Samsung 720p Owner's Thread --- HLSxx66W/HLSxx86W DLP Models [Text View]

pedroelopez

04-26-06, 11:27 AM

pedroelopez,
Thanks for the response.

Let us know how your testing goes tonight.

CBS - Criminal Minds and CSI: NY will be broadcast OTA at 1080i
FOX - Bones and American Idol will be OTA 720p
ABC - Alias will be OTA 720p

Typically, CSI (usually the other two CSI's) and Bones have excellent photography; so luckily your PQ should be grand.

If you can let us know the good, the bad, and the ugly, that would be kewl. Thanks

Last night I got stuck on watching the Dodger's game, and because it went into the 14th inning, that was the majority of my testing. So far, everything looks good, of course that's from an un-trained eye being this is my first big tv. I did eventually watch ABC news on HD, and it looked amazing. Also, I tested out the DVD connection via component by watching the first 15 minutes of Finding Nemo, and the picture is sweet!

While watching the Dodger game on Fox PrimeTicket, I tried to see if there was any type of bowing on the edges, and believe me, I was really concentrating and didn't notice anything. I'll keep checking tonight. I will also try to catch some of the shows you mentioned above tonight. Also, I did try to connect my Comcast cable directly into the TV to see if it will pick up the local HD channels that way, and no luck... so, no QAM tuner. That's fine for me since I will be getting the HD box next week and will finally be able to see what all the hype is about on Discovery HD. Will keep you posted.

AU Chevy

04-26-06, 11:46 AM

Seriously, there is no QAM tuner? This might be a deal breaker for me too.

pedroelopez

04-26-06, 01:28 PM

Also, I forgot to mention that I have yet to see any rainbows ye, and I tried shifting my eyes quickly all over the screen. Also, I don't hear any sound from the color wheel at all, and none from the fan when I turn off the set. I had to literally put my head up close to the back of the set to even hear the fan when I turned it off. I was worried that there was nothing to cool down the set, but yes, it is there. When they said whisper quiet, they weren't kidding.

HoustonPerson

04-26-06, 03:05 PM

Ok, Theory has it the new HLS4266 will be delivered on Saturday. I honestly believe it will have just as good as picture as the HLR. I have seen a zillion HLR's and the all have looked great (at least if the feed is good and the set adjusted correct). But I have only seen ONE HLS6187 and it was perhaps the worse PQ ever (excessively sparkly). But in that specific CC all the sets had a bad feed and all had bad PQ.

So if it is delivered, I will post some pics and some reports next week.

vincent_momo

04-26-06, 03:31 PM

so, nobody tried seeing if there were any bowing,geometry issues with their tv yet? especially in 4:3 mode where you can tell the easiest

HoustonPerson

04-26-06, 03:47 PM

so, nobody tried seeing if there were any bowing,geometry issues with their tv yet? especially in 4:3 mode where you can tell the easiest

I posted on another Samsung thread (refering to the HLS6187), that the bowing is virtualy not there. The SD 4:3 is about 99.8% straight sides. So that works for me. It is extremely rare to see one at 100%, and by that I mean "all" RPTV's.

pedroelopez

04-26-06, 04:27 PM

I posted on another Samsung thread (refering to the HLS6187), that the bowing is virtualy not there. The SD 4:3 is about 99.8% straight sides. So that works for me. It is extremely rare to see one at 100%, and by that I mean "all" RPTV's.

I briefly chekced this as well, and couldn't see anything. There may be some, but it wasn't blaring at me. I'll check again tonight.

sleaze160

04-26-06, 04:37 PM

Bought the HL-S4666W, but due to my schedule I will not be able get delivery until May 6th. I will update with thoughts/pics when I can. I have comcast in chicago for HD and a Samsung HD860 DVD player that will connect via HDMI for DVD. Also have a reciever to process the 5.1 sound so I will be able to comment on lip sync issues and also if the optical output will pass the signal or not (I have heard no). I'm quite excited.

pedroelopez

04-27-06, 12:48 AM

Hey everyone... just posted some pics here of the HL-S5086. Look at the link below.

vincent_momo

04-27-06, 02:26 AM

cool pics, can you post a picture of a movie or something playing in 4:3 , this is important because i watch 4:3 cable tv

pedroelopez

04-28-06, 02:55 AM

Now that I have spent a few days with the HL-S5086, here is a summary of my testing with the following setup:

- Comcast Cable (not HD yet, so still connecting via composite video)
- Sony Dream Surround Sound system with progressive scan DVD player connected via component video
- OTA antenna to watch local HD channels

General
- Overall, I'm very happy with the TV. The picture is awesome with the DVD, and the OTA HD channels looks great.
- Set does not contain a cable card, which some people have asked about, nor does it have a QAM tuner. This is not big for me anyway because I'll be getting my HD STB from Comcast this Saturday. Plus, I like the use of On Demand.
- No RBE on any of the imputs that I have used, and I've tried moving my eyes around the screen quickly several times. More importantly, the wife doesn't see them either, which is definitely a BIG plus! :D

DVD
- so far this looks amazing. I was able to test out several movies such as Finding Nemo, Star Wars III, The Day After Tomorrow (which the opening scene looks unbelievable), King Kong, and Lord of the Rings
- The blacks are very good, and the colors using the Movie mode are spectacular
- No lyp sync issues :D

OTA
- Local HD channels are incredible. I was able to watch Bones and CSI, and they looked very nice. Even got a great compliment from the wife since she likes Bones.
- Watched the Laker's game on the local LA channel (channel 9) which broadcasted the game in 1080i. The game looked great. Fast moving scenes did not look messy at all.
- No lyp sync issues

Comcast Cable
- 4:3 geometry - there appears to be an extremely small presence of bowing, but it is not something to worry about as you have to look extremely close to even notice it. Someone else here posted that 99.9% of the screen was ok, and I would tend to agree.
- Lip-sync - I did encounter some slight lyp-sync issues with this connection, but HD cable box, I'll take this with a grain of salt until I can test it out using the HDMI connection instead of the crappy composite cable. I'll provide an update once I get my HD box this Saturday.
- Overall, channels look decent. Again, with a grain of salt because of the cable being used. I'll provide an update once I get my HD box this Saturday.

If anyone has any questions, I would be more than happy to answer. I also posted some pics of my setup. See my signature below for the link. Let me know what you think.

HoustonPerson

04-28-06, 08:10 AM

Kewl, thats what I want to hear - "Local HD channels are incredible." Thanks for the review.

HoustonPerson

04-29-06, 07:33 PM

Ok, the HLS4266 was delivered this morning. Running OTA only – got about 25 digital stations.

It’s a keeper. Works great…………been way too busy watching it today, to post………

Shortcomings and/or defects; There are only TWO - Not enough to bother me:

There is a slight black crush, but it produces blacks better than any $10,000 plasma I have seen so I am happy with that – still the blacks are not as good as the top end 1080’s Sammy’s or Mit’s. That makes sense because the contrast ratio is 2,500 instead of 10,000 to 1. (Yes I know everyone will disagree about my comment on plasma blacks – to me they are super crushed – which I do not like)

4:3 geometry is about 99.5% perfect. The picture is about 1/8 to the left, and as a result there is a 1/16” keystone on the left side only………….ok, you do realize how “picky” 1/16” keystone is? There is no hourglass problem at all. The shift to the left and or keystone is adjustable; but really this is so ultra minor – I do not want to mess up a good thing.

What is Good or Great:

In comparison to the Mit’s WD52628 the overall quality is better, specifically the assembly and the packaging.

There are no sparkles in the picture.

There is no train tunnel effect (bright glare in the middle), the colors, blacks, and white are even and 100% smooth across the screen.

There is no high speed or motion artifacts of any kind…………just watched a few hours of live Nascar (I think it was live)……….the Mit’s would have had high speed artifacts on that (a little – not much)………the new Sammy has ZERO. (Remember this is the “cheap” set with the 2 bit processor)

The colors are more vivid, but the blacks again do not match the Mit’s or Sammy’s 1080p. This Sammy also cost 65% less.

There are no lip sync problems in the set.

The viewing angles are greater on this set than the Mit’s – that is strange because I think the specs were supposed to be the same on both?

The sound system and the adjustments on the sound system are much better than on the Mit’s………..It is now very easy to hear people in movies……….the built in “fake 5.1”, as I call it, works great – very convincing and ultra very clear, voices, music, race cars, all much better.

The “level” sound control is many times better than on the Mit’s – still not perfect – but we no longer has to rush to the button when a commercial comes on.

The “screen”…………This screen is “less” visible then any screen I have ever seen……..much better than any direct view CRT or CRT RPTV. For me there is no silk screen visible………Now what you can see, in night time scenes is “film grain” in low light HD cameras. In other words (depending on the source), you can see defects or shortcomings easily in the “original” material………….it is easy to spot “film grain” as an example.

Reality of Color is great from dark to bright white………there is no red push at all. To me all dark browns, blues, red, and blacks (other then very slight crushing) are right on.

Being a DLP, you do not have convergence, focus, foggies, blurries, color shifting or patterns or blobs, or hazing that is so common in other projection sets.

Fast Out Of The Box Adjustments:

Ok, as we all know they come out of the box in “torch” mode……..they light up the world………..I think it will blind you it’s so bright, even if you had on your darkest sun glasses. Basically, all settings run 0 to 100 with 50 being the mid point.

Quick adjust (and it is close to perfect):
Eliminate the torch and go to “standard”
All sliders are set to the mid point “50”……….with the following exceptions:
Reduce contrast to about 46 (this reduces some of the black crush)
Sharpness to about 30 with DNIe “on”
If you prefer to have DNIe “off” then you may want to move sharpness back to 50

Color Temp change to either “normal” or “warm 1” – currently the “normal” appears to give me the best overall grayscale………..the “warm 1” seems to make some of the dark greens too green. The five settings in the Sammy give a lot more flexibility than in the two settings Mit’s which IMO were way too far apart. I have not yet bothered with any of the advanced settings “My Color” or “Perfect Color” or what ever it is.

That’s it: Standard with TWO slider adjustments and temperature and you are done.

With all of the preliminary stuff written about these sets with “Brilliant Color” and its gamut………I have forgotten if this specific model is at 105% 120% or 130% of the so called standard (so much verbiage has been batted around); but needless to say the color can be almost too much. I think most of us are use to sets running at 95% of the standards…………so I suppose that is why they provide those additional adjustments to reduce specific colors if you needed too. Lord knows you do not need more color or your eyes would be bleeding. Of course the short cut method would be just to reduce "color" from 50 to say 48, just a thought?

This set will go into a bedroom in about 2 months……..and the 61” 1080p will replace it.

I have a Sony VHS, DVD, and DHG-HDD500 connected to it, and have played with those too. The HDD500 has the one HDMI connection and passes the 5.1 sound to the set. I may be able to post more in a few days and maybe some pics. But I will spend most of my time "watching" - have about 40 hours on the HDD500 to see.

Peace Out.

HoustonPerson

04-30-06, 09:46 AM

Direct Comparison of Mit’s WD52628 and Sammy HLS4266 – Yes I know it’s not fair, two completely different animals; but I have spent some time with both in a home setting.

Of course the obvious is clear; one is 1080p and the other 720p, so yes the 1080p produces much greater detail and I can see the difference on 1080 input (which is about 80% of our input sources the remainder is 720)

Blacks:
When considering “all” colors including all blacks and all whites and all grays, from “0” to “100”; the Mit’s is the clear winner. In the 20 to 100 range the Sammy is very very good; but in the 0 to 20 range the Mit’s really blows the Sammy away. The “Black Detailer” in the Mit’s makes for a much more enjoyable picture. The inability of the Sammy to produce all the shades of blacks, results in the “black crush” I referred to earlier. I have not yet spent time with a Sammy HLS 1080p; but I will before I make the purchase to see how it stacks up against the Mit’s. IMO if I were to “grade” handling of all shades and colors from “0” to “100” – this would be my grade for these three types of pictures:

WD52628 - 100
Sony XBR direct view CRT – 89
HL-S4266 - 86

Ok, I know all the experts disagree with me, but that is how I see it. I know everyone says the direct view XBR’s are utopia, but I have 3 of them in the house, and to me they do not measure up to the Mit’s……….and the Sammy is just below the XBR’s in the handling of blacks. As a side note, I have had my wife study this for hours, and she positively can not tell the difference in any of the three………..so this is a “me” thing.

Overall Color Accuracy:
Ok, to me the Mit’s is the winner. I think most (95%) of this is in the handling of blacks, but some of may be due to the “Brilliant Color” - - - If any thing it is maybe too Brilliant. I have cut back my color setting from 50 to 49 on the Sammy and it does seem better to me. So the grades here are:

Mit’s 100
Sammy 97, they are very close.

High Speed Motion Artifacts.
The Winner is Sammy, and the grades are:
Sammy 100 - - there are no motion artifacts on a good feed.
Mits 95 - - even with a good feed, the Mit’s will on occasion just screw up.

So as far as PQ is concerned, those are the three differences I see. I will be studying the Sammy 1080p to see if the measure up to the Mit’s in handling of blacks. If the top drawer 1080p Sammy can not duplicate the blacks and colors on the top end Mit’s – then I will not be getting one.

Sammy specifics and additional settings:
On DT OTA and on HD Hard Disk recordings, the best picture results can be achieved with the DNR – Digital Noise Reduction turned “off”. Both color shadings and Blacks are better. On analogue stations and VCR, I have it set to “on” Having it turned “on” on high quality digital sources seems to produce “claymation” in faces, and dark shadow details are lost.

I still have the DNIe turned “on” and the sharpness at 30 – so far that combination seems best; but I may experiment with other combinations later.

Nothing else to report at this point………..I am sure I will learn more over the next week or so.

AU Chevy

05-01-06, 08:51 AM

OK I decided the QAM tuner wasn't a deal breaker after all, I ordered my 5686 last night. Now I have to finish my stand this week.

DirkGecko

05-01-06, 02:10 PM

I have come into the fold, brothers! Verily, an HL-S5086 was taken from the cradle at Best Buy and doth now dwell with me and mine.

Now where's that special Kool-Aid?

Seriously, though I've got loads more positive things to say than negative. Loads. This post was started last Friday morning, having picked up the TV the night before. It's been minimized since then, but I'm finishing it now.

Anyway, my impressions:

1. First off, going from a 27" VVega to this, well, for the first 20 minutes it felt like my eyes were being sucked out of my head. The eyestrain was horrible. BUT, after a bit the problem just went away. *shrug*.

2. I have very fast visual accuity (I get headaches from flourescents and need 85hz refresh rates for extended 'puter work). That said, I do see rainbows, but they're slight and very tolerable. My wife doesn't see them, even on 2x business projos.

3. My setup:
HL-S5086
Panny S35 (it was the panny progressive released right after they stopped using DCDi)
Yamaha RX-v695
MCE box with GF FX5900
PS2 via component
DVD & PS2 routed through the Yammy, MCE box through VGA

4. DVD Performence. Most excellent. I popped in Serenity and went to work. After switching the picture mode to "movie" and working with the picture controls, I got a gorgeous, VERY film-like picture. I think I decided that I liked DNR "ON". Using the "Movie" preset as proabbly mentioned shuts off DNIe and greys it out of the menu. This resulted in an image with PLENTY of detail, plenty of warmth and a slight graininess to the image. I don't mind that grain as it seems to be coming off the transfer. Serenity showed the touches of grain, but the DVDs of Firefly, did not. Also saw it on RotK, but not on Monsters Inc. That tells me that there isn't much on that DVD being hid from me. The image had good black levels, though my CRT was a bit better. I think my DVD player can switch between IRE 0 / 7, so I need to fiddle with that more.

The color decoder needs some work. The picture seems to have a strange sort of "neon" feeling to everything. Espeically flesh tones. The display looks very "cold", even with the "warm" & "movie" settings. DNIe seemed to make no difference. That will take careful tweaking to overcome, I suspect. Part of the problem is that there are user controls for "pink" and not "orange", of which there's a considerable component in flesh tones.

I *DID* notice some lip sync issues. It's so slight that if I weren't keeping an eye out for it, I might not even notice. My wife, however, is quite sensitive to it. She had to work 3rd shift in the ER last night, so we'll see what she says tonight. Evem if she does notice it (and I'll not ask her to look for it), it wont' be a long-term issue, as I plan on adding a new reciever with compensation.

5. OTA. I'll reserve my judgement yet for some actual primetime, but PBS-HD was excellent. DD-5.1 got to the reciever without me touching a thing. While there are TWO coax inputs on the back of the set, there's no sign of PiP or QAM support. However, I think I'm going to swap the "Ant" and "Cable" jacks to see if the local stations show up through Time Warner. Just thought of trying that.

6. Gaming! I cranked up teh PS2 and just started playing SSX3. I left game mode off initially, but I could sense something was just "off" because my scores were way down. GT4 felt very fast & twitchy. I couldn't keep the car on the road, and as someone who posted 11k mi in GT3 and is approaching 6k mi in GT4, well, that just doesn't happen. So I switched the Game Mode on. After fixing the picture settings to compensate, the games felt "right" again. Oh, and game mode doesn't seem to compromise the image very much at all. My buddy brought over his 360 on Friday night. A match made in heaven, and no game mode required.

7. The remote is stupid. The bloody thing is almost a foot long and the layout puts related funtions about as far away from each other as possible. Thought it odd that "Mute" doesn't kill the output from the Toslink (which should be easy, don't you think?)

Well, that's about it for now. I'll post back more on VGA performance.

tegallegos

05-01-06, 03:32 PM

DirkGecko,

Many of us here would like confirmation on the TOSLINK passing 5.1 to the receiver via HDMI connection. You did say that OTA signal passed 5.1 to the reciever right? That is a very good start. Do you have any way of checking whether or not 5.1 is passed via HDMI?

