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Sky+ HD box to non-HD television
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I have ordered a free Sky+ HD box but I have a non-HD television (a 36" Philips). I have taken the HD pack (together with Sky Talk and Sky Broadband Unlimited) so that I get Anytime Plus.
If I connect up through Scart, what will I see on the "HD" channels? For example, will Sky News on 501 show me the "SD" version without the extra graphics?
If I connect up through Scart, what will I see on the "HD" channels? For example, will Sky News on 501 show me the "SD" version without the extra graphics?
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Presumably 501 will give you the HD version, the SD version will be where the HD version used to be (no idea where that is though).
But on Sky News, the picture cuts off the far left of the picture meaning that the P in "Press Preview" gets missed off, as well as part of the Sky News HD logo. Is this what used to be called "overscanning"? Any way of putting this right?
Is your CRT a 4:3 model or a 16:9 widescreen model?
Sky News HD broadcasts it's graphics outside the 4:3 safe zone, so you'll need to set the picture to letterbox in order to see them all on a 4:3 set.
One of the advantages of the HD channels is the higher bitrates they use which is why even if they are showing sd programmes the picture is often better than the sd channel itself.
I find BBC1HD is the exception to this rule and ITV1HD to a certain extent.
So although you are not viewing in HD you can at least get some of the benefits over the sd version
Yes, SD as it should be!.
It is 16:9 widescreen and everything is set to 16:9. I am wondering whether the RGB signal through the scart "shifts" the picture? Otherwise, I am enjoying the "full SD" picture.
Is it not possible for an engineer to delve into the rear of the TV and tweak the picture rightwards so that it is centred? I guess it wouldn't be the fault of the Sky+ HD box would it?
What are the scart picture formats set to
Scart RF1 - 16:9
RF2 Picture Format 4:3 (haven't changed - there's only one set)
Scart Control - On
Scart Video Output - RGB
HD Resolution Output - 1080i
This is usually available within the 'engineer's menu', and may not be shown in the usual instruction manual. If you post details about the specific model, I'm sure someone can point you towards an online instruction manual which will provide you with the details.
I also had this issue, and located the details to alter the settings on my CRT TV.
I had many hours of fun altering the settings
Make a note of the original settings, just in case you want to revert to those.
I'm pretty sure it's the 36PW 9618. Would be obliged if anyone can find me the engineer's tweaks for this for some happy weekend tinkering! :rolleyes:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Pixel-100Hz-36PW9618-Dolby/dp/B0000X5L7O
I'm able to alter the RGB centring via normal menu settings on my SONY, maybe your Phillips has something similar?
Nah, I know the Philips menu settings like the back of my hand. But RGB centring is definitely what we are after!
This will be exactly what is happening. Before I went to my first panel TV in 2005 I had an old Phillips 4:3 TV which I had had for 12 years. Right up until the day I retired it, it produced a beautiful picture and fabulous sound (plenty of space for big speakers, unlike today's TVs), everyone, but everyone who saw it thought is was the best they had seen up until that time (if only Phillips had used better capacitors in the PSU, it would have been the best engineered TV I had ever seen, but that is another story).
Anyway, one "feature" of this TV was a small shift to the left of any RGB source. It was a 25" screen and I would guess the image shifted 1/4" or so to the left. I spoke to one of the tech guys at my work and he said the RGB spec is pretty loose and probably Phillips' interpretation of it was different to most other peoples. I toyed with the idea of using the hidden installer menu, but decided I could well do more harm than good so I learned to live with it. However, this was before the days of HD channels putting stuff way outside the 4:3 safe area. I reckon your TV is doing the same as my old one used to.
The best test you can do is to switch your Sky HD box to PAL, then back to RGB and see if the image gets shifted to the left.
Doing that does shift it rightwards, but there's still a bit missing. Looks like it is overscanning as well as off centre. If I could find the engineer menu, I would dive in there and have a tweak.
Most TV's have no such adjustment - you can move the picture, but not seperately for RGB.
The reason for the shift is quite simple - RGB is actually RGB+SYNC - but no one uses SYNC, they use the Composite Video for the sync signal (it's the same SCART pin used). The processing time creating the composite signal means it's later than the pure sync, this causes the picture to shift.
Many later sets were designed to compensate for the shift, but I don't recall any seperate RGB shift settings even then.
Thanks Nigel. Moving the picture itself would be fine if I could find out how to do it.
Try this site:
http://www.manualsparadise.com/service-manuals/Philips_36PW9618+58_36PW961858/users-owners-manuals/ReWrite-SPFM-.Dyn.M21615362KYWRDS_Philips_36PW9618+58_36PW961858_service_manual_repair_manual_schematic_diagram_owners_manual_users_manual_parts_list.html
or something similar by googling:
"Philips 36PW9618 service manual" and you should find the appropriate manual. It's probably available for download (as mine was) for a cheap $9 (about £5), but cheaper than getting a 'proper' engineer to do it!
Agree with comments on SD picture. I owned one of these 2003 to 2010 - never seen a better SD pic.
But you have to move with the times...
How about watching sky news on ch 517?!