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Why do DVD's look terrible on HDTV ...


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Old 03-07-2016, 17:06
enfant_terrible
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I recently decided to watch Lord of the Rings via my DVD player and HDTV. The picture quality is awful. Especially the faces. Very grainy and some ghosting. I've played about with the settings on the TV with no effect.
On my old analogue TV using S-Video connection and Sony DVD player, the movies looked fantastic.
The DVD's are not Blu Ray. I'm not sure this would make much difference from what I've read elsewhere.

Samsung UE19H4000 19-Inch Widescreen HD Ready LED TV
LG DP432 DVD Player With HDMI Upscaling

Is there anything I can do to improve the quality?
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Old 03-07-2016, 17:23
USIM
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Have you tried setting the TV's picture mode to "Cinema"?
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Old 03-07-2016, 17:37
Roush
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Turn off the HD upscaling on the DVD player and let the TV do it.
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Old 03-07-2016, 18:41
PsychoTherapist
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DVDs obviously won't look as good as anything that is HD on a HD TV, but should still be watchable.

On your TV's picture settings, ensure that all the so-called "enhanced" picture processing features are turned off (ie. Noise Reduction etc) and dial down the sharpness levels - you ideally want as little sharpness as possible without making things too blurry. Also play around with Brightness & Contrast settings and you should end up with an acceptable image.
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Old 03-07-2016, 20:05
chrisjr
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According to the Smsung website the TV's panel has resolution of 1366x786 pixels. If you have the DVD player set to upscale to 1080 resolution the TV is then downscaling it to 768. That double scaling might have some effect on image quality.

So either turn off upscaling on the DVD or set it to scale to 720 resolution if it has that option. See if either of those make a difference.

I would also echo the advice to turn off all the so called picture enhancement features. In my experience all they do is degrade the picture to varying degrees.
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Old 04-07-2016, 08:38
Nigel Goodwin
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So either turn off upscaling on the DVD or set it to scale to 720 resolution if it has that option. See if either of those make a difference.
720 is more likely to be worse, scaling down doesn't cause any problems (as it doesn't really create artefacts), but scaling up from 720 to 768 isn't going to be great.

The best option, as you also suggested, is likely to be setting the DVD not to scale at all, and let the TV do it instead.
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Old 04-07-2016, 08:57
anthony david
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If you are using Dynamic mode try Standard.

User guide courtesy of Argos.

http://www.argos-support.co.uk/impor...ls/2788117.pdf
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Old 04-07-2016, 09:52
GDK
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Typically DVDs look pretty good on an HD TV. DVDs usually have the best standard definition PQ available in domestic settings.

The picture faults you describe sound like the type of defects you can get with "analogue" video.

How is your DVD player connected to your TV? For best results you need your DVD player to be connected to the TV via an HDMI cable to get digital video from the DVD player to your TV. If the connection is SCART or S-video that's old analogue technology that will give markedly inferior results. If you're not currently using HDMI it's well worth spending £5-£15 on a cable (Don't be fooled into paying any more than that. Some scurrilous sales people may try to sell you cables costing tens of pounds or more. It's basically a con.)

I also agree with all the others and recommend you turn off as much picture processing as possible and let the TV do the upscaling.
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Old 04-07-2016, 10:48
GDK
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I just checked the user manual for your LG DVD player. Your DVD player doesn't seem to have even S-video out, so if you're not using HDMI what you'll be watching is plain old analogue composite video, a step down from S-video in terms PQ.

Another thing to check is that the DVD is set to output to a 16:9 TV and that the TV is set to 16:9 mode. If not, your TV may be zoomed into a letterboxed image scaled down for old style 4:3 TVs. That would give seriously bad PQ due to all the scaling down and up as well as using analogue video.
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Old 04-07-2016, 12:04
David (2)
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My first instinct would be the connecting cable. Op mentions ghosting, that can happen when a scart cable is used and the scart is faulty. So if your using a scart cable, replace it, ideally with an HDMI cable if your tv and DVD player have those sockets.

From my experience, DVD while is SD quality usually represents the best of what SD can offer and works quite well on HD screens. Obviously old content from decades ago, which is now sold on DVD will look like it always has. If the original content was poor, it still will be on DVD, but I don't think that's the case here. With modern content, DVD should look better than SD tv channels on modern HD screens.
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Old 04-07-2016, 12:22
GDK
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Typically DVDs look pretty good on an HD TV. DVDs usually have the best standard definition PQ available in domestic settings.

The picture faults you describe sound like the type of defects you can get with "analogue" video.

How is your DVD player connected to your TV? For best results you need your DVD player to be connected to the TV via an HDMI cable to get digital video from the DVD player to your TV. If the connection is SCART or S-video that's old analogue technology that will give markedly inferior results. If you're not currently using HDMI it's well worth spending £5-£15 on a HDMI cable (Don't be fooled into paying any more than that. Some scurrilous sales people may try to sell you cables costing tens of pounds or more. It's basically a con.)

