General Samsung HLP Issues & Questions (Post all here) - Page 57

Yeah, some people keep 4:3 in 4:3 and others like myself are more annoyed by the side bars than the stretching (usually). I ended up returning the Samsung and bought a 42" Pan EDTV. Looks a lot better in the stretch mode...

Kevin

My first post on the forum. Hello to all!

I specifically got the Samsung DLP HL-P5085W because I wanted to be able to use it as both the HD monitor for my home theater but also as a monitor for my computer. I am somewhat of a newbie to home theaters and to using computers as the hubs of my digitial entertainment, but it's fun. So, now I have a terrific HTPC, although my wife hates Windows Media Center Edition.

Here's my setup:

eMachines T3096 with MS Windows Media Center Edition 2004
GeForce MX220 video card with DVI out
Soundblaster MP3+ external USB digital audio device
Pioneer Surround System System 5.1 Dolby Digital

My major gripe is with Windows Media Center Edition. For some reason, getting digital audio output to my surround sound system was a pain in the rear, but I solved it using a $20 external USB sound device from Soundblaster. So, now I get digital audio for DVDs, Dolby Pro Logic II for music (sends it over 5.1 channels) through the computer. Visualizations on Media Player on the Sammy should be great for dance parties!

I have the DVI out on my video card hooked up to the DVI input on my Sammy. Looks great so far, but I will be playing around with the various resolutions soon. I tried it on RGB, but it only gets VGA resolution. With DVI, I get so much better resolution. I surf the Internet using a Gyration wireless mouse and keyboard (very cool!). I set up my display properties to clone, which means currently what you see on my 15" flat screen is also what you get on the Sammy. I will be playing around with those settings in the future as well, because I understand you can set the displays not to clone and that way, my wife and I can use the computer at the same time for different tasks.

So far I love the Sammy, although last night I tried to calibrate my settings using the AVIA DVD (which is a bit dated but reviews indicated it had the best test patterns). Maybe it's because I'm a newbie and video equipment, but I had a hard time getting the color stuff set (black and white levels were easy). I think I might try again, but if I can't get it to get rid of the green levels that others have been commenting on, I might spring for a professional calibration. Anyone know someone good in the Philly area who specifically knows about the HLP Sammy's, feel free to post or email me.

In general, very happy, especially since I got the Sammy TV on sale at Circuit City with 4 year warranty for $2500 (TV was $2100).

David

My first post on the forum. Hello to all!

I specifically got the Samsung DLP HL-P5085W because I wanted to be able to use it as both the HD monitor for my home theater but also as a monitor for my computer. I am somewhat of a newbie to home theaters and to using computers as the hubs of my digitial entertainment, but it's fun. So, now I have a terrific HTPC, although my wife hates Windows Media Center Edition.

Here's my setup:

eMachines T3096 with MS Windows Media Center Edition 2004
GeForce MX220 video card with DVI out
Soundblaster MP3+ external USB digital audio device
Pioneer Surround System System 5.1 Dolby Digital

My major gripe is with Windows Media Center Edition. For some reason, getting digital audio output to my surround sound system was a pain in the rear, but I solved it using a $20 external USB sound device from Soundblaster. So, now I get digital audio for DVDs, Dolby Pro Logic II for music (sends it over 5.1 channels) through the computer. Visualizations on Media Player on the Sammy should be great for dance parties!

I have the DVI out on my video card hooked up to the DVI input on my Sammy. Looks great so far, but I will be playing around with the various resolutions soon. I tried it on RGB, but it only gets VGA resolution. With DVI, I get so much better resolution. I surf the Internet using a Gyration wireless mouse and keyboard (very cool!). I set up my display properties to clone, which means currently what you see on my 15" flat screen is also what you get on the Sammy. I will be playing around with those settings in the future as well, because I understand you can set the displays not to clone and that way, my wife and I can use the computer at the same time for different tasks.

So far I love the Sammy, although last night I tried to calibrate my settings using the AVIA DVD (which is a bit dated but reviews indicated it had the best test patterns). Maybe it's because I'm a newbie and video equipment, but I had a hard time getting the color stuff set (black and white levels were easy). I think I might try again, but if I can't get it to get rid of the green levels that others have been commenting on, I might spring for a professional calibration. Anyone know someone good in the Philly area who specifically knows about the HLP Sammy's, feel free to post or email me.

In general, very happy, especially since I got the Sammy TV on sale at Circuit City with 4 year warranty for $2500 (TV was $2100).

David

I am on my second Samsung DLP. First was the HLN which by the way synced up perfectly over comonent at 720 from the same Moto cable box I have now. Now it doesn't work on my HLP-5063

Like everyone else it works fine over DVI. I haven't tried HDMI yet since I don't have a cable for it.

Tom

If your are trying to color calibrate with uour HTPC input to the Sammy you might also look at a the Nvidia control panel to try and adjust gamma there.

