Pixels vs screen resolution

[Garris]

I've been using PTE over a year now and this resolution/size issue is still unclear. Am I to understan that any pixel resolution greater than screen resolution is wasted? I usually resize to achive a FILE size of 150-250MB without regard for pixel numbers and set quality high. Images look good on a computer screen at 800X600 and even better at 1280X1024 ( diagonal lines show less distortion due to sizing down ). However on a TV screen via a DVD/JPG viewer some images vibrate especially if they have great detail. Some questions:

1. Should I resize by pixel dimensions? 2. What is the best size and will that size be sufficient for viewing on high definition/wide screens or digital projectors? 3. What is the pixel resolution of a 4X3 TV screen? 4. Does PTE recompress the images at a different quality level when creating the show? Thanks for input.

[Ken Cox]

Garris

using the search for shimmer, i came up with this thread

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums//index...2899&hl=shimmer

there are several links within the thread that will possibly give you a better understanding of the problem

Personally the latest shows i made from friends and family were the images as taken with their digital cameras not resized or adj other than rotating them as necessary and the resaving at 100% compression thus keeping the original picture size

and the shows were quite large- one show was +- 320 meg -- picts ranged in size 2048/1536 pixels and between 700kb to 2.5 mb - when burned to a dvd and played in home player to a tv i felt the pictures had more depth + i saved the time reqd to diddle/resize them --- but you have to have a lot of computer power to make the exe.

I have not yet tried to import the temp avi directly into my authoring programs -- one of the other members and myself are working together trying to resolve the best procedure to achieve optimum results -- but he is edging towards full size pictures as well

ken

[Ronniebootwest]

When I first became a forum member the order of the day was to keep file sizes down in order to gain the maximum quality. In those days people were mainly using a monitor set to a resolution of 800x600 pixels and the image size recommended for PTE slide shows was then 1024x768.

So what has happened now then? With screen resolutions of anything between 800x600 up to 2048x1536 what is now the recommended size? This matter has been discussed so many times now, but I agree with Garris because I too am unclear of the way to proceed. Come on you experts, give us a clue here!

Ron West

[Ed Overstreet]

I would never presume to describe myself as an expert, but my two cents' worth on the issue:

All my PTE shows are sized for 1024x768 pixels, because that's what my photo club uses with its projector. So if I want to exhibit any shows at the club, the show is sized correctly. Except for my own computer or those of my wife and a few family members, that's the only place I ever exhibit my shows.

I find that on my monitor, 1024x768 pixel images, even saved with Level 5-8 JPG in Photoshop (generally keeps the individual file sizes under 200KB which is my target), the images look great. While my XP laptop could, I am fairly sure, handle larger files in PTE without affecting the smoothness of the transitions, our club has an older Windows 98 system which might choke on larger file sizes, plus several family members also have older computers.

So my own criterion is to keep the image canvas at 1024x768 and the individual JPG sizes under 200KB. On the canvas, the images are anywhere from 800x600 to the full 1024x768 (often cropped) depending on what I'm doing. This works well on my laptop and on the club's computer, also has always worked on my five-year-old Win 98 PIII desktop, so I figure that's a reasonable compromise for my audience and their equipment.

I suspect the best answer to your question depends a lot on who is your intended audience and what playback equipment you or they will be using.

[Ken Cox]

So what has happened now then?

well if you go back a year and a half +- a lot of people wanted to make dvd's -- Igor complied and gave us the option -- now i dont make a show for the computor -- i make it for the dvd player -- i dont have a projector and neither do any of my family but they do have dvd players and tv's -- and when checking/testing it is pretty hard sell to run an exe on a a series of computers at a electronics store -- but it is an easy sell to run a vcd/svcd/dvd --- they hope to sell a product

one of our members that we dont hear from any more used to say " think outside the box"

ken

[LumenLux]

My understanding:

Do your best to predict the most likely display of your show. PC, projector, etc.

If that display resolution is 1024x768, you will consistently get your best quality picture by sizing your photos to that size before they become slides in PTE.

If you make the photos smaller than that, you will very likely see some lower quality on some, if not all your slides.

If you make the photos larger than that, you may also see some lower quality in some circumstances.

If you just want a show good enough that most people won't notice, you can leave the photos as they come if they are 800x600 or larger. Frankly, the worst quality I can make in PTE is usually so much better than what casual viewers are used to, they think the PTE presentation looks spectacular!

[Garris]

I agree with Ken, most of my friends have DVD players so it is important that these shows look good on a TV screen. The problem is..they don't. I do not have DVD burning capability yet so my images are stored as JPG on the same CD as my exe's. Images are numbered so the DVD player's slide show feature displays them in the right order. I believe this "shimmering" problem is caused by interlacing and yet if you pause a comercial DVD video displaying a still frame, there is no shimmer and the picture looks great. These images are 720X480. hmmmmm.

[Alan Lyons]

Hi All,

Here is my bit on this subject: Digital projectors use a resulition of 1024 "across the top" this is why we use this in our slides as it meens that all pixels are projected. This gives the best possible projected image. If you use another canvas size the projector will forse the imige into 1024 ans drop pixels or strech them to fit. This is where the images starts to fall apart. Projectors will eventually use bigger resulotions, but unless these are at least doubled, the improvement will be of little use. So if you want to "future protect" your work you can set them for 2048 or even twice that, ect. This gives you an even number of dropped pixels, so the image looks fine. (no flight of stairs where there was a straight line)

DVD was intended for motion picture, so the resloution is smaller. When you put your 1024 images into a dvd show you will have some fall off in quality. I think you will need to resize images to suit the way they are to be shown.

Alan

[Ronniebootwest]

Alan,

Not all projectors use a resolution of 1024 pixels, most of the older ones have a resolution of 800x600 (SVGA)

It is the newer ones that have the 1024x768 (XGA). There is also SXGA with a resolution of 1280x1024 and UXGA which boasts a massive 1600x1200.

I am sure you knew that!

Ron