Samsung HL-S5088W 50-Inch 1080p DLP HDTV
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Samsung HL-S5088W 50-Inch 1080p DLP HDTV

4.0(12 customer reviews)
This product is currently out of stock
Description:

Featuring a "hidden speaker" thin bezel", Samsung's 50" Widescreen DLP TV delivers an astounding HDTV experience. Samsung, the recognized leader in DLP technology, created the breakthrough Cinema Smooth light engine that produces razor-sharp pictures in 1080p. The natural, vivid colors of Samsung's HL-S5088W a re achieved through our 10-bit processing system with a 5-segment color wheel that enriches the viewing experience, far surpassing 3 panel technologies of earlier DLP televisions. Samsung's Cinema Smooth 1080p light engine is the culmination of years of industry-leading research and development. It releases the maximum power of the new generation of DMD microdisplays for the most film-like picture. It creates an image with no visible pixel structure and accurate shading and better low-light detail. Samsung's 2.2" color wheel spins at 14,400 rpm for smooth fast motion video, and has five color segments for more accurate colors. Comprised of the 3 primary colors, red, green and blue plus cryan and magenta. It achieves film-like transitions without pixel breakup found in slower color wheel designs and slower switching LCD microdisplays. Air Bearing technology also makes it whisper quiet. DLP TV by Samsung employs a Texas Instruments DLP chip that is comprised of millions of microscopic mirrors. The DLP chip is faster than any HDTV technology, with the mirrors switching on & off 15,000 times a second to deliver a razor-sharp picture for fast moving images When combined with Samsung's new Cinema Smooth light engine, the result is a crisp, bright picture with deep, rich colors that's closer to film. Samsung's exclusive Digital Natural Image engine makes the sharpest and clearest images possible, regardless of the profile of input signals. Five image processors and a six-times density enhancer ensure the best picture from any source. Now in its fourth generation, DNIe guarantees the truest colors and highest contrast, while virtually eliminating digital artifacts.

Features:

  • Cinema Smooth 1080p Light Engine

  • Next Generation DLP Chips from Texas Instrument

  • Samsung's DNIe - Digital Natural Image Engine

  • Razor-sharp pictures in 1080p

  • Featuring a "hidden speaker" thin bezel design

Product Details:
Package Length: 45.4 inches
Package Width: 32.3 inches
Package Height: 15.6 inches
Package Weight: 65.0 pounds
Average Customer Rating: based on 12 reviews
 
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Review:4.0 ( 12 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 found the following review helpful:

5Very Nice Entry Level 1080p DLP TV  Dec 08, 2006
By G. Marte "Newbie but a Techie"
I've been eyeing an HDTV for a while and like most of everyone checking out this review, I have spent many months and hours researching TVs at my local electronics stores, online and through friends who have their TVs.

First let me get this out, I was able to make a deal with Tweeter in Oakbrook, IL for a much better price than I have been able to find anywhere online or at the stores (like a lot!). *tip: Deal with a manager; they are almost willing to look at a reasonable offer. The manager there was very helpful and I was in and out with a TV in less than 10 minutes. It helps to go into a brick and mortar store armed with information and most importantly prices.

Secondly, I do not claim to be any A/V expert or anything, I'm just your average twenty something who saved money to be able to get this TV and do the research.

So let's get the review started. I will organize this by what I have hooked up to the TV. Like most of you out there, the TV is going to be used for a few things rather than just watch TV. I'm sure that all of you would rather get the review for all uses at one spot. I will try my best to communicate how I feel about this TV as accurately as I can.

P.S. These reviews were straight out of the box settings, not calibrated by a technician or DVD etc.

