Sorry for the length of this post, but we're in desperate need of help.
We have recently bought a Samsung Series 7 50 inch plasma Full HD TV and are experiencing many problems with the picture and sound quality. Basically, we enjoyed much better picture quality from our old LG 68cm flat screen CRT TV connected to Transact. Eventually we will transition to blue ray/PS3/HDMI appliances for movie watching but are stumped about the TV quality. We are very new to the HDTV thing, have read the manual but have found no luck, and before we fork out our hard earned cash for professional help, we were hoping this forum might be able to help out with some advice for any of these issues?
DVD Picture Quality:
We have a Sony Component System that is about five years old. It does not have HDMI, but we have connected it to the TV using good quality Component cables. On all DVDs we watch the picture has large pixelated lines running up and down the screen. It makes the picture appear like a patchwork or a grid. How do we remove these?
Aspect Ratio:
The majority of DVDs indicate that they are 16:9 ratio, however the picture appears stretched on all DVDs when the TV is set on 16:9, and instead we must set the ratio on Zoom or Wide Zoom to get a normal picture, which is then cut off at the top and bottom or sides. In particular we have noticed that any subtitles are cut off in Zoom mode and the only way to see them is to view a stretched image in 16:9 or Wide Zoom. Do any other people experience this; ie does this mean we have to change the setting every time we watch a different DVD?
Reception:
When we first bought the TV we used an old UHF-VHF-FM high performance internal rabbit ears aerial. We had no reception problems but thought the picture quality could be better/crisper/clearer. So we bought an internal boosted digital aerial at a cost of about $80. The reception from this was terrible with the signal constantly cutting in and out and pixelating. Upon returning it to the store, the salesman said that the aerial is probably too powerful for where we are (we are in Duffy, ACT). Can this be correct? We have gone back to the rabbit ears with no major reception issues, but still with the picture less clean and crisp than our old CRT LG TV. Would we get better picture quality with an external aerial, or should we stick with the rabbit ears? I've noticed that a few comments on this forum seem to indicate that digital picture quality in the ACT is generally not good anyway.
Transact:
We previously enjoyed great picture quality from Transact (cabled digital TV) on our old flat screen CRT TV. The picture quality of Transact on the new HDTV is absolute rubbish. The Transact set top box only has composite jacks, so I assume that would contribute to the poor quality, but is there any way to get a picture of at least the same quality that we enjoyed with our old TV?
PS2:
We have a PS2 with Singstar games. Playing for the first time on the new DTV we noticed a slight delay from singing into the microphone to the sound coming out of the speaker producing an echo. This never happened on the old CRT TV. How do we rectify this?
And lastly, is it actually worth going to a large screen TV with all the problems we've encountered? Or should we just throw the thing out and go back to our hassle-free smaller LG CRT with a set top box connected to surround sound. Because, frankly, this was much better and much less hassle!
Full Version: Plasma Tv Issues - Advice Requested
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QUOTE (KristyC @ May 21 2009, 09:23 AM) 
Reception:
When we first bought the TV we used an old UHF-VHF-FM high performance internal rabbit ears aerial. We had no reception problems but thought the picture quality could be better/crisper/clearer. So we bought an internal boosted digital aerial at a cost of about $80. The reception from this was terrible with the signal constantly cutting in and out and pixelating. Upon returning it to the store, the salesman said that the aerial is probably too powerful for where we are (we are in Duffy, ACT). Can this be correct? We have gone back to the rabbit ears with no major reception issues, but still with the picture less clean and crisp than our old CRT LG TV. Would we get better picture quality with an external aerial, or should we stick with the rabbit ears? I've noticed that a few comments on this forum seem to indicate that digital picture quality in the ACT is generally not good anyway.
When we first bought the TV we used an old UHF-VHF-FM high performance internal rabbit ears aerial. We had no reception problems but thought the picture quality could be better/crisper/clearer. So we bought an internal boosted digital aerial at a cost of about $80. The reception from this was terrible with the signal constantly cutting in and out and pixelating. Upon returning it to the store, the salesman said that the aerial is probably too powerful for where we are (we are in Duffy, ACT). Can this be correct? We have gone back to the rabbit ears with no major reception issues, but still with the picture less clean and crisp than our old CRT LG TV. Would we get better picture quality with an external aerial, or should we stick with the rabbit ears? I've noticed that a few comments on this forum seem to indicate that digital picture quality in the ACT is generally not good anyway.
You may well have too strong a signal, that can give similar symptoms to not enough.
The most important aspect though is the signal quality. Not having too many errors.
That is what will result in the picture breaking up (pixellating) and possible sound 'chirps' or 'pops'. An outdoor antenna has a much better chance of delivery a good quality signal than an indoor one.
