Picture quality not great on new LG TV - am I expecting too much?

JosephFanAlison · 07-07-2012, 23:06

Bear with me while I explain everything (in very non techy speak I'm afraid!)

I've bought a new LG 3D TV (42LW540U) together with the relvant optical and HDMI cables. I have BT vision so the arial cable etc is going through that. The arial is an old style one (not one of the fancy dan freeview ones). The arial supplies a total of 4 TVs in the house so there must be some sort of splitter/box to divide up the signal I think.

So.....having gone from a 20 yr old fat 26" TV to a 42" LED I was expecting the picture to be stunning, but I'm really quite disappointed. The edges seem fuzzy, not just when there's any movement at all but that is when I really notice it - eg Wimbledon tennis and Tour de France Cycling. It's not just on the ball/cycle movement but even the white lines on the grass. It's just not quite sharp enough. And it happens when going via teh BT vision box and if the arial is plugged straight into the TV.

So....is it the old arial, or the fact that one arial is feeding 4 TVs, or am I sitting too close to the TV (did I buy too big a TV!), or is there a setting I need to adjust or am I just expecting too much!

Sorry for all the questions!

chrisjr · 07-07-2012, 23:14

Picture quality on ITV4 is crap simply due to not having enough data bandwidth to produce anything remotely decent. Nothing you do to the TV will change that.

What you can do however is go into the picture menu and select something like the Natural preset (if your's is anything like my LG that is the best of the options). Then go into the various settings and turn off any thing with the word Dynamic in it. Dynamic in this context means make the picture even crappier than it was to begin with

Also turn down the Sharpness control if it has one as that also tends to make things worse.

The trouble with Freeview is too much being squeezed into too little space so something has to give, ie picture quality. Some channels are OK eg the BBC SD and the four HD channels (if you have HD). But there are plenty that do leave more than a little to be desired.

Oh and by the way there is an e in aerial

and no it is not the aerial. The aerial has zero effect on picture quality. If the aerial were not delivering an adequate signal you would be getting break up and obvious picture disturbances.

Once the signal gets above the level where break up occurs then the picture quality will be the same no matter what signal level you get until it gets so strong it overloads the tuner.

grahamlthompson · 07-07-2012, 23:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by JosephFanAlison

Bear with me while I explain everything (in very non techy speak I'm afraid!)

I've bought a new LG 3D TV (42LW540U) together with the relvant optical and HDMI cables. I have BT vision so the arial cable etc is going through that. The arial is an old style one (not one of the fancy dan freeview ones). The arial supplies a total of 4 TVs in the house so there must be some sort of splitter/box to divide up the signal I think.

So.....having gone from a 20 yr old fat 26" TV to a 42" LED I was expecting the picture to be stunning, but I'm really quite disappointed. The edges seem fuzzy, not just when there's any movement at all but that is when I really notice it - eg Wimbledon tennis and Tour de France Cycling. It's not just on the ball/cycle movement but even the white lines on the grass. It's just not quite sharp enough. And it happens when going via teh BT vision box and if the arial is plugged straight into the TV.

So....is it the old arial, or the fact that one arial is feeding 4 TVs, or am I sitting too close to the TV (did I buy too big a TV!), or is there a setting I need to adjust or am I just expecting too much!

Sorry for all the questions!

Expecting a SD source with only 720 x 576 pixels max to fill a screen with 1920 x 1080 pixels by guessing what's missing and watching closely is not really realistic. You need a HD source, Freeview-HD, Freesat-HD, Sky-HD or Virgin-HD or Blu-ray. Coupled to the fact that LG aren't exactly known for quality pictures. A Sony or Panasonic would have done a far better job of upscaling SD content.

diablo · 08-07-2012, 01:22

Can you get the 4 freeview HDTV channels? Do they look bad?

I just updated a 13 year old JVC widescreen in my front lounge with a Panasonic 32 inch set. I got a 32" partly because I tend to sit fairly near the screen and tend to watch a fair amount of stuff which is only in standard definition. And in general I'm quite pleased with it - though I had to play around with the settings a bit to get the best picture. If I set it on 'game' mode then the area around people's heads gets a bit fuzzy as there is no processing to clear it up - so my cinema, true cinema and normal settings have different set-ups for me to pick from.

