My HDTV is freaking me out

[Thebobo]

Last week I went to Best Buy to purchase a digital TV. I got the Insignia 46' 1080i,120hz. I also purchased a PS3 to go with my new set.
Yesterday I had it delivered and was impressed with the sharpness. Then when I started to watch a movie from my DVR (my DirectTV box is not hi-def) I was first awed then-well-freaked out. The movie is too sharp. It looks as if it was shot on video or live. The first film I tried was Vantage Point. Ok I thought maybe the movie was shot on video for effect. Then I put on an old B/W called Thunder Road. That too looked 'live'. Tonight I was watching random stuff on my premium channels. The movies seem like they lost their 'feel' to me. I have discussed this with friends and co-workers and,except for one,think I am nuts.
I can see sports fans liking the rich detail. Gamers,like myself,will enjoy the crisp clarity but when it comes to movies...

Does anyone else(especially film buffs) feel HDTV is making their favorite film look like teleplays? Is there a setting to lessen the sharpness for motion pictures? Am I nuts?

[Amigone201]

Yeah, that TV sucks. Seeing as you won't be needing it, I'll be happy to take it off your hands for you. I'll even trade you my TV for it.

[Thebobo]

Originally Posted by Amigone201

Yeah, that TV sucks. Seeing as you won't be needing it, I'll be happy to take it off your hands for you. I'll even trade you my TV for it.

I am not saying it sucks. I love PS3 on it. I like rich detail and sharpness it is just when it comes to film..well I dunno maybe it is me.

[AnglRdr]

Have you tried watching a VHS yet?

Ours is just a 720p, so while it is very sharp, I haven't noticed an inorganic sharpness to stuff that was filmed on film.

[Simply Madeline]

Mine doesn't freak me out, but it does give me a headache.

So I watch the non-HD channels, and SO watches hockey in HD.

[ElectricBarbarella]

Am I the only one that cannot actually *see* any difference between HDTV and regular tv?

I mean, I know I'm blind, but sheesh, I cannot see any of the "good stuff" DH rants and raves about with our tv. It looks, well, normal, to me.

I am not color blind or any type of vision impaired except nearsightedness. And even then, my eyesight has improved dramatically from when I first started wearing glasses (I am now at the minimum needed for a person who wears glasses all the time).

I just cannot see the difference.

[Thebobo]

Originally Posted by AnglRdr

Have you tried watching a VHS yet?

Ours is just a 720p, so while it is very sharp, I haven't noticed an inorganic sharpness to stuff that was filmed on film.

I got rid of most of my VHS tapes long ago. The player I do have is hooked to my PC.
My parents must be a 720p as well as my friends. Because I have watched movies on both and while the picture is sharp it doesn't have that 'shot on video' or 'live' look like mine does.

[Die Capacitrix]

If you're having such problems, I strongly recommend against watching Blade Runner on your new tv. While there are movies that may not be much different in HD, Blade Runner definitely benefits from HD.

[breshears]

Originally Posted by Thebobo

Is there a setting to lessen the sharpness for motion pictures? Am I nuts?

You're not nuts! I was actually just reading about this recently here: Help Key: Why 120 Hz Looks "Weird."

I think you're talking about a phenomenon caused by a smoothing technique used on new 120 Hz HDTVs called motion interpolation. It's supposed to be better, but a lot of people find it off-putting, and call the results the "Soap Opera Effect." It's supposed to be fantastic for playing games and watching sports, though.

Many TVs will let you change modes to turn this effect off, though it might be labeled differently by different manufacturers. I would explore the menu and see if you find anything useful.

[Chickee Daizy]

Originally Posted by ElectricBarbarella

Am I the only one that cannot actually *see* any difference between HDTV and regular tv?

I mean, I know I'm blind, but sheesh, I cannot see any of the "good stuff" DH rants and raves about with our tv. It looks, well, normal, to me.

I am not color blind or any type of vision impaired except nearsightedness. And even then, my eyesight has improved dramatically from when I first started wearing glasses (I am now at the minimum needed for a person who wears glasses all the time).

I just cannot see the difference.

No, you aren't the only one. My SO also acts like there is a huge difference, and I just don't see it. I'm extremely near-sighted and have to wear glasses all the time, but with my glasses I see just fine. Anyway, yeah, I can't see the difference, either. I have always wondered why he thinks it's so awesome when it just looks the same to me.

[Thebobo]

Originally Posted by breshears

You're not nuts! I was actually just reading about this recently here: Help Key: Why 120 Hz Looks "Weird."

I think you're talking about a phenomenon caused by a smoothing technique used on new 120 Hz HDTVs called motion interpolation. It's supposed to be better, but a lot of people find it off-putting, and call the results the "Soap Opera Effect." It's supposed to be fantastic for playing games and watching sports, though.

Many TVs will let you change modes to turn this effect off, though it might be labeled differently by different manufacturers. I would explore the menu and see if you find anything useful.

