Thursday, February 28, 2013
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Product Description
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VIERA Connect IPTV - More Fun Comes Via a Cloud Service VIERA Connect is a cloud service that provides apps in categories like video and music, social networking, games, news and lifestyle, sports, health and fitness. Learn more about the world of Smart VIERA and VIERA Connect here. |
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1282 in Consumer Electronics
- Size: 47-Inch
- Brand: Panasonic
- Model: TC-L47DT50
- Format: CD-ROM
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 24.90" h x 1.10" w x 42.10" l, 28.70 pounds
- Hard Disk: 500GB
- Display size: 47
Features
- Full HD 3D
- IPS LED Panel
- Vera Connect with Built-in Wi-Fi and Web Browser
- 3D glasses required and sold separately
- Thin LED Design: TV without stand (Width x Height x Depth): 42-Inch x 24.9-Inch x 1.1-Inch, TV with stand (Width x Height x Depth): 42-Inch x 26.7-Inch x 10.5-Inch
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
68 of 76 people found the following review helpful.
Great TV and great support.
By Watchman
This TV is awesome. Great picture and apps. Hooked to 3d Panasonic Blu Ray player and picture phenomenal. One caveat, the bluetooth for the 3d glasses does not work. Panasonic support has been great working with me in trouble shooting this problem. Panasonic made all arrangements for Tech to come and repair. Will update once fix is complete. UPDATE: Main board was replaced and bluetooth is working now. It was not as bad as it sounds, the Tech brought the right part with him and it took about 30 minutes. I took off 1 star due to the problem but would not hesitate to buy another one of these TVs. I've been waiting for several months for Panasonic to put their 2012 lineup on the market and I'm glad I waited. I have 2 other Panny's and the picture is great on all, but especially this one. Almost forgot, the 3D is spectacular on this TV especially with 3d movies. The 2D to 3D is ok but a little hard on my eyes.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful.
Dont quite agree with CNet
By Ananth
I got my 47" TV yesterday. On seeing the cyber monday deal, I was also in two minds given Cnet's scathing review. The TV seemed very good on paper. However, I wanted to get more opinions, and noticed that even though many others had mentioned the contrast issue and black levels, the TV was rated very well. Just as some one else mentioned in a recent review, the avforums review seemed very balanced and comprehensive. After that, I decided to just try it out.
I did have some delivery woes with UPS, and their not-so-careful handling of my package right in front of my very eyes! But the TV is great. I hooked it up last night and it looks great! The design is very sleek, the panel is very glossy, and the images are very good. I spent some time looking at the various picture options, and the sliders for contrast, brightness, sharpness, backlight control. Out of the box the colours were great, but with the customization, they were brilliant. Even the black levels are quite good.
Setting up the internet had one small hitch. The TV was not getting an ip address from my router automatically. I manually set it up, and it was online in a flash. I also downloaded the iPad app for the viera remote, and it is really handy. Particularly to type stuff on the iPad and send it to the browser on the TV!
Played some HD content on the youtube app as well as the youtube site on the browser. Both worked great. Setting up the amazon instant video account was a flash as well.
Tried HD channels like AnimalPlanet, NBC, Nat Geo etc, and the rendering of the closeups, the crispness of the images was very good. Dark scenes had excellent blacks as well. The lighting in my living room is average - low light.
I am yet to try 3D and full HD DVDs. Will update if I find anything interesting.
The one thing I have noticed though is that the backlight on the right end of the panel seems a bit "glowy" compared to the rest of the panel, when nothing is on. I reckon it may just be something that may go away once the TV has run-in a little bit. However, it has not affected the images as far as I can tell.
Overall, am quite glad I did not listen to CNet this time around.
62 of 76 people found the following review helpful.
Great Design----Horrible quality
By MAX SMART
I purchased this TV last week, the design caught my eye, I really like the style of this TV. The colors and brigtness is really good compared to my previous panasonic plasma, however it has several flaws:
Cons/flaws:
- TV shows yellow hot spots on the bottom of the TV, I guess they made it to slim and thin, so the backlight LED's leak
- Black levels are not very good, TV shows dark grey in black scenes, should be inky black
- TV has flash light effect, and severe lighting issues, especially when viewing at night or on a dark screen
- TV has a large white cloud hot spot on the right/bottom corner, not severe but totally annoying
- TV developed a blue/yellow line in the middle of the screen, which changes colors from time to time, it's blue right now and creates a thin blue line on the screen. I contacted Panasonic support and they have a technician coming next Friday to try to fix it. I'm thinking the display is bad.
Pros:
- Great Desgin, thin bezel and only weighs about 28 lbs
- Color accuracy and picture clearity are great
I really like the design and the color and clarity of the TV, so I will be giving Panasonic a chance to fix the issues with the blue line on the screen and the yellow hot spot leaks, before I decide to return the TV, since I got such a great deal for the TV. I purchased for $800.00, it's definitely worth it without the problems, but it is definitely not worth $1,300 dollars. No way.
BUY IT NOW
Product Description
Samsung 55-inch Slim LED HDTV
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1316 in Home Theater
- Size: 55-Inch
- Color: Black
- Brand: Samsung
- Model: UN55ES6100
- Dimensions: 31.80" h x 49.30" w x 10.90" l, 39.70 pounds
- Display size: 55
Features
- Smart Content with Signature Services
- Built-in Wi-Fi
- Smart Hub
- Web Browser
- TV with stand (Width x Height x Depth): 49.3-Inch x 31.8-Inch x 10.9-Inch, TV without stand (Width x Height x Depth): 49.3-Inch x 29-Inch x 1.8-Inch
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
819 of 839 people found the following review helpful.
A great TV that's kind of dumb: PLEASE READ FOR SOLID REVIEW
By Brice S.
UN46ES6100 (but this review could easily apply to the 40,50,55 and 60 inch models) PLEASE READ!
Let me start off by stating that I am rating this pretty much solely on the picture quality, because the Smart Hub on this is completely junk. So why would I still give this TV 4 stars when the selling feature on this is the Smart Tv feature, because the TV itself is absolutely stunning when it comes to picture quality.
I've accepted the fact that the Smart TV feature is garbage on this TV. Sadly Samsung is aware that they drop the ball big time on creating a good Smart TV. That being said though you probably won't find to many TV's that have a good Smart TV function and picture quality as good as this (except the Sony Bravia......but it will cost you big time). Between my friends and I we have tried almost all the new TV's that have come out, and to be honest none of the new Smart TV's have impressed me. LG comes pretty close with the whole package for a good price, but still (in my opinion) does not compare to this TV when it comes to picture quality.
The apps are attached through the Smart Hub which means, yes, they also run slow. I run my streaming apps through my Blu-Ray player and it looks great. It's weird that an external source such as a Blu-ray player runs apps better that a tv that has apps and software built into it. Smart Hub is absolutely useless on this TV, everything from the browser to the apps are ridiculously slow. I give the Smart Hub feature a 1 out of 10. It works, but barely. This feature is not ready for prime time.
