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blu ray let down

R

rdsii64

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 14, 2008
237
8
I just hooked up a blu-ray player to my 73" 1080P tv via hdmi. Tonight the first blu-ray I watched was Terminator Salvation. I must admit I was not impressed at all. The picture was almost indistinguishable from standard def dvd. I am hoping that something wasn't hooked up right. I used a what I assume was a normal HDMI cable. I ran the sound though the digital hook up on my surround sound receiver. The sound was out of this world but the picture was a total let down.

Is there something else I should have done or is this the first and last blu-ray movie I ever buy.
 
some movies are more impressive than others. district 9 looks amazing in 1080hd, but v for vendetta for some reason did not look as good. probably something to do with the post processing. but hd really shines when you watch animated things, like walle or up. you get every detail, and every pixel rendered perfectly.
 
Try to rent a movie like Ice Age or Planet Earth in Blu-ray which should really pop out at you.
 
A 73" screen is most likely a rear-projection TV. A projection TV just can't quite give the image quality of an LCD or plasma screen, but you still should be able to see an improvement over DVD. Terminator Salvation is a pretty dark movie so it probably wouldn't show you as much improvement in other brighter, more colorful titles.

Also, you'll get better Blu-Ray experience from movies that were filmed digitally as opposed to film transfers.
 
There is a wide range of video quality in the bluray library. Some look awesome some look mediocre. This is also true for the players, receivers and TVs the information passes through, some are better than others. The PS3 probably has the best performance to price ratio.
Some movies are actually made to be somewhat grainy for effect.
If you pop in any of the animated 1080p movies that ar available and you are not taken back, there is an issue with the electronics somewhere.
From the sounds of it you are splitting audio and video. Sometimes you can encounter delays in the processing and if your system is capable of the high def audio you wil loose that capability.
But check out some animated 1080p, the Earth documentaries, distric 9 is very good.
A lot of my friends with wide screens are very content with upscaled dvds.
 
Rent The Road Warrior or The Adventures of Robin Hood. These two movies, decades old, look absolutely stunning in hi-def. You should also check out District 9 and the new Star Trek.
 
first movie I watched on my 58" plasma was Monsters Inc. and I came from a 34" CRT HDTV and I was still WOWED. Definately try any pixar movies theyll blow you away. UP was very good too.
 
rdsii64 said:
I just hooked up a blu-ray player to my 73" 1080P tv via hdmi. Tonight the first blu-ray I watched was Terminator Salvation. I must admit I was not impressed at all. The picture was almost indistinguishable from standard def dvd. I am hoping that something wasn't hooked up right. I used a what I assume was a normal HDMI cable. I ran the sound though the digital hook up on my surround sound receiver. The sound was out of this world but the picture was a total let down.

Is there something else I should have done or is this the first and last blu-ray movie I ever buy.
Click to expand...

What kind of set is your 73"? And you're sure that it displays 1080p? I've got a 37" LCD, and though it can accept 1080i signal, all I get is 720p on the display (actually 1366x768). Which is still pretty good, with the right source material.

Make sure that your Blu-ray player is set to output 1080p via HDMI. They can usually be set lower.

For the best sound with Blu-ray, you really want to feed the sound through a surround receiver via HDMI. Then you can hear the Dolby True HD or DTS-HD sound.

:apple::apple:
 
I'd wager it's a combo of the projection TV and the particular Blu title.

I'm not knocking projection, I still use a 64" Pioneer Elite RPTV for my critical viewing. It's been kept nice and ISF calibrated by some of the best folks in the country.

But I've got a 50" Pioneer Kuro plasma in the same room for videogames, and the difference between DVD and Blu-ray is MUCH more noticeable on the plasma.
 
Make sure that your BD player is outputting 1080p. Sometimes, a player will default to 480i, which may result in a poor picture.

You may also want to get your TV ISF calibrated. The $300 or so that you pay will certainly pay off in the end. In the mean time, turn off any video enhancing features. They do nothing but diminish the quality of the picture. Turn setting to Normal mode. Vivid or Sports settings will torch the picture and make it look like crap. You can go to TweakTV.com and see if they have any settings for you to use. Keep in mind that every TV is slightly different but these are usually a decent starting point. A true calibration will go into the Service Menu of the TV and adjust settings that a normal consumer should not play with. AVSForums.com may also be a good place to find settings. Do a search for your TV model and you will probably find a tons of threads about your set.

