My Unofficial Guide to Samsung HLN Series DLP Sets - Page 4

You could use WinZip on it first than post it, or would that defeat the purpose?
Another idea, upload it to a web site. Maybe you know someone with a site, or you can look for a free one.

Excellent overview! In the "cons" section I would add lack of firewire, which is important to some.

Just curious I guess. If you already have a computer hooked up to the VGA or DVI input, why would you care if the display has FW?

There are some output devices (digital camcorders for instance) that have Firewire. I believe there are also some digital sat boxes that have it, as well as some D-VHS players (but I could easily be blowing smoke here since I haven't looked into either). Firewire also incorporates more than just picture data, since you can do command and control over it as well.

Can somebody provide me with a mac-readable document for the guide? I've tried a few different ways with no success. (pdf, .doc, html would be ok).

Thanks.

I'm just starting to read up on the new series of HDTV's so please correct me if I am mistaken. Firewire is a two way port that allows data and instructions to be sent between the TV and other devices.

RCA recently announced a High Def PVR with an 80GB drive for $449 which is pretty cheap compared to other products. It is cheap because it does not include a tuner or MPEG decoder. You hook it up to a firewire compliant tuner or television set and it uses the televisions tuner to get the signal and the televisions decoder to play back the signal. The Mitsubishi folks really talk up the Netcommand features enabled by FW, but taht didn't resonate with my like the RCA PVR did in terms of wanting FW.

I know that the new RCA's and Mitsubishi sets have firewire. Heard that Hitachi had it but not sure if they still do.

Seems to be more important if the set has built in HD tuner. If/when Samsung adds an on-board QAM tuner and FW then I am a buyer!

fyi: a link to the RCA announcement:http://www.rca.com/content/viewdetai...CI258,00.html?

and a link to their HDTV announcement :
http://www.rca.com/content/viewdetai...CI258,00.html?

I have not seen the RCA set yet (due in Aug.) but I like the feature set. Unfortunately they don't offer a 40-something size set. 50+ inches is too big for our living room, which is why I am hoping Samsung adds the features. I think on-board QAM will be common next year.. not so sure about Firewire.

Great thread, thank you for posting.

I was terrified at the prospect of having wasted $700 investing in my progressive scan DVD player (a Denon DVD-2800II), since you claim that the television's internal conversion circuitry is likely better than the DVD player's. Since the player was a recent purchase, I decided to do my own comparison of the player with the progressive scan mode switched on and off. If I preferred the picture in interlaced mode, I could have taken the player back to the retailer and would have willingly paid the restocking fee (if any).

I actually preferred the DVD player in progressive mode... by a wide margin. While the picture in interlaced mode was still impressive, I noticed motion artifacts that I don't see when I play the DVD player in progressive mode.

My suggestion to readers: If you already have a progressive scan DVD player with your HLN-507W, I suggest you perform the same comparison before writing off your own player.

Good luck!!!

If all is true on the new RCA Scenium DLP61, how would you compare it to the yet to come Sammy HLN619 in terms of features, quality, and price? Thanks, Mikesan1.

Stupid question - given I've spent hundreds of hours with these DLPs and sold hundrends too, but I'll ask anyway:

Can you use the speaker inside the DLP as a center channel? If so, how does one go about doing it?

I don't think there is a center channel audio input on the Samsung DLP. If I had stuck with the power-buy I could go into my living room and look. But, I'm still waiting for the HLN567.

Beyond that problem (if true), things just get worse. What ever you do, it wouldn't match the timber of the other speakers which degrades the whole sound system.

For it to work at all I think you would need a center mounted speaker that was independent of the other TV speakers. That way it could be controlled by a receiver. If the manufacture sold a matched surround sound package that optionally used a matched speaker in the TV it would work. It might not be the greatest sound, but it would work.

You could use the TV as a center channel, but I don't think you'd want to.

If you simply fed the TV audio from the center output (with a splitter to feed both L and R) the TV could act as a poor man's center speaker -- but you'd have no timbre matching, very poor spatial resolution, and frankly the speakers on these sets are mostly vestigal anyway.

I suppose the real question is, you're planning to spend $3000+ on a TV and can't afford a couple hundred or so on a real center?

I was simply asking for a customer. Customer claims he doesn't have room for a center channel, and asked if he could use the internal speaker as a center.

Thanks for the help!

FW can be a two way port, but what info would the TV have to send back? It doesn't have storage capability. I suspect some people might like the idea of connecting a digital camera or something direct to the display, but if you have a computer sitting right next to the display, you can do the same thing without that input on the TV.

I'm not trying to talk anyone out of buying a TV with FW input, but I would like to understand why you think you need it.

Two reasons for 2 way Firewire:
1) Sending program data from a tuner to a PVR. In the case of the announced RCA HD PVR it does not have an on-board tuner or MPEG decoder (which is why it is less then half the price of other announced HD PVR's). If the television set has an HD tuner (which Samsung will probably have next year?) then the PVR can send an instruction TO the TV tuner about which program to tune in (1st leg of the trip). Then that program is sent BACK TO the PVR (return trip). Finally when you want to watch the program it is sent by the PVR TO the TV where it is decoded and displayed. (3rd leg of the trip)

If you do not have an on-board HD tuner then you don't need firewire in the TV for this but you should look for it in whatever external tuner you get if you want to have the widest selection of PVR's to choose from.

