Like others said previously, when I push down on the top, it flattens it out. It appears that the screen just isn't aligned, or at least on my tv. If the screen can be pushed down on the right, it is a perfect picture. Will this new frame help that? And I spoke with a Samsung Tech yesterday who said that the problem is the screen is warped, which I don't see how that could be when it looks AMAZING when you just push the top down a bit?

And do any of the DLP's out right now not experience this? Thanks.

This is not normal for DLP sets. This only affects the Samsung XX76 models. It is a warped screen as you say. Take a tape measure across the front of your set and notice how the screen bows outward ever so slightly. This causes the distortion.




Guys, the HL-T5676SX is *NOT* a "new" model. This is just the *FULL* model code. I have a HL-T5676SX and it has the major bowing issues.

Hey guys forgive me I only read to page 15. I bought my 5076s last night and didn't notice the bowing until I turned it on today. It's not horrible, probably raises an 1/8 of an inch up to the right on the bottom of the screen. Will this effect anything besides what I see with the guide pulled up? And do any of the DLP's out right now not experience this? Thanks.

This sounds similar to my set. My 1st few were 1/2" + bowed. Samsung considers anything less than 7mm (just over 1/4") normal.

This is not normal for DLP sets. This only affects the Samsung XX76 models. It is a warped screen as you say. Take a tape measure across the front of your set and notice how the screen bows outward ever so slightly. This causes the distortion.




Guys, the HL-T5676SX is *NOT* a "new" model. This is just the *FULL* model code. I have a HL-T5676SX and it has the major bowing issues.

mooninite,
You've been having issues for quite some time. Hasn't Samsung replaced this set yet. What's your status?

mooninite,
You've been having issues for quite some time. Hasn't Samsung replaced this set yet. What's your status?

ECR stated they will not replace my set and will not refund me any money. The only explanation is that I must have it repaired. It's in for its 3rd repair. Samsung was sent the pictures I took two weeks ago, but I have not heard anything from them. I am calling them today to check on the status.

ECR stated they will not replace my set and will not refund me any money. The only explanation is that I must have it repaired. It's in for its 3rd repair. Samsung was sent the pictures I took two weeks ago, but I have not heard anything from them. I am calling them today to check on the status.
I don't understand why they won't replace it. Do they need to try to repair a few times first?
They won't contact you about the pics; they didn't contact me either when I sent them some. It makes me not trust them even more.
I'm glad you at least took pics to compare before & after when repair returns it to you. Stay on 'em!

This is why I bought the extended warranty. I got a good deal, so the price offset the warranty cost. Its basicly a replacement warranty. Not bad for such a sweet tv. Willing to take a chance on this one.

when playing on the xbox 360, shoud I have it set to just scan or 16:9?

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i205/biginak/3330578779_ORIG.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i205/biginak/3330578775_ORIG.jpg

Sorry, the first one is my sideways artsy shot.

Just got the HL-T5676S on Monday and if I had found this thread before hand I would have been scared to death to buy it!! Love it so far, bought it with the XBOX bundle however CC has been out of them and won't have any until next week maybe! Don't get me started on that.

I have no bowing or anything, just this goofy screen. That's with the power off so it's just got to be the screen right? The top frame is so loose it's crazy. You can push down on it and the "blob?" will suck back up into the top so it just seems like it's not tight. I called Samsung today and will set up a tech visit. Is this something I can do myself? It's only visible in dark or really bright screens. Not so much from head on, the bad angle is from the left and slight below screen. Then she really pops out at you. I may be able to live with it, my girlfriend not so much. The TV is great and I don't want to pack it up and I sure as hell don't want to exchange it after reading this thread!

I looked online and could find nothing that sounded like the problem I have. Hopefully you guys can help, thanks!

Mooninite,

Are you sure the screen is warped and it just doesn't need a new tighter bracket on top? The screen seems to be fine, it appears that their is not enough weight on top of the tv to keep the screen in the right place....

Yes, there is a brand new Service Bulletin out. I requested Service via the Web and the Tech called yesterday. He needs to order the black rim/cap/whatever. Assuming it arrives on the 4th, he'll be out to install it. He's already done one of these repairs.

I will beg/borrow/plead with him to get a Part # as well as a Service Bulletin #.

I believe it's referred to as the blue/purple smudges defect.

Just hang tight everyone. We'll have a fix in a few days....


Ok, but it seems like an odd name for this specific problem. The "blue/purple smudges defect". Are we sure we are talking about the same thing? The bowing defect.

when playing on the xbox 360, shoud I have it set to just scan or 16:9?
you should have your 360 set to 1080p and the tv set to "just scan". 16x9 puts it into overscan and you lose part of the image.

This is why I bought the extended warranty. I got a good deal, so the price offset the warranty cost. Its basicly a replacement warranty. Not bad for such a sweet tv. Willing to take a chance on this one.

Was the warranty through Samsung or store? How much $$$?

ok so after a long 4 hours of reading all 43 pages and keeping me up til 2:20am I got a good nights sleep.

my HL-T6176s does have slight "SMILY" face going on. but not much at all my wife has not even noticed it until I pointed it out. pushed on the top of the set and showed her how much it moves. I bought it at BB for a SMOKEN deal. 1649 and 350 for 4 year replancement warrenty. I do believe im going to call BB and tell them to bring another one over to the house and hopefully I get perfect geometry out of this tv. for the price and the small amount of "smily" I have well worth it for me.

Here's something weird,...when I set my Xbox360 to 1080i, if I push the "info" button on the SS remote, it tells me that the resolution is in fact 1080i.

Now, if i set the Xbox360 to 1080p, and pushing the info button, it tells me that the TV is showing 1080,.....no "i" or "p".
Anyone know what the deal is? Should it actually say 1080p, or is something fishy going on? I have my 360 connected to the second HDMI port.
Mike

Here's something weird,...when I set my Xbox360 to 1080i, if I push the "info" button on the SS remote, it tells me that the resolution is in fact 1080i.

Now, if i set the Xbox360 to 1080p, and pushing the info button, it tells me that the TV is showing 1080,.....no "i" or "p".
Anyone know what the deal is? Should it actually say 1080p, or is something fishy going on? I have my 360 connected to the second HDMI port.
Mike

When it has an i it is 1080i. When there is no i, it is 1080p.

You guys collectively suck. ;) I was almost perfectly happy with the 5676S that I setup yesterday until I read the posts that pointed out exactly where to see the bowing. Now, I can't keep my eyes off that lower right corner. Another illusion of perfection shattered! I hope you're happy with yourselves! :)

The bowing really isn't that noticeable unless you're looking for it. My OCD isn't bad enough for me to really be bothered by it (yet). My unit was manufactured in Nov 2007 according to the sticker if anyone's keeping stats.

However, I have encountered another problem, which is the real reason that I'm here. If the TV's playing and I'm out of the room for a bit, I can detect a light burning smell when I enter the room. It's one of those faint not quite there smells. After a minute or so, I don't even notice it anymore...until the next time I enter the room. This is my first projection tv so I have to ask the stupid question: is that normal? Or should take my place in line with the torches and pitchforks?

You guys collectively suck. ;) I was almost perfectly happy with the 5676S that I setup yesterday until I read the posts that pointed out exactly where to see the bowing. Now, I can't keep my eyes off that lower right corner. Another illusion of perfection shattered! I hope you're happy with yourselves! :)

The bowing really isn't that noticeable unless you're looking for it. My OCD isn't bad enough for me to really be bothered by it (yet). My unit was manufactured in Nov 2007 according to the sticker if anyone's keeping stats.

However, I have encountered another problem, which is the real reason that I'm here. If the TV's playing and I'm out of the room for a bit, I can detect a light burning smell when I enter the room. It's one of those faint not quite there smells. After a minute or so, I don't even notice it anymore...until the next time I enter the room. This is my first projection tv so I have to ask the stupid question: is that normal? Or should take my place in line with the torches and pitchforks?

Get in line with the rest of us!!!! There is strength in numbers!!!

Actually, you will hear that is somewhat normal and should wear off. However, I have exactly what you are describing as well and it doesn't seem to be going away. I already had the ballast replaced after less than 5 weeks. Coincidence??? Maybe....

But I'm really here for the bowing.......gotta get that resolved.

Against all guidance noted in this forum I ordered a 5076s from amazon, I have a cabinet what is 45.8 inches wide and wanted the largest screen that would fit. I've seen the bowing in the CC set they had on display but the set I just got does not have any bowing that I can see. I did not put up a grid but all of the menu's channel guides are straight. The picture in HD is excellent, in SD in 4:3 it is the same as my sony crt. The only concern that I have and asking for input on is the fan or dlp sound coming from the TV when the volumne is muted. I happen to be sensitive to background noise I can hear the fan from 10 feet away, should I hear anything or should I only be able to detect the fan from up close? Thanks for any owners input. Just a note, a while back in this thread there was mention of a samsung tech saying there was a new model with an x in the model. On the set I got the model code is HLT5076SX/XAA build date is oct 2007.

I had a samsung tech out to look at the the noise I have with the set, after several days I would say it is a buzzing, the tech said it was normal, but he did change the lamp and the ballast but it made no difference. The noise in question starts after power on first I hear the fan 1-2 sec, then the color wheel spins up, 1-2 sec then the buzz starts. the tech disconected the fans and the noise was still present, starting it up with out the lamp in eliminates the noise. the tech said it was the mercury vapor lamp buzzing. can anyone confirm this is in fact a normal noise?

OK i have an update about the problem that alot of people have had with a blue haze or shadowing showing up on the screen. After yelling and screaming with samsung they sent a tech out to "try" a theory they had. He replaced a gasket that is around the lens from a shiny silver one to one with a black paint on it. Believe it or not it worked perfectly and no more blue haze. So now i have a 6187s with no problems whatsoever.

OK i have an update about the problem that alot of people have had with a blue haze or shadowing showing up on the screen. After yelling and screaming with samsung they sent a tech out to "try" a theory they had. He replaced a gasket that is around the lens from a shiny silver one to one with a black paint on it. Believe it or not it worked perfectly and no more blue haze. So now i have a 6187s with no problems whatsoever.

You have an LED model. This is the lamp thread. I think you meant to post here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=827799

Quick question - is it normal during power on for the picture to appear kind dark and reddish for a bit, and after around 5 seconds it gets brighter and appears that the blue is added? First DLP, everything else is fine and after the 5 seconds of 'warming up' all is good.

Thanks

Hello. I just got the 5676 and have only really noticed one problem so far. In the lower left hand section of the screen, I can see a white shape when the screen is displaying a dark image. It is not quite an oval, as the sides come in. It looks sort of like a clam shell that is open. I thought that maybe it was reflection from some external light, but I can see it even if I turn off every light in the room. It is only noticeable when the screen is on, but dark. Any ideas about this?

staying dark for a couple of seconds is normal for a dlp tv. Dont worry about it.


the clam shape light spot is a problem that i have also. the tech said he is baffled by it and doesnt know how to fix it. he ordered me a new optics block so we will see if that does the trick next week.

Quick question - is it normal during power on for the picture to appear kind dark and reddish for a bit, and after around 5 seconds it gets brighter and appears that the blue is added? First DLP, everything else is fine and after the 5 seconds of 'warming up' all is good.

Thanks

Yes. 10-15 seconds for my set seems about right.

Alright, I've spent the last week trying to get a Samsung that I'm satisfied with to no avail. If you are considering buying this TV ( or any of the Samsung DLP's), DO YOUR RESEARCH!! I found out the hard way by going through 2 brand-new, separate TVs. This unit is a VERY poor design. The frame holding the screen in place is very weak and will cause the screen to distort. This in turn causes the picture displayed on the screen to distort also. The end result is that you will notice bowing when watching content with straight lines (like your cable or DTV guide, news/sports tickers, etc.) You will not notice this misalignment when watching regular motion video, but if you have any straight edges from say a PC or video game console, you will see this problem clearly. IMO, this is totally unacceptable and I am in disbelief that a TV manufacturer would try to sell this product, especially given the $1500-$2000 price tag. Luckily, I am still within my 30-day return policy, so I have decided to dump Samsung in favor of the Sony KDS-55A3000. Please, please, please read all the reviews you can find, go look in the store, and do whatever it takes to make an informed decision regarding this TV. This problem has nothing to do with HD or SD or you video signal or anything except for a flawed TV design. I even went to the store where I purchased and showed the sales folks and managers the problem on ALL of the Samsung DLPs the had on display. EACH ONE had varying degrees of bow. The store employees were surprised, to say the least, and even one manager said that she couldn't believe that they were selling these things now. She said she loved the Samsungs, but after seeing this, there's no way she would EVER buy one. (I think she was more upset about it than me!) The only reason that this TV gets any plus from me is because of the outstanding picture quality...but I determine quality based on all aspects of performance, and Samsung has laid a HUGE goose egg with this model...beutiful color representation with a WARPED SCREEN!! LOL!!!...And they are the official HDTV for the NFL?!?!?! You may get lucky and receive one that does not exhibit this anomaly, but are you going to bet your $1500-$2000 on some luck? Remember, I got 2 BRAND-NEW, never-opened models, and both showed significant screen warp. Also, many consumer reviews describe other problems with this TV that could be considered even more significant than screen bow! DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!

An Aside:
A big thanks to all of you here at AVS forums. From the pros and the cons, everyone considering buying a HDTV should spend some quality time on this site. The information provided here is invaluable to those in the market for HDTV. Good luck...Hope your smiling, NOT the TV!!

Alright, I've spent the last week trying to get a Samsung that I'm satisfied with to no avail. If you are considering buying this TV ( or any of the Samsung DLP's), DO YOUR RESEARCH!! I found out the hard way by going through 2 brand-new, separate TVs. This unit is a VERY poor design. The frame holding the screen in place is very weak and will cause the screen to distort. This in turn causes the picture displayed on the screen to distort also. The end result is that you will notice bowing when watching content with straight lines (like your cable or DTV guide, news/sports tickers, etc.) You will not notice this misalignment when watching regular motion video, but if you have any straight edges from say a PC or video game console, you will see this problem clearly. IMO, this is totally unacceptable and I am in disbelief that a TV manufacturer would try to sell this product, especially given the $1500-$2000 price tag. Luckily, I am still within my 30-day return policy, so I have decided to dump Samsung in favor of the Sony KDS-55A3000. Please, please, please read all the reviews you can find, go look in the store, and do whatever it takes to make an informed decision regarding this TV. This problem has nothing to do with HD or SD or you video signal or anything except for a flawed TV design. I even went to the store where I purchased and showed the sales folks and managers the problem on ALL of the Samsung DLPs the had on display. EACH ONE had varying degrees of bow. The store employees were surprised, to say the least, and even one manager said that she couldn't believe that they were selling these things now. She said she loved the Samsungs, but after seeing this, there's no way she would EVER buy one. (I think she was more upset about it than me!) The only reason that this TV gets any plus from me is because of the outstanding picture quality...but I determine quality based on all aspects of performance, and Samsung has laid a HUGE goose egg with this model...beutiful color representation with a WARPED SCREEN!! LOL!!!...And they are the official HDTV for the NFL?!?!?! You may get lucky and receive one that does not exhibit this anomaly, but are you going to bet your $1500-$2000 on some luck? Remember, I got 2 BRAND-NEW, never-opened models, and both showed significant screen warp. Also, many consumer reviews describe other problems with this TV that could be considered even more significant than screen bow! DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!

An Aside:
A big thanks to all of you here at AVS forums. From the pros and the cons, everyone considering buying a HDTV should spend some quality time on this site. The information provided here is invaluable to those in the market for HDTV. Good luck...Hope your smiling, NOT the TV!!

I wouldn't be surprised if you come back to Samsung - like I did; bows & all. We kept exchanging until we got a good one. No matter how the Sony's picture setting were set it never looked as good as the Samsung. I might add that I'm referring to a xxA2020 not the xxA3000 series and the newer Sony's may match or surpass PQ now. All I can say is I had to eat some crow.;)
I wish you all the best; you deserve better!

I had a samsung tech out to look at the the noise I have with the set, after several days I would say it is a buzzing, the tech said it was normal, but he did change the lamp and the ballast but it made no difference. The noise in question starts after power on first I hear the fan 1-2 sec, then the color wheel spins up, 1-2 sec then the buzz starts. the tech disconected the fans and the noise was still present, starting it up with out the lamp in eliminates the noise. the tech said it was the mercury vapor lamp buzzing. can anyone confirm this is in fact a normal noise?

I picked up a second set and it sounds the same, I can't believe that with all these reports of bowing etc that these nightmares also have a buzzing noise? Did I just happen to get 2 sets that make this noise? Can anyone confirm that they have the same noise? The size of this set is perfect for the entertainment center I have and the picture exceeds my expectations so I'd like to keep this model. Thanks

I've been trying to do some research, shopping for my second HDTV (upgrading from Olevia 232v 720p 32").

I've leaned towards the rear projection camp recently, really only because of cost per inch value. Front projected 1080P isn't an option for me because of $$$. I just came from the store comparing Sony's KDF-50E3000 and HL-T5076S after reading about them all afternoon.

HL-T5076S PQ > KDF-50E3000 PQ. I apologize for such a direct statement claiming fact (though it's just "opinion") ... but the only person who's gonna argue that is dude who owns the E3000.

No matter how I tweaked it, and granted I'm no pro, it was like night and day. The HL-T5076S did have "blurred motion" in side scrolling and fast action, but I expected some of that. But Sony's 3LCD model suffered from the "screen door" effect that I've read about and offered less vibrant color. I found it impossible to reach the vivid brightness of the Samsung without completely washing out the display. No comparison to the HL-T5076S in representing varied black levels in detail at a reasonable brightness. (Not that the HL-T5076S is stellar in these categories, but compared to the Sony "stellar" may be an understatement).

