Loewe Vitrus

[Pete Callan]

I have finally taken delivery of my new Loewe Vitrus 32" and to say I'm disappointed would be a major understatement.

I would rate picture clarity about 2 out of 10. Watching the football is a complete joke. All the players just appear as blobs on the screen, you can't make out any of the players at all. Its only when the camera views a close up of the action that you can see what's happening and who has the ball.

All the connections are exactly the same as I had set up on my other telly, which is a 15 year old Ferguson 20" and picture clarity on that was a hundred times better. And it isn't just football where the picture clarity problems show up.

I've forked out an incredible pile of money for this TV - can anyone suggest what on I should do? Are all 32" TVs this bad?

[groundy]

Coming from a 50hz 20" TV to a 32" 100hz Widescreen set, you will notice a huge difference in picture quality, especially if you are using analogue rather than digital. That said, there is no way the picture on the Loewe should be rated as 2 out of 10 unless it has some serious problems. A few recommendations on setup may help you:

1. Turn OFF all picture processing modes, i.e., DMM/DMI off. You may leave DNC ON if you are using analogue.

2. Bring your contrast down to around 38, Colour to between 32 & 36, Brightness to around 25, Sharpness to around 2.

3. Don't watch 4:3 broadcasts (the football) in anything other than 4:3 mode. If you're watching Sky Digital, then this should be automatic. If you're watching analogue, you'll need to set the aspect ratio manually. Cine & Zoom modes blow up the picture to fill the screen but add noise and softness.

4. Try and sit around 8ft or more from the screen.

5. Lastly, if you are watching Analogue, then consider upgrading to Digital as the picture quality is leagues ahead.

Hope this helps.

[Pete Callan]

OK, I've done some testing, and have come to the conclusion my original assessment was wrong.

I also asked a friend who's pretty knowledgable about such things to come round to see what he thought. I also re-set up my other TV so we could compare the pictures as well.

The first thing he thought was that the Loewe was a fantastic picture. I was still thinking that the clarity on my old TV was better but when I re-set that up, it actually wasn't any better at all - I think because its a smaller TV it seemed to give a more precise image, but there was definitely no more detail. In fact, (eating vast amounts of humble pie) the picture is a hundred times better on the Loewe.

I've sat watching TV most of the day and can sum up by saying, my original post was rubbish! Long live Loewe.

PS. Thanks for your advice Groundy, I watch mostly off Telewest Broadband digital cable, but can't really see any difference when I return to normal channels 1-5.