Hey guys- I just got my Samsung HL-S5686W delivered. Should I run the comcast cable at 1080i or 720p? Also can someone give me some good settings for the tv? THANKS

Probly 720p since its 720p Native TV. I could be wrong though b/c your TV might do a better job at scaling the image then your cable box.

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

Got my set today for $800, it's great! :woot:

I am gonna be on the lookout for the next 30 days for a price match lower than that though.

Does anyone know how to change the source in the SERVICE MENU? My hdmi is off center to the right and pressing source while in SERVICE MENU doesnt change the source....I just need to move it to the left alittle so when I play videogames my crosshair isnt off center.

At the end of July, it will have been a year since I bought my sammy hls-4666w from Amazon. I couldn't have been happier. At the time, they didn't offer an extended warranty and I figured that if it doesn't break down after the first year, I should be fine. I've never bought an extended warranty.

About 1 or 2 months ago, my sammy started to turn off once each day about 1 hour after turning it on. On rare occasions it has turned off 3 or 4 times, one after another. Fortunately, it was under warranty and I was very pleased with how the service call was handled. However, I did ask the technician how much it would have cost me to fix the unit had it not been under warranty. $600. The TV only cost me $1,200. The technician replaced the "balast" (a circuit board) and the lamp. I also asked him how long the lamp should last and he said 12,000 hours. I've heard 3,000 and 12,000 -- mostly 3,000.

I am now considering getting an extended warranty but I'm not sure who to go through... Any suggestions. Any one else have the same problem I had with their Sammy? When I asked the technician if this board was going to last more than a year, he responded by saying yes and that the board had been improved.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

12k hours relaly?? I thought are TV's only had a 6k hour lifespan I have the 42 in model.

12k hours relaly?? I thought are TV's only had a 6k hour lifespan I have the 42 in model.

I heard like 3-6K hours and I have the 42". I have a 5 year warranty though, it cost me $200(1/4th the TV), but I knew I would go through at least one lamp in 5 years, so it would be worth it.

FYI, $688 at HHGregg for the 4266. Lowest I've ever seen Jeff! In for one myself if I can sell my 50" Hitachi RP-CRT 1080i set.

Hello all! Thanks in advance for your input.
A few weeks ago my S4266W started intermittenly showing strange red artifacts (don't know the term, red push, red crush, etc. Pictures below.) These appear on every source as well as on the Samsung menus. Called Samsung and they were great about setting me up with a semi-local repair shop. The tech. came out when I wasn't home and couldn't produce the issue (duh. I told Samsung AND the tech. on the phone that it was sporadic.) I took some pictures (with camera phone, all I have right now) with hopes I can show the tech and it will be enough to diagnose/repair. Does anybody have any input as to what this is called and/or caused by?? Thanks so much!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/siddartha611/cropp.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/siddartha611/crrop.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/siddartha611/crrrop.jpg

Mine did pretty much the same thing after one of its "many" of its repairs. There are two main chassis in the set: The light engine and the power control block (were a lot of the color processing takes place). Samsung may ultimately replace both chassis in the set in an attempt to make it work. The New light engine in mine brought in Heavy Duty Black Grass - so it is a "fact" the black grass monster is caused by the light engines and not the screen.

The New light engine in mine brought in Heavy Duty Black Grass - so it is a "fact" the black grass monster is caused by the light engines and not the screen.

I always though it was the screen pack that causes the black grass. To me it seems to be a moire artifact caused by the optical coating on two screens that are pressed together.

I've also heard that even flexing the chassis (which would happen when installing a light engine--mounting screws etc.) would cause black grass to change and either get better or worse.

Hello all! Thanks in advance for your input.
A few weeks ago my S4266W started intermittenly showing strange red artifacts (don't know the term, red push, red crush, etc. Pictures below.) These appear on every source as well as on the Samsung menus. Called Samsung and they were great about setting me up with a semi-local repair shop. The tech. came out when I wasn't home and couldn't produce the issue (duh. I told Samsung AND the tech. on the phone that it was sporadic.) I took some pictures (with camera phone, all I have right now) with hopes I can show the tech and it will be enough to diagnose/repair. Does anybody have any input as to what this is called and/or caused by?? Thanks so much!


Isn't there something in the owners manual about "red dots or spots"?

I always though it was the screen pack that causes the black grass. To me it seems to be a moire artifact caused by the optical coating on two screens that are pressed together.

I've also heard that even flexing the chassis (which would happen when installing a light engine--mounting screws etc.) would cause black grass to change and either get better or worse.

It is a permanent projection defect in the specific engine itself. Most likely the lens and or reflections in the light tunnel. Most engines (greater than 90%) new and rebuilt for that model have it to varying degrees. No amount of replacing the front screen will affect it or correct it; according to the local Samsung Certified Tech Expert?, that claims he has replaced 9 screens in the Houston area for HL-S4266, and it never corrected the problem nor changed it.

The "one" HL-S4266 that I had that did work well for 6 months (until all the noise started), had the engine replaced. I went from a super tiny amount of black grass covering less that half inch at the bottom of the screen only seen in totally dark room, to covering 70% for the entire screen from top to bottom easily seen in bright sunlite room. When ever the engine was changed the pattern would change.

FYI, $688 at HHGregg for the 4266. Lowest I've ever seen Jeff! In for one myself if I can sell my 50" Hitachi RP-CRT 1080i set.

I just went by HHGregg last night and stumbled on this price.

I've been looking at a family room TV for months. This deal was good enough to convince me. I did get the 5 year coverage plan at $199. With 3 little kids at home, I figure that I may need this.

I brought it home last night.

I also have a Sony 60A2000 in the basement. I think the Sony looks a little better on SD. Hard to tell since I'm comparing 60" vs 42".

If I start up the SERVICE MENU after shutting the TV down on HDMI input and adjust the screen from left to right will that effect my other inputs as well or just the HDMI b/c its the only one off centered.

I haven't been on this forum for a few months. However, I would like to ask everyone's advice on something. I have had the HLS 4266 for about 10 months now. The screen has developed a "wavey" section near the top right. I do not have a center speaker or top of the TV, just a small TERK antenna. So the "wave" was not caused by any weight on the top. My question is whether, if I have a technichian come out and verify the problem, what are the chances that I could swap the TV out for something like the 46" version? I have looked back at the posts over the past few months and see more and more problems with the 42" version. My TV, like most others in this forum, has some "black grass," although you really have to look hard to see it. I am just wondering if there is a way that I can cut my losses with the 4266 and get Samsung to trade me up to the 4666 or something similar. Has anyone on this forum been able to work out such a trade? Any imput would be appreciated.

Theo-Prof. Samsung may have poor telephone support and on-line techs, and the in field Samsung Certified Techs have possibly never even seen a TV before. But when it is all said and done (and it could take six months!), when you do finally get a tech out, to confirm the problem, and "you" force them (the in-house tech man) and "demand" they get a response back from Samsung.....Samsung will (one way or another step up to the plate) get the problem fixed. If the plastic cabinet has become "wavey" then I doubt they would do anything. If you are saying the picture has become "wavey" then something should be done to correct the problem, and that could include a replacement set of some kind?

Be sure to have the in house tech document and write everything down on the repair ticket that is wrong with the TV, and that he "must" report this back to Samsung all those things that are wrong, and get yourself a copy of that repair ticket, each and every time they come out to the house..........without it you are toast.

...according to the local Samsung Certified Tech Expert?, that claims he has replaced 9 screens in the Houston area for HL-S4266, and it never corrected the problem nor changed it.

To get back to our black grass conversation, unless the screen pack is re-designed and has a new part number, you can replace screens all day long with the same design-defective part and will not correct the black grass problem. Just my $0.02--I still think it's caused by the screen pack.

If you ever get the chance, try this; On a 4266 that has bad black grass, remove the screen pack and reassemble the set with no screen pack. Place the set with the projector output facing a white wall or a projector screen (within 1-foot of the wall or screen). Turn on the set on and you will not see any black grass on the wall or projector screen.

Bottom line, it seems to have nothing to do with the light engine.

On "one" set of changes in mine, they claim they did that, when they took it in........it still had black grass projection on the wall...........(replaced both chassis). The black grass never changed with the power control block change; but it always changed with the light engine change.

The only reason I know that is because when they brought back to me, the image was upside down and backwards.........and the delievery man had to call in to enter the code to reverse the picture and make it right side up again. They claim the image was bigger; but very pale in regard to the black lines. They referred to it as "rising star" pattern or "sun-burst" pattern.

Sorry it has only to do with the engine.

My set has been moved from room to room with absolutely no change..........then in 3 light engine changes; each rising star pattern was completely different, not even close.

I just went by HHGregg last night and stumbled on this price.

I've been looking at a family room TV for months. This deal was good enough to convince me. I did get the 5 year coverage plan at $199. With 3 little kids at home, I figure that I may need this.

I brought it home last night.

I also have a Sony 60A2000 in the basement. I think the Sony looks a little better on SD. Hard to tell since I'm comparing 60" vs 42".

Any "Black Grass"? Can u give me a review? Pics of your new setup? I'm really thinking about buying this set, need a little bit of pursuasion (can't spell).

I have a Hitachi 51f59A RP CRT HDTV that I'm about to sell and I'm leaning at purchasing this 4266 through HHGregg. Does anyone know how these two sets compare? Are the 4266's DLP more vivid than the older CRT 51f59a technology?

I have a Hitachi 51f59A RP CRT HDTV that I'm about to sell and I'm leaning at purchasing this 4266 through HHGregg. Does anyone know how these two sets compare? Are the 4266's DLP more vivid than the older CRT 51f59a technology?
By far DLP is a much better choice than old style CRT rear projection.

By far DLP is a much better choice than old style CRT rear projection.

Better choice all around or for HD content only? I still watch alot of 480p DVD's and standard def cable, this stuff looks pretty good on my CRT. How does it look on the 720p native 4266w DLP?

I bought the Samsung HLS 5686 last August. I'm having problems with my tv shutting itself off anywhere from every 5 to 20 minutes. I contacted Samsung about it and they need a receipt to prove that I've had it less than a year. I ordered it from TV Authority without any problems last year. I've now searched and heard a lot of bad things about them. I can not get ahold of them by the phone number on their website. Says out of order or something. Anyone know how I could get ahold of them so I can reprint my receipt? Also, has anyone else's tv done this? Thanks

Picked up my 4266 today at HHGregg. Brought it home and quickly connected up my Prog. DVD player via component and my HD DVR cable box via component. Fired it up and my first reaction was.... meh, could be better! The picture was a little bit to digi or fuzzy for my liking and the colors were a little off, too much reddish orange in peoples faces. I played with the settings and got the colors that I wanted, but still wasn't happy with the fuzzyness so I played around even more. The picture was pretty decent at best until I remembered that the cable box was set to 1080i from my former Hitachi 1080i 51f59. I quickly made the change to 720p and the difference was astonishing!!! I couldn't believe what I've been missing. This DLP is soooooo much better than the old CRT RP HDTV that I had. The Discovery channel looks 10x's better on this set. SD looks just as good, maybe only with a little digital look to the picture, but still really good.

Any tips for Out-of-the-box adjustments would be really helpful and appriciated. Contrast? Brightness? Dynamic or standard? anything...

I did notice a couple problems and I'll post a pic tomorrow to show you what I mean. The ESPNHD logo is almost off of the bottom of the screen. Almost half of the logo is cutoff. Is this overscan? This is the only logo that is out of wack, it wasn't like that on my other HDTV so I don't think it's the box, but I may be wrong...Also, when viewing 4:3 content, the left grey sidebar is thicker at the top than it is on the bottom and the right sidebar kinda tails to the right at the bottom half of the bar. The 4:3 picture is almost like a keystone or trapazoid shape, not much only I can notice it.

Oh yeah, very minimal black grass. You can't see it when watching video, only when there is a black screen and like I said it is very "faint". You really have to get up close to even see it.

This is a really great set, I'm really happy with it. The picture is awesome the look is really nice. Looks good on my expresso colored TV stand. I'll post pics tomorrow.

The build date is March 2007. Is there any updates that I should add?

I've had my HL-S4266 a year now and I really love it. For almost all my viewing, I use the Movie setting, everything at its default setting, with the exception of the Color Tone, which I set to Normal. On very bright sunny afternoons I occasionally use the Standard setting, also with everything at its default setting, with the exception of the Color Tone, which I set to Normal.