The digital picture quality should be crisp and clean, similar to a DVD (well, maybe not your problem one
). As long as the receiver is coping with the received signal, you will get 'perfect' reception.
Digital reception really only has three states.
Perfect
Not there at all
In the process of breaking up
There are better descriptions of what is required for reliable digital reception in the Guide docs in my signature below.
As well as a note on how to get your post count up (rather than just posting 'test' in lots of threads
).
QUOTE (KristyC @ May 21 2009, 07:23 AM)
We have recently bought a Samsung Series 7 50 inch plasma Full HD TV and are experiencing many problems with the picture and sound quality. Basically, we enjoyed much better picture quality from our old LG 68cm flat screen CRT TV connected to Transact. Eventually we will transition to blue ray/PS3/HDMI appliances for movie watching but are stumped about the TV quality. We are very new to the HDTV thing, have read the manual but have found no luck, and before we fork out our hard earned cash for professional help, we were hoping this forum might be able to help out with some advice for any of these issues?
Seriously, any shop that is selling this kind of gear should be willing to help.
Most shops I have bought HT gear from are happy to send someone out for nothing to get it up and working.
And if you can afford a full HD 50 inch plasma, you can afford the cables and help to get it set-up.
IMHO.
QUOTE (KristyC @ May 21 2009, 09:23 AM)
Sorry for the length of this post, but we're in desperate need of help.
We have recently bought a Samsung Series 7 50 inch plasma Full HD TV and are experiencing many problems with the picture and sound quality. Basically, we enjoyed much better picture quality from our old LG 68cm flat screen CRT TV connected to Transact. Eventually we will transition to blue ray/PS3/HDMI appliances for movie watching but are stumped about the TV quality. We are very new to the HDTV thing, have read the manual but have found no luck, and before we fork out our hard earned cash for professional help, we were hoping this forum might be able to help out with some advice for any of these issues?
DVD Picture Quality:
We have a Sony Component System that is about five years old. It does not have HDMI, but we have connected it to the TV using good quality Component cables. On all DVDs we watch the picture has large pixelated lines running up and down the screen. It makes the picture appear like a patchwork or a grid. How do we remove these?
Aspect Ratio:
The majority of DVDs indicate that they are 16:9 ratio, however the picture appears stretched on all DVDs when the TV is set on 16:9, and instead we must set the ratio on Zoom or Wide Zoom to get a normal picture, which is then cut off at the top and bottom or sides. In particular we have noticed that any subtitles are cut off in Zoom mode and the only way to see them is to view a stretched image in 16:9 or Wide Zoom. Do any other people experience this; ie does this mean we have to change the setting every time we watch a different DVD?
Reception:
When we first bought the TV we used an old UHF-VHF-FM high performance internal rabbit ears aerial. We had no reception problems but thought the picture quality could be better/crisper/clearer. So we bought an internal boosted digital aerial at a cost of about $80. The reception from this was terrible with the signal constantly cutting in and out and pixelating. Upon returning it to the store, the salesman said that the aerial is probably too powerful for where we are (we are in Duffy, ACT). Can this be correct? We have gone back to the rabbit ears with no major reception issues, but still with the picture less clean and crisp than our old CRT LG TV. Would we get better picture quality with an external aerial, or should we stick with the rabbit ears? I've noticed that a few comments on this forum seem to indicate that digital picture quality in the ACT is generally not good anyway.
Transact:
We previously enjoyed great picture quality from Transact (cabled digital TV) on our old flat screen CRT TV. The picture quality of Transact on the new HDTV is absolute rubbish. The Transact set top box only has composite jacks, so I assume that would contribute to the poor quality, but is there any way to get a picture of at least the same quality that we enjoyed with our old TV?
PS2:
We have a PS2 with Singstar games. Playing for the first time on the new DTV we noticed a slight delay from singing into the microphone to the sound coming out of the speaker producing an echo. This never happened on the old CRT TV. How do we rectify this?
And lastly, is it actually worth going to a large screen TV with all the problems we've encountered? Or should we just throw the thing out and go back to our hassle-free smaller LG CRT with a set top box connected to surround sound. Because, frankly, this was much better and much less hassle!
We have recently bought a Samsung Series 7 50 inch plasma Full HD TV and are experiencing many problems with the picture and sound quality. Basically, we enjoyed much better picture quality from our old LG 68cm flat screen CRT TV connected to Transact. Eventually we will transition to blue ray/PS3/HDMI appliances for movie watching but are stumped about the TV quality. We are very new to the HDTV thing, have read the manual but have found no luck, and before we fork out our hard earned cash for professional help, we were hoping this forum might be able to help out with some advice for any of these issues?
DVD Picture Quality:
We have a Sony Component System that is about five years old. It does not have HDMI, but we have connected it to the TV using good quality Component cables. On all DVDs we watch the picture has large pixelated lines running up and down the screen. It makes the picture appear like a patchwork or a grid. How do we remove these?
