What is up with the new videos?

LastTango

LastTango

Cathlete
I just had my first look at the new workout dvds today. What is wrong with the picture? The images are grainy, or better yet, pixelated. I don't know what to call it really, but it certainly isn't clear. I have two very recent HD televisions and dvd players (that can read any format), and both have pretty bad pictures. I own many, many other workout dvds of Cathe's, and they are nice and clear. I have tried everything I can think of to adjust the picture through the tv and dvd player.

I can still workout to these, but if this is the way they will be filmed from now on, I may not buy any more.

I thought I saw a thread early on about this same problem, but can't find it now.
 
All four of them are like that? I have a really old TV and expected problems and they look fine on mine. I'd expect them to look much better on your newer ones.
 
LastTango said:
I just had my first look at the new workout dvds today. What is wrong with the picture? The images are grainy, or better yet, pixelated. I don't know what to call it really, but it certainly isn't clear. I have two very recent HD televisions and dvd players (that can read any format), and both have pretty bad pictures. I own many, many other workout dvds of Cathe's, and they are nice and clear. I have tried everything I can think of to adjust the picture through the tv and dvd player.

I can still workout to these, but if this is the way they will be filmed from now on, I may not buy any more.

I thought I saw a thread early on about this same problem, but can't find it now.
Click to expand...

If you're having a problem with clarity you will need to first look at your settings on your DVD player and/or TV. There can be many things that will cause a problem like you're describing. For instance, if your DVD player is set to a 4:3 aspect ratio and your HD TV is set to 16:9 you will get a problem like you're describing, but there also many other possibilities that can cause this issue.
 
I have checked every conceivable combination of settings between the dvd player and the tv. Heck, most everything in set on auto to automatically adjust settings as needed. I have never had to adjust anything for any dvd I've put in, whether it be Cathe's or one by someone else. The pictures on all the STS dvds (cardio and strength) are great. This is just fuzzy in certain places (like around the writing and faces in particular). I don't know if you would call it static or pixelation or what, but it is bad on all the videos I ordered.

I know there were other people out there that mentioned they had problems. If you are one of those folks, what did you do?
 
I know what you saying about the new DVD's. Same on my tv. Also notice they don't look wide as in all my previous DVD's. I have a small flat screen and even though I know Cathe is tiny, she and the rest of the crew have some hips when played on this tv set. I am sure technology made it easier to film and not get that short and wide look. Either way I love my new workouts.

Christie
 
LastTango said:
I have checked every conceivable combination of settings between the dvd player and the tv. Heck, most everything in set on auto to automatically adjust settings as needed. I have never had to adjust anything for any dvd I've put in, whether it be Cathe's or one by someone else. The pictures on all the STS dvds (cardio and strength) are great. This is just fuzzy in certain places (like around the writing and faces in particular). I don't know if you would call it static or pixelation or what, but it is bad on all the videos I ordered.

I know there were other people out there that mentioned they had problems. If you are one of those folks, what did you do?
Click to expand...

Without seeing what you're, it's hard to say for sure...Still, I would first examine the DVD player output setting. Auto-detect doesn't always work and your entire problem could be your DVD player is sending a 4:3 signal to your HD TV instead of a 16:9 signal. We test on a lot of TV and DVD combos and we've seen this issue before. Just selecting the 16:9 output instead of auto-detect solved the issue.

As for comparing the new workouts to STS, this is probably not realistic or fair. The new workouts will be close in quality to STS, but STS will be better for several reasons, including: 1. STS has more close ups. Many factors determine clarity, but close ups are perhaps the most important factor. 2. STS is natively filmed in standard def while the new workouts are filmed in natively in HD. The HD version of the new workouts could give STS a run for the money, but they have to be dumbed down to make them work and play on standard def DVDs. 3. STS has a less busy background and in standard def this means it's easier for the software to compile the pixels and this makes the clarity of the video appear better.Still, I think you will find the quality of the new DVDs to be right up there with anything we have done in the past.
 
blueeyedblonde said:
I know what you saying about the new DVD's. Same on my tv. Also notice they don't look wide as in all my previous DVD's. I have a small flat screen and even though I know Cathe is tiny, she and the rest of the crew have some hips when played on this tv set. I am sure technology made it easier to film and not get that short and wide look. Either way I love my new workouts.

