I'm new to this forum, so I don't know if this issue has been addressed or not. I just got the Samsung HLS4266W. I love the picture, but I am having a lip synch problem with the audio going thru my home theater system. Has anyone had this problem and found a solution?

I never found a clear answer to this post in this thread and I'm having a similar problem with my HLS4266W. This sync problem is there for everything. Playing DVDs, OTA HD, standard cable, DVR, etc.

I have tried 2 different HTIB, and have hooked them to the audio out of the TV using RCA-L,R and TOSLINK (fiber optic). Both had this sync problem.

Here's the weird part, the only way to notice the sync difference is to use the internal speakers and HTIB at the same time. By themselves, they both seem to sync up okay to the video. The HTIB seems to be more accurate then the internal speakers, but only by ms. The internal speakers are following the HTIB.

My solution has been to just use one or the other. Like I said, both are so close that they sync fine with the video, just not with each other. Anyone else have this problem? Anyone know how to correct it? I can live with it, but I am curious.

it is an even amount all around and what do u mean i cant turn it off, theres no option to turn off overscan in the service menu like everyone has been telling me? this happens in all of the games, in virtua fighter 5 for example i can not see the names of the bottom players in the choose a player screen, its cut off in the sides too and in the top too, all around like u said, how can i fix this man? i have the size set to 16:9 and the only other choice is 4:3(the others like zoom and panorama are greyed out). im using the ps3 with hdmi, how can i fix this man?

I have this same issue with VF5 on my HL-S4266W. Sega obviously either forgot or didn't care about people with DLPs and other HDTVs where overscan can not be shut off, because this is the first time I've had a game on this TV that has completely ignored the "safe area". There is no way to fix this as far as I know. The only thing you can do in the service menu is move the screen up and down or left and right. You can't actually get rid of the overscan though.

A 1080p set does nothing for 720p and 1080i feeds? What I mean is, while watching sports or something on a HD channel (normally 1080i) will the 1080p set look better than the 720p set? If so, then wouldn't this also be a benefit for the 1080p. I'm assuming 7-10 ft. is close enough right?

I do plan on buying a PS3 sometime in the near future as well... Does anyone here that owns a HLS 720p series also own a PS3 or Blu-ray player and if so how does Blu-ray look in 720p?

I recently upgraded from an 5086(720p) to 5087(1080p). I had enough gift certificates to get a new 87, and gave my 86 to my parents. There is a big difference between how a 720p and 1080p looks at 7ft away, from my experience and the size of TV I have. But the further away you sit, the difference is less noticeable.

If the feed is 1080i, of course it will look better on a 1080p than a 720p HDTV. But not all feeds of the HD channels are 1080i, many are 720p (especially sports broadcasts). With my old 86, NFL games looked much better on my 720p 50" than my friend's 1080P 61".

Since, the 1080p sets have a 10,000:1 contrast and the 720p have 2500:1. I was wondering if someone could tell me if the contrast ratio makes any difference makes any difference.

YES. I used to own both a HL-S5086 720p (2500:1) and HLS5087 1080p (10,000:1) and did see a noticeable difference in contrast. Even my girlfriend mentioned it when we were watching TV.

can somebody inlamemens terms explain (10,000:1 contrast and the 720p have 2500:1 )tthis xxxx:1 contrast ratio?

Somebody has to says this --- get a grip, for Christsake, and dial back on the sugar or coffee or what ever has you so wired :D
You might add use punctuation, capitols and paragraphs. ;)

Anyone else notice when watching a 2.35.1 DVD the black bars really stand out compared to the shiny black border of the TV itself.
No

I recently upgraded from an 5086(720p) to 5087(1080p). I had enough gift certificates to get a new 87, and gave my 86 to my parents. There is a big difference between how a 720p and 1080p looks at 7ft away, from my experience and the size of TV I have. But the further away you sit, the difference is less noticeable.

If the feed is 1080i, of course it will look better on a 1080p than a 720p HDTV. But not all feeds of the HD channels are 1080i, many are 720p (especially sports broadcasts). With my old 86, NFL games looked much better on my 720p 50" than my friend's 1080P 61".

Thanks. I really don't know if I want the 720p or the 1080p... I mean don't get me wrong, I would much rather want 1080p, but I just can't determine if it is going to benefit me anymore than the 720p... I've seen both in the stores and they both have great pictures.

Does anyone have a Blu-ray or PS3 hooked up to their 720p set? If so, please comment on how Blu-rays look. I also plan on buying the PS3 sometime in the near future.

Thanks. I really don't know if I want the 720p or the 1080p... I mean don't get me wrong, I would much rather want 1080p, but I just can't determine if it is going to benefit me anymore than the 720p... I've seen both in the stores and they both have great pictures.

Does anyone have a Blu-ray or PS3 hooked up to their 720p set? If so, please comment. I also plan on buying the PS3 sometime in the near future.
The 500 dollar price difference meant alot to me. The 1080p "MAY" look better but in no way am I dissapointed with the picture I have from my 5086. I use a 360 and it is fantastic through VGA.

^^ Do you have the HD-DVD drive?

^^ Do you have the HD-DVD drive?
Not yet but I am not in any hurry. The 360 acts as an upconverting player and the picture is outstanding. Beats out my old Panasonic RP-62 with Faroudja processing..

Just heard back from the repair shop.

Samsung has advised them to advise us to take the TV back to Costco and exchange it.
The repair cost is more than half of the cost of a new TV.

The kicker is that all the units they have left at Costco have the older version code PB01, whereas the one we currently have has a version code of PB02.

I never found a clear answer to this post in this thread and I'm having a similar problem with my HLS4266W. This sync problem is there for everything. Playing DVDs, OTA HD, standard cable, DVR, etc.

I have tried 2 different HTIB, and have hooked them to the audio out of the TV using RCA-L,R and TOSLINK (fiber optic). Both had this sync problem.

Here's the weird part, the only way to notice the sync difference is to use the internal speakers and HTIB at the same time. By themselves, they both seem to sync up okay to the video. The HTIB seems to be more accurate then the internal speakers, but only by ms. The internal speakers are following the HTIB.

My solution has been to just use one or the other. Like I said, both are so close that they sync fine with the video, just not with each other. Anyone else have this problem? Anyone know how to correct it? I can live with it, but I am curious.
I have the identical issue. Again, so close that alone, audio doesn't seem out of synch. No fix that I've found, unless you can adjust delay in the receiver, but I don't even know if that will work, because I havent determined if the audio is ahead on the receiver or the tv.

Any opinions? I just received notification from CC that I could still buy the extended warranty, ranging from $180 to $650 for 1 to 4 years. Assuming it covers bulb replacement, should I go for it? I've had the Samsung 4266 since 11/06 with no real problems.

Any opinions? I just received notification from CC that I could still buy the extended warranty, ranging from $180 to $650 for 1 to 4 years. Assuming it covers bulb replacement, should I go for it? I've had the Samsung 4266 since 11/06 with no real problems.
How long have you had it? I would look at mack Camera warranties
http://tapeworkstexas.com/mack_warranty_combo.html

MACK WARRANTY COMBO - special page for AVS FORUM MEMBERS

3-YEARS IN-HOME SERVICE - EXTENSION AFTER MANUFACTER WARRANTY ENDS on the TV, and 3 YEARS Coverage and up to 2 replacements on the Bulb/Lamp.

Visit www.mackcam.com for more information.

NOW 6 options on the Combo packages:
1. TV under $1000 including Bulb - $190.00
2. TV under $1700 including Bulb - $200.00
3. TV under $2500 including Bulb - $210.00
4. TV under $3700 including Bulb - $285.00
5. TV under $5000 including Bulb - $300.00
6. TV under $7500 including Bulb - $380.00

Thanks. I really don't know if I want the 720p or the 1080p... I mean don't get me wrong, I would much rather want 1080p, but I just can't determine if it is going to benefit me anymore than the 720p... I've seen both in the stores and they both have great pictures.

Does anyone have a Blu-ray or PS3 hooked up to their 720p set? If so, please comment on how Blu-rays look. I also plan on buying the PS3 sometime in the near future.

BD movies look great.

How long have you had it? I would look at mack Camera warranties
http://tapeworkstexas.com/mack_warranty_combo.html
Thanks for the reply...I bought the set late November, early December 2006, so according to the Mack FAQ, I'm out of luck, as you need to purchase it in the first 30 days.

Any other opinions on whether or not ot opt for the extended warranty?

Any other opinions on whether or not ot opt for the extended warranty?
All depends upon price, length of service and bulb replacement policy.

All depends upon price, length of service and bulb replacement policy.
Must have missed it: it was in the original post:

Any opinions? I just received notification from CC that I could still buy the extended warranty, ranging from $180 to $650 for 1 to 4 years. Assuming it covers bulb replacement, should I go for it? I've had the Samsung 4266 since 11/06 with no real problems.

Hey guys, excuse me for my ignorance but I'm technologically impaired.

I just got the HLS 4666W today and I'm loving it so far. However, I wanted to know if there were any settings out there that are best for this TV? I watch a lot of sports and play a lot of video games if that makes any difference. Also It didn't look as good on my 360 as it does on my 26" LCD. Is that normal or do I have it on the wrong settings...I do have the HD cords for that.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks all.

I bought this an HLS4676S about 2 weeks ago, and I'm not sure if I like it. I've had a 32" tube with Directv for years. I got Directv HD service with the H20 receiver hooked up via HDMI and a DVD player via component. This picture is good most of the time except when there are white or very light colors which look like a bunch of little sparkles to me. My wife sees the same thing but described it as pixilated. This happens on DVDs and Directv, and I've tried many settings and it doesn't seem to get better. A very light background just looks grainy or sparkly to me, is this something that can be fixed with calibration? Also I have a good power strip but not a power conditioner, would that make any difference? I'm going back to the store soon to see if I can see the same thing with other sets, but I'm leaning towards returning this.

Any help would be appreciated.

I just started having this same issue with my HLS5686 a few weeks ago. It seems to gradually be getting worse. I notice it most with white or yellow colors. I have recently started noticing it on the HD channels. I have E* 622 connected via HDMI and notice it on there and on DVD's as well. I have ruled out the cables since the 622 and the dvd player use separate HDMI connections. I have tried tweaking the display settings to see if i can get rid of it. If i can resolve it soon, i will call to have someone look at it.

Anyone else having this same issue or know how to resolve it?

Must have missed it: it was in the original post:

Any opinions? I just received notification from CC that I could still buy the extended warranty, ranging from $180 to $650 for 1 to 4 years. Assuming it covers bulb replacement, should I go for it? I've had the Samsung 4266 since 11/06 with no real problems.
Again it depends, 180 for an extra year or 650 for an additional 4 years? Now if it was 180 for an additional 3 years plus at least 1 bulb then yes otherwise I would go the minimum of 1 year if there is a bulb change. Bulbs cost about 200.

Can anyone with a HL-S4266W comment on this TV. I am interested in buying one but wanted to know people's opinion. I have heard people talking about version numbers. Should I make sure i get one with the most current version number or are the two versions essentially the same?

Hey guys, excuse me for my ignorance but I'm technologically impaired.

I just got the HLS 4666W today and I'm loving it so far. However, I wanted to know if there were any settings out there that are best for this TV? I watch a lot of sports and play a lot of video games if that makes any difference. Also It didn't look as good on my 360 as it does on my 26" LCD. Is that normal or do I have it on the wrong settings...I do have the HD cords for that.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks all.

I have the 42 inch model of the same TV, my gaming settings are this.

GAME MODE ON
DNIE Off

Then go to the picture settings and put these in.

Contrast 55
Brightness 45
Sharpness 15
Color 55
Hue 50
Color Tone Normal



My DVD settings are this
Movie Mode On
Contrast 44
Brightness 45-50 depending on the movie
Sharpness 25
Color 50-55 cant remember....
Hue 50
Color Tone Normal


Oh and make sure when your play 360 alot of games have brightness/color/and contrast settings in there options menu adjust accordingly there too b/c I had to do that a few times.

Big problem here folks. I just got my TV yesterday that I THOUGHT was new. I ordered it from an online retailer. Watched it yesterday with no problems. Fired it up today and the lamp word is flashing right at me in my face. This is supposed to be a 1 day old TV. I'm fuming.

Big problem here folks. I just got my TV yesterday that I THOUGHT was new. I ordered it from an online retailer. Watched it yesterday with no problems. Fired it up today and the lamp word is flashing right at me in my face. This is supposed to be a 1 day old TV. I'm fuming.

ouch! Did the savings from buying online equal or exceed the cost of a new lamp (b/w $175-200)?

I just started having this same issue with my HLS5686 a few weeks ago. It seems to gradually be getting worse. I notice it most with white or yellow colors. I have recently started noticing it on the HD channels. I have E* 622 connected via HDMI and notice it on there and on DVD's as well. I have ruled out the cables since the 622 and the dvd player use separate HDMI connections. I have tried tweaking the display settings to see if i can get rid of it. If i can resolve it soon, i will call to have someone look at it.

Anyone else having this same issue or know how to resolve it?

Could what you are seeing be silk-screen effect (SSE)? I see something akin to your description on my HLS4676S...but I also see it on all DLP sets and to a lesser extent on LCD RPTVs. You can't tweak away SSE AFAIK.

It doesn't bother me much anymore I guess I'm getting brain burn-in ;)

Can anyone with a HL-S4266W comment on this TV. I am interested in buying one but wanted to know people's opinion. I have heard people talking about version numbers. Should I make sure i get one with the most current version number or are the two versions essentially the same?
I have the HL-S4265W TV which is pretty much the same TV. Other than a defect on the projection screen, I love the TV.

The TV sitting in my living room right now is a January 2007 build with a version code of PB02. Samsung will not repair the TV and told me to exchange it for another.

The replacement TV (coming tomorrow) is a November 2006 build and has a version number of PB01.

I can't find any information about what the different version codes mean.
The technician from the service centre told me that it means that components and/or software was updated but did not have any specifics.

I updated my support ticket on the Samsung site to indicate that I am not happy that I have to return my newer TV for an older set with the old version code.

I've asked them to let me know what the differences are between the TVs with the PB01 version code and the TVs with the PB02 version code. We'll see what happens.

Can anyone with a HL-S4266W comment on this TV. I am interested in buying one but wanted to know people's opinion. I have heard people talking about version numbers. Should I make sure i get one with the most current version number or are the two versions essentially the same?

I've had my HL-S4266W since July 06 and it is a fantastic set. I truly am blown away by the picture quality. I still find myself marveling over how fantastic the picture is right out of the box. Because it uses the same bulb as all the HLS sets and the 4266s have the smallest screen, it has the highest brightness per square inch of all the HLS sets (excluding the LED series).

With that said, 4266's also have something called "black grass". You can search this thread and this forum and find out a lot about it. The black grass is an optical anomaly caused by the physical interface of the inner and outer-sandwiched screens. Its mechanical, not electrical. It is also not repairable. In extreme cases of black grass, if you complain, Samsung will give you a free upgrade to a 4666 because they know they cannot fix the anomaly. In a nutshell, the amount of black grass on the 4266's varies from almost none (which is what I have) to extreme cases where it goes from the bottom to the top of the screen. In cases where it is small, the black grass is only visible when there is no-signal to the set. In extreme cases, it can be visible when the screen is displaying very dark scenes.

I had a price limitation when I purchased mine so it was my only option. I love mine and would not risk trading up to a 4666 for fear of having to endure some other anomaly. One thing you should accept is that none of these big screens from any manufacturer are perfect. They all have some kind of side effect that has to be balanced with how anal you are, and what you are personally willing to live with.
Good luck!

Oh and BTW, don't worry about version numbers. On the 4266 there are no *known* issues in early version sets. Even the newest sets still have *some* or next to none black grass.

I haven't bought the new lamp yet. I called Samsung and they won't even send a guy out for at least 9 days to fix it. I have a huge event this weekend at my place and wanted to get a lamp in place. Now I basically need to call it off.

Are there any retailers out there at all that I can go to and pick up a lamp for the HS4666? I'm willing to pay for a new lamp rather than waiting 9 days for them to come out if it means I can still have my event this weekend.

Please let me know. Thanks so much.

I haven't bought the new lamp yet. I called Samsung and they won't even send a guy out for at least 9 days to fix it. I have a huge event this weekend at my place and wanted to get a lamp in place. Now I basically need to call it off.

Are there any retailers out there at all that I can go to and pick up a lamp for the HS4666? I'm willing to pay for a new lamp rather than waiting 9 days for them to come out if it means I can still have my event this weekend.

Please let me know. Thanks so much.

www.samsungparts.com

Weird. I messed around with it for about 4 hours and kept giving up but kept trying to fix it. Eventually I don't know why it started working but I pushed the lamp and the crate that holds it in as hard as I could and voila it turned on. That's a relief but I'm still concerned. I'm still going to have a Samsung tech come out and take a look at it.

Hi I just but my HL-S5086W DLP. It's got a pretty nice picture, even compared to my old plasma set. I was wary of getting a rear projection, but I got one of the best deals I've ever gotten on this set, so I couldn't pass it up. I'm hoping to get my HD Digital Video Essentials DVD soon to calibrate the bad boy.

But, I was wondering about the "pc audio in" option. I've got the VGA cables for my XBOX360, which is the only way to upscale regular DVD's to 720p (using the HD-DVD add-on); You can only upscale DVD's to 480p using the component cables.

Unfortunately it seems the PC/VGA input is only associated with the "PC AUDIO IN" audio input, which is pretty useless, especially since it doesn't pass along the audio through the TOSLink digital audio out (I was hoping to only use the TOSLink, since my receiver is a bit too too old to use as a proper audio input selector and if I can use the input selector in the Samsung, I can control the receiver AND tv with my Tivo remote.)

Is there some way to associate one of the other audio inputs with the PC/VGA video input, maybe via the service menu?

And typing of the service menu, I was wondering if some of its more mysterious functions were defined somewhere. It'd be neat to at least adjust the gamma. I've searched in a few places and read through just about all of this thread and I can't find much info on it and I'm wary to plunge into it without some guidance.

I gotta tell ya after using my 360 to play DVD's for awhile then getting a standalone upscaling player the picture quality is really noticeably better on the standalone player.

