Poor SD Quality-Need Help

[parih]

I got the HR20 last week. I replaced a Sony Directivo. My set is a Samsung 61" DLP 1080i.

The problem is that my old STB looks much better with the standard def programming. It has to do with the HR20's handling of stretch and zoom modes. If I A/B SD programming from my old box and the HR20 in anything but 4:3 mode, the old box/tv combo looks noticably better.

I think it may have something to do with my TV's stretch/zoom modes vs. the HR20's stretch/zoom modes. Either a): my TV manipulates the picture better than the HR20, or B): the tv and the HR20's two different picture mode handling efforts are working against each other.

Does anyone have any wisdom on this issue? What's the best way to set the TV pic mode vs. the HR20 pic mode?

I get the best SD manipulated picture with my TV in 4:3 and my HR20 in stretch/480P mode through HDMI. However, when I switch to HD 1080i, I have to switch the TV to letterbox to get full screen.

i'd like to just set the box at native 1080i through HDMI and have it look good for both SD (stretch/zoom) and HD. But if I do that, it looks much worse that my Sony Directivo through S-vid.

Sorry for the rambling. My guess is that the answer is that I shouldn't stretch my picutre in sd mode (SD looks good if I don't manipulate the size).

But I thought I'd throw it out to the board here to see if anyone has any tips/insight.

thanks.

[bonscott87]

If you can stand the delay in format cycling then turn Native mode on with 480i and 1080i as your supported formats. Then when it's a 480i program it will send 480i and let your TV do it's magic.

Or turn Native off, set supported modes to 480i and 1080i. Leave in 1080i most of the time but if you're on an SD program and it looks cruddy then hit the format button to get 480i and again let your TV do it's magic. This is what I do.

[Rob55]

If your Samsung permits aspect ratio control while receiving a 1080i signal, then turn native off and set the HR-20 to 1080i/pillar box. 16:9 HD programs will show up in widescreen, but when you you go to SD channels, they'll be in 4:3 with bars on the side. Then you can manipulate with your TV's aspect control or leave as is.