I'm in need of a little help. I know almost nothing about TV's and I've got a $500 gift card to amazon. I'm curious if you guys could post a few suggestions that fall in (or close) to that price range.
Thanks!
What size range do you seek? What do you watch most on TV? Sports? Movies? Do you have good light control in your room, or is it always bright?
I can offer a few tips once those questions are answered. I'm sure many other cats will chime in, too.
Congrats on the extra loot!
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
I'd say im looking in the mid 40's for size. Primary use is gaming / sports / netflix. Room has plenty of light control but the default would be on the darker side. One window gives bright sun in the mornings only and that can be cured by pulling the blinds.
Can any of you guys tell me what causes this effect and how to possibly correct it unless my TV sucks?
OK during sporting games more pronounced in this order (Baseball, Soccer, Football, Hockey). When the baseball, soccer ball, football or puck is moving the object has a skipping effect like throwing a rock and making it skip on the water. Hopefully I explained it correctly.
It's really pronounced in Baseball where a ball thrown from 3rd to 1st has a skipping effect. I have a 40" Toshiba LCD/HDTV 120Hz. If it's my TV that sucks because I paid $500 i'll just deal with it. But if there's a setting you guys know about let me know.
Rodster wrote:Can any of you guys tell me what causes this effect and how to possibly correct it unless my TV sucks?
OK during sporting games more pronounced in this order (Baseball, Soccer, Football, Hockey). When the baseball, soccer ball, football or puck is moving the object has a skipping effect like throwing a rock and making it skip on the water. Hopefully I explained it correctly.
It's really pronounced in Baseball where a ball thrown from 3rd to 1st has a skipping effect. I have a 40" Toshiba LCD/HDTV 120Hz. If it's my TV that sucks because I paid $500 i'll just deal with it. But if there's a setting you guys know about let me know.
That's probably the "screen door effect" that is prevalent with rapid motion in many lower-end LCD sets due to the 120Hz refresh rate. Not sure of tips, as I own a plasma.
Good luck.
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
Well I experimented and changed "Film Stabilization" to smooth and it seems to have slightly tone down that effect. It should only affect video inputs but it seemed to have a carry over effect to TV broadcast.
Not being able to see your screen and not entirely sure what you're trying to describe, I'd hazard a guess that most of these kinds of motion artifacts are more likely due to the input source than the display itself.
Do you notice this problem with games, or from BluRay discs? Do you ever try to look at over-the-air HD signals, and do you see the same issues there?
DirecTV and cable TV providers are notorious for using severe compression in all parts of their process. I see any manner of motion related artifacts and other visual issues from my crappy HD DVR from TWC (eg I am watching the soccer match on Fox and the grass on the field exhibits all kinds of compression artifacts that are very easy to see), and when I'm at my dad's house watching his DirecTV, I see slightly different but similar artifacts.
BluRays however look awesome all the time on both displays. Between the compression they use to distribute the signal to the additional layers of compression added on by the DVR, the television distribution companies aren't doing us any favors in terms of HD image quality.
Zeppo wrote:Not being able to see your screen and not entirely sure what you're trying to describe, I'd hazard a guess that most of these kinds of motion artifacts are more likely due to the input source than the display itself.
Do you notice this problem with games, or from BluRay discs? Do you ever try to look at over-the-air HD signals, and do you see the same issues there?
DirecTV and cable TV providers are notorious for using severe compression in all parts of their process. I see any manner of motion related artifacts and other visual issues from my crappy HD DVR from TWC (eg I am watching the soccer match on Fox and the grass on the field exhibits all kinds of compression artifacts that are very easy to see), and when I'm at my dad's house watching his DirecTV, I see slightly different but similar artifacts.
BluRays however look awesome all the time on both displays. Between the compression they use to distribute the signal to the additional layers of compression added on by the DVR, the television distribution companies aren't doing us any favors in terms of HD image quality.
Yeah good points, it never crossed my mind it could be an over the air issue. I didn't pay attention to see if it was in games as well. So maybe that says something if I don't remember it being there. Also my TV has a "Game Mode" for stuff like that.
The weird thing is it only happens with fast moving objects. Watch a car race or sporting match and everything looks the way it should.
Rodster wrote:Yeah that's what it sounds like. I'm checking to see if I can drop it down to 60Hz.
Dropping the refresh rate to 60Hz would exacerbate the effect if that's indeed your problem. One of the reasons plasmas are preferred for motion-intensive viewing is because they have a standard 600Hz refresh rate.
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
Zeppo is probably right in that the source is a big factor. The overall build quality of the TV makes a big difference too. A good 120hz LCD set should be able to perform well. My brother-in-law has a very nice Samsung 120hz LCD and sports look as good as they do on my Panasonic plasma. Whatever blurring we get is from the DTV compression, but even then it generally looks very nice.
Brando70 wrote: A good 120hz LCD set should be able to perform well. My brother-in-law has a very nice Samsung 120hz LCD and sports look as good as they do on my Panasonic plasma.
Thats how I watched the game yesterday. I have two Samsung LCDs and hockey the even bigger test looks great. Zero problems.
Zeppo is probably right in that the source is a big factor. The overall build quality of the TV makes a big difference too. A good 120hz LCD set should be able to perform well. My brother-in-law has a very nice Samsung 120hz LCD and sports look as good as they do on my Panasonic plasma. Whatever blurring we get is from the DTV compression, but even then it generally looks very nice.
Rod, are you using an HDMI cable?
Yes but only to my 360 and PS3. My TV source is Comcast Cable. But since I set the film stabilization to smooth it's nowhere as bad as it use to be. I think the other problem is the TV as it's a $500 Tosh set.
