For my test, I used 1.33 and 1.78 anamorphic test signals and movie demos, and I found Samsung's digital chassis to offer an accurate picture. For example, the set keeps the level of black images consistent, no matter what the rest of the picture does. Also, the display has both an accurate color decoder and good CRT phosphor colors, creating a picture with a more-natural and more-accurate color palette. Unfortunately, Samsung's calibration of the color temperature tints the image blue, and there are no user-adjustable settings. However, technicians trained by the Imaging Science Foundation (www.imagingscience.com) can calibrate the set to a more-accurate level. The results are well worth the effort.

An additional advantage is the HCJ655W's comb filter, which does a good job of decoding composite images. This eliminates cross-color artifacts and most dot crawl and hanging dots, resulting in sharper transitions between colors. The only nonadjustable feature is SVM, or scan-velocity modulation, which "enhances" midlevel resolutions at the expense of finer details. Compared with the SVM on the Philips 64PH9905 HDTV we reviewed last month, the Samsung's image appears sharper, although the Philips set could resolve finer details. Another side effect of SVM is a slight ringing (or ghost) to the right of vertical images. Overall, though, the Samsung's image has good detail, with excellent, accurate colors.

HD images looked equally vibrant and colorful. The digital decoder does a good job of receiving and decoding digital signals, with artifacts only becoming noticeable on fast-moving, fine details. As I mentioned, NTSC signals and lower-resolution DTV signals are all converted to 1080i. Samsung's upconversion process performs as well as most other rear-projection sets, except for the occasional artifacts that occur, again, with fast-moving images. On Samsung's HCH551W 55-inch rear projector (August '99 issue), I found that the upconversion process softened the picture. With the HCJ655W's 9-inch CRTs, though, the image is considerably sharper. I preferred the filled-in look of the Samsung when compared with the Philips display, which line-doubles the image to 480p and exhibits noticeable line structure.

The only real problem with the Samsung's image is a graininess, or noise, that seems to permeate the picture. Test signals revealed that images that fade from light to dark don't quite fade; instead, they step in blocks from one level to the next. The transition from each step contains noise that, presumably, is adding the appearance of grain to the image.

Overall, Samsung has done a commendable job with their 65-inch set. The user interface (i.e., the remote, onscreen graphics, and manual) is not only simple and easy, but it's aesthetically attractive. This is probably one of the best interfaces I've seen and only needs various color-temperature settings and a zoom mode for nonanamorphic widescreen images to be enjoyed by everyone. The natural color palette, stable black level, and good comb filter offer an accurate picture. Combine these features with the resolution capabilities of the 9-inch CRTs, and you've got the makings of a killer TV. The only things holding this set back are the slight motion artifacts and graininess in the image. Samsung is poised to do extremely well in the rear-projection market.

Highlights
• Nine-inch CRTs, for better resolution with HDTV images
• Excellent user interface HT Labs Measures: Samsung HCJ655W HDTV

HT Labs Measures:Samsung HCJ655W HDTV

The above chart shows the gray scale (or color temperature) of the Samsung HDTV and the color points of the display's red, green, and blue tubes. The gray scale measures off the scale (above 16,000 Kelvin) toward blue, as set by the manufacturer. The blue line shows that, as the image gets brighter, the color temperature becomes more neutral, although never dropping below 9,500 K. After making adjustments using the PTV color analyzer, the gray scale (in red) tracked extremely close to the industry standard of D6500 K. The HCJ655W's red and green color points are extremely close to those specified by SMPTE. We had originally received a different sample that had test images burned into the screen. The first sample used a red CRT phosphor color that also matched those specified for HDTV. As the above chart shows, the second sample's red phosphor is significantly more orange than the SMPTE color. The light output was approximately 10 foot-lamberts.—MW