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Thread: Big TV + Sky

  1. #1
    A Straw? And Fruit? Bazzlad's Avatar
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    Big TV + Sky

    I've just bought a 42 inch LCD TV (Xmas pressie to myself).

    Problem is the picture looks cack - I'm running standard sky through it.

    Is there anyway to upscale the picture?
    I don't really want to buy Sky HD (as I think it's a waste of money) but if I buy the Hi-def box will that work?

    Cheers in advance,
    Bazz

  2. #2
    WEEEEEEEEEEEEE! MadduckUK's Avatar
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    Re: Big TV + Sky

    think the cheapest fix would be to buy a telly with "CRT technology™"
    Quote Originally Posted by Ephesians
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  3. #3
    A Straw? And Fruit? Bazzlad's Avatar
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    Re: Big TV + Sky

    Thanks mate. I'll have 3

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    WEEEEEEEEEEEEE! MadduckUK's Avatar
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    Re: Big TV + Sky

    seriously though, if the sky HD box upscales better than your TV then yes - the picture will improve, if it doent then it wont.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ephesians
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    Seething Cauldron of Hatred TheAnimus's Avatar
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    Re: Big TV + Sky

    Which TV is it?

    Do you have a console or something that can display a HD picture?
    throw new ArgumentException (String, String, Exception)

  6. #6
    A Straw? And Fruit? Bazzlad's Avatar
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    Re: Big TV + Sky

    Toshiba Regza 42HL67
    Getting the composite leads for my Wii.

  7. #7
    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
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    Re: Big TV + Sky

    you mean component, i hope - and that's still not HD. you need a 360 or ps3 to test that

    some AV receivers do upscaling, if that helps

  8. #8
    Seething Cauldron of Hatred TheAnimus's Avatar
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    Re: Big TV + Sky

    TVs and upscaling is an intresting issue, i've noticed that the DTV freeview upscalling on my samsung, whilst poor, is better than its component upscaling (yet its HDMI upscaling is as good as the DTV one... strange)

    So my solution is i think i'm going to buy a new reciver that upscales well!

    As it stands my Media PC seams to do a fantastic job (intel 950GMA) and is almost completely done by the hardware, this makes media center windows run very smoothly, and best of all sod all heat from CPU.

    But TV manafactures don't seam to care that much. Gits.
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  9. #9
    F.A.S.T. Butuz's Avatar
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    Re: Big TV + Sky

    TBH if you want to sit close to a 42" you ned sky HD.

    It does make a biiiiig difference to image quality but there are only 14 or so HD channels so it's kinda a waste of money at the mo.

    Butuz

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    Senior Amoeba iranu's Avatar
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    Re: Big TV + Sky

    The big problem with LCD and plasma is quite often they are either cack or they are so poorly set up as they come out of the factory that you will need to spend a large amount of time setting up the colours/contrast etc or use something like a spyder pro 2 to get the calibration correct. People also think bigger is better and put 42" TVs in rooms that can only cope with 32" or 37".

    The quickest and best method without professional people/calibration for getting a good picture comes from a SKY engineer.

    1. Turn colour down until TV is black and white. Open up a menu screen (SKY etc) Adjust the contrast/brightness/sharpness for best picture quality.

    2. Turn to News24 or Sky News (something that is fairly static, has menus and above all a human being in) then turn up the colour until the skin tones look suitable.

    Once done and this setting is stored (or written down) then you can twiddle about with other setting minor setting to fine tune if you need to.

    The other thing about SKY is the quality of their set top boxes. If you have an older model Amstrad box (as opposed to the PACE box) then these are rubbish and cause a huge amount of problems with picture quality. My dad even wrote an email to James Murdoch (as did loads of others) complaining about the Amstrad boxes and demanding that a PACE box was installed with the contract.

    The other thing to look for is reasonable quality cables. Not mad, just shielded and make sure that you are using the input for your telly that best suits it. Avoid scart to scart and composite.

    I was talking at the weekend with my dad about the research and choice of 42" plasmas when he bought his 3 years ago for £1800 after someone asked whether he would go HD. We did 3 months of research and fully tested the two choices of models we were left with, with various inputs at the specialist retailer. Too often people expect great result simply because they have paid £££. HD is not needed unless you have £££ for 14 HD channels and a 1080p (the only proper HD imho) although proper scalers can be had reasonable cheaply now.
    "Reality is what it is, not what you want it to be." Frank Zappa. ----------- "The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." Huang Po.----------- "A drowsy line of wasted time bathes my open mind", - Ride.

  11. #11
    o|-< acrobat's Avatar
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    Re: Big TV + Sky

    Are there any big tellys that don't look rubbish?

    I need a new TV in the new year, and I think 38 or 40" would be perfect for my room. But I don't want to get SKY HD because there aren't enough channels to justify it's cost, and I don't watch sport or movies.

    My friend has a Sony Brava 40" which is great, but he has Sky HD, and I've never tried sitting close-ish to the screen, so it looks good.

    I could buy the same, but I wouldn't bother if normal Sky looks rubbish.

  12. #12
    Seething Cauldron of Hatred TheAnimus's Avatar
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    Re: Big TV + Sky

    Iranui, there is ***k all content for 1080p.

    Which is why when buying mine i must of driven the person nuts, demanding to see 480p, 720p 1080i and 1080p stuff on it. Even hooking up my laptop to do some test images.

    Oh well, i paid about &#163;80 more than i would of from an online retailer, but i'm very happy with the result.

    Pitty the 720p is a bit cack with, and only with white/verybright angled at about 30-60&#176; lines. Can't have it all yet it would seam.
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  13. #13
    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Re: Big TV + Sky

    Quote Originally Posted by acrobat View Post
    Are there any big tellys that don't look rubbish?
    Yes.. I've a friend with some kind of Sony monster. It looks fabulous, and oddly, there isn't much noticeable difference between HD and non-HD.. the upscaling is amazing.

  14. #14
    Agent of the System ikonia's Avatar
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    Re: Big TV + Sky

    yes, my pinoeer looks stunning wth sky HD or even as a test using free view through the arial.

    No complaints here.
    It is Inevitable.....


  15. #15
    o|-< acrobat's Avatar
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    Re: Big TV + Sky

    Spose I'll have to get a sony monster then.

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    Re: Big TV + Sky

    In my experience the quality of the broadcast is emphasied on LCDs / plasmas (ie if it was rubbish to start with it just looks worse than on a CRT, whereas if its relatively good it looks far better).

    Good example is Michael Palin's New Europe. Looks absolutely stunning on my Panasonic LCD through a standard sky+ box. A lot of channels / programs will look crap though and it's purely down to the fact a crt with its low resolution managed to mask it

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