Thanx
Thomas

Artuk

05-01-06, 03:59 PM

I have had no luck pulling in any OTA.. think I am just in a bad spot in town.. hoping comcast can get me set up quickly.. I tried setting up the comcast digital tuner we have which will tune to the HD channels but it wont pass anything through except a black screen and audio.

I am also curious about the 5.1 passing although its somewhat moot for me at this point.

Regards,

Chris

HoustonPerson

05-01-06, 04:22 PM

DirkGecko,
Yep I agree what you say about the Neon and the strange flesh tones..........let me know if you figure out a fix for that............also, seems the darker the skin, the greener a person becomes. If it is extremely high quality PQ HD live or something the flesh tones seem much better, but if it is a regular evening show (most film base) the yellow green faces start to appear.

pedroelopez

05-01-06, 11:12 PM

Welcome to the club DirkGecko. We habve twins from another mother!! :D I got my Comcast HD STB this past Saturday, and have been glued to the couch since... my doctor doesn't like it, but of well ;-). Watching the Laker's yesterday on ABC HD was amazing... of course I could live without seeing the sweat from the players' foreheads, but I guess I have to now. Bad thing now is that my wife has now discovered she can watch Oprah in HD every day when she gets home because of the DVR, but at least I taught how to fast forward through the commercials, which definitely cuts down on her viewing time :D.

HoustonPerson

05-02-06, 07:45 AM

HoustonPerson

05-02-06, 07:59 AM

Ultimately this 42" 720p will go into the bedroom..........and some kind 1080p of some kind will go into the main room (most likely Mit's or Sammy).

The new HL-S 720p's seem like very good sets except for one area that is bothersome for me.

They are super bright, they have more than enough contrast; but you can not seem to get them dark or black enough in a completely dark room.

If you are watching this set in the brightest of lights or even out doors, it's no problem you will have all the brightenss and contrast you could possible ask for, IMO.

But if the room is completely dark, with no lights - - - you may not be happy.............the black frame surrounding the picture is many times blacker than the darkest black on the screen..............call it a super dark grey..........hence the lack black detail in dark or black scenes; in other words they are still lit up as a very dark grey.

Any lights on (no matter how small) you will be happy with this set.

100% dark room? You may not be happy?

Um, I may have to set up a "room clapper light" :D

side note: all 3 of our Sony direct view CRT XBR's are basically the same way, they can not make solid black either - again you can only see this in a completely dark room.

crewcab

05-02-06, 09:09 AM

Does anyone have both the HL-S TV and the Samsung TV stand ? If so, could you post a picture. Just wondering how well they look together.

DirkGecko

05-02-06, 09:41 AM

Well, I got to take a stab at the color issue. I'd like to preface this by saying it was for component in, so your mileage my vary. All I had to do was use the "Color Weakness" and set Green to 1. The control is INVERSE, which is to say increasing the value seen on screen will reduce that color in the image. The difference it made was HUGE. It brought the warmth back to flesh tones. It also allowed me to bring the actual color control back up to 49 or so. I had to lower the color because it hid the "neon-ness". In hindsight, Serenity wasn't a very good test disc for color. What worked there didn't work in other places. HP: Goblet of Fire proved to be unsightly with the Serenity-settings. I guess it's just time to suck it up and throw down on DVE.

In any event, I'd say knee-jerk that this TV has a "green push", not a "red push" as others.

Unlike the other picture settings, I *THINK* that the color weakness settings apply across *all* inputs, as when I flipped over to broadcast the green weakness was still set. Can anyone else confirm what I'm seeing? And maybe it's just me, but I see absolutely no difference in picture when I adjust the sharpness contol. Maybe it's not enabled when DNIe is off or something? *shrug*

And as to the HDMI-in -> 5.1 out deal, while I have not confirmed it, I would bet solid money that it won't work. Period. Everybody wants it. Why haven't we seen it yet? Is there a single TV out there that passes audio like that? I'm betting that there's some sort of restriction, either imposed by HDCP or some legislative industry body, that would make passing a signal like that illegal. Sorry to take a dump on yer birthday cake....

DirkGecko

05-02-06, 12:18 PM

And anyone deciding that the "No 5.1 from HDMI" issue was a dealbreaker would be doing themselves a huge disservice by removing the Sammy from their list. If you're looking at a purchasing a microdisplay, the HL-S line should be on everyone's short list. While it may seem above that I'm more annoyed than overjoyed, the Sammy is just a very different beast from what I'm used to. There are so many tweak options!

HoustonPerson

05-02-06, 05:18 PM

DirkGecko,
I tried your Green Weakness adjustment and you are correct, it is like it adds "1" red....and the red weakness adjustment also adds "1" red, but it is a different shade of red?

I am leaning more and more about the very peculiar way Samsung has made all these controls work. Basically, none of the picture controls work any thing like any other TV I have used before.

On my set, setting brightness all the way down to zero is NOT zero, it is a fairly bright red picture. Is this the same on your set too?

It seems as you adjust any particular control it is affecting a lot of the other settings as well.

Right now I just set everything back to factory default. That seems to make a fairly good picture; but it is still bright enough to light up the street in full daylight...It's Bright!

tmaxxtigger

05-02-06, 11:08 PM

My Color settings for Pink Blue Green are defaulted at "50". I have reduced all three to "30" - that seems to make both the flesh tones and all colors more natural to me........producing much less green faces. I had tried a setting of "25" for all three of those colors, but then the other colors were going into reverse neon - water and sky starting looking freaky.

At one point I had adjusted Color Weakness - the red only up by "1" (it only has 10 steps not 100)................but decided the red was way to much and set it back to zero - factory default.

And I thought I was seeing things, glad I'm not the only one. I'll be sure to try you settings and see how it works out.

HoustonPerson

05-03-06, 07:05 AM

And I thought I was seeing things, glad I'm not the only one. I'll be sure to try you settings and see how it works out.

The settings on the new Sammy are strange, for sure. I have since changed my mind from the 30,30,30 settings and have gone back to 50,50,50 default.

Went to my selling dealer yesterday they had a HL-S4666 set up and running.

Guess they had about 8 sets all with component HD feed (several feed sources to choose from).........the picture was just as good, and in many cases better then the SXRD......that is, it was more clear and the colors were better..........the SXRD was more fluid, and def the best SXRD I have ever seen, only a couple of scenes did I seen the "milkies" or "foggies" as I call them (like purple fog or something) - all while the HLS stayed crystal clear. The room was normal room light (almost like a house) and there was sunlight coming in through the front doors (off to the side). I still do not know how that HLS would do in complete darkness, and that is were I am having problems.

When turn down brightness and/or contrast my colors go crazy and very "neon". All the controls seem so super inter-related, I have just not figured it all out?

The salesman ask if I had tried DVD. Well yesterday I dove into that, and just some very tiny adjustment on "movie" mode (mostly on the DVD side)............and the PQ is stunning. Possibly the best DVD playback I have seen! I have not played the DVD's in a dark room..........but I would guess I still have the black problem.

I basically, reset everything back to default, and it seems you can make ultra tiny adjustments, and have a super great picture.......except in a dark room.......it is still just way too bright for me..........and black on the screen is still dozens of times brighter then the surround black boarder to the screen.

I guess, that is my one big complaint....I can not get the picture dark enough with great color.......the set is just way too bright. Wonder if my 4266 has the wrong bulb in it? Must be the same bulb they use for landing lights on a 747?

HoustonPerson

05-03-06, 07:39 AM

Just wanted to be clear.

Neither my set nor the ones I have seen at Tweeter have "sparkles".............only the ones at CC. The 6187 I studied for about half hour was a terrible picture at CC. No adjustment I could make could get rid of the "sparkles".

The HLS I have seen at Tweeter have essentially been perfect (all 720's to date I think).

I do not get "sparkles" here at the house with any "settings" or any "source".

tmaxxtigger

05-03-06, 09:37 AM

And I thought I was seeing things, glad I'm not the only one. I'll be sure to try you settings and see how it works out.

UPDATE:

Ok, just a quick update, after posting late last night I went and tweaked the Color Weakness. I had to bump up the Green +2, then things started to look normal again, the green/yellow skins looked better and even the Tivo menu screen looks normal once again! Will play more later when I have time but this was a dramatic improvement!

Btw, I have the HL-S5086W.

I used to have the HL-R5067W but returned 2 of them due to geometry issues. I did notice the sparkles on these sets when closer than about 8 ft, this 5086 does not have these at all, the picture does appear to be less bright but that's ok as the 5067 was almost too bright.

HoustonPerson

05-03-06, 10:39 AM

Pictures

HoustonPerson

05-03-06, 10:42 AM

I notice the cheapo camera does wierd things with shutter speed, and the shifts the color. Anyway, there are no sparkles to be found.

ayrton911

05-03-06, 10:48 AM

HoustonPerson

05-03-06, 10:51 AM

Here I tried to take the full screen shot. And then the second picture which is a l crop of the same picture, should provide a One To One Pixle of the same image.

Ok, that was hard getting that down to under 800x640. That is Film base HD from PBS OTA at 1080 saved on the Sony Hard Disk recorder, and converted down to the 720p inside the Samsung.

HoustonPerson

05-03-06, 11:04 AM

Just a few days ago I purchased a HLR4667W.

However, if I wanted, I could return it and get the HLS4666W, for just over $100 more after some discounts.

Do you think it would be worth it, or no? From my quick comparison, the second HDMI port and the newer color wheel, were really the only two spec improvements I saw? I can just always get a HDMI switcher, when I actually have more than 1 to input, but just how much better is the new color wheel?

What do you suggest? Thanks!

That maybe impossible to answer. All the new inputs on the new sets are great, and yes they do work! The new sets are super bright. If you watch your TV in a totally black room, it still may be to bright..........the techies are coming out tomorrow to have a look see. Overall, the sets to seem to be better that the HLR.......but the HLR might be able to do better on the blacks.......very hard to say?

DirkGecko

05-03-06, 11:16 AM

Regarding the HLR/66 and HLS/66, if you're a gamer, the GAME MODE alone is woth $100 IMHO.

And the high-brightness is because they use the same 120W lamp size for all sets up to 56", IIRC. This means that the smaller sets have a more cd/m^2. Instead of watching in the pitch black, consider adding a bias light behind the TV?

HoustonPerson

05-03-06, 11:18 AM

Regarding the HLR/66 and HLS/66, if you're a gamer, the GAME MODE alone is woth $100 IMHO.

I would say yes to that.

ferrisg

05-03-06, 11:32 AM

Are you guys eyeballing your settings? Using a calibration disc? All of the issue you're pointing out sound like they'd be mostly cured by a quick run through a calibration disc, and likely very easily cured by some service menu adjustments and a colorimeter. I should be getting my 4666 this week (man, I hope I don't have to wait until after the weekend), so I'll be interested to see how accurate it can get with just user settings. On all the older sets you could get very good grayscale tracking and colors. I know the only CIE chart I've seen was for an HLP (I believe) and it showed a fair amount of over-saturation for green, but was relatively accurate otherwise.

HoustonPerson

05-03-06, 12:16 PM

My Camera, does not like the pure white screen. I do not know how to eliminate the auto white balance thing? In real life it is clear white. The lady has on a bright red sweater, but it really does not show up here.

HoustonPerson

05-03-06, 12:19 PM

These shots were intersting....the guy sitting in the boat had blue water in the background, it only shows up black in the picture.

ferrisg

05-03-06, 12:21 PM

What camera do you have? Most consumer digital cameras have an auto setting and maybe a couple of presets. Manual white balance is not really common until you hit the "prosumer" type of cameras.

HoustonPerson

05-03-06, 12:39 PM

It is a few years old. A Sony Cyber Shot 4.1 DSC-S85...........the more buttons I hit on it, the more messed up I make it LOL I think the camera is much smarter than me.

Anyway I know those pure white screens on my TV are indeed absolutely pure white, just like a white sheet of paper, I just do not know how to make my camera do that....I had the speed set to 1/30..........I did notice if the speed is above the 1/100 setting the colors get real weird. Most of the 1/50 speed were fair, but there was still some color shift?

I have been doing everything by eye, I do not have a calibration disk.

Wait a minute, this is the same camera I use for wakeboarding....and have to shoot into the sun all the time - everytime the boat changes directions....I need to push the exposure compensation up....I go try that. The camera must think I am aiming at the sun.

HoustonPerson

05-03-06, 01:05 PM

These white screen pics are better because I pushed the exposure compensation up........the white balance is still off on the camera - NOT the TV...oh well...got to go work now :eek:

brg606

05-03-06, 01:49 PM

thanks for all the pics houstonperson. i'm typing this message from my office in conroe,tx.

DirkGecko

05-03-06, 02:45 PM

Well, my $200 Canon has manual white balance. I think it's a pretty common feature these days, tho the operation is not always well documented.

I don't have a calibration disc as of yet. In fact, I think we're all eyeballing. A copy of DVE is on my short list of purchases coming up. The only problem is that you can't use a calibration disc for the tuner. And colorimeters aren't $25 down at Radio Shack. :-D

ferrisg

05-03-06, 03:18 PM

Well, my $200 Canon has manual white balance. I think it's a pretty common feature these days, tho the operation is not always well documented.

They could be much more common now than I think. It's been a couple of years since I've done any real research on digital cameras, although it's starting to look like I'll need to get in that market again soon.

I don't have a calibration disc as of yet. In fact, I think we're all eyeballing. A copy of DVE is on my short list of purchases coming up. The only problem is that you can't use a calibration disc for the tuner. And colorimeters aren't $25 down at Radio Shack. :-D

My only expreience is with Avia and, while pretty good, it does contain errors in its color patterns. I've heard the DVE disc is not laid out in the most accessible fashion, but it does have some other advantages over Avia. About all you can easily do for the tuner is have an HDTivo and record the ESPN or HDNET test pattern.

BTW, you can get a decent colorimeter for around $200. Shop around for the SpyderTV from Colorvision. Users here have created spreadsheets for doing the grayscale calibration with one of these. Actually these would work with any colorimeter that isn't hooked up to something that will do these calculations for you (like ColorFacts).

pedroelopez

05-03-06, 03:19 PM

Great pics Houston! I definitely need to post some more pics as well.

blkwidow02

05-03-06, 04:49 PM

HoustonPerson

05-03-06, 05:04 PM

thanks for all the pics houstonperson. i'm typing this message from my office in conroe,tx.

Kewl, I actually in Sprang, just down the road :)

HoustonPerson

05-03-06, 05:14 PM

Just set up my new hl-s5086w and i've noticed one obvious problem so far. Looking across the horizontal, the image is 1/4 inch higher on the left than the right. Is there any way to adjust this? Or should I be returning the unit and picking up another one?

If you are referring to "tilt" it is adjustable. Also "keystone" is adjustable............only "hourglass" in not adjustable. At least that is how it as been on previous DLP's. So you may want to have your tech guy look at it. I think the adjustment is fast and easy, like some of the front plastic pops off, and it is adjusted with screw drivers............sort of like headlight aim. But your tech guy should do that.

So far I have not seen a bad "hourglass" on a single new HLS DLP, nor tilt or keystone.

HoustonPerson

05-03-06, 05:41 PM

General Observations and Settings

This is some of the basics I have learned about some of the settings.

DNR – This can be set individually for “analogue” input vs. “digital” input…………It makes a noticeable improvement on analogue. I think it takes away from the picture in Digital.
Analogue = “on”
Digital = “off”

DNIe
It is “on” for regular TV, but is “off” for movie mode. Generally, it seems to have no effect for TV, except I notice a big improvement on Live HD Sports. The improvement on Basketball and Nascar this last weekend was very clear. For regular evening primetime HD shows, I can tell no difference at all. So if that original picture is made with live video camera, it makes the picture real.

Film Mode: Have it “on” for all 480i input (analogue and digital). My Sony DVD player I guess is average run of the mill player……it has a 480p setting. In this environment it takes away from the picture. It has a component connection, but I use just the S-Video connection and have it send out the original 480i to the Sammy………..then the Sammy applies the “film mode” 3:2 pull down junk and changes that 480i to the 720p – works great for me. It really makes a “plain” DVD player look very good!

LNA – Low Noise Amp. You know how dumb the book is that comes with this thing! ARG! Anyway, I think this implies there is a LNA inside the TV? It does not really say if it is a LNA outside of the TV. Anyway, we have a great signal here, and my brain tells me it works best “off”………..In this case I noticed I had to turn it “off” for each station I received. Who knows, I may turn all the LNA back on next week?

For the first three listed above: DNR, DNIe, Film Mode; I only had to set those three times total. Once for “Standard – Analogue and Digital” and then “Movie” mode. That way watching TV everything is automatic………..and to change to DVD player I just go it the one button to change to “movie” mode. Hit one button “Standard” to go back to TV.

blkwidow02

05-03-06, 06:02 PM

If you are referring to "tilt" it is adjustable. Also "keystone" is adjustable............only "hourglass" in not adjustable. At least that is how it as been on previous DLP's. So you may want to have your tech guy look at it. I think the adjustment is fast and easy, like some of the front plastic pops off, and it is adjusted with screw drivers............sort of like headlight aim. But your tech guy should do that.

So far I have not seen a bad "hourglass" on a single new HLS DLP, nor tilt or keystone.

Yes, tilt would be the one that I'm referring to. I've measured all sides of the picture to the edge of the screen and I'm not seeing any keystone or hourglass, but just the tilt. I'll see if I can get some pictures of it up tonight. It may not be all that noticble to most people (my wife and her sisters), but I'm so picky about making sure everything in my house is level and straight....maybe a bit of OCD :)

Dargason

05-03-06, 09:36 PM

Does anyone have both the HL-S TV and the Samsung TV stand ? If so, could you post a picture. Just wondering how well they look together.I posted a pic of my new HL-S5086W and matching Pinnacle stand (from BB). Unfortunately I haven't made 5 posts yet and cannot post the URL.

Please click on "Photo Gallery" above and do a search for "HL-S5086W" to see the pic. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I don't know if that's the stand you meant. I also got the DVD-HD860 upconverting DVD. I'm no expert but it all looks fantastic to me!