I decided on a Sammy 50" DLP -- I am looking at the HL-S5086W, lots of good deals out there right now. But....I saw the HLS-5065 with stand at Wal-Mart on clearance for the eye popping price. The specs are nearly identical although I did notice a few differences: the 65 model is in the old '05 case, is missing the USB port, one less S-video and screen is 39.3" vs 45" on the 86. Not to mention the 86 model is better looking in my opinion. The price difference between these two with a stand is $100. Is the 5086 worth $100 more?

Thanks for the feedback.

Probly less chance of lag for gaming if you get the newer model. I didnt know that they made different sized viewing screens but still called it 50 inches...thats shocks me I'm really confused.

Oh and BTW, don't worry about version numbers. On the 4266 there are no *known* issues in early version sets. Even the newest sets still have *some* or next to none black grass.
The replacement set for my 4265 was delivered this morning and it turns out it has a version code of PB02.

Got it all set up and at this point I cannot see any black grass at all. The TV that they took away had an extreme case of black grass (top to bottom).

This one looks to be perfect.

Roogy1-This is a shot in the dark. If you've got a sears near you, call and ask about their repair and parts dept. We have the HL-S4266W that we just bought 2 weeks ago from sears and also got the extended warranty. Sears does their own warranty work so I would assume they have the parts, especially lamps, which are covered under their E-W.

We are very happy with this set. We are having it ISF calibrated tomorrow. It looks really good as it is, but not as good as it should. I've played with different settings and made it look better than it did OOB (was way too bright). We haven't used our new and as yet uninstalled dvd player, just have it hooked up to an HD211 receiver from Dish via hdmi. Non-hd programing is not the greatest, but certainly watchable with some stations looking much better than others. We haven't as yet noticed any black grass. What I do see though, is a slightly lighter area in the middle of the screen when the set is off, probably 10 inches at the bottom and narrowing as it goes up into a point about 2/3 the way up the screen (hope that makes sense,kind of a volcano shape). I say when it is off because as soon as I turn it on, the area is not visible. It almost looks like a glare but it's not.

All I can say to those considering this set is unless you have some of the mentioned bothersome issues, you will love it. As has been pointed out many times, there are many more people out there who are completely satisfied than are not. Some of us who are happy will post encouragement, the others will say to look for something else.

Well after I got it to work last night, I was dumb and overly confident and shut the thing off only to not be able to turn it on again. This is so frustrating.

Lisa, thanks for the info. Samsung called me yesterday and said they ordered the part but I'm beginning to think it's not the lamp, rather it's something else maybe something more serious. I guess I'll play it by ear. I'll look into the Sears thing on Monday if I don't hear back from Samsung.

Hi folks,

I just got my 5086 yesterday and got it up and running today (after running around trying to find a decently-priced TV stand). I plugged it in and played around with it, watching some TV, testing a DVD on it and then plugging my PS2 and playing a little bit of Madden. When I plugged the PS2 in I set the TV for "Game Mode". When I was done, and before I turned off the PS2, I turned off game mode. Later on when I tried changing the picture mode from "Dynamic" to "Movie" I found that the TV isn't letting me change the mode (nor the associtated picture settings) and it had the "Film Mode" option greyed out. It's as if the menu was still in game mode where the picture settings are frozen. I've had this TV running for only a few hours and now I can make the necessary adjustments because the p.mode menu appears to be frozen.

Anyone know what this could be? I'm going to call Samsung about it but I was wondering if someone here could offer a solution to this strange problem.

Thanks!

Just had our HL-S4226W calibrated today. What a difference! I thought it had a pretty good picture and was beginning to think I'd jumped the gun on getting it done professionally. Was I wrong.
All I can say is: If you're on the fence about this and can afford it, get it done. Phil spent the better part of today on this set, it's not the easiest set to do. HL-R's are somewhat different and that's what he's had the most experience with. But he's a perfectionist and when he was done, we were amazed.
We spent less than a grand on this set, spent $??? on calibration (I'm not posting his prices, that's another subject). But I do know that if I'd bought a set that was $1100 and NOT calibrated, I'd be much less happy.
He didn't have time to get to our 3 year old Panasonic RPTV (he'd planned to do both), but I can just imagine how much better it will look.
We have the Dish 211 HD receivers hooked up to both sets. On the same channels, there is just no comparison. Before calibration, I couldn't tell that much difference between the two, even after tweaking the user controls. In fact, the Panasonic looked a little better than the Samsung on some channels.
Anyway, just thought I'd share, for what it's worth.

Lisa, did you watch what settings he changed? Is it just a matter of finding the right combination? Thanks.

Ksaintdouble- Sorry, but he spent hours on this set trying many different settings. Some were giving him problems. He's fairly new at this and has only done a couple of the HL-S models. He said each has been a pain. He did get it set so that I'm using Movie warm2 and all settings are 50. I can adjust to suit me from there, which makes it much easier for me. All I have is an hd satellite receiver and a dvd player. Both work great on those settings so far. Unfortunately, SD didn't improve much, but HD is fantastic.

He did say he would email me the report. If it looks like something that might be feasible for others to use, I will post it.

He went back and forth on several settings that were giving him fits. I just went in and checked occasionally to see if he needed refreshments or drugs. Ha! just kidding!

He is in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and charges only $175. He was only certified last year. He's coming back to do the Panny for $100. Originally, he was going to do them both at one visit. But it's an hour drive for him to our house and he didn't have enough time but he's still only charging the reduced 2 for price.

I'm sure many on here know this but when in the service menu, there are dozens and dozens of different settings. I was amazed! No way could I keep up with what all he was doing. Might as well have been doing brain surgery.

Ksaintdouble- Sorry, but he spent hours on this set trying many different settings. Some were giving him problems. He's fairly new at this and has only done a couple of the HL-S models. He said each has been a pain. He did get it set so that I'm using Movie warm2 and all settings are 50. I can adjust to suit me from there, which makes it much easier for me. All I have is an hd satellite receiver and a dvd player. Both work great on those settings so far. Unfortunately, SD didn't improve much, but HD is fantastic.

He is in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and charges only $175. He was only certified last year. He's coming back to do the Panny for $100. .

Thanks for the report. I'm relatively new to the HD world...six months or so. I fully appreciate that many people on here are true videophiles and really know their stuff. I wouldn't put myself in that category but I certainly do appreciate a great picture and wouldn't have purchased a 5086 if I didn't, but I am really curious about having it professionally calibrated. Clearly you are impressed with the quality of your image now so I'm wondering where on the spectrum you put yourself, with true videophiles at one end and me (casual viewer that loves HD) on the other. To me it seems a lot of money to improve a picture that is already pretty amazing so I really wonder how much better it would get. Also, does this mean that the vast majority (in my opinion) of tv viewers that never realized there was more to tweak beyond what we can see with our remotes are just living with subpar pictures for the life of their tv? I don't mean to sound ridiculous, but I'm really curious. Am I really missing out on such a huge improvement?

Thoughts about this with where you put yourself on the spectrum would be much appreciated

cvilletoday:

"I fully appreciate that many people on here are true videophiles and really know their stuff".

That's certainly not me. I'm more like you. I've been researching quite a bit and am becoming at least familiar with the basics of HD. I have to admit, one of my top reasons for purchasing this tv (HL-S4266W) was the price ($300-400 less than the 40" LCD I was about to go with), and the fact that it was the biggest screen size I could fit in our bedroom armoire. That being said, I would not have purchased it if I thought I couldn't get as good or better picture from it than the LCD. I was also prepared to spend the usual $300-400 for an established calibrator. That's something I wasn't going to do if I'd gone with the LCD.

Of course, much of this is just relative to what a person's budget is. There are many discussions on here and elsewhere as to the "value" of calibration. I knew that the DLP line is one that can really benefit from it. However, in all the numerous reviews I read on my set, many were quite happy with it right out of the box, with just a little tweaking of the menu controls. I applied a few different settings to mine based on recommendation on this forum and the picture was better. But my HD channel line up was only great on a very few stations Discovery HD, National Geographic, etc.. Those were very very good. Now they are as close to perfect as I believe they can be with most other HD content extremely good. But one of the main factors that must be considered is the SOURCE. There is a great difference in quality among broadcasters. I receive all of my programming from satellite. Believe me, satellite has a long way to go to get anywhere near consistency. May never happen.

Now what I paid for our calibration is not typical. I just lucked-out on finding Phil. Do I think it was worth it? Without a doubt. Would I feel that way had I spent the bigger bucks? Probably. How your picture looks to you now is the deciding factor. Obviously, I can't see your picture so I can't decide for you. Possibly you could find a good calibrator, take some pictures of your best signals and send them to him. I do think that most calibrators would recommend it no matter how good it might look to our untrained eyes, because there are supposedly benefits to the television itself (longer life, etc.).

But since you say you have an already amazing picture, and you are doubting whether the money spent might be worth it or not, I'd hesitate to say "go for it".

Sometimes, the more we know, the more confused we get :)

Lisa

How long have you had it? I would look at mack Camera warranties

Wow, thanks Kevin. My first post here & I am finding useful data. :)

Hi new poster to the forums & recent lurker & wanted your opinions on the following set:
Was interested in getting a Samsung HL-S6186W for my parent's house warming.
They don't watch a lot of DVD's & use their TV mostly in the family room for what seems like 24/7 news & background noise viewing from the kitchen. :p

Noticed that many of you have the 40"-50" HLS -66's & 86's DLP Models but not many with the 60"+ models.

Would appreciate any feedback esp re: reliability & PQ esp for a general use TV.

TIA!

I figured out how to pass along the PC audio in to the digital audio out. You have to make sure the internal mute on the HL5086W is turned on, I guess that setting is independent among the various inputs, cuz I'd turned it off for an HDMI input but it stayed on in the component inputs.

So now I've got my old DVD's upscaled to 720p via the VGA output on my Xbox360 HD-DVD player and they look easily better than my old 480p DVD player and seem better than a friends 1080i upscaling DVD player.

Best of all, the PC audio input is passed along as Dolby Pro out the TOSLink to my receiver, although not Dolby Digital though, but that may be the receiver; The poor thang is really on its last legs.

Just got my new 5086 a week ago, I am using Eliabs settings and HD/Xbox 360 look fantastic.

What is the point of game mode? I switched to 'Game Mode' this afternoon and did not really notice a difference. I know the TV processes faster in 'Game Mode', so question is why wouldnt everyone just leave it on for all types of viewing?

I changed the 'custom' setting to mirror Eliabs setting on my 'movie' mode, so the picture does not look any different, does it reduce lag or something?

Sometimes I notice pixels for a quick second during a quick motion scene, regardless if I am playing a game or watching TV, does game mode get rid of that?

Help!

Game mode is supposed to reduce lag but I haven't noticed any lag without the Game mode either.

Would anybody be willing to post thier CCA settings from the service menu on a xx86 series. My 5086 displays Blue WAY to intense and I want to compare settings to see if mine are off or if it needs repair.

No other mode will look the same as Movie mode by the way either, even if you copy the exact same settings. You can get it close but it still not identical.

Would anybody be willing to post thier CCA settings from the service menu on a xx86 series. My 5086 displays Blue WAY to intense and I want to compare settings to see if mine are off or if it needs repair.
Have you tried the Color weakness settings? Mine was too green so I move the green 2 click. Try moving the blue.

Have you tried the Color weakness settings? Mine was too green so I move the green 2 click. Try moving the blue.


Color weakness made blue MORE blue! I need to lower the brightness of the blue, the luminosity of the blue.

No other mode will look the same as Movie mode by the way either, even if you copy the exact same settings. You can get it close but it still not identical.


I dont want to copy setting as much as I want to compare and see how far off I am. I dont know whether to lower the blue Y setting or the blue X setting or some other setting altogether.

Color weakness made blue MORE blue! I need to lower the brightness of the blue, the luninosity of the blue.
How can decreasing Blue make it more blue? Something is not right, I'd replace or get it fixed.

Color weakness adds intensity for those who are color blind. It doesnt make it weaker.

Color weakness adds intensity for those who are color blind. It doesnt make it weaker.
Odd that is the opposite of what has been posted here before. About green. It is also contrary to my experience. By dropping green 2 clicks I reduced the green intensity. I look up the settings for you this evening.

When I turn on color weakness the setting starts at 0.
I can only go up.

When I turn on color weakness the setting starts at 0.
I can only go up.
No you start at full color and decrease as you move the adjustment. It is contrary to what most would consider normal. Look back in the early days of this thread and you find others that substantiate this.

Hope I am posting this on the correct thread. If not, tell me and I will move it.

Well, I pulled the trigger finally after 2 months of going back and forth between Plasma and LCD. I have always loved the Panasonic 42" 600U Plasma and the internet prices are really tempting finally. Recently I spent about 2 weeks on the new Spectre 42" LCD thread seeing what people were saying about what they just received from Costco on sale. I just couldn't get past all the problems from stuck pixels to more major things that most of them seemed to be getting before returning it for another. Had resigned myself to the Panasonic Plasma.....

But on the spur of the moment this evening I stopped by Frys and looked at their closeout newspaper sale they have been running for a week on the Samsung 46" DLP HLS 4666W. They said there was only one left new in the box and the floor model. True or not, at a lower price than I have seen anything else (even the Black Friday Sales on Samsung's 42" DLP) I went ahead and grabbed it.

So, what have I gotten myself into? The one on the floor had a manufacture date of Oct. 2006. Am I in for any surprises I might not like? I added a 5 yr full warranty included one bulb change for a very low price. I guess it was so low because they based the warranty price on the low discounted price they gave the TV to me for. Was too good to pass up since 1 bulb would be close to twice the warranty price.

Well, not to drag on too much, but I am disabled and spend all my time in my bedroom on the computer and watching TV, mainly sports, movies, and nature/science shows. I also want to be able to hook my pc up to it to view deep space objects via access to a powerful telescope in the Canary Islands. I am not even sure this TV is PC compatible. If not, I can live without it for the price I got it for. I can buy a new 22" monitor for what it appears I saved. The only adjustment I know I will have to make with DLP is having to watch it always at eye level. I am used to having my TV up high so I can look up at it from my bed and wheel chair. I am already thinking of where I can get an adjustable height table to put it on since I sit lower in my chair than I do when sitting up in my bed.

So, any thoughts or feelings you have I will appreciate whether positive or negative. I have 30 days to return it if I feel I made the wrong decision to purchase it.

Thanks for any comments or suggestions you might have for me.

Pirate Bob,
The TV is fine. What did you pay for the warranty, A bulb is only about 200 dollars. Take a look here http://tapeworkstexas.com/mack_warranty_combo.html
This may save you some money. Just something to compare.
It should have VGA input, I know the x86 series does. I use it for my Xbox 360.
Enjoy.

Pirate Bob,
The TV is fine. What did you pay for the warranty, A bulb is only about 200 dollars. Take a look here http://tapeworkstexas.com/mack_warranty_combo.html
This may save you some money. Just something to compare.
It should have VGA input, I know the x86 series does. I use it for my Xbox 360.
Enjoy.

My warranty was alot cheaper than those, was a year longer (through 5 years) but only included 1 bulb.

The 4666W doesn't have a VGA port. Only the 4667W and 4676S (which I bought) do.

But it does have HDMI ports (of course). All you need then is a DVI-HDMI converter http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10419&cs_id=1041902&p_id=2029&seq=1&format=2&style= and a video card with a DVI port. This won't carry audio but you'll get the image on your computer on the TV.

I'm in the process of (slowly) putting together a HTPC to replace my upconverting DVD player and TiVO. I'm probably going to attempt the XBox HD-DVD mod too.

Good thing you got the extended warranty with at least one bulb replacement. I almost bought the 4676S as a floor model at CC but the salesman remined me that it had been there on the floor running 10hrs/day for several months which translated to about 2000 hours of lamp life used up meaning I'd have to get a new lamp much much sooner than w/ a new one. The diff in price b/w the floor model and a new lamp was only about $20 less than a new one on sale at Fry's. So I got the new one. I guess that's the overlooked thing with floor models of RPTVs.

Anyway, it's a great tv. enjoy!

Would anybody be willing to post thier CCA settings from the service menu on a xx86 series. My 5086 displays Blue WAY to intense and I want to compare settings to see if mine are off or if it needs repair.
DBlue x -148
DBlue Y- 58
Blue x -147
Blue y -49
Blue Y -49

Under CCa cinema
x-150
y-60

Thanks Kevin !

Does any1 have experience ordering a non-in-stock Samsung (or other brand TV) from Amazon?

Thye don't charge your card until they ship it.

How long does it usually take to arrive realistically? Just ordered a 6186.

Greetings,
This is slightly off topic, but I noticed that my HL-S5086 has stopped playing it's musical tone when I power it off. It plays when I start it up, and the function is enabled in the user menu.
Anyone know why it would suddenly stop?
b.

Greetings,
This is slightly off topic, but I noticed that my HL-S5086 has stopped playing it's musical tone when I power it off. It plays when I start it up, and the function is enabled in the user menu.
Anyone know why it would suddenly stop?
b.

FWIW my 5086 plays it sporadically on power up and virtually never (but on rare occasion it does) on power down.

I have looked all over this thread but I can not find how to access the service menu on the 5086. Anyone care to let me know the code.

Mine is 50/50 when I power it down. However it never misses a beat when it powers up.

I have looked all over this thread but I can not find how to access the service menu on the 5086. Anyone care to let me know the code.
With the TV powered on, hit the following key sequence on the remote:

POWER, MUTE, 1, 8, 2, POWER
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9778070&&#post9778070

Wouldnt it be easier to have the TV off and press MUTE, 1, 8, 2, POWER?

Wouldnt it be easier to have the TV off and press MUTE, 1, 8, 2, POWER?
The original poster of the info did it this way so it did not takes so long for the TV to come to full brightness.

I have a HLS-5686w and now all the sudden I keep hearing a sporatic buzzing noise coming from the back of my tv. It sounds something like the cooling fan or something inside the tv is vibrating slightly. I watched the Prestige last night and it was exremely annoying as you heard it throughout the entire movie. It only buzzes for about 5 seconds and stops, but then 1 min later it does it again. I took the lamp cover out and hand tightened some screws in some areas but it didn't help.

