Customer Reviews

Samsung HLN437W 43-Inch Widescreen Projection HDTV with DLP Technology

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Your search is over! The Samsung 43" HDTV monitor has spectacular HDTV digital picture quality! Digital light processing (DLP) is a significant advancement in digital imaging technology; noticeably better than both plasma and liquid crystal displays. This monitor is the centerpiece of my home theater. Unexpectedly, it is a shoehorn fit into a 38" wide cabinet opening. My cabinet was originally designed for a traditional 36" tube.

The Samsung 43" monitor depth is approximately 15.7", therefore it cannot hang on a wall, like a 5" thick plasma or LCD display. If this is acceptable, DLP is superior in every essential picture related factor. It weighs a meager 65 lbs. It is cheaper in price and cannot suffer from "burn-in", in comparison to a plasma display. It has a user replaceable lamp that Samsung estimates will last 8,000 hours. Brightness is exceptionally good, even with sunlight entering the room.

Traditional direct view or cathode ray tubes (CRT) are relics of a bygone era, but are relatively cheap. CRT size is limited, yet sales may linger for a while longer. CRTs will become extinct, as DLP prices become comparable. Some manufacturers' claims that a CRT can display HDTV 1080i images is misleading. I think the tuners simply accept and convert an HDTV component signal by downgrading it to the lesser capability of an analog CRT. (See Consumer Reports magazine reviews.)

Texas Instruments is the manufacturer of the core DLP microprocessor technology. Today is 11/3/2003. DLP HDTV monitors are available from Samsung, RCA, Mitsubishi, Optoma and LG Electronics. More manufacturers are bound to introduce monitors using this DLP technology, while others may hesitate to license the key chip from an outside source.

In my humble opinion, plasma deserves a solid A-, whereas DLP should get an A+. I am a pro-consumer who did his homework. I am not a professional reviewer, nor do I have any special interest or bias favoring a particular manufacturer or technology. I love to watch very high quality TV in my home theater. I rent an HDTV decoder from Comcast and found HDTV picture sources are unbelievable. The best DVDs produce a very enjoyable B+ picture, but a true HDTV picture is breathtaking. Ultimately, all broadcast television must meet minimum HDTV standards.

DLP prices depend upon Texas Instrument's ability to mass produce DLP processors - outpacing a booming demand is a key pricing factor. If price trends are like computer microprocessors, then plasma and LCD will have an uphill struggle to compete with DLP sales.

This is a new TV that uses DLP technology to give you an excellent HDTV picture without requiring a big, heavy set (like the Sony XBRs).

Good Points: Great option for those who don't want an expensive plasma TV. Fits in large armoires.

Bad Points: The remote isn't lighted. The remote is a little clunky. It has some basic functions for a VCR/DVD, but certainly not as good as the remote that comes with your VCR/DVD.

General Comments:
The Samsung HLN437W is a terrific option to have a big screen HDTV without being too heavy (only about 67 lbs) or too deep (less than 16 inches deep) to fit into an armoire. The price... is excellent for its size (43 inch).

I am very pleased with the picture quality and the features of the TV. The picture quality in a brightly lit room with non-HDTV signals may not be as good as your cheap old-fashioned tube TV, but it is certainly adequate. Furthermore, the quality is excellent in a dark room or with a progressive scan DVD player.

You can watch TV in the old 4:3 format, or widescreen or panorama or zoom modes. It has a picture-in-picture mode so that you can watch two of your favorite programs at the same time. You can program the remote to press one button for your favorite 10 channels.

Many peopel will say that DLP's have light burnout problems, yes they do. About every 6-8,000 hours. Life of the other internals is about 100,000 hours. SO, you have to change a lightbulb every 2-3 years. Big deal. It's be 20 before you have to buy a new set.

Sammy has set a new standard in DLP, using a special folded optics frame, they have created a set with smooth edges and razor sharp pictures.

This is the best DLP you can get for your money. The 437 has about the same screen height as a 36" set. It's just about a foot wider at some 44" inches.

Me... Just looking forward to my new home, where I'll be installing my second 437. Truly a stunning product.

Downside... Not a thing.

