Display issues - Sharp Aquos 32" LCD HDTV

Halfmex

Christ, I'm about to have a cerebral hemorrhage here.

Ok, so I got (what I thought was) a great deal on an HDTV yesterday from Best Buy: Sharp Aquos 32" LCD HDTV for $519. Whee, right?

Well, unfortunately, no.

See, my thought was that I'd use it as a combination gaming tv and computer monitor. Trouble is, it seems to have issues displaying images on both fronts. Now, before I get into my issue, I must point out that I am brand new to the whole HDTV thing. I've done some cursory browsing of basic FAQs on the subject thinking that basic knowledge would be sufficient. I may have been mistaken.

So, the issue:

The moment I got it hooked up, I fired up GTA IV and was immediately disappointed by what I can only describe as very bland textures throughout the game, specifically skin. It almost looked like a Van Gogh painting, in a way - very "smudgy". I initially chalked it up to a possibly "stylistic choice" by the developers and surmised that it was the intended appearance of those textures. I tried two other games just to be sure (Skate. and Saints Row) and lo and behold, they both suffered from the same issue. Some textures looked very pixellated (sidewalks, concrete steps, and the like) and others, again, looked very washed out or "smudged".

Now, having said this, I am positive that for at least those last two titles, that is an issue. I used a friend's Polaroid 32" LCD HDTV for a time, and both titles looked quite crisp on that set. The textures rendered perfectly; nothing looked smudged or pixellated at all. Even the dashboard blades are supposed to have a 'brushed metal' look to them, but instead are just faintly gray.

I tried using it as a computer monitor and while text and most web pages look just fine, two more issues crop up here: most images, even ones in the recommended 1360x768 size, have horrible resolution; artifacting and more "smudginess" abounds. Also, black text against a white background tends to vary from 'dark' to 'light' toned as you read left to right on the page. Almost as though someone bolded some text, then left some normal, then bolded some, etc. But this happens on any black text against a white page that I view, so I'm sure that's not the case.

Now, the hardware:

-Sharp Aquos 32" LCD HDTV, set to 1360x768 resolution
-Xbox 360 Premium (launch unit, no HDMI slot) with component cables, set to 720p resolution in the system display settings
-Dell Dimension E510 PC with an ATI Radeon 256MB X600 graphics card (ancient by today's standards, I know, but I didn't have any resolution issues on my 17" PC monitor), using an HDMI connection (with a DVI adapter to the PC) to connect to the television

Frankly I'm most concerned about the resolution issues on my 360; the PC's display issues are more of a minor annoyance, but I mentioned them because they seem to be at least somewhat consistent with my 360's display issues.

So, my guess is one of two things:

A) I got a lemon for a TV (nothing but rave reviews on this thing everywhere I've checked, and I've checked a LOT, so bad luck on my part)

I have somehow chosen the exact wrong set of display options between my TV and the 360. The thing is, the 360 doesn't offer much in the way of other display options, and I've literally tried every combination I can think of. Also, and here's the real kick to the balls, these issues never cropped up on that (supposedly) inferior Polaroid 32" LCD HDTV that I used for a while.

If anyone can lend any insight as to the reasoning behind these issues or can at least confirm that this shouldn't be happening so I can return this TV to Best Buy, I would greatly appreciate it.

Also, mods: I considered putting this in H/A, but I wasn't sure if this would be a more appropriate place. Please move it with my apologies if I was mistaken.

tofu

You probably haven't calibrated the TV have you?

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1975752,00.asp

EDIT: Here's a list of all the DVD's with the test pattern: http://www.thx.com/home/dvd/search.html

Neaky

Return the TV. I have this exact TV and have been very disappointed in it.

Set your back ground to dark blue or some dark color and look for a thick line that will go up and down the screen. I had that issue.

The TV also has input lag.

The text issue is another problem I had and could never fix, I had it both through VGA and DVI.

Even when calibrated the blacks are awful (compared to other LCD's) and the color looks washed out due to the backlight.

Halfmex

tofu: I have actually calibrated it, though not with the official THX dealy. Still, this is less a contrast/sharpness issue and more a texture display/resolution issue. Almost like looking at smoothed out PS1-quality textures in some cases.

