Reducing plasma pixelation?

[Ernest]

I have an NEC PX-42VP4A plasma screen, and am of course aware of the
solarization/pixelation issue with the technology. However, I have noticed
that while watching VHS movies, pixelation is not nearly as noticeable as
with DVDs. Dark areas seem to be much less blocky with VHS (though
definitely not nearly as vibrant or crisp, of course), and I'm starting to
wonder if there's a way to improve the DVD appearance in this one aspect.

I have a fairly new Faroudja-chip progressive scan Denon DVD player (hooked
up to the composite inputs on the plasma), and I've experimented with the
darkness/contrast settings on the plasma screen, but haven't found a trick
yet (some settings work better for some DVD transfers, but aren't good for
others, so I gave up trying to tweak every time and returned those two
settings back to factory default [middle values]).

So first, why would VHS look less pixelated (I mean, both are analog
signals once they reach the monitor, right?)? Second, are there any
general tips for reducing pixelation (besides selling my plasma, har har)?

Thanks,
Ernest

[Badger]

Are you talking about small pixels or big pixels? Big pixels are a
symptom of macroblocking.
Clay
"Ernest" <wmozart5NOSPAM@NOSPAMyahoo.com> wrote in message
news:yKadncl69_VDJ93fRVn-oA@giganews.com...
> I have an NEC PX-42VP4A plasma screen, and am of course aware of the
> solarization/pixelation issue with the technology. However, I have
noticed
> that while watching VHS movies, pixelation is not nearly as
noticeable as
> with DVDs. Dark areas seem to be much less blocky with VHS (though
> definitely not nearly as vibrant or crisp, of course), and I'm
starting to
> wonder if there's a way to improve the DVD appearance in this one
aspect.
>
> I have a fairly new Faroudja-chip progressive scan Denon DVD player
(hooked
> up to the composite inputs on the plasma), and I've experimented
with the
> darkness/contrast settings on the plasma screen, but haven't found a
trick
> yet (some settings work better for some DVD transfers, but aren't
good for
> others, so I gave up trying to tweak every time and returned those
two
> settings back to factory default [middle values]).
>
> So first, why would VHS look less pixelated (I mean, both are analog
> signals once they reach the monitor, right?)? Second, are there any
> general tips for reducing pixelation (besides selling my plasma, har
har)?
>
> Thanks,
> Ernest

[Italo]

"Ernest" <wmozart5NOSPAM@NOSPAMyahoo.com> wrote in message
news:yKadncl69_VDJ93fRVn-oA@giganews.com...

> I have a fairly new Faroudja-chip progressive scan Denon DVD player
(hooked
> up to the composite inputs on the plasma), and I've experimented with the
> darkness/contrast settings on the plasma screen, but haven't found a trick
> yet

Denon players are notorious for suffering from serious Macroblocking, it's
been an issue over the last couple of generations of players. Try any other
major brand of DVD player with the same discs, you'll see a big difference.

--
Italo

[Ernest]

"Italo" <italotettoni.nospammingallowed@gmx.net> wrote in
news:4241225a$0$5593$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au :

> Denon players are notorious for suffering from serious Macroblocking,

Arrggh. Just Googled denon and macroblocking (didn't even know of the
term) and I see that this is probably indeed my problem. Will try to
borrow another player to compare. Thanks for the info!

Cheers,
Ernest

[Marshall Dunbar]

I had similar dissatisfaction with a fairly new Sony DVD progressive scan
DVD player and my Sony rear projection HD TV. Out of the box the DVD
picture was horrible; harsh, pixilated and grainy. I was replacing an
ancient Philips DVD player that had a fine picture. Turns out the Sony
player had all kinds of "enhancements" it was performing on the video before
it sent it out the component outputs. I used the player's configuration
menu, turned off everything possible and ended up with a beautiful picture
that was as good or better than the old Philips. I have no idea why Sony
does this out of the box, perhaps on a 10 year old 25 inch tube TV, it may
make the picture look "better".

Later,
Marshall

"Ernest" <wmozart5NOSPAM@NOSPAMyahoo.com> wrote in message
news:TqKdnXhebu73FtzfRVn-oA@giganews.com...
> "Italo" <italotettoni.nospammingallowed@gmx.net> wrote in
> news:4241225a$0$5593$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au :
>
>> Denon players are notorious for suffering from serious Macroblocking,
>
> Arrggh. Just Googled denon and macroblocking (didn't even know of the
> term) and I see that this is probably indeed my problem. Will try to
> borrow another player to compare. Thanks for the info!
>
> Cheers,
> Ernest

[Ernest]

"Marshall Dunbar" <mardunba.REMOVE@hotmailDOT.com> wrote in
news:3adq1gF69a9v2U1@individual.net:

> Turns out the Sony player had all kinds of "enhancements" it was
> performing on the video before it sent it out the component outputs.

Holy crap. I found a somewhat hidden setting on my Denon for black level
(on/off, defaults to on, which alters the black level to be brighter than
normal, whereas off leaves the original image as-is). Wasn't in the
display settings menu, but I noticed it in the manual (gotten to by
pressing Mode while in play/pause).

This has made an IMMENSE improvement (and I got a little more by re-
tweaking some plasma settings, like temp and gamma, to readjust for the
now-correct black level). When on, a large amount of chunky
pixelation/distortion was being introduced, mainly in dark scenes. I used
one of my lower-quality-transfer DVDs (River's Edge) that always used to
look terrible in the dark scenes...they literally look GOOD now. And good-
to-excellent transfers (e.g., Lord of the Rings) look awesome.

Only problem? Because this tweak isn't in the display settings menu, it
re-defaults this back to "on" every time you put a new disc in the player!
Arrrghh. So I have to turn it back off EVERY time I put a disc in. But
wow, it's made a huge difference.

So thanks Marshall for suggesting the player might have some dumb default
like this!

Cheers,
Ern