Now, down to the nitty gritty. The reason this TV is still great is because I personally love the look of their Auto-Motion feature. Some say it looks "soap opery", but I love it. You can turn off Automotion easily and it still delivers in 120hz mode. This TV has a whooping 5,000,000:1 dynamic contrast that completely delivers. The picture quality is very crisp and colors are very vibrant (Actually to be honest, out of the box it's too vibrant. You will have to play around with it. Check the bottom of this post, I'll supply a professionally calibrated configuration to help some of you). HDTV looks great. Everything is so clear it does almsot seem like there is no screen dividing you from the movie. Blu-Rays on this is an experience all to itself. So in conclusion for picture I give this a 10 out of 10.
Sound is decent on this. It's not bad. It does have it's moments with low end bass a little. Coarse my theory on sound on a TV like this is, if you bought this TV your probably like me and had some inkling that your future foretold a certain sound system......maybe a nice sound bar. So in conclusion for sound I give this 7 out of 10. Very passable sound for sure.
Comparing a the UN46ES6100 to the UN46EH600 (Similar Samsung TV minus the Smart TV)
Here is a valuble piece of information. If your looking for a Samsung TV with all the same qualification but no Smart TV feature, go with the UN46EH6000 (40,46,50,55,60). Although this TV does match up in every way, the picture quality is a little less (about half million in the dynamic contrast department, which actually isn't much when considering the naked eye) on the UN46EH6000, but you will save about 300 bucks. By the way, if you compare these two TV using Amazon they will tell you the match up, but after talking to Samsung they gave me the real specs. These TV's are comparable, but not the same. They would leave you to think the the Smart feature is the only difference. My personal opinion, get the UN46ES6100. In the long run you want the best picture quality. Right?
In final conclusion, I really like this TV .....a lot (the UN46ES6100, bad on topic). If you read the other reviews the biggest beef is clearly with the Smart Hub, which to be honest is completely accurate. In fact this problem is not isolated to this model, it would seem that all the 2012 Samsung's that attempted the Smart Hub failed miserably. I bought this TV for $899 at Costco and to be honest I have not come across a TV yet that compares for the price. In fact this TV performs at the rate of most TV's that go for double the price. So if you buy this TV know that you will be disappointed in the Smart Hub feature but very surprised at the picture quality. Maybe the best you'll see for awhile. I give this TV a solid 8.5/10.....and I'm actually hard to please.
Those calibrations that I promised:
These calibrations were done professionally by the guys at lcdbuyingguide....(dotcom). They worked awesomely to get my TV looking perfect.
Picture Mode Movie
Backlight 16 (Backlight is the one part you will have to adjust to your liking and room lighting)
Contrast 95
Brightness 45
Sharpness 15
Color 50
Tint G50/R50
ADVANCE SETTINGS
Dynamic Contrast Off
Black Tone Off
Flesh Tone 0
RGB Only Mode Off
Color Space Auto
10pt White Balance On
Gamma +1
Expert Pattern Off
xvYCC Off
PICTURE OPTIONS
Color Tone Warm2
Digital Noise Filter Off
MPEG Noise Filter Off
HDMI Black Level Low
Film Mode Off
Auto Motion Plus Off
LED Motion Plus Off
10PT WHITE BALANCE ON
Interval Red Green Blue
1 0 -1 -1
2 -1 -1 -1
3 0 0 0
4 -1 0 +1
5 -1 -1 +1
6 -1 -1 -1
7 -1 -1 -1
8 0 0 0
9 +1 0 0
10 +2 0 0
WHITE BALANCE
Setting Value
R-Offset 25
G-Offset 25
B-Offset 28
R-Gain 18
G-Gain 23
B-Gain 21
SCREEN ADJUSTMENT
Picture Size Screen Fit
MEASURED CONTRAST (WITH OTC1000)
100 IRE (Y) 55.3625
O IRE (Y) 0.0222
Ratio (x:1) 2493.8063
Hope these calibrations help. So far I've used this calibration and I've loved it. It's great because it works on movies, sports, tv, blu-ray....you name it. The only time I change them is when my living room gets really really bright, then I just put it on standard for a little while.
257 of 286 people found the following review helpful.
Good TV with some flaw
By L2012
The model I have is the UN46ES6100, this TV itself is great; the picture quality and smart feature is very nice.
The big downside is with its web browsing or anything that involve typing. Since it came with only a regular remote and every time you want to type something like say your 10letter password you have use the up/down/right/left and select key for each of the letter. As well as trying to move the mouse pointer with the remote is so ridiculous the amount of time you have to press for it to move barely. Along with this there wasn't any postcard for a better remote like other people have mention, since we bought two and either of them have it.
The good new is that it is compatible with some wireless mouse and keyboard. The bad part is that none of its documentation list what it is compatible with, and nothing can be found on its website.
They offer a App for apple and android, BUT right now the apple version doesn't really work (so many people are having issue of it keep saying "Disconnected...Network Connection Failure" they haven't update it since fall of 2011. As for the Android version of it is actually working but trying to move the cursor on a web page is a real pain and effort to even move it a little as well as a full keyboard is not accessible anywhere. It is supposedly pop up when you need to type but haven't had work yet.
Overall the picture quality and sound of this for the price is awesome. Not to mention some of their app like Netflix, Allshare and other that you could download. The setup of it to the internet through lan or wifi was really really easy.
The Main downfall of this device is that for a smart tv, it just really suck that you can't make full use of it due to the lacking of a proper input tool (like a keyboard or a better remote with a full keyboard)
106 of 115 people found the following review helpful.
Great tv
By Kerry White
This is a great tv -- lightweight, nice picture, tons of features, has surprisingly nice sound, and is exactly what I was looking for. I checked it out at Best Buy first, but you can't beat Amazon because delivery was free and faster. We have a 42" LCD smart tv in another room and its amazing how much more natural and crisp the picture is with the LED. It took 5 minutes to set it up, and it has a great swivel stand. Overall, I am really happy with this purchase.
BUY IT NOW
Product Description
Samsung 50-inch LED HDTV
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1766 in Home Theater
- Size: 50-Inch
- Color: Black
- Brand: Samsung
- Model: UN50EH6000
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 29.30" h x 44.90" w x 9.00" l, 35.50 pounds
- Display size: 50
Features
- Full HD 1080p
- Clear Motion Rate 240
- Connect Share Movie
- Wide Color Enhancer Plus
- TV with stand (Width x Height x Depth): 44.8-Inch x 28.5-Inch x 9-Inch, TV without stand (Width x Height x Depth): 44.8-Inch x 26.5-Inch x 3.7-Inch
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
952 of 990 people found the following review helpful.
Beautiful TV
By William R. Weiss
Yes some people will say that this TV is not loaded with features, like all the streaming internet blah-de-blah-blah-blah. But if you have that in your Blu-ray player, you don't need it in your TV as well. And some of us don't care about watching streaming movies over the net, some of us don't have good enough broadband connections where we live to support that anyway. And some of us BUY blu-ray movies that we like. So enough about internet bloody apps.
The biggest complaint about this set offered by some is the fact that it only has 2 HDMI ports. And that could be a problem for some. But if you control all of your gear (like I do) through your A/V receiver, you only need ONE HDMI going into the TV anyway. If you've got to plug all of your high-def gear right into the TV, and you've got more than 2 HDMI devices, this TV is not for you, find another. So enough about only 2 HDMI ports.
