Samsung HLP4663W 46-Inch Widescreen DLP HD-Ready TV Monitor
By: Samsung Average Rating: 3.0 Total Reviews: 18
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 On: 2008-03-07
Have had this TV for 3 years with no problems. I love it. It is on all the time and it just keeps going.
On: 2007-08-27
Both non HD and HD programming looks stunning. I compared this unit in the store to Plasmas and LCDs and I also compared this TV to other brands like Sony and this TV absoloutly is awesome. I have it connected to my surround sound Infinity speaker system and my Harmon Kardon receiver which I think most people who purchase a TV like this would not use the TVs built-in speaker system. DVDs play crystal clear as well, as a matter of fact non-HD DVDs look flawless. The set-up was very simple and the ease of use is fantastic! Could it be better? I guess but it certainly is not difficult. I do plan on purchasing another Samsung DLP HDTV in the future. Samsung TVs are miles ahead of the competition in my opinion.
 On: 2007-03-30
Consumers should be aware of serious design flaws which exist in Samsung DLP televisions. Cooling fans and color wheels are highly susceptible to failing. (As a non-techniocal person I should have no idea what these parts are, but alas, I bought a Samsung DLP) Expect these to fail within 1-2 years. Expect to pay approx $400 to replace the color wheel and $200 to replace the colling fan. That is, if your service technician can find them in stock anywhere. These parts are commonly in a national backorder because of the very high failure rates.
You should also expect the lamp to fail sooner than advertized. Many people need to purchase a new lamp between 1-2 years, and some more often than that. The lamp costs approx $150-$250 depending on your model, but you should be able to replace it yourself without too much difficulty. This cost will be in addition to replacement costs for the color wheel and colling fan. Please remember that these maintenance costs are recurring, and you will have to fix them again in another 1-2 years.
While I was very satisfied with the quality and performance of my DLP, my color wheel failed very early. I called tech support to report a grinding noise, and was told to "turn it off", wait 15 minutes, and turn it back on like this would fix the problem. After doing this for a while, the color wheel finally failed, actually shattered! Now I am out of warranty, and Samsung wants nothing to do with me. I have even tried ordering the part myself from two different online vendors, and they are both backordered indefinitely! It has been 6 weeks and they have no estimate for when this part will be available. Samsung cannot even give me an estimate when the supply of replacement parts is expected to meet demand. I have had my TV for 18 months, and apparently there is a national epidemic of them breaking at the same time!
I have a 42" Samsung Plasma which is a beautiful set along with a 26" CRT. Both are wonderful products, but Samsung is selling DLP LEMONS and will not stand behind them. DLP is a great bargain up front, but a maintenance NIGHTMARE! You will pay in the long run, and by the long run I mean every 2 years. If you still want to purchase a DLP television, PLEASE BUY THE EXTENDED WARRANTY! IT WILL SAVE YOU A TON, BUT YOU WILL STILL HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE CIRCUIT CITY TECH TO FIND PARTS WHICH MAY TAKE MONTHS!
I expect Samsung to abandon their design flaw riddled DLP sector, and focus on their beautiful plasma line. Expect DLP prices to drop even further, but please...LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP!
 On: 2007-02-04
I never watched TV until a few years ago. When I do it, I do it big, so I bought a 52" Samsung DLP, 2005/2004. It was fantastic for awhile, but lately it began buzzing. I know they have heat problems (they no like), but I didnt think after 2-3 years it would start buzzing or humming. NOW, I am not sure its the fan, but I think it is. I will try and examine if other products are creating the buzz (the stereo or PS3), but I dont think so. I love the product, just may have bought LCD if I knew about this earlier.
