When I plug my DVD player into my current TV, the DVD is viewed in standard NTSC format, since that is what the TV supports. But if I were to use the component video outputs and connect to an HDTV set would the output be in true HDTV format, or would it be just the same as watching analog TV channels on an HDTV receiver?
Does the age of the DVD player make a difference? If HDTV is supported, are most of the movies currently being released capable of supporting this fomat?
Thanks
It’s the player and the DVD itself. Most DVDs look better than regulare TV since they are 480p (progressive scan). But unless it’s a High Def DVD (few if any available now), they won’t have output in 720p.
So, you need a DVD that is recorded in HD format, a DVD player that can output in HD format, and a TV that can recieve HD format.
Note: There are other HD formats besides 720p, but I’m just using that as an example.
You know…I’ve seen these TV commericals for HDTV. I just can’t tell the difference. It doesn’t look any better than the TV I have now. 
Samsung makes a player that will supposedly scale-up DVD 480p to 720p. How well it works, if at all, I dunno.
On a related note I’ve been told that regionless DVDs from Europe where they have PAL TVs are perfectly playable on NTSC players and TVs in the US. How does that work if they don’t have the same number of scan lines and a different refresh rate? Unfortunately I neglected to buy any of the regionless edcuational videos I found in Germany.
That’s why I still have a black and white TV. Sure, they’ve got all these commercials for color TVs now, but I don’t see the difference.
DVD players that manage 480p are doing a trick. The movie on the DVD is still recorded as a 480i movie. A Progressive Scan DVD player is upping it for the benefit of TVs that can manage it and while this does manage a better picture than 480i it is not as good as an actual DVD recorded at 480p to begin with. Remember making a 480p recorded movie would double the size of the movie (actually not quite since the audio doesn’t double but hopefully you see what I am getting at).
Making DVDs at 720p or 1080i likewise have space issues with current DVDs meaning the movie would need to be recorded to multiple discs (or both sides at least of one disc).
As I understand it the reason we do not have HDTV DVDs out yet is not the technology but that movie companies are freaked by people pirating their copies. It is bad enough in their view that it happens with 480i movies but if people get their hands and stunning hi-res movies shown on sweet 16:9 widescreen home theater systems with digital surround sound and copy those the end of the world would be at hand.
So, they are holding out on us for now.
The only recordable format I am aware fo that will actually display HDTV quality images on a set that handles that are Digital VCRs. Sadly not many are out and not many movies have been made to take advantage of them but they are out there (as an example and not a recommendation are these three by JVC ). NOTE: S-VHS is NOT the same thing as D-VHS
Thanks very much daffyduck, that was a very useful site.
Yes, your DVD picture will probably look substantially better though an HDTV, but will still not be as sharp as HDTV. I say probably because there are a lot of variables, and if you get the wring gear, you won’t have any improvement.
There is only one HDTV DVD title currently available that I know of – Terminator II – and that requires a computer with Windows Media Player 9.x. Your can view it through your computer monitor, or through an HDTV if you have the right output on your computer’s vodeo card. Your card must have either Component Video output or DVI (for Digital Video Interface) output, and your TV have corresponding inputs.
All other DVDs are essentially the formatted the same, but your picture might still very depending on the characteristics of your player and/or monitor. An I should throw in one more disclaimer about the DVDs. The material on them can be badly transferred, or have poor quality master recordings to copy from, so you cal always find some crappy looking DVDs.
Let’s start with the player. The lowest resolution output is “video”, or NTSC. If that’s the best your player can do, you still might end up with 2 different pictures to look at, depending on how your TV handles the signal. If your signal goes to the screen virtually unprocessed any further, you get no better picture than your old setup. Maybe worse – if the new screen is much bigger, the picture will be grainier than before. This is your worst case scenario.
Next worst is almost the same, except using an “S-VHS” video in and out. It’s a very minor improvement over standard video and not worth spending much time over.
The next worst is a lot better, and more likely, still with a video output player Most(?) Many(?) HDTVs include something called a “scan doubler” or “line doubler” in the video signal path, which does a lot to improve the apparent resolution of standard NTSC. Because your HDTV has 4-5 times the resolution needed to show the signal, there’s circuitry in place to use the extra resoltion by – more or less – sending a second copy of the picture through alternating scan lines. While it doesn’t increase the resolution in an absolute sense, it kind of “thickens” it so it looks less grainy, lines look sharper, and colors more saturated. It is a BIG improvement over standard video.
My very strong reccommendation is that if you can spend the money for the HDTV, pony up the extra $100 or so to upgrade your player to one with Progressive Scan AND Component Video out.
As an aside, there is an intermediate type of TV called EDTV (for Enhanced Definition TV) the is designed for viewing DVDs and scan-doubled puctures from other sources (cable, local broadcasts, VCRs, etc.). EDTVs are not capable of true the highest resolution HD signals, but they have a high enough resolution to get all that a standard DVD is able to give.