Oddly my HD projector in the back room seems to have a super SD picture even at 90" - though I suppose that gets cleaned up by the Onkyo AV box en-route.

JosephFanAlison · 08-07-2012, 23:39

Thanks everyone for your help; some channels are excellent reception....just watching a film on Film4 at the moment and the quality is stunning, so I do have some reassurance that we've not made too big a mistake!

And chrisjr - thank you for the aerial info, saved an expensive replacement that wasn't necessary.

XxBlaKOuTZxX · 09-07-2012, 12:26

I find all SD channels to be rubbish for viewing. It's either i'm too used to HD or my tv isn't good with SD pictures (Samsung 55D6530). For this reason I avoid recording or watching SD

Nigel Goodwin · 09-07-2012, 12:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by XxBlaKOuTZxX

I find all SD channels to be rubbish for viewing. It's either i'm too used to HD or my tv isn't good with SD pictures (Samsung 55D6530). For this reason I avoid recording or watching SD

SD does look crap after HD, and if you're watching SD from the distance as HD it's going to look even worse - you need to view SD from further away, or use a smaller TV.

XxBlaKOuTZxX · 09-07-2012, 13:01

Question for you Nigel. Why does HD look grainy when its a night time shot ?. Ive noticed this on a lot of programs

Nigel Goodwin · 09-07-2012, 14:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by XxBlaKOuTZxX

Question for you Nigel. Why does HD look grainy when its a night time shot ?. Ive noticed this on a lot of programs

I've no idea - it may be down to how they simulate night time shots?, the compression used?, or even an effect the director wanted?.

There's certainly been a lot of crap blamed on the directors, with the BBC claiming their low quality (when they dropped the bitrate massively) was down to the effect the director wanted.

XxBlaKOuTZxX · 09-07-2012, 14:45

Fair enough. I thought it was maybe just my tv but I have noticed it on others too

Blackjack Davy · 09-07-2012, 17:11

ITV4 does look crap due to lack of bandwidth. BBC 1,2,3,4 aren't bad, BBC one HD and BBC HD look the best. I assume you're using Freeview to view TV? Personally I find Freesat has better quality especially if you have an HD box and an HDMI hookup, even the SD channels look better than with Scart.

Gary Brenton · 09-07-2012, 22:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by XxBlaKOuTZxX

Fair enough. I thought it was maybe just my tv but I have noticed it on others too

HD is not quite what it is cracked up to be...far from it.

The problem with TV technology is that they are trying to push it further and further forward and how is there any further room for improvement?

Since the launch of LED/ Plasma etc... in my opinion the picture quality has worsened by adding compression etc.. and 99% of the TV's I have viewed look awful. The images look blurry with the darkness looking 'splodgy'

Their is an old saying... if it ain't broke...don't try and fix it..

webbie · 09-07-2012, 23:01

There is definately a problem with darkness - in any dark scene you can see all sorts of artifacts in the dark background. The broadcasters try and cram too many channels into the bandwidth with too low bitrates and we end up with poor results.

koantemplation · 09-07-2012, 23:42

The 42LW540U is the LG tv I had problems with the sound via the headphone socket.

I thought the SD picture was not very good as well.

The HD picture and the 3D was very good.

terryfc81 · 10-07-2012, 02:10

You sound like an expert lol. Are you sure you just switched for a 20 year old tv? LG has a recommended range and change some feature of picture preference first. After I changed mine, everything was great.

polkadotpaper · 10-07-2012, 06:32

Hmm…LG products’ sound quality might not as good as the others but their picture quality is one of the best out there. I wonder why yours doesn’t work so well. LG’s out of the box settitng is not as perfect so you do need quite a bit of calibration. Try adjusting levels and stuff and find your best quality. Hope it helped.

treefr0g · 13-07-2012, 21:02

It always takes me at least 3 weeks to get used to a new TV. I don't know whether the TV beds in or whether it's me that adjusts to the TV but they always seem to look a lot better as time goes on.

