The Official Samsung SlimFit HDTV Thread... - Page 35

I'm at the point of thinking of calling Samsung today or tomorrow to see what they have to say. If they send a tech within the next week and I'm still not satisfied I still have a little time to return it. I'm not that techincally advanced for tweeking in the service menu. I still like the picture, the slim fit design and that the front is BLACK.

I'm also going to slide by an middle/upper scale audio video store later today just to get their opinion. I've bought most of my audio gear from them so they are friendly to oblige when I'm in there.

Bryguy

I took my Samsung slimfit piece of s**t tv back to BB because of the horrible distortion that 2 hours of fooling around in the deflection part of the service menu couldn't cure-stay away from these things at all costs!!

I just received the 082 model today and must say I am impressed, I have not hap the problems with bowing (if I do it's very miniscule to where it's not even noticable). I must say I am overwhelmed, i know squat about HDTV's. I knew the tv I get had to have HDMi and be widescreen and have 720P. I knew most xbox 360 games have 720P, some have 1080i but I wanted to make sure I had all my bases covered. I am def. going to get that Avia dvd because I couldn't calibrate a tv to save my life. It was between this model and a ugly, bulky Sony 30'' widescreen and I must say Samsung really impressed me.

Consider youself extremly lucky-after I knew what to look for I noticed distortion on every slimfit display model I saw in CC and BB. I ended up buying a BB house brand tv (Insignia) for half the price of the Samsung and it's 100% better.

What do you look for for distortion and where do you look (corners, middle, bottom)? Is there something particular? If so, speak up so I can check mine (it's the 4:3 model).

Bryguy

I went to my local mid/high fi dealer yesterday to ask about the grey side pillars while viewing OTA HD. The explanation was it is due to a network broadcast signal. When they show a show that was done in and being broadcast in HD it will fill the screen.

I waited to about 9:00 last night to find a show done in and broadcast in HD and the mid/high fi dealer was correct. So therefore, it is not a tv problem. Thank you all for the help on trying to figure that one out.

Bryguy

I did notice a very minor Geometry issue, it wasn't noticable until I watched tv and had the menu screen up, even then I didn't notice it till today.
I wonder when I put my 360 to 720P in the settings, I press the info button on my Tv and it says 1280x720@60HZ, when I change it to 1080i it displays 1920x1080@60HZ. Is it still upscaling? Or is it actually displaying at 720?

Here's what you do-get a good test image-my favorite is from a disc that has the THX optimizer on it-it has lot of vertical and horizontial lines-look and see if you have any inward or outward bowing of the vertical lines-examine at the lower 1/4 of the screen and look for any buckling of horizontial lines-I can guarantee that you'll see them-if so take you slimfit back to wherever you got it-these can't be adjusted out in 99% of the cases. It's a shame because color and image wise these tvs are very good. The wavy line problem is caused by the much wider than normal angle the electron guns have to shoot and focus through due to the shorter than normal depth of the tube. Hope this helps.

What model # do you have?

TX-S3082WH

Thanks ZRDB,

I'm not sure if the Avia disc has the THX optimizer on it or not. I have not fully played with it yet. If it doesn't, can you name a couple of brands that do so I can hunt them down on Amazon.com. Two and half weeks to go for full refund.

Bryguy

The info you see on screen is indicating the stats of the imcoming signal, not what is being displayed on the screen. The set will always scale and re-interlace a 720p signal to 1080i.

Try not to be too anxious about locating flaws. I know you want to be sure you have a good set before your return window expires, but try to ease up just a little bit. Here's why - I corresponded with a guy who was absolutely in awe over the beautiful picture quality of his new HD set. Couldn't be happier. Then he read a thread about some anomaly and actually found what he thought was the same thing on his new set. Once that got into his head he could never be happy with that again set because his eyes would automatically latch on to that one small problem. All crt sets will exhibit some kind of flaw(s). There's no way around it as there's no perfect crt. If a "problem" doesn't stand out like a sore thumb, then it's best to leave well-enough alone.

Moral of the story - if it ain't broke don't fix it.

The THX optimizer is not that great of a tool. It's sole purpose is to set-up one's tv to look accurate with that particular movie. It's totally oriented to what the director wants you to appreciate for that one movie. It's not a tool for a general calibration.

