HD hook-ups

[FKAGobucks877]

This may belong in the computer and technology forum, but it isn't computer, and I'm too stupid to know if it's technology, so....somebody help.

My old man just bought a 50" HD Pioneer Plasma Panel Television. Yes, he is a bastard, but he's going through chemo, so we let it pass. For now. Anyhoo, the picture, when watching anything that isn't HD, is very fuzzy. Worse even than a normal TV. So, my question is, how do I make it better, or can I? Keep in mind I am very non-technological, but I'm thinking that all I need is an S-video cable (or it's equivalent) running from the HD cable box to the TV. But I'm a little concerned because all the HD channels are crystal clear. So, does anyone know?

 

[Golferdow01]

FKA... I am not a pro on HD because I don't have one but I can take a stab. First, I noticed many times that an HD tv just inherently makes standard cable stations look worse...just the nature of the beast. See if the cable box and tv have hookups for component video. To the best of my knowledge, that is the next best picture to HD available. If component isn't an option, then S-Video is the next best. Probably doesn't help much but it's my 2 cents...good luck bro

 

[FKAGobucks877]

What do you mean by component video? Right now I have the cable running from the wall through the dvd/vcr combo (he's old school, what can I say) via "antenna in" then out "antenna out" to the TV "antenna in". Then I have whatever the red, white, and yellow cables are hooked up from the dvd to the TV. I'm thinking that wire may be the component, which means I probably need one from the cable box to the dvd?

 

[Golferdow01]

Ah don't think component will work there then. Component is 3 colors as well, maybe red green and blue if I'm not mistaken. For instance, I have my xbox hooked to my tv via component. Since I use my xbox to play dvd's, it would only make sense. I don't know if you would be able to do this. What would be easiest honestly, take a picture of the back of your combo and your tv or whatever and post them here. I'm sure myself or BMax could tell you the best picture you could get with what you have

 

[FKAGobucks877]

No, once I figured out what component wires were I think it would work. Actually, that is exactly what I thought I needed, I just didn't realize that component wires were a step above the S-video cable. I'm just worried, because the HD channels are so clear, and I would think they would be poor quality as well if it was the cables. Or maybe the HD part eliminates that? I don't know. I'll try the component wire, and if that doesn't help, I'll post the pictures. Thanks again. More greenies for you once I have accomplished more repspread!

 

[Clarity]

Thing is, you're seeing the same picture you would on a normal television, it's just on a much larger scale, with a much greater resolution. Which is to say that artifacts you missed before on the old set, you now see with sometimes shocking clarity on the 50" plasma.

What's your HD source? A cable or sat box? Either way, you should probably be connecting through an HDMI cable (looks like a slimmed down USB connector) or a DVI cable (which looks like a VGA/computer monitor-type cable on roids).

Those, by far, are your best connective options, HDMI having the added bonus of also carrying audio.

SD is always going to look like hell over HD. Even ED (480i/480p) won't always be all that great. However, 720p and 1080i feeds will definitely make up for that, and if he has DirecTV, things are only going to get better in 2006 as they migrate to MPEG-4, and roll out a ton of new HD offerings. Also bear in mind that a new 'standard' is coming, in the form of 1080p, but it should be years (imo) before people need to really concern themselves with that. Cable companies in particular have bandwidth limitation issues now, so it's hard to imagine anyone but sat providers making those feeds available -- although the blu-ray and HD-DVD formats coming to a retailer near you in the not-so-distant future should look stunning on any 1080p-ready set.

As long as he's spending, he might want to look into the Samsung HR10-250. It's a dual-tuner DirecTV Tivo-brand DVR. Service is free with most of the better D* packages, and it records programs in HD+Dolby Digital.

http://www.avsforum.com is the resource when it comes to this sort of stuff, in case you find yourself in need of heavier hitting advice.

Anyway. HDMI > DVI > Component > S-Video > Composite > Coaxial.

Cable quality *does* matter, so if you're going to spend the yack to get a 50" plasma, better be prepared to drop $150+ or so on a single 4 ft. HDMI cable.

Monster is the everyman's-brand 'premium' cable, but there's also higher tier groups like MIT, Audioquest, etc. But now we're firmly in an area you'd need to investigate through avsforum.

Bottom line is that SD (even 'digital') is always going to look rough around the edges on a display like that. All you can do is make sure you've got a good source, good cables, and that you've properly calibrated the display by way of one of the good DVD kits available for 30-40 bucks.

 

[TheMile]

edit: Well, Clarity just beat me on all of this.

Here's a quick primer on TV connection cables from worst to best:

Coaxial cable: You know, cable wire.
Composite: Just a single yellow plug for video with red and white for audio.
S-Video: Round connector with pins for video and red and white for audio.
Component: Three cables for video: red, green, and blue and red and white for audio.
DVI: Used for computers, rectangular with tons of pins.
HDMI: Kind of like a USB cable, similar to DVI in quality.

Clarity beat me to recommending AVSForum. Go there, really.

 

[FKAGobucks877]

Thing is, you're seeing the same picture you would on a normal television, it's just on a much larger scale, with a much greater resolution. Which is to say that artifacts you missed before on the old set, you now see with sometimes shocking clarity on the 50" plasma.

What's your HD source? A cable or sat box? Either way, you should probably be connecting through an HDMI cable (looks like a slimmed down USB connector) or a DVI cable (which looks like a VGA/computer monitor-type cable on roids).

