Need Some Help...Now Feeling Discouraged About Sammy DLP's... (1 Viewer)

My heart has been set on the HLN467W Sammy DLP for about 4 months. In another 3 months, I planned on buying it as my HT centerpeice. From everything that I had read concerning the zero burn-in for games and after seeing the bright/sharp picture in my local best buy, this was definitely the set for me. Until a few days ago.

There are two issues that have taken me back that I have read off of these forums. The post was started by Justin_T and spoke of two issues. One of which I already knew of which is the component video inputs in the rear of the set. If you have an Xbox, the dashboard displays in 480i and the games in 480p, 720p, & 1080i. Well the Sammy DLP has 3 CI's, a 480i/480p, and then two 480p, 720p & 1080i inputs. So you can never keep your Xbox plugged into any one input and get full functionality from your game system. This is a pain in the rear no doubt, but I believe I can work around this being I don't spend alot of time in the console area. Problem two, and the biggie! I've read where some people are complaining about a sound delay. This I cannot deal with! If I am going to pay $4000 for a non-plasma set, it better wipe my azz and wash my hands! These sets are expensive as heck, but because of the advertised "up-sides", I was going to sacrifice.

What I now need is some suggestion/comments on these issues from current Sammy DLP owners, and maybe some suggestions of another set that does not suffer from these issues. Before anyone suggests other sets, I have a few questions about the other technologies...

1. Plasma - Does this technology suffer from motion blur on busy movies. Meaning when you have ogjects flying across the screen, does it leave trails at all? For say a 42-46" model, how far back should you sit to eliminate the screen door effect?

2. LCD - Do these have motion blur? On my laptop's LCD, when I play games the blur is very noticeable and takes away from the picture quality. Also, does this set have a "sweet spot" like older RPTV's?

3. Anybody own another brand's DLP set? Same issues as above with sound delay, inputs, etc.?

Thanks people!

The Sammy is a fine set. In 3 months who knows what will be out there and at what price. Maybe LCOS could be an emerging option (more like 5 months with a Intel chip). I just received my Hitachi 60v500, and had no problems. It also only has 2 component inputs (I don't own a DVI machine yet, so only using component), so Im using my Pioneer Elite receiver to accept the component from my DVD and XBOX while my HD receiver is fed to the TV. You could also pick up a switcher from RadShack to accomplish the same task. Many people have this, don't think any said it caused picture degradation. XBOX on the Hitachi is fine, I play NHL2004 (too much) and its fine no complaints. The Sammy looked fine but the jump of a 1000 to get a DLP (not even with the HD2 ship) was too much.
My wife an I are very happy with NO complaints.

Shawn,

Thanks for the feedback, quick question though. The Hitachi set you speak of, do the component inputs support all resolutions (480i/480p/720p & 1080i) all in one or are they separated like the Sammy DLP? Sammy separating the components input resolutions is what is hurting my Xbox play. If there is a way around this, please let me know!

Hey John,

To chime in here I can put your mind at ease. By now if you bought a Samsung you will get the latest model out. I checked my service menu and mine was built in August of this year. Latest one. I was iffy about taking the TV back so I went to BB, Circuit City, and then to UE to check other TV's. The xbox issue, I have decided I can deal with. The TV is too beautiful to trade in for another when possibly the future models of game consoles will be 480p standard. Anyway, I tested the Sony 50 inch LCD, Hitachi, and a few Pioneer Elites I found that the Samsung still ranked best in my opinion. The sound delay was something I was looking into because at times when I watched a few DVD's the lips seemed to be out of sync. Come to find out, the damn DVD's were the ones with the sync problem. Tested it on 3 other TV's. HDTV, regular, and 50 inch non-widescreen. All with same results as the Samsung. Only thing I would consider is like you stated, the switching of the cables for XBOX. If you can get past that, it's safe to say the new Samsung is a good buy. I too considered the Sony 50 inch LCD I believe the GWIII, but it's a step down and I would be pissed to go lower, if in the future everything improves to meet the standards of todays TV's a la the Samsung DLP. Your call of course, but wanted to throw in my two cents since you showed great interest in the DLP like I did. Any questions you have for me I would be glad to answer. Have been using the TV for a week now. It's finally broke in, properly adjusted and treating me well

Justin,

Thanks for the info. Just out of curiosity...which DVD's were they? I would like to duplicate this if possible so I can have total reassurance. Also, which DVD player do you have? Thanks!

I used Pearl Harbor 2 disc...noticed the audio delay at the beginning when the two kids are talking in the airplane. Armageddon Criterion Edition, when Bruce is yelling at Ben Affleck after he messed up in the underwater training. When Ben yells back to Bruce, "I GOT IT" You can tell there. Also on a few other movies, but all were the same results on all TV's so it's definitely not a Samsung problem.

I used 3 DVD players, but not top notch. Used my Sony PS2 DVD player and 2 RCA DVD players. One was old, the other a newer edition, but can't remember the model numbers. Will be getting the Samsung DVD player with the DVI connection soon to marry it with the TV. When you do the tests, let me know what you come up with. Also had another friend of mine do it and he noticed it too and he's on a Panasonic HDTV. So a sigh of relief for Samsung DLP owners...those with the latest version anyway. (firmware, release date etc)

Sweet, you're a life saver Justin! I have been drooling over this set for a while and was pissed thinking I had to look elsewhere. Later!

Justin & Dean,

I got a question for you. How does the regular digital cable/satelitte channels look on the DLP (non-HD, non-DVD)? Are these signals upconverted to 720p? does this help or hurt the image quality? Thanks!

In regards to the cable picture quality...You know what? Mine is awesome! I seriously thought when I plugged in the A & B cables it would look horrible, but was amazed at how well the TV handled the cable signal. I use Comcast so I don't know if that makes a difference. Just regular cable, no digital or anything and I'm impressed. Of course, some channels come in only ok, but those channels reception were only ok to begin with before I got this TV so it didn't surprise me. The majority of the channels do come in clean and with little or no pixelation notice. Can't complain considering it's not even digital or HD cable.

I have the Sammy DLP 61", and LOVE it. I do have the XBOX issue mentioned, but like was stated, I am rarely in the console (ok, I recently signed onto XBOX Live, so I switched the cables temporarily, but for what I have, I can definitely live with this.

Have not noticed the sound delay at all. Seems reasonable that it would be the player/receiver that would cause this anyway.

Hope this helps.