W3V DVD Playback, take a screenshot

W3V owners, try this experiment: With all throttling features off, super performance profile, AC power plugged in, turn up all performance and quality switches. Now play a DVD movie. How is the image quality?

I worked on this over the weekend and last night. Even if the movie is not playing full screen (which is how it SHOULD since that's how peopel watch movies), the image is very pixelated and grainy. I have used 3 different players with the same result. I cannot imagine the x600 is not capable of playing a simple dvd. I will provide screenshots tonight.

I'd appreciate it if I could get feedback on other users' experiences. If needed, google for movie screenshots from DVD's. You'll see how clear one could be.

Example - http://www.pbase.com/chunkofunk/monsters_inc

Peace!
Sygyzy

 

D,

Well that's sort of weird... you can play perfect dvd's even with integrated graphics...... and the screen is certainly capable of it also.

However, just looking at screen shots, even if you do a print screen when you're watching a movie, isn't going to turn out who it may on the screen....... it's going to look a lot better, maybe, than your screen does.

That and also, even dvd's look fine at xga res...... I'm not sure what you mean by playing full screen... if you mean letterbox as opposed to widescreen...... or do you mean playing in a little 3-4" window while you're doing other stuff?

Also, what players are you using......... right off the bat, I would tell everyone not to even bother with media player as it's horrible for dvds...... even though it plays them now.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

Sygyzy,

I've also noticed the same thing--a kind of grainy, pixelated look that I'm none too pleased with. On top of that, I've also noticed the playback can be quite choppy at times, even with no other programs running in the background. I was going to try installing Win DVD (as opposed to using Asus/Cyberlink Power DVD), but it sounds like you may have already tried that?

Just out of curiosity, are you playing retail DVDs, or backup copies that you made? I've tried both with similar results, but sometimes the backups can be compressed...therefore increasing visual artifacts, etc.

I'll keep a close eye on this thread as I'm also interested in others' experiences.

 

Well, yeah..... I mean it's going to capture the screen at the resolution it is..... but you can't mimic your brightness and viewing angle issues...... know what I mean? I mean pixels might be seen at one angle and disappear in another.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

Thanks for your responses everyone

Justin - I agree that the x600 chip or even the most mediocre onboard integrated graphics should be able to play DVD's with ease. With a 1.86 Ghz chip, even software decoding should be easily done. So what's the issue here?

Players - Zoom Player Pro, Theatre Tek, Power DVD, Windows Media

RE: Screenshots - That's not true. Correct screenshot programs intercept the signal between the display and driver (graphics output). It is a perfect representation of what is outputted. You can argue that if I gave you a screenshot of the W3V and you displayed it in a poor quality monitor, then you would not see a true representation. That is correct but holds true with any graphics image.

Again, just to help out the W3V, play the movie in its native size. No zooming or stretching. Verdict?

Shutterbug - Your name reminds me of the dvd playback of the W3v. STUTTERbug is more like it. I am playing 100% comercial/retail DVD's. I have a sizeable collection (near 200). I do not pirate movies. These are the real deal.

Please take some screenshots.





Peace!
Sygyzy

 

Justin - I will have to respectfully disagree. Pixelation, graininess, and screen artifacts do not disappear on another screen. I agree that washed out blacks can be 'fixed' by changing the vertical viewing angle. But not pixelization.

Peace!
Sygyzy

 

I say take the screenshots so that we can all decide. If you need space for hosting let me know as I have plenty of web room.
On a side note sygysy you dont seem to be haveing much luch with your w3v...first it was the heat, then the sound now the screen....maybe you should cut your losses, send it back and get a different lappie?
a


ASUS M6Ne 15.4" WSXGA 1.7 PM ATI9700 80Gb HDD 1Gb RAM

 

Well, I am not here to be mister negative or anything. I just want to have a fair an open discussion. Your solution would be great if it weren't for the fact that you CANNOT return an ASUS laptop. ProPortable and I suspect others have a no return policy. Oops, I meant I can't return it without taking a 15% restocking hit which amounts to about $285.00. I have no choice but to keep it.

I have plenty of space. I'll post screenshots when time permits. I took about a 100 today across multiple movies. Cool tip: PowerDVD has built in capture so it's unadulterated.

RE: my other issues - heat is becoming more bearable if that makes sense. And sound. Well if we can figure out this DVD issue, sound will be the last major annoyance and I will learn to live with it.

Peace!
Sygyzy

 

I'll be honest. I am VERY surprised that the new unit BBQ got has no heat issue. There are some things that can go wrong that I would consider an isolated defect such as the screen not staying lit up or power issues. But things as complicated as the audio simply not being loud enough or heat issues (which is a physics/engineering problem, not software or settings), I am not as quick to turn to the defect explanation. I would be very surprised if my laptop is defective both with the heat and sound. Also, I am not sure how it would help with the return. I think it's a no return policy regardless.

Peace!
Sygyzy

 

you can be as negative as you like...just from reading you posts i got the impression that your notebook maybe defective thus you would be able to return it.
Anyway a few of those pics would be great...that way others can see if they have similar probs, or your a one off..if so this may help with a return?
a


ASUS M6Ne 15.4" WSXGA 1.7 PM ATI9700 80Gb HDD 1Gb RAM

 

I played the movie sideways for a few minutes and noticed it was choppy at first but then went away. The quality seemed fine. I noticed a little pixelation, but I notice that on other laptops (this is no plasma). I'll give it a try. Because it was only a 5 minute test run and the quality seemed fine, I am most concerned about the smoothness of playback. Anyone experiencing choppy playback?

