Your best Oppo bdp-93 settings?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Sean2e, Dec 13, 2017.

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  1. Sean2e

    Sean2e Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Connecticut
    I know almost nothing about dvd/Blu Ray video settings. Generally I put settings on auto or off to avoid excessive tampering with the picture. I am using a 720p Samsung television and most of my discs are dvd s not blu-rays. Any thoughts? Audio settings are also welcome (I'm using Marantz nr1403 receiver), thanks.
     
  2. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Don't touch anything. I'd worry more about getting your monitor calibrated. I think it's a bad idea to use a 720p TV in 2017.
     
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  3. Sean2e

    Sean2e Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Connecticut
    Even for a 24 inch screen (small room)? I am definately trying to avoid 4k for as long as possible and 95% of my disc collection are 20 years or older.
     
  4. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    32" HD displays are cheap and plentiful. Getting the monitor calibration right is the hard part. The player settings are completely unimportant as long as they're all in factory detent.
     
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  5. Sean2e

    Sean2e Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Connecticut
    Ok.
     
  6. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

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  7. Sgt Pepper

    Sgt Pepper Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    I would if you can upgrade your TV to a 1080p model, if you are on a budget look for used Panasonic ST or VT or ZT 60 plasma panels, even by todays standards they take some beating, then as Vidiot said get it calibrated.....who ever does the calibration (ISF or THX qualified) will also calibrated your OPPO.
     
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  8. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    Better to wait, if budgetary issues prevent the few extra dollars. The OP does not need anything more than he has now for screen resolution on a 24" screen, or even a 32" screen.

    The purpose of doing the UG is that there are many features that 4k UHD brings to the table, besides screen resolution, such as HDR and others.

    It is usually not the best idea to invest in older digital technologies, as these are fast outdated. When Blu-ray was introduced, that was the time to UG from 720 to 1040.

    That time has long come and gone and now, 4k prices have fallen through the ceiling.

    Last summer, I bought a "new" 4k 65" curved screen Samsung TV. I bought it, because I got it as a 2016 in-store demo model for $899. The unit came with a full factory warranty but without the remote, which I bought. It was an OEM remote.

    I didn't buy this set because of upgrade-itis and wanting 4k resolution. I bought it because my old 2006 DLP rear projection set, was dying and terrible video death. If @Vidiot had seen how horrible the picture had become, I'm sure that I would have received a firm lecture regarding the quality of the picture.

    I was desperately waiting for the OLED's to drop, but, alas, time was quickly running out.

    From what I have seen in the stores, I had an intense dislike for LCD screens, due to their garish colors, I never even wanted one. When I first set the 4k up, I hated the look of the picture. I was figuring, that I would have to get used to it. But, it was like gagging to swallow food that you can't stand, you might do it, but you certainly do not enjoy doing so.

    Though it is a smart TV, I have committed on keeping it as dumb as possible. With that in mind, it is not, nor will it be connected to the Internet.

    I don't even watch commercial TV, only Chromecast videos from YouTube, DVD and Blu-ray movies.

    Once I learned, that I could make sweeping adjustments to the TV's picture, it became the best TV picture that I have ever owned. Most of these new TV's have different pre-set settings, that are user programmable and easily changed. I found a pre-set for "Movies", changed the settings from stock (or where the store had them) to Movie and the picture was completely natural.

    I have never watched a 4k anything on the new TV. Same as you, the majority of my movie collection, consists of regular DVD's, that have been accumulated over the years, plus a relatively small amount of Blu-ray disks. My player is an Oppo BDP-93 and my processor is an older Emotiva UMC-100. Neither of these, have the ability to exceed 1080p resolution.

    Even though your older movies are 720, they will look incredibly better with the newer 4k TV's, even though, they don't themselves, have encoding for HDR and other 4k features.

    I run a small motel and I had standardized on 32" inch TV's, to replace the smaller (and more expensive) TV's that were bought by the investors, when we did major interior refurbishing, back in 2008. Actually, these TV's were so bad, I replaced them with 21" CRT based TV's, that I would buy from other motels, who were upgrading to 32" flat screens.

    As prices continued to drop, I have moved on to 40" (still 1080p) TV's that are now the same prices that the 32" sets had been.

