I am looking to purchase the Samsung HLP4674W
DLP tv. This is there 4th generation model.
From what I've heard, this is "the set"!
Anyone purchase this set yet? Any info on other
top contenders from 42-46"?
Thanks

i would not purchase a samsung. they are cheaply made and prone to failure. i am speaking in general about their products, but also specifically about their tvs/dlps. i have known people who have had numerous issues with them and have had seen for myself ones that have gone bad.

I personally have heard good things about the Samsung DLP's and know two owners. One bought the 46 inch 3 years ago when it first came out and the other just bought the 61 inch a few months ago, and neither have had any problems.

I have a 30' direct view Samsung HD widescreen that I purchased 2 years ago and I have been very pleased with it.

I would just research and find as many topics on the Samsung as possible and then go on test viewings. JVC's D-ILA sets are based on a LCoS technology and also have gotten good press, but do not have a 43 or 46. Their screen size starts at 51'

I have looked at both the Samsung and the JVC side by side and they both look great. The JVC, I personally thought, had better color seperation and a more vivid picture overall. Both pictures were bright and razor sharp.

The 2nd generation JVC's have supposedly addressed the noisy fans and heat problems.

Mitsubishi's DLP also is a great set, but expect to pay $500.00 to $1500.00 more than the Samsung or JVC depending on the screen size, which starts at 50'.

I've got a co-worker who sweated the HDTV upgrade options for at least a year, maybe longer, before finally picking up a 43" Samsung DLP set last year. He's been very pleased with it for DVD, HD via digital cable, and standard definition digital cable. Since my circumstances have not been conducive to a rear projection set, I haven't followed the market as closely as many others have.

I own a 50" Samsung DLP and I've been quite pleased with it. The HLP 4674 and its big brother, the 5674, have the HD2+ chip while the other models (the xx63 series) this year have the HD3 chip. IIRC, the biggest difference is that the HD2+ has better contrast ratio. I'd try to view them side by side to see if you can see a difference. These sets have a native resolution of 720p. The next generation sets will have 1080p, due out this year or early next year (if you believe manufacturers' estimates).

Make sure you watch the set for awhile and make sure you're not one of the people who see rainbows with this technology.

There's a ton of information on these sets over at AVS forum.

I can vouch for the Philips 62" LCoS. I couldn't be happier with it so far. (knock on wood) Just realize that Philips is no longer making LCoS units and that Intel is getting out of the chip manufacturing. It's one of the reasons I went for the extended warranty even though I don't on most electronic purchases.

The upside is the price is coming down. I saw the 55" unit on sale at Best Buy a few weeks ago for $2250.

So who’s left to carry on? Mitsubishi?

I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm because I know how exciting a purchase like this can be but I just gave up on digital rear projection. I've always been a RPTV proponent when it came to CRT sets so when the new digital sets started coming down in price with better resolutions I thought it was time to go shopping. That was about two years ago. I was initially drawn to the Samsung. It had a picture that grabbed you and they seemed like they were the value leader in giving you the most bang for the buck. Then as I got more serious about upgrading I started spending more time analyzing the picture and I started seeing an artificial texture overlaid on the image. It is most noticable on bright solid colored objects. It can look like fine grained sandpaper, even sparkling a bit like sunshine on fresh snow. It's one of those things that once you pick it up you can't stop focusing on it and it destroyed my enjoyment of the otherwise very good picture. By adding texture to distant objects it can fool your brain into thinking the object must be closer than it really is. To me, this ruins the three dimensionality of the image. It looks compressed front to back. Initially I thought it must be something inherent in the dlp technology but now I think it is a combination of the digital imaging combined with the rear projection screen material. Not too long ago I was in a store looking at a $4k digital RPTV and trying to decide if I could live with it and right above this set was a $2k CRT based HD RPTV about the same size with the same program material. While the CRT set didn't grab you with it's brilliant colors like the digital set did, the CRT was much more 3 dimensional and lifelike. It had more of that "looking out a window" feel to it. The digital set looked artificial by comparison. That's when I realized I had to expand the scope of my shopping. Front projectors have been coming down in price so I thought I should maybe take a look. After looking at a few "good" demos I immediately realized the false texturing was not due to the digital projection itself as much as it's implementation in a rear projection set. Last week I bought a BenQ PE8700+ front projector and am one happy camper. If front projection simply isn't possible for you I would reconsider a CRT RPTV. I know, I know, it's not as glamorous as one of those razzmatazz digital sets everyone is talking about but hey, it's all about the picture quality isn't it? My well tweeked 7 year old Toshiba RPTV still wows some people, even with standard definition. And the CRT based sets are at real bargain prices right now.

Yes, Tekdredger, I've noticed that too but I thought it was just my eyes. Thanks for the input.

I must agree with Tek. I started looking around last year at DLP and once I got past the animation that stores love to use to showoff their big screens, I realized that as nice and brilliant as the pictures were, that none of them (at least in my price range) seemed to produce colors in a realistic fashion, especially dark shades, which all seemed to somewhat run together. I started looking at CRT based RPTV's and was very surprised at the detail, the depth and richness of the colors, and the overall quality of the picture. I was never a proponent of RPTV, in fact I had pretty much dismissed it based on those I had seen over the years, but the new HD sets just blew me away. Since space was not a concern for me, and the CRT RPTV's picture was at least as good as the new DLP's I had seen, it came down to do I want a larger screen using old technology for less money, or do I want a smaller screen for more money but with the new technology. I ended up getting a 65" CRT based RPTV for cheap (relatively) and I am extremely satisfied. True, the thing is huge and heavy and the off axis vewing isn't as good as the new stuff, but watching movies and especially High Def is just phenomenal.