Official Samsung UNXXEH6000 Owners' Thread - Page 54

I just got my first flat screen TV on boxing day - un55eh6000 TH02. on a boxing day sale for just nine hundred dollars! Then I got myself a blu-ray player -sony bdps590 on sale for ninety dollars. One HDMI cable and power conditioner later and I was ready. But I was not prepared for the gorgeousness of the picture. We only have DVD's. Holy cow. It was great out of the box in movie mode, but when I used the calibration settings from ganzhimself (who has the same set) it was even better. No dead pixels, amazing clarity, awesome colors, great viewing angles, great black levels. Lord of the Rings has never looked so good. I was surprised by the excellent sound. My computer speakers (Altec Lansing FX something) are nothing to sneeze at, and the sound from this television is better to my ears - fuller midrange. We've never had the need to put the sound past one third of it's maximum. It's in a corner, maybe that makes a difference.

I've put up an antenna outside and next week will run a cable from that to the TV and see how it goes.

My family is spellbound by the thing, and my kid's friends who have had large screen TVs for a while comment how it looks so much sharper and clear than their TVs at home.

Previously our family would huddle around our 17 inch imac to watch DVDs.

I just can't believe I'm looking at this size and quality of screen at this price. Yeah I'm over the moon with this TV too!

Only one little hitch so far. When I turn on the TV, the blu-ray player automatically comes on (as it should), but only for about 10 seconds. The player then shuts off. I then have to use the player remote to turn it on. Not sure yet why the player doesn't stay on - whether the issue is with the TV or the player.

I've read just a fraction of this huge thread, and thank you all for helping guys like me to choose a fantastic television.

Mark

1) "16:9" overscans the image, "Screen Fit" is 1:1 pixel mapping. 1:1 will always be sharper. The only time you need to use 16:9 is if the image doesn't fill up the entire screen and you can see the borders around the image.

2) Dynamic contrast defeats the purpose of calibration, and I'll explain why. The purpose of calibrating brightness and contrast is so that you can accurately set the black and white points so that all the image information fills up the available space without clipping any information. As soon as you turn on Dynamic Contrast, the TV takes control over those black and white points and moves them around on it's own, usually in ways that cause the image to clip. Highlights get blown out and blacks get crushed. Whereas a calibrated image will show subtle shades of darks and whites, with dynamic contrast the subtle shades get pushed into clipping, which makes very light grey turn into pure white, and very dark grey turn into pure black. The image appears brighter as a result (pure white is brighter than light grey) but at an obvious cost of losing image information (those subtle shades are lost, which was the point of calibrating in the first place).

3) Short answer is, "if it's greyed out, don't worry about it." For the longer explanation see the "calibration" link in my sig.

4) They probably meant that automatic backlight dimming can not be bypassed in Standard. The other eco solutions also affect the backlight, but the first one just manually cuts the backlight brightness to 50%, 25% and the minimum settings. The Eco Sensor uses a light sensor to gauge the brightness of the room and lower the backlight accordingly. If your calibrating you should leave them both off and just set the backlight yourself.

5) Gamma is a little complex. It affects the intensity of shades in between black and white. Setting too high will cause the picture to wash out and setting it too low will cause the picture to be too dark. It can be difficult to set by eye, so you probably shouldn't mess with it unless you know what you're trying to do with it.

6) Not sure what you mean. After I compensated for the differences between them, my Movie and Standard mode look basically identically to each other.

8) There is a difference but you need to be displaying very fine 1080p material, like PC text, in order to see the edge enhancements come and go. Being close to the screen helps too.

9) LED TVs are LCDs, so I think the picture already is "comparable" to an LCD. Plasmas usually have lower light output, and LCDs are usually brighter. If you keep lowering the room lighting you should be able to get eye-strain from the TV. I'm not sure what else to say, as the picture already looks bright/vivid to me.

Here's a question:

I got a special deal email flyer from Best Buy for the 6030 that puts it at only $35 more than I paid for my 6000 (which was open box at that). So, for $35 I get 3D (which we don't use much; already have one in the media room and have watched maybe 4-5 movies in 3D, but it can be cool) and a new in box set vs. open box. The downside is that I have to go the "panel roulette" route as no BBs in my area have it in stock so it would need to be shipped in- I got the Sammy panel in my current model.

