After many hours in this forum I finally decided to get the Samsung HLM5065W. Wanted the HLM507W to replace a 27" Toshiba Cinema Series TV, but none were to be found at the local Tweeters.
I have not applied any tweaks and this is based on OTB settings with some minor user menu tweaks.
GENERAL
The dimensions of the chassis are 33.75" x 48.5" and the viewable screen size is 24.5" x 43.5". My viewing distance is about 10 - 13' and I think the 50" is an appropriate size for that viewing distance.
There is a removable screen that covers the speakers and sports the Samsung logo. Not too keen on the logo. Might get some black speaker grill cloth and some thin veneer/paneling to make my own panel. I suppose I prefer the cosmetic looks of the HLM507W but I don't pay alot of attention to it now. The bezel also has rounded edges and the buttons are different - no big deal.
According to the user and service menu, the unit DOES HAVE DNIe, the Farouja FLI2300 chip, and side by side PIP. The firmware lists as 204 in the service menu. The manufacturing date on the back notes December 2002 SEC (the SEC may denote a second run?).
The TV takes approx. 20 seconds to power up. The whirring of the color wheel is audible for about 15 minutes and then it lessens to inaudible unless you have a very low volume and very quiet surroundings.
Connections are using Svideo cables from cable box and Tivo. Use Monster component cables for the DVD and PS2.
SOUND
Have had some experience with the BBE Sonic Maximizer as part of a bass rig and it seems to add alot to the sound quality. I've keep it set on BBE and haven't bothered with other sound settings.
PICTURE QUALITY
I use Panorama mode and Dynamic settings. I played around with contrast, etc. but the differences really seemed minor to me.
I found that there is some difference between the A/V cable and Svideo. Svideo seems to be slightly softer. The majority of my viewing tends to be digital cable via Tivo and I'm surprised that the quality of the picture is as good as it is based on previous stories I've read in this forum. 90% of the digital cable channels look good. There are some that aren't great, but I noticed that even on my 27" TV. Premium cable channels look very good.
DVD's quality through a Toshiba player is a little mixed. The player has a switch between Interlace and Progressive. There may have been a difference between the two, but I couldn't tell. I think the larger screen area will really show the defects of the DVD. Saving Private Ryan had some odd lighting defects on the bottom of the screen on the beach scene, regardless of whether it was in Interlace/Progressive mode. This does not happen on all DVDs. Occasionally you can see some light artifacts (happens on cable too) but you really need to make a point of looking for them.
Details in dark scenes can be lost. This seems to be a very common problem, but can be corrected. I can see how I need to do an Avia and SM tweaks to dial it in better.
Don't have HD yet - waiting for Comcast to release it this summer.
HTPC
PC is connected via DVI port. There's some overscan even when using Powerstrip, but I haven't really played with the settings too much. Been burning some shows from Tivo with some good success. I haven't really seen a big difference using DScaler except you can tweak the heck out of the picture settings. Games look great!
PS2
Look great on a big screen. What else can you say?
Overall I'm very happy about it. The negative items I mentioned are not "deal killers" and the overall general usage is very good considering the size of the screen and quality of the image.
I hope to follow this up with some pictures of different content.
I have not applied any tweaks and this is based on OTB settings with some minor user menu tweaks.
GENERAL
The dimensions of the chassis are 33.75" x 48.5" and the viewable screen size is 24.5" x 43.5". My viewing distance is about 10 - 13' and I think the 50" is an appropriate size for that viewing distance.
There is a removable screen that covers the speakers and sports the Samsung logo. Not too keen on the logo. Might get some black speaker grill cloth and some thin veneer/paneling to make my own panel. I suppose I prefer the cosmetic looks of the HLM507W but I don't pay alot of attention to it now. The bezel also has rounded edges and the buttons are different - no big deal.
According to the user and service menu, the unit DOES HAVE DNIe, the Farouja FLI2300 chip, and side by side PIP. The firmware lists as 204 in the service menu. The manufacturing date on the back notes December 2002 SEC (the SEC may denote a second run?).
The TV takes approx. 20 seconds to power up. The whirring of the color wheel is audible for about 15 minutes and then it lessens to inaudible unless you have a very low volume and very quiet surroundings.
Connections are using Svideo cables from cable box and Tivo. Use Monster component cables for the DVD and PS2.
SOUND
Have had some experience with the BBE Sonic Maximizer as part of a bass rig and it seems to add alot to the sound quality. I've keep it set on BBE and haven't bothered with other sound settings.
PICTURE QUALITY
I use Panorama mode and Dynamic settings. I played around with contrast, etc. but the differences really seemed minor to me.
I found that there is some difference between the A/V cable and Svideo. Svideo seems to be slightly softer. The majority of my viewing tends to be digital cable via Tivo and I'm surprised that the quality of the picture is as good as it is based on previous stories I've read in this forum. 90% of the digital cable channels look good. There are some that aren't great, but I noticed that even on my 27" TV. Premium cable channels look very good.
DVD's quality through a Toshiba player is a little mixed. The player has a switch between Interlace and Progressive. There may have been a difference between the two, but I couldn't tell. I think the larger screen area will really show the defects of the DVD. Saving Private Ryan had some odd lighting defects on the bottom of the screen on the beach scene, regardless of whether it was in Interlace/Progressive mode. This does not happen on all DVDs. Occasionally you can see some light artifacts (happens on cable too) but you really need to make a point of looking for them.
Details in dark scenes can be lost. This seems to be a very common problem, but can be corrected. I can see how I need to do an Avia and SM tweaks to dial it in better.
Don't have HD yet - waiting for Comcast to release it this summer.
HTPC
PC is connected via DVI port. There's some overscan even when using Powerstrip, but I haven't really played with the settings too much. Been burning some shows from Tivo with some good success. I haven't really seen a big difference using DScaler except you can tweak the heck out of the picture settings. Games look great!
PS2
Look great on a big screen. What else can you say?
Overall I'm very happy about it. The negative items I mentioned are not "deal killers" and the overall general usage is very good considering the size of the screen and quality of the image.
I hope to follow this up with some pictures of different content.