Also, how close are you to the set. Sitting too close can sometimes make the picture look less than optimal.

I have than BD and it looks absolutely stunning on my 50" plasma at 8' away. I'm considering my new TV upgrade to be 58" or 65" at the same sitting distance.
 
rdsii64 said:
I just hooked up a blu-ray player to my 73" 1080P tv via hdmi. Tonight the first blu-ray I watched was Terminator Salvation. I must admit I was not impressed at all. The picture was almost indistinguishable from standard def dvd. I am hoping that something wasn't hooked up right. I used a what I assume was a normal HDMI cable. I ran the sound though the digital hook up on my surround sound receiver. The sound was out of this world but the picture was a total let down.

Is there something else I should have done or is this the first and last blu-ray movie I ever buy.
Click to expand...

Theres absolutely something wrong with your setup.

The difference between DVD and blu-ray is night and day. We're talking 6 times the resolution, up to 10 times the video bitrate, and usually uncompressed or lossless audio.

Definitely make sure the player is set to 1080p output. Also, check your display. That large generally does mean some sort of projection, so there will be significant quality loss.

And most importantly, connect your blu-ray player to your surround sound receiver using an HDMI cable. Then run an HDMI cable from your receiver to your TV. Thats the only way you can get uncompressed PCM or the lossless audio codecs. Otherwise you're still getting lossy yet better than DVD quality audio. Uncompressed PCM and lossless codecs are just as much better than the lossy codecs as the image quality is better than DVD.
 
mosx said:
Theres absolutely something wrong with your setup.

The difference between DVD and blu-ray is night and day. We're talking 6 times the resolution, up to 10 times the video bitrate, and usually uncompressed or lossless audio.

Definitely make sure the player is set to 1080p output. Also, check your display. That large generally does mean some sort of projection, so there will be significant quality loss.

And most importantly, connect your blu-ray player to your surround sound receiver using an HDMI cable. Then run an HDMI cable from your receiver to your TV. Thats the only way you can get uncompressed PCM or the lossless audio codecs. Otherwise you're still getting lossy yet better than DVD quality audio. Uncompressed PCM and lossless codecs are just as much better than the lossy codecs as the image quality is better than DVD.
Click to expand...

But only if his receiver supports audio over HDMI. Some are only video pass-through.

Can you provide an equipment list with model numbers. Maybe we can suggest the best possible way to connect everything.
 
Darth.Titan said:
A 73" screen is most likely a rear-projection TV. A projection TV just can't quite give the image quality of an LCD or plasma screen, but you still should be able to see an improvement over DVD. Terminator Salvation is a pretty dark movie so it probably wouldn't show you as much improvement in other brighter, more colorful titles.

Also, you'll get better Blu-Ray experience from movies that were filmed digitally as opposed to film transfers.
Click to expand...

I suspect a rear projection set may be part of the problem if that actually is the case but I can tell you that I have seen rear projection look stunning and as for saying that projection TV (without specifying the underlying technology) can't quite give the image quality of LCD or plasma, my 100" DLP front projection system would make you eat your words.

I suspect that Terminator Salvation isn't a good test because it is a generally grainy looking film with washed out colour. I'm trying to think what the best looking disc I have had through my hands was - Star Trek was very good.

The thing with HD is that you don't necessarily notice once you get into the film but the real difference is in the fine textures. An upscaled DVD can look pretty good but it doesn't have the really fine detail that HD conveys. Many HD sets are often so badly set up that even with an HD source, the over-processing of the image actually reduces resolution. Calibration is as important as resolution.
 
home theater setup

louhamilton said:
But only if his receiver supports audio over HDMI. Some are only video pass-through.

Can you provide an equipment list with model numbers. Maybe we can suggest the best possible way to connect everything.
Click to expand...
My set up consists of a Mitsubishi 73" DLP (WD73733) and an Onkyo 600 watt HT-R8230 5.1 surround sound receiver. I have JL audio speakers on all 4 corners with the onkyo center channel and sub woofer.
 
Just to clarify your connection:

Blu-ray player to tv via hdmi correct.

Make sure of the following:

What is your blu-ray player set to? 720p/1080i/1080p?
On your blu ray player can you set the frame rate? IE 1080p/30, 1080p/60?
What is your TV set to? 1080i/1080p/720p for that hdmi input?