The picture quality of this TV is AMAZING. The total evenness of the backlight, especially during a pitch black scene, or when the background is totally black, is amazing. Total blackness with no uneven lighting at all...ANYWHERE on the screen, even edges and corners. I haven't seen a TV that can compare to this one in that respect.
The set has MANY full manual picture controls and tweaks, and some advanced ones, or three pre-programed modes that you can still tweak. You don't have to settle for what the TV maker says is good, although Samsung's modes are pretty darn good, right out of the box. The "dynamic" mode is a little contrasty for my taste though. But still, it's easily modified.
The front bezel on this TV is about as thin as they get on LCD/LED TVs. Some would say that this TV is a tad on the thick side depth-wise, considering it's an LED TV, but it's still pretty thin, compared to my 3 year old Sony 52" LCD, which was a tank.
The sound is about the same as other thin LCD/LED TVs. You can't get huge speakers to fit into these things, let's face it. Thin with a small bezel means thin, small speakers. If you're listening through a surround sound system (as I and anyone with a "home theater system" do) it's not an issue.
The remote control is a bit small, but its backlit buttons can light up in the dark, which is a plus.
I just bought this TV in a bricks and mortar store for $1199, which I think is a steal. Two weeks ago I bought an LG 55" LCD and it's going back to the store today. This Samsung totally blows the LG away...the backlighting on the LG was so bad and uneven I couldn't stand it. It was really noticible how bad it was during dark scenes in movies like the second "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie, any of the "Batman" movies or "Aliens" those movies are chock full of very dark scenes. The LG couldn't handle them, but the Samsung does them proud...inky rich blacks that still have some detail in them.
Someplace online I read in someone's comments that this TV doesn't do 24hz film mode. It most certainly does....set your Blu-ray player to that mode and then press the "info" button on this Samsung TV's remote and it will display that info on the screen. 24 bloody hz. So don't believe everything that people say in reviews. (except for mine lol)
If you want a REALLY decent TV that doesn't have to wake you up, make you breakfast, Twitter and Facebook for you, do your laundry and surf the net for you, this is it.
371 of 390 people found the following review helpful.
Sometimes...Not BEING a Smart TV... is The SMART TV!
By F. Maria
UPDATE:
The picture settings that I previouly stated in my review were made while the `Eco Solutions' settings (found under the `Plug & Play' tab) is set to `On'.
However, I found something very interesting. If you change `Eco Solution' setting' to' Off', it dramatically changed the picture. When you first turn the setting to `Off', the picture turns exceptionally bright. However, it is not as bad as you think. While having the `Eco Solution' setting set to `Off', I made the following changes to my settings and I'm updating my review to allow for a choice between the two options. No matter which setting changes you choose, your picture will be greatly improved. It's just a matter of taste.
Again, my goal all along was to get the clearest, most stunning picture that the set had to offer without comprising the beautiful blacks, nor the brilliant colors, nor the outstanding 3D like effects you can sometimes perceive, all while never having to change the settings between channels or sources, no matter what the lighting of the room may be. I believe that I succeeded in this endeavor.
If you choose to set the `Eco Solutions' setting found under the `Plug & Play Tab' to `Off', then try these settings. I recommend that you do a `Picture Reset' first. This is found under the `Picture' settings.
Under The `TV Picture' settings, I have the `Picture Mode' set to `Standard', the `Backlight' set to `10', `Contrast' set to `80', Brightness set to `45', `Sharpness' set to `50', color set to `50', and tint (G/R) set to `50/50. Under the `Advance Tab' settings, I set the `Color Space' to `Native', the `Dynamic Contrast' to `Low', the `Black Tone' to 'Dark', (and here is a big change), the `Flesh Tone' to -3, and the `Motion Lighting' to `Off'. Under the `Picture Options Tab' settings, I set `Color Tone' to `Standard', the `Digital Noise filter' to `Auto', the `HDMI Black Level' to `Low', The `Film Mode' to `Auto', The `Auto Motion Plus' to `Clear' and the `LED Motion Plus' to `Off'.
If you choose to set the `Eco Solutions' setting found under the `Plug & Play Tab' to `On', then try these settings. Once again, I recommend that you do a `Picture Reset' first. This is found under the `Picture' settings.
Using the `Standard' viewing mode settings for everything, I made the following changes. Under `Picture' settings, I changed the contrast from `100' to `85'. Under `Advanced Settings', I set the `color space' to `native' the Dynamic Contrast to `medium' the Black Tone to' Dark' and turned the motion lighting `Off". Under `Picture Options', I have the color tone at' standard', digital noise filter at `auto', HDMI Black level at `Low', Film Mode at `Auto', Auto Motion Plus at `Clear', and turned the LED Motion Plus to `Off'.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
First I must say that I didn't purchase this TV from Amazon. However, I love Amazon and I love this TV!
PROS:
This TV is aesthetically gorgeous and made a solid hand shake with my receiver. It has surprisingly smooth sounding speakers that I can finally hear over my loud AC. The colors are vibrant, vivid, actual, and true. The picture can, at times, appear to look like a 3D TV when viewing certain movie sources. It quickly powers on and off and plays a sweet sound. It comes with a perfectly sized backlit remote that has a sleep button on it. It does not use Edge lit or ARC channel technology. Yea!
CONS:
I had a dickens of a time tweaking this set. Initially, it gave off a bright, 'reality' type look. My circle of people thought that this was a cool thing. However, I hated it with a passion and spent the last two weeks trying to get rid of it.
These changes made all the difference in the world and now there is uniformity between all of the source material. Movies, be it cable broadcast movies or Blu Ray movies , as well as primetime cable shows including cable news, all look the way they were intended.
SUMMATION:
In my quest to find the best TV for the money, I've discovered that most of today's LED TV's are challenged with the aforementioned "soap opera' effect. In a way, it's understandable. Networks broadcast their shows using a multitude of lighting choices. That alone can be problematic. Add to that the commercials that are broadcast in a non-HD format and then throw in the desire for TV makers to make TV panels super thin and you get too many options for your backlight to choose from. All I know for sure is that I love the fact that, with this TV, Samsung chose to put the backlights across the whole of the back of the TV and not around the edges. Also, please know that, in my opinion, this TV is easily thin enough, takes up surprisingly little space and has the audacity to look beautiful.
I actually HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS TV and think that it is a fantastic TV and it is being offered at a fantastic price. YOU JUST GOT TO TWEAK IT. I'm also writing it so that the next person doesn't become discouraged and want to immediately send it back. They would be making a HUGE mistake. I was about to return it myself because of that crazy REALITY look that it had on certain stations and formats. To my mind, my initial tweaking should have done the trick and solved the lighting problem. It is, after all, my fourth owned HDTV, one being a Sony XBR full array set, so I'm no stranger to tweaking.
MORE THOUGHTS:
The changes I eventually made was just counter-intuitive as first choice changes, hence, it took me two weeks to get it right. I don't have a college degree, but it seems to me that, if it took me two weeks to tweak the TV, Samsung could have, and should have; done it themselves before they put it out on the shelves. They know, or at least they should know, about the various swings regarding lighting amongst the various media sources. It just shouldn't be rocket science.
237 of 247 people found the following review helpful.
