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Quality problems with PC BD playback vs. PS3

1K views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  Lnds500 
#1 ·
Hi!


I've been using a PS3 for nearly 2 years now but last week I bought an internal BD drive for my PC (Samsung SH-B123) for ripping/editing and region-coding reasons. My problem is that the quality is not as good as my PS3's. Discs which are faultless on my PS3, on my PC they produce a variety of problems.


I've tried Totalmedia Theatre 5, PowerDVD 12, KMplayer (direct stream playback), Media PlAYER Classic Home Cinema, VLC. Nothing. I'm even considering a format to reset everything.


I have the latest nVidia drivers for my card (GeForce GTS 450), I use an HDMI cable which is connect to my Samsung TV (LE32C350F).


I've been looking all over the net for a solution, I tried different decoders/renderers/whatever. I just ended up getting a headache, losing my sleep and my enthusiasm. Any help is much appreciated!


And just a quick question, will my PC blu-ray playback ever be as good as it is on my PS3?


I can't post screenshots yet, sorry


Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban = compression artifacts

Tanged = banding

Sleeping Beauty = banding
 
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#3 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by audit13 /forum/post/22020193


Is hardware acceleration enabled in your playback software?


The BR playback quality should be great. You probably need to play with the colour/contrast/brightness settings for your video card.

Yes it is. I think it has something to do with color input/output levels but I can't figure out how to sort out the problem.


Contrast/brightness don't help either. They can "hide the problem" but you lose image info in the meantime
 
#5 ·
Turn off all post-processing options in the graphics settings. Try changing the pixel format output in graphics settings (not sure how to do this in nvidia). Verify that the settings on your TV are the same across those two inputs.


That's where I would start. There's no reason your HTPC should be worse than the PS3 with the same content. If anything, it should be better.
 
#6 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by lockdown571 /forum/post/22020603


Turn off all post-processing options in the graphics settings. Try changing the pixel format output in graphics settings (not sure how to do this in nvidia). Verify that the settings on your TV are the same across those two inputs.


That's where I would start. There's no reason your HTPC should be worse than the PS3 with the same content. If anything, it should be better.

Thanks for the help! I'm tinkering right now. Do you think I'm overreacting? Do the screenshots look off to you as well?


I reset every driver setting I could get my hands on, now I think it looks a little better than before. I tried finding the equivalent of Pixel Format in the nVidia drivers but I only came up with the options to change from RGB to ycbcr which changes nothing whatsoever from what I can tell.


I have another problem which apparently affects the "banding"


Whichever player I use, the video is pixelated! (look at the door)




Uploaded with ImageShack.us



The next thing I'm gonna do is unistall the nVidia drivers and re-install them
 
#8 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by lockdown571 /forum/post/22021307


It's hard to tell, but that looks like macro-blocking to me, which is a result of compression. Is this a straight blu-ray rip? Maybe your PS3 is just hiding it better. Does the brightness appear the same between the HTPC and PS3?

It's not a rip, it's playing the file directly from the Blu-ray. And that Blu-ray has amazing PQ in general...
 
#9 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lnds500 /forum/post/22021439


It's not a rip, it's playing the file directly from the Blu-ray. And that Blu-ray has amazing PQ in general...

What an odd problem! What you're seeing definitely should not be happening on an HTPC. Sorry, I wish I could be of more help. Maybe try switching out the HDMI cable and/or video card? I'm not really sure at this point.
 
#10 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by lockdown571 /forum/post/22021949


What an odd problem! What you're seeing definitely should not be happening on an HTPC. Sorry, I wish I could be of more help. Maybe try switching out the HDMI cable and/or video card? I'm not really sure at this point.

I changed cables, nothing. I did manage to produce a better image though by changing the TV settings. I have NO idea why, but the micro-blocking you saw was diminished by enabling the Digital Noise filter on my TV.


Go figure. The problem is still there though and either there is something wrong with my PC that I couldn't think about or the discs are not as faultless as the PS3s and the reviewers make them seem.

For the time being the problem is bearable. I will buy new cables just to be on the safe side and I'll focus on the pros and not the cons of having a new blu-ray drive.
Thanks for the help!




If anyone has a solution or an idea, please share!
 
#11 ·
Oftentimes when connecting PC to TV there are issues - The tv is set to overscan which cuts off 10-15% of the screen, so the user compensates with the PC and adds an additional level of processing.

TV overscan needs to be off and PC needs to be set the same for way. If you didn't go in and do this yourself, it's highly unlikely to be set this way. By default the TV will overscan...
 
#12 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by rockytt /forum/post/22022871


Oftentimes when connecting PC to TV there are issues - The tv is set to overscan which cuts off 10-15% of the screen, so the user compensates with the PC and adds an additional level of processing.

TV overscan needs to be off and PC needs to be set the same for way. If you didn't go in and do this yourself, it's highly unlikely to be set this way. By default the TV will overscan...

isn't overscan just zooming in though? anyway, no, my TV is set in 'Screen Fit' exactly so I don't lose the edges of the image
 
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