Dvds look worse on my new LED TV

mal2pool · 20-08-2016, 10:17

Is it my tvs fault, maybe i should buy a better one that upscales dvd pictures or do i need a new dvd player.
Really disappointed in the quality of dvds on my new telly

Tassium · 20-08-2016, 11:02

Without one piece of technical information how can anyone offer an opinion?

mal2pool · 20-08-2016, 11:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by mal2pool

Is it my tvs fault, maybe i should buy a better one that upscales dvd pictures or do i need a new dvd player.
Really disappointed in the quality of dvds on my new telly

Ah sorry. I bought a Panasonic tx48 300b telly. Have a dvd player thats 5 years old.

dvds looked great on my previous panasonic plasma but not on this new tv

GDK · 20-08-2016, 12:03

How is the DVD player connected to the new TV? HDMI? SCART (composite video? RGB?).
What was the resolution of the old TV and the new?
Is the DVD player output set for a 16:9 TV?
Does the DVD player do any upscaling itself, or are you relying on the TV to upscale?

mal2pool · 20-08-2016, 12:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by GDK

How is the DVD player connected to the new TV? HDMI? SCART (composite video? RGB?).
What was the resolution of the old TV and the new?
Is the DVD player output set for a 16:9 TV?
Does the DVD player do any upscaling itself, or are you relying on the TV to upscale?

My old tv was HD ready. panansonic from 2009.
No dvd player wasnt set to 16.9...set it now
Not sure if dvd player upscales or tv upscales.

anthony david · 20-08-2016, 13:13

I assume from the model number it is a 48 inch. What size was the old set and how far are you sitting from it?

mal2pool · 20-08-2016, 13:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by anthony david

I assume from the model number it is a 48 inch. What size was the old set and how far are you sitting from it?

Old telly was 37 inch hd ready...sitting 4 feet away

chrisjr · 20-08-2016, 13:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by mal2pool

My old tv was HD ready. panansonic from 2009.
No dvd player wasnt set to 16.9...set it now
Not sure if dvd player upscales or tv upscales.

You need to give us some detail to work with. How is the DVD player connected to the TV, ie are you using an HDMI lead or a SCART lead?

If it is HDMI then either the DVD or TV could be upscaling. If it is SCART then the TV is doing it as SCART is strictly SD.

If you are using SCART make sure that in the Video Output settings of the DVD player you have RGB mode selected as this will usually give the best possible quality.

mal2pool · 20-08-2016, 13:59

i'm using hd cables...does look a little better since i changed dvd player to 16:9 aspect...will have to play a whole dvd through tonight to see

davies88 · 20-08-2016, 14:24

DVD's will always look better on a Plasma than and LCD TV. Although with the right calibration, you can get an LCD to look pretty close to a Plasma.

I have a 42" Plasma, and won't be upgrading until OLED's become more affordable.

Plasma's always look more natural and easier on the eye to me.

anthony david · 20-08-2016, 14:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by mal2pool

Old telly was 37 inch hd ready...sitting 4 feet away

DVDs are standard definition and although usually, but not always, better quality than SD Freeview, at a normal domestic viewing distance of 3m/10ft you start noticing picture defects on screen sizes over 36 inches. You can get away with a 40 inch screen, although you notice that some DVDs are much better than others, but 48 inches viewed from 4ft is hopeless, in fact I'm surprised you found the pictures on your 37 inch acceptable at that distance. You need Blu-ray for that set up, any SD source is pointless.

mal2pool · 20-08-2016, 14:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by davies88

DVD's will always look better on a Plasma than and LCD TV. Although with the right calibration, you can get an LCD to look pretty close to a Plasma.

I have a 42" Plasma, and won't be upgrading until OLED's become more affordable.

Plasma's always look more natural and easier on the eye to me.

LED on HD channels is really good. I watched Gladiator last week and it looked better on tv than on the dvd.

jackthom · 20-08-2016, 15:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by mal2pool

LED on HD channels is really good. I watched Gladiator last week and it looked better on tv than on the dvd.

