Freeview - Samsung LCD with inbuild turner

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yipan

15 posts

Geek

#28867 14-Dec-2008 17:45

Hi

I am having problems picking up all the Freeview channels. Living in an Apartment & believe that the aerial is an dish, Our Samsung Series 6 LCD can pick up the Preview HD,Maori,Parliament channels but not 6,7 or sports extra. Is this because it is not a UHF aerial that I am using? I have purchased a portable UHF from Dick Smith , have not tried it yet ,but would you believe it would work. Also when I put the TV on Cinema Mode for viewing it is great when picture is in the light,but during dark scenes it is way to dark & can't make out ppl sometimes. Eg in Star Wars E2, when Anakin goes off to rescue his mom.

sbiddle

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#184080 14-Dec-2008 17:59

First off you won't be using a dish - your building probably has an aerial mounted on the roof.

I'm assuming that you also aren't receiving TV1 or TV2? If youi don't get TVNZ6, TVNZ or Sports Extra you probably shouldn't be getting 1 and 2 as they are on the same MUX.

Since you live in an aartment the most likely cause (along with the numerous other people who have posted on here over the past few months) is that the TV distribution system in your apartment building is blocking the Freeview|HD channels. The only solutions to this are to get the building body corp to get this fixed or use an internal aerial which depending on your location may or may not be a viable option.

yipan

15 posts

Geek

#184083 14-Dec-2008 18:12

We are receiving 1,2,3,4 & prime, granted tv 1 reception is still pretty crap.

Didn't realise that the problem could be the TV distribution system, even more keen to try out this portable UFH aerial.

Thanks for the info,

sbiddle

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#184087 14-Dec-2008 18:17

If your reception is poor on TV1 then you're obviously receiving an analogue feed of TV1 and not the Freeview|HD broadcast.

Masterpiece

247 posts

Master Geek

#184191 15-Dec-2008 09:27

You can check the reception signal strength with your display, have a look through your menus and you will find an indicator.

Cyril is the man round here who can advise on signals, aerials etc, I think he is pretty busy so hasn't been posting much.

The image issues is a different story.
This is what I do, as a part time gig to my day job.

These Samsungs have an exellent array of controls to dial them in, however they are designed for use with light measurement equipment to get the best out of them.

Saying that there are some simple starting points that covers all displays.
Any of the processing can be turned off, especially anything to to with black levels.
These low level processing tend to crush blacks destroying the details, usually people are sold on blacks being crushed as they see big dark areas all black and think great black.
Leave the contrast level as default, you will not be able to set it correctly by eye with this model.

Black point, or the brightness control is dependant on the surrounding light levels, this is where a compromise is usually made between day time viewing and night time viewing.

The critical thing to remember here is the confusion surrounding the brightness and contrast controls.
Technically the brightness control does not control the actual "brightness" of the display even though it may appear too.
The brightness control sets the black point, the point where video black is first seen to the viewer and this is why it is dependent of the light levels in the room environment.
Contrast actually sets how bright the final image is, though its peak point is typically hinged apon the brightness control, thus the ilusion that the brightness control sets the peak white point.

Short of hiring me or buying the light probes and video generators etc basically all the controls are interactive with each other, brightness contrast, colour, tint, colour manangement, gamma and white balance. A bit of a juggling act, get it right and the display can come to life.

Get a copy of Digital video essentials HD. This will get you started, alot of people can't justify my charge even though I only charge typical IT rates.

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