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After lots of reading, and consulting with a distinguished board member, I'm taking the plunge. I'm going with a 50" Samsung DLP and a Bose sound system. After a couple of months, this room will finally be finished soon. Come on over in a couple of weeks. I'll supply the popcorn.
I want one to! [img]graemlins/cry_smile.gif[/img]
...maybe I can hope for a large settlement from the accident [img]tongue.gif[/img]
It's amazing the transformation this room has gone through lately. Minimal toys, all new paint scheme and drapes. Tile in the hall and bath, and God willing, new carpet this week.
I've seriously cut back on collecting to allow me to make some needed changes to my place. I'm still blowing the same amount of cash.... just going in a different direction.
You don't live forever and you might as well be comfortable where you do.
while waiting for Sculpeys, come on over and watch my 60" widescreen Hitachi with surround sound. then when Sculpeys is up, we'll all make a road trip to his place!
oh how youre gonna love that tv John!
I concur with bonedust...avoid the Bose system, man. You can do far better for the same cost, or just as good for at least 30% less.
But enjoy that tv! I think I mentioned that I'm letting my 65" tv go for now, since the new house will end up having a dedicated home theater eventually. But that means I'm swapping it out for something in the 52" range for the living room, and I was considering the Samsung 1080p DLP's. I suspect I'll end up with the Mits 1080p in that same size range, but the Sammy looked pretty damn sweet.
Michael
MWC
I am just waiting for the move, and I already have my eyes on one room of the apartment. I won't be getting a flat panel because price is still too high, so my other choices will be a 36 Sony or a 54 rear-projection Phillips.
<font color="#cd6600" size="1">[ October 12, 2005 08:30 AM: Message edited by: MM4 ]</font>
i surprised myself and brought home the new 50" Samsung 1080p DLP yesterday... the picture is fucking amazing...
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="1">@#$% rich kids......</font>Quote:
Originally posted by Joranthalus:
i surprised myself and brought home the new 50" Samsung 1080p DLP yesterday... the picture is fucking amazing...
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif"><font size="1">@#$% rich kids......</font></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">no... it's called "no kids" [img]tongue.gif[/img]Quote:
Originally posted by MM4:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Joranthalus:
i surprised myself and brought home the new 50" Samsung 1080p DLP yesterday... the picture is fucking amazing...
Fucking BASTARDS! I HATE you ALL!!!
*pouts*
Hey, I got four kids...and my house will eventually have seven active cable drops. Some people think I'm insane. But then, I've never particularly cared what other people thought [img]smile.gif[/img]
Is that the HLR50668? I think that's the damn model number - hard as hell to keep them all straight. Are you seeing any issues with lag between picture and sound? That's the only problem I heard reported, and that was with mostly the early versions.
Michael
MWC
its a hlr5078w . Now i just gotta get a DVD player than can deliver 1080p [img]wink.gif[/img]
and i'm not seeing that issue at all. I've also read some complaints about color, and several complaints about humming noises from the back (fans i'm assuming) but this one is pretty much perfect so far...
<font color="#cd6600" size="1">[ October 12, 2005 11:49 AM: Message edited by: Joranthalus ]</font>
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">nah, don't hate drau... you can come over and watch Forbidden Zone... it's never looked better [img]wink.gif[/img]Quote:
Originally posted by Drau:
Fucking BASTARDS! I HATE you ALL!!!
*pouts*
if i beg will you reconsider the Bose system? really....its double the cost for the marketing and not quality.
One problem there, Jor - I didn't think the Sammy (or the Mits or the Toshiba) had any inputs that could accept a 1080p signal? I know that the new HP is saying they can do it through the HDMI port, but it appears like they have to hand pick the chipsets for it to get ones capable of handling the bandwidth, and that sounds pretty risky to me. I'd think your odds of getting a set with problems would go way up in that kind of situation.
Let me rephrase that - some of the models have PC inputs that can handle 1080p, but not inputs that could handle, say, a HD DVD player outputting it.
Michael
MWC
i think you are correct. you can hookup a pc that has a graphics card capable of it (which is probably whay i'm going to do), but essentially, the new samsung actually does the upconverting for you, so i don't know if i'll get a better pic doing true 1080p input, what the TV does with lesser signals is very impressive...
