Film vs picture quality.

[FARGO]

Given the choice, I'd opt for a higher definition image every time. A lot of thought and effort goes in to making some TV shows and films look the way they do.

While visuals don't necessarily have a direct impact on a narrative, plot or thematics they can certainly enhance my viewing experience.

Some things look utterly cack on my television and I'd rather not watch them.

 

[Sliver]

SD is perfectly watchable on my TV. My HD channels are slightly crisper and sharper so when I can I switch to them. Like the F1 yesterday, I switched to BBC 1 HD.

I don't understand the people who refuse to watch SD. Maybe they're just having a bad forum day.

 

[Glaucus]

Prefer higher quality but not at any cost. Will happily watch normal TV and Netflix. rather than expensive blue rays.

One day I hope streaming is the highest quality format, then there's no issues. Until then I'll put up with marginally less quality for massively cheaper content.

And TV at,, is more background noise. Nothing good on. If TV/film is good it doesn't matter about the quality.
Some films like mavity, are much mire about the visuals and much less about the story line.

 

[dl8860]

If I'm watching comedy, sitcom, animation or casual viewing like that then SD isn't the end of the world.

If it's a film or drama like a good series then it's gotta be HD. Perhaps it is wanting to justify the price of your TV or something like that, but to me it's quite important

 

[Greboth]

Bitrate > resolution

I can happily watch something in SD as long as the bit rate isn't in the gutter, and I won't happily watch "HD" content if the bitrate is in the gutter.

High bit rate SD can and does look better than low bitrate HD a lot of the time as some people are just chasing resolution.

***.

Edit: Whats wrong with Quoted For Truth?

If both high bit rate why wouldn't you go for HD? If it makes absolutely no difference in your opinion why have a 1080 (or 4k) TV, you might as well stuck to your old CRT.

 

[TheVoice]

There's really nothing wrong with wanting to watch stuff in the best quality possible, and clearly people tend to agree otherwise we wouldn't have HDTVs, Blu-ray players and HD channels on Sky.

Game of Thrones is good in SD, yes. But it's better in HD so why bother with the inferior version?

There's also the issue of sound quality.

 

[joeyjojo]

One of my all time favourite films for 'beauty' is House of Flying Daggers. I only have it on DVD but it still looks wonderful. OK it could look better but dayum, what a glorious use of colour

If you like that you'll love Hero (maybe you've seen it already), I preferred it aesthetically and as a movie.

 

[estebanrey]

nvm

 

[Voicon]

Depends on the film, but these days I prefer to watch hidef in fact I also have a 92" projection screen which looks awful unless the video quality is excellent, I wouldn't watch SD on it!

 

[Andreas.96]

There's a limit to where the resolution affects the viewing experience in my opinion. At some point it just gets too bad and I don't want to watch anymore.

 

[Mr Badger]

Try watching an old war film or western on Movies 4 Men, then come back and talk about picture quality...

 

[spoffle]

SD is perfectly watchable on my TV. My HD channels are slightly crisper and sharper so when I can I switch to them. Like the F1 yesterday, I switched to BBC 1 HD.

I don't understand the people who refuse to watch SD. Maybe they're just having a bad forum day.

SD on Sky is pretty bad. HD isn't really that good on Sky either in terms of bit rate.

 

[theone8181]

SD on Sky is pretty bad. HD isn't really that good on Sky either in terms of bit rate.

It is only 1080i not p. I belive freeSat is p for BBC programs.

 

[Sega Mega Dave]

Depends on the film for me. Films with lots of visual effects etc... have to be HD. Anything like a thriller or drama then I can live with SD.

That said i watch little SD content these days.

 

[TheVoice]

SD on Sky is pretty bad. HD isn't really that good on Sky either in terms of bit rate.

Terrible sound quality on a lot of SD channels too, sounds like really low-bitrate MP3.

Baffles me that new SD channels keep getting launched too. 5 are launching SpikeTV but it's SD-only. Shame really because they're going to be showing Breaking Bad in its entirety but I'm not watching it in low-res.

 

[AHarvey]

It's like the people in the games section who refuse to play games if they aren't getting 100+fps at 4k resolutions.

Personally, just bang it up as high as the system can take and still be playable and play it, enjoy the story. By the time they've finished messing around tweaking the setups and complaining about this or that I've completed the game, enjoyed it and I'm on to the next story.

My only issue with my TV is dark scenes. The TV is only 7 years old but doesn't handle black very well and has a constant burn on the screen that looks like a dinosaur. Other than that, I don't really care!

 

[Nitefly]

I was surprised to find it makes a huge different to animated shows like South Park.

 

[Sliver]

SD on Sky is pretty bad. HD isn't really that good on Sky either in terms of bit rate.

I don't have Sky so can't comment. I have BT Vision and the picture quality is not an issue for me, except for BBC News weirdly, which can look a little off sometimes. I don't get why the BBC haven't put out a HD News version.

Eventually all channels will be HD and SD will be dropped. Then we'll have threads with people saying: 'I'm not watching that HD garbage !!! 4k or nothing innit.'

 

[V F]

Terrible sound quality on a lot of SD channels too, sounds like really low-bitrate MP3.

Baffles me that new SD channels keep getting launched too. 5 are launching SpikeTV but it's SD-only. Shame really because they're going to be showing Breaking Bad in its entirety but I'm not watching it in low-res.

Sky HD sound is flat and muffled. As if you're blocking direct line sight of your speakers. Even the bass is weak on most films. Not the case for Blu-Ray.

 

[dbmzk1]

Of course I'd rather watch something in HD, but if it's only available in SD then I won't not watch it just for that reason. I might hold out longer to try and get it in HD though.