Is there really a difference betw. RF and Composite?

[jcvaughan]

Just bought a new LCD tv for the bedroom and am running the RF output for TV2 from my 942 to it. The picture looks a lot worse than it did on my smaller CRT. I know lcd isn't nearly as good as CRT but was wondering if there will be a huge difference if I run the composite output instead. also, has anyone mentioned if the TV2 SD picture on the vip622 has improved from the 942?

 

[garys]

The RF output is strictly an sd signal, but the LCD tuner reads and tunes to the signal. Composites and Components are thicker with better connectivity and do not require a tuner to get a quality picture. It is usually not the output of the receiver, but the tuner on the set reading the signal. Most LCD's do not do well with sd signals overall.

 

[jrfuda]

Your LCD TV lets all the flaws/artifacts in a compressed SD signal shine

I have a 50" RP LCD TV and a 32" Tube TV. The LCD is fed from S-Video and the Tube TV get modulated TV-2 stuff. The pic on the tube TV looks much nicer becuase

1. The pic is smaller, so the pixels, flaws, and artifacts are smaller and less noticeable.
2. A tube TV tends to "smooth" everything out, so everything's less noticeable.

In fact, on my tube TV, the only time I can ever really see any sort of pixelization is around station logos, credits, and other bold graphics layed over video.

Now, when I watch a DVD on my RP LCD TV, the picture is amazing... Next week when I'm watching HD on it from my 622 (if everything goes as planned) I'll get to see some 720p action (my set's native resolution).

Another thing about tube TVs is, especially direct view sets which are never going to be over 40" (usually max out at 36") is that you'll be pressed to see any quality improvement (or at least I would be) with a quality signal via antenna, composite, or S-Video. My tube TV, which used to be my primary TV before I got the 50", looks just as good now being fed a modulated signal (on channel 62) from my DVD player over a 50' cable run as it did when my DVD player was connected to it via S-Video.