The Official Samsung SlimFit HDTV Thread... - Page 7

Samsung just released 27" SlimFit in Korea. I tried to post a picture here, but I not allowed at the moment.

Looks good in the picture.

I saw this black one at Costco Korea and it is much different than the silver one
as I originally thought. The front speakers are no longer slanted and it is parallel
to glass (flush-mounted). I am giving a serious thought to this model.

Sorry, it is 30" not 32".

Well, a few weeks ago I went ahead and bought this tv in the hopes that i would get lucky and not have to worry about the geometry issues. Upon setup i noticed a hint of curvature or bowing that I was able to remedy for the most part in the service menu. However, after a week or so it seemed to either get worse or my eyes were so trained to look for imperfections that I was bound to find something wrong with the geometry. That is until I asked my girlfriend (who doesn't have great eyesight) if she noticed anything wrong with the picture (without actually telling her about the screwed up geometry). She responded immediately that the picture seemed to bow in the middle of the screen. I knew that meant it was time to exchange it for another one. So I went ahead and got another set from circuit city tonight and curse my unlucky stars, it was even worse than the previous one. Needless to say, I am returning it again tomorrow and this time I'm getting my money back and will begin the search for another television (maybe the similar lg model if any best buy near me has one in stock).
Bottom line, if you own this tv and are pleased with it, great! Enjoy it! If you haven't bought this tv, however, and are just researching, AVIOD IT! There is no excuse for releasing a $1000 electronic device that can't even display an image properly. If I actually cared enough I would petition Samsung for a recall as I have seen five of these sets in person and every one had some sort of geometry issue.
But that's just my experience, so take it with a grain of salt.

I'm really curious about this.

Historically, Samsung hd sets have had the "bowing" problem at the bottom of the screen, most noticebale when the "tickers" are on. However, the apparent excess of addiditional geometry problems makes me wonder.

I've read that it's inherently difficult for a crt to perfectly "scan" a flat tube, since not all parts of the screen are at equal distance from the gun. If this is true, then it seems that shortening the distance between the screen and the gun, as with the SlimFit, would make it even harder to get geometry right.

Think that could be what's happening here?

I purchased this tv on July 9th. It had all I wanted,HDMI, 720p, hd tuner, and looked really really nice. Got it home and saw yellow and purple spots near each speaker. Called Circuit City and was told to bring it back. Got a replacement set home and it looked great...for a week. Now I'm seeing a trapezoid shape of green horizontal lines from top to bottom of the screen. This thing weighs 120 lbs. I'm tired of carrying it back to the store for a new one. Should I wait for a repair? Hell no. Im not having something "new" repaired. My other options are the Sony, Panasonic or Phillips. None of them match the options on this tv.

Should I try a 3rd set or go for another 30" model?

If you're talking about a SlimFit, I'd recommend returning it and buying one of Samsung's 30" non-SlimFit models. They do exist with all the features of the SlimFit, minus the "slim."

Good Luck!

Supposedly, the Sammy TX-R3080 will be coming out in August. I am waiting---read: hoping---that since this is a later release, the kinks will be worked out. Who knows where in the production cycle a current 3079 was produced. The first one off the line could still be in someone's warehouse waiting to be sold.

If the 3080's are bad, then we know Sammy doesn't have a handle on this technology yet.

Color me stupid. I bought the same model. Lets see if the third times the charm.

Wow, this looks like a neat TV, really tempted to buy it

Best of luck, seriously! Please let us know how it goes.

Hmmm this brings an interesting question for me:

I see there are some gamers here, I have a PS2 and Gran Turismo 4 , which can deliver a 1080i signal only during a race. the rest of manus, navigation and general stuff can only by at 480p.

So if I enable the 1080i in a race this TV can handle the signal changes on the fly?..

You all are driving me mad!! , i was sure about the buying Sony 30xs955, then i saw this 30" slimfit yesterday on BestBuy(in Texas) at the side of a 30XS955.. side by side comparision the Slimfit had better color reproduction, less noise on image, than the 30xs955.(both where playing the Directv Ads)
based on all your comments i wonder if there was a problem in the cable to the 30xs955. or maybe i cant handle SD standard definition TV as good as the Slim fit... so this is crazy!
My source of EDTV and HDTV will by ps2-gamecube(480p, one in 1080i) and the upcoming XBOX360. Here in mexico there is not HD cable, HD sat.

