Progressive Scan "issue" please advise

ShaunLB · 09-26-2005, 08:47 AM

Hey gang. My friend just bought a new 27" HD TV, a progressive scan DVD player, and some nice component cables for a nice price of about $350 total. I have a fair bit of home theater experience so I helped him hook it up.

Here's the situation: When watching a DVD in interlaced mode the picture is very smooth and about the level of detail I would expect (pretty good actually). However, in Progressive scan mode (interlaced/progressive being toggled on the DVD player of course) the image appears "sharper" but also is VERY grainy.

Great examples are scenes with skys. In Episode I for example the sky over Naboo is a smooth, unbroken sheet of blue in Interlaced mode, but has a very pronounced "grain" of different blue pixels on Progressive scan mode. Its exactly what you would see in Photoshop if you cranked the sharpness and grain on a photo. This is also visible on people's faces and other areas.

Any ideas? He's very happy with his new setup, but right now he seems better off with interlaced....

John S · 09-26-2005, 09:47 AM

Every DVD? Are you sure it was just not a poorly transfer DVD causing it?

I have to blam it on the DVD player here for sure.

Can you find a different P-Scan player for testing purposes?

ShaunLB · 09-26-2005, 09:55 AM

I tried a few HT Test/Calibration DVD's, Episode I, and The Aviator. I may take my player over this weekend and test, but it seems to be a constant thing between dvd's on his.

ShaunLB · 09-26-2005, 11:06 AM

I may just be having monday dellusions, but I think I've read before that some TV's actually handle an interlaced image better due to their own internal electronics better than the progressive signal of a mediocre DVD player. Is this a possible cause for what I'm seeing?

John S · 09-26-2005, 11:27 AM

Possibly, but I am still inclined to blame the DVD player for it.

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Allan Jayne · 09-26-2005, 01:18 PM

Do you have the AVIA test disk? You would want to check the "200 TVL" resolution chart upright wedges for horizontal resolution.

Almost all HDTV's including all LCD and all DLP models convert incoming interlaced video sources including SDTV broadcasts to progressive scan before putting the video on the screen. It is not unusual for some models of TV's to do a better job of de-interlacing than some models of progressive scan DVD players. Lesser quality de-interlacing can produce the graininess you are seeing.

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ShaunLB · 09-26-2005, 02:13 PM

Thats sounds about like what I'm beginning to suspect Allan. Sadly I don't have the AVIA disk yet, one of those things I've "been meaning to order" for too long. But at the moment I think I'll hold off on speculation until I can take my player (which I've used in progressive scan on another friends HDTV with no problems) over for a test run. Thanks for the input so far!

James Phung · 09-26-2005, 03:12 PM

As a start.... What dvd player are you using? What display are you using?

ChrisWiggles · 09-26-2005, 05:01 PM

Quote:

I may just be having monday dellusions, but I think I've read before that some TV's actually handle an interlaced image better due to their own internal electronics better than the progressive signal of a mediocre DVD player. Is this a possible cause for what I'm seeing?

It is possible.

ShaunLB · 09-27-2005, 09:02 AM

I'll have to get the models later, but its a 27" RCA and an RCA dvd player. Not exactly a prime brand, but the price/picture is great.