can lowering the contast help refrain the number of compression artifacts?

[Rypro 525]

I always thought if you put the contrast too low, it becomes a bit too soft and sometimes hard to make out stuff. On my big screen (the contrast is about at 75-80%) the artifacts on the se7en dvd are horrendus (everything from the frames of peoples glassess to the eraser oif a pencil, everyhting goes wild, so would lowering the contrast help this.

[chipmac]

I would think that lowering the brightness would do more to reduce compression artifacts than contrast. In either case you should calibrate your set with a test disc like Avia or Video Essentials to make certain that all settings are set correctly. You don't say what brand of set you have but running your contrast very high on a RPTV will lead to uneven phosphor wear or "burn in". On my set contrast OOB was at 100% but after calibration it's about 35%. Also the Seven SE DVD has a fantastic transfer so if you're seeing artifacts something is definitely set wrong.

[Rypro 525]

tried lowering the contrast on my mitsubishi 60 inch projection tv (got it in 1996), while they don't look as bad, they are still there

[Josh Z]

Setting your contrast too high (and 75-80% is WAY too high!) will indeed make compression artifacts more pronounced. You desperately need to adjust your TV with a decent calibration disc ASAP.

You don't say which edition of Se7en you have. The original flipper disc was one of the earliest DVD releases and has pretty poor compression quality. The 2-disc SE is much better.

[Rypro 525]

I have the new 2 disc version. A good example of a "poor" scene imo is the opening scene where we can see Morgan Freeman's character getting out of bed. We then see a closeup/insert shot of his glassess and the rims and everything else that can jump, is jumping)
Also is it the player or the dvd when sometimes in shots where we see a brick building, there are all of these wavy lines accross them, what are those. Also, what are the little jumping lines, that you see ofen on a shot of stairs.
would that new digital calibration kit that comes out soon be good for my player.

[Josh Z]

Rypro, some of the artifacts you are describing sound like moire. This is an interlacing artifact. Is your television a progressive scan model?

[Rypro 525]

I'm not sure, I don't think my player is. I noticed that alot of the tv shows that I have seen on dvd (24, sopranos especially) are really bad in moire effects. are there any ways to get rid of those?

[bboisvert]

Originally posted by Rypro 525
On my big screen (the contrast is about at 75-80%)

As Josh says, you need to calibrate this set. That setting is way, way too high.

This will probably be $18-20 well spent:
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=7502

[Josh Z]

Originally posted by Rypro 525
I'm not sure, I don't think my player is.

If your TV is "HDTV-ready" it is progressive scan. If it's not, it probably isn't progressive.

If the TV is progressive, a decent progressive scan player is recommended and can help to clean up some of those problems.

Here is a nice long article explaining all the technical nitty-gritty of how progressive scan works:

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_7_4/dvd-benchmark-part-5-progressive-10-2000.html

[Rypro 525]

I did lower the contrast some what (down to around 20-30% , and still see some, haven't tried se7en yet

[Rypro 525]

think I may have figured out my problem
"depending on your DVD player's downcoversion ability, it may add more artifacts worsening the picture than a non-anamorphic DVD" I guess I have a bad dvd player for that

[83chevette]

Rypro 525 -- the problem may likely be with your DVD player. What player are you using? From my personal experience, I orignally bought a Mitsu dvd player when I bought my Mitsu RPTV -- big mistake. Several discs (notably Twister), looked horrible with compression artifacts, banding, etc. Correct calibration with Avia, in conjunciton with a good pro-scan player (I love my Sony) will make all the difference.

[Roy28]

What is your sharpness set at? Having the Sharpness set too high will accentuate artifacts also. Lowering it will make the picture somewhat softer, but will also smooth over some of the artifacts. You have to find a good balance point where the picture isn't too soft but not too sharp either - as others mentioned, a calibration disc is a good way to determine the best settings.

[Rypro 525]

I have the samsung dvd-101 , and the sharpness is currently at 0. I noticed that leaving the color lower, reduces the chance of pixilation on some discs. Would lowering the color brightness help. (there's high, medium, and low on my set)

[Roy28]

Originally posted by Rypro 525
I have the samsung dvd-101 , and the sharpness is currently at 0. I noticed that leaving the color lower, reduces the chance of pixilation on some discs. Would lowering the color brightness help. (there's high, medium, and low on my set)

I'm not familiar with the samsung, so I'm just guessing here - but the "color brightness" setting may refer to the color temperature. On my set the settings are warm, medium and cool instead of high, medium and low. Warm/high gives you the picture a more reddish tint, medium is neutral, and Cool/low gives the picture a bluish tint. From what I read when setting up my set, medium or Warm (high) is the best setting to use. Most people don't recommend using the Cool (Low) setting. I use Warm because it gives the picture a richer look and feel. I will say this - using the Cool (low) setting on my set really brings out the artifacts in dvd's/Dtv, etc. - so you may want to try the high or medium setting on your tv instead of the lower setting. But again, I'm just guessing here, so take this advice with a grain of salt.

