just bought a new HD tv and need help and advice please

[kerrybr]

After seeing a demo, I have just purchased a samsung LE40M86BD from Dixons on line (cheapest I could find when taking into account the 2.5 % current discount voucher). It is being delivered next Saturday, cant wait

I have a xbox 360, sky (free channels only) and virgin (free channels only).

my questions are:

1. Can my xbox 360 upscale normal dvd's to HD or would I be better buying a
dvd hdmi player for around £70.

2. which cable should I use to connect the 360. I am currently using a DVI
cable to connect to my medion LCD. The samsung has component, HDMI's
and pc input connection s

3. I am thinking of buying a ps3 for christmas just for blue ray as I already
have a 360 for games. Blue ray seems to have more films that I like than
HD-DVD. How much better is the quality than upscaling. I saw a blue ray
demo on the samsung and was blown away. But I have not seen the
quality of an upscaled dvd, is the quality much different between
upscaling and blue ray HD-DVD.

4. I am going to mount the the new tv on the wall so I need a unit / cabinet
below for the sky or ntl box plus the 360 and hopefully the ps3 christmas
time.
Can someone recommend a good place to buy hi-fi furniture.

5. Will the quality of the ntl or sky picture be better on the new tv and
would they equal the built in freeview. It is not easy to get an external
aerial connected to the new tv on the wall to get a good freeview signal.
If the picture was much better on the freeview then I would have to
consider installing an external aerial.

thanks

Kerry

[Elzar]

1. The Xbox doesn't upscale DVD's.

2. Component.

3. Upscaling isn't that impressive. I'd put the £70 towards a dedicated HD DVD/Blu-ray player.

[Tyler Durden]

1. The Xbox doesn't upscale DVD's.

Yes it does, but only if you connect via vga

[kerrybr]

thanks for the advice. I thought the 360 did upscale but I am probably wrong

[kerrybr]

will it upscale to 1080 or just 720 ?

[Francis]

If you connect the 360 to the TV with VGA (PC Input) it will allow you to choose various resolutions. If 1920 x 1080 is there (it should be I think?), that's your TV's native resolution and the best choice for you.
It also upscales DVD's when using the VGA connection.

[kerrybr]

ok thanks for help. Will there by any upscaling for sky / virgin by the samsung

[rwniel]

Every source that's fed to the television in other than its native resolution (i.e. 1920×1080) will be upscaled - in that case it's handled by the scaler in the Samsung tv. Blu ray (hi def) runs natively at 1080p hence no upscaling is required - dvd will naturally be upscaled regardless of how its fed to the television (given the native resolution is lower - either by the player or directly by the television).

Robert

[kerrybr]

thanks Robert it is becoming clearer now. So even if I connect the sky / virgin via scart it will still be upscaled by the tv ? Although I accept no where near the quality that blue ray will offer

[splobber]

You can connect it by SCART, but it will be a bit ropey. I haven't used a scart connection for over 2 years now.

The problem with LCD is that SD feeds can make the set look like a pile of crap.

With regards to upscaling it can be quite good. TBH, I have both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray and a decent upscaled DVD can look almost as good through my Oppo 971. I have several discs on either high def format and they certainly don't blow me way anyway.

I've always said that if your primary viewing is for SD sources then a plasma is your best bet, but I have to admit the forthcoming Samsung F96 range has got me intrigued.

[rwniel]

thanks Robert it is becoming clearer now. So even if I connect the sky / virgin via scart it will still be upscaled by the tv ? Although I accept no where near the quality that blue ray will offer

Yes it will still be upscaled - otherwise the SD source would be windowed (given the fixed native resolution of the panel). SD can look pretty good upscaled, but very variable - for example Playstation 2 tends to look very jagged/poor. Television sources (freeview/sky/virgin) is very dependant on the quality of the original broadcast. So some programmes/channels can look great, others pretty ropey (also magnified to some degree by the larger screen not just the upscaling process). That's why question 5) (above) is a tricky one to answer. Generally, people seem happy with Sky on this size 1080p screen within the mentioned provisos. Obviously you should try and use the best connection available for each source.

Robert

[kerrybr]

thanks everyone.

Couple more questions.....

I need 5m leads to connect sky, xbox 360 where is the best place with reasonable prices. Is it really worth spending loads on cables will the quality be that much better.

Do lcd TV's need 'burning in' with reduced settings or is it ok from the off.

Will the 360 be ok for upscaling or should I buy a dvd player with upscaling, about £70. The other half wont allow another £180 for an OPPO which everyone seems to agree is the best

[splobber]

A digital cable, whether it costs £5 or £50 makes no difference and I have tried them.

Analogue cables such as component or scart leads can make a lot of difference. QED or Ixos do some good scarts, whereas www.bluejeanscable.com (or co.uk if you don't want to dice with potential customs charges) do some blinding Belden component leads. As for the 360 connection, just get the official VGA lead and you will be sorted.

I personally find the 360 a bit duff for normal DVD playback, let alone upscaling. As for not getting a decent player such as the Oppo you have to ask yourself why you would spend a bucketload on a decent TV and then use cheaper ancilliary equipment which may not offer you the best picture.

£180 is nothing when you consider this player outperforms anything that is 2 or 3 times more expensive than it and you would have had to spend £600+ a couple of years back on a decent player anyway.

[kerrybr]

I need a 5m lead for the 360 as the lcd will be on the wall and i want to run the cables inside the cavity and into the side of the tv without running trunking down the wall.

I have searched but cannot find a 5m xbox 360 lead anywhere

any help please

thanks all for your help. Tv arriving Saturday cant wait:clap:

[rwniel]

I need a 5m lead for the 360 as the lcd will be on the wall and i want to run the cables inside the cavity and into the side of the tv without running trunking down the wall.

I have searched but cannot find a 5m xbox 360 lead anywhere

any help please

thanks all for your help. Tv arriving Saturday cant wait:clap:

If you use a bit of lateral thinking - a standard xbox 360 vga cable lead plus a vga extension cable like this one (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=1831) would give you the required length and there shouldn't be any degradation despite the extra connector.

Robert

[backtothefuture]

A digital cable, whether it costs £5 or £50 makes no difference and I have tried them.

Analogue cables such as component or scart leads can make a lot of difference. QED or Ixos do some good scarts, whereas www.bluejeanscable.com (or co.uk if you don't want to dice with potential customs charges) do some blinding Belden component leads. As for the 360 connection, just get the official VGA lead and you will be sorted.



do component or scart cables give hi-def? I thought only HDMI cables gave hidef! :shrug:

[splobber]

I was only discussing the relative benefits of having better cables rather then HD capability. You can get HD from component leads anyway.

[kerrybr]

took delivery of the tv really except the XBOX360 does NOT connect via VGA. which is annoying as I purchased a VGA extension cable today at Maplins, hopefully they will take it back. Apparently it is a proble with the 360 as the problem arises with a number of different tv's.

I have just bought a component cable from Argos on offer for £4.99.
m
My question can I extend the component cable by using RGA connectors and another length of cable or will I lose the HD capability

Watched toy story earlier which was stunning via hdmi upscaling via a phillips 880.

regards

Kerry

[splobber]

The M86 does accept Xbox 360 via VGA, although depending on what firmware revision you have, it may not display full 1080p.

You should be able to extend the component lead that way without losing the HD capability.

[kerrybr]

mine doesnt work on vga and my software is 1009 but there is an option to restore to 1006 not sure if that may help wouldnt think so to be honest.

I would have thought the later the software the less problems there would be

thanks splobber for all your help btw