I am only using regular Direct TV service and it looks like crap. OMG I am seriously regreting buying this TV, I thought Samsung was a good brand. The xbox 360 looks great even though when I play movies it looks grainy for some reason. I was thinking about getting the HD satilite reciever and the HD-DVD player for the XBOX, but will that make a difference, because from the way it looks now, it would have to be a HUGE difference cuz this just looks awful, my 25" Sony Tube TV looked better than this.
2007-10-26 06:55:25 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Consumer Electronics ➔ TVs
It sounds like you are:
1. connecting a regular direct TV receiver to your HDTV and using analog cables (yellow red white or s-video)
2. connecting x-box360... probably with analog cables (yellow red white).
There's one thing that sales people forget to tell people when they buy their first HDTV. In order to get a great picture on your new digital TV, you need to connect high definition devices and use high definition cables.
Well, you have a good start cuz you have X-box 360 which is capable of high difinition. You have to connect component wires (red blue green) or VGA or HDMI (if X-box supports HDMI). You also have to tell the x-box360 to ouput at high definition (720P or 1080I). There should be a small switch on the x-box that you have to move.
The picture from your Direct TV will not look great cuz it's still a standard definitin signal (480i). You can make some adjustments to your TV such as turning sharpness to almost zero. You can turn the color down a bit and maybe turn the backlight down just a bit. If you want to get a great picture from your new TV, unfortnately you will have to upgrade to Direct TV HD. This may require a new dish and a new receiver or DVR. You will also need high definition cables.
If you want to go a less expensive route, try an antenna. Do you have an old rabbit ear antenna laying around? They only cost $10 at Walmart or Best Buy. If you live in a city, you can hook the antenna up to your TV and SCAN for channels. You should be able to pick up all your local stations (ABC CBS FOX NBC PBS) is HD for free !!!
You bought a really nice TV. It doesn't sound like there is anything wrong with the tV. It just sounds like you haven't quite made the full change to HD in order to enjoy your new TV. Good luck :-)
2007-10-26 14:04:10 · answer #1 · answered by marky 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i have a new 37" samsung lcd and at first the picture looked crap through my sky digital via scart. what i did was buy a gold plated scart lead,turned off the movie plus feature and turned the energy saving setting to auto. the reason the picture looks so grainy on standard tv is just that...its standard. remember its a HDTV its reciving a standard signal so it wont look great.
also to up scale your normal dvds get a VGA cable for your xbox360 and that will upscale the quality. either that or buy a stand alone up-scaling dvd player so you can plug the dvd play right into the HDMI port in the back of the set you will get close to HD quality off your standard dvds
2007-10-26 14:44:06 · answer #2 · answered by ANTHONY H 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The big reason is your TV is designed for an HD signal. there are a few setting on the TV that you can make the picture better. Try switching the picture size around to get a better picture. I wold definitely get some sort of HD weather its satellite or cable, but some of the stations will still be normal TV.
2007-10-26 14:38:06 · answer #3 · answered by dturtle234 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Standard Def video is a 1940's image designed for a 9-inch tube (black and white).
Go to www.antennaweb.org and see where the local HD stations are around your home. The $30 Phillips Silver Sensor indoor antenna might be all you need to get stunning, free HD video. It will amaze you.
Also - turn down the brightness, sharpness, contrast. These televisions are set to "torch" mode to help catch peoples eyes on a bright showroom floor. This causes the image to wash out, loose detail and grain.
Get a setup disk like Avia or Video Essentials and go through the tutorials. It will guide you through how to set the video settings to show details.
2007-10-26 21:08:30 · answer #4 · answered by Grumpy Mac 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because you are enlarging a standard signal to fit on your HD tv. XBOX looks ok because it sends out an HD signal.
Try an HD over-the-air receiver (from Best Buy, Circuit City) and see the difference. There are FREE HD channels available anywhere in the country.
2007-10-26 14:01:57 · answer #5 · answered by C>/ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