Worth every penny
By Jason
Let me first state that while I didn't buy this product from Amazon, I felt it was worth leaving a review for this TV since buying a new set can be a complicated process, and I hope this review will make your buying process easier. Also, I happen to be primarily a gamer, so if you enjoy video games as well, this review might help you. To start, I'll give some general information, then dive into a more detailed discussion of the various settings and how I calibrated my TV.
I'll get the obvious out of the way first: this TV is BEAUTIFUL. The first words that literally came out of my mouth when I turned on my Xbox 360 (even before I calibrated the video) were "Oh my God." Granted, I'm upgrading from a 4-year-old 720p 32" 60hz Sanyo, but even so -- the picture quality was notably impressive. Even a non-videophile (like myself) can appreciate this set. Blacks were black, whites were white. (Although looking back, I can see that my non-calibrated set looked non-ideal -- more on this later.) The audio, as to be expected with this sort of set, was somewhat disappointing -- the speakers are on the underside of the set, and I could tell right away that the sound was off. Calibrations to come!
The set itself is easy to set up. Four screws put the base together, and another four connect it to the TV. I will say, though, that the set is VERY wobbly. A slight bump can make your set rock back and forth, so make sure to be VERY careful around it. As another downside, there are only two HDMI ports and one (!) slot for component/AV cables. What this means is, you can have component OR AV cables attached, but not both. The ports are surprisingly limited, so it's worth taking into account. If this isn't a problem, though, the TV definitely impresses. It's very lightweight, so you probably won't need to buy a new stand.
So, on to the technical stuff. Again, if you're a gamer, these settings should help you get a spectacular picture; keep in mind, though, that everyone's different, and my preferences may not be the same as yours. Either way, these should be a good starting point.
The TV has three main video settings: Dynamic, Standard, and Movie. The TV starts out at Standard, and you can change it to the other two. Dynamic greatly brightens the screen, and at first I thought I'd found my ideal setting. Upon closer inspection, however, one can see slight problems with colors -- some greens seemed too blue, even on the "Standard" color setting (not the same Standard as I listed above). Which brings me to my next issue -- Dynamic offers no option to manually tweak red, green, and blue levels, making it difficult to adjust. It's almost a case of "what you see is what you get."
The audio also has several "preset" options: Music, Movie, Clear Voice, and Amplify. Clear Voice and Amplify seemed too muted, so I never even bothered with them. Music and Movie, on the other hand, increased sound quality (and volume) but, like with video, do not allow you to manually adjust the equalizer.
Finally, we have the Samsung Auto Motion Plus. This setting controls the quality of the image during fast motion, and like everything else, it requires some tweaking to get just right. For example: say you're playing a first-person shooter. When moving the screen from left to right (or vice versa), this setting controls how smooth the motion is. On one setting, you have nice, smooth motion, but the top of the screen "tears," creating very noticeable graphical glitches. On the other end of the spectrum, the graphical glitches are removed, but the motion is back to blurry -- almost as if the TV doesn't have 120hz.
Now then, I think it's worth noting the few problems I've noticed with the set in the months I've owned it:
1. Vertical desync. This is the biggest thing, and I'm actually noticing it right now as I play Fallout 3. When moving through certain parts of the world, the screen will "jitter" and parts of the picture will become uneven. I'm not totally sure how to put it into words...there's no discoloration, there's just horizontal lines that move up and down across the image, making it look uneven. It only happens in certain situations, and only in certain games; I've never noticed it in Battlefield 3 multiplayer (I do see it sometimes in campaign, but only when scanning my screen across images that are large and close-up -- like buildings -- which is curious in and of itself), and I've never seen it in Halo 4, Enslaved, Mass Effect 3, or most other games either. It may be an issue with the AutoMotion Plus, but I'm not sure if it is, and it doesn't bother me enough to worry about too much.
*UPDATE* The vertical desync stems from frame rate drops while playing certain games; if the Xbox or PS3 is unable to handle all the action on the screen, the frame rate will dip below 30 and the TV will be unable to consistently create a smooth image. Lowering or turning off Auto Motion Plus reduces the effect to a degree.
2. Black levels. Black levels are difficult to get just right; sometimes you think you've got the right level of black, and then you notice certain scenes are too black, or too grey. I've noticed this quite a bit when calibrating the set for my Xbox 360 and PS3. In Fallout 3, I do get full, rich blacks when it seems like you should be getting them, but other times blacks seem too grey for my liking. If I increase the grey level or decrease brightness, however, the rest of the image can suffer. The PS3 calibrations were similar; in Uncharted, dark scenes (such as inside caves or tunnels) were extremely black at first, and I had to do quite a bit of adjustment to get them where I want.
Something to keep in mind -- the Xbox 360 and PS3 have their own color calibration settings in the Display area. These settings (Reference Levels on 360, RGB Full Range on PS3) GREATLY impact the appearance of blacks on your image. Set Reference Levels to expanded or RGB Full Range to Full, and blacks are crushed. I have these settings on standard and limited, respectively, and have calibrated the set around those settings. The calibrations listed in my review are applied to both inputs for both consoles, and work fine.
TL;DR of the last paragraph; the calibrations on my set are where they need to be. If they seem off, it's worth looking into the color settings on one's console and adjusting them if necessary.
3. AutoMotion isn't everything I hoped. I touched on this a bit in my review; on the Smooth setting, the screen motion is very clear, but the "tearing" or "jittering" is even more prevalent. My Custom setting works fine for the most part, though; although motion isn't perfectly smooth, I barely notice it in most situations. And honestly, try looking left to right around your room. Objects blur a bit in real life, don't they? Anyway, I'm not sure is a Plasma is better for this (as I've never owned one), but this is still a nice feature and makes things look better than my old set.
So where does all this leave us? These are the settings I'm using right now, and the TV looks and sounds as good as I think I can get it. This is the result of about four hours of tweaking. Also, note that I'm using HDMI to connect my consoles to the TV.
EDIT 12/28/12:
I've updated the video settings for the television; slight changes include lowering brightness, increasing gamma, resetting RGB sliders to default, and a few others. The changes create a vivid, bright image, but not one with too much brightness (my previous settings had the brightness levels a bit high, making blacks look gray in some areas).
1. PICTURE
Mode: Standard
Backlight: 20
Contrast: 90
Brightness: 44
Sharpness: 35
Color: 50
Tint: G50/R50
1A. ADVANCED SETTINGS
Color Space: Auto
Gamma: +3
Dynamic Contrast: Off
Black Tone: Off
Flesh Tone: +4
Motion Lighting: Off
1B. WHITE BALANCE
R-Offset: 25
G-Offset: 25
B-Offset: 25
R-Gain: 25
G-Gain: 25
B-Gain: 25
1C. PICTURE OPTIONS
Color Tone: Cool
Size: Screen Fit
Digital Noise Filter: Off
HDMI Black Level: Either (This setting will depend on what sort of input you are using. Some inputs may default at Normal and not allow you to change it; others will let you set one or the other. Normal is a much brighter setting than Low, so you have to try both and see which works best for you. For example, I have my game systems on a setting that darkens the picture but expands the available range of color, so therefore I use the Normal (brighter) setting.
