HDTV and non high def content - Blu-ray Forum

larrym64 · 01-15-2008, 01:51 AM

I recently returned a Sony KDL46W3000 because when I was watching non high-def content the picture was worse than my 20yr old 27 tube.I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for me. I ask this because not everything is broadcast in high-def so what is a person to do when not qatching high-def. I had the proper sattilite box and caable box and was using a HDMI cable. I am now considering the Sony xbr4 or the Samsung 71. But for me the non high-def picture has to be at least as good as my old tv. I am assuming that it was not the TV as when I had the Blu-ray on the picture was beautiful. Any suggestions would be appreciatted.

JasonR · 01-15-2008, 01:54 AM

Anytime you start increasing size on SD it starts to look crappy. That being said CRTs reproduce SD the best out of all TVs in my opinion, so good luck.

jeffthe13th · 01-15-2008, 01:59 AM

This is a great topic! I thought the same thing when I first got my 46" LCD HDTV.

The sad thing is, there isn't much you can do about it. For some strange reason, HDTV's don't play regular DVD's as good as most Standard Definition televisions. You would think that the picture should be atleast "as good" as your previous TV. I'm not exactly sure why newer HDTV's aren't made so that they can play regular DVD's to look as good as on standard definition TV's.... maybe someone with a better technical understanding can explain it.

One thing that might make a little bit of a difference is to upscale your DVD's (I believe most Blu Ray players do this). This makes the picture a bit sharper.

But if anyone has a better understanding of this, please discuss...

JasonR · 01-15-2008, 02:01 AM

BTW, your w3000 is a very good TV. If you didn't like SD on it, I don't think you will like the XBR series or anything Samsung offers.

Petra_Kalbrain · 01-15-2008, 02:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by larrym64

I recently returned a Sony KDL46W3000 because when I was watching non high-def content the picture was worse than my 20yr old 27 tube.I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for me. I ask this because not everything is broadcast in high-def so what is a person to do when not qatching high-def. I had the proper sattilite box and caable box and was using a HDMI cable. I am now considering the Sony xbr4 or the Samsung 71. But for me the non high-def picture has to be at least as good as my old tv. I am assuming that it was not the TV as when I had the Blu-ray on the picture was beautiful. Any suggestions would be appreciatted.

Unavoidable situation with SD content unless you stick with a 40" or less TV.

emacs · 01-15-2008, 02:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by larrym64

I recently returned a Sony KDL46W3000 because when I was watching non high-def content the picture was worse than my 20yr old 27 tube.

standard definition media is low quality. the KDL46W3000 shows those defects more clearly. besides, that LCD has 157% more screen real estate than your old CRT and it has a horizontal pixel density of 19 pixels per centimeter.

DetroitSportsFan · 01-15-2008, 02:53 AM

Unfortunately, HDTVs magnify how crappy SD signals are.

JohnGalt · 01-15-2008, 04:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

Unfortunately, HDTVs magnify how crappy SD signals are.

That's it. It's merely showing you a much larger and more defined version of the original source and you are, for the first time, seeing the signal warts and all. Same thing happened here when I played low-quality DVDs of 60s television series on my plasma: they look awful but then that's how they've always looked.

Joe Cain · 01-15-2008, 04:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petra_Kalbrain

Unavoidable situation with SD content unless you stick with a 40" or less TV.

Even at less than 40 inches...

Our first HDTV was 37", and standard-definition broadcasts & non-upscaled DVD playback looked so lousy I hooked up the antenna to get over-the-air HDTV broadcasts and bought an upscaling DVD player. The results were good enough to get me interested in BD, which is how we wound up with a PS3 and a BD collection. (We also dumped the satellite service because we weren't watching enough programming on it to justify upgrading the dish and the box to HD; those "savings" are going to Netlfix rentals and BD purchases.)

larrym64 · 01-16-2008, 03:50 AM

thanks for the reply's. Just to clarify it was'nt the DVD that looked bad infact regular DVDs in the Blu ray player looked great it was just the non high def content.

JasonR · 01-16-2008, 03:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by larrym64

thanks for the reply's. Just to clarify it was'nt the DVD that looked bad infact regular DVDs in the Blu ray player looked great it was just the non high def content.

So what TV did you get?

Edh63 · 01-16-2008, 05:34 AM

Yeah, I do believe this topic was misinterpreted. I understood his post to read that he was talking about just standard broadcast, not DVD PQ.

What you're seeing is, unfortunately, the way some stations just broadcast their signals. And, it is also in part to increase in screen size. It's amazing how clean some stations broadcast and how dirty others broadcasts are.

Not much you can do about that.

larrym64 · 01-17-2008, 02:17 AM

I have not gotten a new tv yet as I am waiting for prices to go down as the super bowl approaches. I will also be going back to the stores to check them out again. I really can't wait though because watching the blu-ray was great. When I was watching the sd content I was not stretching the picture I was just watching in 4:3. I am hoping that when everyone goes digital that the sd will be better at least watchable.

JasonR · 01-17-2008, 02:28 AM

I have a digital receiver and SD content is only a little better on it. I have found the rear projections do a nice job of reproducing SD content. If that is what you'll be mostly viewing, then maybe that is an option? I would go to the store and ask if they can hook up a standard def broadcast to several TVs and see which one you prefer. Myself I have alot of HD channels, so I have a hard time bringing myself to view any SD content. It is really bad after viewing HD.