Does anyone know if I take off the lamp cover and slide out that lamp cover (without taking out the lamp) and I turn my tv back on will it do any harm to it? I want to be able to have the cover open so I can look inside the tv and possibly see what is making the noise. I know there is a little blue tab I would have to hold down because the TV is not supposed to turn on without the lamp cover on.

Anyone have this problem or have any suggestions on remedying this myself? I have BB warranty but can't have them to the house until next week and this noise is killing me!!!

[QUOTE=mightydarwin]The 4666W doesn't have a VGA port. Only the 4667W and 4676S (which I bought) do.

Not true I have the 4666W and it does have VGA input.

I have a 4676s and I am getting pixelation when I watch March Madness on CBS HD. I am using a Motorola STB and I have it set to 720p. Is this the box's fault or is CBS's broadcast just not good? Or does it have something to do with the TV? Can anyone recommend me some settings for this TV?

I have a 4676s and I am getting pixelation when I watch March Madness on CBS HD. I am using a Motorola STB and I have it set to 720p. Is this the box's fault or is CBS's broadcast just not good? Or does it have something to do with the TV? Can anyone recommend me some settings for this TV?

I think it is CBS. I have Comcast and am also using the Motorola HD box and certain HD channels look better than others. Sometimes when I watch the NCAA tournament I see plenty of imperfections in the picture

I think it is CBS. I have Comcast and am also using the Motorola HD box and certain HD channels look better than others. Sometimes when I watch the NCAA tournament I see plenty of imperfections in the picture

Do you have your box hooked up with HDMI? I went in to Comcast the other day to get a box with HDMI but they didn't have any, so I'm still using component. I'm wondering if HDMI causes a noticeable difference in PQ.

Do you have your box hooked up with HDMI? I went in to Comcast the other day to get a box with HDMI but they didn't have any, so I'm still using component. I'm wondering if HDMI causes a noticeable difference in PQ.
I used to have it hooked up with Component and switched to HDMI. I see no noticable PQ difference.

I'm noticing a flickering issue after watching my TV for awhle and I've had it for a couple of months now bought it back in September. Its the 4266W. I was playing Gears of War for 360 after about an hour I noticed a very small flicker going on like if it was dropping brightness by 3 notches out of 100 then going back to what you have so say its set at 50 brightness it would go 47,50,47,50,47,50 but right after eachother really quick so it looks like the TV is flickering. I turn it off it goes away. Is something wrong with it??

[QUOTE=mightydarwin]The 4666W doesn't have a VGA port. Only the 4667W and 4676S (which I bought) do.

Not true I have the 4666W and it does have VGA input.

Interesing. Samsung's website doesn't say the 4666W has a VGA video input http://www.samsung.com/Products/TV/DLPTV/HLS4666WXXAA.asp?page=Specifications

but it does so about the 4676S http://www.samsung.com/Products/TV/DLPTV/HLS4676SXXAA.asp?page=Specifications

Lovely. Can't even count on the manufavcturer's specs to be correct.

even my 4266W has a VGA input...

Hi All,

Bought an HLS-4266W in December for $800 at CC and was thrilled to get one without the black grass effect. But now I'm seeing it, I think. Does it look like the latitude lines on a flat map of the Earth? Curves that start at the center of the screen at the top and bottom but bow out towards the middle?

It is possible that it just appeared, or has it been there all along and I just didn't notice it? It's pretty bad I guess - goes from top to bottom and maybe 18" wide at the widest part.

Last, has anyone had success in dealing with Samsung to get this problem fixed? I'm really happy with the set and the price I paid, but now that I've notice the defect, I'm seeing it all the time on dark screens.

Thanks all.

even my 4266W has a VGA input...

Mine does as well. Samsung site specifications don't say though.

Hi All,

Bought an HLS-4266W in December for $800 at CC and was thrilled to get one without the black grass effect. But now I'm seeing it, I think. Does it look like the latitude lines on a flat map of the Earth? Curves that start at the center of the screen at the top and bottom but bow out towards the middle?

It is possible that it just appeared, or has it been there all along and I just didn't notice it? It's pretty bad I guess - goes from top to bottom and maybe 18" wide at the widest part.

Last, has anyone had success in dealing with Samsung to get this problem fixed? I'm really happy with the set and the price I paid, but now that I've notice the defect, I'm seeing it all the time on dark screens.

Thanks all.

Search this thread ("black grass"). There are pictures and many discussions on the subject.

Hi All,

Bought an HLS-4266W in December for $800 at CC and was thrilled to get one without the black grass effect. But now I'm seeing it, I think. Does it look like the latitude lines on a flat map of the Earth? Curves that start at the center of the screen at the top and bottom but bow out towards the middle?

It is possible that it just appeared, or has it been there all along and I just didn't notice it? It's pretty bad I guess - goes from top to bottom and maybe 18" wide at the widest part.

Last, has anyone had success in dealing with Samsung to get this problem fixed? I'm really happy with the set and the price I paid, but now that I've notice the defect, I'm seeing it all the time on dark screens.

Thanks all.

PM,

That sounds like Black Grass, alright. Once you begin seeing it it really sticks out. I am dealing with Samsung on this right now on my HLS-4266W (the only set that seems to have it). They had a tech come out and change the screens last week. All it did was change the pattern of the effect, as it appears to be a flaw in the screen design. I am currently awaiting resolution as the repair shop deals with Samsung to convince them that my problem is not repairable.

The effect appears to be diminishing a bit over time (have had the set for about two months now), and changing your settings to lower brightness and contrast will help a bit as well. It really is only an issue with dark scenes, as you know, so it's a matter of whether or not you can deal with it when it does occur. I bought the TV knowing well about the effect and that the very low cost was most likely a result of the issue. It was a trade-off for me and I am willing to accept the defect if I must because of the low price I paid.

Still, I am testing the waters with Samsung to see how far they will go to address the issue. I do not want to have the set replaced with another of the same as I would rather not risk getting a set with a worse case. However, if they were to offer me last year's 46" set or the the 2007 42" (which I presume will not have the defect...hopefully) then I would be open to either of those exchanges. We'll see what happens.

As far as your case goes...don't fret too much. You paid a very low price for this TV and it is well worth what you paid, even with this issue. If you decide to, Samsung will try to address the issue. It's up to you.

I just received my new HL-S5086W from Amazon for the nice price of $1149 with free delivery. I'm thrilled with it. I knew HDTV would look awesome, but I was actually surprised to see that SD cable channels are quite watchable as long as the TV doesn't stretch them to fill the screen.

Anyway, my only concern is that across the top of the screen, about 2 inches from the top bezel, and over a horizontal distance of around 9 inches, there's what seems to be scuff marks on the anti-glare surface of the screen.

It's only noticeable when you're looking from certain vertical angles and with a very bright background. It's not anything inside the display. When the TV is off, I can see the marks if I shine a light in a certain angle onto the screen.

So, is there any way to make these go away? It seems like there was some foam support padding in the big box that might have been rubbing against the screen. I'm a little confused because the whole TV was wrapped in a anti-scratch sheath.

Other than that, it doesn't really bother me. If anyone has any ideas, I'd sure like to read them. Thanks.

BTW, I get my TV signal from a Motorola DCT6416 via HDMI.

Anyway, my only concern is that across the top of the screen, about 2 inches from the top bezel, and over a horizontal distance of around 9 inches, there's what seems to be scuff marks on the anti-glare surface of the screen.

This is nuts, as I noticed these EXACT same marks on my 5086W which I purchased from Circuit City for $1199 this month.

I thought it was possibly some dust inside the TV but now I'm worried it's something else.

I don't think it's scratches from the packaging, as i cannot feel any scratches on the outside, and when I push in the surface slightly, I can tell from the distortion that it is coming from near the light source.

Anyone else have some information or speculation on this? I have until the March 30 to return my set.

This is nuts, as I noticed these EXACT same marks on my 5086W which I purchased from Circuit City for $1199 this month.

I thought it was possibly some dust inside the TV but now I'm worried it's something else.

I don't think it's scratches from the packaging, as i cannot feel any scratches on the outside, and when I push in the surface slightly, I can tell from the distortion that it is coming from near the light source.

Anyone else have some information or speculation on this? I have until the March 30 to return my set.

So you say that the smudges "move" and aren't on the actual screen? Maybe there's some dust or other debris on one of the mirrors.

So you say that the smudges "move" and aren't on the actual screen? Maybe there's some dust or other debris on one of the mirrors.

Yes that's correct. I also notice a "halo" in the middle of the screen.. a faint white oval in the center and slightly below vertical center.

I also suspected dust or something on the mirror, however I find it strange that your tv also exhibits almost the same exact "smudges".

I haven't had the chance to open up the TV and blast it (not too closely to anything) with some compressed air.

Any comments, suggestions? If this is not fixable, I definately want to return the TV. I bought it from Circuit City around March 6, so I have 30 days from then to return it.

Yes that's correct. I also notice a "halo" in the middle of the screen.. a faint white oval in the center and slightly below vertical center.

I also suspected dust or something on the mirror, however I find it strange that your tv also exhibits almost the same exact "smudges".

I haven't had the chance to open up the TV and blast it (not too closely to anything) with some compressed air.

Any comments, suggestions? If this is not fixable, I definately want to return the TV. I bought it from Circuit City around March 6, so I have 30 days from then to return it.

Interesting... I'll check that out myself. It definitely looks like "smudges". Only visible at certain viewing angles and with a very bright, light image behind it.

Have you called Samsung to see if they think an on-site tech can fix the problem?

Greetings,
This is slightly off topic, but I noticed that my HL-S5086 has stopped playing it's musical tone when I power it off. It plays when I start it up, and the function is enabled in the user menu.
Anyone know why it would suddenly stop?
b.

my 4266w does the same thing. i founnd out that if i hold the power button down longer, it will do it. And sometimes not. but for the most part, i think it is normal.

Yes that's correct. I also notice a "halo" in the middle of the screen.. a faint white oval in the center and slightly below vertical center.

I also suspected dust or something on the mirror, however I find it strange that your tv also exhibits almost the same exact "smudges".

I haven't had the chance to open up the TV and blast it (not too closely to anything) with some compressed air.

Any comments, suggestions? If this is not fixable, I definately want to return the TV. I bought it from Circuit City around March 6, so I have 30 days from then to return it.

Its normal and described in the insert supplied with your owners manual. Its external light being reflected internally from the se.

my 4266w does the same thing. i founnd out that if i hold the power button down longer, it will do it. And sometimes not. but for the most part, i think it is normal.

Make sure you have Melody set to ON in the user menus.

Found a good way to set my brightness level, press video source should put you at Component 1 if you have something hooked up to it at least turn it off this way you get a solid black screen. I kept moving the brightness up from 40 until the screen actually started changing which was around 56, 57...so I set it 3 notches down at 53. Perfect brightness level now. Anything below 53 and your just darkening things in and making blacks blend together on my set. If anyone else wants to give that a go, go for it.

Settings.

Movie Mode
Contrast 44
Brightness 53
Sharpness 25
Color 50
Color Tint 50
Color Tone Cool 1 (Found that neautral on Movie Mode is like Warm 2 in all the other modes so I set it to Cool 1 to counter that.

For my new HL-S5086W TV, I purchased an APC BackUPS 800 so that it can correct voltage irregularities and provide power to the set and my other components when power is interrupted.

What I noticed when I tested out the UPS (by pulling its plug from the wall and forcing it to battery), was that the DLP TV made a fairly loud buzzing noise during the time it was receiving the step-approximated sine-wave output from the UPS.

Have any of you set up your DLPs with a UPS to make sure the fan can cool off the bulb correctly in the event of an outage? If so, have you heard this noise from the TV's power supply when the UPS is providing battery power?

Does Samsung advise against the use of a UPS or step-approximate sine wave power?

Interesting... I'll check that out myself. It definitely looks like "smudges". Only visible at certain viewing angles and with a very bright, light image behind it.

Have you called Samsung to see if they think an on-site tech can fix the problem?

I haven't, but would prefer to return the TV for a new one if there is something more than just dust on the mirror/interior.

I haven't, but would prefer to return the TV for a new one if there is something more than just dust on the mirror/interior.

I really have to make an effort to look for the smudges, which are just a few inches from the top of the screen. It's not a big issue for me, but I'd still like to know just what it is.

my 4266w does the same thing. i founnd out that if i hold the power button down longer, it will do it. And sometimes not. but for the most part, i think it is normal.


Sorry I didn't respond to this yesterday when I saw it.

One thing I've noted is that, if you mute the TV, or set to volume to zero, it will not play the power-off chime. So if you are always using a home-theater system with your TV and always set the TV volume to zero, it will always make the power-on chime (and come up with the volume at somewhere around 7), but then when you turn the volume down, it won't make a power-down chime.

Hope that helps.

Mike

I really have to make an effort to look for the smudges, which are just a few inches from the top of the screen. It's not a big issue for me, but I'd still like to know just what it is.

This weekend I'm going to open up the set and blast some compressed air into it (from a distance). That way I'll know if it was dust/debris or not.

Smudgies: If you notice something on your screen and it looks like grayish or brownish dirt or smudges and it won't wipe off, it is more than likely screen separation. This is covered under your service contract, and the fix is to replace the screen.

If you notice a place on your screen and it creates a colored glow it is probably dust on the optics somewhere.

Smudgies: If you notice something on your screen and it looks like grayish or brownish dirt or smudges and it won't wipe off, it is more than likely screen separation. This is covered under your service contract, and the fix is to replace the screen.
In my case they would not replace the screen. They deemed the set to be DOA and told me to exchange it.

i have the smudgies.. so

would it be best to go back to the retailer where i purchased it (circuit city, less than 30 days ago) or to contact Samsung?

i have the smudgies.. so

would it be best to go back to the retailer where i purchased it (circuit city, less than 30 days ago) or to contact Samsung?

I'll call Samsung. I bought the TV from Amazon and they shipped it. If Samsung wants to send someone to take my Sammy away and exchange it with one that doesn't have smudges, than that's OK with me.

It's really not bothering me at all anymore. I can't really see it. I may see if it bothers me after a few months of ownership. If so, I'll call Samsung.

If not, I'll deal with it.

Does anyone know if this issue may worsen over time? Is it just that the transparent panels that make up the screen's internal surface are not perfectly set against the external surface?

For my new HL-S5086W TV, I purchased an APC BackUPS 800 so that it can correct voltage irregularities and provide power to the set and my other components when power is interrupted.

What I noticed when I tested out the UPS (by pulling its plug from the wall and forcing it to battery), was that the DLP TV made a fairly loud buzzing noise during the time it was receiving the step-approximated sine-wave output from the UPS.

Have any of you set up your DLPs with a UPS to make sure the fan can cool off the bulb correctly in the event of an outage? If so, have you heard this noise from the TV's power supply when the UPS is providing battery power?

Does Samsung advise against the use of a UPS or step-approximate sine wave power?


So no takers on this question? I would assume that many of you folks here would have a UPS backing up your new DLP TV so that the bulb doesn't break when the power goes out while watching TV.

For my new HL-S5086W TV, I purchased an APC BackUPS 800 so that it can correct voltage irregularities and provide power to the set and my other components when power is interrupted.

What I noticed when I tested out the UPS (by pulling its plug from the wall and forcing it to battery), was that the DLP TV made a fairly loud buzzing noise during the time it was receiving the step-approximated sine-wave output from the UPS.

Have any of you set up your DLPs with a UPS to make sure the fan can cool off the bulb correctly in the event of an outage? If so, have you heard this noise from the TV's power supply when the UPS is providing battery power?

Does Samsung advise against the use of a UPS or step-approximate sine wave power?
Was it a constant buzzing noise you heard? I am sorry but I am not using a UPS but recently my tv has been sporatically buzzing for about 5 secs at a time intermitantly every couple of minutes. Sounded like the fan or something was slightly loose and vibrating creating the noise. But I know the power in my apt is extremely crappy and wonder if that has something to do with my problem? probably wishful thinking. So could you please specify if it was a constant buzzing or on and off buzzing? thanks

Was it a constant buzzing noise you heard? I am sorry but I am not using a UPS but recently my tv has been sporatically buzzing for about 5 secs at a time intermitantly every couple of minutes. Sounded like the fan or something was slightly loose and vibrating creating the noise. But I know the power in my apt is extremely crappy and wonder if that has something to do with my problem? probably wishful thinking. So could you please specify if it was a constant buzzing or on and off buzzing? thanks

Thanks for your reply. The buzzing is only heard from the left side of my TV when the UPS is providing battery power (step-approximated sine wave).

On normal utility power, my TV is silent. I can't even hear the fan.

I just bought a Samsung HL-S5086W DLP that replaced a Philips 30" inch CRT HDTV. Initially with the Philips I hooked up my old Sony (5yr old) non-progressive scan DVD player through component and it looked not to good. I also have a modded Xbox with XBMC that is progressive scan and is supposed to be a fairly decent upconverting DVD player as well that I then hooked up. Instantly I could see an improvement with DVD's at 480 P and even more at 1080i through the Xbox.

After integrating the Samsung DLP into my A/V setup I set Xbox to upconvert to 720P and the picture looked good. Even though the modded Xbox with XBMC is extremely functional I was getting frustrated with a few things

Finicky DVD drive
FF & Rewind Shaky at best
LOUD
Extreme de-interlacing issues with previews..none with the movie though..weird, I know!
Randomly shutdown at times (overheat)


I could go on...Because of these issues I have begun researching heavily about up-converting dvd players. After doing some more research I decided to hook up the old Sony through component to the Sammy DLP to see how it would upscale dvd material. As I said earlier the Sony is not progressive scan so it's sending a 480i signal through component to the Samsung DLP with Film Mode enabled. Lo & behold the picture was as good if not better than the modded Xbox upconverted image! From my understanding this is why I think it is:

"Film Mode" is a Samsung's term for 3:2 Pulldown, so no need for progressive scan.

The Sumsung scales the image to 720p, and very well from what I can tell.

