New HD TV

[Duckjake]

Just bought our first HD TV. The analog picture from Direct TV is horrible. Far worse than any picture on even the cheap tube tv's we've had in the garage.

Is this normal?

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Just bought our first HD TV. The analog picture from Direct TV is horrible. Far worse than any picture on even the cheap tube tv's we've had in the garage.

Is this normal?

Depending on the set, how it is connected, and how close you are sitting... yes it is normal. That same quality picture is being stretched onto a much bigger picture. The quality is bound to suffer.

 

[devilalum]

Yes, anything but an HD signal looks horrible on an HDTV.

DVDs look good though.

 

[Shane]

Yes, anything but an HD signal looks horrible on an HDTV.

DVDs look good though.

Thats not true. I have 3 HD TV's in my house and none of them are hooked to HD just the Directv standard digital signal and my picture is fantastic on all 3 of them.

 

[Duckjake]

Thats not true. I have 3 HD TV's in my house and none of them are hooked to HD just the Directv standard digital signal and my picture is fantastic on all 3 of them.

How do you have them connected? Standard coaxial?

My picture is real pasty. Kids say it looks like its painted. The HD picture is excellent.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

How do you have them connected? Standard coaxial?

My picture is real pasty. Kids say it looks like its painted. The HD picture is excellent.

I would first check your brightness and contrast, generally it is turned all the way up. Get those in the medium range. What type of TV is it? Cable or Satellite? How far are you sitting away from the TV?

 

[Duckjake]

I would first check your brightness and contrast, generally it is turned all the way up. Get those in the medium range. What type of TV is it? Cable or Satellite? How far are you sitting away from the TV?

Good point on the brightness and contrast they were turned way up. Had already adjusted all the video controls. Sitting about 8-10 feet from the set.

Have an LCD 32" connected by coaxial cable to a direct tv receiver. The HD which comes through an over the air antenna looks fine. I am going to try an S Video connection today.

Fortunately the TV is just for the bedroom.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Good point on the brightness and contrast they were turned way up. Had already adjusted all the video controls. Sitting about 8-10 feet from the set.

Have an LCD 32" connected by coaxial cable to a direct tv receiver. The HD which comes through an over the air antenna looks fine. I am going to try an S Video connection today.

Fortunately the TV is just for the bedroom.

Does your Direct TV receiver have Component or HDMI, you would get better results from that, vs. composite or S-video.

 

[Duckjake]

Does your Direct TV receiver have Component or HDMI, you would get better results from that, vs. composite or S-video.

No, just composite,coaxial, and s-video. Went ahead and ordered the HD Receiver from Direct TV. Going to see how it looks once that receiver is hooked up with HDMI.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

No, just composite,coaxial, and s-video. Went ahead and ordered the HD Receiver from Direct TV. Going to see how it looks once that receiver is hooked up with HDMI.

Well, HDMI and satellite/cable boxes is notoriously bad, but better than composite/S-video. I would stick with component if possible.

 

[Covert Rain]

Thats not true. I have 3 HD TV's in my house and none of them are hooked to HD just the Directv standard digital signal and my picture is fantastic on all 3 of them.

That is completely dependent on the HDTV and what technology the TV uses. For instance I have a Sony HDTV ready CRT that I have both standard and HD content via Direct TV going to it. The Sony does a good job on standard TV. However, my brand new Mits 65" HDTV looks much better then my Sony with HD content but yet looks worse with standard def content.

So depending on the tech your TV uses will play a big role on how standard def looks on it. If you pick up a home theater mag, you will always see comments on the review on how good or bad standard def looks on the HDTV.

Well, HDMI and satellite/cable boxes is notoriously bad, but better than composite/S-video. I would stick with component if possible.

I have the DirectTV HD DVR and the TIVO HD-DVR. I can verify that the picture is great via HDMI on both units. I have compared both the component and HDMI picture on both and prefer the HDMI signal. I wouldn't say there is a huge difference though.

 

[Duckjake]

I think I got a bad TV. Everything is blurry and the colors look like they're smeared. Green and Red bleeds in from the sides and it looks like the response time is very bad as there are trailers/ghosts everywhere.

Example: Everyone looks like they're wearing a colored cap instead of having hair.

I'm going to get a Sony Flat Screen tube tv and forget about HD until DirectV gets more HD channels up.

 

[Pariah]

I'm going to get a Sony Flat Screen tube tv and forget about HD until DirectV gets more HD channels up.

I think that's supposedd to be this spring, though. You might want to look into that.

 

[Covert Rain]

I think I got a bad TV. Everything is blurry and the colors look like they're smeared. Green and Red bleeds in from the sides and it looks like the response time is very bad as there are trailers/ghosts everywhere.

