Customer Reviews

Samsung HL-S4666W 46-Inch DLP HDTV

5 star:		(86)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Purchased this TV from Amazon and played around with it for a few days. It is an excellent 720p TV. The HLS series has much better color and contrast than the previous version (HLR series). The TV produces crisp and life-like images that are jaw dropping. I watched my first full length HD show last night (CSI: Miami season finale) and it was wonderful. My wife and I must have said "wow" at least half a dozen times during the show.

The set works best for us at 720p, as I couldn't tell much difference between that and 1080i. But 1080i breaks up during scenes with heavy movement, so 720p is best. We have a Comcast HD DVR hooked up to it via HDMI, which is superior to component input, in my opinion.

We've also got a Toshiba SD-4900 Progressive Scan DVD Player, which comes to the TV through component, and even that looks good on this TV.

PROS:

1. Superior Image Rendition with 2.6" 14K RPM color wheel - minimal rainbow effect - and I have fast eyes that usually get bothered by those types of things.
2. 2 HDMI, 2 Component, and PC Input (Game Mode)
3. Nice and easy to use remote
4. Easy to use setup and menu features
5. Clean black bezel
6. Great sound
7. Great instruction manual
8. Lightweight TV. Easily handled by two people.

CONS:

1. 1 Year Warranty
2. No DVI-D input (no biggie - you have to buy a DVI to HDMI converter cable).
3. No included cables

All in all, this has been an excellent and happy purchase for us. If you've become a little blah about watching TV, an upgrade to a HD DLP TV like this will really get you excited.

I would enthusiastically recommend this TV to anyone and best of all, Amazon had the best price when I bought it. Combined with free shipping, this was a great deal. I ordered this TV on Saturday and had it in my house on the following Friday.

My next move will to pair this TV with either a HD-DVD player, or with a superior up-converting DVD Player, such as the OPPO OPDV971H up-converting DVD player.

I am going to have to agree on this one. I was a bit nervous as this was my first purchase of this size through amazon, and also my first HDTV in general. However, after an incredible amount of research and visits to my local CC & BB, I learned that Samsung provides the best possible picture quality, brightness, and contrast than any other DLP television offered, with respect to the excellent price.

Speaking of which, ss of right now June 21st, 06 this exact model goes for $2000-$2200 in retail stores (look it up), which actually added to my skepticism about ordering this television online. At the time Amazon was offering free super saver shipping, which I decided on, however it turned out to be a bit longer than I had hoped. A simple call to Amazon customer service and they bumped up my shipping to standard ground, for no extra charge simply because I was a bit unhappy. In addition, I learn one week after receiving the television, the cost was somehow lowered even further, and I was given a credit on my card for the difference in cost which was $100, again Amazon is wonderful. I haven't much talked about the TV because I feel it is necessary to stress how painless, reassuring and helpful ordering an item of this scope can be on amazon.com

As far as the TV is concerned, it's just incredible, beautiful, and worth every last cent! We saved approximately $650 by going with amazon, and this TV is just mind blowing. So much so, I haven't completed much work at home recently because I've unfortunately been glued to it for the last 2 weeks.

I had my concerns about HD content which which is in limited fashion at the moment, however if you have a DVR, which most cable companies now offer, your all set. Basically everything you watch will be ready to go in full HD at your finger tips. In my opinion a DVR is definitely a must until HD signal is everywhere.

A bit more technical:

This is the newest model, just released in May 06', some of the upgrades from last years DLP make a major difference. I've personally seen the difference by viewing both models last years and this new one side by side in store. This model now has a faster color wheel which in turn helps in response time for fast moving imagery on screen. In reality, this TV is basically as fast as a glass screen, which I was extremely worried about. There is also 2 additional colors in the color wheel. Last years model had Red Green Blue to make up the full spectrum of colors you see on screen, Samsung added Cyan and Yellow to the wheel as well, (go to their website) to produce better variation of color and it looks more natural. This years model is also brighter, has better contrast and provides deeper blacks.

The other owner above included the specs, so I'll spare you, however I do want to mention that I noticed no difference between using HDMI or component video cables. I literally compared both signals by switching the input on the TV which watching various programs (on pause) to compare detail. Other than the HDMI picture being a bit darker, than component, there was no difference in quality that I was able to discern.

