Samsung 1080p Owner's Thread --- HLSxx87W/HLSxx88W DLP Models - Page 6

The 88 series will have a QAM Tuner, its necessary for the CableCard. The QAM Tuner should still be available to the user even without the CableCard in the TV. The CableCard simply decrypts the QAM signals that are encrypted (premium channels).

However, all Cable Companies are required to transmit UNENCRYPTED Local HD Channels via QAM (FOX,CBS,PBS,UPN,ABC,NBC,etc...) if you are subscribing to their basic analog package. (you also get it if you have cable internet).

Having a QAM Tuner in the tv sets is really nice because you do not have to mess with an external antenna to get your local High Definition feeds.

So I am the proud owner of a noisy color wheel. The Circuit City technician has ordered me a replacement color wheel, which is supposed to arrive in five days. I suppose I could swap the TV with another new set, but the potential for problems is still there. Everything else regarding my HL-S5687W works wonderfully.

Observation time!

Last night I played Beatmania, Amplitude, and Guitar Hero, which are all PS2 games. The PS2 is connected to an Audio Authority auto-sensing switchbox via component and TOSlink (along with other consoles). The switchbox is connected to the TV via component, and it's connected to a Yamaha receiver via RCA cable. I had the TV set to Movie mode, which is the same mode I've been using for watching TV and DVDs.

There was no latency at all in any of these games! As far as I'm concerned, this was no different from playing these games on my old CRT TV. I'm also pretty surprised how good PS2 and Gamecube games look, both interlaced and progressive games. I tried turning the Game Mode on and off just to see what it does. I guess it supposedly turns off some image processing. It's difficult to describe the difference in the image. When I turned it off, it seemed like the picture became softer, but when I switch back and forth, I don't see any change in the way the pixels are displayed, just the color changes. For some reason it just gives the appearance of a softer/smoother image. For some games that are interlaced, this looks maybe a little better, but for progressive games, it looks quite a bit worse.

I bought a Zenith Silver Sensor antenna, and it picks up all my local digital stations (probably helps that I live in the city). One thing that is neat about this is when you change channels, the TV displays information about the channel in the upper right corner. For example, the TV rating, signal (480i, 720p, 1080i), and audio format. As mentioned earlier in this thread, the HL-Sxx87Ws have no PIP, closed captioning, QAM tuner, or on-screen TV guide.

I am putting together an HTPC to drive this TV. Parts should be arriving next week. I will also try to post some photos of the TV this weekend.

I bought a 6187 tonight from Best Buy in Bellevue WA. They have about 25 in their warehouse in Kent. Have to say, the set looked great in the store. Was it perfect? No, but they just got it set up today, and hadn't tweaked the video settings at all. Hooked up an upconverting Sony DVD player, with a not so great HDMI cable, and watched the Matrix briefly. Went through the "lobby" scene at the end, and the motion was perfect. I was a little let down by some "noise" in the picture, but think I can work that out with a better signal.

I'm picking up the set tomorrow, and hope to have it up and somewhat functional by the evening. I have an Xbox 360, and just ordered the OPPO DVD player this week, awaiting it's delivery as well.

Will post some pictures when I get it set up!

cool TOBYMC, I look forward to seeing your pics! Congrats on the nice new TV! Can you please post a olink to the "OPPO" DVD player you're referring to? thx in advance.

how do you know which model he got? lol

I think i'll wait for the Samsung model (or one like it) coming out that upconverts to 1080p, not just 1080i, since I'm getting the 6188 HLS.

Cause that's the Oppo model everyone gets and a super safe assumption. Don't just get the Samsung from that one feature. Last year's Samsung DVD players with decent features had some bad picture qualities that made them very inferior to Panasonic and Oppo players.

To the best of my knowledge, that's the ONLY model Oppo is selling right now.

nikolausp, I'm not going to push one model over the other because I haven't purchased an upconverting DVD player myself yet. But, I can tell you that the Oppo player has gotten rave reviews here at AVS. Check out this thread in the DVD Players thread. OPPO thread

THanks guys, I do appreciate the info.

For any of the owners of the HLS6187... what is the measurement of the distance from the bottom of the set up to the point where the screen starts? I'm just trying to get an idea of the exact height at which my screen will sit.

Thanks!

I'll be very interested to find out if you see any macroblocking on the hls-6187 with the Oppo.

Congratulations to the new owners.

I have one question, maybe someone can check this for me.
Do they support pal-resolutions and 50hz for sd and hd? I've searched the manual, but there is'nt much.

I'm just thinking about importing a HL-S5679W or HL-Sxx87W to germany.

Wandered into my local Sears and they had a HLS6187 on display. I have a HLR 6168 so couldn't resist comparing the two. Picture looked as good as ever. The menu system scrolls across the bottom now rather than up and down the left side. DNIE is there with on, demo and off. I turned the set down to normal (from dynamic) and turned off DNIE. I couldn't see much difference with DNIE on or off, but I really didn't expect to given the Sears feed and didn't spend a lot of time. Overall the set dimensions look to be very close to the HLR series - only now the bezel is gloss black. It may take a bit of getting used to, but I think I like it. You have to have a USB device plugged in for the WISE software to load, so I couldn't see how it works.

Anyway congratulations to those of you who have gotten your sets. It looks to me like it's a keeper!

I bought (and returned) the samsung and oppo's and kept the panny s97s. has good audio delay capablities in addition to pq and general over all features. didnt like the oppo at all as it was not, once again only in my opinoin, really user friendly. also, the remote was inferior, once again, imho.