 On: 2007-01-02
I bought one of these in January 2004. The picture looks fantastic, and I love how little the TV weighs -- it is very easy for my wife and I to move it. Unfortunately, Ive had to move it to the repair shop when, after a few months of use, the TV started making a buzzing sound sometimes when I powered it up. This sounded like the color wheel going bad, and the TV shop in Knoxville that Samsung contracts with to do their warranty service said that they would need to have the machine in the shop to replace the color wheel. They did offer to pick the TV up for no charge, but instead I took the TV in myself to speed things up. I had to leave the TV there for a few days, but the wait wasnt unreasonable.
Since the color wheel was replaced, I have had no further problems with the TV. (Ive had it about two years now.) Bottom line: The TV looks great when it is working, but reliability is a concern (the TV repair folks indicated that the color wheel problems were quite common). Because Samsung uses a third party for warranty service, it is hard to predict what you might get if you encounter problems. I was fortunate because the local shop they use seems quite good. That said, the TV has worked with no problems since the first color wheel unit was replaced.
by: Anonymous On: 2006-12-23
Weird, I have never had a problem in two years...The TV has been great.
Great picture, color, quality , sound...I am sorry you all had such a bad experience, mine has been great.
Mich
On: 2006-12-22
Weird, I have never had a problem in two years...The TV has been great.
Great picture, color, quality , sound...I am sorry you all had such a bad experience, mine has been great.
Mich
On: 2006-12-08
I have had this TV for over a year now and nothing has gone wrong. I bought it from a freind and he had it for about 3 months. The picture is still bright with great sound.
Samsung is a great product and DLP is the way to go still over LCD and Plasma..Better blacks and you may not be able to hang on the wall..but when you start getting burn in or dead pixels after a yr or two..your screwed..
When DLPs bulb starts to dim..just spend 180$ and your TV is like NEW again!! not bad!
On: 2006-09-02
I bought my TV on 3/11/05 from CompUSA with the 3yr extended warranty in Kansas City. During my time there, I had an apartment with central air/AC, so the climate in my place was always fixed at 68-72 degrees, and I never had a problem.
Fast forward a year when I moved back to New Hampshire, and I started having all the same problems people have described. My picture kept turning off with the blinking text on the power button. It took a month of calling CompUSA to finally get someone on the phone to repair this TV. The owner of the TV repair shop told me how awful and buggy these Samsung units were, and if it were him, he would try to sell it and cut his losses. The TV repair man also said the service center CompUSA uses for their extended warranties (they dont service themselves) has a history and reputation for stiffing TV repair men (I think he said the place was called Keeper Stevens, based out of California).
I dont watch a ton of TV, so I doubt it is the lamp, but Im going to force CompUSA to replace the lamp in the TV to see if it continues to act up. Ive read on the internet sometimes this fixes the problem, sometimes it doesnt. I paid $350 for that 3yr protection, so I better get a new bulb out of that deal.
The only conclusion I can come to, is the change in climate/humidity. My new place doesnt have AC in the living room, and during the month of July, which in the north east can be extremely hot and humid, my TV gave me a ton of problems. August has been very cool and mild for us this year, and my TV hasnt been acting up at all. I can watch TV, movies and play video games all day without it shutting off.
Its too bad, because this TV has a ton of great options, its very very light, and the picture is pretty incredible (Halo 2 with the composite wires is a whole new game), but for what I had to go through and the amount of money I spent on this (with taxes and service plan it was around $2500), it is unacceptable. I dont know if I would buy Samsung ever again. I certainately wont ever buy a big-ticket item from CompUSA again. It seems the only way to get quality now-a-days is to wait a year for different revisions to come out so the manufacturer can hash out bugs and problems.
On: 2006-09-01
I bought my TV on 3/11/05 from CompUSA with the 3yr extended warranty in Kansas City. During my time there, I had an apartment with central air/AC, so the climate in my place was always fixed at 68-72 degrees, and I never had a problem.
