I just got a sweet deal on a 42 inc LG plasma tv at Leon's Furniture Ltd for about a grand. I’m having a difficult time getting a clear signal from my Satellite to my tv. I was told I didn’t need any special cables to connect my dish to my tv! I was under the impression that composite or component cables were necessary to get the best picture? A Satellite repair guy in the city said that because my other components such as dvd player or receiver were not high def capable that it didn’t matter what cables I used to connect my dish! What I’d really like to know is do I need regular cables or special cables like monster to connect my dish to my tv? Will it matter? Thank you.
Plasma TV help?
- Thread starter BIG PAPPI
- Start date
first things first is stay away from Monster cables like the plague, over priced for what you can get cheaper, second your best bet is HDMI, a single cable that goes from your tv to your reciever, now seeing that your tv is new it probably has an HDMI input, but does your reciever? if not the next best thing is component, then its composite.
I have found these guys very reliable when I need my HDMI cables for a good price.
http://www.factorydirect.ca/static/index.htm
I have found these guys very reliable when I need my HDMI cables for a good price.
http://www.factorydirect.ca/static/index.htm
Costco had a great deal on Philp's HDMI cable for less than half the price of the HDMI cable at BestBuy or Furture Shop.
For an HD signal you can only use component or HDMI, HDMI being the best. Do not pay a fortune for any of these cables. $20 for an HDMI cable is enough. Avoid FS/BB as they only sell overprice cables.
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/
This is a great discussion forum on all things electronic. You'll find answers and opinions on any questions you may have with your new toy.
This is a great discussion forum on all things electronic. You'll find answers and opinions on any questions you may have with your new toy.
By "clear signal" do you mean a high def image or a picture without any intereference? Two totally different things.
What I'd try is this:
Your new TV (great deal btw) probably has hdmi, component and s video inputs. Your receiver probably has the same outputs. Hook each up and then select from the tv's menu the various input sources and see which one gives you the best or clearest image. For eg: hdmi on video 1, component on Video 2 and s video on 3. (you should get the best image via HDMI).
If you're noticing interference or snow, you might want to see where your cables are being run. Having one in direct contact or proximity to a heavy magnetic field might give you snow. I know many are supposed to be shielded, but a strong mag field can cause problems.
One thing that drives me nuts is with the component video connections, each connector isn't labelled very clearly. I know, they're blue green and red but for a guy that's blue/green colour blind, whenever I connect this setup I have a bitch of a time....(trial and error).
Oh yeah, if your DVD player isn't high def, or upconverting, an HDMI cable won't work on it so you're stuck with low or med res (780 I think it is). If your sat receiver isn't HD compatible, you're screwed lol. You'll still get a nice picture, but not HD and believe me, HD is life changing. Not to sound like a pussy or anything but sometimes when I watch PBS (the best HD programs I've found to date) I often get a little mesmerized just by the quality of the image, not the content...
Not to get too far off topic, but when I first got HD I was friggen amazed to see that during a leaf's game, and they had those shots of the guys on the bench, you could actually see the little diamond shaped holes in the athletic knit jerseys on the players.....(the downside is you also get to see Cameron Diaz's bad complexion among other things like shitty makeup and I saw a funny thing recently: after a passionate kiss, the heroine in a movie had her lipstick smudged all over her bottom lip and you could see it plain as day on HD lol)
What I'd try is this:
Your new TV (great deal btw) probably has hdmi, component and s video inputs. Your receiver probably has the same outputs. Hook each up and then select from the tv's menu the various input sources and see which one gives you the best or clearest image. For eg: hdmi on video 1, component on Video 2 and s video on 3. (you should get the best image via HDMI).
If you're noticing interference or snow, you might want to see where your cables are being run. Having one in direct contact or proximity to a heavy magnetic field might give you snow. I know many are supposed to be shielded, but a strong mag field can cause problems.
One thing that drives me nuts is with the component video connections, each connector isn't labelled very clearly. I know, they're blue green and red but for a guy that's blue/green colour blind, whenever I connect this setup I have a bitch of a time....(trial and error).
Oh yeah, if your DVD player isn't high def, or upconverting, an HDMI cable won't work on it so you're stuck with low or med res (780 I think it is). If your sat receiver isn't HD compatible, you're screwed lol. You'll still get a nice picture, but not HD and believe me, HD is life changing. Not to sound like a pussy or anything but sometimes when I watch PBS (the best HD programs I've found to date) I often get a little mesmerized just by the quality of the image, not the content...
Not to get too far off topic, but when I first got HD I was friggen amazed to see that during a leaf's game, and they had those shots of the guys on the bench, you could actually see the little diamond shaped holes in the athletic knit jerseys on the players.....(the downside is you also get to see Cameron Diaz's bad complexion among other things like shitty makeup and I saw a funny thing recently: after a passionate kiss, the heroine in a movie had her lipstick smudged all over her bottom lip and you could see it plain as day on HD lol)
Hello Pappi,
You will not get a hi-def picture with a hi-def TV unless you:
1. Get a hi-def box from your satellite co.
2. Connect the hi-def box to the tv with either a component or HDMI cable.
3. Subscribe to the hi-def channels from your satellite co.
Do the above and you will be amazed and never go back to standard def!!!
p.s. I am with Star Choice and have a 100" screen. If you need more details, p.m. me.
You will not get a hi-def picture with a hi-def TV unless you:
1. Get a hi-def box from your satellite co.
2. Connect the hi-def box to the tv with either a component or HDMI cable.
3. Subscribe to the hi-def channels from your satellite co.
Do the above and you will be amazed and never go back to standard def!!!
p.s. I am with Star Choice and have a 100" screen. If you need more details, p.m. me.
Missing one more important factor. Assuming that you have everything specified by YESINDEED, it may also help to change the coax cable from the dish to your receiver to RJ6. You many also need an amplifier should the dish be a long distance from the receiver.
LOL you answered your own question....you said yuo don't have a receiver but you have a sat receiver....DOHBIG PAPPI said:
th ebest place to get cables is Sayal. www.sayal.com I picked up some cables for a new home theatre receiver - Digial audio, sub-woofer and s-video among others and I spent less for all the cables that one would spend at Best Buy or Future shop for 1. A 15 foot sub-woofer cable was $7.99.
No I meant a stereo receiver when I know some people hook up everything to their television outputs. Another concern I had was last night when I was watching something I taped on the vcr and how bad it looked on my plasma tv. The pic wants to move faster as you are watching it. I need a new vcr or is it because of the regular gold tip cables I have hooked up? With the dish, the picture was blotchy especially around the face area when watching sports. So from reading everyone's advice the best case scenario is getting a HD receiver from from cable company. I thought there was a way to go directly from the dish to the tv with the right cables to get a great picture and do the same for the HD cable box once I pick that up.tboy said:
Pappi now even I am getting confused here.
Are you on Sat or cable?
You talked about both in your last post.
There is a seperate HD box available from the sat provider and the cable provider. It is necessary in order to receive HD programming, otherwise all you are getting is a digital signal or {shudder} an analog signal
Are you on Sat or cable?
You talked about both in your last post.
There is a seperate HD box available from the sat provider and the cable provider. It is necessary in order to receive HD programming, otherwise all you are getting is a digital signal or {shudder} an analog signal
HOLY shit, you are playing a video tape through your plasma and are wondering why it looks like shit?
*shakes his head in wonder*
Dude: unless you have a studio quality tape setup you will see EVERY flaw in the tape process including but not limited to: wow and flutter, tracking errors, pixelllation, blurring...shit. VCRs were hot when the biggest tv was a little over half the size and half the resolution of your plasma.....
*shakes his head in wonder*
Dude: unless you have a studio quality tape setup you will see EVERY flaw in the tape process including but not limited to: wow and flutter, tracking errors, pixelllation, blurring...shit. VCRs were hot when the biggest tv was a little over half the size and half the resolution of your plasma.....
I have an illegal Sat, lol. So I won't be able to get a seperate box for that but I know what you mean. So I want to be able to run the cable and dish seperate but have a nice picture. As for the vcr, I know what you are saying and just wanted to get your feedback. Thanks.
Well, you still can run the satellite and cable separate through the various inputs on the tv.
As for your illegal sat. Just pickup an HD decoder for your type of receiver...or buy an HD receiver...all the cheat codes ?? should work on it....
See, you're already receiving the HD signals, just not processing them.
As for your illegal sat. Just pickup an HD decoder for your type of receiver...or buy an HD receiver...all the cheat codes ?? should work on it....
See, you're already receiving the HD signals, just not processing them.
If I run the Sat seperate into my plasma tv, someone said I should change the cable to an RJ6. Will this help my signal if I don't pick up a HD decoder?tboy said:
How much would an HD decoder cost?
I also wanted your opinion on something. Someone said that LCD is better than Plasma and I said it wasn't! They tried to compare an 47 inch LD costing more than my 42 inch plasma and said because it costs more it is better! I said no, it's because it is a 47 inch tv vs a 42 inch.
I told him that the best place to rate Plasma tv's is crom cnet.com! They have Pioneer PDP-5080HD as the best Plasma tv out there! He said LG was one of the best. I said thanks but I didn't think it was rated higher than the Pioneer. I just got a great price on it for the primary reason to purchase it.
Is cnet.com the best place to rate HD tv's? If not what is?
Well, plasma and lcd tv's have both good points and bad. There is about 3 threads on here explaining the differences.
If memory serves, the big difference is that plasmas generally have better contrast, can be seen easier in brighter rooms and LCD's use less power/create less heat than plasmas.
There is a bunch more reasons but bottom line is they are basically the same (quality wise) just different technologies.
If memory serves, the big difference is that plasmas generally have better contrast, can be seen easier in brighter rooms and LCD's use less power/create less heat than plasmas.
There is a bunch more reasons but bottom line is they are basically the same (quality wise) just different technologies.