Pros: Awesome HD picture, brightness and clarity make all other types of TVs look silly, lightweight, only 15" deep and one of the smallest cabinet sizes around.

Cons: We use this TV as our main set (it gets a lot of use) and have had to replace the color wheel motor under warranty after only 5 months of use because it started making a high pitched ringing sound that became pretty loud and annoying.

2 months later, the noise has started up again...not as loud, but it's definitely the same noise. I've got a 4 yr. extended warranty, but what happens when that is up?...I'll be stuck paying $300 for the part and labor every 5 to 6 months just to keep the color wheel motor quiet!...on top of the $250 for the bulb (about every 1 1/2 years based on our useage) which is an 8000hr bulb according to Samsung.

I had really been convinced that the only maintenance on this set would be the cost of the bulb which is completely acceptable. I'm going to try and get the TV replaced by Samsung in case thing is just a lemon otherwise, if the problem continues, I'm going to get my money back from them and wait to jump aboard the HDTV wagon until the technology is more reliable. The technician who changed the color wheel motor for us showed us the part. It's about 1 inch (maybe 1 1/2 inches) in diameter and spins at 92,000 RPMs. No wonder they don't hold up. Samsung should change the motor to something heavy duty that will give you at least 5 to 10 years before you have to mess with it.

I purchased a Samsung HLN4365 and had to send it back due to internal reflections problems and rainbows. Samsung said it is a tech issue that happens on "some individual models models", so I took a chance and bought the HLN437W. "WOW" You can say that again backward! To me, and I am a compulsive techie, the picture is incredible and has a much better picture than plasma or LCD. The image is not pixelated, like looking at an image through a screen with the black lines around each pixel. There are a lot of inputs, analog, composit, computer, DVI, really fun stuff. I just bought the Samsung DVD-HD931 player with the DVI output, which upconverts the already great 480p DVD resolution to 720p or 1080i. The two deliver an absolutely beautiful picture. Get good cabling and eliminate the noise and you have home theater.

I love this HDTV but I'm returning it.
Although I did over a year of research and I'm happy, I picked this over a flatscreen LCD (not taking a chance on dead pixels), Plasma (not taking a chance on burn ins and they don't last long enough) or LCD projection (dead pixels), or LcOs (technology is not perfected) I'm returning it. First of all the HLN437W you see at Circuit City is not what gets delivered to your house; I called Samsung and what you'll get is actually the upgraded HLN437W1XX (does not say so on the box, its on the sticker to the right of the screen) THE SALES PEOPLE DON'T KNOW THIS! The menu is improved and the remote control is different but the real change has been made to the component inputs in the rear. They now all support all input resolutions (1080i, 720, 480p, 480i, etc.). The sets that come out this June are just slightly different but the technology is the same.

So why am I returning it?
Well the HD picture is stunning but regular broadcast is very poor. I've tried a bunch of different connections and called Samsung. The Monster S-video connector is the best but the clarity of detail is worse than what I get on my 12 year old ProScan and that is not acceptable. DVDs look great but most of my use will come from watching regular broadcast. Now keep in mind that THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH HD BROADCAST STATIONS TO WARRANT A $3,100 PURCHASE (TV plus warrantee). Even though the major networks broadcast in HD the original format (Beta) is simply broadcast as HD. True HD (Discovery Channel) if far superior and widescreen but there are not enough stations like Discovery. One other thing to mention is that you can only view this TV at eye level. It is unviewable from above or from the sides.

DVI warning.
They are going to try to sell you a DVI cable for $100 and sure it is great but your eye won't tell the difference between that and component. Also the dirty little secret of the DVI connection is that it defaults to 1080i ONLY, that means that your regular broadcast will look horrible because the native resolution (see the Cnet.com review of this unit) is 720 and with the DVI hookup you can't change it on a Pioneer Voyager 3510 box. Period. Also Time Warner does not support DVI, so you're back to either component which is poor or S-video which is just okay.

Ghosting, Rainbow Effect. Fan Noise. Picture-in-picture
Have seen ghosting on some stations and it is very annoying. No rainbow effect. Only a little fan noise that I can live with. PIP does not work because you're using a cable box.

