2007 Samsung LED Owner's Thread (HLT XX87/89S) - Page 333

I had a good experience with Amazon (that Big River place ). They had the best price, offered free shipping, and will replace the set within 30 days if there are problems. Be sure that the vendor is AMAZON, not an Amazon affiliate selling on the Amazon website.

Amazon uses Eagle shipping. They are very good and provide the so-called "white glove" service.

Note that Brick & Mortar vendors can have shipping problems too. Both from the distributor to the retail store and from the retail store to your home. Several years ago I purchased a TV from BB for my work. The box looked fine. When we opened it, the TV's case was badly cracked. We took it back and got another one. Once opened it was cracked too! Went back to BB and opened several more boxes on the floor and finally found one that was not damaged.

Good luck with your purchase. Avio

One question I had is I wonder if it's possible to be able to use the speakers in the 87 as a center.... i have a really nice center and surround components but since I have no place to set the center except in the cabinet, I have to open the cabinet and it's not ideal.

just a thought.

Why do you think that the audio outputs look to be variable? I have tried and tried to set my sytem up using variable and haven't been able to make it work.

I think the idea will not work satisfactorily. I imagine that you would have to open the back of the TV, disconnect the speaker wires, and connect your own speaker wires.

The 2 speakers inside your TV are minimal quality (read junky). Center speakers are specialized. Your "really nice center" is what is needed for a true HT surround setup. Maybe take the doors off the cabinet...

Avio

I think your concerns are overblown.

I ordered from Amazon, paid $500 less than any of the big box retailers (they had the 5087 on their web site at least), and the set was shipped for free. EGL handled it well, and I had no issues.

A friend of mine bought the HLT5076 a couple years ago from TVAuthority and hasn't had any issues either.

Keep in mind the return policy of the vendor you're buying from, and also note that Samsung will send out a tech to repair many issues that show up from "rough" shipping.

Two questions for 87 owners(as 89 series aren't available local to me):
1. Is there a banding issue with these?
2. Can the PS3 can force 1080/24 on this set and make it work correctly?
3. Is the hotspot able to be seen on all sets or is by chance?
4. Does the hot spot distract from the image? If so, most notably when?
Thanks so much in advance!

I notice banding occasionally. I don't know that I would consider it an "issue" though, I think pretty much all lcd and dlp based displays do it to one degree or another. It's not bad on the 87 even when I do notice it though.
From everything I have read on this forum the ps3 can force 24 hertz to the tv although some have mentioned a stuttering problem when at 24 htz.

As with pretty much any tv that has a central light source you will see a slight darkening of the screen at the edges compared to the center. However I hardly ever notice it on my set so it has not been an issue for me.

Thanks alot candy76man!

I guess all else I would like to know is:
1. Do I need to remove some silver ring and screws and paint them black to fix the blue halo if I get it?
2. Is this set brighter or dimmer than the last color wheel sammy?
3. Is there any difference with motion handling compared to the color wheel sammy?
4. Is the 'vertical' viewing angle better or worse than the color wheel sammy?
5. Are there anyother issues besides blue halo, mild hotspot and mild banding?

Thanks again for your assistance!

hiyman...

"Why do you think that the audio outputs look to be variable?"

Based on the description of the AVR/VCR out jacks. I could be wrong of course.

Eagles,

I did 24fps with a PS3 by setting the PS3 to ON. Which is forced. The display was great. Not huge difference. Just felt a bit more like a movie. However the TV, even though it says and will display 24fps, it may not infact actually fully support 24fps and on its own internally despite what the "Info" or "Display" information says, change the 24fps anyway. There is a lot of technical information about this is several threads about 24fps. Samsung isn't the only TV to say one thing, but really do another when it comes to 24fps.

I would like it to do so across the board but given what is really going on, 24fps is one of those minor things in my opinion, that I would like to see work correctly but is not a make or break thing. The bluray picture as it is from my BD30 non-24fps is just amazing. Its hard to complain about it and nothing about it at non-24fps makes 24fps that much better.

