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| Date Reviewed: 04/19/2005 |
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Strengths: Great sound quality, excellent image quality, attractive styling, light weight, good range on the remote control, easy to use on-screen menus
Weaknesses: Terrible documentation (owner's manual is skimpy, vague, and incomplete), audio and video out jacks are disabled when the component video in jacks are in use, cryptic status lights
Summary: According to the Samsung website, this model (part of the 67-series) became available January 2005. But, as of early April 2005, the local stores here still only had the 63-series (exactly the same but without the HD tuner and CableCard slot) and I had to order it from an online seller.
The TV came packed well and is amazingly light at 78 lbs. for such a large television. The exterior styling is very attractive: modern and clean-looking with a nice black and silver finish that matches more decor types than an all-silver unit would. There are three little red LEDs on the front panel that, depending on the combination of lights that are lit, tell you the status of the TV. The problem is, you pretty much have to have a legend handy to figure out what it is saying. The onscreen menus are attractive and fairly easy to navigate through. Unfortunately, the documentation is terrible. The onscreen menus, even with hints enabled, can be intimidating. The owner's manual tells how to change settings but doesn't explain what the settings are for or why you would want to choose one over another. For example, one option is to enable Film Mode. What is Film Mode? Barely an explanation as if everyone already should know.
One feature that I immediately did not like was automatic channel memory. Any channel you punch in via the remote control is automatically stored in your channels list; to remove it, you have to manually go in and delete it. I'd much prefer only storing the channels I tell it to but there is no way to turn off that "feature".
Hookups were easy and the auxillary ports on the right side are a nice touch though not nearly as convenient for connecting a camcorder or game console as front panel jacks would be. Once all setup, the picture quality is excellent. Off-axis viewing is not particularly strong though it is wider horizontally than it is vertically. With TruSurround XT turned on, the sound from the built-in speakers is pretty remarkable. Bass output is significantly deeper than I would have expected from any TV speaker.
All in all, I'm extremely happy with my choice of TV. My big niggle however is that the audio and video output jacks are disabled when the component video jacks are in use! That basically means that if your amplifier does not serve video and you have to hook up your progressive scan DVD player directly to the TV, you will not be able to play the sound out through your audio system unless you do some sort of workaround. This is mentioned only in passing in one small section of the owner's manual where it describes the jacks: "[Video/Audio Output Jacks] are available only in RE, Video and S-Video modes." The Samsung tech said it was to prevent copying of DVDs but I suspect this will have further ramifications for users when more components will connect via the component jacks.
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| Date Reviewed: 01/04/2006 |
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Strengths: Built-in HD tuner, easy to set-up, weight, look/design, bulb replacement, dual input for cable/antenna, On-screen TV Guide
Weaknesses: On-screen TV Guide, sound lag from PC/Stereo input
Summary: 2006-01-04 14:50:42 For my budget, I was trying to decide between a LCD in the 30's or a 46-50 DLP. Since this is a review on the Samsung DLP, I'll leave the comparison between the pros/cons of LCD vs. DLP (vs. Plasma) up to you. But for me, two people I know own a Samsung DLP and had nothing but good things to say about this TV, so I ultimately decide to go bigger with a DLP over an LCD and couldn't be happier with my decision.
When I bought the TV, I got a great deal through a contact of mine, but that meant I had to pick up the TV myself. My only concern was the size of the box, but the box was not as large as I thought it would be, and my cousin and I had no problems getting it up one flight of stairs, into the elevator, and around the hall to my apartment. I should also add that this TV probably weighed the same as the 27" CRT I moved from the living room to the bedroom afterwards.
Once out of the box, connecting the cables was self-explanatory (cable-in, audio/video in, etc.) Using the menu functions were pretty self-explanatory as well. The only problem I initially had was getting rid of the letterbox on widescreen movies, which I later found out was by using the "zoom" function. Not a flaw of the TV at all...just my inexperience with widescreen TV's. I don't think this is explained in the guide, although I must admit I browsed through the guide for all of 2 minutes. Also, setting up the on-screen TV guide required glancing at the separate one-page instruction they provide.
The picture itself was bright and the colors looked good right out of the box. I fooled around with some of the settings later, but they were just minor tweaks. The only thing I noticed was while fooling around with the PIP, I noticed that the resolution on this TV (at least for non-HD programs) is substantially reduced compared to the smaller and sharper PIP image. I'm assuming this would be a common side effect of enlarging non-HD images onto any large screen, so I'm not listing this as a flaw of the TV.
As for HD, I have not had the chance to watch any HD programming on this TV yet. In addition to the major networks, there are only 2 or 3 additional HD channels that I can get through Comcast. Since the major networks broadcast over the air, I would rather buy a decent antenna than pay an extra $20/month. One of the nicer features is that in addition to the built-in HD tuner, there is a secondary input for an antenna. I don't watch much TV anyway, so on to my most extensive experience with this TV so far...