We sit around 10 feet from a 50" plasma and of course nearly all HD looks great.
Anything SD, whether its from DVD or off-air, is a bit on the ropey side.

As has already been pointed out, if you want to sit closer than this and watch movies on your 48" TV you should really invest in a bluray player and some discs, or maybe try out Netflix / Amazon Instant.

-GONZO- · 20-08-2016, 16:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by mal2pool

LED on HD channels is really good. I watched Gladiator last week and it looked better on tv than on the dvd.

Of course it would, you watched it on a HD channel which uses a HD copy of the film at a maximum resolution of 1080i whereas your DVD is SD so will always look worse at a resolution of 576i.

David (2) · 20-08-2016, 16:52

Firstly, you need to connect the DVD to the tv using an HDMI cord. If it's older it won't have this (only scart) or seperate analogue cord such as red/white/yellow.

So if it is an older player without HDMI, you should replace the device with a bluray player. You can then connect with HDMI, and adjust the resolution output of the player to 1080p (full HD) and enable 24fps if it has that. Not forgetting switching it to widescreen 16x9 mode. This should give the best results on DVD and Blu-ray Discs.

In general, DVD is SD quality - just like one of the regular live to channels (not the HD versions). Actually the data capacity on DVD is quite good so pre-recorded DVD pictures should look a bit better than regular sd tv channels. With this in mind, how bad do those regular sd tv channels look on the new tv. If you get similar poor results with those it may simply be that the tv manufacturer has cut costs by putting in a really cheap, poor scaler (on the assumption that most things are now in HD quality via live tv and bluray).

anthony david · 20-08-2016, 17:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by David (2)

Firstly, you need to connect the DVD to the tv using an HDMI cord. If it's older it won't have this (only scart) or seperate analogue cord such as red/white/yellow.

So if it is an older player without HDMI, you should replace the device with a bluray player. You can then connect with HDMI, and adjust the resolution output of the player to 1080p (full HD) and enable 24fps if it has that. Not forgetting switching it to widescreen 16x9 mode. This should give the best results on DVD and Blu-ray Discs.

In general, DVD is SD quality - just like one of the regular live to channels (not the HD versions). Actually the data capacity on DVD is quite good so pre-recorded DVD pictures should look a bit better than regular sd tv channels. With this in mind, how bad do those regular sd tv channels look on the new tv. If you get similar poor results with those it may simply be that the tv manufacturer has cut costs by putting in a really cheap, poor scaler (on the assumption that most things are now in HD quality via live tv and bluray).

You seem to have completely missed the fact he is watching SD on a 48 inch TV from 4 feet away!

mal2pool · 20-08-2016, 18:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by David (2)

Firstly, you need to connect the DVD to the tv using an HDMI cord. If it's older it won't have this (only scart) or seperate analogue cord such as red/white/yellow.

So if it is an older player without HDMI, you should replace the device with a bluray player. You can then connect with HDMI, and adjust the resolution output of the player to 1080p (full HD) and enable 24fps if it has that. Not forgetting switching it to widescreen 16x9 mode. This should give the best results on DVD and Blu-ray Discs.

In general, DVD is SD quality - just like one of the regular live to channels (not the HD versions). Actually the data capacity on DVD is quite good so pre-recorded DVD pictures should look a bit better than regular sd tv channels. With this in mind, how bad do those regular sd tv channels look on the new tv. If you get similar poor results with those it may simply be that the tv manufacturer has cut costs by putting in a really cheap, poor scaler (on the assumption that most things are now in HD quality via live tv and bluray).

Thanks for that..will try all that. Yes its the cheapest panasonic so probably hasnt got good upscaling.

-GONZO- · 20-08-2016, 19:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by mal2pool

Thanks for that..will try all that. Yes its the cheapest panasonic so probably hasnt got good upscaling.