I was looking at either purchasing one of the Oppo's or the Onky 404 model (refurb at Shop Onkyo is going for $84 right now) but am really on the fence if the money would be well spent. Do upscaling dvd players really make that much of a difference with newer hdtv's? I know with my older Philips the upconversion of the Xbox made a huge improvement in pq but I'm just not seeing it compared to the scaling done by the newer Samsung DLP. I'm not ready to pick a winner in the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray war yet but I do want to get the most out of my new tv and my current DVD collection. Any advice would be great, thanks!

koolmoj

Because I have no "data" to include in this, I may only frustrate you further (sorry). But we recently purchased the HL-S4226W and had it calibrated (looks outstanding btw). Our calibrator gave me advice on purchasing a new dvd player prior to his visit (this set is for our bedroom) and said to the effect: It's not really necessary to purchase an upconverting player for THIS particular type of television because the upscaling of this tv will probably do as good a job or better than the player.

Now we don't have a reference for our results that you do, having only just the one player tried on the tv but it looks really great. I did go ahead and get a Panasonic upconverting player, because it was only $84, shipped and it has an hdmi which was much easier to find in an upconverting player.

I didn't ask and he didn't elaborate on the technicalities of this subject. I doubt the information would have "stuck" in my non-techie brain :)

i have the smudgies.. so

would it be best to go back to the retailer where i purchased it (circuit city, less than 30 days ago) or to contact Samsung?

Depends. CC has a thirty day return policy no questions asked. If you want a dif tv then this would be the route to go.

If you bought an EW and want to have your screen repaced you need to call City Advantage which is their EW provider.

If you have no EW, then just call the Samsung number in your manual, and tell them your screen is separating and you need it replaced. They will issue a ticket number and contact a warranty repair facility via fax and tell you who it is. Then all you have to do is call that repair shop and arrange to have them come out. Once they come out, the repair dude will no doubt confirm your assessment and order a new screen and when it comes in, will replace it at no charge to you.

Does anyone know if this issue may worsen over time? Is it just that the transparent panels that make up the screen's internal surface are not perfectly set against the external surface?

The screen is layered and factory sealed. If this seal is bad or becomes unglued so to speak, you get the smudgies. This condition is not specific to Samsung. I have seen it in other displays as well. Get it fixed. It is covered under your warranty. And yes, it is probable it will worsen with time.

I just bought a Samsung HL-S5086W DLP(.... I also have a modded Xbox !
Might as well get a 360 then. My 360 works very well as an upconverting DVD player through VGA.. A bit noisy but I can't hear it once I put the A/V sytem at movie watching volume.

For my new HL-S5086W TV, I purchased an APC BackUPS 800 so that it can correct voltage irregularities and provide power to the set and my other components when power is interrupted.

What I noticed when I tested out the UPS (by pulling its plug from the wall and forcing it to battery), was that the DLP TV made a fairly loud buzzing noise during the time it was receiving the step-approximated sine-wave output from the UPS.

Have any of you set up your DLPs with a UPS to make sure the fan can cool off the bulb correctly in the event of an outage? If so, have you heard this noise from the TV's power supply when the UPS is providing battery power?

Does Samsung advise against the use of a UPS or step-approximate sine wave power?

I never bought a UPS because the cost of a good UPS (one with a true sine wave), plus the cost of replacement batteries is greater than a new bulb, or two. I would only trust a UPS with a true sine wave output for expensive equipment like a DLP TV. The buzzing noise is probably coming from one of the transformers/torriodial coils in the ballast or switching power supply. The steps in the step approximate sine wave are ringing them like a bell. That can't be very good for the set. Your other home theater components with switching power supplies typically have a lousy power factor and are harmonic loads which introduces even more crap onto the power line with the UPS running. Not all electronic products are compatible with non true sine wave UPSs! A cracked bulb is still cheaper than a blown mainboard/power supply due to dirty power from a cheap UPS.

I never bought a UPS because the cost of a good UPS (one with a true sine wave), plus the cost of replacement batteries is greater than a new bulb, or two. I would only trust a UPS with a true sine wave output for expensive equipment like a DLP TV. The buzzing noise is probably coming from one of the transformers/torriodial coils in the ballast or switching power supply. The steps in the step approximate sine wave are ringing them like a bell. That can't be very good for the set. Your other home theater components with switching power supplies typically have a lousy power factor and are harmonic loads which introduces even more crap onto the power line with the UPS running. Not all electronic products are compatible with non true sine wave UPSs! A cracked bulb is still cheaper than a blown mainboard/power supply due to dirty power from a cheap UPS.


Good points. I'll probably call Samsung directly to get their official position on UPSs and non-sine wave power. Clearly, it seems like the TV doesn't like that kind of power as much as regular utility power for all the noise it makes a stepped wave. For now, I may move my UPS over to the surge-only outlets that don't receive the stepped power. That way the TV is still adequately surge protected.

koolmoj

Because I have no "data" to include in this, I may only frustrate you further (sorry). But we recently purchased the HL-S4226W and had it calibrated (looks outstanding btw). Our calibrator gave me advice on purchasing a new dvd player prior to his visit (this set is for our bedroom) and said to the effect: It's not really necessary to purchase an upconverting player for THIS particular type of television because the upscaling of this tv will probably do as good a job or better than the player.

Now we don't have a reference for our results that you do, having only just the one player tried on the tv but it looks really great. I did go ahead and get a Panasonic upconverting player, because it was only $84, shipped and it has an hdmi which was much easier to find in an upconverting player.

I didn't ask and he didn't elaborate on the technicalities of this subject. I doubt the information would have "stuck" in my non-techie brain :)

I agree with Lisa completely. Here's my take, and feel free to correct me if I mis-speak. Unless you use an HDMI cable to connect the dvd player to the tv, you can't utilize the upconverting capability. I had both component and HDMI cables connected from my dvd player (LG D191H) to my tv (S5086) simultaneously to compare images between the two inputs. When the tv was set to the component input the dvd player would reset itself to 480p regardless of the setting I selected and the tv would automatically upconvert the image to 720p. When set to HDMI input, the picture was dramatically better when changing from 480p to 720p. The HDMI picture set to 720p, however, was inferior to the component input picture so I ended up just using component and the picture is great. So as far as I can tell, upconverting is NOT being used through component and therefore would not be necessary (although I have not checked my picture wtih a non-upconverting dvd player).

Hope that makes sense and is helpful.

Thanks for your reply. The buzzing is only heard from the left side of my TV when the UPS is providing battery power (step-approximated sine wave).

On normal utility power, my TV is silent. I can't even hear the fan.
Are you sure it's the TV that's buzzing and not the UPS? We have a UPS connected to our set and when the power went off the TV performed flawlessly. The UPS, though, is designed to beep/buzz when the AC power is cut so that you know it's running on battery backup. Is your UPS on the left side by any chance?

I agree with Lisa completely. Here's my take, and feel free to correct me if I mis-speak. Unless you use an HDMI cable to connect the dvd player to the tv, you can't utilize the upconverting capability. I had both component and HDMI cables connected from my dvd player (LG D191H) to my tv (S5086) simultaneously to compare images between the two inputs. When the tv was set to the component input the dvd player would reset itself to 480p regardless of the setting I selected and the tv would automatically upconvert the image to 720p. When set to HDMI input, the picture was dramatically better when changing from 480p to 720p. The HDMI picture set to 720p, however, was inferior to the component input picture so I ended up just using component and the picture is great. So as far as I can tell, upconverting is NOT being used through component and therefore would not be necessary (although I have not checked my picture wtih a non-upconverting dvd player).

Hope that makes sense and is helpful.

Thanks for the response! So the picture was better with 480p through component than player upconverting to 720p through HDMI, hmmm.. Am I the only guy who still has a 480i dvd player?! Again, I think the the picture with my old Sony 480i looks fantastic on the Samsung. Anybody else try hooking up a 480i player through component?

Are you sure it's the TV that's buzzing and not the UPS? We have a UPS connected to our set and when the power went off the TV performed flawlessly. The UPS, though, is designed to beep/buzz when the AC power is cut so that you know it's running on battery backup. Is your UPS on the left side by any chance?

And....I'm an idiot. Yes, the UPS was on the left side of the TV. Yes, the UPS was making all the noise.

Thanks for the help. I was being overly protective of my new big TV, I guess. I feared the worst.

so, I am thinking of purchasing the 5086, but have not been able to see this tv in store, but just wanted to know if this set had good black levels, thanks. How is this set compared to the 4266 in terms of performance? My dad owns the 4266 so I can get a general idea based off that.

so, I am thinking of purchasing the 5086, but have not been able to see this tv in store, but just wanted to know if this set had good black levels, thanks. How is this set compared to the 4266 in terms of performance? My dad owns the 4266 so I can get a general idea based off that.

I'd say the black levels are very good compared to a high-end plasma display or CRT HDTV. They're probably not AS good, but right near there once you get your TV's settings they way you want them.

And....I'm an idiot. Yes, the UPS was on the left side of the TV. Yes, the UPS was making all the noise.

Thanks for the help. I was being overly protective of my new big TV, I guess. I feared the worst.
Glad that was it! Heh, the only reason I suggested that was because my wife called me up at work one day to tell me that the TV was buzzing. It seems the power had gone out but since it was during the day she didn't notice any dimmed lights. The UPS worked just as it should, but she was unaware that I installed it just a few days before. :D

After much research and looking at the sets at BB. I have come down to the sammy HLS models. The problem is this. I am a student and on a budget so I want to get it for under $1500 maybe even less. However, I still am short on cash and have to wait another month or two. It looks like the new models HLT have started to replace the HLS series. Can some one tell me if the HLS5086 or the HLS5686 will still be available at places like BB or CC. I don't want to buy it online as I feel more comfortable buying from a B&M store as I can return it if there is a problem.

Once the T's start shipping I'm sure the stores won't be getting any more S's. If you time it right, you should be abe to get a great deal on the S's. On the other hand, are there any worthwhile improvements in the T series and is the list price less? The way prices are dropping, I wonder if you could get a T for less than an R.

There is no owners thread yet for the HLT 720p sets. I have downloaded the spec sheet and owners manual and noticed the following changes compared the HLS 720p sets. All of this is based on the manual, which may not be entirely complete or accurate.

The 720p sets are offered in 56", 50", and 46" sizes. The 42" set has been dropped from the HLT series. I assume they decided to axe the size rather than to reengineer the screen to get rid of the black grass.

The tuner now supports unencrypted QAM, but has no cablecard support.

The set now has a clock. The picture controls have been revamped with new features such as Dynamic Contrast. DNR now has 3 levels of adjustment. The Color gamut, gamma adjustment, and white balance (unknown if it actually varies color temperature) appear to be independently settable for all picture modes. Color temperatures "Warm 1 and Warm 2" are only available in "Movie mode" The "custom" picture mode appears to be completely dropped, as well as "color weakness" and "my color control". The black level for HDMI inputs are now setable. DNIe is now available with the VGA input. There is a "3d video" function and a jack on the rear of the set to support it but it is undocumented. The set's firmware is now user upgradeable via a USB drive and the operating system has been revealed to be Linux based.

From what I can determine, the HDMI input will not pass dolby digital to the SPDIF out. In fact the situation has gotten worse. Owners manual states that no audio will be output at all. Your stuck with analog outputs only. (HDCP copy protection legalities?) The manual also states that no audio will be passed to the analog audio outputs if the set is recieving QAM or ATSC channels. Hopefully this is a misprint because it seems quite ridiculous.

The remote control is completely identical for better or worse.

Judging by the part number of the replacement lamp mentioned in the owners manual (BP96-01653A), Samsung has switched back to using the Phillips E22 K520 100/120w lamp. The HLS series uses the Phillips K2 HD5 132/120w (BP96-01472A) bulb. The set won't be as bright unless Samsung has increased the efficiency of the light engine/screen. This is bad news for HLS owners since the 132w lamp is now only used for 1 model year and may cause pricing and availabilty problems for replacement lamps in the future. The brightness of the bulb may now be varied automatically to act as a poor man's iris to implement he new "Dynamic contrast" feature. However, the advertised contrast ratio is unchanged.

Hopefully the new adjustments for gamma, colorspace, and white balance will offset the loss of color weakness, the custom picture mode, and several color temperature settings.

I have an HLS-4666w. It has a VGA input.

Thanks for your thoughts. I think I can live with it, especially if the problem diminishes over time. I paid so little, I'd almost feel guilty asking for service too!

PM,

That sounds like Black Grass, alright. Once you begin seeing it it really sticks out. I am dealing with Samsung on this right now on my HLS-4266W (the only set that seems to have it). They had a tech come out and change the screens last week. All it did was change the pattern of the effect, as it appears to be a flaw in the screen design. I am currently awaiting resolution as the repair shop deals with Samsung to convince them that my problem is not repairable.

The effect appears to be diminishing a bit over time (have had the set for about two months now), and changing your settings to lower brightness and contrast will help a bit as well. It really is only an issue with dark scenes, as you know, so it's a matter of whether or not you can deal with it when it does occur. I bought the TV knowing well about the effect and that the very low cost was most likely a result of the issue. It was a trade-off for me and I am willing to accept the defect if I must because of the low price I paid.

Still, I am testing the waters with Samsung to see how far they will go to address the issue. I do not want to have the set replaced with another of the same as I would rather not risk getting a set with a worse case. However, if they were to offer me last year's 46" set or the the 2007 42" (which I presume will not have the defect...hopefully) then I would be open to either of those exchanges. We'll see what happens.

As far as your case goes...don't fret too much. You paid a very low price for this TV and it is well worth what you paid, even with this issue. If you decide to, Samsung will try to address the issue. It's up to you.

i bought a hls5686 and had my light engine, lamp, and two other parts recently replaced due to a check fan no.2 error and am now seeing insane black-crushing.

atleast im pretty sure thats what you would call it, my roomates and i have been trying to think of the best way to describe it, things in a dark scene or with shadows usually have like a blue outline or look shiny or something? there are scenes that are completely unwatchable, cant really make out the face, clothes, or anything with detail, just shapes and messed up colors. shadows on red objects just look retarded etc, every movie show game has atleast one part where this will be annoying because it happens SO often.

now im positive it wasnt like this before they did the repairs, and i've tried adjusting the user options all over and not fixing it at all.

im waiting on an avia disc and i was wandering if anyone could post some numbers from their service menu to help me straighten out the grayscale (that is what the problem is right?)

thanks

I have gone through about 20 pages here and cannot find anyone with dtv issues through the hdmi "handshake" process. Does anyone know how to get my samsung to recognize my dtv signal through my hdmi port? I've tried different cables and I know thats not it. The component works, but I want hdmi. Is there a firmware?

I've a HLS5686W . Connected a pc via vga, set resolution to 1280*720 , that's the panel native res, but it does not show a 1:1 ratio but create black bands right,left , top and bottow. I think the vga does not support 1280*720 but just 1024*768. Is anyone able to see full screen via vga at 1280*720 resolution ?thanks.

i bought a hls5686 and had my light engine, lamp, and two other parts recently replaced due to a check fan no.2 error and am now seeing insane black-crushing.


thanks
Call Samsung and get it repaired.

I have gone through about 20 pages here and cannot find anyone with dtv issues through the hdmi "handshake" process. Does anyone know how to get my samsung to recognize my dtv signal through my hdmi port? I've tried different cables and I know thats not it. The component works, but I want hdmi. Is there a firmware?
What kind of STB are you using? Also start with TV on then turn box on.

eyager,

Samsung going back to the 120W lamp is very interesting...I haven't been able to find any pictures of the new lamp assembly...you don't happen to have a link to one?

As far as I know (being a authorized distributor for Samsung) the BP96-01472A lamps are the most economical lamps out there. We stock them for $139, and I know other dealers are sub $200. This is very good compared to the older BP96-00224J or like lamps, which are difficult to source and are around $200+

eyager, if you have more information on the newer T series, I'm very interested!

Ali Irani-Tehrani
Discount-Merchant.com
FixYourDLP.com

Ok, I don't know if its good to invest on 720p dlp now where the technology is moving forward almost every day. I started out my research by looking into getting a HD tv for under $1000 dollars and my choiches were few CRT and Smaller size dlp. Now I have streatched my budget and right now I see that the price for the HLS-5686w at BB is around $1350 plus EW which will put me around $1600. The HLS-6186w at BB is around $1700 plus EW will put me at around $2000. And the HLS-5687 at BB is also around $1700 plus EW will be around $2000. I will buy the tv (whichever) only after a month, but to get information from you guys so that when I am buying Imake the right choice, which do you think will be the best bang for the buck. I can get 1080p the same size for $400 more or I can choose the 61" for the same price or I can choose the 56" 720p for $1600. I will be sitting around 7-8 feet away. I am not so much into keeping up with all the tech lingo. When I first saw the 720p at store I was amazed at it since I am transitioning from the old school crt 24". So I don't know if I should care for 1080p or should save some money and get some other toys with that money.

What would some of you guys do if you were in my place.

Things really ARE moving VERY FAST!

One thing I've noticed (and I just LOVE IT when a prediction I've made with my very limited technical knowledge based solely on what I can see and feel in the way the industry is "moving" comes true), is that plasma has all but DISAPPEARED from the scene, with LCD almost completely taking over... Only a year ago, reviews were saying LCD was great for 40" and smaller, but couldn't produce a reliable image above that size. Now I'm seeing 61" 1080p LCD TVs advertised on a regular basis (my how things change!). I had a feeling the LCD technology was going to improve and remove any remaining reasons to stick with plasma (and I also had a feeling that's why so many plasmas were at "blowout prices" for this past Christmas season).

My take? If you're going to spend less than $1,000 -- and particularly much less -- then of course you're still looking at 720p, regardless... I still don't see any broadcasters doing 1080p, but that HAS to be on the way.

Bear in mind that 1080p is twice the resolution of 720p, BUT a 61" 1080p and say a 42" 720p of equal caliber, otherwise, will likely look about the same from the same distance, BECAUSE the higher resolution is spread amongst roughly twice the screen size (those of you who can do the math, don't get picky with me, as I'm just GUESSING a 61" is twice the size of a 42" -- could be 37" -- just follow my point). And my point is that the larger the screen, the more important resolution is... 720p on a 15" LCD (and I've seen some of those in the $300 range) assuming it's a decent-quality LCD will likely look more crisp than even the best 1080p because that resolution is crammed into a VERY SMALL screen size, whereas I don't think I've seen 1080p offered on TVs smaller than about 40" (I don't really see the point, either).