Maybe your video card is causing the green push and you can remove it before it gets to the set.

You want your res set to 1280x720. You may need to upgrade video drivers to get custom res and gamma options.

I was calibrating through my DVD player, which I have connected using Y/Pb/Pr component cables to component 1 input. If the DVI video card source were not being displayed, might it still interfere with the calibration? Might it be causing the green push?

Thanks,

David

No. But the component connection could be the problem. You are forcing two conversions -- first from digital to analog and then analog back to digital.

Update: the samsung tech came today, replaced the digital PCB, but it didn't really fix the problem. She said that another owner was having the same problem. She talked on the phone to 2 different samsung techs at different locations, but they didn't know what to do either. Watch out for this problem on your new HLP sets!

What about a new light engine or a new set?

They already tried two new light engines (see first post of mine in this thread) but it didn't help. Hopefully they will just give me a new set instead of me having to wait while they figure out what is going on.

If you haven't already get Samsung involved.

what do you mean? yes samsung is involved, i called their tech support, and it is their tech that came to my house to fix the tv.

I read a lot of threads. Sorry if I didn't keep up to date on your problems.

Samsung does do exchanges but it takes some time. It's sometimes faster through your dealer depending on how long you have had the set and the particular dealer. I would ask for fast track help from one of them.

If it was a Samsung employee then you should get faster action than if it was a contract service company.

Good luck.

Update

BB Tech came yesterday and installed the new Analog and Digital PCB boards. Everything seemed fine last night and this morning until about 3 pm today when the TV turned off and on for the 1st time. Happened again about an hour later and then the off/on/off/on cycle started about 45 minutes after that. Finally concluded with the 3 lights on the front of the TV and no response from the remote.

I called BB again and scheduled my 3rd repair call...for next Thursday. Don't even get me started about having to wait that long for them to come back. I also had an interesting conversation with the support person at Best Buy when I wanted to confirm if my $400 PSP would carry over to whatever TV I decide to replace this one with. He originally said no, that the PSP only covered the original TV and that I would have to buy new one for the replacement. After talking to his supervisor and explaining that there was no way in hell that I paid $400 for a 3 month extended warranty and that I could have not bought the PSP, gone directly through Samsung, and gotten exactly the same result, I was told that it would cover my replacement for the remainder of the 4 years, regardless of if I buy another Samsung or not, since this one is still under the manufacturer's warranty. I kinda figured that, but I wanted to make sure.

Anyway...I called Samsung as well to see if they could shed any light on my problem and they were of little help. Basically, they said that they could send a service tech out, but that they have the same 3 strikes lemon rule. So since I'm already 2/3's of the way there with BB, I might as well go this route. They also told me that they hadn't heard of anyone having the same issues that I'm having, with the unit turning off and on and then the 3 lights coming on. That doesn't surprise me because I've only been able to find one other person online that's seemed to have it as well.

I guess I've got about another 2 weeks of dealing with this and then it will be time to decide whether to take a chance on another HLP4663, or find something else that may be more reliable. I'll let you know what happens.

same thing happened to me with BB. The warranty does transfer over but you cannot use the no lemon portion again unless you buy a new warranty. I had to call their corporate office to get clarification on this. So basically if you get a replacement and something happens, they will just continue to fix it rather than replace it again. Doesn't make much business sense to me though. I'm sure in a lot of cases that it would be cheaper to replace it rather than keep fixing it.

tech came on Friday, and couldnt figure out whats wrong with my set. Since its just a minor probm, he went bac to the office and send the info he gather to Samsung to see what they say. My probm is that when I use component 2 all my images are shifted right. On Component 1 a very slight off ceneter right. DVI its dead on. Also I am having real issues with the set. I have the humidity in the room now at 30-40% and anytime I touch any thing (not TV) even no static discharge I get a drop no singal. I can walk acroos the floor and some times this also happens. Lately this probm is occuring even when I am still on the couch touching nada. I 1st blamed the HiDef SA 8000/8300 PVR's from the cable company but after the 5th PVR, now it looks like the TV is the probm. Never have drops on DVI so it pointing to the analog stage in the Sammy.

Ok, I just got a 5063 and there are few problems with it I think. One, there is a high pitch whistling sound. Is this normal. Its kind of annoying. Second, when the tv is off, i think i see a discoloration in the screen in the center of the tv. Am i just seeing some component behind the screen? Also, in dark scenes, i see vertical bars across the whole screen spaced evenly apart. I couldn't find any info on this. Thanks for the help.

i have a 4663 with firmware 1035. i was hoping maybe someone with same set and firmware could tell me what there sound delay is set to? 1 2 or 3? any help would be great .. thanks

Thanks for the help. The high pitch was not noticable yesterday at first, but then started to be louder later in the night(I could be imagining this. But it is very annoying. I am about 10 feet away and i can still hear it at volume 20 using the tv speakers. Any ideas on the vertical bars, I didn't notice them yesterday. Thanks again.

nemo77,
Its the bearing in your color wheel making the noise. I had mine replaced. They actually replaced the whole light engine because its easier.

