why do some hdtv/blu ray player combinations look better than others?

blu ray player 24p setting image

Marc

I have been trying to set up a home theater (hdtv + blu ray player) system that will be eye catching, colors and graphics popping to the eye and with the best, sharpest resolution such that it would seem the person on the tv looks like he's in the same room with you. I have seen displays in Best Buys, Circuit City, etc. They were incredible, the colors popped out, the graphics and details of people were 10 times more life like then if they were in the same room as you.

I attempted to duplicate this quality. I bought an HDTV with what I thought were some of the best options you can choose - a Resolution of 1080P, a contrast resolution of 10,000 to 1, and I bought a Sylvania Blu Ray Player. I am also using the recomended HDMI Cable.

The picture is pretty good. However it is not nearly as fetching as the picture in the store. It has a grainy appearance at times (maybe because I'm sitting just 4 feet away from the 37 inch screen) The colors aren't popping as much, but more importantly, the blu ray dvds that I'm watching are not showing me a picture in which the people in the movie look 10x better than if they were in the same room with me (like how the one in the store appeared). I thought 10,000 to one was an excellent contrast ratio, and the TV is a Sharp, a name brand. I thought Sylvania (though not a name brand) was a good enough Blu Ray to deliver great picture. It has output capability of up to 1080P24.

The only things that I can think of are: maybe the setup in the store has an HDTV with like 5 billion to 1 contrast ratio? Does the brand name of the Blu Ray player make a significant difference?

Hope someone can help my nip thisone in the bud once and for all. Thanks!
I should also add that I have tested some of the best (recently made, visually stunning) Blu Ray DVDs in there and they don't look nearly as good as the store system on display.

Answer
There are a couple of things you could consider to get that picture quality you want.

Since you are 4 feet away from your TV, a 37" may be slightly too big, and I mean just slightly. Maybe a 32" would have been sufficient.

Also, I would have recommended a Samsung or Sony Blu-Ray player in terms of top quality Blu-Ray players over the Sylvania.

Is your Sharp Flat screen a Plasma or LCD? If its 10,000:1 contrast ratio on a plasma, you should be fine, I would have definitely recommended a minimum of 15,000:1 ratio if your TV is an LCD

Does your TV do 1080P @ 24 frames? You indicated your Sylvania Blu-Ray player outputs 1080p24, but does your TV display 1080p24? 24 frames per second is the film frame rate and most film sourced Bluray discs are encoded at that frame rate. 60 frames per second is the video display rate on most TVs. In simple terms, a 24p output into a TV that can display it, gives smoother motion for 99.99% of movies. That may be your artifact issues you are seeing in your poor picture quality.

One last thing, you might want to get your TV calibrated. That can get a bit expensive to get it professionally calibrated, but well worth getting it done in the end to get your TV to the EXACT color specifications to bring out the best picture quality.

Here's a link to some calibration techniques you can do for free: http://ezinearticles.com/?Give-Your-Flat-Screen-TV-Some-Calibration---For-Free!&id=862955
http://www.flat-screen-tv-guide.com/how-to.html

Blu-Ray Question? Help!?

Jose Q.

If I use Component Cables on my Blu-Ray Player will it look as good as if I were using an HDMI cable? Would there be a diference at all?

Answer
No and the only reason is the manufacture rolled over for the studio.

Component is very capable of carrying the full resolution of 1080p 24p 30p (not that different than 1080i 60i) but the studios want to make it inconvenient for you to slow down (not stop) pirates.

So it is not that the cable can't do the job just that the powers that be decided for you that HDMI is better. So that you would buy a new set that has HDMI. So that you would buy lots of cables and dink with loading a software update so they have an excuse to look at your network to find "contraband" material or software designed to copy DVDs ,etc..

If you value your privacy just use component at 1080i most will not see a huge difference since the frame rate is 60 interlaced vs. 30 progressive. If you are 20/20 vision or less you can not tell the difference.

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Title Post: why do some hdtv/blu ray player combinations look better than others?
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