why does the PIP look so good?

When I click up the cable guide and the current channel is compressed
into a little PIP window, less than 1/4 of a 1366x768 (LCD) screen,
the PIP image looks extraordinarily clear! Anyone else notice that?

Seems to suggest that viewing digital/HD images on even a 640x
physical display, whatever that comes to, about 12", might be a nice
secondary TV - if they can sell it for about $200.

J.

On 03 Mar 2008 17:16:41 GMT, "Bill's News"
wrote:

JXStern wrote in
:

When I click up the cable guide and the current channel is
compressed into a little PIP window, less than 1/4 of a
1366x768 (LCD) screen, the PIP image looks extraordinarily
clear! Anyone else notice that?

Seems to suggest that viewing digital/HD images on even a 640x
physical display, whatever that comes to, about 12", might be
a nice secondary TV - if they can sell it for about $200.

Reads like you've not got your cable box set up to feed your TV
the proper signal. Are you an HDTV subscriber? Is it only
analog or SD digital channels that look better in the PIP box?

What you've described is that the picture looks better when down-
scaled, which implies that there is no up-conversion (or very
poor up-conversion) taking place for the expanded picture.

Main picture is fine, thanks.

The cable box, rather than the Sony 32S3000, is doing the decoding, I
have another 32S on an antenna that I think looks slightly better.

The HD signals are HD, the digital signals are clear, and some of the
old analog channels are apparently upconverted at the cable box so we
have some poor old images for comparison, too.

I'm talking about an HD signal that looks fine at full-size, but I
expected a downscaled image to look subjectively and objectively
awful. Instead, it looks like the downscaling does a great job, seems
to exaggerate the gamma/contrast/brightness or something.

J.

"JXStern" wrote in message
...
When I click up the cable guide and the current channel is compressed
into a little PIP window, less than 1/4 of a 1366x768 (LCD) screen,
the PIP image looks extraordinarily clear! Anyone else notice that?

Seems to suggest that viewing digital/HD images on even a 640x
physical display, whatever that comes to, about 12", might be a nice
secondary TV - if they can sell it for about $200.

J.

I was noticing this exact same thing. I have DirecTV and when I peruse the
scheduling guide, the PIP is shown in the top right of my screen...and yes,
it is 'sharp...clear'...even SD looks as good as the HDTV, ha. But it also
would be logical since a pixel is a pixel and the same number spread over a
smaller volume [the PIP box]...well, sure, it would be a sharper image
wouldn't it? It's just a small box though.

deadendDan wrote:
"JXStern" wrote in message
...
When I click up the cable guide and the current channel is compressed
into a little PIP window, less than 1/4 of a 1366x768 (LCD) screen,
the PIP image looks extraordinarily clear! Anyone else notice that?

Seems to suggest that viewing digital/HD images on even a 640x
physical display, whatever that comes to, about 12", might be a nice
secondary TV - if they can sell it for about $200.

J.

I was noticing this exact same thing. I have DirecTV and when I peruse the
scheduling guide, the PIP is shown in the top right of my screen...and yes,
it is 'sharp...clear'...even SD looks as good as the HDTV, ha. But it also
would be logical since a pixel is a pixel and the same number spread over a
smaller volume [the PIP box]...well, sure, it would be a sharper image
wouldn't it? It's just a small box though.


Just like a good make-up artist, a 1080p set
with good processing will do a 'clean-up' on the
small picture. The video processor is
'throwing-away' 3/4 of the data and it has some
good algorithms and rules to make the decisions
about what goes.

--
pj

deadendDan wrote:
"JXStern" wrote in message
...
When I click up the cable guide and the current channel is compressed
into a little PIP window, less than 1/4 of a 1366x768 (LCD) screen,
the PIP image looks extraordinarily clear! Anyone else notice that?

Seems to suggest that viewing digital/HD images on even a 640x
physical display, whatever that comes to, about 12", might be a nice
secondary TV - if they can sell it for about $200.

J.

I was noticing this exact same thing. I have DirecTV and when I peruse the
scheduling guide, the PIP is shown in the top right of my screen...and yes,
it is 'sharp...clear'...even SD looks as good as the HDTV, ha. But it also
would be logical since a pixel is a pixel and the same number spread over a
smaller volume [the PIP box]...well, sure, it would be a sharper image
wouldn't it? It's just a small box though.



The "pixel" is a screen element. Screen resolution is not dependent
on the size of image boxes. Your eyes are deceiving you.

When you view an image from a distance greater than normal, the image
defects are magically reduced.

"JXStern" wrote in message ...
When I click up the cable guide and the current channel is compressed
into a little PIP window, less than 1/4 of a 1366x768 (LCD) screen,
the PIP image looks extraordinarily clear! Anyone else notice that?

Yes, ironically on a DVD edit preview. I have a Philips upscaling DVD
recorder. While in the edit menu a preview of what your about to delete
or over right is played and it looks quite good. Of course you've been able
to buy small DVD players for some time so supposedly they look pretty good.

--

Rick Evans
---------------------------------------------------------------
Lon -71° 04' 35"
Lat +42° 11' 07"

JXStern wrote:
When I click up the cable guide and the current channel is compressed
into a little PIP window, less than 1/4 of a 1366x768 (LCD) screen,
the PIP image looks extraordinarily clear!

For the same reason that a not so sharply focused photo from a cheap
camera looks pretty good when shown on a computer screen at 600 x 400
pixels: grossly under sampled and viewed from too far away.

On Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:18:01 -0500, Alan Browne
wrote:

JXStern wrote:
When I click up the cable guide and the current channel is compressed
into a little PIP window, less than 1/4 of a 1366x768 (LCD) screen,
the PIP image looks extraordinarily clear!

For the same reason that a not so sharply focused photo from a cheap
camera looks pretty good when shown on a computer screen at 600 x 400
pixels: grossly under sampled and viewed from too far away.

Well, yeah, but I see plenty of that on my computer screen, and it
never looks so good.

OTOH, I suppose even a "small" 640x box is already higher resolution
than NTSC, so why shouldn't it look good! Even the artifacts shrink,
I guess, so why not?

J.