But at the cost of screen distortion? :eek:

I've finally seen for myself the bowing on a HL-T5076S. ****ing can't ignore it. The floor model was distorted (very slightly). I only noticed it right away because I came looking for it, and immediately switched the set to an image with straight lines toward the bottom corners. Bowing was minimal, but now I'm wondering how much it can vary from case to case. The amount I noticed I would call "acceptable" and would probably deal with the distortion and still get great value from the set's overall quality.

Shopping these two models has become a catch-22, and really starting to wonder if it's smart to buy a rear projection at this time. Was ready to pull the trigger at Vanns or Amazon earlier today, but now I may wait for 1080P LCD displays to drop.

I need 1080P and at least 42". Trying to get good value between price, PQ, and size spending no more than $1300 "out the door."

The HL-T5076S is all of those things. But at the cost of a warped screen? Damn it. :confused:

(Should mention the signal going into those TVs was pretty crappy, and it was supposedly 720p on the displays)

I just got a toshiba A30 HD DVD player and it appears to have a very grainy picture. I have a samsung 6176s and when i play the movie in vibrant it gets very static like as if you were watching tv thru an antenna at times. When I play in movie mode I do not have the same issue. Also when i am in the main menu of the dvd its clear as day. The movie also just stopped playing half way thru and the screen become pixelated. Has anyone had similar issues with HD DVD and the xx76 tvs? I am strating to think it may be a handshake issue

First post. Just received my HL-T5076s. Geometry is perfect, picture quality is the best I've seen on any set, period. I was surprised at how wonderful it plays standard def content as well.

First post. Just received my HL-T5076s. Geometry is perfect, picture quality is the best I've seen on any set, period. I was surprised at how wonderful it plays standard def content as well.

Any buzzing noise coming from the set? I can hear it with the sound muted or changing channels from 12ft away. Thanks

I hear the fan, if that's what you're talking about. Note though that the fan cannot be heard over my slim PS2, to give you an idea of how quiet it is.

[QUOTE=Fyn;12417539]I hear the fan, if that's what you're talking about. Note though that the fan cannot be heard over my slim PS2, to give you an idea of how quiet it is.[/QUOTE

Thanks for the reply, my set has a buzzing noise, like a transformer hum. I guess it has a problem. I can hear the fan at start up, then for a short time the color wheel then the hum or buzz starts. The fan is not loud, the color wheel after the intial start up is not an issue, so if you have a set that is not humming there must be something wrong with mine...

I hear the fan, if that's what you're talking about. Note though that the fan cannot be heard over my slim PS2, to give you an idea of how quiet it is.

The fan noise on our 4-1/2 year old Sammie HLN507W is my biggest gripe about it. We are considering jumping to the 1080p DLPs, but I just wrote off the Samsung LED DLPs today after seeing the poor horizontal viewing angle they have compared to my current DLP. Also, their PQ didn't have much WOW factor; it really didn't look much better than my old DLP (viewed numerous Samsung models, several of each, at two different stores UE and BB).

The most impressive PQ of all the DLP and other rear-projection HDTVs was the Samsung XX76s. But, the bowing issue noted here is certainly a concern. My biggest concern is that the fan noise will again be a gripe. I really don't want to plunk down big dollars again and get more of the same.

Could someone please help me out? I need some pics for the defaults for the Service menu. I need the cca screen, the desaturation screen and the sp52e (i think that is what it is called - has the coeff values). Thanks

mimel1@hotmail.com

Does anyone know if the 6176s does 1080p/24?

Thanks for the reply. I am inclined to believe it is 1.3. If you look on Samsungs website under the 76s 61" model, it says hdmi v1.3.
My Dish 622 sat receivers under HDMI diag. reports that both my 5676 and my 6176 report that they are HDMI 1.3. They also report they support 480i but they don't.

The fan noise on our 4-1/2 year old Sammie HLN507W is my biggest gripe about it. We are considering jumping to the 1080p DLPs, but I just wrote off the Samsung LED DLPs today after seeing the poor horizontal viewing angle they have compared to my current DLP. Also, their PQ didn't have much WOW factor; it really didn't look much better than my old DLP (viewed numerous Samsung models, several of each, at two different stores UE and BB).

The most impressive PQ of all the DLP and other rear-projection HDTVs was the Samsung XX76s. But, the bowing issue noted here is certainly a concern. My biggest concern is that the fan noise will again be a gripe. I really don't want to plunk down big dollars again and get more of the same.

The noise that I'm hearing is not the fan, I had a samsung tech out and he disconnected the fans an the hum/buzz was still there. the samsung tech said it was the light bulb, and it's normal but another poster said he didn't have the issue. the fans do not make any noise that i can hear. the dlp which i hear spin up quiets down, the hum /buzz i'm hearing sounds like a ballast on a old floresent fixture. I'm going to try a power conditioner this weekend to see if that makes a difference.

Does anyone know if the 6176s does 1080p/24?


When I put my PS3 set to force 1080p24hz it displays it on the TV when you hit info. Now, I don't know if thats what is displaying or just what it's receiving. I am inclined to believe thats what it is displaying as thats the way it works the rest of the time 720p, 1080i, etc with other sources. So I guess, yes it will do 24hz

The noise that I'm hearing is not the fan, I had a samsung tech out and he disconnected the fans an the hum/buzz was still there. the samsung tech said it was the light bulb, and it's normal but another poster said he didn't have the issue. the fans do not make any noise that i can hear. the dlp which i hear spin up quiets down, the hum /buzz i'm hearing sounds like a ballast on a old floresent fixture. I'm going to try a power conditioner this weekend to see if that makes a difference.

my 6176s is VERY quiet, if it is on and nothing else is on, you can't hear it at all. I do have a good power conditioner if that matters. Now, my PS3 is a different matter, once you fire that thing up, It drowns out everything. Not a major issue since I Always run my stereo cranked:D

Does anyone know what this issue is?? I just received my HLT5676 in exchange for old hls model. Picture is great a little more motion blur than older hls model if you ask me. But here lies my huge issue very weird! With tv set off when daylight is in the room you can see a white like ring thats big enough to shoot a basketball through. I can push it around on the screen but it goes back to shape. If I turn set on when in a well lit room with daylight I can see this ring of sorts only in dark black scenes or when flipping channel. So, TV on or off its present. In a dark room there is no sight of it. Dark scenes its not there only when I have a daylit room do I see this. WTF??? Anyone had this or know what this is?

When I put my PS3 set to force 1080p24hz it displays it on the TV when you hit info. Now, I don't know if thats what is displaying or just what it's receiving. I am inclined to believe thats what it is displaying as thats the way it works the rest of the time 720p, 1080i, etc with other sources. So I guess, yes it will do 24hz

Pressing info shows what it's receiving. The set always converts whatever it receives to native display rate of 1080p 120 hz.

Pressing info shows what it's receiving. The set always converts whatever it receives to native display rate of 1080p 120 hz.

any signal? thru any input? upconverted to 1080?

any signal? thru any input? upconverted to 1080?

Has to be converted because that's how many pixels the display has. Low resolution sources will really look like crap when blown up. You can't create resolution that's not there so pixels are doubled or worse to fill the screen.

Has to be converted because that's how many pixels the display has. Low resolution sources will really look like crap when blown up. You can't create resolution that's not there so pixels are doubled or worse to fill the screen.

So what would be the better setting for my FIOS set top box. Should I have it set at 1080i or 720p? I heard that 720p would be better for sports viewing. I know the TV will upconvert it to the 1080 native resolution.

So which is better? 1080i or 720p?

I just received the 56" as a replacment for a 4 year old 50" hln series and am very dissapointed in the picture quality. How a near 1st gen dlp is superior in PQ to a current model puzzles me.

The new set seems to have a very bad sse, shimmering on bright colored images and a little motion blur. None of these problems were evident on my old set.

I have adjusted all the settings over and over again and cannot get what i think is great PQ. I was lucky enough to receive one without the bowing. HD content is also grainy.

I was thinking about having BB service come out and look at it.

To owners of older Samsung DLPs- Did you find that your older sets looked better?

I just received the 56" as a replacment for a 4 year old 50" hln series and am very dissapointed in the picture quality. How a near 1st gen dlp is superior in PQ to a current model puzzles me.

The new set seems to have a very bad sse, shimmering on bright colored images and a little motion blur. None of these problems were evident on my old set.

I have adjusted all the settings over and over again and cannot get what i think is great PQ. I was lucky enough to receive one without the bowing. HD content is also grainy.

I was thinking about having BB service come out and look at it.

To owners of older Samsung DLPs- Did you find that your older sets looked better?


The motion blur on this set is the biggest surprise to me. I know other people with older model Samsung DLP's and this was not evident. Motion blur is another disappointing aspect of this TV.

I just received the 56" as a replacment for a 4 year old 50" hln series and am very dissapointed in the picture quality. How a near 1st gen dlp is superior in PQ to a current model puzzles me.

The new set seems to have a very bad sse, shimmering on bright colored images and a little motion blur. None of these problems were evident on my old set.

I have adjusted all the settings over and over again and cannot get what i think is great PQ. I was lucky enough to receive one without the bowing. HD content is also grainy.

I was thinking about having BB service come out and look at it.

To owners of older Samsung DLPs- Did you find that your older sets looked better?

I've got to agree with WILL_22 on this one. This set has a very high refresh rate. Motion blur should be a non issue. Replace or service.

Hello all. Awesome forum you have here. I recently made the jump to HDTV in purchasing a HLT5676s at Sears just barely over a month ago. This TV has been a total blast. Everything I have put to the test....HD DirectTV....Xbox 360....HD-DVD.....all of it has looked absolutely fantastic. Totally in love with this set.

That is, until this past Friday night. When the TV just stopped working. I get three blinking lights in the bottom right corner of the set, one red and two green. My manual tells me this is a sign that the bulb is bad, but I was wondering if anyone here might have another tip to get my TV up and running again.

Thank you!

Hello all. Awesome forum you have here. I recently made the jump to HDTV in purchasing a HLT5676s at Sears just barely over a month ago. This TV has been a total blast. Everything I have put to the test....HD DirectTV....Xbox 360....HD-DVD.....all of it has looked absolutely fantastic. Totally in love with this set.

That is, until this past Friday night. When the TV just stopped working. I get three blinking lights in the bottom right corner of the set, one red and two green. My manual tells me this is a sign that the bulb is bad, but I was wondering if anyone here might have another tip to get my TV up and running again.

Thank you!

Same thing happened to me. This is a sign that most likely it's the bulb. However, mine was actually the ballast. Had to be replaced after a little over 5 weeks.

Same thing happened to me. This is a sign that most likely it's the bulb. However, mine was actually the ballast. Had to be replaced after a little over 5 weeks.



Really? It's been about as long as that for me as well. I looked up the manufacturing date on mine and it was 10/31/07. Great TV, but very disheartening that it died so soon.

Did you have have a tech fix the problem or did you do it yourself? Just curious as to how long it took.

Really? It's been about as long as that for me as well. I looked up the manufacturing date on mine and it was 10/31/07. Great TV, but very disheartening that it died so soon.

Did you have have a tech fix the problem or did you do it yourself? Just curious as to how long it took.

Had the tech come out. He was actually coming out for the bowing problem but I just added this to the work order. He fixed it that day. Took about 5 days before he got there.

Had the tech come out. He was actually coming out for the bowing problem but I just added this to the work order. He fixed it that day. Took about 5 days before he got there.



You know speaking of the bowing problem.....I did start to notice that as well after finally being asked if I had it. Did he do a decent job repairing that as too?

So what would be the better setting for my FIOS set top box. Should I have it set at 1080i or 720p? I heard that 720p would be better for sports viewing. I know the TV will upconvert it to the 1080 native resolution.

So which is better? 1080i or 720p?

It's best to match the source. Most sports is 720p for reduced motion blur. Most everything else is 1080i for higher resolution. You could switch back and forth or just pick the one that looks the best.

I've got to agree with WILL_22 on this one. This set has a very high refresh rate. Motion blur should be a non issue. Replace or service.

If you haven't already, you might want to disable the DNIe atleast during sports and things to reduce motion blur....I like the color and saturation adjustments that DNIe gives, but I think it adds some blur and introduces some jaggies as if from over sharpening the picture or something.

Well I must say I'm kind of Disappointed. I just purchased this set because at the store it looked amazing and even here at home it does. The colors are great, PQ is great etc. But I got the stupid Bowing problem and yes it does appear to be the screen. It's almost as if the Top section of the set pushes down on the screen a tad causing it to bow outward, because if I just grab the frame bezel or that plastic trim around screen and pull up! it fixes. I'm sure its an easy fix. Anyone with an engineering mind can figure it out. I just can't believe Samsung has known about this problem and can't easily fix it.

It was FAR worse out of the box. But once I moved set around and set everything to 16:9 it fixed up a bit. Honestly now its not that bad but it is there. I notice it more on the upper right.

I wanna say that the last 1.5 - 2 inches on the right bow up like 1/4" - 1/2"

I feel like a moron because my wife was really excited about purchasing our first big TV and she said "I don't know anything about these technologies so I trust you". Then I get home and theres crooked lines on the screen.

Well I must say I'm kind of Disappointed. I just purchased this set because at the store it looked amazing and even here at home it does. The colors are great, PQ is great etc. But I got the stupid Bowing problem and yes it does appear to be the screen. It's almost as if the Top section of the set pushes down on the screen a tad causing it to bow outward, because if I just grab the frame bezel or that plastic trim around screen and pull up! it fixes. I'm sure its an easy fix. Anyone with an engineering mind can figure it out. I just can't believe Samsung has known about this problem and can't easily fix it.

It was FAR worse out of the box. But once I moved set around and set everything to 16:9 it fixed up a bit. Honestly now its not that bad but it is there. I notice it more on the upper right.

I wanna say that the last 1.5 - 2 inches on the right bow up like 1/4" - 1/2"

I feel like a moron because my wife was really excited about purchasing our first big TV and she said "I don't know anything about these technologies so I trust you". Then I get home and theres crooked lines on the screen.

Since you have ignored all of the posts stating to *avoid* this model, you have two options.

1. Call Samsung to setup a replacement or repair. I've been in a loop with Samsung for two months on my bowing problem. Still waiting on Samsung.
2. Return the TV and get an LED model -- they have the older (not out of date) case design that does not allow bowing to exist.

Since you have ignored all of the posts stating to *avoid* this model, you have two options.

1. Call Samsung to setup a replacement or repair. I've been in a loop with Samsung for two months on my bowing problem. Still waiting on Samsung.
2. Return the TV and get an LED model -- they have the older (not out of date) case design that does not allow bowing to exist.

I would agree. Although be prepared for a battle. And there is no fix. Trust us. You may also try and pull up on the bezel as you were doing and put a wedge in there. Some have used paper shims, pennies, etc. It could be a quick fix, although not all the technical or mechanical. But you won't get anything better from their techs.

Mooninite......What have you heard about the LED models? Which model numbers exactly? How do they stack up against the xx76s model with regards to picture quality?

How do they stack up against the xx76s model with regards to picture quality?

I'd like to know this as well.

I would agree. Although be prepared for a battle. And there is no fix. Trust us. You may also try and pull up on the bezel as you were doing and put a wedge in there. Some have used paper shims, pennies, etc. It could be a quick fix, although not all the technical or mechanical. But you won't get anything better from their techs.

Mooninite......What have you heard about the LED models? Which model numbers exactly? How do they stack up against the xx76s model with regards to picture quality?

Totally agree. Tried shims without + results.
Do not bother with Samsung service; it's a waste of time.
Prepare for battle. Do NOT surrender to ECR department. Document EVERYTHING. Do not call on cell phone unless you have unlimited minutes!
Cannot commit on the LEDs.
Good luck!

Well it took 3 weeks but the bowing finally showed it's very ugly face. Circuit City took it back no box no questions. Exchanged it for Samsung 40" LCD.
LNT4061F Paid $100 more to get it. Samsung you get 1 more try, Told Circuit City they should call Samsung and tell them to come and pick up these lemons they shouldn't be sold anymore. Much easier to exchange for another product then to try customer service and go round and round trying to get it fixed. Thanks for all the posts and info on this tv.

Mooninite......What have you heard about the LED models? Which model numbers exactly? How do they stack up against the xx76s model with regards to picture quality?

My father has an LED model. It looks just the same as my bulb model. Of course... his is a straight picture where as mine is a bowed/tilted picture.

His also powers up full brightness in... 5 seconds (not joking). Of course this is all due to the LED design.




UPDATE: ECR is going to finally re-evaluate my situation, which includes the possibility of upgrading me. I will know more in two weeks they said.

Reason: It was stated by Tier 1 support that ECR found my bowing to be within spec....... Ridiculous. I had the repair place back me up, so ECR is looking at it again.

Just picked up and installed the 5076S and to my eyes it is very nice. However my last set was a 4 year old Panny 1080i that kept blowing the lamps out (50LC13).

I really don't want to have to go through 44 pages of comments. Has anyone done calibration and have settings they can give me? It doesn't look bad at it's default settings, but I would love the "official" calibrated settings.

FYI - I am mainly watching HD via DirectTV.

Does anyone know what this issue is?? I just received my HLT5676 in exchange for old hls model. Picture is great a little more motion blur than older hls model if you ask me. But here lies my huge issue very weird! With tv set off when daylight is in the room you can see a white like ring thats big enough to shoot a basketball through. I can push it around on the screen but it goes back to shape. If I turn set on when in a well lit room with daylight I can see this ring of sorts only in dark black scenes or when flipping channel. So, TV on or off its present. In a dark room there is no sight of it. Dark scenes its not there only when I have a daylit room do I see this. WTF??? Anyone had this or know what this is?

