Summary: I recently purchased the Samsung HL-S5087W DLP HDTV, and I think its performance is amazingly wonderful. I had been comparing this HDTV to a couple other models, such as the Sony KDS-R50XBR1 LCOS HDTV and a couple others using HDTV technologies such as LCD and Plasma. I loved the way that this Samsung HDTV has “hidden speakers” rather than the huge speakers sticking out at the side like the Sony HDTV. I have a 5.1 sound system, so I would never use the speakers on my HDTV anyways, which is something I thought was really annoying about the Sony TV.
I also like the fact that the Samsung TV is “future proof,” because it can both up-convert existing technology to 1080p and accept true 1080p signals, unlike the HDTV’s from Sony. I found out that the HDTV’s from Sony do not actually accept 1080p signals; they only convert lower level signals into a 1080p signal. This means that at some point in the future when the signals are output only in 1080p, the Sony HDTV’s would be useless.
I tried to do a lot of research on the HDTV’s I was looking at, and I noticed that 3LCD HDTV’s had what is called the “mirror image” or “ghosting” effect when motion on the screen moved too quickly for the three LCD chips to keep up with. This problem was something I quickly noticed in the store, so I decided to stay away from 3LCD HDTV’s, because I watch a lot of fast moving sports and play a lot of fast moving video games. The new FIVE color wheel used in this Samsung HDTV allows fast paced action in sports and videogames to occur without any of the negative side effects I have seen with 3LCD HDTV’s. DLP technology is definitely the right technology for me!
The Samsung HDTV displayed every type of color in a dynamic way that achieved a perfect balance of beauty and realism at all times. I had read reviews of Sony’s HDTV that said the greens were too artificial, almost like neon-green, and the reds were reproduced in a non-natural way. When I saw the Sony HDTV in the store next to the Samsung one, there was no comparison: The Samsung HDTV clearly looked like a newer technology where the blacks were blacker, the whites were whiter, and the colors were displayed in a more vibrant way with so much more life.
The first thing my family played on this HDTV was the Microsoft Xbox 360. All I can say is WOW! The Xbox 360 looked absolutely amazing on this Samsung HDTV. I love the way that Samsung has included a Game Mode that takes advantage of colors, contrast, brightness, and other features to make sure that games look wonderful. When the Game Mode is initially turned on, you can see an Xbox 360 controller on the screen for a few seconds while the Game Mode display is shown on-screen. Samsung must have done this because the Xbox 360 is the only videogame system available that displays a High Definition signal, and because the Xbox 360 is the fastest selling videogame system in history.
When a standard DVD is watched from a 480p progressive DVD player, the display relates to how the DVD was filmed, just like with every other HDTV. For example, if the DVD was filmed digitally, like X-Men 2 was, then the movie looks absolutely amazing, almost like you are really a part of the movie, because it is up-converted to 1080p resolution by the Samsung HDTV. However, if you watch an older DVD that was filmed with analog technology, you may need to change the picture mode or else the improvements of characters in the foreground will create background static that most people won’t like. Thankfully, Samsung has included a button on the remote control that allows these adjustments to automatically be made. I like to watch older DVD’s in Movie Mode or Standard Mode. I have also created a Custom Mode to make things exactly the way I like them.
Watching DirecTV is similar to watching a DVD; the clarity of the movie relates very much to the way the movie was originally filmed. I had a standard DirecTV receiver that was only capable of outputting an S-Video signal, which did look very nice most of the time on this Samsung HDTV. However, when I had a High Definition DirecTV receiver installed, then the performance was tremendously increased! Watching DirecTV with a high definition DirecTV receiver looks absolutely amazing! I found out that new DirecTV customers can receive a free HDTV receiver, and existing customers can also receive a free HDTV receiver because DirecTV wants to keep their current customers. I sure am happy that I bought this Samsung HDTV now that I have subscribed to high definition DirecTV.
I am very much looking forward to getting a High-Definition DVD player to use on my Samsung HDTV. I bet that will look absolutely amazing. The men at the store I was speaking with explained that pretty soon, all of the DVD’s released will be called a Hybrid DVD (H-DVD), because they will include a HD-DVD (High Definition DVD) on one side and a standard DVD on the other side. I was told to stay away from the Blu-ray technology when it is released in the winter, because it will not include any sort of hybrid technology and it will be a lot more expensive, even though the audio and video quality is identical. The men at the store said that both HD-DVD and Blu-ray offer 1080p signals, but you need to make sure that the HDMI cable you buy is capable of outputting resolution that high. I was very happy that this Samsung HDTV has two HDMI inputs capable of accepting 1080p signals from HD-DVD technology.
There are even more wonderful features for this HDTV; it would take hours to describe them all. This HDTV even has a USB input on its side, so you can display pictures or listen to MP3 songs stored on a USB memory device. The HDTV has different sorts of viewing modes such as 16:9, 4:3, and several different forms of Zoom modes that allow movies like Terminator 2, which were at a ratio of 2.35:1, to be seen without black bars at the top or bottom of the screen.
Overall, I think that this Samsung HL-S5087W is the best HDTV I have ever seen. This television looks amazing at all times. This unit has a wonderful design that is beautiful to look at, even when the TV is off. The TV is even easy to carry, because Samsung designed it with a very nice ergonomic handle grip on the left and right side of the back. This HDTV only weighs about 65 pounds, so two people can carry it without any problems at all. The custom HDTV stand for this unit has the ability to store almost all center channel speakers, too. I think all of these features are very nice.
The picture quality of this television is absolutely amazing. Some stores use bright fluorescent lighting that makes it difficult to see DLP technology in the proper way. When I went in a store that had lower level lighting, I realized I wanted this HDTV in my living room. My home doesn’t have any sort of unnatural fluorescent lighting, and this DLP HDTV looks absolutely amazing. There is virtually no glare on the screen from the sun, or other lighting. Even if this TV is in a very bright room, or if my blinds are open so that the sun is shining, the picture quality is wonderful.
I am so happy I purchased this HDTV from Samsung. I did a tremendous amount of research on the different forms of HDTV before I purchased this product. This Samsung HDTV offers incredible technological specifications and wonderful performance. The value of this television is amazing. Other companies such as Sony charge so much for their over promising and under delivering products. Samsung is offering a superior product for an excellent price with the HL-S5087W DLP HDTV.
