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Need TV Buying Advice

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by James Martin, 2014/12/16.

  1. 2014/12/16
    James Martin

    James Martin Geek Member Thread Starter

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    My old 27" 4:3 Toshiba TV is showing its age (2002 model), and I am in the market for something new, but, to tell you the truth, newer TVs make some shows and movies look down right fuzzy. I assume this has something to do with higher resolution on newer TVs.

    When I purchased my new Windows 7 Dell computer, it came with a nice 20" flat screen monitor and a 1812 MB graphics card. I thought that DVDs would look great on it, but they look better on the old 4:3 TV than they do on the Dell.

    Most of my DVD collection was recorded in Dolby Digital and I *assume* the resolution of these discs is at least 720 lines. If that is so, why do the DVD movies look fuzzy on my Dell monitor? The current resolution of this monitor is set at its native 1600 x 900. Would lowering the resolution to 1280 x 720 produce a better movie picture?

    Getting back to flat screen TVs, has anyone experienced this fuzzy effect with over-the-air broadcasting of older movies & shows? If material is recorded in 480 lines of resolution, is there a way to make that material look sharper on a 720 or 1080 flat screen TV? Would buying a TV capable of 120hz refresh rate help out here?
     
  2. 2014/12/16
    MrBill

    MrBill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Most of them now are at least 120hz or more. I have 3 Vizio's and all are 120hz and they all look great. Two are 42" and one 24" and they look good. I use one of my 42 to hook up my laptop to and watch movies with it also. Great picture. Lots of them now are wireless ready also.
     

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  4. 2014/12/16
    James Martin

    James Martin Geek Member Thread Starter

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    I experimented with a lower resolution of 1280 x 720, but the DVDs looked worse. :confused:

    One thing I forgot to mention here, my PC came with a VGA cable instead of the DVI variety. The card does have an HDMI port, but the monitor does not.




    Due to the constraints of my home theater setup, I may have to settle for a 32" model. A friend of ours had two Vizio models from about three years ago, but they returned them due to image (or lack of an image) problems. They purchased a Samsung and it has held up well so far.
     
    Last edited: 2014/12/16
  5. 2014/12/18
    hawk22

    hawk22 Geek Member

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    Usually pictures look best at native resolution.
    I use a Dell 24" Monitor at 1920 x 1200 and have a brilliant picture using either DVI or HDMI.

    I know, Plasma is on the outer but in my book a plasma TV still gives the best picture. I have 55" Panasonic Plasma @ 600 Hz and I hate the day I will have to change to LCD, LED. Although I believe LCD with 120 Hz TV's have made large inroads, they still don't match a plasma.
    I had a demonstration of the latest Panasonic LCD, LED 4K Super HD 80" TV and I was quite impressed, but the Store only show you animations which have far superior picture quality than standard or live TV shows.
    I could only true judge it after a week at home.

    You say due to the constraints of your home theater setup you would be limited to 32 ", can you elaborate on that, as I can't sort of figure out why.
    My home theater set up is quite powerful, actually the missus finds it to overpowering so I tried out a Yamaha Sound Bar, ( just to keep her happy) not bad, missus liked it but to puny for my liking.
    Can't beat a 12 "Subwoofer in a 25kg box with a 700W 7channel amp.
    You not only hear the music you feel it in your stomach.
     
  6. 2014/12/18
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    I would play around with the "Clear Type" settings to see if you can clear up the fuzzy images.
     
  7. 2014/12/18
    hawk22

    hawk22 Geek Member

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    First of all, check to make sure there aren't any unshielded speakers or halogen lights near your monitor. These can really make your monitor do weird things. A television, audio receiver, or other electronics equipment nearby can also cause interference with your monitor because of the frequency of the signals they use. If there is nothing creating interference with the monitor, check the cable connections and make sure they are nice and tight. Also, try and get your wires as untangled as possible.
    If none of these things seem to be the problem, your monitor settings may have been reset and you may have to make some adjustments using the control knob or buttons on the front of your monitor. The things you may need to adjust are your color settings, the convergence, and the moire settings. See your monitor's manual to see how to adjust these options.

