Poor picture quality 720p

[RoosterX]

So first my HW, having a brand new Sony 65XF9005(US - x900f) setup with an old Shield TV I had lying around since this TV's Android TV is so sluggish I prefer the Shield TV.
Have set up that MRMC changes Hz and also resolution to match whatever the video source is, unfortuately I can't get it to just change Hz without also changing resolution(let the TV do the upscale) most material works very well, especially 1080p/4k incl. HDR, really!! satisfied with the quality. But as always with technology there is a big but.. If i start a tv show or something in 720P the picture quality is so bad, it's just plain terrible, looks like it's heavily oversharpened(edge?!).

So my question is, is this the fault of the TV, since it is supposed to actually do the upscale, or is it some setting in MRMC in which I simply can't find nor figure out?

Is there a way to disable resolution change for some material, like let the Shield TV/MRMC do the upscale on all content 720p and less?

[koying]

Does resolution change to 720p?
What's the quality if you disable "also change resolution"?

[RoosterX]

Yes the resolution do change to 720p, but I am starting to think this is all down to my TV sharpening etc with same settings applied like it do when using higher quality material(1080p, 4k etc), was tinkering around with the TV settings and it got much better, wouldn't say perfect though, but had to change it back, so the settings is correct for all the other resolutions that I play. So unless there is a way to make exception for changing resolution on only 1080p, and let Shield TV upscale lower resolutions, OR if I could just change framerate without changing resolution?!

I'm guessing it's like everything else, always a compromise. To be fair the PQ in my opinion when I let the Shield TV do the upscale is pretty decent.

[Audiomixer]

I also have noticed what the OP has seen on his setup with my xbr55x900f and shield when running 720p content with “also change resolution” ticked on. It very nasty quality like over saturation of sharpness. When I untick the change resolution, PQ is fine. Also have noticed the same thing with Kodi 18.1 when 720p content is whitelisted and playing on this Sony TV.
My Lg C8 doesn’t have this problem.

[RoosterX]

Could this be partly a problem of wrong colour space? Can't check now because my Shield TV is non function atm. Can check when i get my new Sata Cable for it.

[chaozine]

I have the same problem with my Sony x900f. 720p/24 looks horrible. Oversaturated and way too oversharp. Very nasty looking. 720p/25 works great and looks very good on this tv. What could be the issue? Every other resolution works great but with 720p/24 something's not right. This also happens with Kodi 18.3. I can provide video of this and logs if needed.

[Audiomixer]

What I find interesting is that if you install MrMC or Kodi on the Sony 900f Android and allow the tv to handle upconversion, 720p looks normal. The PQ is better than allowing nvidia to upconvert.

[chaozine]

I hope this gets fixed because x900f upscaling capability is simply amazing. 720p/25 is looking like 4k

[cosmoxl]

Where are you getting 720p24 or 720p25? There's no such output resolution that I can see. 720p is only 50, 59.94, or 60.

[Audiomixer]

I hope this gets fixed because x900f upscaling capability is simply amazing. 720p/25 is looking like 4k

I don’t think it’s mrmc or Kodi but rather the 900f in how it handles 720p/24. My Lg C8 plays this stuff just fine, may I suggest to install MrMC or Kodi on the Sony android (make sure you are updated on Opsys) which is what I do to playback 720p stuff.

On edit: the Lg C8 using the shield and Kodi on whitelist only lists 50, 59.94, and 60 under 720p. On the Sony 900f, in addition, lists 23.97, 24, 25, and 30. If I uncheck the last four and save and then playback the 720 content, it looks normal yet when pressing the display button on the remote shows 720p.
I have one tv series that is 720p 23.97