HoustonPerson

05-04-06, 07:55 AM

crewcab,

Here is the picture to the HL-S5088........most of the 87 and 88 stands are the same or very similar..........for the HL-S4266 and 4666, I believe they use last years stand (silver).

http://www.samsung.com/Products/TV/DLPTV/files/hls5088_final.pdf

Of course there is nothing like "do it yourself" = Super Custom Made is the way to go. Picture attached.

Supermans

05-04-06, 08:32 AM

The settings on the new Sammy 720p do take a good deal of time to get use to.

My Color settings for Pink Blue Green are defaulted at "50". I have reduced all three to "30" - that seems to make both the flesh tones and all colors more natural to me........producing much less green faces. I had tried a setting of "25" for all three of those colors, but then the other colors were going into reverse neon - water and sky starting looking freaky.

At one point I had adjusted Color Weakness - the red only up by "1" (it only has 10 steps not 100)................but decided the red was way to much and set it back to zero - factory default.

Changing the color weakness too much will cause major banding and noise issues. The same with My Color settings. Leaving them at default is always what I do to calibrate. If you reduce the My Color settings to 30 from 50, also give a try lowering the color a few notches at a time while the My Color is at standard until you get the same looking results. These results you are looking for will occur this way without banding or artifacts.

mtw76mtw

05-04-06, 08:46 AM

Of course there is nothing like "do it yourself" = Super Custom Made is the way to go. Picture attached.

LOL!!! That seriously cracked me up. I'm waiting on a custom stand as well, and I joked that before I get it, I might just use cinder blocks and some two by fours. But in the meantime, a friend's old coffee table will do the trick.

Thanks also for your post about all the DNR, DNIE, etc. settings. Interesting stuff. I look forward to testing it all with my 6187.

HoustonPerson

05-04-06, 10:21 AM

LOL!!! That seriously cracked me up. I'm waiting on a custom stand as well, and I joked that before I get it, I might just use cinder blocks and some two by fours. But in the meantime, a friend's old coffee table will do the trick.

Thanks also for your post about all the DNR, DNIE, etc. settings. Interesting stuff. I look forward to testing it all with my 6187.

Glad you like the custom stand. I think I will start a new business. It should work! :D

Generally, on the "color" settings etc. I have decided to go basically with factory defaults for now..........For "Standard" I have "reduced" contrast by 10 to 15 and Color about 5-10, sharpness about 5, and brightness down by 5. And the temp is "normal" Seems to me if adjustments are made too much it starts to go wack-o.

I have also noticed, if a station is doing a lot of poor quality output (too much compression I guess?); the "faces" start to turn "neon", and some "claymation" appears. If the station is putting out high quality then those problems are not visible to me.

My only real complaint is that the set is still way too bright for me, and I can not get the blacks levels I was hoping for. In a 100% black dark room, if you have at least a 25 watt bulb on somewhere, you should be fine (and all the way up to intense sunlight coming in a window). But if the room is dark, it is just too bright IMO. My Sony direct view CRT XBR's can do a little better on blacks...but not by much.

IMO this smaller 42" set should have a smaller bulb in it, so it could render blacks better, or the "iris" system or something.

brg606

05-04-06, 01:03 PM

Artuk

05-04-06, 03:00 PM

concerning the brightness...i think the new hls models come with at bulb that's 120W on "standard" mode and 132W on "dynamic". the hlr model was 100W on "standard" and 120W on "dynamic". so basicly, it sounds like the new hls models are as bright on "standard" setting as the hlr models were on "dynamic".

somebody correct me if i'm wrong.

I had no idea that different modes could impact the bulb power. I have been using "custom" but having trouble getting the brightness down without losing my blacks. I wonder which bulb setting that uses? I will try modifying "standard" instead and see if that produces a more even result.

I tried using a calibration disk supplied by Circuit City to adjust brightness and contrast but had extremely unsatisfactory results.. I am going to see about making a disk using the test patterns I use for my computer calibrations whch have been very satisfactory.

Regards,

Chris

Grogmeister

05-04-06, 03:39 PM

How does SD look on these sets?

HoustonPerson

05-04-06, 03:45 PM

How does SD look on these sets?

Some of the SD looks very good (sometimes close to HD), like all the DVD's are very good, and about 30% of my DT OTA SD is very good........20% fair and 50% bad.........I think a lot of stations are sending out bad stuff and it looks bad on the set.

HoustonPerson

05-04-06, 03:48 PM

If you do, I would like you to test your solid black screen. Either go to a 100% black signal (like beween channels) or between sources. Look at the screen straight on dead center (not to one side or standing up), in a fully darkened room.

Do you see any thing strange in the black picture?

Supermans

05-04-06, 03:50 PM

brg606

05-04-06, 04:36 PM

wonder if this increased brightness is gonna mean decreased lamp life.

douglas53

05-05-06, 09:15 AM

kmwest

05-05-06, 09:26 AM

Have him double check to insure that he is using the correct input connection for receiving OTA channels. Sounds silly but it couldn't hurt to double check.

ferrisg

05-05-06, 09:27 AM

a friend of mine at work just bought a HLS 4266 2 days ago and asked me this morning why he couldn't get OTA digital channels. I have been doing some looking around and just want to make sure that this set does have a built in tuner.

I read that Houston was pulling in OTA stations, so what is he missing in the set up options that he isn't getting the channels?

Thanks,

These do have OTA tuners. Has your friend been able to receive OTA digital channels before? He can go to AntennaWeb (http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx) to look up the appropriate type of antenna and direction of the towers if he hasn't had this set up previously.

HoustonPerson

05-05-06, 09:31 AM

Yep that is what I was going to say....one connection is for Cable the other is for Ant. I get a total of 54 channels.....24 are digital, 20 are analogue (it was 25 digital - but one went off the air, and really wont power back up till summer)

I then of course he has to scan for channels. Those pictures I posted earlier are from OTA, most of them PBS, which is just a medium power station here....35 miles away.

HoustonPerson

05-05-06, 09:34 AM

kmwest

05-05-06, 09:36 AM

Does the HL-S4266 have the superfine screen? How about the HL-S4666? I haven't been able to get to the stores to check it out yet.

I'm also curious about "shimmer". I have seen this on some HL-R sets in the stores, but have heard that if the TV is properly set up then this is not a problem. Perhaps this issue has been further reduced in the HL-Sxx66 series.

Thanks.

douglas53

05-05-06, 09:39 AM

These do have OTA tuners. Has your friend been able to receive OTA digital channels before? He can go to AntennaWeb (http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx) to look up the appropriate type of antenna and direction of the towers if he hasn't had this set up previously.

Thanks for the reply. Yes he can get OTA stations in our area. He has another setup using a D* HD receiver as his tuner. We worked together last year to get that set up, and its working fine.

He didnt bring in the manual so I was looking on line and saw that there are 2 RF inputs, one for cable and one for AIR. he said that his antenna is in the AIR connecter.

when he is scanning for channels does he have to select AIR from the source, or is there a Digital selection from the source? I didnt see the instructions on the online manual.

Doug

douglas53

05-05-06, 09:42 AM

Oh yes,,,,not only does he have to connect to "Ant" on the back of the TV, but when he "scans", he will have three scan options, so has to select for his hook up. In my case I selected "Ant" scan since that is all I have.

Houston,

Thanks for that tidbit. thats what I was looking for. I think that will help get the situation resolved.

Bob at work says thanks too. He loves this set by the way. Loves it.

HoustonPerson

05-05-06, 09:45 AM

kmwest,

I think you can tell, even from the one to one pixel posting I made eariler there is no shimmer or sparkles in the picture.

I'm having a problem it getting 100% black in a dark room.........so the jury is still out on that one.

Also, those pictures with the white background are 100% pure white, without a hint of color (my camera, could not handle the intense white screen correctly.) Also, the skins tones in those pictures is 100% right on.......the camera was producing a slight green tint. That is true for good signals received..........if you have a below average signal, the skin tones will usually shift to green or in some cases neon.

The screen on both models 4266 and 4666 and all the 720p sets is the same

likeitlarge

05-05-06, 10:47 AM

I got your request from my friend about the black screen test you want me to perform. I will do it this week end and let you know.
I got mine last Sat, but haven't had much time to play yet, need to send the wifey and kids on a trip so I can have some time with it. I have been looking at the Sony and Sammy for some time, but when I was in Tampa last week I did a side by side comparison of the R and S and there was no comparison. No matter what I did I could not make the R look as good as the S, so I bought one as soon as I got home. In what little time I have had, I did not find the HD scan yet and got to wondering if it had the built in HD tuner like the R and looked at CC website and it says no. I have been looking at OTR but if it is not HD then the HD will be stunning! Can't wait to get home from work, I might leave early!

HoustonPerson

05-05-06, 11:17 AM

likeitlarge,
Thanks...
I think you will like the set a lot. Usually, in most parts of the country CBS and PBS HD comes in good..............WB is usualy great in most areas too. but it is sort of hit and miss here. ABC locally is still getting their equipment together, sometimes great sometimes bad. Up in Dallas it is almost always good. Fox is great here too.

Artuk

05-05-06, 11:45 AM

Last night I finally got my comcast hd box and hooked it up via HDMI. HD channels look great (suprise) and a lot of the issues I had with adjusting the image color and brightness went away when I got the comcast box. I made one set of final adjustments and it looked perfect to me.

I was NOT getting the 5.1 signal passed through HDMI.. I have a logitech sound system that will indicate the type of decoding in the display. Through the coax from my cable box I got 5.1 digital, the optical form the TV came in as stereo (passed in via HDMI). I have no way to check the sound from OTA digital channels.

There are two settings I need to play with tonight on the cable box for audio.. right now it is set to "auto" but I can force it to PCM. I will try that this weekend.

I am VERY pleased with this set now that I have the proper signal. I am also glad I didnt get bigger then 42", I would sit even a little farther back then the 7-8' I am at now if I could.

OTA: the tv has a signal strength meter.. if you are having trouble pulling OTA on a digital channel then check that, iit may show that there is digital signal but its not of sufficient strength in which case a better antennae is probably in order. I tried to pull in the digital signal from the local PBS channel because comcast give me a different one.. comcast gives me the better choice but I thought I would be able to get the local PBS from 10 miles away with an indoor antenna, I was wrong.. to be fair I am at the bottom of a hill between me and that station..

Chris

Grudus

05-05-06, 01:03 PM

DirkGecko

05-05-06, 02:43 PM

Wow. That's way louder than my 5086, that's for sure. I have to really strain to hear my fan and the pitch is a low rushing sound. As a matter of fact, my refridgerator in the kitchen makes more background noise than the Sammy does.

HoustonPerson

05-05-06, 02:50 PM

Just got my HL-S4666 in from the TVA powerbuy yesterday. Really pleased with it so far with the exception of the noisy fan. How loud is the fan for everyone else? Right now I can hear the fan sitting 6-7 feet away from the set with the TV playing at a low to moderate level. Its about twice as loud as your typical PC case fan maybe little more.

I can not hear mine running at all; 4266, and that is sticking my head behind the set. I do hear the Sony HDD500, which is very loud. Both Mits' we had last year were very loud; but they were not as loud as the Sony Hard Disk, which I can hear all the way across the room.

blkwidow02

05-05-06, 02:59 PM

Artuk

05-05-06, 03:04 PM

4266 can't hear it. I wonder if it is temperature sensitive the way a PC fan is? Its relatively cool in my tv room.

Regards,

Chris

HoustonPerson

05-05-06, 05:11 PM

Can barely hear mine on my 5086 and only when the sound is on mute and I shove my head behind the tv. Get more than a foot away and everything is quiet.

Is there a noticable difference in visual quality with Component vs HDMI? The box I have right now doesn't have HDMI, but I can switch it out at Time Warner if I want.

On my set, I could not tell a difference between component and HDMI......On the HD hard disk recorder (which also has HDMI), it caused the the picture to flash or flicker a couple of times, when pausing, or commercial pass, etc.....I did not like that. That flickering is part of the HDMI handshake process, each time the signal is broken it has to reset (takes about 1 or 2 seconds).......with component all the transitions are 100% smooth. Other than that the video quality is the same on both IMHO.

With that said you Time Warner device could be better with HDMI. My Sony Recorder said it would flicker when changing gears via HDMI............I have no idea about the Time Warner device?

brg606

05-06-06, 11:21 AM

houstonperson, how's the zoom or stretch or smart stretch (or whatever they're called) modes look on the hls for 4:3 content? thanks.

HoustonPerson

05-06-06, 12:39 PM

Well for TV I use either the 16:9 for the wide screen stuff and 4:3 for the SD stuff. I really do not like stretch the 4:3........but it seems most people do.

However with that said: The very few DVD's I have are 4:3 and I watch those in stretch 1, in Movie mode, and I am very pleased with that.........the stretch 1 mode just overscans a little on top and bottom on some of the DVD's and fills to the side, just right. Because the stretch is even to me, I do not see distortion..........it really looks good to me.

So for me:
TV "no" - I don't like stretch or wide screen on 4:3
DVD Movie mode stretch 1 "yes" - because there is no distortion.

pedroelopez

05-06-06, 04:44 PM

thatick

05-06-06, 09:19 PM

well ive had my 5086 for 3 days from the powerbuy and i did love it. But today while watching LOTR, the screen got really distorted and all red. I unpluged it for a min and then it was fine for 20 mins and then the picture went bad again. Did this 3 or 4 times but picture always went bad again. Longer the set is of, longer the picture last. Oh well already have my first service call. :(

HoustonPerson

05-07-06, 06:49 AM

thatick, let us know how it all turns out etc.....what city do you live in?

thatick

05-07-06, 09:25 AM

Im in mount pleasant NC. Im waiting on the tech to call me back to set up the service. To Samsung's credit, the were very quick to set up the service.

Artuk

05-08-06, 10:57 AM

I got a panasonic 52s upscaling HDMI DVD player for my HLS4266W. Very pleased with the result now. I had previously been using an older DVD player through component.

With my comcast DVR I am not getting "flicker" when I use it but I do get occasional pauses that I did not expect after using a ReplayTV over the last few years. I am wondering if this is a symptom of the same HDMI synch issue but handled a little differently?

I have had some strange problems with the comcast box. Really its nice hardware but the software is terrible compared to Replay or Tivo.

Chris

sleaze160

05-08-06, 04:40 PM

thatick

05-08-06, 10:11 PM

Well finally talked to the tech. Since the tv is so new they have no replacement parts so they can not fix it. They are sending me a replacement tv in a day or 2.

HoustonPerson

05-09-06, 07:30 AM

Just got my HL-S4666W this weekend. I am very happy with it. I can't hear the fans at all. No issues connecting my DVR via HDMI. I use normal FF and skip forward and it does not flicker at all. Great picutre out of the box. I will use Avia of DVE sometime soon to tweak. Very happy to enjoy all my shows in HD now.

Yes I think your are correct....the flicker I get with the Sony DHG-HDD500 connected HDMI, I think is "all" caused by the Sony, because it says in the Sony manual it will do that via HDMI; so to me that means it is the Sony doing the flicker...........The Sony book says connect via component to eliminate the flicker, and that works for me..........PQ looked exactly the same both ways to me.

All those pictures taken earlier were taken with the component mode hook up.

I have the Sony set to "native" mode; which means it automatically will send out any type of signal as it was origially recorded "in"; from the source - 480i through 1080i.........that means each time it stopped and started, the TV would have to resample that native mode, while the Sony was "re-finding" what mode it wanted to send.........hence the flicker. The Sony book also said I could just define a mode; like send everything out 1080i (just one mode), and that would also make things faster on the handshaking routine.

southwick

05-09-06, 03:25 PM

I am new to all this, and just bought this TV the other day.
I need advice though, so I am going to pick all of your Brains, if you will let me.

1. No QAM tuner.
-- is this a bad thing? I realize that it might mean I need a cable box for digital cable right? Anything else I should know about this?

2. Best way to hook up from DVD --> TV?
Component, Composite, HDMI? Am I making these terms up?
3. Best for Audio.
Is optical any good, or is something else going to be preferred?

4. Any good tips for hooking up antenna. Do I need a special HD antenna, and is there a good place to find one?

See, utter noob here. :(

ferrisg

05-09-06, 04:53 PM

1. No QAM tuner.
-- is this a bad thing? I realize that it might mean I need a cable box for digital cable right? Anything else I should know about this?

Essentially you have nailed exactly the issue with not having a QAM tuner.

2. Best way to hook up from DVD --> TV?
Component, Composite, HDMI? Am I making these terms up?

Generally accepted knowledge orders input in this way:
HDMI/DVI > Component > S-Video > Composite > RF Modulated

3. Best for Audio.
Is optical any good, or is something else going to be preferred?

You need to use the optical output of the TV if you want DD5.1 audio from OTA HD stations. This output will also pass 2 channel audio from any of its inputs. I think the benefits of this are fairly limited if you have the capability of running the audio direct from the source to your receiver.

4. Any good tips for hooking up antenna. Do I need a special HD antenna, and is there a good place to find one?

You only need a standard UHF antenna. I use a cheap Philips amplified antenna from Wal-Mart and pick up all the HD stations 30 miles away easily. The Zenith Silver Sensor is one that is highly recommended by others on many forums.

southwick

05-10-06, 10:34 AM

So I guess the lack of a QAM tuner isn't the end of the world..really wished I had noticed that though before ordering.

The 1080p model can be had for 300 more, and has the tuner.

Oh well.

If I get digital cable will it make all this moot, since I will get the cable box anyway, or will I still need to get an antenna for local stations?

brg606

05-10-06, 11:05 AM

HoustonPerson

05-10-06, 11:57 AM

come on y'all, let's see some more pictures. anyone with a hls5686 out there? thinking about pulling the trigger on the tva pb on that one. at a viewing distance of 13-16 feet it's not worth the extra $ for 1080p, right? thanks.

