HLP5674W/HLP4674W Owners Thread/Problems/Tweaks/Service Menu/Discretes etc.

sounds like a great idea as I too am soon to be the owner of a HLP5674W set and will appreciate the info

I cant wait to hear more, I am returning my Mits 52725 and wanting to take a look at this new Sammy. I cant wait for someone to finialy get one and really compare it to some of these other sets.

returning your 52725 Mits?? It is a nice set but if you are troubled by the glare issue I agree give the HLP5674W a look. I ordered one and expect to view it soon. I had been convinced that the Mits was a better picture than the 5067 Sammy but now these 74s with the newer chip made me reconsider.

good luck with your Sammy to be and keep us informed of its performance!

Interesting. I downloaded to manual to scan tonight so I wouldn't have to read much tomorrow when I get the TV. Two observations:

1 - The dimensions on page 95 are wrong (43.07X13.35X32.05) based on the fact that a couple of people who alredy have them have verified the 40.6" width. I hope the QC on production was better than the fact checking in the manual.

2. Does it concern anyone that the first thing the manual shows you how to do is change the bulb?

I'll chime back in tomorrow night with first impressions...

I believe that the 40.6 inch is the correct width on the 5674. Bulb changing directions? LOL yeah at least they are telling us how to do it! Buy an extended warranty that covers the bulb burnout issue if you can get a decent price. I believe that the bulbs are $250 per!!

Ya get yours tomorrow you lucky bum!

enjoy

RML

Good job Paul, my 5674 will be delivered on the 18th.

From where Hi Deaf? I've been looking for them too. Can you pm me the price you got with delivery? I have on preordered from TVA at this moment.

thanks,

DAle

I am sure hoping the Sammy doesn't have the halo problems I am having w/the Mits. They are supposed to come and pick it up in a few days. Has anyone noticed this phenomenon with the Sammys?

Dale, I got mine from Tweeter in San Diego. I pm'd the price.


I currently have the HLN56 and have never had a problem.(although this is the second set, the first one had a stuck mirror) Not sure what the "halo" problem is.

I know there's a lot of folks waiting for feedback on the 4674. I picked mine up at the airport yesterday, and set it up last night, so I haven't had much time to check in. But let me give a quick synopsis of my impressions so far before I sit down for a day of football bliss.

The set has definitely met my expectations. HD stuff looks great. Although, this being my first HDTV, I am surprised at the variability in the HD signals.

For example, the Clemson-Miami game looked good, but the boxing on Showtime HD was much better. You could see the sweat on the boxer's foreheads. I really like the black levels - one of the fighters was wearing all black trunks, and it was darker than the black speaker it blended in with on the bottom of the screen.

I calibrated the set with Avia. Out of the box, contrast was 100. I set it down to 80. Here are my full settings:

Contrast: 80
Brightness: 41 (turned way down from the factory pre-set. This is a bright set!)
Sharpness: 65
Color: 62
Tint: Not adjustable using HDMI or DVI

One other note - the manual is awful. Clearly not proofread. For example, the manual's selection of screen formats does not match the actual selecton on the TV - looks like they left in some stuff from the HLN manual. Owning two Denon products, I've become accustomed to bad manuals, and this one definitely qualifies. But that's a minor complaint - PQ is terrific.

Another thing I was concerned with was glare, as I have a double door of windows right next to the TV. Glare is non-existent - I can watch this set with all of the lights on and the curtains open and not see any reflection. A big improvement over the CRT it replaced!

As for some common problems, I do not have audio sync issues (yet) - with an optical feed from my RCA DTC210 to Denon 3802 for sound. I've never seen a rainbow, so I'm probably not the right person to ask. The operation is very quiet - no noticable fan noise unless you mute the TV and put your ear against the set.

Finally, the package was very easy for my wife and I to carry. The box had built in handles. My advice, if you buy locally, have access to an SUV, and the store doesn't offer free shipping - take it home yourself.

I'll post more later, with pics. Gotta go watch the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets.

Two contrast settings? Typo?

The "74" sounds good. It should also be great with your Denon DVD player.

Enjoy.

How sturdy does the center speaker shelf seem to be? Does the manual give a max weight for the shelf?

good question. If this shelf can hold a decent size center speaker unit that is a plus and makes finding a console/stand that much easier. you start adding in a AV receiver DVD player, "Tivo", cable box you are start a "running on full" !

Whoops! Second contrast should have said sharpness. I fixed it above.

I have an Axiom VP150 - 26.5" wide and 17 lbs. Shelf seems fine for that. I have three rubber doorstops at the rear of the shelf to tilt the speaker down a bit, and the front of the speaker rest just behind the bezel. I haven't had a chance to post a pic, but I will soon.

Took a picture of my 4674 with Finding Nemo on it, but I guess my camera was at too high of a quality setting and I'm having trouble posting it. I'll take another picture tonight, unless someone can tell me how to shrink the pixel count without losing most of the picture.

open it in photoshop and choose the Image menu and then click on Image size and adjust pixel numbers and size of image.

OK, with a little help from Luebster and Mismatched, here's Finding Nemo from a Denon 3910 connected via HDMI to a 4674. I didn't use flash for this one to keep the reflection out.

The center channel on top is 26.5 inches wide, a couple of inces wider than the back portion of the shelf, but the front part of the shelf spans the whole width of the screen, so there is plenty of support.

You can see why the narrow footprint of the 4674 was so critical for me. My wife wasn't thinking of home theater when she picked the house before we met.

Greetings,
Great photo...made me smile, too.
b.

I just email it to my self and it will ask you if you want to reduce the size.

TJK

The picture is very useful. One it is a great picture! 2. The size of your space looks very similar to mine which is also between a fireplace and a wall. I got to get one soon!

That space is 47" wide, so it didn't leave me a lot of options. Pulled the TV stand out a bit and angled it to fit the left speaker to the left of the TV. Side speakers on the TV would have obstructed the fireplace, and anything even a few inches wider would have made the wife furious. The 4674 (or the LG 44" or pending RCA 44") were nice fits. But the LG isn't HD2+, and the RCA 44" isn't out yet and may be HD3.

I also have an outside wall and fireplace to limit space. I moved left front speaker to other side of fireplace, maybe not ideal, but works. The further separation of front speakers does give a better HT sound. Your set-up looks great.

I put one of my speakers between the TV and the wall and the other on the other side of the fireplace and the sound is fine. I have about 60 inches of space to work with so I am thinking 5674 because we have a 45in 4:3 Mits rear projection set now and I believe that the 4674 in 4:3 mode would translate to about a 38 in screen so that might look kinda small....

Here are a couple of shots from Star Wars on my HL-P4674. Compared to the HLN467W I had before the set does have better blacks, it is quieter, it turns on/shows a picture MUCH faster, and the color/calibration out of the box is WAY better. No clay face or green push, both of which I had to go into the Service Menu and tweak out on the HLN.

The bezel is somewhat darker, but not as much darker as I was expecting. I will post a more thorough review once I get time to re-watch several movies I recently watch on the HLN. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to do any side by side comparisons between the 2, but the HLP is clearly better in terms of contrast/PQ.

Opening scene:
http://home.speedfactory.net/tracyrk/pics/4674_SW1.JPG

My setup:
http://home.speedfactory.net/tracyrk/pics/4674_SW2.JPG

The cabinet is 41" wide, so the set is a perfect fit, and pretty much the only RPTV that works. And yes I have a very high WAF

How is the horizontal viewing angle on the 74s?

Can you speicify different video settings for each input?