Samsung 1080p Owner's Thread --- HLSxx87W/HLSxx88W DLP Models

[UCSB]

Samsung 2006 HLSxx87W/HLSxx88W (1080p) Series Owner's thread

Now that the 2006 TVs are shipping, we need somewhere to talk about them specifically! This thread will contain information on the HL-Sxx87W and HL-Sxx88W series of 2006 Samsung DLPs.

Samsung links:

Press Release

HL-S5087W
Product Page: Coming Soon!
PDF Spec Sheet: http://www.samsung.com/Products/TV/D...es/hls5087.pdf

HL-S5687W
Product Page: http://www.samsung.com/Products/TV/D...S5687WXXAA.asp
PDF Spec Sheet: Coming Soon!

HL-S6187W
Product Page: http://www.samsung.com/Products/TV/D...S6187WXXAA.asp
PDF Spec Sheet: http://www.samsung.com/Products/TV/...s6187_final.pdf

HL-S6187W

Photo by TetsujinWave

HL-Sxx87W Poster

Photo by TetsujinWave

[Evil-Rage]

Alright, so I just spent the last couple of hours watching The Matrix on my new HL-S6187. At first the PQ didn't seem any better than my old HLP, but I played with the settings a little bit and got everything working to where I liked it.

The remote has a function for P.Mode (Picture Mode) and the default is custom. Cycling through the options gives you: Custom, Dynamic, Standard, and Movie. The first three options all looked the same to me, and the picture looked a bit noisy. I changed it to 'movie' and almost ALL the noise in the picture was eliminated, the picture was darkened a bit, and I was much MUCH happier with the picture. When in movie mode, DNIe is automatically disabled, along with 'my color control' in the picture menu. Digital NR remains selectable, and the 'on' setting worked better for me.

Looks like movie mode is a predefined setting for contrast, brightness, sharpness and color. I imagine the others are similar.

Turning Game Mode on gets rid of any picture optimzations that were made, and the image is degraded significantly. Going from game mode off to on while picture mode is set to movie shows a clear IQ disadvantage in game mode. It looks like it doesn't matter what you set the custom picture/color options to, as game mode appears to disregard them all. I'll experiment some more to see if it actually does help processing time for gaming. Unforutunately, you have to navigate to the TV's setup menu to toggle Game Mode, rather than having a button on the remote for it. A minor inconvenience, but with the amount of apparently unused buttons on the remote you'd think they could have included it. I'm hoping I can program it with my Harmony 880.

I thought I'd also point out a couple of quick things:
-No extremely bright/visible indicators of standby or on mode, meaning no bright distractions whether the set is on or off.
-The fan on the light is still pretty quiet, IMHO. Certainly much quieter than my PC (although that's not saying much, with this beast).

Hope this information is of use to somebody. =)

Evil-Rage

[Evil-Rage]

UCSB, I don't believe the grill shown in the 2nd photo is representative of what I have on my TV, as in that particular spot the TV is a glossy black (just like the rest of the bezel, front, etc). I suppose it's possible Samsung changed the design since then? I'll take pictures as soon as I can to show what I mean.

EDIT: Game Mode is FREAKING AWESOME! I don't notice ANY lag at all while playing Beatmania (A timing based game like DDR) especially compared to my HLP! And when I played Beatmania at a local Best Buy (they had it on display hooked up to a small wide LCD) I immediately noticed how responsive the TV was... well, it felt the same here at home! Something tells me I'll be playing lots more games with this TV...

Evil-Rage

[HHAERO2]

Can you test for 5.1 passthrough?

[DLPORLCD]

Does this tv have picture in picture?

[minoten]

CableCard?
TV-Guide?
Picture-in-Picture?
Gloss Black finish around picture edge (Glare?)
PC Connectivity with HDMI Inputs?

[shtdawg]

Are you using an AV receiver for audio? If so, do you notice any av sync issues (compared to your hlr)? I know this is a problem with many tv's, but the hlr seemed to have more complaints with this. Unfortunatly my av receiver doesnt have an audio delay option.

Thanks,

Sean

[lipcrkr]

I got all excited thinking the 88's were in here. Nothing. The 88's seem just as mysterious as the A2000 SXRD's. Perhaps they're being made at the same factory in North Korea?

[TheAccuser]

Does anyone else find it strange that the main description for the HL-S6187W says "61" Widescreen DLP® HDTV with 720p Resolution"...what's up with that? Why in the world would they not promote the 1080p res?

