Just got an HDTV, pixelated SD content

[RCBH928]

Hello,

I just got an LG tv , moved from Sony CRT. My problem is a lot of the video content I have on my WDTV (video files) which are in SD look clearly pixelated which ruins the joy of watching it.

These video files looked extremely fine if not great on my old CRT. I do understand that HDTV bring out the bad side of SD compressions , but is there a way to ease it or fix this?

[theclaw]

Source image quality is far more important to HDTVs. If you're using lossy video formats like composite or RF, finding ways to eliminate those from the setup is a major start. With them the TV is already receiving artifacts in the first place.

[skate323k137]

How is your device hooked to your TV? Component or composite or what? Generally component or something will look better than composite, and you can try different means of connecting it to see if any look better or worse, but usually you're pretty screwed with SD content on HD TV's. It sucks, but it's one of the many reasons I still keep some CRT's around. Even my NAOMI with VGA output that looks great on a CRT looks pretty bad on most HDTV's.

[Hobie-wan]

That's the whole point. An HDTV brings clarity to the details. If you're watching low bitrate stuff those details are unfortunately all of the compression artifacts that were blurred together when watching on an older display device.

[Zing]

My HDTV does very well with low resolution game console, but SD video files look like garbage. Nothing you can do.

[RCBH928]

i am using component. I am not sure why would HDTV would do this, it does not make sense. My laptop runs in HD resolution but will not display SD material this bad. As a matter of fact it looks very good.

So how come DVDs dont look so bad even if they are in SD?
how will ps2 look like on an HDTV given it uses the old composite wires?

[AppleQueso]

i am using component. I am not sure why would HDTV would do this, it does not make sense. My laptop runs in HD resolution but will not display SD material this bad. As a matter of fact it looks very good.

So how come DVDs dont look so bad even if they are in SD?
how will ps2 look like on an HDTV given it uses the old composite wires?

The processor in your computer's video card is better at scaling images than your TV is

Composite will look awful and smeary and just plain near unviewable.

[isiolia]

The processor in your computer's video card is better at scaling images than your TV is

More likely, it does a better job than the WDTV does. I know at least some of them are utter garbage in that respect.

It's possible that later firmware updates or versions of the device improve the processing. I dunno. I've had a dedicated media PC in the living room since before those devices were around, so I've never messed with them myself.

[CRTGAMER]

I just got an LG tv , moved from Sony CRT. My problem is a lot of the video content I have on my WDTV (video files) which are in SD look clearly pixelated which ruins the joy of watching it.

These video files looked extremely fine if not great on my old CRT. I do understand that HDTV bring out the bad side of SD compressions , but is there a way to ease it or fix this?

I am using component. I am not sure why would HDTV would do this, it does not make sense. My laptop runs in HD resolution but will not display SD material this bad. As a matter of fact it looks very good.

So how come DVDs dont look so bad even if they are in SD?

How will ps2 look like on an HDTV given it uses the old composite wires?

The component connection does not matter if the source is not set to put out HD or at least 480p. The DVD player puts out 480p once it is set in the player menu. It can also be set to upscale even higher if it has the capability.

Use a Component cable for your PS2. It will be in 480i except for the games that you can adjust to 480p. The two games Gran Turismo and Tourist Trophy which can go all the way up to 1080i. So basically any 480i games will appear with dot crawl, at least with a component hookup you can adjust to 480p for the games that support it.

Why I stick with a 4:3 HD CRT
1. The primary reason is the retro consoles. I no longer can light gun with the HD, but all the consoles have a great pic including newer consoles that display in HD.

2. HDTV is still in the transition stage. There are a lot of broadcast channels that do not support HD and look horrible on a HD LCD.

HD Plasma TVs and some LED TVs are more forgiving and can display non HD signals almost as well as a Tube TV. This could be another option to try your Retro consoles on.

[AppleQueso]

...dot crawl has nothing to do with interlaced resolutions