    Unless, you can not physically fit the TV in your available space, I recommend buying one of these refurb models in at least a 40" size. The larger your screen size, the more it moves away from a TV set and becomes more HT like. With the higher resolution, you will be able to sit comfortably closer to the screen and have a better viewing experience.

    If you situation allows it, don't hesitate to move up to the 50", set that I have previously mentioned. I think that it is a real good deal to consider.

    Commercial calibration is not inexpensive and you may not require it, at this point in time, buy your TV first and play with the settings.

    You will be pleasantly surprised how nice your aged DVD's will look on a 4k TV. And, with regular DVD's, due to higher resolutions and streaming video, have drastically fallen in price on the used market. Most of these can now be bought for $2/ea. used, cheaper than renting a streaming movie.

    If you belong to services like Amazon Prime, there are almost unlimited streaming TV shows and movies, including ones in 4k, that you can stream for free.

    Just things to consider...
     
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  9. Sgt Pepper

    Sgt Pepper Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    By the looks of things the OP is maybe on a budget and for the money if you can get one any of the Plasma TV's i have mentioned will leave the lower end OLED or older model Oleds behind by quite a margin. Now if the OP has say a minimum of $2000 dollars for a 4K Oled then definitely go for it. But he would also need to invest in a 4K Blu Ray player (he has an OPPO 93) to get the best out of it.
    let's say calibration for his system comes in at around $230, it's money well spent in getting an accurate and correct picture, as fiddling with all those settings can and will make things much worse. Movie or Cinema mode is best though for out of the box settings until a Profesional can take a look.

    Streaming is not there yet and the physical media option is still the best.
     
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  10. Sean2e

    Sean2e Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Connecticut
    Good info about 720p content looking good with 4k tvs. I am actually using a small bedroom with a slanted ceiling so TV size is somewhat limited. As far as calibration is concerned , I have the feeling I don't like the look of a "properly calbrated" tv. All I know is I don't like movie/ and or warm (or cold for that matter) modes, which some on the Internet claim is the first step in calibrating a tv. I guess i have been watching a non calibrated tv my whole life why start now? I'm in standard/normal mode, I have the contrast turned up , sharpness turned down, backlight at 8, brightness and color at 50%, native resolution, all bells and whistles on "off". If i have it correct, The whole 4k thing (copyright protection restrictions) annoys me because I know at some point, I will have to replace my older surround receiver, I got at a good price. I am happy with my picture quality for now, I didn't know I was walking into a landmine when asking for expert opinions (lol). Thanks for your lengthy reply.
     
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  11. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    Your welcome! Sometimes, I feel that it is better to state the entire picture, as I know it. As there are often different considerations that may need to be made, as far as a purchase is concerned. Every bodies tastes are different. I have a friend, who puts white sugar, and lots of it on chocolate ice cream.

    Since my primary watching is movies, the movie mode seems to yield perfect, natural colors. I didn't want a new TV, because I liked the natural look of my DLP JVC TV, and I hated the garish looks of the LCD TV's that I had seen in the stores. Yes, they were sharper, but their colors seemed so unnatural, bright and extremely vivid, but still unnatural.

    But, my old TV set, came from a friend, back in 2011, who was going through a divorce, at the time, only cost me $200 (I always look for deals, to enhance my symptoms of the "disease" and bigger is usually better. Since the set was a 2006 model, I felt that, as much as I was inclined to, not put any more time, money and effort into a TV that old, whose time had come and gone.

    It is also quote possible, that with the more recent improvements to the 4k sets, that the movie mode, may look better on the newer model 4k Samsung's, than the older technology, 720p models. A lot sometimes happens to tech, in just a short time span.

    I have never had a professional calibrate my TV any more than I have never had a professional calibrate my stereo. And, neither do I allow any of those built-in, automatic room correction software to adjust anything in my systems.

    I have always adjusted my audio and video, to suit my needs and have them adjusted as to what looks and sounds best to me, since I am the one that I need to please. I do about every kind of nutty things that I can think of, with my audio system, but, it is what pleases me the most, so that is the way I do my thing.