[aaronwt]

What about the other typo. It says CRYAN instead of CYAN. You would think they would have someone proof read the web text.

[TheAccuser]

I guess that page isn't officially up yet...I don't think you can navigate to it from their site. But still...

[hifisponge]

I'm a bit confused. The spec sheet says the xx87 series is both 720p and 1080p. Which is it? If both the xx87 and xx88 series are 1080p, what is the difference between them?

[teddertots]

Originally Posted by Evil-Rage

UCSB, I don't believe the grill shown in the 2nd photo is representative of what I have on my TV, as in that particular spot the TV is a glossy black (just like the rest of the bezel, front, etc). I suppose it's possible Samsung changed the design since then? I'll take pictures as soon as I can to show what I mean.

It looks to me that the second photo might be mislabled. If you take a closer look at the first picture, the 61" appears to have a solid gloss black bezel under the silver strip as you describe, while the tv to it's left which is barely visible looks like it has the cloth looking grill shown in the second photo.

Also, Evil-Rage - did you happen to get the matching stand that's pictured?

Originally Posted by hifisponge

I'm a bit confused. The spec sheet says the xx87 series is both 720p and 1080p. Which is it? If both the xx87 and xx88 series are 1080p, what is the difference between them?

They're both 1080p (Samsung's web pages need a little proofreading). From all the speculation in the other thread on the HLS sets, it's possible the 88's will add 10 bit processing, Firewire, CableCard, and PIP. I've yet to see any official press or photos of the 88 series tho. Hopefully Evil-Rage can let us know if any of those features are on his HL-S6187.

I'd also love to hear if there are any lip sync issues when sending video to the tv and audio seperately to a receiver. Or if you can pass the 5.1 audio via HDMI thru the TV to a receiver.

Anxiously awaiting TVA's Powerbuy!

[hifisponge]

teddertots - thanks for the clarifcation, saved me a bunch of search time!

My only complaint with the HLR 1080p sets was some color banding, aka dithering. Where there should have been smooth gradiations of color there were distinct bands instead. I wonder if this has been fixed in the HLS series or if you have to go with the 10bit color capabilities of the xx88 series to solve that issue.

[Evil-Rage]

So here's my setup:

Samsung HL-S6187W 1080p HDTV
Denon 3806 A/V receiver
Denon 3910 Upconverting DVD Player
7.1 Klipsch Speaker configuration (1xSC-3, 2x SF-3, 4xSS-3, 1xKSW-12)
Japanese Playstation 2
American Playstation 2
Xbox
Pelican System Selector Pro (All gaming consoles are routed through this)

I am NOT using the TV as a passthrough for audio, my DVD-player is connected directly to the receiver via optical and DenonLink (Currently using optical).

No Lip Sync issues, as far as I can tell. Actually, lip sync is much better than my HLP - I have been using Game Mode while gaming, and it really improves the processing speed of the TV, and I don't notice a delay at all. However, this degrades the image quality slightly, and as such, cannot be used except with consoles where that degradation is acceptable.

teddertots, I did not get the matching stand. Instead, I opted for the BDI Vector 9527 (picture) since I got a great deal on it. It actually looks fantastic, it was one of the few stands that caught my eye at Magnolia while I was looking at stands/TVs. (And the width is PERFECT for my TV!)

For those confused, the TV definitely outputs a 1080p resolution, and accepts 1080p on both HDMI inputs. Samsung's brochures and PDFs are full of typos, but they're all we really have at the moment, official information-wise.

minoten -
- cablecard: No
- TV Guide: Unsure, don't have cable/DirecTV
- Picture-in-Picture: Nothing mentioned in the manual about this
- Glossy black finish: yes, and I think it looks good, personally. The bezel is thin enough where anything reflected is not really noticable.
- PC Connectivity w/HDMI: The manual specifically says this is not possible, and does not support hooking up via an HDMI-DVI adapter.

[dfwald]

Evil Rage, that stand you have is very nice looking. Are the black legs on it shiny to match the TV though? Or matte black? What is the max height of objects you can place in the shelves? I want to make sure my 7" high center speaker can fit there and receiver and dvd player can fit on another shelf.
Thanks in advance.

[UCSB]

Originally Posted by Evil-Rage

UCSB, I don't believe the grill shown in the 2nd photo is representative of what I have on my TV, as in that particular spot the TV is a glossy black (just like the rest of the bezel, front, etc). I suppose it's possible Samsung changed the design since then? I'll take pictures as soon as I can to show what I mean.