I have no ideas about the vert bars. Ask the service rep before he comes out.

AkaStp,

I did not see that paper. Can you provide the description? I see a faint white oval in the center with the TV off. Never bothered to question it before.

It's reflected ambiant light from your room -- not a problem.

Thanks for the response... I am downloading that document right now...
While all the experts are here....
I have included a drawing. I need to run speaker wire to my LS and RS speakers. I am guessing I will have to drill a hole in the floor behind the DLP, run it through my crawlspace, then up through the corresponding walls somehow where the speakers will be mounted. This seems quite a daunting task. Specifically the wall fishing. Has anyone done this or should I just call a professional? Thanks!

 

lr speaker layout.pdf 10.9453125k . file

VA Ringer,

It's a fairly easy task, not as hard as you think. This is how I did it: 1) From the first floor, determine where you want the wire to come out from the wall and cut a hole in the wall at that location. Make sure it has to be between the two studs. 2) Project that position to the floor then drill a tiny hole with the smallest drill bit you have as close as possible to the wall trim on the floor. The hole you drill has to be big enough for a coat hanger wire to go through. 3) Fish a length of a coat hanger wire through the hole you just drilled. The wire only has to be long enough so you can find it when you go down to the basement or crawl space. 4) Go to your basement (or crawl space) and look for that piece of coat hanger wire that you just fished down. Next to the coat hanger wire is the sole plate (bottom plate) of the wall frame. You have to determine whether the soleplate is to the left or to the right of the coat hanger wire. Once you decide where the sole plate is, tape one end of the speaker wire to the fishtape and drill a hole upward in the middle of the sole plate. Make sure to use a bigger drill bit so that both the speaker wire plus the fish tape can go through at the same time. 5) Now go back up to the fist floor and look through the cutout hole in the wall. You should see the fishtape with your speaker wire in there some where. 5) Pull the wire out and make your connection. As I said it's much easier that you think. Good luck.

VA Ringer,

I forgot to mention you should wear a mask and goggle when you drill the hole up from the basement (or crawl space). I wore glasses when I drilled mine and thought that would give me enough protection. Boy, I got sawdust in both my eyes and a lung full of sawdust too.

I'm having some issues with my new HLP5085.
I've done a lot of reading on this site and others, and haven't seen a solution to this problem.

I have horrible gradation on my blacks. Any darkish scene or scene with shadows has progressively darker bands of black and no detail.
Besides this, the TV looks incredible, but the blacks are so bad that it makes most everything unwatchable. This happens on every input I've tried, from every source.

I've not yet tweaked my TV with DVE (it's bought, shipped, and on the way to my place) but I've played extensively with the contract/brightness/sharpness/color off the user menu. Nothing I try seems to be able to come close to getting rid of the banding, and I think this is beyond tweaking from the UM.

I've tried some tweaks in the service menu. The Gamma adjustment (currently on 2) didn't provide any help.
Also, with the test patterns available from the SM, the one with 3 columns that progress from black to white, clearly shows gradation on the blacks. There are visible bands of black shades instead of a smooth transition.

Anyone have any idea how I should proceed with this? Do I need to have my TV serviced by Samsung? Are there settings in the SM I can adjust to play with the black level?

The rest of the colors on my TV are incredible and besides this I'm very happy with my purchase.

Thanks

Actionnewbs - trade-in yer HLP and get the new 1080p with 5,000:1 contrast ratio.

Just got a new HLP4674 a couple of weeks ago and have noticed that the screen is slightly concave. In fact, it is so slightly concave it's hard to see even when moving reflections around the corners. I had to place the straight edge of a ruler on the screen from the top edge to the side edge to be sure it was there. But sure enough, the screen is concave.
Anyway, it's causing a pincushion effect on the sides which is only really noticable when viewing the desktop of my HTPC (PC wide mode) since that mode has no overscan.
I just wanted to post a query to see if this is common and normal or if the screen on my set was not mounted properly.
I appologise if this has been previously discussed; I did a cursory search of this thread and could find no mention of the problem.

thanks,
Trey

wdang,

Thanks for the procedure! I did not know anything about a fishtape. Do you know of a place to get one cheap? If so, please recommend one.

Are speaker mount plates recommended?

Is there a good source online that shows detailed drawings or pictures of this type of installations?

One other thing, I have heard that there might be horizontal studs in the walls for fire prevention. If one of those are in the way, how do I get through it? The speakers will probably be about 6.5-7 feet high.

Thanks again!

You have to cut out a small piece of sheet-rock across the firebreak so that you have room to drill through it. Then you fish the line from the basement to that point and thread it through the hole -- repeat until you reach your speaker hole.

Sunset has a how to do it book that shows adding new wiring outlet by using the same method when you need to go through several studs.