I have just invested in a really cool TV, the Samsung HLN50. The picture is totally awesome . . .with everything but the standard feeds from DirecTV. The HD stuff is amazingly wonderful and the pictures I get from the DVI (and the component!) when watching movies are just absolutely stunning. However, the normal feeds from the DirecTV stations are not that crisp and clear. I can’t seem to understand why. I would expect the pictures to be less ‘fuzzy’ for lack of a better word. I would not expect them to be as clear as the pictures I get on my 36 inch/4:3 tube monitor, but much better than what I get now. Since there are no “guns” for this set, I don’t think calling in one of the ISF guys would help me out here.

Is there something I need to be doing other than the following?
- DirecTV receiver connected via the component out to the HLN50
- 16:9 aspect ratios selected in all the places it is referred to – no zoom modes or stretch modes selected
- 3LNB sat used with much shorter cable runs than older dish (picture on older dish as about the same)

I was wondering if anyone could provide some insight or help with my aggrevation. Here is a short list of equipment in the video rack and thanks for any pointers.
TV/Monitor - HLN50/Samsung
Direct TV HDTV Receiver - SIR-TS160/Samsung
DVD Player - DVD-HD931/Samsung
Cables – Tributaries for component connects from receiver to tv
Cables – Monster for DVI from DVD player to tv
Power – Panamax ACRegenerator 5510


------------------
phatlac

I dont know if this is much help but, I noticed the same thing at the electronic store during a demo of HDTV. They were showing Discovery HD channel and it looked so good it almost seemed 3D. When he was asked to switch it a regular channel he turned on sci-fi channel. It appeared grainy to say the least. His explanation of this was that the HDTV had such high resolution that the TV was trying to fill in the gaps from the inferior analog signal channel. He said it created the grainy blurry picture. Of course he said said it wasnt a problem with the upcoming switch to hi-def signals but thats not untill 2006 if Im right. And even then stations may not broadcast in 1080i This is a cable signal and half of the channels are still analog.

It's all about resoloution. The problem is upconversion. The salesman was correct. The Samsung (and almost every other TV on the market) attempts to upconvert the analog signal to the native resoloution of the TV. The problem is less pronounced on Sony sets (for example) because Sony's native resoloution is 1080I (*on the KF50we610, the direct competitor to the model you have). Sets like the Samsung (whose native resoloution is 480p) have issues with this conversion process, because they're attempting to convert interlaced into progressive scan, and the pixelation that is introduced is tremendous. This is the same problem scores of dvd players incur when they attempt to upconvert interlaced dvds to progressive scan for output to your tv, however, the problem is compounded by the fact that DirecTV's average signal is below 400 lines interlaced, whereas DVD is typically closer to 500 lines.

Fear not, however, because the salesman was correct. The vast majority of television programing will be converting to digital broadcast over the next 2 years, so if you're content with the picutre you get from an interlaced DVD movie, you'll be more than happy with the resoloution you will receive from broadcast. If you can't bear it. Consider switching your television service to the one provided at www.voom.com. They've got 21 HD channels at the moment and are promising 39 by the end of Feb, not counting your locals (assuming you can get your locals in HD). Currently they're running a pretty decent promotion with some free programming, installation, and 3 year service plan. If you're curious, Voom is a product of cablevision.