Customer Reviews

Samsung HL-R4266W 42-Inch Widescreen HDTV DLP TV

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Plasma technology is still the best in terms of brightness, contrast and physical dimensions. You can hang it on a wall and cramp it in tighter spaces.

The other option would be an LCD screen, but the picture quality (artifacts) and price factor would make it an odd decision to go for when you could shell out a little more for a Plasma display. Also beware there are two types of LCD screens - LCD and LCD projection. LCD is the same as the computer monitors. Although it has greatly improved since it's introduction, it's still slow and expensive. LCD projection I would shy away from at the moment because it doesn't compare to DLP. Although Sony came out with a so-called "3LCD" technology to rival the high-end DLP 3-chip systems. Know that DLP was first for the 3-chip technology (for their high-end applications like major movie houses), it's not who's first as time will tell how each fare.

Yet a good rival that has been hitting the market is LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon). JVC has renamed this HD-ILA and Sony came out with their own name branding - but they are all LCoS technology. Prices have yet to come down and is said to have none of the "cons" of LCD and DLP projection TV by exhibiting good blacks, great speed in drawing the picture and no rainbow effect. Until prices drop to competitive levels with the rest of the other products, this won't be on my list until next year.

The next best option behind Plasma, IMO, is DLP by Texas Instruments. It gives the best blacks and color rendition among it's class of projection televisions.

How good is DLP? It was the first and no-brainer choice for commercial theaters that project digital movies (i.e. the first digital screening of Star Wars prequels). These are front-projection units that need a reasonably dark room to refrain from washing out the colors it projects to the screen. For personal viewing in bedrooms and living rooms, you need a rear-projection DLP. This encases the whole unit like a regular projection television, and is more kind to ambient light.

A. The downside to DLP rear-projection monitors is:

The amount of moving parts it entails to create the picture -
1. A digital micromirror device (DMD) to reflect light in 1,024 different shades of gray. Because these tiny mirrors each move independently, there is a risk of failure.

2. A color wheel that spins in thousands of revolutions per minute to help create the color. The wheel bearing will eventually wear out and will need to be replaced by a technician over time. Furthermore, the noise created as it spins to speed is evident when you power up the monitor. Although any minimal audio volume will drown this sound out.

3. The lamp (light bulb) that projects the image onto the screen, just like any other light bulb, has a usable life. Each manufacturer states how long their bulbs will last before it needs to be replaced. A typical life span for 4 hours of viewing each day will last around 4 years. The good news: it only takes to replace the bulb in order to bring the picture quality back to like new just as when you bought the TV. This is versus Plasma and LCD which lose their brightness over time (LCD rear projection also takes replacing the bulb).

4. The amount of heat created by the lamp is enormous that you can't box the unit in a cabinet nor stick it's back side too near to the wall unless you want to increase wear on the monitor or create a melt-down.

B. The upside is the picture quality you get. In fact the price you would have paid to get this kind of quality and usability over time is unfathomable you would be glad you didn't have to pay for Plasma (of course if you can afford a Plasma or need to hang it on a wall, then this is your only option). Just replace the bulb and you're good to go for another 4 years or so. You can't do that with a Plasma and re-charge the gasses. Unlike Plasma, it's brightness virtually stays constant throughout the usable life of the lamp. Samsung will warn the user when it is nearing the end.

C. Physical dimensions enable you to lift the monitor alone. Try doing that to a CRT. Samsung's "floating screen" design enables the picture to give a good impression that the picture is on it's own space. However, the silver accent below the screen (although very elegant) does not fully take the effect into what they are marketing it to be as any light falling on the silver accent reveals the screen is not floating.

With all being said, four stars for this monitor because Samsung gives us a lame manual that leaves the technical savvy people out of the loop and questioning for more information - despite the TV having one of the best picture quality and Samsung technology loaded into the monitor (enhanced picture processing and the abillity to fine tune the colors based on ambient light surrounding).

Four stars because despite all the technology loaded, they give us one HDMI in socket that doubles as the old DVI socket care of your own ability to buy an HDMI to DVI cable. No FireWire audio input/output unlike other manufacturers. And only one digital audio output courtesty of an optical Toslink connection.

The good part is Samsung's strict policy for defective mirror devices, strict manufacturing tolerance and elegant design which helps you trust buying their products more than other manufacturers.

A word of caution to shoppers and owners of DLP and other technology that enable true high definition output: the reason for most bad reviews is their disappointment when watching with various low quality sources. They are mislead into thinking their picture quality will improve with these kinds of monitors. On the contrary a monitor of this caliber will show even more imperfections and reveal the low quality output that is being fed into it - garbage in, garbage out. Subscribing to digital cable/satellite isn't enough. You have to subscribe to HDTV and be viewing HDTV sources in order to see it's full potential. MTV isn't HDTV. Know which channels air in high definition. Discovery Channel HD (not simply Discovery Channel) is the perfect viewing sample.

You want to maximize the input of sources by using HDMI/DVI cables. Don't use RCA or S-video jacks for this monitor. The least video cable you should use is component cable. Even that I wouldn't recommend because that would mean transmitting analog video signal from source (cable box, DVD player) to TV. Keep the signal pure and clean as possible by keeping it digital until the last minute.

