SKY HD standard channel upscaling

[tomlini]

Hi All,

New to this forum and HD so please go easy.

I have just bought an LG plasma (50PC56) and upgraded to SKY HD. I am very happy with the image quality of the HD channels but find the standard channels disappointing. Would a dedicated upscaler improve the standard channels (approaching the quality of the HD channels), and if so, which model and how much would I expect to pay?

Before I part with cash, are there any settings that could be changed on the sat box that would improve the images?

Hope this makes sense and any help appreciated.

tomlini

 

[Tarbat]

Would a dedicated upscaler improve the standard channels

Probably, particularly if you buy one that can force the SkyHD box to output SD native resolution (576I).

(approaching the quality of the HD channels),

Unlikely.

and if so, which model and how much would I expect to pay?

Anywhere up to about £2k-£3k. See http://www.avforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=39

Before I part with cash, are there any settings that could be changed on the sat box that would improve the images?

Try changing the HD resolution. Depending on the TV, either 1080I or AUTO will give better results for SD broadcasts.

 

[.Griff.]

Probably, particularly if you buy one that can force the SkyHD box to output SD native resolution (576I).


Unlikely.

Anywhere up to about £2k-£3k.


Try changing the HD resolution. Depending on the TV, either 1080p or AUTO will give better results for SD broadcasts.

1080i

 

[tomlini]

Thanks for the prompt replies.

Does everyone experience significantly differing degrees of picture quality across Sky’s standard channels and is it to be expected? Football differs a lot, ITV being the worst across everything.

I’m disappointed that I’ve bought technology that I understood to be progression that has retarded picture quality, surely this shouldn’t be the case?

Is there anything that can be done to match what I used to have?

Any help appreciated.

 

[Tarbat]

Does everyone experience significantly differing degrees of picture quality across Sky's standard channels and is it to be expected? Football differs a lot, ITV being the worst across everything.

Yes, ITV is just about the worst SD picture quality. Channel 5 is probably the best for SD quality. It's all down to ITV not wanting to pay for more bandwidth, and having to broadcast the same programme at the same time for each separate TV region, so wasting most of the bandwidth they've paid for. We've given up watching ITV except for F1.

What size was you old TV? Was it 50" like your new TV? How far away from the TV do you sit? If your new TV is signifcantly bigger than your old TV, then that would explain why it looks worse. You might want to look at something like a Lumagen or VP50 processor, but they're not cheap. Or buy a better quality TV maybe - I don't know how good the LG is.

 

[tomlini]

Thanks for that Tarbat.

The CRT was 36" and we sit within the recommended viewing ranges.

The LG was equal to the other models on view in the showroom and I selected it as it had the most up to date spec. I watch a lot of football and the 100Hz is apparantly significant.

What difference would a processor make to ITV? Would it make a huge difference?

Cheers

 

[Tarbat]

What difference would a processor make to ITV? Would it make a huge difference?

It would provide better deinterlacing and scaling, but it really isn't going to make a huge difference. In fact I sold my Lumagen processor a while ago, it really wasn't worth the £1000.

You could try turning off the 100hz processing on the TV. I try to avoid any "processing" of the image, since it often just exagerates the flaws in the picture. However, ITV is always going to be terrible picture quality, that's why we don't watch it anymore unless we really have to. You could try using any "noise reduction" features on the TV, but that may make things worse. Find another owner of the TV on these forums and see if they've got any tips for improving PQ on SD channels.

You might want to read this thread from someone with a similar problem - http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=610302