I think in most everyway the LED technology is better than the previous Samsungs. IF you have any halo issues, rainbows, etc., Samsung seems to be more than happy to do in home repairs. I would not touch it myself. I can not compare it to any previous Samsung's as this is my first one. I can compare it to the MIT 57833 with color wheel and a Sony 60A3000. The Samsung is every bit as good if not better then both.

I've had no creaking or popping that some report.

Thanks alot man!

Now I need to find the halo test in this massive thread.

"The 2 speakers inside your TV are minimal quality (read junky)"

I will respectifully disagree. The speakers on teh 6189S are quite good.

Eagles,

I'm not sure I did any dedicated posts comparing the two models. The Sony 60A3000 I had went bad in a few weeks. Had a green line down the middle. At its price point at the time, price way down since Sony announced pulling out of RPTV market, IF there would have been some available I probably would have stayed with it. At its price point, nothing really compared. Mine was a few hundred under 2000. The Samsung just a tad over 2000. Since none were available, we did the Samsung. And now am glad we did.

On the Sony if you had some of the picture enhancement stuff turned on there were some motion blurring issues. I have notice none on the Samsung. None on sports, none on movies, none on bluray action movies like Live Free and Die Hard, etc.

Watching Pan's Lab.. again as I type this. Daughter has friends over. The PQ is amazing from by Panasonic BD30.

Edit: Just hit the scene outside in the moon light, nasty scene, but the pq showing the moon reflections, etc., is life like. Feels like we are watching it first hand outside.

Yes, but the question was can they substitute for a center speaker unit in an HT 5.1 surround system. The internal speakers are rated at 10 watts each. Ok for the news or soups, but not for HT surround sound. A true center speaker unit usually has 3 or more speakers inside the box and usually handles 100+ watts. Apples vs. Oranges.

Yes, the internal speakers are ok (or good) if used as ordinary stereo TV speakers.

Avio

Nice shots Schils.


So what's the ideal height for a stand for the 6187 if my eyeball level is ~34" from floor but ranging from 24"-40"?(laying down is 24")
The stand I have now is big enough physically, but may be too high. It measures 25.75" high.

I will respectfully disagree also that the speakers are not junky. I will also disagree respectfully that they are good. They are just ok. As good as other tv's speakers but no better.

Thanks. Not sure about the stand height factor, forgot to even consider that when looking at the stands, I just knew I wanted a stand a bit wider than the 6187 and for it to be one of the higher stands compared to the others - I figured as long as I'm viewing at least the center of the display from the couch, I'm good - I knew I wouldn't even mind if I was viewing up at it a hair, as long as I'm not looking downwards, I'd be happy, thats why I went with basically the highest & widest stand I saw there...worked out real well, lucky I guess.

What's the width of the loaded bottom? I know with many sets the back panel extends outward further than the bottom panel.

Also, how high is your stand and what is your avg. eye level height from coucj or chair?

Thanks!

Hmmm, not sure what you mean by "loaded bottom?" but I'd be happy to measure once I understand. =)

The dead center of the TV screen is approx 44" from the floor while sitting on this particular stand...when I'm on my couch (roughly 12' away), my eyes are at 42" off the floor (normal\\upright sitting)...heres the exact stand I bought: LINK

...which they carry at hhgregg for $349 and we now know if you nudge them, they will lower it for ya.

Center screen is ~21.5" from bottom of t.v., correct?
If so, I'm going to need a shorter stand as mine is 26" tall and will put center screen ~48" high and my eye level is 34-36" high.

If I have this math right, then I need a 'short' stand. Approximately 14" tall only!
This may be difficult to find.

