unclear picture

Posted by: cdnturbo on 20 February 2005

I'm looking into purchasing a 1996 Sony 46" rear projection from my neighbor. He has lived out of the country for the last four years and the tv has not been used.
The picture on the tv is not as clear as my 2001 Toshiba rear projection. We could only test it with a lazer disk that he had(no cable)
Is the picture quality on this set not as good as my Toshiba? Is it possibly dirty inside? Is it possible the lazer disk play is not very clear?
The price for the set with a surround sound 5.1 amp and speakers is $400usd.
Is there a way to make the picture more clear?

Thanks

Posted on: 28 February 2005 by gusi

Hi Cdnturbo, welcome to the forum.

If the signal is slighty blurry:

Rear projection TVs use 3 coloured signals that are projected on top of each other.

Modern rear projection TVs have a function to automatically align the signals. Older TVs may not have that function. Have a look through the setup menus, if there is an align or sync option.

If the signals are not aligned correctly you will get a slight coloured shadow image. Aligning the signals by hand is not easy and I'd get a quote before I buy the TV.

If the same LD looks sharp on one TV and not on the other then the LD and LD player are ok. LD is slightly better quality than VCR

Also have a look for:
weak signal - same signal split among many TVs
dodgy cable or poor cable routing
TV size, If your Toshiba is much smaller than is will look sharper as the resolution is the same on both machines.

cheers
Gus