    I've owned 6' projection TV's, back in the analog days of the early 80's, so when I started watching DVD's on the 60" set back in 2011, I thought the picture looked perfectly fine to me, at 60", with regular DVD's.

    In a thread about the merits of 4k, I had made mention of this and another member commented on my overly enthusiastic comments, of my DVD watching on the 4k set, since I was still viewing "dated" material and not describing the 4k experience.

    I replied, explaining about the processor and Oppo, not being 4k and I my comments of how great my CD's looked, was not intended to preclude, what is truly possible within the sphere of 4k content. I was only commenting how excellent the picture appeared to me, now that I have access to better technology than in years past.

    Older film stocks have more pronounced film grain, which is not present in newer digitally shot movies, where complete control in the digital realm is possible from the camera, through to post.

    Modern shot, digital movies look amazingly good, up-scaled to 4k. I find excellent color saturation and detail in the 65" set, with plain old DVD's. Since I can buy them at $2/ea., the math was easy to do. Plus, with the excellent surround sound, it all works out for an excellent movie viewing experience. My viewing/listening room is about 450 sq. ft., so I have more flexibility, than in a smaller, more confined space. There, you have to make many compromises to work with the resources that you have available.

    A forum friend of mine, who lives in S. America, has a situation, that is similar to yours. His living room, is a small space, he and his wife still have a small 720p TV, and it still works perfectly for them. Besides, electronics are so expensive in S. America, due to the lack of available choices that we have in the US, and the large import duties that are imposed.

    Since you are happy with your current set-up, I think that it is an excellent decision to stay with it, until a component requires replacing. Technology will continue to trickle down in price and the feature quality will continue to improve. When you are ready to make some changes, you will get double the benefit.

    Keep the refurbished idea in mind, you can save a bunch of money, that way. Go back to my posted links, both are from the same eBay seller's store. He seems to be a major player in selling the refurbished late model gear.

    His store is called vipoutlet and he currently is listing 10,726 products for sale in his eBay store. He has feedback from 68,096 customers.

    From the vipoutlet eBay store:

    VIPOUTLET was established to provide consumers the opportunity to benefit from amazing deals on: new, over-stocked, open-box, and refurbished products from the nations largest retailers and manufacturers. Retailers and manufacturers provide products directly to VIPOUTLET to leverage our extensive remarketing channels. Sealed product is instantly made available to you for immediate purchase. If products arrive as open box VIPOUTLET refurbishes products to ensure they function according to the original manufacture’s specifications. VIPOUTLET is North America’s largest refurbisher of Retailers’/Manufactures’ product; backing their work with a 90-day warranty to ensure a great user experience.

    This is worth keeping in mind! I just happened to run across them when I was looking for a replacement TV to suggest to you.

    I am going to save him as a seller and look over the other stuff that he sells, appears to be a good find to me!

    You gotta know, "experts" opinions abound on the Internet. :)
     
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  12. Sgt Pepper

    Sgt Pepper Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    There is a complete difference regarding calibration of a TV over audio, as there are no set standards for audio but there are for video and TV's in particular, no matter how much someone claims to know on an internet forum. Sand and Glass is nearly correct on a few points but unfortunately is a way of the mark on most.
    Google most of your questions and you will find some great advice but please be careful as to some you might read.
     
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  13. Sean2e

    Sean2e Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Connecticut
    I will keep vipoutlet in mind. Thanks for your time.
     
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  14. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    I have no issues with someone who wants to hire a professional to calibrate a TV and realize that most ordinary TV buyers would benefit greatly from the professional calibration. Since I am completely happy, with my $899 65" 4k TV's picture, after the adjustments that I made, I am fine with how the TV's picture looks, for what I am using the TV for, which is primarily, to watch movies that I already own or will be purchasing in the future.

    My local used book and record store is holding a $2/ea. for any item in the store, this weekend. So I hope to visit them and come away with a stack of used records, DVD's and maybe some Blu-Ray's.

    You state that there are no set standards for audio, but there are for video "and TV's in particular". OK, since the invention of the TV set, there have been standards. Did I indicate otherwise?

