Official Samsung LNxxD630 Owner's Thread - Page 3

Too funny - we just bought a LN46D630 to replace a Philips 37PF7320A!

Hi folks.

Just bought this set, and have a couple questions:

1. The manuals says that when running optical out to an audio system, 5.1 audio will be sent from the TV if the TV is processing the signal directly (like OTA broadcast), but that if the content is coming from an external device over HDMI (like a DVD player), that the SPDIF signal from the TV to the audio system will only be stereo. During my experimentation, this doesn't seem to be the case; I think I'm still getting 5.1 when I play a DVD. Can anybody confirm what the manual says?
2. Regarding the network interface - what is the TV capable of doing w/ internet access? Does it have a built in browser (that could be used for streaming Netflix or Hulu), or is it just for accessing content from other devices on the network?

Thanks!

Confirmed.

Funny story, in a "DOH!" kind of a way.

When I was hooking up the new TV and Blu-Ray player last weekend, and it came time to test the latter, I found I could get nothing but Dolby Pro Logic on the receiver. Tried every setting under the sun. Tried switching to the DVD recorder. Same thing! Switch to TV: I get 5.1 digital. Switch to Blu-Ray player or DVD recorder: Analog. "What the blazes?" I was thinking. (What I was really thinking, and saying, cannot be repeated here. Then, after an hour-and-a-half of so of futzing with it, it finally hit me: Gorram DRM!

You cannot, by licensing rules, receive digital anything on something and pass it through to something else. Thank RIAA, MPAA and the various and sundry governments around the world, including the U.S. government, for that one.

Even funnier part of my story: When I'd been disconnecting the old stuff, I kind of wondered "Why did I hook up a separate digital audio feed from the DVD player?"


The TV doesn't have networking capability natively. I think it can be added, but I haven't looked into it.


You're welcome.

Jim

Very odd - my ears tell me I'm getting 5.1, and my audio system shows "Dolby Digital".


So, the tv can stream netflix/hulu natively? I have a PC connected to the TV for this kind of thing, but if I could bypass the PC, that would be nice.

That is odd. That shouldn't be possible, I thought. Our LN46D630 doesn't do it. The 37PF7320A it replaced wouldn't do it.

Bah! Synapse lapse. It doesn't do network connectivity natively. We bought the TV and a Samsung Blu-Ray player as a package deal, and I keep mixing them up. I think it can be added, but I'm not certain.

Jim

New owner of a D630 here, with a quick n00b question.

When i've been watching things in standard mode (i tend to think that movie mode looks a little washed out and dull), i've noticed that the picture looks sort of cloudy, like almost like an inherent film over it or somethng, does anyone know which of the settings would fix that. i've also noticed that i really love the detail and deep colors of the "natural" setting but it seems a little too dark at times, which adjustments would that require? i've also never seen anyone who has reviewed this tv and used the "natural" setting, so i was wondering if there was some sort of downside to it, or something that made people not consider it.

also, are my eyes deceiving me or is the clarity with auto motion better? i cannot stand the soap opera effect but it seems to me like things are noticeably more detailed. it seems like kind of a push/pull thing.

thanks for tolerating my questions, i'm a beginner with this stuff

Cody, over on cnet, there was a review of the previous series, the c630.
You can see on the 2nd page the picture settings for the movie mode.
I haven't had my D630 very long but decided to key in his settings and see
what my blu-ray player does with it.
I have to say it looks pretty good but as others have mentioned, movie mode
still has a slight "washed out" look.
But since LCDs tend to overdo whites to start with, it really amounts to what
looks good to you.
So far I am using the standard mode and movie mode for blu-ray.
You can turn off all those filters if you like.
You can always do a reset if your settings don't do what you like.

Just bought an LN40D630 for my bedroom recently and I'm really pleased so far. I'm a huge fan of auto motion plus and I was worried about the input lag when gaming but when in game mode any lag is non-existent.

My question is, is there anyway to change sources quickly? Some shortcut on the remote to access designated sources ,like setting the a/b/c/d buttons as favorite sources.

No. I use a harmony universal remote that switches sources to match the activity I want.