As for the sharpness, it depends what kind of scale your set uses.
Some sets us a 0 - 100 scale (in which case yours would be as low as it can go), and some sets use 0 as a mid-point - where lowering it will take the setting into the negative numbers and raising it will take it into the positive numbers.

You may want to take a look at the Home Theater Spot (http://www.hometheaterspot.com) - go to the Samsung forum and you should be able to find a lot of information.

[Rypro 525]

on the tv (thats where the color settings are) the system uses bars and I am estimating at what settings they are, and I have like a 96 or 97 model so that might be the reason.

[covenant]

I recommend Avia or Video essentials to calibrate your dvd-tv combo

[Rypro 525]

Originally posted by covenant
I recommend Avia or Video essentials to calibrate your dvd-tv combo dont have one of those, (thankfully) I did however had the dvd black level to high (the default mode due to the hurricane) and the alias dvd (which can be pretty bad with these "compression artifact"), and it looked better that way.

[Josh Z]

Originally posted by Rypro 525
I did however had the dvd black level to high (the default mode due to the hurricane) and the alias dvd (which can be pretty bad with these "compression artifact"), and it looked better that way.

The pilot episode in the Alias box set has two notable compression artifacts, but other than that the rest of the episode (and the rest of the other episodes) look pretty swell.

You need to buy a calibration disc right now.

[Rypro 525]

so will (hopefully) those wavy lines looking at blinds (sev7en looks really bad with this,) and a tad bit of lines on a keyboard (24 pilot) be gotten rid of with a calibration disc. the only reason I'm askin is because i don't want to spend 20 bucks on something and if the picture still looks the same, regret the purchase.

[Josh Z]

Try this: Set the DVD player for 16:9 mode and watch those scenes stretched out to the wrong ratio on your TV. If the problem is not present when you watch it that way, it is being introduced by the DVD player's anamorphic downconversion. You could try buying a new DVD player, though I don't know of any reviews which cite which player has the best downconversion, so you'll have to do some research. Or you could buy a widescreen TV and your problem will be permanently solved.

No matter what you do, save up $20 and buy a calibration disc. Even if it doesn't help with this problem, you need it anyway. No one should be without one.

[Rypro 525]

alright here's an example where its bad on my system (could that only i have the player plugged into coaxl compontents (the yellow, white and red plugs))
2 fast 2 furious around 41:40 look at the sears tool chest in the background. it was really jumpin around (as well as the front "grills" of cars, this was also a problem in the new scarface dvd, and the little silver part on the side of a car also jumped around as well.

[chipmac]

From that description it's definitely your DVD player and that fact that you're not using a progressive scan player. Your TV is also not a digital TV that can accept progressive input I don't think based on the age of it. So what you're seeing is interlaced artifacts on diagonal lines. An interlaced signal has these normally but on a anamorphic DVD that is shown on a non anamorphic display it becomes worse since every third or fourth line of resolution is removed. So I'd say that the problem is caused by these two things 1: being the non progressive output from low end plpayer and 2: being a non anamorphic display.

[Rypro 525]

so at least a progressive scan player will get rid of "most of these" but not all of them. and a calibration disc wouldn't help this?

[Roy28]

Originally posted by Rypro 525
so at least a progressive scan player will get rid of "most of these" but not all of them. and a calibration disc wouldn't help this?

A calibration disc may not help with the downconversion artifacts, but it is a good investment anyway - since it will help you fine-tune other aspects of the picture.

I think a progressive scan player will only make a difference if your television has a progressive (component) input. I'm pretty sure if you connect a progressive scan player through composite (yellow plug), s-video or coax, you will still get an interlaced picture.

[milo bloom]

If you're not wanting to drop the money on a calibration disc right away, at least find one of the discs that use the THX optimode. It's very basic, but it's a good start. I have read some people say the brightness is too dark, so you might kick that back up a notch.

I know for sure it's on Star Wars I and II and Fight Club. If you see an improvement with this, than I think it would warrant the purchase of a full calibration disc.

[chipmac]

Originally posted by Rypro 525
so at least a progressive scan player will get rid of "most of these" but not all of them. and a calibration disc wouldn't help this?

Well unless you have a HDTV or digital TV with component inputs that can display a 480p signal then a progressive player won't solve anything. A interlaced player with better down conversion might help but on a 60" non HDTV with all of those scan lines it's going to be hard to eliminate them.

[Rypro 525]

I noticed that these artifacts were really apparent, when i watched falling down last night. it was litterally every scene, of every shot had something jumping around, from the lines of the cars, to Michael Douglas's glassess.

[steebo777]

Back from the dead -eek-