# changing a video to 720p/1080p **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2014, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-video-to-720p-1080p/708419 "2014-12-29T06:46:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carlowplayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@carlowplayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlowplayer)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-video-to-720p-1080p/708419/1 "2014-12-29T06:46:01Z")
The thing is i have windows movie make 2.6 as the 2012 live edition wont allow me to save my videos to my computer and i dont want loss of video quality.is there a Is it possible to change a video file to these levels of quality one i have published a video file using windows movie maker or is the possibilities bunk?Is there any better free programs that can do it or better alternatives to windows movie maker? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-video-to-720p-1080p/708419/2 "2014-12-29T07:48:03Z")
I like Cyberlink Power Director. Captures video well with my USB analog to digital convertor. Edits and saves video. Handbrake is free and good for converting files from Moviemaker. You can’t recover lost resolution. If you save a 1080p video (1920x1080) as 720 (1280x720) then those pixels and data stream are gone. Discarded, thrown away. You can switch formats. Moviemakers wmv files to mp4 with Handbrake. But the resolution won’t be better. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-video-to-720p-1080p/708419/3 "2014-12-29T10:09:45Z")
As Aceplace57 says, lossy means lossy, but small videos can be seemingly upscaled through sharpening and other filters in the player. Doesn’t work on larger, say, 720p ~ 600+mb videos on my computer, but it certainly improves 480p~175+mb videos. Instructions for VLC are here at **[Wombat.blog](http://blog.thewombat.org/2008/11/how-to-use-vlc-096-as-upscaling-media.html)**. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-video-to-720p-1080p/708419/4 "2014-12-29T10:53:46Z")
wmv files never look very good to me. Converting them to mp4 helps. I’m not sure if its the filters Handbrake uses or if its the difference in format. But mp4’s seem sharper, brighter to me. ---
**Author:** ![carlowplayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@carlowplayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlowplayer)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-video-to-720p-1080p/708419/5 "2015-01-02T09:51:17Z")
So cyber link power director would be a good idea to use to edit videos on 1080p i use bandicam to record I also have fraps too. Do you need a specific computer to record on 1080p as I have a Sony vaio ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/changing-a-video-to-720p-1080p/708419/6 "2015-01-02T18:25:07Z")
Power Director has supported 1080P since version 8 or 9. The current version is 13. here’s a example of rendering in 1080P for youtube. a overview of using Power Director That should give a good feel for what it can do.