STANDARD DEFINITION SOURCES

Let me start off with the VHS player. I have to admit, that I still have a VHS player but this is to watch movies that are only on VHS. Actually it's for the parent's use, that's why it's still there. It looks terrible J as with any VHS player. This is why we have a DVD player. (connected through composite)

For DVDs I have an XBOX 360 hooked up to the TV as a DVD player and what can I say, it's not an up-scaling DVD player but the picture still looks good. From a distance, the picture quality is enjoyable. I popped in Jarhead and watched a couple of chapters on the TV. I had to change the mode from Dynamic to Movie because it is definitely very bright. Regular DVDs won't necessarily pop right out of the screen but it's still a good picture to watch your DVDs on. I have yet to try to watch Lord of the Rings, Matrix etc. to really see how DVDs look on this TV. (Connected through component)

I also have a Nintendo Wii and have it hooked up to the TV and the pictures look relatively good. One of the biggest draw back of the Wii is lack of HD support. With that being said, the picture quality is still enjoyable because I'm not going to nit pick this until I get my Wii Component cables from Nintendo. So far, it's a little blurry but it really doesn't detract from the gaming experience. It looks decent enough to be able to play for hours. I'm sure since the Wii only supports 480p (through component) it's not going to look as crisp as my other gaming system.

Analog cable channels look rather bland. Because it's a 1080p set, what that means is there are more pixels on the screen that the signal has to be spread to. Now I'm not saying that it's an eye sore to watch regular TV, it's just not very good compared to it's HD counterpart. I will say that it does a better job than most TVs at displaying the picture correctly.

HIGH DEFINITION SOURCES

If you bought this TV, I will assure you that the picture quality of OTA HDTV is very good to everything that you would expect from a set like this. Yes, this TV is an entry level 1080p TV but at the same time, I cannot ignore the 10,000:1 contract ratio usually reserved for the Plasmas. Sure, not all stations are HD but the free ones that you can get look great! I saw this TV side by side against other TVs and I have to say that I prefer how this TV performs. If you are going to get 1080p, it has to be at least 50 inches to be able to see the difference. (Coax to the ATSC port)

Gaming on the XBOX 360 was very immersive. The couch is about 9 feet away so the picture was huge (I'm used to playing on a 22" widescreen computer monitor). I recently got a second 360 for the living room (I was one of the lucky 1000 who got one on Amazon for $100) and popped in Gears of War and WOW! It's beautiful. I want to try out other games (i.e. Lego Star Wars, Ghost Recon Advanced War Fighter, Fight Night Round 3 etc) as well as see the videos and demos from XBOX Live. I'm sure they will also look outstanding! I have yet to perform the 1080p update but according to online resources, this Samsung is going to accept 1080p through component which is good. Sharp detailed quality pictures and I was really impressed by how much detail it was even at 720p. Can't wait for 1080p XBOX 360 games! This game just earned another run through the entire game because I want to see the picture quality throughout the whole game. (connected through component)

I also bought the HD-DVD add-n for the XBOX 360 and this was really where you can tell the difference between all of the sources. I don't play on picking up a BlueRay player (PS3 or otherwise) just for the sheer price that it commands when I can see the identical picture quality on my $300 HD-DVD player (XBOX Core from Amazon $100; HD-DVD drive from Best Buy $200). The drive comes with King Kong and WOW (I wish I can display the WOW in a much larger font in order to express how good it looked. Colors were right on and the blacks were DEEP blacks. I mean, the bezel of the TV is black (polished piano black to be exact), the blacks on the screen is almost as black as the bezel. Very vivid colors and it literally jumps right out of the screen. I cannot begin to comment on how good this looks! (Connected to the XBOX 360 through component)

I will say that the picture quality is terrible when you are about 2 feet away from the thing but in all reality, who's going to be watching 2 feet away on a 50" TV? The sound on the speakers are not the best but I do have it connected to a receiver to it pumps out Dolby surround. I pretty much have the TV volume turned down when I was watching DVD/HD-DVD and playing on the 360/Wii. For regular TV viewing, for the size of the living room it's really just fine.

While I still have to tweak the settings etc. I am very happy with the TV and I can't wait to come home from all the activities of tonight and enjoy it a bit more.

I readily recommend this TV to anyone who is looking for an upgraded version of the HL-SXX87W.

