying 1.07 billion colors. The formula for this is 2 to the 8th power times 3(red, green, blue).

Some of the video processors like the Crystalio II and the Vantage HD process 10-bit color over the RGB output, but only 8-bit color over the HDMI input which in theory makes the RGB output superior from a color space standpoint. In fact, Calibre, maker of the Vantage HD video processor, agrees that RGB is superior. They state

“We provide an RGBHV output which is the best way of providing a high quality transmission of the signal to the display device. If we were to output component video in YPbPr (YUV) colorspace this would have several negative implications in terms of image quality. In particular it would require the display device to perform colorspace conversion back to RGB since all modern displays use RGB at the display medium. That conversion would lead to the possibility of re*introduction of hue, saturation, coloration, contrast or black*level errors and would likely reduce the effectiveness of the color improvements implemented by Vantage*HD which has carefully designed colorspace conversion algorithms with precision parameters selected to best suit the connected signal. Furthermore, most displays process YPbPr internally as 4:2:2 whereas they process RGB as 4:4:4, therefore a YPbPr signal would have half the color bandwidth of its RGB counterpart. These various reasons mean that the only sensible colorspace to use to pass the signal from Vantage*HD to the display device is RGB.

The link below is a PDF.

http://www.calibreuk.com/downloads/vantage-faqs.pdf

I am not positive that the RGB input on my display completely disables processing, but many of the options to change the picture are disabled when the source is on the VGA/RGB/D-SUB input.

After learning this information I thought that I could just get a Vantage HD or Crystalio II video processor(after conversing with the wife :) ) and output an RGB signal to my display. The problem is that if a source like a set-top box or DVD player is connected via HDCP protected HDMI cable then video processor is not allowed to output the signal on the RGB output.

THIS IS WHY HDMI WITH HDCP STINKS

This means that I would have to connect my Directv HR20 and DVD player over component which means relying on their DACs(digital to analog converters) rather than the one in the video processor. It is important to distinguish between HDCP and ICT. ICT is a subset of HDCP that down scales a 1080p image to 540p when connected to a non-HDCP protected device like component or RGB. No content providers have announced that they plan on using ICT so component should continue to output 1080p.

It is also important to note that the Microsoft XBOX 360 HD DVD add-on can output 1080p on the VGA output. I find it difficult to believe that Microsoft, as well as content providers, would shut down 1080p output on the VGA output thereby stranding hundreds of thousands of users.

It appears that I have 3 options

1. Leave it as-is and hope that the “justscan” firmware update that has been released in Korea, the UK, the Netherlands and Australia which allows 1:1 mapping over HDMI will make its way here to the US. This would allow me to purchase any number of video processors.

Pro
Maintain a digital signal from source to display
HDCP compatible

Con
Stuck with current picture quality until if/when firmware is released
8-bit color vs. 10-bit color
Must rely on display for color space conversion from YPbPr to the LCD’s native color space of RGB

2. Buy a video processor like a Vantage HD or Cystallio II and connect sources to the video processor via component.

Pro
10-bit color vs. 8-bit color
Color space conversion from YPbPr to the LCD’s native color space of RGB performed within the video processor

Con
Must rely on source devices to turn digital signals into analog.

3. Buy one of the new Vista HTPCs with Cablecard or Directv’s rumored add-in card along with a HD DVD/Blu Ray drive and use the VGA output to my display. On a side note, it will be interesting to see if NVIDIA, ATI, or an external 3rd party is able to apply the recent increase in PC graphics card power to the post processing(de-interlacing, scaling, compression noise reduction) of video in the same manner that the folding@home initiative has used ATI’s stream processing to try and solve diseases like Parkinson’s. The current ATI and NVIDIA solutions cannot match an external scaler like a Vantage HD or Crystalio II.

Pro
10-bit color vs. 8-bit color
Color space conversion from YPbPr to the LCD’s native color space of RGB performed within HTPCs video card.

Con
De-interlacing and scaling not as good as an external video processor


If we do not receive the “justscan” firmware update that allows 1:1 pixel mapping over HDMI, and maybe even if we do, it seems to me that options 2 and 3 are the best because I think that the accuracy of the colorspace conversion from YPbPr to RGB is more important than a digital signal from source to display.

Opinions and comments are welcome and I welcome any challenges to this conclusion. :)

Was it just that channel for you too man? Just wondering if it's an issue with my TV or just something out of my control.

just that damn hockygame on NBC. My HD Fox sports is cyrstal clear and non bumpy for Sharks games , so I assume it was NBC

jmos1277,

Your findings are quite interesting. I hooked up a laptop to the VGA port of my samsung 4096 at 120 x 1024 and it looked pretty good. The internal video card did not support 1920 x 1080. Are you sure that the VGA output of the Sapphire is set to output an RGB signal vs. a YPbPr signal?

No, I'm not sure how the output signal is set. It might be RGB or it might be YPbPr. I just looked in the color settings in my control panel and my color profile was set to wsRGB.cdmp (or something like that). I'm assuming that means I'm outputting RGB ... but I really don't know. I've never messed around with the color settings of my computer before. In fact, I think that was the first time I ever even looked at that setting in my control panel.

mfogarty 5: Which model tv do you have? Are you aware that many audiophiles say Direct TV uses the most compression and has the worst picture quality? Could you try a cable company to see if you get better SD results?

that's probably because you're old tv is a lot smaller. it's cramming the same amount of information into a smaller space, which makes blemishes and inperfections less noticable. How are you connecting your "HD signal" into your non HD TV? That sounds interesting.

it sounds to me like you should have the signal checked out at your house. That's where i'd start.


I connected my cable box to my old non-hd CRT via component and the high-def channels looked really good but they were shown in letter box.

On my new LCD, slow moving content and shows look great. 1080p trailers i find online look amazing (even when scenes move fast), but TV broadcast content like hockey and basketball look pixely at times. From what I've read it is a deinterlacing problem with the tv trying to convert my cable box 1080i signal to 1080p.

I may be wrong tho.

Then using a computer on my 4695D - HDMI input - Some of the text fonts show in different colors, colored shadow and color bleeding from the backgound color.
Anyone have a fix for this?---- I think I got this fixed----In the video card setting
Nvidia in my case went to Advaned color settings changed Color format and Color Range
Stumpper

I see this question about pixelization during scene changes and action all the time and can't believe how much misconception there is about it...

The pixelization is a compression artifact that happens when the video is encoded for broadcast. It is NOT a problem with your TV, or cables, or anything else like that. It doesn't matter how much $ you spend on a TV, the compression and pixelization all happen at the broadcaster when it is encoded.

Let me explain why it happens...

When HDTV is produced, it is done so uncompressed at a data bit rate of about about 1.5 Gps (that's 1.5 billion bits per second). When it is compressed for broadcast, it will range between about 10 and at very best 19.3 Mbps (that's 19.3 million bits per second) That is about an 80:1 compression ratio (though in reality you are usually seeing something over 100:1)

To put this in perspective, your cablemodem/DSL is probably running at less than 1Mbps, and SD mini-DV tapes you use on your camcorder run at 25Mbps. HD holds more than 4 times the information of SD, yet is compressed to a bit rate lower than the tapes you use in your camcorder!

To make matters worse, each broadcaster is allotted 19.3Mbps of bandwidth, and they may chose to have several streams in that bandwidth. (such as an extra SD channel). When they multi-cast like that it leaves even less space for the HD content.

That is why you see pixelization during action and scene changes,... there just aren't enough bits to go around when it is encoded. It has nothing to do with your TV.

I see this question about pixelization during scene changes and action all the time and can't believe how much misconception there is about it...

The pixelization is a compression artifact that happens when the video is encoded for broadcast. It is NOT a problem with your TV, or cables, or anything else like that. It doesn't matter how much $ you spend on a TV, the compression and pixelization all happen at the broadcaster when it is encoded.

Let me explain why it happens...

When HDTV is produced, it is done so uncompressed at a data bit rate of about about 1.5 Gps (that's 1.5 billion bits per second). When it is compressed for broadcast, it will range between about 10 and at very best 19.3 Mbps (that's 19.3 million bits per second) That is about an 80:1 compression ratio (though in reality you are usually seeing something over 100:1)

To put this in perspective, your cablemodem/DSL is probably running at less than 1Mbps, and SD mini-DV tapes you use on your camcorder run at 25Mbps. HD holds more than 4 times the information of SD, yet is compressed to a bit rate lower than the tapes you use in your camcorder!

To make matters worse, each broadcaster is allotted 19.3Mbps of bandwidth, and they may chose to have several streams in that bandwidth. (such as an extra SD channel). When they multi-cast like that it leaves even less space for the HD content.

That is why you see pixelization during action and scene changes,... there just aren't enough bits to go around when it is encoded. It has nothing to do with your TV.

Erik,

Thanks for finally explaining the more detailed aspects of that situation. There are so many people that make a judgement about their television based on HD content via cable, satellite or the like. If there is never a problem with pixilation when watching DVDs from Blu-Ray or gamer sources, it has to be the feed provider.

Thanks again.....

I see this question about pixelization during scene changes and action all the time and can't believe how much misconception there is about it...

The pixelization is a compression artifact that happens when the video is encoded for broadcast. It is NOT a problem with your TV, or cables, or anything else like that. It doesn't matter how much $ you spend on a TV, the compression and pixelization all happen at the broadcaster when it is encoded.

Let me explain why it happens...

When HDTV is produced, it is done so uncompressed at a data bit rate of about about 1.5 Gps (that's 1.5 billion bits per second). When it is compressed for broadcast, it will range between about 10 and at very best 19.3 Mbps (that's 19.3 million bits per second) That is about an 80:1 compression ratio (though in reality you are usually seeing something over 100:1)

To put this in perspective, your cablemodem/DSL is probably running at less than 1Mbps, and SD mini-DV tapes you use on your camcorder run at 25Mbps. HD holds more than 4 times the information of SD, yet is compressed to a bit rate lower than the tapes you use in your camcorder!

To make matters worse, each broadcaster is allotted 19.3Mbps of bandwidth, and they may chose to have several streams in that bandwidth. (such as an extra SD channel). When they multi-cast like that it leaves even less space for the HD content.

That is why you see pixelization during action and scene changes,... there just aren't enough bits to go around when it is encoded. It has nothing to do with your TV.

I thank you as well. It is sorta upsetting to read how experts have judged my LN-S4695 as a failure when it undergoes certain tests. Hearing other peoples dissatisfaction here makes me doubt my purchase even more.

I know how hard of a time I had judging all the televisions in stores before I finally decided on my Samsung. I spent alot of time and effort doing research and viewing TVs. I knew at that time, I made the best choice based on what my eyes liked. I truely felt the Samsung had the best picture quality and the least amount of blurring and pixilation.

Of course when I brought it home, the pic quality sucked with my old satellite box. But I knew this was to be expected until I upgraded to high def. We hooked up an OTA to get free high def. The picture quality is better of course but still not as nice as the feeds that Best Buy, Circuit City, and Sears was presenting on their LN-S4695's while I was viewing them. The picture quality was amazing!!

It really doesn't matter now. My 30 day return period has expired and I am stuck with this TV no matter what.

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday I finally obtained a 4696D from Best Buy that was on back order. I got it home and was surprised at how great the SD looked, I thought it would look worse..

HOWEVER

a strange problem happened three times. First, while watching a blu-ray disc on my ps3 through HDMI, the screen froze, then sort of faded to black from left to right. Then the screen went white, with several thin color horizontal and vertical lines and the TV made some strange tones. After about 20 seconds the picture returned.

This happened again while watching Digital Cable through coaxial connection twice, so I know its not the PS3.

Anyone have any idea what's going on? Do I have a defective TV?

Please help. Thank you.

Hello Everyone,

I'm finally getting a chance to upgrade my old Sammy RPTV now that the picture has gone bad. I loved the look of the Sammy 4696D from CC but am debating that vs the 47 Vizio at Costco. Any feedback on current sammy owners would be really appreciated. I know the cost difference is about a grand, but that's not my main concern.

Thanks a lot, i'm defintely a newb

Hey guys. I'm completely new to the forum... but not new to HDTV. I have what I would consider to be a fair amount of knowledge on the subject (but I'm no expert). Anywho, I just ordered my 4695D today from Best Buy... Should be here on Thursday. Just wanted to introduce myself and say that I can't wait to discuss this great TV with other owners.
Anyway, Hello! and I hope everyone here has been pleased with their purchases....

Hey all....Does this tv suffer from the same clouding as the Sonys?...Ive been told that "some" do cuz they have the same panel.

Hey all....Does this tv suffer from the same clouding as the Sonys?...Ive been told that "some" do cuz they have the same panel.

Yes it does, mine included but we don't complain about it as much. Maybe because we paid $1000 less for our sets. But from what I've read in this forum, the Samsungs have it also but not as severe or as frequent.

Thanks.....I know I have been keeping up with the Sony thread....Does this clouding only affect the 1080p displays only....I know its a silly question but does anyone know?

I have not read any posts that state there are clouding issues in the 720p models. It seems to be the first generation 1080p models.

Hey All!!

Sorry if i'm asking a question that has been beaten to death, but if i'm not planning on using the cable card, is there any benefit to buying the S4696D over the S4695D?
Thank you, looking to buy in the next week

I should point out that there are some deinterlacing issues. I agree that the set doesn't de-interlace perfectly, but it's not bad. This is NOT an issue with 720p or HD-DVD/Blue-ray.

The deinterlacing issue doesn't look at all like pixelization/macroblocking, which is an artifact of the compression for broadcast.