If this is going to be your "main" TV then I would say go for the 1080p 88 series. It is true that the experts say the "eye" can not tell the resolution difference..........but what you can easily tell is the "shading" is much better on a 1080p.........far less dithering artifacts, better video processing. And 10,000 to 1 contrast ratio instead of 2500:1

If you like live sports (ie baseball or whatever).....IMO the 1080p makes all the difference in the world.

It boils down to what is best for you. Both are great sets.

southwick

05-11-06, 03:27 PM

If this is going to be your "main" TV then I would say go for the 1080p 88 series. It is true that the experts say the "eye" can not tell the resolution difference..........but what you can easily tell is the "shading" is much better on a 1080p.........far less dithering artifacts, better video processing. And 10,000 to 1 contrast ratio instead of 2500:1

If you like live sports (ie baseball or whatever).....IMO the 1080p makes all the difference in the world.

It boils down to what is best for you. Both are great sets.

Bah, must you throw doubt in my mind.

Now I have to decide whether or not to take TVA up on their return policy.

thatick

05-11-06, 04:30 PM

cyrilic

05-11-06, 05:03 PM

Well now they are telling me it is going to take 21 days to do the exchange on my TV. So for almost a month i will have no tv in living room. Well one thing is for sure, this is the last product i will ever get from samsung.

Yikes! Did Samsung say what was wrong with the unit? Have they received a lot of exchanges on the same model? They are paying for shipping right?

thatick

05-11-06, 05:15 PM

They are paying for everything but their customer service seems to be very confused. Now they say 14 days to authorize return and 21 days for the actual exchange. 35 days??? :mad: :mad: :mad: My suggestion is to buy the tv from a brick and mortar store, that way if you have any problems, you wont have to deal with samsung.

I could have went through TVAthority for service, but it sounds like they go through samsung and it would have been the same deal.

cyrilic

05-11-06, 05:34 PM

You could try the old retail swap-a-roo .. Buy the same model from a brick and mortar store, then return your TVA unit to the store, tell them it was DOA. They all use the same UPC code :)

thatick

05-11-06, 06:41 PM

If i did that, would best buy or circuit city not charge me a restocking fee if i didnt exchange? I cant remember their policy. :confused:

fden

05-11-06, 07:40 PM

HoustonPerson

05-12-06, 07:41 AM

If i did that, would best buy or circuit city not charge me a restocking fee if i didnt exchange? I cant remember their policy. :confused:

TVA's policy is supposed to be instant exchange within the first 30 days for problems like this. You should talk to a supervisor.

They do read this thread, so they know what is going on. Make sure that the "powers that be" there, know you are not happy.

Good Luck, hope it all works out.

Artuk

05-12-06, 01:04 PM

Hi gang. Got my HLS4666 earlier this week. Everything looks great. I hooked my PC up to it via the VGA cable and the quality is OK.

Today I hooked up my PC via an DVI to HDMI cable and it looks beautiful. Much more crisp than the VGA. Only problem is I have the desktop over-hanging on all sides (cutting off the traskbar and icons near the edge of the desktop). When I connect the VGA cable I am able to go into the PC tools to correct this. However, when I connect via HDMI the PC tools on the Samsung menu are disabled.

Anyone know the trick to getting my whole desktop to show via HDMI? (yes, the resolution on the PC is set to 1280x720)

The manual recommended 1024x768 through VGA. I wonder if that is actually the native resolution of the set.. and when you send a pc signal through the hdmi (which they say not to do, glad it works) you get the 1024 middle of the 1280? Try setting the res of the PC to 1024 and see if it fits perfectly, if stretched..

I am very curious about this.. I am hoping to set up my PC in the living room this weekend to try playing oblivion on the big screen... I was surprised that they recommended 1024x786 in the manual when I *thought* the native rez was 1280... I would prefer to do it through the HDMI rather then the VGA.

Chris

thatick

05-12-06, 01:14 PM

Let me stress that i am not upset with TVA. Thier service and price were great. Samsung is the one pissing me off. Ill drop them a line and see what they can do.

ferrisg

05-12-06, 01:39 PM

The manual recommended 1024x768 through VGA. I wonder if that is actually the native resolution of the set.. and when you send a pc signal through the hdmi (which they say not to do, glad it works) you get the 1024 middle of the 1280? Try setting the res of the PC to 1024 and see if it fits perfectly, if stretched..

I am very curious about this.. I am hoping to set up my PC in the living room this weekend to try playing oblivion on the big screen... I was surprised that they recommended 1024x786 in the manual when I *thought* the native rez was 1280... I would prefer to do it through the HDMI rather then the VGA.

Chris

The native res of the set is 1280x720. I imagine they recommend 1024x768 to eliminate any concerns of overscan from the outset.

To answer the original question, use your video card drivers or Powerstrip to do a resolution-within-a-resolution. In Nvidia drivers, you can go to the custom resolution page and set the timings manually. Basically you end up with a slightly lower resolution being sent in a 1280x720 timing. If you were able to turn your overscan down to zero (I haven't looked in the service menu to see if this is possible, but it's really not highly desirable), you would be fine with the 1280x720 res.

As for the VGA working, this is because the Samsung is doing something similar (although in a lossier way), in that it is scaling the signal it's receiving to a slightly lower res as you change the image size with the controls.

I think the only thing you'll really lose from using the HDMI input for the PC is the ability to control the image on the TV side. Luckily there are more than enough tools to do this on the PC side, including most current video card drivers.

thatick

05-12-06, 03:39 PM

Ok i contacted TVA but they said that i have to go through samsung which is what i was afraid of. Oh well its just my luck i guess. :o

Grogmeister

05-12-06, 03:58 PM

How does SD look on the 5086?

cyrilic

05-12-06, 05:06 PM

thatick, how many hours did you use your TV before the defect occured?

ayrton911

05-12-06, 10:32 PM

pradeep1

05-13-06, 01:10 AM

I think I'm going to stick with my HLR4667W. I was seriously considering its return, to buy a HLS4666W. However, here is what I decided:

The QAM tuner and firewire ports on the HLR are nice to have. These are luxuries not on the HLS.

Yes, the HLS has 2 HDMI ports, but someday I'll need more than 2 anyway, and I can just use a HDMI selector or A/V receiver.

The only thing that I feel would be a significant upgrade on the HLS is the faster color wheel, but I never see rainbows.

So this leaves the only decider on picture quality, does the HLS produce a better picture? It seems to me most everyone says *yes it does." However, how am I to verify that? Furthermore, a couple retailers have told me they think the improvement is minimal, thought not sure how serious I should take theirs.

Do you think my conclusion to stick with the HLR is sound? Oh, yes. Lots of people claim the game mode is important. However, using game input, I've had no issues myself on the HLR.

Thanks for the help.

I was fretting over the same thing yesterday, but the difference between a 720p HLR4667W and a 720p HLS4666W was like $125 at Amazon, it made sense for me to go for the HLS version. From my looking at HLS models at Circuit City, they seem to put out more light and have a steeper contrast ratio, which makes things pop and look better. Of course, I was comparing a HLR that was probably sitting on the floor on for 12 hours daily for a year, whereas the HLS was probably used only a month. But still, the look and feel of the HLS series seemed nicer. With such a small price difference (as May 2006), I'd say go for the HLS with the faster color wheel, dual HDMI, and the black bezel. Just my n00bie $0.02.

ayrton911

05-13-06, 06:23 PM

I was fretting over the same thing yesterday, but the difference between a 720p HLR4667W and a 720p HLS4666W was like $125 at Amazon, it made sense for me to go for the HLS version. From my looking at HLS models at Circuit City, they seem to put out more light and have a steeper contrast ratio, which makes things pop and look better. Of course, I was comparing a HLR that was probably sitting on the floor on for 12 hours daily for a year, whereas the HLS was probably used only a month. But still, the look and feel of the HLS series seemed nicer. With such a small price difference (as May 2006), I'd say go for the HLS with the faster color wheel, dual HDMI, and the black bezel. Just my n00bie $0.02.

Great. Now I'm considering the 2006 again. Amazon looks interesting too. Let me know how that turns out (your order). Hate not being able to return, if there is a problem though. I'm not sure what you mean about black bezel though. The HLR and HLS 46-inch models look physically identical to me. Black around the screen, but silver on the speakers. ?

Dargason

05-15-06, 09:51 AM

cyrilic

05-15-06, 10:48 AM

So there I was, with 35 friends and family in the room, getting ready to play the video montage I did for my daughter's graduation party (baby pictures and stuff). I turn on my brand new 5086 and the matching DVD-HD860 and all I got was "no signal detected". I futzed with it for a few minutes in front of the crowd and only got it to work when I pulled and reinserted the HDMI cable from the back of the DVD. No, it wasn't loose - I pushed it in before I decided to pull and reinsert.

Maybe it's a DVD player problem, or the cable, or turning the components on in the wrong order? I dunno. But it couldn't have picked a worse time to get flaky. Worked fine after that.

Yikes! Sometimes my 5086 will show the same message, but only when the dvd player's resolution is in a mode the TV can not display.

DirkGecko

05-15-06, 11:01 AM

How does SD look on the 5086? Surprisingly good, really. It's all about viewing distance. The scaler is very good and there's little artifacting. Flesh tones are natural. Yes, the picture is kinda blurry, but we're talking about making a crap image bigger so it goes with the territory. I'd say it looks as good at 10-12' as my VVega 27" did at 5-6'. Sensible, as the image height is almost double.

I should postfix this by saying I only watch SD in 4:3. Scaling it wide or using the zoom modes makes things messy. As the bezel is nice 'n black and that the sidebars are black (not grey), I don't find myself frettting about unused screen real-estate. As long as my HD & DVDs are wide, I'm good.

And as to the VGA modes, I'm using 1280x720 directly from the nVidia drivers. In the Sammy "settings" menu, there's an "autofit" option. I'm not getting 1:1 pixel mapping, but I'm getting ZERO overscan and my text is still plenty legible. No obvious artifacting. And just like with an LCD 'puter monitor, there are "fine tune" controls to shift the image about on a subpixel basis. Took maybe 3 minutes to get the video configured. My HTPC issues aren't picture/FFDShow related at all but the SPDIF from my stupid Audigy2. :-D

sleaze160

05-15-06, 12:17 PM

So there I was, with 35 friends and family in the room, getting ready to play the video montage I did for my daughter's graduation party (baby pictures and stuff). I turn on my brand new 5086 and the matching DVD-HD860 and all I got was "no signal detected". I futzed with it for a few minutes in front of the crowd and only got it to work when I pulled and reinserted the HDMI cable from the back of the DVD. No, it wasn't loose - I pushed it in before I decided to pull and reinsert.

Maybe it's a DVD player problem, or the cable, or turning the components on in the wrong order? I dunno. But it couldn't have picked a worse time to get flaky. Worked fine after that.

I have the HD860 and a s4666w. I have seen that message. Try pressing the video sel. button on the front of the machine. That changed it for me. That will change botht he output resolution and also whether progressive is on for 480 and 720. If you have it set to 720 output, but the progressive is off then the TV doesn't know what to do. That is my suggestion, might work, might not. Let me know how it turns out.

dms100tech

05-15-06, 10:50 PM

Hi, I am in Canada and the HLS-XX66W models have not arrived here yet. I am definitely waiting to see one and from the posted comments it might be my number 1 choice. I phoned Samsung parts to find out how much a replacement lamp costs, but they could not tell me unless I provided the lamp code. They told me the lamp code is on the outside of the case and can vary from set to set. Apperantley samsung uses 2 or 3 different lamps in this series. Since some of you already own these sets, would you be willing to check the lamp code and post it here. I will phone Samsung and try to obtain the replacement part numbers and costs involved and post the info here. Thanks

MrBones

05-15-06, 11:59 PM

bryanb

05-16-06, 01:43 PM

pedroelopez

05-16-06, 03:19 PM

On my 5086 I can confirm that DNIe can be turned off/on. Not sure about the XX66, but from what I remember reading here, it can.

sleaze160

05-16-06, 03:51 PM

Hey guys,

Can someone confirm that DNIe can be turned off/on on the HLS4266? It looks like from the thread it's possible, but the manual doesn't seem to mention it.

Thinking about picking one up this weekend and just wanted to be sure.

Thanks,
Bryan

the s4666w can turn off the DNIe and I assume the 42 would be exactly the same. There is even a button on the remote that says DNIe. It cycles through on, off, and demo (half screen on and half screen off).

Artuk

05-16-06, 04:14 PM

Can someone confirm that DNIe can be turned off/on on the HLS4266?

I have that model and it can be turned off.

Chris

bryanb

05-16-06, 05:28 PM

Thanks for the confirmation.

b

HoustonPerson

05-17-06, 03:05 PM

DNIe does to help sharpen the picture a little. And they claim it helps with high speed video (motion), and a few other pluses.

DNIe does "crush" the blacks and that is not good, it really takes away from the picture. You can see the loss of black details in dark scenes.....black suits and dresses on very dark indoor pictures.

You can adjust contrast and sharpness to adjust (some) for some of the lost benefits; but not all of them.

DNIe, does have "on", "demo", and "off" settings. You can toggle (the selection is circular) between "on" and "off"..............that way you can see for yourself the sharpness and detail gains and well as the black loss. Note: It takes about TWO seconds for the picture to adjust - switch between on and off in dark scenes and you will see what I mean (Boston Legal - with someone wearing a black or dark blue suit).

Using demo mode is a waste of time and the picture is NOT the real "on" and "off" as indicated on the screen...........Only the "on" or "off" by them selves is real and again it takes two seconds for the picture to adjust after you have made the change.

Remember you can go from "on" to "off" and back again; by-passing "demo" mode all together.

ferrisg

05-18-06, 12:51 AM

So my most important question about these sets (specifically the HL-S5086W) is, is there any type of lag issues on video games that run in 480i format? There were crazy issues with the HL-R5067W (which is the one I currently am looking to replace) and I was wondering if there was anything like that with with these newer ones?

Thanks for your help.

480i sources do experience a video delay issue (damn TiVo for not being able to do 480p). Actually, I have a slight issue with some games, even in 480p or 720p. MVP 2005 on the Xbox (1) now causes me some grief on pitching. It's a two click system where the first press starts the meter, then you hold down and let go at the top, then press again in the sweet spot. I have to hit earlier than I'm used to to get a good pitch. This feels the same in 720p and 480p, as well as with game mode on. NBA 2K6 has started giving me fits with the free throws. For this you pull the analog stick down to start the motion, then press up at the top of the motion. Again, I have to push up much earlier to get a good free throw. This is in 480p. It's not bad, and I don't have a DDR type game to really test this, but I've gone from nearly perfect at the free throw line (or pitches in MVP) to fairly mediocre. As I learn it gets easier, though. I'm not sure if a 360 has this type of issue, but reports seem to indicate the answer is no.

Actually, reports from others indicate they have no lag in 480p anyway, so I'm not sure if it's just me getting used to something else or what. I don't have the GetGray DVD to use his really good video delay pattern, so I can't say for sure that this isn't just in my head.

southwick

05-18-06, 03:50 PM

Well got the TV in about a week ago.
So far been pretty happy. Still need to get in some component cables to hook up the DvD player, and im running on standard Crap cable.
Basically not using it to its fullest yet.

Everything looks really good though.
Still have buyers remorse for not just spending the extra $250 to get the 1080p version.
Even if I won't be able to tell a difference I still know its there :).

Either way though, set is really pretty with no problems.
Testing out video games on it tomorrow.

Grudus

05-18-06, 04:46 PM

Just got my HL-S4666 in from the TVA powerbuy yesterday. Really pleased with it so far with the exception of the noisy fan. How loud is the fan for everyone else? Right now I can hear the fan sitting 6-7 feet away from the set with the TV playing at a low to moderate level. Its about twice as loud as your typical PC case fan maybe little more.

Quick followup on this. Had the repair guy from Samsung out to check out the problem. Turns out it wasn't a noisy Fan at all but rather the Color Wheel itself. Since there are currently no parts available for this model yet to correct the problem Samsung is going to be sending me a replacement set. Should get a replacement in about 2 weeks or so. Thanks again for the replies everyone prompted me to get it checked out since it seemed abnormal.

cyrilic

05-18-06, 05:46 PM

Quick followup on this. Had the repair guy from Samsung out to check out the problem. Turns out it wasn't a noisy Fan at all but rather the Color Wheel itself. Since there are currently no parts available for this model yet to correct the problem Samsung is going to be sending me a replacement set. Should get a replacement in about 2 weeks or so. Thanks again for the replies everyone prompted me to get it checked out since it seemed abnormal.

Oh man, are you going to be without a TV for a while?

Grudus

05-19-06, 10:24 AM

Still works just noisy sometimes sounds like a little dremmel tool running inside the TV. They will pick up the old TV when they come to drop off the new TV so shouldn't be without a TV.

Artuk

05-19-06, 11:00 AM

Still works just noisy sometimes sounds like a little dremmel tool running inside the TV. They will pick up the old TV when they come to drop off the new TV so shouldn't be without a TV.

Nice! A rare happy ending to a bad situation.

Chris

bryanb

05-19-06, 02:36 PM

Does anyone here know which resolutions are supported on the HD inputs (component and HDMI)? I didn't see it in the Samsung manual.

Thanks,
b

ayrton911

05-19-06, 03:29 PM

Does anyone here know which resolutions are supported on the HD inputs (component and HDMI)? I didn't see it in the Samsung manual.

Thanks,
b

Your set should take 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i inputs.

panafreak

05-19-06, 10:35 PM

Does anyone know if this set upconverts all signals to 720p?

htwaits

05-19-06, 11:30 PM

Does anyone know if this set upconverts all signals to 720p?All micro chip displays (DLP, LCoS, or LCD) have to convert all signals to their individual native resolution. In this case that is 720p.

ferrisg

05-22-06, 05:25 PM

NBA 2K6 has started giving me fits with the free throws. For this you pull the analog stick down to start the motion, then press up at the top of the motion. Again, I have to push up much earlier to get a good free throw. This is in 480p. It's not bad, and I don't have a DDR type game to really test this, but I've gone from nearly perfect at the free throw line (or pitches in MVP) to fairly mediocre. As I learn it gets easier, though.

