Picture quality Do I have to have a HD satellite receiver to get a crisp, clear picture for watching TV? This is my first HD TV and do not know much about it. All I know is that the picture is not as crisp and clear as it was in the store. Thanks

First we need to know a little more details about the kind of TV you have, the kind of service (Cable, Satellite or off Air).
Comparing showroom to your home is also something we need to know. Was the showroom using Cable or Satellite. Satellite will always have a better picture quality wise.
If you are using composite input for the signal path between TV and source this would not produce a High Dif picture Composite = Yellow for video, red and white for audio. If you are using Component source that will produce a HD signal cable is RED/BLUE and Green with different audio.
The best quality is using an HDMI cable, this is all in one cable and the sources is the best. One last thing, if you are using the RF *cable as source it will not give you a quality signal.

HD Ready just means the tv can display HD images from an HD source.

The built-in Freeview box on your tv is not Freeview HD compatible so you'll either have to buy a separate external Freeview HD box or subscribe to an HD satellite or cable service.

In any case, most built in Freeview receivers are of barely adequate picture and reception quality. An external box is usually far better in both respects.

LCD TV refers to the substance that creates the picture quality (it would be either LCD or Plasma or Tube) and HD refers to a crisp clear picture that can be attained. So your TV is an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) TV that is capable of receiving and displaying HD (High Definition) Picture.

What you need to check for is whether the TV has a built-in Tuner. This will either be SD (standard definition) TV Tuner or an HD TV Tuner. The box it came in will tell you or you may still have stickers on your TV.

If it has a built-in SD tuner you will be able to pick up HD channels but in a lower quality. In this case you will only need to plug the TV into a Wall-socket antenna or rabbit-ear antenna.

If it has a built-in HD Tuner you will be able to pick up HD Channels in full HD quaility picture. Simply by plugging the TV into a Wall-socket antenna or rabbit-ear antenna.

If your TV does NOT have a built-in TV-Tuner then this TV is clasified as "HD Ready". Which means that you have to purchase a Set Top Box (STB). you can get either HD or SD set top boxes. In this instance you will plug the cable from the wall socket into the STB then from the STB into the TV using either an HDMI cable (as long as your TV has an HDMI input) or through RCA cables which will be coloured Green, Blue and Red (i think red)

By the Way - best picture quality is from a wall-socket antenna.
HDMI = High Definition Multimedia Interface
STB = Set Top Box
High Definiton RCA cables will also be refered to as YPbPr/YCbCr (depending on equipment)
LCD = Liquid Crystal Display (the method used to make the picture on your TV screen)

If you have anymore questions, ask away.

In the picture settings, you can choose between hdtv and standard t.v.. That should work for you because not all channels broadcast in the hdtv signal.

its not the tv the tv, the tv is just a monitor the dvd is suspect as the tuner may be ...old, damaged ect. and last the antenna a new ant is not required for hd however you are not saying you want to get hd you want to get rid of your satellite receiver, HDMI is the best signal for video you can use, however the source is the most important thing if it sucks or is not to top quality, like the HDMI circuit then you will get a reduced picture quality. the dvd recorder? is suspect as is the antenna you are using, 75 ohm coax will not produce good results.

In order for you to receive HD broadcasting you must have a HD-TV, otherwise you wont get the picture in HD. Also I should point out that you need to make sure that the signal itself is being broadcast in HD.

Problem more than likely with the xbox, as the output stream of data from the game platform is not always consistent...accordianman

look at these see if this helps
http://www.hdtvoice.com/voice/showthread.php?t=16973

http://www.hdtvoice.com/voice/showthread.php?t=8721

Most HDTVs cannot properly stretch incoming HD signals, however, if the programme is true HD, you should not much of the image off-screen - most new HDTVs have about 2% overscan and the tickers should be on screen when watched in the appropriate stretch mode.

See:

http://www.hdtvoice.com/voice/showthread.php?t=1044 and

http://www.hdtvoice.com/voice/showthread.php?t=1052

The only thing you can do really is check your television settings to make sure its set up correctly and the satellite settings. Also if your watching analog channels through your set there gonna look fuzzy and distorted with blotches sometimes and also remember the bigger your tv the further back your supposed to sit if you stand right infront of it you'll see everything the way its not meant to be seen. after you try all that make sure your using either component or hdmi cables for the best picture.

Make sure you are using an HDMI video cable for optimal picture quality. Also, you must be using an HD reciever.