With the CURRENT technology, UNLESS you're going to be playing a lot of pre-recorded Blu-Ray movies (HD-DVD movies are also mostly in 1080p, but I've yet to find one of their players that will PLAY 1080p, although I've not really been shopping for one, just looked at what I've seen in stores and online ads), I see no real advantage to 1080p and you may get better electronics, OTHERWISE, in a 720p set. I WOULD NOT let resolution, alone, make my decision. I'd look at image quality, manufacturer reputation and reliability/warranty, ease-of-use and setup, number and type of inputs/outputs, etc. As this IS a Samsung thread, and (I didn't look up any of the model numbers above) all those model numbers appear to be Samsung, it appears you're set on Samsung, and frankly, that's not a bad choice, but I wouldn't NOT consider other brands if you like what you see and the price is right... I CAN tell you I'm not impressed with Westinghouse, and several of the other, newer brands, other than Olevia, which I own and think is good, and their prices are VERY good.

It's difficult to say what tomorrow will bring, but for today... UNLESS you really have a need for 1080, I think I'd save the extra money for other "goodies," BUT I wouldn't go too big with 720, either (not over about 50"). In fact, from what I've been seeing, lately, it's getting pretty hard to find newer models over that size that ARE 720.

Happy Viewings!
Jeff

Jeff, thanks for the long answer. yes after much reading in this forum I have decided to go with the sammy, its affordable, it has all the connection outputs you require and I am no videophile and I will be happy with anything better than I am viewing right now on a CRT. I just think I have a DESIRE towards big screen tvs and the bigger the size the better, but I also have to think financially. So with what I understand from your post is that if I wanted to buy a 720p I should not go bigger than 50" and if I go with 1080p which I don't think I require right now I can go bigger than 50". This has put me in a tough situation to choose. I can get a bigger tv with less money but it will be 720p which you are not suggesting, and I can't afford to go big with 1080p since it sgoing be out of my budget. So I guess I will have to go with 720p with a 50". One last thing since the difference between the 50" and the 56" is only 6" will that be a major factor if I still decide to get the 56" 720p sammy. Will the PQ be that bad for merely a 6" increase.

Leraning a lot from this forum.

Well, Sid, in the end it really depends on what you're happy with.

I was just using 50" as a sort of "average." Frankly, there are plenty of 720p sets larger than that already in homes and I guess still a number on the market (as I said, I'm not currently in the market, so I haven't really paid much attention to what's at what price).

As you also noted, most any 720p is going to be a MAJOR improvement over the 480i CRT you're used to. I'd look at the TVs you're interested in at Best Buy (or wherever you're thinking of buying from), from as close to the distance you'll be looking at it from home, and as close to the lighting conditions as possible, and see if you think you'll be happy.

The BIGGEST consideration is combining what you'll be satisfied with today and what you'll be willing to live with until you can afford better (not knowing and trying to anticipate what may or may not be down the pike in the next few years). In other words, if 1080p continues to be a format that exists ONLY on pre-recorded movies, then having a 720p set won't be much of a trade-off, since you'll be missing the higher resolution ONLY when and if you're playing a Blu-Ray or other high-definition movie... IF, on the other hand, in the next year or two everyone decides to start broadcasting in 1080p (which I really don't see happening anytime soon, because it will require twice the bandwidth, and just getting to 720p high-def broadcasting is taking FOREVER with far too many), then you may wish you had the extra resolution.

That extra resolution WON'T make a difference beyond a certain distance from the screen, just as the smaller resolution dots/lines WILL be noticeable if you're too close on a big screen... So if you really want a 56" 720p, and you're happy with the way it looks at what you think will be your viewing distance, I'd buy it... Just remember that if you later decide you want to sit closer, the resolution probably won't look as good as it did from 8 feet away.

The set I bought was a DLP, which seemed to be a less expensive intermediate alternative to the larger LCD screens (still my preference). I have no idea if the models you named above are LCD or DLP (I wouldn't go with one of the old-style projectors, even though the few left are ridiculously inexpensive -- I think BB had a 56" for $699 recently). DLP seems to quickly be going the way of plasma, but that also means it's getting excellent discounts, so if what you're considering is a DLP and you're otherwise satisfied with it, I wouldn't let that stop me.

I'd go for it!
Jeff

Ok, I don't know if its good to invest on 720p dlp now where the technology is moving forward almost every day. I started out my research by looking into getting a HD tv for under $1000 dollars and my choiches were few CRT and Smaller size dlp. Now I have streatched my budget and right now I see that the price for the HLS-5686w at BB is around $1350 plus EW which will put me around $1600. The HLS-6186w at BB is around $1700 plus EW will put me at around $2000. And the HLS-5687 at BB is also around $1700 plus EW will be around $2000. I will buy the tv (whichever) only after a month, but to get information from you guys so that when I am buying Imake the right choice, which do you think will be the best bang for the buck. I can get 1080p the same size for $400 more or I can choose the 61" for the same price or I can choose the 56" 720p for $1600. I will be sitting around 7-8 feet away. I am not so much into keeping up with all the tech lingo. When I first saw the 720p at store I was amazed at it since I am transitioning from the old school crt 24". So I don't know if I should care for 1080p or should save some money and get some other toys with that money.

What would some of you guys do if you were in my place.


I really got lucky, which rarely happens. I got a Samsung HLS4676S for $999 (a 720p set). I upgraded from a 27" Hitachi CRT (and I loved that set). It is soooo much better. SD isn't perfect but it is more than made up for by the larger size, HD OTA shows, and HD-DVD (I just got the Xbox addon and once I get my new video card it should just be awesome!). Personally, I never could see the difference b/w the 1080 and 720 sets. I watch from about 8 feet and it's perfect for me.

I'd get a 720p and use the difference to get a HD-DVD or BluRay DVD player (either a stand-alone like the Toshiba HD-A2 or A20 (the A2 doesn't support 1080p though). THey are about $300 and $400 respectively. Or you can get the Xbox addon for $199 or less (I got a "used" one for $135) and if you have a powerful enough computer watch HD-DVDs with that.

Thanks guys, I will have to go to BB and look at the 56" 720p dlp sammy and the 50" and see which suits for me. Jeff I am talking about the samsung Dlps.

I will come back if I have more questions.

Cheers!!!

Well I'm plenty pleased with my Samsung 42" DLP, Sid, but I really haven't looked at the larger models.

In the end, with TVs, it really DOES come down to what looks good to YOU.

Happy Viewings!
Jeff

Hi,

I'm running a Mac Mini in 1280x720 on my HLS4666W. If I enable Overscan in the display options, I get about 2-5% of the image cut off on all sides. If I disable Overscan in the display options, I can see the entire area displayed by the screen but there is a black border around the image that I can't adjust on the TV side.

I'm using a DVI-HDMI cable to display, so I can't zoom or anything that might otherwise be possible on an analog VGA input.

Is there a Mac equivalent of Powerstrip, where I can run a custom "resolution-in-resolution" so it outputs 720p that my TV will accept, while being the exact number of pixels to display the entire image in full size on the screen?

Or, is there a way to adjust the 'zoom' of the screen in HDMI mode?

Also, is there a way to disable overscan in the service menu? I looked and didn't find anything...is 1:1 pixel mapping possible?

Thanks,
ploo

Hi erveryone,

I own an hls-4676 and I just need a little help. I've been into the service menu and tinkered around a little. I turned gamma to "0" which made a noticable difference in black levels and shadow detail but I would like to know the process for adjusting color. I've heard you can turn the CCA off and adjust it with the DVE filters that way, but in looking at the filters I see no changes in the bars with or without the CCA turned on or off. If anyone can help me with this it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Roque

By the way, I love the TV :p

So hey ... here's a good one for my first post! But first, have run through a number of these pages and thanks for all the great info!
I've had the HL-S4266W Samy for about 2 weeks or so ... must say I love it! But, have the service techs coming over in a few days to check on an odd spot... looks like lamp light leakage. And of course I can't post to that as I haven't posted enough, whatever. BUT, that's another matter!

Here's the real oddity, so I'm viewing Dancing With The Stars in HD OTA and it just rocks... gotta love this set! But notice a bug buzzing the screen ... so I get up and shoo it away, but then it's back! What a pain... wait, now it's two bugs!!! Then I realize ... I can't shoo them away... as they are inside the screen! NO!!! I am not joking! There is a little gnat and some other flyer a bit larger that are inside the screen, brings back the M.C. Hammer tune, can't touch this! So, thoughts on that one might be interesting!?!? How can bugs get in between the screens within!??? And I'll be asking the tech about the buggy issue also.... !!!
Might have to take this set back ... but love the set so much I just might have to snag the same thing elsewhere!

Am posting this for benefit (if any) to use as a comparison. ratboy (Scott) asked for these. I have NO idea what they mean so if you have questions, don't ask :confused:
All I know is it took him quite a while, he did lots of adjustments in between and the final outcome was wonderful. I really don't want to bother him with questions because he has alot of family stuff going on right now.
Lisa

Pre-cal readings, standard mode: (1st col x, 2nd col y, 3rd col Y) (these are in Cd/M) (test patterns from AccuPel HDG3000 / Sencore CP5000) (I didn't get post cal base color value readings due to time, just have the white balance chart)

Red 652 312 28.37

Grn 291 677 51.15

Blu 149 063 19.12

Yel 467 520 108.5

Cya 179 258 66.53

Mag 301 136 35.12

White 272 274 157.4

Pre-cal, service menu, internal Set test patterns, set adjusted per procedure for test

Red 673 306 76.7

Grn 278 702 204.6

Blu 148 063 74.9

Yel 283 282 748.7

Cya 165 300 119.9

Mag 285 130 113

White 282 282 750

sub-bright 242

gamma - 5

R coeff B 128

R coeff C 126

G coeff B 128

G coef C 128

B coeff B 125

B coeff C 127

Post Cal (wb spread run about 4 times I think) (service menu readings, etc)

Red 672 311 88

Grn 274 709 230

Blu 147 65 85

Cya 163 306 137

Mag 288 135 129

Yel 486 512 307

White 282 286 852

Blu C coeff 122

Blu B coeff 99

Red C coeff 116

Red B coeff 103

Grn C coeff 126

Grn B coeff 108

Movie Mode

Red 649 304

Grn 284 691

Blu 154 65

Cya 273 700

Mag 345 158

Yel 440 543

White 303 320

Sub-bright 227

Gamma 1

Tell him good luck.

Hello Everyone.

I purchased a Samsung HLS-467SX in January of this year. It was wonderful for the first month.

My wife started noticing the audio was out of sync on movies towards the end of them after we had it for a month or so. Now it takes about an hour and the audio is lagging almost a full second. I can turn the set off and back on before the cool down and it will be in sync. It gets progressively worse the longer it is on. The catch is that the over-the-air channels do not seem to be affected.

Things I have done that didn't work:
I purchased a new Samsung DVD player thinking that was it.
Upgraded from S-video to HDMI cables.
Samsung changed the video panel board out.

The service tech said it was the first one he had seen like this. Anyone had a similar experience with a solution at the end?

Hi was just wondering how I can get the free OTA HD shows to show up on my TV. I have the Samsung HLS-4266W.

Hi was just wondering how I can get the free OTA HD shows to show up on my TV. I have the Samsung HLS-4266W.

You'll need an antenna, either indoor if you're close enough to the broadcast towers or an outside one.

We have the same set and have Dish Network HD receiver. Our outside antenna is fed through that receiver and we just scroll through the guide to find the OTA stations.

Without a receiver, just plug the antenna into the back of the set, like any tv.

If you're picking up the major networks, they'll be in HD whenever they're broadcasting in HD. Not all shows are.

Were can I pick up a decent antenna for a decent price dont feel like breaking the bank lol.

Were can I pick up a decent antenna for a decent price dont feel like breaking the bank lol.

Walmart and Radio Shack carry some. We had ours put in by an installer. It's the next biggest size (sorry, don't know th e name of it), but we live about 60 miles from the tower farm in Dallas. You may can get by with the indoor type in your attic. If you don't know what type, go to antennaweb.org.

Good luck!

I'm running a TERK TV5 Low-Profile, Amplified Indoor Antenna that I picked up at Newegg for $30 ... seems to work well in my area.

I've had my HLS-4266W since mid-December '06 and it worked fine until this afternoon. Today when I turned it on, I could only hear the programming but had no picture. I didn't have any of the warning LEDs flashing on the front of the TV. And, the TV wouldn't respond to any commands on the remote or the tv. The LED would flash in response to receiving remote commands, but nothing would happen. I could tell from the back of the unit that the lamp was on and the fan was spinning.
Eventually, I gave up trying different button combinations and simply unplugged the TV and immediately re-plugged it in. When I did that, the TV came on and is now acting normal again.
Has this happened to anyone else? Is there any combo of buttons to reset the TV if this happens again?
Thanks in advance for any help,
Doug

unfortunately, there is no overscan setting on the 720p hls sets. so no 1:1 pixel mapping, which sucks.

your only option is to get a utility that will let you adjust the output from your mac mini. i don't use macs, so i can't help you, but i would be suprised if such a utility didn't exist somewhere.

i do run a PC over HDMI to my tv, and have adjusted the output so that it is perfect to the edges. basically what it does is output at slightly lower resolution to 1280x720 (~1100x680) or something like that. you might want to see if you can find a way to set a custom resolution on your mac.

cheers
foss

Hi,

I'm running a Mac Mini in 1280x720 on my HLS4666W. If I enable Overscan in the display options, I get about 2-5% of the image cut off on all sides. If I disable Overscan in the display options, I can see the entire area displayed by the screen but there is a black border around the image that I can't adjust on the TV side.

I'm using a DVI-HDMI cable to display, so I can't zoom or anything that might otherwise be possible on an analog VGA input.

Is there a Mac equivalent of Powerstrip, where I can run a custom "resolution-in-resolution" so it outputs 720p that my TV will accept, while being the exact number of pixels to display the entire image in full size on the screen?

Or, is there a way to adjust the 'zoom' of the screen in HDMI mode?

Also, is there a way to disable overscan in the service menu? I looked and didn't find anything...is 1:1 pixel mapping possible?

Thanks,
ploo

i've think i've had this happen once. i just turned off the set and turned it on again.

i don't know why it did that and it hasn't done it since, so it just may be some buggyness in the tv.

also mine has shut itself off a couple of times.

otherwise this tv has been great. oh, except for my screen separating. but it's not that noticeable so i haven't called in the warranty yet, although i may soon.

btw mine is an hls-5086w, owned since march 2007.

it sucks that i got my tv with the screen already separating, but when i went to circuit city to exchange it, they had no other ones in stock, so i just decided to keep it and call warranty.

I've had my HLS-4266W since mid-December '06 and it worked fine until this afternoon. Today when I turned it on, I could only hear the programming but had no picture. I didn't have any of the warning LEDs flashing on the front of the TV. And, the TV wouldn't respond to any commands on the remote or the tv. The LED would flash in response to receiving remote commands, but nothing would happen. I could tell from the back of the unit that the lamp was on and the fan was spinning.
Eventually, I gave up trying different button combinations and simply unplugged the TV and immediately re-plugged it in. When I did that, the TV came on and is now acting normal again.
Has this happened to anyone else? Is there any combo of buttons to reset the TV if this happens again?
Thanks in advance for any help,
Doug

and don't let someone try to sell you an "HD antenna" for more money. Signals are signals and there is NO difference in how they receive. That goes along with the Monster cables are better fantasy.

All,

I could find only one reference to the issues I'm having with no followup, but this thread is huge. So I'll post the question. I just got a new Samsung S5086 on closeout at the local store. I absolutely love the looks, menus and functionality (though lack of a QAM tuner sucks). But I'm having two very fustrating issues...which I believe are related.

First, all of my custom video settings, regardless of whether its custom, standard or movie completely disappear after turning the TV off/on and the selection always goes back to Dynamic. This happens every single time. Something is able to write to long term memory, because my audio setting remain on reboot. This really sucks, since none of the modes are quite what I prefer, so every time I turn the tV on, I spend 2 minutes tweaking settings.

Second, if I decide to use 4:3 mode, it automatically switches back to 16:9 after about an hour. I'll call Samsung support, but I'm hoping someone else has seen this and can tell me what the final resolution was...since good techs are few and far between in the TV repair biz...though I could always get lucky and land a good tech...:-).

Jay

I'm sorry I couldn't make it all the way thru this huge thread. Can anyone tell me if the 4266W has any issues with PS2 or any other video game consoles? I'm concerned about Samsung's image processing which I've heard can cause unacceptable delay with video games on their LCDs.

There's a great deal on a refurb at TigerDirect and I'm thinkin about picking one up.

Any input on this unit would be great!

Thx,
D

I'm sorry I couldn't make it all the way thru this huge thread. Can anyone tell me if the 4266W has any issues with PS2 or any other video game consoles? I'm concerned about Samsung's image processing which I've heard can cause unacceptable delay with video games on their LCDs.

There's a great deal on a refurb at TigerDirect and I'm thinkin about picking one up.

Any input on this unit would be great!

Thx,
D

Can't somebody help this guy? Great deals don't always last very long.

Thx Lisa. :-]

Actually I've been reading a ton of horror stories about this unit all over the net...and not just the black grass issue either. Parts failing prematurely as well. And now I hear they're not supported by the mfg anymore so when those parts die it'll be near impossible to get replacements at a reasonable price.

What do you guys think? Should I stay away from this unit as my gut tells me? For all the horror stories I've read there's plenty of stories of people who are well satisfied...

Thx,
D

Okay one more question and this one should be a little easier. Do these units (the 4266 and 4666) have a base that is smaller than the overall dimensions of the unit? I would love to get the 46" and not worry about the black grass issue, but it doesn't fit by about 1". If it had a raised base that's somewhat smaller than the 42" wide stated, it would fit in my space. Any help on this would be great!

Thx,
D

I may be able to speak to the Base issue, even though I have the 4266 (and NO BLACK GRASS, either, and I've NOT tweaked the display one bit and am plenty satisfied with the picture!).