I wanted to update this for anyone concerned. I've played NBA 2k6 some more and either gotten used to something or was imagining things in the first place. I'm still not as good from the line as I used to be, but with good free throw shooters the motion seems accurate, and with poor free throw shooters it seems fairly difficult. I remember this being the case on my CRT, but maybe I had played so much I didn't notice it, and did after a break from the game for several days. . .

I still have issues with MVP 2005, but I'm beginning to suspect it's something with that game and 480p/720p because I don't experience a video delay with anything else except 480i.

ryan9708

05-24-06, 06:38 PM

Bought my HLS5086w from TVAuthority last week, got it today, very pleased with that end. I picked up a Comcast HD box this morning, immediately hooked it up and sat down to start enjoying my new TV. Well, first of all I find out I have a horrible cable signal, I can't tune in about half of the HD channels - No ESPN HD, no ABC or Fox HD, and not any of INHD or Discovery HD. So I called Comcast and set up a service appointment for them to come check on it, figured, that's not so bad. I pop in a DVD, hooked up with my monoprice HDMI to the TV, start enjoying a movie. It looks OK, not as good as I thought I remembered seeing on my neighbor's 50" HLR, figured it might be the cheap cable. As the movie went on I started to see some "noise" which got gradually worse. At first it only appeared in completely black areas, but it started to fill in over the entire screen. As I switched inputs I realized it was on every input, this creeping "Matrix" like effect started to cover the entire screen. Small white numbers and letters constantly changing now fill the entire screen, must be thousands of them. I called Samsung to schedule service, but I'm too far away from a service center so they have to make special arrangements, could take 5+ business days. So yeah, brand new TV worked great for about 5 hours. Anyone else hear of/have any problems like this?

ryan9708

05-24-06, 09:06 PM

Sure. That's why I bought my TV. You're the first person to realize what makes HDTV so great. ;)

Hours on hold/missing work for service calls/$2000 paper weights?

HoustonPerson

05-25-06, 06:10 AM

Does anyone know if this set upconverts all signals to 720p?

Everything thrown at it 480 thru 1080, goes to the screen as 720.

If you have a DVD player you will usually get best results setting it to 480i (the DVD Player), and let the Samsung do all the conversion work, and turn film mode "on" for the automatic 3:2 pull down, that option only lights up when the set is receiving a 480i signal, and then it will automatically detect it is receiving film.

ayrton911

05-25-06, 03:39 PM

Everything thrown at it 480 thru 1080, goes to the screen as 720.

If you have a DVD player you will usually get best results setting it to 480i (the DVD Player), and let the Samsung do all the conversion work, and turn film mode "on" for the automatic 3:2 pull down, that option only lights up when the set is receiving a 480i signal, and then it will automatically detect it is receiving film.

Houston - Really about not using the scaler on DVD players? I have a standard progressive DVD player. I've had a hard time deciding on, if I like to output progressive, or interlaced. The progressive seems more crisp and sharp to me. However, the interlaced seems to have deeper colors. Tough decisions!

brg606

05-25-06, 03:49 PM

hey y'all. believe this or not, i saw a hls5065 at samsclub this morning????? i guess it's a special model just for sams. the case looked like the old hlr with the floating screen, but i'm 100% positive it said hls5065. it appeared to be new and was on a wooden pallet and did not have a price on it.

HoustonPerson

05-25-06, 05:14 PM

Houston - Really about not using the scaler on DVD players? I have a standard progressive DVD player. I've had a hard time deciding on, if I like to output progressive, or interlaced. The progressive seems more crisp and sharp to me. However, the interlaced seems to have deeper colors. Tough decisions!

Of course every situation is different............on the Samsung side for a DVD input I have it set to "movie" mode (DNIe is "off" you don't have a choice).........DNR "on"......and film mode (3:2 pulldown) is "on".

Every time time I have tested this on a DVD player from $40 to $350, I have always gotten a slightly better picture with the DVD player set to its native 480i output. That only applies to the "current" 720p and 1080p made over the last year and half (I have only done this on Sammy, Sony, and Mit's).........just a few short years ago, you had to send the TV the best you could from the DVD player (whatever it could do). My dad has an old Mit's CRT RPTV 1080i - yes in that case have the DVD player send over the best you can send it, because the 480i will be real bad.

I know I am going against the grain on this but that is just me, I am extremely hard headed. But I really do believe the new sets do great do all the conversion work.

Um, you know that last time I tested that was on the Mit's WD52628, and decided it was best that way.......so I just hooked up the HL-S4266 the same way and it looked great to me...................if I have time perhaps I should go re-test...........btw I am only using a S-Video cable on it - it only does the 480i on that cable anyway........the couple of times I tried it with the component I could not tell a difference.............yes, you talked me into it, time for another re-test.

unoriginal12

05-25-06, 05:32 PM

sleaze160

05-26-06, 03:06 PM

Hi all,

I got the HLS5086W delivered on Saturday and have been enjoying it. However, I'm having a problem with the sound matching up with the picture. I have the cable hooked up over HDMI. I often switch to a channel and the sound isn't even close to matching up with their lips. Is there a way to stop this from happening?

So far I haven't been able to figure it out. It happens on regular cable and HDTV channels.

Thanks :)

Nicole

2 things.

1. Is it TV sound or from a reciever?
2. If a reciever where is the sound coming from? Directly from STB or from the TV?

If using a reciever, some allow you to change the delay to match the TV and compensate for video processing delays. Hopefully that is all you need to do. Good luck.

ryan9708

05-26-06, 05:52 PM

Just wanted to continue with my saga. In our last episode I had talked with Samsung and explained to them the problem, they told me that because I was outside of the 50 mile service center radius (58 miles) that they would put through a special work order and it would take 5-8 days to contact me and set up a repair service call. 2 work days later they called me and wanted to know if my problem occured on all inputs (which it does, and which I had pointed out in the first call - it even appears when there is no signal on the input, i.e. I disconnect the HDMI cable from the DVD player and remain on the HDMI input on the TV.) and if I had closed captioning turned on, which of course, I didn't. To which they said they would set up a service call. 58 Miles Away. Back in touch in 5+ days. I asked what happened to my service call I set up 2 working days ago, they said they didn't put the order through because they wanted to ask me the question about closed captioning. I asked why that question wasn't answered when I explained the problem occured on all inputs, when there was no signal, and that the entire screen was obscured by the problem. He siad they just wanted to check. I'm really learning to hate Samsung.

ayrton911

05-26-06, 10:17 PM

Ryan - WHat happens if you're even further from a repair center? Can they say they cannot do a repair then?

ryan9708

05-26-06, 11:20 PM

Ryan - WHat happens if you're even further from a repair center? Can they say they cannot do a repair then?

Actually, the guy on the phone told me that if you're too far from a repair center (and they don't ok the extra milage) they send out some sort of special Samsung engineer, which is the best support you can get. Go figure.

scengineer

05-28-06, 02:42 PM

JakeSnake

05-30-06, 01:10 PM

Ok, my 4266 will be here in a week! :D I also picked up the DVDHD860. A few quick questions. Does the 860 work well? And how do you have it set? Meaning 480i and let the set do everything (which seems weird since that is what you are paying for in the player but someone else mentioned it) or 720p or 1080i. I would think 720p would be best as it is the set's native resolution. Any other DVD players that anyone reccommends?

ps Would there be any reason to get the 960 which outputs 1080p? To a 720p set I would say no. But it does have Faroudja DCDi circuitry, which might provide a better picture on the non-1080p outputs as well?

Thanks guys.

lorax22

05-30-06, 03:42 PM

First, I was watching the NBA east finals in HD last night and also the Fast and Furious(not my fav movie but in HD it's not bad). Each was just awesome pq! This was with ota antenna.

For DVDs, I am using a progressive scan dvd player with component cables. I don't know what it is set to output and don't even know how to set the output on it.

I have tried different p.modes and all seem too dark in dark scenes. I even tried increasing the brightness on the custom mode but that kind of ruined the overall picture?

Also, I thought that we were buying widescreens so we don't have to worry about black bars with dvds? When I watched the Fast and Furious on Fox last night in took up the whole screen, but when I put in a couple of DVDs, u571, spiderman, Kingdom of Heaven, they still did not fit my screen and had to be adjusted?

blkwidow02

05-30-06, 04:41 PM

I have noticed that my screen is to dark as well on my 5086. Like you said, you can turn the brightness way up, but this just washes out the picture. Watching CSI is almost unbearable as that entire show is mostly dark scenes to begin with. On the flip side, watching the Finals has been amazing...even though my Spurs got knocked out. Anyone care to share what settings they use to get a good image in dark scenes?

HoustonPerson

05-30-06, 05:31 PM

blkwidow02 and lorax22,

From a tech stand point it is not that picture if too black. If you look at an all black picture in a dark room (toggle source or go to a black source), you will notice it is actually a medium grey. I good black picture would be as black as the black frame to the TV, as you can tell it is not.

The bottom 20% of the blacks are rolled up into a dark medium grey (crushed blacks); therefore you can not see the detail on black or dark blue or green suits or dresses...........it's just not there.

If you are watching evening prime time like Boston Legal, or CSI, with lots of indoor super black scenes.........set the TV to Movie mode. and adjust brightness and contrast slightly ( reduce contrast a little and maybe reduce brightness just a little, set the temp to warm 1 or perhaps normal. That will help some, and on a 50" or larger should make it acceptable. When you get all the way down to 42" it is even harder to get good blacks out of the set.

The picture attached is what I use for HL-S4266, and I use that setting for all viewing, unless there is a lot of lights on or a lot of sunlight in the room.

The new 720p Mits sets (Sept or Oct), will have the automatic iris, which should produces blacks as good as their 1080p sets........the Mit's 50" modes is only $100 more than the Samsung.......I think the contrast ratio will either be the 5,000 or 10,000 to 1. The current 720p Samsung is only 2,500 to 1

Setting the Samsung to Movie Mode forces the DNIe to "off" and that will expand the blacks a little - it is about a 30% solution, and should make the black issue on 50" and larger screens a non-issue.

lorax22

05-31-06, 11:36 AM

Thanks for the great info and making it easy to understand.

What about the bars on dvds? Widescreen movies are not made in 16:9? Do I really have to watch these movies in zoom and still have bars on the top and bottom?

HoustonPerson

05-31-06, 11:57 AM

lorax22, DVD pictures come in many shapes and sizes..........for almost all of them I place the format at stretch 1.........unless it is an exact matching 16:9. So that means all of the 4:3 I watch at stretch 1, and some of the super short 16:9's as well, but if it is a matching 16:9 then I use the 16:9

When using the stretch 1 there is only a tiny amount of cropping, and the picture is not distorted and it fills the screen.......makes the 4:3 DVD's look great.

The answer that the last question is yes, if the widescreen is not an exact match to the 16:9, then your only two good choices are 16:9 (black bars top and bottom) or the stretch 1, which means you get some cropping.

I sort of feel in a few short years, both DVD and BluRay's will be providing a better match to the HDTV 16:9 format...........time will tell.

Dargason

05-31-06, 02:13 PM

Widescreen DVDs are usually at 2.35:1 (wider than 16:9), so as HoustonPerson says, you either have to watch them with top/bottom bars or use a zoom mode and deal with some clipping on the sides.

tts42572

05-31-06, 03:55 PM

Somebody push me over the edge....Help me take the plunge!

I've got my eye on a Sammy HLS4666W and just haven't been able to pull the trigger. I'm sure others on here have been in the same boat. Never spent this much on a TV before.

A 46 inch TV is the max we can fit in our space. So that's really what brought me to the Sammy DLP's in the first place. I want the most screen I can get for my dollar.

We currently have an old 27 inch Zenith that's over 10 years old. I'm not too into all this high def & high res yet. Basically, I want a good looking TV that isn't going to be obsolete in 3 years, but I don't really think I need 1080 resolution.

The main thing holding me back is the bulb life & replacement. Not really sure why. Is it a hassle to replace those things? And how much does it really cost? I could deal with a couple hundred bucks...but I've seen some people claim it cost them $400. That would start to get excessive. Part of me says that by the time I need to repalce a bulb 2-3 years from now, they'll probably be alot cheaper because there will be new technology out anyways by then (LED DLP?)

Basically, we've reached the point where I want to buy a new TV and I really only want to spend about $1,500-$1,600. In wanting as much screen as possible, that takes plasmas and LCD's out of the mix. So I'm left with the DLP's or going back to a '34 or '36 inch conventional TV. I really feel like buying one of those TV's is really just treading water and wouldn't be a step in the right direction.

Anybody out there got the HLS4666W? Happy with it? I've had the darn thing in my cart like 3 times and just haven't been able to hit the confirm button.

HoustonPerson

05-31-06, 06:25 PM

I have the HL-S4266 and it is the same as the 46", except the 46" will do just a bit better on handling blacks..........generally equal or better to most other products out there on handling blacks, but not best in class like a 1080p set - IMO. You may only notice the short coming on blacks in a dark room, with lights on, and/or sunlight it is not a problem.

The bulb list for about $230, and it is a DIY and is very easy to do. (HLR bulbs list for $199)

The HLS is among the best in these areas; clarity, sharpness, brightness, high speed motion, gaming, up and down converting with best in class results, fast tuning - about 2 seconds or less (some brands can take almost a minute and average for many is 10-15 seconds.

Lots of inputs of all kinds, that are very flexible.

Very good built in sound system. Many HDTV's have poor sound systems.

brg606

05-31-06, 06:42 PM

tts, i'd get the biggest size you can fit (46"). if not you'll regret it later i bet. i was debating between a 50" and 56" and ended up getting the 56". now when i see a 50" it seems very small.

btw, at that size, you do not need 1080p imo.

tts42572

05-31-06, 10:19 PM

Thanks for those thoughts.

I really think '46 will be a good size.

I found some pretty good prices (I think) for it. Can get the HLS4666W delivered to my door, brand new for around $XXXX. Seems like a great price.

Still having a tough time making the decision. I've been to the final checkout point twice and just haven't been able to pull the trigger.

We just got digital cable though and have about 15 HD channels available. I'd love to be able to take full advantage.

The bulb thing still bothers me some. Where d oyou even get those replacement bulbs? If they were easily replaced, I guess it isn't a big deal. We've had to do some minor reapirs to our current TV over the years so I guess it's to be expected.

I've viewed both the HLR 46 model and the HLS model. I really like the brighter screen on the new model. I though the old one was a little dark.

I have to make a decision soon. I'm spending way too much time thinking about it. But I want to be comfortable that I'm getting a pretty solid TV for the money.

Now I'm not a huge TV buff or anything. Basically, only watch movies, a few primetime shows, and sports on the weekends. And I really don't see myself getting too hung up on minor details. Heck, everything looks amazing to me when I walk into BB or CC compared to what I have now.

Thanks again for any input. Helps having perspectives of people who already have a similar set and more experience in the HDTV arena.

Dargason

05-31-06, 11:56 PM

If you're an extended warranty kind of guy, Best Buy's covers one lamp replacement, which is well over half the cost of the warranty.

ryan9708

06-03-06, 04:23 PM

In case you love my morbid story I'll keep you up to date: The authorized Samsung tech called the other day, listened to my problem, and said there were 2 things he thought might fix it. He ordered both, and got one in the next day (other was backordered). He drove to town to install the one part that he got in, got the TV all disconnected and opened up, was installing the board, and realized he had ordered the wrong board. So now he has to go back, order the correct part, wait for the other on backorder, and should get back around to it some time next week. The saga contines...

41to38

06-05-06, 01:01 AM

Hi all!

I just purchased a Sammy HL-S4666W and it's supposed to get here by Thursday (just in time to watch the Mavs in HD!). This is my first HDTV purchase and it's going to be a significant upgrade over my crappy 20" SDTV. I can't wait.

My one big question is what kind of antenna do you all recommend to get OTA channels? I live close to the UT campus in Austin and according to antennaweb all the HD towers for the major stations are located within 3 miles of my apartment. There are a lot of new 6 story+ apartment complexes that have been going up in the neighborhood, which I understand could affect the signal. I'd like to purchase it before the TV gets here so I can have it setup by gametime Thursday.

HoustonPerson - I cracked up when I saw the picture of your "custom" stand...I still use my Home Depot cinderblock special I made when I lived in the dorms, although I think it's time for an upgrade.

ayrton911

06-05-06, 01:13 AM

MizzouFan

06-05-06, 10:00 AM

HoustonPerson

06-06-06, 07:49 AM

Hi all,

I'm considering purchasing the HL-S4266W and I have a question I didn't see addressed earlier in the thread. What DMD does the 4266W use? Is it wobulated? I saw on the Samsung website (I believe) where it is says it's 'true' 720p which would lead me to believe it is not wobulated but I just wanted to verify.

Thanks.

Edit: Nevermind. Found the answer...according to this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=626669&page=4&pp=30&highlight=hls4266w+dmd) (post 119), it uses the HD5 (non-wobulated) chip.

The information in that thread may not be current..........I think the new (HLS)720p sets are wobulated sets, with that said they are still true 720p sets.........the HLR sets are non-wobulated sets. IMO, it is a non-issue; perhaps in the 70" screen size or bigger this may become important, thats hard to say?

Send the poster of the original thread a PM, he may know the current answer.

bavic

06-06-06, 02:08 PM

MizzouFan

06-06-06, 07:47 PM

The information in that thread may not be current..........I think the new (HLS)720p sets are wobulated sets, with that said they are still true 720p sets.........the HLR sets are non-wobulated sets. IMO, it is a non-issue; perhaps in the 70" screen size or bigger this may become important, thats hard to say?

Send the poster of the original thread a PM, he may know the current answer.

