Picture Quality of HDTV Sets/Standard Signals

[GeorgeT]

My wife and I have been starting to look at projection big screen HDTV sets (53-57 inches, mainly Hitachi models. The pictures from HDTV signals are outstanding, but what about standard signals from D* and/or outdoor antenna? When I have switched from the HDTV to D* signals on the display models, the images become MUCH blurrier. Is this normal, or could this be a poor cable feed within the store? Any info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[DarrellP]

This is normal. Please register and provide your location so we can help you with your local digital channels.

[George_T]

Darrell,

Thanks for responding. I was the one who posted above. I just enrolled last week, and tried to log on at my work computer, but my passcode wasn't accepted, hence the guest post. My location is Greene Co. Tennessee, and I have DirecTV. Although I'm only about 10 miles outside of Knoxville's DMA, I cannot get their locals, and my DMA (Tri-Cities) probably won't receive locals for at least another year since it's the 92nd largest market.

BTW, my wife and I are looking at Hitachi's HDTV's because they are rated highly by Consumer Reports. What's your opinion on HDTV projection brands who to buy/not buy from. Thanks!

[DP1]

I think what Darrell meant was the ability to see your local digital channels OTA once you bought an HD DirecTv receiver that could get you the digital locals over the air as well. But it doesnt sound like you live in an area where any of those are easily if at all available yet.

As far as any channels that arent HDTV in nature from DirecTv or from the good ol analog local channels OTA, dont expect the picture on the new HDTV to look all that great.

Theres various reasons for that. The sheer size of the screen especially if you're not used to a bigger screen. The fact that the compression level from DirecTv is high on the SD channels, the fact that HDTV's have what are called line doublers which if the source is really good, can help, but if the source has issues like above, then the doubler doubles the problems in the signal as well as the good.

Ideally I suppose you'd find a place to demo an HDTV on the channels you're concerned about, where the signal hasnt been split 20 times first or something and where they're using proper connections. Then at least you know it would kind of be a ..what you see is what you get type deal.

[Mike123abc]

The standard definition channels on both Dish and Direct are not the best on an HDTV. HDTV seems to magnify the compression. There has been quite a few threads on the annoying compression effects.

[Pirate TV ain\'t stealing]

Here in best to worse is the break down on non HD signals

1) C/Ku band analog BUD (Big Ugly Dish)
2) DC II Signals 4DTV BUD
3) OTA analog Grade A contour
4) OTA Digital 3 Megabit data rate and up
5) Star Choice DTH service (Cancom sports transponders only) + some cable digital services (those receiving DCII from sources on C Band or Cancom feeds - not that HITS overcompressed crap on Ku band)
6) DBS - Directv, Dishnet, Expressvu - PQ varies by service from not bad to crap)
7) Most cable analog signals
8) Fringe OTA analog signals

[Lurker]

Can you turn down the sharpness on an HDTV (like you can on an analogue set) to make the artifacts less obtrusive?

[Martyva]

Check the ol geezers suggestion.

[Mark Lamutt]

Yes, you can make satellite signals look better on HD sets by calibrating them with Avia or Video Essentials, but they will never look as good showing SD material than say a 27" set looks. Not possible because of the size of the picture.

[ibglowin]

If I may add my $0.02 here. We experienced the same situation. We purchased the 60" Sony Grand Wega about a month ago. The HD feed in the store sold us on it. We brought it home and we were so upset with the picture quality of the E* SD feed that I went out and bought a Dish 6000 HD receiver. I am lucky enough to live near Abquerque, NM and we have all 4 major locals and PBS broadcasting in DTV/HDTV so I actually have about 8 channels (Discovery-HD, HBO-HD, Showtime-HD) to pick from including at times a choice of OTA HD from the CBS or ABC local. We were pretty big NBC fans for the longest time but now we watch more CBS shows than ever (and we like them to boot). If your like us, your mouth will drop when you see the switch from the SD feed to HD. The CBS SEC college games are awesome as well. The sheer size of the screen almost requires the higher definition signal of some sort to make it look good in my opinion.

[belsokar]

when i was looking at big screens, i found the hitachi's to be good (hx series, i believe they have a new 'x' series as well thats better)...The mitsubishi's were also very good...this was in the mid-good range...if you can afford it, you can step up to something like the pioneer elites...another option is to look for a refurbished set of a higher end television...I was lucky to find a marantz set refurbished...it blew away all the other sets for actually less than the cost of the hitachi or mits...i have dish network programming, and it looks great on a 55" set...its a risk w/ refurbished equipment, but still under warrantee and you can still get extended coverage if needed...

[brentp]

We too just went through the research process (a lot) of converting to HDTV, for us, . . the time is right. We can get the CBS-HD feed from NYC through Dish and, after checking out our area on atennaweb, we should be able to get OTA HDTV channels from the Boston stations as well. This will cover a good percentage of the shows we watch, . . . in addition to the DVDs that we get.

Now, to your question, . . . we too were concerned about the SD PQ from Dish on a digital RPTV monitor. BTW - we selected the new Hitachi SWX20B line for this. To solve our concern, we purchased the set from a national retailer that offers a 30 day satisfaction return policy. If we didn't like what we saw, we could take the unit back. Well, we have had the set for about a week and I can happily say that we are satisfied with the PQ of SD programming from Dish. We don't see a lot of artifacting (occasionally), and can live with the expand mode to go from 4:3 to 16:9 (I hope to get this better in time). For us, SDTV over Dish looks good, DVDs look great, and of course we are expecting that HDTV programming will look outstanding (BTW - our 6000 HDTV receiver is now on its way). So, . . . we have now taken the full plunge and are buying the remaing components needed to complete our home theater.

Also, you might know this already, but what you see in the showroom will not be what you see at home. The first time I saw the Hitachi SWX20B in a store, it looked really bad. However, I continued to read positive feedback on these units (and learned a lot more about the tweaks needed), so decided to go back and look again. This time, the unit was moved to the 'premium' spot on the showroom floor and the picture was outstanding. Guess the unit had broken in a bit and the store must have tweaked the picture with Avia or VE disc, cause it was like night and day. This was the first time my wife saw the unit and her first reaction when we turned the corner was 'wow'. Good thing they tuned it up! :D

Bottom line, if you are concerned about this, . . . buy the RPTV monitor first from a retailer that has a full return policy and try it out. If you can live with what you see, continue to add to your HDTV equipment. If not, then you can return it and wait.