Peel Paint Posted March 28, 2010 Share Posted March 28, 2010 (edited) We don't have a Blu-Ray player, just a regular DVD player. We got a new LED TV recently, and most of our mass-market DVDs look quite good on it. But I'm a little surprised at how grainy my 2009 finals DVD looks. I thought this year's edition was supposed to be high-def? Admittedly, it looks better than the 2008 edition, which really looks grainy now. Should've kept our old TV for my DCI DVDs, LOL! For some reason, DCI DVDs, even since they went to widescreen in 2008, have not used the full resolution available to them, IMO. Other people have said the same thing the past two years, that the DCI DVDs don't look as good as DVD movies. They used HD cameras for the first time this year at Lucas Oil (which is why they can now produce true Blu-Rays from those championships), but no, you can't get HD resolution on a regular DVD. One thing salespeople "forget" to tell you when you're shopping for an HDTV is that standard definition programming (including DVDs) can look worse on an HDTV than it looked on your old TV! Absolutely true. If you think your old DCI DVDs look grainy, try watching a DCI VHS videotape. The higher resolution of your HDTV makes the weaknesses in the standard-def picture more apparent. The bigger the screen on the HDTV, the more pronounced this problem is. Edited March 28, 2010 by Peel Paint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Posted March 28, 2010 Share Posted March 28, 2010 We don't have a Blu-Ray player, just a regular DVD player. We got a new LED TV recently, and most of our mass-market DVDs look quite good on it. But I'm a little surprised at how grainy my 2009 finals DVD looks. I thought this year's edition was supposed to be high-def? Admittedly, it looks better than the 2008 edition, which really looks grainy now. Should've kept our old TV for my DCI DVDs, LOL! BluRay is high-def. DVDs cannot be. Even if you have an upgrading DVD player, it won't ever look or sound as good as a high-def transfer of a show onto a BluRay disc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
year1buick Posted March 28, 2010 Share Posted March 28, 2010 For some reason, DCI DVDs, even since they went to widescreen in 2008, have not used the full resolution available to them, IMO. Other people have said the same thing the past two years, that the DCI DVDs don't look as good as DVD movies. They used HD cameras for the first time this year at Lucas Oil (which is why they can now produce true Blu-Rays from those championships), but no, you can't get HD resolution on a regular DVD. One thing salespeople "forget" to tell you when you're shopping for an HDTV is that standard definition programming (including DVDs) can look worse on an HDTV than it looked on your old TV! Absolutely true. If you think your old DCI DVDs look grainy, try watching a DCI VHS videotape. The higher resolution of your HDTV makes the weaknesses in the standard-def picture more apparent. The bigger the screen on the HDTV, the more pronounced this problem is. It's because you're watching 4:3 SD video zoomed in/framed to fill a widescreen aspect ratio. It's one of the reasons I contended that the widescreen format was pretty pointless until they shot Finals on HD, because the source material wouldn't look any better zoomed in like this and any HDTV could perform the same function. Some people still labor under the misconception that a widescreen aspect ratio will inherently show more side-to-side field action (which it does not.) I'm thinking this idea may have played a part in the early widescreen stuff being put out. I'm glad that Blu-ray is now available, I just need a little more time to fatten up the ole piggy bank... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle B Posted March 28, 2010 Share Posted March 28, 2010 You can record HD video that you take with a camera and put it on a DVD. It just won't be able to fit a lot of video onto it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartyount Posted March 28, 2010 Share Posted March 28, 2010 We don't have a Blu-Ray player, just a regular DVD player. We got a new LED TV recently, and most of our mass-market DVDs look quite good on it. But I'm a little surprised at how grainy my 2009 finals DVD looks. I thought this year's edition was supposed to be high-def? Admittedly, it looks better than the 2008 edition, which really looks grainy now. Should've kept our old TV for my DCI DVDs, LOL! The grainy look is due to digital compression. I assume this is done because of the amount of data they need to get on the discs. The problem becomes more pronounced on a bigger screen. Hopefully the BR Discs won't have this problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBlair Posted March 29, 2010 Share Posted March 29, 2010 It's because you're watching 4:3 SD video zoomed in/framed to fill a widescreen aspect ratio. It's one of the reasons I contended that the widescreen format was pretty pointless until they shot Finals on HD, because the source material wouldn't look any better zoomed in like this and any HDTV could perform the same function.Some people still labor under the misconception that a widescreen aspect ratio will inherently show more side-to-side field action (which it does not.) I'm thinking this idea may have played a part in the early widescreen stuff being put out. I'm glad that Blu-ray is now available, I just need a little more time to fatten up the ole piggy bank... PeelPaint and Year1Buick are both right in their assessments. But as PeelPaint talks about limited resolution, the single most significant limitation has always been the DVD itself. For those who understand (and care), the DCI DVDs average bitrate (limited by the multi-angle multiplexing) is in the 6-7 MBPS range. The new blu-rays average close to 30! I started recording DCI with digital video in 1993, albeit standard definition and 4:3. We haven't done a lot of testing, but the quality difference of what you can see on the original digital masters of a given year compared to what can be handled by DVD is significant. Where we get into trouble is what Year1Buick mentions - blowing up the 4:3 square video to fill the 16:9 rectangular "hole." The best solution for resolution is to use some kind of panels on either side of the 4:3 video, thereby filling the screen but keeping the content in the original aspect ratio. Problem is people have a tendency to use the "zoom" function on their widescreen TVs with 4:3 video because they don't understand that the older TV format shouldn't fill the screen horizontally. The ideal situation would probably be a BD (Blu-ray Disc) with 4:3 video & sidepanels made from the original masters. 2008 was shot 16:9 SD, so it would handle the upconversion the best. And Byline: get a BD player. It will play DVDs and it will upconvert them so they look a little better on your LED TV. Between the great look of the "stage" at Lucas Oil and the quality of the audio and HD video, these blu-rays are gonna knock your socks off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deftguy Posted March 29, 2010 Share Posted March 29, 2010 Must be your setup, as I've seen quite the reverse in a couple of different home theaters. I have to agree with you, as there is nothing inherent in the XBOX that is superior over the PS3. If anything its is the reverse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle B Posted March 29, 2010 Share Posted March 29, 2010 I have watched movies/shows streaming from the Xbox and the PS3 over my internet line and have found that the Xbox's picture quality is better on my HDTV then the PS3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
year1buick Posted March 29, 2010 Share Posted March 29, 2010 I have watched movies/shows streaming from the Xbox and the PS3 over my internet line and have found that the Xbox's picture quality is better on my HDTV then the PS3. I've got a PS3 but have never tried it--what resolution and bitrate do they use? Also, is it just streaming or do you actually download it (temporarily) to the hard drive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle B Posted March 29, 2010 Share Posted March 29, 2010 Streaming, it's the Netflix service. I haven't checked into all the details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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