After contacting the original poster in the thread I mentioned...you are right. It appears all the 2006 models are wobulated using the HD5 chip.

HoustonPerson

06-07-06, 08:16 AM

Why did they not change the color scheme for the 2006 42 and 46 inch DLP's? They are different models from last year arent they. Why change the 50 to all black but keep the silver on the two smaller sizes?

Actually, there are very small changes in the cabinet's on the 42" 46" HLS and HLR models. Yes both have the floating screen with the silver base. But the top of the HLR is both black and silver surround and has a different pattern (mold) compared to the all black HLS surround. There are also minor changes to the rest of the cabinet. The screen material used on the HLS vs. HLR is completely different as well.

jhferry

06-07-06, 02:12 PM

I just got the 42" HLS and have some weird sound issues. Currently I only have a cable box via coax and a ps2 via PS2 connected. Sometimes, when I shut off the TV and turn it back on I have nothing but static sound. On every input, I have to shut the tv off to get sound back.

Bad set?

Also, too bad they dont have more display modes ala the sharp aquos for SD viewing. The sharp has viewing modes where you can just stretch the top and bottom or the sides to get a widescreen picture.

bavic

06-07-06, 02:14 PM

Too bad they didnt add the black all around. I have the HLS-4266 coming this weekend, dont know if I should get the 46 instead. Besides the screen size there are no other differences are there? Will the 4 inches make that much difference, I have limited space and will be sitting between 8 and 10 feet away from the screen straight away but much closer on the side couch. I may be looking for professional calibration, I live in chicago.

bandwfrog

06-09-06, 02:51 AM

Hi all,

New member/owner of a HL S4666W here. Had it for 5 days. Liking it very much so far. I had spent quite a bit of time on this forum before pulling the trigger on this set rather than another but now that this beast is home, I have a few questions. I’m not too familiar with the “tech lingo” so please bear with me.

Regarding OTA HD, I’m in a bad spot and can’t get anything with an indoor antenna. I have the most basic package my cable company offers (the networks plus 2 dozens lesser cable channels). I don’t have a cable box. Coax cable is plugged in directly into the ANT/Cable terminal of the DLP. I called the cable company and a snotty rep told me that for $9.00/month they could install a “device” that would deliver HD on all the HD channels that are part of my basic package… Anybody familiar with this “device” or was the guy trying to get rid of me because I didn’t want to upgrade to their super-duper HD package?

This model doesn’t have a cable card or QAM tuner (I didn’t think I needed them because I thought an antena would do the trick for OTA HD). However, after doing some more reading, am I to understand that if I had purchased a model WITH cable card and/or QAM Tuner, the HD signal would be unencrypted automatically from my basic coax feed (without my cable company having anything to do/say about it) ? If this is true, do I need both a Cable card and QAM tuner for the signal to be unencrypted or one or the other?

Regarding DVD Players: I’m considering buying a TOSHIBA DSK 860 that upconvert to 720p. Is it necessary or is it “redundant” since it is my understanding that the DLP does the upscaling to 720p from 480i or 480p source. I watched a couple of movies on a Sony player with component and progressive on and they looked REALLY REALLY good. This TOSHIBA comes with HDMI cable BTW...

Regarding video games: My son has a GameCube (no component cable though, just composite) and has been only playing 2 games so far. His Sonic game looks pretty good but his Wolverine’s Revenge looks pretty bad. Not crisp at all. For the sake of keeping all of his games, I was planning on getting the Wii but I read somewhere it will output 480i. Should I ditch it and move to an XBOX360 that’s, I believe 720 native ? Or is it just because the Nintendo games are 480i (and sometimes 480p) that the PQ is so-so ?

Earlier in this thread, somebody, I believe it was HoustonPerson, mentioned the “Torch” factory setting out of the box and how his set was so bright because of it. He added that he adjusted right away to a Standard mode. Was the “torch” mode what is listed as the Dynamic mode ? Is the Standard Mode better in terms on bulb longevity ?

These are my first questions. I apologize if some of them are very basic. I’m sure I’ll have more as I “play” with the set some more.

Thank you in advance for the help.

Regards,

Olivier

JakeSnake

06-09-06, 10:51 AM

I know a few of you have done this already but I was just curious to the tweaks you have done to your HLS 720p to optimize your picture. (I ran across a post about optimizing the Oppo player for this TV if anyone is interested I'll post it, or PM me and I'll shoot it to you) I ran Avia but using an old 480i Sony player. I will run Avia and DVE on my Oppo 971 over the weekend and post results. Anyone else care to share?

ps The Oppo tweaks are to correct the macroblocking problem w/ DLPs. The post said you could virtually eliminate the problem. We shall see.

Also, I am running power through a Stage 3 conditioner and I don't see sparkles. I am going to run it straight from the outlet to see if I can get them to show. (We are a strange bunch aren't we? "I'm going to see if I can make my TV look worse!!" :p )

ayrton911

06-09-06, 11:19 AM

Yes, if you had last year model like mine you could probably get the broadcast networks in HD, via your cable on the back of TV, if they are unencrypted (they are for me).

The $9 they want to give you a month is probably for a HD cable box. With such a TV, you might enjoy having a HD package though, and then they might not charge you so much for the HD box. Look into it. Or put up an outdoor antenna and get HD networks.

The DVD player - everyone will have different opinion. My opinion: up-converting over HDMI to 720p will probably look a little better. However, I'm just using a progressive player right now myself. 480i over component should look very good as you say, I output 480i usually myself as I don't like the 480p my player does. If you don't mind spending on the up-converting, give it a try.

Regarding CameCube - It would probably look a lot better, with component. However, I see component cable for gamecube is very expensive. Wii with component cable will look pretty good. Of course, HD from 360 or PS3 will be even better. Personally, I'm going to get a Wii and eventually a 360 or PS3 too. Wii looks like a lot of fun, and I like their type of games. Component will look good. Right now I just have an original xbox and component looks very nice. Composite (yellow cable) on the same xbox looks terrible. I also suspect Wii will come with a component cable.

If you don't want to spend so much money on expensive component cable for gamecube, try the s-video cable (think those are cheap on ebay). That will look somewhat better, but not like component.

Finally, yes, "Dynamic" can cut a couple thousand hours off bulb life, according to Samsung.

Hope this helps a little.

Hi all,

New member/owner of a HL S4666W here. Had it for 5 days. Liking it very much so far. I had spent quite a bit of time on this forum before pulling the trigger on this set rather than another but now that this beast is home, I have a few questions. I’m not too familiar with the “tech lingo” so please bear with me.

Regarding OTA HD, I’m in a bad spot and can’t get anything with an indoor antenna. I have the most basic package my cable company offers (the networks plus 2 dozens lesser cable channels). I don’t have a cable box. Coax cable is plugged in directly into the ANT/Cable terminal of the DLP. I called the cable company and a snotty rep told me that for $9.00/month they could install a “device” that would deliver HD on all the HD channels that are part of my basic package… Anybody familiar with this “device” or was the guy trying to get rid of me because I didn’t want to upgrade to their super-duper HD package?

This model doesn’t have a cable card or QAM tuner (I didn’t think I needed them because I thought an antena would do the trick for OTA HD). However, after doing some more reading, am I to understand that if I had purchased a model WITH cable card and/or QAM Tuner, the HD signal would be unencrypted automatically from my basic coax feed (without my cable company having anything to do/say about it) ? If this is true, do I need both a Cable card and QAM tuner for the signal to be unencrypted or one or the other?

Regarding DVD Players: I’m considering buying a TOSHIBA DSK 860 that upconvert to 720p. Is it necessary or is it “redundant” since it is my understanding that the DLP does the upscaling to 720p from 480i or 480p source. I watched a couple of movies on a Sony player with component and progressive on and they looked REALLY REALLY good. This TOSHIBA comes with HDMI cable BTW...

Regarding video games: My son has a GameCube (no component cable though, just composite) and has been only playing 2 games so far. His Sonic game looks pretty good but his Wolverine’s Revenge looks pretty bad. Not crisp at all. For the sake of keeping all of his games, I was planning on getting the Wii but I read somewhere it will output 480i. Should I ditch it and move to an XBOX360 that’s, I believe 720 native ? Or is it just because the Nintendo games are 480i (and sometimes 480p) that the PQ is so-so ?

Earlier in this thread, somebody, I believe it was HoustonPerson, mentioned the “Torch” factory setting out of the box and how his set was so bright because of it. He added that he adjusted right away to a Standard mode. Was the “torch” mode what is listed as the Dynamic mode ? Is the Standard Mode better in terms on bulb longevity ?

These are my first questions. I apologize if some of them are very basic. I’m sure I’ll have more as I “play” with the set some more.

Thank you in advance for the help.

Regards,

Olivier

bandwfrog

06-09-06, 03:49 PM

Hey Ayrton911,

Thank you for taking the time to reply. And yes, your answers do help.

Funny you mentioned last year’s model. I hesitated a looooonnnnng time between the HL R46666 or the HL S and went with the newer model because of the Game Mode and the fact that you could turn off the DNIE.

So the QAM tuner doesn’t always automatically unencrypt the signal? Does it have to do with what I read somewhere whereas some cable companies “feel” that they have to offer the local HD signal at no extra cost but others decide that they can charge for it ? If that’s the case, anybody know what Adelphia’s (in Los Angeles) position is on this ?

Yes, I do want to take advantage of the HD while watching network TV but I’m trying to go about it as economically (read Cheaply) as possible. I might not be in my house in another couple of years so I don’t know that I want to invest time and $ in an outdoor antenna since it looks like I’ll need one of the better (and probably more expensive) ones. The easiest seems to be to pay the extra $ to the cable company. I HATE to do it since I know you can get the signal OTA for free if you’re ideally located. :mad:

I might just buy the TOSHIBA to test the difference in PQ and return it if I’m not convinced of the better image. I haven’t even tried to output at 480i to see the difference. My player is always on “progressive.
Kind of a related question... Is there such a thing as a splitter for component cable where I can feed the signal from one DVD player to two "displays" (in this case a DLP Microdisplay and a DLP front projector) ?

I figured the PQ would be better with the component for the Gamecube but you can’t get them for less than $80.00 on e-bay these days. Crazy ! I remember looking into it about 6 months ago and the average price was $40.00!!! What happened ?!?! :eek: I’ll just wait a few more months and get the Wii with component cables for the kids. And I’ll get the 360 for me. :)
Gamecube has an S-Video cable available ? I always thought you only had 2 options: composite or component. I might look into that.

So “Dynamic” is probably what HoustonPerson was referring to as the “Torch” mode. I switched to Standard 2 days after getting the set. It’s still very bright but not as “bad” as Dynamic. The first night I turned on the set, my son watched a cartoon on a DVD and, sitting 10 feet from the TV, he was literally glowing in our darkened living room. :eek:

ayrton911

06-09-06, 08:01 PM

Yes, I think it was smart you went with the new model. The picture quality is probably better.

The QAM tuner doesn't unencrypt anything (unless you put in the cable card). The way i get get HD digital channels (I don't actually use this feature, I just tried it, well I can go to those channels, but I basically never do as I have a sat box for high def). I did this on Adelphia, but it could vary from each place. There is a pretty good shot, but you have to try to find the channels out of 100+ (mixed in with other digital as well). It took me like 40 minutes to go through them all and find the HD ones (only the unencrypted of course come through).

I'm not sure about a component splitter.

Yeah, there is s-video for Gamecube.

Hey Ayrton911,

Thank you for taking the time to reply. And yes, your answers do help.

Funny you mentioned last year’s model. I hesitated a looooonnnnng time between the HL R46666 or the HL S and went with the newer model because of the Game Mode and the fact that you could turn off the DNIE.

So the QAM tuner doesn’t always automatically unencrypt the signal? Does it have to do with what I read somewhere whereas some cable companies “feel” that they have to offer the local HD signal at no extra cost but others decide that they can charge for it ? If that’s the case, anybody know what Adelphia’s (in Los Angeles) position is on this ?

Yes, I do want to take advantage of the HD while watching network TV but I’m trying to go about it as economically (read Cheaply) as possible. I might not be in my house in another couple of years so I don’t know that I want to invest time and $ in an outdoor antenna since it looks like I’ll need one of the better (and probably more expensive) ones. The easiest seems to be to pay the extra $ to the cable company. I HATE to do it since I know you can get the signal OTA for free if you’re ideally located. :mad:

I might just buy the TOSHIBA to test the difference in PQ and return it if I’m not convinced of the better image. I haven’t even tried to output at 480i to see the difference. My player is always on “progressive.
Kind of a related question... Is there such a thing as a splitter for component cable where I can feed the signal from one DVD player to two "displays" (in this case a DLP Microdisplay and a DLP front projector) ?

I figured the PQ would be better with the component for the Gamecube but you can’t get them for less than $80.00 on e-bay these days. Crazy ! I remember looking into it about 6 months ago and the average price was $40.00!!! What happened ?!?! :eek: I’ll just wait a few more months and get the Wii with component cables for the kids. And I’ll get the 360 for me. :)
Gamecube has an S-Video cable available ? I always thought you only had 2 options: composite or component. I might look into that.

So “Dynamic” is probably what HoustonPerson was referring to as the “Torch” mode. I switched to Standard 2 days after getting the set. It’s still very bright but not as “bad” as Dynamic. The first night I turned on the set, my son watched a cartoon on a DVD and, sitting 10 feet from the TV, he was literally glowing in our darkened living room. :eek:

Jimmie Perkins

06-10-06, 05:52 PM

JakeSnake

06-12-06, 10:28 AM

Ok gurus, here's a noodle knocker for ya.

Hooked up the Oppo 971 over the weekend, looks great but bad MB, tried GSB's tips and it helped but didn't eliminate it. I think I need to recalibrate the TV. But anyway, watching the Matrix, I was outputting 480p and could use zoom1 to get rid of the dreaded BLACKBARS! Bumping up to 720p/1080i all zoom features are greyed out. Looked in the manual, sure enough, zoom1 or 2 don't work with 720/1080i sources. HUH!?!?! What gives? Why can it stretch a 480p image but not a 720p one? I hate the black bars! It's only a 42", size does matter! :p

Is this a limitation on the 1080p models as well? BB might be getting a return soon. Daddy no likey.

Help!!! Thanks....

TedE

06-12-06, 12:54 PM

I've had my HLS4666 for a couple weeks now, but have just sat down to really set it up over the weekend. We have Comcast HD and I'm really pleased with the picture quality. I hadn't even hooked up the DVD player until Friday and now I'm a bit concerned, but hopefully it's the player (Zenith DVB318 upconverting to 720p pver component) interacting poorly with the set. I'm seeing ghost images and pretty extensive ringing.

Ghost images will during dark scenes where I can see a faint black-on-black outline of the previous brighter image on a black or very dark background. For instance, imagine a scene where there is a high contrast shot of a person's face profile against a dark background. If the scene then fades to black, or the part of the image that contained the face is now black or very dark, I can see a very dark grey residual image of the face. It's faint but very noticable once you see it.

I noticed the ringing when I popped in Finding Nemo. On shots where a fish is highlighted against a solid blue background there is very noticable bleeding or a halo effect up to an inch. For instance there is a halo of orange around Nemo when he is highlighted against a solid blue background. This was really distracting and unexpected given what I had seen with the HD and standard cable. I've looked for it in cable images since but not seen it.

I used this same player with my old set (Panasonic 1080i HD projection) and never had either of these problems, so I'm worried that it is the set and not the player. I'm waiting on a an OPPO 970 to use with HDMI to see what happens there, but if the same problems occur the set is going back :(

One thing that did just occur to me is that before I hooked the player up to the second component input I was running an XBOX. The input is still labeled "GAME"; does this set default to "Game Mode" simply because the input is labeled as such? I thought I would have to go in an explicitly set game mode.

Delobius

06-12-06, 01:42 PM

I just received my HLS-5086W this weekend, and I have to say, I'm a little disappointed thus far.

My primary purpose for the set is for gaming (PS2 for now, maybe PS3 and Wii in the future) and DVDs. I don't have cable TV, and I almost never watch broadcast TV.

I purchased component video cables for the PS2 and connected it, expecting to be blown away by the super-greatness of this new high-definition television. My friend has a Sony rear-projection LCD, so I sort of knew what to expect. However, the first game I tried (Ace Combat Zero) looked terrible - diagonal lines were jagged, the text looked muddy and had an appearance somewhat like chromatic aberration from a bad camera lens, and it was generally disappointing.

I tried another game that had 480p support, and it looked much better (excellent even), which leads me to believe that the problem lies with the PS2 delivering a 480i signal for most games.

So what am I missing? Obviously there must be people using these types of televisions with the PS2 to good effect, but I mucked with most of the settings and was unable to improve the situation. I'm ready to return the TV and go back to my old 32" Panasonic SD CRT, because the PS2 looks vastly better on it!

I tried Game mode, turning DNIe off, adjusting the zoom settings, and changing the aspect ratio on the PS2 and in the game to 16:9 (also tried 4:3). Is there anything I can do, or am I just screwed?

tts42572

06-12-06, 04:37 PM

I'm still in debate mode between a Sammy HLS4666 and a Sony 3 LCD RP (46E2000 coming in July). Basically the same as the A10 though.

Wondering if anybody has any strong thoughts on Sammy DLP versus the Sony E2000 (or A10). I've been driving myself nuts comparing the two.

Basically, I like both pictures. If I absolutely had to choose, I'd probably lean toward the softer Sony picture.

However, what it comes down to for me is durability and ease of use with technologies available. One other consideration is cost, in which the edge goes to the DLP's.

I'm just figuring many people in this thread considered the Sony 3 LCD TV's before purchasing the Sammy DLP so I'm wondering what led you to your choice.

HoustonPerson

06-13-06, 08:21 PM

HL-S4266

Well, I have studied four of the HL-S4266 very closely, and there appears to be a manufacturing defect.

I refer to the defect as “Black Grass” from the bottom and top of the screen. Others have posted pictures of the effect. Generally, you can only see it is dark room, and the picture must be black or near black. It is only present when the set is “on”.

