Panasonic BD30 and Sony 37'' XBR6...upconversion issues

[beier100]

Hello all, I'm brand new to this site...I just bought the Sony 37'' XBR6 and a BD30 as my first HD setup, and I'm wondering what you all have experienced with the BD30's (possibly not the best?) upconverting. I'm very happy with the clarity of the upconverted picture, but all of my standard DVDs play back with an awkward, almost video-like look, to the point where all the depth looks strangely absent, and the movement is just too smooth to feel real. I'm not techie when it comes to all the progressive scan/interlacing/all that, so I'm not sure if it's the BD30's upconversion or the Sony XBR6's interpretation of the 1080p output.

I have the player set for 24p output, but I'm assuming that is only for Blu Rays...either way, it didn't affect the weird SD DVD picture problem.

I'd love to get any feedback on this if anybody has time. "Kingdom of Heaven" looked beautiful on Blu Ray, but the Minas Tirith shots in Return of the King looked incredibly fake/hideous, and LOST Season 1 (SD) lost a lot of image depth.

If it IS the TV, then I'm screwed and I'll have to rebuy all my favorites, but if it is the BD30...is there a cheapish and simple SD DVD HDMI upconvert player I can buy that won't create this picture effect?

[Seretur]

Might be the MotionFlow engaged on your TV?

[Blu_Ray_Fan]

sorry, my mistake. That Sony is not equipped with the latest.

[swindler]

Originally Posted by Seretur

Might be the MotionFlow engaged on your TV?

I'm not an authoritative source, but there's about 10,000 posts on various HD forums that state that the KDL-37XBR6 does not have MotionFlow.

(And a few that state that it does...)

[ryoohki]

I don't know about you're effect. But DVD does look crappier on a HDTV (no matter the amount of Upconvertion) than Blu-ray. Or if you can an Interlaced Display....

HD is Higher Resolutioon, witch bring the FLAW right to you're face! Same goes with VideoGame... going from a XBOX (1) to a HDTV made thing cleaner (because it's a videogame) but bring up the flaw of the graphics wayyyyyyyy more..

[beier100]

Actually, as stated above, my 37'' does NOT have Motion Flow, and all the "enhancers" are turned off. I did some more reading today, and I'm fairly sure it's the deinterlacing issue with the 480i from the SD DVD. The BD30 apparently does a crappy deinterlacing and upconversion job (contrary to about a million people who told me it was great! for upconversion...). Either way, it's brilliant for Blu Ray...but I still might buy/test out an Oppo 980 to use as an SD DVD player...apparently the deinterlacing chip is better?

I was also considering sending my TV back, because Amazon advertised it (as did everywhere?!) as having Motion Flow...but from what I've been reading, for the 24p playback, I really probably wouldn't want Motion Flow turned on?

But yeah, this weird "video" looking issue with the upconversion did not happen on another cheaper Sony Blu player I tested on my parents' Plasma...that player simply looked really crappy in terms of pixelation. Strangely, I was extremely impressed with the BD30's overall level of detail, but it's just this ugly effect that drives me nuts. It looked very similar to a TV that was in "progressive" mode (I think?) at Ultimate Electronics showing "Pirates: Black Pearl." For lack of a better explanation...I've seen dull British TV that looks just like my SD DVDs now look.

I don't think it's my TV?? Do you think I'll have luck with the Oppo? I'm really only looking for a decently cheap way to still watch (nicely) my older DVDs, especially the TV seasons that may never see the light of Blu Ray.

[beier100]

In case any of you continue reading this...I just tested my BD30 and the same standard DVDs on my parents' 42'' Panasonic Plasma, and it is 100% fine, despite whatever general upconvert problems the BD30 might have.

So, knowing that, the Sony KDL-37XBR6 is a total piece of crap for playing standard DVDs, and there is no available option of changing the picture that I haven't tried...The horrible SD DVD picture I'm talking about actually sounds somewhat similar to how people described Motion Flow, even though this TV does not have it. So, did Sony try to include a built in version of this?! It's awful, and I'm going to try like mad to return this TV and get some sort of Plasma. What a waste...

[bkbluray]

Originally Posted by beier100

In case any of you continue reading this...I just tested my BD30 and the same standard DVDs on my parents' 42'' Panasonic Plasma, and it is 100% fine, despite whatever general upconvert problems the BD30 might have.

So, knowing that, the Sony KDL-37XBR6 is a total piece of crap for playing standard DVDs, and there is no available option of changing the picture that I haven't tried...The horrible SD DVD picture I'm talking about actually sounds somewhat similar to how people described Motion Flow, even though this TV does not have it. So, did Sony try to include a built in version of this?! It's awful, and I'm going to try like mad to return this TV and get some sort of Plasma. What a waste...

It has a LOT to do with what your picture settings are too... My SD DVD's looked crappy before I found some good settings on internet to make the colors and contrast better.

[beier100]

Sorry all...found out why: I had "Theater Mode" switched "off." Now everything looks normal...Though I'm still confused with how other owners of the smaller two XBR6's are finding a way to set the CineMotion settings?