2008 Samsung HL61A750 LED DLP owners thread and FAQ - Page 8

Triple-X, were you able to get your set up and running to test it? If so, what did you think? Any issues? I'm getting mine on Friday and am kind of curious.

The camera, I think I would be sending this back otherwise. As it is I may still send it back if I can't get that smudge out.

Ok.. well i was able to make it out to my house (house in progress that is) to test my 61a750.
First things first. I have to say I'm rather disappointed with how Samsung packages these big expensive TVs for shipment. I mean, as most of you have seen, the TV has a thin foam bag over it, then two Styrofoam corner feet (L&R) are put in a cardboard box bottom and the set w/ bag over it is set into the Styrofoam feet. There are 2 round 3ft cardboard poles(rear), and 2 3ft cardboard corner pieces(front), one for each corner presumably to prevent the box from being crushed from top to bottom, then two more upper Styrofoam corners(L&R) for the top corners of the tv, with a middle Styrofoam piece over the top center of the tv. at that point the box top goes over and down to the cardboard base where two plastic handle clips pop in to hold the box top and bottom together, and finally two nylon white straps around it in the event that the handle clips come off.

My point is this. for one.. in shipping it would be ridiculously easy for anything to puncture the front of the box, and penetrate the thin cardboard & thin foam bag immediately damaging the screen(yes there is nothing else in between!). for that reason alone, you would think Samsung would invest a little more into shipping to assure that these do not arrive at stores completely damaged and worthless. The actual corners are FAR better protected that the screen itself!
And secondly, due to the case design of this and other similar sets, its my opinion that the geometry issues are the direct result of the poor packaging.
I say this because when we unpacked mine, we ONLY removed the top box portion and left the TV on the two bottom Styrofoam feet(which were obviously still in the cardboard bottom) in case there were issues we could easily re-box it to return.

Well, instantly and to my complete surprise, I noticed how flimsy the TV's casing felt. By merely pushing lightly on either of the top corners it resulted in major "screen sway". Before i had noticed that, We had removed the box top. I powered it up which was fine. then I loaded my thumb drive and checked the current firmware, and immediately upgraded to 1005.3.

With the firmware upgrade successful I went on to load a jpeg image of a test grid(the one on the first page of this thread).
Upon doing so I instantly saw the the same geometry issues previously shown by AdamWL in the 61a750 discussion thread. It was then that I attempted to straighten the grid on the screen(based on what I had read here) by very lightly pushing or pulling back and forth on either side of the top left and right corners. Doing so resulted in the grid on the screen VERY visibly moving in and out of the correct positioning for the grid to properly align.
Thereafter I turned off the TV and back on to access the Service menu for some more test images and grids, etc. It was obviously still noticeable , but it didn't seem as drastic. However I will say that while using the jpeg test image, you can also see a slight red line in the upper right hand corner and a slight blue line in the upper left. But again, by very mildly pulling or pushing on either the left or right top front corners of the screen, these would disappear and reappear, moving in and out of what I would call "the sweet spot" or the correct position.

As a result, that is why i believe that asides from the flimsy design of the case of this and similar unit in this size range, I believe that the extremely poor packaging of these units greatly contributes to these geometry issues, with the TV's bouncing up and down, being carried and wrenched back and forth with a person on each end of the box, or being laid down and the picked back up with one person on one side of the box carrying more of the weight than the person on the other side causing somewhat of a twisting, etc. Its almost completely unavoidable to remove the TV from the package without causing at least some minor sway between the top left and right corners, which from what I now seen can dramatically effect the geometry issues. It seems like a strong quality reinforced frame inside the plastic casing could and would greatly reduce if not eliminate this from happening.

NOW> all that aside. From what I have thus far.. the Picture Quality is outstanding! so My home theater-guru cousin and I had come to the conclusion that this TV seems to be nothing more than a projector and a screen in a cheap casing with a shiny piano black frame, unlike the solid feel or the tube and crt Tv's of old. we had to cut it short last night, but tonight is testing part II, and I have brought my PS3 with me, and some games and Blu Rays as well. so picture Quality testing will continue. Also we plan on removing the TV completely from the box bottom and placing it on something more solid and firm to test and see just how bad this sway is from corner to corner, and if it is possible to position so as eliminate the geometry issues. I would put it on the stand I got for it, but I cant build that until my new carpet goes in.
other than that, we had not noticed ANY sagging or bowing, or rainbows, black flecks, etc. And the firmware out of the box was 1004 from 4/4/08.