I have the same issue. unsure what to do. I have the BB EW, plan on calling them to find out.

My father has an LED model. It looks just the same as my bulb model. Of course... his is a straight picture where as mine is a bowed/tilted picture.

His also powers up full brightness in... 5 seconds (not joking). Of course this is all due to the LED design.




UPDATE: ECR is going to finally re-evaluate my situation, which includes the possibility of upgrading me. I will know more in two weeks they said.

Reason: It was stated by Tier 1 support that ECR found my bowing to be within spec....... Ridiculous. I had the repair place back me up, so ECR is looking at it again.

mooninite,
It's about time. Good for you!:D

Just picked up and installed the 5076S and to my eyes it is very nice. However my last set was a 4 year old Panny 1080i that kept blowing the lamps out (50LC13).

I really don't want to have to go through 44 pages of comments. Has anyone done calibration and have settings they can give me? It doesn't look bad at it's default settings, but I would love the "official" calibrated settings.

FYI - I am mainly watching HD via DirectTV.

Here are a bunch of different settings I've found while reading through this thread. Hope it helps.
'Blues

Movie mode
Contrast 70
brightness 45
color 45
tint 50-50
DNR off dynamic contrast, bright off
gamma 0
all other settings off or neutral

Mode: Movie
Contrast: 100
Brightness: 20
Sharpness: 100
Color: 55
Tint: G51 R49
Color Tone: Normal

that kind of depends on the dvd player in question, the source material and the connection type he is using such as hdmi or component. Also if using HDMI is the normal HDMI black level being used? this would seriously increase overall brightness which would call for a lower brightness level for his settings.

For my game mode I am currently using

100 contrast
50 brightness
80 sharpness
60 color
50 tint

cool number 1, dniE on, normal color tone.

on hdmi using hdmi low black level.

now for my hd cable with component I am running...

80 contrast
60 brightness
40 sharpness
50 color
50 tint

standard, dniE on, normal color tone

Movie
Contrast:27
Brightness:51 (I adjusted to 58 as this was to dark for PS3 and dark scenes)
Sharpness:40
Color:65
Tint: G-55 R-45
Color Tone:Normal
Everything else OFF


Mode: Movie
Contrast: 27
Brightness: 51
Sharpness: 40
Color: 65 (i thought that seemed high, calibrated 3 times, approx same value)
Tint: G:55 R:45
Color Tone: Normal

Everything Else Off

The starting price of the 3000 was $3000 no way no how by Xmas will these babies be 1/2 price or less. Grabed my 2020 for a rock bottom price of $1350. Would say by Xmas we will be seeing $2000 or so for the 3000 time will tell.

The HL-T5076S is a little cheaper; here's the 50A3000 deal. Click on Add to Cart for sale price -

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8451659&type=product&id=1183767274513

;)

Just picked up and installed the 5076S and to my eyes it is very nice. However my last set was a 4 year old Panny 1080i that kept blowing the lamps out (50LC13).

I really don't want to have to go through 44 pages of comments. Has anyone done calibration and have settings they can give me? It doesn't look bad at it's default settings, but I would love the "official" calibrated settings.

FYI - I am mainly watching HD via DirectTV.

I believe most people have said of the ones posted, they are using these....

Movie
Contrast:27
Brightness:51
Sharpness:0
Color:65
Tint: G-55 R-45
Color Tone:Normal
Everything else OFF

I believe most people have said of the ones posted, they are using these....

Movie
Contrast:27
Brightness:51
Sharpness:0
Color:65
Tint: G-55 R-45
Color Tone:Normal
Everything else OFFThat's what I use and they are perfect.

I just set my TV to these settings, and it looks fantatsic. I'm just curious about the zero setting for Sharpness. I've noticed alot of folks mention setting the sharpness very low, or like in this case, at zero. What does that do to help the picture?? When I turn it up a bit, I notice no real change?
Mike

Hello. I am new to the forum, so please forgive me if I ask anything pedestrian or redundant.

I recently bought this set from Best Buy in Ottawa, Canada for $1,100. I thought this was a pretty good deal. Having spent some time on the weekend trying to set it up, I am now not so sure the price was worth it. I have used the settings suggested in this forum, but the picture, even in HD, is decent at best. The SD picture is generally poor. There is an annoying humming sound accompanying the audio. There is a colour band, about 6 inches in height, that continually scrolls upwards from the bottom. I have triple-checked all the connections. The TV is on a stand, and is secure and level. I am using a digital box and component cables.

I have read some, but not all, of the very useful comments in this thread. My 30 day return window is about to close. Are these problems normal/ fixable, or should I return the thing and go with a Panasonic plasma (my first choice at the start)?

Any advice would be more than welcome. Thank you!

Tom

Isn't the MPC setting in the Service Menu the adjustable iris? I turned mine from "on" to "off" and the white level went way down. I then had to turn contrast up to "100" to subjectively get the same white level as I did before at about "40". I don't have the equipment to measure to see if the black level went down with it, but setting the color palette to "Normal" and bringing color down to "38" allowed all the colors to come in with the DVE test screen viewed with the blue filter.

Isn't the MPC setting in the Service Menu the adjustable iris? I turned mine from "on" to "off" and the white level went way down. I then had to turn contrast up to "100" to subjectively get the same white level as I did before at about "40". I don't have the equipment to measure to see if the black level went down with it, but setting the color palette to "Normal" and bringing color down to "38" allowed all the colors to come in with the DVE test screen viewed with the blue filter.

Who cares? This model is a lemon. Samsung knows it. They're just trying to bandaid them enough to keep people from calling in. Everyone in CSR and ECR keeps bumping me around. It's been one week and no one has called me on my replacement status and now my TV went completely dead (won't turn on). I told Samsung this today and they don't have an update for me and they can't escalate my issue even though the TV is dead.

Even if your model works, sell it and buy one that works for 95% of the people. This model seems to be a 50/50 chance of getting a working one. How ridiculous is that?

Hello. I am new to the forum, so please forgive me if I ask anything pedestrian or redundant.

I recently bought this set from Best Buy in Ottawa, Canada for $1,100. I thought this was a pretty good deal. Having spent some time on the weekend trying to set it up, I am now not so sure the price was worth it. I have used the settings suggested in this forum, but the picture, even in HD, is decent at best. The SD picture is generally poor. There is an annoying humming sound accompanying the audio. There is a colour band, about 6 inches in height, that continually scrolls upwards from the bottom. I have triple-checked all the connections. The TV is on a stand, and is secure and level. I am using a digital box and component cables.

I have read some, but not all, of the very useful comments in this thread. My 30 day return window is about to close. Are these problems normal/ fixable, or should I return the thing and go with a Panasonic plasma (my first choice at the start)?

Any advice would be more than welcome. Thank you!

Tom

I fixed this issue by correcting a floating ground on my cable line. If you have the same issue you have it with any TV with a 3 prong plug. Using an HDMI cable instead of component cables might make the problem go away.

Well I'll keep my fingers crossed. I have had my HLT5076S for 2 weeks and love it. No bowing at all. The picture looks awesome.

Well I'll keep my fingers crossed. I have had my HLT5076S for 2 weeks and love it. No bowing at all. The picture looks awesome.
I have had mine for 4 months and has been nothing but problems with this tv.4 repairs later and lots of phone calls,finally samsung will send me a new set.I had a bowing issue and smudges in between the screens.I think the tech made it worse to be honest with you.Samsung made a faulty tv and does not want to admit it,thats a bunch of b.s. I observed once they tamper with the screen,thats it.The tv picture is never the same.I wanted my money back but they would not give it to me.Instead the will give me a new set.If that p.o.s has any bowing or problems.I am gonna be on this forum everyday trying to get the ball rolling for a class action law suit.Wish you luck on your tv.

I am schocked at the problems some of you folks are having with these 76S tv's.I am surprised I guess because both my 5076S work perfectly.I bought 2 of them last August and haven't had one single problem or complaint with mine.The PQ is outstanding and none of this "bowing" that I read so much about.No fan noise.No problems at all. I love them and so do all my friends and family that have seen them.If you really do have a problem I hope you get satisfaction.Meanwhile, I'm enjoying my GREAT new TV's!!

I also have two, a 56 and a 61 and love them for the great picture, nice case, inputs and light weight. Mine have the bowing but I have to pull up something with full width mid-screen horizontal lines to tell. For the money, you just can't do any better. You can get a lamp for $110 at discount-merchant.com.

Anyone using this TV with a Logitech Harmony remote? I cannot get the remote to go directly to input HDMI3. It goes to HDMI1 and 2 directly with no issue, but not HDMI3. Any suggestions?

...I am gonna be on this forum everyday trying to get the ball rolling for a class action law suit...

:rolleyes:

Just wanted to ask again, I can't figure out how to remove the coax input from the source menu, ie., when I scroll thru the input settings, there is the regular cable source still there, although I have nothing hooked up. Is there a way to eliminate that source from the list? I hate to have an extra un-used source to have to skip over all the time.
'Blues
Indy.... Did you ever get an answer on how to remove the coax input from the cycle when it's not being used?

About one week after I got my Samsung HL-T5076 I had the color problem shown in the attached image. I was in the middle of watching a DVD and the colors basically inverted, as best I can tell, see the attached picture.

I thought it might be the DVD, so I switched to the cable source and it was the same. I turned the TV off and unplugged it for about 5 minutes, then replugged it and still the same result.

Samsung has no idea what's wrong, the service techs have no idea and have said it will be two more weeks at the earliest until I can expect to have the TV repaired (they took it with them after weeks of trying to schedule them since the end of November when I first reported the problem to Samsung and having them not show up then calling to reschedule..ARGHHHH!!!~!).

Anyway, has anyone heard of anything like this problem. I've never heard or seen anyhting like it. I didn't have any of the bowing that has been much reported, just this crazy color problem. Thoughts?

Looks like a color wheel sync problem.

I just got a toshiba A30 HD DVD player and it appears to have a very grainy picture. I have a samsung 6176s and when i play the movie in vibrant it gets very static like as if you were watching tv thru an antenna at times. When I play in movie mode I do not have the same issue. Also when i am in the main menu of the dvd its clear as day. The movie also just stopped playing half way thru and the screen become pixelated. Has anyone had similar issues with HD DVD and the xx76 tvs? I am strating to think it may be a handshake issue

thats because your have HD. with my Pany Blu-Ray player i dont have any of those issues GO blu and don't look back

Does anyone have the correct code to operate a Motorola DCT 6412 Phase III HD DVR box with the Samsung remote? At lease for power and channels? The code in the book does not seem to work.

Also, how about the opposite...using a Motorola DRC800 remote to power the TV and volume. Can't seem to get that to work.

I do have the Samsung 5676S since early December.

Indy.... Did you ever get an answer on how to remove the coax input from the cycle when it's not being used?

No sir, no answer for me. I don't expect help anymore. My TV works great.
'Blues

I've read a few pages on this thread and I've noticed a lot of complaints about how the picture is slightly tilted.

I was just wondering if anyone ever got this tv w/o noticable geometry issues right out of the box? I'm gonna be returning my second set tomorrow because the bowing and tilt is driving me nuts.. it's very obvious on the xbox 360 dashboard and when watching letterboxed hd movies.

I'm willing to return it as many times before the return policy is up on jan 25 but if there's absolutely no chance of getting an ok tv, then I wont waste my time.

also, if I call samsung to try and get a new screen, what should I say? I'm not very technical and know nothing about hdtv's just got this to play games.

I've read a few pages on this thread and I've noticed a lot of complaints about how the picture is slightly tilted.

I was just wondering if anyone ever got this tv w/o noticable geometry issues right out of the box? I'm gonna be returning my second set tomorrow because the bowing and tilt is driving me nuts.. it's very obvious on the xbox 360 dashboard and when watching letterboxed hd movies.

I'm willing to return it as many times before the return policy is up on jan 25 but if there's absolutely no chance of getting an ok tv, then I wont waste my time.

also, if I call samsung to try and get a new screen, what should I say? I'm not very technical and know nothing about hdtv's just got this to play games.

If you bought the set & BB or CC just exchange it again. That's their policy not your's. Keep exchanging until you hopefully get a good set. Don't be shy.
If you are dealing with Samsung service, tell them the truth. The distorted picture annoys you & you are not happy. That you belong to this forum where many have complained about this issue & Samsung service hasn't been able to fix the problem. Tell them you want satisfaction.
The worst thing you could do, is to do nothing at all. Hang in there. This may take awhile!;)
George

i have and hl-s5087w and my settings are as follows:

mode: standard or custom
contrast: 80 or 60
brightness:50 or 45
sharpness: 25
color: 50
tint 50
color tone: cool1
dnie: on
digital nr: off

i also went into the service menu and put both gamma and cinema gamma levels to 1.

my brother has the hl-t5676s model and his picture looks alot different than mine. The faces are very yellow and the picture looks kind of washed out. I tried playing around with the settings to no avail. He will be very happy if he can get his picture to look as good or close to as good as my s5086w. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I've read a few pages on this thread and I've noticed a lot of complaints about how the picture is slightly tilted.

I was just wondering if anyone ever got this tv w/o noticable geometry issues right out of the box? I'm gonna be returning my second set tomorrow because the bowing and tilt is driving me nuts.. it's very obvious on the xbox 360 dashboard and when watching letterboxed hd movies.

I'm willing to return it as many times before the return policy is up on jan 25 but if there's absolutely no chance of getting an ok tv, then I wont waste my time.

also, if I call samsung to try and get a new screen, what should I say? I'm not very technical and know nothing about hdtv's just got this to play games.
Get a refund from where you bought it.

Buy a HL-TXX87 or HL-TXX89.

Stop wasting your time on this lemon set. A new screen won't fix the bowing. It's the TV case itself.

There are 307 pages on the HL-Txx87 and 89 forum of people with similar problems as the Txx76s series.

Get a refund from where you bought it.

Buy a HL-TXX87 or HL-TXX89.

Stop wasting your time on this lemon set. A new screen won't fix the bowing. It's the TV case itself.

My HL-T5076S did not have the geometry/tilted line issue, though it did fail in less than a week with a colour problem.

There are 307 pages on the HL-Txx87 and 89 forum of people with similar problems as the Txx76s series.

I've read all 307 pages and no one spoke of bowing issues. Maybe that's because the xx76 and xx87 don't use the same case? The xx87/xx89 use the previous year's case that projects from the bottom instead of projecting up and off a mirror on the roof. The only major (and its not widespread) issue is the halo, which is easily fixed. Why are you trying to defend this lemon model?

well I just got the new unit and the bowing is still there.. its even worse this time. I would go for the txx87 but they're not available in store at circuit city plus its 300 bucks more... I might be able to get it within 2 months so.. should I just return it for cash?

well I just got the new unit and the bowing is still there.. its even worse this time. I would go for the txx87 but they're not available in store at circuit city plus its 300 bucks more... I might be able to get it within 2 months so.. should I just return it for cash?

Yes, get your cash back. Ask yourself: Do you want to go through set after set, week after week, trying to get a "perfect" picture from a lemon bulb set? Or get an LED set (which will last much much longer)?

Not defending I guess really. But it just seems that these DLP's all have their problems. Some peoples' much more major than others. This whole website is dedicated to people with problems with their new TV's. I have a 5676s bought from CC and everyone that comes over is drooling on the thing. I do have about a quarter inch of bowing about 5 inches from the top. Only noticeable now b/c this site made me look that close and get out a tape measure! : )

A simple search for "bowing" on the 87 and 89 site reveals over 5 pages of postings with that word in them. So some people are having similar bowing issues. Maybe more related to mirror adjustments, but still having issues.

I just want to get my stinkin' remote to control it all! Hahah!

I've read all 307 pages and no one spoke of bowing issues. Maybe that's because the xx76 and xx87 don't use the same case? The xx87/xx89 use the previous year's case that projects from the bottom instead of projecting up and off a mirror on the roof. The only major (and its not widespread) issue is the halo, which is easily fixed. Why are you trying to defend this lemon model?

I bought a HLT5076S a less then a year ago not knowing of LED technology with longer bulb life. When my bulb dies, can I simply repace it with a LED bulb to get longer life out of the next bulb?

I see now Circuit City has both the HLT5076S and HLT5087S for $1499.99 on sale. I paid $1699.99 for mine. I understand prices go down but a bulb that last nearly 5X longer would be great.

Any thoughts?

When my bulb dies, can I simply repace it with a LED bulb to get longer life out of the next bulb?

The LED models are a totally different design. They have three separate LED lamps; red, green and blue and are not user replaceable. Ours use a white lamp with a spinning color wheel to get the colors.

So, is the LED or non LED more cost friendly on bulb replacement? Our's can be changed by the user for roughly $200 or less a bulb every 2-3 years. LED has to be changed by someone and has 3 bulbs which only has to be replaced around once every10 years.

The noise that I'm hearing is not the fan, I had a samsung tech out and he disconnected the fans an the hum/buzz was still there. the samsung tech said it was the light bulb, and it's normal but another poster said he didn't have the issue. the fans do not make any noise that i can hear. the dlp which i hear spin up quiets down, the hum /buzz i'm hearing sounds like a ballast on a old floresent fixture. I'm going to try a power conditioner this weekend to see if that makes a difference.

I resolved my concern with the noise I was hearing by placing some acoustical tiles on the bottom and sides of my cabinet, seems that the position of my unit in a corner and the room design was making the fan/light/color wheel noises noticable at very low vol and mute. The picture is outstanding I had many guest over the holidays and they were blown away by the picture. I've had a chance to compare to some plasma's and LCD's and there's no comparision, I also saw a LED DLP in someones house and thought the viewing angle was poor. I have my set about 30 inches high and it looks great. vertical and side viewing angle far exceeds my expectations i'd say it on par with LCD screens.

