Question about Sharp Aquos LC-32DA5U.

[suppafreak]

I am planning to buy the Sharp Aquos LC-32DA5U. Most of the reviews that I have read are very good, so I went to the local CC store to check it out.

Luckily the TV was connected to the Direct TV satellite (this is the setup I would have). I was more concerned how the regular satellite signal would display on that TV, because most of the channels still not HD. The TV was connected to the receiver using the component cables. When I switched the TV to the 480p resolution I was very disappointed. The picture was very pixilated, even standing 5-6 feet away from TV the distortions was very noticeable. I asked the sales person if it is possible to connect TV using the HDMI cable, but they did not have one open. So I do not know if that cable improves the picture. Also maybe the pixilated distortion was more visible because the resolution was 480p. The sale person also said that connecting S-Video will improve the picture for regular channels.

So if you have that TV and using it with satellite, please answer these questions.

1. Will the HDMI cable improve the picture of the regular broadcast channels?
2. Will switching to 480i by connecting the TV using the S-Video cable improve the picture of the regular broadcast channels?
3. What is diagonal length of the 480i (non-stretched) resolution?
4. Are there other ways to improve the picture quality of the regular broadcast channels?
5. If you have an indoor HD antenna, then how is quality of local channels in HD?

Thanks

[lumis]

i cant speak for that individual television, but i can share some of my experiences with you..

a friend of mine has a 64inch toshiba HDTV with directv (hughes HD reciever).. he has it connected with RGB cables.. he has an outdoor antenna & gets 3 HD channels from directv.. CBS & FOX from new york & showtime in HD.. i watch football games at his house all the time.. once in a while the local game that we watch OTA in HD is the same game being broadcast on either CBS or FOX from new york.. i can definetly tell a quality difference between the OTA & directv broadcast of the game.. it is very noticable when there is a solid colored background while still (kind of like grass).. and sometimes when there is high action.. it's still much better than the SD channels..

as far as HDMI, another friend of mine has a dish network HD reciever with an OTA antenna connected with an HDMI cable.. i've watched it with both RGB & the HDMI cable and cant tell a significant difference..

so basically what i'm saying is.. OTA HD is better than directv HD, and that i cant tell much of a difference between RGB & HDMI cables.