Help please with 30" Phillips HDTV CRT (1 Viewer)

[larry mac]

My step-son bought this as a display unit from Walmart about a year ago for $300. I think it originaly sold for well over $600. It came with no box, remote, manual, or cables. We found an $8 Phillips universal remote on the shelf that works the most used features.

When we initially hooked it up in his room to a regular Dish cable box via standard audio/video cables, the picture quality was really poor. I attribited this to possible overuse, the thing had been going non-stop for no telling how long. I fooled with the various picture adjustments (contrast, sharpness, etc) and the quality improved somewhat. Now please note that I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, I simply tried various adjustments till it seemed to get better, ie. less shadowing, ghosting.

We inherited it when he moved out. It's a big, heavy monster. We had switched from Dish to Verizon Fios, with an HD DVR multi box in the living room. Out of curiosity, I put the 30" phillips in there, via an HDMI cable. The cable remote works with it.

The regular channels still suck, but the HD channels look pretty good. And even though the screen size total area is only 400" compared to 500" on the 32" regular tv we had in there before, the widescreen just looks better. Plus, we put the 32" in the bedroom replacing a 27". So it's a win-win deal all around.

My question, is there anything I can do to improve the non-HD channels?

Thanks for any advise.

Phillips widescreen HDTV
model # 30PW9110D

edit: Eventually, we plan to acquire a 42" LCD to replace this, but entertainment unit complications and financial considerations neccesitate we make do with the present arrangement for now. lm

 

[larry mac]

Another related question please. I can order a remote control for this TV from Phillips web site for $45. I'm assuming this is an original remote for this specific model, but would confirm before ordering.

Would this be advantatious to making picture adjustments?

best regards, lm

 

[DaveHo]

SD channels generally suck on HDTV's. Just the nature of the beast. Some cable/dish boxes do a better job than others with SD material. I'm not familiar with FIOS, but is there a way you can run a connection straight to the TV? Then you could try the TV's tuner to see if it does a better job than the set top box.

-Dave

 

[larry mac]

Thanks Dave, I had no idea that standard channels were a problem on HD TV's. I do have an antenna in the attic that I could hook up to the TV to check out your suggestion.

I may have to wait awhile, I'm recovering from a motorcycle accident, with a broken wrist and knee injury.

Thanks again. best regards, lm

 

[Steve Meil]

I had a similar experience when I bought a 32" Emerson LCD HDTV. I finally had to cancel Dish Network because the picture on standard channels was horrible. I was having other problems with Dish Network as well but that is another topic. I initially hooked up a so called HD Antenna and got only 2 HD stations. I returned the "HD" antenna and bought a regular antenna and then got 6 HD stations. I decided to go back to standard cable and when I scanned I received over 26 Digital stations which yielded about 50 digital stations including 7 HD stations. The picture now on the standard channels is allot better (depends on the channel). On a few occasions it is hard to tell if the station is HD or standard. Of course you can still tell the difference on some channels.This is all done through the TV digital tuner (no cable box). I am pretty happy with the results