Bless your heart! You hit it on the head. A soap opera was exactly what I was thinking when I was watching movies last night.
After work I will check out your link.

[snapdragonfly]

Originally Posted by Chickee Daizy

No, you aren't the only one. My SO also acts like there is a huge difference, and I just don't see it. I'm extremely near-sighted and have to wear glasses all the time, but with my glasses I see just fine. Anyway, yeah, I can't see the difference, either. I have always wondered why he thinks it's so awesome when it just looks the same to me.

We were watching something the other day - not a movie, but a show on one of the cable networks, not the national ones - and we get both HD and regular channels. I realized it was on the regular channel and switched it to HD and the difference was dramatic when you had the same show virtually side by side.

The extreme sharpness hasn't bothered me though (hope it doesn't now that I have "soap opera" in the back of my mind - damn you! ) and my husband just LOVES it. Of course he thinks ours is too small because there is still some wall showing, and it took me a long time to convince him that a rectangle of one proportion cannot be expanded to fill entirely a rectangle of a different proportion without distortion and that such distortion in exchange for not having a small strip of black is actually a very bad trade, and that unfortunately movie directors choose the format they like for movie theaters, not the one that fits a big screen tv. It's OKAY not to use EVERY SINGLE INCH of the screen if that means the characters aren't all walking around looking like Munchkins from the Wizard of Oz. (I still can't convince my SIL of that because she thinks it will ruin the tv to have the black stripes. But she's remarkably dimwitted anyway.)

[woodness03]

Originally Posted by ElectricBarbarella

Am I the only one that cannot actually *see* any difference between HDTV and regular tv?

I mean, I know I'm blind, but sheesh, I cannot see any of the "good stuff" DH rants and raves about with our tv. It looks, well, normal, to me.

I am not color blind or any type of vision impaired except nearsightedness. And even then, my eyesight has improved dramatically from when I first started wearing glasses (I am now at the minimum needed for a person who wears glasses all the time).

I just cannot see the difference.

Originally Posted by Chickee Daizy

No, you aren't the only one. My SO also acts like there is a huge difference, and I just don't see it. I'm extremely near-sighted and have to wear glasses all the time, but with my glasses I see just fine. Anyway, yeah, I can't see the difference, either. I have always wondered why he thinks it's so awesome when it just looks the same to me.

Do either you watch sports on a regular basis? I mention it because I ONLY see the difference in sporting events, be it football, racing, basketball, golf, etc. (And IMO, its a pretty significant difference)

[smackmac]

Originally Posted by woodness03

Do either you watch sports on a regular basis? I mention it because I ONLY see the difference in sporting events, be it football, racing, basketball, golf, etc. (And IMO, its a pretty significant difference)

The difference is almost extreme when it comes to sports. The other day, we were working between the bedroom and the living room and had the football game on both TVs. It was almost laughable how bad the non-HD looked as opposed to the HD. Made me want to go out and buy an HD for the bedroom, even though there's absolutely nothing wrong with the TV we have there now. (I calmed myself down, though.)

I usually don't notice the difference on regular programming. But I taped two episodes of "Grey's Anatomy," one in HD and one in regular, and watched them back to back. You could see the difference between the two, but I think it was because I was watching them back to back.

[Canuckistan]

Originally Posted by Thebobo

I am not saying it sucks.

I am. It sucks for you, and the only way to fix this situation is to give me (not Amigone) your TV.

Now, mister!

[ElectricBarbarella]

No I don't watch any sports and the little bit I catch when DH calls me to watch "this totally awesome play (tm)" I still cannot see the difference.

[Cervus]

I can't tell the difference between regular channels and their HD counterparts (for example, Discovery, Science Channel, etc.) on our television, either. My parents act like it's an awesome improvement, but I honestly can't see any difference at all.

The only time I notice HD is when I'm watching a DVD that was filmed in high-def, like a new nature documentary. The picture clarity is amazing. But on regular cable broadcasts, I can't see any difference even though we have the HD package and the TV is programmed to receive it.

[Canuckistan]

Originally Posted by Cervus

I can't tell the difference between regular channels and their HD counterparts (for example, Discovery, Science Channel, etc.) on our television, either. My parents act like it's an awesome improvement, but I honestly can't see any difference at all.

Really? I can always tell, and the difference is huge. You can actually see the pores on people's faces.

[ElectricBarbarella]

Originally Posted by Canuckistan

Really? I can always tell, and the difference is huge. You can actually see the pores on people's faces.

Then I must really be blinder than I thought. I honestly cannot tell the difference. There is one caveat to this: I did watch one snippet of a game with him one night and the only thing I could "see" was the red shirts were slightly redder than normal.

That's it.

[Cervus]

I've flipped back and forth between, for example, Science Channel and Science Channel HD, and done picture-in-picture. I still don't notice any difference.