Film Mode: Off
LED Motion Plus: Off
1D. AUTO MOTION PLUS
Auto Motion Plus: Custom
Blur Reduction: 7
Judder Reduction: 5
NOTE CONCERNING AUTO MOTION PLUS: The higher this setting, the more vertical desync (which I mentioned earlier in the reciew) you will receive with certain games. For example, when playing Far Cry 3 on the Xbox 360, any scene which resulted in a frame rate drop would produce the vertical tearing. Lowering the Auto Motion Plus (or even turning it off) had an positive impact on the tearing, reducing it (but not eliminating it all together). For normal television viewing, the tearing won't be an issue, but if you notice it while playing a game, set the Auto Motion to Clear or Off.
2. SOUND
Mode: Standard
SRS TruSurround HD: Off
Auto Volume: Off
2A. EQUALIZER
100Hz: Two notches down from highest "+" setting.
300Hz: All the way to "+" setting.
1KHz: Two notches down from highest "+" setting.
3KHz: All the way to "+" setting.
10KHz: All the way to "+" setting.
3. GAME MODE: Off
And that's pretty much it. Blacks are black, white is white, and every color in-between seems as close to "normal" as I can get them. Again, these settings may require your own fiddling to get "just right," but this seems like a good starting point.
Anyway, bottom line: the picture quality is superb. The negative I listed above aren't enough to warrant a detraction in stars when so many times I've been amazed by the quality of the picture being put before me. You will not be disappointed.
BUY IT NOW
Product Description
LM8600 3D/Smart LED TV
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1117 in Home Theater
- Size: 47-Inch
- Brand: LG
- Model: 47LM8600
- Dimensions: 27.60" h x 10.40" w x 41.90" l, 39.70 pounds
- Display size: 47
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
54 of 59 people found the following review helpful.
" Incredible Picture, Stunning 3D "
By J. Bronson
Pros:
* Incredible Picture very near the quality of the high end Samsung's. Whites, Blacks,Colors are all exceptional.
* Stunning, Amazing 3D - I can't even put into words how good this TV is at 3D, Other than its 100x better than I could of expected. Even when the source is 2D it does a decent job, of course this completely depends on the source. Now when the source is actually 3D, BluRay's or PS3 games, it's down right mind blowing how good and cool it is.
* Beautiful Stand, if you don't hang it on the wall the stand doesn't disappoint.
* Magic Remote, 1st impression was "This is not going to cut it." Pleased to say my 1st impression was wrong. It is super easy to use and very quick at navigating.
* Built in Apps - Netfix, Hulu this is becoming typical in most tv's,dvd/blu ray players,dvr's etc. Wont go into great detail, but its nice to have it directly in the TV and it works great , no complaints.
Cons: App store - At the moment is pretty pathetic, nothing there worth downloading. Hopefully this is something that LG improves over the next few months. I must add, the extremely popular apps are already on the TV such as Netfix,Hulu,Amazon Video,Facebook,Twitter,Pandora,Youtube,MLB.TV,Vudu,MoG,Google Maps,Picasa.
Overall I am going to rate this 4* but, really I'd rate it 4.5.
Loosing .5 stars for the app store.
Picture quality would be 4.75 stars.
3D would be 5 stars. (Actually 6!)
Extremely happy with my purchase would not trade it for any other TV in it's price range.
102 of 124 people found the following review helpful.
Twice malfunctioning, support non-existant.
By Robert
I ordered this TV (55LM8600) after years of purchasing and trusting the LG brand, as replacement for an older 47-in non-3D LG LCD TV. While the delivery and appearance are top notch, this new TV either freezes or restarts every 10-15 minutes. When I first experienced the issue I contacted LG and they tried to troubleshoot over the phone, verified it was not a network/power/signal issue and a technician was dispatched for confirmation. The technician verified the issue, but noted that he "thought" it might be the main board, and that part was on back-order. The technician then recommended that I contact Amazon to replace. Amazon replaced it without issue. However, the replacement has the exact same fault. Upon contacting LG, I am told to once again contact Amazon as they believe I need another replacement. Upon contacting Amazon, I am told that a replacement would take a month or two as they are out of stock. I then contacted LG a final time and asked for a supervisor. I once again explained my issues and was told that a technician would need to be sent to diagnose the issue and order parts, parts that may be on backorder. LG would not offer a replacement, only a repair, but the repair might not work and it would take a few months to find that out (which would be outside of my Amazon return window). I am not sure what happened to customer service at these electronics manufacturers that after two malfunctioning TVs that it is apparently too much to ask to have them send out a technician with a replacement TV. I cannot be upset at Amazon, they helped where they could, and now unfortunately are out of stock of replacements. It appears that I will not to get to try a third time and will now think twice before buying LG products again.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent TV - as long as you buy it with the right expectations
By Ramkumar Balaraman
For my needs, this was an excellent buy. I imagine I would have been equally happy with the 55LM7600, but it was not in stock at my local MicroCenter where these are selling at insanely good prices. There are of course a few things to consider before you decide to buy this TV:
Will the TV be situated in a basement, Or is most of your TV viewing done in dim lighting, Or do you care more about picture quality than brightness? If yes, get a plasma. If not, move on to the next question.
Will you rarely be watching 3D content? If yes, get a Samsung 2D or even 3D TV. If not, move on to the next question.
Do you live in a home with lots of storage space and outlets to keep 3D glasses charged (i.e. not a cramped NY apartment), and do you expect not to have more than 6-8 people watching 3D movies at the same time? If yes, get a Samsung 3D TV. If not, move on to the next question.
If you came this far after the questions, as I did, this is the right TV for you. You might also be happy with the 55LM7600.
What you should be prepared for:
1. Ghosting and Flash-lighting. These defects are manifest in all edge-lit LED TVs. My previous TV is a Vizio XVT3D, which was a back-lit TV. It had no flashlighting, but still had noticeable ghosting, though not as bad as this LG unit. These defects are most noticeable when watching a dark movie (think dark knight), or a movie with cinema black bars on the top and bottom. For most content, when sitting a brightly lit room, the defects are not noticeable at all. The same issue affects top of the line Samsung TVs as well.
2. Poor black levels. The black levels on this TV are nowhere near the black levels on my previous Vizio TV. If you calibrate the TV for deeper black levels, brightness suffers as well. LG displays are poorer than Samsung displays in this regard. A properly calibrated Samsung TV gets both better black levels and a brighter display than the corresponding calibrated LG TV.
So why would you still buy this TV:
1. Very good looking. TV looks great both on and off. It has such a thin bezel that the width and height are almost the same as the 47" Vizio XVT3D that it replaced.
2. In a brightly lit living room (which mine is), you will love the brightness and picture quality of this TV for most programming. Its only marginally worse than a Samsung TV having similar features. While videophiles would differ, I like the bright, vibrant colors on this TV much better than that of my backlit Vizio. Yes, blacks are not as deep and there is uneven flashlighting along the top edge, but the picture just feels so much better.
3. Audio is much better than my previous TV, though this doesn't matter to me since I have an external Vizio bar and subwoofer that produce much better sound. But you could get by with just the inbuilt speakers. The only issue is that I now need separate remotes for the TV and sound control, so I ended up buying a Logitech harmony. I never liked the magic remote much anyway. It was very annoying whenever the mouse pointer turned up on screen when moving the remote by mistake, and what kind of remote doesn't have a dedicated input button?