The thing you have to understand with movies on DVD are that they all have varying levels of quality due to how much compression the main feature may have which can have an impact on what the end result maybe on a larger HD screen.
Due to the limited space on a DVD and depending on how long the film is, how many audio tracks, how many different language subtitles, how much special features etc may mean that some films are compressed slightly more to fit it all on one disc so will look poor when blown up on a larger screen.
In all honesty I think you should be looking at upgrading your current DVD player to a Blu-ray player which you can play your current DVDs on if you wish.

Nigel Goodwin · 20-08-2016, 20:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by -GONZO-

In all honesty I think you should be looking at upgrading your current DVD player to a Blu-ray player which you can play your current DVDs on if you wish.

It's not going to make much difference (if any), although a BD Player 'may' have a better scaler than his TV, which will give a slight improvement.

His main problem is viewing SD at MUCH too close a distance, it's always going to look excessively poor - because he's not viewing from the correct distance.

What he needs is a BD Player AND to play BD's rather than DVD's.

mooghead · 20-08-2016, 21:19

4 feet? Put your nose against the screen and complain about the picture. Same thing.

mal2pool · 20-08-2016, 21:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by -GONZO-

The thing you have to understand with movies on DVD are that they all have varying levels of quality due to how much compression the main feature may have which can have an impact on what the end result maybe on a larger HD screen.
Due to the limited space on a DVD and depending on how long the film is, how many audio tracks, how many different language subtitles, how much special features etc may mean that some films are compressed slightly more to fit it all on one disc so will look poor when blown up on a larger screen.
In all honesty I think you should be looking at upgrading your current DVD player to a Blu-ray player which you can play your current DVDs on if you wish.

i have a blu ray player but own mostly dvds. and its actually 10 feet from the screen !

JurassicMark · 20-08-2016, 22:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by mal2pool

i have a blu ray player but own mostly dvds. and its actually 10 feet from the screen !

When you asked in your OP "do i need a new dvd player", I think most posters assumed that's what you currently have, not a Blu-ray player.

Also for clarification, you watched your old TV from 4 feet away but watch your current TV from 10 feet away, is that correct?

I responded to your thread in the TV forum: Gladiator C4 HD tonight. Besides what other posters have already said, I think you may still have in mind how much better that HD broadcast looked in comparison to your DVD copy of Gladiator, which has perhaps raised the bar in terms of what you now judge as a good picture. I may be wrong but why not get a Blu-ray version of Gladiator?

David (2) · 21-08-2016, 09:34

Getting a bit confused now,
But if you already have a bluray player, have u made sure the output is set to 1080p full HD, and not something like 576i or 480p.

Sorry if I am stating the obvious,

anthony david · 21-08-2016, 10:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by mal2pool

i have a blu ray player but own mostly dvds. and its actually 10 feet from the screen !

So 21 posts later you suddenly have a Blu-ray player, it is 10ft from the screen but you are 4ft. People sometimes contact this forum with hypothetical problems with the aim of winding people up, helps pass the time in their meaningless lives I suppose. Are you one of those?

CappySpectrum · 21-08-2016, 15:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by mooghead

4 feet? Put your nose against the screen and complain about the picture. Same thing.

Crazy. I usually sit 6 - 7 ft away from a 46" and 8 - 9 from a 50 inch.

Then of course only the good TVs and players have the good upscaling chips. Not something you'll see on a £300 TV and £50 - £80 player.

20-08-2016, 10:17	#1
mal2pool Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 5,528	Dvds look worse on my new LED TV Is it my tvs fault, maybe i should buy a better one that upscales dvd pictures or do i need a new dvd player. Really disappointed in the quality of dvds on my new telly

20-08-2016, 11:02	#2
Tassium Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: It's Grim Posts: 24,412	Without one piece of technical information how can anyone offer an opinion?

