Sky+ terrible picture on 37" LG LCD

immortalgeek · 14 Nov 2008 at 23:44

Hi,

I have just bought an LG 37LG3000.

Got it back and connected my Sky+ via scart and the picture on sky is absolutely awful. The freeview built in is loads better but still not brilliant. Why is the Sky+ so bad?

I cant connect it via HDMI as the Sky+ box doesnt have HDMI

Any Ideas?

Matt

Memphis · 14 Nov 2008 at 23:55

Because you're putting a low resolution image into a larger resolution screen and hoping for the best that the scaler chip can cut it.

To make the best of what you've got, make sure you're using quality cables. Beyond that, get Sky HD.

immortalgeek · 14 Nov 2008 at 23:58

Hi,

Well im sure Sky will give me the HD box for free as had a few problems lately with them (totally their fault) so would that make a lot of difference?

Matt

immortalgeek · 14 Nov 2008 at 23:59

Would it just be the HD channles that look superior? , and would the normal non HD channels look as bad as they do now?

Matt

rubberduck · 15 Nov 2008 at 19:51

A couple of things to try.

1) Go in to the picture settings of the sky box and make sure the output is set to RGB rather than PAL.
2) Buy a decent gold plated scart cable (the shorter the better).

immortalgeek · 15 Nov 2008 at 19:57

Hi,

I bought a shielded scart gold today for £17 and put it in and the setting is on rgb

Still awful. Especially the faces , they look like cartoon characters.

Im thinking it might be the tv

If i cancelled sky and built a htpc and conected that to the tv by hdmi could i utilise the freeview built into the tv or not?

MAtt

Bill101 · 15 Nov 2008 at 20:07

Have you changed any setting since you got it home?, the factory default setting are known to be terrible. Do you have a digital aerial? that will improve the freeview picture.Is the TV set to receive the RGB signal that the sky box is now outputting? (I guess that the new scart is up to the job)

immortalgeek · 15 Nov 2008 at 20:16

Bill101 said:
Have you changed any setting since you got it home?, the factory default setting are known to be terrible. Do you have a digital aerial? that will improve the freeview picture.Is the TV set to receive the RGB signal that the sky box is now outputting? (I guess that the new scart is up to the job)

Hi,

I havent changed the picture settings. How will i know if its a freeview aeriel? , it found loads of freeview channels so thought it was.

Also, ive looked through ther settings and cant see anything about accepting the rgb signal?

Matt

thepharcyde · 15 Nov 2008 at 20:30

SD TV looks awful anyhow in a lot of cases.

immortalgeek · 15 Nov 2008 at 20:31

I though freeview wasnt sd tv and it was digital tv?

Matt

rubberduck · 15 Nov 2008 at 20:36

immortalgeek said:
I though freeview wasnt sd tv and it was digital tv?

Matt

most TV these days is digital... digital TV can still be standard definition and in most cases is.

immortalgeek · 15 Nov 2008 at 20:44

Im thinking it is the lcd itself. Ive just read some reviews ans 3 of them are saying the picture quality is crap on peoples faces (same for me)

I might send it back and get this viera 42" plasma off ebay , that will be better quality wont it?

Matt

Deleted member 2277 · 15 Nov 2008 at 21:12

immortalgeek said:
Im thinking it is the lcd itself. Ive just read some reviews ans 3 of them are saying the picture quality is crap on peoples faces (same for me)

I might send it back and get this viera 42" plasma off ebay , that will be better quality wont it?

Matt

All the reviews on this TV that I've read have said how good the picture quality is, it's the sound that is a bit weak.

I have this TV and I am also using sky+ and the picture quality is way better than the built in freeview. Try the following settings that were recommended by Which magazine:-

Brightness 55/100
Contrast 89
Colour 65
Picture profile standard (user)
Sharpness 60
Backlight: 80/100
Tint: R4/R50-G50
Colour temperature: Cool
Fresh contrast: Off
Fresh colour: Off
Noise reduction: Medium
Gamma: Medium
Film mode: Off
Eye care: On

These TV's have lots of settings, the factory defaults aren't necessarily the best settings. Also, how close are you to the TV?

The SD picture quality scored 4/5 compared to more expensive TV's only scoring 3/5.

Have you compared the TV to other LCD's?

At the end of the day it really comes down to peoples preferences/expectations, I'm very surprised that you have not adjusted any settings to find the optimum settings :confused:

immortalgeek · 15 Nov 2008 at 21:44

Hi,

Thanks for this.

Ive just changed the settings to this but dont understand the Tint: R4/R50-G50?

I can only change it to either r4, r50 or g50?

Even with these settings it still isnt brilliant. ive just turned the channel over and it had some trees in the background , the colour was just changing from dark green, to a lighter green , then a darker green all the time. Almost like its trying to focus?

Matt

peahead · 15 Nov 2008 at 22:26

Hi

It sounds like the lg picture processing isnt upto the job really i would think a panasonic plasma like the TH42PX80B would produce better results with sd material.

I would take magazine reviews with a pinch of salt you should look at user reviews on the avforums.

Deleted member 2277 · 15 Nov 2008 at 22:31

immortalgeek said:
Hi,

Thanks for this.

Ive just changed the settings to this but dont understand the Tint: R4/R50-G50?

I can only change it to either r4, r50 or g50?

Even with these settings it still isnt brilliant. ive just turned the channel over and it had some trees in the background , the colour was just changing from dark green, to a lighter green , then a darker green all the time. Almost like its trying to focus?

Matt

To be honest, i wasn't sure about that setting myself. Are you saying that there are only 3 options available? I set mine to R4 but I could have set it to R1,R2,R3, R4 etc

Deleted member 2277 · 15 Nov 2008 at 22:33

peahead said:
Hi

It sounds like the lg picture processing isnt upto the job really i would think a panasonic plasma like the TH42PX80B would produce better results with sd material.

I would take magazine reviews with a pinch of salt you should look at user reviews on the avforums.

The LG XD processing unit is supposed to be very good. I looked at a lot of LCD's before deciding on the LG and the reason I did choose the LG was because the SD picture quality seemed to be superior. Even my wife is very impressed with the SD picture quality and she takes some pleasing believe me

immortalgeek · 15 Nov 2008 at 22:37

Right... i did them changes on the freeview instead of sky. Derrrrrrrr

Ive done them settings now and it is better. So do i change the tint to r4, r50 or g50?

Matt

Deleted member 2277 · 15 Nov 2008 at 22:41

immortalgeek said:
Right... i did them changes on the freeview instead of sky. Derrrrrrrr

Ive done them settings now and it is better. So do i change the tint to r4, r50 or g50?

Matt

Try R4 that's what I have mine set to. Then sit back and just watch a few programs without trying to analyse the picture and I think you will find that the picture quality is just fine.

peahead · 15 Nov 2008 at 22:45

Deleted member 2277 said:
The LG XD processing unit is supposed to be very good. I looked at a lot of LCD's before deciding on the LG and the reason I did choose the LG was because the SD picture quality seemed to be superior. Even my wife is very impressed with the SD picture quality and she takes some pleasing believe me

Hi

yes you are correct lg xd processing is supposed to be good with sd material but i seems to vary depending on the models and the lg 3000 range is the basic model higher end models seem to fair better.