Home audio & video: Will a HDTV look bad when hooked up to Analog cable?
dvd upscaler - upscaling cable?
by bgoods - 11/2/08 11:09 PM In reply to: dvd upscaler by peter reddingtonI am guessing that your Phillips DVP5960 is only upscaling video, but not cable. Is that true? If it is upscaling cable, can you please explain how? thanks
take it back
by smallcreep - 2/10/07 5:32 PM In reply to: Will a HDTV look bad when hooked up to Analog cable? by roundtowneif you buy an HDTV and don't hook it up to an HD signal, take it back, buy a 19". Stupid is as stupid does
The solution depends on how you connect your cable...
by grtgrfx - 2/11/07 2:01 PM In reply to: Will a HDTV look bad when hooked up to Analog cable? by roundtowneFirst, if you have cable, they probably offer up to a dozen channels in high-definition. You'll need to upgrade to the HD receiver box to get these channels, which will incur an additional cost per month (but it's worth an extra $15-20/month for the huge difference in video quality). Second, you need to use as good a cable type as your existing (or HD) receiver can accommodate. This means, don't connect the TV with the composite (yellow RCA) cable if the box has an S-Video port. If you have an HD box now, don't connect the TV with an S-Video cable if you have component (3 RCA plugs) ports. If you can use an HDMI cable, don't use the component ports. The reason is each of these cable technologies allow more detail to get to your TV from the cable box then the preceding one.
Here's the breakdown on output quality:
• composite (yellow RCA plug): lowest quality, sends color and brightness info on one cable. Usually displays muddy, dark and dull colors with a lot of blocky artifacts.
• S-Video (5-pin plug): medium quality level, separates color and brightness information through one cable and 5 wires. Brighter and truer color output, but blurry picture detail on a HD set.
• component (red, green, blue RCA plugs): very high quality. Separates individual colors and brightness through three cables. Most detail and sharpness from an analog source, very saturated and contrasty colors with all the crisp detail of HD.
• HDMI (or DVI) (computer-type connectors): best possible quality. Keeps all signals in the digital realm so no degradation from analog/digital conversion, full signal throughput, and highest possible resolution of images. Most detailed image possible from any source. Very lifelike color and brightness, limited only by quality of your HD TV.
So the first recommendation is to use as good a cable as your receiver has ports for, and the second is to upgrade to HD service by your provider. Also, see if anyone in your area will guarantee a satellite install, as they tend to have better quality SD signals coming in.
Another thought on a 26" TV...
by grtgrfx - 2/11/07 2:17 PM In reply to: The solution depends on how you connect your cable... by grtgrfxFact is, you won't see any detail of HD programming on a 26" set unless you watch from like 3 feet away. To that extent, it's almost a waste of your money to buy an HD set this small, because the further you are from the set, the less you can see sharp details.
If you're sitting more than 6' from your new set, you shouldn't bother with the added expense of an HD subscription, because you'd be better off watching HD on the (presumably) larger TV in your family room. Just get an S-Video cable and use that for the Aquos. If you still don't like the picture, it may be because Aquos TVs, like most LCDs, have trouble with insufficient black levels and banding (blotchy dark colors instead of smooth blended shades). If it were me, I'd switch to a 27" or 32" tube TV like Sony's XBR series, which have much better viewing quality than any LCD.
I can say this because I owned a 37" Aquos LCD display last year and was never completely happy with the TV's contrast, even in HD. I replaced it with a 42" Panasonic plasma. I'm much happier with the Panasonic.
Good info - well said; Plasma vs LCD
by valoidr - 2/11/07 5:16 PM In reply to: The solution depends on how you connect your cable... by grtgrfxWith the new gen. plasma out and the current'crop' of LCD. Anyone shed some light as to the better SD quality with HD input all eles being equal(i.e lighting,burn-in,ect)?
Yeah, it will
by rlegro - 2/11/07 6:29 PM In reply to: Will a HDTV look bad when hooked up to Analog cable? by roundtowneWe have the same HDTV set that you have. Picture quality varies enormously, but it's for the most part NOT the set's fault. Here are some of my observations. Note that I've had a satellite dish and currently have digital cable.
1. Digital cable signals vary in quality not just from one cable provider to another, but from one channel to another. I've seen very good cable (standard def, i.e., digitized NTSC) signals and very poor ones. Cable has had a problem in this regard and so does the industry.
2. NTSC is "low resolution" in the hard specs but a lot of electronic circuitry in modern analog sets (e.g., comb filters and the stuff concocted by Farouda Labs) has done wonders to clean up the image and make it look better than it ought to. Modern NTSC analog sets take advantage of this. But also: Their interlace scanning mode (which is a sort of engineer's trick to double apparent resolution by using an afterlgow effect) can really produce a nice picture -- apparently better than it is.
3. Your eyes are tuned to NTSC and analog, after years of watching same. LCDs and digital images in general will look harsh or strange even if they're superior to the same image in analog and NTSC. This effect will lessen over time.
4. As someone else noted, just because it's digital doesn't mean it's high resolution. Your set CAN display 720p digital resolution, which is low-end high def. It's in between what a good DVD image can offer and what high-end (1080p or 1080i) HDTV provides. Perfectly good for many video sources. It outruns a standard DVD image. [By the way, a couple of the broadcast networks now send their primetime schedules in 1080p, while ABC offers 720p. I can't tell the difference because the Sharp only interpolates to a max of 736p, but all those signals look good to me, here. See more, below.
