PS2 games too dark on LCD + other home theater woes

[KurskKnyaz]

My friend just purchased a Sony Bravia KDL-40V2500 40" LCD. When we hooked it up the HD channels look great but the regular channels look like crap. Also. I notice that there is a lot of motion blur on fast scenes. The worst problem however is that when his Playstation 2 is hooked up the blacks in the games seem extremely over exaggerated and the image quality in general is far worse than on a CRT. These are my question:

How significant is the improvement when going from component output to HDMI output on the cable box?

My other friend has a Samsung LCD and his Playstation 2 games look fine. If I get my friend component output for his play station 2 will this solve the problem?

My friend's brother has a Sony Bravia DAV-HDX500 Home Theater System at 1000W, however the entire system doesn't even sound as loud as my Swan m200 speakers which are 37 watts each, Why? Is that because it uses a digital amp? What are the disadvantages of a digital amp?

When wiring speakers, what are the advantages/disadvantages of using a high gauge or low gauge wire? I know that longer distances thicker gauges. But lets say the distance is short, is there some advantage to using a thicker then necessary gauge?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Component vs. HDMI on the cable box is going to depend on the cable box and your particular display.

How is the PS2 hooked up now? Composite? If so, component should make a significant improvement.

Has the display been calibrated at all for brightness / contrast / etc.? Some DVDs have a THX optimizer that would get you in the ballpark or you could get a calibration disc to try to do a better job.

The 1000W rating on that HTIB (and virtually every other 1000W rated HTIB) is bogus. I have no idea what kind of power output that thing is putting out, but I suspect that per channel it's probably close to the 37watts you're getting from your Swans. Besides the wattage output of the receiver, the sensitivity of the speakers is the other factor that comes into play for overall volume.
http://www.myhometheater.homes...com/splcalculator.html

When you say it doesn't sound as loud, do you mean you reach maximum volume on the receiver's controls, or you're going until it starts distorting or something?

I wouldn't worry too much about replacing the stock wiring on a system like that unless you needed to get longer ones anyway to place the speakers better.

 

[zinfamous]

definitely go with the component hookups, and make sure you aren't using the "game" setting through the TV (if it has one). I would just go from PS2 to TV. (I know that my receiver downconverts signals that come through Component and are output through HDMI--I'm willing to believe that there are other electronic components on this planet that will do the same).

also, it's not going to look that great anyway. Once you start getting towards that size and resolution, PS2 material just can't hang, unfortunately.

just tell your friend to go buy a PS3

 

[KurskKnyaz]

Has the display been calibrated at all for brightness / contrast / etc.? Some DVDs have a THX optimizer that would get you in the ballpark or you could get a calibration disc to try to do a better job.

It hasn't been calibrated but I think the biggest problem with the LCD is the response time. He'll just probably return the TV. The ghosting is way too apparent.

When you say it doesn't sound as loud, do you mean you reach maximum volume on the receiver's controls, or you're going until it starts distorting or something?

no, my speakers set to half-way sound louder than his at half-way.

Thanks for your help!