What is Digg?81 Comments
- aiken, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23"Snow" is an analog artifact that you won't see on HDTV, regardless of how crappy your cable provider is -- think of the way that you don't hear casette tape hiss on CD's. Of course, digital tech can display its own artifacts when the signal quality is low (macroblocking, typically), but HDTV tends to be more "either it works or it doesn't."
- LabThug, on 10/12/2007, -7/+18I have "Concast" as my cable provider. I don't know if it's cause this house is old, the cable is split nine ways to China, or just thaty they really are crappy. Regardless, right now I have snow on just about every channel. Why I would jump to HDTV to see even clearer flakes is beyond me.
- sithvicious, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10is there an echo in the room?
- Linkage155, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10You can request them to re-wire your entire house, I did so a while ago, they took out all of the 10year old cables and installed brand new ones, dividing only 1 way before it gets to my modem, and 2 ways before hdtv receiver.
- ArcaneDevice, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10I'll sum it up.
1. Calibrate your television. You don't need equipment and you don't need a Monster DVD either. Plenty of pro approved discs listed at the CEDIA store. http://www.cedia.net/resources/bookstore.php
2. Wait for networks to improve their picture quality or switch providers. - MyLordLog, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Standard definition content has always looked like garbage, you just can't see it on a standard definition tube TV. Unfortunately, owning an HDTV and subscribing to digital cable with HD content will ruin standard definition TV watching.
My TV habits now only include about 5 channels. - kodek, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10@Yashar:
Digital signals do not have to be HD. Don't get confused. - vdubski, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6@masamunecyrus
Not all HDTV's need to upsample. On my 1080i TV when I play games it simply displays it at 480i instead of 1080i no upsampling and no delay.
The noise you see on HDTVs in Circuit City, etc is because they are not being fed with a HDTV signal and are using a analog signal split off 20 times for all the different tv's in the store.
Aiken is correct you either have it or you don't with HDTV. I have a built in HD tuner in my tv and when signal gets low it gets blocky and drops out. But never any noise. - MrCoke, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8download hd content(the legal stuff *whistle*) and watch it on your tv, forget this "television company" nonsense.
- Botond, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I thought I was the only one who doesnt dare go passed the HD channels... My TV watching is inhibited to my 12 HD channels, SD just doesnt cut it anymore.
- hackwrench, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Well, whenever the date is, it's only manditory for broadcast, not cable.
- helikopter, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6i don't see how this is helpful...
nearly every problem's answer is: well, your tv/cable provider sucks, wait, buy a new set, or blow 1000 to 3000 on some outboard processor to fix it.
except the blatantly obvious "my colors off wtf????/" whose answer was "check color/contrast/saturation lol n00b"
i guess they could have instead written a two sentence article under the title, "Cause it does. Sucks to be you." - Rickler, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6HDTV is digital, you don't get snow because it's not an analog signal. You either get the picture or you don't.
- ShadeRF, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3You sir are an idiot. S-video does not allow for hd video to be displayed on your tv. The only way it can be displayed is
A) Through an OTA antenna, which then connects to the antenna port on your hdtv (or cable if antenna is lacking)
B) Through a direct connection from the coaxial cable. (I am actually doing this now through comcast and I'm getting tons of HD channels that I'm not paying for, and they look spectacular).
C) Via some type of cable box, tivo, etc, which needs to be sent to the tv via either component, HDMI, or DVI connections. Anything else will not be HD. Oh and the cable box gets its feed from the coaxial cable off the wall.
Of course there is always sattelite but you're usually gonna still have some type of coaxial type cable between the Dish and the box itself. - SpiritCrisis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Love the article mostly if since im buying a plasma set soon.
- truebullfan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Well I've had HDTV over a year now but now that im switching from cable to satellite and im getting rid of it for now. It just seems there arent enough HD content available right now to keep and its expensive if you get satellite tv. You really only get 5-6 channels (comcast) and those HD channels dont have 24 hour HD content (ex. Espn's PTI, Many primetime shows like scrubs). I wish channels would hurry up like Comedy Central, TBS, Cartoon Network, USA. On the plus side I'll be getting a DVR w/ my new dishnetwork service which ive never had before.
Overall, it just seems there are too many glithes and not enought content right now to get HDTV and I thing im in the majority b/c a previous article on DIGG said only 45 % of people w/ an HDTV have HD content.
I'll wait another year before subscribing again. One thing I will miss is football and basketball in HD. I mean Wow! - Yashar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Comcast gets cheap, they sell more than their equipment can handle for a certain area and therefore the quality goes significantly down.
- HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Pretty good article. But note that a signal amplifier from your antenna almost never helps. Your TV costs over $1000, you think they can't fit a signal amplifier in there?