    Since, my TV and the OP's TV have factory pre-sets that are geared toward different viewing experiences, and they did manufacture the TV, in the first place. I would be given to assume, that they have some idea about them. I did't put them there. I merely made use of them, in order to effect adjustments to the TV that were substantially different, then the TV had, when I purchased it as last years demo model.

    The TV was not purchased online or from a big box store. It was purchased from the largest S. Florida audio specialty store regional chain. So again, I was given to assume that since this particular TV was hanging on one of their "living room" walls, for demonstration purposes, that I would have been professionally adjusted, given that the store offers their customers professional installation and set up of everything that they sell.

    I did comment on the fact that I didn't care for the look of the picture, at the time that I set it up.

    After making the adjustments that I have made, the picture looks infinitely better, IMHO.

    The old analog TV sets had adjustments, like Hue, Saturation, Brightness and Contrast, and most people that I knew, had no difficulty adjusting these TV sets, to visually acquire the best picture.

    But, since you have commented about my post(s), perhaps you could provide some clarification on "a few points", such as "Sand and Glass is nearly correct on a few points". Just curious, what exactly am I nearly correct on?
     
  15. Sgt Pepper

    Sgt Pepper Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Basically your point about TV standards and movie watching. If you want to watch a movie as intended get it calibrated, if not you will be viewing a picture that will be adjusted by yourself and probably moving the picture even further from the intended look There are a few discs out there to get you started on the likes of correct brightness, contrast etc.
     
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  16. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    I'm perfectly happy with how I have my TV's picture adjusted. It doesn't appear to me that the picture has been moved away from its intended look.

    You seem to be of the opinion that a mere mortal, simply cannot adjust the picture on a TV set by looking at it?

    Getting a decent picture on a TV set is not exactly rocket science.

    Since the TV's initial purchase, I have had a good number of personal guests over for movie nights. Every last one of them has commented on how nice the picture looks on the new TV.

    We were watching a DVD of Tomorrowland, when a guest replied, how nice the skin tones look and how natural the foliage looks.

    I do realize that for everything that I do, there are maybe hundreds, or thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people who could perform the task better than I can do it, I don't have any issues with that. Still, if I find that I can accomplish a given task reasonably well, and that means, to my personal satisfaction.

    This results in more life lessons learned and more $$$ in the wallet to buy more gear.

    But, if by chance, you ever make it to this side of the pond, you are more than welcome to stop by the motel and give me a first hand critique of the picture on my TV.

    And while we on on the subject, can you further explain "...but unfortunately is a way of the mark on most."?

    What exactly, am I "way off the mark" on.

    I don't quite get, what advice, I was giving the OP, other than getting a good deal on a newer and perhaps larger TV? Noting that the OP has stated:

    It would seem, that the OP and I have a more mutual feeling about the subject of professional calibration. Although neither of us has recommended that our thoughts on the subject should serve as a recommendation to other readers, that they should accept our respective viewpoints as gospel on the subject.

    Simply stating our opinions, nothing more.
     
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  17. Sgt Pepper

    Sgt Pepper Forum Resident

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    The way off the mark quote is directed to your opinion that you can get a good picture by eye alone, unfortunately, our eyes are not very good with colour etc. However, if you are happy with the way yours looks that is your choice and I respect that.
     
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  18. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    Last summer I had my kitchen and office repainted. One of my regular guests is a school teacher. He is an art major and helps around the motel. He is an excellent painter.

    The office had not been repainted since 2008 and it was a stark white. We decided to soften the look by adding a yellow/tan, that we use on the exterior. We came up with a nice white latex paint that was easy on the eyes. We painted a sample in a piece of white cardboard and had the paint store scan it, and that is what we used for the walls.

    I decided that I did not want latex on the doors or moldings, and I wanted to have it a shade off from what the walls were painted. So we bought a pint of their white base Enamel paint and came up with a perfect mix. We had the paint store scan the sample that we provided. It didn't match, so we brought the paint back to the store. They made us a refund, but they could not get the correct match.

    We ended up buying a gallon of the base and making up the correct match ourselves, which worked out perfectly. But, I have never been aware that even with their paint scanning technology, they could not get a correct match for the color that we made.