Fast forward a year when I moved back to New Hampshire, and I started having all the same problems people have described. My picture kept turning off with the blinking text on the power button. It took a month of calling CompUSA to finally get someone on the phone to repair this TV. The owner of the TV repair shop told me how awful and buggy these Samsung units were, and if it were him, he would try to sell it and cut his losses. The TV repair man also said the service center CompUSA uses for their extended warranties (they dont service themselves) has a history and reputation for stiffing TV repair men (I think he said the place was called Keeper Stevens, based out of California).
I dont watch a ton of TV, so I doubt it is the lamp, but Im going to force CompUSA to replace the lamp in the TV to see if it continues to act up. Ive read on the internet sometimes this fixes the problem, sometimes it doesnt. I paid $350 for that 3yr protection, so I better get a new bulb out of that deal.
The only conclusion I can come to, is the change in climate/humidity. My new place doesnt have AC in the living room, and during the month of July, which in the north east can be extremely hot and humid, my TV gave me a ton of problems. August has been very cool and mild for us this year, and my TV hasnt been acting up at all. I can watch TV, movies and play video games all day without it shutting off.
Its too bad, because this TV has a ton of great options, its very very light, and the picture is pretty incredible (Halo 2 with the composite wires is a whole new game), but for what I had to go through and the amount of money I spent on this (with taxes and service plan it was around $2500), it is unacceptable. I dont know if I would buy Samsung ever again. I certainately wont ever buy a big-ticket item from CompUSA again. It seems the only way to get quality now-a-days is to wait a year for different revisions to come out so the manufacturer can hash out bugs and problems.
On: 2006-04-22
I bought this tv in Sept 2004. In Jan 2006 a loud buzzing noise from the back of the tv started to appear and in Feb 2006 the tv went on the fritz.
I purchased an Product Service Plan from Best Buy and called them up. Amazingly, the closest repair center they had was in Jersey. They called me up and told me they would send someone over in 4 days. I took a day off from work but unfortunately, the repair guy only brought a lamp with him which did not correct the problem.
I scheduled another visit. 4 days later 2 guys show up with another lamp and another part. That didnt fix the problem either. I called Best Buy up and they said the repair guys wuold have to take the set in and try to fix it and would give them 3 wees. Of course they couldnt fix it.
After all of this, I sent Samsung an email telling them that I was disappointed in the quality of their products (a DVD player I bought from them the same day i bought the tv also crapped out). Samsung never responded with even a courtesy email. They are too arrogant these days. They seem to be concerned with growth rather than quality.
I will never buy another Samsung product again and will advcocate the same to everyone i know.
On: 2006-04-21
I bought this tv in Sept 2004. In Jan 2006 a loud buzzing noise from the back of the tv started to appear and in Feb 2006 the tv went on the fritz.
I purchased an Product Service Plan from Best Buy and called them up. Amazingly, the closest repair center they had was in Jersey. They called me up and told me they would send someone over in 4 days. I took a day off from work but unfortunately, the repair guy only brought a lamp with him which did not correct the problem.
I scheduled another visit. 4 days later 2 guys show up with another lamp and another part. That didnt fix the problem either. I called Best Buy up and they said the repair guys wuold have to take the set in and try to fix it and would give them 3 wees. Of course they couldnt fix it.
After all of this, I sent Samsung an email telling them that I was disappointed in the quality of their products (a DVD player I bought from them the same day i bought the tv also crapped out). Samsung never responded with even a courtesy email. They are too arrogant these days. They seem to be concerned with growth rather than quality.
I will never buy another Samsung product again and will advcocate the same to everyone i know.
On: 2006-02-19
I purchased this TV new in July 2004. Since then, I have had the TV serviced 4 times. Fortunately, as I was concerned about the complexity of the DLP technology, I purchased an in-home service plan. But it has been a hassle having the service techs come out to the house. The system board has been replaced as well as the lamp. However, the picture just goes dead with the three indicator lights flashing. Occassionaly, you can reset the TV and get the picture back, but eventually it goes completely dead. The same symptoms come back. The service vendor cant correct the problem and both the retailer and Samsung have offered no help. Stay away!