20-08-2016, 11:52	#3
mal2pool Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 5,528	Quote: Originally Posted by mal2pool Is it my tvs fault, maybe i should buy a better one that upscales dvd pictures or do i need a new dvd player. Really disappointed in the quality of dvds on my new telly Ah sorry. I bought a Panasonic tx48 300b telly. Have a dvd player thats 5 years old. dvds looked great on my previous panasonic plasma but not on this new tv

20-08-2016, 12:03	#4
GDK Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Wigan Posts: 4,892	How is the DVD player connected to the new TV? HDMI? SCART (composite video? RGB?). What was the resolution of the old TV and the new? Is the DVD player output set for a 16:9 TV? Does the DVD player do any upscaling itself, or are you relying on the TV to upscale?

20-08-2016, 12:56	#5
mal2pool Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 5,528	Quote: Originally Posted by GDK How is the DVD player connected to the new TV? HDMI? SCART (composite video? RGB?). What was the resolution of the old TV and the new? Is the DVD player output set for a 16:9 TV? Does the DVD player do any upscaling itself, or are you relying on the TV to upscale? My old tv was HD ready. panansonic from 2009. No dvd player wasnt set to 16.9...set it now Not sure if dvd player upscales or tv upscales.

20-08-2016, 13:13	#6
anthony david Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 3,469	I assume from the model number it is a 48 inch. What size was the old set and how far are you sitting from it?

20-08-2016, 13:37	#7
mal2pool Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 5,528	Quote: Originally Posted by anthony david I assume from the model number it is a 48 inch. What size was the old set and how far are you sitting from it? Old telly was 37 inch hd ready...sitting 4 feet away

20-08-2016, 13:40	#8
chrisjr Forum Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Reading Posts: 27,916	Quote: Originally Posted by mal2pool My old tv was HD ready. panansonic from 2009. No dvd player wasnt set to 16.9...set it now Not sure if dvd player upscales or tv upscales. You need to give us some detail to work with. How is the DVD player connected to the TV, ie are you using an HDMI lead or a SCART lead? If it is HDMI then either the DVD or TV could be upscaling. If it is SCART then the TV is doing it as SCART is strictly SD. If you are using SCART make sure that in the Video Output settings of the DVD player you have RGB mode selected as this will usually give the best possible quality.

20-08-2016, 13:59	#9
mal2pool Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 5,528	i'm using hd cables...does look a little better since i changed dvd player to 16:9 aspect...will have to play a whole dvd through tonight to see

20-08-2016, 14:24	#10
davies88 Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Tatooine Posts: 1,508	DVD's will always look better on a Plasma than and LCD TV. Although with the right calibration, you can get an LCD to look pretty close to a Plasma. I have a 42" Plasma, and won't be upgrading until OLED's become more affordable. Plasma's always look more natural and easier on the eye to me.

20-08-2016, 14:33	#11
anthony david Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 3,469	Quote: Originally Posted by mal2pool Old telly was 37 inch hd ready...sitting 4 feet away DVDs are standard definition and although usually, but not always, better quality than SD Freeview, at a normal domestic viewing distance of 3m/10ft you start noticing picture defects on screen sizes over 36 inches. You can get away with a 40 inch screen, although you notice that some DVDs are much better than others, but 48 inches viewed from 4ft is hopeless, in fact I'm surprised you found the pictures on your 37 inch acceptable at that distance. You need Blu-ray for that set up, any SD source is pointless.

20-08-2016, 14:39	#12
mal2pool Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 5,528	Quote: Originally Posted by davies88 DVD's will always look better on a Plasma than and LCD TV. Although with the right calibration, you can get an LCD to look pretty close to a Plasma. I have a 42" Plasma, and won't be upgrading until OLED's become more affordable. Plasma's always look more natural and easier on the eye to me. LED on HD channels is really good. I watched Gladiator last week and it looked better on tv than on the dvd.

