Samsung HLS-5679W LED DLP Owners Thread (*NO PRICE TALK)

[klac]

Samsung 2006 HLS5679W (1080p) Series Owner's thread



FAQs:

1. LED light engine replaces the UHP bulb and color wheel.
2. Only available in 56".
3. RBE is assumed to be eliminated.
4. Stated power consumption 230W / Measured consumption ~180W (Details).
5. There is very little fan noise - it is only detectable from the side air vent at close range.
6. Overscan will remain off. (How To)
7. Starter Settings
8. ***How to fix the power cycling issue

Samsung Links:

Product Page
PDF Spec Sheet
Quick Guide (ver. 1.0)
User Manual (ver. 1.0)
SamsungParts.com
Service Manual order form

Other Links:

Current and Future Samsung LED Owners Thread
Samsung HLS xx87/xx88 Tech Links
Just what's inside a Sammy 'S' 1080 DLP?
Samsung 1080p Owner's Thread --- HLSxx87W/HLSxx88W DLP Models
Samsung 71" 1080P DLP HL-S7178W (owners)

** Let me know if there is additional information that should be posted here. **

[klac]

Starter Settings
Digital NR - OFF
DNIe - Off
Mode - Movie
Contrast - 70
Brightness - 40
Sharpness - 0
Color - 45
Tint - G50/R50
Color Tone - Warm2 (or Warm1 if it appears too red)

[klac]

DVD content from Samsung DVD-HD860 upconverting to 1080i over HDMI:


SD content from Dish 301 receiver over S-Video:


JPEG image over Wiselink:


OTA content (Fox 720p, UPN 1080i, CBS 1080i):

[klac]

From Owner's Thread v1.0:

Originally Posted by luidoly

I guess I don't belong in this thread any longer, as my set was delivered yesterday by Brandsmart in Miami as promised, now I'm no longer a "future" but a "present" owner of the HLS 5679 Brandsmart even match my pre-order price from Tweeter just by showing the pre-order invoice, no questions asked. The waiting became too painfull with Tweeter, 3 months plus.
Any way, I'm only half way tru setting up (very busy at work) but I can truly say I'm impressed, I have only been able to set the Direct Tv/Tivo receiver to watch HD and SD thru the HDMI and
so far my first thoughts about turning DNile off and setting Standard Mode with the contrast down to about 70 or 75 have not changed, there is plenty of contrast to play around with, so those that don't think this TV is bright or contrasty are wrong. DNile and Dynamic mode produce too much over saturated colors and contrasty screen. I have brought down color and contrast using Standard Mode for stunning HD feeds from the STB, screen is smooth, not blotchy andwith great detail in the shadows, I watch the Letterman show and a baseball game in HD feed last nite and literally fell of the couch, SD feeds OTA like all SD feeds are so, so depending on the station, Instant turn on, no RBE's, no noise, this set is very light.
Well I got to play some more and set up My DVD recorder. Hope this helps.

[klac]

Purchased: August 8th, 2006
Build date: July 3rd, 2006
Firmware revision: 1.0
Startup time: 10 secs. (between pushing power on remote until the picture is displayed)

Components:
DVD: Samsung DVD-HD860
STB: Dish 301
AVR: Panasonic SA-XR57K
Remote: Harmony 520
Stand: TR50X3B

Impressions/Observations:
My first impression was not so good viewing SD content from Dish. I then modified the settings to display in the normal 4:3 size, set the Mode to Standard, and used the settings recommended by Eliab for the xx88's. Dish looks much better now and is pretty close to the quality of my old CRT. (But MUCH bigger! )
DVD content is excellent.
OTA content ranges between excellent and horrible. I don't have an antenna hooked up yet, using speaker wire until I can find one.

Issues reported by xx87/xx88 owners:
1) I have no screen smudges or triangles.
2) The coax input is warm but not hot.
3) I have slight pincushioning on 4:3 content. It's about 1/8th of an inch. Noticable but not distracting.
4) The geometry on widescreen content appears perfect but I measured that it tilts about 1/16th of an inch.

Other Notes:
1) Brightness starts to drop off around 50 degrees off center and remains decent until around 70 degrees.

[Yoda1]

Originally Posted by klac

DVD content from Samsung DVD-HD860 upconverting to 1080i over HDMI:


SD content from Dish 301 receiver over S-Video:


JPEG image over Wiselink:

DVD shots look great. SD content doesn't look at all bad considering the size. More impressions please.

[ToxMox]

Great job klac! I look forward to seeing more pics and getting more of your thoughts as you continue your journey with this TV. This is the TV I'm planning on getting when I move into a house in the next few months and I love reading about it.

[htwaits]

Congratulations on your new LED set. I'm looking forward to seeing one in a couple of weeks.

We have to make sure that "UMR/Eliab/David Abrams" post their impressions as soon as they have a chance to calibrate one.