Those, by far, are your best connective options, HDMI having the added bonus of also carrying audio.

SD is always going to look like hell over HD. Even ED won't always be all that great. However, 720p and 1080i feeds will definitely make up for that, and if he has DirecTV, things are only going to get better in 2006 as they migrate to MPEG-4, and roll out a ton of new HD offerings.

As long as he's spending, he might want to look into the Samsung HR10-250. It's a dual-tuner DirecTV Tivo-brand DVR. Service is free with most of the better D* packages, and it records programs in HD+Dolby Digital.

http://www.avsforum.com is the resource when it comes to this sort of stuff, in case you find yourself in need of heavier hitting advice.

Anyway. HDMI > DVI > Component > S-Video > Composite > Coaxial.

Cable quality *does* matter, so if you're going to spend the yack to get a 50" plasma, better be prepared to drop $150+ or so on a single 4 ft. HDMI cable.

Monster is the everyman's-brand 'premium' cable, but there's also higher tier groups like MIT, Audioquest, etc. But now we're firmly in an area you'd need to investigate through avsforum.

Bottom line is that SD is always going to look rough around the edges. All you can do is make sure you've got a good source, good cables, and that you've properly calibrated the display by way of one of the good DVD kits available for 30-40 bucks.

You know, lucky for me, at least 50% of this makes sense...

His source is digital HD cable. From what I can understand of what you said, I need a DVD kit and a HDMI cable, right? So, if I go to Best Buy and tell them that's what I want, they can just hand it to me, right? And me, being as intelligent as I obviously am, will then be able to muddle through how to properly install these things? Maybe? Hopefully?

 

[FKAGobucks877]

I went here for advice, but nobody has replied yet. I'll hit AVSForum if I need it. You guys rock, I appreciate it. I'm out for tonight, but I'll check in tomorrow once I'm up there and let you know how bad I screwed this up...

 

[FKAGobucks877]

Sorry, Golfer, you're screwed...

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[Clarity]

You know, lucky for me, at least 50% of this makes sense...

His source is digital HD cable. From what I can understand of what you said, I need a DVD kit and a HDMI cable, right? So, if I go to Best Buy and tell them that's what I want, they can just hand it to me, right? And me, being as intelligent as I obviously am, will then be able to muddle through how to properly install these things? Maybe? Hopefully?

Check both your plasma and the cable box. You might be able to use HDMI, but it's not a given. You may need a DVI-DVI cable, or a DVI-HDMI cable -- or if you're lucky, HDMI-HDMI.

Bear in mind, while these cables will all noticeably improve your picture quality, SD will still look 'worse'. The home theater calibration DVD will go a long way to properly configuring your display though, and it may have a more dramatic effect.

 

[TheMile]

His source is digital HD cable. From what I can understand of what you said, I need a DVD kit and a HDMI cable, right?

Make sure your TV has a HDMI connector, first. If it's new it probably does. Keep in mind that Clarity's main point was that you won't really be able to improve the quality. The picture looks bad because the signal it's getting from the cable company is bad. Garbage in, garbage out. Most programming is not broadcast in HD yet; it's mostly in crappy 480i.

 

[Clarity]

I purchased mine from this guy at eBay. I was very pleased with it, and he sells them for under $30.


Make sure your TV has a HDMI connector, first. If it's new it probably does. Keep in mind that Clarity's main point was that you won't really be able to improve the quality. The picture looks bad because the signal it's getting from the cable company is bad. Garbage in, garbage out. Most programming is not broadcast in HD yet; it's mostly in crappy 480i.

Yep, great points, and a worthy reinforcement of the core point. Even the best cables won't make low quality feeds look good. Indeed, you may actually see SD's flaws even more clearly afterwards. On the flipside, true HD will look that much better.

SD = "normal" broadcast (standard definition), ED = 480i/480p (enhanced definition), HD = 720p/1080i/1080p (high definition)

To reduce i/p down to dangerously basic terms, 'p' is a better picture, but now I'm getting into an area (again) that really requires no small amount of reading on avsforum.com. 720p is actually arguably 'better' than 1080i, for example. 1080p, a standard only those bleeding-edge early adopters have already (not me), will just be ridiculous. i = interlaced, p = progressive.

Can definitely find good deals on cables, as above. Just make sure they're shielded, and get as short a cable as you can comfortably manage with your setup.

The good news is you will adjust to how bad SD looks. The better news is that most local channels offer over-the-air HD alternatives. I can't speak to cable for this, but for sat users, a simple antenna gives you access to those. Doesn't mean everything's in HD -- just means what is will look far better than the 'normal' NBC/ABC/CBS/etc offering.

Last point -- the quality of your scaler (probably in a box apart from the screen for that set) will play the biggest role in how SD looks to you. I don't know enough about plasmas to speak intelligently about this -- but it's something you can research on avsforum.

 

[strohs]

DVI: Used for computers, rectangular with tons of pins.
HDMI: Kind of like a USB cable, similar to DVI in quality.

Actually the quality is the same, the only real difference is that HDMI cables also carry the sound, so no need to separate sound cables.
FKA does your dad have TW?
If he does, they only HDMI option they have comes with DVR, which is extra $$ per month.
However, you can complain and get at least a few months free, hopefully hold out long enough for them to get a non-DVR HDMI box.
Lastly, plasma is amazing, my dad got one a couple of montsh ago.

 

[Golferdow01]

More greenies for you once I have accomplished more repspread!

It's ok FKA...I have a good memory