HDTV and normal DVD's?

RoachycaL

RoachycaL

RoachycaL

Soldato
Joined
2 Jan 2006
Posts
3,152
Location
Newcastle Upon Tyne
Hey guys,

Ive been using a 21" CRT Samsung for the past couple of years & been playing dvd's through my 360 and tv through the freeview box. Naturally because its a CRT Tv it runs at a lower res and therefore these two look better.

On tuesday I just got a new 32" Goodmans. Its beautiful and its a beast. The 360 looks great but I cant help but thinking Tv and DVD's now look crap. Is it because they still run at lower resolutions so everything gets warped? Is there anything I can do about it such as run the tv at lower resolutions when im watching dvd's or watching via the freeview box?

I dont think its the actual tv's fault as we have an LG downstairs which is also HD and still does the same thing.

Thanks for the help,

RoachycaL
 
RoachycaL said:
Im using Component. What difference should it make?
Click to expand...

VGA upscales DVDs to make them look slightly better on high defintion displays. Component does not upscale. I have the VGA cable and component cable but I prefer the component cable for games as my TV handles feeds from that source better I find. I'll use VGA if I want to watch DVDs.
 
Unfortunately we are reaching the limits of DVD's somewhat now we have bigger and bigger TV's coming in. DVD's on our 37" at home are really beginning to show their age.

But thats where HD saves the day :D
 
i now have the problem of trying to fill 2560x1600 pixels with an image.. i can watch HD dvd's in FULL res and chat on msn at the same time.. thats how big this monitor is..

so im looking to get into HD-DVD but dont know wether to get a HD-DVD Player or the Xbox HD Drive? any suggestions? (only have DVI on this monitor)
 
RoachycaL said:
Hey guys,

Ive been using a 21" CRT Samsung for the past couple of years & been playing dvd's through my 360 and tv through the freeview box. Naturally because its a CRT Tv it runs at a lower res and therefore these two look better.

On tuesday I just got a new 32" Goodmans. Its beautiful and its a beast. The 360 looks great but I cant help but thinking Tv and DVD's now look crap. Is it because they still run at lower resolutions so everything gets warped? Is there anything I can do about it such as run the tv at lower resolutions when im watching dvd's or watching via the freeview box?

I dont think its the actual tv's fault as we have an LG downstairs which is also HD and still does the same thing.

Thanks for the help,

RoachycaL
Click to expand...

maybe its the dvds at fault, reason i say this is because i have just bought an xbox360 and HDTV and i have noticed that some dvds look awfull but others look fantastic, as examples i have clarksons good bad and ugly dvd and the inside shots of the cars look terrible, but last night i put on star wars last hope on and it looked great, things like textures on buildings, walls and clothes being very detailed
 
TomWilko said:
Unfortunately we are reaching the limits of DVD's somewhat now we have bigger and bigger TV's coming in. DVD's on our 37" at home are really beginning to show their age.

But thats where HD saves the day :D
Click to expand...
It's nothing to do with DVDs showing their age, it's to do with how poor any content looks on an HDTV (or PC LCD monitor) when not displayed at the native resolution.
 
I've got the 360 VGA cable from when I used to use it, made the change to a Component cable because my HDTV only had 1 VGA port and guess what I use my PC on ;) anyway it's simply too much hassle changing all the cables just so the DVD upscales for a slightly better image, I'm happy with the picture through Component, still looks better than what it did on the days of Composite.
 
dirtydog said:
It's nothing to do with DVDs showing their age, it's to do with how poor any content looks on an HDTV (or PC LCD monitor) when not displayed at the native resolution.
Click to expand...
DVD's ARE showing their age, but it's now because it's been superceeded by HD-DVD or BluRay. DVD itself does look good, but compared to the newer formats it looks poor.

There's a great comparison between Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, which is one of the best quality DVD's out there and the HD-DVD version of the same film.

The fact is, everything is looking out-dated by HD content, which is the way things are going anyway. Regular TV is limited, this can clearly be seen when comparing something on regular BBC to BBC HD, Hannibal for example.
 
He said DVDs are showing their age because they look crap when played through a high resolution LCD screen. That is rubbish :) It tells you more about the screen technology and its inherent limits than the DVD.
 
dirtydog said:
He said DVDs are showing their age because they look crap when played through a high resolution LCD screen. That is rubbish :) It tells you more about the screen technology and its inherent limits than the DVD.
Click to expand...
That's the same thing tho isn't it? :confused:

LCD/Plasma technology has moved on, standard dvd's are as they were 5 years ago. Surely that does mean they are showing their age given that the screens we use to watch them on to require better than dvd quality to look their best?
 
wedgie22 said:
That's the same thing tho isn't it? :confused:
Click to expand...
Of course it isn't.

LCD/Plasma technology has moved on, standard dvd's are as they were 5 years ago. Surely that does mean they are showing their age given that the screens we use to watch them on to require better than dvd quality to look their best?
Click to expand...
Flawed logic. Yes the screens available now have an achilles heel which is that they only display HD content well, and everything else looks poor. That is not the fault of the DVD, it is the fault of the limited LCD technology. If the OP used an upscaling DVD player it would look better, but still inferior to how it would look on a regular CRT television.
 
NokkonWud said:
DVD vs HD-DVD Comparison
Very impressive if you ask me :).
Click to expand...
It is if you look closely but sitting at viewing distance from your television, the difference will not be very noticeable in my opinion. Better but not as much as the hype would have us believe. But for those who watch movies sitting a foot away from their TV, it's great ;)
 
dirtydog said:
It is if you look closely but sitting at viewing distance from your television, the difference will not be very noticeable in my opinion. Better but not as much as the hype would have us believe. But for those who watch movies sitting a foot away from their TV, it's great ;)
Click to expand...
You are so stubborn! Grrrr.
It's clearly a huge difference for anyone with good vision :).
 
dirtydog said:
Of course it isn't.


Flawed logic. Yes the screens available now have an achilles heel which is that they only display HD content well, and everything else looks poor. That is not the fault of the DVD, it is the fault of the limited LCD technology. If the OP used an upscaling DVD player it would look better, but still inferior to how it would look on a regular CRT television.
Click to expand...

Nobody said it was the fault of the dvd, but the fact is dvd's are showing their age.

The screens that we view them on have advanced beyond the level that dvd's were designed to be viewed on. That's one sign of thems showing their age for me.

Now HD-DVD is making as big a jump as when the change was made from VHS to DVD, another clear sign that they are showing their age.

A format doesn't have to change to show it's age, all it takes is for technology around it to advance for it to start looking dated.

Only an idiot would see a HD-DVD then go back to normal DVD and not think it looked dated.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom