Tivo and 42in plasma

[frogster]

Having ummed and ahhed about replacing my 32in Sony W/S CRT for some time, I finally bought a Panasonic 42in HD plasma the other day.

Just in case any other Tivo user has been worrying about large screen picture quality being too poor from Tivo, I can say that with full RGB and mode 0 my Tivo output from a Sky Digital source is perfectly acceptable from a viewing distance of about 4 metres on this Panasonic. The peanut also contains the right IR codes for my screen. :up:

The only channels that look really nasty are the ones that looked really nasty on the old CRT anyway (shopping and babe-chat channels mostly). I don't watch those so I'm not bothered.

The plasma does show up faults on mainstream channels where the video recording has been done using hand-held semi-pro equipment (some daytime DIY/house-buying/antiques shows are good examples) but filmed and studio material is OK.

I am not disappointed with my purchase and see no need to replace my lifetime subbed Tivo with a Sky+.

[The Obo]

I agree completely! I did the same myself about 6 months ago. :up:

[blindlemon]

The only channels that look really nasty are [...] shopping and babe-chat channelsThat's because they are nasty :p:D:D

Seriously, I would concur 100% with the comments about TiVo PQ on a plasma. If you get a good screen and use Mode 0 with a clean digital source the PQ will be excellent.

[aerialplug]

It's a shame that not all TiVos work correctly in mode 0. I get grey flashes every minute or so at the bottom of the screen whatever parameters I chose when I switch to mode 0.

[blindlemon]

What is your programme source?

I find Mode 0 works much better with a smooth digital source such as Sky or Freeview. The grain in an analogue picture seems to upset the decoder and lead to flashes.

[aerialplug]

RGB from Sky. Programming from "quality" channels such as BBC 1 appears worst. Especially if it's interlaced source (not a movie) and something recent (such as a documentary) when the image is really sharp and has lots of motion.

There's not much I can do about it really - the grey flashes are caused by the MPEG chipset running out of time or capacity when compressing a frame. I get similar & much worse grey flashes that can often take up the entire screen for a second or so when using my basic quality where I've turned down the bitrate to bare minimum for radio recordings.

[sanderton]

The flashes are on playback, not recording. If you extract the video they are not there. The BBC is most prone to them.

[Padawan]

Sorry to Hi-Jack Frogsters thread (aren't Pannies the greatest) but in reply to AerialPlug, I find mode 0 flshes at their worst when the screen is mostly one colour (especially blue but that maybe subjective). Watching a proggy on the Shuttle the other day and when ever there was the a view of mostly the oceans from orbit, the flashes went ballistic and covered all the way across the bottom of the screen and up into the bottom quarter on the right.

Usually I get only the occasional flash using the BoBones settings.

Now back to to normal (apologies to Frogster).

Cheers
Padawan

[frogster]

Not my thread: it belongs to all.

I also get the odd white flash in mode0 from RGB Sky Digital, but not many. It's a fair compromise.

[blindlemon]

I also find BBC channels - particularly BBC2 for some reason - to be the worst for flashes from both Sky and Freeview.

I suspect that they apply some sharpening to the image to make it look crisp and "high quality" which pushes up the bitrate enough to upset the decoder on some frames.

[iankb]

I only get flashes every six months or so. If you've got it bad, you could always try replacing your TiVo until you find a good one.