I also agree with all the others and recommend you turn off as much picture processing as possible and let the TV do the upscaling.
I just spotted that my first post could be interpreted the wrong way. I meant to suggest you get an HDMI cable.

I believe David (2) is also correct in everything in his post.

You're right, BTW, about Blu Ray. On a 19" HD Ready TV (probably 720 or 768 panel) you'd struggle to see much difference, if at all, between Blu Ray and DVD. You have to go to a screen size bigger than about 30" to start to see the benefits of the higher 1080 resolution Blu Rays offer.

That said, if you're ever going to get a TV with a much larger screen, it's worth getting a cheap blu ray player now to start building your collection on Blu Ray as opposed to DVD. Blu Ray players are incredibly cheap nowadays and discs themselves are not much more expensive than DVDs. And you can still watch your DVDs using a blu ray player.
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Old 06-07-2016, 19:59
Bizza
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Time to start buying Blu-ray.
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Old 07-07-2016, 14:01
Mythica
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You're right, BTW, about Blu Ray. On a 19" HD Ready TV (probably 720 or 768 panel) you'd struggle to see much difference, if at all, between Blu Ray and DVD. You have to go to a screen size bigger than about 30" to start to see the benefits of the higher 1080 resolution Blu Rays offer.
No you won't if sat at the correct distance and no you don't have to go bigger than 30" to get the benefits of 1080.
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Old 07-07-2016, 14:17
GDK
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No you won't if sat at the correct distance and no you don't have to go bigger than 30" to get the benefits of 1080.
How far you sit away from the screen does have an impact. True. I was assuming typical viewing distances. For a 19" set you'd have be sitting very close to spot the difference.

The OP's TV is 19" HD Ready (meaning 720 (or 768) not 1080).

As for screen size, I was estimating based on my own experiences and TV and again assuming a typical lounge-type viewing distance and 720 vs 1080.

At what screen size would you estimate do you begin to see the difference?

(And, by the way, it's possible to correct someone when you think they're wrong without seeming to be quite so hostile and abrupt).
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Old 07-07-2016, 14:55
Mythica
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How far you sit away from the screen does have an impact. True. I was assuming typical viewing distances. For a 19" set you'd have be sitting very close to spot the difference.

The OP's TV is 19" HD Ready (meaning 720 (or 768) not 1080).

As for screen size, I was estimating based on my own experiences and TV and again assuming a typical lounge-type viewing distance and 720 vs 1080.

At what screen size would you estimate do you begin to see the difference?

(And, by the way, it's possible to correct someone when you think they're wrong without seeming to be quite so hostile and abrupt).
1080 is apparent on very small screens if viewed from the correct distance. Gaming monitors tablets and even phones.
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Old 07-07-2016, 22:53
GDK
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1080 is apparent on very small screens if viewed from the correct distance. Gaming monitors tablets and even phones.
No. For very small screen sizes particularly it's just a sales gimmick.
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Old 07-07-2016, 23:51
Mythica
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No. For very small screen sizes particularly it's just a sales gimmick.
But it isn't though. You clearly don't know about resolution and viewing distances.
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Old 08-07-2016, 00:58
GDK
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But it isn't though. You clearly don't know about resolution and viewing distances.
Well aware of the general principles, but I don't keep the figures in my head. You seem to be all about the theory, not about practical considerations. It's not just about the angle subtended at the eye by the object (say a pixel on a screen) and whether that's below or above what the eye can perceive. Theoretical, ideal viewing distances are a range for a given screen size, not a precise value.

I grant that you may be able to see some difference on tiny phone screens at very short (i.e. handheld distances).

The distance most people actually sit away from their screens is determined by the size of the room, not from an examination of the ideal distance for a given size of screen at a given resolution. The ideal viewing distance range for a given screen size in SD would be much farther away than for the same size screen in HD. People don't tend to move their couch closer to the screen when they upgrade to HD.

My original comment was a rough approximation only, based on personal experience. I still stand by it.
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Old 20-07-2016, 17:27
gemma-the-husky
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time to buy a blu ray player, I think.

dvd's played by blu-rays are perfectly acceptable. not quite as crisp as blu rays, but eminently watchable
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Old 20-07-2016, 19:10
Nigel Goodwin
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time to buy a blu ray player, I think.

dvd's played by blu-rays are perfectly acceptable. not quite as crisp as blu rays, but eminently watchable
Just as DVD's played in a DVD player are perfectly acceptable, the 'problem' is either in the OP's equipment, or his settings.
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Old 20-07-2016, 20:04
anthony david
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As the o/p has not bothered to reply to any posts I suggest we all give up on this one.
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Old 20-07-2016, 21:59
gemma-the-husky
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Just as DVD's played in a DVD player are perfectly acceptable, the 'problem' is either in the OP's equipment, or his settings.
yes, but you t can't start building up a blu ray collection ....
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