I resolved my concern with the noise I was hearing by placing some acoustical tiles on the bottom and sides of my cabinet, seems that the position of my unit in a corner and the room design was making the fan/light/color wheel noises noticable at very low vol and mute. The picture is outstanding I had many guest over the holidays and they were blown away by the picture. I've had a chance to compare to some plasma's and LCD's and there's no comparision, I also saw a LED DLP in someones house and thought the viewing angle was poor. I have my set about 30 inches high and it looks great. vertical and side viewing angle far exceeds my expectations i'd say it on par with LCD screens.

So given your name "plasma2go" and your comments on comparisons to Plasmas, I'm curious about which ones you compared this Samsung to. I've been looking into the Pany TH-xxPZ700U. Any thoughts on this one? I've read some really good comments about this set and I believe it got rated as the number one Plasma recently.

I got a 5676 around Thanksgiving when BB was giving away an xbox. It looks great, and for the most part it works great, it only does one thing that concerns me.

After being on for a long time I can hear the fan from across the room, the fan continues to run for a while even when I turn the TV off. The fan is minorly concerning, what really concerns me is that when the fan is being loud if I turn the TV off and turn it back on there is a series of odd noises and it takes around 30 seconds to turn on. When I turn it on with the fan running the fan stops, it makes a loud pop, the fan restarts, the Light LED flashes, it buzzes twice, sometimes it will pop a few more times, and finally it turns on. When it does turn there is no delay before it gets bright.

Is what I'm seeing normal? Has anyone else experienced this? I can still return this TV for a few more weeks, if failure is immanent I'd like to get rid of it soon.

I have the HL-T5076S. I don't really hear the fan when it is on but, then again I have the volume usually up to 20+. When I shut it off the fan does run for a while. I too hear a loud pop every once in a while. I don't know what the pop is but, would be nice if someone else could post about the pop sound.

Does the HL-T5076S up up-convert signal from my Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player from 1080i to 1080P? I got the HD-A2 from Wal-Mart for $100. The picture looks great. Would I have been better off paying more to get the Toshiba HD-A30?

Does the HL-T5076S up up-convert signal from my Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player from 1080i to 1080P?

The set up-converts all sources to 1080p, however, the picture will not be as good as if the source was 1080p to begin with. To up-convert, false frames are created and/or pixels are multiplied, so what you are seeing is just an expanded version the source material.

The original HD material on the disk is 1080p and the player outputs half that amount of data to convert to 1080i. The TV will not be able to recover this lost picture information. These cheaper 1080i devices will probably disappear in a few months as competitors will feature 1080p at the same price.

...what really concerns me is that when the fan is being loud if I turn the TV off and turn it back on there is a series of odd noises and it takes around 30 seconds to turn on. When I turn it on with the fan running the fan stops, it makes a loud pop, the fan restarts, the Light LED flashes, it buzzes twice, sometimes it will pop a few more times, and finally it turns on.
NEVER do this, the set uses a metal vapor arc lamp for illumination and it will not re-ignite when it is hot. The noises you hear are the lamp starting circuits attempting to start the already hot lamp. ALWAYS wait a minute or two for the lamp to cool before turning the set back on to save excess wear and tear on the lamp and circuitry which significantly shortens lamp life . (If you accidentally turn it off, the lamp stays on for 5 seconds and you can hit the on button again quickly without the restart stress.)

The set up-converts all sources to 1080p, however, the picture will not be as good as if the source was 1080p to begin with. To up-convert, false frames are created and/or pixels are multiplied, so what you are seeing is just an expanded version the source material.

The original HD material on the disk is 1080p and the player outputs half that amount of data to convert to 1080i. The TV will not be able to recover this lost picture information. These cheaper 1080i devices will probably disappear in a few months as competitors will feature 1080p at the same price.

With that being said, should I run out and buy a 1080P player for $250? Will I see a big difference in the picture? The picture looks awesome now. Should I bring the 1080i player and hook it up to my older 1080i tv, and go 1080P on my main tv?

With that being said, should I run out and buy a 1080P player for $250? Will I see a big difference in the picture? The picture looks awesome now. Should I bring the 1080i player and hook it up to my older 1080i tv, and go 1080P on my main tv?
Yes to all of the above. 1080i and 1080p look the same when there's little to no motion on the screen. 1080p will look sharper when there's motion which is most of the time and will look even awesomer.

With that being said, should I run out and buy a 1080P player for $250? Will I see a big difference in the picture? The picture looks awesome now. Should I bring the 1080i player and hook it up to my older 1080i tv, and go 1080P on my main tv?

For $279 in Costco or Sams you can buy a Blu-ray player that plays native 1080p material and also upconverts standard DVDs to 1080p.

Hi everyone,

I am not a vendor, or in anyway affiliated with the business linked below. I have a new HLT6176 and have had a very difficult time finding a calibration service in the Portland, OR area.

edit: This is my first post, so I can't insert clicky links. Google:

6500kcalibrations.com.

He's located in Welches, up on Mt. Hood. The feedback indicates he's willing to travel quite far. I can't vouch for his work - yet - but I'm setting up an appointment. His site is pretty convincing.

edit: he does ISF calibrations.

Regards,

-RSS

Update: I've made an appointment for the 21st of this month. I'll keep this post updated with the overall customer experience for any Pacific NW's on board.

For $279 in Costco or Sams you can buy a Blu-ray player that plays native 1080p material and also upconverts standard DVDs to 1080p.

From what I been reading, Blu-Ray isn't going to be the winner. I like HD DVD's features. More of the titles I like are available on HD DVD and not Blu-Ray.

Thanks for the suggestion though. I guess it wouldn't be bad having one of each but, I don't want to get burned owning a system and movies that will be useless in a year.

From what I been reading, Blu-Ray isn't going to be the winner. I like HD DVD's features. More of the titles I like are available on HD DVD and not Blu-Ray.

Thanks for the suggestion though. I guess it wouldn't be bad having one of each but, I don't want to get burned owning a system and movies that will be useless in a year.

It depends what you read and where you read it. This forum is certainly not the place to debate the merits of these formats. But perhaps you should wait a few days and see what comes out of the Consumer Electronics Show.

Also, since your set takes advantage of it I would get a player that outputs 1080 24p.

Wow, if anyone is still wondering I have an update on my TV situation.

Samsung Case Management finally called today (after 3 weeks of waiting) and wanted to exchange me another 5676S... HAHAHA NO WAY. I'm forcing them to evaluate me on a 5687 exchange. Takes two days to do this... See you guys in two days.

Review of my progress:
November 2006 - Purchased Samsung HL-S5688W (top of the line). CableCARD didn't work
October 2007 - Replaced with HL-T5676S - they thought this was an equivalent model... Huge bowing seen. 1 in house repair attempted. Not fixed.
November 2007 - They take it away for two weeks and bring it back "fixed" when it is still bowing.
December 2007 - TV completely breaks, will not turn on.
January 2008 - Awaiting exchange department phone call.

Wow, if anyone is still wondering I have an update on my TV situation.

Glad to here you're getting some satisfaction. When my HLS5678 broke, it took Samsung 6 months to get me an HLT replacement. Looking forward to hearing your comparison of lamp to LED picture quality.

Glad to here you're getting some satisfaction. When my HLS5678 broke, it took Samsung 6 months to get me an HLT replacement. Looking forward to hearing your comparison of lamp to LED picture quality.

Since my father has a 5687 I've already done plenty of comparisons. LED is the winner. ;)

It depends what you read and where you read it. This forum is certainly not the place to debate the merits of these formats. But perhaps you should wait a few days and see what comes out of the Consumer Electronics Show.

Also, since your set takes advantage of it I would get a player that outputs 1080 24p.

You are right. I'm not going to debate either one. I think I will wait to see what comes of CES. I wish I could go. My family all lives in LV and I'm stuck here in Wisconsin.

You are right. I'm not going to debate either one. I think I will wait to see what comes of CES. I wish I could go. My family all lives in LV and I'm stuck here in Wisconsin.

Well Warner just announced they are going Blu-ray exclusive. I guess this brings the HD format war to a close. I suspect both Universal and Paramount will at least go neutral shortly.

For $279 in Costco or Sams you can buy a Blu-ray player that plays native 1080p material and also upconverts standard DVDs to 1080p.

What make/model Blu-Ray player is $279? I checked Sams Club online and Costco's website but found nothing for that price. I'm thinking that I may just have to pick one up for that price but can't seem to find it.

What make/model Blu-Ray player is $279? I checked Sams Club online and Costco's website but found nothing for that price. I'm thinking that I may just have to pick one up for that price but can't seem to find it.

This isn't exactly the thread to discuss this, but I'll make a suggestion.

Buy a PS3. It's upgradable. It'll play until Blu-ray dies. It's a computer after all.

Unfortunately the Blu-ray spec is not "finalized" and is in flux. The Blu-ray player you'll buy today won't have the fancy features of the newer spec. In particular the first players are "profile 1.0" while the PS3 is "profile 1.1" This means that the PS3 can play Blu-ray movies with Picture-in-Picture video. Later, a "profile 2.0" spec will come out. I'd recommend you visit the wikipedia link to learn more. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray

You'll see that a PS3 is the only way to go. Even if you don't game it has other features, because it is a computer. Spend the extra money. You already spent close to $2k for a TV.

Of course, if you do go with the cheaper $280 Blu-ray player, they'll play all the movies just fine (forever), but the extra features won't be available.

For the record, 3:10 to Yuma will be the first Blu-ray movie in the USA with profile 1.1 support. It comes out this month. Can't wait to get it! (once I get a working TV)

Out of the box, with minimal adjustments:

Top Flight.

Steller picture. Zero bowing. Zero pincushion. Buyers of this unit: buy with confidence.

Buyers of this unit: buy with confidence.

How about No!


I had a 5076S and it bowed. I held on for 25 days to see if I could handle it but no way. I went to three different stores and all the display units had the bowing. Even the 60" LED model had it.

I traded it in and never looked back. Yes the set has an AMAZING picture but the bowing is just ridiculous.

2nd day of use 01/06/07:
I built a stand for the TV. What others have said, it's best to have a rock-solid, level surface for the base. I built a 48" wide, 16" deep stand, 21" high. I have standard size couches, and a 21" stand puts the TV at nice viewing height.

The case around the screen is very narrow. The effect is like an infinity pool. You can lose sight of the case/bezel/thingy. The stand was originally bowing in the middle with the TV on it (I put a third pair of adjustable pads in the center today). Even with the not-even-close flatness there was no bowing of the TV screen. The stand is now supported in the middle. There isn't a hint of geometry issues. Edit: I had to sand the center of the stand flush.

The build date of the TV is September 2007. It is a pretty f'n big screen. Ruben Z gives the TV a "not-recommended". I disagree.

I read this thread fully before buying the TV. I have to admit that I worried a bit about buying it. So far, that worry was for nothing.

Erm... please note that the bracing seen on the stand is temporary.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b131/limbocker/IMG_1944.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b131/limbocker/IMG_1945.jpg

Pull up the DirecTV guide if you have it and take a pic. I'd really like to see one of these sets WITHOUT geometry issues.

Out of the box, with minimal adjustments:

Top Flight.

Steller picture. Zero bowing. Zero pincushion. Buyers of this unit: buy with confidence.

I agree with this Shady. I pulled mine out of the box and it works great. No bowing or other picture issues. But, the unit is delicate so I can see where one could easily become damage during shipping.

I won't say to "buy with confidence" because its obvious that a lot of people have had problems with this set. But I'm sure ALL televisions have problem units.

I guess the prayer for a perfectly working unit paid off! :cool:

Pull up the DirecTV guide if you have it and take a pic. I'd really like to see one of these sets WITHOUT geometry issues.

I won't say to "buy with confidence" because its obvious that a lot of people have had problems with this set. But I'm sure ALL televisions have problem units.

Okay. Here we go with some mo' pics. Ruben Z, I do not have cable, but this is the best I could do. I thought the respective pics would duplicate center and over-all bowing, if any. I don't see any here.

I'm curious if many of the issues are due to a not-level stand. I'm a furniture builder at a hobby level. The built-in bookshelves pictured were done by me. There's more work to be done, but it's essentially all there. My point is that, I have the tools and know-how to build a very square and level stand. Knowing the "quality" of store-bought stands, I offer the suggestion that maybe what is causing all the alignment troubles is a lack of a square stand.

bub72ck, thanks. I would like to clarify my "buy with confidence." statement. What I wanted to say is, buy without giving yourself an ulcer.

Shelves and what-not in progress:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b131/limbocker/IMG_1946.jpg

xBox 360 main navigation menu (note that the vertical bends are a designed feature, not a demonstration of geometry issues):

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b131/limbocker/IMG_1947.jpg

Bioware's title, centered and quite large across the screen:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b131/limbocker/IMG_1948.jpg

And finally, what I feel is a good representation of the "squareness" of the set; the disclaimer baloney strewn across the bottom:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b131/limbocker/IMG_1949.jpg

maybe I'm picky or am just being too critical. But the disclaimer in last pic does look bowed.

maybe I'm picky or am just being too critical. But the disclaimer in last pic does look bowed.

You're too picky :p I swear that I am NOT putting a level up to that text and try to take an in-focus picture.

If this is the best you've got... you've got nuthin'.;)

Edit: to be honest, it should not take an absolutely square & level stand to rectify any design deficiencies. However, this is relatively, modestly higher-end TV usage, and one should expect some work to perfect the experience.

Otherwise, ISF calibration would not be so beneficial, no?

maybe I'm picky or am just being too critical. But the disclaimer in last pic does look bowed.

It is bowed, but not nearly as much as mine was. Mine was ridiculous. He got lucky. It's still not a good excuse to get this lemon set. You can still see some bow after forking thousands of dollars over.

Yes, I had my 5676 on a secure and level stand. I have a custom made cabinet that stretches all the way across and behind the size of the TV. No room for sagging or such.

UPDATE!: Samsung is giving me a HL-T5687 as a replacement afterall. Woot.

I had purchased this set through a sale at BB right before Thanksgiving. I found this site and read some of the negative reviews after I had already made the purchase and before delivery. I was nervous upon delivery that I had made a mistake, but just wanted to post that I have been more than pleased with my set. Not sure if I just "got lucky" or not, but I have had a few parties for UFC fights and NFL games, and everyone has marveled at the quality of the picture and the clean look of the set. I couldn't be more pleased, and at least from my own first hand expierence would reccomend this set to anyone in the market for a nice 56" DLP TV.

I couldn't be more pleased, and at least from my own first hand expierence would reccomend this set to anyone in the market for a nice 56" LCD TV.

Great! Good to hear. But, just to let you know, it's a DLP, not LCD.;) Big difference.
Maybe Samsung's finally got their act together.

UPDATE!: Samsung is giving me a HL-T5687 as a replacement afterall. Woot.

Do I hear the Hallelujah Chorus echoing from the clouds?;)
An example to all to NEVER give up! 'Bout @#$% time they took care of you!:D

Great! Good to hear. But, just to let you know, it's a DLP, not LCD.;) Big difference.
Maybe Samsung's finally got their act together.

Whoops, my mistake. Thanks for the heads up. :)

Well, I found the 45 or so pages extremely interesting when I read them. I was an early adopter of Samsung DLP. I had a HLN version that my ex-wife got in the divorce. I was in the market for a nice replacement and had my eyes set on the HLT6176. I did end up buying it after reading the post. I guess it is the gambler in me. I got it from Vann's the other day from an after holiday sale. All I can say is that I am very happy with it. I don't notice any geometry issues but then again I don't watch stuff that normally would highlight it if it existed. The picture is amazing and I'm glad that I turned out to be on the receiving end of a good unit. Sorry to all that have had problems. Hopefully Samsung will resolve them to your satisfaction. Now it is JP1 remote setup fun.

4th (5th?) day of use:

I like to play xBox and watch DVD's. My spouse and I will probably not be getting cable, but we might be getting broadband-speed internet to watch the streaming (or is it downloaded?) Netflix movies. But anyhoo...

I've read several reviews of folks who have experienced gaming lag - some of it moderate to severe. However, I'm hard-pressed to find any reviews/comments that are newer than mid-2005 through early-2006. So here ya go: (my previous TV was a 7 or 8 year old 36" or so CRT Samsung that supported 1080i. Zero lag with that old set.)

On the new TV, I set the TV to Game Mode and disabled the DNIe thingy. I then hooked up the xBox 360 with the xBox-supplied HD cable (my box is a 1-year old Premium, so no HDMI for me... bummer, fo' sho'), and made sure that the resolution settings for the games I was playing were correctly selected (some support 1080i only, some 1080p).

From what I understand, having the resolution correctly set (the setting is done from the xBox menu) for the game you're playing will tell the TV not to upscale, which helps the TV processor stay "current" with game control inputs.

Also, I've read some definitive reports that if you use an HDMI cable, all lag is virtually eliminated, regardless of resolution settings or any other settings that may be activated.

Blah blah blah...

Gears of War (supports 1080i): I think there's a very short lag. It may be the kind of thing that I'm imagining. Sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy :rolleyes: Bottomline experience for me: little to none. Nothing that ruins gameplay.

BioShock (supports 1080p): None that I can detect.

Mass Effect (supports 1080p): None that I can detect.

These games are all fast-paced first person shooters. There's some timing-based minigames in them, so accurate button-pushing is necessary. I never experienced frustration from a delay in pushing a button and that action being performed.

Again, the build date on the TV is September of 2007. Maybe Samsung has done some improvements or something. So far, it's been a very pleasant set.