Christie
Click to expand...

It sounds like you have the wrong aspect ratio selected. Cathe and the crew really shouldn't look any different if you have the right aspect ratio selected.
 
I went through all the settings on the dvd player and tv to make sure they matched. I even took some things off of auto and tried different settings to see if it would make a difference. I tried this on two different brands of HD tvs and dvd players (Sony and Samsung), and they both look exactly the same way.

I love Cathe's workouts, and I know she puts out a quality product, but something is wrong here, and I know I'm not the only one who has talked about this. I'm just wondering what else there is to do. I will continue to work on it, but I think I have everything set correctly.
 
You would have to tell me more about your settings to help you? I have a 50 inch SONY Bravo and Samsung 50 inch TV in our office and both are hooked up to Sony DVD players. Both play fine and the quality is excellent. I also have a Toshiba 20 inch with a internal DVD player that also plays just fine. It sounds like we have the same TV units and players, but the difference in what we're seeing is probably in our TV or DVD Player settings. To start, I need to know exactly what aspect ratio your TV says (wide, full, wide zoom, normal, 16:9, etc...) and also the same for the SONY DVD player. Also need to know if you're using an HD cable or component?
 
I did read about other people having a grainy look on the new DVDs. I was surprised when I got mine. They are great. The picture quality is fantastic. I just thought I would let you know that they all aren't like that. I hope you are able to resolve this issue!!!

Cheryl
 
Your going to find 95% of users will have the same result as you did and will see excellent quality without having to change anything. Still, there will be some customers where this will not be the case and it is understandable that they are concerned. Before HD and the different screen formats things we're a lot simpler, but there were still problems even back then.

With all of the new aspect ratios and HD to Standard Def conversions there are going to be some people who have an issue. In most cases we can help the user find a setting that will solve the issue, but we need as many details as possible. The most common problem is people don't realize that their DVD Player has an output aspect ratio just as their TV has it's own aspect ratio, but there can be many other settings that can cause problems too.... For instance, there are many different types of widescreen formats and selecting the wrong one can cause issues. This is very confusing to many users and understandably so. Sometimes just enabling "sharpness" can cause issues and so on and so on.
 
I have a very old Toshiba TV that doesn't have any way to adjust aspect ratios. My Sony DVD player does, however the instructions specifically state that you only set the aspect ratio to match your TV, not match the disc being played at the time. The DVD plays fine wide scrren with black bars at the top and bottom. The problem is the picture is slightly out of focus. There is no distortion or pixilation. Its simply as if the camera was slightly out of focus the whole time. I am very very disappointed in this.
Beth
 
I went ahead and took two pictures, one of High reps and one of HIIT 40/20 in pause mode for a still pic. You can clearly see a difference in sharpness of the picture with HIIT being much more distinct.
Unfortunately I can't figure out how to post a pic in this thread but I will email them to customer service so they can see what we are dealing with.
Beth
 
Hi LastTango,
you're not alone, I have the same problems with this series. I have a sony lCD Full High Definition and a dvd player sony in Full HD the same, I try to change the screen format on both tv and dvd player with no success. the sts and the other series work better. Also I have problem with the old dvds like CTX or PUB & PLB etc., in this case is the sound that goes up and down by itsself! :confused:



LastTango said:
I just had my first look at the new workout dvds today. What is wrong with the picture? The images are grainy, or better yet, pixelated. I don't know what to call it really, but it certainly isn't clear. I have two very recent HD televisions and dvd players (that can read any format), and both have pretty bad pictures. I own many, many other workout dvds of Cathe's, and they are nice and clear. I have tried everything I can think of to adjust the picture through the tv and dvd player.

I can still workout to these, but if this is the way they will be filmed from now on, I may not buy any more.

I thought I saw a thread early on about this same problem, but can't find it now.
Click to expand...
 
