Well, I just recently picked up a Samsung 40 incher, HDTV and all that, and then shortly therafter returned it because of a very distracting 'ghosting' problem whenever I tried to watch a DVD on an upscaling DVD player.

I've since picked up a 37 inch Sharp, and the problem resides, this time not quite as apparent, but it still persists. Just curious if this is common for the television, because I'm not yet playing full-HD blu-ray discs, or if I've just happened to run into lemons both times.

What type of connection are you using?

I had this problem when I first got my Samsung, decided to go HD DVD last year and with HDMI hook up, all ghosting was gone. So I'd say it probably has alot to do with whatever connection your using. Go HDMI or Component and see if it helps.

Turn off any digital noise reduction. That usually helps a lot.

Thanks for the feedback Abe and Puppy.

I'm using 'PureAV Component Cables' and an upcoverting LG DVD player, I've been told that the HDMI cables offer a slight, if not at all, picture upgrade from the component cables, and therefore not to bother. If you're telling me to the contrary though, I'll definitely give them a shot based on your experiences.

Could this just be because of upscaling DVDs on a standalone upconverter player? If I was to purchase a Blu-Ray player would even that be enough to take care of the ghosting issue? I've got a friend right now with the exact same television, but he's playing standard def DVDs through an Xbox360 with an HDMI cable, and I've never seen the problem on his television.

Can you describe what it is you're calling "ghosting"?

My experience was that "ghosting" was alot of rough, blurriness is the faces when actors where in motion (walking etc.).

I have heard component and HDMI can offer the same image quality, but with my Samsung tv, this was not the case.

I first bought a Phillips up converting player, it looked horrible even with HDMI.
I then bought an HD DVD A1 player and it made a world of difference.

I just bought the Samsung BDP1500 Blu Ray player, I'll let you know how it looks.

Its just a shudder in the image, I've seen it with both televisions, but much less with the Sharp Aquos. If a person is moving across the screen, or the camera is shaky, the image has trouble keeping up and sharp without getting blurred, or as though there's a lesser blurry image trying to catch up.

So Puppy, in your experience even the upconverting DVD players upscale the image but with a similar ghosting/shudder problem? And would it be better with the HDMI cable? Keep me in the loop for sure about the Blu-Ray player, I appreciate your input, and if its indeed true, I'll pickup a player as soon as I can.

What you're describing sounds a lot like LCD motion lag. Can you look up the specs for your TV model and find the Response Time?

In my experience with Samsungs 720P 32 inch model from Costco, A HDMI hook up along with an HD DVD player worked wonders for the image. Also your settings can help with this as well.

I can now say that the Samsung BD 1500 Blu Ray player looks great.
Although I have yet to test some of the crappier transfers in my collection, so far it looks just as good as my HD DVD player does.

The television in question is a Sharp Aquos LC37D44U 37-Inch 720p LCD HDTV, from what I've seen it looks as though it has a 6ms refresh rate.

So the Blu-Ray player w/HDMI eliminated that picture lag/ghosting issue on standard def DVDs? I've been trying the DVDs in my collection with the best transfers, ala Sin City, 300, Indiana Jones4, etc.

If thats the case I'll be taking back those component cables and replacing them with an HDMI cable, and then when I save up a bit of money, finally buying a Blu-Ray player. Are there any specific HDMI cables that are heads and tails above the rest or are they for the most part all of the relatively same quality?

Buy your HDMI cable from www.monoprice.com. There's no need to spend the ridiculous prices you'll see in retail stores. The digital HDMI signal is all 1s and 0s. Either they get to your TV or they don't. Unless you're running a length more than 30 feet, any decent cable is as good as any other.

I have what I would describe as a ghosting issue on my Samsumg 32" tv that ONLY OCCURS WHEN USING HDMI. The issue is that any image projected that is followed by a black background typically remains as a slightly lighter than the black areas until a new image is shown over it. A good example is any opening logos/title screens that show up and then fade to black. During dark scenes in TV shows or movies on the DVR, it is almost difficult to watch.

This happens using both HDMI ports ... and I see it when watching items using my Dish DVR (which is everything when watching Dish) and playing games on my PS3.

... it does NOT happen over component from my Dish DVR nor does it happen when playing movies from either my HD-DVD player or the PS3 over HDMI.

Any ideas?

Well, I picked up some 6ft HDMI cables today, plugged them in and the ghosting issue is still prevalent. The HDMI's picture I've noticed is actually slightly blurrier than the component cables as well.

I'll be picking up a blu-ray player tonight, that's my final thought at a solution to this nonsense.

Strange...

Sorry to hear about that man, Maybe just, Maybe the LG player isn't that great?
I dunno, I have always heard that LG was a nice brand.

Picked up a BDP1500 player tonight for $200 flat. I've tried it with both the HDMI as well as the component cables, and they look identical, with a slight bit of ghosting on the HDMI cable, over a barely-noticeable ghosting issue occasionally on the component cables.

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume this is about as good as I can do to eliminate this issue. It's barley there at all now, and I'm even maybe going out of my way to try and spot it, I'm sure. The picture and everything looks great, and I'm overall happy with it. Seems for sure that this took care of the issue as much as it could; its definitely the best way to get rid of the issue to the point of near-non-existance.

Its actually kind of funny, I had to step back tonight and realise that I've not only now got a great DVD up-converter, but a bloody Blu-Ray player to boot!

Have you checked the digital noise reduction setting?

I did that after you recommended it; it helped alot in reducing what I was talking about, I've always got it turned off now.

Out of curiosity, what is this LCD lag you speak of? Does it affect all LCD HDTVs or is it something that occurs in some of them?

They way an LCD works is by energizing a grid of liquid crystals on the screen (obviously, hence the name). The problem with liquid crystals is that after you've energized them to create one frame of pixels, they have a decay rate where the image fades away before the next frame can be created. The faster they can do this, the better. If it's fast enough, the transition will appear seamless to your eye. If it's too slow, there's a "ghost" of the old frame still on the screen when the next frame comes up. This is a big problem during movement, because it makes the image look smeary.

6 ms is a respectable refresh rate. 4 ms would be better.

I don't know that this is entirely the cause of your problem, but it might be contributing to it.

return the LCD and buy a plasma.

also, return that Blu-ray player and get the Sony 350 from Amazon. The player and 4 movies can be as low as $190 shipped and its a better player than the samsung.

Well, after a few weeks, I finally snapped and took my HD video camera and filmed a small portion of a 'Frasier' episode I was watching. Sure enough, there's artifacting and ghosting out the wazoo, considering taking this puppy back as well.

I've got the photos saved on my computer, but no way to upload them online to show them here.

Finally was able to resolve my issue on my 32" Samsung LCD.

I had already confirmed that DNR was off, so that was not it.

My TV has a "Game Mode". With that turned on, I no longer have any residual images left on the screen when transitioning from light to dark using the HDMI input.

Swahili, were you able to resolve your problem?