4. 3D is truly usable and excellent. A relative who swears by Samsung was blown away by the quality of 3D on this TV. The half-HD issue with passive 3D TVs is really a non-issue. Glasses are very lightweight and easy/cheap to replace. I don't have to worry about the kids breaking them. Nothing to recharge. Being an IPS display, 3D looks good even from wide angles. I recently watched Hugo in 3D, having previously seen it in 2D, and the experience is incomparable. The 3D in my previous TV was active-3D, and the heavy flickering glasses gave me a headache, and I never bothered recharging them after they ran out. I know the newer Samsung glasses are very lightweight and are rated at 70 hours per charge, but with a toddler around and never having enough outlets, its still a major entry barrier for me. I might consider active 3D again if they design TVs such that the glasses can be docked behind the TV.
5. Excellent value. This unit set me back 12 benjamins at MC. A Samsung 3D TV with similar features was much more expensive at the time of this writing. Expense has never been the sole reason for me to choose a TV, but it definitely helps when the TV you choose based on features is also a great value.
6. You can 'throw' youtube videos from your smartphone (Android/iPhone) to the TV. Probably useless for many, but very useful for me. All the other apps on the TV are redundant since I also have a Roku and PS3, but the youtube feature alone makes the 'smart' capability worthwhile.
The only feature I really miss compared to my previous TV (Vizio XVT3D) is the ability to connect a bluetooth stereo headset. I got so used to this on the Vizio during those occasional late night gaming sessions using my PS3 while my toddler slept in the next room. I didn't realize this feature wasn't there until after I bought the TV. I just assumed since the remote was bluetooth a bluetooth headset would be supported as well. Sadly I was wrong. A little research also showed that the XVT3D was more of an outlier with such features and most modern TVs still don't have even half the features that it did 2 years ago. I do enjoy 3D gaming more now, so I guess you still really can't have everything.
Overall, this was a great purchase for me. Definitely recommend, provided you have similar circumstances.
BUY IT NOW
Product Description
Samsung PN51E7000 51-Inch 1080p 600Hz 3D Ultra Slim Plasma HDTV (Black)
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1840 in Home Theater
- Size: 51-inches
- Color: Black
- Brand: Samsung
- Model: PN51E7000
- Dimensions: 31.70" h x 47.00" w x 12.20" l, 32.90 pounds
- Hard Disk: 500GB
- Display size: 51
Features
- Smart Interaction
- Signature Services
- Built-in Wi-Fi
- Full HD 2D and 3D
- TV with stand (Width x Height x Depth): 47-Inch x 31.7-Inch x 12.2-Inch, TV without stand (Width x Height x Depth): 47-Inch x 28.1-Inch x 1.9-Inch
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
77 of 79 people found the following review helpful.
Very happy with the E7000
By J. mamrosh
I purchased the Samsung E7000 a few weeks ago and am extremely happy with the picture quality and features of this TV. I had recently purchased the Panasonic ST50 but had issues and Amazon quickly and painless exchanged and took care of for me...they are outstanding. I am not a fanboy of either brand and with the ST50, couldn't get comfortable, even with the great reviews it gets. I went with the E7000 over the E8000 as the 8000 had many gadgets/apps that I wouldn't use and didnt warrant the extra cost.
From reading the AVS and High Def Junkies forums, I will try to give some of my opinions on common issues/thoughts etc.
- Buzzing - I have no significant buzzing or humming. All plasma's make a buzz sound from what I have read but mine does not have anything that is bothersome to myself or that my family has commented on. I have heard of some people having issues with this but I have not. I have seen/heard 3 sets (2 e7000 and 1 e6500) and none have had issues.
- I have had no image retention/burn in. I do not watch something for 8 hours straight or game the day away however. I have played Call of Duty for a few hours - no issue. Family member left DVR paused for few hours - no issue. I did run the 4 day slides to break in the tv. I have read that you should so I did. Why not try to deter problems and maximize the TV?! It's a pain to wait but worth it.
- Reflections from screen. The glass panel does have reflections when comparing to matte finish of LCD/LED. Thats just how it goes. This TV definitively has easily manageable glare however. In my den I have 2 sliding doors to the rear of the room which are directly opposite of the TV - about 20 feet away. It gets morning light. The sliders have built in blinds which I generally keep closed. If I didn't have the blinds, I would possibly consider drapes. With TV off, seems reflective IMO. Once I turn it one, picture masks the reflection well and I seldom have any issue. About 4 feet from the tv on the ceiling I have a fan and light. Same thing, when the TV is on, looks fine. To the left front of TV (TV mounted kitty corner) there is a window that I keep open and it doesnt affect anything
- Picture - OUTSTANDING - sharp, crisp, clear, lots of adjustment, dark levels can be adjusted, brightness is there and it just right for me! Blu-ray is amazing. I enjoyed my 3 year old Sharp Aquos 52" and Samsung LCD but this TV night and day. The viewing angle is also much better than my Sharp and my Samsung. Motion blur - whats that? This is so much nicer watching fast motion than my other tvs.
I watch a lot of TWC high def. tv and stream Netflix. Streaming in Smart Hub works great - very responsive and picture quality is great. I havent tried many other apps but they are plentiful. I also havent tried 3D yet.
I would highly recommend this TV to friends and family with the caveat that it is a plasma, so there are some preparations and precautions that you should research a little on and be aware of. They are easily found at the two forums I mentioned above. I should also mention that after I broke in the TV, I followed some recommended settings found on CNET and then adjusted with the Disney WoW disk I bought here at Amazon. Really helped bring out the picture with some fine tuning.
The cons - well, maybe there is another plasma out there that gives you a little better darks but IMHO, that doesnt make up for the clarity and sharpness of this plasma. Sound is pretty good in itself but I am used to hooking up to surround system. Every TV is going to have some weaknesses to each person, so expect something - from any brand.
Hope this helps in some peoples decisions - I am no videophile but have researched and educated myself somewhat in purchasing a plasma and this one in particular.
Also - be sure to register at Samsung's website for an extra 3 months warranty.
Amazon delivery - out of this world. Ordered on weekend - delivered via Pilot and local carrier Thursday.
37 of 41 people found the following review helpful.
Great picture but I can't get past the loud buzzing
By LnA
I was looking for something to replace my 52" Sharp LCD, as I moved it into a secondary room, and spent a lot of time trying to decide between the e7000 and the Panasonic VIERA TC-P60GT50 60-Inch 1080p 120Hz Full HD 3D Plasma TV. After seeing a great deal on the e7000, $1800 with a free Samsung HW-E450 Wireless AirTrack Sound Bar, I was pushed to make that my purchase.
After getting the TV setup I immediately noticed the buzzing. Some buzzing in plasmas is normal but, the buzzing of the e7000 was loud enough to be distracting when sitting 10'+ away with the volume at a medium low level, although the buzzing is significantly reduced if sitting off center (>~40 degrees) of the TV. I did some searching online to see what might alleviate the issue and found a few suggestions such as lowering contrast, brightness, and cell light settings, but none of those things worked. I thought I might be able to deal with the buzz and was able to watch a blu ray version of WALL-E, which looked amazing, with the sound turned up to drown it out. After a few more days and trying a few more things I decided the buzzing was too much and called Amazon about getting a replacement, the process was quick and easy. I boxed up the e7000 and within two days they sent someone out to drop off the replacement and to take away the original. Upon powering it up, I again immediately noticed the buzz on the replacement and it is the same if not worse than on the original.
