Samsung DLP v Sony LCD

I'm interested in purchasing a HD widescreen (50"-60") and have been comparing Samsung's HLN 507W to Sony's KF50WE610 - many reviewers identify these manufacturers/units as comparable but seem evenly split as to their performance and preference.

Do folks here have experience with these units? Is DLP's performance noticibly better than LCD? Any help would be appreciated. :confused:

Two points favoring the DLP units.

Since the DLP is based on tiny mirrors, there is no burn in.

The life expectancy of the DLP unit is longer, or so I have read.

Both have a light source that may need to be changed at some point, so I would look into that cost and the ease of changing for each.

My wife and I looked at just about every current HDTV set out there. About 6 weeks ago we had the opportunity of seeing the Sony KF50WE610 in two different stores, sitting in the midst of many other LCD, DLP, and plasma HDTVs. It kept drawing our attention to how beautiful the colors (including the blacks) were, the lack of the "screendoor" effect, and how downright beautiful the picture was. We bought the 60" version and absolutely LOVE it. The high def pictures from Dish Network are stunning. Everyone who has come into our home and have seen it are amazed. We DID NOT make a mistake! DLP bothered me a little. I found the DLP HDTVs to be a little blurred in comparison to the LCDs. Plus, I guess I just don't like the idea of a mechanical device inside a TV, continuously spinning a disk of mirrors. That's just another thing to go wrong! Everytime I go into Best Buy I am still drawn to look at the KF50WE610 they have there, convinced we made the right choice. Well, that's my two cents...hope it helps.

How will you be using your set?

will you be doing any gaming? will you have a pc hooked up to the display? if you answered yes to either of those questions...you may want to go the DLP route... no burn in issues...

i have heard the GWIII fares better with SD cable...

just depends on your viewing habits...

i have been extremely happy with my sammy hln4365w...

standard analog cable looks anywhere from acceptable to good...
digital cable ranges from good to excellent...

HD & DVD through my sammy 931 hooked up to DVI looks absolutely amazing!

i would suggest visiting multiple stores and viewing both sets until your eye figures out what picture you like best...

I have had a Samsung DLP for about 9 months and my family is thrilled. The Sony LCD has a good picture as well. I don't think you can go wrong with either. After reviewing a lot of information I primarily chose my DLP based on reliability and support.

Good luck with your decision.

I got the Samsung HLN507W last Nov and have been very, very pleased overall. You may have heard about the curious lipsynch anomaly that does sometimes occur with DLP's. Samsung is aware of it and are working on a fix for it. My experience with this out-of-synch situation is that it doesn't happen often and it seems to randomly appear and disappear. It is so infrequent that I can't recall if it occurs only with HD programs (I know for sure that it affects HD) or also with non-HD and DVD viewing. Another minor gripe which may have nothing to do with the DLP technology is that if you choose to use the pure digital connections (the DVI and RGB digital inputs, which are the very best hookups - not RGB component) - certain features become disabled: like tint control, auto volume control and maybe a couple others. I miss not having tint control because, as outstanding as my HD picture is, there are times when a little tweak of green or red tint could make it even better (like in the Masters golf tournament where there was such a heavy concentration of green: a little less green and a little more magenta would have been perfect!). I'm told that with satellite as your main signal source, along with your local stations that put out high def signals for your antenna, you will have the option of always receiving a 100% digital signal by connecting with the DVI or RGB cable. Someone earlier mentioned using the Samsung HD931 DVD player and using its DVI output to connect to the Samsung DLP monitor. That's also the route I took and it really is spectacular. I connect my monitor to the Samsung SIR-TS160 satellite receiver via the RGB digital input and I've been a happy camper. Good luck in your choices. It can be overwhelming sometimes but I don't think you will not be disappointed if you go the Samsung DLP way.

You may have heard about the curious lipsynch anomaly that does sometimes occur with DLP's. Samsung is aware of it and are working on a fix for it. My experience with this out-of-synch situation is that it doesn't happen often and it seems to randomly appear and disappear. It is so infrequent that I can't recall if it occurs only with HD programs (I know for sure that it affects HD) or also with non-HD and DVD viewing.

The audio sync issue is discussed in this online article (http://www.eet.com/sys/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18901792) for those of you who are interested in further reading.

Sony LCD set a new HDTV sdantard at CES Las Vegas.The best is yet to come Sharp,Sony,Samsung.LG from 40 to 50 Inch LCD.
Finally a true view HDTV at 1080P.Not this 720p BS that we have been led to belive is HDTV standard. I now get 1080I will it be converted to 1080P, REMEMBER 480i to 480p?

Two points favoring the DLP units.

Since the DLP is based on tiny mirrors, there is no burn in.

The life expectancy of the DLP unit is longer, or so I have read.

Both have a light source that may need to be changed at some point, so I would look into that cost and the ease of changing for each.

LCD as well does not suffer burn-in.

Sony LCD set a new HDTV sdantard at CES Las Vegas.The best is yet to come Sharp,Sony,Samsung.LG from 40 to 50 Inch LCD.
Finally a true view HDTV at 1080P.Not this 720p BS that we have been led to belive is HDTV standard. I now get 1080I will it be converted to 1080P, REMEMBER 480i to 480p?


The only model capable of native 1080p is a LCos 57" Toshiba
Maybe I'm wrong....

Saw both together today Sony LCD Hands Down.

That was the past it's a new world.

I have had a Samsung DLP for about 9 months and my family is thrilled. The Sony LCD has a good picture as well. I don't think you can go wrong with either. After reviewing a lot of information I primarily chose my DLP based on reliability and support.

