Analog cable on HDTV

Hoop

So how bad does analog cable look on an HDTV? Does it look worse than on an analog CRT or does it just look bad in comparison to an HD signal on an HDTV?

shawn474

It really depends on what size screen you have. I have a 47 inch Panasonic that looks great in HD, but terrible in analog cable. The larger the screen, the more the analog flaws are shown. I guess it has something to do with the amount of pixels that are used for analog signals vs. the size of the screen.

TheReaper

The quality of analog cable on an HDTV is a matter of viewing distance, screen size and program resolution.

But the main problem is, once you start watching HD channels on an HDTV, the analog SD channels just never measure up.

ledhed

Hey, don't bother with SD anymore-throw an antenna on your roof and plug it in. No more paying for programming and you get an uncompressed signal!!

unc2701

Anyone else here hate the picture on FSN? About half the tar heel games are on there, it's analog and it looks like total crap.

I-SIG

FSN is tolerable on my Panny. It doesn't feel too stretched or anything. It's a touch on the grainy side, but not bad overall.

I just got Comcast digital cable and there really seems a noticeable difference on the more analog based channels versus the digitsl stuff.

Wes

Hoop

Does digital cable show better on HDTV than analog cable? I would guess that even though it is the same resolution the digital quality helps things somewhat.

Wouldn't it be digital quality 480i, the same as a non-progressive DVD player? It wouldn't be any worse than that, would it?

I guess that I'm worried that if I get a new HDTV, there if very little HD programming available (like 6 channels on cable excluding movie channels). If digital cable would look OK, I wouldn't mind upgrading to digital cable.

PolkThug

Just do what I do, one TV for HD and DVD's, and another TV for standard cable.

Roy Munson

Hoop wrote:

I guess that I'm worried that if I get a new HDTV, there if very little HD programming available (like 6 channels on cable excluding movie channels). If digital cable would look OK, I wouldn't mind upgrading to digital cable.

Just get an outdoor antenna and watch HDTV OTA, you'll be surprised how much programing there is and it's free!

*Seby*-Polk-

I hook my DVD player (Yamaha S-657) via component video (i guess is analog ¿?) in Philips 29" HDTV and looks great. Fantastic.

I think the screen size is the principal point to analize.

tonyb

I have a 60-inch Sony LCD and analog looks like crap.UP your cable to digital
and you should get your local chanels in digital on top of the other HD ones.
The other benefit is you can get dolby digital sound.....watching LOST in HD with DD is outstanding.

Hoop

tonyb wrote:

I have a 60-inhttp://www.polkaudio.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=430157ch Sony LCD and analog looks like crap.UP your cable to digital
and you should get your local chanels in digital on top of the other HD ones.
The other benefit is you can get dolby digital sound.....watching LOST in HD with DD is outstanding.

That's my question. Will the picture be OK with digital (non-HD) cable?

As far as OTA goes, I can get at most 7 stations here (according to www.antennaweb.com).

dbnh

Hoop,

Maybe your link should be: www.antennaweb.org?????

jayman_1975

this is what i have found...i have HD satelite, 42" sony grand vega wide screen HD LCD tv. I have it hooked up to the satelite reciever via DVI. The HD channels look awesome when they are broadcast in widescreen. If it is in full screen then the sides are chopped to make it a square picture. So i then have to partially expand the picture with the satelite reciever in order to view in wide screen. This looks pretty good as well but not as good as a program that is brodcast in widescreen and not expanded by the reciever. NOW....the rest of the channels that are not HD are just regular digital channels. None of them are brodcast in widescreen. So when i partially expand the picture with the reciever to fit the whole screen it looks bad....stick with me here i do have a point....ok..when the DVI or component cables are used with my TV, The tv itself will not expand the picture(which is something that it can do with much better quality than the dish reciever does) It will only let me expand via tv if the S-video input is used....SO...when i'm watching the HD channels i use the video input connected with the DVI cord, when i'm watching regular digital channels i switch video input to the one hooked to S-Video and let the TV do the expanding---much better quality then letting the dish reciever do it.

Pablo

The analog channels on my 56" panny look pretty crappy. But when you go up the dial on my cable box (over 100) the channels are digital, and the picture is a little better. But the HD channels are amazing. Pretty much everything prime time is in HD. (I also get FSN in HD, as well as MSG, ESPN & YES).

It is a matter of screen size. Normal TV is 480 lines of resolution (regarless of the screen size). So if you increase the same 480 lines from a 30" screen to a 60" screen, each line is twice the size, therefore a harsher picture (just to put it simply).

Should you get an HD set? Watch just 1 of you favorite shows in HD, and you will be convinced.