Projectors and HD Cable - Blu-ray Forum

Nathan Arizona · 02-24-2010, 03:33 PM

I'm looking for some opinions on using projectors with HD broadcast receivers.

I just picked-up (thankfully I rented) a HD box from our local cable provider Shaw and hooked it up to my projector (EPSON Powerlite 720) and man does it look poor, like an upconverted DVD -- soft with muted colors and some artifacting.

I've used this projector for the past year and half just to watch Movies -- blu rays, HDdvds and normal DVDs, and the high quality sources look excellent. I was blown away with how good A Serious Man looked this weekend.

Watching LOST last night via my HD box on an HD channel and hooked up via a DVI to HDMI cable; looked nowhere near as good as a nice blu ray. I actually turned it off and went up stairs and watched it SD on my old tube crt as it looks better, but way smaller.

Is this normal with HD cable? Are projectors just not suitable for the quality of HD broadcasters are now using.

kpkelley · 02-24-2010, 03:43 PM

Different cable providers have different quality signals. In all honesty, the best signal for hdtv would be an antennae, since the image wouldn't be as compressed. That being said, you should be able to play around with the settings in the projector and the cable box in order to get a reasonable image.

I have no experience with Shaw as a cable provider however, so I can't comment specifically on the level of their service.

DAK4 · 02-24-2010, 11:46 PM

I'm not sure about the HD cable but as "KPKELLEY" mentioned about antennas, I use an antenna with a Samsung DTB-H260F HDTV tuner and the picture quality is outstanding, some broadcasts (imo) are better than Blu-ray, maybe due to the digital camera's they use and no compression. And bonus is that it is Free! You won't get hundreds of channels but you should get all the major networks.

crazyBLUE · 02-25-2010, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DAK4

I'm not sure about the HD cable but as "KPKELLEY" mentioned, I use an antenna with a Samsung DTB-H260F HDTV tuner and the picture quality is outstanding, some broadcasts (imo) are better than Blu-ray, maybe due to the digital camera's they use. And bonus is that it is Free! You won't get hundreds of channels but you should get all the major networks.

I watch races from my DVR from Comcast on my Projector & get A great HD picture from it .

red-blu · 02-25-2010, 05:11 AM

Overall, LOST on blu looks better than the actual broadcast (IMO)

02-24-2010, 03:33 PM	#1
Nathan Arizona Junior Member Member since:Feb 2009 Blu-ray reviews:31	Projectors and HD Cable I'm looking for some opinions on using projectors with HD broadcast receivers. I just picked-up (thankfully I rented) a HD box from our local cable provider Shaw and hooked it up to my projector (EPSON Powerlite 720) and man does it look poor, like an upconverted DVD -- soft with muted colors and some artifacting. I've used this projector for the past year and half just to watch Movies -- blu rays, HDdvds and normal DVDs, and the high quality sources look excellent. I was blown away with how good A Serious Man looked this weekend. Watching LOST last night via my HD box on an HD channel and hooked up via a DVI to HDMI cable; looked nowhere near as good as a nice blu ray. I actually turned it off and went up stairs and watched it SD on my old tube crt as it looks better, but way smaller. Is this normal with HD cable? Are projectors just not suitable for the quality of HD broadcasters are now using.

02-24-2010, 11:46 PM	#3
DAK4 Member Top ranked HT gallery Member since:Jul 2009 Location:Peoria, Arizona Home Theater Gallery:59	I'm not sure about the HD cable but as "KPKELLEY" mentioned about antennas, I use an antenna with a Samsung DTB-H260F HDTV tuner and the picture quality is outstanding, some broadcasts (imo) are better than Blu-ray, maybe due to the digital camera's they use and no compression. And bonus is that it is Free! You won't get hundreds of channels but you should get all the major networks. Last edited by DAK4; 02-25-2010 at 04:16 AM.

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02-24-2010, 03:43 PM	#2
kpkelley Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Aug 2007 Location:Framingham, MA 4K collection:385 Blu-ray collection:2478 Digital collection:113 Blu-ray reviews: 152	Different cable providers have different quality signals. In all honesty, the best signal for hdtv would be an antennae, since the image wouldn't be as compressed. That being said, you should be able to play around with the settings in the projector and the cable box in order to get a reasonable image. I have no experience with Shaw as a cable provider however, so I can't comment specifically on the level of their service.

02-25-2010, 05:11 AM	#5
red-blu Member Member since:Jan 2010 Location:Nebraska 4K collection:69 Blu-ray collection:643	Overall, LOST on blu looks better than the actual broadcast (IMO)

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