disappointed with my Denon 1920

[FierceTIMbo17]

So today i bought my Denon 1920 dvd player. Music and sound wise it blows my old dvd player away(I picked up steely dan and Pink Floyd DSOTM and liked it alot) However when it came time to watch a DVD i was majorly disappointed. The picture not very good at all. I have it hooked up via HDMI to my Samsung 42" dlp. I was just watching some clips from several different movies and the picture just looks bad, almost aweful. So i hooked my old dvd player up to my tv (its a sony connected via component 480p) and it blew away my denon. I do not know if it is something i am doing wrong but i watched a movie i have two of (Matrix rev.) and flipping between then i noticed the component looked much more crisp, the denon has alot of background noise i would call it, everything behind the main focus (i.e. Neo standing there) is very fuzzy and pixelated. I have played around with the dvd player and nothing changes. If anyone could help i would greatly appreciate it otherwise i feel this dvd player will be going back tomorrow
also i noticed when watching the two different dvd players the denon fills the full screen while other has the black bars, maybe a zoom setting is on? (tried zoom on the remote is was off maybe another one?)

 

[THX1138_Canada]

It sounds like you havent enabled your dvd players resolution output to whatever spec yur tv is capable of accepting. Most dvd players with a HDMI output are set up so that you enable either the 480, 720, or 1080p to actually get the desired effect for hig def picture. HDMI passes the signal digitally, allowing for no noise interference whereas hooking up your old dvd player to your tv using component video is passing thru using an analog signal. The two types of signals generated are very different in that HDMI upconverts all 480p signals to a high def image, whereas your component is and always will be only at a resolution equivalent to that of whatever source it outputting the signal.
So what is likely occuring is that your tv is receiving the 480p signal, but since you havent set the higher resolution, it defaults to its lowest form of picture. Hope this helps, let me know how it goes.

 

[FierceTIMbo17]

the front has an hdmi switch, it is set to 1080i at the moment and the tv says it is dectecting 1920x1080 so its getting the 1080i, i have since played with the tv settings becuase i read that dvd players must be set up to your tv, however the picture still looks not as good, i thought a upconverted signal was supposed to be bettet ?

 

[jcPanny]

HDMI input

First, your DLP is 720p native, so set the new DVD player to output in 720p for the best results.
Next, most TVs have seperate calibration settings for each input so may need to tweak the color and sharpness settings of the HDIM input on the TV and DVD player to optomize the performance. You will need a calibration disk like Avia or DVE to do this.

 

[j_garcia]

I found that with most progressive players, calibration is key to getting them to look just right. When I got my 2200, my picture seemed grainy also, but after proper calibration the picture quality went through the roof and looked great. Also, try turning down or off any edge enhancement, sharpness, etc.. on the set, as these really usually just make the picture look worse IMO.

 

[cyberbri]

Just to add...
I noticed that when set to 1080i over DVI to my Samsung DLP, the picture on my 2910 was a little jerky, with interlacing issues or something. I have it to 720p, and the picture equals, maybe even betters, my tweaked HTPC and upconverting software.

Yes, calibration is a must. If the 1920 is like the 2910, there are a lot of settings within the player itself as well. At the very least you need to get the black level setting correct, and set the Brightness/black level control on your TV to match the output of the player.

As far as seeing black bars or not, that's an overscan issue. At least on my TV, my DVI input seems to have less overscan than my component input and the TV upconverting by itself (you see more of the image with less overscan).

Also, turn off DNIe (maybe not an option with the newer models), DNR (noise reductin filter), and other picture adjustments. With factory-set service menu levels, try the Warm 1 color temperature setting as well. Try about Contrast (white level) = 90, Brightness (black level) = 50 (or whatever you get when adjusting for black - easiest is to use the black letterbox bars on DVDs and adjust Brightness to just below where the bars go from slight noise/light to pure black w/ no noise), Sharpness under 20, and Color between 45 and 55.

If you can get Avia, that will really help dial in the settings.

 

[FierceTIMbo17]

i turned off all the enhancers and adjusted picture to around cyberbri's suggestions, it looks about as good maybe a little better than my old player now but i know it can get much better, i ordered a dve from amazon but it wont be here for about a week so im going to play with it in the mean time, however i was wondering how well does the THX test for screen picture work that comes on thx certified dvd's, i was thinking about using this till i get the DVE.

 

[cyberbri]

It will work okay for brightness/black level, although the levels on these screens vary quite a bit from DVD to DVD. For brightness, though, you can just use a DVD of a movie in 2.35:1 and put your brightness setting at the point just below where noise/light disappears from the black bars.

 

[FierceTIMbo17]

ok i bought the d.v.e. and avia but they are one their way, the main problem i notice is that it looks quite pixelated in the background, however i notice that when i am further back it is not very noticable. Could it be that now with my dvd player outputting a higher res my positon (quite close 6 1/2 ft) is now to close? i can move back any further since all this is in my bedroom and its not getting any bigger and ive allready taken everything out i can. if this is the problem any sugestions

 

[billnchristy]

Maybe its that crappy HDMI cable you bought.
(really suprised no one had jumped on that yet)

 

[cyberbri]

Yes, I think 6.5 feet is pretty close to be to a 42" DLP. I wouldn't sit closer than 7-7.5 feet to mine. I think I'm about 8' from mine, give or take.

 

[FierceTIMbo17]

Maybe its that crappy HDMI cable you bought.
(really suprised no one had jumped on that yet)

lol yes that must be it, if only I had purchased the monster