I replaced a 31" GE tube TV with this one (which weighed easily TWICE AS MUCH as this TV does). It was sitting ATOP our OLD 25" console Sears TV, which was in its dying days (still had a picture, but not much of one, when I got the GE in 1997, and I just used the console as a table for the GE). Whereas the GE fit easily atop the 25" Sears TV, I was concerned about the 42" DLP, but it fit, because the base IS smaller than the screen -- although it BARELY fit.

My advice to you, dbrowdy? Go to Best Buy, or Circuit City, or whoever has one of the 4666's in stock locally with a tape measure and take a look, and actually make a measurement and see for yourself... THEN, if you're comfortable ordering something that big and potentially troublesome online from Tiger Direct (I've had great experiences with them on smaller purchases), go ahead.

There are TWO trains of thought on refurbs -- one is that it already had a problem once, and has already been "used," and that's why it's so cheap... The other (and the one I lean to) is that since it's a refurb, it has had INDIVIDUAL ATTENTION from repair technicians, so it SHOULD be in top shape, and if it still comes with a decent warranty, it might actually be a better bet than a NEW version of the same component... Just make sure Tiger is promising free returns if it comes DOB.

Good luck with your new TV.

By the way, I'm not sure if you noticed, but when JVC first came out with THEIR new DLP-equivalent 1080P TVs, Tiger had -- I think it was a 55" model -- for $1,800... This was a few months ago, and VERY tempting at the time... but since then prices have dropped some more across the board.

Happy Viewings!
Jeff

dbrowdy I wouldnt use a PS2 on a HDTV, no matter what HDTV you use unless its a direct view CRT TUbe HDTV the image quality is crap. The PS2 just wasnt built for HDTV.

dbrowdy I wouldnt use a PS2 on a HDTV, no matter what HDTV you use unless its a direct view CRT TUbe HDTV the image quality is crap. The PS2 just wasnt built for HDTV.
My brother plays Wii on his 50" Hitachi DLP and it looks great. Aren't they both in 480p?? I'll be getting PS3 eventually...

BTW, I'm now looking at a HL-S4676S since I heard the HL-R apparently sucks at games. And did I hear somewhere that that one doesn't have a built-in tuner?

Thanks for all the input so far.

D

My brother plays Wii on his 50" Hitachi DLP and it looks great. Aren't they both in 480p?? I'll be getting PS3 eventually...

BTW, I'm now looking at a HL-S4676S since I heard the HL-R apparently sucks at games. And did I hear somewhere that that one doesn't have a built-in tuner?

Thanks for all the input so far.

D
My Wii was awful on my samsung but I purchased component cables and that improved the PQ quite a bit still NO WAY near the 360 but the Wii is a different machine.

dbrowdy, I'm assuming you don't have room for this TV, and also probably that you got the email, as I get something like two email ads a day from TigerDirect, and I'm assuming you do, too (and I refuse to buy Toshiba products for patriotic reasons), but if I didn't, and I was in the market for an HDTV, it might be hard to pass up THIS deal from the latest TigerDirect email:

65" Toshiba 1080P DLP deal (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=3073150&sku=T24-6501&CMP=EMC-TIGEREMAIL&SRCCODE=WEM1343C)

Just an example of what's available... Of course the latest CC flyer has some pretty good combo deals, too... The way deals keep getting better, no matter WHAT kind of deal you get today, it's likely not going to be such a great deal a month from now!
Jeff

Wow, that is a sweet deal. Unfortunately I don't have near enough space for a 65". Honestly the 46" is kinda pushing it :-D I am having serious problems deciding on a TV. Didn't take me near as long to decide on the receiver and speakers. There's just too many variations. Within a given size and brand there's still like 3 models to choose from PER YEAR. Bah.

Anyways, rant aside, still pickin and choosing and researching...

D

I didn't THINK you had that much room, but I DID think if you hadn't seen that deal you might wanna looksee.

I WOULD take a look at the latest week's CC flyer, if I were you, though, as they have some of the best deals they've had in a while this week (and I've NOT been a big fan of CC in recent months). The deals aren't all that great if you just buy the TV, BUT if you buy it WITH a HD-DVD player or similar accessory and have them install it, it's almost cheaper than buying the TV by itself, or something... I don't remember the details offhand, since I'm not in the market, but I scour all the flyers every week for any deals I MIGHT have an interest in and I try to at least LOOK at the TV deals to see what's going on, and THIS WEEK CC is in TURBO MODE on some of their HDTV Deals... This was the flyer that came in our Sunday paper, here. If you don't have it, I'm sure if you have a Circuit City in your area, there's a flyer in the store -- you might find the deals on their website, as well (I get their weekly web-ads, too, but I didn't go to the site this week).

Might be worth taking a look, if only for informational purposes,
Jeff

(and I refuse to buy Toshiba products for patriotic reasons),
Ok I'll bite, because why?

Ok I'll bite, because why?

In 1987 (clearly at the END of the "Cold War," but still clearly BESIDE the point, after our Defense Department had paid Toshiba something like $3 BILLION to develop a totally SECRET and totally SILENT new propellor system for its nuclear subs (thus making them literally INVISBLE to enemy listening devices) -- which could, and probably WOULD be our last line of defense if the worst-case-scenario of a nuclear war ever came about -- Toshiba turned right around and sold that technology to the Soviet Union!

This was NOT the big news it SHOULD have been, although it DID make the news in some of the news magazines. Toshiba got away with just paying a hefty fine, and went back to doing business as usual with America. Had it been an AMERICAN company, it would have been GUILTY OF TREASON.

I've refused to buy Toshiba products (when I can -- impossible to avoid buying some of their co-developed products, like CDs and DVDs) ever since, even though I'm NOT a "war-Hawk" -- for instance, I'm a BIG detractor of the Iraq war, although I supported what we did in Afghanistan, until we took our eye off the ball to waste dollars, lives and worldwide public support in Iraq... BUT, I AM a patriot (which to me means publicly disagreeing with your nation's leaders when they're wrong), but it also means NOT buying from companies that took BILLIONS of American dollars to develop SECRET technology for the American military and then turned right around and SOLD that very same technology to the supposed enemy it was developed to defend against.

Reason enough?
Jeff

Thanks for the info, While not denying ilegal sales took place it was actully machinery to build the equipment not the propeller itself.
As for your last paragraph, I agree whole heartedly
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:xMwWsCnXC60J:www.vanderbilt.edu/VIPPS/VIPPSUSJ/publications/Toshiba%2520Machine%2520working%2520paper.doc+toshiba+submar ine+propeller&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us

Does the HLS 4266 have a feature were it brightens or darkens the image during certain scenes b/c I noticed in videogames every now and then when looking at a wall from certain angles it gets darker then brighter depending how I'm looking at it. Like if its off to the side its darker.

Does the HLS 4266 have a feature were it brightens or darkens the image during certain scenes b/c I noticed in videogames every now and then when looking at a wall from certain angles it gets darker then brighter depending how I'm looking at it. Like if its off to the side its darker.

That's not a "feature," MASKOAA, that's the nature of the technology. The angle of viewing on this particular DLP (maybe all DLPs -- I haven't really checked, but I know from reading the owner's manual for THIS DLP) is about 150 degrees (I believe that's the number... might have been even lower than that), vs. something like 170 degrees or higher for most of the LCD displays... What this means is that if you're looking at the screen from a less-than-optimal direction, your perspective WILL change. I've noticed that unless I'm within about a 90-degree vector of center screen, and fairly centered vertically (much more important than the horizontal centering), the brightness and contrast can change QUITE A BIT.

It's a GREAT display, but you DO need to make sure you look at it from the proper angle, and the closer you are, the more important the angle seems to be.
Jeff

That's not a "feature," MASKOAA, that's the nature of the technology. The angle of viewing on this particular DLP (maybe all DLPs -- I haven't really checked, but I know from reading the owner's manual for THIS DLP) is about 150 degrees (I believe that's the number... might have been even lower than that), vs. something like 170 degrees or higher for most of the LCD displays... What this means is that if you're looking at the screen from a less-than-optimal direction, your perspective WILL change. I've noticed that unless I'm within about a 90-degree vector of center screen, and fairly centered vertically (much more important than the horizontal centering), the brightness and contrast can change QUITE A BIT.

It's a GREAT display, but you DO need to make sure you look at it from the proper angle, and the closer you are, the more important the angle seems to be.
Jeff

I think he was actually saying that if he changes the angle of viewing a wall in a game (i.e., moving his character around), the brightness changes. Not the actual viewing angle of the screen.

The 4266 doesn't have any sort of auto iris, but DNIE does do a sort of auto contrast. Maybe that's what he's seeing. Otherwise, I'd say it's just the game engine.

I think he was actually saying that if he changes the angle of viewing a wall in a game (i.e., moving his character around), the brightness changes. Not the actual viewing angle of the screen.

The 4266 doesn't have any sort of auto iris, but DNIE does do a sort of auto contrast. Maybe that's what he's seeing. Otherwise, I'd say it's just the game engine.

OK, Ferrisg, you're probably right in your interpretation of what he was saying. I don't play any video games, so I can't speak to how they view on the 4266, but that's possible. If I remember correctly (it's been quite a while since I finished adjusting my set where I liked it and quit making adjustments), but I THINK I turned DNIE OFF, and I believe I remember seeing at least one other person in this thread say they turned it off, too (although I'm not going to re-read the whole thread to see)... But as I said, if memory serves me correctly, DNIE was more trouble than it was worth, and REGARDLESS of the supposed merits Samsung claimed for it, overall I believe I found the set performed better with it off.

At any rate, it would certainly be worth trying turning it on and off to see, I think.

Good luck, MASKOAA.
Jeff

100% agree that DNIE is not worth it. It makes properly calibrating the set impossible, as it floats the black level based on the overall image black level, which could easily be what MASKOAA is seeing. It also does some noise reduction that will rob you of high frequency detail.

Yes, and while that noise reduction made SOME improvement on SOME of the high definition broadcasts, it made most of my standard definition broadcasts look TERRIBLE... Considering that the standard definition channels still outnumber the high-def channels by something like 10-1, and that even on the high-def channels, DNIE was an improvement only PART of the time (I'd say LESS than 50%), it was definitely not worth the trouble to me.
Jeff

FWIW, I am about to leave the DLP camp.

On my fourth HLS4266. This one has been serviced twice now, by Samsung (two different contract companies). And currently the best picture I can get if "orange neon" faces with green hair. It is now out of focus and very bad ringing (white clear heavy outlines). I am not a happy camper. On this specific set I do have about 9 months left on the waranty; its either going to have to be replaced or it going in the garbage - it's that bad.

First week "uptopia" - now "orange people with green hair".

With all the Mit's and Samsung DLP's we have had...........we have had enough units to know they are not long term high quality sets. Color Wheels and fans in these things are NOT long term.

I have a COLOR TONE question. For anyone who plays Gears of War I noticed that the COLOR TONE on Normal still has some RED in it. I used Screenshots from the web of the first level the Prison level were the walls are suppose to be a dirty white on my set I get a dirty white but its sorta yellow unless I put it up to COOL 2 to make it white but then my whites have a blueish tint too them. Any feedback on that?

I have a COLOR TONE question. For anyone who plays Gears of War I noticed that the COLOR TONE on Normal still has some RED in it. I used Screenshots from the web of the first level the Prison level were the walls are suppose to be a dirty white on my set I get a dirty white but its sorta yellow unless I put it up to COOL 2 to make it white but then my whites have a blueish tint too them. Any feedback on that?

You should calibrate your set.

The bluish tint is evident because you are used to a far too warm picture. Cool 2 is the closest to 6500K whites on these sets.

So COOL 2 is the best way to go then huh?

You should calibrate your set.

The bluish tint is evident because you are used to a far too warm picture. Cool 2 is the closest to 6500K whites on these sets.
No no no. Warm 2 should be closest to 6500.

As for the post you were replying to, it's impossible to judge color accuracy based on a screen shot on your computer monitor unless your monitor has also been calibrated.

No no no. Warm 2 should be closest to 6500.

As for the post you were replying to, it's impossible to judge color accuracy based on a screen shot on your computer monitor unless your monitor has also been calibrated.

Thanks for catching that. I had stated it exactly backwards. Should've paid closer attention to what I was writing.

The perceived blueish tint will likely remain if he calibrates the set, since most sets out of box present far too warm a picture. I agree about actually judging the calibration based on screenshots of a game from a web site, especially a game with its own array of color tone presets.

HoustonPerson, considering your LOCATION, I have to wonder if someone doesn't keep replacing one set with another that's BEEN THROUGH HURRICANE DAMAGE... seriously.

I mean, knock on wood, but I haven't had a day's trouble, yet, out of my 4266 in more than 4 months, now, and I know there are thousands of others who haven't. And that's NOT to say that you haven't had all the problems you've been having... It IS to say that if you're getting ONE SET AFTER ANOTHER with those kinds of problems, I'd suspect your supplier is supplying damaged merchandise (like sets that sat underwater for two weeks in New Orleans, or something, perhaps)... Yaneverknow. I don't know if this model was even in production then, but there are plenty of unscrupulous dealers around in all kinds of merchandise that's been paid off by insurance companies and headed for a landfill, "spiff it up," and turn a few hundred percent profit on it, perhaps...

How they'd get those serial numbers PAST SAMSUNG is another story, but there must be SOME explanation why some folks, like you, get one bad set after another, while others of us have a good experience from day one.

Best of luck in the future!
Jeff

HoustonPerson, considering your LOCATION, I have to wonder if someone doesn't keep replacing one set with another that's BEEN THROUGH HURRICANE DAMAGE... seriously.

I mean, knock on wood, but I haven't had a day's trouble, yet, out of my 4266 in more than 4 months, now, and I know there are thousands of others who haven't. And that's NOT to say that you haven't had all the problems you've been having... It IS to say that if you're getting ONE SET AFTER ANOTHER with those kinds of problems, I'd suspect your supplier is supplying damaged merchandise (like sets that sat underwater for two weeks in New Orleans, or something, perhaps)... Yaneverknow. I don't know if this model was even in production then, but there are plenty of unscrupulous dealers around in all kinds of merchandise that's been paid off by insurance companies and headed for a landfill, "spiff it up," and turn a few hundred percent profit on it, perhaps...

How they'd get those serial numbers PAST SAMSUNG is another story, but there must be SOME explanation why some folks, like you, get one bad set after another, while others of us have a good experience from day one.

Best of luck in the future!
Jeff

Well, Samsung has personally told me my sets are "new". They came to me from Samsung in California? I don't think they have been underwater? LOL BTW 1 of 4 HL-S4266 was DOA.

My Dad in Dallas waited 4 months to get the new light engine for his HL-S5088; the tech told him they just send the old ones back to Samsung....repaired and they go out again (caved in light tunnel). So, I guess someone somewhere is not being truthful?

Anyway, the "promised" calls, I was to have gotten, I did not get.........so I will be calling Samsung and the Repair center "again" today.

Let me just say, orange blurry people, with green hair, and purple skys is "not" good. My 24 year old Sony in the next room works soooooooooooooo much better!

Well, Samsung has personally told me my sets are "new". They came to me from Samsung in California? I don't think they have been underwater? LOL BTW 1 of 4 HL-S4266 was DOA.

My Dad in Dallas waited 4 months to get the new light engine for his HL-S5088; the tech told him they just send the old ones back to Samsung....repaired and they go out again (caved in light tunnel). So, I guess someone somewhere is not being truthful?

Anyway, the "promised" calls, I was to have gotten, I did not get.........so I will be calling Samsung and the Repair center "again" today.

Let me just say, orange blurry people, with green hair, and purple skys is "not" good. My 24 year old Sony in the next room works soooooooooooooo much better!

Ok, guess I will reply to my own post....lol They tell me a new "light engine" and "board" ?? is own its way, and they will call me the end of the week to re-schedule.

HoustonPerson, my HLS4266 is almost 11 months old now and is absolutely perfect. I swear the picture keeps getting better and better. Remember the black grass fiasco? The small amount my set had is gone now. I completely forgot about it until my wife mentioned a couple weeks ago that its now 100% gone. Can't see it anywhere.

Good luck with the latest fiasco. Hope everything works out.

dsl

they should call this week to schedule.....with all the Samsung DLP's we have go bad....we are beginning to wonder? The oldest HLS in the family seems to be the best one so far, go figure? hopefully the light engine, and whatever this other board is? will fix it.

hi,

I have a HL-S4666W and the fan runs all the time so is this normal? I have it in a room about 12x12 and sit about 8 ft from the TV and can hear it running pretty much all the time. Has anybody else noticed this?

I also have a HT-Q70 Samsung home theater and it also has a loud fan which is bothersome so if anybody has the same combo your experience would be much appreciated?

Sorry to hear of the troubles ... I had the HL-S4266W, only for a short period of time... needed a new light engine so soon after purchase that I was able to take it back. Sorry to hear of HP's troubles with this unit ... but no fan noise noticed skarnes1...

Now have the HL-T4675S ... very happy with the unit and still no fan noise. I mean I've heard it when I get real close but normal viewing distance, no way! I'd be thinking that's an issue if you can hear the fan at 6 to 8 foot away when you've got a decent volume on the TV...

Thus, I'm sorry I can't really help but must put in a positive report on the 4675.!

Well this is my HL-S4266W sob story ! :(
I bought it at CC in August of 06. Everything was fine until one day in Janurary. Frozen images in cut scenes from the previous image, Ghosting, and of course Rainbow effect. I have it hooked up via HDMI to Onkyo 674 , along w/ the 8300HD and my Toshiba A20 HD DVD player. Well today they finally replaced the Engine.
It took alomost 5 months to get it. My original build date was July 06. The Engine came in a SAMSUNG sealed box. For all I know, it was refurbished ??
I just finished watching the HD DVD Movie Batman Begins. WOW, Great picture especially the Fireworks affect above the SAMSUNG logo going for the bottom to the top! BLACK GRASS! Were`s the weed killer! :p Now what? What is my next move ? 1-800 -SAMSUNG? You bet! wish me luck!

msarp, I hear what you say...........been waiting a MONTH now for light engine to show up......Samsung is really loosing points with me, on getting parts hear !!! My dad waited 4 months and was fixing to go to small claims court on his HLS5088. Got the new engine and now he is happy again.

I fear that when the new engine is in I may have Black Grass agian since 98% for this model do! And that wont work for me.