Zeppo is probably right in that the source is a big factor. The overall build quality of the TV makes a big difference too. A good 120hz LCD set should be able to perform well. My brother-in-law has a very nice Samsung 120hz LCD and sports look as good as they do on my Panasonic plasma. Whatever blurring we get is from the DTV compression, but even then it generally looks very nice.
Rod, are you using an HDMI cable?
Yes but only to my 360 and PS3. My TV source is Comcast Cable. But since I set the film stabilization to smooth it's nowhere as bad as it use to be. I think the other problem is the TV as it's a $500 Tosh set.
The quality of the cables can make a difference if you're not using HDMI, though. With HDMI, it doesn't matter, you can use the cheapest cable you can find and as long as it doesn't break, it'll look good. If you're using component cables for the video, you can take a big hit on picture quality if the cables aren't good. The ones that get packaged with DirecTV boxes, for instance, are pure crap. I noticed a much smoother, accurate picture when I bought better cables.
If you haven't already, I'd try using one of your HDMI cables with your cable box and see if you notice an improvement.
I recently got a new Sharp 120hz LCD TV and I am seeing weird jitter or screen door effects on quick motion (people quickly waving their hands, a fast hockey puck). Fortunately using game mode (removing all software visual enhancements) completely eliminates this.
On my set, there is a particular setting, "Motion Enhancement - 120hz high" or "motion enhancement 120hz low" that is causing this. How often this effect intrudes on the viewing experience depends on the video source and video content, and leaving this motion enhancement on definitely makes some things prettier, but when in doubt I turn it off to be sure it will go away.
Try "game mode" on your tv and see if that helps. I experimented by watching a clip that caused the issue over and over on my dvr, messing with all the tv settings to isolate the problem.
Brando70 wrote:The quality of the cables can make a difference if you're not using HDMI, though. With HDMI, it doesn't matter, you can use the cheapest cable you can find and as long as it doesn't break, it'll look good. If you're using component cables for the video, you can take a big hit on picture quality if the cables aren't good. The ones that get packaged with DirecTV boxes, for instance, are pure crap. I noticed a much smoother, accurate picture when I bought better cables.
If you haven't already, I'd try using one of your HDMI cables with your cable box and see if you notice an improvement.
Yeah i'm not using HDMI for my TV signal, didn't even know that was possible.
I don't have a cable box since I have basic cable and my TV can scan all the upper digital channels.
Brando70 wrote:The quality of the cables can make a difference if you're not using HDMI, though. With HDMI, it doesn't matter, you can use the cheapest cable you can find and as long as it doesn't break, it'll look good. If you're using component cables for the video, you can take a big hit on picture quality if the cables aren't good. The ones that get packaged with DirecTV boxes, for instance, are pure crap. I noticed a much smoother, accurate picture when I bought better cables.
If you haven't already, I'd try using one of your HDMI cables with your cable box and see if you notice an improvement.
Yeah i'm not using HDMI for my TV signal, didn't even know that was possible.
I don't have a cable box since I have basic cable and my TV can scan all the upper digital channels.
No need for embarrassment. You have the cable plugged directly into the TV then? So your TV's tuner is the source - with no DVR, you certainly aren't seeing compression artifacts due to a DVR!
I'd say try Naples's suggestion and turn on 'game mode.' That would probably be your best bet.
OK I set the TV to game mode but I had to do thru the PS3. If i'm in TV mode the Game Mode feature is greyed out. Am I still in Game Mode even though I can't change it on the TV side?
Rodster wrote:Am I still in Game Mode even though I can't change it on the TV side?
Probably not. I haven't used a plain old coaxial input in a long time. Things like game mode and film might only be available with digital input into the TV.
Rodster wrote:Am I still in Game Mode even though I can't change it on the TV side?
Probably not. I haven't used a plain old coaxial input in a long time. Things like game mode and film might only be available with digital input into the TV.
I was using direct coaxial for my locals for a while, and although I had all of my picture modes available, I do think sometimes the coaxial input options may be more limited. It's possible game mode would only be available for an input where you would actually plug a console in.
I'd take a quick peek at the TV menu while you have the set tuned to one of your HD (digital) stations. See if there are any options that may be deactivating game mode. May be a long shot, but I recently fixed an annoying Blu-ray issue with my PS3 by diving into the options (I had moved it from a newer to an older plasma that didn't have the same capabilities).
Rodster wrote:Am I still in Game Mode even though I can't change it on the TV side?
Probably not. I haven't used a plain old coaxial input in a long time. Things like game mode and film might only be available with digital input into the TV.
I was using direct coaxial for my locals for a while, and although I had all of my picture modes available, I do think sometimes the coaxial input options may be more limited. It's possible game mode would only be available for an input where you would actually plug a console in.
I'd take a quick peek at the TV menu while you have the set tuned to one of your HD (digital) stations. See if there are any options that may be deactivating game mode. May be a long shot, but I recently fixed an annoying Blu-ray issue with my PS3 by diving into the options (I had moved it from a newer to an older plasma that didn't have the same capabilities).
Thanks i'll have a look but IIRC, game mode doesn't show up until it senses a device that's turned on which uses the feature.
To be clear, "game mode" has nothing to do with actually being plugged into a game console.
Most TVs have standard mode, dynamic mode, film mode.... These modes enable software filters, processing the image (digital noise reduction, motion smoothing). "Game mode" simply turns off all these filters, as game generated images usually don't need these effects, or these effects can introduce visual lag of several ms, which sends gamers into a fit throwing hell ride.
Game mode should be available on any digital input (component, hdmi...).
Most TVs though remember the mode per input, aka when I switch from my cable box to my appletv it remembers that I had one one on standard mode and one on game mode.
OK thanks that explains why I don't see it while watching HDTV via a straight cable input with no set top box. But still the answer is that if game mode is not selectable in my options then i'm not in game mode, right?