I'd like opinions today on what to do. Am I going to see any difference in the panels in real world viewing? Is 3D worth the time and effort of boxing up and returning the 6000?

I just received and registered my UN60EH6000FXZA, which was manufactured on 12/01/2012. The factory firmware is version 1018, however the Samsung website offers 1012.3 (from Jun 3, 2012). Does anyone know how I might save my updated firmware to share with others?

Most people seem to agree that the 3D feature is not very good on the 6030. I would not go through the trouble of making the switch if you like your current set, especially considering that you might end up with an inferior panel and regret the transaction altogether.

Well, it ended up that an hour or so ago, the 6030 started showing in stock at two of my local best Buys. So, I was able to call and verify the ones they received in today were TS01 panels. So, I ended up sending my daughter over to pick one up and I will be able to verify them side by side and return the 6000 assuming the 6030 is at least as good on 2D.
Edited by larrimore - 1/2/13 at 11:52am

Just wanted to say thank you for the pointers! They (and a couple of other posts as well) helped answer some earlier questions I had related to AMP.

I also did a little bit of research related to screen refresh rates (120 vs 240 Hz) and have come to the conclusion that for my needs, it's probably not worth the extra money at this point to upgrade to a refurbished UN55EH6050 (240 Hz) that Best Buy has advertised for $300 more than what I paid for my UN55EH6001 (120 Hz). If anyone has a dissenting opinion on this, I'd be most interested. I'm quite happy with the PQ of the 6001 but just a little skittish about Samsung continuing to support that model beyond the manufacturer's warranty since it was a "special" version of the 6000 developed and marketed for Best Buy and perhaps a few other big box retailers for Black Friday 2012.

Here is an update. I set up the new 6030 and started using my same settings from the 6000. I can report the pic quality is similar if not the same. I cannot tell the difference. I do see one thing that is interesting though: there is no setting for Auto motion plus. All other settings match up, but it seems there is no way to turn it on or off, so I assume it is on due to the 3D capability?

Playing movies, there is no noticeable SOE, so it appears that the default position may be clear as it looks similar to my 6000 (I use "clear"). I don't see anything about it in the manual or online.

Any ideas?


EDIT: In case anyone is interested,apparently this TV is only 60hz in 2D mode and 120hz in 3D mode. I guess I am OK with that as I hate the SOE, but this set is apparently basically an EH5000 when in 2D mode.
Edited by larrimore - 1/2/13 at 12:44pm

The 6030 lacks AMP altogether so it's always off.

Well, i jumped the bandwagon two weeks ago and got myself a UN55eh6050 that i have been salivating over at Costco for months. Sold my 3 year Sony Bravia 40" LCD to a coworker and voila. Man this thing is a beauty, the clarity, the depth. I can't believe how beautiful it looks. I still haven't tweaked the pictures setting yet, it looks amazing as it is. I Have it connect it to a Denon 1912, Energy speakers.

Hopefully it will last us a long time, and provide us with many years of enjoyment.

Everything that I have seen shows that the EH6000, EH6001 and EH6050 are identical. The EH6050 is a Costco model, that I bought around black Friday. They are all 120 Hz (refresh rate) and 240 Clear motion rate. My guess is that Samsung gave Best Buy a special model number for Black Friday so that other stores couldn't price match them. I have seen no proof that the 6001 uses so called "inferior components" as others have "speculated".

You have said that you are "quite happy" with your 6001, so why do you want to pay $300 more for what seems to be an identical (but refurbished) model? Don't worry about future support. Once your warranty is up, you are pretty much on your own anyway. But if the 6001 and 6000 are the same hardware, then whatever works for the 6000 will work for your TV.

My advice: stop reading this thread, enjoy your new TV, congratulate yourself for getting a great black friday deal.
Edited by photogold - 1/2/13 at 12:58pm

Larrimore, care to share your 6000/6030 settings? Just curious since I'm in the process of tweaking my 6030 as well. Thanks!

mode: standard
backlight: 12
Contrast: 70
Brightness: 40
Sharpness; 40
Color:38
tint: 50/50

Colorspace: Native
White Balance: All 25's
Gama: 0
Dynamic Contrast: off
Black tone: Dark
flesh tone: 0
Motion Light: off
Color tone: standard, or warm 1- keep going back and forth on this one
size: screen fit
Digintal Noise filter: off
LED motion plus: on
Auto Motion plus: Clear (only on 6000, setting n/a to 6030)

