Blown away by Samsung 1080P HDTV and BluRay

[asawadude]

Had some time to kill before dinner last evening, so the wife and I stopped by the local Circuit City last night. It was the first time I saw the new 1080p HDTV's. They had a Samsung HL-S5687W (55" DLP 1080p $2895) on display, set next to a variety of HD plasmas and LCDs and various front projectors.

The resolution, clarity, and colors of the Samsung 1080p as fed by a new BlueRay player was absolutely astounding. It made all of the televisions look absolutely pathetic, it was seriously that good. I've been considering buying a 50" plasma considering the huge price drops over the past year, but this 1080p front projector just put everything else to shame.

I was so amazed by the Samsung, I forgot to get the details of the BluRay player. I would guess the BluRay is a necessary component to go along with a 1080p HD display, as I believe as broadcast signals max out at 1080i. A 1080p source is needed, so for now, it's BluRay only.

Now I have to start the research process all over again in my search for the right HDTV for the sala. I have a couple of HDTV's scattered around the house, but they suddenly have turned into ordinary TV's after what I saw what just came out the Samsung camp.

If there is anyone else looking at HDTV's, let's compare notes.

[JonK]

I will never get any HD TV Set below 1080p. Samsung has the best priced DLP Sets so far. I have to tell you that the user interface is really bad it totally undermines everything else. The universal remote control that comes with won't even recognize its own DVR combo. But still I might snag another SAMSUNG 1080p DLP Set for my bedroom since I like to hook it up to PC. It is pretty cheap.
As far as Blue Ray concerned, I will wait out at least 8 month for the the price to drop and make sure they will prevail in the format war even I am sure they will due to technical merits.
I worked in (Data) Storage Industry as an engineer and Samsung was one of my offshore clients. They still have a long way to go but I'll pick Samsung over Sony anytime.

[rayxi]

No rush to buy a HD player unless you want to watch the same 2 or 3 movies over and over again.

[asawadude]

Originally Posted by JonK

I will never get any HD TV Set below 1080p. Samsung has the best priced DLP Sets so far. I have to tell you that the user interface is really bad it totally undermines everything else. The universal remote control that comes with won't even recognize its own DVR combo. But still I might snag another SAMSUNG 1080p DLP Set for my bedroom since I like to hook it up to PC. It is pretty cheap.
As far as Blue Ray concerned, I will wait out at least 8 month for the the price to drop and make sure they will prevail in the format war even I am sure they will due to technical merits.
I worked in (Data) Storage Industry as an engineer and Samsung was one of my offshore clients. They still have a long way to go but I'll pick Samsung over Sony anytime.

I didn't check out the UI. My wife and I just sat there in the theater seats that CC had set up in front of the Samsung DLP set and watched the Samsung demo BluRay DVD. I was too awestruck by the picture quality to think about the controls. But I would agree, the UI on the old Samsung DLP models was very poor compared to other brands.

Are you still working in the data storage industry, Jon? My bro-in-law is low level programmer for Phoenix - he's a BIOS writer.

Originally Posted by rayxi

No rush to buy a HD player unless you want to watch the same 2 or 3 movies over and over again.

Not in any rush here. I already have a couple of small HDTV widescreens. No bigscreen in the house until we redo the kitchen and bathrooms. TV's are big dust magnets.

[Aimster]

I have a 61" Samsung. Maybe its a 63"? I know it's 60 something.

Anyways I've had it for more than a year now. Love it. The only problem is the bulb doesn't last that long. Had to replace it twice, but it was covered under the warranty I got from best buy.

[SuperGreg]

Originally Posted by rayxi

No rush to buy a HD player unless you want to watch the same 2 or 3 movies over and over again.

[gotcho]

Hold up on the HD player. I am going to wait at least a year. I want to wait until the format war is decided (BlueRay vs. HD_DVD) and there is enough content.

[dr.jay]

I got a Sony SXRD 50'' awesome picture quality, I cant wait until college football starts!!!

[Eric5273]

The only problem I find with going to such a high resolution is watching non-HD channels. Since they are in such a lower resolution, the picture gets stretched and the picture looks somewhat fuzzy and pixelated. I have a Phillips 37" HD LCD and while it's not 1080P, it still suffers from this. I cannot even imagine how bad it would be on a 1080P set. I would make sure you watch a non-HD channel on it prior to making a purchase. The in-store demonstration is always very hi-res so it looks awsome, but most of what you will watch will most likely be lower, and will not look as good in such a high resolution screen.

[PersonaNonGrata]

The dominant format could be influenced by, ahem, the adult entertainment industry.

Blu-Ray vs. DVD-HD