HQV tests with PS2 vs dvd player (1 Viewer)

[Jose G]

I just did a check on my set with my new HQV benchmark dvd using my sony upscaling player at 720p. What I found was that all the tests went pretty well except for the 3:2 Film Detail Test (aka "Unflagged 2-3 Pulldown test").

Now when I did the tests using my only 480i source (a ps2), which should be testing the true processing of the tv and not the dvd's scaler, the results were…not very good. I don't know if the ps2 player (even with component cables) qualifies as a good test player- I'm hoping it's not...

...Is it?

 

[Steve Schaffer]

the PS2 was one of the worst players on the market. That being said I base my evaluation of player performance on actual movies, not torture test discs.
These discs are great for nitpicking a player's handling of disc mastering errors that are either non-existent or very rare on the vast majority of dvds available today.

 

[Jose G]

Okay. I have the answer: the PS2 is not a good test dvd for 480i output as I suspected/expected, even with component cables. Thank goodness! (in my case).

I was able to use a 480i Sony dvd player I bought my mother years ago with the HQV test disc to test the set and the results were very different than when using the PS2. In the end, the results with the sony 480i player were almost the same as when I tested an upscaling Sony dvd player at 720p via hdmi with my set- again with the only test it completely failed being the 3:2 Film Detail Test. So while I am relieved that my set passed almost all the tests (though I'm not too happy that it failed 3:2 Film Detail Test), I am still puzzled by something else. The test results when using the 480i player and a standard composite cable were actually a bit better (though not much) than when using the upscaling player at 720p via hdmi. How is that possible, especially since the picture is better with the upscaling player? I don't get it? Any ideas?

 

[Jose G]

Thanks for the reply, Steve. I also normally like to judge my equipment by how well something looks and how good it it sounds to me, but I got to playing around and fell into the trap of HT testing...again. My wife thinks I'm nuts and can't stand hearing "Did you see that? There? it's a bit better this time, don't you think? Don't you hear the difference- better yet couldn't you feel that?"

I should just let it go and be happy with my set up, but...

 

[Steve Schaffer]

I can identify, Jose. I have spent hours at a time tweaking and adjusting picture settings and audio calibrations on many occasions--when I'm in the mood for doing so I think of it as fun.

Bottom line is that if I do an equipment upgrade or get into another tweaking session I always play some movie I'm very familiar with (Usually Titanic or Gladiator, for some reason). If I see or hear things I didn't before, then the upgrade or re-calibration was worth it. I use test discs myself, usually AVIA though I do have an HD DVD copy of Digital Video Essentials on order, but always reserve judgement until I've had a chance to play an actual movie I love all the way through.

 

[Kieran Coghlan]

Jose:

I would guess that the Sony upconverting player is affecting the picture via it's processing of it, whereas when you feed the TV a pure 480i signal, it's just the TV's processing that handles the picture. So, it may be that your TV has better processing/scaling/de-interlacing abilities than your Sony up-converting dvd player. Is it not possible to send a 480i signal via component from your dvd player to your tv (thus bypassing the dvd's processing)?