Samsung TX-R3075WH Thread/Review

Well it finally came. My new TV from B&H photo, the Samsung TX-R3075WH. I would like to say first, anyone considering this TV should buy it! It has amazing picture quality even with a SD source. It also has a built in ATSC tuner so you can recieve free OTA HD broadcasts.

Picture Quality - SD is amazing, it is just as good as any SDTV. All SD signals are upconverted to a 480p signal, and the outcome is excellent. HD is amazing. It is "like looking through a window." Surpisingly, and I know I am going to get many disagreements with this one, the TV displays a 720p image without upconverting it. I know this because when I was in the service menu I saw options for 480p. 1080i, AND 720P! The options for 720p included tint, color, and so on, which leads me to believe that this set will display 720p. Sharpness is great as well as the colors.

Picture Settings - The TV was calibrated very well out of the box, there are 4 modes to choose from, movie, standard, dynamic, and custom. Custom mode has many options and tweaks, such as for color temperature there are two settings for warm and cool, warm 1, warm 2, cool 1, cool 2, and of course, normal.

VSM - THOSE WHO SAY SAMSUNG'S SUCK BECAUSE OF THEIR VSM, YOU CAN TURN IT OFF OR DOWN IN THE SERVICE MENU. The VSM has three values that you can set it to, 1, 2, or 3. You can see a major difference at 3, letters have are edgy as well as objects. Out of the box it was set to 1, which is perfect.

Inputs/Outputs - There are a good amount of inputs on this TV, 4 composite inputs, 2 component inputs, 1 HDMI input, and 2 S-Video inupts, and 2 RF inputs. Outputs include 1 monitor output, and a optical output for surround sound. Every input gives you an amazing picture. The only complaint I had with the inputs is that two of the composite inputs are shared with the component inputs. Meaning if you have used both component inputs, your left with just 2 composite inputs. This isn't too big of a problem as usually people don't have too many devices that use a composite connection only.

Sound Quality - I can't say much about the sound quality as I run it through a Samsung home theater system. I did listen to the TV's speakers and they sounded very good, so if you don't have a home theater you will still recieve very good sound quality. The TV also includes a built in BBE decoder, which delivers enhanced sound quaity over standard TV speakers.

Sorry for the long post everybody. Overall I highly reccomend this TV, it has 2 flaws that I found, being that the component and composite inputs are shared and that it has just 1 HDMI input. I bought mine off line, and I had great support, so for anybody considering buying it off line I would say you don't have much to worry about.

Regarding VSM, yeah you can change it in the Service Menus so that is no longer one of my criticisms against Samsung. I dunno if you noticed, but also the VSM settings change (by default, no need to enter Service Menu) in the "Movie" preset mode. It believe it lowers the VSM to Low, perhaps Off. But it's probably better to go into the Service Menu and dump VSM for all modes anyway.

In general I've thought picture quality has been decently good on the Samsungs, but it was the geometry problems that I could not stomach that turned me away. Check to see if you have the bowing along the bottom third of your screen. I guarantee you have it, you just may not have noticed it. To check, just adjust the volume on your Samsung and carefully look at the volume display bar. It should be a perfect rectangle. But it's not, is it? It's like some weird curved thing with a hump in the middle...that's what I'm referring to.

The severity of that problem varies though from unit to unit and model to model. If you are lucky the problem on your unit might not be as severe as on some of the others I have seen.

Nope, no bowing, I just checked. Perfect geometry in my opinion. The geometry problems you are referring to were fixed after the N series of Samsung TV's.

I am highly skeptical, but since you have claimed your set has no noticeable horizontal bowing (I'm sure it has at least a tiny bit, it's a design of the Samsung to have it) I'll continue to look at Samsungs. If any store has a Samsung 30" slimfit with bottom speakers (TX-R3081W I think) on display without significant horizontal bowing I'll likely get it.

What do you mean by N series of Samsung TVs? The "N" isn't in the model number, is it? How do I check if a particular TV is after the N series? When did the N series units come out?

All the TX-R3081Ws I've seen in stores have had that terrible horizontal bowing problem, and it was my understanding that it was a very recent model.

The slimfit's yes have awful geometry, or so i've heard. Mine isn't a slimfit though. By the "N" series I am referring to the letter in the model number.

Oh. You're right, it's the Slimfits that tend to have the much worse horizontal bowing. I mistakenly thought that's what you got, I confused the model number (the Slimfit with side speakers is TX-R3079WH, yours is the 3075). Yeah, the horizontal bowing is probably good on your set then. It probably still has it but to a small enough degree that it is nearly unoticeable. I've already seen some non-Slimfit Samsungs in the stores that were good like that (I've also seem some that weren't).

