New 32" LCDTV, confused about HDTV >_<

[ChurchOfSubgenius]

I just got a new Olevia 32" LCDTV and HD digital cable, the non-HD channels look worse then my old 8 year old Magnavox 32" CRT and the HD channels look better at 1080i.....but not as good as a DVD playing at 480P!
Am I just a confused about what I should be expecting? are there some settings I am missing?

My HTPC looks great running thru s-video/DVI/d-sub...the only issue is the standard cable, someone help before my wife whines me to death.

(BTW, the D-cable runnng thru Y-Pb-Pr cable from a new whiz bang Scientific Atlanta box with USB/1394/YPbPr/DVI/S-video etc and I tested it thru the DVI with the same results.

PS. I know I should take the to some other forum but I can't find one that has a toddlers area.

 

[MustISO]

Have you checked on avs?
It could just be that you're seeing more of the flaws in the signal with your new TV due to the resolution.
HD should look better than DVD but not all HD looks great. I've seen some pretty bad shows in HD (compared to the very best).

 

[Deinonych]

Many of the so-called "HD" channels are simply upconverting 480i to 480p or 1080i. So, you're not getting true HD all the time. Discovery HD tends to have a lot of 1080i programming, so check that out if you get the channel. Also, LCD tends to be less forgiving with SD (standard def, or 480i) programming than a CRT. So, you'll notice more artifacting and interference on an LCD than a CRT. Finally, I've noticed that the digital cable boxes introduce their own set of artifacts into the picture. If you have CableCard on that set, you might try that option to see if it gives you better PQ.

You might also pick up a calibration disc like Digital Video Essentials so you can adjust your set to give you the best possible PQ. A lot of sets have their brightness, contrast and sharpness cranked up way too high, resulting in a less than stellar picture.

 

[xtknight]

What do you mean by worse? Blocky? Slow? Choppy? Randomly flashing artifacts? The show you're watching in "HD" might only be in SD. Some SD channels are rebroadcast or scaled over "HD" channels as well. If you have a camera right on-hand, if you could take a picture of the screwed-up image it would make it easier for us to help you.

 

[CMC79]

Standard TV generally WILL look worse on a HD set--remember, LCD TV's convert all signals to their native resolution. LCD tv's generally do not conform to an exact 720p or 1080i standard, often having 1366x768 resolution instead. That's a capability of over a million pixels displayed, while regular TV is just 720x480, interlaced. It's like a taking a low res picture and blowing it up--it reveals all the flaws within. It can take a bit of getting used to, and some channels will show up better than others.

I second using Discovery HD. It's always true HD, and is usually the best looking channel on. The HD is of consistent high quality, while ESPNHD varies a LOT, going from jaw-dropping to barely believable as HD. Are you using a CableCard? If not, you need to check what your cable box is set to--720p or 1080i. You should set yours to 720p since that is the closest to an LCD's specs. If you're feeding it a interlaced signal from the box, your tv has to convert it to progressive and downsize from 1980x1080 to 1366x768, and you could lose some quality from all of that processing. Some people with 720p TV's swear theirs look better with the box set at 1080i, but I can't say directly because I use a CableCard.

 

[SuperFubario]

Ya like the old saying goes. Garbage in Garbage out. Everyone here perty much answered your questions. Normal TV looks like crap (because it is crap...Spike TV is one of the worst) and some of the so called HD stations are upconverted but others (like Discovery HD) are so vivid you want to try and jump into your TV it looks so real.

Wanna see something really horrible try hooking up a playstation 2 to a HD tv. *barf* Normal CRTs tend to be so fuzzy they blend in the pixels and jaggies and other imperfections so it doesnt look as harsh.

It sucks that TVs technology has jumped so far ahead of the medias technology. But more and more stations are goin HD and HD-DVD/Blueray as well has HD consoles are finally on the horizon so huray for us with HD tvs.

