Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


neverturstahippy

2 posts

Wannabe Geek


#127329 6-Aug-2013 19:18
Send private message

I've a decoder manufactured in 2001 (a motorola dth320-4). I've just changed over from a crt to a full HD LCD.  the picture I get, especially the decoder's graphics, seems worse than what other people get on their similar TVs using newer SD decoders.  Will a newer decoder improve my picture quality or is it likely a set up or TV issue.

Sky have been rather unhelpful and are sending me cut and paste replies about upgrading to MySky HDi.

Cheers
Richard

Create new topic
Spyware
3761 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

  #872837 6-Aug-2013 20:05
Send private message

The poor picture quality is el natural, i.e., Sky at its best. Only way to get slight improvement is to connect to TV using component or S-Video interface rather than RF or composite. How does decoder currently connect??




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.




kiwirock
685 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #872884 6-Aug-2013 20:49
Send private message

It sounds like a composite A/V or RF connection as Spyware has suggested checking.

The graphics usually look fuzzy and have terrible nosie around the edges on anything less than S-Video since heaps of the signal/detail is gone on composite connections.

Although I have seen LCD's with terrible up scaling or lower quality analogue input circuitry on S-Video inputs. My older Sony Bravia LCD had a much worse picture via S-Video than my CRT.

Also make sure your Sky decoder is set for 16:9 display correctly, or it maybe in 4:3 and zoomed on a TV making everything worse too.

Otherwise, mpeg2 satellite TV and low bitrate like Sky, looks worse on an LCD than a CRT until you're talking HD like MySky to an HD LCD.

Personally can't wait for LCD's and the LED/LCD to fall off the earth. We're going back to laser TV's except retaining flat screen using mirrors etc... like the LaserVue I believe from Mitsubishi. You can't beat the speed of light. I still have an older CRT wide, non-HD that delivers a better pic than SD on LCD. Just wish I could get my hands on an HD CRT, there were a few in the cross-over to LCD.






richms
28168 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #872898 6-Aug-2013 21:07
Send private message

I am glad that the CRT is a long gone relic and have never seen one that can compete with a non LED backlit LCD for stability of the image and lack of flicker. They have of cource buggered up LED backlit ones with the light cycling in time with the frame changes to remove the grey to grey change being visible, making them flicker again.

That flickering and the retrace on a CRT went a huge way to hiding issues with the images, and the lousy geometry of a CRT and visible scanlines would break up large areas of a single colour so macroblocking was less visible on any slow pans etc since things would be moving all over the place and the static lines of the picture retrace and the shadowmask's outlines would also hide a lot of sins, the interlace flicker again hid all sorts of sins.

MPEG2 SD was developed when that was the norm and would hide what was really a pretty shocking image, and it was better than noisy analog which is what most people had to compare it with.




Richard rich.ms



neverturstahippy

2 posts

Wannabe Geek


  #872917 6-Aug-2013 21:53
Send private message

It's connected via a scart to the TV's AV inputs rather than component in.  Will try component.

As noted the old CRT (a 32" sony) did give a better picture on many channels and all the decoder graphics than the LCD.

kiwirock
685 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #872923 6-Aug-2013 22:05
Send private message

neverturstahippy: It's connected via a scart to the TV's AV inputs rather than component in.  Will try component.

As noted the old CRT (a 32" sony) did give a better picture on many channels and all the decoder graphics than the LCD.


Some CRT's had a digital processor like mine, which has a digital comb filter to reduce noise on composite inputs.

I take it you have a scart to component lead too then? 

Make sure your Sky decoder is set for component output too on the scart - if using the scart to component lead.



B1GGLZ
1961 posts

Uber Geek


  #872985 7-Aug-2013 08:39
Send private message

neverturstahippy: It's connected via a scart to the TV's AV inputs rather than component in.  Will try component.

I think you may find that component isn't available on the old Motorola boxes.
My son has one and we tried hooking up component on his new TV but got no picture. Further investigation showed that while all the connectors are there component output is not ebabled on many models. Only composite and rf work.

cyril7
9058 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified
Trusted
Subscriber

  #872988 7-Aug-2013 08:47
Send private message

Hi, correct the older Zenith/Motorola's and original Pace's only support Composite, S-Video and RGB, not component, its worth the upgrade to the newer (small silver Pace) for sure.

Cyril

 
 
 

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.
kiwirock
685 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #873067 7-Aug-2013 11:26
Send private message

cyril7: Hi, correct the older Zenith/Motorola's and original Pace's only support Composite, S-Video and RGB, not component, its worth the upgrade to the newer (small silver Pace) for sure.

Cyril


Yeah that's right, I used to use RGB component on my last Thomson CRT with a Motorolla (side card access). Although I'm only using S-Video these days.

I remember a few early LCD's allowing you to specify RGB component or YUV component.

Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.