Well I have further examined my TV, and I noticed when there a white letters on a black background, there seems to be white on the sides of the word. Almost like the letters are presented in a white bar or band. It doesn't go all the way across the screen though, which is good. Although the white is hard to notice, it is there. Is this called banding? It is easily seen when you see that XBOX logo after that green blob when you turn your XBOX on.

Well I looked at that problem again, and I realized that it is only noticeable when you are unreasonably close. I cannot notice it from my couch where I watch my TV (about 5 1/2 ft.). So it's not much of a problem.

I'm not exactly sure of what you describe, maybe others will be. I've noticed tons of different kinds of similar problems on CRTs, and don't know the names or causes for half of them. I don't think what you describe is called banding though, but I could be wrong on that.

If you can, and are curious, you should try to see if you can see the same phenomena on other company brands of CRTs. It's tough though because the store units never display the exact same thing you do at home.

Well it turns out that the problem is only seen on SD pictures. This isn't too much of a problem as it is hard to see, and I don't watch too many things in SD anyway. HD on this set is amazing though.

Well it turns out that the smudging issue is only seen on that XBOX logo. Weird! I recently got a new video-game, The Godfather, it only displays in 480i and there is a lot of white lettering on black backrounds. There is absolutly no smudging visable from any distance. I tried another test with my DVD player running in 480i, and again, no smudging. So in conclusion this set still displays SD beautifully! :)

I have been reading your review and following your threads - I am in the same quandry in selecting a TV and have come across the same TV/Deal at B&H for the Samsung. Two questions - are you still happy with the TV and how is B&H to deal with? thanks

I am still very happy with the TV. The only problem I can see is that it has a very SLIGHT bow on the bottom. You can't even tell it's there unless you are watching the CNN ticker. Maybe that is just my set though...

B&H says the width is about 32".The picture shows speakers on the sides.My cabinet max width is 33.75.Is it really 32? robby c.

Actually it is just over 35" wide. It's a pretty big set.

xxx

Nope, no bowing, I just checked. Perfect geometry in my opinion. The geometry problems you are referring to were fixed after the N series of Samsung TV's.
No they weren't-I recently purchased the newest "Slimfit" 27" unit and low and behold-vertical lines had bends, horizontial lines had bends and humps, I went into the deflection part of the service menu and spent 2 hours trying to get rid of the distortion and was only able to get about a 5% improvement at best-and I know what I'm doing as an electronics tech. I promptly too dthe darn thing back to BB and and got another crt hdtv (NOT SAMSUNG OR LG SLIMFIT)-I have no geometry problems, as I watch a lot of anime, a tv that looks like a funhouse mirror is not tolerable.

This TV is NOT a slimfit. As previously stated there is minor bowing with this set on the bottom.

Hookay-sorry-but what has been said about the slimfit is still true, just the wrong thread to discuss it.

Yeah, it's to bad that slimfits have so many problems, they seemed like such a good idea...

It's not just the Slimfits that have terrible geometry problems, like some people say. It's really all the Samsungs in general that have the worst geometry out of all the consumer CRTs. The problem is just twice or three times as bad on the Slimfits, so the Slimfits get the bad rap. But for those discerning watchers like me who watches ONLY anime (haha! I am worse than zrdb) with subtitles, and plays videogames, even the geometry on the normal Samsungs and the new model Samsungs is unacceptable (subtitles will curve noticeably).

Even the geometry on the other brands' sets (which is maybe 1/3rd as bad as the best non-Slimfit Samsungs) is very noticeable to me when looking carefully at the CNN ticker or my anime subtitles.

Been thinking about buying this tv to use in my room for HD Cable and as a monitor for my computer. My question is, do you think that the geometry problems are bad enough to distort a typical windows desktop (taskbar and icons and whatnot). I mean more than just a milimeter or 2 on the edges. That i can deal with. I'm just worried that the whole taskbar across the bottom will be distorted. Any input greatly appreciated.

Well, in my opinion the bowing wasn't bad at all. I just sent it to a repair center to get that fixed though because I need perfection when it comes to my electronics : ) Other than that though it is a very good TV. I just have a question though, when I watch HD broadcasts with my OTA antenna I see moving dots or blocks on white surfaces. It's very annoing, anybody know what this is?

if i recall, tube tv's are incapable of truely displaying 720p.. All CRT Tube HDTV's have a native resolution of 1080interlace. the only progressive scan signal they can display is 480p and/or 540p. 720p would be incompatible with a 1080i native resolution plus the gun is not fast enough to scan 720lines progressively.

just my 2 cents.

