Desperate to improve Sky Digital on AE100

Anim

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Hi All

My Current Equipment is PTAE100 (3rd one)
Sky Digital
Non progressive DVD (multi region)
Scan DTS AMP

Im not an avid AV fan and dont have the money to splash out but my setup works.

My main concern is getting the quality of picture from Sky Digital to equal that of the Sony HS1 via Composite (which i had on loan for 2 months), I went out and bought a LektroPacks RGB->SVideo converter, plugged the scart from the sky box into the unit and passed SVideo into the PJ using a high quality SVideo lead, This has improved the sky picture by removing much of the noise but it still doesnt have the sharpness and clarity of the HS1.

I compare quality via the blue menu bar that pops up when switching channels on sky.

It could be that i'm using a standard scart lead from Sky to Converter or that all my equipment is bundled together under the coffee table (with 8 plug sockets behind the equipment) Or it could be that the settings on the PJ are wrong (ive tried tweaking all of them)

Or, i need to buy that ProV gadet (i can probably get this as a BDay present from the wife)

But my ultimate aim is to simply match Sky Digital picture on the panny to that of the Sony HS1.

DVD's are fine, i have no problem with them.

Any help that doesn't include wads of cash would be much appreciated.

Thanks all
Anim
PS. This is a major Wife issue.
 
Anim,

I compare quality via the blue menu bar that pops up when switching channels on Sky.

I sympathise with your desire to get the best possible results, but isn't judging picture quality by a channel-ident bar just a touch artificial?

It's awfully easy to get sucked into a never-ending spiral where however good the performance of your gear there's always the nagging thought that it could be just that bit better. Get caught by that trap and you'll never again be able to just sit back and watch the programmes - and that is supposed to be the point, after all.

Bert
http://www.bertcoules.co.uk
 
Fair comments. I use that sky chan bar as it gives me a static image. The text is faded and slightly defocused where as on the HS1 it was clear as day. I thought it would be best to use this when testing sky digital picture quality. As i said, i just want HS1 quality (as i belive this pj can do it) then i'm happy.

Anim

PS. The sky channels themselves are better but they are still fuzzy, using BBC1, 2, and Sky 1.
 
buy an hs1.. if only to watch the blue bar.


then use the PTAE100 for DVD
 
*sigh*

I thought this forum would provide some answers rather than debating the way i tested the sky picture.

Oh Well

Anim
 
Richard,

I phoned them up and had a chat with one of their technicians.

They said that 1024x768 progressive output via the 15pin Video connector would yield a big improvment. They also said that when them demo'ed this unit to other ae100 owners that they were very impressed.

On a side note, the wife came home at lunch and took one look at the tennis and said "wow, thats like the sony" which was nice to hear. The picture quality has improved greatly via the Lektropacks rgb->svideo unit so thats her happy, i must have better eyesight as i can still see noise in the picture.

I will probably get the ProV unit sometime in the next few weeks and thats it. If I still feel the picture from sky is fuzzy then I will just live with it.

Anim
 
Anim,

I thought this forum would provide some answers rather than debating the way i tested the Sky picture.

But you're looking for something that doesn't exist: there aren't any cut-and-dried answers. The only absolutely certain way to get HS-1 performance is - as Dominic said - to buy an HS-1.

And forgive me but I remain puzzled by your reference to "testing" the picture. That's not what pictures are for. Do you really mean that an improvement in picture quality which is only apparent when you're not actually watching the picture is the only thing which will completely satisfy you? Why are you "desperate" to improve something which by your own admission is already perfectly watchable?

Bert
http://www.bertcoules.co.uk
 
Anim

I also have recently purchased the rgb/s-video convertor from Letropacks, I am very pleased with the results, I found it gave better colour, contrast and slightly sharper image, but as you said it could be a little sharper. I found an improvement when the AE100 was set to normal I set the sharpness to -4, this did seem to improve the picture quality.

