What is and HDTV turner in an LCD TV?
I want to buy an LCD tv and I found a 42” at a really good price, but it has a problem, the actual owner says that the HDTV turner doesn’t work, you just can’t use hdmi or component cables. It only works with the red yellow white cables. I don’t know much about all these stuff so what does this mean, is the quality of the tv still good or is it going to affect the images that I see on the screen? or what does that mean? and most importantly is it worth buying?
Thanks!
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15 Answers
That would be the Composite connection to the TV.
Depending on the up conversion of the TV. If it can. That is the lowest form of video quality.
Then S-video, component, HDMI.
How much are they asking?
You can buy a good new 720p HDTV at WalMart.
@polycinco: The size of the TV won’t matter, because the quality will still be poor. You’ll be able to watch big, crappy TV.
You really really don’t want to dump your money into that TV. You can get a new one that size that works for just a hundred or two more at WalMart.
Incidentally, that’s the quality you get from the regular old TV with the rounded screen. You can buy a flat screen (not flat panel) TV with working Component cables (red, yellow, white, blue, and green) that size for that money. It would be bigger and heavier, but better quality.
ok, I understand, thanks!
Composite video connection isYellow (with Red, White for sound). You can get 480i quality through those (standard TV).
S-video is a bit better, with a small black round connector. You can get 480p through those. Sound is separate Red, White.
Component connections are Red, Blue, Green (+ Red, White for sound). You can get maybe 720i quality (low HD) through those.
HDMI is the single rectangular connector. You can get 1080p (full HD) through those. Sound is included, so no Red, White necessary.
Free over the air HD requires an ATSC tuner and a good HD antenna. Most LCD TVs have an ATSC tuner built in. Maybe the guy never attached a good antenna.
Best if you find a good antenna via Amazon or Radio Shack, then connect to the TV to see if it works. This TV might be really old or just plain busted.
At 42”, you can kind of see the difference between 720p and 1080p quality. Free over the air HD is mostly 720p, so a Walmart special is not a bad way to go.
See:
http://tv.about.com/od/hdtv/a/hdantenna.htm
for more info.
@RocketGuy Depending upon your viewing distance, the difference can be trivial for the price advantage.
“you can kind of see the difference between 720p and 1080p quality”
Due to all the compression. I tend to find 720p more often better then 1080p.
When pulling an outside signal.
@RocketGuy Free over the air HD requires an ATSC tuner and a good HD antenna…
And if you’re close to the transmitter, with a clear view, even plain old rabbit ears work great.
@dpworkin you are right. On my 42”, I can tell the difference from about 3 ft away. My couch is about 6 ft away, so I don’t see any difference between 720p and 1080p.
@jaktkay you are also right. My house is too well shielded (long story) so I need a good antenna.
It could be a truly epic computer monitor!
Only for accuracy, note that the guy’s description is incorrect:
An HD tuner allows you get HD channels on your new TV over-the-air when you hook it to an antenna. What he’s describing are inputs that are broken on the TV, which allow you to get HD-quality signal from your Xbox, cable box, or DVD player.
I was guessing that they never attached a good antenna to the ATSC input. If the antenna, HDMI, component video inputs don’t work, the TV is messed up. Running 480i (through the composite video) on an HDTV usually looks terrible. If he could get the ATSC to work, he would receive 720p for free (no cable fees).
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