Distorted video with widescreen

[grunzz]

I have a new Sony KDF-E50A10 50" widescreen with the dish network 625 using the S-video. And I’m finding the quality of image is very poor even when watching in 4:3. Watching a DVD in component video looks great, and watching the same show with my 36” Sony tube looks a lot better. What’s the deal!

grunzz

 

[DWS44]

Welcome to the world of E* over-compressed SD channels on a big-screen digital television! While you will find HD and DVDs to be spectacular on a TV that size, SD channels tends to look worse as E* supposedly only optimizes their compression for like a 30" TV. (not sure of the actual size)

Some things you can do to help the SD picture on a TV like that is to turn off or reduce any "sharpness" settings. It will make the image a bit "softer", but it won't highlight the imperfections as bad. That will make it a bit more livable. Same goes for any settings that enhance "black level"

 

[joedekock]

Welcome to the world of E* over-compressed SD channels on a big-screen digital television! While you will find HD and DVDs to be spectacular on a TV that size, SD channels tends to look worse as E* supposedly only optimizes their compression for like a 30" TV. (not sure of the actual size)

Some things you can do to help the SD picture on a TV like that is to turn off or reduce any "sharpness" settings. It will make the image a bit "softer", but it won't highlight the imperfections as bad. That will make it a bit more livable. Same goes for any settings that enhance "black level"

This is not just an E* deal. Actually it has more to do with the TV. The HD televisions outputs are meant to be twice or more the resoloution that the SD or non-hd channels are capable of. Hence there are "empty" lines in the display. This causes halo, blurred or staticy images from non HD signal. I know DVD's are non hd, but with a progressive scan DVD player, it actually enhances the image. There obviousley is nothing like this for satellite or cable siganl. So don't be disheartened by it, I get the same thing with D* and when I had Charter I had it as well. Friends of mine with Comcast have it too.

 

[Van]

It really does tend to be a tv issue, sony's, LG, and panasonic tend to have better picture quality on most of theyr big screens that are lcd, plasma, or dlp wich does the best from what Ive seen so far. Try the s video to the tv, there is an idea that dirty electric current can affect your tv so you may want to invest in a good surge supressor. You can also try using an rg-6 coax jumper and see what the pq looks like, if your running the 625 through something else before it gets to the tv you may want to do a direct connect to the tv.

 

[Ilya]

Welcome to the forum, grunzz!
Since you have an HDTV set, why not get an HD receiver and enjoy the full glory of High Definition?!

 

[Tom Bombadil]

It's both the TV and Dish!

HDTVs do vary considerably in their ability to display SD cleanly. Very few will approach the quality of a 36" Sony SD set, and most will far substantially short of that mark.

And Dish's SD quality is not that good on a large display. It is degraded by compression, which should obvious on the 36" Sony too. I found it easy to see the effects sitting 9' away from a 32" set.

When these two are combined the result frequently isn't that pretty. In your case you are expanding a compressed 4:3 image to 41", in 4:3 mode, on a set that is not optimized for 4:3 analog via s-video. Watching in 4:3, with the image not set up to be overly bright, is your best bet. But its not going to match your native 4:3 36" Sony.

And it will vary by channel, by program. When viewing a channel that's getting a lot of bandwidth, the picture can be pretty decent. When viewing over-compressed channels with low-contrast scenes, it can be unwatchable.

Are you watching any HD on that HD set? Once you do, you'll learn to live with the degraded SD as part of the price to view glorious HD.