6.1 DVD's and thoughts on HDTV

[THOR]

Well I have watched two 6.1 DVD's so far, "Blade II" was 6.1 DTS ES and "Monsters Inc." was 6.1 Dolby Digital. I gotta say the extra channel really does add something and it just increases the movie theater like experience. Even playing 5.1 movies in 6.1 (the reciever spreads the rear surround signal to the three rear channels) sounds better than 5.1. You just feel more enveloped in sound.

I have some thoughts on my RPHDTV and progressive scan DVD player. On newer DVD's it just looks amazing but with older DVD's like "Day's of Thunder" it looks terrible. It seems the newer the DVD the better they look, I can only hope they redo old DVD's and optomize them for HDTV's.

As far as watching TV goes I have seen HDTV TV at the stores and it is incredible, but since there are only local channels available here in my area I do not feel it is worth it for me to spend the dough for an HDTV receiver at this time since I watch very little on local TV. Digital cable on my HDTV looks as good if not better than normal TV most of the time, some channels look better than others. Having to stretch the picture to fit on the 16:9 screen takes some getting used to but once you get used to it it is fine.

Playing XBOX games on the HDTV just freaking rules! The XBOX allows you to choose widescreen mode and supports the HDTV resolutions and playing games on a 51" screen that is as crisp and colorful as my PC's monitor is just a joy to behold.

I will say these HDTV's are not for the meek, they are not take them outta the box and plug them in type deals. It will take you a lot of time to get the picture set up right for TV, DVD, games, I even have different settings for day and night viewing. It is a pain in the ass and requires a lot of fiddling and patience but the rewards are worth the trouble.

For someone who's biggest TV before now was 27" I can't tell you how happy I am!

[botrytis]

Thor,

My wife and I bought a 43" plasma last year and have a Rotel progressive DVD connected to it. The player makes all movies look amazing!! Both Harry Potter and LOTR are great on the plasma. You should try them. Or an older film - Time Bandits - pretty sarcastic too.

No, we don't have surround and we will not have one for the forseeable future as we just like things in 2 channel.

Dave

[THOR]

Try "Days of Thunder" and compare it to "LOTR" or "Harry Potter" ;) Might be just "Days" is crappy that has been the only movie I've noticed a big difference with. It's also the oldest movie I've watched on the new setup. I will be trying others soon tho since I just signed up for Netflix.

[WildWest]

"Playing XBOX games on the HDTV just freaking rules! The XBOX allows you to choose widescreen mode and supports the HDTV resolutions "

Interesting.... Your XBOX displays at 1080i? (HDTV resolution) Wow, the only ones I have seen display at 480i. How can I get mine to display 1080i?!?

"I will say these HDTV's are not for the meek, they are not take them outta the box and plug them in type deals. It will take you a lot of time to get the picture set up right for TV, DVD, games, I even have different settings for day and night viewing. It is a pain in the ass and requires a lot of fiddling and patience but the rewards are worth the trouble."

I am suprised to hear you say this Thor. Myself, I havn't had nearly the problems and once I calibrated with the AVIA disk it is set period. Have you gotten a video set up disk yet? Changing color, brightness, contrast shouldn't be done but once to proper calibrations then left alone. Get a disk if you havn't yet. It will explain exactly what I am talking about and help you actually see things better than what you are by fooling around with controls for day, night etc. Oh, also a nice manual roll down black out screen over your brightest window will help tons during the day. Hide it up behind a paint gradable valance.

[WildWest]

I have yet to build the valance but this works well during the day if I want a more theater feel and a better view. Typically though for regular TV viewing we don't roll it down.

[THOR]

No Avia disc yet, I gotta buy one from ebay since no one carries it in my area. I just meant these are not like normal TV's as in you just take em' outta the box and plug them in. I still haven't done the tweak for "red push" or a "manual convergence" both of which are suggested by Hitachi owners in the HDTV forums.

As you say I don't know if there are any 1080i XBOX games I know there will be in the future but I believe the my HDTV takes the 480i signal and automatically upscales it to 1080i, just like it does the digital cable signal. I may be wrong but when I push the "info" button on the HDTV remote the signal recieved is 480i but the picture displayed is 1080i.

I am going to have my mom make me some curtains for the window and the two doorways in the living room out of some dark thick fabric. Right now when I am gonna watch a movie during the day I throw a blanket up over the window and shut all the blinds in the kitchen and it is really dark, but a pain to do.