I am a broadcast engineer and have been working in HD professionally for 10 years. I spend every day looking at $40,000 broadcast monitors fed from $100,000 tape machines and $150,000 cameras. With that said, I was pretty picky about what to buy for home use. I decided on the LNS-4095D as great bang for the buck. It's not the best of the best home set, but it's a very good value.

All of my big issues with PQ were dealt with by adjusting the settings. At very least get out of the dynamic picture mode and go to custom. Turn the sharpness down to 0. Turn off DNLe, and you will be pretty close to what I consider a broadcast grade display.

If it still doesn't look good, it's an issue with what you are feeding it. Many broadcasters and cable companies over-compress the image. Maybe you are feeding a crummy analog signal? (I suggest HDMI whenever you can)

The only remaining gripes I have are the smeariness and the black levels that are just part of LCD technology for now. Oh, and the overscan, but I expect a software fix for that any day. I MUST have 1:1 pixel mapping... the current overscan is done by scaling up, ahich is just more unnecessary processing.

Overall, I think these models are a very good value.

jeff5blasko
I returned my 47" Vizio on Sat (do to speaker hum) - Bought a 4695 from CC on Sun - As far as the 96 over the 95, I would go with the best price.

Hello Everyone,

I'm finally getting a chance to upgrade my old Sammy RPTV now that the picture has gone bad. I loved the look of the Sammy 4696D from CC but am debating that vs the 47 Vizio at Costco. Any feedback on current sammy owners would be really appreciated. I know the cost difference is about a grand, but that's not my main concern.

Thanks a lot, i'm defintely a newb

Is the “justscan” firmware update for the LN-S4X95D, LN-S4X96D or both?

ErikU, your post on compression and bandwidth was fabulous... and well explained (while I knew about it, I never could have written it so clearly!). In point of fact, a lot of the issues relating to it folks complain about I don't see; I have always thought that part of the reason was that my cable system had tons and tons of bandwidth (they went fiber years and years ago, as in fiber to a node before going copper).

I AM very much curious about your judgements regarding what is called black crush, especially since you have access to a source signal.

I am in 100% agreement. I just feel like he has nearly reached the end of the road and am trying to find him a temporary alternative. He and I have spent hours on the phone, and I have spent even more hours rigorously investigating his problems, including those in his original post, now re-edited. I wish him well!

Glad to hear it. Sorry for misunderstanding. Would've responded sooner, except my computer melted down last Thursday.

Glad to hear it. Sorry for misunderstanding. Would've responded sooner, except my computer melted down last Thursday.
How did you manage to do that, after years and years playing with computer I was never able to do that..


Don't get all upset but i tought that this was for the Samsung LS-S4066/4696 TV.

Why there is so many ( More than half ) post that do not even concern these models.

I am trying to get info on the 4696 and I have to read a lot of things that do not belong to this forum, can you please keep it to these models and if you want info or say something about different models, just start a new thread if doesn't exist already.

Thanks

Glad to hear it. Sorry for misunderstanding. Would've responded sooner, except my computer melted down last Thursday.

No offense taken. Slightly inept expression of thought on my part. Still waiting to hear how XOR42's second 4696D turned out....

OK guys: Based on recent postings, we now need a serious back-and-forth between mfogarty5 and ErikU re: the HDMI vs. RGB input. Unfortunately, those of us w/out video processors and who have only 1080i output devices (sat & cable boxes) can't really participate in this except vicariously. Sure wish that Toshiba HD-XA2 DVD player w/ the Silicon Optix chip had external video inputs.....

I just purchased the LN-S4696D. Very happy with it so far.

Can anyone suggest some good picture settings? I tried searching here but got way too many posts to sift through. Thanks!

...... using my settings, which again are: Contrast 85, Brightness 40-45 (depending on input device), Sharpness 0, Color 35, Color Weakness Green +3, DNIe off, DNR off, Energy Savings Low, Warm1......

From previous post #3724

I called Samsung right after I purchased my set, explained that I needed the overscan adjusted, and they agreed to send the local service contractor out.

He was just here and confirmed that he CAN'T adjust the overscan. However, he was nice enough to agree to email the new firmware to me when it is released so I can upgrade it myself. I'll let the list know when and how that happens.

ErikU, your post on compression and bandwidth was fabulous... and well explained (while I knew about it, I never could have written it so clearly!). In point of fact, a lot of the issues relating to it folks complain about I don't see; I have always thought that part of the reason was that my cable system had tons and tons of bandwidth (they went fiber years and years ago, as in fiber to a node before going copper).

I AM very much curious about your judgements regarding what is called black crush, especially since you have access to a source signal.

The #1 thing you can do to improve picture quality is to use the "custom" picture mode, turn the sharpness down to 0, and turn off the DNLe. The default "dynamic" mode looks really bad, and shows off every flaw in digital TV.

I suppose every cable company handles things a bit differently, but as far as I can tell, Comcast In Seattle isn't doing anything to the signal other than remodulating it. The PQ looks exactly the same off air. Sadly, many of our local affiliates here don't look that great in HD. It's funny because I have recently been upgrading several small market network affiliates to HD, and I was able to decode the network feed and re-encode for broadcast at the highest available bit rate (19.3Mbps). It really looks great! But, in the big markets, most stations are using a lower bit rate so they can add additional channels and revenue streams. So, small market TV may actually look better when viewing network shows.

As for the "black crush" issues specific to this set, I haven't seen them yet. I have loaded the internal gray scale test signal and it looks fine. I have noticed inconsitancies of black levels in broadcast tv (nothing new there) so it's a bit tough to say where the issue is. I will need to get someone to broadcast some test signals late at night at some point to check black levels.

BTW- I have built a MythTV PVR that is really cool, though a big pain to get working. My early tests reveal that the upscaling in the internal video card in the PC is much better than what is in the TV,... but I need to do some more testing to confirm this.

All,

I called Samsung support again today to ask them about the justscan firmware update. When I called last week, they wouldn't let me speak to a level 2 technician, but today they did.

I told the guy how the justscan firmware that enables 1:1 pixel mapping over the HDMI input has been released in both Korea and the UK. I also told him that all he had to do was ask corporate in Korea for it and that they would give it to us. He was very nice and forwarded my request to the Product Support group who is going to contact Korea! He gave me a reference number and said that he would leave the case open. He also said that he would call me back in a few days!

This is good news!

Also, for those of you who are unhappy with the picture quality you might consider purchasing the item below. It should improve the de-inerlacing and scaling of the Samsung 1080p LCDs. This device will be quite valuable if 1:1 pixel mapping on the HDMI input is enabled.

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=4174

All,

I called Samsung support again today to ask them about the justscan firmware update. When I called last week, they wouldn't let me speak to a level 2 technician, but today they did.

I told the guy how the justscan firmware that enables 1:1 pixel mapping over the HDMI input has been released in both Korea and the UK. I also told him that all he had to do was ask corporate in Korea for it and that they would give it to us. He was very nice and forwarded my request to the Product Support group who is going to contact Korea! He gave me a reference number and said that he would leave the case open. He also said that he would call me back in a few days!

This is good news!



Ooohhh ... this is getting exciting. Two posts regarding a firmware update in one day. :D I sure hope they do release it in the U.S. And I hope they do it soon!

Things are finally starting to fall into place for my Vista HTPC.

Heck why would they release in Korea, Australia, and UK but not the US? Surely they HAVE to be working on it? Just hope the stupid legal system here in the US doesn't prevent them from doing so..

Thinking of purchasing the LN-S4095D (dont really need cablecard, have a cablecard hd dvr).. and was just reading on the samsung site that said that
The HDMI/DVI jacks do not support PC connection.

I'm hoping that the firmware is released in the US for the 1:1 pixel mapping (but not looking to solely use this as a pc display as much as other content, however it would be nice.) However should I wait to purchase it, or is it something I can apply once I get the tv?

I was of the impression that every one is using a HDMI to connect their PCs, any help would be awesome.

Question regarding the 4695 or any of the other models:

Has anyone had a problem powering off the TV? On 2 instances in less than 2 weeks, I have had to unplug the set to get it turned off.

I arrived at the notion that there is something inherently different about the signal we get from the local cable co. by the fact that the only reasonable chroma setting I see is 25% of the range (typically in a 1-100 range, I set it to 25). I have found that this has been true for years and years, back to the days of SD CRTs being the hot TVs. I see almost everyone else going 45 to 55. Somehow I can't imagine anyone here doing that, colors are totally oversaturated and bleeding all over the place! AND I suspect I'm too old to think I have any sort of eagle eye; if anything logic says I may need to boost, not cut chroma.

As for black crush, I've kinda come to the conclusion that what freaked me at first was that I had not been used to seeing a shadow being so inky black. I could easily discern tone in any and all deep shadows. I DO remember back in those days that if I turned contrast up, my highlights would start taking on "shadow effects." But what clinched it got me was the first movie theater experience after 3-4 months of only seeing my HD display. For 3 movies I've seen in the theater, I was muttering to myself "OMG, there's black crush." These were all top flight theaters and I had great confidence they were projected damn close to what the studio/director wanted them to be screened.

Even so, my only remaining "issue" is that I don't have the range of control to open up the shadows more than what they may be intended to show.

Thinking of purchasing the LN-S4095D (dont really need cablecard, have a cablecard hd dvr).. and was just reading on the samsung site that said that


I'm hoping that the firmware is released in the US for the 1:1 pixel mapping (but not looking to solely use this as a pc display as much as other content, however it would be nice.) However should I wait to purchase it, or is it something I can apply once I get the tv?

I was of the impression that every one is using a HDMI to connect their PCs, any help would be awesome.

You can connect a PC to HDMI. I'm doing it right now (DVI - HDMI). Problem is its not 1:1 (can be fixed with video card drivers but 1:1 firmware would be better).

Does anyone know if the UK firmware will actually work on North American versions? All the equipment that I have hooked up the panel I have the option of selecting NTSC or PAL. If that would solve the 1:1 then I would be willing to try it (maybe :p). (I know that the UK versions have other inputs, so its possible that it would even work with the NA versions, and I wouldn't want to just jump into this)

Okay, first-time poster but I've read nearly every post in this thread.

I had pretty much decided on the LN-S4695/96 for my first HD set, but I'm hearing a lot of complaints and overall unhappiness from buyers.

My main question is whether or not this set would be right for what I'm looking for:

- I have no plans on hooking up a PC, so the overscan may not be a huge issue
- I'll be watching SD and HD content through a cable box, including a lot of hockey
- I'll be hooking up a Nintendo Wii (and possibly other gaming systems)
- Watching DVDs (planning on an up-converting player until the new format war shakes out)
- It will be in a room with a lot of windows (which is why I'm looking at LCD over plasma)
- Need to have decent viewing angles to watch from the kitchen

I don't currently have an HD set, so I'm probably not as critical as some seasoned viewers, but I want something that's not going to be outdated in 2 years.

For my personal needs/wants, does this sound like a good set? If not, what else should I be looking at? I hear horror stories about Sharp's clouding and the Sony's are just too high.

Thanks in advance, I appreciate any input from you guys.


Edit: now I just read about 120Hz sets. Anyone have any opinions on how necessary this will be? I feel like at this rate I'll never pull the trigger with improvements coming every couple months.

Megashock, you have to remember that the reason a lot of people post here is precisely because they've had a problem or are dissatisfied with something and looking for a solution to their problem.

I love the 4695. The picture is beautiful for gaming (Wii and X360), beautiful for DVD, beautiful for HD, and, frankly, pretty darn good for most all digital SD. The only complaint that I would echo that has appeared in this thread is that the remote can be a bit tempermental. The pointing angle, as it were, is not as optimal as the viewing angle.

In my experience, for the money, the 4695/6 is the best 1080p LCD set on the market.

I am very happy with my LN-S4695. I love the swivel stand!

Thinking of purchasing the LN-S4095D (dont really need cablecard, have a cablecard hd dvr).. and was just reading on the samsung site that said thatThe HDMI/DVI jacks do not support PC connection.I'm hoping that the firmware is released in the US for the 1:1 pixel mapping (but not looking to solely use this as a pc display as much as other content, however it would be nice.) However should I wait to purchase it, or is it something I can apply once I get the tv?

I was of the impression that every one is using a HDMI to connect their PCs, any help would be awesome.I can tell you that right now I am posting this from a laptop hooked up to my LN-S4695D via a DVI to HDMI cable purchased this weekend from monoprice. (There is a 15' 28ga listed as the deal of the day over the weekend but is still up today... go check it out, well worth the small price) Impressions thus far are pretty good, but I assume it will be better if we get the 1-to-1 mapping. The overscan is a problem, losing roughly 80 pixels vertically and 120 pixels horizontally. This must be hurting the sharpness of the picture. Resolution put out by my laptop is 1920x1080 @ 30 Hz interlaced, so the usable space drops down to the center 1800x1000. (similar drops at 1280x720 @ 60 Hz) About every other time connecting @ 1080i it seems that there is a problem with interlacing, like the lines are out of order. I can make out the picture and text but it's damn ugly. Anyone else seen this and is there a name or fix for it? If I disconnect/reconnect it sorts itself out. This lappy has an ATI card and drivers but I haven't found any advanced settings that have corrected this.

Once I got the picture in tune with settings recommended here I was very pleased with the SD, HD and gaming results. This has been well worth what I paid for it, when I replace the Sammy CRT that I have on another entertainment center I may very well go with another one of these S4695D units.

-Pow

Megashock, you have to remember that the reason a lot of people post here is precisely because they've had a problem or are dissatisfied with something and looking for a solution to their problem.

