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General discussion

How to achieve the best SD picture on a plasma

Sep 5, 2005 6:19AM PDT

I?m seriously thinking of purchasing the Panasonic TH-50PX500U. I've been a little concerned about the SD picture quality on any plasma in general because most programs are SD today. Does anyone have any pointers regarding how to achieve the best SD picture on a plasma set?

Discussion is locked

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PROBLEM SOLVED I THINK
Sep 5, 2005 7:38AM PDT

I have the DISH NETWORK 811 hi-def satellite system with the hi-def package and VOOM and with a cheap outside antenna I receive 22 hi-def channels for $45.00 per month and with the outside antenna I found all the local bay area stations are broadcasting in digital and the reception in digital is awsome also the anogolog channels on dish look great Just make sure you use a d.v.i. cable or h.d.m.i from your sat ststem to your t.v. for a awsome picture good luck stewart norrie

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PROBLEM SOLVED I THINK
Sep 5, 2005 8:26AM PDT

Thanks for your reply. I have cable with a DVR.

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How to achieve the best SD picture on a plasma
Sep 6, 2005 3:55AM PDT

In addition to what Stewart said. Then trend with digital TVs is to scan convert the input to the native resoulition of the dispaly (1024x786 for the Panny).
This Plasma also has a OTA ATSC HD tuner in it, so it will recive any OTA HD TV signals in your area. John

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relevant info
Sep 6, 2005 4:16PM PDT

Don't you just love it when people ramble on about everything EXCEPT giving information relevant to the original question?
Anyway....
When you talk about watching an SD program on an HDTV, the results usually aren't very impressive. An HDTV is designed to bring out all the brilliance of an HDTV signal, but it will also magnify the flaws of an SD signal. Results may very depending on the cable box you use as well as your tv.
It will help if you correctly set-up the aspect ratio, which should be 4:3. That's how an SD program was shot, and that's how it should be viewed. The black bars on the sides may be annoying but it will look better, and a stretched image is really awful.

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"and a stretched image is really awful"
Sep 7, 2005 6:45AM PDT

AMEN...I mean who watches that??
It's positively unwatchable! I'm shocked they even bother to include it on 16:9 sets. If it's 4:3 garbage, that's what it is....soon hopefully, this will be a thing of the past!

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Thanks to all!
Sep 7, 2005 11:31AM PDT

Thanks for everyone's input on this.