    Make sure it is set to 60Hz


    http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN147146/EN


    https://us.en.kb.sony.com/app/answe...,-or-ghostly,-blurry,-fuzzy,-hazy,-tinted,-or

    Hope something here will help.
     
  8. 2014/12/18
    fdamp

    fdamp Well-Known Member

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    We just bit the bullet and went from a 28" CRT (a JVC) to a JVC 55" flat screen. In retrospect, maybe a slightly smaller flat screen would have been better. We already have a flat-screen 21" set in the kitchen.

    Some of the channels we watch haven't gone digital and are still transmitting a 480P signal. On the 55" screen, pixellation is annoying. Another thing we find annoying is the need to change the picture size from one channel to another when watching analog channels. Some of them leave black borders, others spill over outside the screen.

    On the kitchen display, most of the fully digital channels are 20% too big for the display - spilling over on both azimuth and elevation.

    I would have expected some kind of standardisation of picture size versus screen resolution for 100% digital transmissions.
     
    Last edited: 2014/12/18
  9. 2014/12/19
    retiredlearner

    retiredlearner SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    2 x 40 inch Plasma HD's and we have Digital only viewing. Analogues get no picture in NZ. I have a Freeview Set top box to run my 15inch Sanyo CRT in the "man cave ". It's amazing the colour improvement in the Sanyo with set top box. Neil
     
  10. 2014/12/19
    frayedknotarts Lifetime Subscription

    frayedknotarts Well-Known Member

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    Space constraints?

    I was constrained to a max 32" unit in my Entertainment Centre as that was the biggest screen I could fit into the space provided for an Analog TV set. My wife refuses to ditch the old Centre in favour of a newer one because of sentimental reasons... I'd suspect the OP is under similar space constraints.
     
  11. 2014/12/19
    James Martin

    James Martin Geek Member Thread Starter

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    It's the Hi-Fi / TV stand that's causing the constraints.

    I could make some major changes to the setup, but I'm not sure if I would have enough shelf space for my gear. I have a turntable, receiver, VCR, DVD player, 100-disc CD player, BBE ARS sound processor, and a large center speaker. I also have a TEAC CD recorder, but it is on loan since I use a computer for much of my digital recordings.

    Some of these items are located on a large custom-made shelf above the TV. I thought about removing the shelf and hanging a 40" TV on the wall where the shelf is now, but I can't figure out where to put everything if I go this route.

    `````````````````````````````

    Bear with me as I digest everyone's input. I've been washing walls and doing some painting to go along with the Christmas rush :eek:. I'll try to answer all input ASAP.
     
  12. 2014/12/20
    hawk22

    hawk22 Geek Member

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    Now I can see where you are coming from, and I have to admit that I have been there in the past myself and to some degree still are.
    Despite changing my entertainment console 3 times over the years there is never enough room to put equipment.
    I was lucky the missus approved every time of an upgrade, but I have to admit that I did have to help it along a bit by deliberately overcrowding things a bit and have unnecessary cables hanging around (she hates them).
    My Turntable sits in the wardrobe and only comes out when I use it which is not very often these days Turntables are space hogger's.
    If you are real adventures, a ex mate from work had his 65" TV sunk and at the push of a button it would come up from the floor boards, you could invent the disappearing entertainment center.
     
    frayedknotarts likes this.
  13. 2014/12/20
    ephemarial

    ephemarial Well-Known Member

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    Hi James;
    Quick thought - are you still using a VGA connection?
    There's a dramatic difference in quality (fuzziness) in VGA vs Digital (either HDMI or DVI) in monitors or TV's larger than 18 inches or so.

    What connections does your TV have? Must be something else other then analog VGA. There's adapters for HDMI to DVI if that's what your TV also has.
     
