Bluray looks great, but not on my system

[donhay]

I have been an avid user of home cinema equipment for many a year but I think I have a problem with my bluray setup.

I decided that I needed to replace my ageing front speakers, so a couple of days ago I went to audition some.

The dem involved a Panasonic plasma tv and I think a Panasonic bluray player. The picture quality was stunning and far better than I get at home. It had a lot more depth and a 3d like quality to it. Difficult to describe visuals in words I guess.

My system at home is a Pioneer PDP4280xd, Panasonic DMP-bd35 and a Denon 1909 receiver. Video is fed through the Denon via hdmi. I even played the same disc, Sherlock Holmes, and the PQ is definitely flatter with less detail.

So, what is letting me down, I now know it should be better. I think I have now missed out on the true bluray experience. Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[festing11]

I'd imagine that your tv being only 720p/1080i will have something to do with it. Also as loads of other threads have said, shop generally have the picture setting set to high for normal viewing but it looks good in shop conditions.

 

[Anonymous]

I disagree, I have a 507XD in bedroom and when playing a Blu ray it looks everybit as detailed as my Full HD plasma downstairs.

I recently replaced my Panny BD35 with a Sony 370, now available for around £90 and the picture is far more detailed, I think this will make the improvements that you want IMO.

 

[Sorreltiger]

The Pioneer is actually a 768p set - not full HD. I know that mine too lacks the last scintilla of sharpness with bluray, but I won't be changing just yet as there are other factors involved. In terms of colour, contrast, 'naturalness' and the mythical deep blacks (!) the 4280 is still hard to beat. When I see other TVs in action - particularly LCDs - they often look all sparkly and appealing. I then stop to ask myself, "Does the world actually look like that?", and the answer is no. My Sky Sports HD picture is everything I'd want for - close to my actual experience, rather than some kind of heightened reality. It depends really what you watch and what your priorities are. Particularly if you still watch SD material or even upscaled shows on the new BBC1 HD, you might find that alternatives are disappointing and I still think my bluray picture is superb in many ways.

Mind you, if I had a couple of grand to burn, I might be tempted by one of the 9G sets that pop up on Ebay!

 

[Deleted member 2457]

donhay:

I have been an avid user of home cinema equipment for many a year but I think I have a problem with my bluray setup.

I decided that I needed to replace my ageing front speakers, so a couple of days ago I went to audition some.

The dem involved a Panasonic plasma tv and I think a Panasonic bluray player. The picture quality was stunning and far better than I get at home. It had a lot more depth and a 3d like quality to it. Difficult to describe visuals in words I guess.

My system at home is a Pioneer PDP4280xd, Panasonic DMP-bd35 and a Denon 1909 receiver. Video is fed through the Denon via hdmi. I even played the same disc, Sherlock Holmes, and the PQ is definitely flatter with less detail.

So, what is letting me down, I now know it should be better. I think I have now missed out on the true bluray experience. Any advice greatly appreciated.

I personally think your blu ray player is letting you down abit and i would look at getting one of the new Sony blu ray players, that is my opinion.

 

[Anonymous]

i don't think changing the blu-ray player will make a bit of difference. the bdp you have is fine imo.

i agree with sorreltiger, tv's in shops often catch the eye because their contrast is maxed out and they normally show content designed to show them off in a shop envoirement. the tv you have is still very good, it may lack a touch of sharpness compared to the newer full hd sets but it will still have a more natural pic than alot of them..

 

[Tom Moreno]

I agree with alot of what's been said above, but would add this...

Is your tv calibrated? If not I would at the very least recommend calibrating it with a thx optimiser disc or a dedicated calibration disc like DVE or such. If you really want results you can get a full ISF calibration by an engineer for around £300. Many people say that a proper professional validation is the best upgrade they ever purchased for their system.

 

[Anonymous]

Are you using a 5.00 HDMI cable or a 100.00 one?

I had a panasonic 720p which played great blu-rays with my PS3, but when I bought my LG450LD for 369 which is 1080p and bought the sony bdp-370, sound and picture were a lot better

 

[Gerrardasnails]

donhay:
I have been an avid user of home cinema equipment for many a year but I think I have a problem with my bluray setup.

I decided that I needed to replace my ageing front speakers, so a couple of days ago I went to audition some.

The dem involved a Panasonic plasma tv and I think a Panasonic bluray player. The picture quality was stunning and far better than I get at home. It had a lot more depth and a 3d like quality to it. Difficult to describe visuals in words I guess.

My system at home is a Pioneer PDP4280xd, Panasonic DMP-bd35 and a Denon 1909 receiver. Video is fed through the Denon via hdmi. I even played the same disc, Sherlock Holmes, and the PQ is definitely flatter with less detail.

So, what is letting me down, I now know it should be better. I think I have now missed out on the true bluray experience. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Try bluray player direct to and see if the picture improves. Not the ideal situation as you then miss out on HD audio but my brother had a similar situation Ruth his Denon 2808.

 

[donhay]

Thanks Guys for all your comments.

I would suspect that my player is the weak link, but extremely disappointed if it was the tv. I know it is not a full hd panel but in its day got rave reviews. There was such a marked difference in the PQ I saw in the hifi shop and what I get at home I can't see that it was down purely to settings. Open to experimentation though.

I did mention it to the salesman who suspected that it may be the player. He was quite impressed that I had the Pioneer tv and even though not full hd didn't think that was the problem.

I can certainly try the player direct to the tv.

Must admit that the cables aren't the best, probably around the £5 mark. If better cables got me the result then I would obviously do it, but I would never pay £100 for one.

