Why is my picture so soft?
10-28-00, 07:55 PM
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I have recently bought a Monster S-Video cable for my Sony DVP-360. I just began to notice that some things on screen seem a little blurry. When there is text on the screen, like subtitles, it seems to be a little out of focus. Another example is with the black bars: The end that touches the actual picture has one line of pixels which is sort of a blend of the black bar and the picture. Sort of a grey color. It is hard to see unless I am looking for it. Should the picture be more sharp than this? Or am I just being too picky?
Also, could this have anything to do with the new S-Video cable? I no longer have my old cable to compare with. My old one was a thin, cheap one. My new one is a $30 monster cable, so I assumed it should have made the picture more sharp. I just can't remember if I noticed the blurriness with my old cable. I have adjusted the sharpness on my TV too, and it didn't take the blur away.
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Also, could this have anything to do with the new S-Video cable? I no longer have my old cable to compare with. My old one was a thin, cheap one. My new one is a $30 monster cable, so I assumed it should have made the picture more sharp. I just can't remember if I noticed the blurriness with my old cable. I have adjusted the sharpness on my TV too, and it didn't take the blur away.
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10-28-00, 08:23 PM
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Once upon a time I was sucked in by the monster hype and bought a bunch of their cables. Now I am not going to tell you not to use them, I will just say I do not. Part of my experience was 1 out of the 2 s video cables (the $30 variety) I bought from Best Buy was defective. I never would have known had I not bought two and swapped them out. I would suggest trying another cable and see what happens (even another monster). Based on my SMALL data, 25% of their cables are bad. I know that is not a real number, but it is funny to say and very true.
Once upon a time I was sucked in by the monster hype and bought a bunch of their cables. Now I am not going to tell you not to use them, I will just say I do not. Part of my experience was 1 out of the 2 s video cables (the $30 variety) I bought from Best Buy was defective. I never would have known had I not bought two and swapped them out. I would suggest trying another cable and see what happens (even another monster). Based on my SMALL data, 25% of their cables are bad. I know that is not a real number, but it is funny to say and very true.
10-30-00, 02:34 PM
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As far as the fuzzy picture, it may very well be that set IS out of focus. I doubt the video cable would have anything to do with it though, other than whenever you upgrade a component one tends to scrutinize things more.
If it's a tube tv, and you can remove the back cover/case, there is a focus control somewhere on the back. There will be a cable going from this control to the tube. BE VERY CAREFUL as the tube holds a lot of juice even when unplugged--and, of course, the set must be running for you to focus it.
The line of odd pixesl is another thing--don't have any suggestions there.
If it's a tube tv, and you can remove the back cover/case, there is a focus control somewhere on the back. There will be a cable going from this control to the tube. BE VERY CAREFUL as the tube holds a lot of juice even when unplugged--and, of course, the set must be running for you to focus it.
The line of odd pixesl is another thing--don't have any suggestions there.
10-30-00, 04:38 PM
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You are keying on the recent cable change. If you were watching an anamorphic title (Pitch Black, MiB,SPR, etc) on a standard 4:3 TV, it maybe your DVD player.
Sony DVD players produce a soft picture when they do anamorphic down conversion (i.e. fit a widescreen movie in its original aspect ratio on to a 4:3 screen), leading to difficult to read text and a fuzzier image.
A quick check is to set DVD player's screen menu to 16:9 instead of 4:3 for the movie in question. The aspect ratio will be off, but you'll bypass the anamorphic down conversion. This is meant a check for the source of the softness, not a recommended viewing option.
You can also try a 4:3 DVD title - usually older or made-for-video movies. Your player will directly play this kind of disc on your screen w/o down conversion.
[This message has been edited by BEC (edited October 30, 2000).]
Sony DVD players produce a soft picture when they do anamorphic down conversion (i.e. fit a widescreen movie in its original aspect ratio on to a 4:3 screen), leading to difficult to read text and a fuzzier image.
A quick check is to set DVD player's screen menu to 16:9 instead of 4:3 for the movie in question. The aspect ratio will be off, but you'll bypass the anamorphic down conversion. This is meant a check for the source of the softness, not a recommended viewing option.
You can also try a 4:3 DVD title - usually older or made-for-video movies. Your player will directly play this kind of disc on your screen w/o down conversion.
[This message has been edited by BEC (edited October 30, 2000).]
