I was watching Crash (incredible movie by the way) on an 30" LG 30FZ4D Widescreen HD set I just bought through a Toshiba HDMI 1080i upconvert DVD player, and while most of the picture looks great, I'm starting to notice some pretty obvious color banding during certain scenes. Darker reds in particular seem to be the worst culprit. I checked to see if my previous 480p-only Phillips DVD player displayed similar issues and, sure enough, yep. Now, if I attach my PC to the display via the HDMI-in and test it with various pictures with gradial effects, including those in the red spectrum, I don't really notice these problems. Is this something that's just the result of flaws on a DVD being amplified via the TV, or is this a flaw in my set? If I were to watch the same scene on the DVD on my laptop's LCD or my PC's CRT (21" Sony Trinitron), the banding is still there slightly, but not near as bad. Presently I'm watching Letterman on CBS @ 1080i and I can't say I see any issues similar to the above and am, in fact, getting a pretty amazing picture. Any ideas?
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HDTVs & color banding
- Thread starter tedtropy
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You're probably noticing an artifact called macroblocking, which can be greatly accentuated by Faroujda de-interlacing chipsets. Not sure if the Toshiba uses it, but since it's an upconverting player, it probably does. It's a bug in the chipset that they haven't/won't fix. It's been like that for a couple of years. I notice macroblocking on my Oppo player fairly easily (Faroujda chipset), but on my Denon (Silicon Image chipset) I don't see it at all.
From what I've read, the Toshiba SD-5980 player I'm using has a Zoran Vaddis 778 chip (all-in-one solution that also handles the deinterlacing) and uses an HD Extreme chip for scaling. Can't say I know much about either.
Morning work bump. I'm wondering if I should just bring the LG back and pay $150 more for the Sony KD30XS955 30" Widescreen. I don't think the cabinet looks anywhere near as nice as the LG, but I will admit it has a superior picture and may have less of a banding issue. My paycheck is in your hands, GAF.
Shogmaster
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tedtropy said:Morning work bump. I'm wondering if I should just bring the LG back and pay $150 more for the Sony KD30XS955 30" Widescreen. I don't the cabinet looks anywhere near as nice as the LG, but I will admit it has a superior picture and may have less of a banding issue. My paycheck is in your hands, GAF.
There's plenty of color banding on my parents' Sony 34HS420.
The real culprit is that all digital signals are compressed, be they DVDs or SD and HD streams on cable. MPEG2, MPEG4, whatever: they all have macroblocking and banding of colors to one degree or another, no matter how "little" the file is compressed.
Shogmaster said:
I understand that there will invariably be some degree of banding depending on the source, I'm just trying to make sure my TV's not partly to blame. If I were to look at the same scene featuring noticeable color banding on another display, like my computer's CRT or laptop's LCD, it doesn't seem to be near as bad.
Shogmaster
Member
tedtropy said:
I suppose the scaler in your CRT could be really shitty, accentuating the banding. Otherwise, since it's a CRT, the tube itself wouldn't be causing the problems.
But then again, if the price difference between the two is only $150, you should definitely get the 30XS955 anyways. It will blow the shit out of your set in IQ and actual res.
Shogmaster said:
Comparing the two sets in-store and after some settings fidgeting, I found the IQ between the two to be pretty comparable. I'd give the Sony the edge if just for the aperture grille tube and lack of slight moire at the sides inherent in most invar shadow mask sets, mine included. I really dread the prospect of having to hit my buddy up for his truck again and then actually lugging the thing back to Best Buy, but I'm not gonna spend close to a grand on a TV that'll wind up making me unhappy. I'm sure part of me is just delaying the inevitable.
Shogmaster
Member
tedtropy said:
Come on now, be honest. This is entirely about dreading moving them huge bitches. :lol
Shogmaster said:
Oh I'll admitt, it plays a factor. I was speaking with the friend that helped me move the LG in, and the moment I went "Hmm, maybe I..." he quickly interrupted me with a "Oh fuck you."
As much as you spend on a nice TV, they should move the damn thing in for you. Hell, I paid less for my last washer/dryer combo which were much heavier and got those moved and installed for free.
borghe said:color banding is a huge problem on my sony 32", over component at least.
no problems on my mits though.
I've honestly never heard of the brand. I notice the banding via both my HDMI and component DVD players.
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