I'm eagerly waiting for the IFS calibration guy to come on the 21st of this month.

I experience no lag on my set, and I don't have game mode turned on. When playing rhythm games such as guitar hero and rock band, I set the lag from 20-30ms, which is actually less than my last 32" crt. Great tv for gaming.

I've had the 5076s since mid June. I have bowing, and have lived with it waiting for samsung to come up with an eventual fix. It's now obvious that's not going to happen. I'm pondering 3 options:

1. Get them to replace my set with another 5076s, and hope that I don't have to go through 4 to get one without bowing.

2. Try and get them to upgrade my to the LED based non-slim series as it's evident this is a design flaw in the 76 series with that stupid slim case (Seriously, I think all of us would have lived with an extra 3-4" depth to not have distorted geometry).

3. CES is going on, and samsung showcased two new series, one led and one lamp based that is also slim. I could wait until they start rolling these out middle of the year and see if they've fixed the design of the lamp based slim units, and try to get one of these like several HL-S owners have done with the HL-T series.

Warranty is no problem still under the manufacturer and I purchased an extended also. I guess after this lengthy post, my questions are, does the LED series have any significant issues like the geometry issues like the 76s series? And those that have done the replacement shuffle, how is the shipment handled?

Hey Slim,
Glad to see that I'm not the only one here that goes by the moto "if you want something done right, do it yourself" I am also a woodworker and a metalworker. I decided a little industrial strength would be in order on this stand since many say that not having a perfectly flat surface cause geometry problems. The frame is 1" 11 GA tube steel and the top will be wood but I think it will be painted black to match the TV. I was driven down this route because my center speaker is an AR2C which is a big one (9" high and 20" long) and heavy and none of the stands I saw could handle it right under the TV where I want it to go. Happy viewing. I am watching mine with it sitting on the floor until I get the stand done. It sort of lights a fire under your butt, so to speak.

Warranty is no problem still under the manufacturer and I purchased an extended also. I guess after this lengthy post, my questions are, does the LED series have any significant issues like the geometry issues like the 76s series? And those that have done the replacement shuffle, how is the shipment handled?

Samsung will most likely not go for a replacement unless you press hard for one. They will want to repair your set first.

The LED sets have some very rare geometry issues. Far less than the XX76 series. They also have a "halo" issue that has been acknowledged and fixable by Samsung. Apparently they even have a modified version of the set now selling with it fixed from the factory. I'm hoping the replacement I get is this model.

I have a DirecTV HD DVR, a Toshiba HD-A2, and a PS3. When watching the HD DVR and Toshiba and I press the info button on the remote it says 1920X1080i@60Hz. When I use the PS3 it says 1920X1080@60Hz (not 1920X1080P@60Hz). On the HLT5076S is this the best picture I can get on all 3 units? I have heard something about 1080 24Hz I think. Is this better then 60Hz? Should I be looking at getting 3 new HDMI cables?

The TV doesn't ever show the P when receiving progressive sources. Setting the PS3 to 24 hz for movies may eliminate any judder. Your cables are fine, don't waste your money.

Just purchased Samsung 6176. Love picture, quiet operation but I am having bowing problems I read about. Vertical lines on top and bottom of letterbox image are off about 1/4 " from right to left. My question is this something that is fixable or should I request a replacement TV ?

Just purchased Samsung 6176. Love picture, quiet operation but I am having bowing problems I read about. Vertical lines on top and bottom of letterbox image are off about 1/4 " from right to left. My question is this something that is fixable or should I request a replacement TV ?

Read this thread. I don't recall anyone, including me, that has had success with service - even though Samsung service will tell you otherwise.

Just purchased Samsung 6176. Love picture, quiet operation but I am having bowing problems I read about. Vertical lines on top and bottom of letterbox image are off about 1/4 " from right to left. My question is this something that is fixable or should I request a replacement TV ?

Why in heck did you buy this TV? I guess that means you didn't read this thread.

Get a refund immediately and get the xx87 or xx89 model. Never ever consider the xx76 model again.

I didn't think that these sets were capabile of displaying 24hz. I thought that 'info' told you what the incoming signal is, not what is being displayed.

Can anyone confirm this?

I have a HLS5087w and have had the light engine replaced 3 times and the PCB board replaced once and after some hooting and hollering they agreed to replace the tv. In 14-21 days I'll be recieving a brand new HLT5076s. Am I doomed or what?

I have a HLS5087w and have had the light engine replaced 3 times and the PCB board replaced once and after some hooting and hollering they agreed to replace the tv. In 14-21 days I'll be recieving a brand new HLT5076s. Am I doomed or what?

Oh man, I'm sorry. Yes you are. I'd tell them you want to keep the box and try and sell the 5076S and get a 5087S.

I have a HLS5087w and have had the light engine replaced 3 times and the PCB board replaced once and after some hooting and hollering they agreed to replace the tv. In 14-21 days I'll be recieving a brand new HLT5076s. Am I doomed or what?

You're not doomed, you may gain horizontal bowing that you can only see with a program grid on screen, but you will lose the vertical bowing on 4:3 format material. You also gain a nicer slimmer case, a third HDMI, 3D/dual-view game capabilities, zero delay game response, a side connection panel, cable QAM tuner, more picture control in the menus and a new design light engine.

Got a new problem I haven't heard about with this set. Whenever the tv is turned off, all my picture settings get reset. I've talked to samsung support, and went through two calls to tier 2. I'm not in shop mode, they said they don't know what it could be. Someone will be coming to service it in the next week or so. Anyone have this issue of settings being reset every time powering off the television?

I'm going to hook a computer up to this TV. Not so much as an HTPC, but more to check email and use the internet, but will use some movies stored on the PC. The computer currently does not have DVI out. Would it be worthwhile to buy a video card to give me DVI out and the convert it to HDMI and input to the TV? Or, I am better off just using the "PC in" connection?

I'm going to hook a computer up to this TV. Not so much as an HTPC, but more to check email and use the internet, but will use some movies stored on the PC. The computer currently does not have DVI out. Would it be worthwhile to buy a video card to give me DVI out and the convert it to HDMI and input to the TV? Or, I am better off just using the "PC in" connection?


Good question, because I'm contemplating doing this as well. I bought a video card that allows a second monitor to be hooked up, I'm just wondering of it will be "high tech" enough to look good on this size TV.
'Blues

Hi guys.........I'm a newbie to this forum......I found this forum only after odering a T5076S from amazon. I had been researching TVs since september and was looking at LCDs. Just recently changed my mind to DLP from the many many positive reviews on DLP over LCD. I saw so many positive reviews on the 5076S that I went ahead and ordered....but after reading this entire thread I was really worried. So I went out 5 CC stores and 3 BB stores in my county in MD and looked at this set. I honestly could not visualize the bowing ppl are talking about. Also, none of the employees had ever heard of anything and I was told there weren't any considerable returns compared to the pace at which they were being sold. And the 5676S actually sold more. I'm assuming I can compare both of them since the difference is only in size. The picture is actually amazingly crisp over all the other TVs I saw. The only brand that was even a little comparable in PQ was one Mitsubishi. But this set beat other TVs hands down.
I am not downplaying the complaints. Obviously, many ppl complaining could actually signify something wrong (maybe some batches) with this set. I will just cross my fingers until my TV comes in and keep the forum updated. However, I highly doubt there will be a problem....I'm quite optimistic.

Hi guys.........I'm a newbie to this forum......I found this forum only after odering a T5076S from amazon. I had been researching TVs since september and was looking at LCDs. Just recently changed my mind to DLP from the many many positive reviews on DLP over LCD. I saw so many positive reviews on the 5076S that I went ahead and ordered....but after reading this entire thread I was really worried. So I went out 5 CC stores and 3 BB stores in my county in MD and looked at this set. I honestly could not visualize the bowing ppl are talking about. Also, none of the employees had ever heard of anything and I was told there weren't any considerable returns compared to the pace at which they were being sold. And the 5676S actually sold more. I'm assuming I can compare both of them since the difference is only in size. The picture is actually amazingly crisp over all the other TVs I saw. The only brand that was even a little comparable in PQ was one Mitsubishi. But this set beat other TVs hands down.
I am not downplaying the complaints. Obviously, many ppl complaining could actually signify something wrong (maybe some batches) with this set. I will just cross my fingers until my TV comes in and keep the forum updated. However, I highly doubt there will be a problem....I'm quite optimistic.

I'm sure all of us here wish you the best of luck. But the bowing unfortunately is a real issue. Some worse than others. I've concluded that although mine does have the issue, it is minor enough that it's not worth continuing the hassle with Samsung. And believe me, it's a hassle. The real unfortunate part of all this, is that I think I'm like many people on this board. Because of the bowing, you tend to not focus on ALL the great things about this TV that made you decide to buy it in the first place. There should be a special post just to list out all the great qualities it does have.

WILL_22's post pretty much summed up my experience with this set. I am fortunate enough to have a set with very little bowing but the right side was about 1/4" lower than the left. I initially bought my first 5076 in late August but within a week one of the co-ax connectors on the back came dislodged from its board and the set went back. I never noticed any bowing or tilting with that set but I only had it for a week or so and might have not noticed it. My second one is definitely tilted and very slightly bowed although I didn't notice the bow until I read about it here. In any case, I called Sears about the tilt (before I was alerted to the bow) and they sent someone out here to look at it. The guy was an older guy, really nice, and seemed to genuinely want to help me but he seemed a bit baffled by the whole "mirror on the top" thing. He contacted someone (maybe Samsung:confused:) and they first told him about loosening the screws on the case, twisting the case, and re-tightening the screws that someone else here mentioned in this thread. When that did NOTHING, he called back and they explained how to adjust the mirror which seemed to help a little. I wasn't really happy with the results of that but he said I should give it a few days to see what happens. Well, I gave it a few weeks and its not much better than it was so I called Sears again and they referred me to Samsung. I called them Wednesday to set up another appointment and they said their local repairman would contact me in 24 to 48 hours. Its now Sunday and I've heard from no one yet. I'll be calling Samsung and giving them an earful tomorrow. The picture on this TV really is very nice, I only wish I'd have found this thread when I was researching before I bought the TV so I could have avoided it altogether. Before this I had a 52" SD Sony that I bought in 2001 and I never had a bit of trouble with it. Its a shame that I had to pay over $1000 just to aggravate myself with this damn TV, I wish I would have kept my old one sometimes. In any case, thank you to all of you who have been offering your guidance and assistance in getting through the red tape that Samsung seems to be putting up with this poorly designed product. I'm going to continue to pester them until they make this TV 100%. One other thing that I don't like is that when my 5 year old daughter runs through the room the whole picture shakes, the case on this TV is truly a piece of crap.

John

Does any one have any good timings for powerstrip for the HL-T5676S @1080p w/ a RADEON card? I've tried doing a search through this thread and also in the HTPC forum, but have not found anything yet. I figured since this is the specific thread for the tv this might be a good place to start.

Thanks,

-Will

Check out post 1387 for some gaming info.

Let me get all the facts straight on this 1080p/24hz issue. Unfortunatly I am getting this set as a replacement for the last years 5075s, i said "ok" before I knew about the bowing issues. We'll see...


Anyways, IT SEEMS (and please correct me if I am wrong) that the TV is CAPABLE of doing 1080\24 if it "forced" by the PS3. However, since HDDVD players do not support "forced 24hz" anything played on Tosh A30, A35 are displayed at 1080\60hz. This is extremely disappointing, but does it fall into line w\ what others are seeing? Does anyone have a HDDVD player that is getting 24hz?

I guess the answer lies in whether when PS3 "forces" 24hz, is the info button showing what the TV is receiving (i.e. 24hz, then using 3:2 pulldown to make it 60hz) or is actually showing 24hz....Can anyone confirm?

I have had this TV (HLT5076SX/XAA Version PH01)for about 5 months now. Over that time, on occasion, when I go to to turn on the TV it shows picture for 1-3 seconds then shuts off on it's own and the standby light blinks. I then try to turn it on again and nothing happens. I have to unplug it then try again and usually that does the trick except for this past Sunday. Everytime I unplugged it, the TV would do the same thing described as above. I went outside for a smoke and came in and the wife had the TV working without doing anything.

I bought the TV at Circuit City and purchased the protection plan. Thats great but, the service provider failed to show without even a phone call. They said on the phone a software update shoudl do the trick. I called Circuit City and was told I had to reschedule and couldn't obtain an authorization for exchange.

Has anyone noticed this problem? Will a software update work to fix the problem? Is it something more serious? If a exchange authorization is approved should I pay the difference for the HLT XX87 series if I can since my tv is out of stock, and has been for some time at my local Circuit City?

Let me get all the facts straight on this 1080p/24hz issue. Unfortunatly I am getting this set as a replacement for the last years 5075s, i said "ok" before I knew about the bowing issues. We'll see...


Anyways, IT SEEMS (and please correct me if I am wrong) that the TV is CAPABLE of doing 1080\24 if it "forced" by the PS3. However, since HDDVD players do not support "forced 24hz" anything played on Tosh A30, A35 are displayed at 1080\60hz. This is extremely disappointing, but does it fall into line w\ what others are seeing? Does anyone have a HDDVD player that is getting 24hz?

I guess the answer lies in whether when PS3 "forces" 24hz, is the info button showing what the TV is receiving (i.e. 24hz, then using 3:2 pulldown to make it 60hz) or is actually showing 24hz....Can anyone confirm?


I talked to a knowledgeable samsung tech and they informed me that YES, the tv WILL DISPLAY at 24 FPS when "forced" so any 3:2 pulldown will not be applied. For some reason though, the set handshakes at 60 fps, so it does require that forcing option.

Note that pressing the info button shows what signal is being received. The display ALWAYS runs at 120 hz. Exactly how it converts the 24 hz signal to the display's 120 hz is the big question. Samsung really should issue a tech note about the process.

Note that pressing the info button shows what signal is being received. The display ALWAYS runs at 120 hz. Exactly how it converts the 24 hz signal to the display's 120 hz is the big question. Samsung really should issue a tech note about the process.

The tech indicated that the set ran at 60hz...if it really did run at 120hz, then 24 fps wouldnt be a problem (if i am understanding it correctly) b\c 120 is a multiple of 24. The very problem arises b\c the tv runs at 60hz so (at least i thought before talking to the tech) and must use 3:2 pulldown to achieve 60fps on 24 fps source material

Correct me if I am wrong though, fairly new to it all

The Samsung PDF spec sheet states the display refresh rate is 120hz.
http://www.samsung.com/us/system/consumer/product/2007/12/19/hlt6176sxxaa/HL-T6176S.pdf

Quick update.

I bought my 5076S at the end of November and commented on a lack of problems. It has now withstood two months of the base of the screen being pounded on by my 19-month-old boy and I still have no bowing.

I am so glad I lucked out with the TV and I'm continuing to enjoy it. HD-DVD looked gorgeous on it until I sent the player back with Warner's announcement....now my Panny BD30K Blu-Ray player looks just as stunning.

If only there were a way to keep my curious little boy away from it...

I just wanted to add a positive data point.

I have had this TV (HLT5076SX/XAA Version PH01)for about 5 months now. Over that time, on occasion, when I go to to turn on the TV it shows picture for 1-3 seconds then shuts off on it's own and the standby light blinks. I then try to turn it on again and nothing happens. I have to unplug it then try again and usually that does the trick except for this past Sunday. Everytime I unplugged it, the TV would do the same thing described as above. I went outside for a smoke and came in and the wife had the TV working without doing anything.

I bought the TV at Circuit City and purchased the protection plan. Thats great but, the service provider failed to show without even a phone call. They said on the phone a software update shoudl do the trick. I called Circuit City and was told I had to reschedule and couldn't obtain an authorization for exchange.

Has anyone noticed this problem? Will a software update work to fix the problem? Is it something more serious? If a exchange authorization is approved should I pay the difference for the HLT XX87 series if I can since my tv is out of stock, and has been for some time at my local Circuit City?

I had a similar problem with my HL-T5675S that took several attempted fixes to solve the problem. After trying a new bulb and a new ballast the problem ended up being a faulty thermostat in the light engine reporting an overheating issue that wasn't actually occurring. No issues since.

Regarding the bowing issues people are reporting... Mine too had a slight bowing problem which I was able to solve DIY. Through a combination of macro adjustments to mirror (via the four screws at the top of the back of the TV) and more finite adjustment via paper shims under the "feet" I was able to virtually eliminate the bowing. Kind of a PITA, but I'm so happy with the rest of the TV I feel it was worth it.

Hey guys got my 5076s today from amazon delivered by eagle. It is pretty neat and I have no geometric effects. I disconnected by regular digital cable box and connected straight to the TV and scanned for digitial channels....I received a WHOLE BUNCH of channels...several of them got descrambled....I have comcast...I even received some of the STARZ movie channels. My only thing is that for some reason I am not wowed by the HD channels I received. This is my first HDTV, but I still think the HD could look better......Is it becoz it's not HDMI cables or something?...because nothing else besides the cable is connected to the tv...I've been watching A&E HD and local HD...but I still think they could be better....especially the 720p's.....any thoughts?? Also...I have regular external computer speakers with 3.5mm that i used in college to amplify my computer via the headphone jack....I thought i will be able to use it for the TV via the audio output...(right below the PC in)....but it did not work....anybody know of anything i could do to connect it?? or am I limited to only purchasing surround sound.......thanks for any inputs.....

oh sorrry if i might sound stupid..but i'm a noob too...

I have the Samsung HL-T5076S and I was wondering if anyone knows if there is a way to have the TV automatically switch screen sizes when switching between HD and SD signals? For instance, when I switch to an HD channel I like it in the "Just Scan" mode, but when I switch to a SD signal I want the TV to be in the "Wide Zoom" mode. Is it possible to have the setting switch automatically? As a side note, do most of you use DVE and GetGray for your calibrations?

