Computer look VS HD TV look

I have looked through tons of things about using a TV for the game as the battle map and have not found my issue so I figured I would ask. We got a HD TV, made a great gaming table and even used it for one session and loved it. Me with the GM going on my laptop, the players using minis on the plexi-covered TV. The issue is that the maps look fabulous on the computer but suddenly look like they are 16 bit versions of my maps when put on the TV. We tried extending my laptop to the TV via HDMI cable and even used another computer and no go. Any thoughts as to why the computer screen looks amazing, but the TV doesn't? Things already tried. Reset using several resolutions on the "second monitor" (TV) Tried another laptop with 1920 x 1080 resolution. Adjusted roll20 zoom Loaded a splash screen that has extremely high texture and still looks like crud on the TV Watched HD TV shows to make sure it wasn't an out of box failure and they look fine. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks all.

I'd be curious to know what resolution your HD Television is. If its the 1080i for example, perhaps the computer map resolution is beyond what the tv can handle? - hence the nasty 16 bit look.  I've got a 4K set and computer - I'll try this as well and report back my results.

Here is a wiki page with some examples, <a href="https://wiki.roll20.net/Using_Roll20_while_Playing" rel="nofollow">https://wiki.roll20.net/Using_Roll20_while_Playing</a>... Have you tried messing with the TV's visual settings? Maybe the Contrast setting, Brightness, Sharpness, Anti-aliasing? By the way how big is the actual TV because the bigger in screen size, the more that 1080p is stretched to fit? I play on my HD TV via HDMI cable from laptop, and it looks a little different than the laptop screen, but it still looks good on the TV.

To further what Gold mentioned, some TV's actually have a setting option for gaming and the like that you may find improves the issue by switching too (Although mine actually makes it worse so its worth having a play with) also changing the connection type if your finding HDMI looks odd try seeing if your TV has a VGA/DVI/Digi port, following that route if your converting the signal it may be an issue with the converter. Nice Avatar btw :D

The issue here is pixel density. A 22 inch monitor displaying 1080p is going to look sharper and cleaner than a 46 inch 1080p HDTV. It's the same number of pixels spread out over a bigger area. As an example, using totally made up numbers... A 100 width monitor displaying 1000 pixels is going to have 100 pixels per "inch". Sharper, cleaner image. A 500 width monitor displaying 1000 pixels is going to have 20 pixels per "inch". 16 bit, blown up image. If you want a sharper image on your tv, you're gonna need to spend some money on a 4k tv.

Thanks for the info. Gold, I saw that one. I will have to post images after next game when we have it all set up proper as last week was our test and feelout game and we need to tweak the design a bit. I will have to do some tweaking before our next game then to see if the TV has special settings, though I don't remember seeing any. Talesin, the TV itself is a&nbsp;Sharp - 50" Class (49.5" Diag.) - LED - 1080p - Smart - HDTV Roku TV. I would expect a slight degradation as Sky says because of the jump from a 27" computer monitor to a 50" TV, but that much shouldn't be. I would accept this as fact if the native images of the side bar of the Roll20, including the character icons at the bottom of the screen weren't super sharp and I have seen other players doing the exact same thing here and they look great. Not like a video game from the 80's. James, I also unfortunately don't have another port type on my laptop to try VGA or RCA. But thanks I loved that icon myself when I saw it.&nbsp; I will let everyone know what I come up with between now and then, but thanks again and keep new ideas coming. The more info, the better to make it look wonderful.