My advice to you is to continue researching this product and compared to other DLP TV's on the market right now. I think you will find nothing close to the performance vs. cost this HDTV offers. We are truly happy with our new purchase after a many weeks (6) of researching.

Here's my only gripe about DLP technology, basically there is a light bulb in the TV itself which will die in about 4 years or so depending on how much you use it. I'm not positive, but I think they last approximately 6000 hours. The bulbs are relatively easy to replace and can be purchased for $225-$400. At first, I was hesitant because of this fact, but after getting this TV, it's a small price to pay for a television that will not suffer from dead pixels or burn-in problems as other TV''s such as LCD/Plasma's Tv's suffer from. There is a new technology that just came out at the same time as this unit called LED DLP, essentially the light source now comes from LED lights which last longer than a typical bulb. This technology is available on much more expensive1080p televisions, which by the way we won't really have programming for some time. Again, the bulb is not a big deal, the real benefits of this HDTV are, brightness, contrast, sharpness, quality, and cost.

I researched this purchase for several weeks before finally choosing the Samsung HL-S4666W and have to say the the time spent paid off well. Here is the kind of rundown I was hoping to find while researching, in hope that it will help someone else in their decision...

(Previous TV: Strandard Def. 27" Sony WEGA CRT [4:3])

In General...
Black levels are not great. If you are watching a movie in the dark and there are black bars or dark scenes, it is very obvious that the screen is not displaying deep, rich blacks. This shortcoming is easy to get used to a few minutes into a movie, but is obviously not ideal. Since this is a DLP, the viewing area is more constricted, and if you are viewing from above the screen (i.e. standing up) or from an angle of around 20 degrees or more to either side, you will notice the image getteting grey and less clear. Still, it isn't hard to find a good seating position (for large groups even) and when you do, colors are very vivid and the image is quite impressive.


For DVDs (using a non-upconverting player and component cables)...
The first disc I put in was Monsters Inc. and the image was instantly stunning. In fact, I didn't notice until the third film I watched that the audio was out of sync by nearly a second (an easy fix). As mentioned, black levels are not perfect, but the image is still very rich and detailed, allowing you to see individual hairs and various other smaller details. I would say that the image was as good as that of all or most LCDs and plasmas I saw in-store for a price $1000 higher than this set has attached to it.


For Video Games (Playstation 2 via composite cables)...
I have heard that all HDTVs have a certain degree of "lag" associated with video games (as far as I know, it is due to the image having to be converted before being displayed on the TV and is likely similar to the problem I faced with the delay between my video display and the audio from my surround sound system with DVDs). I tested out my Playstation 2 using NBA Live 06 and was grossly disappointed. Having played on a regular TV the day before, the game felt as if the players were atop ice, sliding around. Although still playable, the game was made unnecessarily more dificult and free throws were nearly impossible to sink initially. I am sure that I could get used to this eventually, but would prefer not to and will stick to a regular SD CRT TV in the future. On top of this, the image was not very sharp or impressive. I think that a few of these problems would be bettered by the use of component rather than composite cables, and they would likely not be as noticable in games less based on timing. Likewise, a newer system like XBox 360 would probably face these problems better or even eliminate them.


For TV (via component cables, with sound hooked up to the television as well; cable connection from IO Digital Cable [HD])...
Picking a few examples out of a hat, watching a standard-definition broadcast of an older show like 'Golden Girls' produced an image that is "okay" but which makes you feel like you are wasting valuable bulb hours.

Moving on, FX shows 'Rescue Me' in widescreen, but at standard definition; having the cable box cut off the black bars and enlarge the image to fit the screen presents a good quality image. It isn't DVD-quality, but it works very well. Similarly, most newer shows (or even older ones with high production values) come off cleanly and look nice, especially as you further your distance from the set.

The real gem comes with high definition programming. Even shows presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio can look razor-sharp. Baseball games are amazingly detailed, down to the indivual beads of sweat being cleared off between pitches. I cannot imagine the image looking any better on any television, and have been increasingly tempted to upgrade to HD-DVD based on the amazing images found on a few of these shows.