My tv is set up using the settings found on another well known forum. I don't think mine can be calibrated by an engineer, I think thats the next model up from mine. But not sure.

 

[Anonymous]

Have a tweak with a THX optimiser, the results somebody else posted may not suit your tastes or environment, I really do think spending on a professional calibrator will be a mistake you can put that towards a new full HD TV when the time is right for you.

But certainly to buy a Sony 370 and trying to pick up one of the now none manufactured 1.3 or above certified leads up to about £25. Like a chord or QED would IMO improve things for you. For £100ish it's worth a punt.

 

[aliEnRIK]

Tom Moreno:I agree with alot of what's been said above, but would add this...

Is your tv calibrated? If not I would at the very least recommend calibrating it with a thx optimiser disc or a dedicated calibration disc like DVE or such..

I would definitely agree with that

I have the model before and blurays looked awesome

Sounds to me like your settings are all wrong

 

[Anonymous]

It's not the tv,iv got a pioneer 428xd (Wich is basically the same tv) I also have a Sony kdl40w4500 and for me the pioneer is a match when it comes to detail,sharpness etc,and its still got the edge as far as blacks,contrast and overall picture quality is concerned.my local hmv has got a Sony kdl40w4500 and the settings are all clearly maxed out,it does look impressive.but try watching the film at home with the same settings and you would burn your eyes out.

 

[Ronald Archiebald]

Donhay,

I use a HD-Ready 'only' TV myself and I have compared it's performance to many Full-HD sets for both SD and HD material, and suffice to say, I've not felt compelled to upgrade to a Full-HD set.

I had the Panasonic DMP-BD35 blu-ray player and it is a fine player. In my opinion, both your TV and blu-ray player are fine.

I would suggest that you try and calibrate your TV with at least a THX Optimiser and also to ensure that your blu-ray player settings are also correct.

This might just be me - I have my blu-ray player set to output at 1080i instead of 720p (which to most people is the 'default' setting). To my eyes, my TV looks a lot better this way - the colour balance and the sheer vibrancy appears more glorious.

Experiment and see what looks best to you.

Ronald

 

[donhay]

Thanks all for your suggestions.

I had a quick play with the tv settings yesterday. I got to scene on a bluray and paused it. I then switched between movie mode and standard mode just to see the difference in the PQ.

Movie mode made the scene dark and a little detail, Standard was brighter with more detail. (and I've been using movie mode for more than two years) Using Standard mode to watch Virgin sd/hd was far too bright and I think would give me a headache after a while.

I had a bit of a play with User mode and things are better but I'm no where near yet. BBC 1 HD looks better than ever!

Next thing is to see what I can do with a DVE disc.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Hi,

I use a 720 line PJ running Blu Rays at 1080p. Have found that the Chord Active Cable increases the luminance around each pixel 'sort of' making it look sharper. Also my Panny BD player died and i just got a Sony S370, had no issues with my Panny but the Sony defiently has much greater detail and control. Bet you could pick a player and Chord cable up for under £150.

Also don't believe people who tell you HDMI's don't make a difference unless they own a range of cables, some things you have to try for yourself.

 

[Cofnchtr]

Hi,

Have you any THX discs? They have an optimiser in the menus. Try that before you purchase the DVE disc - if there's an improvement you can try the DVE disc?

I 'only' use a 768 line Panasonic too and pictures are brilliant using HD sources.

As mentioned above, other peoples settings are not necessarily correct for you - they will have different room configuration, natural daylight etc. these can all be factors when setting up a TV.

Of course, if you're looking for a cure for the upgradeitis...

Cheers,

Cofnchtr.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, just come across your thread. I too have the Pioneer 428 and also used the well know Movie settings on another forum as a starting point. I guess the word is starting point. I like the movie mode but I have knocked up the brightness levels a touch using the BBC using the test card from the HD channel. To be honest I've looked at LED's and have gone wow they look bright but then are they natural? I think I may also need the cure for upgradeitis...

I have a pioneer lx52 bluray which has a default picture settings (as do other pioneer models) for the pioneer plasma. Looks fantastic. Might be worth considering?

Macca

 

[aliEnRIK]

donhay:
Thanks all for your suggestions.

I had a quick play with the tv settings yesterday. I got to scene on a bluray and paused it. I then switched between movie mode and standard mode just to see the difference in the PQ.

Movie mode made the scene dark and a little detail, Standard was brighter with more detail. (and I've been using movie mode for more than two years) Using Standard mode to watch Virgin sd/hd was far too bright and I think would give me a headache after a while.

I had a bit of a play with User mode and things are better but I'm no where near yet. BBC 1 HD looks better than ever!

Next thing is to see what I can do with a DVE disc.

Use cinema mode and calibrate using a THX disc or similar

Switch off ALL processing thats not needed (contrast enhance, DNR etc etc). Pioneers have tons of them

 

[donhay]

Thanks Guys,

I had a little time to play around with my tv settings. As posted before I have used the movie settings from the other forum for around three years and now can't believe what I've been missing out on.

I tried identical setting in Movie mode and User mode and there is a difference between those pictures. So I guess each mode is different in some basic starting point.

I downloaded some form of setup disc and tried only the basic patterns to try to improve things. At the moment I am running (in movie mode) a contrast of 42, (was 30), brightness of 0, sharpness of 0, (was -4) and things are much better already. But its not there yet.

My next plan is a bluray disc with the thx optimiser on it. At least you get a film for your money as well!

I don't want to upgrade if I don't have to, as I've just spent out on three new front speakers. But a Pio player is tempting.