That anomaly is not present on the HL-S4666 or any other Samsung HL-S series 720p or 1080p set.

99% of the time, you will not notice the patterns, so I have decided to live with it, and make it a non-issue to me. It is not a moiré pattern others have referred to, it is fixed and non-moving, is always there, but only visible under certain lighting conditions; that is, black pictures in a dark room. Again, I can assure you it is not present in the HL-S4666 or other models.

The most likely reasons for the problem are:
1. The lens (in the light engine)
2. The light tube (light path) in the engine
3. The “fixed” iris on the lens specific to the HL-S4266, polishing defect in the manual iris (eyelids) could be causing the patterns reflecting in the lens.

It may also have something do with the interaction of these elements:
1. The very small compressed cabinet
2. Medium grey color of the interior of the cabinet (it’s not black enough)
3. That medium grey color could be generating some of the Black Crush in this specific model, which could be contributing to the alternating black/grey bands of grass. Therefore if it was fully black on the screen the pattern could not be seen.

At one point the actual screen lens was suspect; but close inspections of all the sets shows no defects in the screen material.

With the interior of the cabinet being exceptionally bright, even on fully black pictures, I will be attempting to blacken the inside of the cabinet. It may be a couple of weeks, before I get around to it. Assuming, I do this then I will post results. It is possible that could kill two birds with one stone – killing the black grass along with the black crush.

As a side note: The "Black Grass" patterns produced are a little different in all four HL-S4266 I have studied over the last two months.

Depending on what kind of results I get with this – it would be time for Jeff (UMR) to make a trip to Spring……

XorCizzle

06-18-06, 11:20 PM

welp i just bought a 4266w today while walkin thru circuitcity...i must say im happy with it...SD chans look surprisingly good...no HD chans until dishnetwork starts carryin the locals in HD....dvds in 480P look damn good...and xbox hooked up over svideo looks pretty good...i got it for $XXXX so i'd say not too shabby...also got the 2 year extended warranty to cover a bulb..haha

MXSG

06-19-06, 01:24 AM

L Supreme

06-19-06, 09:33 AM

I'm think about getting a HL-S4266W, but I'm shopping around to get the lowest price. I wanted to know if I get the extended warranty from Samsung instead of Best Buy does it cover replacing the bulb? If it does, anyone have any suggestions of online retailers that I should check out?

HoustonPerson

06-19-06, 10:01 AM

HoustonPerson, I just bought the HL-S4266W today and so far I'm very happy with it.... except I notice the "black grass" at the bottom of my screen pretty easily. I'm very interested to see what happened with your experiment (if you went through with it.) Please update us when you can. Thanks.

And one question, do ALL HL-S4266W's have this problem? I'm surprised there are not more complaints if so... maybe I should return it for a new one (yet then I could end up with another more serious issue). Is Samsung aware of the problem? Perhaps they have a fix by now.

I saw another new HL-S4266 at BB yesterday, and it had the same problem - that makes five 4266's that I have seen with the problem. So to me, it has been on 100% of the 4266 models. But still have not seen it on a single 4666 model.

The problem may reduce it self over time. It appears to fading on my set, which I estimated to have over 200 hours on it now.

If I have to opportunity to darken the inside of the cabinet, I will post the results........it still could be a couple of weeks, if I am able to get to it.

It still feel that the "black crush" on this set and the "black grass" may be related. Because the "black grass pattern" may internal to the light pathway in the engine........it could be actually the "bulb filament" being projected onto the screen.........since the "pattern" is different on each set.

I contacted Samsung last week, but have not heard a word back from them.

JakeSnake

06-19-06, 10:43 AM

It's on my 4266 as well. Just the top though. I can only see it when the set is "on" but no picture. (but the screen is a bit lighter than "off") I hope that makes sense. I can't see it when the TV is displaying a picture regardless of the material SD/HD, light/dark scenes. I have NO idea what could be causing this, but I don't watch the TV very much without a picture, so I'm going to keep it! :p

ps Seriously though, I am still curious what this might be, or why it's only on the 4266. So if anyone finds out (hint hint HP!) please post.

Thanks.

HoustonPerson

06-19-06, 11:39 AM

It's on my 4266 as well. Just the top though.

If you move your head lower and at least 6-12 foot away, you might see it on the bottom too; however some sets are only the top some only the bottom, but most are both.

I can only see it when the set is "on" but no picture. (but the screen is a bit lighter than "off") I hope that makes sense.

Yes that makes sense, that is part of the "black crush" issue with this model....the picture can not get as black as the black frame to the TV cabinet. Also, if you do have a 100% black scene you may see it; but this still IMO is not a biggie.

...... so I'm going to keep it! :p

Me Too, the set is a keeper, and is still the best overall 42" out there.

maccars

06-20-06, 10:18 AM

MXSG

06-20-06, 04:24 PM

I had to use my camera phone, so excuse the quality, but the black grass is visible... Is mine as bad or worse than everyone else's? That is the bottom, but it actually makes a "lightbulb" shape all the way to the top. I rarely see the full image, mostly just the bottom part, I couldn't even get the top part to show up on the camera.

HoustonPerson

06-20-06, 05:20 PM

Yes, that black grass may be just a tad worse than mine. very hard to say...........but that is a clear example of black grass..........and I have seen it on "every" HL-S4266 out there - but each with a slightly different pattern. I have seen about 8 HL-S4666 and it is NOT on a single one.

The new replacement set delivered to my home was just a tad worse than the one I had, so I, kept the first one.

HoustonPerson

06-20-06, 05:24 PM

I've had my HLS4266W for a week now, and try as I might, I can't reproduce the "black grass" effect. I did notice it on the floor model at the local Best Buy. I pointed it out to the sales girl, and she said, "You must be reading the AVS Forum". :rolleyes:

Go figure.

AFAIK, you may have the "only" set with out it? Anyway there is nothing you can do to "produce" or "not produce" it. It is just there if you have it.

JakeSnake

06-21-06, 10:29 AM

HoustonPerson

06-21-06, 11:07 AM

The elusive "black grass" has been photographed!

HP- You may have coined a new term. Now if I ever hear someone in a bar say "Wow...she was all over him like black grass on a 4266!" Then I'll be impressed! :D

On a serious note, I thought this was just an academic discussion as it's not visible on the picture. But you said you actually ordered a replacement? Am I missing something?? I can't see it when the TV is off, I can't see it when the TV is on displaying a picture, only when the TV is on not displaying a source. I wouldn't care it was pink polka dots personally. (actually that might be cool! Well, maybe not PINK) Are you guys watching alot of TV without a source? ;)

Yes I have had TWO HL-S4266 here at the house and they both had the problem, the second set was a little worse than mine, so in 10 minutes I made up my mind and sent it back, and kept the first set. Plus all the sets I have seen in the stores have had the problem as well.

The set has to be "on" and fully warmed up to see it. On all the sets I have seen I can see it in "dark" pictures in a "dark" room..........I can actually see it (though much harder), with some light in the room as well. In fact when the delivery company delivered the second set..........there was a full load of sunlight coming in the side window and I could see it on dark pictures. So could the delivery men too, while watching black scenes.

Because the pattern is light engine generated, it can not been seen with the set off. It is not in the plastic outer screen material.

It is most likely finishing imperfections in the light pathway, or could be the bulb filament itself being projected onto the screen.

I will attempt to take some pictures of it, with dark scenes and post later today or tomorrow.

Again, a few points to remember...I still feel the 4266 is the best 42" out there for the money, no set is perfect, I can live with it...........and this set will go into the bedroom, I will be watching without my glasses and be asleep most of the time; so I don't think I am going to notice it very much.

The HL-S4666 on the other hand is better in two ways:
1. It can produce better blacks (darker/blacker/less crush)
2. No black grass

Only about $150 more, and yes I would have changed to that model if it would fit in the bedroom.........but it's too big, for the space I have.

HoustonPerson

06-21-06, 11:13 AM

Samsung could have done things a lot better if they made the inside of the cabinet Black instead of Gray...............in any event I am hoping the Velux treatment might be a cure for the crush and the grass; even if just a partial cure.

MXSG

06-21-06, 12:19 PM

The elusive "black grass" has been photographed!

HP- You may have coined a new term. Now if I ever hear someone in a bar say "Wow...she was all over him like black grass on a 4266!" Then I'll be impressed! :D

On a serious note, I thought this was just an academic discussion as it's not visible on the picture. But you said you actually ordered a replacement? Am I missing something?? I can't see it when the TV is off, I can't see it when the TV is on displaying a picture, only when the TV is on not displaying a source. I wouldn't care it was pink polka dots personally. (actually that might be cool! Well, maybe not PINK) Are you guys watching alot of TV without a source? ;)

For me, it's not a deal breaker, since I can't fit the 46" anywhere and there really isn't any other TV option at this price or size. Although, I would love to have the problem resolved eventually, if there is a solution at all. I think I just have good eyes, I tend to notice "the little things" more than most. It also shows up a lot on video games as there tends to be a lot of black screens in games and not to mention everytime I change the channel the screen goes black for that second and there it is.

I'm going to wait and see what houston discovers and if that doesn't work out maybe call samsung a few months from now and see what the serviceman can do (they have to know about it, so I figure I'll give them some time and maybe they will have some options by then.) If it never gets fixed it'll be "ok" but I have a year warranty to bug samsung about it. :D

On a completely different note... I have my TV set to "stereo" and whenever I change the channel I hear sound and then after about a second the sound drops out and immediately returns (as if it goes from mono to stereo). When this happens the tv rating (TVPG, TVMA) appears and the type of audio available (Stereo+SAP for example), as if it was "loading" it or something. Is this normal?

HoustonPerson

06-21-06, 04:01 PM

MXSG

06-21-06, 05:12 PM

MXSG, the sound question above. I have mine set to fake surround sound, and have made no other changes to sound set up. We do not have a sound system, and when the 5.1 shows come on, it sounds very good. If your source is HDMI, then that might be causing the sound going "on" and "off"? Depending on how your HDMI source is set up, causing the Samsung to go through it's handshaking computer junk.

Ok, my camera can not pick up black grass (maybe too much sunlight coming through the windows).......so no pictures to be posted.

I have mine hooked up through basic cable (no HD channels or converter box) with stereo and fake 5.1 both turned on. After trying to turn off one thing at a time I noticed that it is from the "stereo" setting, I guess the tv has to "find" the stereo for the particular channel and then switch to it... I have a rather poor cable connection at the moment so that could be some of the problem, since it takes a second or two for the various channel info to appear.

I also have an antenna for my HD stations... no sound problems at all when switching channels using it, it just says "5.1 digital" and that's it.

Sean4

06-22-06, 10:49 AM

HELP!

I am not an A-V expert, so please bear with me. I’m just an average Joe trying to make the right decision on a TV that the family will live with for a *long* time.

I went to Store A pretty certain I was going to buy the Sony Wega 50” HD LCD as they currently have a great sale price on it. The expert and user reviews I found on the web showed widespread satisfaction with the Wega, so this seemed like a solid safe pick. Store A’s salesman tried to talk me into the Samsung HLS5086, however. Here’s the reasons why he recommended the Samsung:

1. The 5086 picture is built from 7 colors, not 3 like the Wega. The picture colors on the 5086 floor model did look much more vibrant to me.
2. The Samsung has more connections for accessories.
3. The Wega would require an additional accessory of some sort (i.e., more $) to receive local channels in HD.
4. The rainbow and video noise issues of DLPs have been adequately fixed.
5. The HLS5086 has a game port for video games (not a big deal for us now, but I think it will be come one as my boys get older).
6. Now this is the interesting reason: the 5086 screen is more tolerant of being physically struck. The salesman saw my 5-yr-old and stopped what he was explaining and said “watch this”. He then punched the 5086 screen hard. Real hard. No effect on the TV (as far as I could tell). He said you can’t do that to an LCD without damaging it. I was impressed. Can anyone give me some more insight into this “vulnerability” issue between LCDs and DLPs?

I went to Store A confident that I was going to make a purchase, but I left with the need to do more research. So I went to Store B to pick their brains. The salesman in Store B recommended the Sony Wega because it’s picture is crisper/sharper/more-detailed. They had the Wega and the 42” Samsung DLP side-by-side and they ran a demo video through both. Sure enough, I did see more crisp details on the Wega.

I am appealing to you for any advise/information that can help me choose between these two TVs (the Sony 50” Wega HD LCD and the Samsung HLS5086W).

Thank you!

JakeSnake

06-22-06, 12:06 PM

I watched Hunt for Red October on an SD channel last night. The dark sub scenes were some of the worst macroblocking I've ever scene. (It looked like a pixelated image from when your cable hiccups, it was that bad.) When it went to an internal (lighter) scene it was fine. It was as if I was watching two different TVs.) I've calibrated with DVE and Avia. And optimized my Oppo for macroblocking, because of the Farouja (sp?) chip. And it's ok. But this was badddddd.

Any tips or tweaks anyone would reccomend? I would even give up some black level if it would help!

Thanks.

HoustonPerson

06-23-06, 07:25 AM

Sean4,

Sounds like both salesmen had too many tacos (hot air). Comparing the 42" to the 50" is not really fair. I assume the Sony model you are referring to has been out several months.......I think they have a replacement model coming out before the end of the year?

Anyway:

Samsung:
1. More connections with true 1080p input.
2. Can not go out of convergence (this can be a problem on Sony - but you may not see it)
3. Maybe a slight favor on Samsung for Colors Accuracy. Sony is very good but can have a red push to the very dark sceens. Indoors shots with dark brown furniture, will look brown on the Samsung, and often look red on the Sony.
4. Samsung may have a slightly better sound system; but most will consider them the same.

Both Sony and Samsung can be "hit"; but honestly there is no reason to make that your reason for buying the TV.

This may be something to consider; how will you be watching the TV:

Will the room be 100% dark no lights almost all the time? - - - The Sony could do better in that environment. On the other hand if you have "some" light to "full bore direct sunlight" the Samsung will do better.

Also, since you are looking at a 720p set; remember the Samsung does not have automatic iris (the problem for black/dark rooms)...........the Sony might (I don't remember). Also, the new 720p Mits that is being released is only $100 more that the Samsung and is reported to have 10,000 to 1 contrast ratio because it does have automatic iris........which means you can get great pictures in black rooms or full sunlight - they will use their version of "Brilliant Color" like Samsung.

Sean4

06-23-06, 10:43 AM

HoustonPerson,

The Sony model I was looking at was the KDF-E50A10.

I'll check out the red/brown coloration when I return to the store.

A couple of AVSforum folks explained to me that the DLPs & LCDs are roughly equal with respect to getting struck, so this is now a non-issue for me. The salesman must have equated the LCD rear projection set with an LCD computer screen. If you've seen my 2-yr-old in action, you'd understand why this caught my attention.

The viewing room is very large. Seating is about 9 feet from the screen, with additional seating about 15 feet away. The room is very bright during the day, but dark at night. There is no overhead lighting, so there can be lots of reflective light at times.

Interesting point about the direct light. The folks in the Sony folder claim the opposite (that the LCD will deal with direct/reflective light better and that the Sony's matte screen will help with that). Maybe this is a YMMV issue.

What about "game lag" (is that the term?). Folks are telling me that the Sony is much better for game play. I am not a video-gamer, but I expect it is inevitable that the set will get used for it as my boys get older.

Thank you very much for the help!

HoustonPerson

06-23-06, 02:50 PM

I do not play video games........but from what I understand the Samsung will be better on that, possibly by a wide margin. The game play modes is a "major" selling point for Samsung.........that combined with the load of optional input methods and sources is a lot more flexible in that area then the Sony.

Overall, if the room is very bright during the day and/or lights or on while watching TV, then I would go with the Samsung.

If you do have the opportunity to check out the "indoor scenes" with wood furniture......set both sets to standard, movie, or natural modes (not the torch mode the stores do)........and adjust brightness or contrast accordingly..........take your time with it, don't let the salesman rush you.

on the 5086 Samsung, you also have the ability to use anyone of your four modes for regular viewing during the day.............and then just hit one button on the bottom of the remote and change to movie mode to darken the picture up, so it does not blow you out of the room. That is now what I do with my HL-S.........I use a "standard" (adjusted to my liking) during the day.......and use "movie" during the night with all the lights out and have been very please with that result...................I guess if I moved it outside in direct sunlight I could use "dynamic" but it might rain? Key point is "each" of those four modes can be customized to your liking.

If I understand the Sony website correctly the 50" is now discontinued.......meaning the Samsung is about 1 year newer technology. I do not know if Sony is bringing out a new 50"3LCD or if the new SXRD is replacing it? Many of the Sony fans should know that?

RassilonZero

06-24-06, 11:01 PM

wimclend

06-26-06, 08:36 AM

randysc1

06-26-06, 02:06 PM

Well, I received my HL-S4666 on Friday and spend a good part of the weekend setting up, calibrating, but mostly just leaning how the adjustments work. Let me say first, WOW! what a terrific set! It was definitely a big set up from 16 year old 25” Sharp.

1. First, since I know I read this owners forum before I purchased, let me quickly say something about Amazon. I purchased this set from Amazon with a lot of hesitation since I knew there was no returning it once purchased. I spend a lot of time watching it in local stores and was very sure this was the set for me. Amazon was many hundreds of dollars lower than retail price. With free shipping it took 2 weeks to arrive (the only negative), but they did delivery on the date they gave me when I ordered. I needed to change delivery information after ordering and was able to quickly get a response from CS. It arrived in perfect condition, but to my surprise the free shipping included delivery inside my house, unpacking, turning on to test and hauling away all packing material! They did a great job.

2. No rainbow effect seen by anyone who has watched it this weekend. (8 people)

3. I used A/V magazine calibration disk and arrived at these settings that I seem to like best – contract 64, brightness 53, sharpness 0, color 47, tint: warm 1, DNIe OFF.

