On 10/8/2015 9:43 PM, hubops wrote:


... my brand new $ 600. LG 42 inch LED seems to provide a
poorer picture quality than the old 32 inch RCA CRT that it's
replacing ! ... could it be the cable ? or something else ?
It's fed by a Bell Expressvue satellite dish. Or is it just a
matter of my eyes adjusting to the change ? John T.

[SNIP]

Ah ha ! Sorry - I'm a luddite. Is there some sort of conversion
device / connector ? It's an old-ish satellite receiver - not HD..
connected with the same co-ax ? cable that the old TV used. The
receiver also has S-Video and the 3 RCA AA/V jacks. The TV has the
co-ax? cable ; 5 RCA ; 3 USB ; 3 HDMI. I much appreciate the help
- thanks guys. ... to think that I once enjoyed delving into this
sort of NEW TOY / NEW TECH stuff ! ? John T. just another
old fart

Don't know exactly what you mean by "the 3 RCA AA/V jacks". You could
be describing either 3 {composite video/stereo audio} input sets or 1
{component video/stereo audio} input set. In order of increasing video
quality:
a. composite (single RCA connector, usually yellow),

b. S-video (small round with 4 pins and a rectangular key to help
orient the plug to mate with an s-video socket),

c. component video (3 video cables using RCA connectors, usually blue,
green, and violet or red). Some manufacturers use proprietary names
rather than "component" to describe this protocol. For example, Toshiba
calls it "colorstream".

Connecting cables for each system should be coaxial to minimize signal
loss and/or noise from nearby sources of radio frequency noise. Do not
use unshielded speaker cables with RCA connectors as substitutes. All 3
video protocols require separate cables with RCA connectors to carry the
audio; and when stereo, usually a red/white or black/white pair.

d. As I understand it, HDMI doesn't provide better video quality than
component video for conventional (720 or 1080) HD video. I'm not an
expert and don't know if that's also the case for 4K video. HDMI
connections also provide a stereo audio signal and the ability for two
HDMI equipped devices to at least partially control each other,
simplifying hookup and increasing user convenience.

Choose the best video signal protocol that is common between your
satellite receiver's output choices and your TV's input choices. Unless
the satellite receiver or a TV has a defective circuit (or a connecting
cable is defective), you should see better video quality using any of
the video protocols other than composite video. Although it shouldn't
be an issue, I've found that signal quality is sometimes degraded if
more than one protocol is used concurrently between the input and
output devices (to make quick A-B) comparisons. It's better to
disconnect/connect the other protocol's cables, and then switch the
input source on the TV. Also, if a configuration option, make sure that
your output device is sending a video quality protocol that the TV can
use. For example, if the TV can only process up to 1080i, and the
satellite receiver (or DVD player, etc.) can be set to deliver either
1080i or 1080p, make sure that they are not set to deliver 1080p. If
the TV can only process 720 resolution, no input device should be set to
deliver 1080, etc. etc. TVs usually automatically process whatever
signal quality they are capable of receiving - depending on their
specific circuitry. Many input devices that you connect to a TV do have
user-selected settings to choose the output quality (in addition to the
multiple jacks on the back) and you want to choose the best quality that
your specific TV can use. By the way the "p" (for "progressive")
protocol provides double the resolution of the "i" (for "interlaced")
protocol.

Hope this helps.