Picture Quality on VM
 

Just wanted to know what other people experience as our picture quality is all over the place...

Some channels such as BT Sport HD and Discovery HD are spot on but others are rubbish..

Sky sports HD isnt that good and sky sports news SD is terrible...

The BBC and ITV hd channels are okay but could be much improved...

What is causing this difference and what can be done to improve it ?

We have a Tivo box

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

MPEG compression and variable bitrates I would wager.

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

Risco..

Thats a bit technical for me lol..

Is that a box issue or a VM issue ?

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

They shouldn't be "all over the place". Assuming that you have your TV calibrated and is from a good manufacturer, connected via HDMI, then the HD output from the TiVo should be spot on. Having said that, not all HD channels are equal and certainly not all programmes are. I've long suspected that the Sky HD channels are compromising on bitrate these days (the Sky SD channels being almost unwatchable), especially when compared to BT Sports, ESPN and Film4. Sky Movies in HD isn't as good a picture as the HD via OnDemand and for my money isn't what it should be for the price charged. That's not VM - I'd say the same is true with a Sky box, too. BBC can sometimes be a little lacklustre but ITV and C4 are normally on the money, as are Nat Geo, Eden, Watch, Alibi and even Five.

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

Its not the TV..

we have 2 good quality sets, a Sony and a Loewe both connected with good quality cable.

The good ones are as you mentioned, BT Sport, Nat Geo, Discovery etc.

However the rest are very average..

Is there anything VM can do about this bitrate thing ?

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

You've probably got better sets than me. What are the picture settings on your TiVo?

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

The missus is watching something so i will check later...

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

No, it is a provider issue. Sky particularly are clearly pushing out a lower quality picture, especially when you compare to National Geographic or BT Sport.

Also the calibration of your TV makes a big difference. I see you have a Sony TV, try these settings in general mode.

Motionflow > Standard
Colour temperature - Neutral
Sharpness 5
Noise reduction - Off
MPEG noise reduction - Off
Black corrector - Off
Adv. Contrast - Off
Gamma - -1
Led Dynamic - Standard
Auto light - off
Clear white - off
Live colour - off

You may not have all these settings, but for me this made a big difference to HD. I have a Sony HX 803.

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

Not in most cases. VM receive most channels off satellite where the data is already compressed, and VM can't add information that was lost in the original compression.

But a few channels such as Animal Planet HD and Channel 5 SD are received as uncompressed video by landline, and VM decide the bit-rate.

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

Can't talk about picture quality on cable but I have no issues with Sky Sports HD on satellite in fact I'd say they were excellent in picture quality , currently watching 'A league of their own' on Sky One HD which also seems excellent picture quality. There are many things that can affect HD PQ especially with sport for instance camera locations vary from ground to ground , weather conditions , daytime , night games etc meaning sport broadcasts can vary vastly in quality.

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

Cheers Risco..

I will have a look later..

We also have an 8 year old Loewe Concept LCD and believe or not the picture is far superior to the Sony which is only a couple of years old..

The Loewe really shines on HD and the sound from the TV is amazing...

You dont need a soundbar with a Loewe..

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

Yeah your settings could be the problem, some times tv's can over process the information they receive, so a little bit of noise can become a lot of noise, i have an award winning Panasonic which i have calibrated myself with a meter and pro software, i have day modes, night modes and 3D modes calibrated, once this is done i turn all the bells and whistles off, Contrast Tracking, PNR, Overscan, the one that seems to cause most problems depending on what you watch is IFC (I think its motionflow on a sony) it tries to add information to make the picture flow smoother, but it can actually make it look very odd.
P.S. If you want the most accurate colour on a sony HCC magazine recommend Warm 2, that will get your white balance as close to D65 out the box without calibration

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

Damac and Risco..

Thanks for your help, i tried all the suggestions and it has made a big improvement.

The picture quality is still not as good as the Loewe, might ditch the Sony and get a newer Loewe..

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

I have noticed this too put put the poor picture quality down to getting new specs
rite now looking at SSN their lips look pixelated as they talk the overall quality is not there same on living and dave

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

Glad it helped and thanks replying and letting me know it made a difference. As to Warm 2, DaMac is correct but it is not the best setting for watching TV.

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

Just wondering why you would say that?

I have the Sony 40W4000 and have mine set to Warm 2 and it gives a great picture.

HDTVTest did an extensive review of he TV using calibration equipment and came up with Warm 2 as the best setting.

Now I know that all Sony 40W4000 TVs won't be exactly the same as the one they had on test, but I played around extensively with the settings and always came back to Warm2 as the best, as per the HDTVTest results.

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/Sony-KDL40W4000/Settings/

It says in the notes that it is a personal thing and some people may prefer warm 1, but to infer that warm 2 is not a good setting to use is wrong, because for the guys at HDTVtest and myself, it is the best.

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

Picture settings tend to be a matter of taste..

I see some TV pictures on good quality TVs and it looks as though the people on the screen have been on a sunbed for a month because the colour is so high..

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

That is true, but calibration using professional equipment will give a better idea of what the settings should be, and you can tweak from there.

Often, the correct settings can take a while to get used to, but once you have, they are a lot better. Backlight is often a setting that people set too high, and the reduced level seems very dim in comparison to start with, but once you have adjusted, it can give a better picture.

Most people can't afford professional calibration, so reliable review sites like HDTVTest, that do use calibration, along with forums such as AVFORUMS can be a good guide, and my first port of call, before and after buying a new TV.

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

/me puts kettle on for DaMac while he's calibrating my set

---------- Post added at 22:27 ---------- Previous post was at 22:26 ----------

When did VM (NTL etc) stop getting the feeds direct from Sky? Was it around the carriage dispute time?

Re: Picture Quality on VM
 

Yes it was then.