4. I have yet to see any sparkles, black grass, or any artifacts at all! However I have D* with signal strength of 99%.

5. The room this set is in has many windows and skylights and gets direct sunlight all day. I was a little worried about the brightness of any set but that was not a problem with the Samsung. Also, with my old set I would get much reflection off the TV from windows. With the Samsung I do not get any of this. The screen must be of a material that is very non reflective. This was a nice surprise since I had trouble assessing this in the stores.

6. The fan cannot be heard unless you put your ear by the back of the set – wish I could say that about the Tivo hard drive.

7. SD picture is amazing good. Better than I expected.

8. I have a DVP-NS75H and this gives a near HD PD (IMHO). It PQ is stunning. I cannot imagine spending more money ever to get actual HD disks and a new player.

9. I have a new D* HR10-250 scheduled for set-up on Saturday. So I have not even seen HD material seen on this set yet!

The only thing that I see sometimes that I have not addressed is on some material (DVD and SD) there is a very slight green tint on white. This is only occasional; it might be in the source itself. I have not tried any of the color settings. Anybody seen this?

In short I am extremely happy with this set. Samsung has a winner here.

edstalnaker

06-28-06, 01:25 PM

HoustonPerson

06-28-06, 02:11 PM

I have 2 questions about this set:

- Are there currently any Powerbuys or special deals for Club members? I couldn't find anything.

- Has anybody seen how this set compares to the Panasonic TH-42PD60U? I can get this TV at a pretty good price, but it's still $400-$500 more than the Samsung. I'm trying to decide on one or the other for my bedroom.

Thanks!

The 42" Samsung and the 42" Pana Plasma are within $50 of each other. The Samsung is HD the Panasonic is not. Both are good sets. Both sell for about $XXXX at normal discount levels; both are pretty much in stock everywhere, in the nation. I have seen some steeper discounts on the Pana, they have to get them sold soon cause they are not HD.).

edstalnaker

06-28-06, 02:14 PM

ShinseiRyu

06-28-06, 03:49 PM

Received my HL-S4266W on June 12th. I also have the black grass effect which is mostly noticable when I watch anamorphic widescreen dvds on dark scenes.

I also have this horrible buzzing noise which comes and goes and I have called samsung regarding it and have a tech coming to my place next week to (hopefully) fix it. After some reading I assume its the colorwheel.

Overall I love the set, especially like being able to hookup my laptop through VGA.

If you find a solution to the black grass effect please let us know :)

HoustonPerson

06-28-06, 04:29 PM

HoustonPerson

06-28-06, 04:33 PM

I can't find the Panasonic for less than around $XXXX including shipping. But I can get the Samsung HL-S4266W for a little under $XXXX after rebate (free shipping).

What about the quality of these sets when compared to each other?

Some will like the Plasma others will favor the DLP. If you are after an HD set it should be a no brainer?

With that price for the HLS go for it.

L Supreme

06-30-06, 10:52 PM

I picked up the HLS4266W today. So far I'm pleased with this set, but I have one question. Is there any way to disable the tv's rf input. Currently nothing is connected to it & probably nothing ever will be. It would be nice to only cycle tohrough the inputs I use.

MXSG

07-01-06, 01:06 AM

Im looking for a 50" HDTV (i'm currently considering the sony kdf-e50a10 and the samsung hl-s5086 sets), and will be using it for a lot of gaming, mostly consoles but also some PC games.

So far i've mostly only seen anyone here mention PS2 or xbox.
But how is this set with older game systems?
I play neo-geo more than ps2/ps1, and i occasionally like to fire up my turbo-duo, sega genesis, saturn, SNES or NES (among others).
My neo-geo has component out (a custom mod), but the rest are composite/s-video.
Anyone have any experiences to share?

I have the HL-S4266W so I'm not sure how useful my info will be to you but I can tell you that my SNES, Saturn and Genesis don't look "bad" but they don't look great either. They're certainly playable, but I would recommend hanging on to a SDTV for your classic gaming (or get a PC emulator ;) ) since I have never seen them look great on any HDTV. I think the biggest issue is the usage of composite or s-video inputs but maybe it goes further with the specs of these old systems.

Playstation One games looks just fine on my set but I'm playing them through a ps2 with component cables. Even old 2-d Playstation games look better than ever.

My biggest issue with my old games (I used "Super Mario World" to experiment with) is that with game mode off, lag is present, although very slight. When making Mario jump with game mode off, there is a slight hesitation which is enough to get you killed or miss a jump... with game mode on, it works perfect but the entire screen "shakes" ever so slightly and looks rather poor in general.

ShaunoftheDead9

07-01-06, 11:55 PM

Does anyone have the Toshiba HD DVD player hooked up? If so how does it look? I should be receiving the 4266 in a week or so as a replacement from Samsung for my TX-R3079.

JakeFusion™

07-03-06, 10:51 AM

Does the HLSxx86W have a 10-bit color processor or 8-bit? Also, I know 720p fully resolves or very nearly full resolves on a DLP, but 1080p requires wobulation and does not give a true 1080p picture. Does the HLSxx86W do any sort of wobulation? I know the HLR series did not, but I am unsure on the HLS (not sure why it would, but want to be sure).

darkninja

07-04-06, 10:56 AM

my apologies if this has been covered before, but does the HDMI port on the HLS series Samsungs support input from a pc? I saw a little blurb about this on another forum and want to make sure before I purchase my tv.

my HTPC that I am about to build will have DVI out and my plan is to hook my HTPC up to my HL-S5086W with a DVI to HDMI cable.

can anyone confirm that this tv will accept a pc as a source over HDMI?

Yes!
I have just hooked up the same setup you want to do. My HTPC has a Nvidia 5700. I set the resolution to 1280x720. Then I hooked up a DVI to HDMI adapter to it, and then ran and HDMI cable to my brother's Samsung HL-S5086W. There was quite a bit of overscan -- the start menu and most desktop icons were off the edges. The Nvidia software allows you to reduce the resolution until the picture fits.
Compared to the analog (SVideo) input, it is very clear, sharp, and readable from across the room. I haven't tried the analog PC input for comparison.

--
Stephen

Mellman10

07-05-06, 11:03 AM

First let me thank you all for your post on Sam HLS x86 series. Second, for those considering the HL-S5086W, DO NOT be deceived by the crapping signal BB, CC, and others are feeding into this set. I have to admit I was a skeptic, I didn't THINK the PQ was a good as billed on this forum... I THOUGHT the JVC looked better..... I was WRONG!.. At 7:30 yesterday morning, BB took away my old panasonic and replaced it with the 5086. I asked the delivery guys to leave to box because I was SURE I would exchange this set for the JVC before the 30 day return policy expires. I THOUGHT I really wanted the JVC and it had BETTER PQ... After 11 hours of casually( reluctantly) setting up the the set and my HT system (yes i did say 11 hrs), I finally turned the set on...... WOOOOOOOOOW, WHOOOOOAA...!!!! This 5086 has a GREAT picture out the box. After I turned off DNIe and lowered contrast it was even better! I didnt get a chance to tweek it any more than that because in-laws came over. They were only supposed to stay a short while because they were off for the fireworks show.... They stayed for the length of 2 dvds, over 4 hours, and kept commenting on how GREAT the picture looked LOL :D !!!!!! My wife kept telling them how I was pouting over it and didn't want it... I denied everything...

After in-laws left I finally got a chance to do some viewing. Earlier in the day I bought a RCA indoor hdtv antenna that got me 19 hd channels. Question: The tv says whether the HD channel is 720P or 1080i, but the display is alway 4:3. Regular 480i channels display in 16x9. Shouldn't that be the other way around?? :confused: The HD picture is VERY GOOD, I do see some bowing on the left side, the right side is fine. I expanded the display to show 16x9, but it looks like it lost some PQ. Is this normal?

Well, I can't wait to get home this evening and try some of the tweeks that were mentioned here in this forum. Again, thanks to you all!

Mel

HoustonPerson

07-05-06, 01:22 PM

..............
The tv says whether the HD channel is 720P or 1080i, but the display is alway 4:3. Regular 480i channels display in 16x9. Shouldn't that be the other way around?? :confused: The HD picture is VERY GOOD, I do see some bowing on the left side, the right side is fine. I expanded the display to show 16x9, but it looks like it lost some PQ. Is this normal?

Mel

It is very very common for you to receive 720p or 1080i signal (from the station), but the picture they are sending is 4:3 and much lower quality original like 480i............

If you can watch a couple of evening CBS or NBC OTA evening shows in real HD, and you should say WOW Or live sports of any kind that is full HD.

Watch a baseball game in HD, you should see all sorts of different qualities; just by using different cameras all over the field....most sports will be the same way, but it gives you a chance to see how much the PQ will change even in "one" show, even if the signal is 1080i or 720p.

For you regular 480i shows, you may want to change your picture setting to 4:3............that will also give a little better indication when a show changes to "real" HD on a digital station. That can make things a little more automatic, and obvious to you. But some people may not like black bars on each side of the picture, so that is up to you.

tehsuck

07-05-06, 01:52 PM

I am a new HLS-4666W owner and I have had my set for about 2 weeks.

It's been great, but I had some strange things happen to me this past Friday.

My girlfriend turned on the TV and noticed that there was no sound. I have the TV outputting L&R audio from the built-in RCA jacks to my stereo amp. The TV's internal mute is set to on. I couldn't get it to work. I tried EVERYTHING (new cable, different sources etc.) Finally I turned the set off for about 5 minutes and back on, and voila, it worked. Anyone heard of this happening?

Then a bit later, after the TV had been on for about ~3.5 hours we were watching Deadwood via my HTPC D-sub in and my g/f noticed an audible high-pitched sound (an oscillating sound). I assumed it was the DVD player in my HTPC (which is known to get noisy depending on it's RPMs). So later when I turned off the HTPC completely, and the TV was still on and I still heard the noise, I was surprised. It sounded like it was the TVs fan / cooling system. The thing is, it had never been that loud before. The high-pitch noise was most annoying after my g/f noticed it. Anyhow, yesterday I had the TV on for roughly the same time and I was viewing the same material (DVD via HTPC) and nothing. Does anyone know if the cooling system is set to go into "high mode" if it gets really hot? I do have 5" spacing between the TV & a wall.

Thanks for any advice,
Christopher

avjeff

07-05-06, 02:06 PM

I have the HLS5086W. Now that I have bypassed my cable box for standard definition content, the picture is much better. Much granier, but far more pleasant to watch. I have used the Fine Tune feature to improve this a little, and put Sharpness at zero. It is still fairly grainy, but much better than the picture through the cable box, an SA8300 DVR.

HD and DVD content looks fabulous. But I notice that some very bright scenes and areas on the screen appear to sparkle, a bit like snow does in direct sunlight. Is there anything I can do about this? Or is this just something that comes with DLPs? Contrast is 55, Brightness is 42.

HoustonPerson

07-05-06, 04:25 PM

You have a great set.

try this to start, then adjust just a little each time

Movie mode (forces DNIe off)
Brightness 50
Contrast 70
Sharpness 40-50
Color 40-45

DNR "on"

Temp to "warm 1" or "warm 2"

Remember it takes a good 10 min to warm up good.

All of the controls on the HLS are "super" inter-related, making adjustments difficult.........they take a long time to get use to.

Since you are using the "fine tune" picture means you are using analogue input? That will be the lowest quality picture you can get. Can you get OTA digitals? Is your cable box set up incorrectly with the "wrong" output to the TV?

With the sparkle you say you are getting, sounds like you are getting excessive compression from the cable box?

avjeff

07-05-06, 05:08 PM

Yes I am using analog for my non-HD channels. I am doing this because the picture from my cable box was intolerably bad. I have tried using component, composite and s-video, they all produced a terrible picture with artifacts so bad faces were practically indistinguishable. My box is an SA8300 DVR. I have tried setting it to output 480i 480p 720p and 1080i, I have tried setting it only to 720p, 1080i only, and just 720p and 1080i. No combination provided an acceptable picture. So I split the cable before the box and am running it directly into the back of the set. The picture is fairly grainy this way, but detail is very good and it lacks the terrible artifacting the cable box provides. The cable box is quite satisfactory with HD content, though.

I did not have this problem with the plasma tv I replaced. The picture wasn't great, but it was quite good, even through the cable box. But that set was only a 42". This new set is a 50", which is quite a difference.

Also, Wide-Fit is locked for some reason. I would REALLY like to use this mode, but no matter what type of connection I use, be it component, composite, s-video and even straight from the cable into the analog antenna input, Wide-Fit is always grayed out. Anyone know why this might be happening?

MXSG

07-05-06, 06:30 PM

Also, Wide-Fit is locked for some reason. I would REALLY like to use this mode, but no matter what type of connection I use, be it component, composite, s-video and even straight from the cable into the analog antenna input, Wide-Fit is always grayed out. Anyone know why this might be happening?

Wide-Fit only works on HD sources... Which does make sense to me at all, since HD sources are widescreen and already fill the screen so what's the point of this mode?? All other TV's use the "wide" mode to stretch 4:3. Although, the only reason I would do this is to prevent screen burn, and since DLP's don't have that problem I wouldn't stretch 4:3 even if I could... but others might, so I don't know why they made it like that.

cozkay

07-05-06, 07:35 PM

I am a newbie to the board. I have been doing some reading here though, very good stuff.
I recently purchased a Samsung DLP, after a long debate between the HL-S5086W & HL-S5087W i got the 5086 for less then $1800. I was told that there isn't much 1080p content and couldn't justify the $800 diffrence. I am 2nd guessing my choice and here is why.
I have a comcast dvr dct3412 with digital cable and HD, it is connected via HDMI cable. It is a good picture a little grain though. HD content is amazing but still not as crisp as a plasmas, i guess this is due to the 2500:1 contrast ratio on my tv compared to the higher contrast in plasmas or even the 1080p version of my set. I don't know though since this is my 1st HDTV set and i am still learning. I guess my question is, i am right about the contrast or do i need to play around with my settings? Should i consider getting a 42" plasma instead? I can't really afford the extra $800 for the 1080p version of my tv so that is not an option. I have been to BB and CC a few times since my purchase and my picture at home just doesn't look as clean and smooth and crisp as the ones in the store. Is this set really as good as everyone says do i not have mine set properly?

I have set my custom setting to the following:

Contrast 65
Brightness 45
Sharpness 15
Color 50

Warm2
DNR OFF
DNIe OFF

I hope someone can help me out and i hope and not asking to much, i just need some advice.

Thanks

JonDotCom

07-05-06, 07:51 PM

I am a newbie to the board. I have been doing some reading here though, very good stuff.
-snip-
Should i consider getting a 42" plasma instead? I can't really afford the extra $800 for the 1080p version of my tv so that is not an option. I have been to BB and CC a few times since my purchase and my picture at home just doesn't look as clean and smooth and crisp as the ones in the store.

Do you mean plasma or LCDs at CC/BB? Almost all of the plasmas I saw that they carry look gross up close with HUGE pixels, and the LCDs look much better IMO, such as the Samsung 40" which retails around $3k.

Your DLP will provide a better picture with no noticeable pixel structure and you likely paid half of what the LCD flat panel costs. When you are watching the right source and have your settings right you'll be impressed. Sometimes you need to wait for evening TV when CSI, without a trace, or other HD shows are on to see the difference. HD channels sometimes transmit yucky original film, but some evening tv shows like I mentioned go out of their way to impress HD users!

Make sure your cable box is outputting 720p too.

cozkay

07-05-06, 08:19 PM

Sorry, i did mean the plasma sets. I don't know they just look richer in content. Like i said though maybe i need to just adjust my tv to the right settings.

HoustonPerson

07-06-06, 07:39 AM

avjeff,

I have found that my 1080i sources can produce a slightly better picture than the 720p sources (HL-S4266). For me this is true for CBS NBC and PBS. Generally, the other 1080i and 720p channels look basically the same.

You may want to try setting your cable box to 1080i output (720p as second choice), and use at least a component or HDMI connection; there other connections will NOT produce the best clean picture, the other connections will always look very bad, the do not produce a clean source. Also, make sure your format adjust on the cable box is set to "standard" or "normal" so you TV can control the correct screen format.

Many digital cable sources can be just terrible, almost all the time. It is very common for cable companies to use a low quality 480i analogue source and just send it to you on their "compressed" digital service.........meaning the "bad" picture gets "worser". Still, you may want to have the cable company check things out as far as service quality goes. If you have easy access to OTA to test things for yourself that could be a "good" first step. Typically, if you are within 40 miles of a station just a cheap set of rabbit ears can to that.

Try experimenting with your picture "format button".........you will notice different "source signals" will give you different choices. Only the choices available for a given "signal type" will be available. The book explains it; but it can be difficult to understand. So experiment with it on different sources. Basically, if you want you HD source shown a specific way, you can set it and forget it.........if you want your 480i analogue shown a certain way you can set it and forget it, etc.

HoustonPerson

07-06-06, 07:55 AM

cozkay,

Generally, the setting you have should be producing a very good picture. I would turn the DNR "on" It does improve the picture a good bit for 480i analogue source. And can do no harm to digital, that I can detect.

The other settings are close enough that you should be getting a very good picture; AND it should be a good deal better than what you see in the store.

So it sounds like it all comes back to the source. What are you feeding the set, and are the settings in your STB and the quality of service you receive.

If you are within 40 miles of the station a cheap set of rabbits ears can answer a lot of questions. Once you see some live HD sports or other super high quality feed in 1080i OTA, that will be the bench mark you want for your cable service.

Plasma vs Samsung HLS DLP's..........one thing to keep in mind is that the Samsung HLS models have the ability to produce a ton more picture detail, sharpness, and crispness then can usually been seen on a plasma.......as a result "bad signal sources" tend to show up very poorly on the HLS sets. Putting that another way: Plasmas look "good" with bad to average sources, Samsung does not. With excellent sources Samsung will usually blow the plasmas away, the plasmas still just look "good" not "excellent".