samsung r88 picture quality

[admin_exported]

I've just bought and r88 32 " tv but the picture I'am getting isn't as sharp as I expected from my sky + box, the DVD is excellent having set it up via the THX option , I've also just bought a QED scart but that doesn't seem to have made a lot of difference. Any advice.

Cheers

neil

 

[Andrew Everard]

Do make sure the Sky+ box is sending RGB and not composite video or S-vid, but beyond that it remains true that not all channels on Sky have exemplary technical quality. There's another reason to go for Sky HD, then...

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew, you said "......it remains true that not all channels on Sky have exemplary technical quality. There's another reason to go for Sky HD, then..."

Why would you advocate someone getting SKHD at all? There's the £299.99 for a SKYHD Box, and probably about £150.00 for a good installation. Yes-I know you can get almost Free Installation with SKY but quite honestly I had the pleasure of their sub contractors a few years ago when I first had SKYDIGITAL installed by way of a Free Standard Installation. They ran the cable from the back of my house through a hole in the wooden frame of my kitchen window, over my ceiling in the kitchen directly over my Gas Cooker and into a hole in the wall of my lounge: Real Cowboys they were!. In the end I got an an independent local firm to do a proper install of the cable.

Moreover, referring back to SKYHD, once you've paid out the initial outlay for the wonder box and a proper install of cable/Dish/LNB, you are then talking about £47.00 a month based on a SKYSPORTS HD Package alone...I mean come on! ...and then how many HD channels do you get or wold one actually want to watch ?

And then what about watching the other non HD channels via the SKYHD Box........wouldn't you still receive the same awful technically compressed ones you would have received via SKYDIGITAL and SKY+ anyway?

 

[Anonymous]

PS: If I could choose not to have the BBC channels in my package and therefore not be compelled to pay the BBC licence Fee, I may then consider SKYHD. I beleieve that if you are able to switch off not having the BBC transmission that everyone should not have to pay the BBC Licence. They like the rest of all the other channels should be made to compete 'head on'

 

[Andrew Everard]

As an existing customer, he'd get it for £199 I think, plus free installation. Sorry to hear about your bad experience with an installer - the ones I've had here have always been exemplary, one even taking off his shoes to come into house when it was raining.

And as for the price - well, if you're already paying for Sky, then it's an extra tenner a month for HD. And as one who's sitting watching a fabulous-looking and -sounding Bach Mass from the 2005 Leipzig Festival on Arts HD right now, I reckon it's money well spent. And no, I am not at all into sports, especially not soccer.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that Andrew. You see I would probably not be able to differentiate between normal SKY and SKYHD anway, given the fact that I just had to put on my glasses to verify if you had written Bach Mass or Black Mass above.

 

[Clare Newsome]

No, he saves the black masses for Sundays ;-)

Speaking as a movie fan, Sky HD is excellent - awesome 1080i pictures plus strong Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and a huge variety of films to watch. And the drama on Sky One HD is excellent - Lost and 24 look and sound amazing, for example. Looking forward to watching new series of Spooks on BBC HD, too.

Personally, with the Blu-ray vs HD DVD battle still dragging on, and HD players stil so expensive, I think investing in Sky HD box and subscription costs no more than an HD player and the purchase price of a couple of HD discs each month, and you'll enjoy a lot more native HD content. You'd even have change for a decent upscaling DVD player....

 

[Andrew Everard]

[quote user="Clare Newsome"]No, he saves the black masses for Sundays ;-)
[/quote]

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for that so really the only way to get thebest out of this TV is to have sky HD.

 

[Anonymous]

Can anybody tell me what the difference is between the 32" R88 and the R87, please? I'm keen on the R87 after the review in this month's magazine, but prefer the cabinet on the R88. With Dixons offering 2.5% off online and a £10 Kelkoo voucher, the prices for each are pretty similar too.

TIA

 

[Andrew Everard]

AFAIK this is more Samsung model number bingo. I think it's just the cabinet that's different, but I stand to be corrected when The Boss logs in later!