I'm not convinced that exchanging this would accomplish anything different from what i have now, but I'm interested in hearing whether or not EVERYONE can cause their picture to sway by lightly pushing on the top corners, or did I just get a lemon. Also I wonder how much that side to side sway would decrease in a Smaller unit like a 56" 0r 50"
and to think I was going to get a LN52A550 Flat Panel LCD before this. My desire for BIGGER overcame that and I went for the HL61A750 (Both the same price before discounts&coupons)
Anyway, sorry for the Novel, Hope this may give some a little insight, as well as cause others to provide me with some too.
More to come later or tomorrow after the PS3 Quality tests.

I think I am pretty set on getting the 61 inch A750. Just a few questions for owners:
1. Have they addressed the halo white ring?
2. Anyone seen rainbow effects?
3. Is it capable for HDMI 1.3?
4. Overall impressions?
5. Pricerange? I have seen it on Amazon for $1760 free delivery, no tax and 24 months financing. Can Circuit City and Magnolia do better?

One more question: If I buy from amazon, BB, CC or Magnolia and I find out there are issues like the halo, how do I go about getting a replacement? Is it through them or Samsung?

Has anyone gotten ahold of the service manual for this unit? If so is it handy to have? Are Samsung service manuals in general well documented?

Im in the market again for a bigger 1080P tv for what is going to soon be a dedicated theater room (currently office/junk/storage). My last 2 TV's have been LCD's, and size i really want a huge TV DLP seems to be the way since the pricing is just so much better. My 2 Main choice's are the Sammy 61A750 for the LED Back lighting and 120hz and the Mitsu 65735.

The Mitsu is about $100 cheaper and is 4" larger than the Sammy, but i feel like i would need to buy the warranty since its a DLP of the Bulb flavor. Since both tv's are fairly new its hard to find solid data between the two.

Anyone have any opinions on the two sets.

I bought the Mack extended warranty today. The price will go up 20-25% on 1 June. Paid $125 for +3 yrs after Samsung 1yr warranty. It's just a peace of mind thing.

what source do you have that the price is going up on june 1st?

I did the same for exactly the same reason, and I haven't yet ordered the TV! Brian from TapesWorkTexas.com said I'd have until May 29th before the prices increased (he estimated the same 20-25% range). So I got the 3-yr. for $130 and will register with Mack after I buy the TV in the next week or so.

Here's Brian's post in the Warranties thread, which explains the details.

Great thread mike

two things....

1. How about uploading a google documents spreadsheet with everyone's settings

2. I have a sony STRDG910 receiver and currently have everything directly connected to the Sony and the Sony connected to the Samsung via an HDMI cable. Everything looks awesome however this forces me to have one set of settings for all sources. Should I consider connecting each source directly to the TV so I can tweak each source as needed?

I currently have...

HD-DVD - HDMI
PS3 - HDMI
Directv hr20 - HDMI
xbox360 - component (note will NOT display in 1080p - think it's a limit of the receiver like the Onkyo 605)
wii - component

Thanks

I bought the TR-500X3BX at the same time as the HL61A750. LOVE the TV, hated the stand. I say that in past tense terms... It's already been returned to Amazon, thanks to a very helpful CS rep I was lucky enough to get on the phone. His name was "Manmeat". (There's no way I could every make up a name like that, but it really was his name!)

My cable box and DVD player wouldn't fit, sticking out approximately 7" to the front and threatening to fall off the shelf. The top shelf began bowing within the first day under the weight of the TV alone, so that the TV was actually leaning forward. I imagined coming into the room to find my TV face down, which led me to remove the TV and to call Amazon.

I'm waiting for about a month to post reviews, to be sure of my impressions. As I said before. So far... LOVE the TV, hated the stand...

@billnole
So what stand should i be looking, BTW what are you using for this model.

Thanks for the heads-up! Ordered my +3 yrs online tonight, to beat the increase... BTW, mine was only $120, since I paid $1675 for the TV from Amazon!

