Hd tv help!

[luvmyfam444]

We just bought a new 32" tv night before last. It looks great on some shows - watched an old Alfred Hitcock movie last night & it was amazing looking.

WE have Regis & Kelly on now & I can't even read their coffee mugs & hardly see faces 'cause I see all the squares making it up.

DH & I are in a major argument over it - he says its 'cause they aren't being broadcast in HD & regardless it looks better than what we had.

I'd think by now every show would pretty much be broadcast in HD - did we NOT do something when it was hooked up?

Yes, we bought a 720 'cause from what I read(from CNET I think it was) & heard from store people that if you're buying a small tv then a 720 is fine.

So should we take it back & get another brand? I think we should just take it back & get our old TV back - cause I dont' wanna go thru all that again.

Of course in the store the TV looked AMAZING 'cause its on the retail setting & all the tvs look that way....

 

[luvmyfam444]

FWIW - we are using DirecTV

 

[ICF]

perhaps a stupid question, but if you have Direct TV....are you paying for their HD service, watching an HD channel via an HD Receiver ?

Not all channels on Direct are HD....and not all shows are in HD even on an HD channel.

 

[Golf4food]

perhaps a stupid question, but if you have Direct TV....are you paying for their HD service, watching an HD channel via an HD Receiver ?

Not all channels on Direct are HD....and not all shows are in HD even on an HD channel.

What they said.

Many current HDTVs will actually give you a WORSE picture on non-HD broadcasts.

You are correct that under around 40 inches you do not need a full 1080p screen. Your 720p is just fine.

If you do not have an HD receiver your DirecTV broadcast will not be in HD no matter what. It's $10 more per month to get HD signals and your receiver has to be capable of getting the signal, as does your actual dish.

 

[puffkin]

Agreed. You need to be watching the HD channel with the HD receiver and you have to be paying for the service.

If not, the picture will look HORRIBLE.

 

[bicker]

Yes, we bought a 720 'cause from what I read(from CNET I think it was) & heard from store people that if you're buying a small tv then a 720 is fine.

There are well-regarded minimum standards for the relationship between three variables: screen size, viewing distance and resolution.

See: