Just movies or "all purpose" (1 Viewer)

[Dave>B]

Hi all;

As the new owner of a new 44" RPTV I am enjoying watching movies more than ever. DVDs look incredible on this screen, however, much of regular TV broadcasts (Dish Satellite) don't look as good as my old 32" tube set. Some channels look better than the old set and a few, most notably local stations look worse. Tint, color and brightness vary to a great degree, so that I am always fiddleing with the settings. I go upstairs to my daughter's cheap little tube set and every channel looks fine. Also with the bigger picture, I am really aware of the compression artifacts.

Bottom line- regular TV is easier and more enjoyable to watch on the old tube and movies are fanatastic on the big screen.

Is this why when I see other peoples houses, they usually have a big screen dedicated to movies, and a smaller tube somewhere else for their day to day viewing? Is this what most do? How many out there use the big screen for eberything and how many split it up?

I am curious. Thanks

Dave>B

 

[John S]

One 60" display for everything. But I must admit, I place very little value on anything not HD or at least upconverted over an HD / Digital feed. I cancelled my cable and dish, and don't have any SD feeds hooked up from local broadcasters, only the HD feeds from my local broadcasters. I just can't deal with NTSC Broadcast stuff anymore nor can I deal with small screen size anymore.

So there you have my take on it.

 

[gene c]

I have two modest setups. One for "everyday" and one for dvd's and m/c hi-res music. A 35" tube and 55" rptv perform the visuals.

 

[Dave>B]

>>and don't have any SD feeds hooked up from local broadcasters, only the HD feeds from my local broadcasters

 

[Ted Lee]

that's my take as well.

going into my purchase (65" rptv), i knew that the sd broadcast stuff could look horrible. tbh, it's not really all that bad on my setup. but my emphasis, and the reason i bought the tv, was for movies (via my upconverting dvd player), and future hd content.

you've run into (what i would say) is the number one reason people complain about the picture quality on big tv's.

one thing you can do to mitigate the problem is ensure you're using the right connections and decent quality cables. don't use the free rca or coax cables to hookup your tv. at a minimum, use s-video. go component if you can. i gave this advice to my friend who bought a 55" and (in his words), it was the best money he ever spent. he said even his sd material looked much better - so much so that even his wife noticed.

 

[Dave>B]

>>use s-video. go component if you can.b

 

[John S]

Easier for me, I have a very large library. So if I want to watch it, I buy it.

 

[Ted Lee]

well, first thing to be aware of is that there is (probably) no more hotly contested issue in ht then whether uber-expensive cables are worth it. some people will pay 500 dollars for a single cable, then state the improvement is monumental. others will argue they're seeing an improvement because they paid 500 for it. so my take is to simply get some decent cables (the AR brand available at best buy is a good starting point), then once you're happy with your setup, buy some more exotic cables and see if you notice a difference.

now, for specifics...

dish satellite: use s-video cable, as i don't believe it has component connections.

dvd player: is your dvd player progressive scan? you'll know if you look in the back and see three plugs labeled "component". if so, use them (component cables). if not, use s-video. but, if your dvd player isn't progressive scan, you should *definitely* pick one up. you can get a decent player for 100 bucks. or, to get an even better picture, think about getting a dvd player that upconverts dvd's to high-def quality -- if you do this make sure the back of your tv has a plug called either "hdmi" or "dvi".

hope that helps, if not just ask....

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Careful, not all DVD players with component connections are progressive, however all DVD players without component connections are non-progressive. If you have a progressive player, it will have component connections and will be labled "Progressive" somewhere on the face or in the manual.

 

[Ted Lee]

thx jeff...didn't realize that. why would a non-progressive dvd player have component outs?

 

[Jeff Gatie]

There are plenty of non-progressive televisions that have component connections. I owned a Sony 500 series DVD player that had component and no progressive back in 1999. My sister owns a Sony 4:3 non-HD TV that has component connections but cannot display progressive scan. I would assume component connections preceded 480p capability in the TV world.

 

[John S]

ted, the reason it is still kind of cool. Is when the Display has a really great de-interlacer. Many of the newer displays, really shine when fed 480i via component video, even or maybe espeacially with el cheapie DVD players.

 

[Neil Joseph]

On my main setup its movies ONLY. Even extras disks are viewed on another secondary system (27" setup).