I love the 4695. The picture is beautiful for gaming (Wii and X360), beautiful for DVD, beautiful for HD, and, frankly, pretty darn good for most all digital SD. The only complaint that I would echo that has appeared in this thread is that the remote can be a bit tempermental. The pointing angle, as it were, is not as optimal as the viewing angle.

In my experience, for the money, the 4695/6 is the best 1080p LCD set on the market.

I am very happy with my LN-S4695. I love the swivel stand!


Thanks for the input. I'm still leaning toward this set, it's just frustrating when every week there's something new you're supposed to wait for. Now I just need the price to drop a bit more in the next few months to get my wife on board.

Thanks again!

3 week update with my LN-S4695D LCD Flat Panel

I love it---- at first I hooked it up to my laptop via the normal vga... and it gave me a jittery picture... it was like the picture was a bit shaky, as if something was ratteling the connection. What I did then was connected it via DVI .... and that fixed the issue. It is crystal clear... absolutely perfect picture. It goes all the way up to 1920x1080... it's like having a VERY large screen. On the weekends I do some of my work (I'm an analyst... so I have extremely large excel worksheets that generally take up 3 monitors at work)--- I can see them all on this with perfect ease.

I have it hooked up to a PS3 as well and you CAN tell the difference in 720p and 1080p.... maybe not 1080i, but in 720p going higher--- yeah, there is a difference.

Stand swivels ... great.

Problems....
I have seen this when I am playing downloaded HD movies on my computer on the lcd---- there seems to be like a cloudy issue (like the blacks are black... it does look like there are FAINT clouds of white on VERY VERY dark black scenes...) Is this the dreaded "clouding" issue that everyone talks about? It's not a deal breaker but I do see it and it's a bit annoying.

2nd issue--- DAMN them for not realizing that people may want to use pip with TWO HDMI sources.

-that's it... lcd looks amazing as always.

-PENN

2nd issue--- DAMN them for not realizing that people may want to use pip with TWO HDMI sources.

-PENN

They did this just so that you couldn't play your PS3 while you're supposed to be analyzing spreadsheets!!! :p ;)

3 week update with my LN-S4695D LCD Flat Panel.........

Problems....
I have seen this when I am playing downloaded HD movies on my computer on the lcd---- there seems to be like a cloudy issue (like the blacks are black... it does look like there are FAINT clouds of white on VERY VERY dark black scenes...) Is this the dreaded "clouding" issue that everyone talks about? It's not a deal breaker but I do see it and it's a bit annoying
-PENN

You should consider thoroughly investigating this issue while you can still exchange your set. The thread on the "cloudy backlight" issue (Samsung panel same as Sony) just went over 5,000 posts.

"Official Sony/Samsung Cloudy/Uneven Backlight Thread":
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=748779&page=1&pp=30

Also see "PetiePal"'s blog, which more concisely illustrates this problem:
http://sonyclouding.blogspot.com/

I would suggest you look at your panel in a totally dark room with a 0 IRE (totally black) calibration DVD running while looking for cloudy lighter areas or corner/side light leakage. Alternatively, you could pull the plug on a live input and put up with the "no signal" warning moving about. You should expect and have paid to see only a very even, dark gray display when looking at it dead-on center axis. That's what mine looks like (4696D, 12/06 build). It is possible you might ultimately decide to settle for some very slight area mura rather than hazard swapping it for one that turns out to be worse. That has happened to a number of Sony XBR owners!

...
BTW- I have built a MythTV PVR that is really cool, though a big pain to get working. My early tests reveal that the upscaling in the internal video card in the PC is much better than what is in the TV,... but I need to do some more testing to confirm this.

I was thinking of building a MythTV too... what brand/model of video card is providing this improvement in upscaling?

Thanks for the input. I'm still leaning toward this set, it's just frustrating when every week there's something new you're supposed to wait for. Now I just need the price to drop a bit more in the next few months to get my wife on board.

Thanks again!

I am looking at the 4095/96 and I too am waiting on the price, but talking to a guy at the HTS, he said that since sales have been good, they will drop a little for superbowl and stay up until AFTER the new models come out in an attempt to slow down the movement of the televisions and make a little dough. Not sure if it is true, but when you have the cash and are just waiting for the price to fall....tough.

On the plus side, Samsung support said that as long as the purchased unit is brand new, it does not matter where you purchase it, they cover the 1 year warranty. I know Sony does not cover a great deal of online merchants. That was good news!

Here's the questions facing buyers of the Samsung version of this panel, based on reading every single one of the above mentioned (see #3856) posts:

Prevalence - There's no question about both Samsung and Sony having defective 1080p panels. It appears to be a huge issue for the Sony's, affecting all of their 1080p products, both foreign and domestic. A number of posters have swapped panels 4-5 times to get a mura-free screen. However, there's much less static about this issue on the Samsung threads (except the 52" thread maybe, it's kinda quiet lately.) I do not believe that the many posters here are less discriminating than the Sony posters. There may be something else going on. As I understand it, LCD panels are graded and categorized after manufacture. Perhaps there's a difference between Samsung and Sony here, even though they come out of the same plant. All I can personally say is that my panel (December 4696D) is 100% free of mura.

Company Policy on Mura - We know a lot more about Sony than Samsung at this point, which also indirectly goes to the prevalence issue. Generally speaking, Sony CS has said: We've never heard of this problem > Uh, we've heard of it - your set is "normal" > Uh, try these settings (which severely effect your viewing pleasure!), they will "minimize" the problem > OK then, we'll have a FW update for you on a USB stick in mid-Feb that will "further minimize" the problem (and nobody understands how this software patch is gonna fix a panel with physical defects). There is definite evidence that Sony is NOT going to replace these panels because of mura defects. There is even a post which purports to be a copy of a policy directive from Sony to their authorized repair shops warning them that they will not be reimbursed for replacing these panels affected with mura if they are caught claiming it was for some other reason to avoid the no-replacement policy. NOT GOOD.....

It is certainly less clear at this point how Samsung is going to handle this problem. I know that 2 years ago when I had a bad Samsung panel, they sent out an authorized repair tech who made a 2.5 hr drive to my house with a new main board, looked at the panel (which had "banding"), and a week later Samsung is calling me with my options, NONE of which included me being stuck with a defective TV. That is as it should be, and I have bought a LOT of Samsung A/V products as a result of that experience. (I think I'm up to 14 now, including 5 TV's)

First, it may actually be less prevalent with Samsung.

Second, mura is a difficult problem for any TV manufacturer to quantify. For dead/stuck pixels it's pretty easy to set a quantifiable warranty rule. Banding is a little harder, but they can probably trust the service tech's call on that one. Mura is really hard, though, because slight mura you would almost never notice. How does a service tech quantify the difference between slight and moderate? To me, a really fair policy is: if it bothers the customer and the service tech they sent out agrees it exists, then it's a warranty item. You may get a refurb, but you should definitely get a different set. (You may also upgrade for not much money and get a brand new set with a new warranty period. This has been my experience - twice.) But these 1080p panels with mura, I've not heard how Samsung has decided to handle. So I invite others to please post their experience with Samsung on the mura problem resolution. We know more than enough about Sony at this point, although their firmware mod has yet to be evaluated (most are "sceptimistic.") Keep in mind that swapping doesn't necessarily guarantee you will get a better panel.....

If you have/had a mura problem, what is your experience with Samsung's problem resolution of this issue? Readers, please post replies!

I am using a nvidia 7600 in my mythTV. The nvidia cards are the only way to go in myth.

Does anyone know if there is going to be new model replacing the 4696D soon? The reason I ask is because I've been searching every in the Philadelphia/NJ/Deleware tri-state area, and all the Best Buys and Tweeters have them on backorder till March. Some retailers have given me the reason that they are simply in high demand and can't keep up production/stock, while others tell me that Samsung is going through a model change, so they are not shipping any more 4696D models....

Is this true, will there be a new model to replace the 4696D sometime in March? I can't believe I can't find this TV... I don't want to go through online retailers because of their non-existent return policies, but I tried looking online on pricegrabber, and compared to a month ago when there was tons of retailers with the TV for sale, there are only a handful of retailers that carry the model (that is if they even actually have them in stock).

Does anyone know if there is going to be new model replacing the 4696D soon?

I believe they are coming out with a "65F" model to replace the 96D models. I too had trouble getting the 4696. I ordered it and the tv was on backorder at the warehouse and not coming in so the store I bought the TV at worked out a deal to have a store about 15 hours away FedEx them a 4696 they had in stock.

Given past Samsung history, it seems the 95 and 96 series will be their top sets for a while more. Only a total guess, but we may see a new series by late fall, I'm hoping the big news with that will be LED backlights!

More generally, if you read too closely throughout AVS you'd conclude that nothing is worth buying! Every set from every manufacturer has real issues along with issues that really have nothing to do with the TV, but the TV gets blamed.

Does anyone know if there is going to be new model replacing the 4696D soon? The reason I ask is because I've been searching every in the Philadelphia/NJ/Deleware tri-state area, and all the Best Buys and Tweeters have them on backorder till March. Some retailers have given me the reason that they are simply in high demand and can't keep up production/stock, while others tell me that Samsung is going through a model change, so they are not shipping any more 4696D models....

Is this true, will there be a new model to replace the 4696D sometime in March? I can't believe I can't find this TV... I don't want to go through online retailers because of their non-existent return policies, but I tried looking online on pricegrabber, and compared to a month ago when there was tons of retailers with the TV for sale, there are only a handful of retailers that carry the model (that is if they even actually have them in stock).

I had this same issue with the 4095 this week. I've been waiting on prices, but when I went to a reputable store on Tuesday, I found out that the 4095 and 4096 had both been completely sold out, and that they wouldn't be getting new ones, as the new models are set to come out in March. I called a few other places around Boston, and this was the case there as well. I ended up going with amazon, and am waiting on the delivery. I knew I wanted the 4095, and didn't want to have to wait til March for the newer (and more $) model.

Given past Samsung history, it seems the 95 and 96 series will be their top sets for a while more. Only a total guess, but we may see a new series by late fall, I'm hoping the big news with that will be LED backlights!


Riverside, this just out http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/01/samsungs-15-4-30-and-40-inch-led-backlit-lcds/

Does anyone know if there is going to be new model replacing the 4696D soon? The reason I ask is because I've been searching every in the Philadelphia/NJ/Deleware tri-state area, and all the Best Buys and Tweeters have them on backorder till March. Some retailers have given me the reason that they are simply in high demand and can't keep up production/stock, while others tell me that Samsung is going through a model change, so they are not shipping any more 4696D models....I didn't need the cablecard in the 96D so I was able to go with a 95D, from my understanding that is the only real difference. (Correct?) It was a 2+ week wait (maybe longer than needed to be because I was never *called* when it actually arrived) but I got my 4695D from CircuitCity in Wilmington, DE. FWIW, sales guy said that the 1080p Sammys were hot sellers, especially with the promotions they were running. There were 2 or 3 more that were already backordered when I put mine on the list. Yeah, could find it cheaper online but there is a benefit in dealing with a brick n mortar store that has a 30 day satisfaction guarantee.

-Pow

Okay, first-time poster but I've read nearly every post in this thread.

I had pretty much decided on the LN-S4695/96 for my first HD set, but I'm hearing a lot of complaints and overall unhappiness from buyers.

My main question is whether or not this set would be right for what I'm looking for:

- I have no plans on hooking up a PC, so the overscan may not be a huge issue
- I'll be watching SD and HD content through a cable box, including a lot of hockey
- I'll be hooking up a Nintendo Wii (and possibly other gaming systems)
- Watching DVDs (planning on an up-converting player until the new format war shakes out)
- It will be in a room with a lot of windows (which is why I'm looking at LCD over plasma)
- Need to have decent viewing angles to watch from the kitchen

I don't currently have an HD set, so I'm probably not as critical as some seasoned viewers, but I want something that's not going to be outdated in 2 years.

For my personal needs/wants, does this sound like a good set? If not, what else should I be looking at? I hear horror stories about Sharp's clouding and the Sony's are just too high.

Thanks in advance, I appreciate any input from you guys.


Edit: now I just read about 120Hz sets. Anyone have any opinions on how necessary this will be? I feel like at this rate I'll never pull the trigger with improvements coming every couple months.

I have the LN-S4695D.

1) Don't worry about overscan. Every TV since the beginning of time has had it (it's a relic of the old days of poor signal broadcasting), and has only become an issue because people never new it was happening until they started plugging PCs into the monitor. Even then it's not a big issue, if you know do a little homework (the better video cards have inherent adjustments to correct for it now)

2) Bruins fan here. Hockey, particularly in HD is stunning. SD isn't that great - especially if you use the widescreen zoom feature (whick i do for most of my SD content)

3) viewing angles, resistance to reflection, and DVD playing are great on this set. I watched Ronin 2 nights ago, and was very impressed (letting the TV upconvert to 1080p)

Based on your post, I'd say you'll be very happy with this set.

zv

I have the LN-S4695D.

1) Don't worry about overscan. Every TV since the beginning of time has had it (it's a relic of the old days of poor signal broadcasting), and has only become an issue because people never new it was happening until they started plugging PCs into the monitor. Even then it's not a big issue, if you know do a little homework (the better video cards have inherent adjustments to correct for it now)

2) Bruins fan here. Hockey, particularly in HD is stunning. SD isn't that great - especially if you use the widescreen zoom feature (whick i do for most of my SD content)

3) viewing angles, resistance to reflection, and DVD playing are great on this set. I watched Ronin 2 nights ago, and was very impressed (letting the TV upconvert to 1080p)

Based on your post, I'd say you'll be very happy with this set.

zv

Awesome, thanks! Now I just wish it would drop a few hundred more and I'd bite.

