UHF Freeview - how to improve picture?

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JimmyH

2886 posts

Uber Geek

#292140 22-Jan-2010 11:29

pukunui: OK. I don't seem to be able to change my DVD player's output to progressive. Not through the menu anyway. But I put it on TV3 through the DVD player and then switched back to the TV and it definitely looked better on the TV.

I am getting a bit confused in places reading this - not sure for instance how you are putting broadcast TV through a DVD player (unless it is actually a recorder) and it is often unclear whether we are discussing a fewwview issue, a DVD issue, or a different issue when I read posts. Assuming (as far as I can gather from your posts) you have a TV with built in Freeview and a DVD player, you need to connect:

1. Aerial --> TV using a regular antenna flylead
2. DVD Player --> TV using component
3. VCR --> TV using composite (assuming you also have a VCR, and you should also loop aerial --> VCR -- TV if you do)

Set the DVD player to progressive, not interlaced (look in the manual, I would be startled if there isn't a setting for this, even the $39.95 cheapies have it).

While I am not an AV expert, I am puzzled by your description of the freeview picture you are getting. If the freeview picture is flaky then, as I understand it, it should be pixellating and breaking up, not ghosting as you describe. This shouldn't be happening, and if it is then I suspect that the TV is flaky. If the picture is breaking up then ikely you don't have a good enough signal. If this is the case, all is not lost, call a good installer in your area and get your aerial checked. A new aerial or a masthead amplifier may be needed - a masthead amp fixed my signal problems. First, however, plug the aerial directly into the TV, and then try a different flylead, to rule out issues with a VCR or DVD recorder etc in the aerial loop or a faulty cable being the cause of the problem. Plug the UHF aerial ONLY into the TV, to rule out the combiner being the issue.

I second Jaxxon's recommendation for an upscaling DVD player. Got one on sale from DSE for $99 (including an HDMI cable) and, while it's not Blu Ray, it does look pretty darn good.

pukunui

42 posts

Geek

#292142 22-Jan-2010 11:45

I am getting a bit confused in places reading this - not sure for instance how you are putting broadcast TV through a DVD player (unless it is actually a recorder) and it is often unclear whether we are discussing a fewwview issue, a DVD issue, or a different issue when I read posts.

It's a DVD/VCR combo. The VCR can do recording but not the DVD player. I believe that is why the aerial is going through the DVD/VCR box.

Set the DVD player to progressive, not interlaced (look in the manual, I would be startled if there isn't a setting for this, even the $39.95 cheapies have it).

I have set the DVD player to progressive scanning. I don't know if that is the same thing or not. It may have improved things. I'm not really sure - it may just have been getting a component cable and switching the DVD player from letterbox to 16:9 display.

While I am not an AV expert, I am puzzled by your description of the freeview picture you are getting. If the freeview picture is flaky then, as I understand it, it should be pixellating and breaking up, not ghosting as you describe. This shouldn't be happening, and if it is then I suspect that the TV is flaky. If the picture is breaking up then ikely you don't have a good enough signal. If this is the case, all is not lost, call a good installer in your area and get your aerial checked. A new aerial or a masthead amplifier may be needed - a masthead amp fixed my signal problems. First, however, plug the aerial directly into the TV, and then try a different flylead, to rule out issues with a VCR or DVD recorder etc in the aerial loop or a faulty cable being the cause of the problem. Plug the UHF aerial ONLY into the TV, to rule out the combiner being the issue.

OK. When I've got an HD program showing, it looks fine (like with the Freeview HD Demo Channel or an HD show like Lost). It's when it's playing something that's NOT HD that it doesn't look that great. And what it looks like is when you take a low-res digital video or still image and blow it up too big. The edges go all sort of blurry and pixelated because the computer or whatever is trying adding pixels where there weren't any before.

In terms of the DVD player picture quality, I've improved it to the point where movies are probably about as decent as they were on my old CRT TV - at least from back on the couch. Up close, they still look "blown up".

I second Jaxxon's recommendation for an upscaling DVD player. Got one on sale from DSE for $99 (including an HDMI cable) and, while it's not Blu Ray, it does look pretty darn good.

I've got an HDMI cable already (came with the surge protector kit I got with the TV at Harvey Norman). I'll look at getting a new DVD player at some point ... although I'll have wasted $45 on a component cable if I do get one.

illicit

553 posts

Ultimate Geek

#292322 22-Jan-2010 21:18

JimmyH & Jaxxon - Whos not to say the new LCD can't upscale better than a $99 DVD?

pukunui

42 posts

Geek

#292325 22-Jan-2010 21:22

My new TV is only "last year's model". I think I read somewhere that the LG LH50 series first appeared last May ... mine says it was manufactured in November, so it's pretty much brand new.

Let me put it this: I'm pretty satisfied with the picture quality of the TV broadcasts through Freeview HD. We mostly watch TV3, and most of its programs seem pretty good.

But DVDs don't look as good as the TV broadcasts. They look better than they did the other day but still not as good as they probably could be. The wife's not too keen on me splashing out on a new DVD player though.

pukunui

42 posts

Geek

#292543 23-Jan-2010 18:45

Something occurred to me today. I think part of my problem is that on my old CRT TV, if something was low-res or poor quality, it just looked kinda fuzzy and out of focus, but on the bigger digital TV, it'll look pixelated. So it's probably just that I'm not used to that different effect yet.

Also, I'm pretty satisfied with the picture quality of the TV broadcasts (and mostly the DVD picture too) but I have noticed that white skin tends to be a bit washed out. Are there specific color settings or anything that I should set my TV on to get a good skin tone coloring?

Spyware

3762 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#292550 23-Jan-2010 19:30

pukunui: Something occurred to me today. I think part of my problem is that on my old CRT TV, if something was low-res or poor quality, it just looked kinda fuzzy and out of focus, but on the bigger digital TV, it'll look pixelated. So it's probably just that I'm not used to that different effect yet.

Also, I'm pretty satisfied with the picture quality of the TV broadcasts (and mostly the DVD picture too) but I have noticed that white skin tends to be a bit washed out. Are there specific color settings or anything that I should set my TV on to get a good skin tone coloring?

Probably, i know my Samsung has 10 back light levels, 6 whitebalance settings, 4 color temperature settings, 4 black settings, tint on a continous scale and yes a special flesh tone setting.

You have to remember that most of the content on the news is low bitrate, typically 4:3, and also maybe 4:3 that is 14:9 zoomed, they even send it using satellite phones so quality is quite terible. TV3's Sky outputs (certainly analog processing going on) are poor yet TVNZ use a downscaled Sky HD stream so looks good (1080i to 576 to 720p). Connections between their studios are also quite poor for both networks, unless over fibre across Auckland.

Spark Max Fibre using Mikrotik CCR1009-8G-1S-1S+, CRS125-24G-1S, Unifi UAP, U6-Pro, UAP-AC-M-Pro, Apple TV 4K (2022), Apple TV 4K (2017), iPad Air 1st gen, iPad Air 4th gen, iPhone 13, SkyNZ3151 (the white box). If it doesn't move then it's data cabled.

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