[buddylee]

Hi Guys-


I just got my HLN5065W delivered by Best Buy.


Out of the box I hooked it up to digital cable via RF cable and picture is very "digitized". Lots of digital artifacts and nothing really looks natural. I watched local news on channel 45 and it had a better picture than a movie on digital channel 106 playing Thirteen Days.

I changed to Gamma 1 and changed settings as follows:


Contrast: 80

Brightness: 40

Sharpness: 65

Color: 45

Tint: 35/65

Temp: Normal


I plan on using the standard video out from the cable box later, but was wondering if it would make that much of a difference?


Anyone else with HLN5056W see the same thing?


Thanks!

 

[PretzelB]

I have an HLM507W but it supposedly has some HLN internals. My digital cable experience has been horrible so far. I do get a clear picture at times but it's rare. I've never had my cable signal tested but my guess is that it's cable's fault and not the TV in my case.


Its always confused me that some cable channels can be better than others. My simple mind always pictured all channels coming from the cable company as equal.


I've heard that regular dish has better signal quality. I'm even considering a hi-def dish but I hate that this is turning into a money pit (I'm cheap at heart).

 

[buddylee]

I had DirecTV (high def) before I had cable and it was nice. I had a Mits WS55807 with a ToshDST3000 receiver. I had to get rid of them because I moved. Now I have cable and boy it stinks.

Maybe I'll try getting DirecTV again. I've been thinking i might try to get a discount on the reciever from them. I'm going to go hook up my Zenith HDV420 to see how the HD picture looks.


Thanks!

 

[arungupta]

I switched to DirecTV from cable to getter better PQ. Most satellite channels are good to very good, some are just fair. My friend also has a Samsung DLP but he has cable. His PQ is noticeably inferior. He is now switching to Dish network. Of course, it depends on your cable system.


For DirecTV reception, I have 2 receivers. An UltimateTV receiver with S-Video out and a HiDef Receiver with DVI out. The same standard def channel is noticeably better with the DVI connection.


If I watch a movie on DirectTV, and I happen to have the same movie on DVD - I can compare the PQ. The picture from DVD is amazingly clear - almost looks hi definition. (I watch DVD using an HTPC with a DVI connection - although the new Bravo D1 player promises the same PQ. )


And of course, I have found nothing yet that beats the PQ of an HBO hi definition movie.


The lesson I am learning:


"Great PQ" = "Great Source" AND "Great Picture Processing Path" AND "Great TV/Monitor"


If any one of the 3 factors goes wrong, your PQ is screwed.

- Of course, with Samsung DLP you have a great TV.

- It also has great picture processing path if you feed it a DVI or VGA signal, preferably at 720p. With component inputs, you bring the quality down. With S-Video or composite inputs, you bring the quality way down.

- And finally your signal needs to be coming from a good source.

 

[doug_k]

If you have some HD satellite hookup, then you're only getting HD with particular channels, correct? Is there any advantage otherwise? I'm guessing it would be identical to digital cable with the HD cable box (ie, scientific atlanta 3000).


Please correct me, because time warner is dropping the ball and I could switch.

 

[PretzelB]

I think you're right - hd dish only gets some channels hd. However, I've heard that just regular (non hd) dish is better than cable. That could be saleman hype.

 

[ftlee]

I switched from DirecTV to Comcast cable. The DirecTV image on the Samsung DLP was horrendous. Cable is an improvement.


Frank

 

[buddylee]

What I've noticed after watching the set all night is that regular cable is OK, the digital channels (over 100) are awful with lots of digitization, DVD is great and HD is the best. One thing is for certain, I'm changing my cable plan to drop the digital channels.

I'm also having a hard time getting proper color in the set. Skin tones are either way too green or way too red. I can't seem to find the proper balance where people look a bit normal.


Thanks.

 

[PretzelB]

Buddylee,


How are you testing cable and HD? Do you have an HD available thru your cable provider? Are you able to drop digital cable and still get HD channels? I thought HD required a digital plan (not that we have HD available yet - I guess DFW isn't a big enough market).

Quote:

Originally posted by buddylee What I've noticed after watching the set all night is that regular cable is OK, the digital channels (over 100) are awful with lots of digitization, DVD is great and HD is the best. One thing is for certain, I'm changing my cable plan to drop the digital channels. I'm also having a hard time getting proper color in the set. Skin tones are either way too green or way too red. I can't seem to find the proper balance where people look a bit normal. Thanks.

 

[buddylee]

I get HD OTA via an Zenith HDV420. So I move from the Antenna input to the Component 3 input to switch between cable and HD.


