How does Standard Definition broadcasting look on this tv? I don't have HD cable in every room and was wondering how standard cable looks on the tv? I will hook up a bluray player for movies but how does regular programming look? can someone test for me? How does Standard Definition broadcasting look on this tv? I don't have HD cable in every room and was wondering how standard cable looks on the tv? I will hook up a bluray player for movies... » Read More How does Standard Definition broadcasting look on this tv? I don't have HD cable in every room and was wondering how standard cable looks on the tv? I will hook up a bluray player for movies but how does regular programming look? can someone test for me? « Show Less
1383893
One of the posters talks about the picture quality while using non-HDTV. I think he said he has it in a trailer, so no HDTV. Also, this unit doesn't have an S-Video connection, which is what is needed to get the best quality standard def. picture (at least that's my understanding). Which tells me that this unit is really not intended mainly for standard def viewing. Vizio, Sharp, and Philips make some units still with S-video connections. Maybe some others do, too, but so far I've found only those three brands. And if I had to guess, I would guess that eventually they'll all stop putting in S-Video connections, as more and more people start subscribing to HDTV. One of the posters talks about the picture quality while using non-HDTV. I think he said he has it in a trailer, so no HDTV. Also, this unit doesn't have an S-Video connection, which is what is needed to get the best quality standard def. picture (at least that's my understanding). Which tells me that this unit is really not intended mainly for standard def viewing. Vizio, Sharp, and Philips make some units still with S-video connections. Maybe some others do, too, but so far I've found only those three brands. And if I had to guess, I would guess that eventually they'll all stop putting in... » Read More One of the posters talks about the picture quality while using non-HDTV. I think he said he has it in a trailer, so no HDTV. Also, this unit doesn't have an S-Video connection, which is what is needed to get the best quality standard def. picture (at least that's my understanding). Which tells me that this unit is really not intended mainly for standard def viewing. Vizio, Sharp, and Philips make some units still with S-video connections. Maybe some others do, too, but so far I've found only those three brands. And if I had to guess, I would guess that eventually they'll all stop putting in S-Video connections, as more and more people start subscribing to HDTV. « Show Less
1383894
stardard definition looks good,, offcourse it looks horrible compared to hd
1197078
I'd like to see some pictures from others as well. My 48" TCL's picture is so incredibly grainy, it's distracting. A HD TV shouldnt look like this when displaying 1080 content.
2241380
I have a Phillips 47" with "HD Natural Motion" and one of the first things I did was turn it off. Like you said everything looked "live". I don't know why anyone would want to watch their tv like that. I watched part an episode of Law and Order before changing it and it looked like it was on court tv. At first I thought it was some sort of special episode that they made look like that, as if they had a news crew filming them. Then I realized it was that setting.
791240
Hook up your cable box with an hdmi cable for the best picture quality. I have a 1080p tv and my sd cable chanels look almost as good as hd. If you have an old cable box have them bring you a new one (put a few drops of water on it to fry it and say it fryed itself and theyll replace if for free). Also i got an upconverting dvd player for free with my tv and when its hooked up with an hdmi cable it has basically the same picture quality as HD dvd, just not as good sound quality as HD.
1682503
I have been tweaking my new set's picture for 3 days now. The high def is terrific but I only get 12 channels of HD. Since 50% of my viewing will be standard def cable channels, I am very disappointed that I can't get the SD picture to a level of acceptability. (I feel compelled to go to another room and watch non-HD programs on my old 36" CRT.) Any suggestions on setting changes for SD programs? A lot of the screen is blurry and pixelated (with or without the 120-Hz on).
1422226
I think certain DVD's are able to be broadcast in 1080P and you may need a special dvd player to do that, but at the moment, cable broadcasts are only able to output 1080i. However, broadcasting in 1080p is in the works just not there yet. Fortunately, because the TV is 1080p ready, it won't be obsolete by the time broadcasting catches up with the capabilities of the TV.
834399
Personaly because this tv is so revealing, it doesn't look very good. On hd contnet it looks realy sharp but on lesser stuff not so good. The other night I was watching my favorite actress jessica alba in the eye from 2008 and it really looked horrible because it was in standard def. If your going to get a tv like this and spend this much, you need to put the best quality input into it.
1341298
Is the convertion from 1080p to 720p the reason I get two grey bars left and right when I tune into a HD channel? If not, why do I get those bars? The picture is quite good but not full left and right.
1732273
I would say it's normal. So far the brightness, or lack, hasn't been a problem. The dvd part works very well, but without cable, the tv stations are limited.
