Damn ! 120hz in HD looks (too) good !

[Deschodt]

My 9y old Sony projection (HD) TV died last week and I went ahead and replaced it with a Sony Bravia LED 120hz... (the prices are really low nowadays)

Wow.. just wow... I mean, as much as HD was a jump over SD, 120hz pole vaults over 60hz ! Formula 1 looked *insane*, I could see the grain in the asphalt on the track. Football looks incredible, all that live stuff is wonderful...

Only problem is: so does the rest ! The TV series are currently ruined for me. Cute actresses look like pimply teenagers with 2 layers of bad makeup... the "TV series" sheen is gone, the shows now look "too real" like they were shot in my living room with my camcorder or something ! I don't know how to explain this, or why, but as good as this is on live sports, it's awful on TV series, way too vivid - something that visually looked like a movie now looks like a soap opera, in terms of image perception... Anyone else experienced that ?

[MysticLlama]

You need to turn down/off the True Motion or whatever it's called on a Sony. It essentially invents frames in between the frames that are really there and makes it look like video instead of film.

A little bit of blur isn't a bad thing.

You'll still get the benefits of the 120hz rate even if you turn the compensation all the way off, as the TV natively will run at that rate.

You also may need to adjust the brightness/contrast down a little from the out of the box "torch mode" they all seem set to.

[Deschodt]

Duly noted, thanks.. but I like the current look for everything else, from Ice pilots to Formula 1 via the NFL ;-0 I'll experiment some... you are right, a little blur is a good thing for some shows.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

My 9y old Sony projection (HD) TV died last week and I went ahead and replaced it with a Sony Bravia LED 120hz... (the prices are really low nowadays)

Wow.. just wow... I mean, as much as HD was a jump over SD, 120hz pole vaults over 60hz ! Formula 1 looked *insane*, I could see the grain in the asphalt on the track. Football looks incredible, all that live stuff is wonderful...

Only problem is: so does the rest ! The TV series are currently ruined for me. Cute actresses look like pimply teenagers with 2 layers of bad makeup... the "TV series" sheen is gone, the shows now look "too real" like they were shot in my living room with my camcorder or something ! I don't know how to explain this, or why, but as good as this is on live sports, it's awful on TV series, way too vivid - something that visually looked like a movie now looks like a soap opera, in terms of image perception... Anyone else experienced that ?

I got a 120Hz Samsung a couple of years back. I noticed the same thing (look "too real"....now looks like a soap opera). It took a little getting used to, but I don't even notice any more. You'll get used to it.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

The "talking head" shows are the worst. News 'casters who weren't particularly attractive to begin with, suddenly in hi-def...barf...

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by MysticLlama

You need to turn down/off the True Motion or whatever it's called on a Sony. It essentially invents frames in between the frames that are really there and makes it look like video instead of film.

A little bit of blur isn't a bad thing.

You'll still get the benefits of the 120hz rate even if you turn the compensation all the way off, as the TV natively will run at that rate.

You also may need to adjust the brightness/contrast down a little from the out of the box "torch mode" they all seem set to.

What he said. ^

I have heard many people either pay a pro or buy a DVD to calibrate the TV for even better picture.

[GH85Carrera]

The local news guys did a feature on Scott Pelley of CBS news. They talked to him at the local airport and showed him in HD with no makeup. WOW, I hardly recognized him.

[azasadny]

Play with the settings. You can always set it back to "factory default" if you mess it up...

[JeremyD]

Yeah noticed this too - our DLP died - we did the same thing - The Sharp LC-60LE835U...

Images are spooky real - newscasters you can see the cracking of their makeup - seriously.

My uncle played as an extra in a movie - first time I played it on blueray - nope can't see him on the old TV = new one - zoom in - yeah - there he is - in a crowd of 200 people.

The formula one - football - crazy.

[motion]

I made a post on this subject about a year ago. I have a 55" LG that freaks me out to watch. I only watch Netflix DVDs on it and its really just unbearable, so I don't use it. I prefer the 46" Sony in the bedroom, which has the true-motion or whatever its called enabled. Can't figure out how to get the LG to do this.

[island911]

Originally Posted by MysticLlama

...

A little bit of blur isn't a bad thing.

You'll still get the benefits of the 120hz rate even if you turn the compensation all the way off, as the TV natively will run at that rate.
...

Yeah, and screw those CD things for music ... all vinyl, all the time... and get off my lawn!!

Now seriously, once you get accustom to the clearer image, the old stuff looks 'buzzy'.
Even if the 120 (or 240hz) is running w/o interpolation, .... meh, just try the "Motion flow" on high for a while. You'll likely start to like the new normal.

[VINMAN]

Try watching a recent Rolling Stones concert in HD. Talk about terrifying!

[imcarthur]

I just got a 55" Panasonic plasma last week. Out of the box: excessive color saturation, excessive sharpness, blooming in the reds . . . in other words, a typical factory setup.

Stop being cheap bastids & buy a calibration DVD. Dial it in properly on a custom setting & enjoy.

But even properly setup, you certainly get to see a lot of pancake makeup . . .

Ian

[Icemaster]

So what did you buy? I need to acquire one and am torn between a 240 hz or 120 in teh 55" range.

[imcarthur]

Who icemaster? Mine is a plasma, so 600Hz but a different principle . . . Panasonic TCP55GT30. Plasma vs lcd (or the newer led lcd) is a continuing debate with lcd winning the numbers game due to lower pricing, higher efficiency, more manufacturers etc etc . . . The best plasmas are at the spendier end of the cost equation.

Ian

[Icemaster]

Sorry Ian, I was askign which Sony Greg bought.

[MysticLlama]

Originally Posted by island911

Yeah, and screw those CD things for music ... all vinyl, all the time... and get off my lawn!!

Now seriously, once you get accustom to the clearer image, the old stuff looks 'buzzy'.
Even if the 120 (or 240hz) is running w/o interpolation, .... meh, just try the "Motion flow" on high for a while. You'll likely start to like the new normal.

The interpolation is the issue, not the additional frames themselves.

I think that it's just fine when filmed that way. But I think that the processed bogus in between frames suck. Some processors are better/worse than others.

The TV I bought is 120 all the time, with the compensation non-adjustable, but I bought it because it was one of the few at the time that didn't do that weird effect to the lighting, etc.

Some of the early Sony 120s actually did black frames between the source frames. The lack of decay in LCDs is what causes the bad effects some people dislike.

Plasmas don't have that problem, I think the reason they boosted the refresh on those was more to be able to support even divisibles of frames for film one BluRay started supporting that natively. (24fps)

Start filming at 480fps and I'll gladly leave on TurboTruMotionFlowExpress(tm) if that's what it takes.

[island911]

Plasmas? ... even the fast ones are flickering horribly (I have flick sensitive eyes, apparently - I have yet to see a plasma that I didn't look its way and see the buzz ...well, unless it was a very dark scene, or turned off

But, yeah, the interpolation engines certainly can make a difference.

Originally Posted by Icemaster

So what did you buy? I need to acquire one and am torn between a 240 hz or 120 in the 55" range.

fwiw, I have a 240hz Sony XBR, but the difference between 240 and 120 is much smaller than the difference between 60 and 120. Reasons being the eye/brain (for most) stops seeing frame rate differences beyond 120, and more importantly, at just 60 fps, the displays are out of sync with the film (24fps)

[ZLP]

Originally Posted by BlueSkyJaunte

The "talking head" shows are the worst. News 'casters who weren't particularly attractive to begin with, suddenly in hi-def...barf...

I could watch Megyn Kelly on Fox in HD all day long.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

For every Megyn Kelly there's a Linda Williams.