Does anyone know if there is going to be new model replacing the 4696D soon? The reason I ask is because I've been searching every in the Philadelphia/NJ/Deleware tri-state area, and all the Best Buys and Tweeters have them on backorder till March. Some retailers have given me the reason that they are simply in high demand and can't keep up production/stock, while others tell me that Samsung is going through a model change, so they are not shipping any more 4696D models....The 720p models were supposed to come out in March; there was no date announched for the 1080p models at CES. And as far as March is concerned, I think you'd be lucky to find any for another month or so afterwards.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/07/samsung-introduces-2007-lcd-plasma-dlp-and-crt-lineup/

To all who are having trouble finding a xx96 or xx95 in stock:
I know that Best Buy can still get these sets. I ordered mine Monday night (4695) and it came in yesterday. I walked back into the warehouse with the salesman and there were 4 or 5 units back there that came in with mine. Ask them to order it for you and they should be able to!

edit: by the way, my set IS completely MURA FREE. There is hope... :)

I bought my LN-S4695D @ PCRICHARDS in northern NJ on 1/15/06. they said would be in warehouse on 1/17/06 which it was & picked it up in the store on fri, 1/19/06. set it up on 1/21/06. cablevision guy brought the HD DVR box on 1/29/06. it is utterly fantastic. very happy so far.

So, from what everyone is seeing, the comments made by the HTS guy are pretty accurate. The price is not going to go down much, because there is not the incentive to keep them down? I guess if I am finding what I want online and feel comfortable with the price and dealer, I should pull the trigger here soon before they are sold out too, like what happened with the Onkyo TX-SR764.

Hello,

I've been following this thread for the past month or so, trying to decide if I should buy a LNS-4095/6 or go the Sony route. I like the overall look of the Samsung over the Sony, and the cheaper price, but the 1:1 pixel mapping overscan issue really bothers me. I will be hooking this up to my SageTV PVR setup and will also want to use this as a gaming system every now and then.

Assuming that the 1:1 pixel mapping / overscan issue is not fixed in the near future, does anyone have a document on how they correct this via the PC's video card? Is there a post on this somewhere? I've only seen references stating "it's possible" so far...

If this will be easy enough to do with my nVidia 7950GT, I would pick the Samsung 4095/6 for sure (still debating the cable card feature :) )....

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

You can always get 1:1 pixel mapping out of the VGA port of your video card.

As for adjusting the HDMI/DVI output of an nVidia card, yes the instructions are on this thread. The link is below.

I am going to call Samsung tomorrow in reference to my existing case regarding the justscan firmware update.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8052921&&#post8052921

Hello,

I've been following this thread for the past month or so, trying to decide if I should buy a LNS-4095/6 or go the Sony route. I like the overall look of the Samsung over the Sony, and the cheaper price, but the 1:1 pixel mapping overscan issue really bothers me. I will be hooking this up to my SageTV PVR setup and will also want to use this as a gaming system every now and then.

Assuming that the 1:1 pixel mapping / overscan issue is not fixed in the near future, does anyone have a document on how they correct this via the PC's video card? Is there a post on this somewhere? I've only seen references stating "it's possible" so far...

If this will be easy enough to do with my nVidia 7950GT, I would pick the Samsung 4095/6 for sure (still debating the cable card feature :) )....

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Those that have successfully achieved "virtual" 1:1 with their Nvidia cards have experimentally adjusted their screen size down by 2-5% of 1920 x 1080 so that the resulting slightly downscaled video is upscaled by the TV back to a 1920 x 1080 full screen display. Admittedly, this is a little hokey, but those posters were reportedly satisfied with the resulting clarity. Not having that video card myself, you'll have to find for yourself where in the "Properties" section of your screen settings these adjustments are made.

Edit: Oh sorry, didn't see mfogarty5's fine post while I had momentarily stepped away, but now you've got just what you needed..... And I would definitely try the VGA input on this TV when you get it. Please report back your results whatever you do!

Hello,

I've been following this thread for the past month or so, trying to decide if I should buy a LNS-4095/6 or go the Sony route. I like the overall look of the Samsung over the Sony, and the cheaper price, but the 1:1 pixel mapping overscan issue really bothers me. I will be hooking this up to my SageTV PVR setup and will also want to use this as a gaming system every now and then.

Assuming that the 1:1 pixel mapping / overscan issue is not fixed in the near future, does anyone have a document on how they correct this via the PC's video card? Is there a post on this somewhere? I've only seen references stating "it's possible" so far...

If this will be easy enough to do with my nVidia 7950GT, I would pick the Samsung 4095/6 for sure (still debating the cable card feature :) )....

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

I hook up my PC to my 4696 via HDMI. I have the nvidia 7800GT and can successfully use the drivers to eliminate overscan. Sure I end up with 1808x1004 instead of 1920x1080 but you can't really tell the difference (well I cant). I play games like BF2, FEAR, Call of Duty in beautiful 46" widescreen and watch HD movies, etc. etc.

It will be a bonus if the Justscan comes out for true 1:1 but what I have in the interim is keeping me happy.

At the same price, I would buy the XBR2 if I could buy again (for true 1:1), but I'm still happy with this set.

I have a question, may sound dumb but how does one get the TV out of the box without cutting the box and putting ur backout?

I have a question, may sound dumb but how does one get the TV out of the box without cutting the box and putting ur backout?

There are two white clips on each side of the box near the bottom. Press in on the center of the clips and remove them. Once you remove those clips, the main part of the box seperates from the bottom and you can slide the sides over the tv for easy removal...

Riverside, this just out http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/01/samsungs-15-4-30-and-40-inch-led-backlit-lcds/

Ah-ha! Honestly I had not seen that item until you pointed me to it. I find it immensely interesting that they are starting with monitors aimed at the computer monitor market first. I think that "strengthens" my prediction LED backlight may be the next thing in sets aimed at the HD market. I love to when manufacturers seem to follow my speculation (trust me, I have NO special or inside knowledge).

Ah, just came across some more info... there's to be a 65 series to debut in March, but no easrly indication it will have LED backlighting.

There are a number a links regarding Samsung's 2007 plans for LED backlit LCD TVs in this, not-too-long, avsforum thread:

[sorry, I can't post a link yet]

avsforum tread number: 783988, "New SAMSUNG Lcd´s at CES"

Has anyone seen any clayface issues? I see them, but they only seem to be really noticeable on certains shows, especially NBC's Heroes. Now, is it my Tivo Series 3, my Comcast signal or my Samsung 4695? How would I go about tracking this down?

Has anyone seen any clayface issues? I see them, but they only seem to be really noticeable on certains shows, especially NBC's Heroes. Now, is it my Tivo Series 3, my Comcast signal or my Samsung 4695? How would I go about tracking this down?

Noticed it only once or twice with my 4696 since i got it two weeks ago.

Has anyone seen any clayface issues? I see them, but they only seem to be really noticeable on certains shows, especially NBC's Heroes. Now, is it my Tivo Series 3, my Comcast signal or my Samsung 4695? How would I go about tracking this down?

"Clay face." A known culprit: DNIe. Try turning it off. It appears to increase your contrast ratio, but most of us don't like how it crushes blacks and bleaches the whites. Plus, "the clayface." If you calibrate your Brightness setting (mine is about 42-3) with a calibration DVD, you'll come to prefer living without it....

Has anyone seen any clayface issues? I see them, but they only seem to be really noticeable on certains shows, especially NBC's Heroes. Now, is it my Tivo Series 3, my Comcast signal or my Samsung 4695? How would I go about tracking this down?

Check to see if you have DNIE on. I've noticed that's it's caused clay facing in allot of programs on my set, and that may be the case with you. If that doesn't solve it, try turning the contrast down a little till you see the problem go away.

All,

I am posting this on both the 4096/4696 and the 4095/4096/4695/4696 threads.

As I alluded to in an earlier post, I contacted Samsung earlier in the week and spoke to a level II technician about the justscan firmware update that allows 1:1 pixel mapping over the HDMI input. I told him that it had been released in the UK and in Korea and that all he had to do was contact headquarters in Korea. He said that he would contact the product support group and get back to me.

I decided to call back today and actually spoke to the same person I spoke to on Monday.

He looked through his email and sure enough the justscan firmware is coming to the US!!

He told me that it would be a few more weeks and that they were still deciding on whether they would send out USB drives or whether a technician would hav to come out and do it.

This is great news!

All,

I am posting this on both the 4096/4696 and the 4095/4096/4695/4696 threads.

As I alluded to in an earlier post, I contacted Samsung earlier in the week and spoke to a level II technician about the justscan firmware update that allows 1:1 pixel mapping over the HDMI input. I told him that it had been released in the UK and in Korea and that all he had to do was contact headquarters in Korea. He said that he would contact the product support group and get back to me.

I decided to call back today and actually spoke to the same person I spoke to on Monday.

He looked through his email and sure enough the justscan firmware is coming to the US!!

He told me that it would be a few more weeks and that they were still deciding on whether they would send out USB drives or whether a technician would hav to come out and do it.

This is great news!

GREAT news. Thanks for following up.

Oh my this is just HUGE! Thanks for the great news!

This is definitely awesome news! As seen before, firmware installation is rather easy on these sets, so lets hope someone can get a hold of it.

So, with the fixware confirmed....would you guys say this LCD is the best out there for the money?

All,

I am posting this on both the 4096/4696 and the 4095/4096/4695/4696 threads.

As I alluded to in an earlier post, I contacted Samsung earlier in the week and spoke to a level II technician about the justscan firmware update that allows 1:1 pixel mapping over the HDMI input. I told him that it had been released in the UK and in Korea and that all he had to do was contact headquarters in Korea. He said that he would contact the product support group and get back to me.

I decided to call back today and actually spoke to the same person I spoke to on Monday.

He looked through his email and sure enough the justscan firmware is coming to the US!!

He told me that it would be a few more weeks and that they were still deciding on whether they would send out USB drives or whether a technician would hav to come out and do it.

This is great news!


Excellent news mfogarty5 ... I'd say we all owe you a "thank you" for calling Samsung multiple times to make sure we got this update. Thanks!

Now lets just hope that a "few weeks" doesn't turn into a "few months".

Good Morning,

I purchased my 46 Sammy last night at CC and am leaving in 90 minutes to pick it up. They didn't have it in stock at my location. I've enjoyed reading all the posts so far and i look forward to talking to everyone.

Got mine in last night!!

Im so pumped to hear about the firmware upgrade!! I just waited 2 months to get this TV!

Just finishing up renovations and I should be turning it on in a couple of days!! wooohooo!!

Just checked my Manufacturing date: January 2007

Could it be possible mine has the lastest firmware upgrade?

Just hooked up my new Sammy 46"... turned on the HD channels and everything is a little bit blurry, even in HD via HDMI. I have not touched any of the factory default settings, any suggestions to get me through a few NCAA games today and the super bowl tomorrow before I get to really fine tuning it?

Thanks

Just hooked up my new Sammy 46"... turned on the HD channels and everything is a little bit blurry, even in HD via HDMI. I have not touched any of the factory default settings, any suggestions to get me through a few NCAA games today and the super bowl tomorrow before I get to really fine tuning it?

Thanks

A lot of ppl like the contrast at 100 and sharpness at 0. I also prefer the energy savings on low or medium. Digital NR and DNIe seem to be more of a personal preference. some like, some don't..

anyone know which is more likely for US customers: usb drives sent out, or a visit from the Sammy tech guy?

Got mine in last night!!

Im so pumped to hear about the firmware upgrade!! I just waited 2 months to get this TV!

Just finishing up renovations and I should be turning it on in a couple of days!! wooohooo!!

Just checked my Manufacturing date: January 2007

Could it be possible mine has the lastest firmware upgrade?
Where do I look to find out my TV Manufacturing date?

anyone know which is more likely for US customers: usb drives sent out, or a visit from the Sammy tech guy?


I expect they would email the firmware to you and ask you put it on your own USB drive.

Shouldn't get too excited at this stage however....until we hear something official from Sammy.

I have loved my Sammy 4696 except for one thing, the Cablevision cablecard will not work reliably. So I have exchanged it at BB for Pioneer 5071hd, due on 2/8/07. Hope the cablecard works. I see XOR42 also has returned his Sammy for the same Pioneer set. Looking forward to his evaluation.

For those worried about minor clouding, it is something many can live with if fairly minor, try turning your custom settings to 34 brightness and 100 contrast, with energy savings to medium and see if it's still a problem, or really not. Many LCD sets with the wrong settings may exhibit a little cloudiness.

My Sammy had great performance on SD analogue channels as well as HD channels using a cablecard. But I would keep losing channels.
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Hello,

Fast question - I can't seem to find the definitive answer in the thread. If the 4095/4096 receives a 4:3 image and the TV is set for 4:3 display - no stretching - are the resulting bars on the sides gray or black?

Thanks

Hello,

Fast question - I can't seem to find the definitive answer in the thread. If the 4095/4096 receives a 4:3 image and the TV is set for 4:3 display - no stretching - are the resulting bars on the sides gray or black?

Thanks

The bars on the side are black.

I have loved my Sammy 4696 except for one thing, the Cablevision cablecard will not work reliably.

I had read somewhere that Samsung was doing firmware updates for ppl having issues with the cablecards. Did you try any of that? Or read any of it?

The bars on the side are black.

Not necessarily. The actual TV is sort of a dumb device here, it's all about the cable system and it's equipment AND how it has it's chain configured. The TV just displays what it gets... in my case, it's light gray sidebars. Some systems have cable box software that allows the customer to change those for black. Mine does not.

I had read somewhere that Samsung was doing firmware updates for ppl having issues with the cablecards. Did you try any of that? Or read any of it?
I had called Samsung who said there is no firmware in the works to solve cablecard problems. Let me know if you find out otherwise. Thanks.