Reports I've seen online indicate some people have had to go through 4 or 5 replacements before getting one with an acceptable level of buzz. So at this point I'm not sure if I want to try for yet another e7000 replacement or if I should go ahead and get the Panasonic GT50 which at the moment is priced lower than the e7000.
A few notes about my TV setup:
I have the TV sitting on its stand, so when sitting on the couch my head is aligned almost dead center with the TV. The buzzing is less noticeable if I stand, crouch down low, or I am off to the side. So for those of you that plan on wall mounting the TV at a height above your head the buzzing may not be an issue for you. I've also been using the sound bar through ARC(HDMI Audio Return Channel) which sounds much better than the built in speakers, but the buzz is present with or without an external speaker connected.
Some other things I tried to reduce buzzing with no success:
- Unplug other items from power strip
- Plug TV directly into wall outlet
- Move TV further away from/closer to the wall
- Tried various input sources, DVR through HDMI, PS3 through HDMI, analog cable, XBOX 360 through component, and no sources connected at all
UPDATE (8/8/2012):
I ended up returning the E7000 and going with the GT50. Finally no buzzing! I wasn't able to compare the units side by side but the pictures seem very comparable. I will say I preferred the Samsung stand, as it swivels for the 60" while the Panasonic does not, and menus but after a few hours of use I am satisfied with the GT50 its performance and the fact that it does not have an audible buzz at viewing distance.
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent "white glove" installation! Stunning picture
By Steve
Just received my PN51E7000. I was surprised that the Amazon shipping through CEVA also included "white glove" setup. The driver brought the unit into the house, removed it from the box, attached it to the stand, and powered it up to verify operation. He offered to remove the box and packaging, but I wanted to keep it just in case I need to return. This service was included in the free shipping.
As for the TV itself - the picture is stunning, but I'll have to play with it for a few days.
Note that it does NOT have a VGA port for connecting a computer - only HDMI. On the plus side, it does have one HDMI port that support audio return channel (ARC) to send sound from the TV apps (e.g. Pandora) back to the A/V receiver without using the digital audio output. Also, Samsung doesn't seem to have an Amazon app for streaming video.
Four stars for now, but I may upgrade to five after I've had more time to judge the picture quality.
BUY IT NOW
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Willie Tyler: I originally discovered the ventriloquist school I went to and the lady who made Lester through an ad in Popular Mechanics magazine. My teacher, Madeline Maher, painted a Jerry Mahoney figure brown and I used that figure for a while. My brother came up with the name Lester. I had the character sitting there for days and I could not think of a name. My brother came home from school and said, "I got it! I got it! There's a guy in study hall named Lester and he looks just like him!"
So, that was the first Lester. The medium Lester came when I was in my teens and then the larger Lester, the one everyone knows, was made when I signed with Motown. Most of the places I played for Motown were large venues and the medium Lester I had couldn't be seen far away in the balcony. So the big one is the character you've seen on all the TV shows and that's the one I still have today.
Kliph Nesteroff: You were on The Flip Wilson Show a few times.
Willie Tyler: Yes, I have a photo of myself with Flip Wilson. I did his show and the picture has Lester and I with Flip and Flip is holding another ventriloquist figure. The ventriloquist figure that he had was actually my extra Lester and they dressed him up in drag like Geraldine.
I was the opening act and people from all over the country and all over the world were coming to see those final few performances. There were all kinds of celebrities in the audience to see those shows. After that I did a few things with Diana Ross when she performed as a single. We were together in Framingham, Massachusetts and several other venues across the country.
Cindy Birdsong was playing Keno and she won quite a bit of money. After that, every single night, Diana was going out and playing Keno. It was that idea of, "If Cindy can win at Keno then obviously I can win at Keno." Diana went out every single night to play Keno and, of course, never won anything. We were there with a guy named Gil Askey. He did all the arrangements and was the conductor for those last performances at the Frontier.
The band behind was elevated slightly. It held maybe a hundred and fifty to two hundred people and there were tiers for the back tables. It was a supperclub and they had phenomenal food there. It was known that if you were working the Copa, then you pretty much had made it. So you had acts like the Supremes, the Temptations, Bobby Darin, Sammy Davis Jr.
The Copa - you made it. I had a great time there. I had fun. We did whatever amount of time we did and then the Temptations would come on, do their show, and then we got ready for the second show later in the evening. I remember a couple big name football players were in the crowd and the big tall guy who was with the Lakers...
He had this big, gigantic ring on his finger. When he wanted something he would tap that ring and his people would jump. At the Copa, I believe, those in the blue jackets were the waiters. The guys in red jackets were the busboys. And the guys in tuxedos, there were about seven of them, would seat people. I found out later that the guys in the tuxes... if anything broke out... if anything went wrong... they were the ones who would handle stuff. They were the extra security.
Sammy Davis Jr was performing there one night and there was a table up front and they were talking loud. So one of the guys in a tuxedo went over and said, "Would you please keep it down. Mr. Davis is doing his show." And they walked way. But this table kept doing it. Guy in a tux comes over, "Please hold it down, you're interrupting the show." They keep talking.
So the tuxedo guys signal the busboys. The busboys walked over, they lifted up the table, and they took it away. They physically moved it out and now here are these people just sitting there in a circle with no table! So they got the hint to leave. So the Copa was all about little things like that. That was the New York state of mind of dealing with people (laughs).
Willie Tyler: I wanted to be with the big guys, so I figured I'd smoke too. I'd go to the Copa, drink a rum and coke and eat their great Chinese food. Then one day I walked out of the hotel and I'm walking down the street in New York and I got dizzy. Real dizzy. I fell up against the wall and I said to myself, "Oh, no. No, no, no, not in New York. Do not let me pass out on the streets of New York." Because people will just walk around [ignoring] you. Anyway, I got back to the hotel trying to figure out why I was dizzy. I went down to the Copa and I was still dizzy.
Back in those days I would perform with my foot up on a chair and put Lester on my knee. That meant I'd be standing on one leg. But that night I was so dizzy that I sat in the chair for the whole act. I stopped with the smoking, I stopped drinking and I stopped eating the Chinese food. And suddenly I was all right! I thought maybe it was my body telling me to stop smoking - so I did.
NBC found that people were still interested enough to give it one more season, but George Schlatter wasn't there anymore. It was now a Rowan and Martin Production. They had Paul Keyes as the executive producer. I read the thing you did about Paul Keyes and how he was friends with Richard Nixon.
It was among the last shows he ever did. So we were able to rub shoulders with all sorts of people and I got to work a lot with Lily Tomlin. She was from Detroit and she was really the big act on that last season. When we did it - Goldie Hawn was no longer there. Arte Johnson wasn't there. Most people had left, but it worked out nicely for me.
Rowan and Martin were very nice, congenial and seemed to like their work. It was all shot very fast. The set movers were always moving things because they'd shoot scenes that were only a minute and a half and they'd have to move everything out of there, move something else in and shoot for only a minute and then move again.
