Samsung HLR5667W 56-Inch DLP HD TV Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Like the previous review says, your jaw will drop. The picture on this TV is clear, bright and lifelike, and the images are eye-popping. DVD's are amazing, even in 480P. I'm using the DirecTV HD TiVo as my satellite source, and an over-the-air antenna for local HD channels. DirecTV's HD choices are limited, but the picture on those (compressed) channels is beautiful. But the piece-de-resistance is the non-compressed local HDTV broadcasts. Just amazing. Our local CBS affiliate does their news in HD, and it makes the boring local news riveting just for the picture. Getting strong signals from an antenna can be challenging, but it's worth it if you can do it.
The set has more options than you'll ever need, but I particularly like the surround-sound simulation mode that plays a simulated 5.1 image over the set's 2 speakers. It actually creates sounds that seems to come from behind you. Of course, you can hook it up to your home theater for the real thing (over an optical connection).
I have noticed no rainbow effects that some say appear on DLP's, and the picture is plenty bright, even in my room that has a wall of windows behind me and skylights above me.
In short, if you can afford this TV, you shouldn't hestitate to buy it. Amazon has a great sale on it now (July 2005), so it's even less painful. Besides, amortize it over the 10-15 years you'll enjoy this TV, and it's a bargain.


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Get the sharpest and clearest images possible from HD and standard TV and your favorite DVD movies with the 56-inch Samsung HLR5667W DLP projection TV. This relatively lightweight TV weighs less than 85 pounds and measures just under 16 inches deep, helping you to avoid sacrificing precious real estate in your home. It has a built-in analog/digital (NTSC/ATSC) tuner that will receive free over-the-air HDTV signals and is Digital Cable Ready, so you can enjoy digital cable without an additional box or remote. It also offers a good range of connections for DVD, DTV, PC, HDTV sources.
DLP (which stands for Digital Light Processing) uses an optical semiconductor to recreatesource material with a fidelity analog systems can't match. While other technologies lose a certain amount of light in transit, the microscopic mirrors in a DLP projection system bring more light from lamp to screen. It also features better color uniformity over time--no burn-in, screen aging or color-shifting possible. It's the leading display technology for products like small portable conference room projectors and professional venue entertainment systems.
This DLP set employs the latest Digital Micromirror Devices (DMD), which have switching speeds twiceas fast as previous generation microdisplays and up to 1,000 times faster than competing technologies. When combined with Samsung's new Cinema Smooth720p light engine, the result is a crisp, bright picture with deep, rich colors that are closer to film.
The HLR5667W features a widescreen picture aspect ratio (16:9; standard TVs have a 4:3 aspect ratio), which is the ideal screen format for viewing widescreen video from DVD players and the growing availability of broadcast programming off digital HDTV tuners (HD content is always widescreen), cable boxes and satellite receivers.
The HLR5667W's 3D Y/C digital comb filter constantly analyzes the three dimensions of picture height, picture width, and picture changes-over-time, to reduce dramatically edge image artifacts while improving transition detail. Powered by SamsungÕs Cinema Smooth technology, the 3:2 pulldown cinema video processing feature detects and compensates film--which is shot at 24 frames per second (fps) compared with video's 30 fps rate--to video for a smooth theater-like experience at home.
The Samsung Digital Natural Image engine (DNIe) Video Enhancer refines all analog NTSC and wideband video inputs for an overall improvement in picture quality. DNIe improves contrast, white level, picture detail and incorporates digital noise reduction to improve lower quality video inputs. The Automatic Digital Format Conversion System is compatible with 1080i and 720p HDTV formats, 480p EDTV and 480i SDTV formats. This system will accept any DTV, analog TV, or XGA computer RGB input. All video signals are converted to a 16:9 wide-screen pixel count (1280 x 720) progressive display for flicker-free images.
The 30-watt stereo audio system (two 15-watt speakers) delivers ample sound for sports and movies. It features the following video and audio connections:
AV in (RCA): 3 (1 side, 2 rear)
S-Video In: 3 (1 side, 2 rear)
RF In: 2
Monitor and Sound Out (RCA): 1 rear
Component Video Input (Smart Input): 2 rear (480i,480p,720p,1080i)
DVI Audio In: 1 (rear)
HDMI: 1 (rear)
PC In (D-Sub 16-pin): 1 (rear)
Monitor: 1 (rear)
D-Net (IEEE): 2 Rear
G-Link (Mini Jack): 1 rear
POD Slot (CableCARD): 1 rear
AnyNet (Mini Jack): 1 rear
Other features include:
Watch two sources at once with 2-Tuner Picture-in-Picture. You can select from a small, movable, re-sizeable window in the corner of the screen, or share the screen with Side-by-Side Split Screen.
TV Guide On Screen interactive program guide provides listings for cable-ready, cable box, digital cable and over-the-air broadcasts directly on your TV.
Five pre-set aspect ratio modes--Normal, Wide, Panorama, Zoom 1 and Zoom 2--stretch your image to fill the screen naturally and with less distortion.
For the times when digital cable features require a set-top box, such as Video-On-Demand, you can connect that box to a second input.
1-year warranty for parts and labor
What's in the Box Samsung HL-R5667WDLP TV, remote control, two AAA batteries, printed instruction book