Hi, i have a few question about the 4096D i just got (picking it up today) im still a noob at this hdtv world and im just trying to find the best way to connect all the wires

Cables I have
2 set of component cables
1 HDMI
3 optical

Hardware I have
LNS4096D
Yamaha receiver HTR5750 which takes component input and output, no hdmi
up convert dvd player with both component and hdmi output
ps2

My question, what will be the best way to connect all the cables with the best sound/video quality? Its it ok to connect hdmi to tv than connect optical from tv to received?OR connect component to receiver than component to tv?

my 2nd question is, for best audio quality, for my dvd player, should i connect hdmi to tv AND optical to receiver at the same time?

my last question is do i need a HDdvd player that upconvert to 1080P to use the full potential of the 4096D? or dvd player with upcovert to 1080i is good enough?


thank you for the help and hope u all know what im talking about...all these wiring stuff is making me dizzy

if this has been answered a million times sorry but i was wondering is there any difference between the 96 and 95 besides the cable card slot is the picture quality the same cause i'm about to get my first lcd and i want the 96 or 95 but i don't care about the cable card which one should i get thanks for the help

Unlike the TV, your Yamaha receiver can do 6.1, DTS, etc. etc. The TV only has HDMI 1.2, so it cannot "forward" sound over HDMI. You'll have to connect the DVD player directly to the receiver. That was the easy part of the answer.

Whether or not you route the video signal via the receiver or directly to the TV may not make much difference. You can always pick up more cables at monoprice.com without breaking the bank.

I tried a 1080i upconverting DVD player with the LNS4096D and was not impressed (it was a Samsung HD860 which had other problems like an insanely slow layer change). Thinking about it, it didn't seem like a smart choice because DVD movie output should be progressive (480p). 1080i interlaces the signal, and the TV then applies deinterlacing (480p->1080i->1080p->overscan scaling). If you send 720p, the DVD player upconverts 480p to 720p, and the TV from 720p to 1080p (480p->720p->1080p). There may be better DVD players, but since I couldn't detect any improvement with the low-cost upconverting player, I decided to wait a bit, keep my 480p player and then spend my money on BlueRay or HD-DVD.

Hi, i have a few question about the 4096D i just got (picking it up today) im still a noob at this hdtv world and im just trying to find the best way to connect all the wires

Cables I have
2 set of component cables
1 HDMI
3 optical

Hardware I have
LNS4096D
Yamaha receiver HTR5750 which takes component input and output, no hdmi
up convert dvd player with both component and hdmi output
ps2

My question, what will be the best way to connect all the cables with the best sound/video quality? Its it ok to connect hdmi to tv than connect optical from tv to received?OR connect component to receiver than component to tv?

my 2nd question is, for best audio quality, for my dvd player, should i connect hdmi to tv AND optical to receiver at the same time?

my last question is do i need a HDdvd player that upconvert to 1080P to use the full potential of the 4096D? or dvd player with upcovert to 1080i is good enough?


thank you for the help and hope u all know what im talking about...all these wiring stuff is making me dizzy

Where do I look to find out my TV Manufacturing date?

In the back of the TV ther is a silver sticker with Model # and other stuff... you'll find it there.


Does anybody know if TV's mfgd. in 01/07 will have the latest firmware?

thank you, just one more question, is it possible to connect my pc with a DVI->HDMI cable or the 4096D takes "PC IN" only?

thank you, just one more question, is it possible to connect my pc with a DVI->HDMI cable or the 4096D takes "PC IN" only?

Yes you can. Expect 5% overscan however....until we see a firmware release in the US.

the reason is i got a DVI->HDMI cable and i can only go for some really low resolution (and my PC function on tv is grey out)....and the user manual said it will not take hdmi as a input for PC, it will only take PC IN

It seems as if everyone is hyping this new firmwear upgrade.

1) My 4095 does not look like it has an issue of overscan. Is the 1:1 going to improve image quality or just size? How would I notice it? (besides plugging in computer)

2) Is it just a vga or HDMI issue also?

3( I enjoy the tv but if everything is being deinterlaced to 720 is it then true that a 720 native resolution tv would display 720 well . . . better? same for 1080i. Why buy this tv if not for hddvd (especiallly if the black crush ruins most of the tones coming through hd dvd??????

4) Finallly, Does anyone know if the tv's vary much from set to set. I have found that my tv is quite dark for movies (black crush?)

(contrast:100 Brightness: 40 Sharp: 0 Color 50 Watm 1/2 DNIE OFF) Brightness does not reallly help improve detail that much btw. Comcast Digital Hd dvd xbox360

5) R next years sets going to be that much better?

Thanks... so many questions

can any one here give a good calibration for the contrast and brightness while the DNle is on i like it on. i like my sharpness at 25 color at 46 and color temp is at normal but my question is for the contrast and brightness. anyone help please ??

the reason is i got a DVI->HDMI cable and i can only go for some really low resolution (and my PC function on tv is grey out)....and the user manual said it will not take hdmi as a input for PC, it will only take PC INYou don't want to use the "PC function on TV" since you are using a DVI connection to a freakin' big LCD. (that function is typically available if using the S-Video out from the graphics card) On my laptop with an ATI card and drivers it detected the Sammy just fine and allowed me to select from different available resolutions. My hunch would be that for some reason your PC isn't detecting the LCD properly or your video drivers don't know what to do with it. You should be able to use up to 1920x1080 resolution with this set through either the DVI or VGA ports.

-Pow

thanks, so generally speaking, the dvi->hdmi connection is better in quality than the vga connection?

My take is that DVI-HDMI should be better than VGA as the signal is kept digital through the entire path. In my experience with PC LCD monitors I have typically found that DVI connections provide a crisper picture than VGA connections. I haven't done any side by side tests yet on my 4695 but I would expect the same. Maybe not at present as the Samsung receives the digital signal, crops it to overscan then upconverts the smaller than 1920x1080 to fill that size. This means that pixels are getting streched, besides the whole problem that there is cropping of the PC output. The big deal about the 1:1 mode hitting the US shores is that the PC sends data for every pixel on the screen and they will be mapped directly. Current DVI-HDMI connections display roughly 1800x1000 (I think?) pixels across 1920x1080 space. So there is blurring/stretching after the image is processed.

In typing this response it just occurred to me... for those of you that have been tweaking drivers to compensate for the overscan and are fine with that, your picture still suffers. Since information for a single pixel from the PC is being spanned over two or more pixels on the LCD your image isn't as sharp as it could be. Anything that you send to the screen that isn't displayed in a native resolution (1 pixel on the source side = 1 pixel on the LCD, where the 1:1 comes from) is going to either be stretched or squished to fit and the presented image will not be a true representation.

-Pow

It seems as if everyone is hyping this new firmwear upgrade.

1) My 4095 does not look like it has an issue of overscan. Is the 1:1 going to improve image quality or just size? How would I notice it? (besides plugging in computer)

2) Is it just a vga or HDMI issue also?

3( I enjoy the tv but if everything is being deinterlaced to 720 is it then true that a 720 native resolution tv would display 720 well . . . better? same for 1080i. Why buy this tv if not for hddvd (especiallly if the black crush ruins most of the tones coming through hd dvd??????

4) Finallly, Does anyone know if the tv's vary much from set to set. I have found that my tv is quite dark for movies (black crush?)

(contrast:100 Brightness: 40 Sharp: 0 Color 50 Watm 1/2 DNIE OFF) Brightness does not reallly help improve detail that much btw. Comcast Digital Hd dvd xbox360

5) R next years sets going to be that much better?

Thanks... so many questions

Again, great questions, Sammers. Hope they get answered.

My take is that DVI-HDMI should be better than VGA as the signal is kept digital through the entire path. In my experience with PC LCD monitors I have typically found that DVI connections provide a crisper picture than VGA connections. I haven't done any side by side tests yet on my 4695 but I would expect the same. Maybe not at present as the Samsung receives the digital signal, crops it to overscan then upconverts the smaller than 1920x1080 to fill that size. This means that pixels are getting streched, besides the whole problem that there is cropping of the PC output. The big deal about the 1:1 mode hitting the US shores is that the PC sends data for every pixel on the screen and they will be mapped directly. Current DVI-HDMI connections display roughly 1800x1000 (I think?) pixels across 1920x1080 space. So there is blurring/stretching after the image is processed.

In typing this response it just occurred to me... for those of you that have been tweaking drivers to compensate for the overscan and are fine with that, your picture still suffers. Since information for a single pixel from the PC is being spanned over two or more pixels on the LCD your image isn't as sharp as it could be. Anything that you send to the screen that isn't displayed in a native resolution (1 pixel on the source side = 1 pixel on the LCD, where the 1:1 comes from) is going to either be stretched or squished to fit and the presented image will not be a true representation.

-Pow

Using the DVI input is far better than VGA, in my opinion. In theory, yes it will not represent true 1:1 but the quality is still outstanding to me so whether you can actually tell the difference under normal viewing conditions is questionable.

It's the best option we have right now!

I am considering a purchase of this tv, I mostly will be using it for xbox 360 gaming and hd channels.
Can you guys post your experiences playing xbox 360 via this screen
thanks for your help

GNE

I am considering a purchase of this tv, I mostly will be using it for xbox 360 gaming and hd channels.
Can you guys post your experiences playing xbox 360 via this screen

It's awesome! Gears of Wars looks amazing on my tv. Do the deal!

I am considering a purchase of this tv, I mostly will be using it for xbox 360 gaming and hd channels.
Can you guys post your experiences playing xbox 360 via this screen
thanks for your help

GNE

It totally depends on the game in my opinion. I LOVE my Samsung and have no regrets whatsover but I do notice some of the games look better on my old panasonic hd-ready tube tv. I think some of this stems from the tv being so high in resolution it magnifies a lot of jagged edges and things can tend to look a little artificial. This is only on some games...others look better on the Sammy. A few games are starting to creep out with native 1080P (virtua tennis 3) so I am excited to see how the tv handles that.

All in all it is a killer set for a gamer...just know that it is almost a tiny bit ahead of the current gaming curve.

thank you all for the help, i have finally got it working connecting pc to tv and the picture is absolutely stunning!!!!! i dont have a HD/Blue Ray player yet so not sure how it will do but im sure it will be as amazing. For some reason i cant get my 1920x1080 to work properly on tv, whenever i tried with this resolution, the it seem like my desktop is like 30% larger than what my tv can handle, not sure why, i connected it with dvi->, with vga connection, i do not have such problem, 1920x1080 works perfectly

don't want to post again so answer :})

Sammers,
1) You're probably only going to notice the overscan issue when hooking up a PC via HDMI, unless you're running something that makes use of the full available picture. Most movies/shows have the main content closer to center so you won't see it. On my modded Xbox many of the applications are coded using the full available resolution, much like a PC. (Games on the other hand are like movies/shows) I had problems with overscan on my old tube when I hooked this up. Haven't attached the Xbox to the 4695D yet, not sure what I'll see when using the component input.

2) I don't believe overscan is an issue using the VGA connection.

That's all I've got for you, I don't have answers for your other questions.

macrossranma, what you're seeing is the HDMI overscan issue that we're hoping will be corrected by the 1:1 ratio update.

-Pow

Does anyone have any pics of the Picture in Picture in action?

I pulled the trigger and bought the 5296d yesterday. It has 0 Clouding that i can notice!! And trust me i looked long and hard. Its beautiful to see a nice even black screen on a 52 inch screen.
SD looks pretty good on it too, but my only concern is that with SD and computer hooked up to the VGA things look a little blurry. Like if there is suppose to be one R on the screen it looks more like RR... the second R is more faint though. ON HD channels it doesn't show that "ghost" at all.
Any suggestions?

thank you POW, i have been checking this forum and thought overscan is only about +/- 5% with hdmi, didnt know its that much (about 25-30% for me), the only good resolutionn i can run is 1152x684 with hdmi, hopefully the firmware will be out soon to fix this problem soon =)

I pulled the trigger and bought the 5296d yesterday. It has 0 Clouding that i can notice!! And trust me i looked long and hard. Its beautiful to see a nice even black screen on a 52 inch screen.
SD looks pretty good on it too, but my only concern is that with SD and computer hooked up to the VGA things look a little blurry. Like if there is suppose to be one R on the screen it looks more like RR... the second R is more faint though. ON HD channels it doesn't show that "ghost" at all.
Any suggestions?

SD is supposed to look blurry. That's why it's called "turd vision." (Cr. Westa6969)

PC/VGA input: Have you followed the fine tuning procedures on p.112 et seq. of the manual? Do you have your video card set to 1920 x 1080 or one of the other resolutions listed in the manual?

thank you POW, i have been checking this forum and thought overscan is only about +/- 5% with hdmi, didnt know its that much (about 25-30% for me), the only good resolutionn i can run is 1152x684 with hdmi, hopefully the firmware will be out soon to fix this problem soon =)Ok, when you said 30% I thought maybe you were exaggerating a bit, I didn't think you were really losing that much. I found that if I took a screenshot on the PC with the resolution set to 1920x1080, and then cropped it to what was actually visible on the 4695D I found that I lost about 60 pixels on each side and 40 pixels on the top and bottom. End usable resolution = roughly 1800x1000. You are experiencing something much more severe and I think I was wrong with my answer to your question. I've never tried playing with it when using the HDMI input, can the picture aspect be changed while using HDMI? 16:9, 4:3, zoom 1, zoom 2? Have you tried changing this or confirming what it is currently set to? Don't know if the Sammy would save this setting per input.