[WildWest]

Yea, that AVIA disk will very much enlighten you and help prolong the life of your TV as well as give you better picture display. You will find it interesting.

I think as you get more into digital and HD signals you will find that you are not seeing the 1080i signal from a digital program or from your XBOX. It doesnt' work that way. If the signal is not coming to you in that format from a source your TV can't just create it. (Is your TV HD ready or just HD capable?) Becuase if it is just HD capable then you can't decode 1080i singals without a separate decoder box that you said you didn't want to buy yet. XBOX is not capable of out puting that signal. Also if your TV has a built in glare/child proof screen. Rip that damn thing off and toss it in the dumper. You will be shocked at the differance especially during the day.

Get that AVIA disk as soon as you can. Like you said, E bay has em and many other vendors on line do too. Set your picture once and leave it alone. It will work great.

[THOR]

I'm not sure WW I will post your question in the Hitachi thread on a HDTV forum and see what they say. From what little I've read I believe there is a converter or some such (this is what seperates newer HDTV's from older ones as most newer ones have it and some are known for doing it better than others) that takes the input no matter what it is 480i, 540p, etc. and upscales it to 1080i. I will post your questions and link any answers I get.

I can't take off the protective screen and actually there was a HDTV that I really liked but passed on it cuz it didn't have the protective screen. See we got these two little dogs that have a tendency to attack the TV when they see other animals on it. In looking at HDTV's with no screen I noticed the screen was similar to my laptops and it would not react well to the dogs fingernails if they happened to go boinkers and I couldn't get em' before they reached the TV. At Best Buy they actually had one that was scratched up pretty bad just from human nails being on the display floor.

[botrytis]

Thor,

There is a type of box called a line doubler - does exactly what the name sounds like - doubles the lines of the picture. It is supposed to make it clearer. I have a program on my HTPC that does the same thing called dscaler - http://www.dscaler.com



Another is a processor like this http://www.runco.com/Products/VHD/Processors.htm - very expensive!!

Dave

[WildWest]

Oh heck yea...If you have critters or ankle biters then removing the glare screen might not be a great idea. I have neither of those so I yanked mine off. Incredible differance.

Yea let me know what answers you get. But I do believe that if your source isn't outputing it. You can't view it.

[Don McR]

There is a type of box called a line doubler - does exactly what the name sounds like - doubles the lines of the picture

I don't believe this is the case. I was under the impression that a line doubler converts an interlaced source to a progressive scan image so that a 525i become 525p. If you want 1050p, then you need a line quadrupler. It's still a kluge since all the processor can do is interpolate.

[Nick V]

Thor,

If you want to view XBOX games in 480P, 720P, or 1080i (only one or two games available in this format) you need to purchase the High Definition AV pack (http://www.xbox.com/system/high+definition+av+pack.htm?cs_catalog=cat%2dus) adapter.

After you purchase that, you send a component video signal to your tv rather than S-video or composite video, and ALL of the xbox games will be displayed in 480p (just like a progressive DVD player) and most of the games will be played back in Dolby Digital 5.1 as the HD pack has an optical digital output to send to your receiver.

After this, there will be settings in the XBOX setup menu to switch your tv to "widescreen" and to select 480p and 1080i display capabilities.

[WildWest]

Kewl! I have that HD AV pack connection and can only get my XBOX to output 480i. At least thats what the instructions that came with the XBOX said it would do. Are you saying that if I get the right game that it will output through my AVR to my TV 1080i? For instance, the game HALO will only output 480i and I have been through the games menu from one end to another as well as XBOX's menu. What am I missing then!? What games are there that will display 1080i do you know?

[THOR]

Hey Nick V, yes I have the HD AV pack.

WW I was right the signal coming from the XBOX is 480i but my HDTV upconverts the signal and displays it in 1080i.

http://www.hdtvoice.com/voice/showthread.php?s=&postid=21167#post21167

[WildWest]

ahhhhh if you have an HD capable game then... But it goes back to what I said. If you don't have the HD signal coming in. As in an HD capable game, you won't see it in HD. Isn't that what that guy said? But if a TV program or a game is not in HD 1080i, you can't make it view in 1080i. Do you have a game that is HD capable? Which one is it, I am curious?

[Nick V]

Sorry if I was spewing out misinformation there. I don't have an HDTV (waiting 'till HDMI and Firewire are on next year's sets) and I thought that all xbox games were in at least 480p. I was mistaken, but the large majority of them are. I'll direct you over to this informative thread at HTF (http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=100055) for some information about all the games that are 480p, 720p, and 1080i capable, along with 5.1 and widescreen.