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PCT 1-PORT BI-DIRECTIONAL CABLE TV HDTV AMPLIFIER SIGNAL BOOSTER WITH PASSIVE RETURN PATH Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This Drop Amp works great! I have a two story home with a several TV's at the far end of the house that never had clear pictures. They have always been grainy and just never looked right. Well after talking with the cable company they told me they could come out and put an amp on the cable to boost the signal and it would cost me a service fee plus the cost of the amp which would be a total of $150 bucks. I would have thought they should have fixed it for nothing. Luckily I talked with a friend of mine who had once worked for a cable company and he told me that I could get an amp myself and recommended one of these. So I bought one and installed it myself! It took maybe ten minutes to get this thing up and running! I also found "thanks to the cable company" they had extra splitters in my cable run in the attic that was not needed "this will also degrade your signal". Now my TVs have clear pictures and look great all for $35 bucks!

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Samsung HL-S5687W 56-Inch 1080p DLP HDTV Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I did pretty extensive legwork selecting a television. It was the first widescreen TV I've bought and was going into a new home, so I wanted it to be right. My experience was that I first had to narrow down which technology I wanted to buy. I found that rear projection TVs such as DLP or the Sony variation SXRD looked best to me -- Plasma and LCD were too "pixel"-y for me, and I appreciated rear projection's more film like look. You need to look for yourself at the local video store -- this part of the quest is a question of taste.
The short review of the television is that I found the high end Sony TVs to be best in class, and, after an hour or more of watching them side by side in several environments, could not discern any quality difference with the Samsung. I preferred the Samsung's styling, user control, remote design, and price. My online research indicates that the Samsung is highly configurable to industry standards by a qualified "tweaker". I have also read good things about Samsung's customer service and appreciated that there were no specific issues raised by online enthusiasts, in contrast to several issues such as a green blob discussed repeatedly in regard to the Sony SXRDs. I have had no issue at all with mine.
I'm very satisfied with the television and highly satisfied with Amazon's price, delivery and price drop policy.
The TV is very responsive to quality input -- standard def is OK, but the better the signal, the happier you'll be. I'm looking at DishNetwork satellite, upscaled DVD, and Hires DivX. These 1080i sources are great, and the TV is still limited by signal -- I've seen Bluray demo material on this unit and its yet another step up.
I found sports and high action scenes to look very good -- no rainbows that I can see. I felt that the image was sharper and color range better than other manufacturers' units, except for Sony's XBR series. The Sony I found to be identical in quality, with color and saturation differences that were subject to change based on settings and pretty subjective as to "best".
I feel like I got a bargain compared to the Sony XBR, without having to give up anything. This unit lacks cablecard slots and PIP capability, but my satellite service makes both of these a non-issue. They are available in another unit from Samsung which has identical picture quality. The Amazon price was quite a bit less than any other seller I could find.
Totally positive experience so far -- I've had the unit for about six weeks as of this writing.

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Get the sharpest and clearest images possible from HD and standard TV with with the 56-inch Samsung HL-S5687W DLP television, which features a full progressive HD 1920 x 1080-pixel reslution digital format converter for all inputs (and true 1920 x 1080p picture from via HDMI). A contrast ratio of up to 10000:1 captures blacker blacks, crisper whites and images that burst into life. And the high-speed of the DLP chip, with millions of tiny mirrors that switch on and off over 15,000 times per second, delivers a precise, razor-sharp picture. It has a built-in analog/digital (NTSC/ATSC) tuner, offers both HDMI and component video connections, . It also features a smaller footpring than other high-definition TVs (with a "hidden speaker" thin bezel), fitting where many other large-screen HDTVs won't.
DLP (which stands for Digital Light Processing) uses an optical semiconductor to recreate source material with a fidelity analog systems can't match. While other technologies lose a certain amount of light in transit, the microscopic mirrors in a DLP projection system bring more light from lamp to screen. It also features better color uniformity over time--no burn-in, screen aging or color-shifting possible. It's the leading display technology for products like small portable conference room projectors and professional venue entertainment systems.