Pushes Red.
Yes but overall the colors are vibrant the blacks are great and there is no screendoor effect you just have to deal with the pixilization from poor broadcast viewing.

A Plea to Samsung, The Cable Companies (TimeWarner), HD box makers (Pioneer) and Merchants (Circuit City)
TALK TO EACH OTHER! There is a lack of understanding as to how things work together and the consumer-yes even we techno savvy guys-should not have to spend hours on the phone (if you don't work from home try getting Samsung on the phone at night or during the weekend when you want to tweak your set; the people at Time Warner really don't know much; Pioneer posts no phone numbers on their website and the sales people only know what the reps tell or fail to tell them). Samsung Customer Care people are great and very knowledgeable but it is quite disconcerting that none of them (Samsung employees) own DLPs or any of their high end TVs. It turns out that these guys say they can't afford them-that is truly sad, almost shameful on Samsung's part.

Do not enter your Service Menu.
If you make and changes you immediately void your Warrantee. Period.

I simply can't see spending the money when the broadcasters have not caught up to Samsung. I'm buying a 27" analog CRT this weekend and waiting for two years.

After reading a lot of reviews, some of which criticized Samsung's DLP technology for internal reflections (IR) and/or other black/color problems, it was with trepidation that I bought the 43" model (HLN4365W) and married it to Samsung's new DVD player (DVD-HD931) which has a DVI output. After almost a month of use, I can say the concerns are not an issue. I made some minor adjustments to video intensity, contrast, etc., and find the picture absolutely outstanding. Call me an unsophisticated viewer, but really I can find no flaws to mention, let alone to rant about. This applies to DVD playback in DVI mode.

Normal analog TV (cable) is only slightly better than my old TV, which just says that DLP cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. I will be converting to HDTV cable soon.

For both TV signals and DVD, full use of the DLP screen is not assurred. This is not the fault of the TV or DVD player but the many formats present in various media. One can stretch or distort the picture to fill more/all of the screen but I generally found it better to leave the aspect ratio for correct proportion and live with black bars. DVD's such as Finding Nemo or Iceage fill the screen with crisp, dazzling color while natural content like Winged Migration awe the viewer with subtle colors and overwhelming detail. I don't see how video can get any better than this.

So, my opinion is stop your worring and dive in. The combo above has met my high expectations and will, no doubt, impress you as well.

Here's a feedback which I left for HLP model TVs also. HLNs are older thatn HLP and the feedback below compares HLP/HLN/HLM. It does not has the nunmber of input/output (composite/component etc) since that can easily be found on the product description page.

This reviews pretty much applies to all the DLP level TVs from Samsung. I researched for around more than couple of months before finally buying this one.

Samsung initially started with HLM/HLN series DLP models which were using HD2 chip from Texas Instruments and the contrast ratio was 1000:1. This performed very well in reviews, quality and black level as compared to Sony LCD rear projection.

The next series is the latest on which is HLP xx63 series where xx is the size in diagonal (HLP 4663, HLP 5063). The improvements in this are 7 segment color wheel instead of 6-segment, which gives better color. This also uses 3rd generation chip HD3 which has contrast ratio of 1500:1. The bulb are also better in this one since there were some problems in the earlier version of the TV. This is a great TV, light weight as compared to some other and plasmas.

The next series which is out only in 2 models is HLP 5085 and HLP5685. These are also 7-segment color wheel but they have HD2+ chip. This is 4th generation chip and is better than HD3. Its contrast ratio is 2500:1 which should mean better black levels. These are the ones with pedestal which looks cool in the picture but is kinda bulky looking in the store. I'm not sure why this model is not out in 46 inches, may be it doesn't make difference in smaller sizes.

Next, 5th generation chip is going to be xHD3 and should give around 4500:1 contrast ratio.

Overall, DLPs are better since they have better contrast than plasmas and weigh less. They also don't have a burn-in issue like plasmas. HLP series is the best one till now and Samsung is the oldest player in this.

Other manufacturers are also catching up, so this should drive the price down further. good for consumers.

Hope this helps and good luck shopping.

