i didnt know where to turn to...

[obscbyclouds]

I still think your problems lie with connections and source. You need 3 things to watch HDTV

1.) an HDTV, which you have the Tosh 50HM66 DLP.

2.) Cables that can carry an HD signal. You must use either Component Video, which are red, green and blue or an HDMI/DVI Cable which will carry digital HD video information (HDMI also carrys audio, DVI does not).

3.) An HD source, which may be Off-The-Air recieved by a bunny ears style tuner, HD channels from Cable or Satellite box (only some channels will be HD, and they will look MARVELOUS compared to the stardard def. channels!), a Blu-ray or HD-DVD player.

Check the settings in your cable or satellite box and ensure it is set to output 720p. Then make sure you are watching an HD channel, they are usually grouped together. Call your cable or sat. company if you are unsure how to do this.

If you are sure you have completed these steps then Best Buy will have to let you return the TV because they sold you a defective product, but make sure you research these other avenue's first.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Hey audioholics, I'm a beginner here, and thought this was the place (beginner section) to ask for help...

This is actually my final effort to try and resolve my problem, i have actually tried everything, and initially asked Bestbuy (the place i bought my tv from ) for help... but as a mediocre, not knowing-anything, newbie on this whole home theatre thing, i didnt understand anything and was reluctant to follow what they told me to do and buy for I was afraid of getting 'taken advantage of' for not knowing anything. After countless days of headace, confusion ( im gonna cry ), i just didnt know who to turn to, i spent a good day or two researching in the net... and found this site (wouldnt hurt to try).

I waS planning to buy a new hdtv and i didnt know where to start. so i went to bestbuy and looked for tvs with a budget of 1500$. I asked one of the staff, and they told me about giving me agreat deal on this 50HM66 toshiba dlp, for 800$ but the catch was the tv was their demo tv,and iguess they wanted to clear it out or something i dont know. and soo i was like ok 800$ dats good i cud return it later on if i didnt want it.. and so i bought it. they told me that they'll give me 4 year plan for free, and told me to buy the stand also which was like 300$ because they said the tv will most likely fall from my own pre-maid stand at home (small wood cabinet thing) and they also told me that if i wanted good quality picture, to buy these.. monster cable hdmi thingy and optical wire that costed 500$ put together.. at first i was amazed at how these little wire thingy cost... i couldve bought myself a 360 with those.. but with a promise from the staff that i wouldnt regret it i juss tok it in. in the endd i ended up paying a little over 1900$ for what was supppoose tocost 800$..

And so when i got home i hooked up with my hd box and al and found out that my reciever and dvd player didnt have d hdmi and optical input. nontheless the quality of picture the tv was giving wasntt great at all.. hd programs dont even look like theyre hd.. and some of the "normal" channels looked better than the hds.. they whre blurry and dark.. Frustrated, i call best buy to make an arrangement of returning it because it felt like i made a mistake. after a little arguement they told me that i cant return it cuz i have just signed a deal of buying the demo tv for keeps... (imsorry for such a long life story.. i guess yhou guys didnt need that.. )

Defeated.. i have shifted my entire focus from trying to return it into, actually trying to make it better myself. is it because im not using the hdmi cables thatit looks blurry? oh and i forgot o mention that the cable issplitted trhough out the house from basement to 6 rooms. so could that be the problem? or that toshiba 50hm66 just isnt the highquality picture type of tv??? pleasee.. im likee dyinggg over here.. i dont know wat to do anymore.. please help me out!

You should place that TV on your stand and see how that is, carefully try to move the tv back and forth. If your stand is stable return theirs. That they have to accept. And, certainly return all their cables; tell them they were wrong about the cables.

Then, you can buy what you really need or can connect at a reasonable price from several on line places.

How did that TV look in the store? You need to calibrate it as well.

 

[markw]

I just want to add...

I still think your problems lie with connections and source. You need 3 things to watch HDTV

1.) an HDTV, which you have the Tosh 50HM66 DLP.

2.) Cables that can carry an HD signal. You must use either Component Video, which are red, green and blue or an HDMI/DVI Cable which will carry digital HD video information (HDMI also carrys audio, DVI does not).

3.) An HD source, which may be Off-The-Air recieved by a bunny ears style tuner, HD channels from Cable or Satellite box (only some channels will be HD, and they will look MARVELOUS compared to the stardard def. channels!), a Blu-ray or HD-DVD player.

Check the settings in your cable or satellite box and ensure it is set to output 720p. Then make sure you are watching an HD channel, they are usually grouped together. Call your cable or sat. company if you are unsure how to do this.

If you are sure you have completed these steps then Best Buy will have to let you return the TV because they sold you a defective product, but make sure you research these other avenue's first.

...that this is a great post. It pretty much sums everything up in one concise post.

One thing though. For OTA signals you need an "ATSC" tuner. Dunno about that particular set, but many have been coming through without them to keep the price down. They anticipate most users will go for cable or satellite, both of which provide their own proprietary STB.

If you DO have the needed tuner, a decent antenna, and some local HD stations, the OTA HD picture will most likely be of better quality than either satellite or cable HD. Selection may be limited, though.

 

[jaxvon]

I would like to add that you should check the calibration settings on your TV and see how many hours are on the bulb. The projection bulbs in DLP TVs need to be replaced periodically. As for calibration, display TVs are often set to be bright and inviting, despite the fact that the settings are useless for high quality viewing. See if you can perform a factory reset on the settings, then set about calibrating the TV, perhaps using something like Avia or Digital Video Essentials.