PAL vs SDTV

[G.Prime]

I have an 80cm ATD TV with Component Vid, s-Vid and SCART. I hear form less than relyable sources that I should be able to plug in a Digital Reciver (SD) and not really notice the difference. I Understand that Im not gonna get anything near as clear as HD, however I am writing to see if there will be a significant difference between reciving the signal via RF or Digital... I beleive it to be the difference between tv and DVD would I be correct?

All I really want to know is that if I get a Digital Box will I get a better Image than I already have and also what method should I use to connect it?
S-vid, Scart or Component Video (Y, Pb, Pr)

Thanks for any input

[mddawson]

With digital your picture (depending on the quality of your current reception) should be a lot clearer plus you have the option of widescreen. You will notice compression artefacts with digital, however these are often in the analog transmission as well (eg: the cricket).

I believe any picture quality issues are probably due to poor quality source material. In the same way CDs & DVDs show up a poor quality master, digital shows up the faults of poor quality recordings being used. Analog tends to soften these faults and make them less visible.

[Mike]

G.Prime wrote:

> if there will be a significant difference between reciving the signal
> via RF or Digital...

Not 'digital', as your tv has no digital input.

> I beleive it to be the difference between tv and
> DVD would I be correct?

Yes, DVD and digital broadcast both have extra horizontal resolution,
which you loose by going though a PAL composite signal (incl RF).

HOWEVER, if you are squeezing a widescreen pic down to fit on a 4:3 TV,
you loose a lot anyway, so it doesnt matter much.

> All I really want to know is that if I get a Digital Box will I get a
> better Image than I already have

No, not unless you have reception problems, or have a widescreen TV.

> and also what method should I use to
> connect it?
> S-vid, Scart or Component Video (Y, Pb, Pr)

Any of those are OK for SD. Avoid RF or composite.

[Mike]

mddawson wrote:
> With digital your picture (depending on the quality of your current
> reception) should be a lot clearer

I beg to differ. For me ABC looks better on digital, but mostly because
digital transmissions affect the analog reception quality :-(

Some programs look sharper on digital, but the OP will not see that on
his 4:3 set.

> plus you have the option of widescreen.

Not an 'option'. WS on an old set means loss of screen area and less detail.

[G.Prime]

But I do have a crappy signal. Im getting this stupid ghosting effect and I love the Idea of getting tv shows in true 5.1 surround... My TV is just a standard 80cm flatscreen - no widescreen but its not like my screen is so small that the black lines would bother me... With normal signal the lines are interlaced, will this be the same if I setup a digital box through s-video or will it have some sort of progressive scan?

I have decided to get a SD set-top box and connect it with S-Video (I hope you can do that) Ill shop around... Any suggestions?

Thanks...

[Cat on a PC©]

With normal signal the lines are interlaced, will this be the same if I setup a digital box through s-video or will it have some sort of progressive scan?

It will be interlaced.

Unless your analogue reception is poor, you will notice very little differences between analogue or SD digital signal. A word of caution, though. You mentioned you have ghosting. Make sure your antenna, cable and connections are in top notch order or you will soon be cursing you ever bought a digital set top box. The drops outs and pops and crackles will become a heck of lot annoying than the ghosting!

[MarkJD]

There is no "true 5.1 surround" transmitted on SDTV. You might be lucky to
get Dolby Prologic on SDTV.


Mark

[Richard Jary]

G.Prime wrote:

>But I do have a crappy signal. Im getting this stupid ghosting effect
>and I love the Idea of getting tv shows in true 5.1 surround...
>
As has been said, no 5.1 sound on SD.

If your crappy signal is purely ghosting and you have good signal
strength (yeah I know, hard to test) then digital will likely help. At
least you will get a good picture. If the signal is weak and noisy as
well you won't get anything on digital as it requires much more signal
strength to be reliable.

Would suggest you ask neighbours if they have it, or a reliable TV
installer (not a shop) about the chance of getting digital in your area
if you aren't in a major city with a good view to the transmitters. Also
you can check coverage via the ABC website (which at least shows their
channel) at:

Go to

http://www2b.abc.net.au/reception/frequencyfinder/asp/search.asp

Enter your postcode and it will show the services it thinks are
available in your area, then you can select the dig channel and look at
the coverage map.