Update the DVD player software

First, I must say that the quality of this new series is superior to any I've owned! :D I have a 50 inch plasma (Panasonic) and a Samsung Blu-Ray player that I preview my DVDs on, and then I move the player to my workout area and watch it on a 19 inch Toshiba (yes, I wish it was the other way around!:eek:). The picture quality is crisp and clear on both TVs.

In the recent past I had problems watching newer movie releases on DVD. They either wouldn't play at all or had distortion issues. I went on line and downloaded the free software upgrade code for my DVD player. After following the upgrade procedure everything was fine.
Call or email the service folks for you DVD player. It could be a simple upgrade issue.

Hope this helps! This new series ROCKS!!!!:eek:

Nancy
 
I would not have noticed it, but because of all the posts, I was looking, I did see in high reps there is some strange aura or pixelation around everyone, maybe something to do with wearing blue and a combo of the HD filiming. I noticed it in high reps, I didn't notice an issue with STS, but I wasn't looking for it either. Maybe the next series should not be filmed in the same way to avoid whatever is happening here.
 
Color Glow

The "glow" you're seeing is the result of how the camera sees certain colors. Vibrant colors like the "red" in STS Total body or the "blue" in High reps will slightly buzz the camera image on certain shots. Back in the VHS days this was a major problem, but with the higher resolution of DVD this problem has been reduced though not eliminated. Depending on your TV and settings this problem can be enhanced or reduced. There is no way with standard def TV and DVDs to eliminate this issue, except to have everyone wear non-vibrant colors like black. This is not really a major issue in our opinion and we feel the very slight color blur on some shots is well worth having more interesting and vibrant colors in the video.
 
I performed an upgrade to my Sony DVD player (BDP-S350) this morning. Unfortunately, it didn't make a difference.

Here are my settings for the DVD player:
Aspect ratio for tv set to 16:9
Output video format: connect to tv via HDMI
screen resolution set to Auto (but have tried this on
1080p as well with no changes)
BD/ROM: set to 1080/24p output (auto)

Settings for the tv (Sony also):
Picture mode set to standard (have also tried other
modes)
wide mode is set to full, auto wide, auto 4:3 when
needed, as determined by signal
display area, normal
motion enhancer for tv/dvd set to high
cinemotion set to auto 2
video/photo optimizer set to video A

The aspect ratio is fine;the picture looks great that way. There is just a fuzziness overall. I have tried all these settings in different ways, by turning them on or off or changing the mode. I have tried turning the sharpness on and off with no changes either.
 
Mine are grainy too

Mine are a little grainy too. I can still see everything, but its not clear. Its almost like what standard def looks like on an HD TV. I know that it doesnt make sense. I will have to check my settings too because my TV is a flat screen ( I think LCD) from about a year ago, and the DVD player is a couple years old. Maybe its the DVD players fault.
 
LastTango said:
I performed an upgrade to my Sony DVD player (BDP-S350) this morning. Unfortunately, it didn't make a difference.

Here are my settings for the DVD player:
Aspect ratio for tv set to 16:9
Output video format: connect to tv via HDMI
screen resolution set to Auto (but have tried this on
1080p as well with no changes)
BD/ROM: set to 1080/24p output (auto)

Settings for the tv (Sony also):
Picture mode set to standard (have also tried other
modes)
wide mode is set to full, auto wide, auto 4:3 when
needed, as determined by signal
display area, normal
motion enhancer for tv/dvd set to high
cinemotion set to auto 2
video/photo optimizer set to video A

The aspect ratio is fine;the picture looks great that way. There is just a fuzziness overall. I have tried all these settings in different ways, by turning them on or off or changing the mode. I have tried turning the sharpness on and off with no changes either.
Click to expand...

Actually went to Best Buy today and purchased the exact SONY DVD Player you have and it played fine with excellent picture quality using the settings you listed. I hooked the player up to a SONY 46 inch HD 1080 TV using an HDMI cable and viewed from a distance of about 6 ft. I only see the normal minor artifacts that you normally see with any standard def digital video like color bleed on vivid colors in some shots and minor problems with straight lines and hard edges. Overall picture quality was very good and the same that I was seeing on our other players. I'm not sure why you're having an issue.
 
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