Blurry dark scene on new Sony LCD
 

Just got a new Sony 46" S5100 to replace my room's CRT....everything is great except for 1 problem..
The dark scenes all look unusually blurry and grainy, and there seems to be alot of "artifact" thingy on the image.
(While the bright scenes on the same video look very nice and clear)

I've tried a few different video files with the same result. (They are mostly downloaded movies in .avi, typically 350MB for a 45 minutes show)

Is this something to do with the file or the quality of the TV?
(I know the sony S series is the lowest model... will I see lesser of this problem if I go with a higher model like V or Z series?)

Is it possible it has something to do with the connection as well? (I play the video via a laptop connected to the TV with a VGA cable)

Get better resolution files. Typical 1 hour tv show expect about 1gb in file size. 720p or 1080p. Same thing with the connection. VGA connector usually limits the resolution. HDMI is the way to go.

those are your problems. Use HDMI/DVI if that's possible with your laptop. Your video files aren't in HD..dark scenes will generally seem grainy.

Hell, even some blu-ray movies have grainy dark scenes.

I can't comment on the V/Z/W series but since you bought the entry-level trim you can't expect to have superb blacks.

not all laptops have DVI connector.
best way to connect computer to tv is using DVI-HDMI cables.
but thats if u have DVI in the first place.

how does it look in your computer?

it really depends on the quality of the thing that you are playing as well.
when i watch normal cable on my Z, it looks like shit.
when i watch movies/play games it, it look awesssssssome

The sony S series is not very good with blacks. I use to have the same TV as you but 40" didnt like it because even playing video games the still images were a bit grainy. Traded it in for a samsung A550 look 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000x better

Got the S series coz it was cheap($1000), the next one up (V) in the same size coz $500 more, did think it was worth it.

The video looks fine on my 14" laptop screen...actually, I found out yesterday the video looks fine on the TV if don't go full screen, and drag it to about 37" equivalent size...bigger than that, it starts getting all those artifact/pixelation thingy..

Laptop doens't have DVI, but how does going from VGA to DVI helps? both are capable of outputting 1080p.
I never see any difference when I connect my living room TV via VGA vs DVI. They look exactly the same :confused:

i think its your source more than anything,

typical 40-44 min 720p tv show in mkv format is ~1.2GB

DVI is digital, VGA is analog.

what program are you using to play these files?

I think tgill is right with the source part, go find a copy of something in 1080p with a sample that is uncompressed (I have one of Transformers) to see what happens.

god......i would rather go for Samsung 5 series than Sony S series.........
The price you pay, u can get Samsung 5 series with decent contrast ratio.

And, your source isn't HD, also, S series has 30000 DCR. Thats pretty low compare to other models.
Higher Contrast Ratio will show more details in the dark scene.

Most laptop has VGA out, This isn't too bad.
But if you have HDMI out, this is the best way doing Video output to HDTV.

If you use DVI to VGA connector, you won't see any difference.

sorry I should also add that I have connected my laptop to my parents 1080p Samsung and ran HD videos in VLC no problem. So it should be your source.

It's the source file.