For USB connect of images and music...
Selecting an individual image or setting up a slideshow is a breeze. One problem for me is the size of images. I would have liked the ability to have each image stretch (or "zoom") to fit the screen either vertically or horizontally, and the the manual zoom itself is a bit imprecise, only going by multiples of 2 rather than letting you zoom in exactly to manually let an image fill the screen. Colors do not exactly match those you might see from a computer monitor, but images do look very clean, the zoom works well for what it is, and overall this option is a nice extra that does its job. As a sidenote, while detaching from the USB connection, I almost felt as if the connection was going to break away from the television. This might have to do with me using the wrong angle, but it has happened each of the five times I have gone to disconnect the drive. Obviously the connection has not fallen out, but I felt this worth mentioning nonetheless.


Overall, if you actually took the time to read all of the above (and if so, I'm impressed!), then you are interested in this TV and I must say that it is worth it. Replacement bulbs seem to sell for around $150 and will probably be required every few years, but even with several replacements you are paying less than you would for an LCD or plasma of similar size and will get what I believe to be an equally satisfying picture, despite the imperfect black levels. Highly recommended [...].

I'll have to admit I was quite nervous about ordering an item such as this through Amazon. I work for the worlds largest parcel delivery company and I do see items get damaged from time to time, I mean (s**t happens!) But anyways, my local Best Buy wanted $1699.99 + tax for this set and Amazon was offering it for $1299.99 with free standard shipping. I was willing to take the risk to have it shipped if I could save myself $500.00. So i did. I orderd the tv Sunday night and it arrived on on Thursday, without a scratch on it.

So about the tv. What can I say besides,"It's Wickid!" The first thing my son and I did was hook up the dvd player(Sony dvpns75h)through the hdmi connection and watched Star Wars episode III. I can't count the number of times we looked at each other through the the movie and said,"COOl!" Next was the Xbox 360 wich we hooked up with the component cables. The 360 looks awesome! Gaming has never been more fun. We have'nt hooked it up to the digital cable box yet but I'm sure it will not disappoint. I also wanted to mention we have'nt noticed any rainbow effects or anything of that sort that are sometimes associated with DLPs.

Samsung makes an excellent 46" DLP telivision, and for the price Amazon is offering you can't go wrong. I would highly recommend this DLP to anyone.

NOTE: Check out the high-res pictures I posted of this set. They are the ones of the image itself (bear, desert, ocean, as well as a shot of the set in my basement flanked by the Athena speakers and the stars on the wall). Just don't judge the overall image quality of the set from these pictures, as they are obviously limited both my my camera and skills, and also the monitor you're displaying them on. Use my review as a guage of quality.

***

I will begin this review by stating I DO NOT WORK FOR SAMSUNG. I know there was one or two disgruntled customers that insisted the people posting positive reviews on this product were Samsung spys. I assure you, I am not among their ranks.

That nonsense aside, I was a little leary ordering this TV. For starters, its not 1080P, which was my biggest gripe. For two, its DLP, which has its quirks, including the rainbow effect. For three, there were a few fanatical reviews here on Amazon from people that were completely unhappy.

Well, I'd like to say that although its unfortunate a few people had bad experiences, I will say that this TV is stunning. This is my opinion after a solid three months of ownership. I'm not one of those individuals who post two days after getting their TV, still overcome with the initial wow factor. No, I figured I'd let it settle in a bit, become a part of my everyday life before I commit my opinion to the world. Its only when you become accustomed to something, take it for granted even, that you can provide a true measure of its worth.

Before the details, I will qualify them by stating I am the definition of picayune. If there is ANYTHING wrong with this TV, you can rest assured I will bring it up in this review. And I will say that this TV isn't perfect, and I will begin with its shortcomings. However, I generally give products ratings based upon how they fare with regards to my expectations. A four = meets expectations, while a five = surpasses expectations.

Now then, the bad. The speakers on this TV, while passible, and probably the best factory speakers I've ever heard on a TV, are not up to my standards. Given that this was a "budget" home theater system, I went with the Athena Micra 5.1 speaker set and a Pioneer A/V Receiver to compliment the picture of this TV. Anyone even remotely serious about home theather would do the same. Even during high def sports games, where you would think sound doesn't play as large a role, I noticed some stations break the audio into five channels, with the sounds of the fans (screaming, clapping, etc) actually coming from the rear speakers, giving you the impression you are right there in the stands.

