is it possible to improve picture quatlity for SD channels? (96" front projection)

[Leila]

Is it possible to improve the picture for the standard-definition channels?

The HD channels look great on the 96" front projection screen... however,
the SD channles look dreadful. :(

thanks!

[jfischer]

At 96", SDTV is going to look like crap no matter what you do.

There may be some ways to make it look a little better, but you just can't polish a turd :D

[A J Ricaud]

Is it possible to improve the picture for the standard-definition channels?

The HD channels look great on the 96" front projection screen... however,
the SD channles look dreadful. :(

thanks!

About the only way to improve it is by using a scaler, like Lumagen, DVDO and others, for about $1500-3000. It may be worth it for a system/investment like yours.

[HiDefGator]

Once you start watching HD on a big screen that SD really looks like crap doesn't it...

[JRAllas]

the SD channles look dreadful. :(

thanks!

I have a 65" Mitsubishi projection HDTV. SD looks like *****... Any recordings I do on my HD-DVR in SD are recorded via OTA channels because the DirecTV channels showing the same shows look pretty bad.

[TyroneShoes]

Get the content from a good source, such as good OTA DT or even NTSC. Digital cable and especially DBS SD channels are really dumbed down in PQ.

Try a AV receiver with the DCDi Faroudja deinterlacer, which is typically better than the deinterlacer in most progressive displays/projectors. The JVC digital receivers are one source for this.

CRTs have a bit of natural image enhancement, which aids in perceiving detail. Other types of displays don't have this, so just blowing the image up makes the image appear fuzzy, but without the enhancement, it looks even fuzzier if you are used to a CRT. The judicious use of image enhancement from a downstream standalone processor then can also help by restoring the effect.

[phox_mulder]

CRTs have a bit of natural image enhancement, which aids in perceiving detail. Other types of displays don't have this, so just blowing the image up makes the image appear fuzzy, but without the enhancement, it looks even fuzzier if you are used to a CRT.

That's why my first HDTV was (and is) a CRT.
It also is much better for fast moving scenes, which tend to pixelate on a LCD because the LCD's can't keep up.

I did notice that SD looked much worse than I was used to, but I've gotten used to it now.
I can even take a letterboxed SD program and zoom it full screen and it looks pretty darn good.
Letterbox is the only format that I zoom full, as it doesn't chop off heads or distort height/width.


phox

[TyroneShoes]

That's why my first HDTV was (and is) a CRT.
It also is much better for fast moving scenes, which tend to pixelate on a LCD because the LCD's can't keep up...
Very old laptop LCD displays, maybe. Modern LCDs refresh in less than 4 ms, which is more than four times faster than the 59.94 fps refresh period of 720p. IOW, being significantly faster than image refresh, that could not possibly contribute to any problems with fast motion. DLPs tout that they refresh in 1 ms, but guess what, faster is not really better when the images flow slower than either type of display technology can refresh.

And the problem with LCDs was image blur, not pixellation, which actually helps mask pixellation. Pixellation is due to buffer underflow in the MPEG encoder or decoder only, which is something that is not a factor within the actual LCD display technology.

[phox_mulder]

the problem with LCDs was image blur, not pixellation, which actually helps mask pixellation.

Even LCD owners call it pixelization, but yes, image blurring, football games suffer from this the most, I hear.


phox

[5 ACES]

I have a RCA 52" rear projection CRT HDTV and can anyone tell me why my tv does this? Watching HDTV via the HD channels on Directv. I have the HR10-250 and am using the HDMI to DVI cable as the input. While watching a HD channel, the picture looks great, however, there is a slight fuzz to pictures like dirt, or a close up of a mountain, as though little tiny bugs are jumping out of the dirt! A weird explanation I know but it's starting to "BUG" me!! It's as though a slight fuzz or something is trying to show up on the screen. I have no OTA channels in my area and I use the 1080i output. My TV will not let me use the 720p. Can anyone help me in solving this problem?? Thanks!!

[lynesjc]

Very old laptop LCD displays, maybe. Modern LCDs refresh in less than 4 ms, which is more than four times faster than the 59.94 fps refresh period of 720p. IOW, being significantly faster than image refresh, that could not possibly contribute to any problems with fast motion. DLPs tout that they refresh in 1 ms, but guess what, faster is not really better when the images flow slower than either type of display technology can refresh.

And the problem with LCDs was image blur, not pixellation, which actually helps mask pixellation. Pixellation is due to buffer underflow in the MPEG encoder or decoder only, which is something that is not a factor within the actual LCD display technology.

Excellent explanation, thanks for clarifying this.

To the OP, as previously mentioned, an outboard video processor is probably your best bet, but may be a dubious cost/benefit proposition.

The polished turb analogy is vulgar, but spot on.

[phox_mulder]

I have a RCA 52" rear projection CRT HDTV and can anyone tell me why my tv does this? Watching HDTV via the HD channels on Directv. I have the HR10-250 and am using the HDMI to DVI cable as the input. While watching a HD channel, the picture looks great, however, there is a slight fuzz to pictures like dirt, or a close up of a mountain, as though little tiny bugs are jumping out of the dirt! A weird explanation I know but it's starting to "BUG" me!! It's as though a slight fuzz or something is trying to show up on the screen. I have no OTA channels in my area and I use the 1080i output. My TV will not let me use the 720p. Can anyone help me in solving this problem?? Thanks!!

I'd say AVS forums would be a better place to ask this.

Perhaps in this forum:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=63

Have the model number handy.


phox

[5 ACES]

I'd say AVS forums would be a better place to ask this.

Perhaps in this forum:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=63

Have the model number handy.


phox

Thanks!! I'll do that!!