Nelson Mandela was in prison and a lot of other stuff was going on. It was an uncomfortable situation and much of the world was boycotting South Africa until Apartheid ended. I went back after Apartheid had been abolished with Frank Sinatra. It was an area where they had gambling and we were there for ten days. That was after all that stuff went down.
Kliph Nesteroff: So when you went there with Della Reese... before Apartheid was abolished... what kind of an audience were you performing for?
Willie Tyler: I think it was an all-white audience for one show and an all-Black audience for the other. Segregated shows. It was almost like working down South in South Carolina back in the day. There were areas in the States when I first started working the South where the audience was white on the ground floor, upstairs balcony on the left side was white, upstairs balcony on the right side was Black.
Kliph Nesteroff: October 1975 you played the Blue Max in Chicago with Mamie Van Doren.
Willie Tyler: No, I don't think so. I played there, let's see... no, never with Mamie Van Doren. I played it with Cab Calloway and Lola Falana.
Kliph Nesteroff: And you were a regular cast member on a series of Lola Falana television specials...
Willie Tyler: Yeah, she had a TV show on ABC. We were on there doing sketches. Things like - I was going out on a date with her and Lester was in the backseat. That kind of a deal. That's why we were working with her outside of Chicago, because we had done her show.
Kliph Nesteroff: The line-ups on the Lola Falana specials featured classic comedians like Redd Foxx and Art Carney, but also a lot of the young Comedy Store comedians like Jimmy Martinez and Murray Langston.
Willie Tyler: Oh, yes, comedy clubs really started happening around then and especially into the eighties. What happened was I was doing Laugh-In and living in Los Angeles on Sunset Boulevard. One night I came outside and suddenly there was a sign across the street that said Comedy Store. I said, "Hey, what's going on with this?" I walked over there and right at the door was a fella named Sammy Shore.
Kliph Nesteroff: Right.
Willie Tyler: Pauly Shore's dad, of course. He was there and he recognized me from television. He said, "Hey Willie, you let me know if you ever wanna do a spot now that I've got this club." So that was around 1972. I would go there and I worked the Comedy Store for years. I worked it regularly up until about eight or nine years ago. I always went over there and it was great.
It was a good place to try new material and watch other acts that were trying stuff out, honing their sets, before their Tonight Show. Jay Leno had just moved out here then and David Letterman became the regular emcee. A lot of folks were around. Jimmy Walker. Sammy and his friend had opened the club. They were trying to make it work, but Sammy Shore got a contract with Elvis in Las Vegas around the same time. So he had to go to Vegas and he let Mitzi run the club until he got back.
When Sammy left to go do Vegas the club wasn't really making any money. When Mitzi was running it, it started making money. Soon after that they got a divorce and Mitzi got the club. From then on it was Mitzi and not Sammy. Mitzi loved Lester. She always wanted to talk to Lester.
Kliph Nesteroff: (laughs)
Willie Tyler: One particular night Richard Pryor was on the bill and Mitzi put me on the bill. That was cool, but what happened was... I wound up in the hospital. This was my big night with Richard Pryor at the Comedy Store.
It had been publicized and everything, but I couldn't make the gig... I had an appendectomy. So I never worked with him. Later on, many times, I rubbed shoulders with him and he was always there [at the Comedy Store]. All the major comedians and actors were always at the Comedy Store.
Kliph Nesteroff: You met one of your heroes, Edgar Bergen, in Windsor...
Willie Tyler: Yes, at the Elmwood Casino. I saw in the paper that Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy were coming to town. I remember it was a Wednesday night, so I went over there. I put Lester in my trunk and went to watch the show. Of course, the Elmwood Casino was a big nightclub when it was in its heyday, but this was when it was well past that and it was going downhill. I went in there on a Wednesday night and there were not a lot of people there.
It was a middle of the week kind of crowd. I watched the show and afterward I asked the maitre'd where I could find Mr. Bergen. Sometimes the maitre'd will tell you that he's not seeing anybody, but he said, "Oh, he's right in that room over there." He was in a little cubicle with his wife having dinner. I went in and introduced myself and I think he recognized me. He didn't shirk away or anything. I sat down and they were having dinner and I wondered if maybe this was uncomfortable for him, but he didn't mind.
We were talking about the mechanics and he asked, "Where's your figure?" I said, "He's in the car." He said, "Bring him in!" So I went and got Lester and brought him in and did a little bit with Lester while Edgar Bergen critiqued me. He said, "You know what you're doing wrong?" Back in those days, when Lester talked he was animated and when I was talking he wasn't animated. He was just still. Edgar Bergen saw this and he told me, "You must keep him moving at all times. Even when he's not talking you must keep him moving."
That was one of the phenomenal pointers I got from him. I remember it to this day. He was eating dinner, but he truly took time out to talk to me about particular things. Later on he and I did an HBO special together called The Vent Event hosted by Steve Allen. Shari Lewis was also on the bill.
Kliph Nesteroff: Did you meet or get to know Paul Winchell?
Willie Tyler: Yes. I met Paul Winchell out here in California. He was doing a show with his characters Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff and it was a Where Are They Now? He gave the characters gray hair, they looked older, and Knucklehead Smiff had a moustache. Knucklehead Smiff was now a television executive (laughs).
The special was done at a place called Gazzari's on Sunset. He wanted me to be a part of the show. He interviewed me on camera and I really appreciated that. Later on TV's Bloopers and Blunders with Ed McMahon and Dick Clark had us doing a segment on there. It was Shari Lewis and Lambchop, Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney and Willie Tyler and Lester.
We all sat around having lunch while the camera was rolling and we sat there talking and doing bits. The food got cold because we were doing shtick the whole time. That was for NBC.
Kliph Nesteroff: One of the more remarkable things you did was work for legendary filmmaker Hal Ashby in his film Coming Home. What do you remember about that experience?
Willie Tyler: I was working a comedy club down in Hermosa Beach. La Jolla. There was a Comedy Store down there and I got a call from William Morris. They said, "We think we have a part for you in a movie. You'll have to go down to Hal Ashby's place in Malibu. Take Lester with you."
Next day I went. He asked me to take Lester out and do a little bit with him. Hal Ashby was a bit of a hippie. He stepped out for a moment and came back in. He said, "Do you mind if when we do this... if we go with another character?" I said, "Oh, no, I don't mind." So they had the art department build a Vietnamese type [ventriloquist dummy] character because the film was about the Vietnam War. I played a paraplegic in a wheelchair and the character was bolted to the wheelchair.
Even though it wasn't the Lester character, it still had the Lester voice. And it worked out. It was fun to be in a film like that because it won Oscars for Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Actress for Jon Voight and Jane Fonda.
Kliph Nesteroff: Hal Asbhy was known for being eccentric.
Willie Tyler: He was fine. It was done at the Ranchos Los Amigos hospital in Downey. One day (laughs)... you know, with Lester, when the character isn't doing anything I put him away. But with this character they had him bolted to the wheelchair. So he was always in view. I remember they were moving things around and setting up the shot and Hal Ashby walked over, looked at the character just sitting there, and said, "Wow, man. That's creepy."
Kliph Nesteroff: (laughs)
Willie Tyler: (laughs)
