My HDTV has arrived

sgs89

sgs89

CAGiversary!
I just received my 46 inch KDLXBR4 Sony today and it is a beautiful set.

I won't have HD service until next Friday. Right now, I have standard definition DirecTV. The receiver is hooked up to the HDTV with an S-video connection.

I had heard that standard definition doesn't look too good on an HD set, but I thought they had made big improvements in that area (particularly with this expensive set). Unfortunately, when I hooked it up to my new set, the picture is worse than my old SD set. It is a bit pixelated -- while it is watchable, it is far from ideal.

Can anyone with more experience help me to get the best picture possible on my new set? Do you think the S-video connection is the culprit? What can/should I switch to? Alternatively, does SD programming just not look that good on an HD no matter what the connection?

In general, what kind of connection do people use to connect their DirecTV receivers to their HDTVs? Can you use HDMI? Component cables?

Any help/guidance you can give to improve my SD picture would be much appreciated.
 
SD on HD always looks bad. Plain and simple. Those "advancements" have done nothing to remedy the situation.
 
Improving SD can be done a little if you have a good upscaler, but your TV's is about all you probably have. Even if you upscale the picture, it's still going to look like shit because you've got a 480 signal being displayed on a 1080 set. The only way 480 would look decent is on a relatively nonexistent 1920p TV.

About the only way the picture would look decent is if you could watch in the 480 resolution, which would basically look like a picture-in-picture window on that TV.

Hold out until you get HD service. Then shift your frustration towards your provider for having a piddlyshit number of HD channels offered. It would be worse, you could have Charter cable. They don't even have CNN in HD here.
 
Interesting - I wasn't fully aware that SD necessarily looks crappy on an HD set. Bummer. I still wonder what connections folks use to connect their DirecTV receivers to their TVs though...

I do have a 360, but I haven't fired it up yet.

Edited to ask what people think of DirecTV's HD service -- are there enough channels in HD to make it worthwhile?
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']Improving SD can be done a little if you have a good upscaler, but your TV's is about all you probably have. Even if you upscale the picture, it's still going to look like shit because you've got a 480 signal being displayed on a 1080 set. The only way 480 would look decent is on a relatively nonexistent 1920p TV.

About the only way the picture would look decent is if you could watch in the 480 resolution, which would basically look like a picture-in-picture window on that TV.

Hold out until you get HD service. Then shift your frustration towards your provider for having a piddlyshit number of HD channels offered. It would be worse, you could have Charter cable. They don't even have CNN in HD here.[/quote]I'm not ready to see larry king in HD.
 
HD channels are very few. Unless you want ESpn in HD which is usually extra ontop of the regular HD packages.

Standard cable looks like a mess explosion. Just wait until you get a HD player or gaming machine of some sort.

Im surprised you would get a tv so expensive without having a PS3 or 360 before hand. Are you planning on going out and picking one of those up?
 
My local cable provider gives free HDTV and gives a ton of HD channels. All I need is comedy central in HD.
 
I have Dish Network HD with about 30-35 HD channels ($20 a month just for the HD) Supposedly DirectTV has the most number of HD channels (70 they say, which is more than DishNetwork and way more than cable) not sure on the pricing. I would go to their website and check out the HD packages.

As for connections, once you order HD, you'll need an HD receiver which DirectTV will provide you with. They have HDMI connections, which will give you the best picture. Second best is Component, then S video.

It's definitely worth it to get HD channels if you have an HD set, otherwise, what's the point?

I have an Aquos with DishNetwork HD receiver hooked up with HDMI, and honestly, the SD channels look very good. The receiver upscales the image (not sure if DirectTVs do, but I don't see why they wouldn't), so though it's not true HD on the SD channels, it is crisper and clearer than just using a normal satellite receiver that's not HD capable or that doesn't upscale.

In my living room, I have a Panasonic Plasma that's sharing the satellite feed (dual tuner box which supports 2 TVs), but the only option for a connection using the second tuner is coaxial, and compared to the HDMI upscaled image, the SD channels look like complete ass on the HDTV, so it definitely matters what type of connection you use when viewing SD channels.
 
[quote name='Lice']HD channels are very few. Unless you want ESpn in HD which is usually extra ontop of the regular HD packages.

Standard cable looks like a mess explosion. Just wait until you get a HD player or gaming machine of some sort.

Im surprised you would get a tv so expensive without having a PS3 or 360 before hand. Are you planning on going out and picking one of those up?[/QUOTE]

As I said above, I do have a 360, I just haven't hooked it up yet.

I'm hoping the HD DVR receiver I have coming on Friday will make the SD channels look better.
 
We have Dishnetwork connected to a 70" XBR2 via HDMi. HD channels, of course, look awesome. SD channels are very acceptable. The SD channels on our 32" XBR4 look much better. That TV is connected via component cables. I am sure you will be satisfied with both.
 
With Direct TV, they give you an HD Box, which allows to connect your box to your TV via HDMI or Component. i can imagine that that will help SD.
 
[quote name='Kaijufan']SD looks just fine on my HDTV, but it's a rear projector CRT HDTV. ;)[/quote]

Amen. And when I upgrade my HD CRT, I plan on getting a rear-projection SXRD. Unless I can get a ridiculous deal on a high-end Sony LCD, that is.
 
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