Edit:

From the model numbers you gave, the tv is 1080p...
Mitsubishi WD-73733 73-Inch 1080p DLP HDTV

The receiver doesn't do hdmi so you are going from your blu-ray player to tv via hdmi and your sound is being handled via optical or coaxial?

Also what Blu ray player are you using?
 
rhett7660 said:
Just to clarify your connection:

Blu-ray player to tv via hdmi correct.

Make sure of the following:

What is your blu-ray player set to? 720p/1080i/1080p?
On your blu ray player can you set the frame rate? IE 1080p/30, 1080p/60?
What is your TV set to? 1080i/1080p/720p for that hdmi input?

Edit:

From the model numbers you gave, the tv is 1080p...
Mitsubishi WD-73733 73-Inch 1080p DLP HDTV

The receiver doesn't do hdmi so you are going from your blu-ray player to tv via hdmi and your sound is being handled via optical or coaxial?

Also what Blu ray player are you using?
Click to expand...
The blu-ray player is a visio VBR110 my sound is being handled via coxial.
My tv is set to auto. As far as frame rate, I have the option to turn 24 frames per second on or off.
 
One of the best Blu-rays I have ever heard of or own is Akira. It's a 1988 anime movie, but don't be turned off because of that. The Blu-ray release is the very first to use the highest sampling rate currently possible (Japanese Dolby TrueHD 192khz because of its analog roots) and is also the first to use the hypersonic effect (only available in this track and via a high-end audio system). That. Is the best sound. I have ever heard. It's mindblowing. Try renting or buying that. http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Akira-Blu-ray-Review/1872/
 
rdsii64 said:
I just hooked up a blu-ray player to my 73" 1080P tv via hdmi. Tonight the first blu-ray I watched was Terminator Salvation. I must admit I was not impressed at all. The picture was almost indistinguishable from standard def dvd. I am hoping that something wasn't hooked up right. I used a what I assume was a normal HDMI cable. I ran the sound though the digital hook up on my surround sound receiver. The sound was out of this world but the picture was a total let down.
Click to expand...

I have a 46" 1080p LCD TV hooked up to a Samsung BluRay player that I never use. The :apple:TV on the other hand is always on. I encode all my BluRay titles for the :apple:TV. The differences are slim. I just finished encoding Terminator Salvation using compressor, and to be honest, both my girlfriend and I can't tell the difference. For me, it's a balance between quality, disc space, and digital distribution. Putting a disk in a tray, and waiting for the movie to load just seems a bit dated. I like having all my movie at my fingertips.
 
Not sure what titles you own, but as others have mentioned, maybe TS is not the best reference for you.

Try Cars or Kung Fu Panda. They are great reference movies. If you do not want a CGI film, then give i, Robot a try. Once of the best, IMO.

Many people bash grain on BD's, but there is nothing wrong with grain. I prefer a movie with grain over a perfect grainless picture. Usually a movie shot on film will have more grain because a film shot with an HD camera needs the grain added in post production. My two favorites demo films are Domino and Baraka.

We can start an entire discussion on how films are converted into the blu-ray format with the various transfer rates (2K, 4K, 8K), but it may not be necessary here. There are some that are great transfers and others that are not.

If you are interested, we can go down that path.
 
louhamilton said:
Not sure what titles you own, but as others have mentioned, maybe TS is not the best reference for you.

Try Cars or Kung Fu Panda. They are great reference movies. If you do not want a CGI film, then give i, Robot a try. Once of the best, IMO.

Many people bash grain on BD's, but there is nothing wrong with grain. I prefer a movie with grain over a perfect grainless picture. Usually a movie shot on film will have more grain because a film shot with an HD camera needs the grain added in post production. My two favorites demo films are Domino and Baraka.

We can start an entire discussion on how films are converted into the blu-ray format with the various transfer rates (2K, 4K, 8K), but it may not be necessary here. There are some that are great transfers and others that are not.

If you are interested, we can go down that path.
Click to expand...
That would seem like a very interesting discussion. From the above threads I think that I just need to broaden my blue ray collection and try some other titles.

I do havel another question. My 73" DLP is a 60 Hertz set unlike the newer Mitsubishi units that are 120 herts. Does this make any difference to my eyes when viewing a blu-ray title.?
 
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