The one thing I really like on the 6030 is the ability to turn on the blue filter for calibrating. I will do that later tonight and post if there is any differeneces afterwards.
Edited by larrimore - 1/2/13 at 3:12pm

New to this forum after getting my 60" EH6000 - panel type HS01 (it appears all 60" sets are HS01 from what I've seen??). My cousin also got a 55" EH6000 - panel type TH02 at the same time when BB was running a good deal a couple weeks ago... $1100 and $1000 respectively. Halfway into our return period, we both are having pixel problems. My 60" has a dead pixel near the lower left corner, and my cousin has a stuck pixel (red) smack dab in the middle of the screen. Plus we both have at least one dust particle INSIDE the panel that can be seen particularly with an all white or light colored screen. While the dust is kind of irritating for both of us, it is not a deal breaker for us (don't they assemble these in a cleanroom, after all?). But add in the pixel problems, we're both thinking we're exchanging to give another unit a try.
Looking to see how widespread these issues are with any of the EH's are. Are we worrying about something that everyone accepts as part of EH ownership? Other than this, we both want to love these sets as we are both otherwise very impressed.

Photogold - I like your advice!! (but I have to admit, I do enjoy reading this as well as other AVS forum threads ) Yes, very much enjoying the 6001 and I'm sure I will continue to do so. Since no one has stepped up to say I'd see a difference with a 240 Hz refresh, I agree that there's no reason to spend the money for an "upgrade." And if I'm worried about support, I can still purchase a BB extended warranty. So I think I'm all set.

If you believe what Best Buy tells you, however, the sets don't seem to be 100% identical:

The BB web site very clearly shows the UN55EH6050 as featuring a 240 Hz refresh rate (not CMR).

As for the 6000 and 6001, I've heard and read contrasting information from various sources at various times related to CMR. I think you're correct in that both feature 120 Hz refresh and 240 CMR. I also think you're correct in saying it doesn't matter, especially if I and my family are enjoying the TV. I also noticed that BB no longer shows the CMR for the 6000 in the specs listed on its web site. The 6001 is no longer listed at all.

I don't believe any of the EH 6 series sets have a refresh rate higher than 120Hz. The 6050 is just a variant of the 6000, which is 120Hz.

Thanks Plasma - you're one of the more knowledgable on this thread, so I believe you. I was just re-stating what is very clearly stated on the BB web site. Click HERE to see for yourself.

that is odd but they show the 55" EH6000 as 120Hz here

my guess is that it's a typo in their system but you could try posting a question here on the Samsung site

EDIT: I posted a question there about the native refesh rate of the panel on the 55" EH6050, mentioning that BB has it listed as 240Hz. It may take up to 24hrs for the question to appear.
Edited by PlasmaPZ80U - 1/3/13 at 9:16am

I've updated my CAL-NIGHT calibration in my sig with a few changes:

1. I calibrated Contrast to show WTW all the way up to 255.

2. I increased light output to about 46 fL, which is enough for daytime use in a dim room and plenty at night with a bias light.

3. Gamma is at 2.24

4. I will be checking the Sharpness setting carefully with this pattern from Chad B (pro calibrator) later this week to see how high I can set the control before EE starts showing up.



5. Brightness is now set to show 17 clearly against the background (went up from 43 to 44).

I have not noticed any problems like you described, and don't think they've been mentioned much in this thread.

Did you go looking for these problems, or were they readily apparent? If it's the latter, then I'd say that you might have a defective panel on your hands.

One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of people--even salemen at BestBuy and even customer service reps at Samsung itself--really have no idea what they are talking about. That's what makes shopping for an HD TV so damn difficult these days. There is a lot of misinformation out there, both intentional and unintentional.

So if the BestBuy website says something about a model that doesn't seem to add up, I would NOT take their specifications or statements at face value. Same goes for the Samsung website, even. Heck, I remember contacting a Samsung representative about the whole question of whether the EH6030 was 120hz in 2D and he told me that NO Samsung TV had 120 hz in 2D. I can only assume he is wrong, or that a massive fraud has been perpetrated on the TV-buying public (the latter could be true for all I know).