For audio I always use the Movie setting with SRS TrueSuround set to ON.

All I can suggest is to set Film Mode to ON for standard definition TV (its automatic, you can leave it ON all the time) and get a DVD player with an HDMI interface. HDMI keeps the DVD signal digital to the TV connection. The TV then (up)converts the digital to analog.

Enjoy!

Yes AGREEN like Steve said use movie mode and make your adjustments from there b/c Movie Mode uses more ACCURATE colors thant he other modes.

I agree movie mode does look very accurate and the PQ is really good, but man Dynamic is AWESOME! I keep switching between the two. How should I bump up the settings in Movie Mode to get that vivid picture that the Dynamic settings show? Discovery HD is just unbeliveable on this set in Dynamic... This is my 3rd HD set, and by far the best picture I've seen in my home. Very happy for only spending $688.

I have a 5086W. I currently have 2 HDMI devices (dish vp611 and playstation 3) plugged into the TV. both devices are sending audio through HDMI. I then have the tv's toslink optical OUT plugged into my onkyo receiver.

The problem is I can only get 2 channel output from the TV this way.

Does anyone know if it's possible to pass-through 5.1 dolby digital from HDMI to toslink?

I thought since it was a digital signal it would just pass all of the information, but perhaps not. I just want to know if there is a setting in the service menu or something or if I'm just barking up the wrong tree and should pony up for a new receiver with multiple optical and HDMI switching.

I have a 5086W. I currently have 2 HDMI devices (dish vp611 and playstation 3) plugged into the TV. both devices are sending audio through HDMI. I then have the tv's toslink optical OUT plugged into my onkyo receiver.

The problem is I can only get 2 channel output from the TV this way.

Does anyone know if it's possible to pass-through 5.1 dolby digital from HDMI to toslink?

I thought since it was a digital signal it would just pass all of the information, but perhaps not. I just want to know if there is a setting in the service menu or something or if I'm just barking up the wrong tree and should pony up for a new receiver with multiple optical and HDMI switching.For the record, I also have a 5086W. The only way I think you'll get DD5.1 out of the optical output is if the DD5.1 input is from a signal received by antenna (over the air or OTA). Otherwise the audio is converted to 2 channels which is appropriate for the TV's speakers.

Since it sounds like the receiver doesn't have HDMI connections, leave the vp611 and PS3 connected as they are, disconnect the optical cable from the the TV and receiver and hook up digital audio cables (coax or audio) from the vp611 and PS3 to the receiver. I assume the Onkyo has at least 2 digital audio inputs. This lash up will require switching audio on the receiver and video on the TV when you you switch sources.

The one thing I noticed is with DYNAMIC blacks are slightly less black. Like go to a blank screen like COMPONENT 1 one were its all black and cycle through all the color modes with the P. MODE button and you notice the black screen gets slightly more greyish when turned to dynamic even if you turn brightness and contrast all the way down to 50 its still slightly less black then the other modes.

searched through the thread and can't find any settings for using this set with an Xbox 360. If anyone has any settings that they'd like to share I'd appriciate it. Thanks.

hwo is your set hooked up component/vga/or HDMI? I'm hooked up through component and these are my settings on the 4266W.

Set the 360 to 720p
Set Tv to Movie mode and adjust following.
Brightness 42
Contrast 55
Sharpness 25
Color 45
Color tone 50
Color Temp Normal

Hi all,

Please help! I have a HLS-5686W. Overall I like the set, but I can't seem to find settings that look good and don't give me crushed blacks. I started with Eliab's recommended settings:

Mode - Movie
Contrast - 40
Brightness - 45
Sharpness - 0
Color - 45
Tint - MID
Color Tone - Warm 2
Digital NR - OFF
DNIe - OFF

Then ran thru DVE's contrast and brightness adjustments, these came out very close to Eliab's recommendations. The colors look very accurate and natural, but when watching Without a Trace in HD, for example, all the FBI agents' dark suits look like black blobs. On the Sammy 42" plasma I just got, that is not the case.

I set the gamma to 0 in the SM, no help. If I bump the brightness up enough to see the details, it washes everything out.

Can anyone offer any other suggestions, short of paying for a full pro calibration?

Thanks for any advice.

Unfortunately with are sets we have a low contrast ratio, comparing this set to a Plasma just isnt fair.

Just out of curiousity, was it finally confirmed that the HLS 720p series do not have 1:1 mapping mode for HDMI/component? I spent the past hour wondering why I couldn't get the PC desktop to display quite right on my HL-S5086W.

Over analog-VGA, if I set my NVidia 7900GS to display 1280x720p60, the fonts suffer this ugly blockiness, as if they are upscaled a small amount. In this mode, the TV's PSIZE button only offers two choices: 16x9 or 4x3.

Quite by accident, I used the NVidia drivers to create a custom resolution, 1280x720p59. Doing this, the TV's PSIZE options changed! :Wide TV: Wide PC: 4x3. The strangely-named 'Wide TV' mode performs a perfect 1:1 mapping (clean fonts on-screen.) Of course, a portion of the screen is cutoff (including the toolbar.)

The HDMI2 input (labeled HDMI/DVI) didn't work at all with my 720p59 custom resolution. I could only drive it with either 720p or 1080i, and both modes suffer the fuzzy text. (Since the TV is 1280x720 native, the 1080i mode is mostly unreadable, as expected.)

Has anyone gotten a calibrator to get 1:1 pixel mapping on your set by adjusting the overscan? or do they say its not gonna happen?

I've got an odd problem--I've had my Samsung HLS5086W since May. All of a sudden, every time I go to an HD channel, the TV basically freezes, shuts down, restarts (the tone indicating a restart sounds), and pops back on with the new channel.

Does anybody have any ideas? It is getting really annoying.

^ wow, that's weird. I don't have that problem, but a problem I do have is if I turn the TV off, and then try to turn it right back on, it doesn't come on right away, the screen sort of flickers on and off for a bit and a shrill buzzing sound is heard from the back. USually it will then turn on OK, but one time it turned on, but the sound didn't, and the TV had to be turned on and off again to get sound to work.

IS this maybe something to do with having too many things plugged into the power brick, and thereby making the TV unhappy when i turn it on quickly after turning it off? Or, is it a problem with the TV itself?

...if I turn the TV off, and then try to turn it right back on, it doesn't come on right away...
Greetings,
Every caution warning in the owners manual and all over these forums say that you shouldn't rapidly cycle the lamp based dlp's on and off.
You need to let the lamp cool down about 30 seconds or until the cooling fan stops before turning it back on again.
YMMV,
b.

Hello!

I have had my HLS5086WX/X since 3/17/07. Over the past few weeks, I have noticed a "glow" around white objects in the center portions of the screen. I was watching the Chargers and their white helmets in the center of the screen had the glow effect but did not on the edges.

Is this something I should have some one look at or is there a setting that is off?

Hello!

I have had my HLS5086WX/X since 3/17/07. Over the past few weeks, I have noticed a "glow" around white objects in the center portions of the screen. I was watching the Chargers and their white helmets in the center of the screen had the glow effect but did not on the edges.

Is this something I should have some one look at or is there a setting that is off?

What you *may* be seeing is external light such as a lamp that gets reflected back out of the set in the approximate center of the screen---and its normal. There was something mentioned about it in either the owners manual or an insert that came in the owners manual package.

Thanks for your reply. I just tested it. The TV is in my basement and there are not windows. I turned off all the lights and I still get the same effect on the TV.

^ wow, that's weird. I don't have that problem, but a problem I do have is if I turn the TV off, and then try to turn it right back on, it doesn't come on right away, the screen sort of flickers on and off for a bit and a shrill buzzing sound is heard from the back. USually it will then turn on OK, but one time it turned on, but the sound didn't, and the TV had to be turned on and off again to get sound to work.

IS this maybe something to do with having too many things plugged into the power brick, and thereby making the TV unhappy when i turn it on quickly after turning it off? Or, is it a problem with the TV itself?

I've started to hear the same sound once and awhile also, it's making me nervous...

Thanks for your reply. I just tested it. The TV is in my basement and there are not windows. I turned off all the lights and I still get the same effect on the TV.

Try lowering the sharpness.

I have tried that as well. It seems no matter where I set the video settings I still see that effect in the same area of the picture. Is it possible that dust ont he bulb could be causing this?

Well, I've been waiting for over two weeks now for the local repair shop (the only one within 45 minutes drive that services Samsung TV's under warranty) and according to the guy at the shop they won't be out anytime soon either... very frustrating.

Anyway, my TV (HL-S4266w) is giving me the three flashing light which usually means a blown lamp... however, the repair guy over the phone asked me turn on the set and to look at the back, and sure enough the lamp came on for a few seconds and the then the TV would power down. He said it was probably the light engine, but we won't know for sure until someone comes out to look at it.

Has anyone else had this problem? What can I expect in terms of it being repaired? As in, will a local TV shop be able to do this or am I in for a long ordeal.

Hello to all, question i own a samsung dlp 50' since all theses unit are with mirrors... and like all equipment that are like wise..... how are the mirrors clean, logical... they must get dirty? and need cleaning, so who and how? thanks all

Well, I've been waiting for over two weeks now for the local repair shop (the only one within 45 minutes drive that services Samsung TV's under warranty) and according to the guy at the shop they won't be out anytime soon either... very frustrating.

Anyway, my TV (HL-S4266w) is giving me the three flashing light which usually means a blown lamp... however, the repair guy over the phone asked me turn on the set and to look at the back, and sure enough the lamp came on for a few seconds and the then the TV would power down. He said it was probably the light engine, but we won't know for sure until someone comes out to look at it.

Has anyone else had this problem? What can I expect in terms of it being repaired? As in, will a local TV shop be able to do this or am I in for a long ordeal.


I currently have the same issue with my TV (HL-S5086W). Unfortunately i'm at the same stage (waiting for technician) as you are. It is also unfortunate that the first game of the NFL season is tonight! :-(

I'm also curious if anyone has had this issue before.

I've heard of a bad color wheel causing the 3 flashing lights, at least for the older models of sets. If you've got good high frequency hearing, you can hear a high pitched whine ramping up in frequency just like the sound of a camera flashing charging, followed by a short chirp when the set powers up. I haven't pulled apart my set to find out for sure, but that is probably the sound of the color wheel accelerating to speed and synchronizing itself to the lamp. If the set can't detect the color wheel spinning at the right speed, it will probably shut down to prevent the heat of the lamp from warping or burning the wheel.

my HLS5086W 50inch DLP picture began to darken and darken over the last 2 wks, even w the bright at 100 max.

bought 2/07 and 7 months later going stinks that 6months it is dying on me. should have got a sony instead

called Circuit City and sorucing B&K Electric to come out and look at it. Is the cause a bad LE or ltunnel like those on here are experiencing??? glad i got the 2 yr warranty. anyone experience with this shopn fron the wash dc metro area??? hopethey diagnose it to bring bACK the picture to where it shoul be

Hmm. I have not noticed any fading of the brightness of my TV. I was able to get into the Service Menu for my 5086W and noticed the lamp only had 1498 hours. That really seems like a small amount for my issue to be a lamp. I did remove the lamp and re-set it, but that had no positive outcome.

If my issue is the Lighting Engine, is that something that will take weeks, etc? Unfortunately my service appointment is not until 9/20.

the problem is the tv powers up the lights flash the bulb light and the stand-by light and the screen lights a little but there is no picture or sound i replaced the bulb no help and now the repair tech. is saying its the light engine... if it was the light engine i would still have a picture right? just with color blurs or bars... any help would greatly be appreciated

so i purchased a HL-S4266W...and its great but i have this same issue as this guy stated...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/archive/index.php/t-860505.html

basically when the background is black and there white image or text, 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.

is this a design flaw or can this be fixed or something? i agree i feel like it has something to do with a reflection of a mirror and i was thinking maybe light is reflecting back inside or some mirror is out of place?

any fixes?

Hmm. I have not noticed any fading of the brightness of my TV. I was able to get into the Service Menu for my 5086W and noticed the lamp only had 1498 hours. That really seems like a small amount for my issue to be a lamp. I did remove the lamp and re-set it, but that had no positive outcome.

If my issue is the Lighting Engine, is that something that will take weeks, etc? Unfortunately my service appointment is not until 9/20.

