I just returned home a few hours ago and hooked up my Sony 60" and my wife and I were instantly disappointed. I know SD may not look all that great but it looks pretty bad. So bad that some text on certain channels was hard to read. Is this normal for SD on digital?

My second issue is with the Comcast menu/guide (very similar looking to Directv guide). It looks a little out of focus. Like another letter finishing up to the right of each letter...Kind of like this if you were looking at an O )). Hope that makes since ;)

The tvs internal settings menus look fine and our dvd player menus look fine.

Our connection comes into the house and connects to this digital box, then to the tv. http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/dct700/

At this point Im ready to pack it up and return it to the store. However I could call Comcast and upgrade to HDTV but I don't know if that would fix the problem.

So what do you think. Return it and get the one that my wife and I liked as teh second choice http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Samsung-56-DLP-Rear-Projection-HDTV-HL-T5676S/sem/rpsm/oid/174309/catOid/-12870/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do
or upgrade to Comcast HDTV which should hopefully resolve the out of focus problem?

I thought maybe there was a convergence setting but have not found one yet. Any other settings I can adjust?

thanks

The text at worst won't be sharp and possibly a little fuzzy, then again, we don't share the same eyes so what I see as fuzzy may be an amorphous blob to you. (I do have 20/20 vision though and great long range vision on the golf course)

I have the 60A2020 and as with my other sony set (similar 55 inch model from 2 years ago 55-XS) I expected NOTHING from SD and sometimes I'm not too disappointed. I have FIOS in NJ and as with Cablevision which I had prior sometimes pictures on certain channels can look razor sharp in sd or just an ugly mess, it depends on what is being sent out apparently.

Most channels will never look as good on SD as they do on an old tube. Even my Sony XBR 34 inch widescreen HD tube (all 300 pounds of it) tv didn't look good on SD channels.

The text at worst won't be sharp and possibly a little fuzzy, then again, we don't share the same eyes so what I see as fuzzy may be an amorphous blob to you. (I do have 20/20 vision though and great long range vision on the golf course)

I have the 60A2020 and as with my other sony set (similar 55 inch model from 2 years ago 55-XS) I expected NOTHING from SD and sometimes I'm not too disappointed. I have FIOS in NJ and as with Cablevision which I had prior sometimes pictures on certain channels can look razor sharp in sd or just an ugly mess, it depends on what is being sent out apparently.

Most channels will never look as good on SD as they do on an old tube. Even my Sony XBR 34 inch widescreen HD tube (all 300 pounds of it) tv didn't look good on SD channels.

Yes we kind of noticed that. Some channels didn't look half bad and other like you discribed an ugly mess. I was prepared for that my wife wasn't. My biggest issue is with the channel menu. I would think that would be sharp looking?

Can anyone recommend any tests I can try to confirm if it is a problem with the tv or the signal.

I repair new TVs for a big box retaier. I know about the right-side ghost on the guide menu: everybody gets this from that , and all set top TV boxes.
The 'bad' pix on SD channes is normal with a big screen and digital display TV. Imagine taking a 27" pix and blowing it up to 60"? Then add the problems of digital bandwidth compression on SD digital cable channels(1.8 Mhz bandwidth?; compared to 13Mhz HD) which is even worse on SAT TV(MP4 compression). And the piculliar effects of each type of digital display type. And the intense sharpness of pixels compared to CRTs.

I repair new TVs for a big box retaier. I know about the right-side ghost on the guide menu: everybody gets this from that , and all set top TV boxes.
The 'bad' pix on SD channes is normal with a big screen and digital display TV. Imagine taking a 27" pix and blowing it up to 60"? Then add the problems of digital bandwidth compression on SD digital cable channels(1.8 Mhz bandwidth?; compared to 13Mhz HD) which is even worse on SAT TV(MP4 compression). And the piculliar effects of each type of digital display type. And the intense sharpness of pixels compared to CRTs.

Thanks for the info. I guess now we need to decide if we can live with it. We went from a 42" Toshiba HDTV and when the picture became worse it was a let down. So how much will switching to Comcasts HD service help? I don't think all their channels are displayed in HD so we will still run into the SD problem.

Is there a big difference between a 55" and 60" when displaying SD? Im guessing no but can someone confirm.

An update. The tv is not as bad as we originally assumed. Sure the SD is weak when stretched (looks fine when I put it in 4:3) but I just hooked up the older 42" in another room and attached the Comcast digital box. The picture on the 42" is not all that great either. It has a more "white noise or muddy" (not sure how to describe it) effect compared to the Sonys clear picture. Also I confirmed that the Comcast menu listing is also "out of focus on that tv as well." Steveo is 100% right.

The SD on the Sony is much better now that I was able to go back and look at the 42" Toshiba.