  14. 2014/12/20
    James Martin

    James Martin Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Yes, I'm currently using a VGA connection. My flat screen monitor has a DVI port too, but no HDMI port. I assume putting an HDMI port on a monitor would be pointless unless it has built-in speakers. As for the on-board graphics, it has a VGA *and* an HDMI port :). Monoprice has an HDMI to DVI cable for peanuts, and I may buy it and give it a try.

    It's hard to gauge the difference between a digital and analog connection since I have never see one yet, but other than some fuzziness watching DVDs on this unit, graphics & such look great on the Dell flat screen compared to my old CRT monitor.




    My 4:3 Toshiba has connections galore, but the TV (plus my receiver and DVD player) was made before the days of HDMI. Currently, the DVD player connects to the receiver and then to the TV via Monster component cables. I guess I'll have to reuse the component cables unless I replace the DVD player and the receiver. Is there much difference, picture-wise, between component and HDMI cables?

    EDIT: Looks like component jacks were phased out a few years ago on Blu-Ray players...


    Bummer. :(
     
    Last edited: 2014/12/20
  15. 2014/12/20
    James Martin

    James Martin Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Your wife would kick me out of the house! :D

    I like my turntable, but it is rarely used. I thought about packing it up, but sentiment won't let me.

    That last option sounds intriguing, but it's bit much for me.
     
  16. 2014/12/20
    James Martin

    James Martin Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Here neither, unless you subscribe to cable - which I do, but you cannot view the digital sub-channels without a cable box or an over-the-air digital converter (remember the $40.00 US government coupons?)

    I have both boxes, but I would need neither if I purchased a new TV.
     
  17. 2014/12/21
    hawk22

    hawk22 Geek Member

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    Hi James,
    My 24" Dell Monitor has all 3, VGA, DVI and HDMI and I am using both DVI and HDMI. I use 4 Computers but my HDMI switch is only a 3 port and I could not get a 4 port which would be able to use 1920 x 1200, so my windows 8.1 machine is connected via DVI, no difference in picture quality and I never use the sound on the HDMI.
    My 3 older computers don't have HDMI outlets only DVI but my switch box is HDMI so I am using DVI to HDMI cables, like you intend doing I never had any problems at all with that.
    VGA, if you can avoid it, avoid it, in my opinion Analogue and Digital don't mix to well.
    I used to mix Optical and Component, before I changed all my equipment to HDMI so much simpler, but I had to change my Receiver, old one had only one or two HDMI ports.
     
  18. 2014/12/21
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    James - did you ever try adjusting the clear type?
     
  19. 2014/12/22
    James Martin

    James Martin Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Not yet, Steve, but I will get back to you ASAP.
     
  20. 2014/12/23
    fdamp

    fdamp Well-Known Member

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    I didn't mention in my earlier post that our TV service is on Comcast cable, which might change the interpretation people might have. We live in an area that's 90 miles or more from the major TV stations in Seattle and a similar distance from Vancouver BC. With rabbit ears, we can only get Channel 7! There's a ring of hills that block almost everything.

    Apart from the new flat-screen being a bit on the big side for our living room, we're quite pleased with it. DW loves the detail she's seeing on football games. We're getting used to tuning different channel numbers for our favorite local channels. It took a while to get the color settings to look lifelike - everyone on screen looked like they had cardiac issues because their lips were purple!

    We've had the box two weeks now, but we haven't explored its "second side ". It has ROKU streaming capability, which looks like it will be very impressive, judging by the publicity blurbs, but I worry about what it might cost. We will proceed VERY cautiously. So far, I haven't even plugged the ROKU stick into the TV. Perhaps it will have enough Internet capability that I can take my old Win XP box off-line, though I'm not sure how you interface with web-sites on ROKU without a keyboard. Details of anyone's experience with ROKU would be appreciated, either though the forum or by private messages.
     
  21. 2014/12/23
    James Martin

    James Martin Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Was there a visible difference between component and HDMI?

    Found this on YouTube. It explains the differences between digital and analog cables, and it also shows which cables will carry a 1080 signal or not...


    Some of the commenters tend to disagree with the Philips TV man though.
     

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