Freesat best option for SD IQ?

[rjbell]

I've got a Samsung UE40D5520. This is my first HD set. The freeview image is terrible on SD channels so i ordered a virgin box which is also terrible i've had the engineer out and said thats as good as it gets! I'm so disheartened about this hd tv. They don't tell you when your buying one that if your not watching the 4 hd channels on offer the picture is like watching youtube! pixels and shimmers. Will a freesat box be any better? Is it the tv? It won what hifi award this year and had great reviews. Would spending more money give me a better SD picture? does a sony or Panasonic do a better job of sd freeview channels?

 

[kevkbuk]

As you describe shimmering it could well be the TV. Go into the TV settings and turn off all image processing, smoothing, sharpening and anything that isn't labelled as basic adjustments, eg brightnesss & contrast etc. Most TVs are indeed shocking out of the box.

Also see here:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-led-lcd-tvs/

Then here to choose a new TV:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/plasma-tvs/

Oh and stop reading What HIFI too.

 

[logiciel]

rjbell: Your Sammy should be fine, on Freeview SD, or with any source including Virgin TV. As it isn't all you need to do is report it at MySamsung at http://www.samsung.com/uk/#latest-home and they'll fix it for you.

 

[lbear]

Daft question but have you checked that the Virgin box is connected using the HDMI lead? I have seen a Virgin HD box with a SCART connection to a HD set.

The culprit is almost certainly the image processing as kevkbuk indicated. Most likely is the "sharpness" control which on a lot of sets adds an edge effect to SD - especially if the source is analogue like SCART.

 

[rjbell]

No i'm using a hdmi and the box is set to 1080i. I've turned of the sharpening which has helped a little. Its still not as good as i hoped. Writing on screen looks pixeleted and if the is a lot of one colour on the screen like a white background you can see its shimmering or sparkling look. Channel 5 and cbeebies ar the worst it look really awful.

 

[Mark uk]

I dont think you are watching hd channels.
Is ITV 1HD/BBC 1HD giving simular results? You should have a screen logo telling you which channel?

 

[rjbell]

Yes the hd channels are a lot better but still not perfect. I'm however talking about SD channels being awful. I accept they will not have the same resolution but the image should not be full of noise/pixalation/artefacts which ever terminology you like to use.

 

[Mark uk]

You need to find out whether the Virgin box or the TV is the culprit, can you view the TV from another source, dvd player, aerial etc

 

[caldirun]

I've got a Samsung UE40D5520. This is my first HD set. The freeview image is terrible on SD channels so i ordered a virgin box which is also terrible i've had the engineer out and said thats as good as it gets! I'm so disheartened about this hd tv.

I dont think you are watching hd channels.
Is ITV 1HD/BBC 1HD giving simular results? You should have a screen logo telling you which channel?

You need to find out whether the Virgin box or the TV is the culprit, can you view the TV from another source, dvd player, aerial etc

Mark, I think you are not reading the posts, the op is refering to SD picture and he states he has tried Freeview before the Virgin box!

 

[rjbell]

Yeah i tried freeview first. My signal wasn't the strongest so this might be the problem giving the rubbish sd picture. This is when i got the virgin box. This is rubbish with sd too. I called out the engineer he said the signals fine and the shimming and pixels is normal for sd channels! surely this is not right?

 

[LexDiamond]

Yeah i tried freeview first. My signal wasn't the strongest so this might be the problem giving the rubbish sd picture. This is when i got the virgin box. This is rubbish with sd too. I called out the engineer he said the signals fine and the shimming and pixels is normal for sd channels! surely this is not right?

No it is not normal for SD channels to behave like that! Which VM box have you got?

 

[Mark uk]

TBH, I dont get this effect at all really but I have all 'enhancements' switched off and its not on a Samsung TV either.
I mainly use Freesat on sd and hd. The only thing I would mention is possibly to try a known blu-ray source through hdmi (if you can) and see what that looks like, that really eliminates the possible duff Virgin box.

 

[Mark uk]

I found this quote on a review for your TV which might be relevant.

• You can also have completely separate picture settings for each EXT input and the TV will remember them.

I had this on my TV, I wasnt aware of this feature and I had variable results. Too bright and vivid.
Alternatively burn just the Video TS files of this TestDVD to a blank DVD, then play it, this is really useful.
Its only a small download (takes under a minute).

 

[rjbell]

Thanks guys. I have the cisco virgin box. I phoned virgin and they have sent another box out that will be here tomorrow so hopefully i just had a duff box. Yes i was aware of the separate settings for each input. I've set them all the same with hdtvtest recommended settings with all enhancements turned off. I have not bluray player to test another source. I have my modem and wireless router in the same corner of the room Could this be interfering with the tv? Does this tv upscale? i can not find a option to turn it on or off. I thought maybe the tv as well as the virgin box are trying to upscale and cursing problems.