Well asking for a remote that could do that was my second plan. Thanks a lot for mentioning harmony i'll look 'em up.

I have the Harmony One. It replaces 7 or 8 infrared remotes in my system, including the window air conditioner. All of the Harmony remotes have you set up "activities," such as WATCH TV, WATCH DVD, STREAM NETFLIX, etc. Just push a button to turn on everything needed for the activity and set everything to the right inputs, etc. When you switch to another activity, the remote keeps track of what was turned on and then switches off equipment that is not needed for your next activity.

Amazon has the LN40D630 for $598 flat compared to the $700+ total i paid at best buy. Their 4yr warrant is 80.99$ where as best buy will charge you 119.99 so I'm still chillin' like a villain at the end.

i'd get something online like Squaretrade instead, you'll save a good amount of money.

So I'm assuming the D series does not suffer from the same panel lotto as the C series did?

Ordered a 46 d630 tonight from amazon, will be here friday so ill keep you guys updated.

I had a 46 c 630 before that I bought in December 2010 but it was destroyed when my home was broken in to last month, so the d630 will be replacing it.

Setup a new LN40D630 in my bedroom last night. It's a nice compliment to the LN52B750 downstairs. Now I can stay upstairs, in bed, to watch the morning/evening news. Yes!

Still playing with settings, but so far am satisfied with the PQ.

I just bought a LN40D630 as an upgrade from my LN32A550 and the picture quality (with Auto Motion Plus disabled) is undeniable. Also, with AMP shut off there is little to no lag with the PS3 games I tested, although the games are pretty sharp with it on. "Game Mode" look like crap, almost standard def, and the colors are all messed up. Honestly I think Auto Motion Plus is a gimmick feature that is really only there to make the TV look better next to the competition in the store. Before I bought the set (on Amazon for $595 +free shipping!) I went to Best Buy to see it in person and it blew the LG and the Panasonic next to it away. I wasn't aware of the feature until it arrived, and I am sure it was enabled because the details and image quality were clearly visible and much better than the other sets. It is well known manufacturers crank up the brightness and backlights out of the box in an effort to make their models stand out and look better on display, so the Auto Motion Plus feature makes sense. I have no problem tuning it off because I am not a fan of the "too real" or "soap opera" look it gives movies and programs. It really takes away from the entertainment or watching a movie and it almost feels like you are watching raw footage of the film and not the edited final cut.

Overall I could not be happier with this TV, especially at the price I paid. It seems like the modern television's technology is a bit too far ahead of the content or digital sources we play on them. I was reading that the AMP's quality can be affected by different quality sources and the lower the quality the easier it is to reproduce. I only vaguely understand how it works so I may explanation my be a bit dumbed down. It looks good on DVDs and standard def television because there are less frames to duplicate. But on a high def source like a multi layer blu ray it has a tough time adding all of the extra frames and the movie's speed and quality suffer. I have noticed that Blu Rays playback speed is a little fast, almost like old time film. I wish the remote allowed easier access to it's function, so you could enable and disable it depending on the source.

Hey I have been messing with the picture settings here and there and this is what I use for my PS3/Blu-ray source on my LN40D630. I start at "movie mode" and this allows you to do minimum adjustments to calibrate it. Also I have Auto Motion Plus shut off, this is simply my preference, and some people like to go with "smooth" but I simply don't see the need. I didn't arrive at these settings using a calibration disk, I found a site that reviewed this TV and I made adjustments from their "professional" settings. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and everyone's preference is different, so ultimately it is up to you, but here are mine if you are interested........

Color Temp: Warm 1
Backlight:7-10 depending on your lighting environment (basement or bright room)
Brightness:47
Contrast:95
Color:45
Sharpness:5
Tint:G49/R51

White Balance Settings:
Red Offset: 28
Green Offset: 25
Blue Offset: 16
Red Gain: 25
Green Gain: 25
Blue Gain: 21

Can someone explain what the various Offset and Gain settings mean here, and what they are supposed to do?