BTW, it looks like 'Dragon's Lair 3D' is still the only game available in 1080i.

Sorry for the confusion,
Nick

[WildWest]

Dragons Lair 3D? KEWL. I am getting that mudda phucker like, yesterday... :zoom:

[THOR]

No WW what he said was is that you can choose the resolution you view the signal at with an HDTV except for an HD signal, and HD signal is only viewable at 1080i. My HDTV (and most new ones) will take whatever signal coming in and upscale it to either 540p or 1080i and I can choose betwwen the two. So I am playing my XBOX and watching cable in 1080i resolution on the screen, does it look as good as a true 1080i signal, for cable probably not, but for games and animated shows it works excellent which probably explains why movies like "Shrek" and "Monsters Inc." almost look as good as HD TV on digital cable.

Here's some quotes:

"In your case, the signal coming into your TV is 480i and it is being upconverted and displayed at 1080i.

What comes into your TV will depend on how you set up your X-box and which game is in it and perhaps which type connection you use. (I'm not a gamer)

How the TV displays what comes in, will depend on your user settings - you can change "picture" between 540P and 1080i, depending on your preference.

HD signals will be displayed at 1080i and the "user selection for picture" will be "greyed out" when an HD signal is being received."

"- Your Hitachi HDTV is capable of displaying only 540p or 1080i. You can switch between them, but that's it. EVERYTHING will be converted to 540p or 1080i.

This conversion CAN make the picture look better using a procedure known as oversampling. This is the same concept that was used eons ago to make CDs sound less mechanical. The oversampling circuitry "fills in the blanks" between what the signal contains and what the TV is set to display. This is not necessarily the same thing as "scaling," but the two concepts are very similar. Scaling implies a more linear application of growth/shrinkage while oversampling has a curve fitting quality, but it all depends on whose brand you have.

Oversampling and scaling have a greater impact on objects with distinct color boundries like titles and cartoons, which makes them great for video games."

[WildWest]

Well what ever you say Thor... Glad its working for you! But I am certain that if you don't have a source that is 1080i you are not seeing high definition.

[THOR]

Originally posted by WildWest
Well what ever you say Thor... Glad its working for you! But I am certain that if you don't have a source that is 1080i you are not seeing high definition.

What are you talking about?? I never claimed to be watching HD what I claimed from the beginning was that I play my XBOX in 1080i resolution on my HDTV, just like I can play computer games on my monitor at 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768 resolution I can play XBOX games at 540p or 1080i regardless of the fact that the incoming signal is 480i.

There is no "whatever I say" or "glad it is working for you," that is what my HDTV does it takes the 480i signal and upscales it to 540p or 1080i resolution.

If your TV can not do this for you I am sorry but there is no need for you to keep acting like I am stupid or something when I have posted the why and the how for you several times.

[WildWest]

Oh wow....Don't mind me. I read in your the post that started this thread...

"Playing XBOX games on the HDTV just freaking rules! The XBOX allows you to choose widescreen mode and supports the HDTV resolutions"

So when you said HD (high definition) resolutions that sort of threw me off.

Relax Thor. Not trying to make you look like anything. Just trying to understand and talk about what you have and what you are doing. Didn't want to go back and forth about it anymore and I AM glad it's working for you, that's it...

[Nick V]

I can play XBOX games at 540p or 1080i regardless of the fact that the incoming signal is 480i.

What I'm saying is that the incoming signal on 'most' of the xbox games should be at least 480p if you have your xbox hooked up and set up correctly. Either that, or I've misunderstood the reasoning for the HD AV pack, and the information in that HTF thread that I linked to in my last post.

It may have something to do with your Hitachi TV upconverting all the signals to 540p rather than the standard 480p. When you're watching a DVD with your progressive scan dvd player, is the input signal 480i or 480p according to your tv?

[THOR]

Sorry I got pissy WW ;)

Yeah Nick I have it set to widescreen and have the 1080i box checked, the incoming signal is 480i and the TV just automatically upconverts it. I am not sure what the progrssive scan DVD signal is, I will check it when I watch a couple of movies tommorow ;)

[michael w]

Originally posted by THOR
No Avia disc yet, I gotta buy one from ebay since no one carries it in my area.


Thor,

If you have a DVD with THX Optimizer signals you can use those to calibrate your TV.

Don't use the earlier Optimode as that only optimised your TV for that specific DVD and the audio test signals were all wrong.


cheerio