I've always found it best to make tiny adjustments and watch a few different types of program before making further changes.

webbie · 13-07-2012, 22:09

Certainly plasmas get better over time as their screen ages and the pixels settle down. Brand new they can be very vibrant for the first few days.

josephblack · 16-07-2012, 05:04

Thank you chrisjr for the contribution. I just tried what you said with my lg 2011 tv set and it works. I guess one of my kids tampered with it and was unable to adjust the picture quality. So far, everything is fine now.

terryfc81 · 16-07-2012, 05:46

The only LG product with a firm sound system is the LM660T but the sound system is usually a problem for any other brand. It has the "editor choice of C-net" for sound quality and the black level is really deep. Call the A/S for some calibrating adjustments. They will be of great assistance to you.

Nigel Goodwin · 16-07-2012, 08:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by treefr0g

It always takes me at least 3 weeks to get used to a new TV. I don't know whether the TV beds in or whether it's me that adjusts to the TV but they always seem to look a lot better as time goes on.

Plasma's more so (and it's what causes screen burn), but LCD's have a burn-in period as well - plus you do also get used to it.

Richard_Wright · 17-07-2012, 01:42

I have an LG LM760T and never had any problems with HD and sounds. I use Sky HD and probably that’s why I can see HD channels in HD. LG TVs have dimming zones with backlight to give deeper black levels. I did my research when I bought my TV and I am satisfied with my choice.
Also, I would recommend calling LG customer support service and ask what is wrong with your TV.

07-07-2012, 23:06	#1
JosephFanAlison Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: in recovery mode Posts: 1,747	Picture quality not great on new LG TV - am I expecting too much? Bear with me while I explain everything (in very non techy speak I'm afraid!) I've bought a new LG 3D TV (42LW540U) together with the relvant optical and HDMI cables. I have BT vision so the arial cable etc is going through that. The arial is an old style one (not one of the fancy dan freeview ones). The arial supplies a total of 4 TVs in the house so there must be some sort of splitter/box to divide up the signal I think. So.....having gone from a 20 yr old fat 26" TV to a 42" LED I was expecting the picture to be stunning, but I'm really quite disappointed. The edges seem fuzzy, not just when there's any movement at all but that is when I really notice it - eg Wimbledon tennis and Tour de France Cycling. It's not just on the ball/cycle movement but even the white lines on the grass. It's just not quite sharp enough. And it happens when going via teh BT vision box and if the arial is plugged straight into the TV. So....is it the old arial, or the fact that one arial is feeding 4 TVs, or am I sitting too close to the TV (did I buy too big a TV!), or is there a setting I need to adjust or am I just expecting too much! Sorry for all the questions!

07-07-2012, 23:14	#2
chrisjr Forum Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Reading Posts: 27,916	Picture quality on ITV4 is crap simply due to not having enough data bandwidth to produce anything remotely decent. Nothing you do to the TV will change that. What you can do however is go into the picture menu and select something like the Natural preset (if your's is anything like my LG that is the best of the options). Then go into the various settings and turn off any thing with the word Dynamic in it. Dynamic in this context means make the picture even crappier than it was to begin with Also turn down the Sharpness control if it has one as that also tends to make things worse. The trouble with Freeview is too much being squeezed into too little space so something has to give, ie picture quality. Some channels are OK eg the BBC SD and the four HD channels (if you have HD). But there are plenty that do leave more than a little to be desired. Oh and by the way there is an e in aerial and no it is not the aerial. The aerial has zero effect on picture quality. If the aerial were not delivering an adequate signal you would be getting break up and obvious picture disturbances. Once the signal gets above the level where break up occurs then the picture quality will be the same no matter what signal level you get until it gets so strong it overloads the tuner.

