Panasonic S52 and LG 37LC2D HDTV Upscalling

[Lurchy]

I have a problem playing dvds or upscaling them rather, i have messed about with all the settings in the player (setting it to 1080i etc) but still my dvds do not look like they are being upscaled. If the player is indeed upscaling the PQ is really bad, lots of noise, blocky/pixelated pictures and also the colours do not transition well into each other. Im using an hdmi cable straight to the tv.

I have noticed that my xbox 360 upscaling is far superior over the vga cable, there is no noise, PQ is great. So what do you think is the problem?

I have a few theories that i hope can help people come up with a solution:
My tv and its "XD" engine is magnifying the noise (this is turned off when i have the 360 connected via the vga cable)
Its my hdmi cable, though i invested a fair bit of money in a quality cable (24 carrat plated connections, silver core, shielded and braded.
The tv and my dvd player are conflicting as they are both trying to upscale.
My dvd player is broken maybe (it has been fine playing dvds on a SDTV)


I hope this information helps, also if i try component connections on the dvd player will it still upscale?
Can someone who has this tv (or dvd player) tell me how to sort this?

Thanks for reading and i hope you can help me, any links/other forum suggestions for this sort of thing will at least point me in the right direction will hopefully help too.

[edDV]

I have a problem playing dvds or upscaling them rather, i have messed about with all the settings in the player (setting it to 1080i etc) but still my dvds do not look like they are being upscaled. If the player is indeed upscaling the PQ is really bad, lots of noise, blocky/pixelated pictures and also the colours do not transition well into each other. Im using an hdmi cable straight to the tv.

I have noticed that my xbox 360 upscaling is far superior over the vga cable, there is no noise, PQ is great. So what do you think is the problem?

I have a few theories that i hope can help people come up with a solution:
My tv and its "XD" engine is magnifying the noise (this is turned off when i have the 360 connected via the vga cable)
Its my hdmi cable, though i invested a fair bit of money in a quality cable (24 carrat plated connections, silver core, shielded and braded.
The tv and my dvd player are conflicting as they are both trying to upscale.
My dvd player is broken maybe (it has been fine playing dvds on a SDTV)


I hope this information helps, also if i try component connections on the dvd player will it still upscale?
Can someone who has this tv (or dvd player) tell me how to sort this?

Thanks for reading and i hope you can help me, any links/other forum suggestions for this sort of thing will at least point me in the right direction will hopefully help too.

Take it systematically.

Your TV is 1366x768 progressive.
DVD media comes as 720x576 progressive or interlace.
Your DVD player can output 576i, 576p, 720p or 1080i

The video can get from the DVD disc to the LCD screen over several routes.

First establish a reference for comparison. Start with a good progressive DVD (movie) with a good mix of action, dark and bright scenes. Set the DVD player to output 576p. The processing load on the DVD player is near zero. The HDTV will handle the upscale to 1366x768.

Connect the DVD player to the TV first as HDMI, and then as analog component. Compare the results.

Next repeat with and 576i interlace DVD. This would be anything from a DVD recorder or a sports or live event recording. Compare HDMI to analog component.

Next repeat with the DVD player set to 720p for progressive and interlace DVD media.

Next repeat with the DVD player set to 1080i for both DVD types.

Let us know which path looks best to you for progressive source and interlace source.


Edit: The references I found for your HDTV say it only accepts 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i. Maybe this is only for the North American model. Check your TV manual. If the TV won't accept 576, try 480i and 480p from the DVD player.

The main idea is to test it without player upscaling placing the entire load on the HDTV, then comparing to 720p and 1080i. 1080i will force the TV to deinterlace and then downscale to 1366x768. That is a long and winding road from the DVD to the display.

[Lurchy]

Thank you for the informative help, you took time to explain yourself so thank you.
Since posting this i have read a few other forums/sites and figured out that the problem is both of the player and the tv. Im not sure if im correct about this but it sort of makes sense. My tv has a native resolution of 1366x768 at 720p from the dvd player the signal is coming in at 1280x720 right? So the image is upscaled twice? Does this account for the loss in quality?

My xbox 360 over the vga cable has a resolution much closer to that of the tv at 1360x768 so thats why the picture looks better on the xbox?

If im correct in saying this what can i do to make the picture better from the dvd player? Component cables? Turning off the image processing from the player and the tv to take the strain off them both?

If im talking crap just tell me i am :P and thanks again.

[edDV]

Thank you for the informative help, you took time to explain yourself so thank you.
Since posting this i have read a few other forums/sites and figured out that the problem is both of the player and the tv. Im not sure if im correct about this but it sort of makes sense. My tv has a native resolution of 1366x768 at 720p from the dvd player the signal is coming in at 1280x720 right? So the image is upscaled twice? Does this account for the loss in quality?

My xbox 360 over the vga cable has a resolution much closer to that of the tv at 1360x768 so thats why the picture looks better on the xbox?

If im correct in saying this what can i do to make the picture better from the dvd player? Component cables? Turning off the image processing from the player and the tv to take the strain off them both?

If im talking crap just tell me i am :P and thanks again.

I was hoping you would do all the tests so we could characterize your player and TV performance.

Cutting to the chase for progressive movie DVDs, the predicted winners are either 480/576p or 720p. 480/576p wins if your HDTV can do the best upscale to 1366x768 in one step. 720p wins if the upscaling DVD player "gets it close" while the HDTV finishes the job from 1280x720 to 1366x768.

I would expect 1080i to perform the worst since you start with 480/576 progressive, then interlace and upscale it, then expect the TV deinterlacer to restore progressive and then downscale to 1366x768.

Interlace DVD source is a very different subject. The duel here is the deinterlacer in the progressive DVD player (probably marginal in that player) vs the deinterlacer in the HDTV. If you feed 720p from the player, you are depending on the player's deinterlacer.

If you feed 480/576i or 1080i from the player, you force the TV's deinterlacer to show it's stuff.

[Lurchy]

I think i understand what you are saying, basically you get what you pay for lol. I will do the tests as soon as i get a good set of component cables, do you want photos as i think i will have trouble describing what is happening with each senario in the way you understand. Or will basic descriptions do?

[edDV]

Both pictures and descriptions.

Basic rule, don't buy a cheap TV and a cheap DVD player. A quality progressive upscaling DVD player (like the Oppo) can cover processing flaws in the TV. A top end TV can be fed with 480i or 576i.