Yes you are correct. When I get my TV back I will further examine all inputs and everything else to make sure they fixed it 100%. I sure hope it's fixed, I really like this set!

I just got my TV back after two weeks of waiting and guess what, IT ISN'T FIXED! So, I called Samsung back and they set me up with another repair center. I sure hope this place fixes it or I will be very angry. Not just because of the bowing, but becuase of the website I bought it from false advertising and saying that this TV will display a 720p image. I only recently got HD channels and never sat down to check if there is flickering. Well, today I did, and there is. Looks like this TV is taking a turn for the worse. :(

dont blame yourself, all CRT's are interlace in nature. CRT HDTV's native resolutions are all 1080interlace(but still can display progressively up to 480p/540p). maybe you should have just done alittle more research before buying aHDTV, i'll assuming you would have probably gone with a fixed pixel display which always display progressively. good luck!

It's not just the Slimfits that have terrible geometry problems, like some people say. It's really all the Samsungs in general that have the worst geometry out of all the consumer CRTs. The problem is just twice or three times as bad on the Slimfits, so the Slimfits get the bad rap. But for those discerning watchers like me who watches ONLY anime (haha! I am worse than zrdb) with subtitles, and plays videogames, even the geometry on the normal Samsungs and the new model Samsungs is unacceptable (subtitles will curve noticeably).

Even the geometry on the other brands' sets (which is maybe 1/3rd as bad as the best non-Slimfit Samsungs) is very noticeable to me when looking carefully at the CNN ticker or my anime subtitles.Well guess what kind of a tv I ended up with? It's a 27" Insignia crt hdtv with an ATSC/qam tuner, hdmi input and a bunch of other goodies-and it has a very nice picture once I got it caliberated. I'll bet everyone's gonna say it's a piece of junk,etc, etc. Well-for one thing there's no distortion, and since probally about 95% of the time I'll be watching fansub anime on it-perfect. And since I work for BB my employee discount made it a deal I couldn't refuse. It's made by the same company that makes Toshiba's tvs.

This is actually my second HDTV. LCD's and Plasma's are way out of my budget. I was very surprised hearing that this TV displayed 720p. Infact, I searched all over the web and all the websites I saw said it did.

But did it get repaired to your satifaction?

Nope, looks worse than it originally did

Well, I set my values in the service menu back to the originals, and I think I have made up my mind. I am selling this TV. This TV has been nothing but trouble. Sure, at first glance it was great! But it just isn't suiting my needs. I can't get a refund, so selling it is my only chance, isn't it? Well, I guess I am back to shopping. I really need some suggestions so I don't make this mistake again. I was thinking maybe the Toshiba HF66 or HF84. I am really leaning towards the Toshiba's. Are the HF66's any good?

You're in the same situation as me sorta, so don't feel alone. I am trying to get a refund on my Toshiba 30HF85 also. It has the horizontal dark line problem I mentioned previously and Toshiba failed to repair it, so I am super angry at them now.

Did you pay for your TV with a credit card? If you did, and it's been less than 60 days since you got your statement, you can perform a "billing dispute" and perhaps get your money back forcefully.

I'm not so sure you should try to dump off your Samsung though. It seems okay from your descriptions, maybe acceptable enough to keep (just being a bit dissatisfied)?

If you return your TV you might proceed into 5-return Toshiba-land, like I am in. :)

BTW, if I get a refund for my Toshiba, I'm sorry to say it but I will not be getting another CRT. I think CRT HDTVs are the best technology but these days many CRT HDTVs are being made in 3rd world countries to unbelievably poor quality control standards which should be illegal. And they are unecessarily huge and bulky when they have side speakers. I'll probably go for a bottom-speaker LCD, even though I dislike the technology.

Also based on some of the things you've said here I think the 30HF66 is not for you. You just said you are annoyed by flickering (I take it to mean that you were referring to the 1080i interlaced look) on your Samsung. The 30HF66 forcefully displays all SD signals in 1080i mode so they will flicker unecessarily. The 30HF85 displays all SD signals in 540p mode so it does not flicker in the same way (it may flicker in other ways though due to other things).

But the 30HF85's have all sorts of problems in their HD modes (white glow, banding, and Y/C delay) that the 30HF66's probably don't. Oh well, both sets have problems, no surprise there I guess. ;)

Well, I don't mind the flickering at all, it's just this set. It has been nothing but trouble, and it keeps on coming. Perhaps I'll wait for it to be repaired, again, and if not get a replacement. If that doesn't fix it though, I am selling that Samsung and never returning to Samsung again!