Based on what you have reported, it seem likely that the HL-S5697 has a higher gain screen than the other HLS models. That would explain the slightly reduced horizontal viewing area. Increasing gain was probably done for the showroom.

Enjoy.

[ToxMox]

Originally Posted by klac

1) Brightness starts to drop off around 50 degrees off center and remains decent until around 70 degrees.

Regarding viewing angle. How is the vertical viewing angle when looking up or down at the TV?

[klac]

Originally Posted by htwaits

Increasing gain was probably done for the showroom.

Progress!

[f300v10]

klac, could you please comment on black levels and shadow detail?

[klac]

Originally Posted by ToxMox

Regarding viewing angle. How is the vertical viewing angle when looking up or down at the TV?

The manual says 30 degrees at 6.6'. That might be technically true, but I wouldn't consider it watchable. I'd say that it starts to noticably drop around 10-15 degrees and when you get to 30 you're losing enough brightness that it's not acceptable. I'd put the practical limit around 20-25 degrees.

Unless you're standing or laying on the floor closer than 4' (subject to stand height and your height) I don't see it as a problem.

[klac]

Originally Posted by f300v10

klac, could you please comment on black levels and shadow detail?

I'd be glad to, except I'm not sure what to compare it to. My inexpert and subjective opinion would be that they are excellent. This is my first HDTV and have only had CRT's prior. If you would find value in a comparison with an 8 yr old CRT I can compare a DVD like The Matrix? by viewing them at the same time.

[brbrice]

Does this model tune unencrypted HD cable channels (QAM)? I've briefly looked over the specs and didn't see a specific mention to this. I remember that the HLS-xx87Ws don't but that the HLS-xx88Ws do.

Because this has CableCard, then it should also be able to turn QAM, correct?

Thanks,
-Brian

[ptwat]

Originally Posted by brbrice

Does this model tune unencrypted HD cable channels (QAM)? I've briefly looked over the specs and didn't see a specific mention to this. I remember that the HLS-xx87Ws don't but that the HLS-xx88Ws do.

Because this has CableCard, then it should also be able to turn QAM, correct?

Thanks,
-Brian

It would need a QAM tuner make the Cablecard useful.

[f300v10]

Originally Posted by klac

I'd be glad to, except I'm not sure what to compare it to. My inexpert and subjective opinion would be that they are excellent. This is my first HDTV and have only had CRT's prior. If you would find value in a comparison with an 8 yr old CRT I can compare a DVD like The Matrix? by viewing them at the same time.

I have had an HLP4674 for 2 years now, and the only thing I wish the set had was better black levels. If I am viewing a movie that was shot 2.35:1, the bars above and below the picture are gray, not black. This is very evident when viewing a dark scene in a dark viewing room. On my CRT the bars are black. So a comparison of the black levels of your 5679 with a CRT would be great. The Matrix was shot 2.35:1, so that would do nicely. Thanks.

[351CJ]

Originally Posted by brbrice

Does this model tune unencrypted HD cable channels (QAM)? I've briefly looked over the specs and didn't see a specific mention to this. I remember that the HLS-xx87Ws don't but that the HLS-xx88Ws do.

Because this has CableCard, then it should also be able to turn QAM, correct?

Thanks,
-Brian

Although the data sheet is not clear about QAM, if you download the user's manual you'll see that it says it has QAM capability.

[Jethro Jackson]

I see that the contrast ratio on the LCD is 4000:1 whereas ths HL-S DLP series with bulbs is 10,000:1 Should this be a concern or do the other benefits of LCD outweigh this difference?

Thanks!

[dfwald]

Originally Posted by Jethro Jackson

I see that the contrast ratio on the LCD is 4000:1 whereas ths HL-S DLP series with bulbs is 10,000:1 Should this be a concern or do the other benefits of LCD outweigh this difference?

Thanks!

I think we are all wondering how this much lower contrast ratio translates to viewing experience. Would be great to directly compare some different source material side by side (LED set vs HLS5687 or HLS5688 set). Does anyone know some good DVD's to try out to see contrast ratio differences? How does one higher contrast ratio make a better picture anyway? Blacker blacks? Better shadow detail?

[Eido]

Originally Posted by klac

The manual says 30 degrees at 6.6'. That might be technically true, but I wouldn't consider it watchable. I'd say that it starts to noticably drop around 10-15 degrees and when you get to 30 you're losing enough brightness that it's not acceptable. I'd put the practical limit around 20-25 degrees.

Unless you're standing or laying on the floor closer than 4' (subject to stand height and your height) I don't see it as a problem.

Klac,
Sitting 10' back, on a couch that is 2' high, do you think a 4' stand is too high for this television?
Why 4ft? Well, my wife and I made an agreement that I can pick out our new TV only if she can pick out the furniture it will be resting on.
Well, while I'm waiting for the release of this television she goes out and gets this "designer" furniture (damn wives!).
I have to say that its a great piece of furniture as it is large enough to house all my components, dvd's and even has space for all my game controllers and it looks great but it is friggen 4 ft high.
I am hoping this TV will still work but if it doesn't, I guess I'll move along to the plasma threads

Thanks in advance for your opinion.

