New LCD TV + SD video source

[scoob8000]

So it's been a battle since I bought this new LCD tv (32" 720p).

My video source is S-Video into a PVR-150 from the Dish box.

Output to TV is HDMI from a Radeon HD 4350 in the TV's native resolution.

I'm recording with the best DVD Standard play setting (3.2gb/hr).

No matter what deinterlacing setting/codec combo I use I can't get a good enough picture.

Using Powerdvd codec and "Bob" de-interlacing in the ATI settings gives the best results, but the picture quality is so poor I rather just stick with my CRT TV. :/


Any last ditch things I can try before returning the TV? FWIW, with no de-interlacing the picture is good enough, long as there is no motion.

[paulbeers]

Welcome to the wonderful world of HD televisions.

First off when you state you are running the native resolution, most 32" tv's have a resolution of 1366 x 768 (or something like that). Are you outputting at that resolution? (must making sure of course).

Secondly, is your Sage source only SD then? You could try changing your resolution you are outputting to something like 480P (or 480i IF you can) and let your tv scale the image up to its native resolution rather than your video card.

Unfortunately I switched away from full clients to extenders as this sort of stuff was driving me nuts. I was just never happy with the image from my pc's. Going to the HD100/HD200 was one of the best moves I ever made. The ability to output an image at its native resolution and let my TV do the conversion is huge.

[scoob8000]

Correct, outputting 1366x768.

Correct on SD being my only Sage source.

I just tried 480p and it's horrible no matter what I set the TV's aspect setting to. :/

So does the HD200 give you full control of the Sage box? Like TV guide, schedule recordings, etc? I don't know if I can justify that. My other half is ready to kill me over all this as it is.

[CollinR]

Yup it's almost exactly the same as the client, minus most all software issues.

EDIT: You specifically can forget most video and playback issues for anything normal HD SD no matter.

[Taddeusz]

Keep in mind that no matter what device you have hooked to your HDTV or how high in quality your SD recordings are SD material is always going to look worse on it than on a native SD CRT TV. It's just the way it is. SD is just so low in resolution compared to even a 720p TV that there's not a whole lot that can be done to make things look anywhere near as good as can be had on an old SDTV.

[scoob8000]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

Keep in mind that no matter what device you have hooked to your HDTV or how high in quality your SD recordings are SD material is always going to look worse on it than on a native SD CRT TV. It's just the way it is. SD is just so low in resolution compared to even a 720p TV that there's not a whole lot that can be done to make things look anywhere near as good as can be had on an old SDTV.

I keep trying to tell myself that, but I can't help want to believe there is some setting/codec/option that I'm missing that's making the difference between watchable and unwatchable.

But, then again I've always been stubborn.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by scoob8000

I keep trying to tell myself that, but I can't help want to believe there is some setting/codec/option that I'm missing that's making the difference between watchable and unwatchable.

But, then again I've always been stubborn.

Yea, there are all sorts of tricks they try to use to make it better but it's very difficult to replicate how a CRT works when displaying an image on an LCD. The two technologies are just that different.

Part of the reason an SD picture looks so good on a CRT is due to the way the phosphors fade slowly as the image is scanned onto the screen. Interlacing depends on that slow fade to produce a smooth picture without jaggies. In contrast, to display the same SD picture on an LCD the video must be actively deinterlaced and scaled to match the native resolution of the screen. As a result the image is going to have a smoother look to it than on a standard CRT SDTV because it doesn't have to do any processing to the picture other than maybe adjusting brightness, contrast and hue.