I was wondering if anyone knows if there is a way to have the TV automatically switch screen sizes when switching between HD and SD signals?
The TV will do this if hooked up directly to antenna or cable. The problem you're probably having is your sat or cable box always sends out a 16:9 (it adds the side bars itself on 4:3) so the TV stays in widescreen because thats what it's receiving.

Banding issues? :( HL-T5676 + PS3

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I haven't noticed it on my 360, but on my new Playstation 3, I've noticed vertical stripes running up the screen. They're faint, same sized(roughly 1" in width), and evenly spaced(maybe every 2.5"). They seem to be more predominant in the more muted colors, and when the game is in motion. It looks like my screen is striped with lines that are just a few shades darker. I don't know how to explain it. I've also only noticed it in 720p, specifically on the DMC4 demo, and Burnout Paradise. Ps3 is hooked up via hdmi, btw. Any thoughts?

Banding issues? :( HL-T5676 + PS3

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I haven't noticed it on my 360, but on my new Playstation 3, I've noticed vertical stripes running up the screen. They're faint, same sized(roughly 1" in width), and evenly spaced(maybe every 2.5"). They seem to be more predominant in the more muted colors, and when the game is in motion. It looks like my screen is striped with lines that are just a few shades darker. I don't know how to explain it. I've also only noticed it in 720p, specifically on the DMC4 demo, and Burnout Paradise. Ps3 is hooked up via hdmi, btw. Any thoughts?
Maybe try disabling 720p mode and have the PS3 upscale to 1080p like the 360 does?

I purchased my HLT 5676S from Amazon for super low price about 7 days ago. Eagle delivered yesterday and setup was great....after viewing pic for several hours, I noticed that the matte finish on the screen really seems to alter the quality of the picture.

No matter what inputs or sources that I set up, HDMI, Component, etc., the picture seems to have noise on it....like the pixels are messed up....not sure. It's not broadcast noise, just somewhat of a starry finish on the pic. You can really notice with white colors.

Is this normal for 56" size TVs or am I crazy? Are there settings that will eliminate this problem. Samsung Rep couldn't help.

Can anyone provide input or help? I'm ready to call Amazon and return. Kind of disappointed in pic.

I appreciate any and all of your thoughts.

RM
Houston

I purchased my HLT 5676S from Amazon for super low price about 7 days ago. Eagle delivered yesterday and setup was great....after viewing pic for several hours, I noticed that the matte finish on the screen really seems to alter the quality of the picture.

No matter what inputs or sources that I set up, HDMI, Component, etc., the picture seems to have noise on it....like the pixels are messed up....not sure. It's not broadcast noise, just somewhat of a starry finish on the pic. You can really notice with white colors.

Is this normal for 56" size TVs or am I crazy? Are there settings that will eliminate this problem. Samsung Rep couldn't help.

Can anyone provide input or help? I'm ready to call Amazon and return. Kind of disappointed in pic.

I appreciate any and all of your thoughts.

RM
Houston

What you're probably noticing is a phenomenon in RPTVs known as Silk Screen Effect. It's similar to screen door effect but with a finer "mesh."

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

If you spend some time doing a proper basic calibration of your tv (with something like DVE or similar) this effect will considerably diminish. Brights make it more obvious, and as most tvs ship with brightness/contrast way too high, the effect can be really obvious.

Thanx for the input. I went to Best Buy and the exact Tv did not have the effect at all.

Samsung tech said that I have bad chip. Coming Thursday to replace. BTW---I did a thorough DVE calibration and effect didn't change. I'll let u know what happens. Thanx again for the time.

Well, I returned my 5076 yesterday (had it for 2 weeks). I read on here about the geometry problems people were having but figured I might get lucky. I didn't.

I really liked the set but just couldn't live with the bowing and crooked lines. You wouldn't really notice it too much if you just watched full-screen content, but sports/news tickers, video games and hooking the PC up to it really made the problem glaring.

I tried the mirror adjustment, but it basically let you have 2 things, either the bottom straight or the sides straight, but not both. The top wasn't perfectly straight either and the mirror adjustment had almost no effect there. It looked like something inside was just slightly off-kilter. If this were a CRT the rotate function probably would have corrected most of my problems.

I called Samsung's support and they were going to send a tech out, but they never got back to me and for some reason our local tech is way out in the boonies (and this is by Iowa standards). So, eventually I called the shop directly. I don't think the guy knew much about these televisions and I doubt he'd be qualified to open it up and adjust anything, so I guessed best case we'd have to replace it. I figured I might as well just handle that myself. Don't really need to involve more people with that.

So, I went down to the local BB (where I bought it) and was considering an exchange but after seeing all the floor models also had bowing too I decided to just return it and go LCD. I guess the first time down there looking at these I never got a chance to look for geometry issues because everything was full-screen content with very little in the way of straight lines or I just wasn't looking for it as hard. Regardless, it was practically kicking me in the groin now.

It's too bad. Several friends have DLPs from a few generations ago and they look great. One is a Samsung and one is an HP. It just frustrates me that Samsung would let a product this hit-and-miss out the door.

I know some of you don't have this problem, and that's great. You got an excellent t.v. then. But from what I've read in this forum and seen first-hand, these problems now seem more the rule than the exception.

On the bright side, my LCD is looking good. Samsung still got my money as I bought the 4665. Not quite as big of a screen as the DLP but still a great picture and straight lines!

This site is great! I've owned the HLT-5676S for a smidge over 2 months now and have been fairly pleased. I read about the bowing outbreaks, of course, AFTER I purchased the tv, but so far I have been fortunate as to NOT been affected by it. Knock on wood

I checked out a couple postings on this site about video settings, or DVE videos. In your collective wisdom, is it worth it to buy the DVE HD edition for calibration, or is it possible to "import" the necessary settings elsewhere?

Thanks

Jon

I purchased my HLT 5676S from Amazon for super low price about 7 days ago. Eagle delivered yesterday and setup was great....after viewing pic for several hours, I noticed that the matte finish on the screen really seems to alter the quality of the picture.

No matter what inputs or sources that I set up, HDMI, Component, etc., the picture seems to have noise on it....like the pixels are messed up....not sure. It's not broadcast noise, just somewhat of a starry finish on the pic. You can really notice with white colors.

Is this normal for 56" size TVs or am I crazy? Are there settings that will eliminate this problem. Samsung Rep couldn't help.

Can anyone provide input or help? I'm ready to call Amazon and return. Kind of disappointed in pic.

I appreciate any and all of your thoughts.

RM
Houston
I also was very annoyed/disappointed by this. My previous Samsung DLP (HLN) did not have this screen effect at all. After time I guess I have just gotten used to it but I'll be interested to see if it can be fixed.

Keep us posted.

I just received this TV from Amazon a few days ago. The picture is great and luckily I have not seen the bowing issue.

However, the sound will often go out for no reason and not return until I turn it off and then on again. I haven't hooked this up to my receiver or DVD player yet, so I only have the coax hooked up and am listening through the TV speakers. It seems to happen most often if I adjust the volume or change the channel after the TV has been on for a few minutes. But, sometime it does it on it's own.

Has anyone else encountered this? Of all the problems the TV could have, this would be pretty low down on my list as long as there will still be sound through the receiver. Thanks.

I just received my 6176. I knew about the bowing before from this thread, but this set is going into my bedroom where I will not be doing any critical viewing. I really wanted it because of the form factor. The set has definite bowing. I am contemplating whether or not I want to call Samsung. I don't care too much because other than menus and tickers it isn't terribly noticeable.
I have found that pushng the middle of the top bezel, with just a few pounds of force straightens the picture out and it looks perfect. (sorry if this has been discussed before but I do not have have the attention span for such a long thread) I wonder how I can adjust the set so that this bezel gets pushed back.

I just received my 6176. I knew about the bowing before from this thread, but this set is going into my bedroom where I will not be doing any critical viewing. I really wanted it because of the form factor. The set has definite bowing. I am contemplating whether or not I want to call Samsung. I don't care too much because other than menus and tickers it isn't terribly noticeable.
I have found that pushng the middle of the top bezel, with just a few pounds of force straightens the picture out and it looks perfect. (sorry if this has been discussed before but I do not have have the attention span for such a long thread) I wonder how I can adjust the set so that this bezel gets pushed back.

See if pulling up on the bezel produces the same results. If so, you can use some type of shim to keep it in place. I believe others have had some success with this approach.

Hello all,

New to the forum... Lots of good info here. I have a Sammy HLT-5676S on the way and after reading some of the posts, I'm a bit overwhelmed. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it though.

2 quick questions -

1st : I have a desk that I use as a stand for my current TV (32" Panny CRT), and the desktop is roughly 40" wide, and 15" deep. Will the base, or foot (I think it's called), of the 5676S fit on this? I saw the first post and in the quick specs, it said the foot was within those dimensions, but I just want to be super sure! My current set weighs about 90lbs, so I know the desk is sturdy enough for the weight, but I don't want the foot of it to hang off the edges or anything.

2nd : What is the 1080p/24hz deal? I know what 1080p is, but where do the 24hz come into play? (for instance, why does 24hz seem to be the desired frequency, when things such as computer monitors us frequencies up to 100hz and beyond)..

Thanks a bunch and I'll make sure to keep everyone posted on the state of the TV once it gets delivered!

Hello all,

New to the forum... Lots of good info here. I have a Sammy HLT-5676S on the way and after reading some of the posts, I'm a bit overwhelmed. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it though.

2 quick questions -

1st : I have a desk that I use as a stand for my current TV (32" Panny CRT), and the desktop is roughly 40" wide, and 15" deep. Will the base, or foot (I think it's called), of the 5676S fit on this? I saw the first post and in the quick specs, it said the foot was within those dimensions, but I just want to be super sure! My current set weighs about 90lbs, so I know the desk is sturdy enough for the weight, but I don't want the foot of it to hang off the edges or anything.

2nd : What is the 1080p/24hz deal? I know what 1080p is, but where do the 24hz come into play? (for instance, why does 24hz seem to be the desired frequency, when things such as computer monitors us frequencies up to 100hz and beyond)..

Thanks a bunch and I'll make sure to keep everyone posted on the state of the TV once it gets delivered!
the foot is about 35 inches. I have a 36 inch wide stand and everything is fine (even with about 5 inches of screen hanging off on each side.)

it's been a while since I have posted anything but has anyone experience a pulsing image? Yesterday there was a power outage when noone was home and it aparently lasted for an hour and a half. When I started watching tv later during the day it was fine but I started noticing the image was flashing/pulsing but wouldn't do it all the time. I turned off the tv for about 15 minutes turned it back on and it worked for what seemed like 2 hours then the pulsing came back. This morning I unplugged the tv completely and won't plug it in till I get home but I am confussed why it worked perfectly the day before then suddenly it doesn't I doubt the bulb is going out but does anyone know what could be wrong?

Update from previous post:

Samsung tech came out today to fix the mesh effect that my picture seems to have. To begin, the tech said he couldn't see it. His assistant, quite a bit younger guy, did see it.

They replaced the DMD board....still same problem. I had asked him to replace the DMD chip but unfortunately he ordered the wrong one so he'll have to come back out next week to replace chip. Do you guys think a new chip will fix this issue???

Anyone else experiencing the mesh screen effect on this set??? I'm beginning to think that it's normal for this set....even though the display models at Best Buy don't have it.

If the new chip doesn't fix the problem, I'll have to return or replace the set. Here's my question: What 56" set has the best picture out of all the DLPs, Plasmas & LCD's? I just want to have a great pic. I've been with Sammy for 5 years now but this set's pic doesn't even compare to my 5 year old 43" DLP.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!!

Thanks---RM

the foot is about 35 inches. I have a 36 inch wide stand and everything is fine (even with about 5 inches of screen hanging off on each side.)

Thank you very much for the info!!

does this tv pass the 5.1 audio carried on the hdmi cable through to the optical out? I know some TVs downsample it to stereo when you do this, and I'm hoping this one doesn't.

does this tv pass the 5.1 audio carried on the hdmi cable through to the optical out? I know some TVs downsample it to stereo when you do this, and I'm hoping this one doesn't.

Sorry, this one does it too. You only get 5.1 out with antenna and cable inputs.

where can i read about the screw mod or shim mod to fix the bowing?

The bowing is caused by the screen bulging out in the center. Some have jammed shims under the frame edges to force the screen inward.

Anyone else experiencing the mesh screen effect on this set??? I'm beginning to think that it's normal for this set....even though the display models at Best Buy don't have it.


I don't have an answer to most of the questions in your post, but I'm sorry the attempted fixes thus far have yet to solve your issue.

I can say with certainty that a screen effect is not normal on this TV. Neither my 5676S, the display 5676S at BB at time of purchase, nor my GF's Brother's 5076S have any hint of any screen effect (though all three do suffer to some extent from SSE).

I hope the next "fix" does just that for you.

The bowing is caused by the screen bulging out in the center. Some have jammed shims under the frame edges to force the screen inward.

After reading this thread from start to end I felt I owed to all who've posted to tell of my situation and what I learned.

I purchased an HL-T6176S a couple weeks ago on-line. Did a little research, but didn't pay enough attention to the bowing comment I'd seen, and focused on another comment somewhere referring to the "simple adjustment" that a Sumsung technician could make to rectify it.

Tore apart my room, wall unit, and wiring and prepared for its arrival. Once here, set it up and turned it on. Went to my Directv guide and there was the bowing. Shimmed the stand, pushed the screen around, nothing worked.

Then I hit this forum. Read through the first dozen pages, then went to the Samsung website to setup a service appointment. Read more on this thread and felt more resigned that nothing could be done to fix it.

Ok, today the technician came. I said as he walked in the door, "so, you have the fix for the bowing problem?" His answer, "no, there is no fix". :eek:

Here's what I learned. The screen is actually two layers of screens taped together at the factory. Some customers order replacements and they are installed without being taped together. In some cases the bowing is reduced, but my tech said he's never had a satisfied customer with this TV, and dreads going out on these calls when bowing is the issue. He often is called for something else, but even then is asked about the bowing once in the home and that is another nightmare.

There are 4 screws to adjust 4 clips, one on top, bottom, left and right, that control the overall hanging of the screen. The screws only adjust tilt. They do nothing for bowing.

He said some people arrange pressure on the outside of the frame to correct the bowing. Push back on the top, or one guy even placed a set-top box on top of his unit, against Samsung recommendations, and it improved his problem.

Bottom line, there is no fix. :mad:

My picture measured 10 mm out of nominal about half way up and a quarter into the screen from the left. Bowing on the right side was less. I was extremely disappointed watching the Super Bowl and the constant reminder with their graphics that the TV had a bow.

So I just called my on-line retailer and my TV is going to be picked up and go back tomorrow. No resistance, no problem. I love the picture on this TV, so after everything was set and I was asked whether I wanted a refund or replacement, I stated that I wanted to upgrade to the HL-T6187S. No lamp, no color wheel, and the projection is horizontal and not at an angle from the top of the screen where screen deformation is a major issue.

Oh, and the technician today stated that the HL-T6187S is a great set without some of the negatives of the 6176S. More expensive? Sure. But you get what you pay for.

Hopefully I will be happy. :)

Any bowing over 7mm is considered by Samsung as defective. If your's is 10mm I'd replace the set until you get one that is acceptable. The online retailer should have a 30 day exchange policy. If not, get samsung to replace it!
HTH
George

Any bowing over 7mm is considered by Samsung as defective. If your's is 10mm I'd replace the set until you get one that is acceptable. The online retailer should have a 30 day exchange policy. If not, get samsung to replace it!
HTH
GeorgeI wouldn't be happy with 7 mm, or the 8 mm standard that my tech today stated was the new standard. After actually pushing on this screen, I have another worry that in time, even on sets where bowing didn't exist when first bought, it might start to appear after time with no way to correct it and no warranty to get a replacement.

The technician pointed out that the 87S doesn't have the lamp issue, being LCD. He said the 87S doesn't use the color wheel that is another frequent repair issue. Yes, the 87S is 4" deeper and will cost me an additional $400 bucks. To me, the benefit of upgrading is worth the $400. For others, doing the exchange route hoping for a better TV is perfectly fine too.

I just wanted to share what I had learned. :D

Samsung considers any bowing over 7mm as defective. Not me. I keep replacing my set until it was near perfect. You should, too. Don't accept anything less!;)
George

Samsung considers any bowing over 7mm as defective. Not me. I keep replacing my set until it was near perfect. You should, too. Don't accept anything less!;)
George

Yeah but you're stuck with a bulb and color wheel. Enjoy replacing them in a few years.

Thanks mooninite for posting the link in another thread showing our set do indeed have HDMI 1.3. http://product.samsung.com/dlp3d/3ddlps.html My Dish 622 also reports 1.3 in the HDMI diagnostics.

Does the 5676S (or any of the series) have a CableCard slot?

SV

Does the 5676S (or any of the series) have a CableCard slot?

SV
No. It never worked in the 2006 models either - I tried 3 different cards. CableCARD is a great idea that should have been started by the cable companies a long time ago. Since its being mandated by the government its always a bad thing. Also the spec is in flux and no one wants to support the dumb things. They just want to give you a HUGE digital cable box and send you on your way. I think everyone would rather take a credit card size piece and let the TV do the work, but cable techs don't keep current on technology.

