GSN-weird film look?

[KWJCDon]

We are getting the weird film look here on Comcast in the Florida Keys. I notice it more on the HD TV than the old tv.

[Matt Ottinger]

To put it quite simply, are you saying that I complain about one thing, and then complain another?

Sometimes an explanation is necessary, and who knows, maybe even educational.

What he's saying (and it's a good point) is that you have extreme opinions about everything, no matter how insignificant they might seem to other people.  GSN is experiencing some technical weirdness that makes the picture look a little funky.  Is that really something that you need to "hate with a burning passion"?  

/The correct answer, by the way, is "no, it's not".  
//It will be interesting to compare that with your answer.

[William_S.]

I just noticed it during Who's the Boss? and I wondered what was up with that?!

[Matt Ottinger]

I just noticed it during Who's the Boss? and I wondered what was up with that?!

Also curious.

[Jimmy Owen]

I just noticed it during Who's the Boss? and I wondered what was up with that?!

Mike Wallace or Tony Danza version?  It's strange that it would happen on HDTVs only. Must be an incompatibility issue with older video standards.

[CoreyArcher]

I remember while watching a Super Password episode a couple days ago noticing that something seemed different about the puzzle board ... the colors seemed duller than normal (but that's not unusual for SD on an HD set). Is that what we're talking about? I think of a filmic look as a good thing.

[MrBuddwing]

When my sister and her husband got their first Blu-ray player, she complained to me that movies were looking like video. When I saw Blu-ray in action on an HDTV at a local Best Buy store, I could see what she meant - it was as if a movie on Blu-ray was too smooth, too liquid, too sharp - in other words, too video-like.

YMMV.

I've also been amazed by something called 24-frame video, which makes video look like film. On YouTube, there's a bunch of Chicago kids doing their own version of the "Jai Ho" dance number from "Slumdog Millionaire," and it looks very film-like, even though it was shot with an HDTV "prosumer" camcorder.

Go figure.

[BrandonFG]

When my sister and her husband got their first Blu-ray player, she complained to me that movies were looking like video. When I saw Blu-ray in action on an HDTV at a local Best Buy store, I could see what she meant - it was as if a movie on Blu-ray was too smooth, too liquid, too sharp - in other words, too video-like.

A friend of mine just got a 3D TV and BluRay player, and I noticed the same exact thing while watching "Inception". Another friend and I agreed that it looked too crisp, almost as if it were shot on a camcorder, because of the tape-like quality. Was very distracting.

[NickintheATL]

It has to do with the refresh rate of the TV.  120Hz and higher gives that fake video look.  I bought a Sony with a 60Hz refresh rate for that very reason.

[clemon79]

I could see what she meant - it was as if a movie on Blu-ray was too smooth, too liquid, too sharp

This concept, for some reason I am utterly unable to process it.

(My TV also has a smoothing function that basically extrapolates 30FPS video up to 60. (120? I can't remember if my TV is 60Hz or 120Hz.) It is AWESOME.)

[clemon79]

It has to do with the refresh rate of the TV.  120Hz and higher gives that fake video look.  I bought a Sony with a 60Hz refresh rate for that very reason.

I hope you saved a bundle buying old tech, because I'm pretty sure that quality can be minimized or eliminated entirely through menu settings on such TVs if it annoys you that much.

[NickintheATL]

It has to do with the refresh rate of the TV.  120Hz and higher gives that fake video look.  I bought a Sony with a 60Hz refresh rate for that very reason.

I hope you saved a bundle buying old tech, because I'm pretty sure that quality can be minimized or eliminated entirely through menu settings on such TVs if it annoys you that much.

I didn't say it annoyed me, I just like films to look like films, not like they were shot on videotape.  YMMV.  If there is a TV with a setting to take care of that, I'm completely on board with that.

[Casey Buck]

(My TV also has a smoothing function that basically extrapolates 30FPS video up to 60. (120? I can't remember if my TV is 60Hz or 120Hz.) It is AWESOME.)

That's pretty much the feature that MrBuddwing is talking about. Depending on the TV manufacturer, it's called AutoMotion, TruMotion, MotionFlow, ClearScan, etc. It's essentially a frame rate upconverter, turning any video into 120 (or 240, depending on the refresh rate) FPS by interpolating frames in real time.

There's a program called SmoothVideo Project which plays videos in Media Player Classic with this motion interpolation on. It's really useful for game show clips, which are normally encoded at 30 FPS; it restores the videotape look that most game shows are supposed to have.

[Neumms]

I noticed this yesterday on American Bible Challenge and I have DirecTV. I figured they hit the "film-look" button for some ill-advised reason. Match Game '74 and Super Password look crisp and clear.