Pros: Awesome picture, attractive model, nice features
Cons: 24fps not available, picture struggle within shadows of SD signals, remote, HDMI is not 1.3
The bottom line: Great monitor, great color reproduction, nice contrast ratio. No 1.3 HDMI inputs, not capable of 24fps.
What is DLP?

DLP stands for Digital Light Processing. As far as HDTV monitors go, DLP is used within rear projection televisions. The technology has to do with like a million microscopic mirrors reflecting light from a (in this case) three-chip projector. This sort of mimics the CRT tube technology digitally.


Why Go the DLP Route?

Well, DLP models are more often than not thousands of dollars cheaper than LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and Plasma screen TVs. You can buy LCDs and Plasmas at comparable prices to DLP models but not without some sacrifice to features and future necessities, namely 1080i and 1080p.

Right now, if you buy an HDTV without 1080i or 1080p capabilities, your TV is not all it should be. When you are viewing HDTV programming on your satellite or cable (or even your off-air antenna), most likely the signal is decoded in 720p or 1080i. Sure there is some debate about what makes a better picture, 720p or 1080i - but without 1080i capabilities - you're not going to be able to judge this for yourself. To understand what kind of money you need to buy an LCD model with basically the same features as this Samsung DLP, compare the Sharp Aquos LCD 57" model (LC57D90U) and you'll be shelling out around $9,000. That's about three times the cost of Samsung's DLP for a television that basically has everything this model has, give or take.
As far as 1080p is concerned, this format can be viewed with some of your PS3 games, and also HD-DVD and Blu-Ray formats. So far, the PlayStation 3 is the only consoles to offer their games in 1080p (although XBox360 now has that capability as well...just no games that contain it). At the time of this review PS3 is giving their graphics-based games the highest level of "wow factor" right now.

Speaking of "wow factor" remember when we first ditched our VHS tapes and switched to DVD. We surely said "wow" at the 540 lines of resolution of DVD up from the standard 250 from VHS tapes. Well, watching DVDs @ 540 lines of resolution is just not up to snuff anymore on our new HDTV sets. Now for our favorite movies to embody that eye-popping picture we need to upgrade our DVD equipment with HD-DVD or Blu-Ray machines. For those of you who do not know, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are DVD-like discs that have much more capacity than the DVDs we have. What this means is a heck of a lot less compression on the audio and video and we are able to get a 1080p picture on our DLP screens.

With the DLP format, the contrast ratio is usually much higher than the other two formats. This Samsung model has a contrast ratio of 4000:1, when you compare this to the Sharp Aquos model above, you're getting (still an impressive) 1500:1. With the DLP, you are getting blacker blacks and whiter whites.

For you gamers out there, DLP technology has zero possibility for phosphor burn-in, which can occur within Plasma and LCD displays. On the other hand, gamers have often complained about significant lag within DLPs, but with PS3 and Xbox 360 connections through HDMI, this condition is easily fixed.


Not all DLPs are Made the Same

The selling point for me lies within the short little promo put out from Samsung stating that with this particular model, which the DLP format has evolved and rids itself of two problem areas - The Rainbow Effect and the short life span of the Arc Lamp. This is done effectively with the LED based light engine replacing the Arc Lamp and the need for a Color Wheel. Also, this DLP model uses thre-chip technology instead of single chip present in the older DLP models.

The Color Wheel was present in the older DLP models and these supposedly created the infamous Rainbow Effect (a trail of colors that "appears" sometimes on the screen when your eye would look at different things in the screen).

HDTV’s have been around for a few years now and the Arc Lamp is common in most of the older model big screen TVs. The problems that the Arc Lamp would create are short life span of the bulb of the Arc Lamp, and limited visibility when the monitor is viewed on an angle. Also with the Arc Lamp, start up time could go somewhere between 25 and 30 seconds before the screen is completely lit up. With the incorporation of the use of LED, we have now a significant longer life span before replacement. Also, a minor but significant result of utilizing LED technology is that the TV uses less energy had the Arc Lamp still be inside, which makes it a "greener" buy. The Arc Lamp would need replacing usually at about every 3,000 hours, with the LED engine; your TV is good for approximately 20,000 hours.
As for the start-up time, this DLP model takes about seven seconds, probably the same amount of time your old CRT TV would have taken to completely warm up.


HL-S5679W Features

♦Digital NR - The NR is for Noise Reduction. I opt to leave this off. I don't really watch many of the SD (Standard Definition) channels anymore and that's what this function was built for. If you are watching an SD channel or a weak signal (from off-air antenna) turning the DNR on will reduce any static or ghosting that appears on the screen.

♦DNIe - This stands for Digital Natural Image engine. This feature is exclusive to Samsung, what it does is help produce the sharpest and clearest images possible while promoting vibrant natural colors and high contrast. It also claims to eliminate any digital artifacts that we sometimes see on our screen while watching satellite/cable television signals. What is great about this feature is the visual demo via split screen of what the picture you're watching looks like with and without the DNIe function turned on.

