I was both heartened and disheartened this morning when Ray read a
piece out of the DT to me. Apparently, it is officially acknowledged
(not just us moaning to each other!) that while they look great and the
vision's wonderful, flat-screen tvs produce really terrible sound. A
lot of people have resorted to buying a soundbar to improve the
clarity. I'm relieved it's not just us, to be honest. Watching Call
The Midwife the other night, we lost several seconds of dialogue
because of the blasted music and the blurred dialogue. So it's not
just the deaf and ageing! Eh?
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On 14/02/2013 16:59, Sacha wrote:
I was both heartened and disheartened this morning when Ray read a piece
out of the DT to me. Apparently, it is officially acknowledged (not just
us moaning to each other!) that while they look great and the vision's
wonderful, flat-screen tvs produce really terrible sound. A lot of
people have resorted to buying a soundbar to improve the clarity. I'm
relieved it's not just us, to be honest. Watching Call The Midwife the
other night, we lost several seconds of dialogue because of the blasted
music and the blurred dialogue. So it's not just the deaf and ageing! Eh?

Nature of the beast. No room for speakers. Take the opportunity to
litter the place up with surround sound :-)

On Thu, 14 Feb 2013 Sacha wrote:

I was both heartened and disheartened this morning when Ray read a
piece out of the DT to me. Apparently, it is officially acknowledged
(not just us moaning to each other!) that while they look great and the
vision's wonderful, flat-screen tvs produce really terrible sound. A
lot of people have resorted to buying a soundbar to improve the
clarity. I'm relieved it's not just us, to be honest. Watching Call
The Midwife the other night, we lost several seconds of dialogue
because of the blasted music and the blurred dialogue. So it's not
just the deaf and ageing! Eh?

A week ago my ten-year-old set stopped working and so I had to buy a new
one. I had done a lot of homework on what the strengths and weaknesses
of the modern sets were and I was particularly worried by what I'd read
about the poor sound quality. I don't hear sibilants too well and when I
guess what has been said it can get quite hilarious as well as
frustrating - fortunately my wife is often there to "translate" for me.
I was of the generation that indulged in hi-fi back in the '60s (in fact
I ran, part-time, a semi-professional sound recording company back in
the '60s and 70s) and, with my old set, I could plug it in to my current
hi-fi system to improve the sound, but one program (University
Challenge) I found always had distorted sound, presumably because it was
recorded with poor sound equipment in the first place.

Well, I wasn't *quite* ready to go out and buy a new set but was now in
a position where I had to. After doing a lot more research I finally
decided on a Samsung Smart TV. I thought that, if the sound is poor, I
can still plug it into the hi-fi. When it arrived, imagine my
disappointment when I found it wasn't possible to do that. Yes, there
was a sound output but it was digital and my hi-fi is too old to accept
that!

However, all's well that ends well because the sound from the new
Samsung is superb and I don't need a separate set of speakers. It's even
better than my old Sony CRT set. The picture's pretty good, too,
especially in HD.

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
I was both heartened and disheartened this morning when Ray read a piece
out of the DT to me. Apparently, it is officially acknowledged (not just us
moaning to each other!) that while they look great and the vision's
wonderful, flat-screen tvs produce really terrible sound. A lot of people
have resorted to buying a soundbar to improve the clarity. I'm relieved
it's not just us, to be honest. Watching Call The Midwife the other night,
we lost several seconds of dialogue because of the blasted music and the
blurred dialogue. So it's not just the deaf and ageing! Eh?
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

Uh! you've think you've got problems? I have a cataract on one eye and I'm
paying for Sky+HD !!

Bill

"David Rance" wrote ...

Sacha wrote:

I was both heartened and disheartened this morning when Ray read a piece
out of the DT to me. Apparently, it is officially acknowledged (not just
us moaning to each other!) that while they look great and the vision's
wonderful, flat-screen tvs produce really terrible sound. A lot of people
have resorted to buying a soundbar to improve the clarity. I'm relieved
it's not just us, to be honest. Watching Call The Midwife the other
night, we lost several seconds of dialogue because of the blasted music
and the blurred dialogue. So it's not just the deaf and ageing! Eh?

