Blu-Ray doesn't look as good as Digital Antenna Signal

[pcrossley]

I recently bought a Samsung BD-P1400 and am a little disappointed by the quality. At first I thought that the problem was that I am not yet using HDMI (I would need a 40' cable...kind of expensive). I'm using component cables for display on my Philips hdtv. It accepts up to 1080i with a 720 native resolution. Here's the part where I start to scratch my head: I recently hooked up a $35 RCA interior antenna to get my local channels in HD (I don't have satellite). The local HD channels (Fox, NBC, CBS) are far superior in picture to the blu-ray, and this signal is only from a coax from the tv to my attic!?! I have checked the output resolution of the blu-ray also. The first time I turned it on, it had downgraded the signal to 480p since it didn't find a 1080p receiver. I corrected the output and have tried 1080i and 720p, and neither provide as good a picture as my antenna source. I have tried new blu-ray discs such as "Live Free and Die Hard," as well as "Planet Earth." None of them hold a candle to the picture I get on the regular programming on my digital channels. I'm very confused and very disappointed. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

[aristotles]

Originally Posted by pcrossley

I recently bought a Samsung BD-P1400 and am a little disappointed by the quality. At first I thought that the problem was that I am not yet using HDMI (I would need a 40' cable...kind of expensive). I'm using component cables for display on my Philips hdtv. It accepts up to 1080i with a 720 native resolution. Here's the part where I start to scratch my head: I recently hooked up a $35 RCA interior antenna to get my local channels in HD (I don't have satellite). The local HD channels (Fox, NBC, CBS) are far superior in picture to the blu-ray, and this signal is only from a coax from the tv to my attic!?! I have checked the output resolution of the blu-ray also.

Saying that you need a 40 foot cable sounds fishy to me. I would say that it is time to upgrade as your TV is crap son.

Most likely your Phillips TV is to blame as they probably cut corners on the DAC processing the component signals expecting that most people would plug in SD progressive sources into your ancient HD Ready tv.

[Beta Man]

Not sure I can offer any help in this, but HDMI will get you 1080i/720p but I'm not sure what component cables you're using that are giving you this resolution.......... even with my monster components, the second I connect my video that way, it drops to 480p.

Why do you need a 40' HDMI?? what makes it necessary to have your Blu-ray player 40 feet from the television?


I hope others are able to help, rather than ridicule.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by aristotles

Saying that you need a 40 foot cable sounds fishy to me. I would say that it is time to upgrade as your TV is crap son.

Other than "Phillips 720p" how do you know what his t.v. is, or that it's "Crap"

[BrahmaBull]

Originally Posted by ezcobar411

We are going to need to stop these people from doing this. Seriously, don't you have something better to do with your time?

Obviously something is going on if he thinks the antenna feed looks better.

The guy is just reaching out for help.

[pcrossley]

How about a little less sarcasm and someone explain why my misery is so amusing to everyone else...

If anyone is doubting the quality differnce, feel free to sit on the couch with me a drink a beer and compare cold case files to blu-ray. There is no question the the antenna is better, LIGHT YEARS BETTER. I'm not talking about a minor difference, or small noise, or infintesimal pixelation. I have quite a bit of experience with HD...the blu-ray source does not look remotely like anything HD.

The reason I need a 40 foot cable is that the Philips 37" 2HD Pixel Plus with Ambilight (not a piece of crap) is a flat panel wall mount above my fireplace, and my home theater is on an adjacent wall. The cable has to be pulled through the basement to reach my player.

[FilmmakingFiasco]

Originally Posted by pcrossley

How about a little less sarcasm and someone explain why my misery is so amusing to everyone else...

We'd like to know why you'd need a 40 ft. HDMI cable first...

[Irishwiseguy2006]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

Other than "Phillips 720p" how do you know what his t.v. is, or that it's "Crap"

Come on Beta...I am just sick of these threads started by "new members" that say their Blu-ray isn't as good as ___________. If he does need help then he should not open up with this kind of statement. "Cant hold a candle" He could have said I am having a problem getting a clear picture with my BD.

[dgator783]

u can get cheap HDMI cables from ebay....40' I dont know, might be hard to find....having a player that far away from ur source is crazy, no offense. how old is ur tv?