Im feeling 110% more happy now. That possibility that the tv had an issues was eating away at my brian ;).

Im getting HD Comcast tomorrow and a PS3 so I'll be able to check out some Blue Ray. :)

thanks for the help!

You mentionned in your original post that the tv's own menus and your dvd menus looked fine, only the Comcast box signal looked bad. This should have been the tipoff that the problem was not the tv but the signal from the Comcast box.

As a general rule, if one source looks bad while the others look ok, the problem is the source device, not the display.

Definitely get an HD source for this set, either Comcast or one of the sat. providers, and get the DVR so you can record HD material that's on when it's inconvenient for you to watch. Doesn't really make sense to have an HD set with no HD source any more.

An update. The tv is not as bad as we originally assumed. Sure the SD is weak when stretched (looks fine when I put it in 4:3) but I just hooked up the older 42" in another room and attached the Comcast digital box. The picture on the 42" is not all that great either. It has a more "white noise or muddy" (not sure how to describe it) effect compared to the Sonys clear picture. Also I confirmed that the Comcast menu listing is also "out of focus on that tv as well." Steveo is 100% right.

The SD on the Sony is much better now that I was able to go back and look at the 42" Toshiba.

Im feeling 110% more happy now. That possibility that the tv had an issues was eating away at my brian ;).

Im getting HD Comcast tomorrow and a PS3 so I'll be able to check out some Blue Ray. :)

thanks for the help!

Rent or buy Apacalypto, I have your tv and a ps3 hooked up with HDMI and Apacalypto is the most stunning movie I've seen on either format. I also have an A20 and it's a great player as well.

The only thing bugging me now is I didn't buy a 3000 model as it does/might? do 1080p/24 and people on this forum have said side by side that even though the 2020 is great the 3000 looks even better.

Sometimes I wish I never read anything on this site!

Rent or buy Apacalypto, I have your tv and a ps3 hooked up with HDMI and Apacalypto is the most stunning movie I've seen on either format. I also have an A20 and it's a great player as well.

The only thing bugging me now is I didn't buy a 3000 model as it does/might? do 1080p/24 and people on this forum have said side by side that even though the 2020 is great the 3000 looks even better.

Sometimes I wish I never read anything on this site!

I considered the 3000 but costing $500 more made my decision easier ;)

What is 1080p/24? Im not to worried if the 3000 looks better becuase it does cost more but if Im missing a key feature then I need to consider the possibility of returning it while I can.

Has anyone ever returned a huge item to BJs? Would I need the boxes? I hate the idea of holding onto the boxes for 30 days.

NEW UPDATE

Comcast came out yesterday and replaced the dinky (see link below) digital box with a full size HD/digital box. The picture looks EVEN BETTER! Even SD looks better. The out of focus menus issue is practically gone! Im excited. :)

They replaced this POS http://broadband.motorola.com/business/digitalvideo/product_dct700_settop.asp. I never did like it on my old 42" RPTV. It made the picture look worse than analog. They gave me two. One worked for a couple days and died and the other I was never satisfied with the picture but the wife dug the menus option you don't recieve with analog so I put up with it.

WOW, this is great news, your HDTV actually looks better when viewing HD content. Keep your updates coming, they are very interesting and informative.

WOW, this is great news, your HDTV actually looks better when viewing HD content. Keep your updates coming, they are very interesting and informative.

Thats rude as hell. :mad: I knew the HD content would look better but I'm under the impression that only a small number of channels are in HD and the rest are still in SD. Am I wrong? :confused:

Even if I am I don't think that comment was called for but you sure took the time to post it. That's the sort of comment you expect to see in a video gaming forum where they flame each other over whose console is better. Not in a technical forum where people can honestly be confused about the newer technology. Real mature. :rolleyes:

It's been a couple of hours since your last update. Anything new to report?

It's been a couple of hours since your last update. Anything new to report?

Really, there is no need for this.. He DID say that his SD improved with the new STB, so his statement really wasn't that silly. Besides, not everyone exists on the same technological footing. Those with more experience should be kind to those with much less. You have to start somewhere.

It's been a couple of hours since your last update. Anything new to report?

I didn't have to update or ever post anything again. However I like to give as much info as possible. Even if it seemed worthless to you, there may have been someone interested in whether or not I decide to keep the tv. They could have been sitting on the fence trying to decide on the same model in a similar situation. My worthless 2 cents could have bumped them one way or the other. I was happy that my opinion had drastically changed since I originally purchased it due to the changes I made in my setup and thought I should share it. Just felt I was being helpful. <shrug>

Thanks Nicknomo and to everyone who helped me decide on what tv to buy plus help me with the issues I had. Its working out great. :D

I'm letting this thread die.