07-07-2012, 23:23	#3
grahamlthompson Forum Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Redditch Worcs Posts: 17,293	Quote: Originally Posted by JosephFanAlison Bear with me while I explain everything (in very non techy speak I'm afraid!) I've bought a new LG 3D TV (42LW540U) together with the relvant optical and HDMI cables. I have BT vision so the arial cable etc is going through that. The arial is an old style one (not one of the fancy dan freeview ones). The arial supplies a total of 4 TVs in the house so there must be some sort of splitter/box to divide up the signal I think. So.....having gone from a 20 yr old fat 26" TV to a 42" LED I was expecting the picture to be stunning, but I'm really quite disappointed. The edges seem fuzzy, not just when there's any movement at all but that is when I really notice it - eg Wimbledon tennis and Tour de France Cycling. It's not just on the ball/cycle movement but even the white lines on the grass. It's just not quite sharp enough. And it happens when going via teh BT vision box and if the arial is plugged straight into the TV. So....is it the old arial, or the fact that one arial is feeding 4 TVs, or am I sitting too close to the TV (did I buy too big a TV!), or is there a setting I need to adjust or am I just expecting too much! Sorry for all the questions! Expecting a SD source with only 720 x 576 pixels max to fill a screen with 1920 x 1080 pixels by guessing what's missing and watching closely is not really realistic. You need a HD source, Freeview-HD, Freesat-HD, Sky-HD or Virgin-HD or Blu-ray. Coupled to the fact that LG aren't exactly known for quality pictures. A Sony or Panasonic would have done a far better job of upscaling SD content.

08-07-2012, 01:22	#4
diablo Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Fylde Coast Posts: 8,103	Can you get the 4 freeview HDTV channels? Do they look bad? I just updated a 13 year old JVC widescreen in my front lounge with a Panasonic 32 inch set. I got a 32" partly because I tend to sit fairly near the screen and tend to watch a fair amount of stuff which is only in standard definition. And in general I'm quite pleased with it - though I had to play around with the settings a bit to get the best picture. If I set it on 'game' mode then the area around people's heads gets a bit fuzzy as there is no processing to clear it up - so my cinema, true cinema and normal settings have different set-ups for me to pick from. Oddly my HD projector in the back room seems to have a super SD picture even at 90" - though I suppose that gets cleaned up by the Onkyo AV box en-route.

08-07-2012, 23:39	#5
JosephFanAlison Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: in recovery mode Posts: 1,747	Thanks everyone for your help; some channels are excellent reception....just watching a film on Film4 at the moment and the quality is stunning, so I do have some reassurance that we've not made too big a mistake! And chrisjr - thank you for the aerial info, saved an expensive replacement that wasn't necessary.

09-07-2012, 12:26	#6
XxBlaKOuTZxX Forum Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Edinburgh / Scotland Posts: 2,773	I find all SD channels to be rubbish for viewing. It's either i'm too used to HD or my tv isn't good with SD pictures (Samsung 55D6530). For this reason I avoid recording or watching SD

09-07-2012, 12:57	#7
Nigel Goodwin Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: North Derbyshire Posts: 41,789	Quote: Originally Posted by XxBlaKOuTZxX I find all SD channels to be rubbish for viewing. It's either i'm too used to HD or my tv isn't good with SD pictures (Samsung 55D6530). For this reason I avoid recording or watching SD SD does look crap after HD, and if you're watching SD from the distance as HD it's going to look even worse - you need to view SD from further away, or use a smaller TV.

09-07-2012, 13:01	#8
XxBlaKOuTZxX Forum Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Edinburgh / Scotland Posts: 2,773	Question for you Nigel. Why does HD look grainy when its a night time shot ?. Ive noticed this on a lot of programs

09-07-2012, 14:39	#9
Nigel Goodwin Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: North Derbyshire Posts: 41,789	Quote: Originally Posted by XxBlaKOuTZxX Question for you Nigel. Why does HD look grainy when its a night time shot ?. Ive noticed this on a lot of programs I've no idea - it may be down to how they simulate night time shots?, the compression used?, or even an effect the director wanted?. There's certainly been a lot of crap blamed on the directors, with the BBC claiming their low quality (when they dropped the bitrate massively) was down to the effect the director wanted.