Oh and Church make sure that your new TV has HDCP compliance on your DVI or HDMI connections on the TV. Most new HDTVs are HDCP but if yours is not i would suggest a return.

 

[ChurchOfSubgenius]

Thanks for all the replies.

#1. I looked at AVS and couldn't find "The newbie answer book", all the FAQ were just HDTV primers.

#2. the two dicovery channels I have (Times and kids) both look like non-HD

#3. The best chanel I could find was NBC-HD and it was still "bigger pixels"...especially when there was movement on the screen (not talking Jacky Chan high speed)

#4. I don't have a Cable Card (not that I know what one is really) but I am 95% sure I don't have one.

#5. by "crappy" I mean it looks like the pixels are 2mm x 1mm and from 24" away (standing close-nonHD) it looks like crap...from 6-7 feet away it looks pretty better but.....

#6. I Can't find anything in the settings to change from 1080i to 720p

sigh

 

[CMC79]

The general rule for closeness to the screen for HDTV is you should be no closer than 2x the screen measure and no farther away than 3x. Any closer than 2x and you lose the effect of widescreen; any farther away than 3x you won't notice the HD resolution.

If you had a cable card, you'd know. It's a method of allowing the TV to descramble digital TV without the aid of a box by inserting a small card into the TV (about the size of a PCMCIA card, it might even be same design) that is authorized to receive the signals through the line. Not all HDTV's use them, and there are some downsides to them, but that's another issue...

....and so you are probably using a box. How are you connecting from the box to the TV? Who is your cable provider? Some cable providers have a different box for HDTV than regular digital cable.

 

[ChurchOfSubgenius]

(BTW, the D-cable runnng thru Y-Pb-Pr cable from a new whiz bang Scientific Atlanta box with USB/1394/YPbPr/DVI/S-video etc and I tested it thru the DVI with the same results)

My provider is WOW (Wide Open West) out here in Michigan.

Man this is depressing.

 

[CMC79]

Okay, so I'm reading this as follows: Your Scientific Atlanta digital cable box is currently outputting through a DVI-D cable to your TV's DVI input. Is that correct? If so, does your DVI port on your TV feature HDCP (hd copy protection)? It could be that your box WON'T let you see true HD because it isn't detecting copy protection on the other end for HD, and thus downscales to 480p. I'm not sure, but that's one hypothesis. If that's the case, consider strongly returning your TV for one that has DVI-HDCP, or better yet, HDMI. (There is no quality difference.)

I don't exactly understand your phrase "D-cable running through Y-Pb-Pr." D-cables are DVI; the other is the designation for component (analog) HD connections. Have you tried to make a connection from your box using purely component analog cables? If that doesn't work either, then there might be something to the HDCP issue.

I understand your frustatration--I spent HOURS researching DLP TV's last year before settling on my RCA 50". It's a lot simpler to just go in and buy on price alone like you could on standard TV's, take it home and plug it in and away you go, but the rewards of a good HDTV set-up are very nice.

 

[CMC79]

Another thing--what is the exact model name of your box and TV?

 

[ChurchOfSubgenius]

I am outputting D-cable (Digital Cable) thru Y-Pb-Pr (red blue green component cables), I tried using the DVI cable but it didn't make a difference and I wanted to run my HTPC thru the DVi so I didn't leave it that way (plus, there was a tiny artifact strip at the top of the screen when going from STB DVI to LCD)
I don't think my set has HDCP and I know it has no HDMI port.

Thanks for your continuing interest and support.

:beer:

 

[CMC79]

Hmm...then as best I can tell, it probably is a copy protection support issue that is preventing true HD from being passed on to the TV...I'm not sure what else it could be, unless you have an issue with the cable company itself. You may want to contact the manufacturer and see what they say, but TV manufacturers tech support, from what I've heard, isn't exactly the best.

And no problem...HDTV is one of the few areas I can help other people on here, instead of them helping me!