HDTV question without HD feed

Go To Girl · 06-25-2009, 05:30 PM

OK - all my electronic gurus here, I have a question that I haven't been able to find via google.......

GTG is finally, finally considering a new television purchase. TV has never meant squat to me, so everything we have is just analog basic televisions. These days, if you're getting a TV, you pretty much have to go for an HDTV. I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to upgrade my cable to HD though, the digital signal is just fine with me.

There's always been a lot of info out there about pixelation and general bad picture when you used a HD set with an analog signal. But, now that everything is digital - how will that affect things?

We gave my son a small LCD HDTV for his dorm room for Christmas, and we did plug it in to one of our cable outlets. It doesn't look quite as good as our regular TV, but it might be just a matter of making color adjustments - something I don't really want to do since it's not my TV.

What say you all - should I make the jump to another television even though I have no intention (at this time) to upgrading my cable.

Jbro · 06-25-2009, 05:34 PM

IF you are not gonna get HD service I would just get something non-HD for cheap off craigslist.

Go To Girl · 06-25-2009, 05:50 PM

If I'm not going to get HD, I'll just keep what I have. Being the cheapo that I am, this whole thing was triggered by a report on GMA about how TVs are the lowest prices they're going to be for a long, long time with the economy and such. Even said not to wait until Thanksgiving because China is pushing all of the people their to switch their TVs over and when that occurs, they will be keeping for their own population much of what they normally ship here casuing prices here to rise......

GRWatcher · 06-25-2009, 09:14 PM

I just got HD but I bought my tv last year when the old one died. I knew I wouldn't be making the switch any time soon and that most tv is still standard def so one of my criterea for which tv to buy was how good the picture was in sd. We only have a 26" so the choices weren't many. But researching showed that the LG's have a quality sd picture. That's what I bought, it was a little more than I could've paid for a 26" and I got only a 720p, but we've been very pleased with the picture whether sd or HD. My son has a 40" Samsung 1080 and IMO it's sd pictures aren't as good as the LG.

GTG, I don't know what service you have but there should be something under options or setup where you need to set the signal for your son's tv. My choices with Uverse were analog, digital sd, 720p, or 1080p. That'll improve the picture. I also found that I had to tone down the color and increase the brightness when we went HD. Call your service provider about where the adjustments are for the signal if you can't find it. If it's TW cable you already have HD.

And I wouldn't buy into any price hype gossip. You'll get a good price because they're not selling. More people are like me, waiting until the old set hit the dust.

Go To Girl · 06-25-2009, 09:25 PM

Thanks GR - I'll look at my son's menu and see how it is.

d-dave · 06-25-2009, 11:44 PM

G2G,

If you're not planning to upgrade your cable services, check to see if your digital cable provider will offer you free HD service. I know TWC gives you HD for free if you have digital cable. I mean what do you have to loose? Free HD versus not free. They even give you component cables to hook it up...

Why the SD looks worse on your HDTV is pretty simple. Imagine taking low rez cell phone camera pics and blowing them up on your PC monitor. That's basically what you're doing when projecting SD onto an HD monitor. That HDTV will show every bit of noise, fuzz, and crap that you SD TV didn't have the resolution to see.

If you do go the HDTV route, I would suggest the easy way to set it up is to set it to film color mode. That's normally pretty decent all things considered.

But if you have no interest in HD programing, or being able to watch your DVDs in a widescreen format, then don't spend the $$$ on a HDTV, and see how many more years you can eek out of your old TV. New tech keeps getting cheaper and cheaper the longer its out.

Tensor · 06-26-2009, 12:06 AM

You'll still get all your local channels in high definition even without the cable box. Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, WJZY, MYTV12 or whatever its called, UNCHD, WAXN, and maybe a few others I'm forgetting.

As GRWatcher said, LG's do handle non-HD signals pretty well. I believe they are generally one of the highest rated in that regard. I have an LG plasma and it still gave a decent picture (no worse than the old tube) before I had the HD service. If you're looking for a good value, I'd pick up a 42" LG 720p Plasma. Great price, good analog picture, good high def picture (for any HD channels you receive).

A 42" Panasonic 720p Plasma can also be picked up for a great price.

