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I just bought a 65" Sony TV and DVD/SD looks like crap


I started collecting DVDs way back in 2003 when I was fresh out of high school and got my first job. I thought they were fantastic. I bought a couple every week or so with my pay and soon amassed a collection of around 700. I used to view them on my old CRT TV in my bedroom and loved my movie nights.

In 2007, I bought my first LCD TV, a 42" LG. I thought the screen was massive and thought the picture looked good, too. I didn't see any reason to buy Blu-Ray then as I was happy with DVD and Blu was still quite expensive.

Around 2010 was when I started buying Blu-Rays. After Avatar came out, that was it. I still had my 42" then so DVD still looked OKish but by then, I'd stopped buying DVD all together and strictly bought Blu.

Fast forward to now. My wife I and just moved into our own home and to celebrate, we bought a 65" Sony TV. The picture is stellar and I've been enjoying lots on Blu-Rays on it. The other night, I decided to put a regular old DVD in and was appalled by how terrible it looked! I tried a few more and they all look like crap! I expected it somewhat but am still in shock. It's now as if my DVD collection is trash. I've already "replaced" a few titles with Blu-Rays, like X-Men and Kill Bill.

I don't think I'll replace my whole library, just my favourites, as I have been doing for a couple years now. There are a lot of blind buys in there so I guess I could turf them or sell them off cheap.

But yeah, really disappointed with DVD on the big screen. I hope I won't be saying the same for Blu-Ray when 4K becomes mainstream.

It looks a bit sweaty in there so you may need to apply baby powder Zapp Brannigan

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It also depends on the DVD. Some were telecined from lousy nth generation prints using mediocre equipment, or from the sort of videotape copies that were deemed good enough for VHS or cable TV. Others from pristine camera negatives at 4k.

I don't think you need to spend a lot on the player... but you probably should experiment to see whether the player or the TV is better at upconverting. A pawn shop Sony DVP-NS75H turned out to be very good, and well regarded at Avsforums.

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I have a Panasonic DMP-BD45. It plays Blu-Ray beautifully. It's from 2010, so loads a little slow, but great picture. I honestly think it's just DVD in general. I've become spoilt by Blu-Ray. I watched "North By Northwest" last night and it was incredible. I really enjoyed the experience. It was like seeing it for the first time. I couldn't get that with DVD.

It looks a bit sweaty in there so you may need to apply baby powder Zapp Brannigan

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you need big old crt tv to watch dvdv in best quality. on new hd flat tvs it looks like crap. like ps2 xbox games too - look s bad on hf tv- look like HD on crt tv.

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The difference in resolution that can be perceived by human eyes is much greater between a 480i DVD and and a 1080p Blu Ray than there is between 1080p and 4K. Blu Ray will still look fine on a 4K TV, although after you get used to 4K you'll probably notice a certain softness to the BD image in comparison.

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A 65" screen is quite a bit bigger than a 42"! OF COURSE it's going to mercilessly show detail, and lack thereof!

As the others said, the upscaler on the blu-ray player might also be the culprit, as might be the source used for mastering the DVD.

If you're like me, you'll cherry-pick only certain titles you really like and watch often to merit spending the money to upgrade to the latest, greatest viewing format every few years. Silly comedies, in my opinion, don't really require upgrade to elicit laughs.

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I had a Panasonic DMP-BD45 before and that player up-scales pretty poorly. It's not very good with bluray either compared to newer low price players. Buy a new bluray player. I compared a bluray disc on my old Panasonic and then on my Ps4. The difference in picture quality was quite big.



This thread is not yet Corpus Vile approved!

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Thanks for the info. I have been thinking of getting a new one for a while now. My BD45 is OK but it is 5 years old now and some discs take ages to load. I may look into getting a new one after reading your post. Cheers.

It looks a bit sweaty in there so you may need to apply baby powder Zapp Brannigan

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