General HD Question

Status
Please reply by conversation.

mdp1116

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Jun 28, 2006
105
0
Well i just got a new LG 42PC3DV and i thought it had HD but it doesnt, but it does have HDMI and i have a R15 dual tuner dvr, what can i do to get the best possible picture on this unit.
 
I got my hd dual tuner dvr and hd equipment being installed on wends we will see much better it will look with the hdmi inputs... I called into dtv told them that i did not think my tv was hd, but when i told him that it had hdmi on it he was like "you have a hd tv and you need the hd equipment." So my question is now, even though i am not subscribing to hd programming does that mean my picture is gonna look the same as it does now on the reg equipment?

arxaw said:
A simple Google of LG 42PC3DV would've told you that TV is not HDTV, it's only EDTV. Return it and get an HDTV, not an EDTV.
 
Hdmi inputs won't magically make your tv display hd. Hdmi is not directly related to HD- it is simply a digital connection. Your set is an EDTV (enhanced definition tv) set only capable of displaying 480p (480 lines of resolution). High definition bradcasts by directv and other cable and satellite companies are broadcast at 720p or 1080i.
If you didn't order the HD programming, then you will not see any improvement in picture quality. And even if you did have the HD programming you will not benefit from a true HD experience as your display will only output 480 lines of resolution.
Like arxaw said- if you can, return the tv and get a tv that clearly says HDTV.
 
Remember, the HD receiver requires a two year programming commitment to at least the TotalChoice package. SD receivers only require a one year commitment. Something to think about before you connect an HD receiver to a non-HD display.
 
i am getting the equipment with no commitment since i am a new subscriber. plus free install of the new hd stuff.

arxaw said:
Remember, the HD receiver requires a two year programming commitment to at least the TotalChoice package. SD receivers only require a one year commitment. Something to think about before you connect an HD receiver to a non-HD display.
 
Yeah basically since i am a new customer, 3 weeks old they are upgrading my stuff at no charge.

Now onto the questions at hand. Now that i have a HD Tv coming, are any channels that are not in hd gonna look like crap? my fiance likes food tv and i know thats not in hd, does that mean that it will not look any better than what i have now on my standard receiver?

FlyingJ said:
No commitment.....HD equipment....I hope you have that in writing....
 
mdp1116 said:
Yeah basically since i am a new customer, 3 weeks old they are upgrading my stuff at no charge.

Now onto the questions at hand. Now that i have a HD Tv coming, are any channels that are not in hd gonna look like crap? my fiance likes food tv and i know thats not in hd, does that mean that it will not look any better than what i have now on my standard receiver?

you need to do some research. There is a Food HD channel which is not carried by DirecTv. Go to the DirecTv website and see the list of HD (...lite) channels. The other channels are all SD and SD in any HDTV always will look like crap because it is overcompressed. So do not put your expectation high on SD. It is what it is --- garbage in garbage out. You may want to do a search on this site and check the term "HD Lite" or go to www.stophdlite.com and find out more about your HD (...lite) reception.
 
mdp1116 said:
Now onto the questions at hand. Now that i have a HD Tv coming, are any channels that are not in hd gonna look like crap? my fiance likes food tv and i know thats not in hd, does that mean that it will not look any better than what i have now on my standard receiver?

I wouldn't necessarily say it will look like crap, but certainly not great. Until Directv starts offering more hd channels (supposed to happen next year when the new satellites are put up), you will only find the 7 or so HD channels to be of high quality. Everything else will look decent at best compared to HD.
Food network does actually have an HD channel availible right now which is offered by a select few providers, but Directv is unable to add it (and several other HD channels currently not availible to us) until the new sats go up due to limited bandwidth. Hopefully, by then we will have a multitude of HD channels:D

EDIT: well Sean Mota beat me to the punch, but he's definitely right about HD lite. Read up on it and you will see why so many people really dislike Directv for their overcompression of both HD and SD channels.
 
Last edited:
exactually, i was stating that if they couldnt do that then i was hopping to dish.

charper1 said:
So you mean no additional commitment since you just started one 3 weeks ago.
 
mdp1116 said:
Yeah basically since i am a new customer, 3 weeks old they are upgrading my stuff at no charge.