I noticed this evening that the TV is back in stock and up to $1799 on Amazon. Not to be greedy, but I'm still watching for it to go below what I paid for the 30-day guarantee...

I'm still shopping, after my too quick purchase of the stand recommended by Samsung and Amazon... I've seen some really nice ones on Amazon, but am going to wait to see how Amazon handles the return before buying anything else. I'm just like that...

I'm considering different one from Amazon, [Plasma TV Stand - Black (60") by Prepac] but might buy local, to ensure I get something strong/stable enough to outlast the LED in this thing...

Right now, I'm using my old stand from my recently deceased Toshiba 62HM95 (Barely 2 years old and deal already!!!) The old TV is in the garage pending disposal.

Looked at both the 61A750 and the 67A750 last night at CC. Both pics were nice. I didn't notice any halo on these sets. I'm strongly leaning towards the 67. I did notice a Mits 65735 next to the 750 and I believe the pic was slightly(ever so) better. I now may wait until the MIts 835 comes out before making a decision although the bulb situation has me thinking Sam. The 61A750 was going for 1899 but the salesman said he would take off 100 if I bought right then. Declined.

See Extended Warranty Thread in this Rear Projection forum, then go to post #776 on page 26 or so.

You greedy? Not at all.
These price guarantee policies basically require you to be vigilant and aggressive. IIRC, the stores don't send you an email or call you up to announce a price reduction on the TV you bought 3 weeks ago. Or maybe I'm just rationalizing my own embarrassing behavior?

Well after looking at the 67 tonight and comparing to the 61 next to it .....

First off the cabinet is definitly thicker and stronger , not nearly as flimsy as the 61. Second the geometry on the 67 was very good , the best ive ever seen out of the box.

Finally....after adjusting both sets to the same settings as per brightness , color , sharpness , and taking them both off dynamic . The 61 was noticeably brighter and had more vivid colors than the 67

Why is it so difficult for these manufacturers to increase the the power of the lamps/leds on larger TVs to keep the larger sets in line with the smaller sets ? Mitsu does the same thing , why they wouldnt increase the wattage on the light source is beyond me. Can someone enlighten me as to why this is such a difficult concept for the engineers. Seems like common sense to me , but hey....what do i know ?

Thanks for the lesson in advanced math. Here's a lesson for you: 7200K in one link and D65 in another are both right, because I hadn't adjusted white point when I posted 7200K. You missed my "first round of calibration" hint.


What, ISF bought exclusive rights to use the word 'calibration'? Maybe I shud spel it 'kalibration'. And are you going to jump on people who run DVE or Avia and then say they've done a calibration? Chill. Then we can figure out what to do about all the people who now think ignoramus is spelled like you did.

Seriously, I think folks who don't know about this stuff will get plenty of value if they choose Movie mode, minimize Sharpness, and turn off artifact-inducing "enhancements", even if they never look at a test pattern. I'd never claim that copying my settings would make it "all right now". But whether or not it's an official calibration, it's going to be an improvement over the out-of-the-box PQ.

Amen to that!!!

Hey Guys:

I've been agonizing over getting a new display for a couple of weeks...and was just about ready to pull the trigger on one of the new Pany's 800u's..but decided to start doing some additional research into whats new on the market..I've got a utterly fantastic Sony SXRD XBR2 60" already...and was wanting to put something in it's place that has as good of picture as what umr has calibrated this set to.

How do you guys think the 67" would stack up against my Sony..I'm needing an honest opinion on this..Can anyone compare the 2 and tell me what you think? I know it's 2 different technologies..but..I sure would appreciate it if someone would like to comment about it..Picture quality,color accuracy,black levels all matter to me...Is the 67" Sammy a winner here..or should I keep looking..

Thanks

Mac

Mike, I just noticed this in your OP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlaySta...ystem_Software

Playstation 3 has supported xvYCC color space for a while.
This setting will likely make content not encoded for xvYCC look the same or worse. But if you put a memory stick in your PS3 from a xvYCC camcorder you want that setting to on.

