How do I set up the TV picture settings for Cable TV? HD looks good, others don't. (1 Viewer)

[Derek B]

OK, I finally got the Pioneer SD-643HD5 64" HD monitor. I am very happy with it so far. I have not received my Avia or Digital Video Essentials calibration DVD's yet so I have winged it.

I was still a little frustrated that the HD channels do not always broadcast a true 16x9 picture to fill my screen. Only some shows truly fill the entire TV while others give the black bars on the left and right. I guess I will have to get used to that.

The HD channels truly look AWESOME! But here is my problem. When I adjust my picture settings for on the HD channels, it also affects the non-HD channels since they are on the same Video input. Therefore the non-HD channels end up looking "not that great". I know you will tell me that "Its because you have a high resolution HD TV and you were just never able to see these artifacts on your small 25" CRT", but this looks pretty bad. I am sending a 480i signal to the TV for the non-HD channels through component video. 1080i is sent to the TV for the HD channels through component video. My TV is supposed to take the 480i signal and create a 480p signal and make them look a lot better, but it does not seem to be doing that. Maybe I have one parameter on my TV set incorrectly? Can someone give me thoughts on what might help my problem.

One other thing, When I watch a Widescreen DVD (i.e. "The Italian Job") with the TV set to Full Screen, It only fills about half the TV with BIG bars on top and bottom. Am I going to experience this with all Widescreen DVD's or are there many Different Aspect ratios for "Widescreen"? I know I can use Zoom on the DVD player, or set the TV to "Cinema Wide", but then I lose some of the picture and the quality is not quite as good.

Thanks,

 

[Bryan J]

Derek,

Take a look at the Primer for HT Newcomers article "What are some common aspect ratio?". It explains the reason why some DVDs have "bars" at the top and bottom on a widescreen monitor. The simple answer is that DVDs original aspect ratios are filmed differently from each other. Some OARs are 2.35 X 1 (width X height lines of resolution), others are 1.85 X 1 (essentially the 16X9 ratio of your widescreen HD monitor).

Unfortunately you've answered your own question about the quality of analog signals especially considering the massive size of your HD. Continued calibration might help some, but some channels will only appear dull and fuzzy compared to the crispness and sharpness of true HD channels.

peace,
bryan

 

[Cory_W]

For non HD use a non HD input on your TV. That will remove the bars. Then you can adjust the picture quality on the seprate inputs.

 

[Jeremy Swenson]

also, my old tv was a 4:3 so i had my dvd player set up as that, when i went to my new tv it letter boxed it and stretched it until i changed it to a 16:9 tv in the setup of the dvd player

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Derek,

Go into the dvd player's setup menu and change TV Type to 16/9--it is set to 4/3 at the factory and at that setting will produce a very narrow picture with everything short and fat with the tv at the proper "full" AR setting.

As for the SD vs HD pq disparity, that's normal. Your set is not capable of displaying 480i at all, so you can rest assured that the 480i to 480p conversion is indeed taking place.

If that set is like most, it is capable of memorizing more than one set of picture adjustments. Most sets have multiple "picture modes" labelled "movie, cinema, sports, etc (labelling differs by mfg). You can usually store a different set of contrast, brightness, color, tint, sharpness adjustments in each "mode". I'd suggest you do one set of adjustments with HD displayed, then display SD and redo the adjustments to get the best picture in another picture mode. If you set has defeatable SVM (Scan Velocity Modulation) try turning it on for the SD picture mode you choose.

Finally, Home Theater Spot has brand specific forums with lots of information on the quirks and features of various individual brands of set--well worth a look.