20-08-2016, 15:09	#13
jackthom Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Northumberland Posts: 4,536	Quote: Originally Posted by mal2pool LED on HD channels is really good. I watched Gladiator last week and it looked better on tv than on the dvd. We sit around 10 feet from a 50" plasma and of course nearly all HD looks great. Anything SD, whether its from DVD or off-air, is a bit on the ropey side. As has already been pointed out, if you want to sit closer than this and watch movies on your 48" TV you should really invest in a bluray player and some discs, or maybe try out Netflix / Amazon Instant.

20-08-2016, 16:14	#14
-GONZO- Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Kent Posts: 8,954	Quote: Originally Posted by mal2pool LED on HD channels is really good. I watched Gladiator last week and it looked better on tv than on the dvd. Of course it would, you watched it on a HD channel which uses a HD copy of the film at a maximum resolution of 1080i whereas your DVD is SD so will always look worse at a resolution of 576i.

20-08-2016, 16:52	#15
David (2) Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: S.West England. Posts: 18,037	Firstly, you need to connect the DVD to the tv using an HDMI cord. If it's older it won't have this (only scart) or seperate analogue cord such as red/white/yellow. So if it is an older player without HDMI, you should replace the device with a bluray player. You can then connect with HDMI, and adjust the resolution output of the player to 1080p (full HD) and enable 24fps if it has that. Not forgetting switching it to widescreen 16x9 mode. This should give the best results on DVD and Blu-ray Discs. In general, DVD is SD quality - just like one of the regular live to channels (not the HD versions). Actually the data capacity on DVD is quite good so pre-recorded DVD pictures should look a bit better than regular sd tv channels. With this in mind, how bad do those regular sd tv channels look on the new tv. If you get similar poor results with those it may simply be that the tv manufacturer has cut costs by putting in a really cheap, poor scaler (on the assumption that most things are now in HD quality via live tv and bluray).

20-08-2016, 17:00	#16
anthony david Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 3,469	Quote: Originally Posted by David (2) Firstly, you need to connect the DVD to the tv using an HDMI cord. If it's older it won't have this (only scart) or seperate analogue cord such as red/white/yellow. So if it is an older player without HDMI, you should replace the device with a bluray player. You can then connect with HDMI, and adjust the resolution output of the player to 1080p (full HD) and enable 24fps if it has that. Not forgetting switching it to widescreen 16x9 mode. This should give the best results on DVD and Blu-ray Discs. In general, DVD is SD quality - just like one of the regular live to channels (not the HD versions). Actually the data capacity on DVD is quite good so pre-recorded DVD pictures should look a bit better than regular sd tv channels. With this in mind, how bad do those regular sd tv channels look on the new tv. If you get similar poor results with those it may simply be that the tv manufacturer has cut costs by putting in a really cheap, poor scaler (on the assumption that most things are now in HD quality via live tv and bluray). You seem to have completely missed the fact he is watching SD on a 48 inch TV from 4 feet away!

20-08-2016, 18:17	#17
mal2pool Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 5,528	Quote: Originally Posted by David (2) Firstly, you need to connect the DVD to the tv using an HDMI cord. If it's older it won't have this (only scart) or seperate analogue cord such as red/white/yellow. So if it is an older player without HDMI, you should replace the device with a bluray player. You can then connect with HDMI, and adjust the resolution output of the player to 1080p (full HD) and enable 24fps if it has that. Not forgetting switching it to widescreen 16x9 mode. This should give the best results on DVD and Blu-ray Discs. In general, DVD is SD quality - just like one of the regular live to channels (not the HD versions). Actually the data capacity on DVD is quite good so pre-recorded DVD pictures should look a bit better than regular sd tv channels. With this in mind, how bad do those regular sd tv channels look on the new tv. If you get similar poor results with those it may simply be that the tv manufacturer has cut costs by putting in a really cheap, poor scaler (on the assumption that most things are now in HD quality via live tv and bluray). Thanks for that..will try all that. Yes its the cheapest panasonic so probably hasnt got good upscaling.

