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cypherstream
Looking forward to the future of things.
Premium,MVM
join:2004-12-02
Reading, PA
clubs:
| Motorola HD Quality vs direct QAM feed Quality -NBC Football
Ok, so I'm watching the game on NBC HD tonight (just about over now) and I've noticed the picture quality is far better when I watch it on the QAM tuner on Ch 10-1, vs the HDMI input from my Motorola DVR.
My Samsung HP-T4254 TV does an excellent job at converting 1080i sources to the native resolution! I'm quite surprised considering the plasma's 1024x768 panel resolution.
Off of the Cable Box I get 720P output, and I've noticed the sharp lines for the NBC scoreboard graphics have a slight flicker to them, like a low refresh rate. Watching the channel directly on the tuner everything is crisp and solid! Text is noticeably sharper. So I set the Cable box to output 1080i instead of 720P and got a picture a little closer to the QAM tuner in terms of quality. Now stuff like ABC and ESPN HD look a tad bit softer though. Sucks that the Motorola Cable box does not just pass the native resolution though. Not sure if I want to keep the Cable box on 1080i or 720P for the HD output... guess I have to make a list of which channels broadcast certain resolutions and make my decision based on which one of those networks I watch the most.
So I thought 1080i was worse than 720p in terms of temporal resolution. Because the 1080 is interlaced, you end up with 540 lines with alternating fields. I am really surprised how good NBC HD looks right now at the 1080i setting. Any one care to comment? | |
Cjaiceman
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join:2004-10-12
Parker, CO
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| Very interesting you point this out. I have also tried the Moto HD box vs the QAM tuner, and I get the opposite result. The moto box looks better than the QAM tuner. On the QAM channel I get pixeling and rough edges, where as the moto box I get very clean and sharp images. I'm sure if I played with the settings on the TV I could clean it up, but I have them set to maximize the moto box, so that could have something to do with it (I doubt it though).
Just for a reference I have the Sony SXRD 55" 1080p TV. I have the moto box hooked up through the DVI to HDMI connection. I also tried the Component cable, but that made little difference. I guess it varies on the TV. I have the box set to output at 1080i as the TV does a wonderful job of upscaling to 1080p. I get very little pixeling when set like this, but like you, on 720p it does look a little worse than the QAM tuner.
I just had a thought, on the HDMI input for my TV there is a setting to cleanup the picture a little, but on the QAM mode I didn't turn it on. That may be part of my problem. I should look into that.
Side note - for my TV, each input has its own set of settings so you can really dial in for the best picture, when I was testing the QAM I did not set ANY settings, they are how it came from the factory. I should set those and report back....  | |
cypherstream
Looking forward to the future of things.
Premium,MVM
join:2004-12-02
Reading, PA
clubs:
| Hey thanks for testing that out on your end!
When I did my checks I made sure the basic settings were similar, such as brightness, contrast, sharpness, and tint between the QAM tuner and the Motorola box.
I now set the Motorola box to output 1080i, which is normally ill advised for a 1024x768 native plasma screen. In my normal viewing habits it seems that I watch more 1080i channels than the 720p ones. The crispness comes alive on these 1080i native channels such as NBC, CBS, Mojo, Discovery HD Theater.
The 720p native channels like the ESPN's or ABC look a little softer, but they still look pretty good.
The Motorola box just doesn't appear to convert 1080i to 720p all that well. Fine horizontal white lines appear to have a slight flicker to them.
I'm using a DCT-6412 with a DVI to HDMI cable. | |
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