The CableCard works perfectly in my HLS5668W, but it developed the light-tunnel collapse and Fry's wants to replace it with the HLT5676S rather than pay to fix the light tunnel. The reason I prefer the CableCard is because then the TV can generate Dolby Digital internally and pass it out of the TV's optical out to my receiver. So I can watch movie channels in DD5.1. Thus, my biggest gripe with these TV's (that the TV's won't pass through a 5.1 signal from an external source) is avoided. If I have to get a cable box, I get a whole pile of hassles, including having to deal with audio sync problems if my cable box is going straight into the receiver.

Dang Fry's. Wonder if any of the in-production TV's from Samsung have cable card slots.

SV

Yeah but you're stuck with a bulb and color wheel. Enjoy replacing them in a few years.

I will.;)
mooninite,
Haven't heard from you for a while. How's your new replacement set?

The CableCard works perfectly in my HLS5668W, but it developed the light-tunnel collapse and Fry's wants to replace it with the HLT5676S rather than pay to fix the light tunnel. The reason I prefer the CableCard is because then the TV can generate Dolby Digital internally and pass it out of the TV's optical out to my receiver. So I can watch movie channels in DD5.1. Thus, my biggest gripe with these TV's (that the TV's won't pass through a 5.1 signal from an external source) is avoided. If I have to get a cable box, I get a whole pile of hassles, including having to deal with audio sync problems if my cable box is going straight into the receiver.

Dang Fry's. Wonder if any of the in-production TV's from Samsung have cable card slots.

SV

Lucky you. I had a HL-S5688W. Never worked for me.

And no. None of the current generation Samsungs have a CableCARD slot. They phased it out. Probably because there's too many problems with it.

I will.;)
mooninite,
Haven't heard from you for a while. How's your new replacement set?

I have an HL-T5687S now. Happy as a bee. :)

Well I am sooooo freaking disappointed in Samsung and this darn bowing problem. I've had a 56" 1080p Samsung I purchased a little over a year ago that they do not make anymore. (never had any problems of any kind) Im moving out and I have to leave that tv behind.

Now this new 5676s has major bowing issues as I've been reading through all these pages!!!!!

Thanks to AVS here, I will certainly NOT be purchasing this!! I rather not gamble on this and have to deal with all the headache hassles afterwards!!!

Here's at least one customer Samsung will surely loose!

QUESTION: What brand closely resembles this HLT 5676s set?

Samsung goes from one great working television, to making a new crappy one... why do companies do that all the time?... save money by making something flimsy and crappy.... sure the PQ is great, but I also want the entire tv to be great

I have an HL-S6187 that has worked perfectly for 14 months. The picture is great. One of my HDMI inputs broke, and Samsung says it can't be fixed. They have offered to replace it with an HL-T6176. Originally I thought it was a "no brainer", but then I read all the negative comments on it. Are the HLT sets that bad? I don't need the 2nd HDMI input right now. I'm afraid of letting them take my current set and replacing it with a lemon. Any advice would be helpful.

I bought my HL-T6176 in December, knowing I had a month to return it if the bowing problem occurred. After calibrating it with DVE (except for the colors, apparently CCA in the service menu must be cut off first in order to use the filters properly) all I initially saw was a slight curl up of horizontal lines on the lower right (only obvious with the ESPN logo on non-test pattern images). However, after reading these posts, one tends to become ultrasensitive to this issue. After adjusting the tilt screws on the back to get the lower part of the picture exactly horizontal, and using a level to make the sure the screen is exactly vertical (so it doesn't tend to physically bow inward or outward), there is a very slight bending down of horizontzal lines near the upper right, in addition to the slight bending up of lines near the lower right. The deviation of any one line is no more than 4 mm, which Samsung says is about the best you are going to get with that TV. They won't replace it if it less than 7 mm. It is a great picture otherwise, especially when the optical iris is stopped down in the service menu to improve the black level. So, after all this, I'm going to keep it. I just hope the bowing doesn't get any worse over time.

I have an HL-S6187 that has worked perfectly for 14 months. The picture is great. One of my HDMI inputs broke, and Samsung says it can't be fixed. They have offered to replace it with an HL-T6176. Originally I thought it was a "no brainer", but then I read all the negative comments on it. Are the HLT sets that bad? I don't need the 2nd HDMI input right now. I'm afraid of letting them take my current set and replacing it with a lemon. Any advice would be helpful.

If they won't replace you with a HL-T6187S then I would forget it and keep your set. You don't want to look at the bow if your current set is perfect, geometry-wise.

My current set has very slight bowing. Nothing major. I just went to best Buy Buy to check out the HL-T6176. I wasn't very impressed. If you just touch the top of the set, the whole screen moves. It was the only set in the store that would do this. If you just move the TV the slightest bit, you can see the screen change positions. I'll have to think long and hard about this. I asked about the HL-T6187, and they said no.

That characterisic, in and of itself, is not the problem. The inherent flaw is the degree to which the screen is not perfectly flat when nothing is touching or pressing down on the top of the TV that causes the curved horizontal lines on test patterns. The mirror is expecting to show the image on a perfectly flat screen and it's not getting a perfectly flat screen. Some are worse than others, and Samsung has apparently (arbitrarily?) placed the defective screen threshold at a maximum horizontal line deviation specification of 7 mm for the 61 inch screen size.

Hi Guys. I just found your great site this morning so forgive me if this is a basic question. I tried to scan through all 49 pages of this thread to see if anyone mentioned this, but but I wasn't sure what to call it and didn't see anything similar.

Anyway, I just received my 5676S last night. Good picture on SD dishNetwork. But, right away I noticed the bowing issue when viewing the menu mentioned throughout this thread, so I'm going to try the shim fix that has been mentioned. But, the main issue I have is there is a grey spot (about 3/8" x 3/8" in size) just right of center that my wife noticed almost immediately. Now that she pointed it out, it's very distracting. Is this a flaw in the tv or something with the light source?

Thanks in advance.

If they won't replace you with a HL-T6187S then I would forget it and keep your set. You don't want to look at the bow if your current set is perfect, geometry-wise.


I have a consumer advocate friend of mine calling Samsung later today. He's usually pretty good at these kind of things. He's going to try and get me the HL-T6187S. If not, I'm going to accept the 6176. I figure my TV already has over 1500 hours of use, and will be out of warranty this month. With its model's history of LE problems, I think I'm better off taking a chance on a new 6176. Hopefully they'll give me the 6187.

But, the main issue I have is there is a grey spot (about 3/8" x 3/8" in size) just right of center that my wife noticed almost immediately. Now that she pointed it out, it's very distracting. Is this a flaw in the tv or something with the light source?
Pop the porthole open on the back (with the set on) and see if a piece of dirt is sitting on the lens cover (in the bottom), use the included cloth to knock it off. Don't touch the back of the screen.

Pop the porthole open on the back (with the set on) and see if a piece of dirt is sitting on the lens cover (in the bottom), use the included cloth to knock it off. Don't touch the back of the screen.

Thanks, I'll try that this evening when I get home. :)

Samsung just called, and they've agreed to replace my set with the HL-T6187S.

:D

Samsung just called, and they've agreed to replace my set with the HL-T6187S.

:D

What were the magic words you used to get the replacement? Do you need to have a service history with techs coming out? Or can you simply claim the set is defective and get the replacement? Please share details! :D

What were the magic words you used to get the replacement? Do you need to have a service history with techs coming out? Or can you simply claim the set is defective and get the replacement? Please share details! :D

I had one tech come out and refuse to repair the set saying I damaged it. (BS) I had a 2nd repair center refuse to even come out because the 1st one already came out. About 2 weeks ago, I complained to Samsung about the way I was treated, and they finally agreed to replace my set with the HL-T6176. Originally I agreed thinking it was fair, but then I read the horror stories some people had with that model, and went and saw for myself how poorly built the model seemed to be. When I called them back and requested the HL-T6187, they refused stating the 6176 was the most comparable model to my HL-S6187W. They refused to budge. Yesterday I had a friend of mine who is a consumer advocate call them with my story and info. He called me back last night and told me to expect a call from Samsung this week. When I came home today, I had a message from Samsung to call them and they wanted to make me happy. I called and they wanted to know if I wanted a full refund of what I paid for my TV 14 months ago, or a model that would make me happy. I told them I wanted the HL-T6187. The woman told me: "OK. Let me confirm I can get you that model, and I'll call you back shortly." She called me back and said: "We will have the 6187 back in stock on the 25th, and will call you to arrange a delivery date."

I have done several searches and cannot find a solution;

My friend just bought a Samsung HLT6176S and I helped him go into the menu and change some of the video settings (temp, color, contrast, etc...). However, when he turns the set back on after turning it off the settings have gone back to what they were originally.

WHile discussing this, another mutual friend said he has the same problems with a different Samsung HDTV.

Any way to fix this?

I have done several searches and cannot find a solution;

My friend just bought a Samsung HLT6176S and I helped him go into the menu and change some of the video settings (temp, color, contrast, etc...). However, when he turns the set back on after turning it off the settings have gone back to what they were originally.

WHile discussing this, another mutual friend said he has the same problems with a different Samsung HDTV.

Any way to fix this?

I'm going through this same issue on my HLT5076S. Everytime the set is powered off, it loses all the picture settings for every input. It's really annoying to have to calibrate your tv for every input everytime you turn it on. A tech came out and did a firmware update, and that didn't help at all. He called Samsung, and was told to replace the mainboard. When they get around to installing it, I'll come back and let you know if that fixed it. BTW, Samsung did not know of a fix for this issue, or what causes it. It seems like they are just trying different things to fix it.

It's possible that your set is in shop (showroom) mode instead of home mode. To change; on the TV (not the remote) press the volume then the menu button and hold for 5 seconds.

When in shop mode, the TV returns to default settings after 20 minutes or a power cycle. On pre 2007 sets, you just hold the menu button for 5 seconds.

Hey guys. I am completely new to DLPs (also my first post on these forums ~). I just purchased the HLT5076S from CC open box for $1099. I brought it home and can't find any bowing, however the image itself is crooked. I have a tech coming Tuesday to fix the problem.

My question, however, is unrelated to both issues. I was just curious if the "sparkly" look to the screen is normal? It is most noticeable when the image shown is bright. I don't know how to describe it other than that it looks like screen grain causing thousands of little rainbows. Is this normal for DLP televisions or do I have a defective screen?

Edit:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/mfso/avssample.jpg

Here is an image of what i'm trying to describe--the grain over the clouds.

Yes, it is common on large screen rear projection televisions which necessarily use a high-gain screen to produce a large light output and it is commonly-referred to as "Silk Screen Effect". Three years ago I bought a 50 inch Panasonic DLP and never noticed it, but I just bought a bright 61 inch Samsung and it is quite noticeable.
On another matter, I just discovered a way to reduce the vertical bowing on my Samsung. The two external tilt screws on the back cover that raise and lower the upper mirror can be used together to raise or lower the bottom of the image, without moving the top of the image, thus effectively stretching or compressing the image a small amount in the vertical direction. If the bottom of the image is raised too high (reducing overscan), vertical bowing inward becomes noticeable. Thus, the tilt screws can be used together to optimally lower the bottom of the image (increasing overscan a bit) to minimize vertical bowing.

This is my first post, after reading several threads over the years for electronics advice. Thanks for that, btw.

I have been going through some trouble recently with Samsung DLP televisions and amazon.com, though it should be noted that I am far from without blame. See, it all started when I ordered a brand new HLT5087SAX and thought, "Wow, that's beautiful! Now make it bigger." So, I promptly sold that television on Craigslist for exactly what I had paid, and then ordered the HLT5687SAX instead. I bought this one refurb'd, to offset the cost of upgrading screen size. I actually wound up paying about the same as I had last time for the smaller set.

The 56-incher is downstairs right now, was delivered yesterday, and doesn't work! Ack!

Now, Samsung is going to try to fix it. The diagnosis (in house) is free, but I don't know if the repair will be. If it costs any money at all to fix, I'll likely pass and send the thing back to amazon.com for full refund. This does remain to be seen however, so I should probably wait before making this post, but oh well.

"Both of those are LED-based. This is the thread for lamp-based", you're thinking. I know.

The thing is, if I sent that TV back, I want to keep my 56" screen, but I also want to keep my sub-$1400 budget. That means television number 3 will have to be the HLT5676S. So, my question to you all is, am I sacrificing all that much by switching to lamp-based instead of LED? So far, I've been going with LED because technologically, it is supposed to be superior. The ways in which LED is supposed to be better than lamp, as I understand them, are as follows...

* The lamp takes longer to power up.
* The lamp will eventually die, and require replacement.
* The lamp requires a fan, which is audible.
* The lamp uses a color wheel, which may create a rainbow effect.

Now, to counter those points, if I'm not mistaken...

* Though longer, it really doesn't take all that much time to power up.
* The lamp won't die for several years, so why worry about it now?
* Though audible, the fan is still quite quiet.
* Only a few people can see the rainbow effect, and maybe I won't be one of them.

That said, it seems like no big deal if I had to "downgrade" to a lamp set instead of an LED one. In fact, using the word "downgrade" almost doesn't even seem fair (although, it is undeniably cheaper, so I suppose the word is still appropriate). Nevertheless, I had wanted to ask people who have the HLT5676S. So, what made you decide to go the lamp route? And, are you happy you did?

Thank you for reading this, and even more so for responding to it. =)

I got the lamp-based HL-T6176 for the advantages you mentioned above and because two generations of the LED Samsung DLPs have been criticized in several reviews I've read for high black levels and poor screen illumination uniformity, especially compared to the lamp-based Samsung DLPs of the past. So I figured the lamp-based was the way to go because those two problems might be specific to the LED implementation. As an electrical engineer, I think the color wheel arrangement is an elegant and fascinating implementation, and I read that Samsung utilizes air bearing technology in the HL-TXX76 models which should significantly lengthen the service life of the color wheel. It is a great picture except for the geometry problems. I do see rainbows but they are much less conspicuous than on my last Panasonic DLP, and the Sony PS3 fan motor is a lot louder than the fan/color wheel motors on the Samsung. I think you have to be really picky to be annoyed at the warm-up time of these rear projection TV's--mine's at full brightness in less than a minute.

This has been covered time and time again. I feel like a record. Please search.

To repeat:

I've owned both a 5676 and a 5687. I've used both on HD material of all kinds. Used all sorts of tests.

The bulb and LED models have no detectable difference in brightness or black levels. I do believe, however, that the LED model has better color representation, as it should. The LED set also uses a case that is not susceptible to bowing, as described countless times.





DO NOT BUY AND/OR THINK OF GETTING A XX76S SET. THEY ARE LEMONS.

Yes, I've read about the bowing. I did not realize that was specific to the xx76S series. I actually thought that was a problem with all Samsung DLP sets based on their size. Even a guy from Samsung told me himself not to get a 61" because the screen was just too big and bowing is unavoidable at that size. I had no idea that the difference in case design between the LED models and lamp models had an affect on presense or absense of bowing. Good info, and thank you for it. I apologize for not realizing that on my own, after having read the discussions regarding screen bowing.

So, no xx76S then? They're lemons? The post immediately above yours seems to say completely the opposite. Or is it all about that "S" at the end that's the real kicker?

Scratch that last question. I see exactly what you mean. Yeah, wow. I guess I should hope they can fix my current TV free of charge, because if I have to start over, damn, I don't wanna go through what you went through with your -76. Thank you very much for sharing your troubles, for all to learn from.

Does the SSE vary much from television to television? If I were to get another 5076s would there be a chance for it to be less noticeable or will it pretty well be the same?

I think it would be the same on another identical make and model. The amount of SSE is related to screen gain and, all other things being equal, would be more noticeable with larger and brighter screens. By the way, although the XX87 series case is not as susceptible to contributing to screen bowing as is the XX76 case, it can still happen on the XX87 TVs, especially in the 61 inch size because of the large, thin screen, as attested to in the thread for that TV.

By the way, although the XX87 series case is not as susceptible to contributing to screen bowing as is the XX76 case, it can still happen on the XX87 TVs, especially in the 61 inch size because of the large, thin screen, as attested to in the thread for that TV.

I've seen the bowing issue on the xx87's as well.

I purchased a 6176 a couple weeks ago and immediately noticed the bowing when bringing up the menu or using my pc plugged into the tv. Super annoying. Searching on the internet to see if this was a common issue brought me to this thread. I went to several different stores to look at display models to see if they all had the same problem, and they did, some worse than others, but *all* of them had the issue.

I took mine back to Circuit City and picked up a Sony 60A3000 instead. Nice straight lines. I'm sure Samsung makes a lot of other nice products, but they really dropped the ball on their DLP tv's when it comes to geometry. I don't care how good the screen looks, if it can't deliver straight lines when it's supposed to, it's worthless to me.

i just received an hlt-5676s as a replacement for my hls-5686w. i thought it was a no-brainer due to and upgrade to 1080p, 3 hdmi inputs, and a much better contrast ratio.

well, i was wrong as the geometry on my screen is most definitely off. the screen is on a steady tilt from left to right. a straight line on the screen is probably an inch higher on the right than on the left. not to mention when i woke up the next morning, the screen had three shadow looking thing on it as it was turned off. one on the top left, top right, and one big one dead in the center. add to that the major shaking of the screen while my kids run through the house and i am extremely dissappointed in this set.

im wondering of all of you that have had dealings with samsung customer service, what are the odds that i can get them to replace this with a comparable plasma....or get a refund so i can go purchase a plasma, another samsung of course. my friend purchased an ht-5054 50" samsung plasma for $1300 last week, thats cheaper than what i originally paid for my dlp. of course i would lose 6 inches but im more than willing to do that to obtain different technology as these dlp's have given me nothing but headaches.

the only way any new exchange/refund would happen wanyway, im told by the samsung rep, is if this new tv is deemed irreplaceable after a service call. but assuming it is i would just like to hear from those experienced if what i asked is likely.

