Samsung LCD TV Series 3/360

[Aharon]

Shalom and greetings all,

I am wondering what are the correct settings to create most perfect life-like reception for the 32 inch Samsung LCD TV Series 3/360 mentioned on the subject heading?

I was forced by F.C.C.'s silly switch from analog to digital to discard my perfectly working 25 year old tv in mint condition showing rich lifelike reception and buy the new tv.

After spending 2 hours setting up new tv, I am not impressed by reception that reminds me of hotel or airport or health club tvs if you know what I mean.

There are hundreds of function settings that I looked and could not figure out how to create lifelike perfect reception in perfect colors (human faces look little funny as if they have not seen sun for long time).

What can I do to make my new tv look as perfect as my 25 year old tv?? I am using cable provider service for cable tv and i am using cable wire with 75 (horseshoe symbol) lead.

Thanks

Aharon

 

[2k1Toaster]

You could have just bought the DTV converter box and used your old tv...

It is probably the resolution. If the new TV has a high resolution, and you are feeding it non-HD content, it will not look as good as if the tv was very low res (like a 25yr old tv) and fed it something higher. Downscaling looks better than upscaling, but natural res is always best.

 

[Aharon]

21Ktoaster,

I have cable therefore DTV converter box is not needed. The main reason I needed to throw it out was that my 25 year old captioning decoder could provide closed captioning in analog transmission BUT would not work in digital transmission.

I am using DTV but not HD although my tv is HDTV.

Is there anything I can do to improve reception as mentioned on my post?

Aharon

 

[Zookster]

I highly recommend you upgrade, if your budget will bear it, to your cable company's HD receiver if this is your primary TV. I have a 32" 720p Samsung (last year's 450 model), and I can tell you analog cable is just crap! and there's not a whole lot you can do to make it look better. These newer TVs were just not made to improve the quality of analog broadcasts like your old trusty CRT was.

My Samsung is in my bedroom, so I have it connected to basic cable (no box), which enables me to get all the local HD channels that the TV's QAM tuner picks up. I also use a bluray player and Roku with it, and HD always looks great. You can get different users' settings in AVSforums to improve PQ, but they are primarily for HD. I currently use CNET's settings (which I've slightly tweaked) for HD sources and stick to the TV's default Standard picture mode for analog.

 

[Aharon]

Zookster,

Thanks a zillion. Your reply is very helpful. Let me check to see if my DTV cable box is already receiving HD transmissions.

Where can I find AVS forums and CNET's settings for my proper setting for my tv please?

Thanks,

Aharon

 

[Zookster]

Your welcome!

Unfortunately, Cnet doesn't seem to have a review with recommended settings for your model, which I assume is the LN32B360: Samsung LN32B360 Flat-panel TV reviews - CNET Reviews

Also a search a AVS forums didn't seem to turn up a thread dedicated to callibration of this particular model, though it does get discussed in other contexts. Come to think of it, the kind of people on that forum who put a lot of time, money, and effort into tweaking their sets PQ typically wouldn't go for a lower end model (unless it's for the kitchen or kids room), and in fact, for my a450, I was exploring settings posted for the Samsung five series from last year (A550). None of them helped.

With that said, you might need to go the DIY route and get a callibration DVD/Blu-ray like Digital Video Essentials to tweak it yourself. Regardless, there won't be a whole lot you can do that would make standard def/analog broadcasts look as good as HD material using the set's default picture settings (BTW, for viewing in a dark room, always go with Movie mode).

 

[Aharon]

Thanks Zooster

Much appreciated I will try your suggestions!!

Aharon