Anyhow, beyond the sound, the only other thing I can think of that detracts from this otherwise stellar TV is the rainbow effect. If you're looking into TVs I'm sure you've heard of it. Basically, the best way to describe it is a rainbow colored shadow that appears for a split second as you run your eyes across the screen. A better way to imagine it might be very, very short bursts of rainbow color as the eyes move quickly across the picture. That being said, about 99% of people DO NOT SEE THE RAINBOW EFFECT. I, however, must be in that one percent. I might add I'm most likely susceptible because I'm Mr. Picky McPick and looked for the rainbow effect until I saw it, as opposed to watching the screen like a normal person. Nevertheless, even though I have seen it, and can see it if I want to, it is not noticeable unless you are looking for it, and even when you are, IT DOES NOT DETRACT FROM THE OVERALL PICTURE/IMPACT. Additionally, from what I can gather, the people whose eyes can actually pick up the rainbow effect are a small minority, and, like I said, among that minority there is an even smaller minority that pay the rainbow effect any mind. Believe me, I would be the first one to send this back if it got in the way or distracted in the least bit. I'm the type that buys a completely new product if my old one gets a scratch on it.

I'll touch on resolution, briefly. When originally looking for TVs, I was dead set on 1080P. Money being what it is, I had to settle for 720P. That said, and I really must emphasize this a thousand times, HD is what it is because you have an image that was captured, transferred, and displayed digitally. That's it. Resolution really does not have as much to do with it as you think, and really only determines how close you can sit to a set. Basically, you're only going to begin to notice the difference of 1080P at normal viewing distances with 50 inches and above. I dare say 1080P is moot until you pass well beyond 60 inches.

Be that as it may, lets talk about whats good about this set: namly, everything else. The picture is fantastic. Out of the box, the MOVIE setting is the way to go for EVERYTHING, including sports, etc. I have yet to hook up an X-Box 360, and thus have not tried the GAME setting, which may or may not have benefit, but otherwise its Moive all the way. Several notable (ie: professional, not Amazon) reviewers have mentioned that MOVIE is so close to 100 percent ideal image on this set that there is no reason to go for a professional calibration.

Case in point: while this TV was en route to mi casa, I called a local, certified HD TV calibrator. Cost? $300 to professionally calibrate the TV. However, as soon as it arrived I checked out the MOVIE setting, as some online reviewers recommended, and immediatly cancelled the appointment. Realistically, if the MOVIE setting doesn't do it for you, forget TVs and read a book (which I would recommend you do from time to time anyway).

As an aside, this TV looks the best from about 9-15 feet viewing distance. It is perfect at 10 feet, a little close (but still very useable) at 8 feet, and really edging into 50 inch territory beyond 12 feet. I should note that this is the distance measured from the center of the set to the average distance your eye is away from the TV, not necessarily the front or back of your couch (yes, one or two feet can make a difference when you're on the borderline).

Really, this TV is great, and an incredible buy for the money. We paid $1200 for it at the end of September, which was great even then, and now they're going for less than $1000 (well, $999). This is a STEAL for this TV. Free shipping too? C'mon...no brainer here. Really it blows me away that this TV is this inexpensive. Everyone that comes over says, "How much, 3K...4, 5?" When I say I paid $1200 for it they think I'm pulling their leg. Once they realize that is the real price, they really start to consider the HD TV market. In fact, over Thanksgiving one of my relatives came down to watch the football game. He of course could not believe the price. I turned on my laptop, brought up Amazon, showed him the price, and he pulled out his credit card and ordered one right on the spot. You could seriously tell someone you paid $6000 for this TV and they would believe you without question.

On top of that, with Samsung's "floating screen" design, the TV actually looks like a flat panel plasma or LCD, which adds to that luxy appeal. I highly, highly recommend the Samsung stand designed for this TV if you are at all into how it appears aesthetically, as it really compliments the whole effect. I forget the model number, but I believe it comes up as an option when you choose to buy this set.

Overall, this TV blows away sets I've seen costing five times as much, literally. A buddy of mine picked up a Phillips (ie: junk) HD set a year or two ago for about 4K. He now comes over to my house every chance he can get to watch TV. His set completely pales in comarison. Even the LCos Sony's are just on par with the Samsungs. I am 100% confident when I say that Samsung is a, if not THE, leader in the modern TV segment.