I like the slimfit because i will be able to move the tv with a little help, and that the TV stand doesnt have to be super-strong, another good point is that is 200USD cheaper than the sony one. ( with 200 i can buy other things, maybe a PSP, a better digital camera, more games) but im confused because of the comments made here.. about PQ.


Currently i have a Sony WEGA 25". So anything will be better.
And my HT-room is small. so 30-34" is good to me. I wish i can afford the 34XBR960.

Best Regards / Saludos!!


PS. I am in mexico, ill try to contact someone from Samsung mexico to see if they can sell the SlimFit maybe at a better price directly from the factory( i have to confirm if this TVs are made here in mexico and where). Ill let you know what i found. the more cheaper it gets then less atractive the 30xs955 is.. hehehe

I think you made a mistake returning the first set with the purple/yellow splotches. Mine had exactly the same thing when the delivery guys set it up. I almost sent it back with the delivery guys, but instead called Samsung who recommended unplugging it from the electrical outlet for a few minutes. Did that. Problem solved and the set has been beautiful since. It appears that that performs the equivalent of a degauss (would have been nice if they had included a degauss button).

Would be easy enough for you to try to see if it has any effect on the trapezoid stuff you are seeing. But I think it would have been completely effective on the purple/yellow splotches you mentioned in your post because it certainly cured mine.

My heart really goes out to current Samsung customers. I am an ardent Samsung tv fan/officionado, and I just hate to see new buyers having such trouble.

Out of the box (is that what OOB means?) many, many Samsung sets need work. Just like so many of the complaints I've been reading about. But once you get them dialed-in, they are absolute gems. And lots of times the adjustments needed can be quite simple, but buyers are given no help as to what to do when they get 'em home.

I have never seen better SD than on a Samsung digital tv, never! And, of course, the HD just sings. Their tubes are somewhat similar in PQ to the Sony SFP sets.

Maybe, since Samsung prices the sets so low, an ISF calibration should be considered as part of the purchase.

Best of luck to all Samsung buyers! The set you get has loads of potential if you can just get it to cooperate.

I can relate to some people's disappointment in these sets.. A friend recently had his heart set on one of these sets, and just recently purchased one. Now granted I haven't done much tweaking out of the box, but the picture is sub-par compared to the non-slim sets. Pictures look "ok," but they're not as clear and crisp as they should be. Images looked slightly fuzzy at times. There's also a very slight bowing inward on the bottom. I'll probably take a look at it again this weekend and try to tinker w/ the OTA tuner to try and view some hd. But.. me personally, I'm not impressed at all. It's also NO lighter than the non-slim 30", so you need a fairly sturdy stand to support it.

Btw, it's amazing how clueless most people are in terms of technology, etc. The salesman pushed this set on him when a 30" non-slim tv would have been just fine (and probably looked better). But, he also really wanted a slim set.. He thought it looked great, but I must say the picture was disappointing. I got a winbook 32" lcd a few months ago, and color reproduction/clarity/geometry certainly are much better than this samsung 30" slimfit. I was seriously thinking of purchasing one of these for my bedroom rather than an lcd, and am certainly glad I didn't.

Very good points!

Actually, in my previous post, I was referring to the non-SlimFit sets. From everything I've read, and seen, I do not recommend a SlimFit at this time. There seems to be something fundamentally wrong with the design of the sets. I whole-heartedly recommend Samsung hd sets prior to this model.

Those of you that have purchased and had trouble with the Samsung SlimFits need to beat down Samsung's doors with call and letters. Unless they know of your disapproval, they won't know enough to fix this model.

I think the sad fact is that most people aren't very critical of their sets. I mean hell, my friend thought the picture looked great w/ composite inputs.. and he thought he would get HD channels through his cable service because the tv says "hdtv". lol. The salesman even sold him an HDMI cable, and he doesn't even have anything w/ an hdmi output. I will try my best to steer him in the right direction, but some people really are just ignorant regarding certain things, and the stupid salesmen really don't help at all.