The Service Tech came out yesterday. He replaced my lamp and my issue was resolved. Really strange that the original lamp only lasted around 1500 hours. I'm glad that all is ok now though.

I recently bought a VGA cable for my 360 and I'm getting huge UNDERscan (black border) all the way around the whole picture. It completely eliminates overscan but it doesnt make use of the full screen is there anyway to fix this?

I recently bought a VGA cable for my 360 and I'm getting huge UNDERscan (black border) all the way around the whole picture. It completely eliminates overscan but it doesnt make use of the full screen is there anyway to fix this?

I have mine set to 1280x720 widescreen expanded

Guess I'll just stick with component =( funny thing is on my upscale DVD player HDMI has the same amount of overscan as component so it was weird to see alot of underscan with VGA. Good thing I didnt pay for this VGA cable...hehe...called MS and said I bought one 2 months ago and it stopped working and talked them into giving me a replacement. Screw the system whenever you can.

Guess I'll just stick with component =( funny thing is on my upscale DVD player HDMI has the same amount of overscan as component so it was weird to see alot of underscan with VGA. Good thing I didnt pay for this VGA cable...hehe...called MS and said I bought one 2 months ago and it stopped working and talked them into giving me a replacement. Screw the system whenever you can.

Works fine for me so I guess you get what you deserve for being dishonest..It's called karma:D

I have the HL-S4266W, and I have had it for a few months now. Well I guess this past weekend, my surround sound stopped receiving sound from the TV. It isn't the surround sounds fault either, as I tested a dvd through it as well as hooked my 360 audio straight into it, rather than through the TV and it works. So it seems to me like the component audio out on the TV has gone bad(that is my only explanation), has this happened to anyone else, or does anyone have some suggestions?

I have the HL-S4266W, and I have had it for a few months now. Well I guess this past weekend, my surround sound stopped receiving sound from the TV. It isn't the surround sounds fault either, as I tested a dvd through it as well as hooked my 360 audio straight into it, rather than through the TV and it works. So it seems to me like the component audio out on the TV has gone bad(that is my only explanation), has this happened to anyone else, or does anyone have some suggestions?

This happens on a semi-regular basis with my HLS-5686W. I just jumped on this forum to see if anyone else had this issue. To fix it I have to unplug the power cable from the tv and let it sit a few seconds and plug it back in.

Hi, My relatively new HLS5086W DLP set, purchased March 2007, has developed a much more noisy fan / operating noise.

When it was first set up, I would have to go behind the TV to even hear the soft whisper of the fan. Now, the TV has a mechanical hum from the fan's area.

Has anyone else noticed this increasing level of noise? It's been kept in a clean environment, but I haven't tried to clean the fan area out of fear that the excess dust/debris will end up deeper inside the TV.

Greetings,
Yes, I noticed, or perceived, an increase in operating noise a while back.
I opened up the case, retightened the boards and fans that were fastened to the chassis, and reassembled it.
I think it went back to it's old operating volume, but since I didn't think to measure it with a sound meter I couldn't be sure.
YMMV,
b.

Greetings,
Yes, I noticed, or perceived, an increase in operating noise a while back.
I opened up the case, retightened the boards and fans that were fastened to the chassis, and reassembled it.
I think it went back to it's old operating volume, but since I didn't think to measure it with a sound meter I couldn't be sure.
YMMV,
b.

Thanks for the info. I'll check things out some day.

Just wanted to let everyone know if you have a 360 get the VGA cable I was able to achieve 1:1 with it! The picture is so sharp now and no overscan! Couldnt believe I didnt think to use the PC settings area of the menu lol....

Is your TV the HLSxx86W for that VGA 360 connection? I have the 50 inch version and am interested in tweaking out as much as i can. I'm thinking about getting the VGA cables but don't' want to be disappointed in the difference.

Is it worth checking out?

Mine is the 66W but I'm sure your has the same PC section the greyed out and only accesible through VGA. I think you can buy the cord at Walmart and take it back if you dont like the result.

Cool, i think i will try that. I like the idea of my 360 upconverting my older dvds too. I have a decent collection of SD-DVDs and my HD-DVD collection is just starting off. Might as well get the most out of my equipment!

BTW i managed to 'calibrate' using HD-DVE and it looks 100 times better, especially after i lowered the sharpness. Very little noise can be seen now. :D

I've had the HLS4666W for a year, and I've been pretty pleased with it - with one glaring exception. HDMI doesn't appear to work, and I don't think it ever has. When presenting the box with an HDMI signal, it syncs up, I see the correct picture for between 1-2 seconds, then the picture disappears and the screen says "searching for signals".

Anyone ever see this problem? If I had to guess I'm thinking I have an early unit that might benefit from a firmware update.

Any ideas out there?

I've had the HLS4666W for a year, and I've been pretty pleased with it - with one glaring exception. HDMI doesn't appear to work, and I don't think it ever has. When presenting the box with an HDMI signal, it syncs up, I see the correct picture for between 1-2 seconds, then the picture disappears and the screen says "searching for signals".

Anyone ever see this problem? If I had to guess I'm thinking I have an early unit that might benefit from a firmware update.

Any ideas out there?

I had a similar problem with a different TV and receiving the Component signal. Turns out the DVD player I was using was the one broken (kept losing signal via component output) - The TV was fine.

Do you have another HDMI output source to verify the problem with the TV?

Yes - I have tried three different HDMI sources, all exhibit exactly the same behavior. The behavior is the same with both of the HDMI inputs also.

I just checked my lamp life in the service menu. (4266)
I am at 4260 hours / 1 year, 2 months, 10 days.
9.7 avg. hours of use per day.

I hope I'm not jinxing myself, but my PQ is excellent.
A couple weeks ago, a friend who had not seen my TV
before called the cowboys game "retina burning".

I'm gonna run her until she croaks.
When that day comes, I'll be back to update the thread.

Retina Burning?? Just out of curiosity how high do you have your contrast lol....I have mine at 45.

does anyone know of a way to adjust magenta values in the service menu? I can get red yellow green blue cyan all pretty spot on via CCA menu, but cant adjust magenta at all so that is always a bit off.

I just picked up a Toshiba A3 HD DVD player and was wondering what settings you guys have for output to the tv. Do you output 720p or 1080i? What has the better deinterlacer/scaler, the A3 or the Samsung Display?

Using a Samsung 4266W, I recently switched my connections and I'm no longer getting DD 5.1 through my Onkyo 503 receiver. From both my SA8300 cable box and my PS3 I am running HDMI to the set and using the optical out port from the 4266W to the receiver. DD 5.1 worked fine when running optical from both sources directly to the receiver. Does the Samsung unit not pass through DD 5.1?

I have a samsung HL-S5086W 50" DLP TV. Im tring to figure out the optimal settings for Color/Contrast/Brightness/Sharpness..

Can you guys share what your settings are and how SD / HD picture quality is with thoses settings?

On mine, the SD broadcasts look like total crap.. I have a very pixialted image. It looks like a bunch of little squares all over the screen and each square produces some color. Some call this macroblockng.. I call it bad picture quailty..

TIA

Drum on .. .. . . .

Using a Samsung 4266W, I recently switched my connections and I'm no longer getting DD 5.1 through my Onkyo 503 receiver. From both my SA8300 cable box and my PS3 I am running HDMI to the set and using the optical out port from the 4266W to the receiver. DD 5.1 worked fine when running optical from both sources directly to the receiver. Does the Samsung unit not pass through DD 5.1?

No, it does not pass DD 5.1.

No, it does not pass DD 5.1.
Thank you. Off to Monoprice to buy more optical cables.....

I have a samsung HL-S5086W 50" DLP TV. Im tring to figure out the optimal settings for Color/Contrast/Brightness/Sharpness..

Can you guys share what your settings are and how SD / HD picture quality is with thoses settings?

On mine, the SD broadcasts look like total crap.. I have a very pixialted image. It looks like a bunch of little squares all over the screen and each square produces some color. Some call this macroblockng.. I call it bad picture quailty..

TIA

Drum on .. .. . . .

I do have custom settings on My 42" using an AVIA disk, however, the Standard setting (as opposed to Dynamic) seems to provide a pretty good picture by default. I doubt my settings would help you being that my TV is a 4266 as opposed to a 5086.

I've got the 5686W, and I have some serious overscan on the bottom. I notice it mostly when watching ESPN or ABC Sports, because the 18/58 ticker has that little yellow line right at the bottom.

I think this may be caused by the center channel speaker that I've got sitting on top of the TV, because if i pick it up and push up on the TV, I can get the bottom of the screen into the viewable area. But the center channel isn't that heavy, and i'm not seeing any distortion at the top.

Is there a way to get into the service menu and adjust this dimension? I wanted to try that before cracking open the TV and seeing what that looks like.

How to access the service menu:
With the TV powered on, hit the following key sequence on the remote:

POWER, MUTE, 1, 8, 2, POWERhttp://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&&#post9778070

Side note going into the service menu will reset all of your settings to default on your TV.

Side note going into the service menu will reset all of your settings to default on your TV.
Yes, I noticed that... all is well, I was able to adjust my vertical alignment.

The following is what I got thru DVE calibration with my HL-S5086W (updated 5/15/2008):

BluRay (Panansonic BD30; 720p output: HDMI1):

"Movie"
Cont: 62
Bright: 52
Color: 44
Sharp: 35
Temp: Normal
Tint: 50/50
Dnr: off
Dnie: off

Direct TV HD (H21-200 HD Receiver; 720p output: Component1):

"Standard"
Cont: 62
Bright: 48
Color: 42
Sharp: 35
Temp: Normal
Tint: 50/50
Dnr: off
Dnie: off

S-DVD (Oppo DV-980H; 720p output: HDMI2):

"Custom"
Cont: 60
Bright: 42
Color: 48
Sharp: 35
Temp: Normal
Tint: 50/50
Dnr: off
Dnie: off

NOTES:

- If your picture seems flat, 2-dimensional, a little bland; try racheting up contrast/brightness. I have found that the "60 range" for contrast gives me good color pop without over-doing white scenes. This can also cure a lack of shadow detail that lower contrast/bright settings can cause.

- I found that leaving the HLS sharpness at 0 renders a too soft image with all of my sources/DVE. A setting of 35 brought focus without any white noise edges. I have checked/re-checked this dozens of times, and everytime 35 looks best.

- As a general rule, color is adjusted to DVE, then I tweak it for the most realistic images. I don't like over-saturated color.

Your settings wont help him on a bulb based HDTV otherwise we wouldnt need professional ISF calibrators to do each set.

Hey can anyone give me some settings for my HL-S4266W to maybe change to while playing 360 and watching HDDVDs? I want to see what you guys are using. Thanks

Hey can anyone give me some settings for my HL-S4266W to maybe change to while playing 360 and watching HDDVDs? I want to see what you guys are using. Thanks

Well, I have a 4266 and I believe my picture looks great when I use Game Mode with the 360. I believe I had it set on Standard, but I noticed that when I enable Game Mode it lists the picture as "Custom". Therefore, if I am not mistaken Game Mode takes over the settings. Nevertheless, it looks much better in Game Mode than the Standard settings or my Custom AVIA disk settings.

I also have an HD DVD player hooked up via HDMI and I use custom settings that I came up with using the AVIA disk. I will try to remember to write them down next time I am at my TV and post them here.

Well, I have a 4266 and I believe my picture looks great when I use Game Mode with the 360. I believe I had it set on Standard, but I noticed that when I enable Game Mode it lists the picture as "Custom". Therefore, if I am not mistaken Game Mode takes over the settings. Nevertheless, it looks much better in Game Mode than the Standard settings or my Custom AVIA disk settings.

I also have an HD DVD player hooked up via HDMI and I use custom settings that I came up with using the AVIA disk. I will try to remember to write them down next time I am at my TV and post them here.

if you could do that, it would be great. and BTW, how do you switch to Game Mode?

Does anyone out there have any type of cooling system they you use on your tv/entertainment center?

The DLP bulb gets really hot, and Im thinking of getting/making some type of cooling system but i dont know if theres anything out there that peple are using..

I want to be able to have a thermostat that will kick on some fans after it reaches a certain temp, then shutdown after it returns the set temp..

Anyone??

Does anyone out there have any type of cooling system they you use on your tv/entertainment center?