A week ago my ten-year-old set stopped working and so I had to buy a new
one. I had done a lot of homework on what the strengths and weaknesses of
the modern sets were and I was particularly worried by what I'd read about
the poor sound quality. I don't hear sibilants too well and when I guess
what has been said it can get quite hilarious as well as frustrating -
fortunately my wife is often there to "translate" for me. I was of the
generation that indulged in hi-fi back in the '60s (in fact I ran,
part-time, a semi-professional sound recording company back in the '60s and
70s) and, with my old set, I could plug it in to my current hi-fi system to
improve the sound, but one program (University Challenge) I found always
had distorted sound, presumably because it was recorded with poor sound
equipment in the first place.

Well, I wasn't *quite* ready to go out and buy a new set but was now in a
position where I had to. After doing a lot more research I finally decided
on a Samsung Smart TV. I thought that, if the sound is poor, I can still
plug it into the hi-fi. When it arrived, imagine my disappointment when I
found it wasn't possible to do that. Yes, there was a sound output but it
was digital and my hi-fi is too old to accept that!

However, all's well that ends well because the sound from the new Samsung
is superb and I don't need a separate set of speakers. It's even better
than my old Sony CRT set. The picture's pretty good, too, especially in HD.


If you use a set top box for HD, something like my Freesat Humax 1TB
recorder, they have normal sound outputs on them.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On Thu, 14 Feb 2013 Bob Hobden wrote:

"David Rance" wrote ...
..
..
..
..
Well, I wasn't *quite* ready to go out and buy a new set but was now
in a position where I had to. After doing a lot more research I
finally decided on a Samsung Smart TV. I thought that, if the sound is
poor, I can still plug it into the hi-fi. When it arrived, imagine my
disappointment when I found it wasn't possible to do that. Yes, there
was a sound output but it was digital and my hi-fi is too old to accept that!

However, all's well that ends well because the sound from the new
Samsung is superb and I don't need a separate set of speakers. It's
even better than my old Sony CRT set. The picture's pretty good, too,
especially in HD.

If you use a set top box for HD, something like my Freesat Humax 1TB
recorder, they have normal sound outputs on them.

I have used a set-top box since digital transmissions started. It
wouldn't be a good idea to use it in conjunction with the new Samsung
because the decoded signal becomes available at different rates and
there would be syncing problems.

Anyway, as I said above, I don't need to. The sound on the Samsung is
excellent.

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
I was both heartened and disheartened this morning when Ray read a piece
out of the DT to me. Apparently, it is officially acknowledged (not just us
moaning to each other!) that while they look great and the vision's
wonderful, flat-screen tvs produce really terrible sound. A lot of people
have resorted to buying a soundbar to improve the clarity. I'm relieved
it's not just us, to be honest. Watching Call The Midwife the other night,
we lost several seconds of dialogue because of the blasted music and the
blurred dialogue. So it's not just the deaf and ageing! Eh?
--

Dunno. I still have a fat one and it's perfect ;-)

Tina

Sacha wrote:

Watching Call
The Midwife the other night, we lost several seconds of dialogue
because of the blasted music and the blurred dialogue.

There's a new problem (a family friend is in the audio production business
in New York City, U.S.): With all the digital technology about, it's not
unusual for sound channels to not be properly synchronized, giving rise to
new and exciting forms of distortion, not to mention balance problems.
I've noticed background sound louder than the dialog, and I don't think
it's _entirely_ my aging ears!

Call the Midwife is seen here too, and we're now eagerly awaiting the new
season!


