FACT OR MYTH: HDMI PQ is grainy or LCD displays are grainy, its the nature of the beast

[admin_exported]

... getting "grainy/dark picture" when playing dvd movies on panny 32LXD700 (upscaled to 720p) on sony upscaling dvd player(NS78)...I am using the free HDMI cable which i got with the player....among all the possible reasons i think i am using wrong contrast/brightness/colour/sharpness settings ...please tell the settings to use.....or just use the "cinema setting" on the tv............i dont have a calibration disc also.

 

[nads]

will be the film or the TV settings.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know your TV but can you set it to cinema/film mode and then customise the settings? If so, give this a try:

Set the backlight low, say 2 or 3, contrast high at around 90%, brightness should be around 50%, maybe lower a touch.

If you have colour presets, then set it to "warm" rather than "blue" or "normal", increase the colour level to 55%.

Set sharpness to 0%

Turn off all processing, so if you have options like Noise Reduction and DNIe, Sharpening/Edge Enhancement etc., switch them all OFF.

Your TV should be set to pixel map so that it doesn't try to upscale the input from the DVD player that has already been upscaled.

Of course you'll have to play around with the settings to suit your taste.

 

[Clare Newsome]

More set-up guidance here...

 

[Gerrardasnails]

I have your DVD player linked up to a 20inch Bravia (s4000). The picture is excellent - far better than I was expecting. It must be your tv settings.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="Gerrardasnails"]I have your DVD player linked up to a 20inch Bravia (s4000).[/quote]

Fancy admitting that you've stolen his DVD player

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="Gerrardasnails"]I have your DVD player linked up to a 20inch Bravia (s4000). The picture is excellent - far better than I was expecting. It must be your tv settings.[/quote]

What do you have the DVD Player set to as I have mine on Auto which outputs at 1080p but I have been told I should set it to 720p?

I have a Panasonic 32LXD700.

 

[Anonymous]

I suppose if the 32LXD700 is 720p and if your DVD is outputting 1080p then your TV is having to scale the picture down to fit. So you might be going through an extra step that you don't need?

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="Rob L"]
I suppose if the 32LXD700 is 720p and if your DVD is outputting 1080p then your TV is having to scale the picture down to fit. So you might be going through an extra step that you don't need?
[/quote]

Not really sure?

I set the DVD to Auto which means it is supposed to 'choose' the best setting.

 

[Anonymous]

It's supposed to but I never trust mine! LOL My Sky HD box and DVD Player never choose the right setting so I force them to do 1080 to match my Tosh.

It depends on which is the best scaler - your TV or your DVD player. If you set your DVD to 720p then you can guarantee that your TV won't have to rescale it. If it's on auto then it may be outputting 576p and then your TV will do the upscaling to 720p. This might actually be OK if your TV is the better scaler.

Rob

 

[Anonymous]

Ok Rob thanks!

I will try setting it to 720p to see whether that is any better but 1080p is giving a lovely, clear and sharp picture on the DVDs I've watched so far.
I suppose just choosing which looks best is the way to do it?

 

[professorhat]

[quote user="Scotsgirl"]I suppose just choosing which looks best is the way to do it?[/quote]

Spot on!

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="professorhat"][quote user="Scotsgirl"]I suppose just choosing which looks best is the way to do it?[/quote]

Spot on!
[/quote]
Cheers Prof!

 

[Anonymous]

A number of Blu-ray Discs and DVDs (THX certified ones) have a set up section for TVs.

We set up our TVs using this process. I think we originally used the one with Terminator 2 DVD. Star Wars DVDs also have the THX Optimiser!

Terminator 2 (US Blu-ray) also has the THX optimiser. We tried that one and found the standard DVD settings were spit on for HiDef too!