Samsung 32" Slimfit HDTV, Plasma/LCD alternative

BopNiblets

Just picked up this baby from Powercity, €700



Just thought if your looking to buy it might be nice if you don't want to splash out on an LCD or Plasma.

It's 32" 100MHz, Teletext, S-Video and all that stuff.
But it's a slim CRT, 1/3rd thinner than normal CRTs (and slimmer than my old 28" Panasonic CRT!)
Samsung have a video demo of it here.

Stay classy.

digiman

What do you think of the picture quality of this tv? Is the one you got for €700 definitely HDTV? as that price seems a bit cheap for it.
My parents are looking at buying a new tv at xmas and they really like the look of the one you bought. I was trying to advise them to go for this one Samsung 32" LCD, would it be worth the extra money? Also is 3000:1 contrast ratio better than 1000:1 contrast ratio?

bucks73

It does not have a HDMI or DVI input but it does have component which will accept a signal from Skys HD digibox but thats about it.

Specs can be found here.

Just had a look at the demo and it looks quite nice. The US version does indeed have HD inputs.

BopNiblets

digiman wrote:

What do you think of the picture quality of this tv? Is the one you got for €700 definitely HDTV? as that price seems a bit cheap for it.
My parents are looking at buying a new tv at xmas and they really like the look of the one you bought. I was trying to advise them to go for this one Samsung 32" LCD, would it be worth the extra money? Also is 3000:1 contrast ratio better than 1000:1 contrast ratio?

Certainly better than my old Philips but that's over 10 years old at this stage, I can only really compare it to our other TVs which are both 14" and I have to say the quality and contrast is excellent for a CRT (and there is a picture quality equalizer type thing in the menu, to turn up/down brightness and sharpness etc.)
I have an LCD for my PC but obviously that's better quality.
I'm re-watching my LOTR DVDs on it though and the quality is perfect.
TV quality is very good aswell, there are a few stations that seem a bit off, (like Sky News) but nothing I'm gonna moan about.
I'm not actually sure if it's HDTV ready, it said it was and I thought it was a bonus as I wasn't really interested in having HDTV, that technology is still pretty far off in my mind, so you might want to check up on that.
Is it just a different input socket? Cos I can tell you what it has and hasn't got.

copacetic

I had a look at this and liked them, however a 1/3 slimmer is till a lot thicker than an LCD and I needed the slim screen more than anything else. This was I think 10 times deeper than the LCD I ended up getting..

Sparky

well no dvi or HDMI means its not "HD Ready", its more "HD Compatable" than anything else. But it does have Component which means a HD signal can get there.
But this could be the product that breaks the ice in terms of getting people to buy new tv's for the oncome of HD, thats when they put a dvi and HDMI in it so that the likes of myself would buy it.
Personally id prefere to stick to buying my 37" flat lcd, but only because its going on a wall.
Btw they dont seem to do bigger than 32 do they?

looked on powercity website and there is another samsung tv thats simular to yours and is dearer, i wonder why, could it have all the connections?
http://www.powercity.ie/test.asp?par=10-04-32Z30

I noticed aswell it doesnt have 720p, i wonder would this pose a problem

jones

i remember hearing some bad reviews of the samsung slim tube tv's!!! i recently bought a 32" panasonic 100 Hz for €800 with a nice bulky back haha

BopNiblets

Any links to reviews?
Mine is ok so far... *peeps into his living room*

jones

thing is i cant remember exactly where i read them!! it was about two weeks ago when i was looking to get a new tv!!! i'll see can i find the reviews again (i think it was as much little comments as a actual review but you cant really dudge a tv by them)

how do you find the picture/sound?? i have to say its a tasty lookin set and for 700 you cant go wrong (looks over at bulky Panasonic with scorn)

secret_squirrel

BopNiblets wrote:

Any links to reviews?
Mine is ok so far... *peeps into his living room*

Most of the usual hifi mags have reviewed it at this stage. And have given it mid range scored at best due to picture geometry issues. Apparent the bends in the picture due to the slimeline tube are really obvious around the edges. So much that some of the picture gets chopped.

ROVER

I was about to buy this TV in DID as it is a great looking TV. However I changed my mind after reading this fourm http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229814&page=1&pp=15&highlight=SLIM+FIT

The geometry is very bad see link http://www.berniemac.org.uk/lickmyeyepatch/modules/Uploads/Uploads/captain_bombbeard/DSCN2312.JPG you really notice it if there are straight lines in the picture or ticker tape. I went and saw it my self in the shop when sky news was on, the problems exists in the 306 and 308 model.

I am now going to get the Sony 32" KV -32CS71B or JVC AV3245SR both
100 hz tvs. Can anyone advise which is better?

digiman

The lines are really bad, that would certainly put me of the tv anyway. I think I will have to persuade the parents to get something else.
Again does anyone know which is better in contrast ratios?
3000:1 or 1000:1?

BopNiblets

digiman wrote:

The lines are really bad, that would certainly put me of the tv anyway. I think I will have to persuade the parents to get something else.
Again does anyone know which is better in contrast ratios?
3000:1 or 1000:1?

