Snowy, horrible image quality no matter what LCD TV I get

rob1908 · 08-09-2008, 05:45 AM

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(All TVs mentioned are 720P)

I ordered a new cable package with an HD tier of channels.
Bought a 19" Westinghouse LCD TV, and all the channels looked great. Sharp and crystal clear. But...PS3 wouldn't work with it, due to what I later learned was because of "handshake" issues between PS3s and Westinghouses.

Exchanged it for a 19" Magnavox with 1440 x 900 resolution. HD channels were amazing! Sharp as could be, plus it worked with the PS3!

A few months later I decided to upgrade anyway to one with a bigger screen. I sold the Magnavox on eBay.

2 weeks later, I got an LG 26" because of the 5000:1 contrast ratio. Horrible. Every channel had that "whitewash" look and HD channels were fuzzy, noisy, and moving objects on the screen had "vapor trails."

Not caring about contrast ratio, I exchanged it for a 26" Insignia with something like 1650x1080 resolution. PS3 games looked OK (still not as good as it did with Magnavox) and HD channels still looked like crap.

Tried new HDMI cable. No change. Switched my HD converter box, still no improvement. Cable technician came to my house to check the feed. He couldn't improve the picture.

Returned Insignia to Best Buy. (also swore off going there ever again)
I went to Target and got the EXACT SAME MODEL 19" Magnavox I had before. NOW IT LOOKED AWFUL! Fuzzy. Snowy. "Mosaic effect." Grainy. White, flickery pixels on solid colors. Lots of noise. Smudgy. All the problems of the other TVs.

HD channels pretty much are no improvement on an analog signal on a tube television. Nowhere near the amazing quality the same kind of TV had displayed before.

Another tech came back out again...tried it in a different room, tried tweaking the feed. Still nothing. He insisted its just the peak quality of the TV. I know its not true, because the exact same TV had worked so well before. I returned the Magnavox to Target.

I've wanted to try the TVs at different locations but unfortunately none of my friends or neighbors have HD service. So before I threaten to cancel my service with Comcast, what the heck could be wrong???

yustr · 08-09-2008, 08:12 AM

First off, welcome to TSF

Quote:

Originally Posted by rob1908

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Tried new HDMI cable. No change. Switched my HD converter box, still no improvement. Cable technician came to my house to check the feed. He couldn't improve the picture.

You've done what I always recommend - eliminate one piece of the signal chain at a time. Check the the cable feed from where it enters your house to where the box is. How many times is it split? Are all those connections tight?

One more thing you could try is to hook it up using the component feeds. If that improves it then you've eliminated the TV and the cable signal as the problem and you can focus on the only other things you can change: the HDMI cable and the cable box.

My guess? See below.

Another tech came back out again...tried it in a different room, tried tweaking the feed. Still nothing. He insisted its just the peak quality of the TV. I know its not true, because the exact same TV had worked so well before. I returned the Magnavox to Target.

I've wanted to try the TVs at different locations but unfortunately none of my friends or neighbors have HD service. So before I threaten to cancel my service with Comcast, what the heck could be wrong???

Your TV is small enough so if you have the time (and infinite patience) you could ask Comcast if they have HD at their office. Surprisingly some don't. But if they do, haul your TV in there and have the tech hook it up. If he's able to get a HD pic then insist on another box. It's not uncommon for a whole series of boxes to be bad. Ask for a free upgrade to a HD DVR box.

But in all probably its the signal coming into your home that's causing the problem. Ask them to check it at the street.

TxTazDad · 08-10-2008, 11:21 AM

Even easier (kinda) would be to just bypass the cable box, I did for months before getting the HD converter box. THe downside is that the HD channels get programed wierd. like CBS HD (local channel) ended up being 92.1, where as with the box, it's 311. But I see absolutely no change in the picture quailty having the box but it's a HELL of alot easier finding the channels LOL

08-09-2008, 05:45 AM	#1 (permalink)
rob1908 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 1 OS: Vista	Snowy, horrible image quality no matter what LCD TV I get -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (All TVs mentioned are 720P) I ordered a new cable package with an HD tier of channels. Bought a 19" Westinghouse LCD TV, and all the channels looked great. Sharp and crystal clear. But...PS3 wouldn't work with it, due to what I later learned was because of "handshake" issues between PS3s and Westinghouses. Exchanged it for a 19" Magnavox with 1440 x 900 resolution. HD channels were amazing! Sharp as could be, plus it worked with the PS3! A few months later I decided to upgrade anyway to one with a bigger screen. I sold the Magnavox on eBay. 2 weeks later, I got an LG 26" because of the 5000:1 contrast ratio. Horrible. Every channel had that "whitewash" look and HD channels were fuzzy, noisy, and moving objects on the screen had "vapor trails." Not caring about contrast ratio, I exchanged it for a 26" Insignia with something like 1650x1080 resolution. PS3 games looked OK (still not as good as it did with Magnavox) and HD channels still looked like crap. Tried new HDMI cable. No change. Switched my HD converter box, still no improvement. Cable technician came to my house to check the feed. He couldn't improve the picture. Returned Insignia to Best Buy. (also swore off going there ever again) I went to Target and got the EXACT SAME MODEL 19" Magnavox I had before. NOW IT LOOKED AWFUL! Fuzzy. Snowy. "Mosaic effect." Grainy. White, flickery pixels on solid colors. Lots of noise. Smudgy. All the problems of the other TVs. HD channels pretty much are no improvement on an analog signal on a tube television. Nowhere near the amazing quality the same kind of TV had displayed before. Another tech came back out again...tried it in a different room, tried tweaking the feed. Still nothing. He insisted its just the peak quality of the TV. I know its not true, because the exact same TV had worked so well before. I returned the Magnavox to Target. I've wanted to try the TVs at different locations but unfortunately none of my friends or neighbors have HD service. So before I threaten to cancel my service with Comcast, what the heck could be wrong???

08-10-2008, 11:21 AM	#3 (permalink)
TxTazDad Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 103 OS: XP Pro SP2	Re: Snowy, horrible image quality no matter what LCD TV I get Even easier (kinda) would be to just bypass the cable box, I did for months before getting the HD converter box. THe downside is that the HD channels get programed wierd. like CBS HD (local channel) ended up being 92.1, where as with the box, it's 311. But I see absolutely no change in the picture quailty having the box but it's a HELL of alot easier finding the channels LOL __________________ It could be that the purpose of my life is only to serve as a warning to others.....