Aspect Ratio:
The majority of DVDs indicate that they are 16:9 ratio, however the picture appears stretched on all DVDs when the TV is set on 16:9, and instead we must set the ratio on Zoom or Wide Zoom to get a normal picture, which is then cut off at the top and bottom or sides. In particular we have noticed that any subtitles are cut off in Zoom mode and the only way to see them is to view a stretched image in 16:9 or Wide Zoom. Do any other people experience this; ie does this mean we have to change the setting every time we watch a different DVD?
Reception:
When we first bought the TV we used an old UHF-VHF-FM high performance internal rabbit ears aerial. We had no reception problems but thought the picture quality could be better/crisper/clearer. So we bought an internal boosted digital aerial at a cost of about $80. The reception from this was terrible with the signal constantly cutting in and out and pixelating. Upon returning it to the store, the salesman said that the aerial is probably too powerful for where we are (we are in Duffy, ACT). Can this be correct? We have gone back to the rabbit ears with no major reception issues, but still with the picture less clean and crisp than our old CRT LG TV. Would we get better picture quality with an external aerial, or should we stick with the rabbit ears? I've noticed that a few comments on this forum seem to indicate that digital picture quality in the ACT is generally not good anyway.
Transact:
We previously enjoyed great picture quality from Transact (cabled digital TV) on our old flat screen CRT TV. The picture quality of Transact on the new HDTV is absolute rubbish. The Transact set top box only has composite jacks, so I assume that would contribute to the poor quality, but is there any way to get a picture of at least the same quality that we enjoyed with our old TV?
PS2:
We have a PS2 with Singstar games. Playing for the first time on the new DTV we noticed a slight delay from singing into the microphone to the sound coming out of the speaker producing an echo. This never happened on the old CRT TV. How do we rectify this?
And lastly, is it actually worth going to a large screen TV with all the problems we've encountered? Or should we just throw the thing out and go back to our hassle-free smaller LG CRT with a set top box connected to surround sound. Because, frankly, this was much better and much less hassle!
I'm not sure but my first thoughts are the TV could be faulty or there is something setup wrong, but i don't know what that would be.
Although a digital TV signal over cable could quite easily be a better signal than over the airwaves, i'd think it would be hard to notice. Digital is either strong enough or not. Its not like analogue where it gets snowy in between. You do get pixelation, but in my experience if its pixelating the signal goes soon after.
Can you describe what you are seeing in more detail rather than labelling it as rubbish. Whats the difference from Transact on the CRT and transact on the new TV?
What i can fix is aspect ratio problem. You need to set the DVD player aspect ratio output to 16:9. Or any other device for that matter that will connect to the TV. If the TV is set to 16:9 but the DVD outputs a 4:3 image the TV will stretch that 4:3 image to fit 16:9.
I've got a 40" Samsung and the quality is far better than any CRT i ever had. I always use an external antenna but i live in Tuggeranong where an external antenna is generally always required.
No need to repeat the post in it's entirety.
We also have a transact connection and recently moved from CRT to HD TV, 46 inch LCD thjough.
We have found that using the s-Video is the best we can do with the transact set top box (although on a call to transact, they suggested they were experimenting/trialling a high definition service). With transact we had to make sure that the set top box was set up to automatic picture ratio, and the TV to accept whatever came through from the set top box. That way the picture is not stretched. It varies remarkably between channels and programs in terms of using full screen and having big black bars, but at least the resolution is reasonable now - better than CRT.
I have to admit I was naive and expected transact to support high definition because they advertised 'digital', but that of course was very naive.
We have found that using the s-Video is the best we can do with the transact set top box (although on a call to transact, they suggested they were experimenting/trialling a high definition service). With transact we had to make sure that the set top box was set up to automatic picture ratio, and the TV to accept whatever came through from the set top box. That way the picture is not stretched. It varies remarkably between channels and programs in terms of using full screen and having big black bars, but at least the resolution is reasonable now - better than CRT.
I have to admit I was naive and expected transact to support high definition because they advertised 'digital', but that of course was very naive.
QUOTE (AndreasM @ May 22 2009, 05:22 PM)
I have to admit I was naive and expected transact to support high definition because they advertised 'digital', but that of course was very naive.
One of the reasons I ditched the TransTV option, the i3mood box might look good but is SD only & can only o/p s-video at best. It doesn't look right on a big plasma.
So we went with a Beyonwiz HD-PVR and haven't looked back.
Cheers Mark
QUOTE (AndreasM @ May 22 2009, 04:22 PM)
I have to admit I was naive and expected transact to support high definition because they advertised 'digital', but that of course was very naive.
Majority of our customers are in the same boat so i expect this relates to a majority of the population, all that Freeview's hype has done is muddy the waters even further.
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