<font color="#cd6600" size="1">[ October 12, 2005 01:58 PM: Message edited by: Joranthalus ]</font>
Is it true that computers can only support the 480P HDTV and not the higher one ?
I think I saw that in a Video magazine a couple of years ago.....
Let me know how you're liking it over the next couple days, Jor. I'm buying on Friday, and I've started to lean towards the Samsung. Do you know what the differences are in the 5068 and the 5078?
And MM4 - there are video cards out now that support up to 1080p.
Michael
MWC
<font color="#cd6600" size="1">[ October 12, 2005 04:16 PM: Message edited by: Michael Crawford ]</font>
you mean the 67? i don't think it upconverts to 1080p, i think it's 720p... the 78 upconverts signals to 1080p on it's own. also, the 78 is a gen6 chip and the 67 is a gen5... not that i know exactly what all that means...
what made my choice was that the new model didn't actually require upconverting components, which would have been $300 in a player and cables, so the price differernce seemed even less for the upgrade when you take that into consideration...
<font color="#cd6600"><font size="1">[ October 12, 2005 04:32 PM: Message edited by: Joranthalus ]</font></font>
<font color="#cd6600" size="1">[ October 12, 2005 04:35 PM: Message edited by: Joranthalus ]</font>
Are you guys are getting the HDTV signal off air or with sat ?
Regarding the PC, I have a sat card that can decode HDTV, provided I have a faster CPU, but I am stuck with an ATI 9550 to output to TV. I have not reached a HDTV signal yet so, I don't know what kind of resolution I will end on the PC monitor.
neither for me yet. waiting for comcast to buy out mediacom...
I'll reconsider the sound system. Jor, are we buying the same TV?
i dunno... there's a couple different samsung 50" DLPs... the model i have is HL-R5078W...
I think mine is the 5067
very similar then. Although i'm not gonna get rid of all my toys and start collecting dolls [img]wink.gif[/img]
hey, did you and your lost guys reverse the hash on that password yet?
<font color="#cd6600" size="1">[ October 12, 2005 07:50 PM: Message edited by: Joranthalus ]</font>
I din't get rid of them, they're just in hefty bags [img]wink.gif[/img]
hahaha......... I emailed the guy and asked him for the password, but he never got back to me.
another guy that has a site wrote me back. turns out he's a record producer in Sweden.
Nope, I meant 68 vs 78 - they are both this years 1080p models. It turns out it's only a cosmetic difference, with a slightly different look to the speakers at the bottom. I'm looking at the 5668 right now.
I been basking in glorious HD television for three years now, all thanks to a simple antenna on the roof. I have comcast HD now, but without a HD tv hooked up yet I can't report on the quality.
On to sound - yep, get away from the Bose stuff. I love my Paradigm stuff, but Klipsh makes nice quality stuff as well. Avoid any HTIB type set ups you might find at a big box store, and put your own together. One to check out is Onix Rockets, and Infinity makes some decent stuff at a reasonable price...
Michael
MWC
weird... i couldn't find it on the site... but if the technology is the same, you're gonna love it. Watched Empire Strikes Back last night... i've never seen a movie look better. George did a pretty good job on the transfer but the TV make it look amazing. I'm watching Pirates of the Caribbean right now... fucking beautiful.
oh, and i hookup up my widescreen laptop to it and again, the picture was perfect. Played Myst 4 and McGee's Alice just to check out the graphics and now i'm pretty much in love [img]wink.gif[/img]
Sculpey, that's what;s known as "social engineering" [img]biggrin.gif[/img]
<font color="#cd6600"><font size="1">[ October 12, 2005 10:29 PM: Message edited by: Joranthalus ]</font></font>
<font color="#cd6600" size="1">[ October 12, 2005 10:30 PM: Message edited by: Joranthalus ]</font>
This is it:
http://product.samsung.com/cgi-bin/n...LR5668WX%2fXAA
As you can see, the front is a little different, but otherwise the 68 is the same as the 78. Or so it appears...
Michael
MWC
that's weird... the only spec that doesn't match up is that the 68 says it has a "floating screen" and isn't available in the 50"...
