942 SD Quality

[leyth]

What do you guys think about the 942 SD picture quality? I have my 942 hooked up to a samsung 46" HDTV at 16x9 720p. I set the format to stretch on the SD channels. The HD channels look great; The SD channels on the other hand are just ok. Is anybody else experiencing the same thing?

[Allen Noland]

I think they are on par with other SD receivers.

[leyth]

Well, I have a 721 hooked to the same TV and its picture looks a little better.

[waltinvt]

It depends a lot on how you have the 942 setup and the type of TV you have.

By the way, none of this was my discovery but rather tips I've picked up from others.

To get the best SD PQ, you may need to change settings from what they were to get the best HD PQ. I don't think there's currently a way to get the best PQ for both at the same settings - at least for me.

For me, the best HD PQ is through DVI with the 942 set to 1080i & 16:9 but with those settings, SD channels do not look good - even switching the TV to a composite setting.

To get good SD, I reset the 942 screen size from 16:9 to 4:3 #2 (this is a lot easier if you have a remote that can do macros) and switch the monitor to composite. My SD looks real good this way but I think it improves even a little more if I also change to 480i but not enough to warrant those extra steps.

I also went into the TV's service menu and adjusted the overscan for both inputs and now have good PQ for both HD and SD but with the minor inconvience of having to run remote macros to switch back and forth.
Another note about the 4:3 #2 settings for better SD. You can still get pretty decent HD through the DVI at that setting but it's letterboxed. If you change the "format" mode of the 942 from normal to stretch, the picture will fill the screen like it would for the normal / 16:9 settings but there is some loss of resolution.

[Gutter]

Waltinvt...you didn't say what the native resolution of the set was to know if you set the 942 to match it or if you have a 720p and letting your TV do the converstion of the 1080I.

[waltinvt]

Waltinvt...you didn't say what the native resolution of the set was to know if you set the 942 to match it or if you have a 720p and letting your TV do the converstion of the 1080I.

My TV won't show 720. I usually leave the tv set to 1080i but will sometimes switch to 480.

[the_bear]

Try setting the 942 to output 1080i, the double conversion will kick in your TVs own sharpener.

[Beer Kahuna]

On my setup, the SD is far superior to what it was w/ my 501 & 508.

My setup: Sony KP57 WV700 CRT rear projection running at 1080i 16:9 on component input.

[Paradox-sj]

I dont watch SD material on my HD TV...

[cebbigh]

Incidently, if anyone is interested in recording out from the 942 component output to a dvd recorder that is limited to svideo as it's top input choice, InFocus has an s-video to component adaptor that can be ordered online.
EDIT (7/10) ... This doesn't work. The component is output to 7-pin s-video with the pins aligned in a way that works specifically for the InFocus X-1 projector and not as a general applicaton. At this point, I have found no workable solution to converting component to s-video without involving pricey electronic equipment. S-video.com used to carry a product that did this but have stopped carrying it. I'm not sure how well that worked anyway. Likewise I have tried converting composite to s-video for recording purposes using a radio shack coverter. The results, in my opinion, were inferior to just going straight composite.

[waltinvt]

Incidently, if anyone is interested in recording out from the 942 component output to a dvd recorder that is limited to svideo as it's top input choice, InFocus has an s-video to component adaptor that can be ordered online.

Has anyone tried this yet ? If so, does it offer any improvment over the composite or RF outputs ?

[cebbigh]

I ordered one yesterday. Scheduled delivery is 6/27 (Monday). I'll post as soon as I have a chance to check it out.

[airpolgas]

My setup: Sony RP57 WV700 CRT rear projection running at 1080i 16:9 on composite input.
You mean component, right? Or do you switch to composite when you go SD?

[Beer Kahuna]

Freudian slip I guess. I meant component input. (Whoops!)