Hi Guys. I just found your great site this morning so forgive me if this is a basic question. I tried to scan through all 49 pages of this thread to see if anyone mentioned this, but but I wasn't sure what to call it and didn't see anything similar.

Anyway, I just received my 5676S last night. Good picture on SD dishNetwork. But, right away I noticed the bowing issue when viewing the menu mentioned throughout this thread, so I'm going to try the shim fix that has been mentioned. But, the main issue I have is there is a grey spot (about 3/8" x 3/8" in size) just right of center that my wife noticed almost immediately. Now that she pointed it out, it's very distracting. Is this a flaw in the tv or something with the light source?

Thanks in advance.

Well, unfortunately, it wasn't something on the lens or light source. I called Samsung and they had me contact a local tv shop. They're coming out tomorrow to "clean" it, but I suspect it's a defect in the screen. I'll let you guys know how this turns out.

As for the bowing, I was able to shim it enough to correct it good enough. Still disappointed that I should have to even do that with a brand new tv. :mad:

Also, I upgraded to dish's HD DVR on wednesday. At first I was using the RCA plugs (or whatever you call them) to connect to the TV. Picture seems good. Yesterday I bought an HDMI plug. I'm having a tough time telling which connection is better. It almost seems as though the RCA plugs look better.

The HDMI plug I have, I bought for $37 from walmart. Is there a big difference in the different HDMI plugs?

Well...several threads here say that SSE is expected on larger screen sets but I can't find any demos at any retail store that has it...mine has it to the point of hurting your eyes.

After many days of calls and negotiating, Samsung has finally agreed to replace set. However, the HLT5676s is on back order and they can't give me a time of restock.

I decided to return set to Amazon, get refund and apply it to the purchase of a new HLT5687S LED set. Hopefully, this one will work correctly. I'll have to shell out an extra $300 but I'll get that back when I dont' have to replace bulb every 2 years.

BEWARE OF HLT5676s. I'm beginning to think that Samsung will probably discontinue for this model year. We'll wait and see.

Bought my HLS5687 seven months ago and wanted the screen checked out for white blotches and the hum in the set (color wheel noisy). The sub contract tech came out and confirmed the screen was bad and ordered a new one, plus color wheel. Two weeks later another tech come out with a color wheel and light engine - no screen. He replaced the light engine and color wheel and of course the blotches were still there. Then he stated the previous tech ordered the wrong part. Got a new engine - thought that was OK. 2.5 days later the TV dies. I called Samsung and two weeks later the tech comes out with parts for the light engine namely the DMD board, ballast and color wheel. He replaces the color wheel, replaces the ballast could not replace the DMD board becuase the mounting screws were stripped out. Two weeks later Samsung wants to replace the set - none in the warehouse. One week later they call and asked if I wanted a refund or replace it with a 5676 and of course none in stock. I visit Best Buy and see a 5676 and low and behold it has a bow problem - I place my pinky finger on the top of the set with light pressure the whole bottom third of the picture was distorted. Went to Circuit City and they had a floor model 5676 I used my hand on the top side and noticed the whole screen dropping about 1/2 inch distorting the picture. Tommorrow I'm asking for a refund and pray they pick up the lump of --- sitting in my living room.

Also, I upgraded to dish's HD DVR on wednesday. At first I was using the RCA plugs (or whatever you call them) to connect to the TV. Picture seems good. Yesterday I bought an HDMI plug. I'm having a tough time telling which connection is better. It almost seems as though the RCA plugs look better.
Go into the HDTV setup menu on the DVR and change the resolution to 1080i and you will see a huge difference, provided you are on an HD channel.

If your RCA plugs are red, green and blue, those are component video (HD) and the picture will look similar to HDMI.

First, a quick summary since it's been ages since I posted. I've had my 5676 for 8 months now and am very pleased overall, despite the minor bowing. After making sure I had a sturdy, flat stand and some experimentation with small shims the bowing is only noticeable (but not ojectionable) if I try to look for it with the menu up. It has not gotten worse over time, which was a worry of mine with the flimsy plastic.

Has anyone had their xx76 professionally calibrated? If so, was the difference significant? I'm having a hard time imagining how the accuracy could be much improved.

Gentlemen, I stumbled across your forum looking for thoughts on the 61" lamp based Samsung. I'm extremely appreciative of all the input I got here. I ran over to BB today and they actually had both the lamp and the LED side by side. I imediately saw the bowing that's been discussed. The LED did have some but it was not very noticable at all... I actually had to stare at it a bit to see the bowing which limited only to the right and left sides about 2 to 3 inches in. At first, I thought it was a no brainer... get the LED, but after playing around with the settings on both along with the help of tv guy who actually knew what he was talking about (and was very aware of the issues with these tv's) I came to the conclusion that the LED does not have as strong a picture as the lamp based model. If you sit in the sweet spot, the picture is magnificent. But if you move off axis even a little bit. the picture begins to degrade fairly rapidly and significantly. Sitting about 2 people or so off to the side, the picture looked pretty lousy... dim, color way off, etc. The lamp base model faired far better in that regard and provided a superior picture taking those common and realistic scenarios into consideration.

So now I'm a bit depressed. Do I buy the LED set with a lesser quality picture and spend more money, or do I buy what I intended and live with a known defect. The question is, will it bother me? I think the anwser will probably be yes.

I don't want to spend an extra $2k or more minimum on a similar sized LCD or plasma. At that point, I'd start looking into spending the extra $$ and get a projector. I have a couple of weeks until new family room is remodeled... so I guess I'll be looking at the Mitsubishi (which has absolutely no bowing) and the Sony KDS 60A3000. Neither sets are as nice asthetically as the Samsung, but at least they're solid tv's. I'll be carefully reading their respective threads along with the Samsun LED thread. If it turns out there's signficant problems with all, I guess I'd just get the lamp based Samsung. It's a tough call no matter how I slice it.

Thanks again for the great info. I stayed up until 2:30 last night reading all 50 pages. Its nice to be an informed buyer.

Great information here. I've had this TV for almost a month and think it is great. I just hooked up my computer from DVI out on the video card to HDMI3/DVI IN for the picture, which works. I also connected RCA cables from the sound card to the TV's "DVI IN" RCA input jacks. I have an optical out going to the receiver. The problem is I am getting no computer sound from the receiver using this set up (didn't think to test sound through the TV, though, since I run all audio through the receiver). I have instead run the RCA cables directly to the receiever, which worked, but would prefer to not have to change the input selection on the receiver when switching from TV to computer. I guess not too big deal in the great scheme of things, but if anyone has an easy solution, I would like to hear it.

BTW, when I first got the TV, I set it on a countertop in built-in cabinets. The countertop is rock-solid and level and there was no bowing at all. I moved to a different spot in the cabinets that is solid, but not perfectly flat. Now I can see a very slight bowing upward in the middle of the screen which seems to correspond with a slight (say 1/32" - 1/16") rise in the middle of the cabinet shelf. I guess if it bugs me enough, I'll use a belt sander to make the shelf perfectly flat. Makes me think that the bowing is due to less than sturdy / flat TV stands or shelves.

First, a quick summary since it's been ages since I posted. I've had my 5676 for 8 months now and am very pleased overall, despite the minor bowing. After making sure I had a sturdy, flat stand and some experimentation with small shims the bowing is only noticeable (but not ojectionable) if I try to look for it with the menu up. It has not gotten worse over time, which was a worry of mine with the flimsy plastic.

Has anyone had their xx76 professionally calibrated? If so, was the difference significant? I'm having a hard time imagining how the accuracy could be much improved.

Yes, I had my HL-T5676 calibrated about a month ago and it was well worth it....very happy with the picture. The HL-T5676 is very calibration friendly. I have my unit on a solid wood platform, no bowing issues that I can see. The only minor distraction is SSE during white background scenes. If I again, had to choose a 56" or larger RP, it would be either a Samsung DLP (bulb), Sony SXRD, Mitsubushi Diamond Series in that order....due to the calibration flexibility.

Makes me think that the bowing is due to less than sturdy / flat TV stands or shelves.

Mine was on a perfectly flat glass television stand. Bowing issues from the beginning. The TV is to blame, not peoples stands, shelves, or tables.

Okay, so now amazon has the 5676 for $1200. That seems to me like it's one helluva deal.

The 5687, which I paid $1364 for, is still sitting downstairs, still dead. I'm waiting for Samsung to come take a look at it and fix/replace it, but maybe I should just order the 5676 instead, and have amazon come pick up this DOA set. I mean, I'll save $164, and heck, maybe the 5676 will stay on for longer than 5 minutes. That'd be nice.

What would you do? Wait for Samsung to fix the 5687, or order the 5676?

You'd probably leave Samsung by now and just get a Sony. I want to. I do. But they're so much more money! :(

I'm having a similar dilemma. I was set on the 61" set. The 57 is probably about right, but the 61" will bring that larger than life experience like you get at the movies. I love the Mits 65 but it's just really too big and they only make a 57... which you may want to look at. It's a beautiful tv, similar in asthetics to the Samsung, but has zero bowing and seems to be a lot sturdier and I think the picture is better than both the lamp or the led Samsungs. They just don't have the size I want.

Take a look at the Mits dlp's. They're pretty damn nice.

My feeling is that as long as you can return the HL-T5676 for a full refund if it initially has unacceptable geometry problems, you should order it. Be sure you test it with some type of grid test pattern with horizontal and vertical lines near the edges. I use the focus pattern from DVE, among others. I was in a B&M store last night, and several makes of DLPs showed bowing along the vertical edges of 4:3 display aspect ratios, including Toshiba. So it is not just Samsung.
By the way, one reason I chose DLP technology over others, such as LCD and SXRD, is that the response time of the DLP micromirrors is listed for this TV as 16 microseconds, which is over 100 times faster than the response time of the liquid crystals in the Sony SXRD, which is about 2.5 milliseconds, if I remember correctly. So, even though the Sony SXRD utilizes a faster 120 Hz refresh rate, the inherent motion display advantage of DLP is still present. (The 120 Hz "display rate" listed for this DLP TV is related to wobulation and is equivalent to a 60 Hz 1920x1080 pixel non-wobulated full frame refresh rate.) Please correct me if these specifications or conclusions are in error. (I'm sure I won't have to wait long!)

Okay, so now amazon has the 5676 for $1200. That seems to me like it's one helluva deal.

The 5687, which I paid $1364 for, is still sitting downstairs, still dead. I'm waiting for Samsung to come take a look at it and fix/replace it, but maybe I should just order the 5676 instead, and have amazon come pick up this DOA set. I mean, I'll save $164, and heck, maybe the 5676 will stay on for longer than 5 minutes. That'd be nice.

What would you do? Wait for Samsung to fix the 5687, or order the 5676?

You'd probably leave Samsung by now and just get a Sony. I want to. I do. But they're so much more money! :(

I recommend the HL-T5676 and return the 5687. The HL-T5676 has an excellent picture after calibration.

My feeling is that as long as you can return the HL-T5676 for a full refund if it initially has unacceptable geometry problems, you should order it. Be sure you test it with some type of grid test pattern with horizontal and vertical lines near the edges. I use the focus pattern from DVE, among others. I was in a B&M store last night, and several makes of DLPs showed bowing along the vertical edges of 4:3 display aspect ratios, including Toshiba. So it is not just Samsung.
By the way, one reason I chose DLP technology over others, such as LCD and SXRD, is that the response time of the DLP micromirrors is listed for this TV as 16 microseconds, which is over 100 times faster than the response time of the liquid crystals in the Sony SXRD, which is about 2.5 milliseconds, if I remember correctly. So, even though the Sony SXRD utilizes a faster 120 Hz refresh rate, the inherent motion display advantage of DLP is still present. (The 120 Hz "display rate" listed for this DLP TV is related to wobulation and is equivalent to a 60 Hz 1920x1080 pixel non-wobulated full frame refresh rate.) Please correct me if these specifications or conclusions are in error. (I'm sure I won't have to wait long!)

I guess the thing is, I just don't want to buy a tv and hope that it's okay and possibly go through the hassle of returning one maybe more than one tv. I spent a solid 2 hours at BB and CC looking at DLPs. The only ones that had bowing issues were the Samsungs though the LED models didn't have any with the exception of one that I could see. I looked at least 4 Mits and 3 Sony's. All had zero bowing. I still love the picture of the Samsung and it still is one of the best TV's furniture-wise. I think it's just bad timing that I need a new tv when they're not able to offer a solid product. I'm still considering the LED because it's the size I want and the picture is okay though not nearly as nice as the lamp model unless you sit in the sweet spot.

I recommend the HL-T5676 and return the 5687. The HL-T5676 has an excellent picture after calibration.

No no no no no. You moron.

I've owned both. I've had both in the same location with the same content tests. The 5676 is a *PIECE OF CRAP* model. The 5687 is superior.

No no no no no. You moron.

I've owned both. I've had both in the same location with the same content tests. The 5676 is a *PIECE OF CRAP* model. The 5687 is superior.

I've heard conflicting opinions on this, but no one speaks with the passion and conviction that you do, so I'll decide to trust you. The 5676 is off the table.

Samsung is coming to look at my 5687 later today. I hope the guy can fix it. If he can't, I'll probably have to go with the Sony KDS55A3000 (I think that number is accurate - it's from memory). That set costs more, but if it stays powered on for more than 3 minutes at a time, well, I'd say that's worth it. ;)

We shall see...

No no no no no. You moron.

I've owned both. I've had both in the same location with the same content tests. The 5676 is a *PIECE OF CRAP* model. The 5687 is superior.

Not sure about the 5687, but I completely dis-agree about the 76 series being a piece of crap. I have the 61" and do have a slight bow (of which, I'm not sure that I would have noticed it if I had not stumbled onto this thread). The compact size and picture completely blow me away. After days of stomping through the stores doing research and looking for the best deal/picture, I landed on the 6176 and have no regrets at all. I did get the extended warranty and will probably have them fix/replace as the unit gets older, but it in no way constitutes a "piece of crap" label.

My opinion only, albeit I've probably just assumed the moron label as well ;).

No no no no no. You moron.

I guess I'm a moron, too, since I love my "piece of crap." In 8 months of having friends and family over to watch movies on blu-ray, not a single person has noticed the bowing. Without exception, all have commented on the detail and color, even those who own HDTVs. Clearly there have been examples with excessive bowing, but I don't know of a competing model with comparable cost, detail, accuracy, contrast, black levels, and sub-12" depth.

OK I'm a moron too....I purchased 2 5076's last Aug.07 and I love em! I laugh everytime I read about what a piece of junk it is.I got a great deal,2 yrs to pay and everyone that sees my TV is blown away with the PQ! Mooninite had a bad experience and Hates the 76's.Thats understandable and his choice.I'm very happy with the choice I made.

I've heard conflicting opinions on this, but no one speaks with the passion and conviction that you do, so I'll decide to trust you. The 5676 is off the table.

JerseyJeff,
If I were you, I would stroll through the stores and take a look at the competing companies/technologies and get a first hand experience. I spoke up as did a couple of others at how pleased we are with the 76 series and I'm sure there are more then a bucket full of "pleased" users just like us...human nature has that we speak loudly when not pleased and keep to ourselves when content (hence the reason you do not hear more of the positive thoughts on the system as opposed to the negative).

I would also suggest being careful with listening/following the person that speaks with the most passion and conviction...didn't work out to well for the Nazi party as one example ;).

Add me to the list of "morons" who love their HL-T6176, warts and all. Every day at work I just think of coming home to watch that TV. No one notices the slight bow on the bottom right hand corner unless it is pointed out to them and everyone who comes over appears to be captivated by the home theater experience this TV produces. Stopping down the iris in the service menu really helped lower the black level for a plasma-like contrast ratio. As I stated before, I just hope the bowing doesn't gradually get worse over time.

I had a horrible experience with the repair guy that was coming to fix the crooked picture on my 5076s. I ended up just telling him that I was satisfied when I wasn't just to get him out of my house. He left the picture worse than it was, but him coming allowed me to discover the tilt screws in the back. I got everything looking pretty level except for the top of the screen--it is off probably 1.5 cm from end to end and the tilt screws to not seem to effect the top of the screen, only the bottom. Does anyone know how to adjust the top of the screen?

I had a horrible experience with the repair guy that was coming to fix the crooked picture on my 5076s. I ended up just telling him that I was satisfied when I wasn't just to get him out of my house. He left the picture worse than it was, but him coming allowed me to discover the tilt screws in the back. I got everything looking pretty level except for the top of the screen--it is off probably 1.5 cm from end to end and the tilt screws to not seem to effect the top of the screen, only the bottom. Does anyone know how to adjust the top of the screen?

Where are said screws and how are they adjusted!? :eek::eek:

Four phillips-head screws are arranged about evenly in rectangular recesses along the upper back of the case. These apparently permit vertical movement of the upper mirror in relation to the chassis and screen. Slightly inside the outer-most phillips screws on either side are two larger single-slotted screws which perform up or down adjustment of each end of the mirror once all the phillips screws are loosened. After the adjustment, the phillips screws should be tightened down. (This TV is so delicate and lightly constructed that I wouldn't suggest tightening anything down too tight for fear of warping something.) I got this information from another post, and have used these adjustments to adjust tilt at the bottom of the screen and minimize vertical bowing, with some indirect improvement in horizontal bowing. Use this information at your own risk, because it takes time and trial-and-effort to get noticeable improvements and can make things worse. I would assume these adjustments were originally made at the factory to be pretty close, so if major changes are needed then probably the factory adjustments changed during shipping or during other rough handling of the TV. (Just like John Madden, I'm stating the obvious!)

Can someone explain the Just Scan setting? Does it get rid of overscan? Is it possible over any input to get a 1:1 pixel mapping?