Iron_Giant

Just bought new Samsung LED 3D 120hz HDTV...

I knew what I what I was getting into with the "Samsung LED 3D 120hz HDTV", almost over clear smooth Blu-Ray video - The Soap Opera effect.

My family all see the effect and asked me if I wanted to keep the HDTV, of coarse I want to keep it - love the thing and I am amazed at the IQ.
-I have already started to play with the settings to make BR look more film like.


Now onto why I am writing this...

Some of the BR movies are very "Soap Opera" like, too much IMHO. I have watched many movies in the past 4 days, and there is only one I feel is perfect for the HDTV (At least my HDTV).

The Dark Night - Wow. I have watched this movie on other HDTVs, but never with this much clarity and detail.
-Very few scenes came across as "Soap Opera" like
-The darkness of the movie was perfect, made it a movie not a window into another world
-The IMAX scenes - Found myself waiting eagerly for the them to come up.
-IMAX was so clear it made the other HD parts of TDK look fuzzy

So, does Hollywood need to change the way the film/light movies no that we have HDTV that can turn their movies into ""Soap Opera" Video?
-I think YES

Because of the success of TDK (Story, acting, FX or lack of, IMAX, Lighting...), I would think Hollywood would change their thinking.
-Number 1 selling DVD in the past 5 years (Avatar has to be #1 on BR) = 16,493,488 Copies

My BR wish list:
-Film movie so it does not look "Soap Opera" like
-IMAX filming, IMAX filming, IMAX filming...
-Use more high contrast in lighting, look much better when viewed on the latest HDTV (LED HDTVs seems to push the "Soap Opera" view to the limit)
-Use one 50gig disk for the movie only


Anything else you would add to this wish list?

Artman

To be perfectly honest I'm not sure if this post was a joke or not. The soap opera effect your referring to is nowadays a pretty standard option that can and should be turned off. Different companies call it different names but it shouldn't be too hard to find in your tv options.

What size is your tv? The Dark Knight non-imax scenes have been criticized for being overly sharpened and not particularly impressive on blu-ray, it's possible WB may put out a new release to coincide with the new movie. But for those who pay attention to detail, not all blu-rays are created equal. It all depends on the effort put into the disc, some will look fantastic, most will look good (but not great) and others look only marginally better than DVD.

Matthew Chmiel

Does your Blu-ray player and HDTV support 24 fps? Ideally, that would be the way to go.

And to agree with the complaints on The Dark Knight, the Blu-ray transfer was made from the master used for the IMAX theatrical release; thus why the film has alternating aspect ratios and being too "sharpened." Also, too add irony, the materials used for the DVD release come from the 35mm master as it retains the 2.40:1 aspect ratio throughout. Honestly, there are better reference discs out there for both PQ and AQ than The Dark Knight.

If you're looking for a reference disc with alternating aspect ratios, I'd seek out a copy of the Wal-Mart exclusive Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Blu-ray. While there's not as much IMAX footage, Paramount did a far better job on the transfer than Warner did on The Dark Knight. Maybe even TRON: Legacy, but unlike the former two mentioned, that film was shot all digitally.

JTH182

Seriously, turn off frame interpolation. It's blasphemous.

MTRodaba2468

As others have said, the "soap opera" effect you describe is called frame interpolation, and it has nothing to do with Blu-Ray. It's a setting on your TV, which is supposedly best used (if using it could be considered a good thing) for watching sporting events. If you plan on using it to primarily watch movies though, frankly, you should turn it off as soon as possible.

Gerry P.

Did someone hijack your account?

Solid Snake

I THINK the "soap opera" effect you're getting is from the TV. OR...they were some HD Cam made films...which depending on what happens..COULD give off that effect at times. TDK wasn't digital but film...sooo I'm going w/ how your TV has a setting on.

d2cheer

No kidding, with all the ranting in the blu ray sales thread I don't see how you didn't know this?

Lets just say you had a brain fart...

JayDerek

dear god I hope this is a joke thread

riotinmyskull

another fucking dark knight thread...

Iron_Giant

Sorry, I wrote this late last night and forgot to post a few things:

1. The HDTV is 55 Inch (wife bought it while I was in San Jose with my daughter)
2. I did turn off (From researching on the web, turning it to "Smooth" turns off the Ultra Video Look) the frame interpolation
-I knew I need to do this before I bought the unit, but I did not do it until after owning it for a 5 days
-Some of the other BRs still did not have as much "Movie Feel" to them as I like
-TDK look much better than others as far as "Movie Feel" goes, should turn it back on and watch the movie again to see how it looks then


Just felt TDK had such a better feel to it and the IMAX blew me away. I wish every thing could be filmed in IMAX, it would solved me Video Junkie cravings.

Having the new HDTV is like watching the BRs all over gain, really cool!

Love having something new I have to tweak and play with.