Their last three promised phone calls did not materialize............so I will be calling them on Monday to see what's up.

The single bigest problem with Samsung 800 line "THEY DO NOT LISTEN TO WHAT YOU ARE TELLING THEM" hense all the delays, month after month after month.

Good Luck HoustonPerson, I feel your pain! Especially all the TV`s you went through! :eek:
I called them this morning (-1800-.......) and it the person sounded like I WOKE her up :rolleyes: ! She told me to contact the service center again and she would keep my ticket open. I said I would Monday morning. She faxed over the complaint as we spoke. We will see on this one.
I have 2 -21 "Samsung LCD Monitors , 1 32" Samsung CRT tube HD TV , 2- 19" Samsung TV`S and Finally, a Samsung 1200 Blue ray player I orderd Thursday. I told Samsung that I would sell everything if this TV is not replaced. I have been very freindly and Polite up until today. I told her it was not her fault but Samsungs failure to recall the 4266 for all its problems.
Well good luck my friend! I will keep you all up to date on my issue.

Anyone have issues with sounds out from the DLP? I have an HLS4647 and the picture is great (thanks to setting suggestions from this thread) but occasionally the sound out from the unit is muffles or static filled. I have TiVo connected to my DLP and ny receiver. I keep the receiver on all the time, to I route the TiVo through the TV and then into the Receiver. At times, the TiVo sound is very distorted (the same with sound from my HD-DVR from the cable company). I can usually clear it up by turning the TV off for a bit and turning it back on, but I fear this is an early sign on something bad.

Any ideas?

Thanks
chris

Ok, after waiting six weeks......and four calls to the service center this last week....a new light engine is supposed to be installed this Friday. They should just send light engines direct to the customer to install themselves; that would save at least five weeks! AND I would not have to have my fancy high price TV messed up in the process.

Well I am still waiting for my Black Grass problem to be addressed. My service center told me I needed a new Panel. Are they available? and will this fix the problem ? Anyways, I called Samsung and I got a super nice rep on the phone and she put me on hold for 5 minutes , came back and told me if the Service center can not fix the Black Grass problem, She will upgrade the compliant tot the top tier customer service center and they will take care of me. We will see how that goes !
Has anyone had their Black Grass fixed by a service center? If so, How?
Thanks

Just hope mine does not grow black grass when they put the new engine in tomorrow. It never dawned on me, geting service on these HLS4266 would be such a hassle and take so long.

msarp....if you did not have black grass before the new engine and now you got it...then the engine is the source of the problem..........which is what I thought from day one since 95% of these sets have black grass. In other words replacing the screen will do nothing but waste more time.

HoustonPerson , I hope you do not have the same problem I have . If the service center feels he must replace my panel then as long as he does it in a timely fashion, I will have no problem. I told him I do not think replacing it would solve the problem. If it does not, then Samsung will get my call asap! I will demand a replacement. Wish me luck! I hope your problems are solved with your new engine!
Let me know.

Ok, tech just left..........no more orange people, green hair, and purple sky.

Extreme Black Grass, even in Dynamic with bright sun shine...............

No Sound, and occasional static!

Tech said they will report back to Samsung.

I called Samsung - COMPLETELY 100% USELESS !!!!

ouch!!!!!!!!! I am still waiting for the Tech to let me know whats going on! I have called his office everyday! Man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1-800-SAM.... is going to be a very busy # !!!!!!!!!!!

The lower left corner of my HL-S4266W has a blueish stripe about 1 inch thick taking up half of the screen :( I guess i'll have to replace it.

P.S. Are basketball games on DirecTV HD supposed to look so grainy and pixelated?

The lower left corner of my HL-S4266W has a blueish stripe about 1 inch thick taking up half of the screen :( I guess i'll have to replace it.

P.S. Are basketball games on DirecTV HD supposed to look so grainy and pixelated?

That is just Satillite....highly compressed....The big Sony store in the Mall is not too far from us. Last fall I was watching a Coyboys game. Went to the mall, and had them switch on the Game - DirecTV HD - crummy picture. Came back home to finish the game (OTA) and the picture was excellent.

blueish stripe could be almost anything, maybe cave in light tunnel, or ?? Good luck on service if you can get it?

Well I am still waiting for my Black Grass problem to be addressed. My service center told me I needed a new Panel. Are they available? and will this fix the problem ? Anyways, I called Samsung and I got a super nice rep on the phone and she put me on hold for 5 minutes , came back and told me if the Service center can not fix the Black Grass problem, She will upgrade the compliant tot the top tier customer service center and they will take care of me. We will see how that goes !
Has anyone had their Black Grass fixed by a service center? If so, How?
Thanks


i too am waiting for a screen replacement which i doubt that will fix the black grass.

I have a bulb question. I just bought a replacement bulb for my 5086 on ebay. I didn't need a new one yet but for the price, I thought it would be good to have a back-up on hand.

Since I am not installing it right away, I wanted to know if it truly is new in box as stated in the auction. (The seller had a 100% positive feedback) I received it today and it looks fine, but the box was not sealed in any way and though the glass part of the bulb appears fine, the plastic casing looks a bit scuffed. Not sure if this is normal.

Any one have experience with a new bulb like to share. Thanks.

I have a bulb question. I just bought a replacement bulb for my 5086 on ebay. I didn't need a new one yet but for the price, I thought it would be good to have a back-up on hand.
Since I am not installing it right away, I wanted to know if it truly is new in box as stated in the auction. (The seller had a 100% positive feedback) I received it today and it looks fine, but the box was not sealed in any way and though the glass part of the bulb appears fine, the plastic casing looks a bit scuffed. Not sure if this is normal.
Any one have experience with a new bulb like to share. Thanks.
Greetings,
I just received a new lamp from www.samsungparts.com for my hl-p5674 also to have as a backup to my original 2 year old unit.
The box itself was not sealed, and had an instruction sheet on top of the styrofoam packaging. The lamp itself sat face down on the styrofoam with no wrapping, which I thought was odd. The plastic casing was free of any scuffs or scratches yet it is not what I would consider to be finish grade, which considering its use is not surprising.
The pricing has come down considerably from the last time I checked, so I thought it was a good investment. Not sure what you paid for yours, but check the above website to see the current costs. I felt more comfortable buying it directly from this vendor instead of seeking out the lowest possible cost from a suspect supplier.
YMMV,
b.

Greetings,
I just received a new lamp from samsungparts.comfor my hl-p5674 also to have as a backup to my original 2 year old unit.
The box itself was not sealed, and had an instruction sheet on top of the styrofoam packaging. The lamp itself sat face down on the styrofoam with no wrapping, which I thought was odd. The plastic casing was free of any scuffs or scratches yet it is not what I would consider to be finish grade, which considering its use is not surprising.
The pricing has come down considerably from the last time I checked, so I thought it was a good investment. Not sure what you paid for yours, but check the above website to see the current costs. I felt more comfortable buying it directly from this vendor instead of seeking out the lowest possible cost from a suspect supplier.
YMMV,
b.

Thanks so much for the input. It does sound very similar to what I received. You put it much better with the term "finish grade". I see the price is around $150 at the best reputable sites. This auction had a buy it now price of $150 but the bid started at $80 and I got it at $91 plus $10 shipping. So for the price I took a risk. Won't know for a little while whether it was smart or not as I'm not ready to replace the bulb. Thanks again.

Just wanted to know if anyone here has an XBOX 360 and VGA. Seems like TV sets are all going to need recalibrating with the new VGA choices.
If anyone here has done so please respond here or PM me. Thanks.

Just wanted to know if anyone here has an XBOX 360 and VGA. Seems like TV sets are all going to need recalibrating with the new VGA choices.
If anyone here has done so please respond here or PM me. Thanks.
I have been using my 360 with VGA for a while. What do you mean by NEW choices?

I have been using my 360 with VGA for a while. What do you mean by NEW choices?


The spring update gave some new black level settings to supposedly fix the washed out effect some users were having with there sets.

The spring update gave some new black level settings to supposedly fix the washed out effect some users were having with there sets.
Saw this and did not realize what it was I have had no known problems but might experiment now.

Reference Level or Black Level: If you're using the Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cable, the Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable, or the Xbox 360 HDMI Cable, Xbox 360 HDMI Cable, then screen format options include Reference Level. The default setting, Standard, delivers the normal range of white and black levels that your TV or monitor supports. Select Intermediate to increase the level of white and black in the video output. Select Expanded to maximize black level. Reference level is sometimes used to make a picture sharper, and you can experiment with what format suits your viewing pleasure.

Black Grass Update;

I am told that “Black Grass” and the “Firecracker Sound” were caused by a bad electrical connection – yep I’m cynical. It should be back in the house by sunset.

Ok, this means 98.5% of HL-S4266 has bad electrical connections and 0% of HL-S4666 do not – yep I’m still cynical.

Yes, I am the first to admit I have been wrong before. Tonight, I will know if I am wrong again.

Hmmmm, I've generally found that "black grass" tends to FOLLOW a "firecracker sound" -- particularly if you blow one up in the other, and let it BURN (ducking!)

Seriously, I don't know if I've been lucky, or just too blind/deaf to notice, but I've yet to see or hear either of those from my 4266 (knock on wood).

My guess, from the number of folks who've mentioned the "black grass" phenomenon, is that Samsung had a REAL production issue there, which they eventually worked out, but not before a great many TVs with the problem had been sold... And I guess I got lucky and got one made after the problem had been worked out. It's also possible the problem existed only on a certain production line, or at a particular factory, and mine didn't come from that line or factory.

I feel for those of you who have gotten the ones with problems, though -- and particularly for YOU, HoustonPerson, as I know you've been "through the ringer" with your experience... As for the "bad electrical connection" theory... Assuming that IS the case, I would still think the bad electrical connection is INTERNAL, within the TV, which would still make that a SAMSUNG problem... While AC line voltage can vary somewhat, most AC appliances are made to withstand those variances (if you look at their specs, they'll usually not list a voltage, but a VOLTAGE RANGE)... Unless someone were foolish enough to run this TV using a substandard exstenion cord, or they didn't plug the unit's cord into it well enough, I can't imagine how a bad electrical connection could be anything other than a warranty issue.

Good luck!
Jeff

Needless to say I was "right" and Samsung was "wrong" and still is.

We have been without the TV working now 7 weeks.

It has been worked on a total of 4 times (just in these 7 weeks) and was in the shop for a full week; where nothing was done to solve any of the problems and now the connnections on the back (HDMI, Componet,, etc) are intermitent.

Vitually all of the problems stem from Samsung itself, and have provided "NO" assistance to their authorized factory service provider.

there are alot of posts in this thread and an answer may be in here somewhere...but i was wondering if any of you have opted for an extended warranty with this set. if so, where did you buy it from and has the third party warranty been responsive to your needs?

I didn't even CONSIDER an extended warranty. My experience with TVs is that if they work well enough to last the first year, they'll probably last at least four or five years, which is as long as most extended warranties, and the money you'd put into one that lasts that long, if you saved it, instead, would pay a good portion of the cost for a new TV when the time comes -- not to mention how much better the technology would be in five years (or how much cheaper the comparable TV would be).

As for YOU, HoustonPerson, I'm thinking it's time you looked at some kind of arbiter... You should have gotten a BRAND NEW SET at this point, since it's obvious that the one you have is NOT going to be repaired properly. I really think you should and can find some way to bring down enough heat to get a brand new set to replace what you have (if my memory serves me correctly, you actually DID get a few replacement sets early on, but I fear they were all from the same bad batch -- at this point, you might get one from a different batch). Samsung is doing itself a real disservice by not giving you satisfaction.

On another note, ever since I bought my set I've had a "Pricegrabber Alert" set up for any time the 4266 drops to $850 or less (I paid $899, plus tax, with free delivery), just out of curiosity to see if the price comes down... Someone on this board DID tell me that CC had the 4266 on a "secret sale" at $799 on Black Friday, but it was advertized only online, and you had to go into the store and tell them about it (that was way prior to the week before Christmas when I caught the $899 sale)... At any rate, I get occasional Pricegrabber alerts below $850 -- got one this week at about $815, I think, but after shipping it was more than $1,000... The long and the short is that $900 was and is still a pretty decent deal for that TV, so I'm still pretty happy with the deal, and happily, mine's still working great.

Again, HoustonPerson, I don't remember where you said you bought yours, but I think if you raise enough of a stink you CAN get your problem solved, although you may have to make it a PUBLIC ISSUE. For instance, here a local TV station promotes its news by calling it "7 on your Side" (it's Channel 7, or course)... Anyway, if someone is having a problem with a business, or government, or any kind of dispute they can't get resolved they feel is an injustice, they call the TV station about it, and if the TV station thinks it's also an injustice, they step in and become an advocate for the person and do a news story on it and make whoever the person is up against look bad and almost ALWAYS get them satisfaction.

I really think what they're doing is mostly a self-aggrandizing publicity stunt for the station, but it DOES also get some good results for some people who have no other way to get their problems solved, so I have to give them credit for that.

Good luck!
Jeff

there are alot of posts in this thread and an answer may be in here somewhere...but i was wondering if any of you have opted for an extended warranty with this set. if so, where did you buy it from and has the third party warranty been responsive to your needs?
Greetings,
Have you tried using the search function for this thread?
A search on just "warranty" returns three pages of info.
YMMV,
b.

...
On another note, ever since I bought my set I've had a "Pricegrabber Alert" set up for any time the 4266 drops to $850 or less (I paid $899, plus tax, with free delivery), just out of curiosity to see if the price comes down... Someone on this board DID tell me that CC had the 4266 on a "secret sale" at $799 on Black Friday, but it was advertized only online, and you had to go into the store and tell them about it (that was way prior to the week before Christmas when I caught the $899 sale)... At any rate, I get occasional Pricegrabber alerts below $850 -- got one this week at about $815, I think, but after shipping it was more than $1,000... The long and the short is that $900 was and is still a pretty decent deal for that TV, so I'm still pretty happy with the deal, and happily, mine's still working great.
...
Jeff

Well I just found the 4266 for $712 (including shipping) brand new from a reputable seller...based on your review, I think that I am going to go for it!

Well I did go for it...would using my PS2 as a DVD player be fine or should I get an upscaling DVD player...any recommendations?

"Well I just found the 4266 for $712 (including shipping) brand new from a reputable seller...based on your review, I think that I am going to go for it!"

LMAO... Well, I guess Pricegrabber just AIN'T up to the job I thought it was, Huh??? :o :eek: :D

Good thing I don't let such things bother me, and thanks for letting me know they're really NOT on top of all the prices out there.

As for using a PS2 or an upscaling DVD player, I have NO CLUE. I've never spent ONE SECOND on a game console, and the only reason I ever would is if I came across a PS3 VERY CHEAP and also knew someone with a large cache of Blu-Ray discs they were willing to give me (or sell me really cheap)...

However, all that said, I still think regular LCD panels are a superior choice if the money's the same, and money HAS come down some across the board in the past few months (I saw a 42" Akai 1080P at Sam's for, I think it was $1089, just today).

This is all still just a matter of opinion, but I think anything with a projector in it has more that can go wrong than a solid-state LCD panel, not to mention that you KNOW you have to replace a bulb with the DLP every so often, whereas with the LCD, well, I don't know... I guess it all burns out at once, lol.

But if you're really wanting a 4266, and I AM happy with mine, that's DEFINITELY the best price I've seen or heard of anywhere!
Jeff

The following link should probably be posted somewhere MUCH more prominent on this website, but since I just monitor this and one more thread, for the most part, I'm posting it here, and if one of you who knows where it will reach everyone (or at least more people) knows a better place to repost it, please do.

Just today, the National Institute for Standards and Testing came out with this 28-page .pdf for testing and comparing LCD and Plasma TVs, which I found posted when I visited the HDGuru.com website for the first time a while ago.

While it's not too much one couldn't have figured out on his (or her) own, it's all compiled in one document, and it's "official," lol.

Anyway, here's the link: How to Shop for a HDTV (http://hdguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/tips-on-buying-a-new-flat-panel-tv.pdf)

Happy Viewings!
Jeff

Hmmmm, Maybe Pricegrabber's just a bit slower than you are, Nishijb... They just sent me a new low-price alert on the 4266 for $699 @ MacMall, with less than $40 shipping and no tax, which puts it pretty close to the shipped price you quoted above and from a VERY reputable dealer.

By the way, out of curiosity about when and even IF 1080P might ever be broadcast I decided to do a little research on that last night and read quite a bit on the subject. Based on what I read, I see NO REASON to buy a 1080P set unless you just have money to burn... some of the articles even said that many of the 1080P DLP sets are using some sort of mirror-doubling design to achieve the 1080P while cutting costs... I'm not sure how much of this was accurate, but the articles all looked pretty official and well-reasoned, and at any rate, however you slice it, the only 1080P signal you'll be able to process for likely MANY years to come (AT LEAST FIVE, and possibly 20 or more) is on recorded content like Blu-Ray or HD-DVDs...

Any store sales clerk who says anything else is blowing smoke up you-know-where. (Oh, and 1080i is effectively a lower resolution than 720P because it's INTERLACED, therefore it FLICKERS, albeit the flickering is 60 times per second, so you shouldn't see it, but would you rather have 1080 lines flicker through 60 times per second or 720 lines scan through solid 60 times per second?)
Jeff

i got shipping confirmation and my samsung will be coming in next week! jeff, i know that you don't have any experience with gaming consoles however i started looking at the philips DVP5982/37 dvd player (it upconverts to 1080p, plays various formats including divx, and has a usb input port). I know that I will not be able to utilize the 1080p but what is the general thought of using a dvd player to upscale vs. letting the 4266 upscale on its own?

Happy for you, nishijb... sure hope you're as happy with yours as I am with mine...

And I'm honored that you keep asking me these questions, but I'm afraid I'm a bit out of my depth on some of these issues -- particularly when it comes to video games and really players, too. However, as far as I understand it, all "upscaling" is done by the output device, so I don't understand the phrase "what is the general though of using a dvd player to upscale vs. letting the 4266 upscale on its own?"