My current setup is a Media Center PC routed through my stereo and into the TV. I watch recorded TV this way but mostly a LOT of movies, which is why I went for a larger DLP over a smaller LCD in the first place. I currently watch all of these movies from my computer, either DVD or digital format (avi, mpg, etc). This is where I have my only real complaint so far - there is a sound lag between what comes out of my stereo and out of the TV speakers, which creates an echo effect. Not a major issue...the quick fix is to turn the volume down on the TV but this is something I want to resolve on a permanent basis but haven't had the time to figure out yet. As for the computer being hooked up to the TV, the DLP functions great as a monitor as well. I can finally read the letters on my computer and surf the web on my TV, something I couldn't do on my CRT set.
I'm not much of a gamer, but after trying out a few games I had on my PS2, I think I will start playing more. It is quite an experience to play these games on such a large screen. In fact, after not even touching my PS2 for close to a year, I went out and bought two more games this weekend.
Lastly, regarding the On-screen TV guide feature...
The pros - you can change channels on your cable box without any additional programming on your remote and you can watch your current channel in a small window while browsing the guide (Time Warner digital has this anyway but my crappy Comcast still doesn't). The cons - the menu doesn't follow the channel order of my cable service, which makes it tough to navigate. Also, the setup tends to create a bit of a lag when changing channels, since hitting "Channel up" essentially tells the TV to enter "1-2-3-enter" on the cable box, rather than just moving one channel higher from 122 to 123.
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| Date Reviewed: 04/24/2005 |
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Strengths: Great for video gaming. No image lag. The video quality is outstanding for both standard and high def signals. Built in speakers are very nice as well. HD tuner works great with roof top antennae.
Weaknesses: No built in VGA or DVI connector like in the hlp5063 model. Remote has very few manufacturer codes listed for operating other audio video components.
Summary: I bought this tv after months of online and in store comparisons. My needs were for a nice high definition set that would also have descent picture quality with standard definition feeds. I also needed the tv to work well with my xbox and not have any lag (lag being the time it takes for the image to appear on the screen once it has been sent out of the xbox. A noticeable lag makes it difficult to play games when what's on the screen must coincide with the buttons being pressed on the controller).
I was trying to decide between this set and a JVC HD-ILA model. The deciding factor for me was the image quality I saw with a standard definition video signal. Since the DLP is not a fixed pixel display, it works well to soften the edges of an upconverted SD signal minimizing any rough edges and graininess that I was noticing when looking at the HD-ILA display in the store.
I'm using this set with my 1980's UHF/VHF roof top antennae, and all the local digital channels come in great with high signal strength. Initially, the digital feeds were cutting in and out (since they're digital signals, it's all or nothing). We had to adjust the antenna and redirect it a bit to strengthen the digital signals at the expense of losing a neighboring cities analog channels, but it was well worth it since all the channels we lost were simply repeat network stations that our city already has. The built in HD tuner works perfect with the area feeds. The digital audio output (optical out) on the tv set works great with my receiver sending out surround sound audio whenever available and 2 channel stereo when not. The tv set sends audio through the digital output and the set top speakers standard so you may need to mute the tv if you want to use a nice surround sound system.
As for gaming on this tv, it's wonderful. By doing some pre-purchase research, I noticed in an online forum that this is supposedly the only HLP model certified by the technicians at Samsung to be free of any lag. I've read that even the more expensive Mitsubishi DLP's suffer from lag issues. To me, this was the best of both worlds, the image quality of a DLP with the gaming abilities of an ILA-LCOS display.
I did not have any trouble with the on screen displays and menus. Things for the most part are pretty self explanatory. Auto programming the channels takes roughly two minutes. The instruction book does seem vague if you find yourself looking at it for clarification. It's mostly pictures of the remote with different buttons highlighted. Great for a coloring book, but not so useful if you want to find out about the tv and the specific features.
Now the one thing that irritated me. Granted I could have poured through the specs listed online, but instead I looked at an interactive manual link off the HLP5067 Samsung website and saw all three HDMI, DVI, and VGA connectors. Seeing this, and knowing that the step down HLP5063 model comes with all three of these connectors, I was surprised to find that my set only has an HDMI connector. I suppose I could go out and get a new video card with DVI outputs for my pc and spend $100 on a HDMI cable converter, but I won't.
Despite this, I am thoroughly pleased with the set and would have chosen this model over anything else I've seen.
As a side note, I have not noticed any "rainbow effect" and there is no noticeable color wheel or fan noise when the set is powered on unless you get out a stethescope and go searching for it.
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| Date Reviewed: 05/07/2005 |
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Strengths: size, weight is light only 70 lbs, cable card slot, built hd tuner, picture is great, split screen pip
Weaknesses: sound is weak, other than that it is great
Summary: 2005-05-07 11:01:56 i bought this TV 50 inch dlp on line through etronics.com, i searched and researched, all over the place and for the price this TV can not be beat, all my friends that have seen it can not believe what i paid for it , i have only used it for 2 days but it is awesome, i have not set up hd yet , but with regular cable i am impressed, i can only imagine what it is going to be like with the hd set up, the cable company says i do not need an extra box because of the built in tuner, and the cable card slot , that is great.. you will need to get a surround sound system in order to enjoy this TV at its best....i did not get the matching stand from samsung, but went with a stand from target, that was 1/2 inch bigger than the TV, it could not have fit any better, and i only paid $120.00, and it was black, which compliments the TV great..
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