Kevin Greene · 06-26-2009, 12:20 AM

GTG, I think you have Time Warner don't you? HD TV is "free" with them I believe. The caveat being you have to lease a hi-def set top box. Might only be 6 or 7 dollars a month.
Anyways, getting rid of that watt guzzling CRT (Cathode Ray Tube Dinasour) in favor of a low watt LCD might save part of that money per month plus you're lowering global warming.

Just trying to push you over the HD cliff.

Once you go, there's no going back.

Go To Girl · 06-26-2009, 07:45 AM

I don't have their digital tier, so HD isn't free for me. Once the digital conversion happened, I always wondered how they were going to handle people like me and so far nothing has changed, If I were to switch, it would cost me an extra $20 or so a month...and I might have to get a box. Television is just not a big priority for me so I don't want to pay extra to get a content I'm not going to watch.

The new television thought was kind of a lark yesterday. Not sure how I feel about it today.

Thanks to everyone who has come up with suggestions and info. Appreciate it.

chabber · 06-27-2009, 02:48 AM

I wouldn't get an HDTV if your not going to get any HD channels. It will not look better than your regular television.

However if you already have TWC service you should be getting at least your local HD channels for free and unencrypted over the line and can pick them up as long as you have a tuner in your new HDTV.

For example I have DirecTV but I pay for road runner service and I can pick up all the local HD stations on my TV tuner from TWC. My sister does the same thing except she only pays for basic cable and picks up the local HD's that way.

Another option would be to hook up an antenna to pick up the Over the Air local channels so that you could get HD that way.

06-25-2009, 05:30 PM	#1
Go To Girl Huddle Mom Join Date: Nov 2008 Age: 47 Posts: 2,641 Pie Slices: 0 Given Pie 2 Times in 2 Posts Rep Power: 10	HDTV question without HD feed OK - all my electronic gurus here, I have a question that I haven't been able to find via google....... GTG is finally, finally considering a new television purchase. TV has never meant squat to me, so everything we have is just analog basic televisions. These days, if you're getting a TV, you pretty much have to go for an HDTV. I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to upgrade my cable to HD though, the digital signal is just fine with me. There's always been a lot of info out there about pixelation and general bad picture when you used a HD set with an analog signal. But, now that everything is digital - how will that affect things? We gave my son a small LCD HDTV for his dorm room for Christmas, and we did plug it in to one of our cable outlets. It doesn't look quite as good as our regular TV, but it might be just a matter of making color adjustments - something I don't really want to do since it's not my TV. What say you all - should I make the jump to another television even though I have no intention (at this time) to upgrading my cable.

06-26-2009, 12:06 AM	#7
Tensor Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Age: 23 Posts: 387 Pie Slices: 1 Given Pie 0 Times in 0 Posts Rep Power: 2	You'll still get all your local channels in high definition even without the cable box. Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, WJZY, MYTV12 or whatever its called, UNCHD, WAXN, and maybe a few others I'm forgetting. As GRWatcher said, LG's do handle non-HD signals pretty well. I believe they are generally one of the highest rated in that regard. I have an LG plasma and it still gave a decent picture (no worse than the old tube) before I had the HD service. If you're looking for a good value, I'd pick up a 42" LG 720p Plasma. Great price, good analog picture, good high def picture (for any HD channels you receive). A 42" Panasonic 720p Plasma can also be picked up for a great price. __________________

06-26-2009, 12:20 AM	#8
Kevin Greene ___With The 47th Pick.... Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 5,541 Pie Slices: 76 Given Pie 14 Times in 13 Posts Rep Power: 21	GTG, I think you have Time Warner don't you? HD TV is "free" with them I believe. The caveat being you have to lease a hi-def set top box. Might only be 6 or 7 dollars a month. Anyways, getting rid of that watt guzzling CRT (Cathode Ray Tube Dinasour) in favor of a low watt LCD might save part of that money per month plus you're lowering global warming. Just trying to push you over the HD cliff. Once you go, there's no going back. __________________ ..............Lock and Load

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06-25-2009, 05:34 PM	#2
Jbro BBW GFE Join Date: Nov 2008 Age: 26 Posts: 3,485 Pie Slices: 12 Given Pie 54 Times in 30 Posts Rep Power: 22	IF you are not gonna get HD service I would just get something non-HD for cheap off craigslist.