Richard

[Malcolm Taylor]

"Cat on a PC©" <Cat.on.a.PC.11e2xz@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au> wrote in
message news:Cat.on.a.PC.11e2xz@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au...
|
| > With normal signal the lines are interlaced, will this be the same
if
| > I setup a digital box through s-video or will it have some sort of
| > progressive scan?
|
| It will be interlaced.
|
| Unless your analogue reception is poor, you will notice very little
| differences between analogue or SD digital signal. A word of
caution,
| though. You mentioned you have ghosting. Make sure your antenna,
cable
| and connections are in top notch order or you will soon be cursing
you
| ever bought a digital set top box. The drops outs and pops and
crackles
| will become a heck of lot annoying than the ghosting!

Since when is ghosting anything to do with antenna, cable or
connections? It is caused by reflections from buildings, etc. reaching
the antenna at different times and will certainly be cleared up by
digital, as long as the signal strength is good enough (analogue
ghosting happens even in strong signal areas).

[Michael Garibaldi]

Malcolm Taylor wrote:
> "Cat on a PC©" <Cat.on.a.PC.11e2xz@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au> wrote in
> message news:Cat.on.a.PC.11e2xz@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au...
> |
> | > With normal signal the lines are interlaced, will this be the same
> if
> | > I setup a digital box through s-video or will it have some sort of
> | > progressive scan?
> |
> | It will be interlaced.
> |
> | Unless your analogue reception is poor, you will notice very little
> | differences between analogue or SD digital signal. A word of
> caution,
> | though. You mentioned you have ghosting. Make sure your antenna,
> cable
> | and connections are in top notch order or you will soon be cursing
> you
> | ever bought a digital set top box. The drops outs and pops and
> crackles
> | will become a heck of lot annoying than the ghosting!
>
> Since when is ghosting anything to do with antenna,

It can have a lot to do with antenna.... If it's not correctly aligned
with where the transmitter is.

It is caused by reflections from buildings, etc. reaching
> the antenna at different times and will certainly be cleared up by
> digital, as long as the signal strength is good enough (analogue
> ghosting happens even in strong signal areas).
>
>
>

[mddawson]

With analog transmission there is also the possiblity of too strong a signal overloading the RF input on your TV. This creates as much of a problem as low signal strength.

I would recommend getting a cheap STB then you can see what digital TV is like and get the hang of it. The service will only improve as more of its features are implemented.

[Malcolm Taylor]

"Michael Garibaldi" <garibaldi9@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:402cdc46$0$29132$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.a u...
| Malcolm Taylor wrote:
| > "Cat on a PC©" <Cat.on.a.PC.11e2xz@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au> wrote
in
| > message news:Cat.on.a.PC.11e2xz@no-mx.forums.eyo.com.au...
| > |
| > | > With normal signal the lines are interlaced, will this be the
same
| > if
| > | > I setup a digital box through s-video or will it have some
sort of
| > | > progressive scan?
| > |
| > | It will be interlaced.
| > |
| > | Unless your analogue reception is poor, you will notice very
little
| > | differences between analogue or SD digital signal. A word of
| > caution,
| > | though. You mentioned you have ghosting. Make sure your antenna,
| > cable
| > | and connections are in top notch order or you will soon be
cursing
| > you
| > | ever bought a digital set top box. The drops outs and pops and
| > crackles
| > | will become a heck of lot annoying than the ghosting!
| >
| > Since when is ghosting anything to do with antenna,
|
| It can have a lot to do with antenna.... If it's not correctly
aligned
| with where the transmitter is.
|

OK, but even an optimally-aligned antenna is not going to be
completely immune to analogue ghosting, is it? Won't it still be
likely to pick up reflections, on the assumption that it won't
completely reject signals not coming directly from the transmitter?

In any case, digital will clear up many cases of analogue ghosting
(without doing anything to the existing aerial or cabling). It
certainly did for me. Analogue ghosting per se is not a barrier to
excellent digital reception (and neither is an ordinary old antenna
and cabling).