This if directly from Samsung Support:
I believe these settings help to control and change the color temp. D6500K (temperature) is the industry standard for accurate color reproduction and this is close to it from what I read. Apparently most TVs come from the manufacturer set closer to 9300K and this causes makes the images look blue. Color changes at different color temps, and at 6500K white it true white and not red, yellow, or blue (the highest temp).

CAVX says; In order to insure your color is correct and the longevity of your screen you want to get the pixels to this temp. Also you should wait at least 30 mins before calibration to let the pixels get up to normal operating temp to allow for the most accurate adjustments.

I am no expert, and I didn't arrive at these calibrations on my own, or with the proper equipment. These values were copied from a "professional review" and after using them for a few days they look great, and I recommend them to anyone with this TV or a similar Samsung model.

Has anyone here tried connecting an external hard drive to this series?
I read about this on a another forum, it seems that the Samsung TVs are picky about what hdd's are connected to it in that it doesn't work well.
Here's what I would like to do, copy my blu-rays as a single movie only M2TS and play them from a hard drive.
I have experimented with a small flash-drive with a clip and it looked really good.
What I did was rename the M2TS to TS and it will allow playback.
If anyone is willing to do some tests with whatever external hard drive they have on hand, this could prove valuable.
There is a list started on a google site but it has various Samsung TVs, old and new.
I think it would be better if we knew what this model is capable of AFA playback via
USB.
I don't know if I am allowed to post a link here on this forum, google in
"EXTERNAL USB HARD DRIVE FOR TELEVISIONS COMPATIBILITY CHART"
to see it.
It comes from here "Samsung forum: External USB HDD Compatibility For Samsung TV"
It appears one fellow uses a USB powered hub and is getting good results.

I don't know why it wouldn't work - from the TV's perspective, there's no difference between a hard drive and a thumb drive, as long as it supports the file system on the device.

Please help this new member with a small, nerve-wracking problem. I've had a 40-inch D630 for about a week now and I'm still exploring the functions. In the initial setup I set it up for cable, but I'd like to switch to OTA with an antenna once in a while. How do i do it? I have the antenna plugged in, but it doesn't show up in "sources" (or anywhere else).

Any ideas?

Thanks

I'm assuming you connected your cable via HDMI source. If you press the "Source" button on the remote and scroll to TV, it should show the OTA antenna signal. You have to program channels first. Click "Menu" and go to "Antenna". Make sure it's set to "Air" and then you can run "Auto Program".

+1

I'm waiting on a response to that as well. Last year was a joke with all the panels and the good and bad of each.

Seemed last year the SQ's and CN's were most desirable, what panels are you guys getting this year?

I think I've decided to return my 46D630. I have had it 2 weeks and have noticed 2 times the video and audio not matching when played through my surround sound. Never had a problem with my 46C630 that this replaced. I saw someone else in this thread say something about this also, were you ever able to correct it? Mine is pretty far off....Both times I was watching a movie via PS3 on HDMI through my surround sound, these have been the only 2 times that i've used my PS3 on this TV. Once was Netflix and the other time was tonight streaming from my computer. I haven't noticed any lag when watching cable TV though...Guess i'll keep looking for a different tv.

It could be a few things. If you hook all of your HD sources into the TV via the HDMI ports and then the TV to your receiver (with audio optical cable) or home theater system it will sync perfectly. I know it is easy to rout everything through your receiver and then to your TV, but the way I mentioned will work.
Another cause could be the extra channels associated with HD. Your cable is broadcast in stereo or two channels so there is no delay, but 7.1 or 5.1 sound there is an intentional delay for the surround speakers. Most modern receivers have a delay made specifically for the surround speakers because they are closer to you than your other speakers. In other words the surround speaker's sound arrives at your ears first, so you need to adjust it so it is synched properly with the rest of your speakers. Hope that helps....

Yes, but then you won't get multi-channel digital sound.

Jim

Can anyone that has a good set comment on what panel type you have?

I would greatly appreciate some feedback, thanks.

What do you mean by panel type? I would guess everybody posting here has a Samsung panel in this series of models. I have the 46" size and I am 100% happy with the picture quality after calibration.