[fronn]

Originally Posted by pcrossley

I recently bought a Samsung BD-P1400 and am a little disappointed by the quality. At first I thought that the problem was that I am not yet using HDMI (I would need a 40' cable...kind of expensive). I'm using component cables for display on my Philips hdtv. It accepts up to 1080i with a 720 native resolution. Here's the part where I start to scratch my head: I recently hooked up a $35 RCA interior antenna to get my local channels in HD (I don't have satellite). The local HD channels (Fox, NBC, CBS) are far superior in picture to the blu-ray, and this signal is only from a coax from the tv to my attic!?! I have checked the output resolution of the blu-ray also. The first time I turned it on, it had downgraded the signal to 480p since it didn't find a 1080p receiver. I corrected the output and have tried 1080i and 720p, and neither provide as good a picture as my antenna source. I have tried new blu-ray discs such as "Live Free and Die Hard," as well as "Planet Earth." None of them hold a candle to the picture I get on the regular programming on my digital channels. I'm very confused and very disappointed. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

A couple questions/comments:

Are you using 40 feet of component cable? Or is that requirement only if you switched to HDMI -- that'd certainly make for an ugly sight ;p

You should probably use 720p if it's a fixed pixel display (like LCD, Plasma) -- if it's a CRT then 1080i is probably better.

What are you comparing the BR to as far as HD stations/shows go? It's kind of hard to compare TV shows with movies, as they have very different filming styles -- you're best bet is to compare on equal grounds (like Lost on broadcast to Lost on BR). All things being equal, broadcast doesn't hold a candle, as it doesn't have the bitrates to compete -- any fast movement or scene switches are going to cause a lot of blocking and resolution is going to be about 1440x1080 at best for the 1080i stations (which makes slight jaggies visible on a 1080p TV sometimes compared to a real 1080p image).

I'd suggest watching an animated movie or something equally colorful and overpumped as many TV shows are today. Ice Age, Ratatouille, Cars Apocalypto, etc.

I'd also note that you may just have a hard time noticing a huge difference because at 720p it's going to be covering up a lot of the issues of broadcast (lack of detail, blocking, etc.) and the benefits of BR (detail, lack of blocking, etc.). However, I can patently say that if you're thinking that Broadcast is better than BR, you're simply mistaken in some way.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

Not sure I can offer any help in this, but HDMI will get you 1080i/720p but I'm not sure what component cables you're using that are giving you this resolution.......... even with my monster components, the second I connect my video that way, it drops to 480p.

Why do you need a 40' HDMI?? what makes it necessary to have your Blu-ray player 40 feet from the television?


I hope others are able to help, rather than ridicule.

I figured I'd quote myself, because it still has the questions I need answered to help him!


Why 40 feet away..... Calibration etc. shouldn't be an issue, because he should be getting a better image via Blu-Ray regardless.

Just help us understand a little more about the situation, and we'll see if we can help. I'm not throwing stones, but I'm certainly scratching my head at this point.

[Beta Man]

also, how large is the display?

[Sonny]

When those HD broadcast are "filmed" with a HiDef camera they look very good , even though your set is a 720p/1080i Philip's the BD's should look better but not always BD's are not 'shot' with HiDef cameras as far as I no they haven't yet?...Mess with the settings on your TV look up some "calibrated" settings for your TV. & what TV do you have & what movies have you watched so far?? & use HDMI/DVI if possible...........?

[blaze_macleod]

Due to component being analogue, using really long leads like 40' is open to loss of picture quality...imo.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by Amel

troll alert

reported

not sure that's necessary.... he's got two posts..... one asking a question, and one questioning why he's being attacked..... a little info, and we can probably help him.

[krazeyeyez]

well i was gonna ask what bluray you watched, but i thought live free die hard was a pretty good looking blu, and there are only a few blu's i dont think are any better then the dvd version, but on the whole the only impressive stuff i have seen on my set has been from blu, so im left scratching my head.
on a side note i have one buddy who is totally unimpressed with blu and says he cant tell the difference while i have another buddy who comes over here and starts itching like his next stop is best buy for a new blu and sits here talking about how much he wants hidef or his tv. so it may just be a perspective thing.

[Amel]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

not sure that's necessary.... he's got two posts..... one asking a question, and one questioning why he's being attacked..... a little info, and we can probably help him.

I was kidding about reporting it, but this is just fishy, why in the world would you use a 40 feet cable?!?!

[airwedge1]

The problem he has is that he does not like Grain. Most films are recorded on film and not a High Definition Camera. This is usually the director purposely wanting grain in the movie. If you watch animated films which are a digital - digital encodes, you will see the sharp detail that you are used to with TV programming. You can change settings on your TV to reduce the grain that you see on the Set. You probably have sharpness on your TV turned way up. The sharpness needs to be set at a very low level. Usually at around like 10. This will reduce the grain that you see when watching BDs.

[kotton247]

Originally Posted by Amel

I was kidding about reporting it, but this is just fishy, why in the world would you use a 40 feet cable?!?!

He must live at best buy. Thats a shit ton of tv's to hook up.

[neckedness]

Yall need to stop bashing on him because I know what's he's talking about. Some HD channels from coax look do look better than some blu-ray discs movies.