Calibration of R15 to HDTV

[jpl]

I finally jumped on the bandwagon and got my first HDTV last week. Not sure if this is the right thread for this question, but since it has to do with the R15's interface to it, I figured that I would start here - moderators, please feel free to move this to a different thread if you think it more appropriate there. Here's my question - does anyone have any advice on calibrating a TV with regard to the R15? I got a 32" Panasonic LCD (TC 32LX600) - native lines of resolution of 768.

I've been trying to tweak it, and I think I got it close, but it's not quite there yet. It took me some time to get my old tube TV look just right, too - but this new one has a couple challenges that I've never dealt with. Such as: LCD vs tube and the fact that the TV is HD, but I'm calibrating using an SD signal. And I'm focusing on the R15 in particular because the DVDs I've played on it look great. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Next up, when some money frees up or when the price drops, will be jumping on the HR20 bandwagon.

[carl6]

No specific suggestions, it sounds like you are already doing everything that would be worth doing.

As to moving to the HR20, all I can say is DO IT. You will not regret the upgrade, both from the perspective of the HR20 versus the R15 as a DVR, and from the difference in picture quality, even when watching SD channels. I ran both an R15 and an HR20 side by side on my new HDTV for better than a month. There is a substantial difference between them in picture quality on the HDTV.

Carl

[jpl]

No specific suggestions, it sounds like you are already doing everything that would be worth doing.

As to moving to the HR20, all I can say is DO IT. You will not regret the upgrade, both from the perspective of the HR20 versus the R15 as a DVR, and from the difference in picture quality, even when watching SD channels. I ran both an R15 and an HR20 side by side on my new HDTV for better than a month. There is a substantial difference between them in picture quality on the HDTV.

Carl

Thanks for the info. That was one question I had - is the HR20 better at carrying SD channels for an HD set? Sounds like it is. I had a feeling that was the case - the R15 has a stunning PQ for my Sony SD TV, and I've been trying to tweak it to get the picture just right on my new HDTV. Although, the fact that you can connect the HR20 using either component or HDMI probably helps tremendously. The S-video on the R15 is nice, but I gotta believe the HDMI looks a WHOLE lot better. The one thing I'm waiting for - the prices to come down on the HR20. If it wasn't $300 I'd be all over it all ready. Granted I didn't get the most expensive TV out there - less than $1000 - but it's tough to justify that additional $300 at this point. I saw on the HR20 threads that some folks called DirecTV to get a better deal on the DVR. I thought about doing that, but I'm just plain lousy at those types of negotiations.

I thought about moving over to FiOS just for the HD as well, but then I decided against it for several reasons:

1) I still have 18 months to go on my current DTV commitment - and that's darn near the cost of the HR20 right there.
2) I really like my DTV service and have no desire to switch just to get a cheap HD DVR.
3) Everything I continue to read about the DVR that Verizon uses scares me. Yeah I read similar things about the R15/HR20, but I'm familiar with that platform, and I like the R15 alot (better the devil you know than the one that you don't).

Thanks for the info.

[paulman182]

That's an awesome TV you have there. The SD is not bad, but just wait till you feed it some HD!

[litzdog911]

You'll be much happier with HDTV using an HR20 HD DVR than your R15 SD DVR. Once you have an HR20, be sure to record HDNet's 10-min HiDef video test patterns.