Currently, the last thing I want to do is return this set. I love the picture and ease of use. A little distortion does not bother me (I just like to know what its limits are - its an optics thing with me). My only main concern was those gray side pillars which I found out is ok. It all depends on how the station is broadcasting and how the show was filmed.

So far I have not gotten into the actual Service Menu's because I haven't felt it necessary by the way the set looks.

I am in the same boat as you, if it ain't broke why mess with it. For example, I have a high quality telescope that has almost 9 yrs of dust and stuff on the lens. Why take a chance at scratching the coating to clean it off when it still gives crisp clean images.

Bryon

Excellent.

I do have a question about the grey sidebars. Are you saying they are only grey sometimes? If so, are they black when they're not grey?

At the risk of opening up a horrible wound and starting a nasty string of insults, has ANYONE figured out the QAM capabilities of the SlimFits?

Here's why I ask:

I have a TX-P2670 (DynaFlat, normal depth) Sammy now, and it needs a new tuner board. Samsung has told me that the part is deeply backordered, and that they're willing to replace it instead of sending a service tech 50+ miles to replace the part when it comes in. They have offered to replace it with a TX-S3082 or TX-R3080. I have a Sony XBR960 as my main set right now, so I'm not worried about waiting.

However, nobody seems to know the QAM capabilites of the 3082 (or 3080, etc). I know for a fact based on other posts that the 2670 is capable of going QAM with a firmware upgrade.

Is it worth giving up a non-SlimFit 26" CRT with QAM for a 30" SlimFit with unknown QAM capabilities? I told the Executive Customer Relations rep that I would have to call her back to let her know if I wanted to wait on the repair or just replace it.

I'm VERY used to having the QAM with my Sony, and I know that my 26" is capable of it, so I'm loathe to give it up just for 4 more inches diagonal, possible geometry issues (which don't bug me too much), and a slightly narrower depth. So, is there ANY word on the QAM on the SlimFits?

Please?

Your TX-P2670 comes from a line of exceptional Samsung tvs. You are correct about this set's QAM capabilities. As I understand it, the most recent firmware upgrade to make QAM work on your set was withdrawn due to problems. And, as far as I know, Samsung has yet to re-release it. This may play into your decision as you may never get this upgrade for your TX-P set.

The QAM capabilities of the newer sets (including 3082, 3080, etc) is unknown. No one that I recall has posted anything concrete on the issue. It just blows my mind how something so simple can become so complicated. I bet this uncertainty has cost Samsung a boatload of sales.

Is it worth giving up the TX-P? If you knew for sure that you'd never see the firmware upgrade for your TX-P then I'd say "yes," it's worth it. If I were you, I'd contact Samsung and try to press for this answer. Since they are awaiting your decision, tell them that as soon as you can get this info you'll be happy to make your decision. Hopefully this will help. I realize how nice this feature is, and so do you with your XBR960.

If you do choose to get a replacement try to get the latest one, as it seems Samsung is succeeding in getting rid of the bugs that plagued the earlier SlimFit sets.

Best of Luck!

See if you can get the latest FW upgrade CD.

Try and get the model numbers that the FW upgrade CD applied to and which ones it had problems with. Perhaps we can get a hold of a CD and flash the models we have that work. None of us has been able to get jack out of Sammsung so PLEASE since you have their ear, ask them these questions.

Also see if you can find out which slimfit models really do have a QAM-clear tuner and see if you can get teh facts. We are all at a loss here.

Awesome. Thanks!

No, the gray bars completely go away if the network is broadcasting a show that was actually filmed/taped in HD. The picture then fills the screen (4:3) until I hit the picture mode for 16:9 and then I get jet black letter box on the top and bottom. I was told if this wasn't OTA and through the satellite it should always fill the screen. I saw the difference Sunday night so I am happy it is not a TV problem. I hate returning stuff.

Bryguy

I just wanted to give a quick little update. justsc helped me out with something specific in the service menu. I was having trouble with red being pushed way to much on this set. I listened to him and done what I was suppose to. Everythings fine now. But heres the best part. I use to get purple spots on all 4 corners when firing up the tv when its cold. It would go away after 5mins of use. The purple was very faint. I had a little more in the up right hand corner. However. Now that ive adjust the red. Everytime I fire up the tv even when cold the purple is gone and it is at normal color settings now. I even tested it with a red backround and it stays red. There use to be those purple things in all 4 corners. Just thought I would let you guys know. Im very happy this purple stuff has been fixed. Does anyone know what would cause this? Obviously it has something to do with sm and the red color.