The DLP bulb gets really hot, and Im thinking of getting/making some type of cooling system but i dont know if theres anything out there that peple are using..

I want to be able to have a thermostat that will kick on some fans after it reaches a certain temp, then shutdown after it returns the set temp..

Anyone??

Sorry for the delay in responding. To get to Game Mode, from the TV Menu, to to Setup and you will see Game Mode there.

My Custom Settings for the 360 are:
Contrast 80
Brightness 55
Sharpness 50
Color 60
Tint G50R50
Color Temp Normal
DNR Off
DNIe Off

My Custom Settings for my HDMI HD DVD player are:
Contrast 70
Brightness 56
Sharpness 50
Color 43
Tint G45R55
Color Temp Normal
DNR Off
DNIe On

I don't remember why these are different settings, although I recall doing them at different times. Could be it is an imperfect science :-).

By the way, the default Movie settings for the HD DVD player are very good too, and I can't decide if I like them better than my custom settings.

Also, I will get flak for this, but when watching a movie (not playing games), I like DNIe enabled. I think it looks better.

I hope that helps.

I gaurenteed no matter how you have your 360 hooked up 60 for color is oversaturated.

Really? Can you elaborate why? I am pretty sure I followed the instructions properly using the AVIA disk; although the AVIA disk is a little old.

I have a HLS5086. Called Bet Buy service (thank you, extended warranty!) about troubles with dark pictures being displayed. On a dark movie scene or on a blank input (black) screen, picture would be quite a bit lighter towards the bottom of the screen, kind of like a vertical gradient from blackish to grey.

Service man ordered a new light engine after he inspected it. He installed it yesterday and it seemed fine, until I turned the TV on when the house was darker and I could see the picture looked worse on a dark screen. It looks nice for 3/4 of the screen, but on the left side there is a radial area of lighter grey. It almost seems like the gamma is too bright?


Beyond this, I discovered the horizontal picture alignment is off. On a 4:3 image, it is aligned off-center to the right.


Is there anything in the service menu to adjust these two issues before I call them again?


EDIT: I fixed the horiz position in the Service menu. There is still a slight warping of the sidebars, though. Black inconsistencies on blank input is still the same.

How do I turn off the overscan and center the image on my hl-s5086w. I know i have to go in to the service menu but i don't what to do once I'm in there.

How do I turn off the overscan and center the image on my hl-s5086w. I know i have to go in to the service menu but i don't what to do once I'm in there.

As far as I know, you cannot. The VGA input does 1:1 pixel mapping though if you are willing to sacrifice a small bit of screen area.

After answering that one, I have one of my own... can one disable the front controls? My kid loves turning the TV off/on. I don't want to wear down the fan/bulb more than necessary.

Hi, I'm new here and I have some questions.

I'll be straight up; I'm new to the HD game. I've googled trying to find what I need and haven't been able to find it. A friend pointed me here so I figured I'd ask.

Okay, my girl has a samsung HLS5086-wx. It's a nice TV but there are two problems.

One, the screen needs to be cleaned. We have a kid who has put his hands all over it so there's a blurry part on the screen (almost dead center lol) from his hand prints and I haven't been able to find any info about cleaning it beyond some product that samsung suggested on their website that I haven't been able to find.

Two, I hooked up my ps2 to the tv through my reciever via component and it looks TERRIBLE. My xbox hooked up via hdmi looks great, and my DVD player is kinda iffy. It supposedly can upscale, but I have no idea how to turn that on, but it's hooked up via hdmi as well.

Anyway, my ps2 looks TERRIBLE. My game cube looks TERRIBLE. I still would like to enjoy these systems but playing the games like that makes me want to slap some one. I've looked and looked and looked and I can't figure out how to make the TV change from 720p to 480p or 480i. I've googled and I see people talk about it, but I can't figure out how to do it. can anybody here help me? I will be soooooo greatful.

Thanks.

XBOX supports widescreen and 480p for all of its games the PS2 and Dreamcast does not so your watching SD content on HDTV which is why it looks like crap.

Yeah, I know that. The reason behind that part of my post was that I was trying to figure out if I could change the resolution of the screen from 720p to something like 480p or 480i so I could play my games without them looking so terrible. I figured it would cut the sides off and display in 4:3 but I'm fine with that. As it is, even with setting the ps2 to 16:9 there is still terrible warping and the games look horrible. I don't want to buy a ps3 just to have my games look decent on my tv.

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, I know that. The reason behind that part of my post was that I was trying to figure out if I could change the resolution of the screen from 720p to something like 480p or 480i so I could play my games without them looking so terrible. I figured it would cut the sides off and display in 4:3 but I'm fine with that. As it is, even with setting the ps2 to 16:9 there is still terrible warping and the games look horrible. I don't want to buy a ps3 just to have my games look decent on my tv.

Thanks for the reply.
The TV will automatically display the video in the native resolution of the set (720p) and will upconvert lesser resolutions. I am thinking that the reason you see warping is that you don't have the television set to the proper aspect ratio. You should be set to 4:3 when playing PS2, and you should not be zoomed in. This will have the pillar bars on the side, but will display the proper aspect ratio.

I have played everything from NES, SNES, and Gamecube on my television, and it looks like I'd expect it to. The Wii (which supports 480p-wide) properly plays in widescreen.

I switched it to 4:3 and it looks a bit better. Thanks for the help.

Not quite sure if this should go in the XBox forum or here, but since I think it's more TV-related, I'll go here.

First the setup:

Samsung HLS6186 DLP
XBox 360 Pro

What I attempted to do was hook the XB360 to the TV via HDMI, then use the TOSLINK audio out to the receiver. However, no audio was passed through. I had the internal speakers muted on the TV, and I tested the TOSLINK cable on another component straight into the receiver. Does the HDMI on the TV itself not support audio?

Not quite sure if this should go in the XBox forum or here, but since I think it's more TV-related, I'll go here.

First the setup:

Samsung HLS6186 DLP
XBox 360 Pro

What I attempted to do was hook the XB360 to the TV via HDMI, then use the TOSLINK audio out to the receiver. However, no audio was passed through. I had the internal speakers muted on the TV, and I tested the TOSLINK cable on another component straight into the receiver. Does the HDMI on the TV itself not support audio?

The TV it self does not pass auido out if using HDMI in. Best to connect the audio of the 360 directly to the A/V receiver.

I have the HL-5086W, and it only passes 2.0 digital stereo though optical output.

Here is the situation, I have 1775 hours on the current lamp that is in my HLS4266W that I bought almost two years ago and the picture has started to become dark and I can't seem to get any setting to produce the picture that this tv once produced. I believe that the bulb is going bad, so I was going to buy a new one. My question lies in how does the bulb go bad so fast? I think I have pin pointed when the bulb started to go bad and why, but I was curious if I could be correct. We started to unplug the TV from the back each night after we turned the TV off (wife is big on conserving energy), and than would plug it back in when we wanted to watch TV. Could this cause damage to the bulb? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

Here is the situation, I have 1775 hours on the current lamp that is in my HLS4266W that I bought almost two years ago and the picture has started to become dark and I can't seem to get any setting to produce the picture that this tv once produced. I believe that the bulb is going bad, so I was going to buy a new one. My question lies in how does the bulb go bad so fast? I think I have pin pointed when the bulb started to go bad and why, but I was curious if I could be correct. We started to unplug the TV from the back each night after we turned the TV off (wife is big on conserving energy), and than would plug it back in when we wanted to watch TV. Could this cause damage to the bulb? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

Most likely- the bulb housing has a fan to cool down the the bulb after use. If you cool down to fast it can decrease the bulb life. I am curious why your wife thinks unplugging the tv saves energy?

Thank you for the information, I thought that was the most likely reason the bulb died more quickly than I would have thought. She is under the impression that most electronics draw energy even when they are off if they are plugged in. I know the energy wasted is minimal, but she still likes to conserve where she can. I guess from now on we will leave it plugged in and just replace this bulb.

She's right that most electronics do draw some power in stand-by mode, but the other poster is also right that unplugging the TV after use probably played a big part in shortening the life of your bulb.

I have an HL-S4265W and if you listen really closely, you can hear the fan continue to run for a few minutes after you shut the TV off. This is to allow the bulb to cool down properly. I *think* if you waited until the fan shuts off, you could probably safely unplug the TV after each use. Having said that, the environmental impact of prematurely dead bulbs going to landfills is probably greater than using a small amount of power in stand-by mode. I'd just leave it plugged in.

She's right that most electronics do draw some power in stand-by mode, but the other poster is also right that unplugging the TV after use probably played a big part in shortening the life of your bulb.

.....Having said that, the environmental impact of prematurely dead bulbs going to landfills is probably greater than using a small amount of power in stand-by mode. I'd just leave it plugged in.

The replacement cost of the bulb is at least 1000 times what may have been saved by unplugging:rolleyes:

I try to enter my service menu on my Samsung 5686 but it does nothing. I have the tv on, hit on my remote: power, mute, 1, 8, 2, power. It turns off and back on but I am not at any menu. Could someone please tell me what I am doing wrong.
Thanks.

I have a Samsung HL-S5086W which just developed this problem. After it is powered up, the "Lamp" light blink for a minute, no picure or sound. when any remote button is pressed, the "Timer" light blink once but nothing happens. I can see from back that the dlp bulb light is on. Replacing bulb does not seem to be the solution.

I can only power it off by pulling the plug.

The TV is 1.5 years old. It is not watched often. The hour of use is probably less than one hour.

Anyone know anything concerning this problem? Thanks in advance.

My Samsung HL-S5086W that I've had for about 1.5 years is starting to act up, it has worked flawlessly up to this point. When i turn it on, I get 3 blinking lights of death. According to the manual I need a new lamp.

If i hit the power button while the 3 blinking lights are flashing, It works just fine and the picture looks good.
Should i be worried?

Should i replace the lamp myself? From the instructions in the manual it seems pretty simple. I just don't wanna mess it up.

My 2 year old 50" Samsung HLS-5086 is acting up. I've had the bulb replaced because the TV is on quite a bit, it had 6000 hrs. on the bulb. Now for the new problem, which is getting progressively worse. I can see more and more black "dots" or flecks that form lines horizontally on the screen. These "dots" are very annoying and becoming more obvious. It started out just in the top right corner of the screen but is now becoming visible on the left and right sides of the screen. The lines of spots are approximately 3.4" apart. See link for pictures of the screen. Any thoughts on cause and solution ? I still have 2 years left on my extended warranty from BB.

ftp://ftp.rbagroup.com/pub/Non-Secure/Outgoing/images/screen1.jpg
ftp://ftp.rbagroup.com/pub/Non-Secure/Outgoing/images/screen2.jpg
ftp://ftp.rbagroup.com/pub/Non-Secure/Outgoing/images/screen3.jpg
ftp://ftp.rbagroup.com/pub/Non-Secure/Outgoing/images/screen4.jpg

My 2 year old 50" Samsung HLS-5086 is acting up. I've had the bulb replaced because the TV is on quite a bit, it had 6000 hrs. on the bulb. Now for the new problem, which is getting progressively worse. I can see more and more black "dots" or flecks that form lines horizontally on the screen. These "dots" are very annoying and becoming more obvious. It started out just in the top right corner of the screen but is now becoming visible on the left and right sides of the screen. The lines of spots are approximately 3.4" apart. See link for pictures of the screen. Any thoughts on cause and solution ? I still have 2 years left on my extended warranty from BB.

I have that same TV (samsung hl-s5086w) that I bought in Dec. 2006. I've only had it now for a year and a half and I have those same black lines/dots and in the same places as yours! I have no idea what could be causing this since I know it's not the lamp and they're getting progressively worse on my TV as well. Please let me know if you found out anything because I'm having the same exact problem and I haven't been able to find anything like it in any forums. :confused:

Posting this question for a friend. He has the HLS5086WX and I was wondering if anyone had their set calibrated and posted the settings or could post the settings? Thanks guys

My 2.5 year old HLS-5686 randomly shuts off now. I'm not sure if its because its overheating or not, but I'm about >< this close to calling Best Buy and acting on my 4 year warranty.

Actually, scratch that. I will. I paid for the dang thing, might as well use it.

