HDTV and Me...

Mods, feel free to moves this if it shouldn't be here.

I just made the jump into HDTV and have some comments and questions about it.

First off, I bought the 27 inch Zenith HDTV and am very pleased with it for the price (700 bucks) and highly recommend it to people looking for a HDTV on a budget.

Now on to my questions-- okay so my TV has a HD component input that supports 1080i resolution--now besides digital cable, is there anything I can plug in here?

For instance, can I use the Xbox or PS2 Monster component cables and plug it in and then receive a higher resolution picture? Or will that only work for games that are "progressive TV" enabled? I'm just wondering how to use this new input best...

Also,it has an input labeled "RGB" but I swear it is just the simple VGA input that a computer has--are the two inputs the same? I am going to try my DC through this hookup to see if it is the same as a computer one...but then I have the problem of VGA only working for certain games--does PS2 or Xbox support VGA input (I know Matt said he makes custom cables) but will the input work for all games?

Another question--the TV has a standard, widescreen, and 16X9 mode--I'm not sure when to use the widescreen mode, but does the 16X9 work with any of the systems? I tried it on GGX2 on PS2 and it looked good, but I'm thinking it would look better if I did 16X9 with it connected via component to the HD input and hold down the button to boot it as porgressive?

So yeah, lots of questions so I can figure out how to best use the TV...which means buying lots of new cables...

the DC through S-vid does look amazing though...and I have the PS2 and Xbox through S-vid for now and that looks good...but I think it can look better...with new cables...

I have the Genesis and Saturn through composite and it looks terrible--like the dot crawl isn't moving--it's just a permanent border around things--I'm assuming this is because of the way HDTV displays things--I am going to have Matt do an s-vid Genesis and buy an s-vid for Saturn to improve this...Saturn doesn't have component does it?

Thanks for any help...

The 1080i jack is likely to support other resolutions (usually 480i and 480p, the most commonly output by DVD and game systems). At least, that's how the 1080i jack on my HDTV works.

The RGB input is likely just a VGA jack...no, not all of your DC stuff will work with it, unless you feel like rom hacking your non-VGA games to do so. I think there are VGA boxes for PS2 and Xbox, but I've never used them...


You'll only get higher res out of games that support progressive scan. Otherwise, you'll likely just get better color quality and a clearer pictue by using component over s-video or composite(and most likely a line-doubled picture, which doesn't look bad to me most of the time).

Saturn doesn't have component cables that you can buy from a store, but you might be able to mod it... with an RGB cable you can make a component cable.


Widescreen mode is supported on a game-by-game basis. For instance, DOA3 on Xbox and Eternal Darkness on GCN support 16x9. In a game like DOA3, you can turn on your 16x9 option on the Xbox and on the TV, to receive a letterboxed progressive signal ( wider viewing area than 4:3 progressive scan). On eternal darkness, all of the FMV is done in 480i, so you get black bars on the side of the video...not crazy about that. For the most part, you've just gotta use your judgement on whether a game's version of 16x9 is actually better than it's 4:3 mode...

Thank you!

if you don't mind my asking, where'd you buy yours?

i'm in the market for one myself.. (or will be very soon).

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Originally posted by johnk_
if you don't mind my asking, where'd you buy yours?

i'm in the market for one myself.. (or will be very soon).

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john, I have the same TV as he does, he probably got it at Circuit City or something, they're the biggest dealer of Zenith TVs out there (Best Buy doesn't carry them) and their your best bet. You could probably convice them to give you free shipping on the thing, and their service plans are a lot more reasonably priced that Best Buy's and offer the same perks.

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Originally posted by galvatron
The RGB input is likely just a VGA jack...no, not all of your DC stuff will work with it, unless you feel like rom hacking your non-VGA games to do so. I think there are VGA boxes for PS2 and Xbox, but I've never used them...

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Darn, that's one of the reasons I bought the TV :(

Ah well...

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Originally posted by Ragnarok the Red
john, I have the same TV as he does, he probably got it at Circuit City or something, they're the biggest dealer of Zenith TVs out there (Best Buy doesn't carry them) and their your best bet. You could probably convice them to give you free shipping on the thing, and their service plans are a lot more reasonably priced that Best Buy's and offer the same perks.

Darn, that's one of the reasons I bought the TV :(

Ah well...

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Yup. Circuit City. Total came to 850 with extended service plan and home delivery and set-up. Got a question for you--do you have any problem with reds blurring a bit on the Playstation 2? I have it hooked up with Monster s-vid cable and playing GGX2 and DMC2 both of them showed reds that had almost a drop shadow look to them, but my other systems don't do that...I'm thinking upgrading to component and using the HD input might solve this?

Another question, do you ever use the 16X9 mode? I tried it on PS2 and Xbox, but the image got some wavy lines through it on DOA3 and GGX2--I'm thinking again that I need to upgrade to the component cables and hook everything through a switch box into the HD input and then set the consoles to progressive mode to make it perfectly clean?

Anyway, this thing is beautiful and well now I just have to buy tons of new cables and progressive scan DVD player...

