[Omniscaper]

DVD's introduction seems like it happened only yesterday. I thought DVD quality was as close to film quality as possible on a typical CRT monitor (ESPECIALLY Sony's widescreen enhanced Wega series)

ENTER HIGH DEFINITION

Them silly new CRT/LCD/Plasma TV's are now showing enough resolution and detail that Jay Leno's make-up department can no longer slack off. The resolutions on some of those sets go higher than my 17'' monitor. At the same time, them TV's now make DVD's look like a blurry mess, even with progressive scan.

Of course, Microsoft jumps into this bandwagon and introduces their HD codec "WM9". It puts Mpeg2's to shame (resolution wise). Now WMP9 can play HD content that makes use of our monitors to its fullest when viewing movies.

DVD now is about to catch up. Time for another format WAR. HD-DVD vs Blue-ray DVD(Sony). Now DVD's have an 18gb capacity and the means to display HD content on those nifty new TV sets.

I really do not want to repurchase the trilogy, but this comparison got me convinced, especialy when it comes to epic films.


Heres my first comparison of DVD:LOTR and HD:LOTR. Captured using WinDVD for the DVD and Virtualdub for the HD LOTR.

[Corsair]

Gandalf is...well...BIG!

[Rictor]

to tell you the truth, I don't notice the quality difference between normal TV, DVD, HDTV or whatever. Its all the same to me, so I doubt I am going to notice the difference here. The second picture is just bigger, I don't see it being any clearer or sharper.

[Omniscaper]

Originally posted by Rictor
to tell you the truth, I don't notice the quality difference between normal TV, DVD, HDTV or whatever. Its all the same to me, so I doubt I am going to notice the difference here. The second picture is just bigger, I don't see it being any clearer or sharper.

There is QUITE a difference silly goose. Imagine the smaller picture, STRETCHED to the size of the larger one. MUCH blurriness will be the result. The picture you see are ACTUAL pixel size captures. I found a sample of LOTR in HD encoded with microsofts HD codec.

[Turambar]

you can even see the crumbs in his beard!

[Rictor]

Omni, I'm not saying there isn't a difference, I'm just saying I don't see it. :D I don't see whats the big deal with all these new fangled high definition standards. Normal TV is just fine for me.

[Omniscaper]

My cousin recently acquired an HD TV. Its basically a very large computer monitor. With resolutions so high that, standard TV broadcasts show their true, non-interlaced appearance, a blurry mess. I wish I could go back to the innocence of standard TV sets.... sigh. My love for HD is only fueled by the fact that its much closer to the original film-reel detail that we all saw in the theater.

I've updated the image, its a better comparison.

 I put interlaced lines on the first image. For the second, I resized the DVD screenshot in Photoshop to the same resolution as the HD version. This is what basically happens to DVD's played on an HD monitor with progressive scan

[Bobboau]

DVD is still prety good...

can DHTVs be hooked up to a standard computer monitor port? (or one of those new fangled LCD ones)

[Omniscaper]

I updated the image to include interlace lines to the DVD version. I'm all about filmquality since I edit video all day. I can only DREAM of editing actual film and HD content, well, at least for another year till HD video cameras move to pro-sumer grade.

I believe many HD sets include RGB and DVI connections. I'm DYING to hook up my cousin's HD set to a computer. Imagine playing FS on a 32'' 16x9 HD monitor with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels and not 720x480 (in actuallity, 500 interlaced lines)!!!

[Rictor]

:D

all for me, I'm flattered. Yeah, I can see the difference now. I saw the pic before you put in the interlace lines, and the difference was noticeable. I can see how you would notice if you work with film all day.

but keep in mind, you're talking to a person who until about a year ago owned a 15-20 year old TV that actualy physically compressed the height of the image, so all the people looked like dwarves. And I never noticed until my friends pointed it out. Now I just watch the telly on my mom's computer, cause we ain't got a TV.

[Omniscaper]

You've got to remember, the future seems to aim at trully multimedia PC technology and HD content. Remember, Lucas got the ball rolling now on DIGITAL HD cameras, which is a quantum leap in film making. With digital becoming more and more widespread, I simply want to point out the advantages of using HD monitors for EVERYTHING (PC stuffs and movies & TV). I just wish I had the funds to have the technology now. I don't mind having all my technology connected to my computer.

[Omniscaper]

Now hears HD at its HIGHEST resolution, 1920x1080. I believe at this resolution, the interlaced lines are back.

[WMCoolmon]

That's higher than my monitor will go.

[Grug]

lol nice.
If they can keep my eyes good enough to tell the difference in another 30yrs or so then I'm sold.

btw can you get rid of interlacing in-games? it would seem that lines similar to those there are showing up in HaloPC on a Radeon9800XT...
Kindof detracts from the purity of it all...

-Grug

[Kazan]

All TV Broadcasts must be in HD by 2007

Source: FCC

[Setekh]

Wow, that's remarkable. Love the hair.

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by Kazan
All TV Broadcasts must be in HD by 2007

Source: FCC

This is the US, I presume?

[Omniscaper]

That news regarding the FCC mandate was quite a shocker for me. I believe they need to free up NTSC frequency range for cellphone bandwidth. If I recall correctly, UHF is already being used for cellphones. High definition ATSC signals will require people without cable to acquire new TV tuners to receive channels.

I wonder if its some conspiracy to FORCE ppl to upgrade to HD or subscribe to cable TV.

Grug, I have HaloPC. I don't see interllace lines. What resoultion are you playing at? It could be your monitor, but I thought interlaced monitors were phased out a long time ago. I know some games have resolution settings that allow scanlines such as MAME and Zsnes. Interlaced lines are used to hide the pixelly look of low resolution output.

[Kazan]

aldo_14: duh

Omniscaper: I knew it because I used to work selling HDTVs for comission

It IS not a conspiracy - because they were very public about it "All Transmissions must be HD by 2007, you may continue to operate your NTSC signals for a while" - I don't think they've set an NTSC kill-date yet, however it makes sense that the companies will phase them out as their value diminishes.

If you do not have an HDTV you will need a HD->SD converter box, which cost around $70 IIRC

Some games intentionally interlace their videos - it actually makes a stretched image look sharper, also your system can render the movie faster

[Omniscaper]

The only thing annoying about interlaced images is the horizontal distortion that occurs with fast moving imagery. I never noticed it till I saw an HD tv in action.

I read up on a TV that is not HD, that can display HD in "enhanced definition" on a standard definition screen. Sony came up with an effective solution for enhancing DVD video on a non-HD TV. They have a line of Wega's that detect anamorphic video and it focuses the scanlines on the DVD's movie screen and not the black bars. It's QUITE a difference. I think its the BEST way to view DVD's. It doesn't blur the image the way HD TV sets do.