Why do my tapes look so bad??

[classictv80s]

Originally Posted by josephdaniel

I was recently given a small 19 inch plasma from my grandpa so "I could get rid of the old hunk of junk" that I am using now. I thought I would give it a chance and see how good it works. The opver air signal has amazing picture quality but when ever I switch it to VHS or a laser disc the picture just looks absolutly horrible but when I try it agan on the old zenith from 1983 they look fantastic with rich colors and theyre plenty sharp where as with the flat trash they look blurry and flat
Why do flat panels do that?

I think the simple answer to your question is that CRT televisions have better picture quality than non-CRT televisions.

You're absolutely correct when you say that flat panels are trash.

[Eric H]

Originally Posted by classictv80s

I think the simple answer to your question is that CRT televisions have better picture quality than non-CRT televisions.

You're absolutely correct when you say that flat panels are trash.

The simple answer is that any set works best when it's fed the signal it was designed for.

[Chip Chester]

Or you may now be viewing at a higher resolution than the source. While conversion quality will come into play, you now have a display that is capable of showing what's "wrong" with the signal.

Another example is standard def satellite, like DirecTV. Looked very good on CRT TV's, even very good TVs. But connect the same signal to a high resolution display, and all the compression artifacts were easy to see. Go back to CRT, and it still looked good... although now the viewer was educated in what to look for, and there was indeed evidence to see.

You could audition some higher-quality A-D converters, but only you can decide if it's worth the expense. Line doubling, dropout compensation and chroma noise reduction can help, (like on a Panasonic 7750 deck) because it gives the converter a signal with fewer problems to accommodate. Your projector may have line-doubling, too.

Chip

[Dude111]

Originally Posted by classictv80s

I think the simple answer to your question is that CRT televisions have better picture quality than non-CRT televisions.

I agree completly!!!

Couldnt have said this better

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by classictv80s

I think the simple answer to your question is that CRT televisions have better picture quality than non-CRT televisions.

You're absolutely correct when you say that flat panels are trash.

I refer to the pictures on the flat panel TV's as being "muddy", when using regular cable, as the signal source.
Using an OTA digital signal, the picture is somewhat "watch-able", at best.
The sound on most of these sets is pathetic.