Trouble getting a good picture on Sharp Aquos

Hi All -

I'm new here... and am at wits end with my new Sharp I just bought. I'm very disappointed in the quality of the picture. The model is Sharp Aquos LC32D47U. It is a 32" screen. I don't think anything is wrong with the TV, but I think I probably don't have the settings where they need to be. I have fooled with this over and over and it still doesn't look good to me. I've even reset it back to the factory settings and started from scratch, but still no better. I'm just learning about contrast, brightness, tint, etc... but is there a quick, simple way to get a decent picture? I'm not a tech person and am not real picky; I just need a sharp picture with good color! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

also... I don't have HD yet, but plan on getting that hooked up this week - will this help with my picture problems?

What I can say is to wait until you get you HD setup and then reevaluate. HD and SD on an HD TV is like night and day. Even on just a 32'' screen. How far away do you sit when viewing? I have the Sharp Aquos LC37D44U upstairs and it does a pretty good job at SD programming I must say, but HD is a BIG difference. After I took it out of showroom torch mode (an actual setting believe it or not) and tweaked the contrast, brightness and backlight down a bit, the PQ improved quite a bit. I can give you my settings if you like, but based on our room enviroments, it may not help much if at all.

Hi Bigloww - Thanks so much for your reply. I would say I'm about 8-10 feet away when viewing the TV. If you could send me your settings I'd be forever grateful! That would give me a starting point and I could tweak it from there. The manual that came with this TV is useless. I'm getting the HD hooked up this weekend, but as you said... even in SD the picture quality should be a big improvement over the old square TV I've been looking at for the past 15 years! Thanks for your help.

Just bumping this up in the hopes that you see it. Thanks!

I will try and post them later today when I get home..:busy:

Please post the settings in the thread and not just a PM so that maybe others could use those setting if you could Bigloww.

Thanks!

but as you said... even in SD the picture quality should be a big improvement over the old square TV I've been looking at for the past 15 years! Thanks for your help.

the SD will look better on an SD tv than and HD. its because SD is 480i and you stretching out that picture to the HD tvs resolution of 720 or 1080. its just like watch a video online, it looks good in the little box but when you full screen it it gets pixelated and distored.

i went through the same thing when i upgraded to an HD tv, i didnt have the HD service right away and was like WTH my old tv looked better. depending on what kind of HD service you get, some of the SD will look better cause of the box upscaling it, but not too much. the HD programing will look amazing. if its not in HD i pretty much wont watch it unless im in my bedroom with the old CRT.

I just got an sharp aquos lc40e67un and I haven't even had any problems with the factory settings. They all look good.

Please post the settings in the thread and not just a PM so that maybe others could use those setting if you could Bigloww.

Thanks!

I sent him the info in a PM before I read this post. My settings were based off my room enviroment and calibrated via DVE HD DVD. I did not want to post settings that would not fit other enviroments. But can do so.

Hi Bigloww - Thanks so much for your reply. I would say I'm about 8-10 feet away when viewing the TV. If you could send me your settings I'd be forever grateful! That would give me a starting point and I could tweak it from there. The manual that came with this TV is useless. I'm getting the HD hooked up this weekend, but as you said... even in SD the picture quality should be a big improvement over the old square TV I've been looking at for the past 15 years! Thanks for your help.


Please not that these fit my enviroment and devices based of room lighting and such. These are my Dish Vip622 input settings as my HD DVD input is tweaked a bit different. I believe the main issue you are seeing is based on having an SD feed (and possible connection) instead of HD and will improve quite a bit when that happens. My factory HOME settings other then too bright and overkill were still pretty good, so if they were horrible to you, I think there is another issue. I said HOME because when I 1st turned it on, it asked me if the TV was for home or showroom viewing.

HD and SD will usually be night and day. In your case not as much due to the 32'' screen size and your 8-10' viewing distance. But you should definately see an improvement. As stated above, don't assume your SD viewing would vastly improve due to having an HDTV. In most cases it is the oppisite. Worse the bigger TV you have (especially 42'' or larger)..

What is your current TV source (cable/Dish) and the connection type (composite/S-video)?? I forgot to ask this earlier.

Thanks so much for the settings. I will be hooking up HD Cable thru Comcast using HDMI cable (still have no idea what that is). No sure about the connection type. The only other component I'm hooking up to this TV is a DVD player.

Thanks so much to all on this board... I have learned so much already, but still have a ways to go!

Since you are not sure what a HDMI is exactly, let me give you a little bit of advice. The cable company should include the HDMI with the install. If not, they will include component video. That is just as good PQ wise for HD and SD channels. If you do wind up trying to purchase a HDMI cable on your own, do not pay more than $20 or $25 for it in a retail store. They can be purchased on line for around $5 a pop. BB and other places may try to push $50-$100 Monster "ripoff" cable on you. If so, run a way fast ( a kick to their groin area is optional)..

http://www.amazon.com/Cables-Go-98035-Premium-Digital/dp/B001OC6DCW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1257538262&sr=1-3

What I can say is to wait until you get you HD setup and then reevaluate. HD and SD on an HD TV is like night and day. Even on just a 32'' screen. How far away do you sit when viewing? I have the Sharp Aquos LC37D44U upstairs and it does a pretty good job at SD programming I must say, but HD is a BIG difference. After I took it out of showroom torch mode (an actual setting believe it or not) and tweaked the contrast, brightness and backlight down a bit, the PQ improved quite a bit. I can give you my settings if you like, but based on our room enviroments, it may not help much if at all.

i have the same exact tv, but even after 9 months i cant decide if the skin tones are too yellow or if theres banding, sometimes it looks like there is but when its on no input, i dont see anything. so kinda confused on that one