On: 2006-02-18
I purchased this TV new in July 2004. Since then, I have had the TV serviced 4 times. Fortunately, as I was concerned about the complexity of the DLP technology, I purchased an in-home service plan. But it has been a hassle having the service techs come out to the house. The system board has been replaced as well as the lamp. However, the picture just goes dead with the three indicator lights flashing. Occassionaly, you can reset the TV and get the picture back, but eventually it goes completely dead. The same symptoms come back. The service vendor cant correct the problem and both the retailer and Samsung have offered no help. Stay away!
On: 2005-12-06
Samsung does not stand behind their product! God help you if your TV breaks, because Samsung will be of little if any assistance to you. Save yourself the frustration we have experienced with this company and buy from someone else. The customer service line is very difficult to deal with. Samsung does not have the customers best interest in mind and they do not care about customer satisfaction.
We purchased our 46" DLP from Samsung in April 2005. Six months later the fan went out. They replaced the main unit in the TV rather then just replacing the broken fan. This created several new problems with picture quality and for the last 3 months we have not been able to enjoy our TV.
I have repeatedly talked to Samsungs Executive Service Center and they refuse to exchange the TV or give us our money back. Buyer beware, you are at their mercy. The only thing they will do is keep sending replacement parts until your warranty has expired.
Most likely after our warranty is up in a couple of months we will be SOL.
On: 2005-12-05
Samsung does not stand behind their product! God help you if your TV breaks, because Samsung will be of little if any assistance to you. Save yourself the frustration we have experienced with this company and buy from someone else. The customer service line is very difficult to deal with. Samsung does not have the customers best interest in mind and they do not care about customer satisfaction.
We purchased our 46" DLP from Samsung in April 2005. Six months later the fan went out. They replaced the main unit in the TV rather then just replacing the broken fan. This created several new problems with picture quality and for the last 3 months we have not been able to enjoy our TV.
I have repeatedly talked to Samsungs Executive Service Center and they refuse to exchange the TV or give us our money back. Buyer beware, you are at their mercy. The only thing they will do is keep sending replacement parts until your warranty has expired.
Most likely after our warranty is up in a couple of months we will be SOL.
On: 2005-10-03
Ive had TWO samsung DLPs and they both broke. They looked great when they work, but what good is that?! Their outsourced repair service is terrible. Buyer beware, get extended warranty if youre willing to deal with all the repairs. My TV has never gone more than six months without needing repair!
 On: 2005-07-11
The Samsung DLPs look fantastic while they are actually working. I would advise getting a service plan, however. I have had an earlier model for two years, and it has been riddled with problems. Because I bought a service plan, I have not paid for repairs, but the TV has been out of commission for a total of 3 months due to a long waiting period for replacement parts. Problems have included lamp failure, color wheel failure, and fan failure. Frankly, I would not purchase another one of these TVs due to the very poor reliability that I have experienced.
On: 2005-06-23
We got this TV a fews months back. We were impressed with the great picture quality and were excited for our new purchase. TWO days later, after very little use, that great picture was gone and all we had was audio. The lamp went out. We never bothered to get it fixed, we returned it right away! There is nothing like dropping $2,000 on something and having it bust in two days. We opted to spend a little more money on a Sony LCD and we are SO happy with it. Sometimes I still hold my breath when we are turning it on, but we have had NO problems yet. Do your research!
On: 2005-01-21
Struggled with DLP vs. LCD for months. I have visited over 30 sites including Amazon for reviews and let me just say that you often have to wonder if some of these reviews come from employees of the product...
