Scientific atlanta explorer 8240 hdc - HDTV picture not as sharp as expected

[Nick2010]

Hi, My question is this: My HDDVR set-top box shows me only upto 1080i resolution but my Samsung PN50B560 50" Plasma is 1080p resolution so are most sporting events and cable programs only broadcast in 720p as my Time Warner Cable rep has explained to me? I look at my TV and the picture is not as "clear" as I would expect with HD format. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

My system is as follows: Samsung PN50B560 50" Plasma
Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8240 HDDVR
Yamaha RX-V3900 AVR
Definitive Technologies BP 6B Towers
Def Tech Pro Center 1000
Monster Power HDP 1800 HD Powercenter

[MrBoylan]

Hi, My question is this: My HDDVR set-top box shows me only upto 1080i resolution but my Samsung PN50B560 50" Plasma is 1080p resolution so are most sporting events and cable programs only broadcast in 720p as my Time Warner Cable rep has explained to me? I look at my TV and the picture is not as "clear" as I would expect with HD format. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

My system is as follows: Samsung PN50B560 50" Plasma
Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8240 HDDVR
Yamaha RX-V3900 AVR
Definitive Technologies BP 6B Towers
Def Tech Pro Center 1000
Monster Power HDP 1800 HD Powercenter

Your Time Warner rep is mostly right but that's not the whole story. Yes it's true that broadcast TV (and pay TV) channels are normally encoded and broadcast at either 720p or 1080i. NBC and CBS, for example, broadcast in 1080i, while Fox, ESPN and ABC broadcast in 720p. 1080p hasn't really caught on as a broadcast standard yet due to bandwidth issues, as well as the whole production chain being geared for 1080i or 720p, from cameras through to mixers, to cables and other gear in the studios, etc. 1080p options from a TV provider have so far been limited mostly to pay-per-view video-on-demand movies on DISH Network and DIRECTV.

But that said, good quality 720p and 1080i broadcasts can look outstanding on a 1080p TV. A couple of things can impact that: calibration of the TV and quality of the signal coming from your provider. Calibration fo the TV means that it is set up to provide the most accurate, most detailed picture. For best results, you can hire an ISF calibrator to professionally calibrate your TV for around $300 or you can do it yourself via a number of different testing/calibration discs on DVD or Blu-ray Disc. Something as simple as changing your TV's picture mode from "Dynamic" to "Movie" will help to get you a more accurate picture. Dynamic mode is really only for the bright showroom floor and doesn't look nearly as good in less bright environments.

The quality of the broadcast depends on a number of things but one big contributor toward quality of the image is the amount of compression used by your provider. Cable and satellite companies both compress the outgoing digital signal so that they can fit more channels over a fixed bandwidth. This can lead to compression artifacts such as less intense black levels, aliasing around edges, and overall softening of details. Actually the *highest* quality broadcast TV signal you can get is via an old-school antenna, using your HDTV's built-in ATSC tuner. If you're in or near a major metropolitan area, you might want to pick up an inexpensive VHF/UHF antenna and see what you can pull in for local channels. Compare these to the same channels being re-broadcast to your cable box and you may be surprised by the results. I have DISH Network and can see an immediate and noticeable difference between the OTA (over the air) version of NBC and the satellite version. The local version is much crisper and more three-dimensional looking than the satellite version. The same holds true for DIRECTV and for most cable providers.

In terms of overall picture quality, the best results you will get currently would be from Blu-ray Disc. If you're into movies then I would definitely suggest picking up a Blu-ray player. In addition to playing back Blu-ray Discs at their native 1080p resolution, they can also upconvert standard DVDs to 1080p, with some players doing this very nicely.

Anyway, these two issues (calibration and compression/signal quality) are the first things to look at if you're unhappy with the picture on your HDTV.

More details here:

• HDTV hook up Part I: The Numbers Game
• HDTV hook up Part II: The Connections
• HDTV hook up part III: Calibration and Tweaks

Hope that helps.

-CB

[Nick2010]

CB, As always you provide the facts straight to the point. Thank you!! This is why I always come to BPBS Forum with my questions because I know I'll get the fastest and most precise answer(s) anyway! Keep up the good work. Nick.