Give your TV a new home from IKEA
- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 17 reviews Back to product review
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19 out of 20 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"DLP "LED" sets have NO "color wheel", so there is NO "rainbow effect" !!"
Pros: Best overall specs I've seen yet for a great quality HD display
Cons: Plasma probably still preferred as "best" by some people
Summary: Here is a brief initial review (since this set's "Tips & Tricks" submission is not active yet)...
The new DLP "LED" sets (mainly by Samsung, also NuVision) are now available in several models for 2007 [were introduced in 2006].
Because of the superior new LED technology, these sets no longer use a spinning "color wheel"(!), so the previously documented "rainbow effect" that some viewers have seen now NO LONGER EXISTS.
DLP technology for 2007 has finally delivered with the best specs yet - SLIM size, LED light source (20,000+ hours!), 1080p resolution, 1080p signal inputs, light weight (between 69 to 80 lbs!), PC input, etc.
Combined with DLP's always excellent black level quality [unlike ANY LCD tech.], and the lower prices too, well I'm now planning on a summer 2007 purchase of one of the new Samsung Slim/LED/1080p models, available in 50, 56, or 61 inch sizes.
-Note on DLP's 1080p: it uses the "wobulation" technology, whereby 960,000 pixels is chip-modified to produce a true 1080p image [similar to 2,000,000 pixels of other displays].
-Note: on the 2007 Samsung models: like last year's, they include not one, but TWO "RF inputs", one for a regular cable connection [with added QAM capability!], and another (ATSC) for connecting a simple "rabbit ear" type (or similar) antennae, for over-the-air local HD channels [there are a growing number]. For more info on O-T-A HD channels, visit: www.engadgethd.com/2006/01/30/ota-hd-demystified
Specific to Samsung DLP's compared to Plasma... I've noticed that very few displays [especially Plasmas from everyone except Pioneer, and perhaps Samsung and a few Hitachi models], do NOT pass the "1080i deinterlacing" tests for Film-based signals [although they usually pass the test for 1080i Video-based signals, as well as both types of signals for 480i content].
This means your 480 or 1080-interlaced images will have some degree of noise and jagged edges, unless the signal's content (such as DVDs, HD-DVDs, Blu-ray) is sent progressively (480p, 720p, 1080p) from a good player.
(Also referred to as "2:3 pulldown", where a film's 24 frames-per-second is digitally converted to 30 fps, so as to match the TV display's playback signal, and to do so without noise or artifacts.)
Well, the previous Samsung 2006 DLP models DID PASS the film 1080i tests, which very few HDTVs ever do(!), unless they add the newer processing chips (Silicon Optix HQV, Faroudja, Broadcom etc), and few do among all types of TV displays. I don't know what chips are in the Samsung models, but thankfully their latest sets PASS the important 1080i tests for both film and video signals.
This is important since 1080i signals are the most common "HD" signal - from cable and satellite boxes, upconverted DVD players, and HD-DVD and Blu-ray players. And most people view more film-based DVDs, compared to video-based DVDs (TV shows, concerts, etc), so if you want the best image make sure the TV display you buy "passes" the 1080i-deinterlacing tests for both Film and Video signals.
Unfortunately, to date I've yet to see that any of the popular/excellent Panasonic plasma models can correctly deinterlace 1080i film-based signals [refer to cnet's reviews to see the "geek box" test results]. So, I guess how well this is noticed with actual content depends on every viewer's eyes.
Because until I recently decided on buying this new (2007) Samsung LED 1080p DLP set soon, I had been leaning toward the Panasonic plasmas... [well, perhaps their new 1080p 2007 plasma models will "pass" the cnet deinteracing tests in the forthcoming review].
For myself, I just won't buy an "HD" set if test results show it FAILS the important 1080i deinterlacing tests for film (or video) based signals. It's just too important a factor when spending several thousand dollars on these HDTVs.
(And for the record, Sony's popular LCD models ALSO FAIL the film-based 1080i deinterlacing tests, as seen in numerous online and magazine reviews from the last two years).
- 3 replies to this review
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LEDs do NOT eliminate the Rainbow Effect. They do reduce it though. I can see it on this model. I would like to point out that I did not see it on last years HL-S5679.
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After doing the research, I went and bought this HL-T5687S 2 weeks ago. I have been enjoying it ever since. You can't go wrong with this one.
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Samsung's WEB site states the this model has a "Faster Color Wheel". So the rainbow effect might still play