[RiderOnTheStorm]

I see this thread is acceptable. It made a HUGE difference that the originator of this thread owns the set. We couldn't have possibly gained anything from a thread started by a non owner.

[f300v10]

Originally Posted by dfwald

I think we are all wondering how this much lower contrast ratio translates to viewing experience. Would be great to directly compare some different source material side by side (LED set vs HLS5687 or HLS5688 set). Does anyone know some good DVD's to try out to see contrast ratio differences? How does one higher contrast ratio make a better picture anyway? Blacker blacks? Better shadow detail?

Since it is a ratio, it could be lower for 3 reasons:

A) The brightest image is less bright
B) The darkest black is less dark
C) A combination of both A and B

We are pretty sure the 5679 is less bright overall than a lamp based DLP, so part of the lower contrast is due to reason A. The bigger question for me is how much of it is due to reason B. Black levels play a big role in how good a picture a TV has. A set with high black levels will look washed out on scenes with low light, and have poor shadow details. A contrast of 4000:1 is still pretty good so the 5679 wont look bad under those conditions, but it may not do as well as the lamp based HLS models.

[brbrice]

Originally Posted by Eido

Sitting 10' back, on a couch that is 2'' high, do you think a 4' stand is too high for this television?

I thought you had mis-typed... switching inches and feet (?) in the last part of your sentence, but then you go and explain the 4 foot high tv stand. Do you really sit on a 2 INCH high couch?

-Brian

[brbrice]

Another question for you owners,

Do the overscan settings (modified in the service menu) save like the 88's or reset like the 87's? I would really like to hook a HTPC to this set and being able to eliminate the overscan (on the TV instead of using a custom resolution) would be VERY nice!

Thanks in advance,
-Brian

[dfwald]

Originally Posted by brbrice

I thought you had mis-typed... switching inches and feet (?) in the last part of your sentence, but then you go and explain the 4 foot high tv stand. Do you really sit on a 2 INCH high couch?

-Brian

Hmmm, my couch cushion is only 18" high off the floor so you must have a very high couch to be sitting 2 foot off the floor. Assuming it is really my couch height (and almost every others), a 4' high stand will have you looking up at the TV most probably and you might have a small light falloff due to the sensitive vertical angle. It might be a good idea to draw a scale side view drawing on a piece of paper and measure the angle from where your eyes will be to the middle of the screen to see how far off the vertical axis you will be. It should be pretty easy to come up with that drawing once you know the height of your eyes above the couch seat.

[Eido]

Originally Posted by brbrice

I thought you had mis-typed... switching inches and feet (?) in the last part of your sentence, but then you go and explain the 4 foot high tv stand. Do you really sit on a 2 INCH high couch?

-Brian

lol, I mean 2 ft. Thanks for the correction and yes, my couch is more like 18 inches but I am just rounding up as the stand is really 37inches high (measured it when I got home).

[Eido]

Originally Posted by dfwald

Hmmm, my couch cushion is only 18" high off the floor so you must have a very high couch to be sitting 2 foot off the floor. Assuming it is really my couch height (and almost every others), a 4' high stand will have you looking up at the TV most probably and you might have a small light falloff due to the sensitive vertical angle. It might be a good idea to draw a scale side view drawing on a piece of paper and measure the angle from where your eyes will be to the middle of the screen to see how far off the vertical axis you will be. It should be pretty easy to come up with that drawing once you know the height of your eyes above the couch seat.

Great! Thanks for the idea, I'll do as suggested.

[klac]

Originally Posted by Eido

Klac,
Sitting 10' back, on a couch that is 2' high, do you think a 4' stand is too high for this television?
Why 4ft? Well, my wife and I made an agreement that I can pick out our new TV only if she can pick out the furniture it will be resting on.
Well, while I'm waiting for the release of this television she goes out and gets this "designer" furniture (damn wives!).
I have to say that its a great piece of furniture as it is large enough to house all my components, dvd's and even has space for all my game controllers and it looks great but it is friggen 4 ft high.
I am hoping this TV will still work but if it doesn't, I guess I'll move along to the plasma threads

Thanks in advance for your opinion.

Dang, that's high! Well I did some quick measurements and a test and I think you'll be fine. At 37" your stand is 19" taller than mine and my couch is 19" high. So I sat on the floor at 10' and didn't notice a difference in brightness. If you notice a difference you could always add a slight tilt to the TV. In the 7178 thread there's a pic of one.

[klac]

I just added some OTA HD pics to post #3.

[locomo]

Originally Posted by klac

I'd be glad to, except I'm not sure what to compare it to. My inexpert and subjective opinion would be that they are excellent. This is my first HDTV and have only had CRT's prior. If you would find value in a comparison with an 8 yr old CRT I can compare a DVD like The Matrix? by viewing them at the same time.

Yes, please compare shadow detail to the CRT.