Samsung HL-T5087S 50 in. HDTV DLP TV

I had my heart set on the Sony KDS-50A3000 sXRD rear-projection TV. Based on the reviews and what I know about the pros and cons of DLP, LCD, LCoS and Plasma, I thought that the Sony was hands-down the best choice. But when I went to my local Fry's Electronics, my wife simply wasn't crazy about the Sony. Even I had to admit that I was a little let down by the overall picture quality. It was good, but I was expecting WOW. Then we saw the Samsung HL-T5087S. That one we thought WOW. Just goes to show that despite all the reviews you read, it is always best to check things out in person first.

A little background. I have a 24" deep entertainment shelf which can accomodate any size TV as the width of the shelf is almost the width of my living room. But since the depth of the shelf is a given, I really didn't stand to gain anything by purchasing a flatscreen. In my bedroom, the flatscreen made sense which is why I have one there now. But for the living room, I figured that the added cost of having a flatscreen didn't really make sense since there are excellent rear-projection digital TVs out there for several hundreds of dollars less for a given size and feature set.

So in choosing a new TV, I considered the pros and cons of the various technologies.

Plasma - Excellent picture, closest to CRT quality. Good colors and blacks and no motion blurring. But burn-in potential is high and the lifespan is still iffy. I know that they have increased lifespans, but even with the longest lasting technology, the screen brightness will dim over time. Plus the cost for 1080p at around 50" was around $2000 to start.

LCD - No burn-in and picture quality of the latest models is very good. But blacks are still not handled very well and motion blur is very noticeable. The latest LED-based LCD models much better, but too pricey right now.

LCoS (sXRD) - No burn-in and great picture. The black levels I noticed were very good compared to other LCD type technologies I've seen. But the colors didn't quite pop out for me on the Sony. I like the idea of the color separation of having 3 separate chips. However, I have heard that there is a small chance that with the three chips you could one day have a convergence problem (3 colors not lining up perfectly). Nevertheless, the brightness and picture quality were better than typical DLP models. I also don't like the idea that the bulb may last only a couple years and can cost hundreds of dollars to replace. One final note. The Sony KDS-50A3000 features 120MHz technology to help reduce motion blur. But I still noticed it so it doesn't completely eliminate it. Viewing angle was decent, but not as good as the flatscreens. One final minus. It seems Sony has since discontinued with their rear-screen models.

DLP - This has been around longest and the technology is proven reliable. No burn-in and single DLP chip ensures no convergence issues. Motion blur is neglible. But in regular DLP models, the brightness levels left something to be desired especially in a bright room. My friend has a previous Samsung model and I noticed that in a bright room, the picture can look somewhat washed out. The color wheel scheme means that you don't have discreet colors. Also some folks can see the rainbow effect, though I am not one of them. In a very quiet room, you can sometimes hear the fan and also the color wheel turning. Finally the same issue with viewing angle and bulb life applies to DLP as with LCoS.

Now getting back to the Samsung HL-T5087S, I have found what I believe to be the best rear-projection TV out there. The typical limitations of DLP are gone. With the LED light engine, you now have 3 discreet color LED arrays. No more color wheel. The brightness is the best I have seen in a rear screen. The screen has an anti-reflective surface and even when my living room is bathed in light (common) I see no issues with faded pictures and annoying reflections. Plus the LED light engine should last the life of the TV. No bulbs to replace. The LED array runs cooler than typical lamps, so I never hear any fan noise. It uses much less energy and starts up much quicker than other DLP sets I have seen. Colors pop and HD in 1080i is simply amazing. DVDs from my non-upconverting DVD player look amazing as well. I cannot believe how great normal DVDs look. I haven't even tried Blu-Ray yet.

I like that the controls and inputs are on the right side. It is very handy to be able to see all my connections without having to climb behind the set. The USB slot allows you to view pictures or listen to MP3s from a USB stick. I actually plugged in my Nikon D80 via USB and the set recognized it without any problems. Viewing pictures of my kids directly from the camera was fantastic.

The menu options are impressive. The options available to tweak the picture and audio was stellar. I even find the sound quality to be quite good for a TV (though I still recommend using your home theater for movies).

Is this TV perfect? No it is not, but then again I don't think any TV is perfect. The viewing angle is still not as great as I'd like especially when sitting on the floor. I lifted the unit about a half inch in the back and that helped immensely. This is really a limitation of any digital rear-screen TV I've seen. One other gripe is the universal remote doesn't work on my Dish Network 211 receiver. But the Dish Network remote works fine for the Samsung so that isn't really too bad a thing. Finally I wish that there was a way to remove unused inputs from the input list when scrolling through the sources. At least you can label the individual inputs to help make it idiot-proof.

All in all, I am extremely happy with this TV. My wife actually loves it too. I feel that the LED light engine is the way to go and I look forward to many good years with this TV. Plus the fact that I paid about $1400 versus about $2000 for comparable LCD/Plasma ensures that I have no regrets about this purchase. If you don't need a flatscreen, this TV is the way to go.