1598323
All newer flat screen televisions are capable of receiving Air, Cable, HDMI, ColorStreamHD, Video and PC. For basic cable channels you don't need a converter or interface with the cable company. You use their box to view non basic channels, get a channel menu, pay channels or as a digital recorder to play something back a a later date. A digital over the air antenna has nothing to do with cable. If you are using their converter box for HDMI, you can also hook up a digital antenna for local stations and switch back and forth from cable to antenna. But you don't need that antenna for cable nor will the antenna replace cable, They are two different things. I hope this helps. Have a great day! All newer flat screen televisions are capable of receiving Air, Cable, HDMI, ColorStreamHD, Video and PC. For basic cable channels you don't need a converter or interface with the cable company. You use their box to view non basic channels, get a channel menu, pay channels or as a digital recorder to play something back a a later date. A digital over the air antenna has nothing to do with cable. If you are using their converter box for HDMI, you can also hook up a digital antenna for local stations and switch back and forth from cable to antenna. But you don't need that antenna for cable... » Read More All newer flat screen televisions are capable of receiving Air, Cable, HDMI, ColorStreamHD, Video and PC. For basic cable channels you don't need a converter or interface with the cable company. You use their box to view non basic channels, get a channel menu, pay channels or as a digital recorder to play something back a a later date. A digital over the air antenna has nothing to do with cable. If you are using their converter box for HDMI, you can also hook up a digital antenna for local stations and switch back and forth from cable to antenna. But you don't need that antenna for cable nor will the antenna replace cable, They are two different things. I hope this helps. Have a great day! « Show Less
1635508
Thank you for the replies! So, I shouldn't worry about having to return the tv?? Do you think it could be an issue with the cable box possibly? Or, is it the TV? The line that I see doesn't go away, and is in all modes.
1000840
No. It just has a cable tv type F connector. If you connect an antenna to it and can receive local hd broadcasts, then you can see HD. Also, some cable systems have a "raw" digital HD feed that does not require a cable set top box, but will play HD thru the F connector.
1027784
I did mean I was using cable, but I was comparing the same shows on cable, Law and Order, CSI, and others all in High Def and they just didn't look as good on the second TV. They didn't look as clear and I thought I had all the settings exactly the same as the first TV. The picture does look better now, perhaps the cable company signals were having issues for a few days, I'm not sure. One thing I noticed is that the second TV looked like it had a film over it, that went away after a few days of use. Is that common? I'm waiting for my Blu-ray player to be delivered so I can judge the picture without the Cable companies issues affecting it. I did mean I was using cable, but I was comparing the same shows on cable, Law and Order, CSI, and others all in High Def and they just didn't look as good on the second TV. They didn't look as clear and I thought I had all the settings exactly the same as the first TV. The picture does look better now, perhaps the cable company signals were having issues for a few days, I'm not sure. One thing I noticed is that the second TV looked like it had a film over it, that went away after a few days of use. Is that common? I'm waiting for my Blu-ray player to be delivered so I can judge the picture... » Read More I did mean I was using cable, but I was comparing the same shows on cable, Law and Order, CSI, and others all in High Def and they just didn't look as good on the second TV. They didn't look as clear and I thought I had all the settings exactly the same as the first TV. The picture does look better now, perhaps the cable company signals were having issues for a few days, I'm not sure. One thing I noticed is that the second TV looked like it had a film over it, that went away after a few days of use. Is that common? I'm waiting for my Blu-ray player to be delivered so I can judge the picture without the Cable companies issues affecting it. « Show Less
1334129
I can't say whether this TV model is being fazed out. It will work fine after the switch to digital TV. My guess is that it does not have an HDMI port because there's no reason for it to have one. What would you use the HDMI port for? It already has a DVD player built-in. It's so small you wouldn't want to spend $200+ to connect a Blu-Ray Player to it, or a home theater system. Regular cable doesn't require HDMI (though HD Cable might, but are you going to pay to rent a Digital Cable Box for a tiny TV?).
744546
If you are getting pixelation it is coming from the SOURCE material. Having a display that is better than almost all the material available can be frustrating but when fed the proper diet the results are breathtaking. If you have access to an antenna when the broadcaster cranks up the signal such as during a big event like the Super Bowl or a quality bluray player and disc, you will scratch the surface of the set's capability. Sadly, what you heard is true, cable sucks. I can tell you for sure Directv is a mixed bag and the signal DOES vary and it doesn't approach what the set can do. Hope I've helped
816550
Good question. One thing you might want to consider is what I just found out yesterday... a salesman showed me what happens when you watch a standard def. digital broadcast on a top-of-the-line Sony LCD with 120hz compared with the Samsung 40A650. Wow, what a difference! Nobody ever mentions what standard def. looks like on these 1080p LCD sets. The Sony was terrible, the Samsung was fine. It's the pixelation of edges during movement problem. I guess the 120hz motion control only works in HD mode on most sets (that's what the saleman said), while Samsung's works in standard mode, too. So, go to a store that will show you what the picture looks like on the 46A550 in standard def mode. I would also want to compare the contrast ratio between the 2 sets, as the 40A650's is pretty hard to beat.
948936
Like most HD televisions the tv does not decode the captions for HD cable programs etc. You need to use the cable remote to turn on the captions via the cable box, and they should work. Expect a lot of caption errors especially with the local stations since many do not carry the digital HD captions. I would also google the internet for captions and HD tvs/cable and you'll see that it is really a mess.