[marvtheandroid]

Hi,

I have a new 32" 32LH20 LG LCD HDTV and, due to location surrounded by hills, I can only receive signal via satellite (standard SKY+ box). I am finding that while some channels such as BBC are generally OK, with others we get image aliasing (jagged edges) and noticable ghosting (motion blur). This seems to get worse with reduced bandwidth and also with recorded DVDs where high compression has been used.

I am considering buying an external upscaler to try to improve the image, not necessarily to obtain HD quality as such but to try to reduce the artifacting mentioned above and try to make it play more like a "normal" TV. (My old Sharp CRT TV doesn't seem to suffer from the same image degradation, leaving me with a HD TV that produces worse images than a standard TV.)

See here Scart to HDMI Converter - Upscale Sky, Wii, DVD to HDMI @ 720P

This is the kind of thing I am considering. It it likely to help at all ?

Thanks

[andy1249]

On a 32 inch , Sky via satellite should be pretty good , there are variations in picture quality from satellite channels as some channels use a very low bitrate , but it shouldnt be as bad as you describe.

Before spending money on an upscaler , check that you have the box set up correctly for the TV.

On the sky box Go to services , settings , picture settings and make sure the box is set to output RGB ,( not Pal ) and also that the aspect ratio is set to 16:9( not 4:3).

If any of those two are not as they should be it badly affects the picture.

Failing that , as the site in the link is advertising a 7 day money back guarantee I cant see how it would hurt to try the unit.

[marvtheandroid]

Originally Posted by andy1249

On the sky box Go to services , settings , picture settings and make sure the box is set to output RGB ,( not Pal ) and also that the aspect ratio is set to 16:9( not 4:3).

Yes, both of these settings are as suggested. And for further info, connections are all via SCART.

Thanks Andy.
Anyone got any experience of using these boxes ?

[PE06MCG]

Originally Posted by marvtheandroid

Yes, both of these settings are as suggested. And for further info, connections are all via SCART.

Thanks Andy.
Anyone got any experience of using these boxes ?

My experience, admittedly with Sky HD, is that you are better with the Scart PQ for SD rather than via HDMI.

You have an interlaced signal that your STB is sending to your TV and one assumes your TV will cope easily with the processing.

Assume satellite signal strength and quality are OK ?

If so, try relocating Scart leads in STB and TV (had some strange colour problems with Scart leads not pushed fully into the socket) then try a different Scart lead.

[StooMonster]

Originally Posted by marvtheandroid

we get image aliasing (jagged edges) and noticable ghosting (motion blur). This seems to get worse with reduced bandwidth and also with recorded DVDs where high compression has been used.

To be honest this sounds like the video processing in the television, you can get crackingly good pictures from Sky+ over Scart on HDTV panels ... even better than old CRT.

Also ghosting is usually to do with the LCD panel itself -- and the speed the LCD can be updated -- rather than the processing of SD video.

Other settings to check, but on your display rather than Sky+ box. Artefacts can be causes by 'Noise reduction' so try turning anything like that off, and 100Hz interpolation functions can create smearing so turn that off too -- essentially anything that "does something" to the picture, turn it off. Many digital "enhancements" make the picture look worse in many instances.

If none of these options works then perhaps you consider a DVDO Edge, or at least borrowing one from a good AV dealer.

If you do go down the VP route, such as Edge, you should also consider that you will need to buy either Scart-to-RGBS cables (maybe even Scart-to-RGBS+Audio cables) as VPs don't tend to have Scart inputs on them but have RCA instead.

StooMonster