Standard DVD's - high definition? (newbie)

Doowopper · 06-12-2005, 08:26 AM

I have been playing many of my dvd's on a dvd player attached to my SONY Wega high definition tv. Most of the pictures from the dvds fill the whole screen (16:9) and the pictures look terrific.
1) Is it the case that the pictures from the dvds are not high definition? 2) If the pictures from the dvds are not high definition, what are they comparable to, in terms of programs I get from my cable provider, (such as 480i, 1080i, EDTV, etc.)?
Thanks.
Richard

MitsHDn00b · 06-12-2005, 11:05 AM

i have just been on this forum for about 2 days but from what i gather all dvds are 480p however with a dvd player with DVI out it can be upconverted to 1080i....which to me just means it is guessing what goes in the extra pixels....

RSawdey · 06-12-2005, 10:20 PM

DVDs are stored as 480i, but deinterlaced to 480p by progressive players.

Scaling basically stretches out the data to fill the new area... big fuzzy pixels made up of small sharp ones. You've got limited data to fill a space of a certain size... doesn't matter how much smaller & sharper you make the actual pixels, you've only got so many in the source to display...

strawberry · 06-12-2005, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doowopper

I have been playing many of my dvd's on a dvd player attached to my SONY Wega high definition tv. Most of the pictures from the dvds fill the whole screen (16:9) and the pictures look terrific.
1) Is it the case that the pictures from the dvds are not high definition? 2) If the pictures from the dvds are not high definition, what are they comparable to, in terms of programs I get from my cable provider, (such as 480i, 1080i, EDTV, etc.)?
Thanks.
Richard

Almost all DVD's are anamorphically encoded, so that they will fill your 16:9 screen properly as long as you change the display setting on your DVD player to Widescreen or 16:9 for it's display type. If you set the display type on your DVD player to 4:3, the player itself will add letterboxes and scrunch the picture so that it's still being shown at the proper aspect ratio.

As for your two questions:

1.) As stated above, DVD's are encoded with 480 lines.
2.) The picture from your DVD's is most comparable to EDTV, mainly because they are both at 480p, (assuming you're using progressive-scanning output on your DVD player.)

deepdoc1 · 06-13-2005, 04:45 AM

Keep in mind the different aspect ratios. If the DVD is 1.85:1 it will almost completely fill the 16:9 (1.78:1) screen. If the DVD is 2.35:1 there will be black bars top & bottom. There are several aspect ratios that DVDs have been released in, and they result in varying size black bars. On my setup I can't change that or stretch the image...I don't know that I would want to anywho. Enjoy!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio_%28image%29

jergenf · 06-13-2005, 09:19 AM

DVDs are 480p and remain 480p through the component outputs or 480i using the s-video/composite output. This is equivilent to EDTV at 640x480 to 704x480 at 30 frame/sec and can be in either normal (4:3) or wide (16:9) aspect ratios.

Where some get confused is assuming wide screen always means HD. Although HD is always wide, ED comes in both normal and wide both in the resolutions stated above.

In the near future new DVD players that play full HD will be introduced. There will require all new players/recorders and different types of DVDs Dics. Toshiba is producing DVD-HD and Sony will have Blu-Ray both use blue lasers but not capatable with each other.

06-12-2005, 08:26 AM	#1
Doowopper How can anyone watch standard def? Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 23	Standard DVD's - high definition? (newbie) I have been playing many of my dvd's on a dvd player attached to my SONY Wega high definition tv. Most of the pictures from the dvds fill the whole screen (16:9) and the pictures look terrific. 1) Is it the case that the pictures from the dvds are not high definition? 2) If the pictures from the dvds are not high definition, what are they comparable to, in terms of programs I get from my cable provider, (such as 480i, 1080i, EDTV, etc.)? Thanks. Richard

06-13-2005, 04:45 AM	#5
deepdoc1 High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Walkersville, MD Posts: 90	Keep in mind the different aspect ratios. If the DVD is 1.85:1 it will almost completely fill the 16:9 (1.78:1) screen. If the DVD is 2.35:1 there will be black bars top & bottom. There are several aspect ratios that DVDs have been released in, and they result in varying size black bars. On my setup I can't change that or stretch the image...I don't know that I would want to anywho. Enjoy! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio_%28image%29 Last edited by deepdoc1; 06-13-2005 at 04:50 AM.

06-13-2005, 09:19 AM	#6
jergenf High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 398	DVDs are 480p and remain 480p through the component outputs or 480i using the s-video/composite output. This is equivilent to EDTV at 640x480 to 704x480 at 30 frame/sec and can be in either normal (4:3) or wide (16:9) aspect ratios. Where some get confused is assuming wide screen always means HD. Although HD is always wide, ED comes in both normal and wide both in the resolutions stated above. In the near future new DVD players that play full HD will be introduced. There will require all new players/recorders and different types of DVDs Dics. Toshiba is producing DVD-HD and Sony will have Blu-Ray both use blue lasers but not capatable with each other. Last edited by jergenf; 06-13-2005 at 09:24 AM.

06-12-2005, 11:05 AM	#2
MitsHDn00b How can anyone watch standard def? Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 24	i have just been on this forum for about 2 days but from what i gather all dvds are 480p however with a dvd player with DVI out it can be upconverted to 1080i....which to me just means it is guessing what goes in the extra pixels....

06-12-2005, 10:20 PM	#3
RSawdey Mr. Wizard Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ferndale, Michigan Age: 61 Posts: 5,981	DVDs are stored as 480i, but deinterlaced to 480p by progressive players. Scaling basically stretches out the data to fill the new area... big fuzzy pixels made up of small sharp ones. You've got limited data to fill a space of a certain size... doesn't matter how much smaller & sharper you make the actual pixels, you've only got so many in the source to display...