Neaky: Thanks for the reply, it at least lets me know I'm not going crazy here. Every review I read of this thing just espoused praises of it from top to bottom, so either those people overlooked the flaws we've experienced or you and I both got a lemon here. I'm leaning towards the latter, but in either case, this really sucks.

Zercof

For the 360 issue, the only thing I could think would cause that besides a bugged TV would be hooking the component (Yellow, Red, White)
cables up instead of the HD, (and still having the little switch on the back of the 360 on 'tv' instead of 'hdtv')
But this wouldn't explain the computer monitor issue....

Other than that :? sounds just like a TV problem. Sorry I can't be much further help than that...

I saw that Sharp TV deal yesterday too, and was upset that I paid more for my RCA 32" a couple months back when I could have gotten a Sharp now.
I did hit up a 750gig external and Linksys wireless N gigabit router for under $300 total tho

Halfmex

Zercof wrote: »

For the 360 issue, the only thing I could think would cause that besides a bugged TV would be hooking the component (Yellow, Red, White)
cables up instead of the HD, (and still having the little switch on the back of the 360 on 'tv' instead of 'hdtv')
But this wouldn't explain the computer monitor issue....

Other than that :? sounds just like a TV problem. Sorry I can't be much further help than that...

No problem at all, thanks for the reply. I honestly thought I had hooked something up incorrectly at first. I spent most of the first night I had it going through every possible hookup/setting configuration between the TV and 360 as well, but to no avail.

I'm using the Component cables (just as I did on the Polaroid TV, and it worked great on that) and making sure the switch is set to HDTV on the back of the AV plugin for the 360, but the texture issues still persist. I'm going to return it today for another television (probably won't get the same TV as it was a clearance item) and if I still see the same issue, I'll have to assume that it's a problem with my 360 and not the television (which would be considerably more annoying).

Sci-Fi Wasabi

Can you tune into any HD broadcasts? I had a top rated sony lcd a month ago that was supposed to be the end all be all. Everyone in HD broadcasts had "clayface". Basically it looked like the thing was put through a bad photoshop filter.

Returned it for a piece of shit Magnavox and the picture is crystal clear. I think cheaper versions of high end LCDs tend to shortchange you, whereas the budget conscious brands truely try to give you a good picture for the price.

tofu

Halfmex wrote: »

tofu: I have actually calibrated it, though not with the official THX dealy. Still, this is less a contrast/sharpness issue and more a texture display/resolution issue. Almost like looking at smoothed out PS1-quality textures in some cases.

Could just be a bad TV I suppose. If you think the deal is really good exchange it and try again.

Transparent

Set the comb filter to 2d on your tv, or preferably get a VGA cable for your xbox and run it at 1366x768

Halfmex

Well, I exchanged the Sharp for a Dynex 32" (a step down, technically, but since the Sharp was a clearance item, there were no more in stock and they weren't going to be receiving any more).

The Dynex has a much clearer resolution on the PC at 1360x768, but it refuses to go any higher than 1280x720 on the 360 for some reason. I'm assuming that the Dynex has preset resolutions for each input type, and that the component inputs only go as high as 1280x720 on the 720p setting of the 360's Display menu.

I'm hoping (dear GOD how I hope) that getting an HDMI connection will allow it to run at 1360x768 on the 360 as well. It worked for the PC, so here's hoping.

bigwah

The 360 outputs 1080(1920x1080) and 720(1280x720), so no, the HDMI cable wont help (but make sure you are getting it from www.monoprice.com !)

Halfmex

bigwah wrote: »

The 360 outputs 1080(1920x1080) and 720(1280x720), so no, the HDMI cable wont help (but make sure you are getting it from www.monoprice.com !)

Right, but the television itself is more the issue, as it won't allow me to even select 1360x768 using component cables (though it does using the HDMI cables for my PC). The Aquos did, and its image was clearer than that of the Dynex on that front, but it still wasn't anything close to what the Polaroid was putting out with these very same component cables. So, this is really my last ditch effort at getting a reasonable HD image from the 360; I don't know what else to do from here.

Transparent

I'm suprised you were able to select a nonstandard resultion over the component input on any TV. Your choices are typically 720p or 1080i.