Picture quality on playback Sony RDR-HX510

[Ursula]

I recently bought a Sony RDR-HX510 and Panasonic TX-26LXD500. I have connected them using a Belkin scart lead (which I believe is fully wired). As per the manufacturers instructions, the scart goes from Line 2 OUT on the Sony and into the AV4 terminal on the Panasonic. The Smartlink function worked OK, and reception from the analogue channels when played through the DVD was good. However, when playing 'shop bought' DVD's there is a problem with picture quality. This is the only way that I can describe it ...... When the screen focuses on someones face and they are moving slightly, it is as if their face is made of layers. Almost as if the DVD cannot keep up with the movement and parts of the previous image remain for a fraction of a second.

I have contacted numerous Sony centres, including their dedicated Customer Service centre, but no one seems able to offer me any advice. They have suggested that I try all 3 AV terminals on the TV (this has had no effect), and that I try another scart lead (I tried an Ixos but this did not help either). They have assured me that aerial reception should not make any difference as I am playing a DVD, and as such, the picture should be perfect - but just out of interest, I disconnected the aerial from the DVD - but again, this did not make any difference.

I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I went through the user manual for the DVD with a fine tooth comb and found that COMPONENT OUT was set to 'on' instead of 'off' and that Progressive scan was set to 'auto' instead of 'video' so I disconnected the DVD completely and went through the 'easy set up' option once more. The picture problem is still the same.

An additional, recently noticed problem is when recording from TV onto a disc. When playing back, the disc freezes on a scene and skips several seconds of recording - this can happen as many as 10 times within a 20 minute recording. All functions on the remote (fast forward, play, rewind etc) become void.

Sorry for the length of this email ..... I am new to this sort of technology and need to know if these faults are due to something I have done during set up. I would be very grateful to anyone who can make any suggestions - particularly to the first problem.

Many thanks in advance

Ursula

 

[Minesapint]

I also have the 510 and find it to have an excellent pq.
The way i connect to my lcd is to use a (qed) component cable for watching dvd and hdd and have a (ixos) scart cable to record from the tv's freeview back to the 510.
You mention that you have smartlink enabled. I think you can only use smartlink when the 510 scart sockets are set to standard video rather than rgb. In fact, with component switched on you will not be allowed to set the scart to rgb.

I would suggest one of two things, depending if you want smartlink:

1) If you do not want smartlink and since you do not use component cables, switch the component mode off. Then in the scart settings, set the output modes to rgb and ensure the the scart is plugged into the tv's rgb scart and that it is enabled.
2) If you do want to use smartlink (which i do - its very clever) then you should invest in some component cables for playing off the 510, and use your scart in video mode to record from the tv.

 

[Ursula]

Hi Minesapint (like the name!)

Thanks for the advice. I tried option 1 last night - and it did improve the picture by about 80%. I would like to try your 2nd suggestion. Am I right in assuming that when you want to switch from scart (to record) to component (to view), you are doing this in the DVD settings? And if so, what settings do you use when you want to watch via component - do I need to change anything in scart settings?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[philipb]

Both bits of kit are capable of doing much better than you describe. The shimmering faces is usually what you get on low bitrate broadcasts or homemade DVDs. Sometimes it is because the display itself cannot keep up with the motion on screen, but I would not think the Panny would struggle that way.

In the setup menu under video - scart setup - check the settings for L2. You want RGB, and make sure the Panny input is also set to RGB. The list of different scart settings in the Sony setup had me confused at first - easy to make a mistake and set it to video (composite) by mistake which could well cause the sort of problem you're seeing.