I am getting a 'fzzy' look on my telly (1 Viewer)

[Craig Muckleston]

I have cabled my PC up through my telly, and can get th epicture through OK. I am using SVGA. The image I am getting through looks a little fuzzy. Is there anyway of sharpening up the picture at all?

 

[waveslam]

Fuzzy Look On The Telly

Hey Craig
Firstly, I am guessing that when you say you are using SVGA to connect to your TV, you really mean SVideo (also known as S-VHS)? The plugs for this are small and round, with (usually) 4 pins, and look a bit like PS/2 keyboard and mouse connectors. I also assume you are using an ordinary tube TV ie. not a flatpanel LCD or Plasma.

If so, the "fuzzy" look on the TV is caused by aliasing, and is an inherent problem with trying to show a digital image on an analogue (ie. non-digital) screen. Your PC's video card is trying to show a digital image at (say) 800 x 600 pixels, but the TV is not capable of showing a resolution that high. Worse, conventional tube TVs dont even have pixels arrange in a grid like they are on LCD and plasma TVs: instead, (and you can see this if you look up real close to your TV) the pixels are arranged in more of a honeycomb pattern.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that the TV just cant display the right pixels in the right place. It does its best to go as close as it can (by "aliasing") but the end result is a slitghly fuzzy picture. You normally dont notice it when watching TV but its very obvious when showing fine text, or the Windows desktop etc.

Sadly the only real solution is to buy a digital TV ie. a Plasma or an LCD. Even then, cheap plasmas have a relatively low resolution (852 x 480), which is not supported natively by PC video cards either :-( This means you need to buy a high-def Plasma, or an LCD (which usually support more common resolutions).

My vote is a bigscreen LCD - now, if only I could convince the wife... ;-)

Cheers
Brett