Why is my TV picture Blurry?

You may often have noticed that some TV channels appear blurry, causing concern as to whether a blurry picture is caused by a TV antenna fault or weak signal. What I can say is that through many years of being an antenna man in Perth, that this concern is becoming increasingly common in recent times.  When customers use our TV wall mounting service, sometimes this is often a subject of concern which we need to explain

When the customer mentions “Why is my TV picture is blurry”, it’s most commonly reported as lack of sharpness around the edges of details, such as the edge of faces, or objects on the picture, and also during times of high picture movement such as when watching the footy when the ball is kicked and the camera pans from one area to another.  It’s quite concerning especially when the display stands at Harvey Norman, JB Hifi and the Good Guys always use the best quality sample videos on the TV you are buying, which simply is not available in most free to air channels that you will watch when you bring that TV home.

You may be asking yourself the Question: what causes a blurry TV picture or TV channels?  – Answer:  A standard definition channel being watched on a TV size that is too big for the room. It’s basically a low quality picture being stretched out on a large display which many people often sit too close to.

Left – Blurry TV picture, not caused by a weak signal or TV antenna issue
Right – Large, sharp, well defined squares, indication of weak signal

Most standard definition channels are broadcast in 576i, this resolution was never designed to be used for TV’s larger than say, 32 inches as that was the most common size TV back in the 90’s and early 2000s.  In past times large plasma TVs were very expensive and it was rare for a household to have such large displays. With new LCD, LED and OLED displays becoming much more affordable in recent years, 65 inch TV’s and even larger often in small living rooms is now the norm for most households.  The most suitable resolution to produce a sharp picture on these displays is 1080i/1080p (1920 x 1020). Most channels being broadcast in Perth and throughout Australia are still standard definition (576i).

Try this – go to channel 10 while the news is on, watch it for a little bit, and then switch to 10 HD and watch that for a bit.  Switch back and forth between 10 and 10 HD and see what you notice.  You will soon come to realize that your TV is too large for how far you are sitting from it, or that you are expecting too much from a standard definition channel for your size TV

So what causes blurry TV channels?  Answer: You have too large of a TV for you room or the channels you are viewing are not high enough in definition for your TV size.

This brings us to the question of – Is a blurry TV channel picture caused by a bad TV antenna or a weak signal?
The answer is no, with digital TV a weak signal does not cause a blurry picture, but rather large, uniform sized and easily noticeable squares, often accompanied by sound disruptions or squeaking in the audio.

The conclusion is, if you’re experiencing a blurry picture on a standard definition channel and you have quite a large display, it’s most likely an unsuitable picture resolution for your TV and unlikely a TV antenna or signal problem.