20-08-2016, 19:42	#18
-GONZO- Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Kent Posts: 8,954	Quote: Originally Posted by mal2pool Thanks for that..will try all that. Yes its the cheapest panasonic so probably hasnt got good upscaling. The thing you have to understand with movies on DVD are that they all have varying levels of quality due to how much compression the main feature may have which can have an impact on what the end result maybe on a larger HD screen. Due to the limited space on a DVD and depending on how long the film is, how many audio tracks, how many different language subtitles, how much special features etc may mean that some films are compressed slightly more to fit it all on one disc so will look poor when blown up on a larger screen. In all honesty I think you should be looking at upgrading your current DVD player to a Blu-ray player which you can play your current DVDs on if you wish.

20-08-2016, 20:07	#19
Nigel Goodwin Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: North Derbyshire Posts: 41,789	Quote: Originally Posted by -GONZO- In all honesty I think you should be looking at upgrading your current DVD player to a Blu-ray player which you can play your current DVDs on if you wish. It's not going to make much difference (if any), although a BD Player 'may' have a better scaler than his TV, which will give a slight improvement. His main problem is viewing SD at MUCH too close a distance, it's always going to look excessively poor - because he's not viewing from the correct distance. What he needs is a BD Player AND to play BD's rather than DVD's.

20-08-2016, 21:19	#20
mooghead Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 572	4 feet? Put your nose against the screen and complain about the picture. Same thing.

20-08-2016, 21:38	#21
mal2pool Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 5,528	Quote: Originally Posted by -GONZO- The thing you have to understand with movies on DVD are that they all have varying levels of quality due to how much compression the main feature may have which can have an impact on what the end result maybe on a larger HD screen. Due to the limited space on a DVD and depending on how long the film is, how many audio tracks, how many different language subtitles, how much special features etc may mean that some films are compressed slightly more to fit it all on one disc so will look poor when blown up on a larger screen. In all honesty I think you should be looking at upgrading your current DVD player to a Blu-ray player which you can play your current DVDs on if you wish. i have a blu ray player but own mostly dvds. and its actually 10 feet from the screen !

DS Forums

Dvds look worse on my new LED TV

20-08-2016, 22:28	#22
JurassicMark Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Nottingham Posts: 5,578	Quote: Originally Posted by mal2pool i have a blu ray player but own mostly dvds. and its actually 10 feet from the screen ! When you asked in your OP "do i need a new dvd player", I think most posters assumed that's what you currently have, not a Blu-ray player. Also for clarification, you watched your old TV from 4 feet away but watch your current TV from 10 feet away, is that correct? I responded to your thread in the TV forum: Gladiator C4 HD tonight. Besides what other posters have already said, I think you may still have in mind how much better that HD broadcast looked in comparison to your DVD copy of Gladiator, which has perhaps raised the bar in terms of what you now judge as a good picture. I may be wrong but why not get a Blu-ray version of Gladiator?

21-08-2016, 09:34	#23
David (2) Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: S.West England. Posts: 18,037	Getting a bit confused now, But if you already have a bluray player, have u made sure the output is set to 1080p full HD, and not something like 576i or 480p. Sorry if I am stating the obvious,

21-08-2016, 10:35	#24
anthony david Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 3,469	Quote: Originally Posted by mal2pool i have a blu ray player but own mostly dvds. and its actually 10 feet from the screen ! So 21 posts later you suddenly have a Blu-ray player, it is 10ft from the screen but you are 4ft. People sometimes contact this forum with hypothetical problems with the aim of winding people up, helps pass the time in their meaningless lives I suppose. Are you one of those?

21-08-2016, 15:40	#25
CappySpectrum Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: UK Posts: 1,977	Quote: Originally Posted by mooghead 4 feet? Put your nose against the screen and complain about the picture. Same thing. Crazy. I usually sit 6 - 7 ft away from a 46" and 8 - 9 from a 50 inch. Then of course only the good TVs and players have the good upscaling chips. Not something you'll see on a £300 TV and £50 - £80 player.