Now onto the questions at hand. Now that i have a HD Tv coming, are any channels that are not in hd gonna look like crap? my fiance likes food tv and i know thats not in hd, does that mean that it will not look any better than what i have now on my standard receiver?
Your commitment will be two years if you opt for HD equipment. If you just started a 2 yr commitment recently, it will restart on the day you activate any new HD equipment.

As for non-hd channels on an HD set: They are somewhat compressed, but the H20 does a better job of upconverting SD channels than most HDTVs do, and much better than any previous D* STB. Turn off NATIVE display option in the H20 and let it upconvert all programming to either 720p or 1080i, depending on which one looks best on your TV using your eyes.
 
so they will look a little bit less blocky on this sony hd set with the H20, than they did on this edtv with the r15?

arxaw said:
Your commitment will be two years if you opt for HD equipment. If you just started a 2 yr commitment recently, it will restart on the day you activate any new HD equipment.

As for non-hd channels on an HD set: They are somewhat compressed, but the H20 does a better job of upconverting SD channels than most HDTVs do, and much better than any previous D* STB. Turn off NATIVE display option in the H20 and let it upconvert all programming to either 720p or 1080i, depending on which one looks best on your TV using your eyes.
 
arxaw said:
Your commitment will be two years if you opt for HD equipment. If you just started a 2 yr commitment recently, it will restart on the day you activate any new HD equipment.

As for non-hd channels on an HD set: They are somewhat compressed, but the H20 does a better job of upconverting SD channels than most HDTVs do, and much better than any previous D* STB. Turn off NATIVE display option in the H20 and let it upconvert all programming to either 720p or 1080i, depending on which one looks best on your TV using your eyes.

The problem with the upconvertion is that he has a 480p TV so the convertion is going through three iteration

Channel Source is at 480i (SD channels) ---> H20 Upconverts to 720p/1080i ----> His TV downconverts the 720p/1080i to 480p.

Too many upconvertions and downconvertion which may degrade the signal at the end. You may want to look at your S-Video or even Composite inputs. It has been known that sometimes the 480i signal when passed natively to those input in your TV is better than the upconvertion/downconvertion. Give it a try and compare. This only applies to SD channels. HD channels are a different animal all together.
 
Im getting a new set delivered today, its he KDF-E42A10 42" Grand WEGA™ 3LCD HDTV. Let me know on this new tv now.
Sean Mota said:
The problem with the upconvertion is that he has a 480p TV so the convertion is going through three iteration

Channel Source is at 480i (SD channels) ---> H20 Upconverts to 720p/1080i ----> His TV downconverts the 720p/1080i to 480p.

Too many upconvertions and downconvertion which may degrade the signal at the end. You may want to look at your S-Video or even Composite inputs. It has been known that sometimes the 480i signal when passed natively to those input in your TV is better than the upconvertion/downconvertion. Give it a try and compare. This only applies to SD channels. HD channels are a different animal all together.
 
I have that tv in my bedroom now for about 6 weeks my opinion is it is a great tv. My old HTL directv receiver is hooked to a different tv but my dish 622 looks great on this tv thru component. The sd channels are pretty good and the hd is very good both OTA and sat.
 
mdp1116 said:
so they will look a little bit less blocky on this sony hd set with the H20, than they did on this edtv with the r15?
It should look better, but only someone who has owned both of those sets, the r15 and the H20 can really answer your question without a doubt.



[please don't top post replies]
 
well they havnt come to deliver the sony yet so i am watching espnhd on this Lg edtv and it looks pretty good, if it looks that good at 1080i on a edtv i cant wait to see what a true hd set is going to look like. sorry for all the questions but this is my first hd setup and first plasma-lcd-lcp tv that i have owned.

arxaw said:
It should look better, but only someone who has owned both of those sets, the r15 and the H20 can really answer your question without a doubt.



[please don't top post replies]
 
mdp1116 said:
... if it looks that good at 1080i on a edtv i cant wait to see what a true hd set is going to look like...
Your EDTV was only displaying 480p, it cannot display 720p or 1080i.

The KDF-E42A10's resolution is 1280x720p, which is the native resolution for FOX, ABC and ESPN. Setting your H20's resolution to 720p and turning off 480i, 480p & 1080i (in the Setup Menu) should give you the best picture on that TV. Turn off NATIVE display resolution in the H20's setup menu.

There have been problems with that model Sony TV that required an update. See this page for details:
http://www.updatemytv.com/
 
Status
Please reply by conversation.
***

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)