If your in the market for a great HDTV at a great price then the Samsung HL61A750 is an excellent choice. This DLP rear projection television is a CNET Editors Choice winner and sports a crystal clear picture with a nice variety of features for tweaking the picture and adding components to the set itself. One of the nice features is how the back connection matrix is offset on the side of the TV for easy connection of your DVD players, home theaters, and so forth, even when the TV is pushed all the way against the wall.

The Samsung HL61A750 HDTV is one of the best picture size to price ratios you will find on the market. This is not only a great deal for those looking to get more bang for their buck, more picture size for the price, and super high quality as well, but it’s also topping the charts in good reviews over all in quality, features, even warranty.

This 61 inch HL61A750 DLP television is also designed for efficient look and feel in a room, sporting an ultra efficient border around the screen that puts very little visible frame around the screen bringing the look and feel of this television to life just like it’s flat screen LCD counter part when backed against the wall.

With its 3D Ready feature you will see the images of your video games and movies surround you with a whole new experience in home theater video. Some additional hardware is required to watch 3D video. You will need a set of wireless 3D glasses with an IR emitter and a personal computer (PC) connected through an HDMI cable. This as not a deterrent as it permits you to view all of your digital media (MP3’s, MP4’s, MPEG’s, AVI’s, DIVX and more) in life-like detail on your television. The separate 3D glasses even includes software that allows you to experience 2D DVD video in 3D perspective.

Although the rear projection television models are on their way out this DLP model is anything but archaic or played out. The HL61A750 television sports many of the latest features of flat screen LCD HDTV sets sacrificing nothing in the way of innovativeness and style.

This is a great HDTV for a range of different types of media from Blue Ray to DVD to Internet stations like Hulu. Although in extreme left or right side conditions the picture tends to fade a bit the range of view is very good for this television and you’ll get no complaints from viewers in different sides of the room. Watching this television at close range of about seven feet will give you an incredible picture that feels like your sitting in the theatre (with the lights off) bringing the home theatre genre into focus. With connections built in for external home theater speakers and amplifiers, this Samsung HL61A750 will upgrade for a long time to come.

Features:

• Built-in digital tuner (ATSC/NTSC/Clear QAM)

• Full HD-grade 1920 (H) x 1080 (V) pixel resolution

• Widescreen aspect ratio

• 10,000:1 contrast ratio

• DNIe™ Digital Natural Image Engine

• CinemaPure™ 120Hz color engine

• LED (Light Emitting Diode) backlight

• Ultra-wide color gamut exceeds NTSC defined color space

• 480i/480p/1080i/1080p (60Hz/30Hz/24Hz) input support

• One tuner Picture-in-Picture

• SRS TruSurround XT™

• SRS TruSurround XT™

• 3 HDMI inputs (side)

• 2 Component video inputs (side)

• S-video input (side)

• 2 Composite inputs (side)

• PC input (side)

• WiseLink™ Pro (USB 2.0 MPEG)

• RF antenna input

• Digital optical audio output (side)

• 3D Ready

• Universal remote control

• ENERGY STAR qualified

Cons:
- All rear projection TVs are subject to something called Silk Screen Effect (due to the screen material used). Think of it as someone holding up a silk screen or clear panty hose up against the screen, and trying to watch TV through it. While it can be downplayed by lowering the contrast ratio, it cannot be eliminated. This set has a fair amount of Silk Screen Effect, generally only noticeable when watching a bright scene. A lot of people only notice it when watching all white events, such as hockey or skiing. But I notice it sometimes in other colors as well, and it’s annoying when I do. It detracts from the “3D” experience that you get when watching a high-end plasma. My wife has not noticed it at all though, so maybe I’m just being picky.
- Check out the owners thread for this set on AVS Forums. This model has pretty big geometry problems. Again, pretty much every set has it, but the seriousness varies from set to set. Basically the casing used to house the TV is very thin and flimsy, and the outside borders are not always straight. For example, my set has a dip in the top middle of the screen, and a rise in the bottom middle of the screen. Pull up a linear grid from the service menu and you will be able to see just how bad the bowing is. Luckily for me, I never notice the bowing when I watch something. But it can be seen if you are looking directly at the bowing. I also have serious bowing on the side black bars when I watch 4:3 standard definition content (looks like an hourglass shape). I do not watch much SD content so it doesn’t bother me that much. Again, check out AVS Forums and you will see a lot of people have returned or exchanged this set due to bowing problems.
- Sound quality is pretty poor. I hooked up a 5.1 surround system and never expect to use the internal speakers again. Make sure you invest in a surround package if you buy this TV.
- Standard definition content looks terrible. Trying to watch “Seinfeld” re-runs on TBS or an SD baseball game is not enjoyable at all.
Overall, mainly due to Silk Screen Effect, I would say I prefer the picture of my Panasonic PZ85U plasma over this Samsung A750. But a 60″+ plasma is very expensive and that is why I am happy with my Samsung purchase. You get 90% of a high-end plasma’s picture quality, at a much lower price.