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Help with DVD's on an HDTV...

Started by turnbrend • Dec 4, 2006 • 9 posts
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#1
I've come to the end of my tether on this one. Any help will be seriously appreciated.

The problem i am having is with the truly awful image quality i am getting from ordinary DVD's when i watch them on my HDTV.

We recently bought (a bloody expensive)42 inch Philips HDTV, i think its this one

So far i have connected to it an XBox 360 via a component HD cable, Sky TV via scart, and my PC via a VGA-to-HDMI cable.

The images from Sky TV are awful but that is normal from what i'm told, but as far as i can tell standard DVD's should look at least as good as on a standard set. They don't.

The PC image i am getting looks pretty good (stills anyway) but when i play a dvd on the PC it looks absolutely terrible. My graphics card (NVidia 6800 ultra) allows duel view and i can look at the image on my old 15" CRT monitor and see that the picture looks superb, but on the HDTV its pixelated, muddy and at times unwatchable.

So what about the 360? It should work just great right? Nope. Same story. The games on the 360 looks UNBELIEVABLY good. But the dvd's i play on it look just the same as from the PC; muddy, pixelated and of less quality than a standard television.

What on earth have i done wrong here? The first night we got the TV i put on Saving Private Ryan to show it off to mates but we ended up turning it off after half an hour.

Not good.

Anyone that can help this sad noob?

Thanks.

Brendan.
#2
The 360 outputs SD DVD at 480P only. On top of that the levels are wrong creating a washed out image so you need to adjust your brightness level for your blacks.

101: Brightness and Contrast
http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5025

You could have the same video setup problem with your PC. The problem there is it is difficult to support you here due to the complex nature of PC. I would recommend using DVI if possible - per your description you are still in the analog realm if VGA really is being used. You might want to try support sites for your video card as that is where the problem should be.

All in all I would recommend an upconverting HDMI/DVI DVD player. Here in the states I recommend...

Oppo Digital OPDV971H 720p/1080i Upconverting DVI DVD Player
http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5548
#3
"Bloody expensive?"

42" plasma in the $1400 - $1800 range is pretty damn cheap, I'd say.

If you paid a lot more recently, go back and scream bloody murder at those folks.
#4
I would concur that getting an upconverting DVD player with HDMI output is the way to go. I have modest collection of about 150 DVDs and also belong to Netflix. I have a JVC LT-40FH96 LCD 40" with a Sony upconverting DVP-NS75H player and the films are better than on standard TV. What's notable is that the DVD player prices out under $100 but the HDMI cable was over $100. The results are well worth the price. Let your HD TV shine.

When the HD-DVD/Blueray wars are settled I'll buy the winning format and then start purchasing high definition DVDs.
#5
A properly set up computer can do a great job. As the modern video cards have superb output it is worth the effort.

My Sony 34XS955, a wonderful piece of hardware, displays amazing video from almost any format.

I can feed it with HDMI and Component and it's really a wash for quality. I'm doing component at the moment at 1080i which is max for this TV and it's just great. SD, especially toons, look just like HD with good capture.
The HD I have is just awesome on this beast.

The TV will probably only ever see computer output as all my stuff come through it. Satallite SD is good to excellent.

Now both the TV and the computer scale but I'm feeding 1080i so the computer does all of that.

Disclaimer. I'm a Linux freak and the media handling in Linux makes windose look really poor.

Just about to grab a 22 gig 1080i Gladiator, screen shots are just sick ;).
#6
PenGun, I agree, great TVs (the xs955s). I got mine this past Oct. at Circuit City as a floor model (open box, of course) for about half the original price - best TV I've ever owned, so sharp and vivid. It's a 36" 4:3; truly a beast! 235 lbs! It will serve me well through the changeover to widescreen.

Al
#7
I bought a Sony KDL-32S2000 which handles 780p & also HDMI input with a Off-Air Tuner since I don't use cable or Sat..... I have a collection of DVDs so bought an OPPO DV-970HD direct from OPPO for $149 plus around $15 for shipping.... Has the good quality HDMI cable.... Great movies from my old DVDs.... (And yes I am a Rabbit Ear freak :))
#8
Richard,

You mentioned and recommend the Oppo Digital OPDV971H 720p/1080i Upconverting DVI DVD Player. I also just read the article in Sound and Vision too. The price is manageable but here is my question.

I have a Pioneer SD-533HD5 which has a great picture in both DVD and obviously HD. Would I benefit from the Oppo DVD player as I can only use component inputs?

Thanks for your time.
#9
Gotta have DVI/HDMI to use it... won't work...

While 480P DVD will remove artifacts the color decoder on that TV is a mess unless you feed it 1080I/540P and you get the best response feeding it RGBHV. For one of my ISF clients we used an external scaler to create that and he happened to have a DTV STB that supported RGBHV as well.

These days, if you can find an upconverting gray market player via component analog video that is going to be your best solution for SD DVD. That is an on line product only...