Grainy pic with Panasonic BDT-DMP220; pls help

anilkc2000

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Grainy pic with Panasonic DMP-BDT220; pls help

It has been 3 weeks since I bought this brand new Panasonic DMP-BDT220 player from another forum member. It was bought recently from Amazon; was on sale as member had one more same player. My old DVD player had conged off and thought this will be a replacement and upgrade (networked, blue ray) also.
I had a demo b4 picking this up and all was looking good - only diff was monitor there was a computer and not TV( don't know whether that makes a diff). I came home and tried connecting the player to my 3 yr old TV ( LG 32" LCD, HD Ready) using the HDMI cable that came with my TAta Sky HD box (same cable is working fine in that old setup). Was disappointed to see a grainy menu screen;same grains stayed on when I played any DVD also. Tried RCA cable connection and grains are gone (ofcourse, now it is RCA pic quality - but that is expected also). Over the last 3 weeks here are the few things I attempted to make the HDMI work - but with not much success:
> 1. Player setting -Reset all to factory setting |no change
> 2. Played around with few resolution settings
>> a. HD resolution -> tried changing default auto to 720p (as TV is not full HD) | screen went blank for a few seconds and came back but with res setting reset to auto.
>> b. HDMI Output -> 24p Output changed from default to Off | No change
>> c. HDMI Output -> RGB Color Mode changed default of YCbCr(4:4:4) to RGB(Enhanced). | Could see some reduction in grains but they are still there - cannot miss.
> 3. Got a new high speed HDMI cable | no change.
> 4. Read somewhere that proximity of HDMI cable to power cable can cause grains. Tried keeping player 2 feet away - no change to grains
Another observation after some hours of playing (mostly YouTube) is (this also is only while on HDMI):
> picture sometimes flickers (going blank for a second or so).
> a crackling sound comes at times( I initially thought it is some electric spark from a loose plug/ bad wire but on careful investigation could confirm source as TV speaker. Turning off sound via HDMI and switching to RCA just for sound did remove this but that is also a compromise, right ?)
I did check for cable loose connection - while the player end HDMI plug fitting can't be called perfect tight, it is also not that loose.
It is again weekend ( only time to explore / investigate) and I realized that I have ran out of ideas. But I am still hopeful that there is something else to try and fix this. ( seeing my disappointed mood, my toddler also agrees :)...his Cars2 is waiting becoz of this :-().
Request help/inputs. Thanks in advance.
 
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Grains only on menus or in general disc playback too?

Try the cinema mode on the player. Also decrease sharpness setting.

Never had a Panasonic BDP, so just my guess.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
 
Thanks for responding. Grains are present all the time - menu screens, DVD playback & while playing YouTube. Have not tried Blue-ray yet- yet to get one. It shows up more on some - not very distracting in menu screen(esp w bg color ) but w videos - it is very noticeable.
Will see whether there is a cinema mode; sharpness adjustments did't help much.
 
I have a three year old bd80 doesn't have any such problem though graininess with some old movie blue rays is normally within the source material. Menus are clear. Try a firmware upgrade.
 
Thanks ...while connected to Net, it is saying sw is uptodate and no pending upgrades. Do I have to try any other way ?
 
You can check the firmware date and check the latest update from the Panasonic support site. You can update using a pen drive. You may also try a different hdmi cable.
 
Will check Panasonic site as suggested for upgrade stat. Reg. HDMI cable - have tried 3 already; last is a high speed one (1.4) newly bought.
 
This sounds like one of the unexplained problems that occasionally happen between components. Some have explanation.
Let me try to capture some.
* It could be you enabled deep color somewhere and the Bdp and Monitor are not on the same spec, this can throw white dots on screen. I've had this when I enabled deep color in my DVDO Edge running to my Bravia X350A. But with my HX925 this is no longer a problem.
* The first dvd player I got pioneer Dvl-919 refused to play nice with My BPL XBR and I had to get a Thomson technozen 29 '1998'. MY Ps3 had super grains and fish lines while hooked up to my 1080i philips 36 inch widescreen tv '2008', that made me change over to the Sony X350a.

So sometimes it can be deep color, super white or some setting other times its just that the components are from different generations and there is a spec difference.

Also you can check out the player in someone else HDTV to isolate the problem. I suspect its the TV.
 
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It has been a few months, so thought will add an update
1. 2 weeks back, did get a FW upgrade; but grains in picture with HDMI is still there
2. Kept aside the HDMI cable;now have been surviving with RCA cables
3. The NW capability is useful. So now my son can see 'Thomas & Friends' on YouTube on the large screen TV in LR (compensate to some extend not being able to play Region 2/5 DVDs...only plays Region 1 & ALL)
4. Yet to get an opportunity to connect this to another HDTV and check
 
did you try changing the HDMI in port on your TV? also do you have any other device at home which outputs HDMI? test that with your TV (Same port)
 
Yes has verified that - TV has only one (working) HDMI port. The Tata Sky works will with that HDMI port. Also tried getting a new HDMI cable; didn't resolve with that also
 
I have got this BDP recently. Mine is also used that I got from a friend, free!!

I do not have any grain problem. I watched pure BD and upscaled DVD on my 50ST50. I also have Sony BDP-S360 (see my sig). There is no PQ difference between the two. But if I move to one foot close to TV then I can see the grains (tiny glimmering pixels). That I would expect to see.

What is the result with component cable (Y-Pb-Pr) or composite AV cable?

Also HDMI signals are digital. The signal in HDMI cable cannot be affected by analogue noise from nearby cables such as power cable, analogue AV cables, speaker cables, etc.
 
Your DMP220 support a component cable (Y-Pb-Pr) video output ? Mine has only RCA, HDMI and optical output options. I would have loved to have a Composite or S-Video option - given that my HDMI connection is still in suspect list
 
Oops. I just checked. The Pana BDP indeed does not have Component out. It does not have coaxial digital out either.

My Sony BDP has composite AV out, component AV out, HDMI out, optical out, coaxial out.
 
Panasonic BDT-DMP220; pls help

Hi,
Im new to this forum. Staying in Hydbad. I have P50vt20d. Now I would like to purchase BDT 220. But I dont find it in any branded showroom at hyd. Its available in ebay. pl help in
1. My budget is 20k. can u suggest any better br player to suite to 50vt20d
2. why bdt220 not avalable in branded shops of hyd
3. is it advaisable to procure ebay item
4. shoud i wait
 
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