5. In just a couple of years, sets that offer less than 1080i resolution will be mundane, but for smaller sized sets, that is effective overkill, because unless you sit up real close, you can't discern the additional detail in most cases on a smaller set. If you have a 40 incher, well, ya, 1080 of any kind usually looks better.
6. Eventually, all TV signals in the US will go digital. That doesn't mean they'll go high def. A regular analog TV channel can hold one high def signal or half a dozen standard res digital signals. Some stations are mixing and matching. In bigger cities, like Milwaukee, where I live, we have about 20 over the air digital TV channels right now. The number of HDTV channels among them is never more than half that, sometimes less. Many communities don't yet have stations broadcasting in high def, but that will change. An ordinary TV antenna (on the roof if you're a fringe viewer or rabbit ears if you're close to the transmitters) will pull in those HDTV signals and on my set, which is your model, the picture looks fantastic.
7. I have standard def cable because I don't feel like paying a premium for high def service, which only offers a few channels anyway. So I attached an antenna (in my case, amplified rabbit ears) to the TV input of my set. The cable goes into one of the component inputs alongside the DVD/VHS deck. I switch to broadcast when I want HDTV. At some point, there simply won't be premium charges for high def service, because that will become commonplace.
7. If you want your set to show you the widest array of great high def images, that would mean getting a HDTV satellite dish. At least in the near future, satellite services will offer more HDTV channels than all or most cable providers. But satellite is out for you. One alternative is to buy a Blue Ray or HD-DVD player (pricey at the moment).
8. LCD sets don't particularly handle high-speed motion or very dark images very well, and this is just the way things are. You can tune your set's brightness and contrast to minimize this, but until LCD gets faster and better the artifacts will be visible in some programming (usually appearing as pixelation in darker spots or fast-moving portions of the image).
Thanks for all the advice.
by roundtowne - 2/15/07 8:30 AM In reply to: Yeah, it will by rlegroWell-- like the thread below mentions, my free "HD" Optimum box is coming tomorrow.>> So I'll let you know how things turn out.
I got a great deal on a HDMI cable, so I'll see how that looks on the Aquos coupled with the HD-box. Had time to waist on a business trip and walked into a Best Buy.<The salesman wanted to sell me some composite cables due to the fact that many channels will still be analog. <I'll see how the HDMI performs before I start snaking more FREAKING wires! I think we electronic Junkies have more Copper in our home-theater systems than we do in our plumbing! The above mentioned TV is just going in our bedroom, I don't want to go crazy. Just want a quality picture after spending the $$$. I'll go $$$$$$$ crazy when my old reliable Sony Trinatron craps-out in the family room!<By then, 1080p will be the 720's of today I imagine.
All your info. is great! Nice to hear from someone with the same model as well.
However, all the imput has been helpful!
Thanks Again!
Go to a store and compare
by Georgie - 2/12/07 2:45 PM In reply to: Will a HDTV look bad when hooked up to Analog cable? by roundtowneI went to Circuit City to check out HD. I was checking the difference between Cable and Sat. on Plasma, rear screen etc. when two other customers who were watching me for awhile came over and asked join the test. All TVs and systems (HD/SD/Cable/Sat) were running the same canned program. After 45 minutes of comparing all scenarios all three of us came to the same conclusion. There is not enough difference to justify the costs between rear screen Sat. Digital, Plasma, Flat screen etc. running HD and standard Sat.. Get Sat its digital, wait for the lemmes to run off the cliff and the industry to come up with a real change and lower over inflated prices to come down to earth.
Run, don't walk, and PLEASE, DON'T WAIT
by popsnie - 2/14/07 11:01 AM In reply to: Will a HDTV look bad when hooked up to Analog cable? by roundtowneI am an Optimum customer (Cablevision) and I discovered that since I already had a digital-cable-box, I could get a free upgrade to their HD cable-box, at which point I ran (drove, more precisely) to their store and exchanged cable-boxes. The FREE HD channels, when broadcasting HD shows (that is the critical part) look very good on my HDTV (and my HDPC). Having said that, the media may vary in resolution (480, 720p or 720i, or 1080i) which will be noticable, but the most popular shows during primetime seem to be recorded and broadcast (even over cable) in HD on the "FREE" HD channels. If you can hook up a set-top or roof-top antennae, you may be able to pic up a few local HD channels.
what's your system?
by roundtowne - 2/15/07 8:35 AM In reply to: Run, don't walk, and PLEASE, DON'T WAIT by popsnieOptimum HD-box is coming tomorrow.
What are you using to connect the HD-box to the TV? An HDMI or composite stuff?
How's the quality?
What kind/size TV are you using?
It's the TV not the signal
by qaz111111 - 2/23/07 2:33 PM In reply to: what's your system? by roundtowneI have three sony (50,50 & 60) HDTV's. I have had mitsubishi and Samsung HDTV's (last year) also. The TV is most of the probelm. regular analog looks great on the sonys. IT looked bad on the Samsung. IT was okay on the Mitsubishi. The picture on the new Sony 50's is much better than on my old Sony 32 XBR. The picture is smooth; no scan lines at all. Try another TV. The only other variable is the quality of the cable signal , and that may be from poor quality or long cables.
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