I got my HL-S6187 Friday night at Best Buy. I went in to see if they had any on display and they did not, and there was no sales person around. So, I was about to walk out when a salesman saw me and asked if he could help me. So, I asked about the new Sammys and he said they had just gotten some in, and they were in the back. The next thing I knew I was paying for one, and taking it home!

My first impression, upon setting up the tv, was that it is absolutely gorgeous! I LOVE the black gloss and the thin bezel! Turning it on, I noticed that this tv is VERY quiet! I had been prepared for some fan noise, but there is really none to speak of.

The picture on HD is outstanding. If you look real close you can sometimes see some artifacting on high speed action scenes, but nothing bad really. No jagged lines ANYWHERE, and I've tried to make myself see rainbows and cannot! Color looks good. Blacks are very black and whites are the whitest I have ever seen on a tv. I also have not seen any of the blotchy bad color transitions on skintones that I have noticed on some HDTVs I've seen at stores. I turned down the brightness and the color as it was nearly overwhelming. I will sit down one night this week with my Avia disk and do some real tweaking.

SD broadcasts are hit and miss. Some of them are pretty nice, and some of them are almost unwatchable. So far, most have been bearable.

My only complaints are the sound and the remote. For what this tv costs you would expect a little bit nicer remote, but the remote is cheap cheap cheap! Not really a problem for me because I have a nice Osiris remote, but still a little disappointing. As for the sound, it's not horrible, but once again, for the price you would expect a little more. I'm guessing the hidden speakers may have a little to do with it. Sounds great hooked to my 5.1 reciever using a Digital Optical cable though. No lip-sync issues at all!

BTW, my sources are Directv/HD DVR and a Samsung upconverting DVD player, both connected through HDMI. At some point this week I may hook up my pc, and also let my son hook up his PS2, just to see what they look like.

Im planning on purchasing the H-LS5088 and the new Sony DVP-NS75H DVD player.
I had it narrowed down to the S97s, Oppo OPDV971H and the Sony DVP-NS75H.
My thinking is this will be a player to hold me over till the HD-DVD players come down in price and the format wars settle down or dual format players become common place and more affordable.
The Sony was the cheapest player out of the bunch and has gotten decent reviews.
Link to AVS discussion
Wondering if anyone else has looked into the Sony player and maybe has tried it with their new H-LS DLP.

Is this true that they are required to transmit the local HD feeds unencrypted? Although since I never watch anything live I guess it doesn't really matter without me reading what are the other deal breaker differences between the 87 and 88 series?

However, all Cable Companies are required to transmit UNENCRYPTED Local HD Channels via QAM (FOX,CBS,PBS,UPN,ABC,NBC,etc...) if you are subscribing to their basic analog package. (you also get it if you have cable internet).

Having a QAM Tuner in the tv sets is really nice because you do not have to mess with an external antenna to get your local High Definition feeds.[/quote]

I checked out the local suppliers yesterday after noticing that BB was listing the 6187 in its weekly circular. Here's what we discovered.

Circuit City had no idea what I was asking about. They essentially showed no "S" series in their system.

Magnolia (BB) showed the 6187 in their system and claimed to have one "in the back," but no floor displays. No info on the 6188.

Tweeter listed the 6188 in their system but estimated a June 06 delivery. No info on the 6187.

It looked like BB was aiming to carry the 6187 but not the 6188, with the reverse at Tweeter. No guarantee of this however. The estimated price difference between the 87 and the 88 looked to be about $300 (hope this doesn't violate the forum rules).

Well here are some pics of the 6187. Sorry for the poor quality, I'm a terrible photog This TV is amazing. The tennis pic is HD from INHD2. The other two pics are both SD via Comcast. I was very impressed with the quality of the SD picture.

Awesome pics, hammersfd! The SD does look surprisingly good.

I wonder if you could tell me something: what is the measurement of the distance from the bottom of the base up to the point where the screen starts? I'm estimating six inches, but it would be nice to know exactly. Thanks!

mtw : bottom of base to where screen starts is 7.5 inches

Also managed to get one at BB on Friday. Hooked it up to Direct TV sony set top box. Turned off DNie, turned down color and contrast, turned off filters. Happened to get some 1080i from BBC opera at St. Petersburg. Viewing distance is 9.5 ft. That put us about 10 rows back and the detail was kinda what I expected... simply fantastic. This was compared to a 34 inch CRT which bit the biscuit. Also watched the Bulls and the Heat last eve and that was also outstanding. The SD channels look good. For us, the TV meets or exceeds our current needs very well and is ready for Blu Ray when it arrives (ie accepts 1080p). There is no fan noise. The inputs are easy to access. The weight is about 86 lbs. Thank you Samsung !

Excellent, thanks! That's more than I'd have thought, so I'm glad I asked. Thanks for the info.

hammersfd, how does the stand's glossiness compare to the tv?

very similar, maybe a little less glossy than the tv

Could you please post when you've done this? I'm really worried that the set won't accept a 1080p computer signal over HDMI, and this would be a deal-breaker for me.

Thanks!

PS. I don't see any rainbows. Has anyone with these models seen rainbows?

no rainbows here

Hammer, what stand is that. I am getting the tv from BB and am looking for a good stand

Hammer, thank you for the informative photos. That stand looks like the absolute best one for that TV. Can you please take a photo from the side showing how the back of the TV fits on the stand? We've never even seen a good side view of the TV either. Thanks in advance.