--
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/4 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

On 2013-02-14 21:18:17 +0000, Christina Websell said:

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
I was both heartened and disheartened this morning when Ray read a
piece out of the DT to me. Apparently, it is officially acknowledged
(not just us moaning to each other!) that while they look great and the
vision's wonderful, flat-screen tvs produce really terrible sound. A
lot of people have resorted to buying a soundbar to improve the
clarity. I'm relieved it's not just us, to be honest. Watching Call
The Midwife the other night, we lost several seconds of dialogue
because of the blasted music and the blurred dialogue. So it's not
just the deaf and ageing! Eh?
--

Dunno. I still have a fat one and it's perfect ;-)

Tina

We'd still have ours if it hadn't developed a broad green streak down
one side which made stage left actors look as if they came from Mars.
It was getting on for 20 years old, so it had done pretty well.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On Thu, 14 Feb 2013 19:08:59 +0000, David Rance
wrote:

On Thu, 14 Feb 2013 Bob Hobden wrote:

"David Rance" wrote ...
.
.
.
.
Well, I wasn't *quite* ready to go out and buy a new set but was now
in a position where I had to. After doing a lot more research I
finally decided on a Samsung Smart TV. I thought that, if the sound is
poor, I can still plug it into the hi-fi. When it arrived, imagine my
disappointment when I found it wasn't possible to do that. Yes, there
was a sound output but it was digital and my hi-fi is too old to accept that!

However, all's well that ends well because the sound from the new
Samsung is superb and I don't need a separate set of speakers. It's
even better than my old Sony CRT set. The picture's pretty good, too,
especially in HD.

If you use a set top box for HD, something like my Freesat Humax 1TB
recorder, they have normal sound outputs on them.

I have used a set-top box since digital transmissions started. It
wouldn't be a good idea to use it in conjunction with the new Samsung
because the decoded signal becomes available at different rates and
there would be syncing problems.

Anyway, as I said above, I don't need to. The sound on the Samsung is
excellent.

David

We had a Sony Bravia in the lounge. Sound OK but the picture was crap.
We relocated it to the breakfast room (OK for breakfast TV) and bought
an LG plasma TV. About 3 months later we recovered a load of floor
space, and cut down on dusting, by boxing up and flogging the hi-fi
separates collection. As CDs have replaced vinyl (which replaced 78s)
and the sound has deteriorated as a result, we find that the speakers
on the telly (OK it's a biggie so we have separation) produce just as
good a sound as the old bulky hi-fi setup did.

It's a case of do your research properly. Our TV not only has
different video modes but also different audio ones. All touch of the
button stuff so we can swap easily from film soundtrack to orchestral
CD. The BluRay player doubles up as a CD player quite happily.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from the East End of Swansea Bay where sometimes
it's raining and sometimes it's not.

In message , Martin
writes
On Thu, 14 Feb 2013 18:45:33 -0000, "Bill Grey"
wrote:


"Sacha" wrote in message
...
I was both heartened and disheartened this morning when Ray read a piece
out of the DT to me. Apparently, it is officially acknowledged (not just us
moaning to each other!) that while they look great and the vision's
wonderful, flat-screen tvs produce really terrible sound. A lot of people
have resorted to buying a soundbar to improve the clarity. I'm relieved
it's not just us, to be honest. Watching Call The Midwife the other night,
we lost several seconds of dialogue because of the blasted music and the
blurred dialogue. So it's not just the deaf and ageing! Eh?
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

Uh! you've think you've got problems? I have a cataract on one eye and I'm
paying for Sky+HD !!

You can have the cataract problem fixed.

You can cancel the HD part of Sky+. (We did, now that our eyes can't
tell the difference.)

--
Simon

12) The Second Rule of Expectations
An EXPECTATION is a Premeditated resentment.

On 2013-02-14 18:45:33 +0000, Bill Grey said:

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
I was both heartened and disheartened this morning when Ray read a
piece out of the DT to me. Apparently, it is officially acknowledged
(not just us moaning to each other!) that while they look great and the
vision's wonderful, flat-screen tvs produce really terrible sound. A
lot of people have resorted to buying a soundbar to improve the
clarity. I'm relieved it's not just us, to be honest. Watching Call
The Midwife the other night, we lost several seconds of dialogue
because of the blasted music and the blurred dialogue. So it's not
just the deaf and ageing! Eh?
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

Uh! you've think you've got problems? I have a cataract on one eye and
I'm paying for Sky+HD !!

