Not impressed by new TV - 100Hz & virtual dolby

Joe_Bloggs

There is an aspect of computer processing involved in displaying a 100Hz signal.
The algorithms employed may make certain material seem worse or better. Perhaps the end user should be given the choice?
Conventional cathode ray tubes rely on internal magenetic fields and electrostatic fields to generate the picture. If physical things get disturbed during transport or magnetic objects are in close proximity, then the picture will be less focused than observed at the factory.
The method of connection to a video source is also a factor. RGB scart is probably the best. Composite scart probably the worst. Often you can choose how your signal is sent to your TV. This assumes that the scart cable has the necessary connections.
J_B.

ey_up

Londonman - which Philips did you get?

I did a lot of reading prior to buying a 100mhz TV and ended up with a Philips 32PW9308. The majority of forums suggested you only benefit from 100mhz from 32inch TV's upwards, although a lot depends on the individual person as many cannot even see 50mhz flicker.

The fuzzy football thing is annoying but a lot is to do with the transmission quality. Modern tvs are picking up all the impurities and poor encoding. Look at E4 and you can really see its horrid compared to BBC 1 transmission.

what additional options have you got on your tv? I know the 9308 comes with a lot of things to adjust. I spent ages playing with these to get the best level on enhancement on my philips.



One thing that will hopefully make you happier is you'll get used to the difference in image

fairenoughclough

Not seen any mention of Toshiba mentioned in this thread, we've got a 32ZP18Q (£500 last one no remote from Curry's) and the reasoning behind it was the largest screen that fit into the horizontal gap in the chimney breast in the living room. Most TV's have big borders after the edge of the screen, and many other branded 28" TV's would not fit in the gap.

Fortunately I'm well impressed with the picture quality, it's a 100hz model but switchable back to 50hz via the remote, makes a slight difference when viewing live fast moving events.

The sound quality from the internal speakers is great for normal tv viewing and for films I've hooked it up through my Sony AV receiver STR-DE375 (£100 end of line Richer sounds) and that produces a cinema experience through my Gale 5 speaker package , 2 floor, 2 bookshelf and 1 centre (again £100 from Richer sounds). The Sony amp has a few different sound processing options and you simply select the sound to suit your room.

When watching a DVD picture and sound quality are superb.

In common with other posters I watch the odd bit of football and am disappointed with the picture quality on occasion, changing the SCART lead on the sky box made a slight improvement, but I'm some of the broadcasts are poor quality especially when pictures are taken from foreign broadcasters or sometimes when you view ITV/BBC coverage through sky.

Well impressed with front of box (hidden under a flap), that allows easy connection to a camcorder or even a karaoke machine.

Least impressive feature is the weight at 56kg it takes a lot to shift it.

londonman81

I've just finished watching England V N Ireland on my new 100 Hz Philips - and I'm even more disappointed by the picture quality I saw.

On the long distance camera shots (i.e the commonest angle that covers most of the pitch in one picture) the ball has a large halo around it and the edges of objects e.g players shirt suffer from pixelisation.

Whenever a player ran with the ball there was ghosting around him and there are a lot of jagged edges around objects.


I also noticed that on red backgrounds there is a 'shimmering' effect like when there is heat coming off a hot road. As if the pixels are hopping around.

Colours have no definition - its unable to translate subtle differences in shades of the same colour which my old one could do.

The TV couldn't pick up details in long distance shots in general - as soon as the camera moves in it's OK but at a distance the details get lost in a mish mash of pixels.

I'm very disappointed by all of this and I wish I'd just bought a simple, common 28inch widescreen with no 'revolutionary technology'.

I bet that if a bog standard 28 inch TV was plastered with fancy names for manufacturers technology , people would buy it.

I'll dig out the model number so you guys know the one I'm talking about.

JasonW_2

Make sure your scart cables are not the £2 jobs or the one that comes with the telly (if any!)

Seriously, splash a little cash on decent cables and you will be amazed at the results. Dont fall for the ones in Comet with their MONSTER cables. Yes, they are good quality but totally unecessary and no way would I pay £90 for a scart cable, but clearly some people do.

Something like this from Amazon would do the job better.

Ive got a 100Hz Thomson connected to digital telewest cable, DVD recorder and DVD player, and its fantastic. It is nowhere near as clear as the old analog 21" I had in my last place, but I knew that before I bought it. Im one of those people who notice flicker and it would drive me mad. I use PCs all day in my job and run my monitors @ 100Hz else I get headaches, so a TV @ 50Hz would mean I just couldnt watch it for any length of time.

Check all your connections are secure, but most importantly make sure they are set for RGB on the Sky box AND the telly assuming the TV and SCART cable supports RGb. Some SCARTs dont, and composite will give a soft smeary picture.

J

ey_up

london - theres a sticker on the back of the tube that will give you model number. Some of the instruction books are universal.

Sounds very strange your having so much of a problem - i agree with the glow around moving objects but a lot depends on the signal quality - i've never had it as bad as you seam to describe. I also think i'm that used to it that i dont notice as much as you probably do.

As a point i tried the england game via terrestrial analogue, terrestrial digital and sky. Terrestrial digital looked best :-s

JasonW_2

The 'glow' could be a composite signal with the TV expecting an RGB one. Check the menus and check the sky box. My SCARTs have combinations of composite, RGB and S-VIDEO, and different SCARTs allow different signals. On my telly if it doesnt get the signal it expects it doesnt show anything, but on some, it will try and go with the signal its given. There are pros and cons for this. I didnt read all the posts before mines earler, but I see people have said the same things anyway.

Also, mines has a noise reduction system that I always have off cos this really doesnt do the picture justice unless I am playing a DVD, but then I dont need it cos the pic quality is nice and crisps. Pixelisation is pretty normal for digitally enhanced TVs and is why a lot of people dont like them. Ive had mines for 6 months and I dont notice it now, but if you wait that long you may have missed the boat with getting it replaced if thats what you want. If you bought it online, you will have 7 days to send it back, normally at your cost.