    Back when desktop publishing came into being, I was the Sales Manager, for a local computer store. And we sold 3rd party products to be used with the Mac's, back when IBM was strictly DOS. At the time, from companies like Radius and Super Mac, were selling boards that went into the Mac's, a 1,024 x 768 display card, retailed for about $3,900 and the Sony 27" Trinitron monitors were the same price and were so heavy, that they arrived, each one on a wooden pallet.

    I've been working on this stuff for a while now. Truthfully, I don't have any issue with calibration reference disks and might look into them at some point in the future, but honestly, I find my present picture so enjoyable, it doesn't inspire me to work on it further.

    I will say, that if I were to invest in an expensive TT, and expensive cart, I would definitely have a professional set it up. That is something that I have no interest in doing. I just want to listen to records, at this point in my life.

    In my listening room, I have a rather complex set up, with three separate systems that are capable of simultaneous playback. I mix home equipment with pro-sound gear, tube gear with SS, analog and digital. It's all good!

    I'm sure, one I do start collecting 4k sources, that I will be amazed at what the new 4k spec stuff can bring to the table. Until then, it's one step at a time.
     
  19. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Without calibration, it's all for nothing. You have no idea if the factory detents tell you the truth about how the show or film was color corrected. Think of it as something like a "loudness" button you can't defeat in a speaker: the levels, the bass, and the treble are all altered from what the musicians and producer wanted during the original recording. Ideally, the speaker would be flat in the room in which you're listening.

    Calibrating the monitor will at least get it sorta/kinda in the ballpark compared to the more-costly mastering displays used in final color. The SMPTE Rec709 and EBU BT1886 standards use special test signals and photometers that measure the screen and tell you if (say) white is pure white or if it's tinted one color or another, and if it's at the correct brightness level. There are potentially hundreds of different settings that can be adjusted on a display, all affecting the final picture you ultimately see.
     
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  20. SamS

    SamS Forum Legend

    Location:
    Texas
    ^^Yep, just "by looking at it" to adjust, you may get things more wrong than right.

    No, but it's damn close.

    To get accurate color and grayscale, you absolutely need the following:

    1. A TV that has user access controls to 10-point grayscale, and primary/secondary gamut fine-level controls for hue/luminance for each.
    2. A colorimeter or spectrophotometer
    3. Software that can read from the meter and provide a workflow (i.e. CalMAN)
    4. Appropriate test disc with patterns to measure the various patterns (i.e. Spears & Munsil)
    5. Knowledge of how the TV controls work and interact with each other.

    You can often get Brightness and Contrast close to accurate with simple test disc, but if your gamma is off the mark, you'll need more involved calibration.

    TV calibration is not like calibrating your stereo, as video displays have a measurable standard that you can try to achieve with the right equipment. This is hard to do with audio because of the limitations of gear, and significant impact of room interaction. Room interaction isn't as big of a factor with HDTV calibration, as it is with audio.

    When you see a properly calibrated set, you'll know/understand that no amount of "eyeballing" calibration can ever come close.
     
  21. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    I don't know, but it seems like the advice the OP's getting isn't helping HIM at all! The dude's got a 720P 24" monitor, he's obviously on a strict budget and is being told to drop 3 digits on a pro calibration? It's excessive and overkill. Mind you, in no way am I saying it's wrong to calibrate, but in this case the advice seems extreme, albeit well intentioned.
     
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  22. SamS

    SamS Forum Legend

    Location:
    Texas
    On the contrary. I never recommended he spend a single dollar on a calibration. My advise is simple: put the TV in "movie mode" for picture setting and don't touch any of the OPPO picture controls. He'll end up doing more harm than good.
     
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  23. Chazro

    Chazro Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Palm Bch, Fl.
    .....um, excuse me, what!?

    The ONLY thing you didn't do was quote a price! Backpedaling much!?;)
     
  24. SamS

    SamS Forum Legend

    Location:
    Texas
    I stand by that statement. Eyeballing calibration doesn't come close to professional calibration with the right tools, which was my point. Never did I say he should invest in such, especially while he has a small 720p HDTV. That would be ridiculous. :)
     
  25. Sean2e

    Sean2e Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Connecticut
     
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