Meh, I didn't really notice any major geometry issues, although I thought the DVDs I played in 16:9 did look a bit stretched, but once I went to Zoom 1 picture mode it was fine.
Great, now you guys will make me be looking for errors so I can hate my brand new TV! YOU GUYS SUCK! :mad:

(just kidding, unless it's true)

dreddredd

Hi All,
Currys now have this tv for 600 euro. I am aware of the problem with the geometry and have seen it up close.

Has anyone else seen any other major problems with this tv? I am not ready to splash out on a LCD or plasma just yet and this is within my budget.

Any thoughts?

monomaniac

BopNiblets wrote:

Great, now you guys will make me be looking for errors so I can hate my brand new TV!

Yeah - me too! I bought this TV a few months ago - found it very good so far. I have my PC connected to it and the picture is fantastic for a s-video connection.

Don't have digital tv so haven't really noticed this geometry issue that people mention. Can you not adjust the geometry?

dreddredd

As for fixing the geometry

Have a look at the avforum here

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1840240&highlight=pdf#post1840240

They have a pdf here that details some settings.

Have a gander..

Benedict XVI

dreddredd wrote:

As for fixing the geometry

Have a look at the avforum here

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1840240&highlight=pdf#post1840240

They have a pdf here that details some settings.

Have a gander..

Would the situation below be an example of this gometry problem ?

TV worked fine for 18 months, moved the TV from one location to another(well protected, 3 hour drive)
Set up the TV. After about 20 -35 mins the screen will expand at the edges and sink in the center. See file attached for example on 4:3 picture size setting.
When you switch to Auto Wide or 16:9 the distortion remains. Very hard to watch sport with it when the goalposts look bent and warped.
The manual makes reference to leaving the TV un plugged for 30 mins to 'degausse' the TV after moving it , I did that and it was fine for about 30 mins and the picture distoretd again

monomaniac

Yep - I had similar problems with my tv.

Actually looking back at my last post in this thread on 10-01-2006 I was pretty happy with this tv at the time.

However since then:
- I moved house and shortly after moving the tube in the TV started giving off a really annoying high pitched noise. It was very intermittent so very annoying and difficult to test.
- It was still under warranty and took it back to the shop.
- They agreed there was a problem and replaced the tube themselves.
- Got it back and the geometry was slightly screwed up.
- I should really have taken it back again but because it was away for 3-4 weeks and the hassle of transporting it to the local shop I held off on this.
- Downloaded the service manual for this tv.
- Spent weeks mucking around with the geometry settings but never really got anywhere near as good as it used to be.
- Jan 07 - bought a samsung LCD from Currys. Haven't looked back since.

If you want it repaired then lookup your nearest authorised Samsung service centre.
I don't recommend going near the service manual yourself.

Benedict XVI

monomaniac wrote:

Yep - I had similar problems with my tv.

Actually looking back at my last post in this thread on 10-01-2006 I was pretty happy with this tv at the time.

However since then:
- I moved house and shortly after moving the tube in the TV started giving off a really annoying high pitched noise. It was very intermittent so very annoying and difficult to test.
- It was still under warranty and took it back to the shop.
- They agreed there was a problem and replaced the tube themselves.
- Got it back and the geometry was slightly screwed up.
- I should really have taken it back again but because it was away for 3-4 weeks and the hassle of transporting it to the local shop I held off on this.
- Downloaded the service manual for this tv.
- Spent weeks mucking around with the geometry settings but never really got anywhere near as good as it used to be.
- Jan 07 - bought a samsung LCD from Currys. Haven't looked back since.

If you want it repaired then lookup your nearest authorised Samsung service centre.
I don't recommend going near the service manual yourself.

Sorry to hear that about you Slimfit, looks like mine could be going the same way (no buzzing noise though)
I have had a quick read of the service manual and it looks like the H-Parabola that is off on my set.
I will give it a try later today and if it is not an easy fix I'll get on to the service centre (there is one a few hours away according to the TVs manual)

monomaniac

I cannot emphasise enough to take a note of the settings before you start changing them - I discovered this the hard way!

After that everytime I made a change I would take a quick digital pic of the settings (the lazy way!).

Unless you have a copy of that service video (with the lines and shapes etc) that is referenced in the manual it can be pretty tricky to get it perfect.
Though hopefully your experience won't be as bad as mine.

Good luck!

BopNiblets

Hey, this old thread, heh.
Mine hasn't shown any signs of dying just yet... *crosses fingers*

DuPLeX

I'm thinking of buying one of these , I'm wondering exactly what are the geometry problems you are having ?:D

BopNiblets

Well the newer models might not have the problems my one has
It's not reeeeeally noticeable, but sometimes when a show or movie is panning left/right, up/down, the picture looks like, you know when you look at the horizon and it shimmers on a hot day? It looks like that in a very tiny effect.

I wouldn't buy one today though, when I got it in 2005 it was a stepping stone TV before HD LCD ones became a bit more standard and available here.

mathias

With 32 inch lcd's at the picture quality and price they are now , that Samsung slimfit is pretty much a dead product , 32 inch samsung LCD's are outstanding picture quality from any type of picture source and are now selling between 600 - 700 euro.

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=329508