HDTV??-What have I got here??

I recently purchased a 32" TV (Sharp model 32SC26B) for my son for X-mas. He will mostly use it for video games so I really only bought on price,screen size,# of connections and did not look into really anything beyond that.

We hooked it up last night,popped in a DVD and I was pretty impressed with the PQ. I decided to research this TV a little more (I know everything here was done bassackwards) and have a couple of questions;

First under specs I found this discription;

Digital TV Standard : HDTV

It also said the scanning format was 480i but that it has an integrated HD-Tuner that accepts 480/720 and 1080 signals but then down converts them to 480.

I am guessing this all means I can recieve HD signals on this but this TV can't display them?

Is there any way to upconvert or stop this TV from down converting to 480?

BTW-Happy Holidays to all!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thekid

I recently purchased a 32" TV (Sharp model 32SC26B) for my son for X-mas. He will mostly use it for video games so I really only bought on price,screen size,# of connections and did not look into really anything beyond that.

We hooked it up last night,popped in a DVD and I was pretty impressed with the PQ. I decided to research this TV a little more (I know everything here was done bassackwards) and have a couple of questions;

First under specs I found this discription;

Digital TV Standard : HDTV

It also said the scanning format was 480i but that it has an integrated HD-Tuner that accepts 480/720 and 1080 signals but then down converts them to 480.

I am guessing this all means I can recieve HD signals on this but this TV can't display them?

Is there any way to upconvert or stop this TV from down converting to 480?

BTW-Happy Holidays to all!!!

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Your TV has the new standard "ATSC" tuner which allows you to receive OTA (over the air) digital TV signals. When I first connected my ATSC equipped TV to my thirty year old outside antenna, I was surprised, (no, make that fargin' astounded) at how many there were out and how cleanly they came in! Now, I'm a believer!

Now, the bad news. It's not equipped for HDTV. Almost every blurb for it clearly states that this is a "standard definition" TV and the scan rate of 480i confirms this, But, it reads like it will allow you to receive HDTV brodcast but will downconvert them to the TV's native resolution of 480 for viewing on the TV. How good this will look, I cannot say.

But, reassured that thanks to that digital tuner, it should be be one heckuva a good SDTV picture! Ya coulda done a lot worse!

...and happy hollydays to y'all.

If the scaler is good--and chances are that it is at least adequate--downconverted HD broadcasts could look sharper than material that originates as 480p. From typical viewing distances, a 32" HD panel with 1280x720 pixels wouldn't have much of an advantage over an ED panel like yours with 720x480 pixels. Unless you're pressed up against the glass, you won't be missing much detail from your ED TV. More important, Sharp has made a lot of noise about its new fast refresh rates. If your model has the upgrade, motion trails should be diminished considerably, to the benefit of gaming and all fast motion.

thanks Ed for clearing that up, I thought from the info it's native resolution was 480p not 480i a big diffirence.

I assume that, as an LCD panel, it's native resolution is 480p.

ED, Sharp 32SC26B is SD tube TV and it native resolution is 480i 0640x480i). I bought the same model few months ago :D

Thekid

That is a good TV and I am very happy with mine. Since TV is SD and not HD, all signal are converted to 480i automatically, and shown that way. Just remember that ATSC digital tuner is very picky about position of the antenna. In some positions, it will pick up some stations, and another position, it will not.

So you have to play around with position of antenna and run Auto-Digital-Channel-Scan mode again to find the most digital stations. TV also have a signal strength meter which you can check for signal readability.

Thanks, Smokey. That makes a world of difference. Everything that I said should be ignored. I see the word "Sharp" and automatically assume LCD nowadays.

Thanks to all for the info.

I certainly feel better that some of you have had positive experiences with this TV. Someone had mentioned "budget components" on one of the other forums and this TV would be my recommendation. As I researched it I got the impression that CC runs this on sale every few months so if anyone is looking for a 32" TV for not much $ this one may be a good choice.

MarkW-Smokey and Ed again my thanks on your feedback!!
I was sure this was a SD set but the way some of the info on it read I was (as always) confused.

Smokey-I think you hit the nail on the head about the antenna. My son's room is not wired for cable so I when I popped on the rabbit ears that came with the previous set and I was surprised that the PQ for/number of stations it picked were not as good as on the previous TV. I really did not mess with it and as mentioned I don't think regular TV is going to be used much but still if anyone has a recommendation for a fairly inexpensive over the air antenna I would appreciate the help.

Thanks!