Watching D* SD on HD set

[chuckles2]

I have D* SD service, HD is not in our immediate or even near term future it seems, but I need to replace my tv. I am considering a HD DLP 60" unit but fear D* SD will look terrible on it. Anyone here doing similar or have an opinion?

 

[bonscott87]

SD looks worse the bigger your screen. Doesn't matter the source. Garbage in/garbage out.

Having said that, I choose the TV I did because it does a pretty decent job of SD upconverting. But I think the key to watching SD on a big screen is to actually sit the proper distance away. I see too many people with 65" screens sitting only 6 feet away. That is just waaaaaay too close. Sit the proper distance away and it won't look too bad. Otherwise get a smaller screen size to match what your seating distance is.

 

[skyboysea]

I was in the same situation few weeks ago and I got a 46" LCD. D* SD quality varies a lot from channel to channel. Some channels are ok if you sit far enough, some are really bad no matter how far away from the screen you are. While I was expecting to see a lot of pixellation, this is not the case. What is bothering me is the lack of detail in the light area of the screen. It looks to me like D* is changing any very light shade of color to white. I have compared D* picture with OTA (both SD digital and analog) and I was amazed realizing how bad the picture quality is.

 

[Jimbo]

I was in the same situation few weeks ago and I got a 46" LCD. D* SD quality varies a lot from channel to channel. Some channels are ok if you sit far enough, some are really bad no matter how far away from the screen you are. While I was expecting to see a lot of pixellation, this is not the case. What is bothering me is the lack of detail in the light area of the screen. It looks to me like D* is changing any very light shade of color to white. I have compared D* picture with OTA (both SD digital and analog) and I was amazed realizing how bad the picture quality is.

You may think it's a D* problem, but it may not be one, I noticed a poor picture on a show I have watched for a long time, it's always looked bad. One day I looked to see what resolution it was at and found out it was done in 480i, which explains why the picture is so bad, Not D*'s problem after all. This time it was a network problem
or production problem.

Jimbo

 

[skyboysea]

You may think it's a D* problem, but it may not be one, I noticed a poor picture on a show I have watched for a long time, it's always looked bad. ... This time it was a network problem or production problem.
Jimbo

You are right. There are shows that look worse than others on the same channel and that's a sign of problem at the source. There is a show on my PBS station that wasn't looking good on the 27" I had before and it is unwatchable on the 46". Ironically that show is produced in HD but they must be doing something wrong downconverting it.
I am pretty sure the problem with details in the very light areas of the picture is with D*. I have compared the same show from OTA, D* and internet streaming and only on the D* feed had that problem. And I notice it on all channels.
To tell the whole story, I must say that in the last 6 months D* has done something to allow more bandwidth on the local channels. A one hour show was about 0.9GB last spring while now it is 1.2GB but probably the compression algorithm they use is still optimized for smaller screen size and shows its limits on a bigger screen.

 

[paulman182]

If the original OP is like me, once he buys the HDTV, HD WILL be in his immediate future. He just doesn't realize it yet.

I would have said the same thing.

 

[skyboysea]

HD is in my future too. How immediate depends on D*. I can't justify spending an additional $300 for the HR20 (if it is even available) to get 2 local channels and not even the ones I watch more often. Or spend an additional $10/month for the HD package that contains only one channel I am interested in. If you are a sport fan there is something to watch; if you are not there is almost nothing so you are stuck with SD.

 

[paulman182]

I was able to negotiate the HR20 down to a cost of about $39, with programming credits. I do subscribe to Sunday Ticket. Most of my other HD viewing comes from HDNet movies, HBO HD and Showtime HD.

I watch almost all football and movies here.

 

[chuckles2]

If the original OP is like me, once he buys the HDTV, HD WILL be in his immediate future. He just doesn't realize it yet.

I would have said the same thing.

Well I"m the OP
well with 2 Directivos in the house to replace, I'm not sure I can afford HD
Actually my holdback is the inability to copy HD to DVD (or I should say HD_DVD or Blueray,etc) at an affordable price. I keep old movies from TCM, etc., quite often to watch when "there ain't nothing on".
I realize we're doing a basic shift in the video world but until I can afford the whole package AND until the whole package exists (play, record, burn) I guess I'll stay SD.
I appreciate the help from all who responded.

In a related question, those of you who have an HD Tivo, if you burn a DVD from its output (yes I know DVD isn't HD) how does it compare to a commercial DVD's visual quality?

 

[Jhon69]

I have D* SD service, HD is not in our immediate or even near term future it seems, but I need to replace my tv. I am considering a HD DLP 60" unit but fear D* SD will look terrible on it. Anyone here doing similar or have an opinion?

You do know that after 3000 hrs your bulb goes bad and will need replacement?
I would recommend the Hitachi CRT HDRPTV's at Circuit City.

P.S. My uncle picked up a Magnavox 51" CRT HDRPTV at Sears and loves it!.When my 50"CRT SDRPTV takes a dump this is the way I'll be looking at.Big Screen Great Price.I sit around 7' from my TV and love it would never go smaller,only larger.Good Luck!