I have a sammy hls-5086w and the bottom 1/4 of the screen is lighter than top
3/4 when on a full black screen or dark scene. I have seen two post's in this thread but no replies. I have an extended warranty to get tv fixed but I would like to have an idea of what the problem or fix may be. Any help would be appreciated.

same problem for me...lower 1/4 screen is lighter than the rest...dunno why.

help us guys

bye

I have two Samsung both have the same problem..

HLS4266WX/XAA has developed white 6 spots and numerous gray spots in the last week.
HLS 4676SX/XAA had developed the white spot problem about 2 months ago (16 white spots at last count mostly on left side of screen). Both purchased late 06 early 07 and used for three months and then in storage until I moved them to Mexico in April of this year. So not really 2 years of use out of them.

Anyone know what causes this problem and what the remedy is? thanks...george

The white and grey spots are most likely the light engine (I believe). I had the same problem and had to have it repaired under warranty. The repair guy replaced the entire light engine (I think that is what it was called). The repair guy said the light engine was very expensive, so it was a good thing I had a warranty on it.

By the way, I watched him replace it and it didn't look like something I would want to do on my own. He knew exactly which screws to remove and which cables to disconnect.

I am getting, an increasingly loud, electronic hum from the back of my hls4266w. Anyone else?

I searched the thread, didn't see any results.

My HL-S4266W is just under 2 years old, a coupe of months ago I notices some white spots. Call Samsung and did not get a good rep on the phone " you know it is a people world" no resolutions, since then I have many many more spots. I have several Samsung products large tv, blue ray and monitors. this is the 1st real problem that I have encountered.

**** I see that Georgetoo is having this problem, any one else???. this may start popping up if it is associated to a particular run of a processor or such.****

If any of you repair types have any input now is the time!!!

Hello,

I just replaced my color wheel in my HL-R4667W with the new "air bearing" type. TV is working fine now. However, I need to adjust the settings per the new values that came with the color wheel. Through the service menu, I can find and set the x and y values, but not the Lv. Can someone point me in the right direction on where to find and set Lv?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Greetings all. I own the aforementioned 5686 connected to a ps3 via hdmi cable. I have a few questions about the video settings I can change on the ps3. It's not like I'm lazy, I just don't get "it".

Can I just ask a couple of questions and see if anyone knows:

1. When watching a movie, do I want it to be output from the ps3 as rgb or Y Pb/Cb Pr/Cr?? I "think" it looks better as Y Pb/Cb Pr/Cr but I'd like someone else's opinion.

2. Do I want to have the rgb be full or limited?

3. Do I want to enable "super-white" via hdmi?

I have dabbled with these settings and what has worked for me so far is playing games with full rgb and super-white on. I have not checked this for movies yet. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

I am having the EXACT same problem as bpephh and georgetwoo. Over the last 3 weeks or so my ~2year old HLS5086W has developed about 16 little random white spots all over the border of the screen and now has 2 dots that are started to encroach further towards the middle of the screen.

I posted a thread of my own asking if anyone had encountered this problem. I wonder if there is a defect in the TV and everyones units will start to have this problem. My thread is here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1086694

and details the few cleaning steps I have taken to try and fix the problem thus far.

By chance, do either of you smoke anything inside your homes? (not just cigs, but perhaps incense or other things...?)

Here is a picture of what I am talking about. The dots appear more blue than they really are because of a nearby lightsource.
http://home.earthlink.net/~barney316/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/tv.jpg

I own the hls5086w and just posted a note regarding proper settings for the ps3. But I have another issue that has been occurring.

I have noticed that scenes with items in them that are supposed to be white and highly reflective, I get an area of total whiteout. I have noticed this on football jerseys in hd during night games. The light from the stadium is reflecting off the white of the jerseys and those areas are completely washed out. Also noticed it last night watching sd tv during a commercial. I also get it on my ps3. I'm not sure its there during a movie but it is definitely there with the spinning earth while listening to music and watching the spinning earth screen saver. The scenes I notice are when the sun is supposed to be reflecting off the earth...it just looks like molten silver or white, a total wash out of white.

I'm not an expert but I've adjusted the contrast and brightness to no avail.

I guess I'm writing more to find out if this sounds like a potentially big problem seeing as I am three months away from my 2 yr. warranty expiring.

Feel free to write back and tell me I'm nuts too.

Thanks.

Edit: I have both dnie and dnr off. My contrast and brightness are both somewhere in the 50s depending on the source. I have been watching more tv than ever with this 21 month old tv and I'm thinking perhaps I just never noticed this before. But I would like to catch a potential problem before next March for warranty's sake. Thanks again.

I have a Samsung HL-S4265W that was working flawlessly last night and today won't turn on. I can hear the color wheel spin up, but nothing is ever displayed. I thought it might be the bulb, but shouldn't the "Lamp" indicator be flashing? Nothing unusual is happening EXCEPT for no picture. Any ideas before I order a new bulb?

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Jimmy, if I were you I would call and/or email Samsung about this, as well, before ordering a bulb -- especially since the lamp indicator ISN'T flashing.

First, are you CERTAIN you're reading the lights right (I'd have to check my manual to know what they mean, as I've had no problems yet and not read it since I bought my unit almost two years ago).

Second, just because they're not flashing the appropriate signal for a burned-out bulb, DOESN'T mean it's not burned out. As we all know, electrical/electronic warning signals don't always work. On several occasions I've had the misfortune to have two things go bad at once. It's even possible your warning lights NEVER functioned properly, but you had no way of knowing because you never had a burned-out bulb before.

But I STRONGLY AGREE with you that you DON'T want to spend $200 or more on a bulb IF you don't need it, although you WILL need one eventually. I say this because I ALSO THINK that those of us who opted to save the $$$ up-front by buying DLP when LCD was still way more expensive MIGHT decide by the time our bulbs DO go to just go ahead and replace the sets with an LCD... OR the bulbs MIGHT be less expensive, IF demand has declined, so I agree you want to wait until you REALLY DO need the bulb to buy it.

If it COULD be another issue besides a bulb, hopefully another Samsung DLP owner will have a REAL answer for you, other than my ramblings... I just thought I'd throw out a couple of thoughts.

Good luck. Hope you don't have to spend too much and Happy Holidays!
Jeff

Hi Jeff,

Thanks very much for your reply. I'm back to report that everything is working properly again, at least for the time being (knock on wood). I went back to try the TV shortly after my original post and it turned on fine and has been working normally ever since. I wish I knew what the problem was though, even if it isn't doing it now.

The only theory I have is this (and this is just wild speculation): I had a number of things running on the same circuit at the time I tried to turn the TV on, including my receiver, my satellite box, my Felston, a water cooler, all the lights in the room and, perhaps most importantly, a space heater. Before I tried the TV again, I turned off and unplugged the space heater. When I did, the lights in the room got noticably brighter. Then I turned the TV on and it worked fine. Could it be that there was too much draw on the circuit and the TV either couldn't or wouldn't turn on the lamp? Perhaps it's designed that way to protect the lamp in some way?

I don't know. Like I say, that's a wild, uneducated guess. But that space heater is the only variable I changed between when the TV wouldn't work and when it would.

And I agree with you on the lamp. I don't want to buy one until I absolutely have to. Based on the amount I use the TV, I'm hoping I can get another two years or so out of the orginal lamp. By that point, if replacement lamps still cost $200, I'll probably replace the whole TV with an LCD.

Jim

Well, I've been waiting for over two weeks now for the local repair shop (the only one within 45 minutes drive that services Samsung TV's under warranty) and according to the guy at the shop they won't be out anytime soon either... very frustrating.

Anyway, my TV (HL-S4266w) is giving me the three flashing light which usually means a blown lamp... however, the repair guy over the phone asked me turn on the set and to look at the back, and sure enough the lamp came on for a few seconds and the then the TV would power down. He said it was probably the light engine, but we won't know for sure until someone comes out to look at it.

Has anyone else had this problem? What can I expect in terms of it being repaired? As in, will a local TV shop be able to do this or am I in for a long ordeal.

I had the same lamp on briefly, TV "power down" situation with the then 3-flashing LED's on my HL-S4266W...Samsung and local repair tech both said it is usually the lamp. Replaced and all is as -Good As New-! :D

Ted

1. HLS4266W will power on
2. Will display picture
3. Display blinks when a button is pressed on the remote
4. But the TV doesn't respond to the buttons on itself or the remote and does nothing

I can not change inputs. It's stuck on PC, but that works just fine. So there is some sort of connection missing between the tv's command receiving and application. It's like it hears me speaking to it, vibrating my ear drum, but the nerve telling my brain it's sound is inoperable. Right?

Hoping for a response. Impatiently.

edit: Forgot to write the strangest part. There is a little button under my power button that if I press the tv will turn on and off. But if I use that button to turn it off, it will turn on by me pressing the "source" button on the side of the tv. So it does connect. There is some serious miscommunication.

My 2 year old HLS4666 died 2 weeks ago. Would not turn on. All 3 lights on the front flashed.

Best Buy took 8 days to come out & look at it under my 4-year warranty. Tech replaced the bulb to no avail.
Then he ordered:
Lamp Ballast - Received today
Color Wheel - Received today
Light Engine - Still on order. Expected "within 2 weeks", then who knows how long to re-schedule service :(

4-6 weeks is a ridiculous amount of time to fix a TV when there are only 4 possible parts to replace.

Is there a standard light engine for these things? or a place to find part numbers? I'd like to see if I would be able to order it faster (not that I will) or if they're really that far out for delivery.

I really hate to admit this, because I've been very pleased with MY Samsung DLP (which I generally DON'T run if there's nobody to watch it, due to the bulb/light engine burnout potential), BUT with the major price drops on LCDs and the fact that I DIDN'T buy an extended warranty, when and if IT fails, I'll quite likely just buy a replacement LCD of larger, better, 1080P variety (take my time and get something good on sale, using an older standard Tube TV sitting unused currently in the meantime), and THEN look into how much fixing the Samsung will be and if I feel it's worth it AFTER I get the new set.

I mean, you can get a really GOOD 42" (which is what my DLP is) LCD on sale for about $700 on sale these days, and I saw some pretty decent looking 52" LCD 1080Ps on sale at the $1,000 price point during the Christmas shopping season.

It's a REAL SHAME, though, that you pay all that money for an extended warranty and then have to wait THAT LONG for repairs!
Jeff

I asked them today about any timeframe they allow for repairs. I mean what if the part is backordered for 6 months. That'd be ridiculous. They said that if the technician determines he can't make repairs, he can direct a new/replacement TV. Hmmm.... hard for him to do if he doesn't come out again until the parts are in!

I found a site with some parts and the light engine is $900, and the color wheel & ballast are another $200 combined. Hard to believe they would even attempt to replace that much on a TV that only cost $1200 when new 2 years ago, and when I can buy a "better" new TV for what they'll spend in parts (retail price of course).

I really hate to admit this, because I've been very pleased with MY Samsung DLP (which I generally DON'T run if there's nobody to watch it, due to the bulb/light engine burnout potential), BUT with the major price drops on LCDs and the fact that I DIDN'T buy an extended warranty, when and if IT fails, I'll quite likely just buy a replacement LCD of larger, better, 1080P variety (take my time and get something good on sale, using an older standard Tube TV sitting unused currently in the meantime), and THEN look into how much fixing the Samsung will be and if I feel it's worth it AFTER I get the new set.
Ditto here. Absolutely love my 3 year old 56" DLP, but for what I paid for it at the time and what I could get today, my next TV will either be a LCD or a projector. I do however have the 4 year Best Buy warranty, so if it fails I will definitely be trying to get it fixed.

Despite this, Samsung makes bar-none the best television ever.

Yeah, when I bought my DLP, purchase price was THE ONLY bottom line for me (and I got it for $900, which was a KILLER DEAL 2 years ago -- although someone on this forum PMd me that CC HAD run an online-only sale on it on Black Friday for $800, which I never knew about until WAY after the fact).

But at today's prices and price differential, just the extra cost of electricity, alone, of running a DLP easily makes up the price difference in the first year, I think -- much less the cost the very first time you have to replace that $200 bulb (they're less for some brands -- a friend replaced the one in his 52" RCA set for $99 plus shipping).

