Page 1 of Grainy Picture - Advise

I`m new to the world of DVD and have recently bought a Denon AV-F100. My collection of film is still quite small but I`ve been disappointed in the picture quality. When watching films such as Matrix, Seven (twin box set) and X-Men I’ve noticed that the picture takes on a grainy feel when the showing a darker scene. This is quite obvious and detracts from the viewing pleasure. Is this due to the DVD’s or the player?

Can anyone help?

it could be to do with your leads or the dvd film itself or interference from other video source one of the main reasons on some films in dark scenes aspecially the colour black is the tv defention of black might not meet the same aspect of the colours the dvd is outputting ive noticed this on heat r2 and final destenation i have 2 players a smart and a hitachi and these films pixelation is bad on both on different tvs

I had a similar problem when I first hooked up my system, I found that this was because I ran my scart cable to my vcr rather than straight to the tv. How have you set up yours?

Hi just make sure your video and audio links (scart s-vhs & phono)all seperate and free from mains leads aswell as use good quality leads as not all scarts are the same (three types i have seen)
1) fully wired type (the best) but make sure it has screened conductors
thats a foil covering around the main video wires ...you will have to open the scart plug at one end to see the wires (unless you have payed about 10 to 15 quid for the lead)
2)half wired type the same as above with only half the wires inside
3)video /audio about 5 wires inside
the best way is go to a audio or video dealer (i chose richer sounds) as i got a 2 meter gold connector type for a tenner with a fully wired and screened inner wire.
Another thing is some video recorders dont like to have video routed through them (macrovision) as it will cause the picture to jump and go dark in places and even give you the blue screen of death on your tv set (total picture loss!!) so a direct link to your tv is the best way (ps macrovision can cause major problems if you are linking to a projector type of video source...hope the info helps ..ps when sending in a problem you will find it easier and better for you if you give some details in the hardware you are using tv,video,dvd and interconnects aswell as the films you are using and finaly do you get a good picture from your video to your tv ? & try your dvd on a different tv set just to rule out tv problems....baz

how cheap was your player? i originally bought the woeful alba 103 which cost £140 but the quality of it was s*** as it made several films look grainy.

Thanks for your response. I think, if I understand you correctly you`re saying that this is an incompatibility issue. I don`t belive there is interference as it`s only on certain scenes. The DVD system I have has had good reviews from the media, the dvd is connect direct to the TV (Panasonic 32 PK1) via an Ixos gold scart. However, the inter-connectors are standard, although I would expect this to effect sound quality I wouldn`t of expected this to make a difference to the picture. All in all I think the hardware is pretty good.

Do you think that upgrading the inter-connectors would improve the picture quality bearing in mind that I`m more that happy with the sound output?

Thanks,
Regu.

It`s going straight to the TV. The grainy effect is not there all the time, I`m begining to suspect that it`s down to the DVD`s them selves.

The effect is not so much grainy it more like you can see the individual pixels.

Thanks,
Regu.

It`s the denon AV F100 it cost about £1200 for the DVD player, amp, receiver. It`s had some good reviews so far.

The problem is not there all the time and may be grainy is the wrong desciption. It`s more like you can see the the individualy pixels when the there is a lot of black on the screen.

The tv is a panasonic 32 pk1 and the dvd is connected direct via an Ixos Gold scart.

Thanks,
Regu.

Hi

I have the Panasonic DK1 and i have the same or a similar problem to this. Its like a clear noise/snow which is over "the picture" and blurs the finer details. Its most noticable when you get a sheet of colouring especially in animations but on mine it dosnt matter if its black , could be green or blue, red,yellow ....whatever.

I have two players ..The toshiba 500e and the aiwa 370 and it makes no difference what player i use its exactly the same. I have tried nearly every disc out of a collection of 100+ R1 & R2`s its the same on all of them. no disc is worse or better than the other.

Its not the scart My qed rgb special edition arrive yesterday and although it cleared up some other problems it did`nt cure this.

i am no techie but my theory is that either the av input on the telly is kanckered or the tube is degrading in some way or even the noise reduction chip in the telly is gone. as i say its theory.

BTW i have had this telly/ setup for about 8 months and have noticed this in the last week or so. So either dvd`s have been s*** picture all this time and my eyes have just come back in to focus or its the tv.

Anyway i rent this so i have an engineer arriving tommorrow who i guess will know nothing about the panasonic and will just order a replacement (here`s hoping).

I`ll let you know how i get on.

Shaun

This item was edited on Friday, 18th May 2001, 14:53

Your scarts sound good to me ....
so maybe it could be how your tv copes with black and if it does it with another dvd player on the same scart your answer will be solved ...best of luck m8 :>) ...baz