Hello Friends,

Long time LCD user here thinking of jumping on one of these sets. Can you please confirm that I am reading the info correctly. The 87 does not have PIP/bluetooth/ or HDMI 1.3 correct? I am asking to confirm what I read in the first post in case something was updated that would allow the 87 to have HDMI 1.3. If not, I guess the 89 it is.

Justin

PIP/BT/HDMI 1.3 is the 89 series only. Just so you are aware, the PIP is limited to the internal tuner only (i.e. cable input). Kinda defeats the purpose...

Thanks for the info! Ya thats ok the first two don't really matter to me, but the HDMI 1.3 does. Thanks again! Can't wait!

Justin

I bought the HLT5687. I will have this tv sometime between wednesday and the weekend. I hope that all is well with the set. I've been tracking this technology since the technology first came out with the 5679 series. I was waiting to see what changes there would be for the 2008 models. To my disappointment there is no 56" LED in 2008. Which brought me back too looking at the 2007 models. I was able to get such a good price on the 5687 model and couldn't pass it up. Originally I wanted the 89 series for the HDMI 1.3. Does anyone have any opinions on the 87 series tv and the picture quality.

My question to the forum is do we know 100% that the 87 series tv does not have HDMI 1.3. The reason for the question is because I called Samsung the other day and asked whether the HLT5687 is HDMI 1.3. Beacause the description doesn't state either way. I was put on hold for 3-4 minutes. The person came back on and told me he had to go to the second level of support. He was told that all 2007 models are HDMI 1.3. Does anyone have any information on this. I know from reading this forum that we assume it doesn't because it doesn't state it in the description. Does anyone who has a 87 series and a Bluray/HD DVD hooked up to it have any issues with the picture quality (Deep Color)..

jim

The xx89s series supports 30 bit (billions) deep color depth via HDMI 1.3a. The xx87s series supports 24 bit color (millions) depth via HDMI 1.2a. The xx87s series lacks the software interface to enable xvYCC like the xx89s series.

What is the new Deep Color capability of HDMI?

"It is extremely important for the consumer to understand that every movie that was ever transferred to a DVD or any other digital format has been transferred using an 8-bit color depth. While the newest Deep Color format may give an improvement in the quality of the picture, there is no content currently available, no archived material, no movies, and no TV shows, that can be trans-coded easily into the deep color system."

What's so different between xvYCC color standard and Deep Color?

"An xvYCC display, along with Deep Color to reduce the posterization, can display the complete range of colors that can be viewed by the human eye. The color specification of HDMI 1.3 is formed from these two technologies."

Yep - exactly 21.5" (measured it).

edit: you shouldn't have a problem finding a small-ish (height) stand, there were far more of those on display at the store than the larger type - think mine was 1 of only 3 that were actually at that greater height...another nice plus for me was having that center spkr shelf a couple inches closer up to being on the same plane as the towers. =)

I received my HLT-6187S on Saturday and you can add me to the list of very satisfied customers. I have been tweaking the picture and it is now the best picture I have seen personally on a TV. I have no problems with bowing or halos yet (and hopefully ever!). Just wanted to add to the idea that there not all bad and when things are working right this TV has an absolutely beautiful picture.

[QUOTE"It is extremely important for the consumer to understand that every movie that was ever transferred to a DVD or any other digital format has been transferred using an 8-bit color depth. While the newest Deep Color format may give an improvement in the quality of the picture, there is no content currently available, no archived material, no movies, and no TV shows, that can be trans-coded easily into the deep color system."[/quote]

Which essentially tells me that I will probably be 5 TVS down the road before I need 30 million colors. Which means its a "I have more colors than you do issue" between manufacturers, looks good printed on the side of the box and on the stickers.

I hear ya. I like to put my center channel on the top of the stand in front of the t.v.

There are only a couple of pro reviews on the 87/89 sets, but they all mention nearly 100fl in 'movie' mode
Is it fatiguing to anyone at night?
How some people could say this set is dim is beyond my comprehension. 100fl is higher than lcd's, no?