Help s Blu-ray n00b with 1080p/i/whatever

[Electro UK]

Okay so I've got my lovely HD-TV, and I bought 300 for my watching pleasure...

Its very, very grainy, and looks worse than a DVD if I'm honest. The back of the box says video in 1080p, I found the PS3 to be running in 1080i and when I switched to 1080p, it just went black and said "Mode not supported".

So any help? Or am I destined to watch 300 in an extremely grainy, distracting fashion?

p.s. Casino Royale and X-men 3, my other Blu-ray movies are generally fine, apart from the scene where Bond's holding the free running guy in the jungley area in Casino Royale is just as grainy as 300.

 

[L.A.]

not sure with the ps3 but when I had my HD-dvd add on and it said mode not supported I just manually restarted the 360 and it worked fine.

 

[Electro UK]

not sure with the ps3 but when I had my HD-dvd add on and it said mode not supported I just manually restarted the 360 and it worked fine.

Oh yeah me too, but that's not the problem.

The problem is I've paid more to view a "superior" version of 300, and its plain and simple bad looking.

Before I go on a sulky rant, I just wanna know if I can fix it.

 

[RedIsNotBlue]

Okay so I've got my lovely HD-TV, and I bought 300 for my watching pleasure...

Its very, very grainy, and looks worse than a DVD if I'm honest. The back of the box says video in 1080p, I found the PS3 to be running in 1080i and when I switched to 1080p, it just went black and said "Mode not supported".

So any help? Or am I destined to watch 300 in an extremely grainy, distracting fashion?

p.s. Casino Royale and X-men 3, my other Blu-ray movies are generally fine, apart from the scene where Bond's holding the free running guy in the jungley area in Casino Royale is just as grainy as 300.

Well let me start off by saying that in the style that film was shot in it is going to have a grainy look. And there are other variables to know about here. Is your HDTV full 1080p? Some tvs only support up to 1080i. Are you connected via HDMI? How far are you sitting away from the screen?

 

[KALEL114]

Yeah, the film maker wanted it to have that grainy look. What Make/Model number is your tv?

 

[Electro UK]

Well let me start off by saying that in the style that film was shot in it is going to have a grainy look. And there are other variables to know about here. Is your HDTV full 1080p? Some tvs only support up to 1080i. Are you connected via HDMI? How far are you sitting away from the screen?

Yeah I've seen 300 before, I did wonder if it was just the style... but its WAY WAY grainier than the theatre version. And no, my main problem is it doesn't support 1080p, and the disc box says 1080p, so does it downscale to 1080i automatically? I dunno.

I just want it to look nice.

 

[RedIsNotBlue]

Well the intention was to make it have a grainy degraded type look (I think they go over this in the special features I am not sure you might wanna check em out) but I still think it looks damn good. The Blu-Ray and HD DVD have the same quality. Here is a site that shows comparisons between the Blu-Ray and DVD.

http://www.zonadvd.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=749

 

[Havok83]

I was shocked at the grainy look myself till I found out it was intentional

 

[RedIsNotBlue]

And also how close you are when you watch it is going to be a factor. The closer you are the more the grain is going to be evident.

 

[Electro UK]

And also how close you are when you watch it is going to be a factor. The closer you are the more the grain is going to be evident.

Yeah good point, I might move my TV into my living area to watch it if that's the case. Might work better.

 

[Zenien]

over all that difference is pretty so so.

 

[Downhere]

over all that difference is pretty so so.

So so? The DVD version looks like someone put Vaseline on the screen and the Blu-ray looks incredibly clear. The detail is increased exponentially and it's like going from horrible vision to 20/20.

 

[Fenrir]

If you ask me, I think the primary culprit in movies and games looking unimpressive on HD sets is the TV being plasma or LCD. I tested my 360 on a friend's brand new Bravia X series and might have spent at least half an hour fiddling with the TV settings in shock, thinking "how the f**k is this looking so much worse than my TV?! Something must be WRONG!"

I've got an inexpensive Sony Wega HD 28 inch CRT (720p/1080i) and the picture quality kicks the snot out of even the latest 1080p LCDs and Plasmas. In fact, it is so good that even games with decent graphics are a joy to look at. And don't even ask me about the movies...it's just

 

[Downhere]

If you ask me, I think the primary culprit in movies and games looking unimpressive on HD sets is the TV being plasma or LCD. I tested my 360 on a friend's brand new Bravia X series and might have spent at least half an hour fiddling with the TV settings in shock, thinking "how the f**k is this looking so much worse than my TV?! Something must be WRONG!"

I've got an inexpensive Sony Wega HD 28 inch CRT (720p/1080i) and the picture quality kicks the snot out of even the latest 1080p LCDs and Plasmas. In fact, it is so good that even games with decent graphics are a joy to look at. And don't even ask me about the movies...it's just

Well, there are a couple of factors. You can fiddle with the settings all you want but without a guide such as AVIA or Digital Video Essentials you are basically wandering aimlessly. So that could be a factor on why the picture got worse on that LCD screen. The second factor is the fact that LCD's just cannot match CRT's in black level and shadow detail. They just aren't that far along to compete in those departments. So considering you are used to a CRT, the LCD was most likely never going to impress you. But again, if that LCD would be set up with one of the discs mentioned I would bet it would be a lot closer to wowing you than before.

 

[imdaly]

If your HDTV only goes up to 1080i, then it will not show 1080p picture.

That said, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between 1080i and 1080p anyway, so that's not the "problem".

