Hi, I recently read all of the links under the HDTV FAQ page and have a couple of questions/concerns about the poor picture quality on my Sony 51" HDTV (rear projection) when using either digital cable or satellite (mini dish). Well, I did a test and found that it IS true that regular old cable through the wall provides a better picture than satellite does. So my question is, when everything goes digital what are we HD Big Screen owners supposed to do? Put up with a horrible picture and keep hoping for more HD channels to be provided? I read somewhere that you can buy a scaler to clean up the signal. Who sells these and do they get installed inside the t.v. or ??? If you have a native 1080i only display ... How do you know if you have this? I have the 2002 model KP-51WS500 Sony.

As far as calibration goes ... I honestly don't want to spend $300 to get my tv professionally calibrated, so would it be worth buying the DVE dvd for $24.99 and doing it myself? Also, what is meant by calibration? Is it simply adjusting the picture, brightness, and color levels of the t.v.? Aren't these adjustments personal opinion/preference? Now, if calibration means it will adjust these levels to a point where it is as close to a real life display as possible, then I can see the benefit. If it is simply adjusting these levels to the adjustor's preference then I don't see the value in purchasing the dvd. As far as the DVE dvd goes ... do I just need the DVD NTSC Home Theater Setup version for my Sony 51WS500? What happens when I watch an HD channel? Will the display still look better than if I didn't use the DVD NTSC Home Theater Setup DVE calibration, or will I also need the High Definition D-VHS 1080i dvd?

I'd greatly appreciate any feedback on these questions.

Thanks,
Justin

When you compared the cable and satellite signals which type of inputs did you use F,composite or S?

Did all the channels of the cable/satellite test look bad?

How does DVD look? and again; which type of inputs are you using.

As far as calibration is concerned at a minimum you should use one of the set up disc as a baseline and then tweak according to your taste.
IMHO a professional calibration is better but if you can achieve a satisfactory picture without it just use the disc.

Definitely get the AVIA DVD. It will help set your user settings for a realistic picture (natural fleshtones, etc.) as well as getting rid of unwanted side effects like blooming if certain settings are too high or too low. It is not merely personal preference - if it was then you wouldn't need a DVD. Once you use it you'll see what we mean.

Calibration by a professional goes beyond the user controls and fine tunes various aspects of the display for a better picture. Start with AVIA and if you're happy, stop there. If you see things that don't look quite right or not as good as you would like (maybe after seeing a set that has been calibrated) then you might consider a professional calibration.

As for compressed SD - I believe this is due mainly to the fact that up until recently most sets have been 35" or smaller and you can get away with the compression on those sets. As HD evolves and more people buy bigger sets this problem will be much more apparent. Before I got my 55" I would have sworn that satellite had the best picture quality. I believe two things will happen - the cable and satellite companies will add bandwidth and reduce compression; and receivers will improve in quality.

Hi, first of all, why is it that there are multiple responses? There must be something wrong with the submit a response function on the site. Just curious. Anyway, the comparison I made was on my t.v. using cable straight from the wall into my t.v. using a coaxial cable, and then I compared that display to the display on the same t.v. at Sears viewing SD satellite channels. I could not believe how aweful the normal SD channels looked on every single HD big screen in their store. When people move there is a blur around them and these little digital squares around them like everything is out of focus. On mine, things look decent with the exception of football games where the camera zooms out. I would really like to get Dish Network and get their HD receiver for my Sony 51", but I don't want to have a poorer display than I already have. I don't know what to do. Is there a way to get mini dish SD to look better than SD cable? How about these scalers ... is it an external or internal device, how much are they, where can I buy one, and would it really improve the picture to even be as good as SD cable?

Also, I see AVIA was mentioned as the dvd that I should purchase to calibrate my t.v. Why not DVE? I read that DVE is far better than AVIA. Here's the link to the DVE site: http://www.videoessentials.com/

Bottom line is, I bought this t.v. because I thought I would get the same picture that I saw in the store. Well, I am finding that I am far from that. By the time HD really gets rolling in my area I'm afraid my t.v. will either be outdated or will simply be out of order due to age. I just want something better than the okay picture I am getting now through SD cable and I want to be able to have access to HD channels. I have never seen one HD signal on my t.v. and I've owned it now for 1.5 years.

Let me make sure I understand your present situation, it sounds like you only have analog cable no set top box.
So you are limited to using the RF connection into your TV. Yes that may look very bad.

What you see at sears or most chain stores is not a good representation what cable or satellite can look like, they typically take a signal and split it numerous times and they usually don't calibrate there sets.

If you really want to see what digital cable or satellite can look like visit a more up-scale shop and ask some questions.

When you decide which system to purchase connect your signal with an S video cable and you should see an improvement over using the F connector.

I have used the Video essential calibration disc and it works for me I understand the other products work well also.

I was deleting multiple posts and may have deleted one by accident...

It sounds like you are not using Over-the-air (OTA) Digital tuner. You would be amazed at how good "digital" TV is if you get a real DTV tuner. If your TV has a built in ATSC tuner and you live near a large city, you will probably just have to connect an antenna...

An external scaler can improve your cable and satellite SD situation but will not fix it because garbage in equals garbage out. The scaler only gets rid of the artifacts induced by the display, not the compression artifacts from your provider.

Your calibration questions have been answered in the other thread you posted.

Good Luck!