HD TV Watching with or without HDMI connector - help!

[admin_exported]

I recently bought a Sony KDL40 X4500 and hooked it up to my digital TV decoder. I have digital TV, including a number of HD channels. The TV is hooked up to the digital TV receiver/decoder with a simple scart. I don't find watching the HD TV channels all that impressive to be honest (dont see much difference with regualr digital tv), and was wondering if this had anything to do with the fact that I use a scart...

Is it worth getting an HDMI cable to hook the TV to the decoder, or will this not make musch difference? Or is it just a matter of changing the settings on the TV? (It is currently on factory settings)....

Same question for hooking the TV to my DVD (and maybe soon Blue Ray) player....

Thanks for your help!

 

[Anonymous]

HDMI cables can be bought for very little money (try Amazon) so it makes sense to try one - I am sure you will see an improvement compared to scart.

You can always upgrade to a more expensive HDMI cable at a later date.

There are many debates on here about cheap vs expensive HDMI cables so I wont add to it here.

Start with one costing a few ££ so you have nothing to loose.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Haystak-

It isn't so much a matter of ££ (or ?? in my case) but I simply didnt know if the "poor" quality of the HD channels (when compared to HD displays in stores) was due to the cable or the TV settings....

Even if I have the intention to buy a cheaper cable I'll probably end up walking out the store with something expensive - know thyself

But from your reply I can see it probably is more of a cable issue...?

 

[aliEnRIK]

You cant view HD through a scart so no wonder you dont see any difference (In fact they probably look worse than normal SD)

You NEED a HDMI to view in HD

 

[aliEnRIK]

Just realised about your tv too. It needs to be calibrated

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks- and what's the best way to do this (as a beginner)?

 

[aliEnRIK]

If you have a THX dvd (terminator 2, start wars etc) then use the THX setup menu to set brightness and contrast (And sharpness if still connected via a scart cable)

Heres some general settings ~

Select MOVIE mode (Usually best overall settings to begin with for brightness and contrast)

Then set these ~
Colour: 50

Col Temp: Neutral

Sharpness: 50

Noise Red: AUTO (for Analogue TV), OFF for all other sources

MPEG N/R: HIGH (Digital TV, Sky (direct), OFF for all other sources

DRC Mode: Off (have not experimented with this yet)

Black Corr: Off

Adv Cont Enh: Off

Gamma: Low

LED Dyn Control: Standard

Auto Light Limiter: Off

Clear White: Off

Colour Space: Standard

Live Colour: Off

White Balance (have not tweaked yet)

Detail Enh: Off

Edge Enhancer: Off

Motion Flow: Clear

Film Mode: OFF

Game/Text Mode: OFF

XV Colour: Auto (Sky, Amp), no option for other sources

Photo Colour Space: SYCC (for Sky, Amp) ""

Colour Matrix: Auto (for Sky, Amp) ""

RGB Dyn Range: Auto (for Sky Amp) ""

 

[Anonymous]

great, thanks!!!!!!

 

[aliEnRIK]

Actually ~ these are probably better settings (Until you can set brightness, contrast, colour and sharpness yourself)

Picture Mode: Custom

Backlight: 2

Contrast: 85

Brightness: 51

Colour: 48

Col Temp: Neutral 0> may change this after prof. calibration.

Sharpness: 50

Noise Red: Off

MPEG N/R: Off

DRC Mode: Off

Black Corr: Off

Adv Cont Enh: Off

Gamma: Off

LED Dyn Control: Standard

Auto Light Limiter: Off

Clear White: Off

Colour Space: Standard

Live Colour: Off

White Balance: (Set some values by eye, but need to do it properly
using proper calibration tool and software, will report later)

Detail Enh: Off

Edge Enhancer: Off

Motion Flow: Clear

Film Mode: OFF

Game/Text Mode: OFF

XV Colour: Auto

Photo Colour Space: SYCC

Colour Matrix: Auto

RGB Dyn Range: Auto

 

[Anonymous]

KC1976:

I recently bought a Sony KDL40 X4500 and hooked it up to my digital TV decoder. I have digital TV, including a number of HD channels. The TV is hooked up to the digital TV receiver/decoder with a simple scart. I don't find watching the HD TV channels all that impressive to be honest (dont see much difference with regualr digital tv), and was wondering if this had anything to do with the fact that I use a scart...

Is it worth getting an HDMI cable to hook the TV to the decoder, or will this not make musch difference? Or is it just a matter of changing the settings on the TV? (It is currently on factory settings)....

Same question for hooking the TV to my DVD (and maybe soon Blue Ray) player....

Thanks for your help!
There arent any HD channels on UK Freeview, or are you based in Europe??

 

[Anonymous]

Last time I checked the UK was still part of Europe

But yes, I am based on the mainland and have approx 6 or so HD TV channels (some "regular" national channels and some international documentary channels such as HD National Geographic)

 

[Anonymous]

KC1976:
Thanks- and what's the best way to do this (as a beginner)?

ÿ

The best way is to pay a professional to do it for you. An ISF certified calibrator will have specialist equipment to measure what your TV is outputting against accepted standards. They'll also know which controls to tweak in order to make your TV match those standards with your sources and your room's lighting. Costs about £250. I've never heard of anyone regretting the expense.