Reviews for Samsung HL-S5688W 56" Projection TV56" - DLP - ATSC - 181 Channels - 16:9, 4:3 - Surround - HDTV - MPN: HLS5688W 
By member:
inbb2b
- Nov 22, 2006
Great Picture ! Awesome sound !Strengths: Sharpness of picture, SRS surround sound, cablecard capability, multiple HDMI inputs. Ease of setup. Weakness: None, other than features I can't use with my cable box, PIP and TV Guide After months of research I narrowed my choice to the Samsung HL series over Toshiba HDM196X even though Consumer Reports ranked the Toshiba #1 & #2. I looked at both sets and the Samsung picture stood out. I was deciding between HL-S5686W(720P) HL-S5687W(1080P) and the HL-S5688W(1080P) I went with the HL-S5688W(1080P)and I am very satisfied with "everything" about it. If I had to do it over again I would purchase the HL-S5687W(1080P) and save a few bucks, not because it is a better TV than the HL-S5688W but the PIP and TV Guide, extras on the HL-S5688W cannot be used with cable box provided by my cable company. 100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
alicia wu
- Feb 4, 2007
Samsung 56" DLP TVStrengths: High picture quality, sleek design Weakness: None Our Samsung 56" DLP TV is the perfect addition to our living room for watching movies, sporting events, and more. The picture quality is excellent, and the black frame around the TV fits in perfectly with any decor. We are big fans of Samsung TVs and this is no exception! 100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
stperona
- Nov 13, 2006
Great TV Set, Superb featuresStrengths: Digital Cable Card, HDMI Inputs, 1080p, and GREAT picture. Weakness: None so far I purchased this set after reading every online review I could find. It has not disappointed me at all. It has superb features with more inputs than one can deal with. The picture is flawless. Easy five minute setup. It knows which inputs are being used. Would recommend this set to anyone looking for widescreen unit. I replaced a two year old Hitachi rear projection CRT and can't believe the difference. The 1080p is incredible. 83% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
Reply by member: stperona
Nov 29, 2006 I looked at the Sony line, Hitachi and the Mitsubishi sets. I haven't noticed any rainbows or similar problems. The 88 series also has the digital tuner which means it can tune some of the digital cable channels w/o a box or the cable card. Our local HD stations look fabulous.
Reply by member: stperona
Nov 29, 2006 Also the PIP is a smaller box the right corner. It will tune the analog channels and you can still be watching a digital in the main frame. Not super fancy for PIP. I replaced a Hitachi projection older style that had more PIP features but the PIP quality on the Samsung is clear.
By member:
Poolrad
- Jun 20, 2006
HL-S5688W No ComparisonStrengths: Awesome clarity and resolution, love the upconversion on my DVD's. Weakness: None found yet. I received my HL-S5688W on 6/19/06. After four hours of integrating it into my setup I turned it on for my first run. Out of the box the factory settings were horrible (100 brightness/sharpness, etc..) but once I used my DVD Essentials and set it properly it really began to show it's stuff. 83% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
Reply by member: Dcooper33
Jun 28, 2006 Was wondering if you knew the difference between the 88 and 87 model (besides about $800)?