I'm pretty sure if you don't have an "upscaling" DVD player, the output from it won't display on your 4266 above 480i or 480P (or whatever they output), regardless of what the TV's electronics do on the input side. Now I could be wrong on this (to be totally honest, I'm FAR from an expert on this subject), but I'm under the impression that no matter WHAT your TV CAN display, if the input isn't equal to that, it won't upscale it on its own (unless you have some special model that has some kind of upscaling feature built in, and I'm not aware of that on the 4266, but again, I could have missed that when I read the owner's manual -- I'm only using an upscaling DVD player on an Olevia Syntax I KNOW doesn't have such a feature).

Maybe I TALK a "better game" than I KNOW, lol. Anyone who knows all this stuff on more of a technical level ALWAYS feel free to elaborate or correct me. I'm an enthusiast, NOT an expert.
Jeff

i got shipping confirmation and my samsung will be coming in next week! jeff, i know that you don't have any experience with gaming consoles however i started looking at the philips DVP5982/37 dvd player (it upconverts to 1080p, plays various formats including divx, and has a usb input port). I know that I will not be able to utilize the 1080p but what is the general thought of using a dvd player to upscale vs. letting the 4266 upscale on its own?

I just went through this with my 4 month old 5086 and after testing various setups I must say the Samsung 5086w does a hell of a job deinterlacing & upconverting (through component hook up), even compared to the almighty sony 97H HDMI upconverting player I just bought last week. IMHO let the display do the upscaling and save your money for a true HD player...

I'll jump in here and say that we had our 4266 calibrated not long ago, and I asked Phil (calibrator) what his opinion on the upscaling players are. We had just bought the set and needed a player for it. He said that as far as he's been able to determine, the technology in most newer sets have the ability to upscale just fine without the need for a player that does it.
As far as the technicality of his opinion, I didn't ask cause I don't have a brain that can grasp alot of the "tech speak". I just take his word for it.
Having said all that (don't you just hate it when people use that phrase?), we went ahead and got a Panasonic dvd-S52 upscaling player because the price was right ($79). Very nice player.
Lisa

I need some opinion from the owners of the sammy HLS-5686W. I am planning to use it for tv, games(xbox elite), dvd. Right now its on sale at BB and the price is right in my budget. I wanted to know what else do I have to buy along with the tv. This is my first purchase of a big screen tv and I don't know much about what I should be getting, like surge protectors, cables etc.

Also, is this tv good for games. If I have missed anything that should be taken into consideration please let me know. If this is not a good TV, can someone recommend something else in the same price range and the same screen size.

Cheers!!!

I need some opinion from the owners of the sammy HLS-5686W. I am planning to use it for tv, games(xbox elite), dvd. Right now its on sale at BB and the price is right in my budget. I wanted to know what else do I have to buy along with the tv. This is my first purchase of a big screen tv and I don't know much about what I should be getting, like surge protectors, cables etc.

Also, is this tv good for games. If I have missed anything that should be taken into consideration please let me know. If this is not a good TV, can someone recommend something else in the same price range and the same screen size.

Cheers!!!

I have the HLS-5086w and I think it's great for games. I did have some issues with my original xbox hooked up with component cables, that being game 2k Sports had a little bit of underscan (small black bars on the left & right of the screen). Other than that everything else played fine. I did notice a slight lag but that was fixed when I used "Game Mode", so if you're wondering I don't think gaming lag is as such a big of deal on these newer sets as older ones. Here is some primers on gaming lag if you don't know

http://www.thebbps.com/blog/2006/09/20/hdtv-gamings-dirty-little-secret/#more-508
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=558125

Also, with cables and such use the best that the gaming system can handle. With my original xbox I use the hd-pack (component) and I'm assuming your Xbox Elite has HDMI. I'm pretty sure the Xbox Elite comes with every cable you need (not like the HiDef PS3 which comes with composite cables ??) The same can be said for other video components also, use the best available. If you need cables use Monoprice.com, best prices buy far and fast shipping. I got a 6ft HDMI cable shipped for under 8 bucks from them.

After all that, I would recommend the tv! Just wanted to make you aware of the gaming lag issues of past tv's..

Thanks for elaborating on and clarifying that upscaling issue, koolmoj and Lisa... So it appears the newer TVs DO do their own upscaling and all these higher-priced upscaling DVD players are just one more overpriced gimmick for anyone who has a newer set (but I'm guessing the millions of older sets still benefit from them).

This is good to know, and also makes me even happier I spent only $50 on my upscaling DVD player, since that's kindasorta "regular" DVD price, and at that price it has component and HDMI output, slowmo, zoom, pretty much everything I need.

What I REALLY need, though, is a way to get my digital converter box signals to my computer, so I can save more than just the "basic cable" signals. I have a dual-tuner setup with MCE (although the dual tuner works only half the time, and Dell sent me a replacement tuner, but it still doesn't record two channels reliably all the time)... At any rate, currently my only way to get TV into the computer is through that basic cable input, through the TV tuner card. I have a Motorolla HD cable box a few feet away that's hooked up to my HDTV, and it has all kinds of outputs on it, such as USB, ethernet, and I believe even firewire, but their owner's manual, which I downloaded online, says not to use any of those without contacting your cable provider first... Well my cable provider is already REAMING me for my service (and they charge an extra $15 per month for THEIR DVR service), so I'm almost afraid to call and ask them how to go about hooking up one of those outputs to my computer, but also afraid if I try it without calling them I might screw something up, lol.

Real conundrum!
Jeff

I'm pretty sure if you don't have an "upscaling" DVD player, the output from it won't display on your 4266 above 480i or 480P (or whatever they output), regardless of what the TV's electronics do on the input side. Now I could be wrong on this (to be totally honest, I'm FAR from an expert on this subject), but I'm under the impression that no matter WHAT your TV CAN display, if the input isn't equal to that, it won't upscale it on its own (unless you have some special model that has some kind of upscaling feature built in, and I'm not aware of that on the 4266, but again, I could have missed that when I read the owner's manual -- I'm only using an upscaling DVD player on an Olevia Syntax I KNOW doesn't have such a feature).

Maybe I TALK a "better game" than I KNOW, lol. Anyone who knows all this stuff on more of a technical level ALWAYS feel free to elaborate or correct me. I'm an enthusiast, NOT an expert.
Jeff

Actually that's not right. The 4266 will has a built in scaler to display all signals to the native resolution of the display (720p for you), as do all HDTVs. Since it's a 720p set (like mine, the HLS4676) all input sources will be upscaled to 720p (or downscaled if it's a 1080 signal). Upscaling DVD players are a huge scam. I fell for it too. Now, some people will see an improvement in the picture compared to a standard DVD player for possible two reasons. 1) if you happen to have a DVD player that has a better scaler than your HDTV, and/or 2) most people will connect the upconverting player to the HDTV via HDMI rather than RCA or S-video. HDMI is a digital connection. This way there is no taking a digital signal (the DVD content) converting it to analog (for trasmission over RCA/s-video)) and then reconverting it to digital by the HDTV for display. With HDMI it's a digital signal the whole way. Since most older, non-upscaling, players do not have HDMI, most people upon hooking one up to their nice new HDTV (via HDMI) go "ooooh that's much nicer than with the old DVD player. This upscaling business is nice." They give credit to the upscaling and not the higer quality connection. Unless of course, the upscaler is better than the TV's (the only improvement I saw with mine was due to the HDMI connection).

Sadly, you can't create pixels that were never there to begin with. All DVDs, all of them, are SD, that is 480i (I've heard of an odd 520 res or something for some content, but I could be mistaken). You have to go with HD/BD for 720 or 1080 res.

Thanks for the clarification, there, mightydarwin.

This explains a good bit. I actually have my "upscaling" DVD player connected via RGB (same as my digital cable box, which is the only connection Charter Cable offers -- their cable boxes DON'T have HDMI out, only DVI, and the Olevia Syntax TV I have my upscaling DVD player hooked up to doesn't have HDMI in, only DVI). I have a HDMI-DVI converter cable, but since the Olevia Syntax has two RGB inputs and corresponding audio inputs (and my receiver has two different digital audio inputs I can use from the converter box and the DVD player), I just haven't bothered with the DVI at all.

If I were to hook this player up to the 4266, however, knowing what I now know, I think I'd go in through HDMI.

Again, thanks for the clarification... I never mind being corrected, as I have A LONG WAY TO GO before I even APPROACH being any kind of "expert" on these matters.
Jeff

Jeff, Koolmoj, Lisa, and Mighty thanks for your thoughts. I already ordered a philips upscaling from best buy and will probably stick with it for the hdmi. I look forward to receiving my 4266 and will report when i get it. Do any of you use electricity conditioners/surge protectors. I just bought this
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10399626&adid=17662
what do you think?

Actually, Nishijb, I use several similar products, although primiarly for my computers. That's not a bad thing to have set up for your TV, though.

However, I really don't believe their claim that a simple surge protector has an actual retail value as high as what they claim, although it probably IS worth what you're paying for it (it looks better than the "average" surge suppressor/line regulator).

That said, the only surge suppressor/voltage regulators I have are also battery backups, which have voltage regulation built in to compensate for line voltage fluctuations that can actually vary widely (especially during the coming summer months, with possible brownouts due to excessive AC use) from as low as 85-90 volts up to 120-130... I've seen a few shows lately on Discovery and whatnot about what a delicate balancing act the power companies do to keep a level line voltage running through all their substations and power lines. They have to constantly do their best educated guess on how much power all their customers in each area are going to use, then attempt to produce and distribute that much electricity evenly amongst their grid accordingly... If they have unexpectedly high or low use in areas, then there can be brownouts or spikes... or even blackouts or blowouts in the worse cases.

I'm not exactly certain how an unpowered surge suppressor can do line regulation as well as one that's powered and has a battery system, but then I'm not sure how IT does it, either, just that it says it does on the box, lol.

Of course all these surge suppressors and battery backup/suppressors CLAIM to protect not only against spikes, but also lightning, but I'm willing to BET that a direct lightning strike to the TV antenna or cable line or satellite dish to which they're attached -- or electrical line coming into the house -- would jump right THROUGH that suppressor and FRY everything attached, anyway... And I'm also guessing that unless you had a "Philadelphia Lawyer" do your hookup, the "guarantee" that comes with the suppressor to replace all attached equipment would be worth about as much as the paper it's printed on.

That said, I still think it's better to have the protection than not to have it, and it WILL protect you from all but the most DIRECT strikes, so yeah, that's a good thing to have, in my opinion.
Jeff

for my 4266:

quite pleased with the results after changing the gamma to 1 in the service menu and then adjusting brightness/contrast/color again. Shadow detail looks improved without being washed out. I'm anxious to check out an episode of Law&Order I have left on the DVR. L&O and ER on my local NBC often seemed to suffer in shadow detail compared to other hdtv programming.

I need some opinion from the owners of the sammy HLS-5686W. I am planning to use it for tv, games(xbox elite), dvd. Right now its on sale at BB and the price is right in my budget. I wanted to know what else do I have to buy along with the tv. This is my first purchase of a big screen tv and I don't know much about what I should be getting, like surge protectors, cables etc.

Also, is this tv good for games. If I have missed anything that should be taken into consideration please let me know. If this is not a good TV, can someone recommend something else in the same price range and the same screen size.

Cheers!!!
I have the 5086 and use my 360 with it all the time. I did switch to a VGA cable, which may not matter since you have an Elite with HDMI output. I will add that you will need an optical cable if you are intending to use an A/V system vs your TV's audio. To me gaming needs surround :D

Ok...gotta question. I just got my HL-S4266W and am loving it. I am having a problem with the audio. I purchased an HDMI cable from monoprice and am using it to connect my upconverting dvd player to the dlp. When I do, no sound is coming out of the tv. I really would like to continue using the hdmi since the picture is far superior than just using the standard cables. Any suggestions?

Ok...gotta question. I just got my HL-S4266W and am loving it. I am having a problem with the audio. I purchased an HDMI cable from monoprice and am using it to connect my upconverting dvd player to the dlp. When I do, no sound is coming out of the tv. I really would like to continue using the hdmi since the picture is far superior than just using the standard cables. Any suggestions?

What brand DVD player do you have? Usually there is an option in the setup menu that enables/disables sound through the HDMI output.

I bought a Samsung Hl-S5065W back in Feburary of this year. I recently got a PS3 as well. Last night I noticed something i don't think was happening before.

It's not ust on the PS3, but even happens when I switch input source modes (the white bar across the top of the window telling you what input mode you are in does this when against a black screen). Any white that is on a black background (and it only seems to be the top half of the screen that does this) leaves a 'trailer'. It almost looks like you can see the projection of the white behind the item on the screen, but it doesn't go straight back, it's down and to the right.

Someone told me this could be 'silk screening' but I don't think that is right. I may have not seen this before and it could have been there the whole time, but I'm thinking that it wasn't. It was most noticable on the PS3 XMB with the menu items towards the top of the screen.

Anyone know what's going on? Need to know if it's normal, or if I should look at getting this worked on while i'm still under warranty.

I did turn down my brightness and contrast, and that made it less noticable, but you can still see it.

Any help would be appreciated.

Ok...gotta question. I just got my HL-S4266W and am loving it. I am having a problem with the audio. I purchased an HDMI cable from monoprice and am using it to connect my upconverting dvd player to the dlp. When I do, no sound is coming out of the tv. I really would like to continue using the hdmi since the picture is far superior than just using the standard cables. Any suggestions?
I know it's silly but sometimes it's the simple stuff .... check the TV to make sure you don't have its speakers muted or the volume turned all the down.

What brand DVD player do you have? Usually there is an option in the setup menu that enables/disables sound through the HDMI output.
It was a simple as that...thanks! I just had to go into the dvd player's menu to turn on the audio through hdmi. It was a philips by the way. I am very impressed with this set...and no black grass. Thanks for all that have shared information with me. While I am not so sure how much difference the upconverting dvd player has, the difference in picture quality between using the standard cables that came with the dvd player and the hdmi cable is huge...definitely recommend that you use hdmi if you can!

Had my HLS-4266 for a year now, put on 1700 hours I just use it to game/movies I dont really watch cable on it. So far no problems.

Tomorrow will be 1 year we've had our HL-S4266 with no problems. Picture quality is still awesome as ever. I'll bet we have close to 3000 hours on it by now.

I'd like to see some settings people use for the HL-S4266. Ill throw mine out there

for HDMI Input I use
Movie Mode
Contrast 44
Brightness 47-50
Sharpness 25
Color 55
Color Tone COOL 2

For component which is how my 360 is hooked up Ill use those settings and I have a more vivid mode which is
STANDARD
Contrast 50
Brightness 47
Sharpness 25
Color 55
Color Tone COOL 2

The 2 might look the same but Movie mode has different settings which make all the numbers for different like 55 color in movie mode is = to like 45 in standard.

I'm still getting Pricegrabber price alerts for the set, too... Got another one recently, and two different online suppliers had it for sale at $699, both with only about $50 shipping, so the shipped price was about $750... One was Mac Warehouse, I believe (I remember it was one of the MAJOR online retailers, NOT somebody I never heard of before, which to me is a good sign if you're a buyer, since it's not so risky... but it may also be a BAD sign if you've been holding out to get the particular model until prices bottomed out, as when the bigger retailers start offering it at lower prices, it might be close to being discontinued by Samsung). Of course I don't really keep up with these things, so for all I know, Samsung has already quit making this model and all the ones for sale are already just existing stock that's being sold off, but as I'm still having a great experience with mine after more than 5 months, I, too, believe it's a great DLP TV... And I still regularly see comparable TVs on sale at the "Big Box" stores for as much as or more than what I paid for this one in December.

One more thing... The more I read on the 1080P issue, the more I see NO REASON to buy one unless you own or plan to buy a 1080P player and a large quantity of 1080P pre-recorded media, as it looks like 1080P being a broadcast media is a LONG WAY OFF.
Jeff

The only downfall to this TV is that blacks arent BLACK like the top half of the TV is darker then the bottom half I noticed this watching DVD's when the black bars are there.

I'd like to see some settings people use for the HL-S4266. Ill throw mine out there
Greetings,
Individual settings vary from set to set due to different inputs, ambient room lighting, etc.
Do a search in this thread for Eliab @ www.avical.com to see his suggested settings as a starting point.
Fine tuning, including black levels, is then accomplished with either DVE or Avia or ultimately an ISF calibration.
YMMV,
b.

Yeah, I haven't seen ANY problems with the blacks... Of course I haven't watched many DVDs, but then I have seen a few black screens on other occasions, and although I haven't paid extremely close attention, I usually I have an eye for detail, so I agree with Bob4action, that it very well might depend on how YOUR individual set is setup... and you could also have one of the ones that's got problems, as based on the MANY posts to this thread, there obviously WERE some defective units in the production line for this unit, although most of us seem to have lucked out.

I'd try the link above and see if you can get your blacks right.

Happy Viewings!
Jeff

If you go to component input and get the solid black screen are you telling me the bottom of the screen isnt partially lighter than the top on yours?

Greetings,
Individual settings vary from set to set due to different inputs, ambient room lighting, etc.
Do a search in this thread for Eliab @ www.avical.com to see his suggested settings as a starting point.
Fine tuning, including black levels, is then accomplished with either DVE or Avia or ultimately an ISF calibration.
YMMV,
b.
Here you go. :)

Mode - Movie
Contrast - 40
Brightness - 42
Sharpness - 0
Color - 45
Tint - MID
Color Tone - Warm 2 (if it appears too red, then try Warm1 or even Normal)
Digital NR - OFF
DNIe - OFF

We suggest performing a DVE (http://www.avical.com/articles/avicals_dve_user-level_video_calibration_tutorial.html) user-menu calibration for an even more precise adjustment. Keep in mind that these are just starting points and in no way are intended as a substitute for a properly performed calibration.

Good luck!

Eliab

I've actually went down to 45 for color for watching movies, it looks more natural. The Warm tones all look to red/yellow on my TV I always use cool 2.

I've actually went down to 45 for color for watching movies, it looks more natural. The Warm tones all look to red/yellow on my TV I always use cool 2.
There have been a few instances where Warm1/2 measured below D6500. This is why I now suggested the Normal as well. However, Cool2 has always been well above D6500 (too blue) in every Samsung that I've measured.

Eliab

I actually dont even notice much of a change at all when watching DVD's through my HDMI connection but for videogames on my component connection Normal and below all have a yellowish tint to them.