Samsung HL-T6187S 61 New Slim Depth LED Engine Widescreen DLP HDTV - 1080p - 10,000:1 Contrast Ratio

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much different?", "You could use the money for something else you know"...blah blah blah. I thought I had a new long term relationship I didn't know about. When the TV was hooked up, and the lights dimmed down, is when the magic began. Turning the TV on about blew my eyes out of my sockets. It just happened to be on MHD (Cox Cables HD music channel) with a white background (their commercials look amazing). Everyone in the living room couldn't see anything (in a good way...I think... heh). Then I switched it over to ESPNHD. What I got to see was the repeat of Barry Bond's record breaking homerun trot around the bases over and over in 1080i. My mouth dropped. And then my one roommate said "Wow...no friggin wonder you bought a new TV". I stayed up with my TV for about 48 hours. Playing games... watching HD movies... watching just regular HD TV. It was great.

As for gaming.

I have a 360 elite, PS3, and a Wii all hooked up via HDMI except for the Wii which can only be hooked up to component and can only broadcast in 720p. Let me tell you something...there just ain't any turning back from this TV once you've seen it. Sure you can go forward...but no turning back. Games I've played for the PS3 would be Ratchet and Clank, and Drakes Fortune, and Motorstorm. All look incredible. We had the PS3 hooked up to the Toshiba at first because we ran out of HDMI spots on the TV, then we swapped it over to the Samsung and BOOM...a MUCH MUCH better picture. So crisp... so clear. So vibrant. The 360 games are also amazing. I stick to the 360 more because of usually better PQ and frame rates (99% of the time at least). Assassin's Creed, D.I.R.T., NCAA, Fight Night, Call of Duty 4, Rainbow 6 Vegas....*sigh*... all look amazing. Sometimes you just have to see it to believe it. The Wii, even though it can only go up to 720p, still looks nice. Such as Zelda and Mario Galaxy and even the dated Resident Evil 4. Nothing spectacular, but still nice.

As for movies.

My HD-DVD's and Blu-Ray's look phenomenal...depending on if the transfer was done right. Most of the time it's your transfer on your disc or either your player that is making the movie look like crap. But movies such as Bourne (whichever), Transformers, Matrix (whichever), and Batman look superb on HD-DVD. Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End and Sunshine (god the Sun has never looked more beautiful) look amazing in Blu-Ray. When Capt Jack Sparrow was sniffing for the peanut at the beginning of the movie on the boat in the deserted desert, you could see every black pore on his nose.
Even regular movies look great up-converted in my HD-DVD player (Toshiba's HD-XA2).

As for HD-TV:

Well since I started watching HD channels, I can not seem to bring myself to watch any SD channels (well almost any). So I would have to miss certain TV at the time. Thankfully Cox Cable is getting more channels every month in HD and now I can almost watch everything I want to. I hate seeing a fuzzy picture that's also not widescreen. It's just so ugly to see. Most of the HD channels look amazing... such as Discovery, ESPN, MusicHD, and many others. Even though the channels are broadcasting in 1080i, it's still a great picture. Most people cant even tell a difference between 1080i and p anyways.

As for Sports in HD:

There really are no words to explain this. If you haven't seen sports in HD, then you are sadly missing out on one of the best inventions ever. I barely even go to the bar anymore because they don't have HD. I'll only go if my team isn't being broadcast on cable.




Only a couple things I found that I don't like in over a year.

1. This is probably the worst and I am almost sure it's the TV's DLP technology that does it. Sometimes on certain movies or TV shows, it seems like the way the movie or show was filmed causes a blurring effect or either like a washed out effect on the TV. Two examples I can think of is one movie named Dog Soldiers and one TV show called Journeyman (the main actor is both actually). I've SOMETIMES seen it on Heroes, but not nearly as bad as Journeyman. I don't think it's the rainbow effect that I've heard about DLP's (especially since the LED engine was supposed to prevent that in most people). One of my friends doesn't notice it until I point it out. Then it becomes annoying almost. Like I said though... this barely happens. I've never seen it on a videogame. Never on an HD or Blu movie. Rarely on a DVD. And sometimes on TV... and it's usually the same shows which makes me believe its how it was filmed (the film... frame rate... lighting... coloring... something is doing it and I don't know what) I watch a lot of movies just so you know.

2. A shimmer effect occurs when lines become to close together. Imagine an umpire who has much thinner black and white lines and many more of them on his uniform. There would be a slight shimmer effect that occurs because when up close to the TV, you can tell the lines are slightly curvy, like the letter `S', so it shimmers like the light bouncing off a snakes skin. It doesn't bother me that bad, but I notice it.

3. More HDMI ports would've been nice. That's for sure

4. I'm not a fan of that bright white light that comes on when the TV is on. Sure it looks `fancy' and `hi-tech' I guess...but it annoys me. Plus when the TV is all black on the screen, you can sometimes notice the white light on the screen. Irritates me more than anything.


Other than that, I don't have many gripes for over the year I've had it. I got the TV for about 2100 bucks from Amazon, and I love it. If you're upgrading your TV, then you will not be upset about purchasing this sweet work of art. Definitely go for it.

Samsung HL-T6187S 61 New Slim Depth LED Engine Widescreen DLP HDTV - 1080p - 10,000:1 Contrast Ratio

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clear picture that the Sammy can. It looks as good as it did in the store. If you are right up on the screen, however you will see distortions and blurry edges, but come on, who sits 1 foot from a television anyway? Viewing from the side on this TV is not a problem either. In fact I think it looks just as good as viewing straight on. With my old Sony viewing from the side made the screen kind of hard to see.
My XBOX 360 games now come in full screen. (I really don't know how I played with the black bars previously). Another issue I had with my old TV playing the XBOX 360 games is that the text was VERY difficult to read, if not impossible. However this is not true with the Sammy. Text is as clear and easy to read as it is on a piece of paper. My widescreen DVD movies also look great on this TV as well, but I still do have the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. This is normal however since my movies are in 16:9 aspect ratio. Also, the black bars are not as nearly as big as they were on my full screen so it's easy to ignore.

