Samsung SP-A600 – Physical Tour Posted on October 17, 2013 By Art Feierman 1. Samsung SP-A600 Projector Review - SP-A600 Projector Highlights - Samsung SP-A600 Projector Overview - Samsung SP-A600 Special Features - Samsung SP-A600 Color Wheel2. Samsung SP-A600 – Physical Tour - Samsung SP-A600 Physical Appearance - SP-A600 Projector - Control Panel - Samsung SP-A600 Inputs and Outputs - Samsung SP-A600 Menus - Samsung SP-A600 Remote Control3. Samsung SP-A600 – Physical Tour - SP-A600 Lens Throw - SP-A600 Lens Shift - SP-A600 Anamorphic Lens4. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Image Quality - SP-A600 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Samsung SP-A600 Projector - Flesh Tones5. SP-A600 Black Levels & Shadow Detail - Black Level Performance:6. Shadow Detail Performance7. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Image Quality28. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Image Quality3 - SP-A600 - Overall Color & Picture Quality9. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Image Quality4 - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports10. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Performance - Samsung SP-A600 Projector Brightness - Samsung SP-A600 Sharpness11. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Performance - Samsung SP-A600: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise12. Samsung SP-A600 Projector Calibration and Settings - Samsung SP-A600 Color Temperature - Samsung SP-A600 Basic Settings - Samsung SP-A600 Post Calibration Grayscale: Movie 1 (User 1) mode13. Samsung SP-A600 Projector Calibration and Settings1 - RGB Settings - Brightest Modes:14. Samsung SP-A600 – Projector Screens - Samsung SP-A600 Projector Screen Recommendations - Samsung SP-A600 - Competitors - SP-A600 vs. Epson Home Cinema 6100 - Samsung SP-A600 vs. Mitsubishi HC5500 - Samsung SP-A600 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z700 - Samsung SP-A600 vs. InFocus X10, Sharp XV-Z1500015. Samsung SP-A600 – Projector Screens - Samsung SP-A600 vs. BenQ W5000 - Samsung SP-A600 - Warranty - Samsung SP-A600 - Review Summary - Samsung SP-A600 Projector - The Bottom Line16. Samsung SP-A600 – Review Summary1 - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Pros - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Cons - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Typical Capabilities Samsung SP-A600 Physical AppearanceThe SP-A600 projector is nicely sculpted and has a shiny black finish. It is fairly small for a 1080p projector, but not particularly so. The zoom lens is recessed with a manual focus and 1.3:1 zoom (a little more range than the average DLP projector’s 1.2:1, but still a far cry from the 1.6:1, to 2.1:1 found on most 3LCD and LCoS projectors). Focus and zoom are controlled by trim rings on the front of the lens barrel. There is a full control panel on the top, but it’s all but invisible with the power off, or the LED lights set to off. The input panel is on the rear, as is the case with most projectors. The lamp door is located on the bottom, so expect to have to unmount a ceiling mounted projector to change out the lamp. SP-A600 Projector - Control PanelI tried to photograph the control panel, but with the projector off, it’s invisible. When powered up, there are a couple of blue LEDs, but the camera can’t capture the labels. Basically from the front, moving to the back are: 3 LED indicator lamps for Temperature, Lamp, and Standby There are four arrow keys, with an enter button in the center. Finally there’s the Menu, Source and Power buttons. All the controls are touch sensitive. Just lightly brushing your finger over the control works to power up the projector, open the menus, or whatever else you are trying to do. A single touch will power up the projector. To power it off, it takes two. The blue LEDs are moderately bright. Fortunately, you can set the lights to off in the menu system. Mind you, it’s not that they are exceptionally bright, but just bright enough that it’s likely to bother some folks if the projector is ceiling mounted slightly forward of where people are sitting. Samsung SP-A600 Inputs and OutputsNo real surprises in terms of inputs and outputs. In fact the Samsung SP-A600 projector is about as typical as it gets. It has two HDMI inputs, a component video input, a computer input (which can double as a second component video input), composite and S-video. In addition there is an RS-232 serial port for “command and control” from a computer or room controller. It’s a strange small connector that looks like a stereo mini sized connector, rather than the traditional traditional HD9, or Din type connectors used for that purpose. Since these units did not come with manuals, I can’t tell you any more about the type of connector. No matter, that info will no doubt be in the manual. There is no 12 volt screen trigger, a feature found on perhaps half of all the 1080p projectors out there. No worries though. It’s nice to have, but for most, that really isn’t an issue, as there are many ways these days to control screens and masking systems (including infra-red, RF, serial…). Samsung SP-A600 MenusThe menu layout is pretty nice. If I have one complaint its that the main menu opens to the input menu, not the picture menu. Since most people handle their input switching from the remote, and primarily spend their time with the menus in the picture menu, most manufacturers put the picture menu (or image menu – whatever they call