SD picture on an HD display... how bad will it be? (1 Viewer)

[johnADA]

First off, unless you use the disc and the DVD player on every input type on the TV to calibrate per each, a one input and change the TV settings based on it, doesnt calibrate it correctly.

Secondly it doesnt calibrate the TV correctly either. Unless you have one of VERY FEW players out there that passes correctly the video at all levels, your correcting the output failures of the DVD player. Something the TV didnt have a problem with, but the DVD player did.

Those discs are gimmicks, unless your correcting the input of the DVD player, for the DVD player input, based on using that DVD player on that input.

I have a friend who is a ISF tech on the side and a installer of audio/video equipment. I had all ready done the disc thing and wasnt totally happy with the results and had done so on each input off my DVD player to each on the TV. Once he was done I was like WOW, what a difference. He had stated unless you have the tools to get into the service menu, your just playing with low percentage adjustments of fine tuning. And the fact the Samsung player I had, top of the line for that time period, had black level problems that wasnt helping me.

Then he made a comment I found interesting per advice given on these forums, magazines and so on. He said now your non normal brand LCD looks as good and a normal brand name LCD, both if they were calibrated professionally.

But beyond that, even with it calibrated, I do have a few channels left that havent upped there standards on the 1-100 analog channels that look totally hideous. I have one local channel that when I watch channel 10 football games, its hard to see the fine points of the game, like the football period. But switch it to 1010, the HD channel which I know is just a 480 P signal and not HD, I can see everything. So there are still channels that are terrible, even with calibration!!

 

[Philip Hamm]

SD signals vary widely. I have a self-calibrated Infocus X1 which is an EDTV with a native 4:3 image projected onto a 96" screen. The X1 is famous for having outstanding processing of 4:3 composite 480i images and that's why I keep it.

Feeding it from Dish network SD it looks like absolute garbage. Watchable if I really want to see the game, but fuzzy as hell.

Local OTA UHF (I have one station which doesn't have a high power DTV feed) it looks better than Dish, actually pretty darn good considering the limitations of the format. Still fuzzy but not as bad as dish.

If I feed it from my LaserDisc player it looks dramatically better, particularly with a very good transfer.

If I feed it non-anamorphic 4:3 DVD it looks outstanding, that technically is still 480i, but if you A/B that with Dish you would think they were completley different formats.

The best SD picture I get by far is the SD subchannel signal from my OTA HDTV receiver.

That projector is in my movie room. In the rest of the house, I watch regular ol' 4:3 NTSC 480i TVs (one with an OTA HD receiver hooked up in 480i compatability mode - simply amazing how good it looks). If that had to be my primary TV I don't know if I'd like it.

 

[Marty M]

I have a 55" Sony SXRD and there is a huge difference in the HD signals compared to the SD signals on our Insight cable feed. I will say this, the HD programming that I get looks incredible. The football and basketball games I have watched in HD are like being at the venue. You will just have to take a look at the line-up of HD channels that you can get through your local cable company or satellite network and decide if it is worth the purchase.

For me, I had a 31" CRT that "crapped" out on me. I didn't think it was worth investing in another SD TV, when HD is the wave of the not-so-distant future.

 

[Bruce Carillon]

Thanks Marty, I have no doubt that HD signals are MUCH better quality than SD signals on your new SXRD. What I'm most interested in is how does the SD on your SXRD compare to the same SD on your CRT that was replaced? Thanks

 

[Marty M]

Unfortuneately, the SD signals on the SXRD are not as good as they were on my CRT. There is no getting around it. I have, however gotten used to the difference over the past 2 weeks that I have owned the SXRD. I have a friend that only watches HD with his front projector and wheels out his CRT when he watches SD signals. Since my CRT died, I haven't considered that option.

 

[LanceJ]

I see what you're saying in regards to the relative issue, but in the end, revealing systems - whether they be audio* or video - just plain let you better experience all the junk along with the good stuff. Especially if the screen is really large, say larger than 50".

* I am referring to truly good hi-fi, especially studio monitors when speaking of loudspeakers, and not certain types of esoteric gear that is intentionally designed to impart "pleasing" colorations to the music it handles or intentionally masks certain unwanted sounds at the cost of reducing detail

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Sure, they do resolve/reveal everything, but in absolute terms the image or sound is still a significant improvement over a poor system.