A signal amplifier is most likely to do good if you put it as far upstream as possible. There, it can amplify the signal so that any noise that comes in in your house is smaller relative to the signal. If instead you put it close to the TV, it will still amplify the signal, but it will amplify the noise that leaked in too. And as I said above, a lack of signal amplification is rarely the problem, your TV tuner can amplify as well as an external amp can.
So, in short, if you have a real problem with low signal at the antenna, an amp usually won't work, the signal is gone already, there's no magic way to bring it back. If a lot of noise comes in in your house, or if you have a lot of splitters or very long cable runs in the house, putting an amp near as near to the antenna as possible could help.
Also, there are scads of TVs on the market that already upconvert SDTV just fine. Sony has made TVs that do this great for 5+ years now. Many other companies cheap out on this stuff, even if they claim they have Faroujda upscalers, they still often do a poor job wth SD. The Dell 2407FPW is a good example of this, it has a Faroudja upscaler which is directly responsible for the problems the display has with color banding. Dell had to disable it to fix the problems.
Paying a pro to calibrate your set is probably a low-return thing. Learning to adjust the settings yourself with a reference disc (available cheap) will get you 98% as good a picture as a pro calibration will get you. And either will be leaps beyond the default settings on most TVs (responsible for problems like the outlines described in the article). - orephelious, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Most 'HD downloads' are NOT in fact HD. Just because it's in widescreen does not make it HD. Check the resolution. If it's not at least 1280x720 (or thereabouts) it not HD. The horizontal line standard for HD is 720p or 1080i/p. Also, unless your downloaded shows are about 3-4GB / hour, it's not even close to HD.
- ghettoiam, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Something else to watch for on TV's with a 720p native output is for 1080i signals being input. Makes sure your cable box is set to output at 720p and not 1080i. Many 720p TV's simply discard the odd numbered lines or resolution from a 1080i signal, puts together a 540p image and upconverts it to 720p. So that way you're losing resolution on your HD signal. Make sure your cable box is outputting the right signal for your TV!
- ColdChilli, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2don't forget to add an extra $2000 in equipment to improve/upgrade/enhance your High Def Digital Picture
- griz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2A huge ad for what????
- absmith1, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Simple and to the point. This is good tech how-to.
- izzybomb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You could always just watch movies with your hdmi cables and fancy DVD players...who needs cable when you've got movies?
- phaythe, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Because there will be no flakes. It's digital. Worst you'll get is macro blocks from time to time unless your wiring is just completely shot. Which is up to you to fix (or get fixed, but it's no fun to let someone else do it!). Replace everything with new RG-6 or better yet, Belden 1694A if you want to go all out!! :P Go to Home Depot or where ever is cheapest near you, buy a 500' roll of QS RG-6, a $20 compression crimper and some compression F connectors and go to town rewiring. Takes all of a day, and you'll likely solve your snow issues!
- Tobey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2From the article, “Picture Problem SIMULATIONS Created By Anthony Verducci”
- brufleth, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Comcast is terrible. I have digital cable and internet through Comcast and the signal strength is so low (on the installation that THEY performed) that my cable modem resets 30-50 times a day and we get tons of artifacts when watching TV. When I called and had a cable guy come out to try to fix the problem (which required taking a day off because they'll only show up during working hours) he used some pliers to tighten some connections and said to reset the router. That didn't do a damn thing. It sure is great what 120 dollars a month won't buy you.
- masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2About #2...
Last I checked, the cable industry is -usually- monopolized. - blakespot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2thund3rstruck,
By guessing that the persons seeing snow is using coax, are you suggesting they're using a RF modulated incoming signal? Indeed that would look poor; it is incapable of carrying an HD signal. But then so is s-video, which you suggest as the remedy. To get an HD signal into an HDTV, one must use component video or HDMI / DVI connections. Composite, RF, and s-video will not work.
I use HDMI where possible. - pixelperfect, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Define "Artifact":
Foxtel. - Tobey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Most computer monitors made within the past 10 years are capable of better resolutions than the latest HDTV set. This is because the HD standard only goes up to 1280x1080. And manufactures aren't going to waste time and money building a TV that supports any more than that. So, it's not because of cheap parts (well, maybe a little. They don't build 'em like they used to...).
- ArchAngel21x, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's because they compress the signal too much. They either need to use less compression or find a better codec.
- Kendalf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1All of the problem mentioned here are the reasons why I can't justify the cost of getting and HD set right now. Even with the Xbox 360 and PS3, it's still enough for me to get it. Also, why would I pay more money for an upgrade in quality for only a few channels? The numbers just don't add up.
- masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I don't mind the old channels, still. Of course, I'd probably kill myself over History Channel & Food Network withdrawal if I didn't watch the standard definition channels...
- mushoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Get the Vip622, it's awesome. Although you're right about the lack of Content. Like another guy before me said. Moving up to HD really only limits you to a few channels. On the other hand HBO and Showtime in HD are pretty good.
- foolfromhell, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I remember reading this article in Popular Mechanics a few months ago BEFORE i got a HDTV. I cant find the article again. Good find!
- foolfromhell, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No. Digital Signals will have less "noise" since HDTVs will need to convert Analog signals into Digital. If it was Digital at the source, it wouldnt have to convert
- DelMonte, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I want loss-less video compression before higher resolutions.
I still remember when I first noticed that my analog cable provider started to receive MPEG-2 signals from their signal providers. Until then, the signal was sent and received uncompressed through satellites.
Sure the picture wasn't perfect and there were defects compared to the original signal, but it was very uniform noise, not calculated square glitches moving around the screen like you can see with lossy video compression like MPEG-2.
For the companies implicated, it made sense, as they could suddenly send 10x more TV channels at the same time.
But me personally I would rather have loss-less DVD-resolution movies on a BlueRay disk than a HD version with SquareLand%u2122 compression. - bejitunksu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@yashar
The digital signals won't be an improvement in qualtiy, they'll just take up less bandwidth than analog, so it's not an upgrade visually. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well that explains #5, the same reason my internet connection is *****. This hell hole apartment has yet to run a new line to my building, the line is split who knows how many times and well attenuation sucks out loud.
Good site ... DIGG! - shimamoto, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's all about the signal path; from the source material to your eye. The picture is usually only going to look as good as the weakest link. Yes, you can buy some expensive box to compensate for problems, but that's just skirting the issue.
I have a nice HDTV with a crappy antenna plugged directly into it. I get a beautiful picture from over-the-air digital HD stations (the hi-def PBS station is fantastic). That's the easiest way to get high quality programming, if you have the right tuner and HD stations in your area. http://www.hdpictures.com/stations.htm
If you're not happy with your HDTV find the weak links and replace them with something else or just live with it. HD is still relatively new, and it's going to be a while before you can just plug in some devices labelled "HD" and be blown away by it. Learn how each part of the signal path works and spend your money accordingly. - grimeygutter, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1There are real HD torrent sites ...they exist and they have real hd content in its full resolution.
Yes lots are at least 4-8 gigs an hour, some are many more. I've seen 25 gig movies on them.
Most aren't public because they have to have a ratio system, nobody wants to upload 15 gigs 10x before someone else finally help seed it. - Hitechmods, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1They are just now starting to release large true 1080p Monitors (up to 47") that support 1920x1080 native resolutions. This should solve everyones issue with upscale quality issues and also make people want to buy a media PC. Now getting a HDTV tuner to work with the cable box, that's another issue.
- scott88008, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yes, Comcast sucks but I would never go back to standard definition having been totally spoiled by High Definition (and you can get a decent HD Widescreen set for under $1000). I have an up-conversion DVD player which still doesn't compare to HD so I'm really looking forward to getting the XBox HD player and/or the PS3.
- cyberdude191, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Its not necessarily works or doesn't work. more like works well or really pixley which is caused by a low signal strength to your TV. just like all digital cell phones today, you don't hear static anymore, just the voice breaking up.
cool fact of the day. the word pixel comes from the light bright toy we had as kids. those little color pegs were called pixels. - mrASSMAN, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1snow? ..you must not be getting a digital signal.
- adam84a, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"My TV habits now only include about 5 channels."
Your not alone my friend. I just went from Dish to DirectTV with the HDTivo and I can't leave HBOHD. I don't even know what other channels I get. And thinking about enjoying those HD (American) football games from the superfan package just gives me goosebumps. - Hayl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The only (main) problem we have with our Satellite HD is that on some channels the audio will cut out fromt time to time for 1 second or so.
- kloud213, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1man i dont have a terrible problem watching SD cable on my set. if you go from an HD movie straight to SD cable its crap but other than that you get use to it. What i found helps is to run the analog cable through my computer to make it a digital signal for my tv.
- blackmage05, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Excellent article. Hopefully some of the guys who work in the HDTV section of the store will read this and give some good advice to buyers. As if there aren't enough accessories for them to push already.
HDTV + BluRay/HD-DVD Player + HDMI cable + BluRay/HD-DVD disks + HD Cable/Satellite (AND/OR OTA HD programming) = A lot of $$$, with the most beautiful picture you've ever seen. I can get lost watching Ultraviolet on BluRay at my local store any day. -
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