-Pow

I pulled the trigger and bought the 5296d yesterday. It has 0 Clouding that i can notice!! And trust me i looked long and hard. Its beautiful to see a nice even black screen on a 52 inch screen.


You should do what I did - it's the perfect test.

Put in the movie "Fellowship of the Ring" and fast forward to the part where the Fellowship first enters the mines of Moria.

When the entrance to it collapses because of that tentacle monster, just before Gandalf lights up his staff, pause the movie where he says "We now have but one choice...." That's when the movie gets pitch black but the backlight does not adjust for it.

Make sure your lights are off. Adjust the energy settings of the backlight and see if you have any clouds. I hope you don't, but this is the best way to make sure.

When you perform "Auto Program" for Channel Memorization, how long does it take?

I did this a couple of times when I first got my sammy and I remember it being very long, but I usually left and did other things so I never got an accurate feel for how long it takes. Now I may be doing it again some and I want to know more accurately. I haven't got an antenna yet and I'm using TWC (central NC) so I'm interested in people who have done typical cable auto program runs.

Did *anybody* sit there and time it? (20min?, 2hrs?, all night?) TIA - pixel (xx96D)

< 20 minutes

When you perform "Auto Program" for Channel Memorization, how long does it take?

I did this a couple of times when I first got my sammy and I remember it being very long, but I usually left and did other things so I never got an accurate feel for how long it takes. Now I may be doing it again some and I want to know more accurately. I haven't got an antenna yet and I'm using TWC (central NC) so I'm interested in people who have done typical cable auto program runs.

Did *anybody* sit there and time it? (20min?, 2hrs?, all night?) TIA - pixel (xx96D)

Mine took about 20 min's for 2-79, plus a whole pile of digital channels, most of which were empty or had music content and had to removed in groups. Pretty easy to do that.

Good point about the turd vision...just wish we got some more HD channels in 1080p

Thanks for the PC info, i'll mess around with the course, and fine settings... that'll probably help.

I looooooooove this tv!! Watched "LOST" in HD yesterday... what a good show WITHOUt Clouding

SD is supposed to look blurry. That's why it's called "turd vision." (Cr. Westa6969)

PC/VGA input: Have you followed the fine tuning procedures on p.112 et seq. of the manual? Do you have your video card set to 1920 x 1080 or one of the other resolutions listed in the manual?

Using the DVI input is far better than VGA, in my opinion. In theory, yes it will not represent true 1:1 but the quality is still outstanding to me so whether you can actually tell the difference under normal viewing conditions is questionable.

It's the best option we have right now!

Another factor is the quality of the VGA cable.

At first I had your standard Belkin VGA/SVGA and had some ghosting problems with the display from my PC. Today I changed to a higher quality Dell cable that came with my computer and the display was much clearer.

If you want 1:1, try out a higher quality VGA cable.

I have no issues with VGA input from my HTPC (6600GT) to my 4695D. It was a little saturated (reds were very red) but that is easily fixed in the video card settings.

I thought I saw on the XBR LCD forum that someone did a firmware upgrade to their Sony and got rid of the cloudiness? If this is so, I wonder if that can hold true for the Sammys? Anyone know how one can find out what firmware versions they are running and find out/try what else is available? Is there another thread discussing this stuff that I am not aware of? Thanks!

I can make my clouds and mura streak disappear by turning off DNIe, lowering the brightness to 35, raising the contrast to 100 and setting the energy saver to low. My results look exactly like the after photos of the Sony firmware update.

When you perform "Auto Program" for Channel Memorization, how long does it take?

I did this a couple of times when I first got my sammy and I remember it being very long, but I usually left and did other things so I never got an accurate feel for how long it takes. Now I may be doing it again some and I want to know more accurately. I haven't got an antenna yet and I'm using TWC (central NC) so I'm interested in people who have done typical cable auto program runs.

Did *anybody* sit there and time it? (20min?, 2hrs?, all night?) TIA - pixel (xx96D)

Thanks for the responses (2 at <20min). Did anybody notice more than 20min for their autoprogram to run?

It might have been a little longer, I went and did something else, too! Why, did yours take an abnormally long time?

I can make my clouds and mura streak disappear by turning off DNIe, lowering the brightness to 35, raising the contrast to 100 and setting the energy saver to low. My results look exactly like the after photos of the Sony firmware update.

But how is that getting rid of the mura streak? I haven't tested mine out at that much lower of a brightness level since I've had it 6 days now but what if end up liking the brighter screen? Still mura streak....

I think thats what i need to do as well. I see ghost letters adn stuff when i plug my computer into the VGA. I also see ghost letters on SD cable through my HD box(using HDMI). Not sure if its a samsung problem or an SD problem... more likely the SD.
But i'm going to definatly buy a higher end VGA cable.


Another factor is the quality of the VGA cable.

At first I had your standard Belkin VGA/SVGA and had some ghosting problems with the display from my PC. Today I changed to a higher quality Dell cable that came with my computer and the display was much clearer.

If you want 1:1, try out a higher quality VGA cable.

It might have been a little longer, I went and did something else, too! Why, did yours take an abnormally long time?

No, I'm making plans for my 9th attempt with TWC to get a cablecard to work in my sammy and I'm road-mapping all the steps. I want to have the channel memorization part done before the tech arrives if possible.

No, I'm making plans for my 9th attempt with TWC to get a cablecard to work in my sammy and I'm road-mapping all the steps. I want to have the channel memorization part done before the tech arrives if possible.

Ah, yes: The "nappy-haired (step)child" of the cable industry. I'm not aware of a single post yet where the problem was with your TV, are you? Good luck with that. I only use the the clear QAM for OTA (100m from stns) and D* backup at $15/mo., so not familiar with CC installation. At 9x, nor do I every want to be......

Separately, I assume you saw that S. CS is sending CZ a new replacement for his cloudy set, since they were no refurb's avail.

Ah, yes: The "nappy-haired (step)child" of the cable industry. I'm not aware of a single post yet where the problem was with your TV, are you? Good luck with that. I only use the the clear QAM for OTA (100m from stns) and D* backup at $15/mo., so not familiar with CC installation. At 9x, nor do I every want to be......

Separately, I assume you saw that S. CS is sending CZ a new replacement for his cloudy set, since they were no refurb's avail.

Well, I wouldn't rule out problems with the sammy cablecard circuits, it's extremely hard to tell whether cablecard problems are coming from the cableco, the cablecard or the "UDCP" (Unidirectional Digital Cable Product) (ha! as they like to call the tv or pvr with a cablecard slot in it.) The CE companies like sammy can be just as bad as the cablecos about information sharing.

Some day I'm going to ask you about D*. I've always assumed it's not an option for me as I am surrounded by huge old towering trees that completely block the sky - that wrecks sky signals, right?

Whoa! A *new* replacement? Was that in the 52 thread? I didn't really see that over there. And, hey, you were a 409D owner? That was the sammy that first caught my eye and eventually led to my 96D. And this upgrade thing is for real? And I don't understand the re-registering and getting a new year, is that for real?

............Whoa! A *new* replacement? Was that in the 52 thread? I didn't really see that over there. And, hey, you were a 409D owner? That was the sammy that first caught my eye and eventually led to my 96D. And this upgrade thing is for real? And I don't understand the re-registering and getting a new year, is that for real?

You're not "re-registering." If it's a "new product" and especially since money changes hands, then you "register" your new product. Only the refurbs will already be in the system. They won't have a warranty card in the box. See:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9728182&&#post9728182 and all following.

........surrounded by huge old towering trees that completely block the sky....

I have a solution to that if there's anywhere on your property that you have a clear shot to the SW. You could PM me further....

There IS the matter of the left side USB input for display of photos & photo slide shows, MP3's , etc. The '96D's will do a full screen display of your individual photos in zoom mode, but not in photo slide show mode. It's one or the other...Can the USB port on the side of the '96 do anything more than display photos and play MP3s? Can it play any kind of video files? Can it read from a USB hard drive or just flash drives? Any chance of it being able to show MP3s and photos stored on the data portioin of an iPod? If not now, any chance in the future?

Thanks!

"You're not "re-registering." If it's a "new product" and especially since money changes hands, then you "register" your new product. Only the refurbs will already be in the system. They won't have a warranty card in the box. "

Oh, I just misunderstood, didn't realize you were talking about receiving a new product and then getting it's new warranty - obviously makes sense.

"See: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9728182&&#post9728182 and all following."

OK, I remember now, yes I saw that. They haven't arrived with it yet, right?

"I have a solution to that if there's anywhere on your property that you have a clear shot to the SW. You could PM me further...."
(thanks K4, I will file this and may chk w you at some point - I'm on overload right now studying the cablecard topic but if/once I eventually give up, I may very well be looking for new solutions.)

Can the USB port on the side of the '96 do anything more than display photos and play MP3s? Can it play any kind of video files? Can it read from a USB hard drive or just flash drives? Any chance of it being able to show MP3s and photos stored on the data portioin of an iPod? If not now, any chance in the future?

Thanks!

From page 78 of the '96D manual: "Wiselink only supports the USB Mass Storage Class device (MSC). MSC is a Mass Storage Class Bulk-Only Transport device. Examples of MSC are Thumb drives and Flash Card Readers."

You can download the entire manual here:

http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/200608/20060812103314890_BN68-01047F-00.pdf

..........I'm on overload right now studying the cablecard topic but if/once I eventually give up, I may very well be looking for new solutions.)

I much prefer D* for run-of-the-mill SD viewing vs. the analog cable I also have available. Your SD digital cable may be better or worse, but there's a lot of SD that I watch that's only on the analog cable channels. HD & HD locals are a whole separate topic for another thread or PM......

First time poster. Today I pulled the trigger on a 4096. Got it from an actual Magnolia Hi Fi (not the Best Buy in store ones) for $1850. It was the floor modal, so there are a few smudges on it, but on the plus side I'm sure it was tuned and calibrated in the store.

So far I'm very happy with the display but I have a few questions. First off, I have these Bose desktop speakers, which definitely are not pro AV speakers but they do put out a lot more base than the built in speakers. The only issue I have is when I plug them into the audio out ports, I can't control the volume from the tv, only the knob on the speakers. It makes sense to me as to why they would do this. Most people are hooking in entire home theater systems which come with their own remotes, but my more run of the mill desktop speakers don't have a remote, so I'd still like to be able to control the volume from the tv. Any way to force the tv to control the volume again?

Second, I have a G4 Cube that wakes me up every morning. On startup it brings up my calendar for the day. I'd like to use my TV as the display for the Cube, so I thought I'd program it to turn on at the same time. Only problem is that the tv seems to only want to use one of my tuners in wake up mode. I can't get it to switch to the VGA source on wakeup, only my cable. Any workarounds for this?

Thanks. I've been following both this thread and the Westinghouse 42" monitor thread, but in the end I chose the Samsung over saving some money.

I can make my clouds and mura streak disappear by turning off DNIe, lowering the brightness to 35, raising the contrast to 100 and setting the energy saver to low. My results look exactly like the after photos of the Sony firmware update.

Yeah, but the point is to remove the bleed/mura, not to mask it via settings, because the anamolies will still prevail during dim ambient light and dark scenes. Believe me, the "upgrade" does nothing to correct the root problem, commonly known as clouds and flashlight effet. The bleed/mura results from a combination of hardware and manufacturing process. For this, you can update firmware till the cows come home, to no avail. I decided to steer clear of the problem, and went with the Mitsubishi LT46231, and I'm grateful I did. BTW, one of the folks on the "clouds" thread filed a class action using an attorney out of New York, and I hope Sony gets nailed to the wall as a result of that litigation. Too bad Samsung is not among the list of defendants.

......and I hope Sony gets nailed to the wall as a result of that litigation. Too bad Samsung is not among the list of defendants.

I think it's a little early to go hanging that rap on Samsung. You can't sue them for making the TV defectively unless they won't honor their warranty. Admittedly they were a little slow out of the chute to recognize at the CS level that there was a problem. But nowhere yet on this forum, which constitutes a pretty large group of afficionados, have I seen any posts where Samsung CS has claimed a la Sony 1)that white area mura is not a defect, 2)that they will definitely not replace a TV with this non-defective so-called condition, 3)that a FW update will "further minimize" the non-defective condition, etc. ad nauseum.

No. Rather, we have definite evidence that CS will replace in-warranty mura-affected TV's. I don't know what else you could ask for. I agree that owners of in-warranty defective Samsung TV's who have passed their return window do not know for sure how all this is gonna play out in the end, but so far it appears that Samsung is handling the mura problem just like any other problem, which is exactly how it should be. We do know for sure, for example, that we have one poster who has been told that he should immediately inspect his NIB replacement TV, and that if it's not satisfactory, he should expect yet another one to be sent him. Frankly, they should be getting a lot of credit, rather than getting unfairly lumped in with the Sony fiasco. You need to pay closer attention to the facts revealed on this forum.

I just got my 46" set in, looks beautiful in my living room.

However, there is definitely clouding visible at night. During the day I can't see any clouding visible. I'll try adjusting the backlight power though, and see if that makes a difference.

The clouding for me is a minor problem, the big problem is when I switch to the Hi-Def channels, the tv goes from colour to black and white, and then visible diagonal lines
show. I dont know if this is the tv itself or the box. I'm going to try switching from component to HDMI to see if that makes any difference.

I Have a L-NS4095D and was just wondering if the 96 has the same annoying problem of not being able to fully tweak the settings on the pc input. Why would samsung do this it makes no sense to me. I have a 360 with hd-dvd drive hooked up through the pc input and can't adjust color settings to stop the washed out look

I Have a L-NS4095D and was just wondering if the 96 has the same annoying problem of not being able to fully tweak the settings on the pc input. Why would samsung do this it makes no sense to me. I have a 360 with hd-dvd drive hooked up through the pc input and can't adjust color settings to stop the washed out look

From reading earlier posts (much earlier!) awhile back, I seem to remember that the PC VGA input is designed for PC, not TV video, "color space."