This Samsung DLP television employs a Texas Instruments DLP chip that is comprised of millions of microscopic mirrors. The DLP chip is faster than any HDTV technology, with the mirrors switching on and off 15,000 times a second to deliver a razor-sharp picture for fast moving images. It also offers Samsung's Cinema Smooth Gen 7 1080p Light Engine, which creates a picture with no visible pixel structure for a captivating, theater-quality experience. You'll get up to a 10000:1 contrast ratio with outstanding colors and deep black levels.

The Samsung Digital Natural Image engine (DNIe) Video Enhancer refines all analog NTSC and wideband video inputs for an overall improvement in picture quality. DNIe improves contrast, white level, picture detail and incorporates digital noise reduction to improve lower quality video inputs. The 3-line digital comb filter constantly analyzes the three dimensions of picture height, picture width, and picture changes-over-time to dramatically reduce edge image artifacts while improving transition detail. Samsung's Cinema Smooth 3:2 pull-down film mode corrects for the artificial frames created when films are converted to DVDs. The result is a clearer image without the subtle motion artifacts caused by 24-to-30 frames per second video conversion.

Samsung's 2.6-inch color wheel spins at 14,400 rpm for smooth, fast motion video, and has five color segments for more accurate colors. It achieves film-like transitions without pixel breakup found in slower color wheel designs and slower switching LCD microdisplays. Air Bearing technology also makes it whisper quiet.

Samsung also worked closely with Microsoft to create a special Game Mode that optimizes image quality, sound and response time for more realistic video game play--with just a single touch of a button. The Game Mode enhances dark areas, sharpens the picture, speeds up the image processing response and enhances the sounds of your games.

Other features include:

Picture format adjustment: Enjoy all your 4:3 aspect-ratio programming in smooth, wide-screen without black bars. Four pre-set aspect ratio modes--Normal, Wide, Zoom 1 and Zoom 2--stretch your image to fill the screen naturally.
Color temperature adjustment: Selectable between Cool1, Cool2, Normal Warm1, and Warm2 with on-screen display.
Auto volume leveler: Keeps audio volume consistent during channel changing to minimize static sound bursts.
Discrete IR codes: This set is equipped with discrete IR codes for use with a macro/programmable remote.
Closed caption: Displays dialog that can be read along with encoded broadcast TV programs and pre-recorded videos.
V-Chip: Enables parental control for channel and program blocking of TV programs that incorporate the rating code signal.

High-quality virtual surround sound can be experienced with just the speakers built into the TV. SRS TruSurround XT technology delivers an amazing, simulated 3D effect with clear dialog and powerful bass. It produces 10 watts of power per channel (for 20 watts total). This set utilizes Samsung's Dual Acoustic Chamber System technology, which isolates each woofer and tweeter in its own chamber. DACS is a revolutionary, computer-simulated technology that enhances lowrange sound performance, sharpens mid-to-high-range sound quality, and improves overall sound clarity. It offers the following connection options:

Component (Y/Pb/Pr): 2 inputs
HDMI: 2 inputs
Composite (RCA audio/video): 3 inputs (1 on the front)
S-Video: 2 inputs
PC: 1 D-Sub-15 input
PC audio: 1 input
RF: 1 input
Sound monitor output: 1
USB: 1

Tech Talk HDMI is a lossless, uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface to link any audio/video source (such as a set-top box, DVD player, or AV receiver) with your TV--all over a single cable. HDMI supports standard, enhanced or high definition video, plus multi-channel digital audio on a single cable. It supports all ATSC formats--standard (SDTV), enhanced (EDTV), and high (HDTV).

SRS TruSurround XT audio adds three new audio enhancement technologies to produce an amazingly immersive sound experience.

Dialog Clarity brings movie dialog into focus during the playback of any surround-encoded material to make speech much clearer and crisper.
TruBass creates incredible deep rich bass allowing a person to perceive significantly deeper, richer low bass tones that are far beyond the physical low frequency capabilities of the speaker itself.
The SRS WOW feature widens the soundstage by processing standard two-channel stereo material as well as multi-channel encoded material for a dramatic improvement in the playback of any stereo audio over a two-speaker system.
Component video (also called Y/Pb/Pr) features a three-jack video input, which provides separate connections for luminance (Y), blue color difference (PB) and red color difference (PR). This results in increased bandwidth for color information, resulting in a more accurate picture with clearer color reproduction and less bleeding than you would get with S-Video or composite (RCA yellow video plug) connections. You will need a separate RCA left/right audio cable for sound.
What's in the Box DLP TV, remote control (with batteries), power cord, printed operating instructions.
Warranty It's backed by a 1-year warrant on parts (including lamp) and labor, with in-home service backed by Samsung toll-free support.

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