My Unofficial Guide to Samsung HLN Series DLP Sets - Page 3

Todd, its interesting that you are in Germany. I am going to Munich tomorrow and will be there for a week.


Yes, to the best of my knowledge, there is no other difference.


The bars are actually black. I'm not aware of any way of changing them to another color.


The retailer, PC Richards, took the set back yesterday. It'll either be fixed by next week or they'll give me a new one. I'm concerned about this problem too, and I hope that Samsung gets a handle on it soon.


You are very welcome.


Thanks for catching the Typo. I shall update the guide.


If you already have PC that serves your purpose, then the HTPC recommendations in the guide are not applicable. The recommendations are only meaningful if you are planning to buy a new HTPC. I recommend a mid-range PC to make sure that you buy something that has a decent life before it becomes obsolete. I shall update the guide to make it clear.

I believe that Logitech and Gyration are both RF and not IR. Both of them have an excellent mouse, though its not integrated into the keyboard. I have seen a number of integrated mouse/keyboard RF devices, although they all have trackballs not joysticks. I wonder if someone else can recommend a device here.

Hope the weather in Munich is warmer that here in Connecticut. Brrrrrrrr!

Arun Gupta

netzen7,

Thanks for pointing out the audio out limitation - monitor audio out is only available for RF/Antenna, Composiite Video 1-3, and S-Video 1-3 inputs. I shall add a section in the guide regarding the audio setup to use if you want to use a separate stereo/5.1 speaker system.

Game Cube is just about the only gaming system we don't have in our house - and I didn't come across any threads on connecting it to the Samsung. If you can post your findings and experience with the Game Cube, I can add it to the guide.

You can use an ordinary 15 pin VGA cable that you normally use to connect a PC to a monitor.

CNET has just posted a review of HLN617W:

http://electronics.cnet.com/electron...1.html?tag=dir

Summary:
The good: Slim and light design; excellent connectivity; bright, detailed image; robust, low-maintenance technology; wide viewing angle.

The bad: Expensive; some rainbow effects; black levels not as good as with CRTs

Don´t feel bad. It took me a little while to figure out the SVideo 1-3 are the same as Video 1-3 - just an alternate way of feeding video. I should add it to the guide.


Happy surfing. People who don´t hook up a PC to their Samsung are missing one of the biggest benefits of the TV. I didn´t get a VGA cable with either of my sets - but I had plenty lying around.


Its not double decode attempt - your TV simply does a better job. The DVD players today in general weren´t really designed for this new generation of high definition televisions. The Samsung DLP has top notch circuitry for de-interlacing and scaling - Faroudja 2300 - which few DVD players do.

Another critical feature in a DVD player is to be able to output DVI - creating a fully digital hi fidelity path from DVD to the monitor. Only 2 DVD players in the market do that today. I currently use only the HTPC for playing DVD´s -- our current DVD player has been retired. I´m going to now order the Bravo D1 player to make it easy to watch DVD´s.


List price is one of the mysteries on these products. Here are the LIST prices posted by 2 different on-line retailers 1-877amcorder and TV Authority:
HLN4365W $3695 (1-877) $3999 (TVA)
HLN437W $3799 (1-877) $4199 (TVA)
HLN5065W $3999 (1-877) $4499 (TVA)
HLN507W $4199 (1-877) $4699 (TVA)
HLN617W $5299 (1-877) $5499 (TVA)

In the end list prices may be meaningless - only the price that dealer pays are meaninful, but we don´t have access to that info.

Todd, if you try out the integrated keyboard/mouse, can you share your experience.

Arun Gupta

rjcarr316, I can't really give you a fair comparison against 34XBR800 or 34XBR920, because I don't have any experience with them.

For use as an HTPC monitor, you may consider issues while comparing the two sets:
- Samsung sets are larger (43 to 61") vs Sony 34"
- Samsung is more expensive - although not much more so. I paid $2500 retail for my second Samsung 43" set. The best price for the Sony 34" seems to be about ~$1900.
- Samsung has a native resolution of 1280x720, and at this resolution, the computer text and the DVD picture are very clear. I don't know about the Sony.
- DLP has no burn-in problems. This morning I saw that my son was using our 61" Samsung for instant messaging last night and its been on all night - and thats OK. The picture will remain at the same brightness with no burn-in spots after years of intense usage like this. CRT TVs have burn-in problems, although not as severe as Plasma.
- Samsung has more inputs. For computer connections, you can choose between DVI and VGA. Sony only has the DVI.
- CRT TVs have better black levels
- When set up as a PC monitor, Samsung has 2 modes - TV-wide mode overscans, PC-wide mode underscans. I don't know about the Sony.

I wanted a large TV, so direct view CRT was not an option. For you the choice may not be as clear. You should test both TV's with a computer before making your decision.

rjcarr316, I know that its hard to do a side by side comaparison of how the 2 sets look with a PC. A laptop perhaps? If you are able to do the comparison, please let us know here.

I am back from a trip and will be updating the guide in several areas. I shall post the changes in the threads first and then in the guide. The areas to be updated in the next few days: puchasing pros and cons, price and availability, HTPC recommendations, remote Keyboard/mouse, DVI DVD players, 3 blinking lights problem, stand height, internal reflections, OTA antennas, service menu tweaks.

Arun Gupta

Purchasing Pros and Cons
---------------------------------
Worthy alternatives to Samsung DLP TVs are: LCD projection, LCoS projection, and CRT rear projection.

LCD Projection - Sony KF-60XBR800
----------------------------------------------------
I spent the long weekend at a relative's house who has a Sony KF-60XBR800 60" LCD rear projection TV. My wife and I both agreed that 1) Samsung has a much brighter and much more vibrant picture. With Sony you had to close the shades to watch in daytime. 2) Sony has poor black levels - detail in dark scenes was mostly lost 3) Samsung has a much wider view angle compared to Sony - in fact the view angle for Sony was surprisingly narrow - you almost had to sit straight in front 4) Samsung is more PC friendly with VGA input and underscan/overscan option 5) Sony had a more attractive cabinet but takes up more space.

LCoS seems to be a more credible alternative - with new products coming from Toshiba and Phillips. CRT rear projection is a lower priced alternative.

Imychajluk, what link/sig? How do I do it?

I shall try to convert it to HTML or PDF.

Arun

Zathrus or Lee, If I add the URL to my profile signature, it shows on my posts as the URL text not as a link. What do I need to do to make it show as a link?

Thanks Zathrus, that worked.

I shall change the format of the guide to HTML or PDF later today.