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_space

Thanks that was a very informative link

I just got my 46" set in, looks beautiful in my living room.

However, there is definitely clouding visible at night. During the day I can't see any clouding visible. I'll try adjusting the backlight power though, and see if that makes a difference.

This is the most interesting thing I've seen lately on the area white mura. Who woulda thought about using a paint roller?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9744919&&#post9744919

The clouding for me is a minor problem, the big problem is when I switch to the Hi-Def channels, the tv goes from colour to black and white, and then visible diagonal lines
show. I dont know if this is the tv itself or the box. I'm going to try switching from component to HDMI to see if that makes any difference.

Sounds like a "box" problem. If you advise exactly whose and what model cablebox you have, I'm sure someone will chime in.....

I fixed the box issue, time to do something about the clouding. I'd love to try the paint roller thing, but i'm not too much of a handyman.

I'll just take a trip to Future shop and see what they can do about it.

First time poster. Today I pulled the trigger on a 4096. Got it from an actual Magnolia Hi Fi (not the Best Buy in store ones) for $1850. It was the floor modal, so there are a few smudges on it, but on the plus side I'm sure it was tuned and calibrated in the store.

So far I'm very happy with the display but I have a few questions. First off, I have these Bose desktop speakers, which definitely are not pro AV speakers but they do put out a lot more base than the built in speakers. The only issue I have is when I plug them into the audio out ports, I can't control the volume from the tv, only the knob on the speakers. It makes sense to me as to why they would do this. Most people are hooking in entire home theater systems which come with their own remotes, but my more run of the mill desktop speakers don't have a remote, so I'd still like to be able to control the volume from the tv. Any way to force the tv to control the volume again?

Second, I have a G4 Cube that wakes me up every morning. On startup it brings up my calendar for the day. I'd like to use my TV as the display for the Cube, so I thought I'd program it to turn on at the same time. Only problem is that the tv seems to only want to use one of my tuners in wake up mode. I can't get it to switch to the VGA source on wakeup, only my cable. Any workarounds for this?

Thanks. I've been following both this thread and the Westinghouse 42" monitor thread, but in the end I chose the Samsung over saving some money.

Don't know about 2nd.
Reply to 1st, try Headphone Out instead of Audio Out.
The Audio Out is fixed level.

However, headphone volume should change.

Folks, how livable is the clouding...
For TV watching, I always have lights on.
For Movie watching, previously, I've been using projector, thus with lights off,
but I don't mind having light ON --> I think turning light off, helps you concentrate, be immensed into the film, however, I think with lights on you can be more interactive with your company.
After all, we are not at a public place, thus does not need to be quite, plus turning lights off, I belive is learned behavior because of the way movie theater uses front projectors.

Folks who use this setting: "I can make my clouds and mura streak disappear by turning off DNIe, lowering the brightness to 35, raising the contrast to 100 and setting the energy saver to low. My results look exactly like the after photos of the Sony firmware update. "

How effective is this? Also shouldn't engery saver be set to MAX, thus reducing the back lighting?

How is the backlight output at energy saver set to MAX?

I've noticed that some of these LCDs are blindingly bright...

Folks, how livable is the clouding...
For TV watching, I always have lights on.
For Movie watching, previously, I've been using projector, thus with lights off,
but I don't mind having light ON --> I think turning light off, helps you concentrate, be immensed into the film, however, I think with lights on you can be more interactive with your company.
After all, we are not at a public place, thus does not need to be quite, plus turning lights off, I belive is learned behavior because of the way movie theater uses front projectors.

Folks who use this setting: "I can make my clouds and mura streak disappear by turning off DNIe, lowering the brightness to 35, raising the contrast to 100 and setting the energy saver to low. My results look exactly like the after photos of the Sony firmware update. "

How effective is this? Also shouldn't engery saver be set to MAX, thus reducing the back lighting?

How is the backlight output at energy saver set to MAX?

I've noticed that some of these LCDs are blindingly bright...

Ok i have a question dont you think by turning the DNle off the PQ is going to look washed out. it seems to me when i turn the DNle on the blacks are richer well acutallly all the colors together look more richer and deep to me, how about a humane face dont you think they look more reall like almost 3D like. i like to know more opinions about the DNle is better on or off for movies, HD chanels and most important Gaming?

From reading earlier posts (much earlier!) awhile back, I seem to remember that the PC VGA input is designed for PC, not TV video, "color space."

A proper "PC" should be capable of providing whatever color space is required for the application. It's called "color management" and it's goal is to match the chain from original source to final display. Yes, there are some inherent limitations, but my experience has them of the very, very subtle variety.

The only "inherent" issue with VGA is that the cable can pick up electrical interference, being an analog connection.

A proper "PC" should be capable of providing whatever color space is required for the application. It's called "color management" and it's goal is to match the chain from original source to final display. Yes, there are some inherent limitations, but my experience has them of the very, very subtle variety.

The only "inherent" issue with VGA is that the cable can pick up electrical interference, being an analog connection.

Yes, we have seen now a lot of information which indicates that the 1080p VGA-RGB input is probably the superior input for all video in that it requires the least processing to get to a native RGB analog device. However, "superclown's" problem is that he is using an Xbox 360 w/HD adapter, not a PC, so he can't manage his colorspace.

I have a question which calble is better blue jeans cable or monoprice cable? as far as quality

It seems as if everyone is hyping this new firmwear upgrade.

1) My 4095 does not look like it has an issue of overscan. Is the 1:1 going to improve image quality or just size? How would I notice it? (besides plugging in computer)

2) Is it just a vga or HDMI issue also?

3( I enjoy the tv but if everything is being deinterlaced to 720 is it then true that a 720 native resolution tv would display 720 well . . . better? same for 1080i. Why buy this tv if not for hddvd (especiallly if the black crush ruins most of the tones coming through hd dvd??????

4) Finallly, Does anyone know if the tv's vary much from set to set. I have found that my tv is quite dark for movies (black crush?)

(contrast:100 Brightness: 40 Sharp: 0 Color 50 Watm 1/2 DNIE OFF) Brightness does not reallly help improve detail that much btw. Comcast Digital Hd dvd xbox360

5) R next years sets going to be that much better?

Thanks... so many questions

Is there a way to load this new firmware to my 4095D without calling Samsung for a service call?

i have the 4096d but i like to know at first i put the energy saver at medium but i notice its a little to dark so now i have it on low but i need to have the deep blacks with the DNle on i like it on if anyone have any suggestions on what i should put the contrast and brightness at please notify me thank you.

So i'm returning my 5296d... After almost a week of having absolustly NO clouds... my clouds have finally come in and look horrible. I thought i was soooooooooo lucky having a great big screen with absoloutly NO clouding.... that lasted a WEEK!!! I haaaaaaaaaaate lcd tv's right now. We seriously are going to have to wait until 2010 to get a decent LCD!!!!

At least your clouds appeared before your 30 day return period was up.

So i'm returning my 5296d... After almost a week of having absolustly NO clouds... my clouds have finally come in and look horrible. I thought i was soooooooooo lucky having a great big screen with absoloutly NO clouding.... that lasted a WEEK!!! I haaaaaaaaaaate lcd tv's right now. We seriously are going to have to wait until 2010 to get a decent LCD!!!!

If it's going back anyway, why don't you go to The Homeless Depot, buy a 3/8" paint roller, and report your results here? See:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9744919&&#post9744919

Actually, your report is a little unusual. Mostly, people have not reported the "sudden appearance phenomenon." Rather, the "clouds" pretty much stay in one place and were present from the beginning. I'm suddenly nervous...........

So i'm returning my 5296d... After almost a week of having absolustly NO clouds... my clouds have finally come in and look horrible. I thought i was soooooooooo lucky having a great big screen with absoloutly NO clouding.... that lasted a WEEK!!! I haaaaaaaaaaate lcd tv's right now. We seriously are going to have to wait until 2010 to get a decent LCD!!!!

This makes me wonder... did you move it just before the clouds appeared?

ok i like to know your opinion is it better to put the Energy Saver low and put the contrast 95 and brightness 40 or the Energy Saver Medium and put the contrast 100 and brightness 40 or can anyone give me another idea on a good calibration please ??

ok i like to know your opinion is it better to put the Energy Saver low and put the contrast 95 and brightness 40 or the Energy Saver Medium and put the contrast 100 and brightness 40 or can anyone give me another idea on a good calibration please ??

My typical settings :

mode : standard
energy saving : low
contrast : 100
brightness : 30
sharpness : 0
tint : 50/50
color : 45
DNIe : off
color tone : normal

This may not work for most people because I am hooked to a 6 yr old satellite box via S-video cable.

Hey Guys,
No i didn't move the tv at all. Its been on its stand the whole time. In the cloudiness defence, yestrday was the first time the tv was on longer than 1 hour. So either my eyes got used to the darkness and i was able to see the clouding, or the tv warmed up and the clouding got worse adn worse as it got warmer. Thing is, one half of the tv is PERFECT still... the other half is pretty bad now. Last night after i posted the clouding find, i decided to loosen the screws and take off the back cover and try the XBR2/3 trick of loosening the screws of the panel. Let me tell you the samsung looks completely different than the sony. Samsung has covered everything. You have to take off a whole bunch of stuff to get to the panel, which i decided not to do just in case i screw something up. Instead i loosened all the screws i could get at to see if it would make a difference. I screwed the back cover up and left the screws pretty loose. I turned on the tv......................


Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd...............It was just as bad :( No difference... no better, no worse.

After that, instead of a paint roller, i grabbed the clean cloth that came with the tv and gently rubbed the screen almost massaging it to see if that would help.... nope
Its useless to get going through all this for a $4k tv. It should come cloudless/bandless straight from the factory!!! Tv is going back for sure... disappointed but looks like i'll be waiting a looooooong time until the new generation lcd's come out. @#(*&$#@!!

Hello all. I've recently purchased a Samsung 46" LCD 1080p. I've recently noticed that when the picture goes to complete black I can see some discoloration on the screen. They look like blotches of blue/purple. They are in fixed locations. I was wondering if this was a common issue with LCD or something specific with Samsung? I'm sorry if this is a re-post but I don't have time to read through all 131 pages of this thread. Is this the "clouds" that I see people referring too? I bought the unit at the end of December and do have some sort of service contract. Does anyone know if this will continue to get worse and should I look into returning the TV?

Thanks in advance.

Dan

Hello all. I've recently purchased a Samsung 46" LCD 1080p. I've recently noticed that when the picture goes to complete black I can see some discoloration on the screen. They look like blotches of blue/purple. They are in fixed locations. I was wondering if this was a common issue with LCD or something specific with Samsung? I'm sorry if this is a re-post but I don't have time to read through all 131 pages of this thread. Is this the "clouds" that I see people referring too?

In a word, no. I actually have read all 131 pages here, plus all 200 pages of the Sony Cloudy/Uneven Backlight thread. (I really need to "get a life," don't I?)

The "clouds" referred to by owners of this and the Sony LCD's are a type panel defect called "area white mura." Obviously they are white. Perhaps your panel has the dreaded (just kidding) "black mura," but I doubt it. You would find the following technical discussion instructive: http://www.magictouch.com/Mura.pdf

Can these purple discolorations be seen on a white/light background? If not, I doubt if it's a mura defect. There could be other things wrong with your TV, but I would first turn off DNIe, adjust your contrast to about 85 and your brightness to about 43, and then look at an input with a device attached that is turned off. Then see if you see any discolorations. In a dark room, you should see an evenly illuminated, dark gray display when looking at it dead-on center axis. When your "screen goes to black" as you say, there could be video material that is being improperly displayed because of your settings. Or maybe you really do have a problem.....

Couple of questions:

1) To anyone using the VGA input for HTPC use...Has anyone tried creating a icc/icm color management file for these? I can't seem to find the best way to tone down the red. It would be nice if Samsung just provided that for us.

2) I have the 4695D and have only had it for a little over a week. I noticed the clouding during very dark scenes on bottom right portion of the screen. I bought it locally at CC. Should I bother returning it for another of the same? Is there something "better" in the 2800 (after tax) range? I hate to do that but I want the most bang for my buck as well. Thanks!

Greetings Samsung owners. I wanted to comment as I read through your thread that it seems that Sony Samsung and now even Sharp are able to recreate this clouding issue showing it more with certain settings adjusted. I too am perplexed as a new owner of 8 days but my TV does not seem to have the issue at least severely as some of the pictures show on this site. I CAN see some slight light areas during full screen blackouts. The thing though is that if most of them are doing it from different manufacturers then is that not inherent? The one pic of the Sharp 92U is hideous. The thing that needs to be determined is whether the problem is present on some only or actually develops . I have been running mine every night I get home for about 7 hours daily to observe. but nothing has developed yet. That needs to be determined on the Samsungs as well.

Someone on another thread posted a picture of his Vizio LCD which had very bad clouding as well. I wish I could find that post.

Yes, any more updates on the 1:1 firmware? Eagerly awaiting it! :)

Oh, and for those on the fence about buying one of these screens, I posted some Blu-ray screenshots. Hope you all don't mind my re-posting them here from the Blu-ray screenshots thread. :)


Camera: SD700 Canon (still getting used to it - sorry!) Picture is brighter and better in reality, and the grain is caused by my ISO setting.

Screen: Samsung LN-S4695D with Playstation 3 as the source via HDMI/1080p.