Bill

Oh dear! Can the cataract be dealt with? Friends of ours have had them
done and were astonished at the success. I hope something can be done
about yours, too. We have the minimal Sky account. But when someone
makes a tv that cuts out music soundtrack during speech, I hope someone
will tell us!
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

On Thu, 14 Feb 2013 18:55:24 +0000, Bob Hobden wrote:

If you use a set top box for HD, something like my Freesat Humax 1TB
recorder, they have normal sound outputs on them.

Yes we have a Humax too, although sadly with a smaller disk. It plugs
directly into the stereo system.



--
Gardening in Lower Normandy

On Fri, 15 Feb 2013 13:04:34 +0100, Martin wrote:

On 15 Feb 2013 11:12:25 GMT, Emery Davis wrote:

On Thu, 14 Feb 2013 18:55:24 +0000, Bob Hobden wrote:

If you use a set top box for HD, something like my Freesat Humax 1TB
recorder, they have normal sound outputs on them.

Yes we have a Humax too, although sadly with a smaller disk.

but if it is the same model that I have, you can connect an external
disk dive to it. I noticed that the 1TB model costs £75 more than the
500GB model that I bought 6 months ago. The difference in price is more
than enough to buy a 1TB external disk drive.



Yes, I have an external drive attached to it. But the copy speed is
sooooo slooooow that it's very difficult to use. I've had my daughter
copy all her star treks, Dr whos and sitcoms, but to copy a single HD Who
takes around 10 minutes. I have no idea why the USB should be so slow,
maybe a really ancient linux distribution.

I don't think I've succeeded in getting it to record to the external
drive, have you?



--
Gardening in Lower Normandy

Martin wrote in
:

On Thu, 14 Feb 2013 23:59:11 +0000, The Original Jake
wrote:

On Thu, 14 Feb 2013 19:08:59 +0000, David Rance
wrote:

On Thu, 14 Feb 2013 Bob Hobden wrote:

"David Rance" wrote ...
.
.
.
.
Well, I wasn't *quite* ready to go out and buy a new set but was
now in a position where I had to. After doing a lot more research I
finally decided on a Samsung Smart TV. I thought that, if the sound
is poor, I can still plug it into the hi-fi. When it arrived,
imagine my disappointment when I found it wasn't possible to do
that. Yes, there was a sound output but it was digital and my hi-fi
is too old to accept that!

However, all's well that ends well because the sound from the new
Samsung is superb and I don't need a separate set of speakers. It's
even better than my old Sony CRT set. The picture's pretty good,
too, especially in HD.

If you use a set top box for HD, something like my Freesat Humax 1TB
recorder, they have normal sound outputs on them.

I have used a set-top box since digital transmissions started. It
wouldn't be a good idea to use it in conjunction with the new Samsung
because the decoded signal becomes available at different rates and
there would be syncing problems.

Anyway, as I said above, I don't need to. The sound on the Samsung is
excellent.

David

We had a Sony Bravia in the lounge. Sound OK but the picture was crap.
We relocated it to the breakfast room (OK for breakfast TV) and bought
an LG plasma TV. About 3 months later we recovered a load of floor
space, and cut down on dusting, by boxing up and flogging the hi-fi
separates collection. As CDs have replaced vinyl (which replaced 78s)
and the sound has deteriorated as a result, we find that the speakers
on the telly (OK it's a biggie so we have separation) produce just as
good a sound as the old bulky hi-fi setup did.

It's a case of do your research properly. Our TV not only has
different video modes but also different audio ones. All touch of the
button stuff so we can swap easily from film soundtrack to orchestral
CD. The BluRay player doubles up as a CD player quite happily.

and even a DVD.
We have two Sony Bravias one is 32" and is 2.5 years old. The other is
38" and 1.5 years old. Both have excellent pictures, but poor sound.
Modern Samsung and Sony TVs also allow different video and audio
modes. A Samsung sound bar allows different audio modes too.

Sometimes a firmware update/flash works.
Stan