Yea, that's the cosmetic difference - the screen is set up to be above the speakers slightly, appearing like it's not connected, although obviously it is. No biggie either way to me, it just so happens that the 68 is the one in stock [img]smile.gif[/img]
Michael
MWC
well, i guess it gives them more TVs to sell... either way, i'm really happy with it.
It looks like I'm picking up the sammy 5668 today. It's a tough decision for me, because I'm a Mits man, but the Sammy has has lots of good things said about it, and is a little more mature product in the 1080p world.
Couple questions Jor - are you using it for games at all? And did you or will you have it calibrated?
Michael
MWC
PC Games, yes. And they look outstanding. I've been playing Myst 4 and Alice just to check out the graphics. My wife plays Zoo Tycoon 2 which looks great as well. I've heard/read that console games look like crap, though i can't remember where....
I've changed almost all the settings on the TV, haven't had it done professionally though if that's what you mean... I suppose it's something to consider, but before i do i need to get some better blinds and curtains and such... But the "standard" mode display was blindingly bright (star wars flicks look great on it though)... the "dynamic" mode looks great during the day cuz i can't control all the light in my house (yet) and the "movie" mode was a bit too dark for my tastes... but you can customize all of them (and return them to factory defaults) and there's also a "custom" mode so you can have their presets and one of your own if you want. I haven't gone too far into the service menu yet, but i did find some plans for making a samsung calibrator on the net, so i may try it soon...
Just a bit of info though. Yesterday i thought to experiment a bit and decided to turn off the progressive mode on my DVD player and it turns out that the TV does a better job of upconverting the signals on it's own... the picture looks even better. This is all throught the component hookup... haven't tried the HDMI yet...
I've always liked Mitsubishi too, and was recommended a set by two people i trust, but this one looked amazing in the store and the price difference was only $700 after haggling ($300 would have been spent on a 1080p DVD player and cables anyway) so i when for the Samsung. I've read really good things about thier DLPs...
<font color="#cd6600" size="1">[ October 14, 2005 02:33 PM: Message edited by: Joranthalus ]</font>
I picked up my Samsung 5668 last Friday - actually it was delivered. I'm waffling around right now, but the PQ looks like it has tremendous potential. I need to get the ISF guy out here to calibrate it though, but that's going to take awhile since it's not high on the priority list.
HD does look pretty smokin' on it most of the time, although there's more black crush here than I'd like. That's something I'm betting is well within the billion settings in the service menu to correct though, once I get grayscale set just perfect.
My only worry is the continuing saga of audio lag/lip sync problems I'm hearing about. Do you have your tv set up with a surround sound system Jor? No lip sync issues? I wasn't going to move either of my surround systems over from the old house til it sells, but I might have to pull at least a receiver and three speakers from one over to do some testing this week.
Michael
MWC
Not doing surround, though i do use external speakers without the lip synch issues i've read about. There's also some devices out there that will delay the signal for you...
http://www.felston.com/dd540/index.htm
as i guess this is becoming more of an issue. Apparently all 1080p DLP sets have this problem to some degree from what i've been reading...
i've heard horrible things about gaming though... cept for PC games, which are perfect.
Also, in the setup menu (power off the set - mute 1 8 2 - power on - it comes up in about 20 seconds) knock the gamma down to zero. This will make a huge difference on blacks in "standard" mode. Haven't figured out how to tweak non-standard modes yet... but i'm sure as more people buy these things, more tips will be available on the net...
<font color="#cd6600" size="1">[ October 19, 2005 03:06 PM: Message edited by: Joranthalus ]</font>
Yep, I reset my gamma to zero almost immediately.
I wonder if people have sync issues are seeing differences between the resolutions being output by the video device. For example, if I'm outputting a DVD at 480i to the TV, the tv has to deinterlace and then scale the signal up to 1080p. However, if I use an upscaling player and output to the TV at 1080i, the tv only has to deinterlace...hmmmm. Of course, the scaler may actually be better in the tv.
Michael
MWC
the scaler is much better in the TV, at least that's what my experiments have shown me...
But if you use the audio feeds off the back of the tv, you shouldn't have any problems from what i've read. If you're taking an audio feed pre-tv, then it might make sense to have the video lag behind while it goes through the process...
although, if that is the case, wouldn't i also notice a lag when i pause a dvd?
*runs home to hug his 55" Sony LCD3 TV*