Good luck with your decision.

excellent accurate, no-nonsense review. I have the Sony but the massive # of bad sets out there is a concern. I'm sure Sony had fixed it by the time my set was made in May, but does anyone know for sure?

Selling both the Samsung DLP and the Sony LCD is interesting because of the excellence of both. The DLP seems to have a little more contrast giving brighter colors while the LCD has a more natural picture. There is no burn-in on either set. The DLP has a blacker black while the LCD has a dark gray black. Life expectancy is equal and while the bulb life is about 7 years on each, there is still a question about the reliability of the color wheel. TI has not yet experienced any problems with the color wheel. So, it boils down to what picture you prefer, what style you like and the cost of each (which are about equal everywhere.) Hope this helps.

Sony's LCD tv on the market is capable of 1080 I while the DLP of Samsung is capable of 720p...however if you look at the pedestal model DLPs...they use the 1080p processor...and eventually so will the stand set DLPs...there both excellent televisions...so choose the one you like the most...whether based on looks, or personal preference...or even flipping a coin...

i see that the dlp has a pc input which is very nice, but i am still leaning toward the sony. i do want to hook my computer up to it though. does anyone have any info on how difficult it is and what kind of picture you get. i see that each has a plug called dvi in the back, but i am not sure what this is used for. any help?

i see that the dlp has a pc input which is very nice, but i am still leaning toward the sony. i do want to hook my computer up to it though. does anyone have any info on how difficult it is and what kind of picture you get. i see that each has a plug called dvi in the back, but i am not sure what this is used for. any help?

DVI is an all digital connection that on a lot of todays components output 1080i...and a lot of modern computer graphic cards have as well so you could connect your PC that way as well...but of course if you use the DVI connection for the PC then that only leaves component connections for the other devices...unless you buy a DVI switch box over the net...I personally cannot tell the difference between 1080i and 720p unless the monitor exceeds the dimensions of 10ftx15ft...the the scan lines in 1080i are like the size of my pinky finger in that case...

Hey I'm new to the forum. Found you guys 'cuz I'm looking into satellite providers. Decided to go with VOOM and I'm getting it installed next week.

Don't know if you've made your decision yet since it's been a while since this thread was originally posted.

I've had the Sony KF-50WE610 for about two months now. I compared the Samsung DLP and Sony (along with the Panasonic LCD and Toshiba LCOS) at several locations.

Overall on SD and DVD material I found they both produce a very similar picture with the Samsung having a little better detail in the blacks while the Sony seemed to have a more vivid image.

With HD material however, things are much different. On the Samsung, HD material didn't look much different than SD material - good but hardly impressive. On the Sony, HD material looked very life-like (except for the issue with the blacks).

There was no denying the Sony had better color saturation, contrast and a sharper, more detailed picture.

So for me it was hands down Sony because I knew I'd want to watch HD signals.

I'll have a review when I get VOOM up and running.

I also purchased DVDO's iScan HD video scaling processor so all of my sources - CATV, DVD, VHS, are being up-res'd to 720p. Overall picture is improved over Sony's internal video processing especially CATV which didn't look that great at 50" before. :)

I am also looking at getting a new TV and I was between the Samsung DLP and the Sony LCD.

However, the main thing that I want to watch on the TV is sporting events.

Can anybody tell me which is better for Sporting events? Fast action? I heard the Sony LCD might blur a little.

- Jim

I use to think that the color wheel inside of a DLP set would be an issue. One of the reasons I resisted DLP, then I thought, hey I have spinning platers that run all day in the system I am using to type this. If the technology is similar to HD's there should be no problems with the spinning color wheel technology.

the dlps have a spinning color wheel--lcd does not--dlp color lamps are 300.00 each-lcd costs 200.00 for the one lamp-dlp gives some headaches while viewing--lcd does not-etc on and on--just buy whatever and cross your fingers

My service tech, who deals with all the brands said that in today's market, he'd still buy a DLP because the LCD technology is much more complicated and has potential for more things to go wrong (in my mind, that means dreaded *dead pixels*, although I didn't ask what could go wrong).

Can't have dead pixels on a projection screen.....

I'm certainly not up to speed on all the technical nuances of LCD rear projection, but several sales people in different stores have mentioned to me that the rear projection LCD's have a 'dead pixel policy' and a few have been returned because of pixel problems :confused:

I bought a Sony GWIII in early August of 2004. This is a 50" GWIII.
Compared it to Toshiba and a few other DLP's. Wider horizontal viewing angle and better display of SD on the Sony. Rich colors in HD and SD. The Sony Twin View Mode it also nice.

I am very pleased with my 50" Sony GWIII.

Alan

Sony's LCD tv on the market is capable of 1080 I while the DLP of Samsung is capable of 720p...however if you look at the pedestal model DLPs...they use the 1080p processor...and eventually so will the stand set DLPs...there both excellent televisions...so choose the one you like the most...whether based on looks, or personal preference...or even flipping a coin...

This is not correct. Both the Sony & Sammy DLPs are both 720p native. The CURRENT Sammy pedastal model is also still 720p, with the 1080p models coming midyear.

DLP has better contrast than LCD, this is why it produces better blacks.

It is easily possible to have 'dead pixels' on a projection set... The projector just enlarges the image of the microdisplay - if IT has dead pixels they will be visible on the screen. Dead pixels on a 3 chip device usually mean a color abberation of the pixel (lack of red or green or blue) since you'd have to have identically placed dead ones to make it black.