Topic: When are you going HD?

[pchin]

Bit the bullet and got a LCD HDTV. I'm using the computer to display native 720p content and boy what a joy.

Congrat DViant for getting your HD LCD.  What's your LCD size?

Now all you need is to add either a PS3 or Xbox 360 or any other HD standalone player to enjoy the new HD movie experience! 

[DViant]

32-inch lang as they're dirt cheap and does 720p well. I have a Xbox 360 connected via VGA & a Wii connected via component. The 360 via component does 1080p and 720p only but via VGA it does the native resolution of the LCD which is 1366x768. Wii only goes up a paltry 480p so I might go back to my EDTV. Waiting on two 2-meter length HDMI to DVI cables from HK.

When HD broadcast is the norm locally I'll probably upgrade to a 1080p HD display that would be beyond 100 inches.

[tediber]

@Deviant
so it would be better to use component with xbox360 as you'll go up to 1080i (1920x1080 interlaced) ?? rather than VGA 1360x768 ...... asking because i have also 1080i LCD max VGA resolution 1360x768 with xbox360 ..... but have not tried using component cables instead.

[DViant]

tdbur

it is better to use VGA with a 1360x768 LCD HDTV so you your Xbox 360/LCD will need not scale.

[tediber]

yeah after reading quite a lot about video resolutions ..... i guess i'm satisfied with the VGA cable and xbox360 ..... 1080i as it seems wouldn't be good for fast motion pictures .... anyway the picture/video is already quite amazing using the vga cable and xbox360 ...... the best pq i've seen though is when i play the downloaded xbox360 intro video na sobrang linaw talga hehehehe .... i'm testing now playing all kinds of DVD discs on my xbox360 ..... most are just fine nothing spectacular to the eye. i guess i just wonder how to get the same picture quality that i see with the xbox intro video ..... i wonder if an upscaling DVD player would come out with the same quality. i'll take snapshots and post it later

[barrister]

When am I going HD?  Sorry, not yet interested.

For me, one of the most annoying video artifacts is posterization, where gradual transitions of shades and color are rendered as bands or stripes.

I was hoping that the higher resolution of HD video would solve it, but it seems that HD has not given us much of an improvement.

The posterization in the underwater scenes of Supreman Returns DVD is particularly bad.  Did HD video eliminate the posterization? 

After a google search for HD reviews, it turns out that the posterization/banding is present even on the HD discs.  Home Theater Spot's David Vaughn says:

"I really had high hopes for this one on HD DVD, and for the most part it delivers. Color saturation is outstanding on the VC-1 encoded 1080P transfer, but heavy posterization is evident in a lot of the underwater sequences. In fact, this is the worst posterization that I have seen on HD DVD." 


Here's an example of HD posterization from avsforum.com (pls. click to enlarge):

 
Planet Earth, VC-1, HD-DVD/Blu-Ray, provided by avsforum member "House"


This kind of an image cannot possibly encourage me to go HD at this time.

[Kratos]

When am I going HD?  Sorry, not yet interested.

For me, one of the most annoying video artifacts is posterization, where gradual transitions of shades and color are rendered as bands or stripes.

I was hoping that the higher resolution of HD video would solve it, but it seems that HD has not given us much of an improvement.

The posterization in the underwater scenes of Supreman Returns DVD is particularly bad.  Did HD video eliminate the posterization? 

After a google search for HD reviews, it turns out that the posterization/banding is present even on the HD discs.  Home Theater Spot's David Vaughn says:

"I really had high hopes for this one on HD DVD, and for the most part it delivers. Color saturation is outstanding on the VC-1 encoded 1080P transfer, but heavy posterization is evident in a lot of the underwater sequences. In fact, this is the worst posterization that I have seen on HD DVD."


Here's an example of HD posterization from avsforum.com (pls. click to enlarge):

 
Planet Earth, VC-1, HD-DVD/Blu-Ray, provided by avsforum member "House"


This kind of an image cannot possibly encourage me to go HD at this time.

In graphics, posterisation is removed when using grains or noise. This could also be the case in videos and the reason some films are intentionally grainy, to defeat the hard edges and posterisation and give it a soft transitions of gradients.

[Moks007]

hmmmmm parang meron na nga p****d HD-DVD discs e ..... nde ko lang sure .... but anyway i live near quiapo ..... and there was a time na whenever i go to buy DVDs ..... most of the shops (more like all) are selling cheap p**** DVDs .... tas meron isa duon naka display nyang mga DVDs (HD-DVD ata kaya mas mahal p350 ata nuon ) ..... i always wondered bakit sya lang ang mahal ata ?? and i'm sure nde original ang benta nya.

I also saw that in quiapo before. Dont believe that. I dont think its hddvd. Alam mo naman dito they just put the hddvd logo and say it is real clear na hd siya so it will sell. I think those are just dvd 9s. Originals from magna, viva are 299 na. They are joking selling at this price or higher. They are just trying to fool people.

[barrister]

In graphics, posterisation is removed when using grains or noise.

I noticed that too.  On my TV, I observed that increasing sharpness reduces posterization.  I don't mind that the increased sharpness makes the picture grainier; what I do mind is that it also worsens edge enhancement.

This could also be the case in videos and the reason some films are intentionally grainy, to defeat the hard edges and posterisation and give it a soft transitions of gradients.

If so, what I don't get is why Superman Returns still has extreme posterization despite the fact that it is already intentionally grainy (excessively grainy, in fact).
 

[techdude]

New to this thread. 

Posterization is my main beef with DVD too, I  hate the fog scenes near the end of Children of Men (SD) and underwater scenes in Planet Earth (SD) where those banding are most evident.  Both times, I wished I already have High-Def, as I imagined how much more glorious those scenes might be without the posterization.  But if those are still present in first generation High-Def releases on both HD-DVD and BluRay, then I could wait a little longer...

[barrister]

Here's an example of HD posterization from avsforum.com (pls. click to enlarge):

 
Planet Earth, VC-1, HD-DVD/Blu-Ray, provided by avsforum member "House"

Compare the above VC-1 encoded image with BBC's HD image:


Planet Earth, BBC h.264/AVC broadcast image, provided by avsforum member "TheLion".

It appears that the source master is fine, and that the posterization is traceable to the VC-1 encoding.



=======================================================


Happy Feet (Blu-ray) review:


With all of the praise hyped above, then why only 4.5 paws? Well, the film boasts some of the worst posterization that I have yet witnessed on HD DVD or Blu-Ray. My personal opinion is that this has something to do with the VC-1 encoding, which has shown a tendency of not being able to handle the gradients of color very well. If you look closely at the blue sky's you can see it pretty clearly at times, but the underwater sequences are where you will really see it in full form. Other than this flaw, the overall picture is pretty d**n good and most viewers probably won't notice the posterization unless they know what they are looking for.  ... 


http://www.hometheaterspot.com/fusionbb/dvd-review.php?sequence=1880