2) Firewire can also be used to control other devices. Mitsubishi TV's can send instructions to other products (DVD players? PVR's? HD VCR's?) all through a unified "NetCommand" interface.

I've never seen NetCommand so I cannot tell you whether it is something worthwhile. You can do a search on Netcommand to learn more (not sure if it is 1 word or 2). Persoanlly to me, the first reason is really important. Not so sure I care about reason #2.

I don't think it is a question of Firewire or DVI -- I think both are necessary. And one other benefit of having both -- it is another HD digital input. If your PVR hooks into a Firewire port it leaves the DVI port free for soemthing else.

If you want to obtain more opinions, maybe post a new thread to solicit opnions from Mits owners and others that might not be reading page 6 of a samsung thread?

If your computer is your DVD, PVR and your HD tuner, you still don't need FW input on the display.

I stopped using the built in tuner and speakers on my TV back in 1986. Unless you count CH.3 only. I did use an RF modulator until I got a set with a video input. Speakers connect to stereo system of some kind are much better than the TV has. Channels are always changed on something outside the display such as VCR, cable box, satellite decoder, and now computer. Really, all I want is a big, flat, wide screen computer monitor. For the price, I think Samsung DLP is the best thing going.

Thank you, GadgetFreak. Now I understand why someone that doesn't have a computer in their living room yet, might be interested in Fire Wire.

Firewire is nice if only for command and control -- even with discrete codes being able to tell the TV to turn on, change input to X over firewire is a good thing. And it's better than discrete codes in this case because not only can you tell the TV to do this, but the TV can respond with an OK message.

If the industry would standardize on a command and control protocol over firewire then it'd make all of our lives much, much simpler. And then pigs would fly and hell would freeze over.

arungupta, I am really happy with the current setup although I may tone down the color a bit, once there is some consensus on the agreed to adjustments. I was watching "A Time to Kill" Sunday night on CBS hi-def... and the scene that blew my mind was a courtroom shot where I could see the texture of the paper being drawn on by the sketch artist.

I don't currently intend to upgrade to a DVD player with a DVI or VGA interface... I didn't even know they existed until I ran across this forum a few days ago. In fact, I had always understood that component video inputs were the highest quality! I don't expect to buy a new DVD player until high definition players are released, if ever.

Thanks again for this service.

I live in Central Illinois, zipcode: 61704. How can I find out and who can I call toll free to find out who, in my area, is authorized to repair DLP's and what, if any, travel limit there might be.

Thanks

I don't have a Samsung TV right now but there should be a toll free number that came with the set. I think that when you call with a problem they refer you to a "local" service provider. I also understand that those providers may decline to service your set. I'm not sure what happens next.

How can they "decline"? I suspect they are under some kind of a contract to provide a service. How can Sammy, in effect, potentially leave you hanging? Also, if I got a Sammy it would be the new 46" so obviously I don't have the set yet. If possible, please provide me with an 800 # to call for service info. We/I would appreciate it. Thank you for your time and attention!

arungupta,

I'm planning on purchasing the HLN617W and have found your guide
invaluable in answering some of my questions. I do have one additional
question. The shelves on the Samsung TRL612S stand are only 6.1" high
per the Samsung documentation and my 7" tall receiver and my 8" tall
center speaker will not fit into the stand. Due to the 56.5" length of the TV,
stands for it may be hard to find. Has anyone else found any other stands
adequate for this TV? Has anyone developed any plans for making a stand?

Neil,

As for using the Samsung for a center channel, I agree with Zathrus and strongly recommend against it. If your customer has decent main speakers, they are much better off leaving the center channel in *Phantom* mode. If he/she wants to try using the TV, it can be connected using a Y-connector and the center channel set to *Small*.

Here is information about the stand that I bought.

Ikea has a 59 inch stand in black for $78 that's pretty good for the money. They also have it in birch for $99. It's the OPPLI TV Bench and is 59"W x 19 5/8"D x 15 3/4"H with casters. When we got ours they only had black in stock. We intended it as a temporary solution but it's looks and works so well for us that I expect we will have it for some time.

There are three component bays. Each bay is 10 1/4" high and 17 5/8" wide. There are two adjustable shelves that can go in any bay.

It has casters that seem to work smoothly. You do the assembly.

There is a HLM507 in the picture along with five components.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attac...514&fullpage=1

They are trying with HaVI. http://www.havi.org/

I didn't realize until I stumbled across that site that Firewire devices could be daisychained to your TV -- that would reduce the need for multiple inputs. I knew you could daisychain from a PC, but wasn't sure if consumer devices supported that, though I think each device would need 2 ports then.

Kmil,
Call this number and they can probably refer you to an authorized service center.

800-747-5618

FriscoJoe