I also have a Pinnacle rave tv card in my pc and running Dscaler to improve the image, I am also running powerstrip to give the best resolution to the AE100, when I upgrade my pc I will be running the s-video lead from the Sky box into my PC to view the picture in the best possible way. This is the best way to get Sky looking good, if you do not want to go the prov way.
 
Anim

What Sky box do you have ?. The Sky+ box has an SVHS output which when I feed direct to my Sim2 produces excellent results. I am unaware of the inputs on your panny but assume an SVHS is among them. If you upgrade to the Sky+ box you get all the other advantages (digital recording, 5.1 output via optical out etc)

AndyS
 
Anim's already feeding the AE-100 an s-video signal from his digibox via a converter, but I suspect that a dedicated s-video output would be better than a converted one.

I tried a converter once and found that it actually degraded the overall picture, introducing a slow ripple which personally I found less acceptable than the unconverted composite video feed. Presumably I wouldn't have seen that effect with a dedicated s-video output.

A full Sky Plus upgrade isn't necessary though, is it? Isn't there also a Grundig standard-Sky box with an s-video output?

Bert
http://www.bertcoules.co.uk
 
Timh, i will try that later. My sharpness is set to +3 i think. Also on the Sky Digital (not +) box ive set the contrast mode one up in the settings screen, this gave a brighter picture.

If I could explain it better I would say that it looks like there is water running down my screen, the noise seems to be vertical based and jiggles very slightly and is much more visible on solid areas of colour (hence the sky menu being a good place to tinker with the controls)

Sky+ is £300 to buy, also, the picture from my normal sky digital box isn't at fault as like i say before the HS1 produced a very clean, no noise TV like picture from just composite. So, im asuming that the panny has some other method of internal scaling going on. I will probably invest in the ProV as getting progressive output from sky should make the picture much more clear and would save me building a HCPC at 3 times the cost (I know its not as good but for £150 inc. its meant to be a massive improvment and also usable by the wife)

Thanks for the replies

Anim
 
Good News !!

After trying different combinations and a completly dark room I have now got rid of the noise. Even a keystone value of 1 adds about 30% blur to text based visuals so Keystone is set to zero.

Setting Sharpness to -4 didnt (to me) have any difference, the only difference i did see was toggling between -7 and -8 which made the screen darker/brighter, which was odd.

I cant actually see "any" moving noise anymore which is great.

What I can see now is the chicken wire :)
It feels like a thin mesh has been stuck over the lense. I don't think I noticed the chickenwire before as it blended with the noise (from seating position).

Would a progressive display reduce the grid size or doesn't it work like that?

If it does then im on the right track.

Anim
 
Anim

I also had the chicken wire effect until I reduced the sharpness, I no longer get any chichen wire effect what so ever.
I am using -2 on the keystone but have not noticed a problem with text based visuals, I may have to compare it now you have commented on the differance, I believe using keystone adds more scaling by the projector.
 
I now have no keystone correction at all and sharpness set to -8 on the pj. Lovely picture. And that is with a converterd RGB to S Video feed.

But am still considering a doubler/scaler/pc of some sort to get the best possible without going silly.

Did you buy the Pro V in the end and how did you find it Anim?
 
i have s-video to s-video, no Keystone and 0 sharpness with ProV and the picture is fine
 
Originally posted by MrCoopz
i have s-video to s-video, no Keystone and 0 sharpness with ProV and the picture is fine
Dont forget that 0 sharpness does not meen no sharpness, its just the factory setting, it will go lower.

Guy

I have now upgraded my pc, I have powerstrip and dscaler and my rave tv card to setup, then I will be testing it with sky through my pc, dvd through my pc will be done later, I need a sound card, the onboard sound doesn't seem that good, sounds like a bad 78.
 
Anim, Re:, your concern below,

My main concern is getting the quality of picture from Sky Digital to equal that of the Sony HS1 via Composite.

have you considered the Pro v? I`m useing it for sky I find it great, ok it`s not DVD quality but it`s as good as my TV. I have split my video out lead and it finds all the channels includeing Sky. It would probably be even better direct from your Sky box But I don`t care mines very very good and this set up suits me so am happy.
 

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