The weakest thing about the TV is the sound. While its not in any means bad, it's just not going to blow you away. But really most people, including myself who purchase these type of TV's will more than likely already have an outside sound source (A/V receiver). So to me the sound isn't that much of an issue. If I am watching regular TV, then the TV sound usually suits me fine, however if I am playing games or watching movies, I just listen to them through my receiver instead.

Features

This TV seems to have a multitude of features and I really haven't had the time to really play around with it much. Some notable are a PC connection that allows you to use your TV as a 61" computer monitor. A WiseLink connector, which is just a USB slot that allows you to play music and view pictures from USB thumb drives. There is also a feature that will allow you to watch 3D content on your TV, but I really haven't looked into that in more detail. Other than these there is the standard stuff, (V-chip, close caption, picture settings, etc). One thing I haven't been able to do is watch two channels at the same time via split screen, which is one thing my old Sony could do. It's a slight disappointment, but definitely not a deal breaker. One feature I love is the that all of the connection are on the SIDE of the TV instead in the back, this makes very simple to add and remove components without having to go behind the TV every time.

Appearance

Overall the TV looks excellent. It's sleek and not overall conspicuous. Even though I think it very hard not to notice a 5 foot TV in the room, it just seem to fit in my room perfectly and nothing about it clashes with the surroundings. It also blends in nicely with my existing entertainment system and the new TV stand I bought. The TV itself is surprisingly light, not even 80 pounds. I had no problem getting the box off the moving truck and getting it into the house by myself. I did however need a little help in actually getting it on the stand, because the weight is un-proportional once it's out of the box. However my wife was able to help me to lift it up and put it on the stand while still in the Styrofoam. And she would be able to lift it while I cut the Styrofoam away. My wife is not very strong, so if she was able to lift her end by herself then you should have no problems actually getting out of the box and onto a stand.

In summary I am not regretting this purchase. It is a nice addition to my setup and I am glad I choose the Sammy. The day before I purchased this Sammy I actually had changed my mind and was all set to get the 60" Sony Bravia instead. The only reason I didn't was because it was out of stock. This is a good thing because even though this TV is little more than the Sony. I think feature wise, the Sammy just offers much more than the overpriced Sony. This TV is highly recommended and in my opinion the best in this price range.

Samsung HL-T6187S 61 New Slim Depth LED Engine Widescreen DLP HDTV - 1080p - 10,000:1 Contrast Ratio

...

clear picture that the Sammy can. It looks as good as it did in the store. If you are right up on the screen, however you will see distortions and blurry edges, but come on, who sits 1 foot from a television anyway? Viewing from the side on this TV is not a problem either. In fact I think it looks just as good as viewing straight on. With my old Sony viewing from the side made the screen kind of hard to see.

My XBOX 360 games now come in full screen. (I really don't know how I played with the black bars previously). Another issue I had with my old TV playing the XBOX 360 games is that the text was VERY difficult to read, if not impossible. However this is not true with the Sammy. Text is as clear and easy to read as it is on a piece of paper. My widescreen DVD movies also look great on this TV as well, but I still do have the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. This is normal however since my movies are in 16:9 aspect ratio. Also, the black bars are not as nearly as big as they were on my full screen so it's easy to ignore.



The weakest thing about the TV is the sound. While its not in any means bad, it's just not going to blow you away. But really most people, including myself who purchase these type of TV's will more than likely already have an outside sound source (A/V receiver). So to me the sound isn't that much of an issue. If I am watching regular TV, then the TV sound usually suits me fine, however if I am playing games or watching movies, I just listen to them through my receiver instead.



Features



This TV seems to have a multitude of features and I really haven't had the time to really play around with it much. Some notable are a PC connection that allows you to use your TV as a 61" computer monitor. A WiseLink connector, which is just a USB slot that allows you to play music and view pictures from USB thumb drives. There is also a feature that will allow you to watch 3D content on your TV, but I really haven't looked into that in more detail. Other than these there is the standard stuff, (V-chip, close caption, picture settings, etc). One thing I haven't been able to do is watch two channels at the same time via split screen, which is one thing my old Sony could do. It's a slight disappointment, but definitely not a deal breaker. One feature I love is the that all of the connection are on the SIDE of the TV instead in the back, this makes very simple to add and remove components without having to go behind the TV every time.



Appearance



Overall the TV looks excellent. It's sleek and not overall conspicuous. Even though I think it very hard not to notice a 5 foot TV in the room, it just seem to fit in my room perfectly and nothing about it clashes with the surroundings. It also blends in nicely with my existing entertainment system and the new TV stand I bought. The TV itself is surprisingly light, not even 80 pounds. I had no problem getting the box off the moving truck and getting it into the house by myself. I did however need a little help in actually getting it on the stand, because the weight is un-proportional once it's out of the box. However my wife was able to help me to lift it up and put it on the stand while still in the Styrofoam. And she would be able to lift it while I cut the Styrofoam away. My wife is not very strong, so if she was able to lift her end by herself then you should have no problems actually getting out of the box and onto a stand.



In summary I am not regretting this purchase. It is a nice addition to my setup and I am glad I choose the Sammy. The day before I purchased this Sammy I actually had changed my mind and was all set to get the 60" Sony Bravia instead. The only reason I didn't was because it was out of stock. This is a good thing because even though this TV is little more than the Sony. I think feature wise, the Sammy just offers much more than the overpriced Sony. This TV is highly recommended and in my opinion the best in this price range.