So.. most people probably won't even notice this problem even though it does exist. Most likely only "anal" people (like us ) that actually are informed and critical of the sets would probably even notice a difference. I skimmed through a few posts in this thread and a very high dot pitch would explain why the picture looks "fuzzy." That's disappointing if this is really the cause, but I'll definetly go over a bunch of things this weekend to mini-review the set..

I have had some geometric inconistencies with my Samsung Slimfit. I have not gone to the store to exchange it for another one. What do you people recommend I do? Should I get another Slimfit TV or should I just buy a Sony 30 in. widescreen with super fine pitch (200 dollars more)?

Have you looked at any of the Samsung 30" models, non-slimfits? They are also a great value. Take a look.

If you can't find one that pleases you, then sure - go get that Sony.

Herumesu05, I would return it and get the Sony. After two flawed Slim-fits, I returned them both and got the sony 30xs955 for about $150 more & now I am completely satisfied. No horrible geometry issues and the picture was amazing even before I calibrated it in the service menu. After making some adjustments in the service menu recommended by users in these forums, I find the picture on this set to be one of the best that I have ever seen on any unit. But if the price is too steep then the Samsung non-Slim-fits are a good option. I have found them to have excellent pq. Hope this helps

Hi, this is my first post and i don't proclaim to be a expert in HDTV.

AT Best Buy:
I read this post with a lot of interest b/c i was considering buying this TV today. I visited best buy where i originally saw it and wanted to purchase it there. it really looks great. I also waited for the HD signal come on and waited for the dreaded "solid bar" test. everything looked great and there was no distortion...but they wouldn't give me free shipping so i left.

AT Circuit City:
I decided to stop by CC and look at the model there. sure enough, the bar came on and the distortion was horrible. and i'm not talking like "just a little bit" but it was a very noticeable curve. you don't have to be nit-picky to notice this... all the other sony's and samsungs did not have that problem.

While i had debated purchasing it at CC, after I saw the bad distortion I just couldn't justify plopping down over $900 +tax for a supposedly "high quality" HDTV. it may be forgiveable for 100-200 dollar TVs, but $900 isn't chump change to most people.

I was definitely dissapointed... though my theory now is that possibly CC got all the "BAD" batches and BB got all the good ones since it really looked great there and a lot of ppl here have complained about ones bought at CC.

I've had my SlimFit since May and don't have any real complaints, although I may just not know what to complain about. I did access the Service Menu the other day and made some of the adjustments specified in a previous post. I'll try and post my settings later. I've also calibrated multiple times with the Sound and Vision Disk and I'll post those numbers as well. Off the top of my head, Contrast is around 6, Brightness is around 49, Sharpness around 75, can't remember Color and Tint.
All in all, I've been very happy with this set. As I've never viewed a properly calibrated HD CRT before, it's hard to know what to compare it too, though.

Which picture mode are you using? I'd recommend Custom, and be sure not to use "Vivid," if that's what they still call it. Your Sharpness numbers are very high. You might try that at more like 30. Where's your Color at?

Just for info - here's my numbers after calibration:
Custom
Contrast 30
Brightness 45
Sharpness 29
Color 39
Tint 51/49
DNR Off

These numbers were on a non-SlimFit set, but you might try them out.

Custom.
I didn't really notice much difference in any of the sharpness settings, although 75 "seemed" better.
ON mine, setting the Contrast anywhere over 6 introduces a lot of "curve" to the white scales on the Sound and Vision CD.

Yeah, keeping Contrast low helps with overscan bounce. I can't remember which SM settings help with overscan, did you try anything related to that in the SM?

No. The only settings that I at all changed were the ones that you referenced in the SM post.
When I have some time after my vacation I'm going to do a much more comprehensive tweak.
I'll post all of my original SM settings and the calibrated ones later tonight

I did try to unplug the set many times. I even moved it to different locations in my house. Same issues with the degauss.

The 3rd set is working great. I do see the slight geometry issues mentioned in other posts. I am using all inputs to test thoroughly. I have a new SA 8300 DVR with HDMI. (I work for Comcast). The picture looks very sweet using HDMI. Hopefully this set will not develop a 3rd flaw. Its not fun being a "tv tester" for Samsung.

Sounds like you doing a great job. I hope you enjoy your set as much as I've enjoyed my Samsung set.

Keep up the good work - others will appreciate your posting of your numbers!