I can't find a good place to post this so I'll post it here. I want to know how standard definition programming would look on an HDTV. Would it look worse, similar, or better than an old CRT? I want to get an HDTV for certain reasons, but I will be watching SD channels most of the time. I want to make sure that SD will still look O.K. before I actually make my purchase. The HDTV I want is the Polaroid TLA-01911C.

I can't find a good place to post this so I'll post it here. I want to know how standard definition programming would look on an HDTV. Would it look worse, similar, or better than an old CRT? I want to get an HDTV for certain reasons, but I will be watching SD channels most of the time. I want to make sure that SD will still look O.K. before I actually make my purchase. The HDTV I want is the Polaroid TLA-01911C.


It depends on a couple things. If you are watching SD on a digital channel, it might look very good or it might suck. The source material you're watching and what type of processing the is being done by the program provider makes all lthe difference. If you're watching SD analog on an HS set, generally speaking it will look crappy - not nearly as good as your analog CRT set.

Hopefully the SD channels that you watch will eventually be in HD. I can't imagine ever going back to watching SD anything, but maybe that's just me.

It depends:

If you are watching SD programming on an HD channel, it will generally look better than the same thing on the SD simulcast on the same TV. The reason is, the SD is already scaled up to fit an HD resolution and is being given a larger amount of bandwidth than the SD channel usually is.

If you are watching an SD-only channel on an HDTV set, the video is likely to look worse than on an analog set. The reason is, unless you have a very good set, the scalers in many HDTV sets are not very good. They often do well scaling between 1080i and 720p, but really don't often do well upscaling 480i programming to fit the vertical resolution of the screen. In addition, most programming providers use relatively more compression on SD channels than on HD channels (if they use any at all). As a result, an already muddy mess gets upscaled to an even bigger muddy mess.

You should see if there is a thread for that TV in the display section and ask people who actually have the set about it.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=166

I find SD looks fairly decent on my 42" Hitachi HD rear projection (CRT) set. I've compared it to similar sized LCD and plasma screens and always find the fixed resolution digital displays to look awful in comparison. I'll keep my CRT set as long as possible for that reason.

I also have a DLP projector on a 104" screen and don't like looking at SD there at all - but the screen size is playing a role in that.

I can't find a good place to post this so I'll post it here. I want to know how standard definition programming would look on an HDTV. Would it look worse, similar, or better than an old CRT? I want to get an HDTV for certain reasons, but I will be watching SD channels most of the time. I want to make sure that SD will still look O.K. before I actually make my purchase. The HDTV I want is the Polaroid TLA-01911C.


That depends on WHAT are you using for SDTV source ?

If you're concerned about DBS - yes it will probably look worse. How much depends on several things.

1. Size of screen - the larger your display, the worse SD DBS will look. It seems that most of it is optimized for a 27-32 inch SDTV. The larger screen magnifies the defects.

2. Connection to TV - the usual rules apply. Connection quality from worst to best -
RF, composite video, S-video, component, HDMI/DVI

3. Sit BACK from your TV - 3 to 5 times the diagonal screen measurement

4. Acquire and learn how to use a calibration DVD such as Video Essentials / Digital Video Essentials , Avia, etc. If nothing else, turn your sharpness control all the way off as a start, and get your set out of "Torch mode" ASAP.

I will give you my impressions of SD programming on a Vizio 32" LCD screen:

1. SD programs from Dish satelitte look good when fed to the TV by s-video cable
2. over the air (OTA) digital TV from local broadcasters looks good, received on internal ATSC tuner
3. over the air analog TV from local broadcasters looks terrible, received on internal NTSC tuner.

Overall, the quality of SD on a large screen HD set depends on the source. Analog OTA received by antenna or by cable will probably look bad.

Rules of thumb.

1) Analog SD channels through an RF connection generally look awful.
2) Digital SD through a non-RF connection will look better.
3) Higher end sets have circuitry that enhances SD upconverts, and often will make the picture look better at viewing distance.
4) Digital cable generally is better than digital satellite (higher bit rate)
5) Stretched or Zoomed pictures will look worse than 4:3
6) Run your sharpness control at around 25%. That's about all the resolution that's really there.
7) DVD done right can look damn good, and it's SD.
8) The quality of the source material has much to do with the final results.
9) Often, outputting native resolution (480i) from a set top box gives better results. This depends on which device has the better scaler, the box or the TV.

Thanks Everybody!The Polaroid TV I want is 19" and I get cable programming through a set-top box. I think I have an RF connection, so I'll use something different. I do plan to get a calibration DVD and to move my chair back 3-5x the screen size.

Help. I can't post something!

It keeps on saying this: "Your Post contains one or more URLs or image calls, please remove them before submitting your message again. To prevent the abuse of spam, we have set this restriction in place until after you make 5 posts." I know I don't have any of that in what I am trying to post.

Nevermind, this is my 5th post anyway. Please don't think this is spam. Edit: Here is the link to my post that I couldn't post earlier. It is completely legit. Here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11289338#post11289338) I don't intend to use these forums for general discussion or to spam. I came here to seek help and advice, so I won't be posting much. That's why I needed to write the past 3 posts in this thread. I am sincerely sorry if I broke any rules. :(

SD, delivered digitally for years by my cable company, looks fine on my year-2000 64" CRT RPTV (Philips 64PH9905). Years ago, before cable-converter 1080i upconversion improved, I watched 480i deinterlaced to 480p (S-video) by the HD display--often stretched to 16X9. Now I view 480i upconverted to 1080i with gray side pillars for much 4X3, but zoomed by the cable converter for letterboxed 4X3 (top/bottom black bars) with side pillars, filling the 16X9 screen without making people too 'fat'. Current threads in the RPTV forum about the remaining Hitachi CRT RPTV, and 'Don't Throw out Your Old CRT', go into more detail about CRT advantages. -- John

Are there any settings that I can change that would make SD look good(contrast, brightness, sharpness, color saturation, ect.)?

Are there any settings that I can change that would make SD look good(contrast, brightness, sharpness, color saturation, ect.)?

See post #6. Point #4 in particular.

See post #6. Point #4 in particular.
Oh Yea. Thanks!