I have an EH6050 from Costco, and beleive me, it's 120 Hz and 240 CMR. That's just a typo on the BB site.

Another point is that if you bought this referbished equipement, the warranty may very well be 3 months instead of 1 year. So in effect, you would be paying $300 extra for a downgrade.

Thanks much, photogold, nwener and plasma. Good to know that AVS Forum has members like you who know their stuff and also seem to really care about getting the most out of the HDTV experience in spite of the sometimes nefarious ways of manufacturers and retailers.

Thanks for responding nwener. It was definitely the latter. On some scenes, the pixel is hard to ignore even when I'm 7 feet away from the screen. I am lucky enough to have pretty good vision though.

I hope others will respond if they have decided to live with their pixel issues so I can get an idea if pixel issues are common, particularly with the EH6xxx series. This is the first flat panel I've owned besides a small PC monitor and this issue was unexpected. I heard these issues were rare now, but my cousin and I are two for two.

That is truly poor luck. Besides my Samsung, I know plenty of other people who own them and our small non-scientific sample group points toward decent quality control. But perhaps they're slipping. They are the largest and most powerful electronics company on Earth, and history shows that when such companies reach their peak, cracks start to form.

Consumer Reports' data shows that major manufacturers have a defect rate of between 3-5%. Those figures are higher than I'd like them to be, but if you were judging defect rates based on the posters here, you would think it was 80%.

The internet allows cowardly negative people to post hate and complaints non-stop. You can't rely on a forum like this to make an assessment about brand quality.

and you shouldn't, but these forums do also contain valuable information... the key is to be able to discern the difference between an actual problem with the display and a problem related to the source device and/or calibration of the TV

it also helps to be able to realize the difference between a minor issue and a major one

basically, you need to read everything here with a grain of salt and make your own judgements about PQ and brand quality and the like
Edited by PlasmaPZ80U - 1/4/13 at 9:19am

Just ouf curiosity: If you hate this forum so much, why are you here? I'm not trying to be rude, but you seem to post excessively negative generalized statements about the forum and the people who post here.

I mean "cowardly"? Really??? Yes there are people who complain too much but I don't know where the heck you're getting "cowardly" from.

recalibrated the 6030 with Avia Home theater disc last night and here are new settings using the "Movie" mode. I like it a bit better than "Standard". Still have to pull out my colrimeter and do a full calibration (probably this weekend), but this looks very good. By the way, this set is in a room with windows down one side, TV is angled away from them. Point is I did this in the late afternoon with much lower light since this is when most viewing is done, but it still looks really good during the day.
Note the tint setting, it may change back to neutral when I do the grey scale calibration, but is as it is with just using the disc; this seems to indicate movie mode pushes red.

Mode: Movie
Backlight: 15
Contrast 55
brightness 47
Sharpness 45
Color 50
Tint G60/Red40
Screen: Screen Fit (1:1 mapping)
Dynamic Contrast: Off
Black Tone: Dark (this does a great job but doesn't crush blacks)
Flesh tone 0
Color space Native
White Balance All 25's
Gama 0
Motion Lighting is locked as "off" in Movie mode
Color Tone: Standard
DNR off
MpegNR off
Film Mode Auto2
LED Motion Plus on

A note I found- on this set there are two settings that you need to pick (IMHO) prior to doing a simple calibration:
1) LED Motion Plus- either pick on or off, but the contrast and brightness settings definitely change between on and off. Everything is darker with it on. I like it on, but really cannot tell what it does.
2) Black Tone: I recommend "dark" but which way you pick this will also definitely effect your other settings.
Edited by larrimore - 1/4/13 at 12:40pm

I got real close to the screen and displayed this pattern on my PS3 in the XMB. I selected Movie mode, which has a default sharpness setting of 20. I could immediately see EE in the right half on the test pattern, specifically on the circle/box/"x" and the H/V lines (both against the gray background). A setting of 15 also showed visible EE. When I brought it down to 10, at first glance it seemed like the EE was gone, but upon very close observation of the test pattern I could still see some EE remaining. A setting of 5 still left the smallest amount of EE. When I got down to 0, the EE was finally 100% gone and the black lines against the gray background actually looked darker and fuller since there was no white halo around them robbing the picture of the very finest detail.

Therefore, zero is the optimal setting for sharpness on my UN46EH6030 with the TS01 panel.