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Picture quality testing of LCD and plasma flat-panel TVs with popular movie scenes

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Picture quality testing of LCD and plasma flat-panel TVs with popular movie scenes

by Florian Friedrich on 10/15/2009

Valuable specialist advice for free: A list of popular movie scenes that we use to evaluate the quality of TVs in our laboratory. The scenes are also ideal for quickly checking picture quality in the showroom.

Picture quality testing with popular movie scenes

Tiebreaker: These movies will help you judge the picture quality of LCD and plasma TVs.

When testing a flat-panel TV's picture quality we use test patterns stored on special test-discs, as well as generating test patterns using video generators (costing several tens of thousands of euros a piece). But, besides these, our AVTOP laboratory also relies on a huge number of movie scenes that - because they contain tricky elements - are very good at highlighting certain aspects of poor picture quality.

In this article, we'll introduce the ten most important scenes. If you own one of the discs we mention below, it might be worth taking it along next time you're buying a TV and asking the dealer for a brief demonstration.

Other scenes:

Of course, an immeasurable number of other scenes are also ideal for assessing a TV's picture quality. The important thing is that you know each of the scenes perfectly; otherwise, you won't be able to judge correctly whether it's the TV or the source material that's responsible for a picture error.

With video material that you don't already know well, it's not possible to make a good estimate of whether the colors are consistent or whether - when compared with the original - some picture details have been lost.

Sometimes it's the source signal that restricts picture quality. A noisy, analog signal from a distribution amplifier in a showroom is obviously not going to lead to the perfect atmosphere. The best cure for bad advice in the showroom is to try the TV out for yourself.

Armed with the right set of movies for testing, you can quickly get an overview of the quality on offer. But, be careful: Let the cashiers know which discs you have with you on arrival or you may end up paying for them a second time...

Preparations

judge the picture quality of LCD and plasma TVs

In the showroom, TV's are often standing in a bright environment, making it even more difficult to make the right decision.

Dark Room and Neutral Preset:

Ideally, you should try to see the TV in a dark room - the glaring light in the showroom is like poison for a picture. Then, choose the most neutral preset - you can get a good idea of which is best by looking at our "Ideal Settings" for other models from the same manufacturer. Much of the time, the most neutral setting will be called "Movie" or "Cinema".

Using a good player:

Of course, it's important to use a good player. In the showroom, the PlayStation 3 lends itself to this purpose, since - when connected by HDMI - it's both an excellent DVD player and an excellent Blu-ray player.

For DVD operation, which is a good indicator of how well a TV processes video material in standard resolution, you should ideally reduce the output resolution to 576i, and for Blu-ray playback you should set it back to 1080i/p. This is the only way to determine how the TV handles signals of various resolutions.

If the relevant settings are too complicated for you, you'll need to ask the dealer for some help. If not, you'll be limited to judging color and contrast and you'll only be able to get an impression of the resolution based on playback of Blu-ray discs.

One more tip: It's always useful to bring a pen and paper for writing down the results - not just because you may want to compare several TVs. You can also use your notes to submit a user rating to Televisions.com.

Now for our movie-scene tips - enjoy!

HDTV movie tips:

Casino Royale

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Notes: Blu-ray disc, 24p, film-material, excellent mastering

Scene tips:

The almost black-and-white introduction
Useful for: Evaluating picture depth and black representation for front-on and side-on viewing.

The animated opening titles, playing time 4:40
Useful for: Evaluating the motion clarity and motion depiction for 1080/24p input signals, checking the inverse-telecine function (reverse pulldown) for 1080/60p input signals.

Chapter 4: the decorative stripes on the sea plane, the yacht railings
Useful for: Checking the de-interlacing with film-based material.

Chapter 4: the ocean
Useful for: Evaluating display of saturated colors (extended color space).

Chapter 4: the cyan-blue sky and close up shot of Bond's face
Useful for: Evaluating the display of secondary colors.

Chapter 6: taxi ride at night
Useful for: Evaluating the picture depth and black representation.

General use for the disc: Evaluating the overall subjective picture quality for HDTV playback of Blu-ray. You can find all the important scenes necessary for a quick evaluation on this disc.

Spider-Man 3

Studio: Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures
Notes: Blu-ray disc, B/W, 24p film-material

Scene tip:

Chapter 20: reproduction of the gold label; Chapter 32: reproduction of the green of the plants
Useful for: Evaluating the reproduction of tricky gold and green tones, as well as many scenes containing fast motion.

Casablanca

Studio: Warner Bro. Pictures / Warner Home Video Germany
Notes: Blu-ray disc, B/W, 24p film-material

Scene tip:

The whole movie
Useful for: Evaluating grayscale representation for front-on and side-on viewing.

Kingdom of Heaven

Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Notes: Blu-ray disc, excellent mastering, 24p film-material

Scene tip:

Chapter 3: Interior illuminated by torches; Chapter 4: murky outdoor shots
Useful for: Evaluating picture quality in poorly lit scenes, color-reproduction of the often artificially bluish imagery.

Antarctica Dreaming

Studio: DVD International / HDScape
Notes: Blu-ray disc, 60i-material

Scene tip:

Running time 7:40 - 7:57
Useful for: Evaluating the de-interlacing quality and motion clarity with video material.

SDTV movie tips:

Six Days Seven Nights

Studio: Touchstone Home Video
Notes: PAL-DVD without progressive flag (not the widescreen edition)

Scene tip:

Start of chapter 5, camera pan across the beach
Useful for: Checking de-interlacing with film-based material.

Gladiator

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Notes: PAL-DVD without progressive flag, English-language Superbit edition

Scene tip:

Chapter 12, running time 61:55, birds-eye view of the colosseum
Useful for: Checking de-interlacing with film-based material.

Space Cowboys

Studio: Warner Home Video
Notes: PAL-DVD

Scene tip:

Chapter 8, picket fence
Useful for: Checking de-interlacing with film-based material.

Dr. Strangelove

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Studio: Columbia Pictures/Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment
Notes: PAL-DVD, B/W, 4:3-format

Scene tip:

The whole movie
Useful for: Checking aspect-ratio switching of 4:3 pictures, especially with an up-scaled HDMI signal, as well as evaluating grayscale representation for front-on and side-on viewing.

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Studio: Warner Brothers
Notes: PAL-DVD

Scene tip:

Chapter 27/28
Useful for: Evaluating picture depth and black representation for front-on and side-on viewing, and evaluating the overall subjective picture quality for DVD playback.

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Picture quality testing of LCD and plasma flat-panel TVs with popular movie scenes

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Picture quality testing of LCD and plasma flat-panel TVs with popular movie scenes