Still, given a well-made set that's NOT a factory lemon, the MTBF on a GOOD LCD will have it lasting probably 10-15 years, in which time most of us would have replaced the bulb in a DLP set at least 2 or 3 times, if not also the light engine. By then, we can only hope OLED will be developed to the point it's available in large screens at reasonable prices... I still don't know much about that technology, but it's supposed to blow both Plasma AND LCD out of the ballpark!
Jeff

I have a S5086w. Purchased in Feb of 2007.
It has been fantastic, and I use DirecTV.
HD quality is excellent.
However, what I am starting to notice now more than ever is the darker images are starting to have a shadowy effect. Even if I play DVD's. I don't seem to have this problem on any of the HD channels...it still looks clear and colors and figures are really defined.
However, on DVD movies or other various channels...I am not getting a real clear color picture...on darker scenes.
It is kind of like that movie or commercials where the people are colored in rather than the actual person. You get this haze in darker pictures.
Tough to explain.
If there is a darker scene...and say for example a person is looking at you head on...the lighted area is clear on the person's face, the other side seems to have a colored in look, rather than clearly defined. There is a glow to other scenes that are somewhat dark...wouldnt say a rainbow affect, but if you have ever seen picture or video of the Northern Lights, how those colors glow and move somewhat....that is kind of like what I am getting on most channels.
Sorry to ramble, but it is hard to explain.
Any idea what could be the cause? Bulb going bad? Light engine?
Any advice would be helpful.

I've recently noticed a strange occurrence on my DLP rear projection TV. Over the past few days I've noticed when I first turn on the TV there are some lines of resolution on the left and right edges of the screen that are just missing, for lack of a better word. There are about 4 or 5 thin lines on each edge of the screen extending about 3 or 4 inches from the edge towards the center of the TV. They are just blank spots and it's like part of those lines of resolution are missing. After about 5 or 10 minutes of the TV being on everything goes back to normal and works fine for as long as I have the TV on. Because it gets better after a few minutes I didn't know if maybe it was a sign of a failing lamp that is just taking longer to fire up but it's strange that it only affects those few small areas. I have about 7000 hours on the lamp.

Has anyone experienced something like this or know what might be causing it?

I went into the service menu to check my lamp hours. I was trying to be very careful not to change anything but the factory reset was right at the top and when I hit the back button to get out it went through the factory reset.

So my question is, what did it actually reset to? If it just reset to the settings that were there when I first got the TV then I'm fine because I have never made any changes in the service menu. Would it have changed anything beyond that?

I have a big problem with my set. Not sure if it's developed over time or what, or if it's supposed to be this way

The rotation and sizing is way off. I finally got a blu ray player and popped in Wall-E, I did the home theater test and when I got to the part with the three rectangle boxes we had a problem. 1. I could only see two of the boxes. 2. Of the two I could see, the bottom right corner of the outer most was off screen. My entire picture is kind of rotated to the right some.

I went into the service menu to try and find a way to rotate it, and messed around with the vertical and horizontal picture. I was able to move it to the left or right either way about 2 inches, same with vertical and horizontal.

Now I don't know if it's supposed to be this way, I can see sports scoreboards fine and none of the ESPN HD logo is cut off(for your reference)

But the fact I could only see 2/3 rectangle bothers me.

Suggestions please. I have the warranty so I might just call them out.

Tech came back out yesterday to install the Light Engine, Lamp Ballast & Color Wheel that he ordered a few weeks ago after an unsuccessful lamp replacement.

Verdict: It's DEAD. Replace under the extended warranty.

Don't ya kinda just wish they'd give you the $$$ value in a CREDIT to get a new LCD set, DC? I mean, while the DLP sets do a pretty decent job, they're not as energy efficient and they DO have that problem with light engines and bulbs that burn out and have to be replaced, and you KNOW the next time you have this problem your warranty WILL be expired.

At any rate, at least you WILL have a new (or more likely REFURBISHED set). Then again, if YOUR extended warranty cost anything close to what they were trying to sell one to ME for, you pretty well PAID for it.

Oh well, by the time it fails again, you'll likely have either already bought a nice LCD set and put this DLP in another room as a secondary unit, or you'll be able to. At least they DID finally come through and you didn't have to wait 6 months.

I have NO ISSUES with MY Samsung DLP, other than the fact that the REGULAR cable channels -- ESPECIALLY the low number channels on what would be BASIC CABLE if I didn't have a digital converter box -- look TERRIBLE -- but they also look terrible on my LCD HD set I have downstairs. I think somehow the digital cable box Charter is using just gives really POOR resolution on those channels to HD sets. I don't really worry about it, since I almost NEVER watch them, as most of them are available in the HD tier.
Jeff

Well, I bought my unit through Best Buy and I'm ending up with a "comparable" set which they deem to be a 50" 720p Panasonic Plasma. My extended warranty cost $250 when I bought it and I had to buy another one for the new TV.

The tech gave me a sheet showing how much they spent SO FAR on trying to repair my old TV: Over $900!! And he left all of the new parts in the broken TV, so when it goes off to neverland (scrap I assume?) it'll be going with a brand new light engine, color wheel, etc...

ACK!!! I'd REALLY be pushing for an LCD over a Plasma, if they gave me a choice!

Plasmas are SUCH power hogs and have burn-in issues if you happen to leave them on with a static image in place -- or at least they USED to. I know plasma was IT in the beginning, but I think LCD has been better for some time, now.

Then again, if you have NO CHOICE, HEY, you have a new, 50" Plasma TV... sucks that they're making you buy ANOTHER extended warranty for IT, too, though... Heck if I'd want an extended warranty on a NEW 720P set TODAY!
Jeff

Well, I bought my unit through Best Buy and I'm ending up with a "comparable" set which they deem to be a 50" 720p Panasonic Plasma. My extended warranty cost $250 when I bought it and I had to buy another one for the new TV.

The tech gave me a sheet showing how much they spent SO FAR on trying to repair my old TV: Over $900!! And he left all of the new parts in the broken TV, so when it goes off to neverland (scrap I assume?) it'll be going with a brand new light engine, color wheel, etc...

Since I have developed the "stuck mirror disease on a hLS4266........I'd sure like to have your light engine.....could use the DMD from it or better yet plug the whole thing in.


Did they haul it off??....how about the old DMD?

I have an HL-S5086W. Not sure how old, probably two years or so. Three times in the last couple weeks, when I turn it on, it comes on ok, I don't notice any lights on different than normal (but I'm not looking, because it is sporadic), but within about 30-60 seconds of powering on, it makes the powering off sound and shuts down. I turn it back on and it works fine.

Any thoughts what might be up?

Since I have developed the "stuck mirror disease on a hLS4266........I'd sure like to have your light engine.....could use the DMD from it or better yet plug the whole thing in.


Did they haul it off??....how about the old DMD?

That's the crazy...ok, ONE of the crazy parts.
Tech came out, swapped in a new light engine, color wheel, etc... After he declared it DEAD, he left the parts IN the broken unit!! It did get hauled away, with something like $700 in brand new parts inside. So it's headed off to be scrapped or something with more $$ in new parts inside than the whole thing is worth. I should have pulled all of them out before they took it. The tech took all of the old parts with him.

DC, since they comped you a REPLACEMENT TV, I'm WILLING TO BET if you had pulled out all those new REPLACEMENT PARTS before the tech came back and hauled off that old set, you WOULD have gotten a BILL for them. I'm CERTAIN once that set got where it was going, someone removed all those replacement parts and repackaged them as either NEW, "open-box" or checked to make sure they worked and then packaged them as "factory recertified." There's NO WAY they were going to "take a hit" on $700 in NEW replacement parts AND give you a NEW TV. Trust me on this.

I was having a problem with the dual-TV tuner in my Dell XPS 410 less than a year after I bought it. I REALLY THINK (and their technician thought -- and pressed the issue, but I insisted), that the problem was that the tuner just "doesn't play as well with Vista as it did with XP Media Center." At any rate, it wasn't recording two TV shows (or playing one while recording another) any more... Or it would start and then stop in the middle. And when I'd run Device Manager on it and tell it to check one tuner or the other out, I'd often get a "Blue-Screen Crash." So after I raised enough hell, Dell FINALLY sent me a replacement tuner (same model), and it's never really done much better, but I finally just GAVE UP on the issue... Sometimes it will act as a dual tuner; sometimes it won't. It's NOT dependable, and neither is Dell.

The moral of the story, however, is that when they sent the new tuner, they also included a return postage label in the box for the OLD one. Well, I didn't really pay attention and in LESS THAN A WEEK I got a bill for like $153 (WAY MORE than that lousy tuner's worth, I might add!), telling me if I didn't return the old tuner within 10 days, that amount would be charged to my Dell account. Certainly got MY attention.

Trust me. There's at least a 99% chance you WOULD NOT have gotten to keep those "new parts" for free.
Jeff

i got the 56hls too.Never had a problem till now, apart that the 1/4 lower screen is lil lighter than the rest of it.

This lil prob apart, i got an issue with the pc connection. I hooked up my radeon 3870 with the vga cable, used the 1:1 map tip found on the forum (powerstrip custom res) and everything works fine. Now i hooked it with the hdmi connection of my video card. I set the res to 1280:720 (native res of the tv) and i got a black part of the screen on the right side, about half an inch. If i push p.size button on the remote i got only 4:3 or 16:9 no way to zoom or move the image. No way to use the powerstrip tip cause it does not let me select the right black side of the screen. What is strange, is that with my hd sat receiver, connected via hdmi, i got a 1280:720 1:1 res without any problem and all the screen is used. Any help pls ????

@_@

fermau, your picture on your TV using your computer video card output is likely ENTIRELY controlled by your COMPUTER. Doing things with the TV remote control isn't going to have much in the way of the kind of result(s) you're looking for. You probably need to go into your Windows Control Panel for the Radeon 3870 card and play with settings THERE and see if you can change how it shows up on the TV.

In my experience, however, sometimes it's just NOT possible to get everything to display "picture perfect" on a TV, like it does on a dedicated monitor, and you might have to settle for a bit of an "off-center" picture.

I hate that nobody else has even bothered to give you a reply. Sorry I didn't before; I have so much email in my "in-box" this one just got lost in the shuffle. Hope it's of some help.

Good luck,
Jeff

I have a problem. My tv is shutting down all on its own. This seems to be random. I think there is a heat issue causing it to do this. When im watching it, all of a sudden it will turn off and the first light that says standby/temp will blink a few times, then go steady red like normal.

I can turn the tv back on after this ok, but it will shutdown on its own again.

Anyone got any ideas?? Is my internal fan going/gone bad??

I have a problem. My tv is shutting down all on its own. This seems to be random. I think there is a heat issue causing it to do this. When im watching it, all of a sudden it will turn off and the first light that says standby/temp will blink a few times, then go steady red like normal.

I can turn the tv back on after this ok, but it will shutdown on its own again.

Anyone got any ideas?? Is my internal fan going/gone bad??
Mine has done this. I'll clean the dust out from the back, and typically it will cool down and will be fine. Never seems to happen in the winter!

I have a problem. My tv is shutting down all on its own. This seems to be random. I think there is a heat issue causing it to do this. When im watching it, all of a sudden it will turn off and the first light that says standby/temp will blink a few times, then go steady red like normal.

I can turn the tv back on after this ok, but it will shutdown on its own again.

Anyone got any ideas?? Is my internal fan going/gone bad??

It is a known defect. Samsung fixed mine under warranty. Repair person new exactly what it was. He had the parts with him when he showed last summer.

It is a known defect. Samsung fixed mine under warranty. Repair person new exactly what it was. He had the parts with him when he showed last summer.

What did they replace? When the repair tech came out? Can you explain more on this known defect?

I am of course.. out of warrenty...

I have a problem. My tv is shutting down all on its own. This seems to be random. I think there is a heat issue causing it to do this. When im watching it, all of a sudden it will turn off and the first light that says standby/temp will blink a few times, then go steady red like normal.

I can turn the tv back on after this ok, but it will shutdown on its own again.

Anyone got any ideas?? Is my internal fan going/gone bad??


To all that have the problem with the Samsung DLP TV randomly shutting off. LISTEN CAUSE THIS IS FOR YOU...

I have found the problem.. It is defintly a heating issue. The interal fans are dirty and need to be cleaned. There are two fans inside your DLP TV. If you remove the back cover, and then the air duct, you will find a fan on the left that sits on a heatsink. CLEAN IT.. CAREFULLY, it a small paint brush or something similar. Then use a small vaccum tool and remove the dust that has fallen off the fan.

