High Definition and DVD

bdcc11

I just finished setting up my home system with Polk speakers and a Sansung DLP 50" TV and a Sony 725 DVD player.

The problem I am having is in the video. I rented Matrix: Revolution and when I play it the picture is grainy around the faces. In the train station the distortion around the eyes of the actors is disturbing to watch.

I tried 3 different DVD players. I am using component output from the DVD players.

The only common thing is that all the DVD players I am using are in the under $250 price range. The Sony at $129 is the best so far but still not good.

Is there a good quality DVD player that will give me a better image. I don't want to keep going back to the store switching out players. The Polk speakers are great. Good for action or music.

AsSiMiLaTeD

It's a bit expensive, but the Denon 2900 seems to be a popular choice...

It the pictures is as bad as your saying, I somehow doubt it's the DVD player...

PolkThug

Turn the contrast down on your Sammy! It's probably in torch mode from the factory, unless you have calibrated it.

Welcome to the forum!

Regards,
PolkThug

TechChallenged

For picture quality nothing in the under 250 range can match the video performance of the HD931 using DVI.

I don't believe the DVD player has anything to do with this issue however. The Matrix Revolution DVD is a piss poor movie to use to gauge picture quality. Try The Gladiator.

Make sure you viewing distance is about 10.5 feet from the screen.

johnny_utah

Do you have the DVD player set to progressive scan? I have a 65" mits with a mits DVD player connected via component. While the Matrix movies aren't the best movies to watch for quality the scence with neo in the train station is not that bad, and you shouldn't see to much grain, that is a pretty bright scene.

johnny_utah

also I just noticed your post was called "high definition and DVD". You are not going to get HD quality from a DVD. DVDs are in 480p, HD is either 720p or 1080i. I am sure you already know this but wanted to state the obvious to rule out any confusion.

PolkThug

I use Morpheus's face in Matrix Reloaded to keep my TV in check. If everything is set right, I can see every pock mark on his lunar landscape of a face.

Regards,
PolkThug

gregure

I must, again, reiterate that a cheaper player will create bad picture. I had the same problem with my first DVD player when I bought an HD television. I thought it was the TV at first, but it turned out to be the player. You will need to spend over $300 for a good player. I have the Denon 1815, which is great. The key is any DVD player with progressive scan using a Faroudjia microchip. Denon uses the Faroudjia, but lower priced Sony's and similar units do not. That will clear away the grain and the sparkles. There will still be a little bit of grain, but it will be much better. Also, if you really want to maximize your picture quality, just ordinary component cables won't be quite enough. I just upgraded to the Monster Z300 Silver Component Video cables, and boy did it make a difference. Much sharper, and the least amount of grain I've seen yet. Very satisfactory for DVD viewing. But again, don't expect HD quality just yet. Of course, the Z300 cables will set you back $200. Good Guys is promoting a 30-month financing right now, and they carry Denon DVD players. My advice, finance the new DVD player with some Z300 cables (also available at GG) and you'll be good to go. Happy viewing.

mrmusicman

Shouldn't picture be crystal clear,I can't imagine dropping that kinda coin and seeing anything that looks remotely grainy.Something must not be calibrated right, a low-end dvd player I would think would give you a picture that is not grainy.

gregure

A low end DVD player will not produce adequate results. Imagine trying to drive the Rti 12's with a 50 WPC receiver alone. You buy the 12's for great sound, but you need good equipment to get the performance you need. That's the case with Hi-Def. These new TV's are meant for very high resolution images from Dig. Cable or Satellite sources. DVD's are great quality, and you can get very good picture using a Hi-Def TV and a good DVD player, with good cables. However, these results will not be good with just middle-of-the-road equipment. Serious coin on a TV means serious coin on a/v input devices. It only makes sense. In my experience, there is still a bit of grain in the brighter areas of the screen on DVD playback, depending on the source. For intance, the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions have nearly flawless picture, while some older movies, from the first generation DVD's, will be pretty grainy, lots of film imperfections and grain in the bright colors. That's just going to happen until DVD's are upraded to Hi-Def. One could spend 2-3 thousand just for a DVD player alone, to get the HD outputs, but I'm not sure the results will be all that much better depending on the DVD source. The better the TV, the more noticable the flaws.

mrmusicman

gregure,
I truley understand the difference of sound and picture quality between low and mid-fi equipment,I currently up-graded my dvd player from a low end sony to a denon 2900,huge diffrence.But how come when you walk into b.b or c.c and all theyr'e stuff is connected to a $6000.00 Hdtv with lamp cord and spaghetti wire and picture looks decent?

gregure

musicman,
Well, I can't answer that with complete knowledge, but what I can say is that in my experience, when you walk into a Best Buy or Circuit City, they usually have DVD's hooked up to regular tv's which won't suffer from having a lower end DVD player feeding the signal, while HDTV's are hooked up to an HDTV signal via sattelite or something else like that. That's how I've almost always seen it. And of course, every tv looks different. Some have decent picture, some don't. Once in awhile you'll see a DVD player hooked up to an LCD or projection, but never a plasma or a direct view (like a Sony Trinitron HD). Projections tend to look a bit better with less quality players, however the picture will never even approach HD quality in my opinion. All I know is that at home, a $200 player won't cut it with an HD monitor. Maybe I've just become spoiled.

jefft1314

The samsung tv itself actually has a very competent video processor, by, ahem, faradouja, i've read reviews on it as being better than most dvd players, perhaps you should try a dvd in interlace mode and see how the tv handles it? Just a thought. Also, the samsung dlp's have a wicked green push, though can be made to look great after calibration. A good calibration of that set will probably do more than anything. We have finding nemo running on the fifty inch dlp at the circuit city I work at and the picture looks amazing on the sony 130 dollar player. Try Finding Nemo on the set, if it doens't look stunning, and i mean stunning there is certainly something amiss here with your tv. When we hooked up the two towers on the dlp it looked terrible, I mean absolutely miserable, (the moss on the stone walls of the castles was way too pronounced, that's when i really noticed that green push) the tv does seem to handle certain kinds of movies better than others or perhaps it simply varies from picture to picture.