Standard Definition Quality? How does the tc-PXXGT50 tv fair when viewing SD programs/channels?
834399
Personaly because this tv is so revealing, it doesn't look very good. On hd contnet it looks realy sharp but on lesser stuff not so good. The other night I was watching my favorite actress jessica alba in the eye from 2008 and it really looked horrible because it was in standard def. If your going to get a tv like this and spend this much, you need to put the best quality input into it.
834400
I tend to only watch HD content (which is breathtaking on the GT50) but occasionally I pop in Spongebob for my kiddo and it looks as good as it can given that it's not HD. It's not the TV's fault, obviously. SD is going to look SD on any TV. The bigger the screen size, the more noticeable the SD content will be. When sitting 12-15 feet away, Spongebob looks fine in SD. Right up close to the TV it looks like poo. But who watches this size screen from a foot away? ;) The Wii also suffers from this because it has no HD option. Other than the occasional non-HD DVD and the Wii, everything we view on the TV is HD and it's awesomely beautiful. I tend to only watch HD content (which is breathtaking on the GT50) but occasionally I pop in Spongebob for my kiddo and it looks as good as it can given that it's not HD. It's not the TV's fault, obviously. SD is going to look SD on any TV. The bigger the screen size, the more noticeable the SD content will be. When sitting 12-15 feet away, Spongebob looks fine in SD. Right up close to the TV it looks like poo. But who watches this size screen from a foot away? ;) The Wii also suffers from this because it has no HD option. Other than the occasional non-HD DVD and the Wii, everything we... » Read More I tend to only watch HD content (which is breathtaking on the GT50) but occasionally I pop in Spongebob for my kiddo and it looks as good as it can given that it's not HD. It's not the TV's fault, obviously. SD is going to look SD on any TV. The bigger the screen size, the more noticeable the SD content will be. When sitting 12-15 feet away, Spongebob looks fine in SD. Right up close to the TV it looks like poo. But who watches this size screen from a foot away? ;) The Wii also suffers from this because it has no HD option. Other than the occasional non-HD DVD and the Wii, everything we view on the TV is HD and it's awesomely beautiful. « Show Less
834401
I haven't watched much SD content but occasionally we watch the local news or a DVD and I think the quality is fine, actually quite a bit better looking than my old S2 model was with SD sources.
2161516
I know exactly what the issue is. There is a setting on your cable box/sat box where you tell it what resolutions your TV can support. Some cable boxes allow you to pick multiple choices (e.g., 480p, 720p, _and_ 1080i at the same time). What happens in this case is that the cable box will automatically output the signal at the native resolution of the broadcast, provided it is on your selected list. This usually results in the cleanest picture, but of course it causes your TV to have to change resolution modes to match the input every time you change from a channel with one resolution to a channel with another resolution. On my Samsung DLP, I chose to put up with this constant switching because it resulted in the cleanest standard-def picture (my cable box sucks and upconverting SD signals internally). However, if it bugs you, just set your cable box HDTV menu such that your TV only supports 1080i. The result will be that the cable box will internally upconvert all broadcasts to 1080i prior to sending it to your TV, and your TV will no longer have to switch modes all the time. Hope this helps!
447215
It looks as good as a non-HDTV. From the few times I've looked at SD tv though, it doesn't utilize widescreen (It's still 4:3 rather than 16:9). So that's something you might want to think about.
195149
It states it has S-Video out. That would mean Analog capable. I hope so as if I get one for my 36" analog. I have no interest to go HDTV until they work out lots of bugs...and set some standards they plan on sticking with.
304726
I hooked it up to my 46" HDTV and use it to watch movies from Hulu and other TV series (CBS, NBC, etc). The quality in the TV depends on the quality of the video stream: if HD, the quality is excellent, 480 is acceptable.
526456
In regards to this TV, you just have to "zoom" the picture and it will display the widescreen correctly. This goes for SD signal letterboxed shows as well. It (of course) handles the HD signals appropriately with no user intervention.
1785499
My SD DVDs did not look good either. The upconversion to 1080p cause the picture to "jitter" slightly, but noticeably. I went to "video output settings, selected hdmi (which are the cables I am using), manually set the output to 1080i....and the problem completely went away. My SD DVDs now look as well as they did on my old players.