EDIT: Game Mode is FREAKING AWESOME! I don't notice ANY lag at all while playing Beatmania (A timing based game like DDR) especially compared to my HLP! And when I played Beatmania at a local Best Buy (they had it on display hooked up to a small wide LCD) I immediately noticed how responsive the TV was... well, it felt the same here at home! Something tells me I'll be playing lots more games with this TV...

Evil-Rage

Thanks for the update. I will remove the grill picture until we can get an updated photo.

[UCSB]

Originally Posted by lipcrkr

I got all excited thinking the 88's were in here. Nothing. The 88's seem just as mysterious as the A2000 SXRD's. Perhaps they're being made at the same factory in North Korea?

I included the 88's in this thread because they will be out soon and it makes sense to have all of the 1080p models in one thread. Sorry if you were looking for owner info on the 88 series ... I do have some photos of the HLS7178W shown at CES that I could post. But, after the grill change on the HLSxx87W who knows what cabinet changes may be in the works on the 88 series.

[lipcrkr]

Originally Posted by teddertots

It looks to me that the second photo might be mislabled. If you take a closer look at the first picture, the 61" appears to have a solid gloss black bezel under the silver strip as you describe, while the tv to it's left which is barely visible looks like it has the cloth looking grill shown in the second photo.

Also, Evil-Rage - did you happen to get the matching stand that's pictured?


They're both 1080p (Samsung's web pages need a little proofreading). From all the speculation in the other thread on the HLS sets, it's possible the 88's will add 10 bit processing, Firewire, CableCard, and PIP. I've yet to see any official press or photos of the 88 series tho. Hopefully Evil-Rage can let us know if any of those features are on his HL-S6187.

I'd also love to hear if there are any lip sync issues when sending video to the tv and audio seperately to a receiver. Or if you can pass the 5.1 audio via HDMI thru the TV to a receiver.

Anxiously awaiting TVA's Powerbuy!

These are supposedly the specs and features of the upgraded 78/88 series.
http://www.tvauthority.com/Coming-So...-HL-S5078W.asp

[UCSB]

Originally Posted by teddertots

It looks to me that the second photo might be mislabled. If you take a closer look at the first picture, the 61" appears to have a solid gloss black bezel under the silver strip as you describe, while the tv to it's left which is barely visible looks like it has the cloth looking grill shown in the second photo.

After going back and looking at the high resolution photos that I have, it appears that Samsung may have shown two cabinet options at CES. One with the grill and one with a solid area where the grill was located. They just decided the cabinet without the grill was the way to go and that model went into production. They may have been looking for dealer feedback on the two options at the show or made the design change to late to alter all of the cabinets.

[UCSB]

Evil-Rage ... I know this is a tough question, but would you hazard to guess if there are any PQ improvements over the HLR models ... or PQ degradation over the HLR models? From your comments so far, it does not sound like there are any PQ improvements. But, the important gaming and AV sync changes are welcome improvements.

[Evil-Rage]

Originally Posted by dfwald

Evil Rage, that stand you have is very nice looking. Are the black legs on it shiny to match the TV though? Or matte black? What is the max height of objects you can place in the shelves? I want to make sure my 7" high center speaker can fit there and receiver and dvd player can fit on another shelf.
Thanks in advance.

The black legs are actually just flat wooden panels that are screwed in to the front of the stand for decor and to cover where the stand attaches to the actual legs. They also hold the bottom two pieces of glass in place. I think it looks sharp though, and it matches my black (wood) front tower speakers and my two black wooden cabinets.

The center shelf is adjustable. I moved it to the lowest possible setting and can barely fit my 8" tall center channel there, and there are slightly less than 4.5" left for anything between the center shelf and the bottom shelf.

Regarding the speaker grill on the front, the speakers on my HL-S6187 are located underneath the screen, in the recessed area above the buttons. It's actually kind of nice, you can't see them, no grills, looks really clean.

[Evil-Rage]

I've been messing around with my new Harmony 880, and while the TV isn't recognized by Logitech yet, it seems to be working okay. After some minor tweaking, I was able to get the TV, Receiver, and DVD player working together easily. The hardest part was Game Mode... I created a macro for my component input that used individual IR commands from the remote to enable game mode on switching to component and disable it when doing anything else... can't even see what's happening, only verification is that game mode is on when it needs to be and off when it needs to be, and without me manually adjusting; so, needless to say, it's working!