-Yet to watch Tron, but will try over the weekend.
-Watched "StarGate the movie" last night after writing the post and it looked fantastic, maybe switching off the "frame interpolation" did fix the "Soap Opera" effect. Maybe we only watched TV and played Video Games after it was turned off?




And, thanks for the harassment, I knew I would get some and knew I deserved it.

Just want to see what you guys thought and you never fail to disappoint me.

slop101

The main problem with LCD/LED TVs is that their refresh-rate is low enough to be noticeable during fast moving scenes. Each TV has it's strengths and weaknesses, but if you want a truly film-like image without motion issues, get a plasma.

clckworang

This.

And this.

This topic is probably better suited for the DVD & Home Theater forum, which is littered with threads about this very thing. Comes up all the time! Maybe we should create a sticky or something about it.

Anubis2005X

I don't think setting it to "smooth" is the best option. These days there are multiple degrees of frame interpolation, not just off and on. So turn that shiz to "off" if you can. You don't want "smooth." *Shudder...

islandclaws

Frame interpolation is the worst thing to happen to HDTV. Period.

I turned it off on mine immediately. My gf's dad watches everything with it on and thinks it "looks fantastic". Groan. I'd try to educate him, but well all know JSP doesn't give a shit.

Double_Oh_7

OK, maybe I'm dumb... but what is the "soap opera effect"? Does it make it look like videotape instead of film?

Drexl

The process essentially combines frames together to create new frames in between the real frames. It makes it appear to have a faster frame rate, as if it was shot like a soap opera or sporting event.

For instance, instead of showing frames A, B, C, etc., it shows frames A, A/B, B, B/C, C, C/D, etc., in the same time that it would have shown just A, B, and C.

Gerry P.

It looks very video-y -- kind of realistic in a way a movie shouldn't. There's also a weird separation between foreground and background picture elements.

SterlingBen

Had this same problem with my Samsung UN55D8000

Menu
Picture
Advance Settings
Motion Plus change to off

Problem solved

You're welcome

lamphorn

Had to pound this information into my friend who bought a 60-inch LED and he was proud to announce that he finally came to terms with the "look" and is starting to like it. Not only did it have the soap opera effect, but the audio was clearly out of synch. Since he trusts my brother with all things home theatre, I just got my brother to talk to him, and now that TV is a thing of beauty.

Agree strongly with those saying that this insane feature is a real problem with the big HDTV's, particularly the LED's. Tons of people out there thinking that the movies should look like live video feeds. Not good for our cinematic culture.

Drexl

Well, the LED lighting isn't to blame. The higher 120hz refresh rate is what makes the feature possible, and it just so happens that 120hz and LED lighting are becoming mainstream features at around the same time. Some people even think that 120hz IS the motion feature, not realizing that a 120hz refresh rate has benefits even when the motion thing is disabled (such as being a perfect multiple of 24, thus being able to do 5:5 pulldown with 24hz material).

digidoh

Does it make kinescope look like videotape? Or just make it worse?

Iron_Giant

Well, I am embarrassed, I may have to turn in my BR Badge.

I changed the setting several days ago, but I did it in the "TV Mode". This does not affect the "HDMI Mode/Connection", so I thought my upgraded LED HDTV was showing my BR in more smoothness than thought it was going to.

Today I changed the setting while the BR was playing and now it playing the way thought it would - PERFECTLY. Super Clear and life-like while also being movie-like.

I did not turn the "Motion Plus" OFF, I turned it to "Clear". It seems to me that the picture is cleaned up a bit, but not like Video at all.


But, BR wish still stands (which is the reason why I started this thread):
-Film makers/Transfers to BR need to be "Film Like" and stay away from Video look. (edited a bit from my first post)
-IMAX filming, IMAX filming, IMAX filming...
-Use more contrast in lighting, I just like the way it looks - Personal Opinion
-Use one 50gig disk for the movie only
-Get a little more creative with the Extras (Robert Rodriguez always puts great extras - like how to make the Pork dish that was in his "Once upon a time in Mexico), which would be a 2nd disk if the movie is too long to put on the 50 gig disk
-NEVER use the taller DVD case EVER AGAIN, stick to the smaller BR case
-Launch the movie directly without going to menus, this goes along with the movie being the only thing on a 50 gig disk
-All BRs be REGION Free



Anyway, I am still embarrassed...at least I did not write this while I was half asleep.

kefrank

I don't understand this "wish". Nearly all films are shot at 24fps and transferred to disc at 1080p24. Any video look you're getting is from post-processing done in your TV.

That's a nice wish, but there are still practical and financial challenges with shooting in IMAX. Christopher Nolan seems to be the only major director championing this cause at the moment.

This seems unnecessarily conservative in some cases.

I'm always up for more creative extras. I think it's a shame that BD-Live has been a disaster, when it had so much potential.

davidh777

You'd be amused at some of the Amazon customer reviews that regard this as a "defect" and they return the disc

Good luck with this one