I'm not sure if any other PS3 content is so encoded, but it is worth noting that the PS3 does support it, not just camcorders. A PS3 is one of the best ways to view memory sticks that have xvYCC content encoded on them. . .

also on the 360 section where you mentioned my testing, just to clarify, it doesn't really matter what my testing shows, what matters is if the Samsung TVs are "0 IRE" units. Unfortunately, I don't recall anybody verifying this, but I did find links elsewhere that stated earlier Samsung DLPs are 0 IRE. It might be worth posting this link to explain IRE (although I can't verify the accuracy):

http://forum.videohelp.com/topic259098-30.html#1235033


Here's another link IMO should be FAQ (explains IRE levels and what was changed in the Spring '07 update on the 360 to improve compatiblity with this and other 0 IRE TVs):

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=7216

Keep up the great work!

My apologizes up front for the poor, if not atrocious, forum etiquette I will display with this post. Basically, I am going to write that a number of statements posted by others are wrong and I will not hang around to defend my position. Instead, I will provide a link to what I consider a definitive paper on the subject and then not post on the subject again (for which some will be eternally grateful). I do this for three reasons: 1) the discussion that might evolve is not suited for this owners’ thread. (See the referenced thread.); 2) I am not the expert. Chris Wiggles, who originated the referenced thread, is and can do a better job responding to questions; 3) whether you agree or disagree with my post, it will not make any difference what-so-ever in our enjoyment of our new toys.

1. There is no such thing as “0 IRE” or “7.5 IRE” consumer TVs. For an analog signal, it’s the source device, not the display, which sets the basis for black (i.e., an analog voltage of either 0 or 7.5 IRE). A source device could put out an analog signal either with or without the 7.5 IRE pedestal (also called “setup”) and if the display is properly calibrated for the source device signal, it will show “black.” A problem arises when you use one input for multiple source devices, e.g., thru an AVR used as a switch, wherein one has the pedestal and the other does not. If you calibrate the display for one source, the other source will display incorrectly. That’s when the ability to manually add or delete the pedestal in one source device is important.

2. An NTSC SD 7.5 IRE analog signal is by definition black. It is not some shade of grey. Again, if the display is properly calibrated, it will display black, not gray. Though the standard calls for the setup of 7.5 IRE, not all manufacturers of source devices include it when generating the SD analog signal.

3. IMO, the dailytech.com article does a good job explaining “what was changed in the Spring '07 update on the 360 to improve compatibility” but makes some common errors in explaining “IRE levels.”

4. “Video” level is not “7.5 IRE.” PC level is not “0 IRE.” Video level means that a signal has been digitally encoded with black (0% stimulus grey) to white (100% stimulus grey) represented by the range of 16 – 235. PC level means that a signal had been digitally encoded with black (0% stimulus Grey) to white (100% stimulus grey) represented by the range of 0 – 255. Either of these encodings when converted to an analog signal can have black represented as either 0 IRE or 7.5 IRE, depending on the settings of the source device.

5. An RGB analog signal over VGA is typically done without the pedestal, i.e., black is represented by 0 IRE. However, some high end equipment (scalers, video processors and professional gear) will generate the analog RGB signal with the pedestal.

6. In theory, if you are dealing with digital sources (actually outputting a digital signal) then IRE does not come into play, though some manufacturers screw this up.

I personally believe that Chris Wiggles’ Go-To Guide for Source Options is the best source for information on IRE and encoding levels. This is a sticky thread in the DVD player section. Though there has not been activity on the thread since Feb, Chris generally monitors the thread and responses to questions.

In closing, the points I’ve listed above are based on my interpretation of Chris’ document. I might be wrong in some point of interpretation but I (and, apparently many others) believe that what Chris has written is indeed correct.

Fair enough, then bottom line I am confused by why some brands of HDTVs are better off with the "standard" setting and some are better off with "enhanced". I'll go with my test results then

Well...I'm out..going with the PN58a650 instead..Thanks

Mac

Hey guys, I bought the 67" version of this TV and it looks very nice running Comcast HD. Thing is where it is located in the room is very inconvenient. Are there any wall mounts specific for this set (I do realize it is not a 'flat screen') or do I have to make a custom mount for the tv?

I need to do this again. I burnt this disc (I think it is the same one, I'm playing it through my 360's HDDVD player) and used it to setup, but I can't remember when I did it. I also used the Halo 3 calibration disc and DVE (but I don't trust it as much since it is just a regular DVD and the 360 DVD software player supposedly is poor). And my settings are pretty close to what you ended up with.