Samsung HL-S6187W 61-Inch 1080p DLP HDTV

Review by C. Loftis for Samsung HL-S6187W 61-Inch 1080p DLP HDTV
Rating:
I researched HDTVs very carefully, my final buying choices were this one and a Sony XBR. Boy am I glad I bought the Samsung. This TV is AWESOME!! I never want to cut it off. A big plus for this set is the 2 HDMI inputs. I used one for a DirecTV HD receiver and the other for a Panasonic S97 upconversion DVD player. The picure is truly just outstanding, straight out of the box. I tweaked around with the colors a little, took a little red out but for the most part left the default settings alone. I have had the set now for three weeks and I have no complaints at all. It has plenty of inputs for all your video gear and you are able to label each input on the screen. The manual is well written and easy to understand. Besides the HDMI inputs, it has a WISELINK feature which allows you to hook up a USB jumpdrive and display jpeg photos with amazing clarity. It will play mp3 files too. It has a game mode to enhance video game play and you can hook your computer up to it and use it as a monitor. This set does everything, and does it all very well.

The speakers are hidden in the cabinet, which gives it a very cool design. There is some sacrifice of sound quality, but it still sounds very, very good.

I think Samsung has come up with a wonderful set, and balanced features very well with price and performance. I own the 61” model, they make the same set in smaller sizes too.

Review by Carlos Engler for Samsung HL-S6187W 61-Inch 1080p DLP HDTV
Rating:
I bought this TV for my home theater, essentially for watching movies from DVDs. I also bought an upconverting DVD player and I am very satisfied with the quality of the image.

This TV is capable of receiving off-air digital television (DTV), both for standard and hig definition TV. The HDTV reception is very good. Be sure you use the best possible connection from your video sources to this TV for the best possible picture.

The only thing that bothers me (so far…) is the fact that whenever you try to reprogram the channels (if you adjust the antenna, for example), the previously programmed channels are deleted and replaced.

Overall, I am very happy with my purchase, but I think that the prices of DLP TVs should come downs pretty soon.

Review by Wayne for Samsung HL-S6187W 61-Inch 1080p DLP HDTV
Rating:
I spent several months researching the current TV’s, plasma, LCD, rear projection (LCOS, DLP, LCD), and even a front projector. And of course, checking out each brand from each type of TV, both online, and in stores. Basically, just trying to find the best price vs. performance and something that would suite my needs.

I needed a BIG screen, over 50″, so this ruled out LCD and Plasma since they are WAY too expensive above that size. Then I also needed something looked great for playing HD games (Xbox), watching HD movies (HD-DVD), and HD TV (Cable HD DVR). Which really means an awesome 1080p TV. After looking around at various stores, it became clear the Samsung and Sony models were going to be the best bet for rear projection under $3k.

Ultimately, the Samsung did win hands down. Thanks to low price on amazon, and a picture that was just as good, if not better than the Sony in some cases! It has an excellent 10,000:1 contrast ratio for very bright white’s and perfect black levels. There is also no ghosting at all, and the rainbow effect (which I have seen on previous DLP’s) is virtually non-existent. Which makes this set perfect for gaming. Also no audio sync issues as with some of the older Samsung models.

In the past month of owning this TV, I’ve only seen the rainbox effect twice, and it was in a B&W movie. None of the serveral other people that have watched this TV have noticed it at all. They just comment on how awesome everything in HD looks on the TV – it’s quite perfect really. Out of the box, the picture is almost perfect. I just had to slightly lower the contrast, and it’s good to go. And thanks to easy to navigate menu’s, this is very easily done. While they are a bit sluggish (takes 1-2 seconds to appear), they have plenty of options.

When it comes to Inputs, it does appear to be lacking on the HDMI side. While 2 inputs is standard for most models, I could really use at least 3 or 4. 2 is OK for your DVD Player and DVR, but with computers and game console also starting to use HDMI, you can quickly run out of ports. Luckily, a cheap HDMI switch can solve that issue.

There is also a PC (VGA) input on the TV that is *suppose* to accept a 1920×1080 resolution at 60hz, per the users guide. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to get it to work with a computer at that resolution yet (tried 3). It’ll take 720p, all the way up to 1920×1200, but since that’s not a native resolution, there is some cropping. This really is a minor issue , since that high of a resolution from a PC via VGA port won’t be all that clear anyways. You’d really need HDMI to truly appreciate 1080p. And there are now true HDCP compliant HDMI video cards out now. The xbox will output to this TV at 1920×1080 via the VGA port, but there is a 1-3″ border, and the screen is tilted.

Figures though, even though its got the VGA port, it’s still a TV, not a PC Monitor. 🙂 The TV won’t send information to the source indicating what the correct resolution, refresh rate, and other settings it needs – as a PC monitor would. Future xbox updates may help address some output issues as well. For now, I’m waiting for MS to release HDMI output.

And to wrap up this long review, here is a list of Pro’s and Con’s.

Pros:

* High Contrast Ratio

* Fast color wheel to eliminate rainbows

* No Ghosting at all

* Perfect for gaming (no audio/video sync issues)

* Good viewing angles (for rear projection)

* Nice variety of inputs

* Only about 17″ Deep for the 61″ model

* Weighs only 80lbs!!

* Easy setup out of the box

* Relatively inexpensive

* With it’s thin black border and silver control panel, it physically looks GREAT.

Cons:

* VGA input has some limitations

* Needs more HDMI inputs

* Plastic bezel feels somewhat cheap

And that’s about it for this TV. Any other “cons” such as limited viewing angles and wobulation (google it) are going to affect ALL DLP’s at this time; so I won’t use that to effect my review. Otherwise, both myself, and many friends who come by to watch movies and play games, are very impressed with this TV. It’s quickly converting them from their favorite brand over to Samsung. So this TV is highly recommended if you need a big HD 1080p TV for around $2k.

Review by B Morton for Samsung HL-S6187W 61-Inch 1080p DLP HDTV
Rating:
I bought this TV with high expectation and I am still amazed by its quality.

To make the long story short, here are the Pros and Cons from my perspective.

Pros:

1. It’s HUGE. Anyone will be impressed by its size. When watching DVDs, you will feel like watching the big screen in a movie theater. The size is overwhelming (in a good way).

2. 1080p. Although it’s truely not supported by many of today’s programming, it is future-proof. When you get PlayStation 3 or a blue ray player, you can fully utilize this TV’s potential.

3. Picture Qality. As expected, HD looks amazing on it. What is beyond my expectation is the SD quality. This TV has a smoothing method that can make your SD programming look pretty good. I am really happy about it. Also, my PlayStation 2 looks pretty good using S-video due to the smoothing. Previously I had a Olevia 26″ LCD TV. It doesn’t smooth the picture, so my PS2 games look kinda awful.

Cons:

1. The sound quality isn’t that good. It lacks bass and sounds flat. But this won’t be a problem if you use your own speaker system.

2. Picture quality as PC monitor. Someone said it’s ‘crystal clear’. However, I didn’t find it that way, although I use 1:1 mapping. When you look at it from a distance, it’s fine. Just don’t expect it to be as clear as your PC LCD monitor.

All in all, this TV is very well worth the money. Don’t buy the Sony KDS-60A2000 for $500 more, because these two TVs are so similar in quality.