By member:
cykeough
- Nov 15, 2006
Samsug HL-S5688WStrengths: The picture is excellent when watching HD TV or DVDs Weakness: The TV has a high pitched ringing when the TV is off. Overall we have been very pleased with this TV. We did, however, go through two TVs prior to this TV due to problems. The first TV had a high pitched ringing when the TV was off; the second TV did not have picture, only sound. The third attempt at this TV has been a success. The ringing is not as loud with this TV. 0% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
sfleming116
- May 30, 2007
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$Strengths: Great picture, features and connections. Weakness: Terrible quality & reliability. Second light engine out in 11 months. Set turns itself off and has to cool before it will come back on. Was out from December 15 until January 15th waiting on part from Samsung (that's right - bowl games). Samsung acts as if that's the way TV is supposed to work. After complaining about the amount of time to get a part, they agreed to replace set. The next day, a miracle occurred and they found a light engine. Customer service is non-existent, and service is not much better. If you have been impressed with the picture in the showroom, like I was, you better turn it off and see how it looks, because that's the way you may be seeing it. I made a $3,000 mistake and wish I had never heard of Samsung and Texas Instruments DLP. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
clun
- Jan 17, 2007
HL-S5688, The bestStrengths: So many connections!!!! Very Light Weakness: N/A So many connections!!!! Very Light Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
TopTenREVIEWS.com - Jul 16, 2008
samsung hl-s5688w television
Samsung Hl-s5688w Television receives an overall TopTenREVIEWS score of 3.9 out of 4.00. It is ranked the #3 DLP projection TV of all time. The overall rating represents an intelligent balance of features, value as a function of price to features, and a summary of reviews from a variety of sources. The TopTen REVIEWS' formula gives a picture of important consumer features, market value, and a... Top 
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Dirty little secret of rear projection DLP
Strengths: Beautiful design; menu design/interface; upconversion of 480i/p, 720p, and 1080i to 1080p; 2 HDMI interfaces
Weakness: Concave display of non-16x9 images; movie mode (3:2 pull down) only works with 480i sources; no direct access to many functions (mostly menu driven); remote
Visually the display of 1080i/p sources is exceptional (though I have not been able to test how well it actually performs the upconversion for non-1080p sources, or whether or not all image data is displayed for 1080p). As with any HDTV, the image quality is highly dependent on the quality of the source material and type of connection.
I am using the HDTV with the following devices: Panasonic DVD/HDD Recorder (480p component), JVC CD/DVD changer (480p component), Comcast Digital Converter (STV and HDTV component), PS3 (1080p HDMI), XBOX 360 (1080p component), XBOX 360 HD-DVD (1080i component; USB 2.0 to console), Zektor 4.1 component/optical switch. Improvement in image quality from component to HDMI is slightly noticeable (tested with HD cable box which has both component and HDTV outputs). While the quality of standard DVDs over component is good, the quality over HDMI (using a PS3 in this case) was surprisingly good (480p output). The display of HD-DVDs and BluRay Discs is amazing (1080i/p).
The HDTV includes a game mode to eliminate any lag time between game console processing and the display of the image. You won't notice any difference if the output of the console is 1080p. You will want to turn it on for all other sources. The display (1080p source) is fantastic for PS3 (HDMI) and XBOX 360 (HD component).
The speed of the color wheel has been increased over previous models to eliminate any rainbow effect, and I have not noticed it with this HDTV (most people can't perceive this anyway).
I cannot comment on the built-in HDTV tuner since I am using a HD cable box. PIP only works with analog signals.
And the dirty little secret... as noted in the weaknesses above, images that are not formatted in 16:9 ratio will display with black bars to the right and left of the image (no surprise there). You would expect that the sides of the image would be straight and square with the sides of the HDTV. What you will notice, however, is an image in the shape of an hour glass (concave). The sides of the image bow in at the middle slightly (I measured a difference of approximately an inch at the middle on a 4:3 image). Samsung sent out a technician (under warranty) to inspect the HDTV the first week that I owned it. According to the technician, this is a design issue with current rear projection HDTVs on the market and is the result of lens behind the screen that is used to correct the angle of display from the projector to the screen. I went to the showroom floor of a Circuit City to confirm. I observed this issue with the same model that I own to confirm it wasn't an issue with my HDTV, and a 56" Sony SXRD (a non-DLP rear projection HDTV) to verify that it is a common design issue with rear projection HDTVs. The Sony exhibit the same issue. While I'm relieved my HDTV is not defective, I am disappointed that this issues exists at all. You won't notice it with 16:9 images, but the curvature is still there (technician brought up a grid in the maintenance mode that showed the curvature throughout the entire screen). I did a lot of research on HDTV technology and available models before making a purchase decision, and this issue wasn't mentioned once.
I would still recommend this HDTV, but I may have made a difference decision had I known about the curvature issue. Now you know.
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