Samsung hd-870 - not impressed

[admin_exported]

Had a HD-870 from the wife for Xmas, hooked it up to my Samsung LE26R74BD via a Wireworld Island 5 HDMI.

Result? I'm not impressed. As far as I can see the improvement over my 4 yr old Pioneer DV 656A is minimal. Close up, there are still lots of jagged lines and 'blocking' - especially with the blue background on the Samsung's 'wallpaper' - perhaps this is just how things are...

Is it just me? Is it wrong to expect a massive jump in picture quality over a good SD player?

I found myself hankering for my Panasonic CRT!

Maybe I need to do some tweakings with the settings. If anyone else has one of these let me know.

 

[VoodooDoctor]

I have one of these and I am very pleased with it. The girlfriend even wondered whether it was outputting HD when we watched Hannibal Rising on it.

Silly question, have you made sure that it is outputting in 720p/1080i? It defaults to 576i/p with HDMI.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="VoodooDoctor"]I have one of these and I am very pleased with it. The girlfriend even wondered whether it was outputting HD when we watched Hannibal Rising on it.

Silly question, have you made sure that it is outputting in 720p/1080i? It defaults to 576i/p with HDMI.[/quote]
Im a little curious as to why you would use the samsung to play DVD when you have a Toshiba HD-EP35 HD-DVD Player and also a PS3 which has excellent DVD playback? Different room maybe?

 

[VoodooDoctor]

The HD-870 is in the bedroom. Needed something cheap and cheerful for there.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="VoodooDoctor"]The girlfriend even wondered whether it was outputting HD [/quote]

Would you agree that new movies look better when upscaled than perhaps older films from 3-5 years ago?

Also, on the standard blue Samsung wallpaper when the player is switched on, if you look up close do you see lots of 'blocking' and a snowy effect around the lettering?

[quote user="VoodooDoctor"]Silly question, have you made sure that it is outputting in 720p/1080i[/quote]

Yes - but should I choose RGB normal or RGB expand?

Also the 'video output' option - I-SCAN via component / S-Video / Scart RGB / P-SCAN via component are the options - but I don't want any of these because I'm using HDMI - annoyingly there does'nt seem to be a choice not to use any of these.

 

[VoodooDoctor]

I do have blocking on the wallpaper.

I do think that newer movies look better.

I'd choose RGB Expand as then it sends all the information. I guess your display will use the extra information if it can. I'm slightly confused as to why you are getting those Video Output options as I do not have them when I am connected via HDMI. What happens when you press the HDMI SEL button on the bottom right of the remote?

 

[Anonymous]

It just cycles through the outputs of 576p / 720p and 1080i.

And I cant see any difference between 576p and 1080i....arrrrgggghhhh

The great 'upscaling' rip off. In my opinion folks, don't bother if your TV is below 32". I would of been better keeping my Pioneer and just upgrading to a component cable instead of the scart.