Sandman416 · 01-19-2008, 01:08 AM

Might I recomend going to a BB? The TV wall will give you a very good idea of what different sets will do next to each other. SD looks very good on the rear projections. I have to keep changing the channel to the HD ones. Also your provider has a lot to do with it. I changed from the local cable company to FIOS and you could tell the difference.

pcarlstedt · 01-21-2008, 05:09 AM

Sadly, when cable and satellite providers switched to digital, they started compressing the heck out of many programs so that they actually looked worse than the old analog cable content. They do this so they can cram all those channels into a limited bandwidth I'm told. Anyway, I was appalled at how bad certain broadcasts looked after I got digital cable, and later Direct TV.
The quality varies from station to station. Anyway, it's 'DIGITAL' so it must be better right??

I'm about to get The Dish Network with an HD tuner and though it will no doubt be an improvement, I suspect the carriers still have to compress the signal to varying degrees. I work in the broadcast industry so I actually get to see uncompressed video at my job. Even SD looks pretty damn good when it's 1:1.

01-15-2008, 01:51 AM	#1
larrym64 New Member Member since:Jan 2008 Blu-ray collection:31	HDTV and non high def content I recently returned a Sony KDL46W3000 because when I was watching non high-def content the picture was worse than my 20yr old 27 tube.I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for me. I ask this because not everything is broadcast in high-def so what is a person to do when not qatching high-def. I had the proper sattilite box and caable box and was using a HDMI cable. I am now considering the Sony xbr4 or the Samsung 71. But for me the non high-def picture has to be at least as good as my old tv. I am assuming that it was not the TV as when I had the Blu-ray on the picture was beautiful. Any suggestions would be appreciatted.

01-21-2008, 05:09 AM	#16
pcarlstedt New Member Member since:Jan 2008	HDTV and non high def content Sadly, when cable and satellite providers switched to digital, they started compressing the heck out of many programs so that they actually looked worse than the old analog cable content. They do this so they can cram all those channels into a limited bandwidth I'm told. Anyway, I was appalled at how bad certain broadcasts looked after I got digital cable, and later Direct TV. The quality varies from station to station. Anyway, it's 'DIGITAL' so it must be better right?? I'm about to get The Dish Network with an HD tuner and though it will no doubt be an improvement, I suspect the carriers still have to compress the signal to varying degrees. I work in the broadcast industry so I actually get to see uncompressed video at my job. Even SD looks pretty damn good when it's 1:1.

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01-15-2008, 01:54 AM	#2
JasonR Super Moderator Top contributor Member since:Nov 2007 Trading Score:12	Anytime you start increasing size on SD it starts to look crappy. That being said CRTs reproduce SD the best out of all TVs in my opinion, so good luck.

01-15-2008, 01:59 AM	#3
jeffthe13th Member Member since:Nov 2007 Location:Massachusetts, USA Blu-ray reviews: 61	This is a great topic! I thought the same thing when I first got my 46" LCD HDTV. The sad thing is, there isn't much you can do about it. For some strange reason, HDTV's don't play regular DVD's as good as most Standard Definition televisions. You would think that the picture should be atleast "as good" as your previous TV. I'm not exactly sure why newer HDTV's aren't made so that they can play regular DVD's to look as good as on standard definition TV's.... maybe someone with a better technical understanding can explain it. One thing that might make a little bit of a difference is to upscale your DVD's (I believe most Blu Ray players do this). This makes the picture a bit sharper. But if anyone has a better understanding of this, please discuss...

01-15-2008, 02:01 AM	#4
JasonR Super Moderator Top contributor Member since:Nov 2007 Trading Score:12	BTW, your w3000 is a very good TV. If you didn't like SD on it, I don't think you will like the XBR series or anything Samsung offers.

01-15-2008, 02:53 AM	#7
DetroitSportsFan Hot Deals Moderator Top contributor Member since:Aug 2007 Location:Michigan 4K collection:439 Blu-ray collection:2226 Trading Score:93	Unfortunately, HDTVs magnify how crappy SD signals are.

01-16-2008, 03:50 AM	#10
larrym64 New Member Member since:Jan 2008 Blu-ray collection:31	thanks for the reply's. Just to clarify it was'nt the DVD that looked bad infact regular DVDs in the Blu ray player looked great it was just the non high def content.

01-16-2008, 05:34 AM	#12
Edh63 Senior Member Member since:Jan 2008 Location:Wimberley, TX	Yeah, I do believe this topic was misinterpreted. I understood his post to read that he was talking about just standard broadcast, not DVD PQ. What you're seeing is, unfortunately, the way some stations just broadcast their signals. And, it is also in part to increase in screen size. It's amazing how clean some stations broadcast and how dirty others broadcasts are. Not much you can do about that.

01-17-2008, 02:17 AM	#13
larrym64 New Member Member since:Jan 2008 Blu-ray collection:31	I have not gotten a new tv yet as I am waiting for prices to go down as the super bowl approaches. I will also be going back to the stores to check them out again. I really can't wait though because watching the blu-ray was great. When I was watching the sd content I was not stretching the picture I was just watching in 4:3. I am hoping that when everyone goes digital that the sd will be better at least watchable.

01-17-2008, 02:28 AM	#14
JasonR Super Moderator Top contributor Member since:Nov 2007 Trading Score:12	I have a digital receiver and SD content is only a little better on it. I have found the rear projections do a nice job of reproducing SD content. If that is what you'll be mostly viewing, then maybe that is an option? I would go to the store and ask if they can hook up a standard def broadcast to several TVs and see which one you prefer. Myself I have alot of HD channels, so I have a hard time bringing myself to view any SD content. It is really bad after viewing HD.

01-19-2008, 01:08 AM	#15
Sandman416 Member Member since:Jan 2008 Location:Keller TX	Might I recomend going to a BB? The TV wall will give you a very good idea of what different sets will do next to each other. SD looks very good on the rear projections. I have to keep changing the channel to the HD ones. Also your provider has a lot to do with it. I changed from the local cable company to FIOS and you could tell the difference.

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