I decided on the Samsung 50" 5063W model after seeing a hi-def Sixers game in the store and a few DVDs/HD programs - next to a Sony Wega 50" the picture looked way better. So I buy an open-box model and got a great deal but when I hooked it up (after waiting for it to get to room temp per the stores suggestion), I heard this grinding noise - like when your hard-drive is ready to flash a blue screen. I turned it off and tried again - same noise. Samsung site said it might be a bad fan - so I call the store. 2 days for a tech to come out? I live 10 miles from the store so I loaded the Sammy in my Trailblazer and took it back - ALWAYS BUY THE SERVICE PLAN - at least for 2 years - so I exchanged the open box a for a new one, new box, the whole 9 - take it home, waited blah blah, grinding AGAIN! Now I am downright steaming - called the store and they said it might be something in the house - "Yeah, the TV", I said...
I told the store manager that I was taking this one back too and getting a Sony LCD - he never even suggested otherwise - he knew there was something up with this model... All of the Sonys near this model all looked bad - but was that done to sell the Samsungs? I tuned my Sony and it blows the Sammy away... Oh and by the way on really bright images - like explosions, the pixels are more noticeable with most DLPs vs. LCD - called the "screen door" effect.
Anyway, I would be very careful with this model because I had 2 that you could not stand to be in the same room with the buzzing. I dont know about the 5074 models or the 5085 but this model appears to be flawed somewhat. I have the Sony 42" LCD and am loving it.
On: 2004-11-11
When we moved into our new house, we wanted a widescreen TV that would be the focal point of our living room. Knowing that widescreen TV signals and HD broadcasting will be the norm in a few years, we wanted to buy one TV that would last us for many years and allow us to be ready for the future. (Plus most video rentals are all widescreen, limited your display to a smaller picture!) With a lot of choices on the market, and none of them cheap, we were finally swayed by this TV for a few reasons.
First off, the picture and internal sound from this TV are phenomenal. When displayed in the store with a HDTV signal, the picture looks like you are standing in front of whatever is onscreen. You havent lived til you see this picture with Dicovery HD Channel or the ESPN college football games broadcast in HD- WOW!!!
The second reason we chose this TV was based on comparisons. We stood in front of a plasma screen display at Circuit City when the store took a power spkie and then an outage. When the power came back on, there was a 4-inch vertical black bar burned into the screen permanently, not an attractive prospect with a $5000 set. Most of the plasma sets we saw had pictures that were lower quality than the Samsung DLP series; those with better or equal picture quality cost twice as much as this TV.
The final reason we chose this TV was its size and weight. We wanted to use our existing entertainment center, and it fit the bill- barely. Bear in mind the vertical height is listed as 32", but it is about a quarter inch taller, which required some adjsutment to our entertainment center. It fills the centers TV opening fully, and looks amazing to watch. Weight wise, it weighs about as much as our old 27" TV did, so we are thrilled to have this new, bigger TV.
You have many choices for display options. Using the remote, you can switch the screen from normal 4:3 TV mode, to widescreen, to panorama, zoon, stretch and more. There are even settings you can select if the TV faces the sun, and one that is best for gaming systems. The remote is easy to use, and took my less-electronically oriented wife less time to master than the VCR programming.
On the technical side, there are two component inputs (we have the DirectTV and DVD player hooked up in those jacks for the best input possible), and numerous S-cable and traditional component (red, white, yellow) input jacks. You can have a DVD player, satellite receiver, game system, and VCR all going into this TV with no problem, and can route your sound out to your home stereo system.
The internal sound speakers are more than capable with sharp sound, but did provide the ony problem we have experienced when they couldnt deliver sound properly. The warranty coverage fixed the problem very quickly, and again, we had a Bose home stereo to listen to as a backup speaker source. But that is the only problem we have found, and we watch this TV a lot.
With an easy setup, easily understood onscreen menu and instruction manual, you would be hard pressed to have anything but glowing comments for this TV. With a crystal clear picture, and with a price tag that is much lower than competitve plasma sets, we feel we got a bargain for our home theater systems most important piece.