There is a second fan behind you light bulb. Remove your bulb, and place it somewhere safe (AND FOR GODS SAKE, DONT GET FINGER PRINTS ON THE BULB - or any of your skins oil for that matter). Do the same with the second fan as the first, and vac. out the dust.. Replace all the stuff you took out and that will fix it.

I know this to be true because i have a home made cooling system for my TV and entertainment center. I have a AC adapter that i bought from Radio Shak that is selectable from 3-12 volts, and several 120mm computer fans. I have connected all this to a thermostat with plugs like you find in your computer for you hard drive.. One of my fans fits perfectly in the back cover of the TV and exhausts OUT. IE it pulls the hot air out of the TV and ejects it. ANYWAYS.... The cooling system must be powered on manually, then the thermostat will do the rest. If i do not have my cooling system on, the TV will randomly shut off (over heat).. If i have my cooling system on, then the TV runs as it should and does not shut off - even after several hours of play my 360..

So this is how i discovered the problem, and decided to open it up to check the interal fans of the TV and guess what? They were pretty dirty.. Guess is should really stop smoking in the house.. Cleaned them up, and now the TV does not shut down.. With or Without the cooling system online..

Hope this helps too all that have this issue. After a lot of research - it looks like this is a common problem with the samsung S5086W DLP (Mine is a 50")..

DONT CALL ME IF YOU BREAK YOUR TV!!!

I am of course.. out of warrenty...
Well not me, I've got a year and a half left. If this is something they'll look at, I'm certainly willing to give them a call! It should be free, ya know? Or rather, not free, but for the money I paid for the warranty.

Well not me, I've got a year and a half left. If this is something they'll look at, I'm certainly willing to give them a call! It should be free, ya know? Or rather, not free, but for the money I paid for the warranty.

No kidding!

I didn't buy any of the Samsung extended warranties on MY set (or those offered by Circuit City -- REALLY GLAD, NOW I didn't buy any CC extended warranties, lol). My 42" DLP set was on sale for $899 when I got it some 26 months ago, and the price for even a one-year extended warranty was like $200 or more, almost that same amount for each subsequent year... I figured playing the odds on how long the set would last that by the time I needed to use the warranty, if ever, I could buy a new comparable (or better) set for the same money I'd put into that warranty.

Guess I've been lucky so far, as I've had no problems to date (knock on wood). Then again, I spend A LOT MORE TIME watching the 27" Olevia LCD I bought the previous July (which is here by my computer) than that 42" DLP Samsung. I'll replace the lamp when it goes, or anything comparable. Other than that, when it goes, I'll likely just replace it.
Jeff

The HL-SXX66 series seem to be developing white rectangles that start with one and look like this after about 6 weeks. This set and others in the DMD replacement thread are all 24 months +. Mine has over 2000 hours on the lamp, an APC home theatre surge/power filter and great ventilation, another owner there has just over 1000.

Samsung seems to be Korean for "Out of warranty....out of luck."

http://i43.tinypic.com/29makw8.jpg

ACK! That looks like something out of last night's episode of "Fringe!" ON STEROIDS!!!

Or like someone put a gadzillion tiny white LEDs all over the front of a TV LCD screen!

Knock on wood... I've still not had any problems with my set -- would have to get out the manual or go WAY BACK in this thread to figure out what the model number is, lol... ever gets like THAT it'll be a giant door stop or paperweight! GEESH... I really feel for ya, naseqp!
Jeff

Yow, that sucks! I'm pretty positive mine is HLS5686w, so hopefully this doesn't affect the 86w models.... I do have the intermittent shutdown that some other people talked about, but that hasn't happened in a while and when it does I usually just brush the dust off it and its fine.

Yow, that sucks! I'm pretty positive mine is HLS5686w, so hopefully this doesn't affect the 86w models.... I do have the intermittent shutdown that some other people talked about, but that hasn't happened in a while and when it does I usually just brush the dust off it and its fine.

Mine just started doing it again. Got a call in to Mack Camera for warranty service.

Here is what the repair men said could be causing the random power offs and costs to repair.

1)Temperature Sensor : $5.00(Part) + $130.0(Labor)replaced once before

2)Detector Switch : $5.0(Part) + $130.0(Labor)

3)Ballast : $65.0(Part) + $130.0(Labor)

I was hoping someone would have a little more knowledge on this situation that I do. My HLS4266W is three years old now and I'm on the second lamp for the TV. The first one burnt out because we where turning off the surge protector every night once we where done with the TV, which didn't let the lamp properly cool down. Knowing that's what caused the first lamp to go out, we stopped doing that with the new lamp that we have in there. The new lamp has 795 hrs on it, and the picture on the TV is starting to go dim. I have tried to adjust the picture, but nothing seems to get the picture as bright as it should be and once was with the new lamp. My question is why would the lamp go out so quickly this time? 795 hrs just seems awfully fast to me when I read people on average seem to be getting ~5,000 hrs per lamp. We bought the lamp from "Discount-Merchant.com", so I believe we have a genuine lamp in our TV. We don't power the TV off and on rapidly or very often at all. We usually only watch TV at night, so the TV at most gets turned on and off twice a day. Any help on why the lamp would go so quickly would be appreciated, or if the picture dimness could be caused from something else, and suggestions on how to fix the issue is appreciated too. Thanks in advance for your help.

... The new lamp has 795 hrs on it, and the picture on the TV is starting to go dim. I have tried to adjust the picture, but nothing seems to get the picture as bright as it should be and once was with the new lamp. ....... Any help on why the lamp would go so quickly would be appreciated, or if the picture dimness could be caused from something else, and suggestions on how to fix the issue is appreciated too. Thanks in advance for your help.
What are your settings? Have you cleaned it ever?

@Kevinw,

I have reset the settings back to the "Standard" settings (this is what I have used in the past, and the picture looked good to me). As for cleaning, the only thing that I have cleaned is the back of the TV with a damp rag to get some of the dust out of the ducts, should I be cleaning something else? Thanks for your help.

With so few hours on the lamp that's in the TV, could it be an issue with the ballast? Is there any way to check if it's the ballast with out replacing it? Thanks again for your help.

To all that have the problem with the Samsung DLP TV randomly shutting off. LISTEN CAUSE THIS IS FOR YOU...

I have found the problem.. It is defintly a heating issue. The interal fans are dirty and need to be cleaned. There are two fans inside your DLP TV. If you remove the back cover, and then the air duct, you will find a fan on the left that sits on a heatsink. CLEAN IT.. CAREFULLY, it a small paint brush or something similar. Then use a small vaccum tool and remove the dust that has fallen off the fan.

There is a second fan behind you light bulb. Remove your bulb, and place it somewhere safe (AND FOR GODS SAKE, DONT GET FINGER PRINTS ON THE BULB - or any of your skins oil for that matter). Do the same with the second fan as the first, and vac. out the dust.. Replace all the stuff you took out and that will fix it.

I know this to be true because i have a home made cooling system for my TV and entertainment center. I have a AC adapter that i bought from Radio Shak that is selectable from 3-12 volts, and several 120mm computer fans. I have connected all this to a thermostat with plugs like you find in your computer for you hard drive.. One of my fans fits perfectly in the back cover of the TV and exhausts OUT. IE it pulls the hot air out of the TV and ejects it. ANYWAYS.... The cooling system must be powered on manually, then the thermostat will do the rest. If i do not have my cooling system on, the TV will randomly shut off (over heat).. If i have my cooling system on, then the TV runs as it should and does not shut off - even after several hours of play my 360..

So this is how i discovered the problem, and decided to open it up to check the interal fans of the TV and guess what? They were pretty dirty.. Guess is should really stop smoking in the house.. Cleaned them up, and now the TV does not shut down.. With or Without the cooling system online..

Hope this helps too all that have this issue. After a lot of research - it looks like this is a common problem with the samsung S5086W DLP (Mine is a 50")..

DONT CALL ME IF YOU BREAK YOUR TV!!!

About 1 out of 4 times I turn on my S5086W within about a minute, it turns off. No lights blink -- no lamp warning, it just shuts off. I power it up, and it always works fine from that point forward. It has never shut down, other than in that first 30-90 second time frame.

Does this sound like a heat issue, or something else? If it was heat, I would think it would be more likely to happen while it was on for a while, rather than turning off almost immediately.

I swear it just goes from one problem to the next with this TV. I have an HSL4266WX/XAA PB02, slightly old and I'm hoping that someone has some vast expertise on these sets. I recently replaced a DMD Chip in the TV because I was getting tons of white/black specks all over my TV. I went online and did some research, replaced the DMD chip which fixed my dots issue but now my TV looks like its suitable to be watched by a blind person in other words its very blurry and completely out of focus. I'm thinking this is an alignment problem but I'm unaware how to go about fixing this issue. Can anyone help please??

I was getting white specs, etc. and Best Buy sent a guy over to fix it. He replaced the entire light engine (I believe), then he cleaned the lense (or was it the bulb). My point is that the blurryness may come from smudges on the lense or bulb (I don't remember which). He had a special cloth and did it while the T.V. was on, so you could see his hand moving in to do the cleaning and it looked like a shadow puppet show.

I hope that helps. Sorry I don't remember more clearly; it was a couple of years ago.

<-- best Homer Simpson impersonation... "Mmmmm... Shadow Puppet Show!!! Can you do a puppydog?!?" :D

I just replaced the lamp on my 4266 after about 5000 hours. When I first turned it on, it looked great for about five minutes, then I noticed an intermittent screeching noise coming from the back, and then the picture had a really bad off color and blotchiness. I shut it down and waited about five minutes for the fan to turn off, then tried to turn it on. Steady screech and the tv would repeatedly try to start up and then shut down. Any ideas?

I also the HLS4266WX/XAA and have had the audio quit. This would be the TV speaker audio that has just stopped. I can get the audio running again by turning off the TV, but after five or ten minutes the audio dies again... before the audio dies a loud static burst is heard over the speaker. This problem is only two days old and I have not had much time to check into the cause.

Hope I don't jinx myself, but with the tendency toward posting only problems and negativity in this thread, thought I'd say this...

I have an HLS5686w that's nearly three years old now, with (and I just checked) 5738 hours on the original bulb and I've never had a single problem with it.

Had my 42" set for 2.5 years, now... Kinda afraid to check the total hours one it, but also no problems, so far... It's not watched as much as some sets because I have an LCD 27" Olevia set that's just shy of 3 years old here by my computer I spend A LOT MORE TIME watching. Frankly, I think it has an even better picture, lol. It was the first HDTV I found for $500 or less (after rebate) -- my precondition to buy my first set, lol -- at Office Depot, nonetheless, lol... And now I think they've completely QUIT with TVs.

I'm watching the season premiere of "True Blood" on it right now in 720P and frankly it looks INCREDIBLE. I don't think it could look any better in 1080P, which of course nobody is broadcasting yet, anyway. When Office Depot put this set on sale, I'd never even HEARD of Olevia... very quickly did LOTS of research prior to buying... couldn't find a lot either way, but nothing bad. Glad I did.

I still think Samsung is a top-notch brand, but you never know when you're going to get a great deal with some new, upstart brand. This set was a bit long in the tooth... No HDMI input, No ATSC tuner, but so what? I'm using YGB inputs to it and the sound goes through my stereo and it looks and sounds just fine.

I hope everyone with Samsung DLP issues gets them worked out. Knowing what I do now (and really did at the time), I don't think I'd suggest anyone buy one again. There are a few DLP 1080 projectors that might be a consideration, but we're talking MAJOR economies of scale in those cases.
Jeff

Owning a DLP based HDTV feels a lot like owning a tube type color TV in the 60's; early technology, high maintenance, high heat, consumable parts, and low reliability. I've replaced the bulb once, and now the colorwheel is on its way out which is major operation to repair. It was nice to have an HDTV about 2 years before the sub $1000 42" LCDs and plasmas became commonplace, but the set is for all practical purposes obsolete, low peformance and expensive to operate.

One might say the same thing about my direct view Sony HDTVs but in their case, the color quality and contrast are what the other display technologies are still trying to equal. It is also has no wear items and is likely to have a long lifespan.

I'm still weary of LCD's though. I've seen CCFL aging and color temperature shift on LCD screens on laptops. It might be tolerable for a computer text, but not for a TV.

You can put my post in the positive column...