Lastly, this monitor's standard output is 720p (progressive) output. Other lower or higher sources fed into the unit will make it convert to 720p. This is helpful info into putting less strain or digital conversion and artifacting to the monitor - feed it 720p signal already so all the monitor has to do is output directly rather than do further processing.

If you want the latest technology, this "old" technology isn't for you as there are already a handful of 1080p monitors in the market including monitors made by Samsung. If you're on a budget and want a bang for your buck, you won't make a mistake with this purchase and handing it down the line when you're ready to make a step up into the future (for the same price you purchased this unit).

The performance of the Samaung 42" lived up to my expectations. I comparison shopped SONY, SHARP, HITACHI and DELL before selecting the SAMSUNG. The luminosity (aided by the picture mode settings) is adequate for viewing in a well lit room. The picture quality is exceptional for HD channels and DVDs in the 480p mode(as good as any of the LCD TVs). Performance on normal analog channels is fair to good compared to direct view TV performance on the same channels (both HD and analog are off cable). Digital audio sound is excellent. The setup and custom adjustment menus are easy to use but sometimes annoying as the menus have 4 to 5 layers. The TV fits in a very small space for its screen size (width and depth are the smallest available for this size). The manual is good but assumes you understand HD terminology and doesn't explain the difference in performance when choosing many of the settings. I highly recommend this TV based on its price to performance delivery.

I had a problem. I had a bright room that I wanted a TV in and I wanted a larger TV. I thought that rear projection would not be bright enough for the room, but this I can view this samsung TV better then the tude TV I had in the space before. Also, this TV is so light. I replaced a 32 inch tube that was 170lbs with this TV that weighs less then 70.

I do have to admit that I have seen the rainbow effect on this TV once in the month that I owned it, but to see if you have to jerk your head and blink at just the right time. Otherwise the picture on this set is stunning with the blackest blacks I've ever seen on a TV and true to life color.

I have just received my new Samsung 42" DLP TV, and I was impressed within minutes! Like the other reviewer mentioned, the measurments are absolutly spot on (which was very important as to fit in my entertainment center). Set up was a breeze, the menus and on-screen displays were simple to follow and the picture quality is amazing. As I shopped around, the biggest difference I noticed was how bright and crisp the picture was compared to other bigger, more expensive, DLP, plasma and LCD TV's. This TV is in a very bright, naturally lit room, yet the picture quality is not affected much at all. The DLP technology does what it claims, to produce a bright, crisp, clear picture. I do not HD programming yet with my sat. provider, so some channels are a little grainy, but with DVD's and other digital sources, this TV is hard to beat. From a quality to price standpoint, you can't go wrong with this TV. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Besides being a good television receiver, I was also interested in using it as a computer display.

In particular, I wanted the quality of a digital (DVI) interface and good resolution, and I got both. I get a respectable 1280x720 resolution. But, to set it up, you need (1) HDMI to DVI adapter - $75, (2) DVI-DVI cable - $75, (3) dual monitor graphics card (Radeon 7000 - $50). Once cabled, the tricky part is configuring the DVI display, since you have to 'list all modes' and then choose 1280x720 resolution (Samsung's DVI interface doesn't provide this as a supported mode, but it really is)

After tax and S/H Amazon was UNBEATABLE. The TV arrived promplty to the door and was in an obviously cared for condition.
This tv is nothing short of amazing as it truly fits where others do not in addition to weighing next to nothing. My cabinet measured 39.5" across and the specs on the tv were 39.3". This measurement was dead on accurate!
Samsung's technology is superior to all others in the price range. I hope this tv lasts a long time because I'm not sure what I'd do with out it now.

After thorough review of the various HD-ready TV options (...), and after reading about the limitations of LCD and Plasma TVs (viewing angle problems, burn in, slow pixel response...), I decided to go with a rear-projection DLP, and Samsung's were the most consistently well reviewed. So far, a month later: no regrets. Picture looks fantastic (though I'm not a videosnob), setup was easy, and it's thinner and lighter than the smaller Trinitron CRT it replaced.

WOW! This TV is fantastic. Easy to setup, lightest TV I'd ever owned, great picture...and the best thing of all...a super suprise:

We get all the local channels in HD through our rabbit ears. Amazing! We were gunna get digital cable but no need to now! The best stuff is on the local channels anyhow. We had no idea that the local channels were broadcast in HD for free.

The good news about HD channels you either get a perfect picture or no picture at all (unlike analog channels)

This TV also allows you to pull local channels in from an antenna and still pull in other channels with cable.

--update: This is a great TV, it only has 720, not full HD. It takes a little time to warm up to full brightness nowadays. I have become a fan of Samsung and may get one of their newer LCD panels next...

I purchased the Samsung HL-R3266W 42" television from Amazon.com after much research and viewing the t.v. at area stores. The DLP offers a clear picture and is easy to set up.
The idea of its longevity appealed to me and having to replace the light bulb occasionally isn't a drawback. The price is high, but was $500.00 less from Amazon.com than the big box stores when I ordered it. It arrived in less than a week in perfect condition. I recommend the Samsung DLP very highly.

I should first note that I am no expert on television sets, and was more than a little confused by all the different technologies out on the marketplace. After some research, and a little help from a local home theater company, I settled on this TV. If 13" of depth isn't an issue for your application, this TV offers picture quality on par with the more expensive plasmas and lcds. Couldn't be happier with my purchase!
UPDATE:
I have since discovered the issue with the HDMI connections that others are reporting.