Evening all,

I recently bought a 32" samsung hd lcd tv and an xbox 360. I have telewest cable (sd). Watching sd cable through my new tv is absolutely awful. It's very pixellated and grainy. I knew it was supposed to be quite bad but not this bad. Anyway, I tried my 360 through it expecting great things. I was disappointed. Everything appears to be made up of lines (as, in effect, they are).

It was the same when I bought my lcd monitor for my pc. On an lcd it is so easy to tell that things are made up of pixels. Playing games through an lcd monitor is far inferior to playing through a crt. For me, nothing beats the picture quality of a good crt. I can't be the only one that thinks this can I?

stewyd
Last edited by stewyd : 30-11-2006 at 16:48

I agree mate. Monitors are faaaaaaaaar superior for gaming. Not that sure about watching tv though.

Bit of a disappointment at the new telly then?

Definitely a disappointment. I think it's a big con to be honest. I've even watched some HD video from Xbox Live and that hasn't impressed me either.

How recently did you buy it? They do take time to settle in, mine looked blocky for the first three or four days, now the picture quality is amazing, even on SD pictures - kicks my old CRT into touch. If you've had it more than a week and it still doesn't look too good, have a dabble with the default settings - contrast, brightness etc might need adjusting.

Is your cable that connects the 360 to the TV set to HD? I have the same problems with the picture from my telewest box but find the Xbox picture very impressive
Last edited by bigiain : 30-11-2006 at 18:11

I've had it for about a month now so it should have settled by now. My xbox lead is set up properly too.

The problem with the xbox360 on an hd tv (and pc gaming on an lcd monitor for that matter) is that everything looks jagged. Sort of like playing a pc game on a crt with no anti aliasing enabled. Enabling AA on a crt makes lines look straight rather than jagged. Enabling AA on lcd displays doesn't.

Surely people agree with me?

Is playing DVDs on an HD ready lcd television okay though?! I thought the quality, even with normal dvds, is a lot better?

Not bothered about gaming though since I don't play video games.

To be honest, I haven't tried a dvd yet. I'll have to do so and let you know

Cheers that would be great, just hearing things that normal dvds are inferior quality on hd ready television compared to normal television and I find that strange for some reason!?!?

And that is worrying since we are thinking of buying a new hd ready television.

Not one for the techinal things here lol.

Nope.

Perhaps you have it set up or connected wrong, or a sitting too close.

Alot of people on here say Standard Def viewing on a HDTV is not great, and CRT is better.

It's pointless buying a HDTV unless you have a few HDTV sources to use on it.

I have a 32" Standard Def widescreen TV, and the picture is fantastic. I often wonder what all the hype about HD is, when it can't possibly get much better than what I have.

I think there's a lesson to be learnt here. DON'T BUY A TV without actually taking the time to look at it first. And don't buy an HDTV purely on the quality of the HD picture as you will probably be watching SD stuff most of the time.

Forums like these are great for getting second opinions, or for creating a shortlist as a starting point, but no too people have exactly the same opinion and you really need to see things through your own eyes (and listen through you own ears) before committing to parting with your cash.

Just my tuppence worth!

I'm genuinely worried that when my present CRT TV expires (which might not be for a long while yet) I'm going to have trouble replacing it. There's no way I'd buy a LCD set based on what I've seen so far. Quite how we've got to the point where CRT TVs aren't even available in many stores any more is completely beyond me.

Don't be. The majority of people who claim CRTs offer superior quality pictures to LCDs are ones who still have a CRT and just like sticking the knife into new technology because they haven't yet moved on, or have been stung by buying one of the earlier LCDs, or a cheap and nasty LCD, that doesn't perform as well as it ought to. I bought an LCD HD compatible, though I haven't yet got Sky HD to watch on it, and I can't believe how good the picture is. It is brighter, more vibrant and sharper than my old CRT ever was. Yes, it took a few days to bed in, and to start with my girlfriend was looking at the picture and saying she couldn't believe the amount of money we had spent to get something that looked worse than what we were replacing, but now she hates watching the old CRT set - which has been relegated to the bedroom. And obviously everything else apart from picture quality on an LCD (slimline panel, weight, not requiring magnetic screening on speakers) makes you realise that CRTs are a thing of the past.

Some people hated colour TV when that first came out. Some people hated Windows 95 (and its successors), and clung grimly onto Windows 3.1 or even MS-DOS. Some people hate CD and DVD, and claim that vinyl and cassettes and video still have a place in technology. Some people say that digital radio and TV are rubbish compared to good old analogue (pixellation is crap, snow and ghosting is acceptable?). But don't let what they say prevent you from moving forward.
Last edited by broadz : 01-12-2006 at 12:54

Clearly you haven't seen HD...

There's no way a standard def crt can show the level of detail available on a HD display.

You might be happy with your SD picture, but that doesn't mean HD isn't better (and you might be happier )

I have a 32" Toshiba LCD and the picture, both on SD and HD is brilliant - BUT, it was awful until the TV was properly set-up.

Usually TVs come with the backlight and contrast settings both on 100%. Switch these way, WAY down - around 30% was best on the Tosh. Also turn off any 'enhancement' as it usually does the opposite.

Getting a proper calibration DVD can also help - but doing it by eye is fine, with a bit of perseverance.

So basically a normal dvd will either look more or less the same or even better on a HD television, not worse, yes?

If that is the case, then I am happy.

We are going with a 32 inch Sony Bravia KDL 32V2000 so far at the top of our list, or may look at the W series of Bravia.

Heard good things about the above televisions.

Doesn't matter, a relative has told me about the dvds and said it's even better, so that's enough for me. Just got to go out now and test a television.

I have been thinking about switching from my trusty (but bulky) Sony CRT to an LCD tv for quite a while. But I soon found out the "truth" about LCD's when I started to look around them. For a start, most stores have a demo disc running or a pre-recorded DVD (SD quality). These almost always look very good - even on HD Ready TV's. But unless you never use your tv for "broadcast" channels, its not really a fair test. Once you start to see Freeview, and/or some of the lesser Sky satellite channels running (all SD) on LCD you will soon find that its difficult to match the quality of the same image on a recent CRT tv.

This is my story so far....
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...d.php?t=491132

Dave