09-07-2012, 14:45	#10
XxBlaKOuTZxX Forum Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Edinburgh / Scotland Posts: 2,773	Fair enough. I thought it was maybe just my tv but I have noticed it on others too

09-07-2012, 17:11	#11
Blackjack Davy Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 1,037	ITV4 does look crap due to lack of bandwidth. BBC 1,2,3,4 aren't bad, BBC one HD and BBC HD look the best. I assume you're using Freeview to view TV? Personally I find Freesat has better quality especially if you have an HD box and an HDMI hookup, even the SD channels look better than with Scart.

09-07-2012, 22:50	#12
Gary Brenton Inactive Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Walsall (West Midlands) Posts: 637	Quote: Originally Posted by XxBlaKOuTZxX Fair enough. I thought it was maybe just my tv but I have noticed it on others too HD is not quite what it is cracked up to be...far from it. The problem with TV technology is that they are trying to push it further and further forward and how is there any further room for improvement? Since the launch of LED/ Plasma etc... in my opinion the picture quality has worsened by adding compression etc.. and 99% of the TV's I have viewed look awful. The images look blurry with the darkness looking 'splodgy' Their is an old saying... if it ain't broke...don't try and fix it..

09-07-2012, 23:01	#13
webbie Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: North Devon Posts: 1,568	There is definately a problem with darkness - in any dark scene you can see all sorts of artifacts in the dark background. The broadcasters try and cram too many channels into the bandwidth with too low bitrates and we end up with poor results.

09-07-2012, 23:42	#14
koantemplation Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Wolf359 Posts: 96,797	The 42LW540U is the LG tv I had problems with the sound via the headphone socket. I thought the SD picture was not very good as well. The HD picture and the 3D was very good.

10-07-2012, 02:10	#15
terryfc81 Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 144	You sound like an expert lol. Are you sure you just switched for a 20 year old tv? LG has a recommended range and change some feature of picture preference first. After I changed mine, everything was great.

10-07-2012, 06:32	#16
polkadotpaper Forum Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 15	Hmm…LG products’ sound quality might not as good as the others but their picture quality is one of the best out there. I wonder why yours doesn’t work so well. LG’s out of the box settitng is not as perfect so you do need quite a bit of calibration. Try adjusting levels and stuff and find your best quality. Hope it helped.

13-07-2012, 21:02	#17
treefr0g Forum Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 10,342	It always takes me at least 3 weeks to get used to a new TV. I don't know whether the TV beds in or whether it's me that adjusts to the TV but they always seem to look a lot better as time goes on. I've always found it best to make tiny adjustments and watch a few different types of program before making further changes.

13-07-2012, 22:09	#18
webbie Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: North Devon Posts: 1,568	Certainly plasmas get better over time as their screen ages and the pixels settle down. Brand new they can be very vibrant for the first few days.

16-07-2012, 05:04	#19
josephblack Forum Member Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 21	Thank you chrisjr for the contribution. I just tried what you said with my lg 2011 tv set and it works. I guess one of my kids tampered with it and was unable to adjust the picture quality. So far, everything is fine now.

16-07-2012, 05:46	#20
terryfc81 Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 144	The only LG product with a firm sound system is the LM660T but the sound system is usually a problem for any other brand. It has the "editor choice of C-net" for sound quality and the black level is really deep. Call the A/S for some calibrating adjustments. They will be of great assistance to you.

16-07-2012, 08:54	#21
Nigel Goodwin Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: North Derbyshire Posts: 41,789	Quote: Originally Posted by treefr0g It always takes me at least 3 weeks to get used to a new TV. I don't know whether the TV beds in or whether it's me that adjusts to the TV but they always seem to look a lot better as time goes on. Plasma's more so (and it's what causes screen burn), but LCD's have a burn-in period as well - plus you do also get used to it.

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Picture quality not great on new LG TV - am I expecting too much?

17-07-2012, 01:42	#22
Richard_Wright Forum Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 40	I have an LG LM760T and never had any problems with HD and sounds. I use Sky HD and probably that’s why I can see HD channels in HD. LG TVs have dimming zones with backlight to give deeper black levels. I did my research when I bought my TV and I am satisfied with my choice. Also, I would recommend calling LG customer support service and ask what is wrong with your TV.