Just got my first LCD HDTV

Hey all-
I'm obviously new to the forums, but not new to home theater. Being the eldest son, I was the one who set up our home theater in our house (Mitsu 55in rearproj HDTV, 7.1 surround, 7 DVD changer, etc) So, I've had experiance with the high end stuff. Well, now I'm in college, and I don't have the same budget at my disposal unfortunately. For christmas, and don't laugh...it's just what I needed...the Envision L19W698. Yes, it's a 19 incher but it's 1080i, and I live in a dorm. Not to mention, the price meant that I got a little extra cash to throw around as well. With that in mind I have a few questions to ensure this TV lasts as long as possible, as well as setting it up to maximize it's capabilities:
First issue are the cables. I have always used Monster or Mogami, and I was going to do the same with the cable going from the wall to the back of the set, but I thought about it, and I came to the conclusion that the cable line in a dorm is split so many times that using a $40 cable between the outlet and the TV is like putting NOS on a Pinto. Sound about right? With that in mind, what can I do to improve the quality of the incoming signal? I intend to buy a cable box as our school has a full cable package if you supply your own box, at some point, but will some sort of signal booster help me out at all in the mean time?
Next issue is the sound. I am a real stickler when it comes to sound, and I can appreciate a high quality system. I own a 5.1 surround system which I currently use as my stereo, and while it's no bang-olufsen, I make it work quite well with proper calibration and set-up. Problem is while this TV has every input imaginable (DVI, HDMI, S-Vid, Component, RCA, AND VGA) The only sound output is 1/8' headphone...go figure. The surround system is not a multimedia system, therefore, it only supports audio in. Basically, if I use an adapter to go from 1/8th to RCA, will I get poor sound quality? I am aware that the 5.1 will be simulated.
My last question pertains to the first thing I did out of the box...calibration. It seems that unlike when I calibrated the rear proj. HDTV, there is a strong difference between the levels of the HD stations, and the SD stations. When I watch Discovery HD, it is perfect, yet when I go to Comedy Central, it is VERY dark. This is with the colors in "normal" Also, I was always under the impression that brightness should remain below 20, but I had to take it to 35 for the brightness, and 55 for the contrast in order to achieve the proper effect. I used a calibration DVD and I had it set to display colors darker than black etc. Is there a different procedure for LCD's?
Anyway, thanks guys, I really appreciate it.
-Nick

Re: Just got my first LCD HDTV

SD on low end LCDs just sucks Nick. Sorry. A cable signal booster would help, if part of the problem is your signal level. Which you won't be able to test yourself. You could try it though. If the signal is low coming into the room, then a booster would help the picture. But if it's boosted too much it can make the picture worse. They do make adjustable boosters out there, but you're looking at spending $50 to $100. I've found that the radioshack boosters don't work that well, but they are returnable if you wanted to give it a shot. Other than that I just suggest watching HD only. Good luck.

Re: Just got my first LCD HDTV

I don't like to use any of the presets on a TV when I calibrate it. I turn all that stuff off and work strictly with the test patterns. This may be one of the reasons you're seeing the difference. (Unless you're talking about "color temperature" - in which case I'd try to find out what temperature range each of the set's settings corresponds to. You're looking for a color temp as close as possible to 6500 Kelvin.)

And joe277 is right: SD channels just don't look that good on HD sets, in part because flaws in the source material and weaknesses in the signals tend to be modified. In part it is also because on fixed-pixel set (basically anything that isn't CRT based) the TV scales all incoming signals to its native resolution. When you take a signal that is at best 480i (and which may be sourced from lower-res material, especially on local stations) and then de-interlace and interpolate it up to 720p, 768p, 900p or 1080p, you can introduce a lot of artifacts and blockiness. It is like scrapping too little butter across too much bread. The result isn't what you want.


Not really. All fixed-pixel monitors are inherently progressive scan. Only CRT based systems that are scanning an electron-beam work in interlaced modes. Fixed-pixel systems are also limited to a single display resloution - that of their pixel array. A 720p set displays everything as 720p, regardless of the resolution of the input signal. It deinterlaces a 1080i signal into two 540i fields, combines them into a progressive 540p frame and then scales that to 720p. 1080p input from Blu Ray or HD-DVD discs gets downconverted to 720p. Your monitor is 900p and that's what it displays. (I suppose it could letterbox a 720p input by masking off the 90 lines at the top and bottom of the screen and thus only displaying 720 lines.)

It is a marketing ploy to advertise every set as "1080i" on the grounds that it can accept a 1080i signal. Big deal. All HDTVs can do that. But unless it is a CRT direct-view or RPTV (and good luck finding one of those nowadays) it isn't displaying 1080i.

Regards,

Joe

Re: Just got my first LCD HDTV

Well, I find the res. things quite interesting...either way, of all the TV's in the size range I tested, this one had the clearest picture, greatest brightness, and the truest black. Yes, I'm sure all of you are rolling your eyes. Nevertheless you're quite right, the SD channels suck in comparison to the HD channels. I was able to get it properly calibrated. I connected it to my apple MBP and ran the monitor calibration, and skipped the part where you cross calibrate the two monitors. It looks quite nice now. I appreciate ya'lls help. Thanks.