Pioneer 531/533 picture adjustment, bad PQ w/ projector.

[snek11]

I just bought a projector and hooked it up to my Pioneer 531 with component cables. It looked horrible. Just to compare I hooked it up to my old Lite-on dvd recorder, with s-video, and it looked fantastic.

I don't know what I'm doing wrong with this machine. I changed the setting from interlace to progressive, then back again when it showed no difference. I've been trying to change all the picture controls, but can't seem to get a nice picture.

I use to view on a 32" tv and didn't notice the bad pq, but blown up to 80" it looks really bad. I can't believe the PQ on my old lite-on blows this away.
Anyone have any values that worked for them?

[Frobozz]

Something is definitely amiss. Have you tested the Pioneer's S-video output with the projector? I'm wondering if the problem is with the component cables or connections. Maybe the projector has a defect with component input. I know I'm just taking wild stabs, but the Pioneer has a good reputation for picture quality and something is defective if you're seeing such a poor picture from a good source video.

[trhouse]

I agree, try the Pioneer s-video output to the projector or the Lite-On's component outputs to the projector. Either test should give you the answer.

[snek11]

I actually tried the Pio svideo first...looked horrible.

The lite-on looks great with any output. I read someone else complain about this same Pio's picture qual on a different board. I PM'ed him and he said he's still trying to adjust stuff, not there yet.

I believe this is a really big problem with this machine. Most people won't notice until they get a really large screen, or a projector, so maybe that's why we're not seeing a lot of information on this issue.

But I do know a cheapo lite-on shouldn't be beating the pants off a pioneer in pq. What good is all the picture control options in the pioneer, when I can't get an image near a lite-on with default settings?

[trhouse]

You might want to check the test results on this thread. The new Pioneers have a softer image than the old. As you can see, the Lite-On 5007 which is a very economic unit, does exceptionally well in the resolution tests.

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=279460&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlig...20test&start=0

Is your issue softness?

[edit] How do you have your playback Video/Audio Adjust set? I found that if it is set to TV(CRT), it looks bad on my set. "Professional" works much better.

[snek11]

Not so much a softness only. There are artifacts or fuzzies in the image. Just not sharp, and pixelated. I went through all the settings, TV, PDP, Professional, then I went into all the user selectable settings.

Tried tweaking the detail and all the other settings...and it made it marginally better.

I never noticed any image quality issues, until I went from 32" to a huge 80" projector image. I'm guessing this won't affect most people, unfortunately it does affect me=(

[trhouse]

I looked at some projectors tonight. Just curious which one you bought.

[Pocobernie]

For what it's worth, I have my Pioneer 531 hooked up through component video to my Dell 1100MP projector which is being projected onto a 108" screen, and it looks absolutely fabulous! Even when I watch cable TV through the RF input it looks pretty good, albiet not as good as a DVD (obviously). But before I had an old VCR hooked up through regular composite video for watching TV and it looked pretty bad with a lot of ghosting of yellows and reds. But now, running it into the projector through the component lines it looks a LOT crisper. And DVD movies look stunning. The ability to adjust black levels, white levels, gamma, etc. enables me to fine to the best picture possible.

When I hooked it up the first time out of the box, the image was too washed out...the black bars above and below the 16:9 movie image were more gray than black. However, adjusting the black levels and white levels took care of that problem immediately. Snek11, you mentioned you have artifacts and bad pixelation on yours...I have not noticed that at all on mine. Granted I just got it and haven't watched a ton of stuff on it yet, but so far I haven't noticed what you're describing. I'll post again if I notice anything undesirable, but as I said, I'm loving what this unit is putting out on my 108" screen.