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Why does my LCD TV look blurry?

I have regular cable TV. How will the picture look on an LCD TV with HD tuner?

  • I currently have regular cable TV. The coaxial cable runs from a wall outlet directly into my TV with no cable box. I am looking at buying a large screen LCD TV with a built in HD tuner. What quality of picture will I see using the regular cable hookup? Will the stations available on my current cable that have an HD signal appear as HD on a new TV? Will I need to upgrade my cable or get a satellite dish in order to fully utilize the new TV?

  • Answer:

    First of all, be aware that the "HD" tuner in a modern LCD TV only works with over-the-air (OTA) signals received via an antenna. If you're in a good reception area for OTA TV and have a very good antenna (preferably outside, over the roof), you can get great HD programming from your local TV stations. Back to your cable. If you want HD from your cable, you will need (a) a subscription to your cable provider's HD channel package, and (b) a digital cable receiver (a.k.a. set top box or STB) provided by the cable company. Check your cable provider's web site to see what digital and HD channel packages they offer. (Note: all HD is digital, but not vice-versa.) The channels you are watching now are analog. A modern HDTV will receive them, but the picture quality may not be as good as on your old TV, because the new one is designed for digital video and must compromise an analog signal in order to display it. Bottom line: to get the most from a modern TV on cable, spring for the appropriate channel package and STB.

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In order to get an HD image, you must get HD programming. HD programming is available in satellite and cable. An SD (Standard Definition) image on an HDTV won't look good. It won't look incredibly bad, it just wont deliver an image close to HD unless you get HD cable or satellite. Satellite will offer a better HD picture than cable, although it may not be very noticeable. Think of this way, SD can't fit with and HDTV. SD+HDTV=SD Picture HD+HDTV=HD Picture

If you pay for cable, and your cable company is fairly up to date, this is what you will see. The analog channels they still carry will look like total garbage. The digital SD channels will look blah to decent at best. The good news is that you will get a handful of HD channels for free. The cable companies are required by law to send local networks down the wire free and in the clear without charge. Your ATSC tuner will not pick these up. There's another tuner in your TV called 'clear QAM' tuner the clear part means 'in the clear' or not encrypted in any form. Check the specs of the TV you are looking at, just about everything I can remember has a clear QAM tuner. If you want all the HD channels and not just the small handful, you'll need to subscribe to the HD service and it's a must for a large HDTV. Also a must, dump your DVD player for a cheap blu ray player and a cheap HDMI cable, it's the best HD period.

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It'll look terrible with standard cable. It'll look a little better with digital cable, but HD cable is what you would want to upgrade to in order to get GOOD picture quality. (Of course a lot of channels are not HD--old programs and what not cannot be converted to HD now)

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