Thanks.

 

[Maurice2]

Quote:

Originally posted by venm11 time warner is dropping the ball and I could switch

What do you mean by that? I live in Manhattan and currently have DTV with Time Warner Cable. When I get my DLP set, I'm planning on remaining with TWC and getting their cable box Scientific Atlanta 3100HD. Is there another option I should consider?

 

[buddylee]

My cable company doesn't offer HD via cable. I either have to use DirecTV or get an over the air antenna. Right now I'm using a Zenith HDV420 over the air receiver to get my high def programming. I'll be going back to DirecTV once the new Sopranos season starts so I can watch Sopranos is high def.

The digital channels I'm referring to are part of the digital cable package. Cable pimps "digital channels" in an effort to compete with the satellite companies since satellite says all of their channels are digital. My particular cable company has all channels over 100 being sent "digital". They look awful on my DLP...


Hope this helps...

 

[doug_k]

Quote:

Originally posted by Maurice2 What do you mean by that? I live in Manhattan and currently have DTV with Time Warner Cable. When I get my DLP set, I'm planning on remaining with TWC and getting their cable box Scientific Atlanta 3100HD. Is there another option I should consider?

Maurice2 - Well, the software on the current digital cable box (Scientific altanta 2000/2100) is getting buggier and buggier, more and more crashes, hangs, mistakes in listings, etc, plus their cable internet is having more and more problems; this is the basis for my statement. It's not Awful yet, but if they hike prices again while obviously cutting [something pertaining to quality], then... I might switch.


$120/month is alot.


Edit: Oh... options for NYC... There's satellite (2), HD broadcast (), RCN cable (or is that RCA?), and supposedly hdtv over next-gen DSL (forget the acronym) is around the corner. Alot of people have satellite, either because their building has it or they've installed it themselves... they say it's fine.

 

[gbfish]

I utilize the 5065 with the sir 160 DirectV & OTA antenea. I also have Charter cable running directly into the TV via RF. Connection from the 160 to the 5065 is via DVI @ 720. Here's the run down on my impression with the cannnel PQ.

HDNet - definitely the best. The phrase "It's just like being there"....yes it is.

HBO-HD very good picture quality.

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno via OTA would be a close second to HBO. The colors on his backdrop are incredible and the detail you can see on peoples faces is fantastic.


I have not done much checking of the cable channels via the RF connection yet. I mainly ran that to the TV for the PIP function. I may also do a split to run the cable through the 160 & straight to the TV. I'll let you know the difference I see in cable between the RF connection & the 160 connection.

 

[buddylee]

FWIW I watched Secretary on DVD tonight. Awful movie, but it showed something about the 5065 which I haven't seen yet. It seemed like the TV was playing "catch-up" to the scenes in the movie. As the background rolled by in numerous scenes, you could amost see the TV painting the background, hesitating a second, and then painting it again. It was like one of those live video feeds from the reporters in the field in Iraq. The picture just sort of scrolled by. But the detail was flawless and the colors extremely bright so it struck me as odd that the TV was hesitating. Its like it couldn't handle the resolution of the DVD if that makes any sense.

I watched a few other DVDs today and none of them had this problem. I watched Jaws, Shrek (outstanding), and Fight Club and all performed very well with excellent picture quality.

Anyone else notice anything similar to this in anything else you've viewed?


Cable still looks lousy. Certain channels look better than others but overall its almost intolerable to watch.


Thanks.

 

[buddylee]

So I was messing around and while watching digital channel 114 (Black Hawk Down) and I turned off DNIe and turned up contrast by 10. WOW. It made a huge difference. I ended up watching it with the demo screen on for about 5 minutes. The DNIe "on" side was brighter, but the digital artifacts were much more noticeable. I'm leaving it off for my antenna input for tonight to see if it was just that particular program/channel or if there is an overall difference. I will let you know.

 

[averagejoe]

I had pixelation problems and pauses of sound and video on digital cable a year ago on a cheap 36" CRT RCA TV. Initially I had 4 TV's and 4 VCR's hooked up with cheap splitters. I took 3 VCR's and 1 TV out of the loop and got an improvement. This did not solve the problems and I didn't think the additional cost was worth it so the digital box went back to Charter. Fast forward 1 year, I brought home an HLM507 and the analog picture sucked. I upgraded splitters and hooked up a digital cable box and have none of the pixelation or pauses that I had previously. Digital cable looks great if the source material is good. Old programs on digital channels is still lacking but I don't want to go to satellite at this time.