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Rating:  -
This TV is spectacular. When you are in the market for a 42 inch tv, you won't be dissapointed. This tv has vivid colors, great screen quality and excellent dimensions for a cozy space. The price is pretty good, most local dept stores will knock off a few hundred dollars off of the list price. Can't go wrong with that. Now just keep in mind, like most DLP tv's, this still does kind of pixelate during fast action scenes, but since they are so small in detail, you won't notice it as often in other tv's.
Rating:  -
Plasma technology is still the best in terms of brightness, contrast and physical dimensions. You can hang it on a wall and cramp it in tighter spaces.
The other option would be an LCD screen, but the picture quality (artifacts) and price factor would make it an odd decision to go for when you could shell out a little more for a Plasma display. Also beware there are two types of LCD screens - LCD and LCD projection. LCD is the same as the computer monitors. Although it has greatly improved since it's introduction, it's still slow and expensive. LCD projection I would shy away from at the moment because it doesn't compare to DLP. Although Sony came out with a so-called "3LCD" technology to rival the high-end DLP 3-chip systems. Know that DLP was first for the 3-chip technology (for their high-end applications like major movie houses), it's not who's first as time will tell how each fare.
Yet a good rival that has been hitting the market is LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon). JVC has renamed this HD-ILA and Sony came out with their own name branding - but they are all LCoS technology. Prices have yet to come down and is said to have none of the "cons" of LCD and DLP projection TV by exhibiting good blacks, great speed in drawing the picture and no rainbow effect. Until prices drop to competitive levels with the rest of the other products, this won't be on my list until next year.
The next best option behind Plasma, IMO, is DLP by Texas Instruments. It gives the best blacks and color rendition among it's class of projection televisions.
How good is DLP? It was the first and no-brainer choice for commercial theaters that project digital movies (i.e. the first digital screening of Star Wars prequels). These are front-projection units that need a reasonably dark room to refrain from washing out the colors it projects to the screen. For personal viewing in bedrooms and living rooms, you need a rear-projection DLP. This encases the whole unit like a regular projection television, and is more kind to ambient light.
A. The downside to DLP rear-projection monitors is:
The amount of moving parts it entails to create the picture -
1. A digital micromirror device (DMD) to reflect light in 1,024 different shades of gray. Because these tiny mirrors each move independently, there is a risk of failure.
2. A color wheel that spins in thousands of revolutions per minute to help create the color. The wheel bearing will eventually wear out and will need to be replaced by a technician over time. Furthermore, the noise created as it spins to speed is evident when you power up the monitor. Although any minimal audio volume will drown this sound out.
3. The lamp (light bulb) that projects the image onto the screen, just like any other light bulb, has a usable life. Each manufacturer states how long their bulbs will last before it needs to be replaced. A typical life span for 4 hours of viewing each day will last around 4 years. The good news: it only takes to replace the bulb in order to bring the picture quality back to like new just as when you bought the TV. This is versus Plasma and LCD which lose their brightness over time (LCD rear projection also takes replacing the bulb).
4. The amount of heat created by the lamp is enormous that you can't box the unit in a cabinet nor stick it's back side too near to the wall unless you want to increase wear on the monitor or create a melt-down.
B. The upside is the picture quality you get. In fact the price you would have paid to get this kind of quality and usability over time is unfathomable you would be glad you didn't have to pay for Plasma (of course if you can afford a Plasma or need to hang it on a wall, then this is your only option). Just replace the bulb and you're good to go for another 4 years or so. You can't do that with a Plasma and re-charge the gasses. Unlike Plasma, it's brightness virtually stays constant throughout the usable life of the lamp. Samsung will warn the user when it is nearing the end.
C. Physical dimensions enable you to lift the monitor alone. Try doing that to a CRT. Samsung's "floating screen" design enables the picture to give a good impression that the picture is on it's own space. However, the silver accent below the screen (although very elegant) does not fully take the effect into what they are marketing it to be as any light falling on the silver accent reveals the screen is not floating.
With all being said, four stars for this monitor because Samsung gives us a lame manual that leaves the technical savvy people out of the loop and questioning for more information - despite the TV having one of the best picture quality and Samsung technology loaded into the monitor (enhanced picture processing and the abillity to fine tune the colors based on ambient light surrounding).