P.s yes, the LED based DLPs are coming out soon so this might be worth waiting for clearance for. The deal that I got was too good to pass up, it was definitely cheaper than the Amazon deal.

UPDATE (12/12/2006): Another pro about this TV is that the digital tuner is able to decode the HD signals coming from Comcast. Now I don't know how long this is going to last but it did reproduce quality images right off of my regular analog cable TV service. This is great news for me because I am not particularly happy with having to pay $10 per month to rent the stupid HD box from Comcast. That is in fact a rip off. I'm able to get HD versions of my local channels (CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, CW, PBS) all in great quality.

UPDATE (12/15/2006): Received my Nintendo Wii component cables and I must say that the component cables make a noticeable difference when dealing with an HDTV. 480i is indeed blurry at first but when the component cables are used, the picture is much sharper with brighter colors. It's a little over saturated but one, with the right hardware, can calibrate this thing no problem. I like what I've been seeing with this particular Samsung now and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a nice 1080p set.

UPDATE (12/18/2006): Changed the cable from the component to VGA and found that of my games were over-saturated with color. None of the other inputs experienced any change in the color, as expected. I'm surprised to see the color saturation due to some forums saying that the VGA cable tends to wash out the color. The XBOX 360 did a good job of scaling the image to 1080p. It looked good (sharp, correct aspect etc) except for the color saturation. I will have to pick up the official Microsoft cable and see how that looks. I suspect that it actually might make a huge difference in terms of proper color representation.

11 of 11 found the following review helpful:

5Great TV!  Nov 03, 2006
By Mr. Cman "Sold on Sammy!"
Got this unit in August. The picture quality on HD is the best I've seen anywhere! I did have audio problems with the original unit, but Samsung sent me a new TV. It did take a while for that to happen, but the new unit is great. The only negative criticism I have is with the Picture in Picture. There is no easy way to "swap" between the main picture and PIP. You must navigate through a long screen menu to do so. There are a number of functions that require a lengthy navigation through menus. I suppose this would be addressed by having more buttons on the remote.

Otherwise, I am very happy with the TV. Picture is absolutely stunning!

5 of 5 found the following review helpful:

4Excellent picture, sound..Could use more component inputs  Dec 31, 2006
By J. Forhan "____/\___\o/_____FARK ME!"
I was going to get the Mitsubishi 50" DLP before I compared it with the Samsung side-by-side. The Mitsubishi had artifacts while displaying fast motion (NFL football) while the Samsung did not. Picture for true HD content is excellent. XBOX 360 @ 1080i is AWESOME!!!!!! Comcast HDTV via HDMI is very good as long as the content is true HD. Converted or other content is obviously not as sharp.

Sound is OK for a TV. However I use the optical out to my 5.1 receiver for audio I really want to enjoy.

I find the 2 HDMI adequate but would like to see more than 2 component inputs.....Althogh next year when I get my HD/Blu-Ray dual format DVD player I plan to use the other HDMI and that will free up an input.

Excellent HD DLP. It is not an "Entry Level" television by any means. It is 1080p capable and has the latest DNIe feature from Samsung.

4 of 4 found the following review helpful:

4CableCard NG with Cablevision.  Jan 25, 2007
By T. Cohane
If you plan on using with CableCard & Cablevision save your money and get the 087 Model. CableCard has picture pixel problems, also sound. Samsung says they are working on it.

Update 02/08/07
TV died no picture or sound. Samsung repair came with a new Light Engine.
However set needs a new main board.

Update 02/11/07
Samsung repair installed new main board. Everything seems to be working well. CableCard is also working well.

Update 02/13/07
CableCard is having same problems again.

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:

5Samsung sets the standard for DLP  Mar 28, 2007
By P. D. Wickman "Buster"
While I have not had an opportunity to explore all the features, the quality of the picture in HD is awesome. I can't wait until broadcastes are in 1080p.

I also hope that the DVD market allows both Blue Ray and HD to coexist, i.e. one piece of hardware that can view both versions of the format. I am affraid that the current battle will slow acceptance.

See all 12 customer reviews on Amazon.com