I just got the same samsung from BnH. The tv is great. No bowing or any other problems mikerossi talked about. Could it be you got a bad set?

I MUST have gotten a bad set. Not to mention my set was made in May 2005! I recieved this set in March of 2006. It must be that they made improvements. I'm getting a replacement set from Samsung soon.

I know I am going to get many disagreements with this one, the TV displays a 720p image without upconverting it. I know this because when I was in the service menu I saw options for 480p. 1080i, AND 720P! The options for 720p included tint, color, and so on, which leads me to believe that this set will display 720p. Sharpness is great as well as the colors.




I have a Samsung TX-P2675WH and the literature I printed for it from Samsung's website confirmed that it's native resolutions were 480P and 1080i.

Well, in my opinion the bowing wasn't bad at all. I just sent it to a repair center to get that fixed though because I need perfection when it comes to my electronics : ) Other than that though it is a very good TV. I just have a question though, when I watch HD broadcasts with my OTA antenna I see moving dots or blocks on white surfaces. It's very annoing, anybody know what this is?

It's lost info in the digital signal. You'd be more familiar with it if you're using an antenna to receive ota HD broadcasts. Basically, with digital signals there is no error correction like there is with analog so when something in the digital stream doesn't make it, you see the little dots.

When I get my Samsung replaced, it will probably be a model made in 2006, i'd assume. Quality would be better than my current set which was made in 2005, wouldn't it?

By the way, Incubus0111, what year was your set made in?

2005 same as yours...

So I guess I probably just got a bed set.

Well I bought the Slimfit 30" Samsung and am not sure if there is bowing or not. One thing I do not is that the picture seems to be shifted downards, ie. where there is a black bar on top and bottom of the screen, clearly the bar on the bottom is far smaller than the bar on top. Also I noticed things in the bottom corners can be cut off, ie. where it should say Disney Channel in the bottom corner, i just seen "Disney" (the word Channel is cut off).

Not sure if it's a big deal or not. I don't really see any curved or screwed up images but I do feel like the picture is crooked slightly. I fix it with the tilt only to find the bottom and top images not perfectly symmetrical when i change the channel. Is this bowing?

Let me know since my time to return this bad boy is running down!!

Thanks
AB3

You should probably make a thread of your own on that problem.

My TV is being repaired for the second time, and the TV repair shop has had the set for 2 weeks now. Is it really supposed to take that long?

Do any of the other Samsung TX-R3075WH owners have an option in the menu for cinema mode, or 3:2 pull-down? I am beguinning to think that my TV has a lot less features than it should (Even though I still don't have it back). I'd think that it would, as this TV does have 3:2 pulldown technology. Also, do you have a DNIe demo in your menu? Thanks

Should there be a cinema mode?
The tv uses 3:2 reverse pulldown but i don't think one should have to turn it on or off.
No i do not have DNIe demo in my menu or i have noe see it there but what is that?

I think it's something that compares a picture with DNIe and without it. I'd think you'd need to turn 3:2 pull-down off, as it's only for movies.

Am still new to this and sill have alot to learn.
Here is what i know about 3:2 reverse pulldown:
It smoothes out the picture by correcting errors in frame rate.
The tv does tha on it's own you need not turn it on or off.

have a look at this from http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/tv-buying-guide18.htm




Frame rate is the measurement used to calculate how many individual images are displayed in a second. Think of a flip book: You have several slightly different images, and as you flip through them quickly it appears as if there is a single, moving image. When you see a movie at the theater, the projector is operating like a flip book at a speed of 24 frames per second. The problem is that different formats operate at different frame rates. So when that same film you saw at the theater is transferred to a DVD, the frame rate jumps to roughly 29.8 per second. This can cause distortion in the image.

3:2 Pulldown Processing corrects the flaws that occur when film is transferred to another format. If you’re a film buff, then this is a feature to look for in your next set.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/tv-buying-guide18.htm

Yes, I know. But, when you're watching cable, or playing a video game, you don't need 3:2 pull-down. I've seen settings on other TV's for turning 3:2 Pull-down on and off.

when you're watching cable or playing games the tv does not use it cause there is no need to. then there is the fact that your dvd player already does it.

I don't think we're connecting here. I know you don't need it for cable or video games, but how would the TV know you weren't watching a movie?

have you heard of a datastream flag? what it is is a bit of data that instructs the player. it is inserted into dvds. now without that flag telling the tv to use 3:2 the tv won't do it. that my friend is how the tv knows when to use it. so as i said before one needs not an on and off switch for it.