Example: Everyone looks like they're wearing a colored cap instead of having hair.

I'm going to get a Sony Flat Screen tube tv and forget about HD until DirectV gets more HD channels up.

What brand and model TV did you get? Also, have you tried using different cables or a different type of connection? You can get some of those symptoms using bad cables. If you still experience that stuff after some switching then I would say that your probably right about the TV.

Also, you mentioned DTV. Is that what your using now? Does your current box give you the same problem on other TV's? Also, the DTV DVR HR20 model will give you the HD package plus your locals and they are adding more this year.

 

[asudevil83]

I think I got a bad TV. Everything is blurry and the colors look like they're smeared. Green and Red bleeds in from the sides and it looks like the response time is very bad as there are trailers/ghosts everywhere.

Example: Everyone looks like they're wearing a colored cap instead of having hair.

I'm going to get a Sony Flat Screen tube tv and forget about HD until DirectV gets more HD channels up.

have you gotten your new HD-Reciever?
what brand and model tv is this?

one more recommendation: if your tv has backlight controls, turn them way down. then use the brightness/contrast to make up for it. this will help out with the color saturation, blacks, and overall life of the set.

also, forget getting a sony. their quality is just as good as other brands, but twice as expensive in most cases. also it would be a waste if this is only a temporary solution.

 

[O]

also, forget getting a sony. their quality is just as good as other brands, but twice as expensive in most cases. also it would be a waste if this is only a temporary solution.

Sony is Japanese for expensive.

 

[Duckjake]

I got a Sanyo 32" because it was for the bedroom and their set had decent reviews. I can't imagine even a budget TV having a picture this poor. I've had Sanyo tube sets before and never had a problem.

My old Sharp tube TV which just died had a very good picture using the same Dtv box and my Toshiba 37" tube TV in the living room using the Dtv DVR has an outstanding picture.

The HD receiver arrives tomorrow. We'll see what happens with the new box and better cables but I have a feeling something is wrong with the set.

 

[asudevil83]

any way to post pics of the screen so we can see how BAD this actually is?

 

[dreamcastrocks]

any way to post pics of the screen so we can see how BAD this actually is?

Unless it is a top of the line camera, getting pictures of a TV screen is pointless. If he had some sort of capture device on his computer, maybe that would work.

 

[Duckjake]

Unless it is a top of the line camera, getting pictures of a TV screen is pointless. If he had some sort of capture device on his computer, maybe that would work.

Here's a shot from the Last Boy Scout.

The photo is a good reproduction of what we see on the screen.

 

[Duckjake]

Here's another screen shot with brighter characters.

Notice how we study spanish.

 

[Covert Rain]

I got a Sanyo 32" because it was for the bedroom and their set had decent reviews. I can't imagine even a budget TV having a picture this poor. I've had Sanyo tube sets before and never had a problem.

My old Sharp tube TV which just died had a very good picture using the same Dtv box and my Toshiba 37" tube TV in the living room using the Dtv DVR has an outstanding picture.

The HD receiver arrives tomorrow. We'll see what happens with the new box and better cables but I have a feeling something is wrong with the set.

I tend to agree with you it probably is the set if your using the same cables. Having said that budget HDTV's are just that for a reason. Go to any showroom and look at a low end HDTV and a high end. The difference is "clear". Sanyo is not known for their high quality HDTV's. However, Sharp has both good higher end stuff (like their LCD line) and some not so good lower end stuff.

However, try the different connections (HDMI vs componant etc..) to see if that makes a difference. If your still getting the same problem, swap out the TV. If that doesn't help, then you know the TV model you bought isn't so good.

Based on those pictures that appears to be cable issues (color bleeds, lines running diagonal across the picture) or a port issue. What type of connection are you using for that picture?

 

[Duckjake]

Based on those pictures that appears to be cable issues (color bleeds, lines running diagonal across the picture) or a port issue. What type of connection are you using for that picture?

Coaxial cable from the Dtv box.

Here's a pic from the DVD player which is connected by the good old red,yellow,and white cables.

It is just as badly blurred with significant smearing of colors like you see in the face of the woman in the middle of the picture.

 

[Covert Rain]

Coax is known for diagnoal line issues. Bad RCA cables can cause the color issues that you are seeing. Have you tried a different set of RCA cables (yellow carries video, red and white audio)? Try that first. If not, try S-Video, Componant or HDMI connections. I would try one of those before returning the TV.

 

[asudevil83]

i'm leaning towards cable issues too.

new tech (hdtv) + old tech (inferior cables) = bad.

the only way to really tell though is with the new box. those screen caps do show a abnorbally crappy picture though.