This was IDIWMOE calibrated (I did it with my own eyes).

And this set has NO clouds, and I'm damn anal about these things. Got the set at the end of December.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a127/wgrose/IMG_0581-2.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a127/wgrose/IMG_0578.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a127/wgrose/IMG_0601.jpg

Yes, any more updates on the 1:1 firmware? Eagerly awaiting it! :)

Unfortunately there are no updates on the justscan firmware update that allows 1:1 pixel mapping over the HDMI input. I called Samsung on both Friday and today and they did day that the product support group is working on it, but that it would be a couple of more weeks.

Nice pictures. What blu-ray player do you have? PS3 or Samsung?

I just can't bring myself to get a BD player because I dislike Sony so much.

I think that I am just going to get an upscaling DVD player.

Unfortunately there are no updates on the justscan firmware update that allows 1:1 pixel mapping over the HDMI input. I called Samsung on both Friday and today and they did day that the product support group is working on it, but that it would be a couple of more weeks.

Nice pictures. What blu-ray player do you have? PS3 or Samsung?

I just can't bring myself to get a BD player because I dislike Sony so much.

I think that I am just going to get an upscaling DVD player.

I'm using the PS3. It's so good. :) Believe me, an upscaling DVD player doesn't come close to the picture of Blu-ray or HD-DVD, and yes, I have both. I'm using a Toshiba HD-A2 for HD-DVD and upscaling DVDs, and Ice Age 2 and Kingdom of Heaven on DVD upscaled to 1080i look not in the same league as their respective Blu-ray versions.

I'm using the PS3. It's so good. :) Believe me, an upscaling DVD player doesn't come close to the picture of Blu-ray or HD-DVD, and yes, I have both. I'm using a Toshiba HD-A2 for HD-DVD and upscaling DVDs, and Ice Age 2 and Kingdom of Heaven on DVD upscaled to 1080i look not in the same league as their respective Blu-ray versions.

Got my 4095 hooked up last night and noticed the same thing. I have the PS3 and an Oppo971. Having to watch PS3 through my Onkyo674 in 1080i right now because of some other issues....but Crank was awesomely beautiful.

I have the "mura" issue on the right side of the TV, but noticed it started to lessen as I watched TV through the night. Still tweaking the setting a little. Seeing a little more redness in the faces than I like. Other than color, I have tweaked color weakness blue +1 and cool 1. What do others see?

I am reading that it is now listed as being cleared out at Best Buy Canada's Future Shop stores. I really want to get one but only in three months (when I expect to move)! Are other stores in the States clearing them out as well?

I know there is a new model coming out later on but I fear it may not have the firewire connection like the current model has.

I am reading that it is now listed as being cleared out at Best Buy Canada's Future Shop stores. I really want to get one but only in three months (when I expect to move)! Are other stores in the States clearing them out as well?

I know there is a new model coming out later on but I fear it may not have the firewire connection like the current model has.

Fry's/Outpost.com has had them almost as cheap as the 4095's

well I just got my 4696D after waiting 2 months of the television being back ordered. It also has the Mula issure on the bottem of the left and right. I am not shure what i am going to do. Is the new models coming out that quick? So than is the tv discountiuned ?

OK, I'm losing it.. after several months with my panel I've forgotten how to find that mode thing that takes the set out of the mode they use in the store. Seems like I remember this being discussed in this thread last summer.

If anybody happens to log on and see this this morning, could you point me in the right direction? I'm going to sit here with my owner's manual in a minute but you guys could probably tell me faster...

OK, I'm losing it.. after several months with my panel I've forgotten how to find that mode thing that takes the set out of the mode they use in the store. Seems like I remember this being discussed in this thread last summer.

If anybody happens to log on and see this this morning, could you point me in the right direction? I'm going to sit here with my owner's manual in a minute but you guys could probably tell me faster...

previous poster said -- From page 15 of your Owner's Instructions: "If the unit is accidentally set to Shop Mode, press and hold the MENU button on the side panel of the TV for five seconds to return to Dynamic (Home) mode."

previous poster said -- From page 15 of your Owner's Instructions: "If the unit is accidentally set to Shop Mode, press and hold the MENU button on the side panel of the TV for five seconds to return to Dynamic (Home) mode."

CrasMack, Thanks! It worked, said "Dynamic" on the screen after 5 seconds of holding the MENU button on the side panel. And yes, there it was staring at me from page 15 which I had been to impatient to read carefully, and it says dynamic=home.

Now, I'm hoping this was the cause of e.savings dropping back to "off" and other settings going back to defaults. It must have somehow reverted during my compete power removals for my lengthy shenanigans during all of my cablecard visits.

Hey CrasMack et. al., while I'm on a roll... any idea how to make the firmware version info display on xx96D. K4SMX's previous sequence didn't work for me and he's sleeping late this morning. He said: Menu>Setup>verify/set "Function Help" to "ON" and then press "INFO" button on the remote. That is only giving me the Source/Resolution info.

Hey, and another sat morning thing.. Anybody find that their remote frequently seems to need to be reset with the "TV" button at the top left? Symptom is that the reddish lights for middle buttons come on and the remote seems locked up. This happens to me all the time.

Re: FW Version

(BTW, pix, got up at 6:30am, but have "outlaws" in town and had to make breakfast!)

Sorry Stew, I'm probably brain-dead but this is not working for me. I can verify that the "Function Help" is set to "ON" inside the Setup menu, but when I press INFO on the remote, all I get is the little box in the upper left telling the source and resolution. Is there some other mode I need to be in first or something?.........

........Please re-read the post. First, make the "ON/OFF" window appear. Then select "ON" if it's not already selected, which in your case it is. Then, while the "ON/OFF" window is still on the screen (i.e., do NOT press "Enter"), press "INFO" on the remote.

BTW, I finally received my Service Manual for my 4696D yesterday. (It looks like it was put together by hand on someone's kitchen table. Someone stacked up all the pages, including the multi-panel foldout diagrams, and squirted hot glue down one side. Then they put a school term paper clear plastic cover on it.....)

It has complete factory settings for all the Service Menu items, plus instructions for setting White Balance. Equipment required: CS-210 (Anybody know what that is?) Test pattern required: MIK K-7256 #92 "Flat W/B Pattern" plus the "#24 Chessboard Pattern."

Also, (attention "mfogarty5") should Samsung ever release the long-awaited Justscan FW upgrade, the procedure for USB upgrades is simple: put the TV in OTA NTSC mode, plug in the USB stick, Press "MUTE + 7 + 8 + 9 + EXIT" on the remote, remove the USB stick when completed and re-check FW version.

I'm getting a little concerned that once the 2007's come out, SamsungUSA just may just not quite ever get around to finishing this project. I wish we had an organized way of letting them know we still want this. They should know that, to have left this option off the 2006's, they are at a competitive disadvantage vs. Sharp and Sony. It was a mistake. That's why they've already released the FW revision elsewhere. They have to come up with a revision for each of the 5 >40" models. We'll see. Hopefully, someone at SamsungUSA reads these threads.

OK Stew, got it over in 52 thread, thanks again. Hey, I wanted breakfast too! gotta give this up and get on the road -- at least I accomplished some things with the 96d this morning! Now if I can just have a breakthrough with cablecard this coming thursday... --pixel

FWIW, From what I've read, the new "top of the line" Samsung LCDs are gong to be the 81 series and are expected to begin shipping 07/07. Obviously, there is NO guarantee to that, but it does follow general principles of logic. Again from what I've read, the "big deal" will be LED backlight on these sets.

By mid 08, mine will be 3+ years old, time for a refresh, so I'm looking for second generation LED, 120Mhz refresh, AND independent adjustment of shadow and highlight levels.

Hi guys,

Has anyone figured out how to get rid of the red push on these? Skin tones are too red and well, basically the whole image is too red. I can't really get it right using the normal menu. I've tried adjusting the red brightness and contrast, playing with the colour tones etc. I haven't had any luck when playing with the service menu either..

Can someone please tell me exactly which settings to change (probably in the service menu) to get rid of this red push? I've tried searching these forums but came up empty.

Cheers

Have you enabled the "Color Weakness" setting? Slide the 'red' to +2. I have a green push and when I slide my 'green' to +2, the green hue goes away completely.

One quick question, does the xx96d have a QAM tuner? I didn't think it did but I keep seeing people mentioning it in this sticky... I know it has a cableCARD slot but I'd really like to have a QAM tuner as well. Considering this samsung set and the sony 40V2500...

One quick question, does the xx96d have a QAM tuner? I didn't think it did but I keep seeing people mentioning it in this sticky... I know it has a cableCARD slot but I'd really like to have a QAM tuner as well. Considering this samsung set and the sony 40V2500...

See: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9782111&&#post9782111

Can anyone provide feedback on the 4096d's sound output? I am shopping this TV as a secondary home office/bedroom set and won't be hooking it up to surround sound. I not to expect much from tv speakers but was curious if anyone could tell a difference with the samsung's bottom mounted/deflection bar speaker set up. Thanks!

Have you enabled the "Color Weakness" setting? Slide the 'red' to +2. I have a green push and when I slide my 'green' to +2, the green hue goes away completely.

Sorry, can't find the "Color Weakness" setting anywhere..? Where exactly do you enable this please?

See: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9782111&&#post9782111

Plus, I have used the clear QAM on my 5296D and it works beautifully. My centralNC TWC modulates their digital in 256QAM and my sammy pulled all 5 clear-HD digitals and all the clear-SD digitals off Basic+Standard cable without me ordering -any- digital anything from them. My assumption is that tuning in these digital channels from them constitutes use of QAM (not ATSC, which should just handle the OTA digital, although at one point someone in these 96D threads added some murky comments that it might not be clear-cut to say that "one or the other" is being used, as both circuits might be involved in the process down deep. But I agree with Stew as far as which models and if you've got'em I think they work well.

(yes, Stew, I'm not up on the slopes yet... but the kids are, and hey, the wireless is actually working well up here in the Boone-ies, but I'm sure there'll be no signal at the lodge) -- pixelswim

Sorry, can't find the "Color Weakness" setting anywhere..? Where exactly do you enable this please?

Go into "Setup" on the main screen menu. From there scroll down to "Color Weakness" and choose "On". You'll see the sliders for the three specific colors.

i have a queston i have ben reading about this set and i just got 1 but when you are off angle of greater than 5 degrees you get this ter clodey immage around the edge of the screen and some times in the middle when you are 20 degree off angle. is this a back light problem? the store i bought it from says i cant take it back and get a different brand even though it is a week old. i hace a sharp and it dues not have this problem.

Perhaps you should return the set immediately and find a source for a TV which won't leave you at Sphincter Level 10 while evaluating your options.....

i have a queston i have ben reading about this set and i just got 1 but when you are off angle of greater than 5 degrees you get this ter clodey immage around the edge of the screen and some times in the middle when ....

Re-post of part of #3724 from 4696D/4096D thread, full post here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9560103&&#post9560103


[XOR42]...............

Angular Degradation: When viewed anywhere past 10 degrees off center (vertical or horizontal), the image becomes milky and washed out.......much of the strong reduction in contrast seemed related to angle of viewing.........

In further investigating your most recent opus magnificus, I discovered an interesting fact about these panels. First let me re-iterate that I do NOT experience your narrow angle of viewing problems to the same degree at all. I have an almost constant, perfect view up to 45 degrees each side of center axis. However, when changing my horizontal angle of viewing I am dead-on level with the screen. I have discovered, however, that if I am above or below dead-on level, the usable horizontal viewing area decreases quite rapidly, and I mean quite rapidly. It's the combination of vertical and horizontal change that limits the angle of viewing. It should be noted by all, therefore, as has been posted in other threads on this forum, that proper vertical positioning of your panel relative to your eyeballs is extremely important.

To further demonstrate this effect, I viewed a black screen from many angles. As one moves away from dead center, the effect becomes apparent: a luminosity of a dull, reddish hue begins to appear, which brightens with increasing angle. This occurs horizontally much more rapidly when only 10 degrees off-axis vertically. This no doubt explains the loss of contrast and washed out colors from off-angle viewing perspectives. Since I see a similar effect on my laptop screens, this is probably an unavoidable aspect of TFT-LCD technology.

I am not convinced this explains ALL of XOR42's problems. He may still have a defective panel. I do NOT, for example, ever have "purplish tinge," even off-axis, on blacks. And in general, I do not have the black crush he describes using my settings, which again are: Contrast 85, Brightness 40-45 (depending on input device), Sharpness 0, Color 35, Color Weakness Green +3, DNIe off, DNR off, Energy Savings Low, Warm1. There were other issues with his panel which he described in his first post which I do not have on my 4696D.

We will see if he has these same problems when he gets his replacement panel.

And finally, I recommended by telecon that XOR42 have a look at the Mitsubishi 46131 and 46231. This was based solely on my complete review of all the relevant postings and the manu spec's, primarily as a result of the type 2 and 3 mura issues with the Samsung/Sony S-LCD plant 1080p S-PVA panels. I do not own and have not yet tested either of these myself. I am generally very happy with my 4696D ("cloudless"), although I intend to test the Mitsubishi's to see if their 1080i de-interlacing is better.

Go into "Setup" on the main screen menu. From there scroll down to "Color Weakness" and choose "On". You'll see the sliders for the three specific colors.

I don't have this option. I have:

Plug and Play
Language
Time
Game Mode
Blue Screen
Melody
PC
Emergy Saving
Blue Eye

I'm in Australia. Could this be a difference between Aussie and US units? I have the 4696. It's a new set and I had the justscan firmware applied this morning, but I didn't have the Color Weakness setting before either. Damn, that sounds like a handy setting to have!! :(