My HLS5086W has run great and has given an excelent picture since I purchased it 2.5 years ago. (I do need to re-calibrate with AVIA every 3 months, just minor tweaks)

I've never checked the usage on the lamp, but we watch for about 2 hours per day.

Also, I run a Pioneer Receiver for all audio, so I've never used the TV's built in speaker.

So far the set has been great for the price!
Knock on wood!!!

I have a HLP5063 from 2004. It still has the original bulb and is still going strong. No idea how many hours but it has to be a ton because the kids watch it all day long.

It did start turning itself off a few months ago. I tried vacuuming it out a week ago and haven't had a shutdown since. I'm actually surprised it worked because there wasn't that much dust in it.

My HLS5086W it's shuting down after the picture freezes a few seconds, this happens right after tv is turned on. I am having to unplug the tv so the lamp turns off because when I try to turn the tv off or on, only the time led light blinks. Does anyone know if the problem is the lamp? the picture looks ok when it freezes.

thanks.

My HLS5086W it's shuting down after the picture freezes a few seconds, this happens right after tv is turned on. I am having to unplug the tv so the lamp turns off because when I try to turn the tv off or on, only the time led light blinks. Does anyone know if the problem is the lamp? the picture looks ok when it freezes.

thanks.

Check the panel that covers the lightbulb door. Theres a switch there that may be coming loose (i.e. not engaging). I bent mine out a bit to make sure it didn't happen. Now its many years later still on my first bulb and no problems.

I'm not expecting much of a response given this thread is over 3 years old now, but I thought I'd post here anyway.

I've had my HL-S4266W for about 2.5 years now without much trouble other than that darn black grass that a lot of others have mentioned in the past. Surprisingly, my black grass problem seems to have disappeared in the past month or so. I'm not sure what changed, but I now notice a new problem that I believe is even more distracting than the black grass. Blacks and other darkly colored images now have a very grainy look to them. See picture below.

The only thing I can think of that may have caused this change is when my toddler pressed his hands up against the screen a couple of months ago. He pressed firmly enough that the screen flexed inward, but I thought I stopped him early enough so that no serious damage was done. However, it was shortly after this incident that I noticed the new grainy image.

Anyone else noticed anything like this on their sets? My bulb only has 1156 hours on it, and brightly lit scenes look just fine. Only dark scenes and black borders exhibit this graininess. Is there a fix for the problem or should I just live with it until I upgrade in the next few years?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3424/3854832848_789ca85c46_b.jpg

I'm sure you've already checked this..but are your blacks grainy with all of the inputs? What input are you using?

I'm sure you've already checked this..but are your blacks grainy with all of the inputs? What input are you using?

I've noticed this issue on HDMI and two separate component inputs.

The problem is still present, however I think I'm slowly getting used to the picture. It hasn't been bother me as much these past few days than it was previously.

Hi Brian,

Considering that it's not only grainy, but there seems to be a curve to the graininess, with the top left and right corners being almost completely black, while the center of the screen is almost half-white, my guess is that when your toddler pressed on the screen he somehow bowed it in and there's now a misalignment of the screen with whatever projector produces the blacks (it might also be present with the colors, and just not as noticeable, or there might be a different method for the colors -- some of this stuff is way beyond my technical knowhow, but my common-sense guess is that the screen has somehow been misaligned).

Is there any way you can do a very close inspection of the screen from the sides (looking at it from one side to the other, perhaps, with a very bright spotlight, or maybe even a laser), so you can determine if, in fact, there IS a slight bend to it that you just can't discern from the front? I'm thinking it might not take much to create such an effect. If that IS the case, it might be possible to re-align the screen, if not by pulling on it with suction cups or something from the front, then perhaps by pushing from inside -- although you may have to pass so many electronic components to do that it may be better to call a repair professional.

Again, this is just a guess. Since it's obviously out of warranty at this point, there might be a local TV repair shop that will do work without charging an arm and a leg. Might not hurt to make a few calls if you don't feel comfortable trying a few things yourself, first.
Jeff

Late reply, but I thought I'd follow up with what looks to be a resolution to my graininess issue.

I recently discovered I had a failing DMD panel (DLP chip) after discovering another issue in the picture. With help from another thread specifically related to the DMD panel replacement, I ordered and replaced the panel today. I'm glad to report that my picture is back to looking great and the graininess seems to have disappeared. The "black grass" seems to have returned, but it is not nearly as noticeable as the graininess was.

Glad to read that solved your problem, Brian. When most of us bought our DLPs, that was DEFINITELY the way to go for "bang for the buck," but it's obviously no longer the case.

When the day comes mine needs some sort of major work, if it's more than $200, or so, I'll likely replace the set. I know that sounds a bit ridiculous, but when you consider that these sets have a variety of different high-cost parts AND use considerably more electricity than a lot of the newer, higher-resolution sets with bigger screens and better pictures that cost less than we paid for these (lol), it's just not worth doing much more than replacing a bulb, or something, to me.

See, I just replaced my perfectly fine little 27" Syntax Olevia 720P set down here by the computer with a 52" 120 Hz Sharp 1080P that was $1,300 at Costco -- quite a bit of overkill for only 6 feet away, but I'm really enjoying it! I watch way more here than I do in the den, where the Samsung is, and my mom, who watches almost all she does there, is going blind from macular degeneration, sadly, so it doesn't matter WHAT, or how big, it is for her. If that set goes in the near future, I'll probably just move this one up there and put the 27" back in here, as I was plenty happy with it. If it lasts for several more years, it'll probably get replaced with something more bigger, assuming I have the $$$. I had a little spare cash now.

Deciding just HOW MUCH is worth putting back into the DLP set really IS a tough decision, though. I spent $900 on the set -- almost 3 years ago -- the bulbs are about $200, I think. From what I've read in this thread, it seems most of the major electronic components are in that price range, too. As bulb replacement is pretty much a GIVEN after 2,000-5,000 hours, it strikes me that replacing any of those other components, unless you can get it done "on the cheap," is sort of "throwing bad money after bad" the way the technology is progressing and prices keep dropping.
Jeff

One additional comment, however. There IS one place where DLP does still seem to offer a compelling argument, and that's in high-end projectors. There are some really stellar-looking (at least specs-wise) projectors that claim to be capable of projecting HUGE 1080P images that use DLP, and the BEST movie theaters are using DLP projectors -- the only one locally that offers 3D uses TI DLP and looks STUNNING!

One additional comment, however. There IS one place where DLP does still seem to offer a compelling argument, and that's in high-end projectors. There are some really stellar-looking (at least specs-wise) projectors that claim to be capable of projecting HUGE 1080P images that use DLP, and the BEST movie theaters are using DLP projectors -- the only one locally that offers 3D uses TI DLP and looks STUNNING!

DLP is also still the "best bang for the buck" in large rear projectors. I'm planning on replacing my 61" 720P Samsung with a Mitsubishi 73" 1080P DLP. They are also very energy efficient. The Mitsubishi DLPs consume less power than their much smaller LCD displays. Unfortunately my 61" Samsung still looks are works great, so it's hard to justify replacing it just yet.

Rick

Keep your eyes on the technology, Rick. With the way things change, by the time you decide, they may have changed again. I've seen some EXCELLENT 1080P DLP projectors designed to project to walls, too, that claim to give clear, bright images up to 120" or more, if you have the wall to project to, in the $2,000 or so range, as well... But if you're going to wait until your 61" looks a little longer in the tooth, there's no telling what might happen with LCD and possibly even OLED in the interim.
Jeff

Hello all i am new to this forum, I have a Samsung HLS5086W that i purchased new in March of 2007 with a 4 year extended warranty from Circuit City. I am attaching some pictures of an issue that i have just had pop up and was wondering if anyone else has seen anything like this. I am going to try to call the warranty center that took over CC's warranties but am not sure what caused it? Could it have anything to do with the light engine causing the shadowing problem on so many other sets. I'm lost let me know what you think

That looks like some sort of burn or water damage to me -- not sure if it's on the screen or in the image engine, but in either case it looks like something that will require servicing.
Jeff

Glad to read that solved your problem, Brian. When most of us bought our DLPs, that was DEFINITELY the way to go for "bang for the buck," but it's obviously no longer the case.

When the day comes mine needs some sort of major work, if it's more than $200, or so, I'll likely replace the set. I know that sounds a bit ridiculous, but when you consider that these sets have a variety of different high-cost parts AND use considerably more electricity than a lot of the newer, higher-resolution sets with bigger screens and better pictures that cost less than we paid for these (lol), it's just not worth doing much more than replacing a bulb, or something, to me.

See, I just replaced my perfectly fine little 27" Syntax Olevia 720P set down here by the computer with a 52" 120 Hz Sharp 1080P that was $1,300 at Costco -- quite a bit of overkill for only 6 feet away, but I'm really enjoying it! I watch way more here than I do in the den, where the Samsung is, and my mom, who watches almost all she does there, is going blind from macular degeneration, sadly, so it doesn't matter WHAT, or how big, it is for her. If that set goes in the near future, I'll probably just move this one up there and put the 27" back in here, as I was plenty happy with it. If it lasts for several more years, it'll probably get replaced with something more bigger, assuming I have the $$$. I had a little spare cash now.

Deciding just HOW MUCH is worth putting back into the DLP set really IS a tough decision, though. I spent $900 on the set -- almost 3 years ago -- the bulbs are about $200, I think. From what I've read in this thread, it seems most of the major electronic components are in that price range, too. As bulb replacement is pretty much a GIVEN after 2,000-5,000 hours, it strikes me that replacing any of those other components, unless you can get it done "on the cheap," is sort of "throwing bad money after bad" the way the technology is progressing and prices keep dropping.
Jeff

One additional comment, however. There IS one place where DLP does still seem to offer a compelling argument, and that's in high-end projectors. There are some really stellar-looking (at least specs-wise) projectors that claim to be capable of projecting HUGE 1080P images that use DLP, and the BEST movie theaters are using DLP projectors -- the only one locally that offers 3D uses TI DLP and looks STUNNING!

I'm getting close to making the same tough decision. My HL-S4265W is about 2.5 years old and has approximately 3,000 hours on the bulb, so I know it's only a matter of time before it needs replacing. I've priced out the replacement bulb at $180. But I can buy a new 42", 720p Samsung plasma for under $800 now. That makes it tough to justify spending almost $200 on a bulb.

I'm getting close to making the same tough decision. My HL-S4265W is about 2.5 years old and has approximately 3,000 hours on the bulb, so I know it's only a matter of time before it needs replacing. I've priced out the replacement bulb at $180. But I can buy a new 42", 720p Samsung plasma for under $800 now. That makes it tough to justify spending almost $200 on a bulb.

we had a sumsung hln model and the bulb had 12000 hrs on it.

I haven't checked my bulb age in a while, but it must also be pretty high. I've had mine for 3 years, and accidentally reset the timer about two years ago. I've seen no problems with the picture, and the only problems I've had with the TV are the random shutoffs which could be due to dust accumulation.

we had a sumsung hln model and the bulb had 12000 hrs on it.

Excellent point, Knobby.

The specs say the bulb replacement ranges can be from 2,000 -- 5,000 hours, but I really think that depends on a great variety of factors, including how much dust is in the room, how much is allowed to accumulate on the bulb, probably how many hours it runs at a time, how often it's turned on and off, and likely many more... So I'm guessing although many of them DO burn out at that point, some may last MUCH longer, and I certainly wouldn't concern myself with replacing one, or even buy the replacement bulb, until I had to.

I believe the sets have a code that is supposed to tell you when that time is approaching, but I think that's ALSO based on how many hours the bulb has on it, and again, that could be way off. For anyone who has a spare set they can use while awaiting a replacement bulb if they decide to get a new bulb instead of a set, and have to order it, I certainly wouldn't buy one and have it "in stock" the way prices on LCDs keep dropping... could be weeks, months or years before that bulb burns out.
Jeff

Since I've got over 6000 hours on my original bulb, I've been getting a bit concerned about the cost and availability of a replacement bulb. So far there have been no signs that I need one, but a replacement bulb for my model (5686) is readily available for only $129. That's actually less than I was expecting.

Anyone have to replace a fan in this model? I have an HLS-5687W and when I turn my TV on I get the message "Check the Fan. No.2".

I've found the part I need but I'm looking for a replacement guide and to make sure that this is actually my issue in that I just need a new fan.

Any information is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!