On: 2004-11-10
When we moved into our new house, we wanted a widescreen TV that would be the focal point of our living room. Knowing that widescreen TV signals and HD broadcasting will be the norm in a few years, we wanted to buy one TV that would last us for many years and allow us to be ready for the future. (Plus most video rentals are all widescreen, limited your display to a smaller picture!) With a lot of choices on the market, and none of them cheap, we were finally swayed by this TV for a few reasons.
First off, the picture and internal sound from this TV are phenomenal. When displayed in the store with a HDTV signal, the picture looks like you are standing in front of whatever is onscreen. You havent lived til you see this picture with Dicovery HD Channel or the ESPN college football games broadcast in HD- WOW!!!
The second reason we chose this TV was based on comparisons. We stood in front of a plasma screen display at Circuit City when the store took a power spkie and then an outage. When the power came back on, there was a 4-inch vertical black bar burned into the screen permanently, not an attractive prospect with a $5000 set. Most of the plasma sets we saw had pictures that were lower quality than the Samsung DLP series; those with better or equal picture quality cost twice as much as this TV.
The final reason we chose this TV was its size and weight. We wanted to use our existing entertainment center, and it fit the bill- barely. Bear in mind the vertical height is listed as 32", but it is about a quarter inch taller, which required some adjsutment to our entertainment center. It fills the centers TV opening fully, and looks amazing to watch. Weight wise, it weighs about as much as our old 27" TV did, so we are thrilled to have this new, bigger TV.
You have many choices for display options. Using the remote, you can switch the screen from normal 4:3 TV mode, to widescreen, to panorama, zoon, stretch and more. There are even settings you can select if the TV faces the sun, and one that is best for gaming systems. The remote is easy to use, and took my less-electronically oriented wife less time to master than the VCR programming.
On the technical side, there are two component inputs (we have the DirectTV and DVD player hooked up in those jacks for the best input possible), and numerous S-cable and traditional component (red, white, yellow) input jacks. You can have a DVD player, satellite receiver, game system, and VCR all going into this TV with no problem, and can route your sound out to your home stereo system.
The internal sound speakers are more than capable with sharp sound, but did provide the ony problem we have experienced when they couldnt deliver sound properly. The warranty coverage fixed the problem very quickly, and again, we had a Bose home stereo to listen to as a backup speaker source. But that is the only problem we have found, and we watch this TV a lot.
With an easy setup, easily understood onscreen menu and instruction manual, you would be hard pressed to have anything but glowing comments for this TV. With a crystal clear picture, and with a price tag that is much lower than competitve plasma sets, we feel we got a bargain for our home theater systems most important piece.
On: 2004-10-14
First time around I bought the 43", which after about 2 weeks of light use, wouldnt fire up and had the power failure symptoms described in the other reviews. Instead of trying to fix it, Ultimate Electronics decided to replace it for me. Since they couldnt find a 43", I decided to take a chance and upgrade to the 46" for a few hunde more. Now, four weeks into my new set, the same thing is happening! The lamp light keeps blinking and it tries and tries to power up, and then gives up after awhile. Im going to try the Monster Strip, but Im skeptical since I was using the same Monster Strip on the 43".
Bottom line is if they let me exchange this piece for something else, Ill probably go ahead and trade it out. I love the light weight and the picture (although my wife complains about a bad picture at different viewing angles), but for $3,000, you shouldnt have to go through this b.s. The 43" failed me during the NBA finals, now this one is out for the MLB playoffs. Ridiculous! For that much cash, you shouldnt ever have to worry about calling a tech, but unfortunately this tv is full of bugs.
On: 2004-09-18
I wanted to add to the above review. I just purchased this tv and have 3 other friends with either this one or the 50". All have had this problem of the TV cycling on/off. The problem turned out to be power filtering. Make sure you use a power strip with power filtering. The $80 Monster Cable strip has a filter on it. There are cheaper ones. This has cured the problem for all three of my buddies.