it), first, as the one you find yourself in when you press Menu. Above to the right is the Picture menu. Note that it is only slightly opaque, so with a football field on the screen, it’s a little hard to read. Worry not! From the menu you can increase the opacity (three choices of opacity, plus fully opaque). In the menu to the right, I have set the menu to be more opaque. You can also move the menus to different points on the screen. That said, the menu area is larger than most, and it won’t let you move it too far to the left, right, top or bottom so I wasn’t able to stick it way down in the lower right corner where I normally like to place menus. menu picture Picture menu_modes Mode menu color temp color temperature menu setup V-Keystone menu transparency Menu Transparency The menu immediately above shows the Picture Mode sub-menu with its 5 regular modes, and three user modes. To the right is the Color Temp sub-menu (off of the Picture menu), which is where you do the gray scale calibration settings. This is where you would plug in the color numbers found on our Calibration page. Also of note is the Setup menu. From this menu you can set projector orientation (ceiling/floor/front/rear), set lamp brightness, bring up a test pattern, or reset the projector to its factory defaults. Finally there’s the Option menu. This controls a number of the Samsung SP-A600’s features, including the menu’s position transparency, display time and language. Other features include Auto Power down, Sleep timer, and LED lamps off or on, as well as general information. Samsung SP-A600 Remote ControlArrgh! No backlight! This is the second inexpensive 1080p DLP projector in a row that I’ve reviewed that lacks a backlight on the remote. (The last projector without was the Sharp XV-Z15000 projector.) I know many companies are trying to cut costs, but, geez, home theater projectors are most often used in a very dark room, and they should have backlights. Oh well, it’s just one more excuse for getting a nice programmable remote control, to control your whole system. Other than my bitch’in about the backlight, the remote is a pretty small one. Not a whole lot of buttons, which is a good thing – less to memorize for use in the dark. I will concede that the menu button and navigation arrow keys are easy to find and memorize, which at least partially negates the drawback of no backlight. That they waste a large button on keystone correction baffles me, as everyone avoids using it. There are separate on and off buttons on the top, and a large Auto setup button between them. On the next line are the Menu and return buttons. Then comes the four arrow keys in a standard round configuration, with the Enter button in the center. Next comes two rocker buttons – the keystone, and one that selects Info, or Still (freeze frame). Finally eight more buttons which include direct source selection and direct access to aspect ratio and Picture modes (Movie 1, Vivid, Dynamic, etc.). All in all, it’s pretty straightforward and works well. Range is no problem, but I still don’t like the lack of a backlight! Click Image to Enlarge 1. Samsung SP-A600 Projector Review - SP-A600 Projector Highlights - Samsung SP-A600 Projector Overview - Samsung SP-A600 Special Features - Samsung SP-A600 Color Wheel2. Samsung SP-A600 – Physical Tour - Samsung SP-A600 Physical Appearance - SP-A600 Projector - Control Panel - Samsung SP-A600 Inputs and Outputs - Samsung SP-A600 Menus - Samsung SP-A600 Remote Control3. Samsung SP-A600 – Physical Tour - SP-A600 Lens Throw - SP-A600 Lens Shift - SP-A600 Anamorphic Lens4. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Image Quality - SP-A600 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Samsung SP-A600 Projector - Flesh Tones5. SP-A600 Black Levels & Shadow Detail - Black Level Performance:6. Shadow Detail Performance7. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Image Quality28. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Image Quality3 - SP-A600 - Overall Color & Picture Quality9. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Image Quality4 - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports10. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Performance - Samsung SP-A600 Projector Brightness - Samsung SP-A600 Sharpness11. Samsung SP-A600 Projector – Performance - Samsung SP-A600: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise12. Samsung SP-A600 Projector Calibration and Settings - Samsung SP-A600 Color Temperature - Samsung SP-A600 Basic Settings - Samsung SP-A600 Post Calibration Grayscale: Movie 1 (User 1) mode13. Samsung SP-A600 Projector Calibration and Settings1 - RGB Settings - Brightest Modes:14. Samsung SP-A600 – Projector Screens - Samsung SP-A600 Projector Screen Recommendations - Samsung SP-A600 - Competitors - SP-A600 vs. Epson Home Cinema 6100 - Samsung SP-A600 vs. Mitsubishi HC5500 - Samsung SP-A600 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z700 - Samsung SP-A600 vs. InFocus X10, Sharp XV-Z1500015. Samsung SP-A600 – Projector Screens - Samsung SP-A600 vs. BenQ W5000 - Samsung SP-A600 - Warranty - Samsung SP-A600 - Review Summary - Samsung SP-A600 Projector - The Bottom Line16. Samsung SP-A600 – Review Summary1 - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Pros - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Cons - Samsung SP-A600 Projector: Typical Capabilities Samsung SP-A600 Projector Review Samsung SP-A600 – Physical Tour LnRiLWhlYWRpbmcuaGFzLWJhY2tncm91bmR7cGFkZGluZzowfQ==