Now before I write a thesis on this thing, I'll wrap it up with the totals. I've been told by several self-proclaimed home theater aficionados that you cannot get a decent setup for below 4K. That may or may not have been true five years ago, but today this is patently false. We were originally looking at a Sony Bravia 1080P 40 inch LCD panel. It was $2800, best price. We budgeted 3K for the whole system, so figured with that amount we could get the Sony and the wires and brackets to hook it up.

Now lets consider option 2, the Samsung. $1200 for the TV, $500 for Athena Micra 5.1 speakers (also avalible through Amazon and reviewed by me, great stuff), $150 for the speaker stands, $400 for a Pioneer A/V receiver, $400 for an HD DVD player, and give or take $200 for those things that didn't qualify for shipping and for cables. In all, a shade over $2800, what we originally were going to spend on the Sony alone.

I'm not going to sit here any longer and bable away, but I really must emphasize this TV blew my expectations out of the water. Complete the package with a nice set of speakers and a receiver (NOT BOSE!!!) and an HD DVD player, and you have a certified, signed, sealed and delievered home theater system that will give any guru a run for his money. At least consider this option if you're in the market.

Now, I don't have anything to compare this against since this is my first HDTV, but I think the picture is absolutely stunning. You see the small details that you never noticed on standard television...like a mole or birthmark on a celebs face, being able to pick out any person in the crowd of a sporting event, or simply being able to view more lifelike images of water, the sky, grass, etc. I had wanted to purchase an HDTV for a long time, and when the price of this set dropped to $1199 I jumped on it. Amazon offers this set for a good $400 - $500 cheaper than most national chains.

There are a few things I was not aware of, however, when I bought this TV (none of them actually the result of the TV's performance). First, while HDTV channels look stunning, regular digital cable doesn't look so great. Secondly, my cable provoider only offers a very limited selection of HDTV programming (less than 20 stations in all). Thirdly, the quality of the picture really varies from station to station, and even program to program. Older movies and re-runs really don't do HDTV justice.

A final note on the "white glove" shipping. While I did receive the item ahead of Amazon predicted delivery, I was a little disappointed with Amazon's choice of shipper. First, they only deliver to my area on Wednesdays and Fridays. Secondly, they refused to give me a 4 hour window (as Amazon promises). Thirdly they refused to take the packaging with them (also promised by Amazon). These are small complaints, but something a potential buyer may want to be aware of.

Edit: I'd recommend ordering a calibration DVD, like DVE or AVIA, and visiting the AVS forums for help properly calibrating your TV. I was very surprised at how much better the picture looks by following the DVD and the advice of a few knowledgeable people over at AVS.

I purchased this unit based upon the following criteria:

1. Strong recommendation from a videophile / movie buff friend who owns a prior-year 50" version of this set. Same 720p resolution. This model has a superior 5-color 14K RPM color wheel and is classified as a "6th generation" unit.

2. Image continuity: little or no pixelation compared to LCD, plasma, or projection LCD sets. While initially I thought the image looked "fuzzy" compared to these technologies, I soon realized that it was far less "fuzzy" than it was consistent. "Sharp" is a relative term and too sharp is not a pleasurable viewing experience. After all, if maximum sharpness were desirable, why not set it so (to "100") by default in the video settings?

3. Motion: this unit deals with fast motion (such as that in action films and sports) better than other technologies.

4. American technology: the DLP engine is a product of an American firm, Texas Instruments. While the maker, Samsung, is Korean, at least some small element of the set is American intellectual property.

5. Specific size: wanted to fit a 45" width and get the most screen in that space. This unit allows just about an inch on either side.

6. A high performance:price ratio. DLP sets in general deliver a lot of TV for less money than other technologies.

7. Ease and cost of repair. Here's a contrarian view on the much misunderstood "you have to replace the lamp periodically" issue. I *like* the fact that the lamp is user-serviceable and not prohibitively expensive. Say it's $300 in 3 years when I need to replace it. Then it cost me $100 / year to operate the set, in addition to electricity and lost productivity. ;-) But I wager this is MUCH less expensive than either 1, replacing your complete plasma-based set when it has faded in intensity over time (even if in 10 years) or 2, having someone come out to your house to replace the burned-out backlight in your LCD set.

