I've had my 1080p DLP (Samsung HLS5087w) for over a month now and it's definitely a great TV. I had a crappy old Apex DVD player using an S-Video cable but DVDs still looked good. I'm assuming this was due to the TV upconverting. I felt that to get the most from this TV I should invest in a better player so I got the Samsung 1080p7 with a top notch HDMI cable (Belkin Pure-AV Silver series). To my surprise movies actually look worse than they did on the Apex. I've spent the last few days tweaking all of the setting but to no avail. The main issue is in shadows on white walls or in fog it is noticeably grainy. I can't figure out what the problem is, any ideas?

Did you use a calibration DVD ? eg Avia, DVE

larry

Haven't picked one up yet. I set up the profile that cnet found to be the best and made my own custom one as well. Changing these settings doesn't have any effect on the real problem which is the grainy look.

Buy a BD or HD DVD and blow your socks off! S-Video should be last resort for legacy crap. An HD DVD does better upconvert better than an Oppo actually as I own all three and don't use the Oppo any longer. :)

1080p7 is an SD-DVD player and can't do HD-DVD or BD-DVD. This player is also one of the worst 1080p player due to mediocre Zoran chipset. Get a $60 Philips 5982 due to Mediatek chipset and you will see an improvement. It's region free and can do DivX via CD, DVD, or USB1.0. Sony 77H should be as good if not better due to better build quality for $99. Oppo 980HD is similar and costs $170 with universal SACD/DVD-A support, region free, DivX, USB, etc.

If you want BD-DVD, go with Samsung BD1200 for best Reon SD-DVD upconversion, BD-DVD support, and $450. PS3 gives you games, BD 1080p24 (if your TV supports 24/48/72 Hz, most can do 60 Hz), and very good SD-DVD upconversion too at 1080p.

It must just be the chipset then. I had assumed this player would have a better chipset than the Philips since the Philips is so cheap, I guess I was wrong. Money is tight after buying the TV so I didn't want to spend so much on the Oppo or a PS3. I can't believe Samsung would release their newest DVD player with a low quality chipset. I'll exchange it for the Philips this weekend. If anyone has any more info on this situation I'd still be glad to hear it. Thanks guys.

I can't believe Samsung would release their newest DVD player with a low quality chipset. I'll exchange it for the Philips this weekend. If anyone has any more info on this situation I'd still be glad to hear it. Thanks guys.Yep, the 1080P7 even locks up when you are playing with it. I found the 1080P output to be poor with problems dealing with dark reds. You should enjoy the 5982.

I've also had a couple of lock ups when playing with settings even though I have the latest firmware. Before this thread is done with maybe someone can help me understand the upconversion process a little better as I'm a bit confused from this issue. From what I do know with my old Apex player (which did not upconvert) the TV itself does the upconverting. I'm assuming this is still the case even when using an S-video cable. DVDs really did look good. Yet when using the 1080p7 the player itself does the upconverting and the TV does nothing. Like previously mentioned even though I'm using the much better HDMI cable the picture sucks. So the problem must be that the TV simply has a better chipset that the player. What about when I adjust the resolution on the DVD player to lets say 480p, does the TV then take control again and upconvert the signal to 1080p? This is confusing me because all resolution settings look better than the 1080p which should be the best. If someone can clarify this I'd be much obliged. Thanks again guys.