♦Color Control - Another cool feature to fix your color. This feature embedded inside the menu also has a visual demo of what the picture will look like as you tweak your color. Color control is not about just Red, Blue and Green anymore. In this model's color control you are tweaking yellow and pink as well.

♦Game Mode - As I said above, if your game console is hooked up to your TV via an HDMI cable, there will be virtually no lag at all. Yet to fully cover this area Samsung has added Game Mode which speeds up the image processing response while at the same time enhancing dark areas and sharpening the picture with the touch of a button.

♦Cinema Smooth Film Mode 3:2 Pull Down - Unfortunately this monitor is not capable of producing 1080p @ 24 frames per second (fps). This is fine for your broadcast viewing, but when it comes to viewing your DVDs and or Blu-Ray/HD-DVD movies it could be a problem. You see, feature films are (more often than not) shot in 24fps, and if your monitor was capable of producing an image at 24fps, it would result in a much more film like quality. Samsung's Cinema Smooth feature corrects the artificial frames created when converting your DVD/Blu-Ray/HD-DVD movies to 30fps which results in a clearer image without any digital artifacts or jagged pixels.



The Results Are In

I have Dish Network satellite service in my home, and so far they offer the most HD programming in my area. So far this is mostly what I've been watching. Most of my locals I have in HD, and I never knew that my favorite shows looked so damn good. With a show like ABC's Lost where the setting is on a beautiful island with deep jungles, the image is breathtaking. The deep and different greens of the jungle, and the pastel blue sky contrasted against the horizon of the ocean is eye-popping and a good choice of program to show off your Samsung model TV. The picture even looks good within the compressed satellite video I receive, when I watch it via my off-air antenna, it just gets even better. The Discover Channel's Sunrise Earth brings the world to my living room as I view it through my new window.

My DVD collection is give or take. The newer movies that are 16x9 widescreen look great, especially in my new Samsung Blu-Ray player (BD-P1200) when they are upconverted to 1080p. The Blu-Ray movies I have are the best looking items showing on my Samsung screen. Night at the Museum: Blu-Ray simply leaves you in awe. New York City has never looked so good, digitally anyway.

Viewing SD channels is not normally done in my home, but sometimes you have to. Some have better quality than others. Fox News looks pretty good while the Fox Network looks a little too grainy and dull. NBC is one of the worst, yet MSNBC is passable.

I own Nintendo Wii and I have this hooked up only through composite cables and it still looks amazing, despite this. I watch home movies via an easy hook-up for my digital camcorder, and the picture of these old movies has never looked so good.

I have everything hooked up through my home theater receiver, so when I watch anything - I usually watch it through this. But sometimes when I am just watching TV, I'll leave my receiver off and watch with the sound turned on from the TV. The sound is very dynamic for a couple of speakers. I still prefer my receiver and the speakers I have hooked up to it, but as far as sound goes, it sounds as if Samsung did the best they could with two 10w speakers. Samsung also states that there is an Auto Volume Leveler to keep volume consistent during channel changing. I wish my receiver had that function.

The remote control turns out to be disappointing. Even though it is set up to be somewhat of a universal remote. I was unable to make the remote work with my Yamaha receiver, my Pioneer DVD player or even my Samsung Blu-Ray player. The only reason to use it is to change the Input Source on my monitor. This is really too bad, because I like the appearance of the remote - long, skinny and fits nicely into my hand. The buttons do not glow and only the top five buttons light up when pressed.



The Specs

Audio: Stereo Broadcast Reception MTS

Display Device: Single digital micro mirror device

Pixel Count: 1980 horizontal x 1080 vertical

Channel Coverage: VHF 2-13
UHF 14-69
CATV 1-125 (up to 181 pre-selected channels)
ATSC 1-69

Audio Power: 10W x 2

Connections (Video Terminals): AV in 1 rear
S-Video In 2 rear
RF In 1 rear
Monitor and Sound Out 1 rear
Component Video Input (Y/Pb/Pr) 2
Composite 3(2 rear/ 1 side)
HDMI input 2
PC audio input 1 rear
USB 1

Product Dimensions: 52.4"(W) x 37.9"(H) x 15.3"(D)

Product Weight: 90.5 Lbs.



Legend

LED - light-emitting diode
720p - The number 720 stands for 720 lines of vertical display resolution, while the letter p stands for progressive scan or non-interlaced
1080i - The number 1080 stands for 1080 lines of vertical resolution, while the letter i stands for interlaced or non-progressive scan
1080p - The number 1080 represents 1,080 lines of vertical resolution[1], while the letter p stands for progressive scan or non-interlaced
HDMI - The High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is an all-digital audio/video interface capable of transmitting uncompressed streams
16X9 - The aspect ratio of an image is its displayed width divided by its height. High-definition television use an aspect of 16:9, or about 1.78:1