Evil-Rage

[dfwald]

Originally Posted by Evil-Rage

The black legs are actually just flat wooden panels that are screwed in to the front of the stand for decor and to cover where the stand attaches to the actual legs. They also hold the bottom two pieces of glass in place. I think it looks sharp though, and it matches my black (wood) front tower speakers and my two black wooden cabinets.

The center shelf is adjustable. I moved it to the lowest possible setting and can varely fit my 8" tall center channel there, and there are slightly less than 4.5" left for anything between the center shelf and the bottom shelf.

Regarding the speaker grill on the front, the speakers on my HL-S6187 are located underneath the screen, in the recessed area above the buttons. It's actually kind of nice, you can't see them, no grills, looks really clean.

So it doesn't sound like the black pieces are glossy. Guess they can be painted glossy black to match the TV and my glossy black speakers. I'm more concerned about the spacing on the two shelves. Hard to believe you only get a total of 11.5" vertical space for both shelves. Can you tell me the width of available space on each shelf? I'd need 37 inches to fit a receiver next to my speaker.

[mtw76mtw]

I thought I was still dreaming when I got online this morning and saw this thread title. I wiped my eyes a few times, but it's still here. Wow!

UCSB, thanks for taking the time to post the thread and keep it updated with all the latest news and info.

Evil-Rage, thanks for the time to post your results and answer questions. I'm glad to hear that the Game Mode seems very worthwhile and that the audio sync issues haven't reared their ugly head yet. So far, so good!

Do you have a digital camera so you could post a picture or two of your set & setup?

[Evil-Rage]

Originally Posted by dfwald

So it doesn't sound like the black pieces are glossy. Guess they can be painted glossy black to match the TV and my glossy black speakers. I'm more concerned about the spacing on the two shelves. Hard to believe you only get a total of 11.5" vertical space for both shelves. Can you tell me the width of available space on each shelf? I'd need 37 inches to fit a receiver next to my speaker.

The shelves are 4 feet wide, with nothing on the sides to keep you from going beyond that, except for the legs at the corners for the first inch or two. You get a little less than 18 inches of depth, as well, with it tapering down a bit as you get towards the sides (the glass is curved).

mtw76mtw: Unfortunately, my digital camera isn't working properly (it's getting fixed) and my gf took her camera with her to LA, so I'm camera-less at least until Thursday or so. I'll take some pictures as soon as I can.

[BHenning37]

Is the middle shelf removable? Reason I'm asking is that the center channel I'm looking at is 12.1" tall and I'm wondering if that would fit at all.

[BriWeZ]

Thanks for the info Evil,

I plan on getting the same tv in a couple months.

The only thing that has me concerned is the 10 bit processing on the 88 model. Do you think it's going to be a big difference? My store is only going to get the 87 model I believe so it looks like I'll end up having to get that one..

Oh yeah , I'm getting that same Klipsch system too!

[RichNY]

So evil:

First congrats - on having what appears to be the first HL-Sxx!
When/where did you get it and what did you hear about availability as many of us are looking for this and not necessarily going to use the Powerbuy whenever that arrives.

Also, interested in your comment about DNie being autoff when in movie mode - as there is much belief that DNie is the primary cause of audio/video sync problems. So, somehow you can see that the optioning for DNie is off when you go into movie mode?

So from my experience with the HL-R6168, 2 suggestions:
- if you have (I assume yes) an HD cable box, connect it with HDMI. much better experience all around. Indeed, everything is better, once again IMHO via HDMI.
-consider getting an upconversion DVD player (I settled on the panny s97s approx 6mos ago after returning the oppo and the samsung and avoiding the sony for various reasons) so that less video processing needs to be done in the set. This is also a sort of cure for audio/video sync when watching dvd's.

[nikolausp]

Originally Posted by BriWeZ

Thanks for the info Evil,

I plan on getting the same tv in a couple months.

The only thing that has me concerned is the 10 bit processing on the 88 model. Do you think it's going to be a big difference? My store is only going to get the 87 model I believe so it looks like I'll end up having to get that one..

Oh yeah , I'm getting that same Klipsch system too!

If you're concerned about the 10 bit processing, why not just get the 88 model then? Why would you think you'll have to go with the 87 model just becaues that's whay "your store" is getting? I just don't really understand I guess. A couple hundo extra for 10bit alone is worth it... not even counting the extra features you get with the 88. (PiP, etc)