On W3V - sweet

 

Tested DVD player for about 15 minutes today. No choppiness as reported earlier (must have been some dust on the disc). It is good quality...slightly pixelated, but most laptops are.

On W3V - sweet

 

fishfood - I am curious why you think that laptops in particular have pixelated or grainy playback?

Like I said, maybe I am imagining things. I am used to watching on my plasma and desktop LCD. The quality problem was pronounced enough for me to make a post about it.

Peace!
Sygyzy

 

My girlfriends dell, my gateway at work, and my brothers older CL56.

On W3V - sweet

 

My girlfriends dell inspiron 4000 (i know its old), my gateway at work, and my brothers older CL56.

On W3V - sweet

 

Hey sygyzy, I looked through the Monsters Inc. pics you posted...and I've never owned a laptop before...but those pics look surprisingly clear and crisp on my 19" Samsung LCD. In A few of the pics "Sully's" fur looks blurry/blended...but overall I don't think they look half bad. I'm normally very picky when It comes to these things...but I guess what I'm seeing in these screen caps is what I'd expect to see from a laptop? Is it possible that the images could come across clearer/better on my LCD monitor than what you're experiencing on yours? What do other's think of these screen shots?

I just looked at them all again...some of them are better than others...So I guess I can see where you're coming from...but when I lean back about a foot from my monitor, about where I’d be If I was relaxing and watching a movie, they don't look all that bad. I guess It all has to do with expectations and individual observation...maybe I wasn't expecting extraordinary results from laptop playback. I'll let you know what I think this weekend, I'm going to try and play a few clips of the Matrix on the W3V at the Asus showcase. I'd really like to hear what others think about the pics you posted though, especially other W3V owners and their comparisons. [8D]

 

Hmmmm, people think screenshots acurately reflect how the screen looks. Screen shots dont actually capture what your screen looks like. They are simply still frames converted to jpegs as rendered by your vga before they hit the screen. By the way the vga does not matter here as Justin said. You can have the same feed comming from a intel extreme as you get from a 6800 Ultra when it comes to dvd playpack. I have to agree with fishfood. I have never seen a computer or laptop play dvd movies anywhere as good as any regular tv not to mention plasma. And the reason? Has to do with resolution and screen type for the most part. Dvd's are not encoded to take advantage of every single pixel on an lcd. I bring to light the scenario when you lower the native resolution of a quality screen and it looks like poop. I know somewhere in there is a connection. I think its called pixel scaling. The problem here is not the laptop. I think it is the perfection persona asus has tried to bestow on their audience. Isnt there a tv marketing pro or a seasoned photoshop designer somewhere here to explain this? I know i am not. So I may be wrong

Eddie B.
www.Geared2Play.com
4422 Ave. N
Brooklyn, NY, 11234

 

CalibratedComa - Sorry if I confused you. The screenshots were taken off a plasma to demonstrate clear quality and how crisp DVD's could look. Looking at them on your LCD doesn't really show anything. They are supposed to look good.

Geared2Play - I am surprised to hear you are not an expert. The better part of your post would indicate otherwise. You are right that a screenshot is the VGA represenation of what is being outputted. So now you have to ask yourself, "What can go wrong in a display"? Here are your choices - dvd source, dvd player (including codecs, filters, etc), graphics chip, or screen. You are assuming that this is a screen problem, which would make screenshots useless. You forgot about the three other choices. Well two, you can eliminate the DVD since I am using full DVD's, not rips or recompressed movies.

As for your pixel count theory, that's only if you are upscaling. Like I said in the beginning, you can see the problem even if you do not go full screen. Playing the DVD at 100% means you playing it at a 1:1 (pixel ixel). There is no upscaling or downscaling here.

I said in an earlier post that maybe I am expecting too much from the display. Perhaps I haven't seen a DVD on a laptop display in a while. I know things look great on my computer LCD and remember them being more than acceptable on my old notebook.

"I think it is the perfection persona asus has tried to bestow on their audience" - Nice one.



Peace!
Sygyzy

 

Hey
Here is a nice experiment to conduct. Increase gamma and brightness. I know image quality but it may fix some of the darks people have been complaining about. I realize this is some very simple advice but i have not seen people post about this. I understand the upscaling and ratio scenario but the problem here is not the screen. The problem is the source. Yes the screenshots we see here look nice. These are digital images as far as i understand. Digital before they are converted. This is why the image quality on a desktop lcd can also be described as grainy when playing a dvd on a pc. The signal is analog by the time it leaved the vga.

Eddie B.
www.Geared2Play.com
4422 Ave. N
Brooklyn, NY, 11234

 

So Justin, are you having this problem they are talking about with your W3v? Because I am interested in this laptop.

Thanks
macpk01

 

I can't say that I am.... I don't know if I'm too smart for my own good or what... I certainly can't say that my level of expectation is lower than anyone else in this forum... but I don't think I'm hqaving the same issues. That could be due to the player I'm using, or a dozen different things, but either way I can't agree.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by sygyzy