Non Sky+ HD Channels a Problem

JacksDad

I had Sky+ HD installed yesterday and am happy with the HD aspect of it.
However watching non HD channels (i.e. Sky Sprts News, RTE etc...) the channels appear to be of a poorer quality albeit not as clear or crisp as that I experienced with the Sky+ box I had up until yesterday. For instance whan watching Sky Sports news the on screen writing appears blurred and 'cloudy' - the clarity was far better on the Sky + box.

I phoned Sky and although they couldn't fully understand my plight, they did a 'housekeeping' procedure on my unit, with no change. They've asked me to monitor it and if it hasn't changed in a few days to call them back. Which I will.

In the meantime has anyone had a similar experience? Does the absence of the scart cable in the rear of the Sky HD box have a negative bearing on the picture quality on the normal standard digital channels?

Anything I can try in the meantime?

Thanks

JDxtra

What type of TV is it?

Note that many TVs allow you to customise the settings on EACH input. So, you may have had one type of settings for your scart connection (Sky+) but different settings for your HDMI connection (Sky HD).

These settings can affect sharpness/contrast/smoothing etc.

JacksDad

JDxtra wrote: »

What type of TV is it?

Note that many TVs allow you to customise the settings on EACH input. So, you may have had one type of settings for your scart connection (Sky+) but different settings for your HDMI connection (Sky HD).

These settings can affect sharpness/contrast/smoothing etc.

Thanks JDxtra, its a Toshiba 37WLT66.

So your saying I have a good pic on HD channels but I may need to customise pic settings for the SD channels?

Another thought, would the SD quality be rectified by simply connecting a scartlead as well as having the HDMI cable attached for HD channels?

adox

First you should calibrate your hdmi input to maximise the picture. The setti gs may be still on factory settings and could be quite high which will make sd look alot worse, whereas the ha channels will be alot more forgiving.

Another option is to check the settings on the HD box is to see what it is outputting. If it's set to 1080i then on sd pictures the box is upscali g the picture, which may cause picture degeneration if it can't handle it too well.
You can change the setting to automatic, which will display sd at something like 520p or something like that, which may improve the picture.

The first thing I would do though is get my hands on a DVE disc or something similar and calibrate the hdmi channel.

Another option is to feed a scart from the HD box( if there is a scart connection) and use the scart for sd and hdmi for HD.

I only got the HD box in last week. I have two hdmi connections on my screen and one was only ever in use for the ps3. I made sure the HD box was connected to this as I already had it calibrated and the picture looks fine to me on sd.

JacksDad

adox wrote: »

First you should calibrate your hdmi input to maximise the picture. The setti gs may be still on factory settings and could be quite high which will make sd look alot worse, whereas the ha channels will be alot more forgiving.

Another option is to check the settings on the HD box is to see what it is outputting. If it's set to 1080i then on sd pictures the box is upscali g the picture, which may cause picture degeneration if it can't handle it too well.
You can change the setting to automatic, which will display sd at something like 520p or something like that, which may improve the picture.

The first thing I would do though is get my hands on a DVE disc or something similar and calibrate the hdmi channel.

Another option is to feed a scart from the HD box( if there is a scart connection) and use the scart for sd and hdmi for HD.

I only got the HD box in last week. I have two hdmi connections on my screen and one was only ever in use for the ps3. I made sure the HD box was connected to this as I already had it calibrated and the picture looks fine to me on sd.

Forgive my ignorance adox, but how exactly do I calibrate my HDMI input?

You've mentioned as another option, but will changing this setting to automatic although improve the SD channels, distort the HD channel in return?

adox

JacksDad wrote: »

Forgive my ignorance adox, but how exactly do I calibrate my HDMI input?

You've mentioned as another option, but will changing this setting to automatic although improve the SD channels, distort the HD channel in return?

There are calibration discs you can buy,
digital video essentials or avia, which help you with all the settings on your display to maximise pq.
If you don't have a disc, have a look at your settings on your scart connection that you were using for your sky+ box and see if your hdmi input settings are different. Presuming you can change settings for individual inputs,
it sounds like your basic settings on your hdmi I put, brightness, colour etc are higher than your scart connections. Also check to see if you have a preset setting with the likes of " cinema " dynamic" etc. If you do make
sure it's not set to dynamic.
Changing the option on the HD box from 1080i to automatic won't affect your HD picture in any way. It will still output at 1080i and be as clear as can be. What it will do, will display your sd at a more native resoloution thus less upscaling of the picture which may improve things. There may be a delay when changing between sd and HD channels as your set changes the resolution to display. Try it and see what you think.

JacksDad

adox wrote: »

Try it and see what you think.

Will do - I'll let you know how I get on.

blacknight83

hi, i have noticed this too, for non hd channels i view via scart, picture quality
strangley seems better! go figure!

byte

I'd guess that would basically mean that your TV upscales pictures better than your HD box can.