DaDude Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 (edited) I was just at my cousin's house and I was shocked to see how terrible DVDs looked on his 46" HDTV. The DVD was being played on a PS3 and was being upconverted to 1080p. The picture looked blown up and pixelated. I was so shocked because on my 32" HDTV, DVDs look great when they're upscaled. So, is it normal for DVDs to look terrible on large HDTVs (i.e., over 40")? Edited March 12, 2009 by xraffle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted March 12, 2009 Veteran Share Posted March 12, 2009 It shouldn't have looked stretched, at all. He has some aspect ratio problems to sort out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I was just at my cousin's house and I was shocked to see how terrible DVDs looked on his 46" HDTV. The DVD was being played on a PS3 and was being upconverted to 1080p. The picture looked all stretched and pixelated. I was so shocked because on my 32" HDTV, DVDs look great when they're upscaled. So, is it normal for DVDs to look terrible on large HDTVs (i.e., over 40")? No. He's messed it up somehow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaDude Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 It shouldn't have looked stretched, at all. He has some aspect ratio problems to sort out. Oh no, you misunderstood me. I don't mean vertically stretched, I meant like, blown up and blurry. No. He's messed it up somehow. Maybe so. But, when he played his Spider-man 3 Blu-ray on it, the picture was ok, though. Maybe this is what people meant when they said you need a large TV to notice the big jump from DVD to Blu-ray. BTW, his TV is the Sony Bravia KDL-46XBR4. Perhaps, that's a bad Sony model? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted March 12, 2009 Veteran Share Posted March 12, 2009 The DVD shouldn't look any worse upconverted than it does running at native resolution. Either you were sitting too close, his picture settings are screwed up, or something else is just wrong. It's not going to look like blu-ray, but it shouldn't look as bad as your'e saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaDude Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 The DVD shouldn't look any worse upconverted than it does running at native resolution. Either you were sitting too close, his picture settings are screwed up, or something else is just wrong. It's not going to look like blu-ray, but it shouldn't look as bad as your'e saying. I may sound crazy, but not only does DVDs look bad, but Blu-ray looks good, but not the best. In fact, Blu-ray on his 46" TV looks very similar to DVDs on my 32" TV. The BD he was playing was Spider-man 3 and from reviews I read, it's one of the best looking BD transfers out there. Perhaps, maybe his TV isn't really all that great, which is shocking since it's a Sony. Or maybe he got a defective TV or maybe he didn't set something up right (which is strange since it said 1080p when I pressed the "info" button). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted March 12, 2009 Veteran Share Posted March 12, 2009 Resolution has little to do with the picture quality beyond a certain point. Like most people, he probably didn't set it up right and doesn't care to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaDude Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 Resolution has little to do with the picture quality beyond a certain point. Like most people, he probably didn't set it up right and doesn't care to do so. I think you're right. In fact, he has a PS3 and only buys games for it. He only has one Blu-ray movie. The rest he buys on DVDs. he doesn't buy Blu-ray anymore because he feels they're too expensive. To refuse to pay few bucks more for the picture upgrade just shows how he doesn't care about getting the best picture possible out of his TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDStriker Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 out of curiosity what plug is being used to connect the playstation 3 to the tv? :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starcom826 Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 The quality will depend heavily on the how good your video processor is. My TV has a better video processor than ones that come on DVD players so it's actually better to let the TV do the upscaling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted March 12, 2009 Veteran Share Posted March 12, 2009 I think you're right. In fact, he has a PS3 and only buys games for it. He only has one Blu-ray movie. The rest he buys on DVDs. he doesn't buy Blu-ray anymore because he feels they're too expensive. To refuse to pay few bucks more for the picture upgrade just shows how he doesn't care about getting the best picture possible out of his TV. I don't blame him for not buying Blu-ray. I don't have a Blu-ray player and probably will never get one. out of curiosity what plug is being used to connect the playstation 3 to the tv? :laugh: If the TV is identifying it as 1080p, then obviously an HD capable cable. The quality will depend heavily on the how good your video processor is. My TV has a better video processor than ones that come on DVD players so it's actually better to let the TV do the upscaling. In the same vein, my set has a poor upscaler, so I let my cable box and Xbox handle the upscaling (though, there's not much option otherwise with the Xbox). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaDude Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 out of curiosity what plug is being used to connect the playstation 3 to the tv? :laugh: HDMI. I don't blame him for not buying Blu-ray. I don't have a Blu-ray player and probably will never get one. Why is that? Maybe if you can give me a good reason why Blu-ray is no good, maybe you can convince me not to get one. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted March 12, 2009 Veteran Share Posted March 12, 2009 Because it's life span is limited with streaming on the horizon and the players are still way too expensive. When I can get a good player for $100, I'll reconsider my stance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaDude Posted March 12, 2009 Author Share Posted March 12, 2009 Because it's life span is limited with streaming on the horizon and the players are still way too expensive. When I can get a good player for $100, I'll reconsider my stance. Yeah, I see your point. What's tempting me to get a Blu-ray player is that Seasons 1 and 2 of "Weeds" are only $12.99 at Amazon, with the DVD counterparts costing a little over $20. *scratches head* I love that show, but have never bought it on DVD because Season 1 is cropped to 1.33:1 (for some weird reason) while the Blu-ray version maintains the OAR at 1.78:1. I always start my TV DVD collection at Season 1 and I refuse to buy Season 1 of that show if it's not in widescreen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakerster Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 i have a 50+ inch aquos w/ ps3 hooked up with hdmi. i swear sometimes dvd's upconverted on that look better than att u-verse broadcasts.. so there is obviously something wrong on his end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaDude Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 i swear sometimes dvd's upconverted on that look better than att u-verse broadcasts.. so there is obviously something wrong on his end. I have to agree. Sometimes, I see more compression on HD cable channels than on DVDs. That's kind of weird, if you ask me, as HD channels are supposed to have less compression than DVDs since they're HD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+StevoFC MVC Posted March 15, 2009 MVC Share Posted March 15, 2009 I have to agree. Sometimes, I see more compression on HD cable channels than on DVDs. That's kind of weird, if you ask me, as HD channels are supposed to have less compression than DVDs since they're HD. HD has absolutely nothing to do with compression. HD basically means that the vertical resolution is at least 720 pixels. And it sucks that you guys either can't get FiOS or just decide not to, because their HD feeds look incredible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted March 15, 2009 Veteran Share Posted March 15, 2009 HD has absolutely nothing to do with compression. HD basically means that the vertical resolution is at least 720 pixels.And it sucks that you guys either can't get FiOS or just decide not to, because their HD feeds look incredible. I've seen Fios and their feeds do look much better than cable. I would get it, but it's more expensive that cable. My roommates and I wish to save money, not spend more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James_UK Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 It is possible that the PS3 is configured incorrectly, either in it video outputs or possibly in the DVD upscaling I seem to remember that upscaling of DVDs is turned off by default so this might have to be enabled. If his TV has been out a while then it is possible a firmware upgrade might be possible from the manufacturer, mayb from their website, I know that was true of my Samsung, but mine does has a USB port. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+StevoFC MVC Posted March 15, 2009 MVC Share Posted March 15, 2009 I've seen Fios and their feeds do look much better than cable. I would get it, but it's more expensive that cable. My roommates and I wish to save money, not spend more. That sucks. FiOS is cheaper here than Comcast is, and FiOS includes many more channels. The internet is much better than Comcast was also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangbang023 Veteran Posted March 15, 2009 Veteran Share Posted March 15, 2009 That sucks. FiOS is cheaper here than Comcast is, and FiOS includes many more channels. The internet is much better than Comcast was also. Both packages are a little more expensive here (internet and TV). We would love to switch from cabelvision after the hell we went through with them for billing, but it's not feasible. Either way, the guide on both boxes sucks. Cablevisions is slow as hell and Fios' guide design has to be the hardest to navigate out of anything I've seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Audioboxer Subscriber² Posted March 15, 2009 Subscriber² Share Posted March 15, 2009 Sift through this topic - http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=811102 Lots of comparisons between SD and HD. You will notice differences, anyone saying otherwise is blowing smoke out of their ass. It's not surprising things looked worse quality on a 46" TV compared to a 32", however it's still possible he didn't actually have upscaling enabled on the PS3 XMB. The PS3 is very good at upscaling DVDs. And as for streaming taking over, I was listening to the Listen UP podcast last night (gaming) and they pointed out valid points about streaming (at first to do with digitally distributed games, then also music/movies). When you buy something digitally, you don't actually own it, just a license to play it - And they pondered all the thoughts about the future, hardware becoming defunct, DRM, services ceasing to exist and related that to are you going to be screwed as a consumer unless these potential pit falls are plugged? What happens to all the content you buy through XBL/PSN when the Xbox 3/720 and PS4 come out, etc. With a physical copy you actually own something that can't ever be taken away from you, have to be purchased again or cease to work. Steaming is still in very very early stages of it's life and has a lot of things to work out before it can become mainstream, not to mention other factors needing to be worked out as well such as broadband penetration and download caps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaDude Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 And it sucks that you guys either can't get FiOS or just decide not to, because their HD feeds look incredible. Yeah, I can't get it. I'm only limited to Time Warner or RCN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderThor Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 I just switched from Comcast to FiOS. I had debated on it for a while hearing mixed reviews. Recently by boss just got it installed and talking w/ StevoFC I feel better about it. On top of it all, as Steve said FiOS right now is cheaper than Comcast in our area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raa Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 I've got that same Sony TV, and my DVDs are great. I use a computer running Vista Home Premium, it's dedicated to Media Center and works great. Fantastic picture. I can't imagine it's the TV thats the problem :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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