High def picture quality

[steveybaby]

Re: High def picture quality

UPDATE: I bought Bourne Ultimatum as this thread describes posterization in the first two movies but less in the 3rd one. I noticed no difference on my TV - it looked just as awful as the first two.

Philips have told me it must be the source (e.g. VUDU). They want me to try an HD-DVD player (which I have to buy/borrow/steal) on the set to verify that I see the problem with a different source. This sucks.

[Nded]

Re: High def picture quality

Steve,

Do you have any friends with a decent monitor you could test (using HDMI of course)? You don't have to be connected to the internet to do the test, and the Vudu is fairly easy to move.

If you have a bad box, it will be replaced. So don't get to worried at this point.

[steveybaby]

Re: High def picture quality

Thanks. I'm actually not worried about the vudu - more worried that my TV just plain sucks! I don't know of anyone with an HDMI monitor. Maybe I should sneak it into bestbuy and hook it up to one of their tv's

[NA9D]

Re: High def picture quality

Thanks. I'm actually not worried about the vudu - more worried that my TV just plain sucks! I don't know of anyone with an HDMI monitor. Maybe I should sneak it into bestbuy and hook it up to one of their tv's

Send PMs to JohnA and ask him if they have pulled any logs or have any info on your box. It really sounds like a box issue...

[RonV]

Re: High def picture quality

Thanks. I'm actually not worried about the vudu - more worried that my TV just plain sucks! I don't know of anyone with an HDMI monitor. Maybe I should sneak it into bestbuy and hook it up to one of their tv's

Oh you don't have to sneak. I have taken DVD's to the store to try out TV's. CD's to try out speakers. I did this at ABT electronics here in the Chicago area. I didn't event get a complaint. If they are really interested in selling you a TV that supports your hardware then I don't see any issue allowing you to hook up the VUDU in the store. Just don't tell them that you are really checking out the VUDU.

[steveybaby]

Re: High def picture quality

So I borrowed my mates hi-def video camera, plugged it in and watched a dimly lit scene. It looked pants.

So I guess it's my TV

[Hagen]

Re: High def picture quality

It cold also be a problem with the settings on your TV. Did you try to reset it to factory settings and to disable picture enhancements that your TV might do?

Hagen.

[steveybaby]

Re: High def picture quality

Yep - tried that. On well lit - detailed scenes it looks fine, but on darker scenes with large expanses of a single color the posterization is obvious and distracting.

[bairda]

Re: High def picture quality

I got the first two Bourne HD movies today and excitedly started watching them. I noticed that the quality is not what I expected. This is quite possibly the first time I have seen HD on this particular TV (a phillips 42" plasma
42PF9431D) so I do not know if its the TV or the VUDU. I have a photo of a freeze frame from the Bourne movie here:

http://sharpers.com/images/IMG_8221.JPG

It shows what appear to be strange color artifacts and blockiness. This is only really noticeable when the movie shows a large expanse of a single color and there isn't much movement on screen.

I'm using HDMI and have tried VUDU on both 720p and 1080i and AUTO video settings - all look the same. The TV supports 720p and 1080i.

I used to watch a lot of comcast highdef shows on a rear projection Sony and the images were flawless. So i'm wondering if this is a problem with plasmas or VUDU or my TV or my eyes.

Does anyone have any ideas on this?

Can you post some examples of the time and scenes where you see the issues?
-Alex-

[steveybaby]

Re: High def picture quality

the opening scene of bourne identity is a good example. While all the water is on the screen. The screenshots I posted were about 1:50 in - just after the subtitles "never seen a dead man before". You see a close up of the mans face and the dimly lit background looks terrible.

[RonV]

Re: High def picture quality

the opening scene of bourne identity is a good example. While all the water is on the screen. The screenshots I posted were about 1:50 in - just after the subtitles "never seen a dead man before". You see a close up of the mans face and the dimly lit background looks terrible.

I know you said that you don't have another TV with HDMI. If there is a Best Buy locally with a Magnolia Home Theater store they should allow you to plug in the VUDU....Just say you are evaluating HD Panels.

[redwein]

Re: High def picture quality

I'm not sure if it is the same thing, but I just got through watching the Bourne Ultimatum and I noticed some blockiness several times. I remember seeing it when the background was an interior wall that appeared to be somewhat green for instance. However, the picture quality was overall outstanding and I just chalked up the occasional blockiness to be a byproduct of the necessary compression.

Is this perhaps what the OP was talking about? I really think when you look at the overall quality, instead of just looking for examples for compression artifacts, Vudu gets very high marks. Maybe it bothers some people more than others.

[NA9D]

Re: High def picture quality

I dunno. I looked for banding and blockiness in the opening scene of Bourne Identity when we were testing the movies prior to their public release. I couldn't find any and the opening scene was the first place I looked since dark scenes with subtle shading have the hardest time with banding and blocking in digital video.

I only saw one spot (not in the opening scene) where I noticed some digital artifacts and it was so subtle I had to be standing next to the TV to see it...

[steveybaby]

Re: High def picture quality

Like I said earlier, I tried my friends HIgh Def video camera with my TV and saw the same blockiness and artifacts. I'm pretty sure that the issue is with the way my TV is rendering the signal and *NOT* a problem with the VUDU's quality.

So my advice...stay away from Philips Plasma TV's.

[redwein]

Re: High def picture quality

Like I said earlier, I tried my friends HIgh Def video camera with my TV and saw the same blockiness and artifacts.

I would bet that your friends video camera lets you configure the level of compression to use so it may be that rather than your TV. As far as I know, the HD standard mostly has to do with the number of lines of resolution. Since compression isn't lossless, it can still be HD from a lines of resolution perspective, even if the compression algorithm causes some amount of artifacts.

That being said, I think a little blockiness in < 1% of the movie, when no detail is involved, is a reasonable tradeoff to have the high level of detail when it counts and still have a manageable file size. I think HDDvd and BluRay both have file sizes > 20GB per movie. Vudu does an amazing job with probably (just a guess) 1/4 of that.