This is very good news.

I think the reason for the haphazard purple blotches, here and there, has to do with the analog nature of the phosphor. What I don't understand is why it seems to be pulled to the corners. I've read this from others too and I'd love to know the cause. Luckily for all of us, the SM adjustment for red push seems to do the job for the whole screen.

Nice Work!

I just bought the Samsung TX-3082 WH yesterday, and I thought that the picture quality was great and there weren't any geometry problems....

slowly I'm beginning to wonder... the first thing I noticed is on the right and left sides of the TV the vertical lines are much wider than in the center of the TV... I assume this is a geometry issue. If it's something that can be adjusted... I sure don't know how to.

Then when I really noticed a problem was after downloading several new XBOX 360 game trailers (e3 and all)...

I downloaded a Gears of War TV special thing, and noticed that nearly two thirds of the name was covered! After I noticed this, I went out to the main menu and noted a few other problems.

I have attached 2 photos of what happened in the Gears of War Trailer... What's the deal with that? Should I take this set back and buy the LG (even though it has only 1 HDMI input?).

How do I fix that distortion? Did I just get a terrible set with a factory worker that wanted to play a joke on whoever bought it or what?

this forum is absolutely great! it took me a solid 3 or so hours over the span of 4 days, but i can honestly say now that i have almost no discernible distortion issues on my week-old Samsung TXS2782HX at all. the set came to me with very visible hourglass-ing and overscan issues, and i was very upset until i decided to work on the service menu.

here's a handy hint that might help some of you beginning tweakers - when working from the service menu, the set will reset back to 100 contrast and 50(?) brightness, which will distort everything and make tweaking a pain in the ass.

step one is to find your perfect contrast/brightness ratio (35/40 is a good starting point, and then tailor to your preference), and note what distortion issues you want to rectify. from there go about tweaking one step at a time, restoring your preferred picture settings each time to make sure they're good. for my set, there is noticeable bowing in the service menu, but once i'm back to ~40 contrast and ~40 brightness, the lines straighten out and i have almost zero overscan. tweak for your contrast/brightness range, not for how it looks in the service menu!

for people needing help in their tweaking, earlier on someone posted a PDF (i can't find the post now) to a Samsung Service Manual that shows visually what all the deflection settings do - use it. it helped me out immensely.

If you run across that pdf file again would you be so kind as to re-post the link?

you just reminded me of the one issue i have with this set. i don't have a DVD player hooked up in my room (yet - i mostly use my computer or my living room set for dvd viewing), but i do have an Xbox and gamecube hooked up to the component jacks on my tx-s2782h. when playing a game on either system, either on progressive scan or not, the picture is clear without any distortion. however, when i tried to view a DVD using my xbox for playback, the wavy lines you mentioned appeared. it can't just be a progressive/non-progressive issue (xbox plays back dvds non progressive), since i do not get these wavy lines when playing my games in non-progressive mode over the same component input.

i really hope this isn't a constant.

This is normal on Samsung widescreen sets employing the SlimFit technology, as it is on most widescreen sets. It's more pronounced on some than on others.


This sounds like overscan. It can be adjusted with a calibration disc and use of the service menu.


This is interesting. I've seen another guy post images very similar to your where the Xbox 360 "edge" was so bowed inward on the right side. Are you certain that is supposed to be prefectly straight? The other guy didn't even mention it was a problem, and that really confused me. And his set was a Sony.

If it is not supposed to bow in like that, then it's exhibiting a pincushion effect. This can also be corrected in the SM.

If I were you I'd place a service call and get them in ASAP, especially if you're still within the 30 day return period. If they can't get to you in enough time for you to work a return, if necessary, then you might think about returning it. Like I said, I believe all these issues can be fixed, but you have to decide if the hassle factor to you is worth it. If not, get another one.

i found the link, but stupid forum restrictions aren't letting me post links until i attain 5 posts.

service manual for overview of settings - http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/co...62A-aadj-3.pdf