Just got an HDTV, pixelated SD content

[Hobie-wan]

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.

Your laptop is also a smaller screen unless you have a $5000 laptop and a $150 TV. Everything looks better when shrunk down. Think about seeing someone from far away and thinking they are attractive, then realizing you were wrong once closer. Blowing things up larger magnifies imperfections.

[RCBH928]

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.

could u suggest some of those TVs , because I would like to play N64 and view VHS( i know ) on my HDTV(I might buy another) .

The obvious choice is to keep a separate CRT TV for those things but I just dont have the space.

[RCBH928]

WDTV isn't a tv, it's a media player box thing. I was suggesting to ditch that and just hook his laptop up to the tv or something.

Do you mean that my WDTV is causing the problem not my HDTV? If I use say , Mac Mini , I will get the picture I want?

[RCBH928]

Not sure if someone mentioned this but change the aspect ration to 4:3 on the HDTV. It will pillar box the image, but it wont stretch it out...may help if you havent done this yet.

I tried that It didn't help much. There is an option that is called "Just scan" which I am not too sure what it is.

[Zing]

Compressed SD video files are going to look terrible. There is little you can do. DVD looks fine because they use less compression and a very high bitrate.

[isiolia]

Do you mean that my WDTV is causing the problem not my HDTV? If I use say , Mac Mini , I will get the picture I want?

If you have other sources available to try, give them a go. I don't know about -all- WDTV devices, but I've seen some of them assessed as having some pretty poor video processing ability. For example, using the HQV video benchmark, of a max score of 210, Anandtech found the WD TV Live Plus to score a 43. Notice it did particularly horribly in scaling and artifacting.

By contrast, modern integrated graphics turn in almost perfect scores, and most discrete cards are pretty much the same story. Plus you tend to be able to get more options with a PC (Mac video drivers...eh...not so much, though you may have some in player software).

Obviously, with some files, there's just not much you can do. The other option would be to try and source better quality files to upgrade to.

There is an option that is called "Just scan" which I am not too sure what it is.

Just Scan is the Samsung option for turning off overscan (should also be off by default when using the VGA port or setting a source as PC I think).

[AppleQueso]

WDTV isn't a tv, it's a media player box thing. I was suggesting to ditch that and just hook his laptop up to the tv or something.

Do you mean that my WDTV is causing the problem not my HDTV? If I use say , Mac Mini , I will get the picture I want?

Wouldn't hurt to try.

[Duane Dibbley]

Not sure if someone mentioned this but change the aspect ration to 4:3 on the HDTV. It will pillar box the image, but it wont stretch it out...may help if you havent done this yet.

I tried that It didn't help much. There is an option that is called "Just scan" which I am not too sure what it is.

I have an LG HDTV as well. "Just Scan" shows the complete image, stretched out to the full 16:9 frame. This is great for 16:9 content, but less great for 4:3 content. The standard option (I don't remember exactly what it's called, as I'm at the hospital waiting for my baby to arrive) applies overscan to the image, so a small border around the entire image is cut off. It's pretty silly that LG does this, since HDTV doesn't need overscan. This option properly sets 16:9 content to full screen and pillarboxes 4:3 content though.

[CRTGAMER]

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.

Could u suggest some of those TVs , because I would like to play N64 and view VHS (I know ) on my HDTV (I might buy another).

The obvious choice is to keep a separate CRT TV for those things but I just dont have the space.

If you can, refund that LCD. Take the N64 and try it on a Plasma or some of the LEDs at the store.

Hey the VHS is horrible but it does have a very useful purpose besides playing stuff that have not been released on newer formats. An easy inexpensive way to record TV shows to be transfered to a second unit. It came in handy when my mom was in the hospital to see her native language channel, nobody would take that VHS tape player.

As for CRT I have two Sony WEGA HD 4:3 CRTs which I'm very happy with. The only TV in each room that displays both retro consoles and HD pic just fine.

[TheRev]

There are Composite/S-VIDEO to HDMI converters you can get. I tried to look for the one I'm getting on Amazon but couldn't find it. but there are a ton of options.