Ah ha! Thanks for the info. But, i've got some bad news. I'm steering clear of the CRT's next week. I plan to purchase my first LCD TV! The Westinghouse LTV-32w6. And this time, i'm buying it AT A STORE! I can hardly wait, what I plan to do is get my TX-R3075WH fixed up (It's still at the repair shop), replace our Philips 30HF85 with it, and sell the 30HF85. I'm sure i'm not going to get much for the Philips, but I have no use for it anymore. The reason i'm leaving CRT land is, I just can't take the trouble. I've had my TV away for the whole summer, and i'm sick of it. With this new LCD I won't be having any of these geometry problems, which are the whole reason for my troubles. I can't wait!

good luck...

Actually, the TV has no way of seeing the flags from the DVD, they are strictly used internally by the player. Displays detect film mode by comparing frames and looking for the 3:2 frame repetition cadence that occurs when 24Fps film is pulled-down to 30Fps.

If you happen to be watching a film that is being broadcast, reverse pull-down would also be desirable. The whole process is usually automatic, so there might not be a menu option, but sometimes the processor can get confused and change modes when it's not supposed to, so some displays do allow you to turn it off.

Thanks for the information BobY. Will picture look worse if 3-2 Pull-down is activated on a non-video source?

What's most likely to happen is the display will stay in video mode instead of switching to film mode. The default mode is video so that the display works fine for non-movie broadcasts and the worst thing that happens on movies is that some interlacing artifacts appear as a result of the way the repeated frames are created. This won't look any worse than conventional SD broadcasts of movies and any progressive scan or upconverting DVD player will already have performed reverse pull-down on DVD's.

I'm getting the TV back from the repair shop this Saturday. They said on the phone that they've fixed all my problems! How would they have fixed the bowing?

If it can't be fixed through the menu adjustments, normally bowing is corrected by altering the mechanical adjustments on the CRT tube deflection coils and magnets. It's a time-consuming, back-and-forth operation to adjust properly, which is why you will often see bowing out of the box--the production workers are only given so much time to adjust it (or no time at all and it's just passed unless it is hugely out of whack).

Often times things get moved out of adjustment as a result of shipping due to the size and weight of CRT's, so statistically, there is not much reason to spend a lot of time adjusting it before shipment. If a consumer complains enough, a tech can adjust it properly for them after the sale.

The bigger the tube, particularly with wide-screen aspect ratio and flat glass, the more likely the problem and, unfortunately on the Slim-Fit sets, the packaging techniques that make these sets shallower further exacerbates the problem.

They also said they fixed my problem with faulty and loose inputs. Wires would just fall out of the inputs. Would they just have replaced the whole board that the inputs are on?

Most likely--it's the least amount of work and labor is usually the major cost of service.

It's still under warranty, so I don't have to pay.

That's not the point. It's cheaper for Samsung to have the service tech install a new board, than figure out what's wrong with the old board and spend time repairing it.

Alright. I called today about that, the guy said that he thinks they just tightened up the board. I'm not sure how they'd do that. Anyways, it's coming back tommarow before noon! :)

Well, this TV truly is nothing but trouble. I was supposed to get it back today between 11 and 3. I called at 1:30 to check the status, only to recieve a big surprise. The guy at the repair shop tells me they actually haven't fixed any of the problems, and they're only now starting to work on it. This is ridiculus. So I called Samsung, and the guy I spoke to said I could probably get an upgrade of some sort, as they've had the TV out for repairs longer than I've had it in my house. The only problem with that, is that all of their new models are Slimfits. So i'd just get the same geometry problems again. So they'd have to upgrade to an LCD. Do you think I've got a chance of getting an LCD out of all this trouble?

Just ask them about it. Tell Samsung that you do not like their Slimfit CRTs and that you would either want a full monetary refund, or perhaps an upgrade to an LCD monitor, depending on how much more you would have to pay and how it would work.

Well, I told the guy the Slimfits are no good, and I've found a Samsung LCD that retails for 899.99 on Cnet, same as my TX-R3075WH.

I made a lot of progress today! Now the shop that my TV is in has filed a SAW, and Samsung should have recieved it today. So now I'm going to get an exchange, hopefully for the LCD that I want. Thanks for all the help everybody!

Well, Samsung is replacing my set with the TXS3082. It should arrive in about 2 weeks. I'm just a bit worried about having the same problem again. What are the chances that I will? And if I do, do you think it will take them 3 months to fix it again?

That a slimFit.....

did you look up reviews on it?

Yes, it is a Slimfit. I've looked at the thread on AVS Forum and read reviews, but nobody seems to directly address the geometry.