7. Technology that is standardized and won't evaporate in a couple years. I love technology, but don't live on the bleeding edge. I generally stand about 2 steps back from the edge and buy when I'm confident a technology will be around long enough to enjoy it. Though this unit is "only" a 720p unit, it effectively downscales 1080i to the 720p resolution - and looks great doing it. To appreciate 1080, you really need a *large* TV, probably larger than this 46" screen.

Impressions of the video quality:

Initially, my wife and I were surprisingly underwhelmed with the image. Knowing how hard it was to convince her initially to get this TV, I bit my tongue. But as I investigated, I soon found why the image was not so great:

1. Using a component hookup from the DVD player, I had the player set to 480i (rather than progressive output). Changing it to progressive looked a lot nicer.

2. I had to play with the video settings a bit to get the best picture for watching a movie. The standard "Dynamic" out of the box setting is too dark and contrast-y for pleasurable movie viewing. Changing it to "Movie" or even "Standard" looked much better. Remember - too much contrast is not a good thing when watching TV. Unlike computer monitors, wherein you want to see each pixel as sharply as possible, pleasurable TV viewing is about consistency and flow, scene to scene.

3. The HDMI output from my DVD player produced a noticeably grainy image on the Samsung. It actually looked worse than the component inputs. This was, I found, for the same reasons as above. I had to doctor the image a little to get it to be less sharp. Remember, when you are viewing 480p upscaled to 720p, there will be some conversion issues. You want to minimize these.

4. In general, I still find that allowing the set to take the component video and upscale it internally looks a bit more natural than going full-digital from the DVD player through the HDMI. It's close, but noticeable. Still, I really like the idea of a total digital link all the way through, so I may just keep tweaking. And I need to add that if you don't have external audio amplification, then really, one cable does it all for you: DVD to TV. However, make sure you turn "Digital Out" on in the audio setup portion of the menus. Get there by choosing "custom". I wondered for quite some time why I wasn't getting audio through the HDMI.

5. TV tuning and HD programming: part of why we were so underwhelmed with the image initially was because we were watching regular analog cable TV, with all its inherent video faults. On a digital 46" set, these will only be magnified. The Samsung has an engine which is supposed to process and refine these images - which it does - but nothing compares to HD. On the 3rd night we had the unit, I made a makeshift antenna and connected it to the AIR antenna jack. What I found frankly mesmerized me. The HD images on a couple of the local stations, NBC and FOX, were astoundingly good. Clearly, this TV was made for HD. Until you view a program in at least 720p (the native resolution of this set) and widescreen (16:9 ratio), you will not appreciate this TV properly. Last night I watched about 10 minutes of an NFL game on the NBC affiliate and though I couldn't tell you the names of the teams, I watched nonetheless. That's the real lure (and danger) of HD programming: it is so spectacular, you forget what you're watching! ;-)

I can't say whether we'll opt for digital cable, as I'm not convinced the added expense is going to deliver enough content. I'm looking at DirectTV HD packages as well.

Additional features and comments:

1. The USB "Wiselink" input is nice. I used it to look at some JPEG images the other night. But other than during a party or other gathering at the house, I doubt I'll use this feature much. Let's face it, this is a TV and it's for watching moving images. I haven't used the mp3 playing abilities either, mostly for the same reason. If they could have eliminated this feature and saved me $50, I'd have been plenty happy.

2. The menus are pretty snazzy and effective. The transparent feaure, wherein you can see the underlying image while changing image attributes is nice. So is the DNIe split-screen processed / virgin feature.

3. The remote is decent, though it could use backlighting of the buttons. Just noticed last night that its lower surface is curved in such a way as to sit flat on the armrest of a large sofa.

4. The "game mode" option (for attaching your X-box, et al.) sets the picture to a predetermined optimum group of settings. It's basically a hotkey to modify several settings you could do manually. It's a nice feature if you play video games.

5. Computer video input. Haven't tried this yet. Not sure what I'd use it for, save for possibly playing mpeg4 / DivX encoded content that I can't play elsewhere than the computer.

All in all, this is a fabulous set for the price.

I have had this tv for a month now and I am very satisfied with it. HD picture is amazing. The ATSC tuner comes in useful for receiving HD from an antenna. I am using a regular UHF/VHF antenna and getting 10 HD channels in addition to the non-HD cable.

