New DLP arrived...

[steveinaz]

Picked up the Samsung HL-S5086W from Sears last night and got it setup. I immediately ran the DVE disk to get it ball-park calibrated. At first, as expected, analog TV looked terrible (I've got digital coming Saturday). After calibration the picture was much better, and later in the evening I did some more fine tuning and got the picture looking very nice. We watched "Finding Nemo" and Bev was in awe throughout the whole movie; she kept saying how it was like watching an entirely different movie. I had the Denon 2910 running into the Samsung via component, with progressive scan enabled from the player. The picture was nothing short of stunning.

Setup:
- I turned DNR and DNEi OFF per eveything I've read on various forums--although DNEi does help analog TV look better.
- Color temp mode I selected was "Normal"
- Usually I get best results with sharpness at 0. This TV gets way too soft at 0, so it is set at 48. Oddly, I couldn't get any edge distortion on the sharpness pattern, even with sharpness at Max---probably a good thing.
- This set is extremely bright---once I brought contrast way down to 45 (Max of 100), and then re-adjusted brightness to coincide with this contrast level, everything snapped into place.

Settings are (0-100):
- Brightness...52
- Contrast...45
- Color...28
- Tint...50
- Sharpness...48

Some nitpicks:
- The contrast/brightness/color/sharpness/tint adjustments are global on this set; you cannot setup individual inputs. Luckily, it turns out that the DVD settings also work great for TV--so not a big deal for me.

- Getting deep blacks with good shadow detail requires some work, and I'm still tweaking.

Otherwise I'm extremely pleased, especially the 62lb weight versus the 168lb 36" CRT Bev & I had to lug out of the livingroom.

[Fireman32]

Congrats on the new TV. I love my DLP.

[BIZILL]

feed her some high def content steve.

[tryrrthg]

feed her some high def content steve.
yep, you should have thrown some rabbit ears on the beotch. (the TV, not your wife :D )

[PolkWannabie]

Some nitpicks:
- The contrast/brightness/color/sharpness/tint adjustments are global on this set; you cannot setup individual inputs. Luckily, it turns out that the DVD settings also work great for TV--so not a big deal for me.

- Getting deep blacks with good shadow detail requires some work, and I'm still tweaking.

Otherwise I'm extremely pleased, especially the 62lb weight versus the 168lb 36" CRT Bev & I had to lug out of the livingroom.
I'm surprised you can't set up individual inputs ... Maybe that feature didn't get added until the more recent 5088 ... My 7178 has this capability as well ...

[steveinaz]

feed her some high def content steve.

Sierra Vista doesn't have HD yet, but Cox told me they are very close to starting the service. I'm definitely getting HD, that's a no-brainer.

[steveinaz]

I'm surprised you can't set up individual inputs ... Maybe that feature didn't get added until the more recent 5088 ... My 7178 has this capability as well ...

I thought it was odd too, but fortunately the DVD settings seem to translate well to TV.

[steveinaz]

Let me correct myself, you CAN individualize settings by modifying any of the existing profiles; ie. Dynamic, Standard, Movie, Game.

[PolkWannabie]

I hear that ... But on the ( probably ) newer or larger models individual inputs can have their own stored settings ...

I initially ran into this by accident as I had gone through a calibration for Cable and then later switched to DVD and surprise ... where'd my settings go ...

Any who, glad you are for the most part happy with it ... I agree that it is a whole different experience ...

[BIZILL]

(the TV, not your wife :D )
i was gonna say that about my post as well.:D

[BIZILL]

Sierra Vista doesn't have HD yet, but Cox told me they are very close to starting the service. I'm definitely getting HD, that's a no-brainer.
have you decided whether or not to jump into any hd dvd or blu-ray yet? this format war is amazing...in a bad way. imho

[I-SIG]

How does one get calibratoin patterns and what not for your CATV input? DVD is a no-brainer, but how do you calibrate CATV? Seat-of-the-pants?

Wes

[BIZILL]

i prefer, "in the eye of the beholder".:rolleyes:

[PolkWannabie]

There are professionals that have the appropriate gear to do this ... or ... you can calibrate via DVD and then use the same initial settings for CATV and go from there.

As most would, the Samsung's have a service menu that can be gotten to where many more adjustments can be made.

[steveinaz]

How does one get calibratoin patterns and what not for your CATV input? DVD is a no-brainer, but how do you calibrate CATV? Seat-of-the-pants?

Wes

Pretty much seat-of-the-pants. I use my DVD settings as a baseline and adjust from there. I've got my analog cable looking beautiful today, digital should really look nice.

Movies are breathtaking. We watched Cars and Monsters, Inc. this morning---AWESOME. The color depth is remarkable and the clarity much like HDTV. I love this set. I went to "Warm 2" color temp mode (as suggested my many sites), turned off DNR & DNiE and recalibrated with DVE, the picture is beautiful.

[PolkWannabie]

Yes ... I prefer the Warm 2 as well ... I've tried it a variety of ways ...

[steveinaz]

Well, got digital cable installed Saturday, picture looks even better. Turned off the "enhancement" circuitry (DNR/DNiE) and got a great picture after some fiddling around.

...Just waiting for HD to be offered here...

[PolkWannabie]

No HD yet ? ... Bummer ... That will take you to a whole nuther world ...