Those are your options with an older DVD player without higher resolution outputs.
Suppose you spent the extra bucks for a newer player with the high res features. What do you get? You get DVD pictures that are actually rather than only apparently double the resolution of standard TV signals. It’s another BIG step up in sharpness. But iy’s still only about half the resolution of HDTV
There’s actually one more step up in theoretical DVD picture accuracy that I myself have not yet taken. AFAIK a projection scheme called DLP (for digital light projection) is the only one capable of delivering a digital picture straight to the screen rather than first converting it to analog. And virtually all DVD players are doing that conversion even before it gets to the TV, because Component Video is an analog signal. But if you get a DVD player with a DVI output and a DLP HDTV with a DVI input, you have the makings of the finest resolution picture curently available. I have the TV, I havent upgraded my player yet.
I think certain plasma and LCD TVS (certainly some LCD computer monitors) take DVI input.
Brian
They do but never content to let things be the newest sets take an HDMI input. There are HDMI <–> DVI cables or adapters are available (but watch out…as I found the hard way they are VERY expensive and according to other dopers a complete ripoff at places like Radio Shack or Best Buy).
(I was going to post a link to the thread I started about that but the search page wouldn’t load for me…was in GQ not too long ago).
This answer is mostly correct; I’m going to nitpick a few minor things, if you don’t mind.
Techically this is not a DVD; it’s computer data recorded on a DVD-ROM.
Not sure what you’re getting at here. All US DVDs are NTSC; that’s the TV standard we use here. I think the word you’re looking for here is ‘composite’, but I still don’t know what you’re talking about with the ‘2 different pictures’ in your text.
It’s S-Video, not SVHS. SVHS is a recording format, S-Video is a video input/output type. The difference between S-video and composite is that S-video splits out the luma (light) and chroma (color) signals, which can prevent certain artifacts (fringing, I think) between contrasting colors. It does not affect the resolution at all.
Pretty much all HDTVs have a scan doubler, since the alternative is to enable the set to synch at multiple frequencies (which apparently is easy enough to do on a $100 computer monitor, but not on a $2,000 TV. Note: the preceding statement applies only to CRT-based TVs. Any other technology is digital, with a fixed resolution, and therefore a scan doubler is absolutely required). Without it, the TV wouldn’t be able to display any non-HD signals.
These days pretty much all DVD players have progressive scan component output; even the no name players. You can get a $50 Sony with progressive out.
Now, remember that if you’re watching your DVD on an HDTV, it still has to double the scan frequency to enable it to display the signal. When you use progressive outputs on your DVD player, that scan doubling is being done by the player rather than the TV. What makes that (theoretically) superior is that the scan doubling is being done to the digital signal that’s being read off the disk (after decompression, of course), as opposed to having the TV do it in the analog domain (what I assume is that the TV converts the analog signal from the component outputs back to digital, then scan doubles it, then sends it to the display [or converts it back to analog, if it’s a CRT-based display]). The less processing that’s done to the signal prior to doubling, the less noisy it is, therefore the clearer the doubled signal will be.
Actually, LCD, LCoS and Plasma displays are also digital, although older sets or projectors may not have DVI inputs, and will force you to convert the signal to analog. The only true analog display is CRT.
Oh, and to answer the OP:
DVD is not an HD format. HDTV will require a new medium (and DVD is barely 5 years old). Currently there are two competing formats - HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. One holds less data than the other and relies on heavier compression. Blu-Ray relies on some sort of Microsoft compression, and HD-DVD is, I believe, MPEG-4.
Could this be another Beta/VHS war? Possibly, but I’m thinking it’s going to be more like SACD/DVD-A, where they at least have the same form factor, and can both be read by the same hardware (or hardware can be designed to read both), even if they need separate software.
I’ve got a 1024 x 768 DLP projector, projecting an 8’ screen. When I play a progressive scan DVD on my computer and feed it into the projector, the picture rivals what I see in the local multiplex. I actually prefer it.
HDTV is nice, but you need a big screen to appreciate it. Every video display has a ‘sweet spot’ in seating. If you sit closer than that, you see artifacts like scan lines. Sit farther back, and you cannot resolve all the detail. With a standard TV at 32-36", the sweet spot is typically the length of the average family room. An HDTV of the same size has a sweet spot that’s only three or four feet from the set - about the distance you sit from a computer monitor, plus a foot or two because of the biggger size.
That’s why DVD is pushing up sales of large screen TV’s, and why when HDTV becomes standard you’re going to see a lot more people moving to rear projection sets of 65" or more or front projection setups like mine. Sitting 8 or 9 feet back from an 8’ wide HDTV image is breathtaking.
The first DVD players were sold in November 1996.
I stand corrected.
Actually, I knew that, to some degree; I couldn’t think of the actual year of release. However, in my defense, the format started to really become popular in '99.