So far I am very happy with the TV. Excellent brightness and very true color. I have noticed an occasional mismatch of the sound to the picture. The mouth keeps moving after the words have been said. I turned off the DNR and DNLe but made no difference then I turned off LNA (Low Noise Amplifier) and havent noticed it since. Anyone seen this?
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2 Weeks after purchase
Well my TV did the on/off cycle thing once so far. Note that I am not using the $80 power strip but the $30 strip. So I would suggest adding $80 to the price and get the power filter for sure. I am getting buged by the auido/picture sync. I am finding a couple of others seeing the same problem. It comes and goes and is normally associated with a "live" broadcast. For example in the bid debate tonight it was very evident on all broadcasts in HD or not. It does not matter what combo of settings you try or if you use an analog or digital cable.
On: 2004-08-12
This reviews pretty much applies to all the DLP level TVs from Samsung. I researched for around more than couple of months before finally buying this one.
Samsung initially started with HLM/HLN series DLP models which were using HD2 chip from Texas Instruments and the contrast ratio was 1000:1. This performed very well in reviews, quality and black level as compared to Sony LCD rear projection.
The next series is the latest on which is HLP xx63 series where xx is the size in diagonal (HLP 4663, HLP 5063). The improvements in this are 7 segment color wheel instead of 6-segment, which gives better color. This also uses 3rd generation chip HD3 which has contrast ratio of 1500:1. The bulb are also better in this one since there were some problems in the earlier version of the TV. This is a great TV, light weight as compared to some other and plasmas.
The next series which is out only in 2 models is HLP 5085 and HLP5685. These are also 7-segment color wheel but they have HD2+ chip. This is 4th generation chip and is better than HD3. Its contrast ratio is 2500:1 which should mean better black levels. These are the ones with pedestal which looks cool in the picture but is kinda bulky looking in the store. Im not sure why this model is not out in 46 inches, may be it doesnt make difference in smaller sizes.
Next, 5th generation chip is going to be xHD3 and should give around 4500:1 contrast ratio.
Overall, DLPs are better since they have better contrast than plasmas and weigh less. They also dont have a burn-in issue like plasmas. HLP series is the best one till now and Samsung is the oldest player in this.
Other manufacturers are also catching up, so this should drive the price down further. good for consumers.
Hope this helps and good luck shopping.
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Some more feedback on the picture and input modes after two weeks into the purchase:
The contrast ratio of this HLP series is really good provided you are watching the TV at the same height. If you watch from slightly above/below or left/right, then youll see it slightly less bright. Just like a laptop screen behaves, maye slightly better.
It has following picture modes:
- 4:3 standard definition (SD) cable programming. puts black bars on the side of the picture if you watch it in this mode.
- wide mode (16:9). if you watch SD tv on this mode, itll stretch the picture
- panorama mode. stretches only the outside portion of the picture making center of the picture in the correct proporting (aspect ratio) but the sides bit distorted
- zoom1/zoom2: they just soom in from the center with different stretching methods.
Component inputs (in SD and HD) aspect ratios only have normal and wide options. Normal being a little pinched, while wide is normal.
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Some more feedback after 5 weeks of purchase.
I started seeing some problems with the lamp. The manual says that when the bulb/lamp needs replacement, all the three lights on the front switch will start blinking. Atleast couple of times a day, the following was happening:
- when I switch on the TV, the lamp will try to bring the picture while the audio was there
- after couple of seconds tv will go to standby mode
- itll turn on again after couple of seconds and try to bring up the picture
- and go again the loop to standby mode
something this happens 3-4 times and the pictures comes and sometime it just gives up and the tv turns off.
Im glad that I bought the warranty after couple of weeks from Circuit city itself, otherwise lamps are not covered in one year Sammy warranty.
... to be continued ...
updated on 12/19:
The TV has been working great ever since, no complains what so ever. Ive also tried playing DVD and asf format movies on the laptop connected to the TV thru 25pin monitor cable and stereo audio cables, and it all works fine.
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