Improving SKY (non HD) reception on LCD

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BIG

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Hi,
I was wondering if it is possible to improve the SKY (non HD) reception on my LCD TV (42" Sharp LCD, 1366x768).
I am currently using a scart lead from the SKY box through the DVD (non HD) to the TV.
Would HDMI cables improve the SKY reception?
Thanks,
 
Nope, non HD Sky boxes won't have a HDMI output. Get a better quality scart cable, these make a big difference on a 42" screen. Does the TV have two scart sockets? If so, connect both the Sky box and the DVD player directly to the TV.
Leo
 
You may be suffering from what I see a lot.

Your LCD panel is tweaked to show its best with HD sources, and the manufacturers don't care too much what they look like with SD inputs. Which is a shame because the vast majority still use SkySD and will be doing so for a long time to come.

The bigger the screen the more any imperfections will be seen.

But the advice about a decent quality SCART cable is correct. I wouldn't rush out and buy a £50 one. The differences between £20 ones and £50 ones is very small, but the differences between free ones and £20 ones is massive.

There are plenty of Ixos ones around £15 - £25 available online. I bought a £10.99 one off eBay and the difference was noticeable over the £3 ones from Argos. As long as its built solidly, uses good thick cable, is shielded and is from a reputable name you should see some improvement.
 
Also, if not already done, change the Scart output on your Sky box from PAL to RGB. It's an option in the Services >> System Setup
 
bytelive said:
Also, if not already done, change the Scart output on your Sky box from PAL to RGB. It's an option in the Services >> System Setup
Click to expand...


.... ensuring that the SCART socket on the back of your LCD is RGB enabled.

Sometimes you might have 3 sockets, and only 1 or 2 might be RGB enabled. But it should be written beside each socket if its RGB or not.
 
BIG said:
Hi,
I was wondering if it is possible to improve the SKY (non HD) reception on my LCD TV (42" Sharp LCD, 1366x768).
I am currently using a scart lead from the SKY box through the DVD (non HD) to the TV.
Would HDMI cables improve the SKY reception?
Thanks,
Click to expand...

Just getting back to the original question, the thing that sprung to mind is that there really isn't good or bad reception with Sky. Its not like its a terrestrial service that is open to change.

Once you dish is up and aligned properly, and you have a good signal showing on the menu, then thats as good as you are going to get. Could you elaborate on why you are asking on how to improve 'reception'.

Is it that you had a CRT TV and then bought a LCD and the picture isn't as good? Is there more smearing, or does the picture look more blocky? What size did you buy and are you sitting too close, which will show up imperfections?

I have long been a believer that CRTs are the best TVs to show SD Sky on. Many disagree but I have yet to see a Plasma/LCD picture that beats my 36" Panasonic CRT.

You basically cannot improve your Sky reception, but the better SCART cables might help with the signal going to the LCD slightly.
 
also in the Services >> System Setup there is resolution option.
3 settings low-mid-high.

Its a personal choice, but I think the high is better picture.

Hopefully its a temporary issue - when Sky HD is available (in my mind that means no extra charge)...there will be no more imperfections, and your LCD will out perform CRT TV.
 
The reason i asked if it could be improved is that at times the images appeared slightly blurred (football), i have tried a new scart cable i had at home, looked like a better quality scart than i was using and it definitely has improved the picture quality.
I am begining to agree that CRT is better quality than LCD for normal sky tv viewing.
But when SKY HD is freely available i should be able to get an even better picture quality.
 
has the format of the broadcast anything to do with the picture quality. i have sky and rte has the best picture quality unlike setanta which is terrible. the hd channels are great but there are only eleven of them which makes the whole thing way too expensive. i see new tvs on the market advertising picture fomats of 1080i but as far as i know no channel is close to broadcasting in this yet.
 
BIG said:
The reason i asked if it could be improved is that at times the images appeared slightly blurred (football), i have tried a new scart cable i had at home, looked like a better quality scart than i was using and it definitely has improved the picture quality.
I am begining to agree that CRT is better quality than LCD for normal sky tv viewing.
But when SKY HD is freely available i should be able to get an even better picture quality.
Click to expand...

Football is one of the real tests for the new breed of flat panel TVs (as well as any fast moving images).

The refresh rates on these TVs is not as fast as on CRTs, and many complain about smearing.

I am not sure if HD will remove the smearing? Perhaps it will just be higher quality smearing !!

I'm sticking with CRT myself as I think it will be several years before there are enough HD channels on Sky to justify the switch over to buying a panel. It is not a cost thing any more with not buying a panel, but personal choice as I think that my CRT is still better for SD.
 
chum said:
has the format of the broadcast anything to do with the picture quality. i have sky and rte has the best picture quality unlike setanta which is terrible. the hd channels are great but there are only eleven of them which makes the whole thing way too expensive. i see new tvs on the market advertising picture fomats of 1080i but as far as i know no channel is close to broadcasting in this yet.
Click to expand...

This is another argument - the bitrate that a channel is transmitted at.

You do see some very sharp images on SkySD, whereas others are very rough looking (think UK Gold which used to be poor).

SkySD had the potential to be great but unfortunately they lowered the bandwidth by packing in so many useless channels, meaning that the overall package was less than it could have been. But money is God and they were getting revenue from these crap channels.

And this is my greatest fear for SkyHD too. Again it has the potential to look amazing on these great big panels, but not if they don't transmit them at the highest possible bitrate.
 
Is there anyway to find out what is the bitrate on all the channels Sky output.

From viewing it seems rte is one the best. (If I'm skyPlusing something like prison break which is on both sky one and rte - I'll tape on rte as much better quality)
E4 seems particularly low bitrate and it puts me off watching anything on that channel....

Any list of which channels have top bitrate?
 
so does this mean we are buying tvs that are capable of great picture resolution that unfortunately we shall never get to experience .
 
I do not know if it is possible to buy enhanced definition tvs here in ireland. they have a native resolution that is lower than high definition tvs and therfore the native resolution is closer to the majority of skysd broadcasts which shall give you a better picture on a greater number of channels. this might be a better option for people who want a plasma or flat screen tv but do not intend to get sky hd. panasonic make enhanced definition plasma tvs up to 42 inch.
 
chum said:
I do not know if it is possible to buy enhanced definition tvs here in ireland. they have a native resolution that is lower than high definition tvs and therfore the native resolution is closer to the majority of skysd broadcasts which shall give you a better picture on a greater number of channels. this might be a better option for people who want a plasma or flat screen tv but do not intend to get sky hd. panasonic make enhanced definition plasma tvs up to 42 inch.
Click to expand...

Never heard of 'enhanced definition' before. I assume you mean panels that aren't HD?

If so, you are correct. These would definitely be better for watching SkySD on, but there are now near impossible to find as manufacturers are rarely making them any more. You can understand this as Joe Public is hardly going to go into Currys and buy anything other than a HD Ready panel nowadays. So if there is no market then there is no supply.

And we have to remember that the manufacturers have 'tuned' these HD Ready for HD inputs. Most will look great with HD feeds. But the fact that 95% of the owners are feeding them with SD programming is not their problem. I would say that some manufactuers try to make SD look as good as possible, whereas others don't.
 
correct me if i,m wrong but is there a possbility that tvs which have higher resolution 1080i could have worst picture quality than than tvs with 720p resolution when viewing skysd.
 
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