Well atleast with the VGA we could buy an upscan converter and go that route...I think the higher end versions of this TV actually might have real RGB input...this version is basically a poor man's HDTV...but perfect for me...

with that TV you should REALLY have it professionally calibrated. That will eliminate the reds from 'blooming' and will make Genesis/non s-video stuff at least look decent/watchable. That's the problem with these new tech TVs. New stuff looks great but old 16 and 32-bit stuff and bad broadcast signal television can look like shit because the picture quality is just so clean and clear you see all of the flaws and pixels that much more clear unless your TV has been fine tuned and pro calibrated. If you can't afford it, at least get the home kits Avia or Video Essentials (Avia is better though). After that, you'll need to make some modifications so that TV, DVDs, and video games all look nice. Make sure your DVD player is set to 16x9 mode so that you can enjoy anamorphic widescreen (even if your TV isn't widescreen/mine isn't), and hell, upgrade to a progressive scan player w/ component cables while you're at it for the ultimate 'never goin' back' picture quality. But again, you spend so much on a nice quality set, you should really get it calibrated to take full advantage of your hefty purchase. It'll take a week to get used to the settings (a calibrated television is typically darker and softer than people are used to).

where would you go to get it calibrated?

and how expensive are we talking, really..?

Most people really only advise professional calibration for projection screens, since they get a lot darker after 1000 hours of use. For a $700 TV, I wouldn't go looking for a $200 calibration. Actually, I wouldn't bother on any HDTV tube, but I would advise the DVDs he mentioned (AVIA or Video Essentials)...you can usually get rid of blooming by just adjusting your settings without having someone opening up the TV to tweak it.

As for wavy lines, my guess would be noise which is kinda odd. I usually use the 16x9 on my progressive sources, but I've tried it on s-video and never had a problem...

Also, you're wasting money if you paid for an HDTV and you're NOT going component on every thing you can. The differences are huge, even without progressive scan.

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Originally posted by galvatron
Most people really only advise professional calibration for projection screens, since they get a lot darker after 1000 hours of use. For a $700 TV, I wouldn't go looking for a $200 calibration. Actually, I wouldn't bother on any HDTV tube, but I would advise the DVDs he mentioned (AVIA or Video Essentials)...you can usually get rid of blooming by just adjusting your settings without having someone opening up the TV to tweak it.

As for wavy lines, my guess would be noise which is kinda odd. I usually use the 16x9 on my progressive sources, but I've tried it on s-video and never had a problem...

Also, you're wasting money if you paid for an HDTV and you're NOT going component on every thing you can. The differences are huge, even without progressive scan.

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The waviness I'm fairly certain is because of cheap 3rd party cables run through a switcher then into the TV...the upgrade should kill that problem...

I'm going component on everything over time as funds allow--the only problem is with system like Gamecube and Playstation, I'm not sure if I can plug them (with components) into the HD input because not all games are progressive scan and I tried plugging in a non-progessive DVD player and it won't allow it--it says only 480p or 1080i sources allowed.

--so will it allow me to play non-progressive games on PS2 and GC through that input? Or would I have to switch to the standard component for non and back to the HD for progressive?

I'm getting the Xbox component tonight since almost every game supports atleast 480p...the rest can wait for now...

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Originally posted by ssbomberman
The waviness I'm fairly certain is because of cheap 3rd party cables run through a switcher then into the TV...the upgrade should kill that problem...

I'm going component on everything over time as funds allow--the only problem is with system like Gamecube and Playstation, I'm not sure if I can plug them (with components) into the HD input because not all games are progressive scan and I tried plugging in a non-progessive DVD player and it won't allow it--it says only 480p or 1080i sources allowed.

--so will it allow me to play non-progressive games on PS2 and GC through that input? Or would I have to switch to the standard component for non and back to the HD for progressive?

I'm getting the Xbox component tonight since almost every game supports atleast 480p...the rest can wait for now...

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Actually, you'd be surprised at how many games DON'T do 480p on Xbox. Sure, Xbox is the leader in progressive scan, but that's still not the case for about half of the games for the system...It sucks that your input only allows 480p...I think you're stuck switching back and forth, if that's the case. Mine does 480i/480p/1080i and says so on the input...I thought that was the minimum behavior, but that might not be true...


As for the noise, the switcher might be the problem. If it can't handle the frequency of the input it'll screw it up. That's the reason people use component switchers rather than just normal RCA switcher...same product, with higher quality parts on the component one. Great cables could be useless connected to a bad switcher...the switcher having poor shielding could also those cause problems.

Congrats on the purchase. I'm not sure what resolution that the VGA input is set to, but unlike computer monitors, TV's with VGA typically only accept ONE resolution and refresh rate. Like the 27" Zenith's at school (non-HDTV) only accept 800x600 at 60 hz.

Videogames are usually made to fit a 4:3 area nowadays, so you're probably getting less picture when switching it to 16:9. Widescreen mode probably just moves the gauges around so that they'll fit, and it sends a signal that would otherwise be stretched vertically if viewed on a 4:3 screen.

I have been thinking of saving up for a 27" HDTV myself, but I find it hard to save money for that long... it would take me 3 months to save up for the lowest price unit! Besides, I would like to finish updating my speakers first (still have center and surround to go), which will probably amount to about $400.

Well I have everything updated and looking good. The Xbox works well in the HD input as all the games I have run in 480p. The only problem I am having is that reds are just too red on the DC and PS2 and it seems like it's mostly with 2-D games where the reds almost have a drop shadow effect...I tried lowering the color but that lowers all color levels and there's tint adjust, contrast, brightness, and sharpness...should I buy one of the DVDs that calibrate the TVs to make it perfect? Or is there a way I can just do it now...

Buy one of the DVDs. I just used Video essentials on my big screen(non HDTV) and I can't believe how much better it looks. It fixes exactly what you said your problem was with the reds and many more. It worked like a dream. I can't imagine how much nicer it can make a really nice TV look. Trust me, you won't regret it.