1062621
I've noticed it in SD (using Dish Network) but not in HD yet. I'm thinking it's because I'm just using the RCA that came with it, but even without the HDMI cables the picture is fantastic. Can't wait to see the HD and SD channels and Blu-Ray with the HDMIs
1159147
Thanks for the feedback. I bought this model. Love it so far. Beautiful picture on HD cable and no TOC problems...yet. Will follow up if I have any.
456560
It has both a QAM tuner, used for digital cable tuning, and an ATSC tuner, for digital over-the-air antenna broadcasts. No it is not an Amazon screw-up. It is the mfg, if anyone, QAM is not on the box. Most people don't know or care what the technical name is for tuner types. They want to know if it is digital period. Another hidden piece of information; standard digital DVD players and recorders are not HD (high definition) 720 or 1080 resolution. They are SD (standard defintion) 480 only. DVDs that internally convert the 480 signal to fit an HDTV 16:9 wide screen is why you will see 1080p upconversion plastered all over DVD player boxes. No better picture(higher resolution) is gained in upconverted process. It is still a 480 lower quality standard definition picture. Only BlueRay Players/Recorders can play/record in true HD 1080i resolution. There are BlueRay recorders on the market now, but they are expensive and do not have HD Tuners I don't believe.
2035167
After the Fix.. the SD channels look really good, and the HD channels are superb.. except for the PBS channel which is also in HD. The picture there look like a regular SD but it's still good.The DVD looks fantastic! Just make sure you have it in Movie mode. Well, it depends on your taste and how far you are from the TV. If you are more than 12 feet away.. Dynamic would be nice. If you're really close, 6 to 8 feet.. Movie mode will do the trick. I'm sure you'll love the T.V. It is really pretty. Good Luck!
816550
Good question. One thing you might want to consider is what I just found out yesterday... a salesman showed me what happens when you watch a standard def. digital broadcast on a top-of-the-line Sony LCD with 120hz compared with the Samsung 40A650. Wow, what a difference! Nobody ever mentions what standard def. looks like on these 1080p LCD sets. The Sony was terrible, the Samsung was fine. It's the pixelation of edges during movement problem. I guess the 120hz motion control only works in HD mode on most sets (that's what the saleman said), while Samsung's works in standard mode, too. So, go to a store that will show you what the picture looks like on the 46A550 in standard def mode. I would also want to compare the contrast ratio between the 2 sets, as the 40A650's is pretty hard to beat.
395007
All the antenna transmissions are HD. My picture looks better then cable or any choice of dish. A guy came to my door trying to sell Directtv and I invited him in to see the picture and he couldn't believe it. He had no idea that HD could be received with an antenna.
1746522
Can I use this as a regular TV with the analog to digital convertor I bought in order to get my local antenna TV stations? Do I need special cables or a cable or satellite input? If this is widescreen (?) do I have to adapt (including wife's possible comments!!) to a different picture configuration that we are used to? Thanks a lot for any help and comments.
713611
Update: Watched a dvd last night (the same dvd I first tried) and the picture was perfect - even using HDMI 1080p setting! This time I chose "Anynet HDMI DVD" from the source list on my tv settings, which I don't remember being an option before. I previously chose "DVI". I wonder if that made the difference. Hmm. Anyway....glad my dvd's now look just as great as the HD channels. Thank you for responding C.Woodruff. :)LadyR
1851188
For my Comcast SD viewing, these settings seem best for most channels...Back Light - 8Picture - 75Brightness - 55Color - 55Hue - G4Color Temp - Neutral
2094322
I can imagine, you do feel a bit traumatized by all that NTSC 240 interlaced content out there. There are no miracles. No water from a stone. That said, you can get progressive scan 4x3 or 10x9 from your source--so the better the source the cleaner the up-scanned content. So if your content is widescreen and fair 480p--you'll be happy, and if it happens to be in "full-screen" (don't start me on lies like that one) for the older NTSC sets, it can still look amazing ala Ren and Stimpy or Looney Tunes or sure--Tombstone (depending on your source.) The better the input, the better the output--including on HD Source where I see a marked difference. It deals pretty well with those darned compression artifacts. AT 82" you'd notice. I have them on Plasma, LCD, and an SXRD--and am really pleased with the way they work. Your mileage may vary. Grin.