# Bad SD picture quality



## Bob Pav (Oct 3, 2004)

I just hooked up my 921. Dish 500, OTA Antenna, Sony 42" LCD. I used the DVI connection and the optical audio. I set the display to 1080i and 16:9. The OTA and Dish HDTV channels come in great I've never had HD hooked to this TV and I'm very impressed. But the regular satellite channels are not too good, I got way better results from my 7100 Dishplayer. Help! I don't want to send it back, but I should get better quality.


----------



## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

Bob Pav said:


> I just hooked up my 921. Dish 500, OTA Antenna, Sony 42" LCD. I used the DVI connection and the optical audio. I set the display to 1080i and 16:9. The OTA and Dish HDTV channels come in great I've never had HD hooked to this TV and I'm very impressed. But the regular satellite channels are not too good, I got way better results from my 7100 Dishplayer. Help! I don't want to send it back, but I should get better quality.


What is it that is not too good about the SD video for the regular satellite channels?


----------



## Bob Pav (Oct 3, 2004)

The SD channels seem fuzzy, grainy or out of focus, no depth. The OTA SD Digital locals are better than the satellite SD locals. The OTA SD Digital locals just seem more vivid, clear, crisp.


----------



## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

Bob Pav said:


> The SD channels seem fuzzy, grainy or out of focus, no depth. The OTA SD Digital locals are better than the satellite SD locals. The OTA SD Digital locals just seem more vivid, clear, crisp.


Thanks for the response. I experience the same. I will admit, the 921 SD outputs provide a better picture via the s-video than do the component or DVI. I have noticed that on some satellite channels, the picture is much better than on others. I believe that this is due to variations in the compression of the digital signal. Watching the SD signals on my OTA channels are much better than SD satellite.


----------



## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

boylehome is right - the bigger the screen, the more it shows compression artifacts.

Have you tried using a downrez output of the 921 - just for comparison?


----------



## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Passing the SD signals through not upconverted via svideo or composite video will make them look like they do via your 7100. Upconverting them tends to make them look softer, and makes the compression artifacts much more noticible.


----------



## Bob Pav (Oct 3, 2004)

You're right the SD Satellite channels look better when using the S-Video output. Is this something that can be fixed with future updates? It is not very user friendly to watch the SD on one video input on my TV and HD on another.


----------



## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

It's a result of upconverting an already highly compressed signal, so no there's not much that can be done about it. All HD receivers suffer from this.


----------



## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

Bob Pav said:


> You're right the SD Satellite channels look better when using the S-Video output. Is this something that can be fixed with future updates? It is not very user friendly to watch the SD on one video input on my TV and HD on another.


I think Bob that about the only thing that can be done, is manual adjustments to your monitor. Keep in mind that DVI/RGB is intended for superior video. SD, less than perfect is just going to look poorer. Personally, using DVI and watching SD, I notice the imperfections, and I really don't like them. I just don't get used to these imperfections. The future will be better once more channels are actually in HD.


----------



## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

I usually perfer my sd channels in 480p which looks better than in 1080i. My ota channels and hd channels look great in 1080i. Most of my tv watching is in 480p.


----------



## Bob Pav (Oct 3, 2004)

Now that I've experienced HD in my own home I'm addicted! I want more HDTV!


----------



## pad971 (Oct 4, 2004)

Here is a dumb question that is sort of related...

Is it okay to have multiple connection between the 921 and the TV, e.g. simultaneous S-Video and DVI and switch between them as desired or can that cause any sort of electrical problems (e.g. ghosting, current loops, etc?)


----------



## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

Yes, that's how I have mine set up - component out for HD, svideo out for SD.


----------



## Bob Pav (Oct 3, 2004)

That's how I've got mine hooked-up. HD via DVI, SD via S-Video. The only problem is my TV requires seperate inputs for S-Video and DVI so my SD is on Video 1 and my HD is on Video 7.


----------



## Kagato (Jul 1, 2002)

There's no mystery going on here. Most STBs, cable, sat or otherwise have fairly poor scalers. They work fine with HD, but are fairly blah with SD. That isn't always true with displays. While many displays use the same subpar scaler chipsets as many STBs, there are a fair number that use scalers that are much nicer. However, all the neat things your scaler may be able to do to improve an SD picture from S-video, and even component video are typically bypassed when using DVI. So while DVI may be the best transport, in most cases it's only going to look as good as the source hardware.

You may wish to check out Component video inputs. It may be an acceptable inbetween for your display. Otherwise you're options are switching inputs, or getting an external video scaler that will work with DVI video (VERY expensive).


----------

