Upconverting DVD players

[klintott]

Has anyone compared the quality of a PicturesToExe show burned to a DVD and viewed on a high definition television (1080i) using both a regular DVD player and an upconverting DVD player? Is there any obvious difference in quality?

Ken

[Carol Steele]

Has anyone compared the quality of a PicturesToExe show burned to a DVD and viewed on a high definition television (1080i) using both a regular DVD player and an upconverting DVD player? Is there any obvious difference in quality?

Ken

I've got a 42" Toshiba telly and a Toshiba E1 HD DVD player (yeah, I backed the wrong horse - but just as with the VHS/Betamax "war", the superior technology lost) - but the E1 does a terrific job with upscaling and DVD's written with Video Builder and image files sized specifically for normal SD viewing look extremely good on my system - much better than on my previous system. I must admit I was blown away when I first watched a DVD done this way. Unfortunately, I've gotten used to the better quality now (amazing how quickly that happens).

Carol

[Lin Evans]

Good to hear that there is actually improvement in display with these players.

[klintott]

I've got a 42" Toshiba telly and a Toshiba E1 HD DVD player (yeah, I backed the wrong horse - but just as with the VHS/Betamax "war", the superior technology lost) - but the E1 does a terrific job with upscaling and DVD's written with Video Builder and image files sized specifically for normal SD viewing look extremely good on my system - much better than on my previous system. I must admit I was blown away when I first watched a DVD done this way. Unfortunately, I've gotten used to the better quality now (amazing how quickly that happens).

Carol

Thanks for the reply, Carol. I've been using a quality, but one of the original, DVD players and with prices so low for upconverting DVD's I thought I might purchase one while I wait for the Blue Ray machines to come down in price.

Ken

[Carol Steele]

Thanks for the reply, Carol. I've been using a quality, but one of the original, DVD players and with prices so low for upconverting DVD's I thought I might purchase one while I wait for the Blue Ray machines to come down in price.

Ken

With the unfortunate death of HD DVD, there are bound to be a number of HD DVD players at vastly reduced prices coming onto (or already on) the market. All of the Toshiba models do upscaled SD - possibly to a higher standard than simple upscaling models - plus there are hundreds of HD DVD titles which can be had at reduced prices. There are various firmware versions available which will convert these players to region free SD players (the HD disks were always region free) - so you can buy DVD's at much reduced prices from places such as Amazon.com (see AV Forums) for further information.

[jdearman]

Has anyone compared the quality of a PicturesToExe show burned to a DVD and viewed on a high definition television (1080i) using both a regular DVD player and an upconverting DVD player? Is there any obvious difference in quality?

Ken

Ken,

I am very disapointed with the quality of the DVD produced with the software. The resolution is just not there IMO. I tried the DVD with an upconverter on a 32" HD TV and still "no joy" As a after thought, I took the DVD down to the local electronics store and played it on a BluRay player and a Sony HDTV. The result "knocked my socks off". Again IMO, I think it is going to take a Bluray burner/player on a HDTV to produce the results that I am looking for.

Jim

[potwnc]

The resolution is just not there IMO.

The resolution will never be there... The resolution of DVDs is "standard definition" which is nowhere close to "high definition." This is a simple mathematical limitation that cannot be overcome with any technology. To reduce it to the simplest of concepts, imagine I have three numbers - 734 - and I ask you to "upconvert" those numbers to ten numbers... What are those ten numbers?

This means that the whole concept of "upconverting" is yet another of those phrases invented by marketing departments to sell new products into an already saturated market in which they were losing money. (They actually did this because consumers didn't buy DVD-HD and Blu-ray players in large quantities when those technologies first came into the market.)

Having said that, there are some "tricks" that some of the so-called "upconverting" players can perform...

I tried the DVD with an upconverter on a 32" HD TV and still "no joy" As a after thought, I took the DVD down to the local electronics store and played it on a BluRay player and a Sony HDTV. The result "knocked my socks off". Again IMO, I think it is going to take a Bluray burner/player on a HDTV to produce the results that I am looking for.

Jim, you are comparing apples and oranges here... probably the store you went to showed it to you on a high-end Blu-ray player that has the "tricks" I mention above. Whch "upconverter" did you use before you took that DVD to the electronics store?

I am very disapointed with the quality of the DVD produced with the software

Please be aware that the current version of the software (I assume you are using PTE 5.x?) is not written for HD output to DVD. While it supports raw HD output (and it does so better than any competing software) the DVD burner part of the software is not designed specifically for DVDs played in "upconverting" players. WnSoft are very in-tune with technology developments in the world of HD and have already announced plans to further develop PTE in this area.

Ray