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Some more feedback on the picture and input modes after two weeks into the purchase:

The contrast ratio of HLN/HLP series are good provided you are watching the TV at the same height. If you watch from slightly above/below or left/right, then you'll see it slightly less bright. Just like a laptop screen behaves, maye slightly better.

It has following picture modes:
- 4:3 standard definition (SD) cable programming. puts black bars on the side of the picture if you watch it in this mode.
- wide mode (16:9). if you watch SD tv on this mode, it'll stretch the picture
- panorama mode. stretches only the outside portion of the picture making center of the picture in the correct proporting (aspect ratio) but the sides bit distorted
- zoom1/zoom2: they just soom in from the center with different stretching methods.

Component inputs (in SD and HD) aspect ratios only have normal and wide options. Normal being a little pinched, while wide is normal.
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Some more feedback after 5 weeks of purchase.

I started seeing some problems with the lamp. The manual says that when the bulb/lamp needs replacement, all the three lights on the front switch will start blinking. Atleast couple of times a day, the following was happening:
- when I switch on the TV, the lamp will try to bring the picture while the audio was there
- after couple of seconds tv will go to standby mode
- it'll turn on again after couple of seconds and try to bring up the picture
- and go again the loop to standby mode

something this happens 3-4 times and the pictures comes and sometime it just gives up and the tv turns off.

I'm glad that I bought the warranty after couple of weeks from Circuit city itself, otherwise lamps are not covered in one year Sammy warranty.

... to be continued ...

updated on 12/19:
The TV has been working great ever since, no complains what so ever. I've also tried playing DVD and asf format movies on the laptop connected to the TV thru 25pin monitor cable and stereo audio cables, and it all works fine.

Much like other customers, I did a fair amount of research on this TV before I bought it. I should have done a bit more digging. Between the time I ordered it and the time it was delivered (just recently in August 2004) I discovered MANY Internet posts from customers who were describing an "audio/video sync problem" (where the people talking and the lip movements would not match up). Tantamount to a bad Chinese movie I guess... Samsung was also supposed to be well aware of this problem and supposedly fixed this in the late HLN and newer HLP models.

Anyhow, I kept and open mind and took delivery of the TV. On the very first night, we noticed a significant sync problem with the audio and video. In some spots, it was right on, at other times, not even close. I've heard possible causes from broadcast TV, to certain cables, etc. In my particular experiment, I had a DVD hooked up to it. I believe that ultimately (from what I have read) it is the way that DLP processes the signal that causes this problem. Of course, when you tell the retailer about it, they claim "Wow, we've never heard of that before from any customer". Yeah, OK. They sell hundreds of these TV's a year, and I got the ONLY one where the audio and video don't match up. Please.

I don't know about anyone else, but when you spend $3000+ on a TV like this, it's pretty discouraging. Especially since Samsung has been aware of this particular problem since the onset and continued to ship these TV's. I have to say though that the Samsung DLP had among the best picture out of any of them (and I looked at them all, believe me). However at 3000+, I'm just not willing to sit there and look at some speaking "behind" what they just said (nor should I).

At this point, we're either going to wait for the "HLP" series or look at another TV altogether. I guess I'm willing to give Samsung another try, but I'm not really holding my breath on this one. I would have bought a Sony Wega Tube TV, but they're like 3 or 4 feet deep! Just don't have that kind of depth in my Family Room.

At any rate, the first Company that produces a HD ready TV that performs exactly as described with no weird quirks or funky error messages gets my $3000.00. My advice, wait a little while to allow DLP technology to evolve, or buy the nicest tube TV you can find.

Overall this set is pretty good. If you can see the rainbow effect, forget about it though. This is the only reason I am returning this set. Geometry is okay, better than CRT, not as good as LCD. You might need this set adjusted by a technician. The colors were not quite correct out of the box. Yellow looked green, red looked purple. If you watch PIP, this set could be annoying for you. When you exit PIP, the screen goes to Widescreen mode. You'll then have cycle through all the modes. Also, there is some kind of copy protection in the TV. I tried to watch a show I taped on NBC, when I played it back there were green and red bars across the screen. You can always return it if you don't like it.