The best SD picture on HD set?

[larsenmtl]

With the death of our 200 lb. standard definition CRT television, the wife and I are finally looking into buying a flat panel (or flatter panel) HD television. While I probably will enjoy some HD content, we are serious TiVo junkies which records in SD or depending on the settings, even worse. I've seen SD on some very expensive plasma televisions that just looks horrible.

So, what "type" of HD TV (Plasma, LCD, LCD Proj., DLP) handles the SD signal the best? Or is it a brand (Sony, Samsung, etc) thing? Does 760p or 1080i or 1080p handle it better?

A salesman at Tweeter (suspect I know) told me that 1080p will handle SD the best (doesn't seem to make sense, more pixels probably just amplify noise) and that Sony DLP provides the best up conversion.

Right now I'm leaning towards a 46" Samsung DLP 760p. It seems to be a good cross bewteen size and price for my family.

[db4530]

Originally Posted by larsenmtl

So, what "type" of HD TV (Plasma, LCD, LCD Proj., DLP) handles the SD signal the best? Or is it a brand (Sony, Samsung, etc) thing? Does 760p or 1080i or 1080p handle it better?

I have a 50" LCD Rear Projection from Sony (WEGA). I have found that standard definition looks best when watch in normal, 4:3 (rather than wide,16:9) format.

I have set the TV so that standard definition channels automatically show in 4:3 and HD channels in 16:9.

While there is still some noise in the SD programming, it hasn't been at all distracting so long as I am in the 4:3 format.

[Liberal]

It depends a lot on your signal source. We receive SD in digital, and it makes a huge difference. Analog SD is snowy, like an old set of rabbit ears. Digital SD is very clear. It's not HD quality, but its as good as or better than ordinary cable TV reception.

[larsenmtl]

Originally Posted by Liberal

It depends a lot on your signal source. We receive SD in digital, and it makes a huge difference. Analog SD is snowy, like an old set of rabbit ears. Digital SD is very clear. It's not HD quality, but its as good as or better than ordinary cable TV reception.

Liberal, can you say what type of TV it is?

[gotpasswords]

If anything, I'd expect a 1080p display to be the worst for SDTV, but best for generating spiffs for the salesman. Unless you have a Blu-Ray or HD DVD player, there's no reason to buy 1080p as there is currently no off-air 1080p programming.

Any HDTV will show all the "warts" in an SDTV signal, but some are more forgiving than others. I've got a Panasonic 1080i plasma that does quite well with standard def, but I've seen some really terrible pictures from the cheap lines.

[Liberal]

Originally Posted by larsenmtl

Liberal, can you say what type of TV it is?

It's a Sony Grand Wega KDF-55WF655, LCD projection.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by gotpasswords

If anything, I'd expect a 1080p display to be the worst for SDTV, but best for generating spiffs for the salesman. Unless you have a Blu-Ray or HD DVD player, there's no reason to buy 1080p as there is currently no off-air 1080p programming.

Any HDTV will show all the "warts" in an SDTV signal, but some are more forgiving than others. I've got a Panasonic 1080i plasma that does quite well with standard def, but I've seen some really terrible pictures from the cheap lines.

I agree, although I have Panny 720p plasma.

If there is an HD channel available, I usually watch it even the feed is just SD-- you get much better picture quality than you do on the SD channel. Gotta watch out somewhat for burn-in from the black side bars, but I think the newer plasmas aren't so vulnerable to that effect.