I put the word "problem" because what you are seeing is actually what the director wanted you to see. If you check out the making-of extra features, you'll see that the grain wasn't originally there, but added afterwards as a styistic choice to make the film feel more like a painting (or a graphic novel ). I'd tell you to compare the before-and-after-CGI picture to each other using the PiP feature, but that's only on HD DVD (sorry, couldn't resist. ).

But yes, have no fear. What you are seeing is how it's supposed to look like.

 

[Fenrir]

The second factor is the fact that LCD's just cannot match CRT's in black level and shadow detail. They just aren't that far along to compete in those departments. So considering you are used to a CRT, the LCD was most likely never going to impress you.

Exactly. I mean, it's freakin' ridiculous that the latest HD set costing more than $2000 pales in comparison to a lowly CRT that costs a fraction of the price in terms of picture quality.

I dearly want a slim, widescreen TV after being a little fed up with the hulking rear end of my 4:3 TV and those sickly black bars on the top and bottom of the screen, but three years of waiting and I still can't get anything that can put out as beautiful a picture. And considering the crazy amount of money I'd be sinking in an LCD/Plasma like that, I damn well demand something that can do SIGNIFICANTLY better than what I last had.

 

[Downhere]

Exactly. I mean, it's freakin' ridiculous that the latest HD set costing more than $2000 pales in comparison to a lowly CRT that costs a fraction of the price in terms of picture quality.

Well, it's more about the size and weight that really sells off the LCD, DLP (Rear Projection) and Plasma technology. Especially the flat panel LCD and Plasma's. Everyone wants that light weight, hang on the wall look now a days. I have to admit, while I love CRT's, the weight and size is a huge turn off when you have to lug something like that upstairs or something. The good thing is that you mostly leave it in place but still, those suckers are heavy. lol.

 

[imdaly]

Well, it's more about the size and weight that really sells off the LCD, DLP (Rear Projection) and Plasma technology. Especially the flat panel LCD and Plasma's. Everyone wants that light weight, hang on the wall look now a days. I have to admit, while I love CRT's, the weight and size is a huge turn off when you have to lug something like that upstairs or something. The good thing is that you mostly leave it in place but still, those suckers are heavy. lol.

Speaking as one of the warehouse guys at my Circuit City, I have to completely agree with you there.

I LOVE LCDs! They're so easy to carry and transport.

 

[Downhere]

Speaking as one of the warehouse guys at my Circuit City, I have to completely agree with you there.

I LOVE LCDs! They're so easy to carry and transport.

Yeah, you CC guys must be happy about the flat panel TV's. lol. I know I would be...imagine how it was just a few years ago when the majority of big screen purchases were CRT. Yikes.

 

[KALEL114]

Well, it's more about the size and weight that really sells off the LCD, DLP (Rear Projection) and Plasma technology. Especially the flat panel LCD and Plasma's. Everyone wants that light weight, hang on the wall look now a days. I have to admit, while I love CRT's, the weight and size is a huge turn off when you have to lug something like that upstairs or something. The good thing is that you mostly leave it in place but still, those suckers are heavy. lol.

I went DLP, so I guess I have a nice middle ground as far as weight and size goes.

 

[Downhere]

I went DLP, so I guess I have a nice middle ground as far as weight and size goes.

I have a question for you...I don't have too much on hand experience with DLP, but by any chance do you see rainbows while watching TV/movie sometimes?

 

[TheBat812]

If you ask me, I think the primary culprit in movies and games looking unimpressive on HD sets is the TV being plasma or LCD. I tested my 360 on a friend's brand new Bravia X series and might have spent at least half an hour fiddling with the TV settings in shock, thinking "how the f**k is this looking so much worse than my TV?! Something must be WRONG!"

I've got an inexpensive Sony Wega HD 28 inch CRT (720p/1080i) and the picture quality kicks the snot out of even the latest 1080p LCDs and Plasmas. In fact, it is so good that even games with decent graphics are a joy to look at. And don't even ask me about the movies...it's just

That's cuz you're watching it on a small 28" screen. HD on my 40" 1080p sceen is orgasmic.

 

[KALEL114]

I have a question for you...I don't have too much on hand experience with DLP, but by any chance do you see rainbows while watching TV/movie sometimes?

No. That does happen to some people though. Usually when a white object is moving across a black background. Actually, that was part of the equation for me when I decided to get a new HDTV. I was never a fan really of LCD's because of their refresh rate (even though they have gotten better) and stuck/dead pixels. Plasma's picture deteriation over time scared me away from them. So having already owned a DLP projector, the choice was easy. The tough part was finding the best one for the money I wanted to spend. I'm very happy with my choice. It's a Samsung HLS5087.

 

[imdaly]

I have a question for you...I don't have too much on hand experience with DLP, but by any chance do you see rainbows while watching TV/movie sometimes?

Depends on what I'm on at the time.

 

[Downhere]

No. That does happen to some people though. Usually when a white object is moving across a black background. Actually, that was part of the equation for me when I decided to get a new HDTV. I was never a fan really of LCD's because of their refresh rate (even though they have gotten better) and stuck/dead pixels. Plasma's picture deteriation over time scared me away from them. So having already owned a DLP projector, the choice was easy. The tough part was finding the best one for the money I wanted to spend. I'm very happy with my choice. It's a Samsung HLS5087.

Yeah, from my researching that is what I gathered about the rainbow effect. I have never seen a DLP projector/TV in person or done an intense evaluation on them but I do know a bit about the technology. I do agree that LCD has come a long way and the upcoming D7 panels on LCD projectors looks to increase LCD's viability and quality.