Four stars because despite all the technology loaded, they give us one HDMI in socket that doubles as the old DVI socket care of your own ability to buy an HDMI to DVI cable. No FireWire audio input/output unlike other manufacturers. And only one digital audio output courtesty of an optical Toslink connection.
The good part is Samsung's strict policy for defective mirror devices, strict manufacturing tolerance and elegant design which helps you trust buying their products more than other manufacturers.
A word of caution to shoppers and owners of DLP and other technology that enable true high definition output: the reason for most bad reviews is their disappointment when watching with various low quality sources. They are mislead into thinking their picture quality will improve with these kinds of monitors. On the contrary a monitor of this caliber will show even more imperfections and reveal the low quality output that is being fed into it - garbage in, garbage out. Subscribing to digital cable/satellite isn't enough. You have to subscribe to HDTV and be viewing HDTV sources in order to see it's full potential. MTV isn't HDTV. Know which channels air in high definition. Discovery Channel HD (not simply Discovery Channel) is the perfect viewing sample.
You want to maximize the input of sources by using HDMI/DVI cables. Don't use RCA or S-video jacks for this monitor. The least video cable you should use is component cable. Even that I wouldn't recommend because that would mean transmitting analog video signal from source (cable box, DVD player) to TV. Keep the signal pure and clean as possible by keeping it digital until the last minute.
Lastly, this monitor's standard output is 720p (progressive) output. Other lower or higher sources fed into the unit will make it convert to 720p. This is helpful info into putting less strain or digital conversion and artifacting to the monitor - feed it 720p signal already so all the monitor has to do is output directly rather than do further processing.
If you want the latest technology, this "old" technology isn't for you as there are already a handful of 1080p monitors in the market including monitors made by Samsung. If you're on a budget and want a bang for your buck, you won't make a mistake with this purchase and handing it down the line when you're ready to make a step up into the future (for the same price you purchased this unit).
Rating: -
I Looked at more HDTV's than I would like to remember......for two years. I researched Plasma, LCD, LCD projection, good old CRT and DLP. Although I still think Plasma has a slightly better picture when viewing standard TV, it's a dead heat while viweing HDTV or high quality DVD. Givin the value of the Samsung 42" DLP, unless you want to hang one on the wall this is a great choice! This TV has some great features to customize the picture and it is easy to set up. It has great sound when you are not playing it through your home cinema system as well.
OK, here is my 15-month update: WOW! This unit continues to impress me. I am picking up free HDTV with a TURK antenna on my dish. Sporting events on FOX are like they are in your room. DVD's look great with progressive scan. My TV is on 14 hours a day and no problems to date. On top of it all for the money it's a no brainier. Buy it!
Rating: -
Besides being a good television receiver, I was also interested in using it as a computer display.
In particular, I wanted the quality of a digital (DVI) interface and good resolution, and I got both. I get a respectable 1280x720 resolution. But, to set it up, you need (1) HDMI to DVI adapter - $75, (2) DVI-DVI cable - $75, (3) dual monitor graphics card (Radeon 7000 - $50). Once cabled, the tricky part is configuring the DVI display, since you have to 'list all modes' and then choose 1280x720 resolution (Samsung's DVI interface doesn't provide this as a supported mode, but it really is)
Rating:  -
This was our first venture into the big-screen market, and we didn't know much about the different technologies. We were pleased with the look and feel of this TV, but the picture did not live up to expectations.
We are on satellite but do not have an HDTV tuner yet. The channels looked grainy and had weird pixel movement in the dark areas. We were able to get the color and contrast just about perfect with some minor adjustments, and the sound was great. We realize that DVDs probably look much better, but on a day to day basis we don't watch DVDs, we watch regular TV.
The picture looked awesome from across the room, but when sitting on the couch about 6-7 feet from the screen, it really didn't look that great. We explored a few more options in the stores and finally opted to return this TV for a slightly better price on a plasma.
Bottom line is, the TV is probably fine if you have the right setup, but for us it just wasn't the best choice.
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