Give those LCDs a run for their money!

Everyone and their brother has (or wants) LCD or plasma these days. For under $2000 you can find a nice set for your family room, meaning that the once-popular DLP displays are disappearing. Samsung continues to offer DLPs -- and for the money, they actually surpass a comparably priced LCD or plasma! This set is no exception.

Samsung continues their trend of "piano black" styling with this set. It is finished in a beautiful gloss black plastic up front, with a very thin bezel. The trademark Samsung power button resides at the bottom in the middle of the speaker bar. The rest of the case is a standard flat black plastic with the requisite vents and holes. The TV looks very nice no matter where you put it, or what you put it on. I'm glad to see Samsung sticking with this tried-and-true styling, as I've always thought their TVs looked classy and high-tech. (many other brands are now copying it)

The set is about 18" deep, which makes it fit without any major problems on most medium-sized stands/cabinets. It obviously isn't as thin as an LCD, but most people are placing LCDs on stands anyways, making the wall-mount argument rather moot.

The input/output panel is on the side, which is good and bad. You get a lot of inputs, obviously -- 3 HDMI 1.3, component, VGA, optical audio, etc. The side placement makes quick hook-ups and cable swaps very easy, as you don't need to reach around back or look on the underside. However, depending on your stand/cabinet, it can make things look cluttered. Make sure you get some velcro cable wraps to keep things more organized.

Picture quality? Better than LCD or plasma, hands-down. Compared to my parents' Sharp Aquos 1080p display, this is brighter, crisper, and offers stronger contrast. Color reproduction is also far more neutral. This was the main draw to the DLP -- the picture quality is very good for the price. There is an actual lamp in back, which is why the screen is almost TOO bright. I have found it necessary to drop the brightness slightly when the room is dark, or else my eyes start to hurt. I suggest running a calibration disc to get things adjusted correctly. You'll find some built in "DNIe" picture modes that can help with quickly dimming the lamp.

Contrast is what DLPs are known for as well, and I find that this one is again better than LCD and plasma. Shadow detail is phenomenal, and black & white movies look nothing short of insane. It's great to have such a moderately priced TV turn really old movies into a whole new experience. We watched some scenes from "It's a Wonderful Life" and were actually very impressed with the quality of the film -- it's no longer washed out and hazy, even on a DVD.

Color is very vivid, and has a fairly neutral white point. LCDs tend to be more "cool", and plasmas more "warm". This takes the middle-ground and stays neutral. If you prefer cool or warm, you can adjust it accordingly. After calibration, I find that the colors are still very intense and rich. I don't think the color detail is quite as good as a plasma, but for the money you will not find something that performs this well.

You're getting a full 1080p 120Hz display here, something you'd have to spend considerably more on for LCD/plasma. 1080p is commonplace, meaning you'll get 1920x1080 resolution -- great for upconverting DVD players, Blu-ray, computer/HTPC, and even PS3/XBOX 360. Even when showing 720p and 1080i images, the screen still keeps things very crisp and clear, another benefit of DLP. Samsung uses something called CinemaSmooth to help remove some of the jagged edges on lower-resolution pictures, so even non-HDTV signals look good on this set.

The big thing here is that you're getting a 120Hz refresh rate, which further reduces motion blur and jagged edges. In short, the screen redraws the image twice as often as a 60Hz set. For Blu-ray especially, this is very helpful for fast-action and complex scenes (crowds, etc). I don't think 120Hz is absolutely necessary, but it does help those HDTV signals look a little better, and offers some future-proofing.

You're also ready to get free HDTV with the ATSC "over the air" tuner, and a QAM tuner to decode digital cable. All you need is either an HD-ready antenna, or a basic cable package to start receiving HDTV. Your cable provider may tell you to get a box...but you don't need it!

Don't bother with the integrated speakers -- they're muddy and underpowered. I frankly expected better, as even my parents' Aquos provides good sound. Even with the gimmicky "TruSurround", everything is too quiet and dull. Just take the plunge and buy a decent amp/speaker system, or even a home-theater-in-a-box.

The remote is nothing to write home about, and should feel familiar to anyone with other Samsung components. I opted to use a Logitech Harmony remote, so I can't really comment on the included one. It's a cheap remote, so don't expect anything too amazing.

The menus and navigation are again typical Samsung. They're fairly intuitive and you aren't bombarded with too many "advanced options" on most screens, but pro-users like me can still get access to them. Be sure to play around with the settings until you find what works best; I again recommend a cheap $20 calibration disc to get the most out of the set.

Warranty is one year parts/labor, and you can of course add a bigger warranty through the store. This set still uses a bulb (LED ones cost almost double), so plan to replace the bulb in 3-5 years. This only runs you about $200, fortunately. Since this set does use a bulb, it does run warm. Be sure you have decent ventilation or the bulb will burn out quickly. I recommend against an enclosed entertainment center unless it has good airflow out the top and/or back. I've seen some people mount computer case fans at the top of their entertainment center to help with this.