Big Screen set-up help needed

Finally bought a "big screen" tv after many years of staring at a 27" glass tube.

It's a 49" Vizio M-series that I'm viewing from about 10 feet. Just can't get the picture right. Edges are a bit fuzzy and faces sort of blurred. Using a cable box and HDMI cord. Tried my DVD (not blue-ray) and it looks great!

Ideas? Maybe I bought too big?

49" isn't too big, we upgraded the living room to 60" at a fairly similar viewing distance.

I would check if there are any settings for scaling and sharpening. Basically turn off all the "helpers" that may or may not get in the way.

Also, see if you can borrow a Blueray player with some full HD disks - a lot of cable boxes only supply material in 720p so there may be more scaling going on than necessary or desirable.

The info screen shows I'm getting 480dpi on my cable broadcast. Yes i turned off several of the helpers and the local darkening. Seem like several of the 'premium' features I bought this thing for are hindering it. Take it back and get a cheaper one?

Check the cable box settings.

Check that you're watching HD content via your cable box.

Cable still has regular and HD channels. Of course they can charge extra for those, because berkeley you customers.

You should try to turn off any auto-scaling so that non-HD content will show closer to the regular format.

If the TV or cable box are saying 480i, you aren't watching HD...

Sounds like this is your first HDTV? You need to make sure you are sending it an HD signal and that you are tuning in to HD channels. On Comcrap, for instance, they still have the standard-def channels in all their usual locations (under 100), and the HD versions are in the higher numbers.

Since you said that DVDs look good, I suspect that this is your issue.

turboswede wrote: You should try to turn off any auto-scaling so that non-HD content will show closer to the regular format.

This too, you want "view mode" set to "normal" or whatever gets you the content displayed in it's native aspect ratio.

turboswede wrote: Check that you're watching HD content via your cable box. Cable still has regular and HD channels. Of course they can charge extra for those, because berkeley you customers. You should try to turn off any auto-scaling so that non-HD content will show closer to the regular format.

This. I had to hard reboot my box a few weeks ago and when it restarted it looked terrible. I had to go in and set it to 1080 resolution and proper formatting then it was fine again.

Also, Google search your TV model number for setting tips. Lots of tips out there from people that love AV gear like we love cars.

Chances are you don't have HD programming in your cable package. The box is HD capable if there is a HDMI out on it. It's also possible that the HD channels are above channel 1000 in your guide and you've been paying for them the whole time anyway. Who's your service provider?

FWIW it definitely isn't the TV. Most of my upgrades of people going from SD service to HD service involve the purchase of a new TV and the horrible picture quality of 480 on a LCD.

Yeah, sounds like I need to get a HD upgrade on my service. Maybe i'll just take this thing back, my cable bill is too high as it is. I didn't expect HD like quailty, but should no worse than a 25 year old tube right? Some things are better, like graphics and cartoons, but older shows look worse.

Gearheadotaku wrote: Yeah, sounds like I need to get a HD upgrade on my service. Maybe i'll just take this thing back, my cable bill is too high as it is. I didn't expect HD like quailty, but should no worse than a 25 year old tube right? Some things are better, like graphics and cartoons, but older shows look worse.

Or you can quit cable, buy in inexpensive digital antenna for local content, then pick up a Blu-Ray player with a Roku box for streaming. Even Netflix streaming will look much better than the 480 you're staring at now. You'll save a thousand bucks a year as well.

Older episodes of the Simpsons or Seinfeld look kinda weird on cable but newer ones look normal. The upscaling they do from shows not shot in native HD look kinda grainy sometimes. I know what you mean about the high bill though, I wish we didn't like movies and stuff as much as we do sometimes.

Jerry From LA wrote:

Gearheadotaku wrote: Yeah, sounds like I need to get a HD upgrade on my service. Maybe i'll just take this thing back, my cable bill is too high as it is. I didn't expect HD like quailty, but should no worse than a 25 year old tube right? Some things are better, like graphics and cartoons, but older shows look worse.

Or you can quit cable, buy in inexpensive digital antenna for local content, then pick up a Blu-Ray player with a Roku box for streaming. Even Netflix streaming will look much better than the 480 you're staring at now. You'll save a thousand bucks a year as well.

I'm in this camp. We pay under $25 a month for Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu Plus. Shows that aren't on any of the three (new episodes of The Walking Dead for example) we can purchase through the Amazon video store and watch commercial free a day after they air on cable. The video quality on all three services is pretty great. A HTPC hooked up to your tv could probably get you most of the stuff you watch on cable.

I know cutting cable isn't for everyone but it works for me.

HTPC...whats that?

Home theater PC. Your new tv should have at least vga and hdmi inputs. It might also have a dvi input. Point being you can output video from your computer to your tv fairly easily. There is a ton of content on the internet at large, legal and otherwise, that you can't get through a streaming device.

As far as your picture quality issues I'd agree with everyone else, your cable isn't outputting an hd signal. The jump from standard to hi definition is nothing short of amazing.

Well I'm getting soaked an extra 10bucks a month for HD service. The picture is pretty awesome though. Even fills the whole screen! Might as well use the whole thing If I'm paying for it right?

$10/month for them to unscrew up the picture they send to the cable box? Damned cable cartels can go pound sand.

Get yourself a good outdoor TV Antenna and a Roku stick, plug both into your new TV, subscribe to Netflix and Hulu Plus for about $20/month, enjoy many, many TV shows and movies (plus Youtube, livestream, etc. via other Roku Channels all in HD) drop cable altogether leaving only internet and tell them to pound sand.

In reply to PubBurgers:

You're still paying Comcast roughly $10/mo for all that.....since they own hulu, and charge the others for the excessive bandwidth they consume.