06-25-2009, 05:50 PM	#3
Go To Girl Huddle Mom Join Date: Nov 2008 Age: 47 Posts: 2,641 Pie Slices: 0 Given Pie 2 Times in 2 Posts Rep Power: 10	If I'm not going to get HD, I'll just keep what I have. Being the cheapo that I am, this whole thing was triggered by a report on GMA about how TVs are the lowest prices they're going to be for a long, long time with the economy and such. Even said not to wait until Thanksgiving because China is pushing all of the people their to switch their TVs over and when that occurs, they will be keeping for their own population much of what they normally ship here casuing prices here to rise......

06-25-2009, 09:14 PM	#4
GRWatcher watching gr Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 1,016 Pie Slices: 0 Given Pie 2 Times in 2 Posts Rep Power: 4	I just got HD but I bought my tv last year when the old one died. I knew I wouldn't be making the switch any time soon and that most tv is still standard def so one of my criterea for which tv to buy was how good the picture was in sd. We only have a 26" so the choices weren't many. But researching showed that the LG's have a quality sd picture. That's what I bought, it was a little more than I could've paid for a 26" and I got only a 720p, but we've been very pleased with the picture whether sd or HD. My son has a 40" Samsung 1080 and IMO it's sd pictures aren't as good as the LG. GTG, I don't know what service you have but there should be something under options or setup where you need to set the signal for your son's tv. My choices with Uverse were analog, digital sd, 720p, or 1080p. That'll improve the picture. I also found that I had to tone down the color and increase the brightness when we went HD. Call your service provider about where the adjustments are for the signal if you can't find it. If it's TW cable you already have HD. And I wouldn't buy into any price hype gossip. You'll get a good price because they're not selling. More people are like me, waiting until the old set hit the dust.

06-25-2009, 09:25 PM	#5
Go To Girl Huddle Mom Join Date: Nov 2008 Age: 47 Posts: 2,641 Pie Slices: 0 Given Pie 2 Times in 2 Posts Rep Power: 10	Thanks GR - I'll look at my son's menu and see how it is.

06-25-2009, 11:44 PM	#6
d-dave Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Age: 30 Posts: 74 Pie Slices: 0 Given Pie 0 Times in 0 Posts Rep Power: 2	G2G, If you're not planning to upgrade your cable services, check to see if your digital cable provider will offer you free HD service. I know TWC gives you HD for free if you have digital cable. I mean what do you have to loose? Free HD versus not free. They even give you component cables to hook it up... Why the SD looks worse on your HDTV is pretty simple. Imagine taking low rez cell phone camera pics and blowing them up on your PC monitor. That's basically what you're doing when projecting SD onto an HD monitor. That HDTV will show every bit of noise, fuzz, and crap that you SD TV didn't have the resolution to see. If you do go the HDTV route, I would suggest the easy way to set it up is to set it to film color mode. That's normally pretty decent all things considered. But if you have no interest in HD programing, or being able to watch your DVDs in a widescreen format, then don't spend the $$$ on a HDTV, and see how many more years you can eek out of your old TV. New tech keeps getting cheaper and cheaper the longer its out.

06-26-2009, 07:45 AM	#9
Go To Girl Huddle Mom Join Date: Nov 2008 Age: 47 Posts: 2,641 Pie Slices: 0 Given Pie 2 Times in 2 Posts Rep Power: 10	I don't have their digital tier, so HD isn't free for me. Once the digital conversion happened, I always wondered how they were going to handle people like me and so far nothing has changed, If I were to switch, it would cost me an extra $20 or so a month...and I might have to get a box. Television is just not a big priority for me so I don't want to pay extra to get a content I'm not going to watch. The new television thought was kind of a lark yesterday. Not sure how I feel about it today. Thanks to everyone who has come up with suggestions and info. Appreciate it.

06-27-2009, 02:48 AM	#10
chabber Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 55 Pie Slices: 0 Given Pie 0 Times in 0 Posts Rep Power: 2	I wouldn't get an HDTV if your not going to get any HD channels. It will not look better than your regular television. However if you already have TWC service you should be getting at least your local HD channels for free and unencrypted over the line and can pick them up as long as you have a tuner in your new HDTV. For example I have DirecTV but I pay for road runner service and I can pick up all the local HD stations on my TV tuner from TWC. My sister does the same thing except she only pays for basic cable and picks up the local HD's that way. Another option would be to hook up an antenna to pick up the Over the Air local channels so that you could get HD that way.