The TV works well with Xbox 360. There is no noticable lag when the TV is set to Game Mode.

PS...I did not have any problems with the shipping service that amazon used for this delivery.

Well Ive had this set for about a month now and am impressed. I havent got around to hooking up my surround sound yet but the TV speakers are actually quite good. The picture is great on HD programming(actually its spectacular). The options for adjusting the colors are great as everyones tastes vary.

Some CONS for this TV:

- I have noticed the rainbow effect that is associated with DLP's, however it is slight and not bothersome.

- The remote needs a backlight

- This TV should not be bought for a bedroom, best picture if your about 15 feet away

Overall you cant beat the price(I saved about 400 dollars by buying it off of Amazon, although shipping took longer than expected). Great Buy!!

This large HDTV from a reputable manufacturer came in at a price that made me wonder -- what's wrong? Is the screen made of Saran Wrap? Does the remote control periodically burst into flames when you attempt to change the channel to Lost?? Was the user interface created by Franz the Designer of the "more is better" school of design?

Nope. Pas de problem. Well, except for the remote control that I'm fairly certain was indeed designed by Franz. So, basically, this is TV that delivers a very high quality viewing experience, but has a mildly klunky interface (managed from the remote) for selecting inputs, adjusting the picture, etc.etc. More on that later.

Keeping in mind this is my first personal HDTV, and I'm mesmerized by the picture quality, I'm quite pleased. Easy to set up, oh, a big thing -- it is deceptively *light*, for all its size and apparent heft. I was able to get it out of the box, move it around and set it on its stand pretty easily by myself. By the way, I installed it on the same stand that had previously held a 27" tube TV. Not only did it fit laterally, but it was so much shallower than the tube TV that I was able to make cable connections behind the set with the greatest of ease! Score.

The set is bountifully supplied with inputs. I was able to connect my DVD to one of the component inputs with a few random RCA cables I found in an old file cabinet -- nice! Seemed to work just as well as the rather expensive specialized cabling I returned to Best Buy the next day.

Samsung sez they use a *really* fast DLP chip,and a specialized digital signal processor that manages such things as motion, edge clarity, contrast and other visual elements.

After watching many different kinds of video, I believe them. There's very little artifacting or blurring with fast motion on screen. Hues and saturation seem very lifelike, and there's essentially no flicker (at a proper viewing distance). I have it set up in a room where viewers are approximately 9-12 feet away, and that appears to be about right. The picture is bright. As an experiment, I manually turned up the brightness and contrast to 100%, at which point, it took less than 2 minutes to toast a cheese sandwich held with kitchen tongs a few inches in front of the screen.

The screen does take a few seconds to spin up to full brightness, but I do mean a *few* seconds. I have seen a few HDTVs where the extreme clarity of the image appeared almost unnatural, overly optimized, somehow unreal. To my eye, this set doesn't have that problem.

My wife initially deemed this purchase a "grotesque and unnecessary acquisition", asking me to explain what was wrong with our old 13" tube set that had worked so loyally for us since 1936. Or so it seemed. Now, she actually watches TV. She basically *never* watched TV before except for Mariners games and public television pledge drives (don't ask), so I'm not sure whether this is a good thing, or whether I've somehow turned her to the dark side of passive entertainment.

Overall, I'm giving this set a four because of a minor issues, primarily related to the complexity of using the remote to manage image appearance, aspect ratio, enable/disable features, etc. It seems to take about 5 "clicks" of various oddly located remote buttons to accomplish almost any task. For example, if I'm watching a DVD on component input 2, when the DVD is done, the simple act of switching back to input 1 to watch cable takes, let me see, press menu, select inputs, press the right arrow twice, press the up arrow once, press return. That's six "clicks"! Bad Franz, bad designer. I have trained my cell so I can say things like "Text" or "Home" and the phone immediately performs the sequence of actions that lets me (in this example) send a text message or call home. Why can't I do that with my TV remote?? If somebody made a decent voice programmable TV remote, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

OK, even with the bad ink I'm giving the interface, to me this isn't such a big deal. It's just that I'm a fan of good design and this remote is not good design. It makes it too complicated (and, thus, annoying!) to do things that are part and parcel of everyday viewing.

So -- a four. But -- I am still utterly mesmerized by the picture quality!! Oh, and the price.